Austin Reed Sigg, 17, was arrested this morning.

Student, 17, arrested in Jessica Ridgeway killing

Editor's note: A 17-year-old student was arrested Wednesday in this month's killing of 10-year-old Denver-area girl Jessica Ridgeway, according to police in Westminster, Colorado. Austin R. Sigg, also of the Denver area, will be charged as an adult in Ridgeway's death and in a separate, attempted abduction in May authorities say.

[Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET] The student arrested in Ridgeway's death, 17-year-old Austin R. Sigg, will be tried as an adult, Jefferson County District Attorney Pam Russell said.
Charges probably will be filed on Monday, Russell said. Authorities said earlier that Sigg, who was arrested Wednesday, will face murder and kidnapping charges in death of Ridgeway, of Westminster in the Denver area. Sigg also will be charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder charges regarding allegations that he tried to abduct someone else on May 28 at Ketner Lake, also in Westminster.
Sigg and Ridgeway lived about one mile apart, on opposite sides of Ketner Lake in Westminster, CNN affiliate KMGH reported.
Ridgeway, of the Denver suburb of Westminster, was last seen alive by her mother as the girl left for school October 5. A body was found days later at a park just five miles from Westminster, and police identified it as Ridgeway's on October 12.
Hundreds of volunteers had searched fields and streets, posted fliers and canvassed neighborhoods since news broke of the girl's disappearance. Hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement officers also worked the case.
[Updated at 2:44 p.m. ET] We can now report that the 17-year-old suspect is Austin Reed Sigg.
While CNN does not normally show the booking photo or name suspects who are juveniles, police mentioned Sigg's name and released his photograph in hopes the public could provide information related to the case.

Jessica Ridgeway, 10, was last seen by her mother.

[Updated at 2:14 p.m. ET] Jessica Ridgeway's family was told this morning that an arrest was made in the 10-year-old's death, police said.
"We hope and pray that this arrest gives them some measure of closure in dealing with this horrible loss and tragedy they have suffered,"  Westminster Police Chief Lee Birk told reporters.
Charges will officially be filed in the next couple of days, officials said.
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested on preliminary charges including two counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping in the Ridgeway case. He also faces a charge of attempted murder and attempted abduction related to a May 28 kidnapping attempt near Ketner Lake.
A warrant is currently being served on the suspect's home.
The  suspect will have his first court appearance Thursday at 8 a.m.
[Updated at 1:50 p.m. ET] A 17-year-old student has been arrested in the murder of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, according to a Westminster, Colorado, police report.
The report says the student is charged with first degree murder and second degree kidnapping.
CNN is not naming the suspect or showing his mugshot until we can determine whether he is being charged as an adult or a juvenile.
[Posted at 1:32 p.m. ET] Police in Westminster, Colorado, arrested someone today in connection with the Jessica Ridgeway murder case.
Jessica, 10, was last seen by her mother as she left for school October 5. Her body was found last week at a park in Arvada, a Denver suburb five miles from Westminster.
"Late Tuesday evening police received a call that led them to a home near the Ketner Lake Open Space," police said in a press release.
That visit allowed police to make an arrest in the Ridgeway case, as well as another case, an attempted abduction near Ketner Lake.
That's all we know right now. Police will have a news conference at 2 p.m. ET. We'll be sure to update you as soon as we have more information.

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Oasis Petroleum Larger Than S&P 500 Component Genworth Financial

In the latest look at stocks ordered by largest market capitalization, Russell 3000 component Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) was identified as having a larger market cap than the smaller end of the S&P 500, for example Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE: GNW), according to The Online Investor. Click here to find out the top S&P 500 components ordered by average analyst rating »
Market capitalization is an important data point for investors to keep an eye on, for various reasons. The most basic reason is that it gives a true comparison of the value attributed by the stock market to a given company’s stock. Many beginning investors look at one stock trading at $10 and another trading at $20 and mistakenly think the latter company is worth twice as much — that of course is a completely meaningless comparison without knowing how many shares of each company exist. But comparing market capitalization (factoring in those share counts) creates a true “apples-to-apples” comparison of the value of two stocks. In the case of Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS), the market cap is now $2.67B, versus Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE: GNW) at $2.66B.
Click here to find out The 20 Largest U.S. Companies By Market Capitalization »

 Below is a three month price history chart comparing the stock performance of OAS vs. GNW:

 

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Another reason market capitalization is important is where it places a company in terms of its size tier in relation to peers — much like the way a mid-size sedan is typically compared to other mid-size sedans (and not SUV’s). This can have a direct impact on which indices will include the stock, and which mutual funds and ETFs are willing to own the stock. For instance, a mutual fund that is focused solely on Large Cap stocks may for example only be interested in those companies sized $10 billion or larger. Another illustrative example is the S&P MidCap index which essentially takes the S&P 500 index and “tosses out” the biggest 100 companies so as to focus solely on the 400 smaller “up-and-comers” (which in the right environment can outperform their larger rivals). And ETFs that directly follow an index like the S&P 500 will only own the underlying component of that index, selling companies that lose their status as an S&P 500 company, and buying companies when they are added to the index. So a company’s market cap, especially in relation to other companies, carries great importance, and for this reason we at The Online Investor find value to putting together these looks at comparative market capitalization daily.
At the closing bell, OAS is off about 1.6%, while GNW is off about 1.5% on the day Wednesday.

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The Walking Dead season 3, episode 2 recap: Havoc in the prison

The second episode of season 3 of “The Walking Dead” picked up right where the wild, entertaining premier left off. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the crew are in the prison’s cafeteria where they are now facing off with some bunkered up inmates. Hershel (Scott Wilson) had been bitten by a zombie and Rick, in an effort to save him, chopped his leg off at the knee. The guys gets Hershel up onto a rolling cart and leave the cafeteria headed back for their base in Cell Block C. The prisoners are a little shocked, but follow them.
Back at the cell block the group goes to work trying to stop Hershel’s bleeding. They need bandages and other supplies that they don’t have, so they are doing their best. The prisoners show up and face off with Rick, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and T-Dog (IronE Singleton). They explain that they don’t know what is happening. They have been locked in the cafeteria for 10 months. Rick explains what has transpired in the world. The prisoners are shocked as they realize their friends and family are all gone. Rick cuts a deal with the leader of the prisoners. They will help them clear out a cell block for them to live in in exchange for half the food left in the cafeteria.
Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Carol (Melissa McBride) do a good job getting Hershel’s bleeding stopped while the guys return to the cafeteria and find a large supply of food. When Rick returns Lori tells him that she understands why he has done some of the things he has done and that he may need to kill the prisoners, but that she feels he doesn’t have malice in his heart.
Once the supplies are gathered Rick, T-Dog and Daryl go with the prisoners to liberate a cell block. Rick has Glenn stay behind and tells him if Hershel dies and turns he needs to kill him. They handcuff Hershel to the bed just in case.
As the group of prisoners plus Rick and his crew engage he zombies hand to hand and Rick teaches them how to efficiently kill the zombies. Things get chaotic and one of the prisoners, Big Tiny, gets separated and ends up getting wounded by a zombie. After the fight Rick is trying to explain to him that he will turn and they have to kill him when the lead prisoner attacks Big Tiny with his pick axe. He hits him in the head then stands over him and thrashes away, bashing him at least a dozen times until his blood is everywhere. Rick and Daryl give each other a knowing look. This guy is clearly a loose cannon.
Back at the cell block Carl shows up out of nowhere with a bag full of bandages and medicine. He tells them he went alone to the infirmary. He killed a couple of zombies, but it was no big deal. Lori is very angry with him for doing it. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) takes Hershel’s hand and has a very emotional moment with him as she tells him it is okay for him to stop fighting. He deserves to be at peace and he can go if he wants. She lays her head down on his chest and cries.
Carol pulls Glenn aside and tells him she needs his help. They go outside and she explains that she is likely going to have to perform a C-section on Lori when she gives birth so she wants Glenn to help her get a zombie that she can practice on. They find a female about Lori’s size, kill it and bring it inside the fences.
As Rick and the prisoners arrive at the cell block Rick tells the lead prisoner to open one door so they can funnel the zombies through it and take them out easily. He whips open both doors at once and the room is flooded with zombies. Chaos erupts and the guys are fighting for their lives. The lead prisoner throws a zombie onto Rick and Daryl saves him from near certain death. When the fighting comes to an end Rick and the lead prisoner face off and have some heated words. Rick swings his machete and brings it crashing down on prisoner’s head, killing him instantly. Another prisoner runs while two put their hands up and surrender.
As Maggie is watching over her father he stops breathing. Lori rushes in and gives him CPR. At first it appears he has turned and attacks her, but in reality it is just him jolting back as he starts breathing again. He breathes on his own and still has no fever.
Rick chases the running prisoners outside. When he sees that he has run out to where some zombies are Rick just shuts the door and leaves him out there as zombie food. Back at the now cleared out cell block Rick interrogates the two remaining prisoners. One begs for his life and Rick lets him live. The other says he has never pleaded for his life and won’t start now. Rick also lets him live. He tells them a deal is a deal and this cell block as now theirs.
As Rick and the guys get back to their cell block Hershel wakes up. He is going to make it. Outside Carol is practicing her C-section technique on the now dead Zombie while and unknown person watches her from afar.
That night Rick and Lori are outside getting some air. He tells her that he doesn’t think she is a bad mother. They share a few thoughts and she expects him to open up to her. She tells him that she thought he was coming out there to talk with her about their relationship because they are stuck together and there are no divorce lawyers or counselors nearby. Rick puts his hand on her shoulder and tells her that everyone is grateful for what she did today (saving Hershel when he stopped breathing) then without looking at her again he turns and walks back inside. The second episode of season 3 of “The Walking Dead” comes to an end with Lori left standing alone in the dark.

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Giants announce World Series rotation and Tim Lincecum is not in it

SAN FRANCISCO — When the World Series last kicked off at AT&T Park, Tim Lincecum was the starter for the San Francisco Giants and Barry Zito wasn't even on the roster.
Two years later, Lincecum is not slated to start a single game in the Fall Classic while Zito will be on the hill when Wednesday's Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers begins.
Yeah, it's a cliche, but I think we can get away with using the term "what a difference two years makes" when mentioning  one of the biggest reversal of fortune in recent baseball memory. The switcheroo became official during Tuesday's media day sessions when Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced his rotation as Zito for Game 1 and Madison Bumgarner for Game 2 in San Francisco while Ryan Vogelsong and Matt Cain will start Games 3 and 4 in Detroit this weekend. Those four will face off against the already-announced Tigers rotation of Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer.
Though Lincecum or Bumgarner in Game 2 was a debate many people were having, it's not exactly a surprise to see Tiny Tim sent back to the bullpen. He didn't start in the five-game NLDS and made one shaky start against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the NLCS.
Lincecum has, however, pitched well out of the bullpen, giving up only one run in 8 1/3 innings of work this postseason. He probably would've figured into the decisive Game 7, too, were it not for the Giants taking such a big and early lead against St. Louis.
"We just think (Lincecum) is better served for this club at this point helping us out of the bullpen," Bochy said.  "He gives us another weapon there.  He's resilient.  I can use him back‑to‑back days; I can use him three or four innings if necessary.  If something happens, I can start him.  So we think that's the best way to go right now."

Bochy only confirmed the rotation news after the media had met with Giants players so Lincecum talked only generally about his newfound role this month and not getting one of the first four starts. But he maintained his good attitude and restated his willingness to help the team in any way possible.
"This isn't about me," Lincecum said. "This is about the Giants jersey."
If he's not just putting on a smile for the press, Bochy has to feel like one lucky guy. How many other two-time Cy Young winners would take the news the same way? Not that delivering the news to Lincecum in 2012 or Zito in 2010 was ever easy.
"It's one of your most difficult things you have to do as a manager," Bochy said. "Particularly when you're talking to a star player, a guy that's won a Cy Young and wants to be out there and that's been out there really all year for you, and you have to tell him that you're going to go another way as far as the postseason ... it's never easy."
Bochy said the team got Bumgarner the rest he needed after the 23-year-old gave up a total of 10 runs over eight innings in his first two starts. He last pitched on Oct. 14 in Game 1 of the NLCS and will have had 10 days of rest by the time he starts Game 2 on Thursday.
Vogelsong and Cain will also be fully rested — though not as much as Bumgarner — by the time they make their starts in Comerica Park.
Lincecum will obviously be on hand to contribute should any starter need an early hook and you have to think he'd be considered for Game 5 or 6 should Zito or Bumgarner falter in Game 1 or 2. Still, Lincecum entering a postseason game from the bullpen remains a strange sight, no matter how much sense it might make or how long we saw it coming.

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The Missing Debate

The good news in Monday night’s foreign policy debate was that Mitt Romney and Barack Obama basically agreed with one another on almost every issue they discussed.
That’s also the bad news.
Their agreement was good news because it meant that viewers came away with an unexpectedly accurate sense of the deep continuities in American foreign policy. The big secret of the Obama administration’s approach to national security, which neither party has had a strong incentive to admit, is that the president’s first-term policies have mostly been a continuation of policies put in place during George W. Bush’s second term, when the Cheneyite maximalism of the immediate post-9/11 era was tempered by a dose of pragmatism.
Obama campaigned in 2008 as a critic of the entire Bush record, first and second term alike. But the president has mostly governed – sometimes by choice, sometimes out of necessity – as a steward of the powers Bush successfully claimed and the war-on-terror architecture that he established. What’s more, in his presidency’s biggest decisions about the use of force abroad – the Afghan surge, the Libya intervention, the escalated drone campaign (and the “kill list” that accompanies it), the green light on the raid to get Bin Laden – Obama has almost always erred on the side of hawkishness and expanded executive authority.
In the 2012 campaign, Romney has often talked as though this hawkish record doesn’t exist, painting the president as a dove and an appeaser at every opportunity. But a closer look suggests that a Romney administration, too, would promise more continuity than change: On the issues that have earned the most press this campaign season — from the Arab Spring to Syria’s civil war to the Iranian bomb to our looming withdrawal from Afghanistan — Romney has attacked the president in general terms while remaining deliberately vague about what exactly he would do instead.
So it was healthy for American voters to see this Bush-Obama-Romney overlap crystallized on stage Monday night. An acknowledgment of consensus is always better than a bogus disagreement, and Romney’s decision to play up his areas of concord with the president didn’t just serve the cause of reassuring swing voters worried by his sometimes hyper-hawkish rhetoric: It served the cause of truth as well.

Mauricio Lima for The New York Times Afghan prisoners, center, attended a ceremony handing over the Parwan Detention Facility within the Bagram Air Base to Afghan authorities. After the ceremony, the prisoners were released.

Just because a consensus exists, though, doesn’t mean that the consensus is correct. Americans who watched Monday night’s showdown benefited from the relative honesty of the discussion. But they were deprived of a real critique of the incumbent’s record, and a real debate about what an alternative approach might look like.
Just as Obama’s choices once in office have effectively ratified many of the war-on-terror decisions and tactics that Democrats once criticized, Romney’s “me-too” approach on Monday night gave the impression that there should be nothing particularly controversial about, say, the dubiously constitutional way the president took us to war in Libya, or his march-up-the-hill-march-down-the-hill strategy in Afghanistan, or his willingness to claim and then use the power to execute an American citizen without trial.
Likewise, you would never guess from Monday’s debate that conservatives as well as liberals and libertarians have raised questions about the wisdom of the president’s escalated drone campaign, citing the risk of blowback, the costs to our intelligence-gathering and so on.
More broadly, you would have no sense that there are any alternative grand strategies available to America beyond our current focus on terrorism and the greater Middle East – and, of course, the occasional detour into China-bashing. Some of this tunnel vision reflects the questions that were asked, but neither Romney nor Obama showed any particular interest in changing the subject to Europe or India or Latin America or Southeast Asia. On the evidence of the debate, the world beyond the borders of the United States starts in Mali and ends in Kandahar. Entire continents and major powers might as well not even exist.
Romney’s consensus-oriented rhetoric in Boca Raton was clearly designed to distance him from the hard-edged, boots-on-the-ground neoconservatism that his rhetoric (and list of advisers) has sometimes evoked. But the Bush-Obama consensus he embraced has already marginalized many other groups and ideas as well. Obama’s policy choices have co-opted or neutered the anti-war and civil libertarian left. Romney’s campaign rhetoric has marginalized realists and right-wing libertarians. The result is a landscape where huge swathes of public opinions and major schools of thought are represented only by fringe third party candidates – or else are as invisible as, say, the European currency crisis was in Monday night’s debate.
I agree with enough of this consensus to be glad about some of the ways that it constrains our leaders. I’m happy that Obama has proven more ruthless in his approach to terrorism than many expected, and I’m pleased that Romney didn’t use Monday night’s debate to promise yet another surge in Afghanistan or a Syrian expeditionary force.
But it’s a consensus that affords extraordinary powers to the man in the Oval Office – powers that expanded under Obama as they expanded under Bush, and that would probably expand under a potential Romney administration as well.
Every four years, we have an important opportunity to debate the way those powers are being executed – how wisely, how effectively, and yes, how constitutionally. That debate didn’t happen on Monday. It’s barely happened in this campaign cycle. And whoever wins in November, there is a price to be paid, in lives or liberties lost, for the fact that neither party’s candidate particularly wants it to take place.

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‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter’ patch released, complete details

EA’s "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" released on Tuesday, October 23, and for those who purchase the game today, you’ll find a large patch is awaiting you that addresses a number of key game issues.
On Tuesday morning, EA detailed the “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” patch, which is currently live for download, and what it fixes. With the patch tweaking the visuals, single-player, multiplayer, and a number of general aspects, it looks as though every bit of “Medal of Honor: Warfigher” has been touched upon and improved in some way.
Below you can find complete details on the “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” patch.
New Features:
•Now able to add friends and join parties while in-game.
•Can invite others to your platoon or apply to join a platoon while in-game.
General Tweaks and Fixes
Multiplayer Gameplay
•Removed initial delay to Spec Ops Signal Scan charging.
•Snipers in Recon stance will no longer be visible to enemy RQ7/RQ11 UAVs.
•Increased the accuracy of server-side aiming prediction.
•Fixed an issue with “Fall Back” spawning to improve its behavior.
•Fixed spawn type changing to Buddy Spawn automatically when it is not supposed to.
•Call in a Blackhawk for the losing team if they are getting dominated in Sector Control.
Single-Player Gameplay
•Added tutorial text to first sniper encounter to help teach player about bullet drop.
•Fixed an issue where the default difficulty was set to Easy instead of Normal.
•Fixed an issue where controls would become unresponsive under certain conditions.
•Fixed an issue with one of the in-game cinematics.
•Improved single player stability and fixed progression stoppers.
Matchmaking, Parties, and Platoons
•Smoothed out the matchmaking flow between successful matchmaking and joining the player to the game.
•Players can no longer join an invitation only party without being invited.
•Fixed issues with joining single players together into Fireteams.
•Fixed an issue where Veteran platoon members could not reach Elite status.
•Platoon ownership is now automatically transferred to the most senior member/GM of the platoon when the current leader leaves the
platoon.
•Fixed an issue where a member that is removed from a platoon becomes its leader.
•Fixed an issue where players could not rejoin the same platoon matchmaking server after playing a game on that server.
•If a player leaves one platoon and joins another, their platoon card now properly reflects that change.
•Fixed an issue where the platoon patch would not show up for other members if one member leaves the platoon.
•Fixed another issue where the platoon patch would no longer show up under certain circumstances.
•Sending a platoon invite when both players are in-game now works properly.
Weapons
•Fixed “no scope” shooting. Players were getting immediate ADS accuracy without having to wait for the scope to come all the way up. Was very exploitable for snipers.
•Sped up the bolt action on the CS5, since it was longer than the TAC300.
•Fixed issue with gap between where the LTLM can’t fire and where it indicates the target is too close.
•Reduced the damage/range of the Demolition’s SMGs (Scar PDW, HK 416c, Suchka), as they were overpowered.
•Made switching between primary and secondary weapons much more responsive.
•Fixed an issue where a grenade would not be thrown the next time if the user switches to their weapon while cooking a grenade.
•Player will now switch back to their secondary weapon if that is the weapon in use when throwing their last grenade.
•Fixed an issue where aiming was pushing the player away from the wall they were standing next to.
•Fixed clearance check for placing the Radar Jammer.
•Fixed auto-ADS not working when peek-and-leaning while prone.
•Implemented pre-streaming for weapons to reduce the time from spawn to ready-to-fire to be 0 seconds in most cases. Down from around 2 seconds prior to this fix.
UI and User Experience
Navigation
•Made the start button responsive as soon as the player enters the first menu screen.
•Simplified the way players navigate and select in the My Gun and Class Select menus.
•Fixed the way the UI handles scrolling, including speed and correct scroll bar position.
•Cleaned up a number of other small navigation quirks and issues.
User Experience
•Servers in the Server Browser are now sorted based on ping, giving priority to servers closest to the player.
•Filtering servers by name now works properly.
•Fixed an issue where changes in My Gun and My Soldier were not being retained when joining a game via the Quick Match or Matchmaking options in the MP Lobby.
•Optimized the login flow into Multiplayer.
•Updated the MP Lobby to include a shortcut to creating a Party.
•Quick Match button in the MP Lobby is now contextual, and will change to Platoon Matchmaking if you are in a Platoon Party.
•Fixed the Server Browser filter to properly sort for games that have 6+ open slots.
•Fixed a 20 second hang during the Online Pass flow.
•We now keep the queuing message open as long as the player is still queuing.
•Clean up notification numbers when a new item is viewed.
•Various other flow and user experience optimizations.
Visual Polish
•We now turn off the HUD when we start to show the outro scoreboard.
•Fixed display of text in disabled dropdowns.
•Fixed some subtitle lines being cut off.
•Removed hints and tips from the loading screens that were no longer valid.
•Fixed the Player Banners to display the correct rank icon and number.
•Fixed placement of auto-save icon on CRT TVs.
•Fixed HUD elements not showing in certain cases.
•Fixed animations in the post-match screens as they show the player’s progression.
•Fixed the timer not displaying in the post-match screens.
•Fixed player name tags not showing up in-game in Home Run.
•Icons are now scaled on the sniper’s mini-map when they are using the bipod.
•Updated the art used in the Player Banner.
•Fixed some camera issues on level entry.
•Fixed the demolitions class mask display in certain situations.
•Fixed an issue that would cause some images not to display properly.
•Various other alignment, corruption, overlap and visual improvements and fixes.
Misc Fixes
•Fixed an issue where the Battlelog social hub introduction was showing every time you opened the Battlelog social hub.
•VOIP team channel no longer includes players from the other team.
•Round cycling no longer changes VOIP settings for the players
•Fixed an issue with VOIP in the Home Run game mode.
•Fixed an issue where Double XP was not being awarded to players who had both logged on to medalofhonor.com and who had played on a multiplayer server.
•Fixed an issue where the Global Warfighter medal was not being awarded after players had completed a tour with each class.
•Fixed muffled firing sounds when scope is zoomed in.
•Localization fixes, in both audio and text.
Additional Fixes Made on PC and PS3
Multiplayer Gameplay
•Improved the camera for the Apache.
•Improved the aiming of the rockets in the Apache.
•Improved Blackhawk functionality in Novi Grad Warzone.
•Fixed a bug in the rules for pre-round in Combat Mission.
•Fixed a couple of out of bounds issues in Sarajevo Stadium.
•Fixed an out of bounds issue in Basilan Aftermath.
•Fixed a bad spawn point in Team Deathmatch in Somalia Stronghold.
•(PS3 – Japan) Fixed an issue that prevented 17-year old users from playing online.
Visual Polish
•Fixed an issue where support action icons were overlapping each other.
•Kill messages should now better match timing within gameplay.
•Improved readability of kill messages.
•Fixed visual effects issue in Tungawan Jungle.
•Fixed mini-map issue in Shogore Valley.
•Improved visual fidelity of some of the flag images.
•Smoothed transitions between screens in the Mulitplayer menus.
•Fixed a visual glitch when adjusting the brightness in the Options menu.
•Fixed a bug where the News in the MP Lobby was not showing up.
Misc Fixes
•Removed Quit Game from the Top Navigation Bar in the in-game pause menu and placed it under “Last Resort” in the Respawn Menu.
•Fixed a case of an explosion not playing the correct audio.
•Various audio mix updates.
•(PS3 – Japan) Various stability fixes.
•Fixed functionality and list updates for Favorite and Recent servers.
•Players with chat restrictions are no longer allowed to create their own platoon.
•Platoon names and tags are now restricted to no more than 3 numerals each.
•(PS3 – Japan) Fixed two issues related to platoon names and chat-restricted accounts.
•Fixed an issue with invites specific to PS3 and PC where the player would get stuck on a black screen.
•Various stability and performance improvements.
•(PS3 – Japan) Fixed an issue related to save file size calculation.
Additional Fixes Made on Xbox 360
•Improved the handling of memory cards and saved profiles.
•Improved handling of parties and Fireteam designations in Platoon matches.
•Fixed an issue related to progression loss if the user removes the storage device.
•Fixed an issue where a player’s class was changing without their input.
•Fixed an issue where, under certain circumstances, brand new players were forced to play with a placeholder weapon in multiplayer until
their first death.
•Stability improvements.
Additional Fixes Made on PC
•Fixed an issue where controller prompts were showing even though a controller was not plugged in.
•Mouse wheel now works with all scrolling lists in the game.

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'Pretty Little Liars' Halloween Recap: Murder on the Homo Express

OMG U GUYZ THEY R BACK!!! For one night only. The past two seasons, Pretty Little Liars gave us fake Halloween episodes that ultimately really didn’t have anything to do with the rest of the drama. I mean, there was Alison wearing the worst Lady Gaga costume in the history of Lady Gaga costumes. (I would know – I once sang “Pokerface” with a really bad Gaga on Halloween in a West Village McDonald’s for free fries.) This season, we open with Mona in the insane asylum, singing a song probably cut from Sondheim’s Into the Woods because it’s pure horror. Mona is wearing a zipper hoodie, which I think provides 17 potential ways to kill someone and therefore should not be asylum-appropriate attire. Mona is talking about how much she loves Halloween (duh) while painting a papier-mâché head (double duh). She then hands over three pills and three bullets to a masked A creature lurking in the corner – the best Halloween present ever! Trick or treat!

Flash to the Liars, who seem dressed for Halloween already and walking among the densest Halloween decorations in the history of suburbia. There are a lot of fake cobwebs hanging from the trees, which I’m super okay with because that is my favorite holiday decoration. Aria is wearing striped tights, Spencer’s hair is killing it, and Hanna looks like an extra from a club scene in Basic Instinct. No one can see Emily’s body because she’s hiding slash not bringing up the death of Nate. I’m pretending to judge everyone’s look, but really I was squealing because it was so amazing to see these four together and wearing their standard fare. Also, a character that no one has ever mentioned before is dressed up as Skeleton Alison. An example of high class in Rosewood! Cue the newly blood-soaked title cards!

Spencer makes it home and suddenly Garrett is already inside. Ooookay, Garrett, take it easy. Garrett is dropping off flowers for Mariska, but then says a bunch of confusing words that ultimately mean he’s really there to talk with Spencer about something important. Toby enters through the backdoor via apparition, because the Hastings household is basically an open breezeway for the town’s entire teenage population, and Toby promptly kicks Garrett out. Ouch, talk later, bud. Toby’s nose is looking extra flat these days, Spencer calls herself a “modern post-feminist,” and Toby gives Spence another hug where he keeps his eyeballs as creepy as possible behind her back.

Hanna did not make it home, because she went to see Caleb at the hospital; the two are macking in the storage closet, and PLL is suddenly a prequel to Grey’s Anatomy. Remember when that show was good and Izzie wasn’t having sex with a ghost and planes weren’t crashing and Meredith was trying to drown herself during a ferry crisis? Aria also didn’t make it home, as she’s off to Fitz’s apartment. Fitz can’t make the massive Ghost Train party – he has to head to Philadelphia for a big work meeting. Fitz is also giving some creepy eyeballs here and there – does he have secrets? And it does feel like we’re desperately trying to get our girls alone, no? No one knows/cares if Emily makes it home. Oopsie.

Fast-forward to the Ghost Train, and the girls come dressed as movie characters – Hanna is Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, Aria is Daisy from The Great Gatsby (Aria is rude to Hanna about book vs. movie, and I also very much wish she had picked a character from To Kill A Mockingbird), Spencer is Bonnie to Toby’s Clyde, aaand Emily is Barbarella. Emily as Barbarella is, like, the most amazing thing, only everyone gives her and Paige literally the most unenthusiastic welcome when they walk through the cloud of smoke that seems to be the train’s door. There’s also someone wearing Evil Doll Mask, and Jenna dressed as Trampy Pirate featuring a hilariously awesome eye patch. Does Jenna have balls, or DOES JENNA HAVE BALLS. She could have gone for Elle Drive from Kill Bill, but I’m not in charge.

Meanwhile, at the crazy farm, Mona has escape. Surprise, surprise. As everyone is on the train, only the characters we know make it to the “performance car,” a.k.a. the Adam Lambert show. Adam is dressed as a vampire and vamping as hard as humanly possible, reminding us that he didn’t actually win American Idol. I miss crying over American Idol winners. Hanna is dancing like she is the greatest person in the world (newsflash: she is), and Aria is dancing like she’d rather be literally anywhere else; the two together equals the best dance duo on television. There’s a great shot where we linger on Evil Doll Mask wallflowering in the back corner. There’s also a shadowy Phantom of the Opera-esque figure grabbing Hanna’s butt. Jason appears from the smoke door as James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause, which is a really great look for him. I don’t remember what he talked about because I never remember what Jason talks about.

Adam has been singing for 47 minutes to waste a lot of time in the middle of this episode, which allows Hanna to knee Phantom in the crotch before finding out that Phantom is actually Caleb. They kiss a lot. If you thought Phantom was anyone other than Caleb, do you not understand how to watch this show? Adam is also doing this weird maybe flirting thing with Aria because she is clearly depressed about not having Ezra around; the train is really loud, and Aria has to write ARIA in the window fog so Adam can understand her wonky name and continue to homoflirt. He does not comment on the size of her eyeballs. Next thing we know, some Creepy Sparkly Jester is dropping roofie into Aria’s drink while Emily and Paige kiss forever and ever in the back of the train. So much kissing on this haunted train. I need to visit more trains. There are a lot of homosexual agendas on the Ghost Train.

Evil Doll Mask kidnaps Spencer, and it’s… Garrett! Garrett suddenly reveals that he has always cared about Spencer, which is confusing and kind of funny. Garrett is also talking 93 times faster than his normal slow police talk, so we know to listen up. Garrett tells about the night Ali died: Garrett and Jenna took a shortcut through Ali’s backyard, and accidently ran into Ali; after Ali had a bitchfight with the then-blind Jenna, Garrett pretended to kill her with the field hockey stick. Jenna, being blind, thought Garrett actually did the deed. Garrett also saw Alison and Aria’s Father exchanged clipped word in the yard. Spencer runs to get the other girls so they can also hear Garrett’s story, but Garrett has made it very clear that he only wanted to tell Spencer and then disappear forever…

When Spencer goes to find Aria, we notice that the ARIA in the window fog now only reads… A. Welp, Aria is gone. Spencer gets a text — “Guess who’s not gonna make it to the end of the line” — and the girls realizes that A is 100 percent still alive and well and playing games. Uh oh. I did notice that Spencer has a really nice Halloween-themed background on her cellphone, and I hope that app is not terribly expensive. We see that Aria is trapped in a big-ass crate in the luggage compartment of the train as the girls start to search the full train. I kept getting distracted during all of these scenes because Spencer just looks SO. DAMN. GOOD.

Let’s take a short break from the Ghost Train to award Worst Halloween Sub-Plot in the History of Halloween: Hanna’s Porno Mom and Church Pastor are dressed as Raggedy Ann Hot Nurse and Doctor with Exorcist Vom on His Coat, and have built a creepy fake laboratory in the foyer. I would not let me children step foot inside that house. Whatever. Porno Mom keeps seeing a little girl who is clearly from 1742; the little girl is always talking about her mother, and Porno Mom keeps saying, “Here’s the phone to make a call — wait in this random room of my house and I’ll be back in three hours.” Naturally, the little girl is a ghost (or something) and disappears (or something). The ghost girl is cold and I kept thinking, “Molly/Ashley/Laura… you in danger, girl!” Porno Mom and Pastor Doctor drink some wine and discuss signing on for Paranormal Activity 5. The end. All of these scenes made me wish I was watching the Boy Meets World Halloween Scream parody.

Back on the train, Hanna is frantically telling Caleb that A is around, except there is an imposter pretending to be Caleb. That Phantom mask is sneaky. When Hanna pulls off the Phantom mask, the creepster is wearing a shiny latex mask of Alison’s face, which is possibly the most disturbing image this show was pulled. Bravo. On the other side of the train, Creepy Sparkly Jester is choking Spencer to death till Paige shows up and saves the day by scaring off the Jester and stealing one of the Jester’s long red fake nails. Paige tells Spencer “it was a pleasure” saving her life, which comes off way more pseudo-sexual than BFF giggly. Aria, still trapped in her wood case of emotion, is pulling some Houdini magic while rocking the crate. If Aria watched Kill Bill a few more times and also received soapy Japanese training à la Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke, she could have broken out of the crate with her knuckles. Aria also finds out that she is trapped in the box with Garrett’s dead body. YEP, GARRETT IS DEFINITELY DEAD, so there’s the episode’s big murder. Yikes. Lucy Hale is really fantastic through all of this, because when the Liars finally rescue her crate from falling off the back of the train, Lucy brings the trauma. Garrett’s corpse is scary.

The train is stopped due to, you know, murder, and the Liars realize that A is killing off the little “club” that these boys all belonged to while at Rosewood, the people that were around Alison the night she died. Ezra shows up to embrace Aria, and she can’t believe that she has a beautiful boyfriend, even if they dated illegally for an incredibly long time. Noel Kahn and Toby get in a macho shoving match, and Toby throws Noel against a giant ice tub of sodas that had been taking up the entire train for the entire episode. This tub was really distracting. Seriously, I was so thirsty for a chilled soda. Regardless, Noel breaks the ice tub after one of Toby’s hearty slams AND A BODY BAG SPILLS OUT FROM THE ICE. Party favors for everyone! It looks like Alison’s body bag, which was stolen from her grave at the opening of the season. Jason looks… upset. Mona, back in her insane bed, looks very happy. She has the demented Alison latex mask beneath her bed. Uh OH. 279 points for Team A.

The episode ends with a brief reference to De Palma’s Carrie, which I don’t understand at all. There’s a hand reaching up out of the dirt in Alison’s backyard? Is that Alison’s backyard? Was Alison buried alive? Nothing logical can come from all this, other than the reminder that Stephen King’s Carrie novel does not end with the infamous scene from the movie. I love Carrie so much. Hooray, useless facts! PLL returns in full on Jan. 8th, which feels really far away. This Halloween special was more eventful than normal, but we still got a lot of filler. However, that filler consisted of lame 18th century ghosts and a belting homosexual vampire glam band, so no one is allowed to complain. I’m planning on dressing up as Little Edie this Halloween, so maybe the Liars will invite me out since I’m practically a movie character. Right? Fingers crossed.

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