Gabrielle Giffords/Shootings/Steps Down from Congress 01/22

[gwen]

Spokesman: Giffords Speaking "More and More"
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Remarkable Recovery from Gunshot Wound to the Head Reaches Milestone: She Speaks, Spokesman Says

(CBS/AP)

A spokesman for Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said the congresswoman is speaking "more and more," one month after being shot in the head at an event with constituents that killed six others, reports the Associated Press.

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin told the AP that Giffords spoke for the first time within the past few days.

He does not know what her very first words were, but says that at breakfast one morning she asked for toast.

After CBS News asked Giffords' office to confirm a Politico story claiming something similar, they responded: "The reports of Congresswoman Giffords improving in ALL areas areHusband: Giffords Would Be OK With Flight Decision true. She has a daily rigorous therapy schedule that includes a lot of work on her speech capacity. She is working really hard and its paying off."

On Tuesday, one of Giffords' doctors said he hopes the wounded congresswoman can make enough progress to attend her husband's space launch in two months, describing it as a goal to work toward as many in Arizona paused to mark one month since she was shot at a political event.

The space shuttle Endeavour will leave April 19 for a two-week mission to the International Space Station, and astronaut Mark Kelly announced last week that he'll be aboard and expects his wife, who was shot in the forehead, to see him off.

Dr. Gerard Francisco said doctors would have to make decisions on a variety of medical issues for that to happen, including whether Giffords can fly to Cape Canaveral, Fla., how much assistance she would need, and how much noise she can tolerate.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Kelly wrote it's hard to believe only one month had passed.

"The doctors say she is recovering at lightning speed considering her injury, but they aren't kidding when they say this is a marathon process," he said. "There are encouraging signs every day, though."

Kelly wrote that Giffords has her appetite back and is enjoying three meals a day "even though it's hospital food."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/ ... ?tag=stack

[ThePhoenix]

Although these advancements are wonderful for Giffords on a personal level - I wonder if the public puts more expectations behind them than they should?

I have a cousin who suffered a brain aneurysm about a year and a half ago. Despite several setbacks - (fluid buildup that required a shunt, falling off a bed and breaking a hip, the hip replacement leading to an infection, etc) she has steadily made strides. But bottom line - she is still unable to function independently and lives in a group home.

I think we need to temper our expectations for Gabby. If she winds up as 'abled" as James Brady I believe that would be a wonderful outcome. I think the media has people thinking she will re-emerge as the same woman she was before being shot. When it comes to medical miracles I know we should never say never. But IMO - just parsing the words her husband says (ie. this is "what she would want" as opposed to this is "what she indicates she wants") tells me she is still in very grievous condition.

I hope I am wrong.

[Fashionista]

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[gwen]

Gabrielle Giffords Knows Little About Shooting
Congresswoman's Chief of Staff: Word of Deaths, Others' Injuries Will Be Unknown to Her Until She Can Communicate Better

(CBS) It's been nearly six weeks since Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was seriously injured in a shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz. While those close to her say her recovery is nothing short of remarkable, doctors say she still has a long way to go.

For the past month, Giffords (D, Ariz.) has been undergoing intense physical therapy at a rehabilitation center in Houston, gaining the ability, not only to speak, but to interact with her family and friends.

In an "Early Show" interview, Pia Carusone, Giffords' chief of staff, said the congresswoman isn't fully aware of what happened the day in early January suspected gunman Jared Loughner allegedly opened fire on a crowd gathered for her political event.

Carusone said, "She certainly knows that there's been a traumatic event here. The details of the severity of the injuries to the others, you know, she doesn't know yet about. But she will in time, when she's, you know, at a higher level of communication. Doctors have said it's not really fair, as you can imagine, to tell something so tragic to someone that might not have the ability to ask the detailed questions that someone will have when they hear this news."

CBS News correspondent Don Teague reported that, in the nearly six weeks since Giffords was shot, doctors have called her progress nothing short of remarkable. However, phyisicians caution the long-term damage is still difficult to measure.

Dr. Jonathan Fellus, a neurologist and neuro-rehab specialist, said, "The long-term issues are really going to be focused on language -- her communication abilities, reading, writing, and of course moving that right arm as well."

But friends say these "long-term issues" are obstacles she is determined to overcome.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, Fla.) said, "You could see she really wanted to engage. And she wanted to be responsive and she really responds with facial expressions and smiles and frowns. But I also saw a little frustrationin wanting to try to respond, because she understood and she wasn't yet able to (respond)."

Teague added, "Giffords has a long recovery ahead of her, but doctors have repeated that her healing has been nothing short of miraculous."

When "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill asked about Giffords' abilities to speak, Carusone replied, "There's various words in her vocabulary that are coming back, and new words every day that we hear. Short phrases, simple thoughts. There's no doubt that she understands what's happening around her."

Carusone continued, "She laughs at the appropriate times."

Carusone said Giffords can watch TV. She and husband Mark Kelly, an astronaut, watched "30 Rock" together last week, Carusone said.

"When the conversation turns serious she, I think, can sense that, Carusone said. "So (she) fully recognizes people that come in to visit her. So no one that has seen her has any doubt that she can understand everything around her. And you know, she's just working really hard. And progressing, it's paying off, and every day there's new progress that you see. So, you know, we feel very hopeful at her recovery."

Carusone described Giffords' rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston as "busy."

"They've got a track record for putting together a really great rehab program," Carusone said, "So, it's multi-faceted. I mean, you know, there's different teams of therapists that work on speech and physical and occupational therapy. Obviously, eating is a big part of getting better, and sleeping. I mean that's, you know, basics that we all know. So she does a lot of those things."

Carusone told CBS News Giffords is doing standing, strengthening and flexibility exercises. Her posture, she said, is great, but currently, she cannot walk on her own.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/ ... ?tag=stack

[gwen]

Arizona university founds civility institute

(Reuters) - A university in Tucson is seeking to turn the shooting rampage that severely wounded U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords last month into a teachable moment with a new institute promoting civility in politics.

The University of Arizona on Monday inaugurated the National Institute for Civil Discourse, which is a nonpartisan center for debate, research, education and policy.

The center seeks to "advance the national conversation currently taking place about civility in political debate," the university said in a news release.

Gunman Jared Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire on a crowd outside a Tucson supermarket on Jan 8, killing six people and wounding 13 including Giffords, who was shot through the head and is recovering in a Texas hospital.

The rampage renewed a national debate over gun control in the United States and soul searching over whether the vitriolic tone of U.S. politics had encouraged violence against elected officials.

Although the motives for the attack remain unclear, the new institute's director, Brint Milward, said "it provided a window of opportunity that we could use."

"I think Arizona will prove to be a wonderful test bed for civil discourse," said Milward, who is the director of the university's School of Government and Public Policy and will head up the institute.

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are to serve as honorary chairs of the think-tank, which is to be funded largely by private donations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... 7K20110221

[gwen]

Feds: Keep Tucson autopsies private

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to block the public release of the autopsy findings for the six people killed in the Tucson, Ariz., shootings that also left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) gravely injured.

In a request Monday, the prosecutors pursuing the case against alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner asked U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to place a gag order on the autopsies and to bar the Pima County medical examiner’s staff from talking to the media about the case. The prosecutors said in their filing that the families of five of the victims have requested that the autopsy results be kept private.

In the filing, the prosecutors said media organizations had requested copies of the autopsy reports but “there is concern that release of the autopsy reports, which describe the cause of death and trauma to the decedents’ bodies, may spawn prejudicial depictions of the decedents’ manner of death in the press.”

Loughner is alleged to have shot 19 people outside a Safeway supermarket in January in an apparent assassination attempt of Giffords. Federal Judge John Roll, Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Greene and three others were killed in the shooting.

Last month, Burns declined to block the release of mugshots of Loughner that were taken soon after the shooting rampage. Media organizations including POLITICO had filed requests for the images. Those photos were made public last Tuesday.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/50400.html

[gwen]

Feds' new indictment charges Loughner with 49 counts

A federal grand jury handed up a superseding indictment against suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner for the Jan. 8 melee outside a Tucson-area supermarket that left six dead and 13 wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

In an unexpected development, the new indictment includes 49 counts stemming from crimes against all of the victims, rather than just those five victims who were federal employees. The new charges in the indictment, which was handed up Thursday and unsealed Friday, include crimes committed against people in attendance at the congresswoman's event.

The additional charges were made under a provision in federal civil rights law that is usually applied to hate crimes, but can be extended to crimes against any person "participating in or enjoying any benefit, service, privilege, program, facility, or activity provided or administered by the United States" - in this case, Giffords' "Congress on Your Corner," a meet-and-greet event with her Tucson constituents.

The federal law forbids anyone from injuring, intimidating or interfering with any such person, or even attempting to do so.

Loughner, 22, had already been indicted on three federal charges related to wounding Giffords and two of her staffers.

It was initially expected that a new indictment,would add charges for the fatal shootings of U.S. District Judge John Roll and another Giffords aide. In fact, the initial criminal charges included the two murder charges, but they were dropped without prejudice, meaning they could be filed again, because the clock had run out on obtaining an indictment on the counts.

An indictment is a grand jury's determination that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, and it is the formal start of a court case.

It was expected that the remaining victims of the shootings would have to wait until the federal case was finished, in order to seek justice for the remaining victims on state criminal charges.

The new indictment includes the first charges, attempted assassination of a member of Congress and two counts of attempted murder of a federal employee for wounding Giffords' aides, Ron Barber and Pam Simon.

It also includes the murder charges for the deaths of Roll and Giffords' staffer Gabe Zimmerman, and charges related to those who were wounded or endangered at the event.

A section of the U.S. Code entitled "Civil Rights Offenses Resulting in Death," under which the new charges fall, has been used in recent years in bullying cases and cases where people died after being persecuted for gender preference or race.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... z1Fg3FTwua

[gwen]

Arizona shootings: Loughner's lawyer wants trial in 2013

The judge in the case against accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner has suggested a September trial date, but Loughner's defense attorney wants to push the trial back to January 2013, citing the need to gather mitigating evidence to save Loughner from a potential death penalty.

Loughner, 22, is charged with 49 counts related to the Jan. 8 murders of six people and wounding of 13 more, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, outside a Tucson-area supermarket where Giffords was meeting with constituents.

Loughner will appear in a Tucson courtroom on Wednesday to be arraigned on the new charges. U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns also intends to set a trial date at that hearing. In earlier court documents, Burns indicated that he would set the date of Sept. 20.

At least 14 of the counts make Loughner eligible for the death penalty, although a decision by prosecutors as to whether to seek it is likely months away.

In federal cases, the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., decides whether to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

In a trial schedule proposed in a motion filed Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly K. Anderson - which assumes the trial date suggested by Burns - Loughner's defense team would have to make its presentation to the Justice Department's Capital Case Review Committee on June 7. The department would then have to decide on whether to seek the death penalty by July 22.

But Loughner's lead attorney, Judy Clarke, in a motion also filed Friday, asked that Burns not set a trial date until after the Justice Department makes its decision on whether to seek the death penalty for Loughner, or in the alternative, to begin the trial in January 2013. Clarke wrote in her motion that because of the time "required to gain an understanding of the depths of Mr. Loughner's mental afflictions and their impact on his functioning in the world," she will not be ready to discuss capital punishment issues with the government until June 1, 2012, a year after the time suggested by prosecutors.

Clarke quotes federal statistics that conferences between defense and federal prosecutors regarding death are usually held about a year after indictment, and trials take place more than two years after indictment.

In a capital case, after guilt is determined - whether by trial or by plea - a jury must then weigh aggravating and mitigating evidence to determine if the defendant deserves to die for his or her crimes.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... -date.html

[gwen]

Accused Tucson killer pleads innocent to new charges

(Reuters) - Tucson shooting rampage suspect Jared Loughner pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to an expanded, 49-count indictment that set the stage for prosecutors to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

The plea came shortly before the federal judge presiding over the case sided with prosecutors in ordering Loughner to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.

District Judge Larry Burns set a May 25 hearing date on competency despite objections from defense lawyer Judy Clarke, who said such a proceeding was premature and could interfere with her ability to build trust with her client.

The 22-year-old college dropout is accused of opening fire with a semiautomatic pistol on a congresswoman and a crowd of bystanders attending a political event outside a grocery store in January.

Six people, including a federal judge, were killed and 13 others were wounded, among them Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot through the head.

In asking for a mental evaluation, prosecutors cited widely publicized accounts of erratic, paranoid behavior by Loughner in the months before the shooting rampage, including homemade videos posted to YouTube in which Loughner talks about mistrust of the government and mind control.

"I am convinced by the government's argument that there is reasonable cause to believe the defendant may not understand the proceedings," Burns said.

Earlier in the hearing, Clarke asked the court to enter a plea of not guilty to the indictment on behalf of her client, who stood by her side as the charges were read.

Wearing shackles and dressed in a tan prison jumpsuit, Loughner entered the courtroom with a slight smile on his face, sporting sideburns and his formerly shaved hair grown out.

Asked in court if his name was Jared Loughner, he replied "Yes it is."

Burns also granted a request by media organizations to release the bulk of search warrant records in the case, now that the grand jury investigation had been completed.

But he deferred a decision on a defense motion seeking to bar prison officials from furnishing the FBI with psychological records about Loughner and reports on his behavior while he is incarcerated.

Loughner is accused as the lone gunman in a shooting spree that turned an outdoor "Congress on Your Corner" gathering for Giffords on January 8 into a bloodbath. Giffords, described by prosecutors as Loughner's primary target, remains hospitalized at a rehabilitation center in Houston.

The return of the new, expanded indictment against Loughner launched a formal Justice Department review of the case to decide whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison.

The 28-page document, unsealed last Friday, contains 49 charges, including two counts of first-degree murder of a federal employee for the deaths of a judge and a Giffords aide. Loughner also is charged with causing the deaths of four others who were "participants at a federally provided activity."

Those charges as well as additional counts of first-degree murder through the use of a firearm are all capital offenses.

The latest charges expand on an indictment returned in January accusing Loughner of attempting to assassinate Giffords and the attempted murder of two other wounded staff members.

The new indictment incorporates those charges and a criminal complaint filed the day after the shooting which included murder charges for deaths of Judge John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona, and Gabe Zimmerman, the Democratic congresswoman's director of community outreach.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/ ... geNumber=2

[Fashionista]

<center>Loughner, Tucson victims come face-to-face


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In a federal courthouse the man accused of the Tucson massacre, Jared Loughner, pleaded not guilty to new charges and came face-to-face with some of his victims. John Blackstone reports on the latest details.



http://www.cbsnews.com/

[gwen]

Doctors say Gabrielle Giffords told she was shot

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s husband has told her that she was shot, but she has no memory of the incident, her doctors said Friday as they offered an update on her medical condition.

Doctors treating the Arizona Democrat said at morning press conference that she is “leaps and bounds” in her recovery, barely two months after being shot in the head at a constituent event in Tucson.

Offering their first update on Giffords’s health since late January — just after she was moved from Tucson to Houston for rehabilitation — the doctors said that the Arizona Democrat has made “a tremendous amount of progress,” and is able to walk with assistance, string words together and pass simple memory tests.

“We can really have a conversation with her at this point,” neurosurgeon Dong Kim said at a press conference in Houston. “She’s already starting to speak in full sentences when she wants” something, he said. “For example, she said, ‘I’m tired, I want to go to bed.’ Just like that.”

Kim said she has been told about the mass shooting in which she was injured. “She has been told about the event both by her husband and by us, and I think she understands,” he said. It’s not clear whether Giffords knows people were killed in the incident.

Giffords’s short-term memory has also sharpened,” Kim said. “She can repeat anything we say to her. Now, that’s an important neurological recovery fact because what that means is that her whole primary language areas are intact.”

The congresswoman’s breathing tube has been removed in the last week, said Imogele Aisiku, the doctor who performed the procedure. “It was a significant advancement forward for her and she was very excited and expressed that demonstratively as we were able to take that out for her,” he said.

Gerard Francisco, the doctor overseeing Giffords’s rehabilitation said Giffords is “gaining more movement, she’s gaining more ability to do things for herself.” And, he said, “The amount of assistance she needs has decreased significantly.”

Kim was also upbeat about the congresswoman’s physical capabilities. “Given that it’s only been two months and she’s already walking, that’s a very favorable sign that she’ll be even stronger over the next few months,” he said.

He added that the replacement of the piece of her skull that was removed immediately after the shooting will likely happen in May. “Typically we replace that about three or four months after injury,” he said.

A source close to Giffords told POLITICO on Thursday that she is “very likely” to attend the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is being commanded by her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly. The launch is scheduled for April 19 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Giffords’s doctors said Friday they hoped to see her make it to the launch but hadn’t decided on final plans on how to pull it off.

“It’s a good possibility that she will be able to attend her husband’s space shuttle launch next month,” Kim said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51123.html

[gwen]

'Exciting reunion' for Giffords, brother-in-law
It's 'more smiles than tears' as astronaut sees congresswoman for first time since shooting

PHOENIX — Astronaut Scott Kelly saw his sister-in-law, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, on Friday in her Houston hospital for the first time since she was wounded 2½ months ago in a mass shooting in Tucson, the congresswoman's spokesman said Monday.

Kelly was in the middle of a five-month space station mission for NASA when Giffords was shot in the head Jan. 8 while meeting with constituents. Six people were killed and 13 others were wounded, including Giffords, who is married to Kelly's identical twin, Mark Kelly.

After rushing back to Houston a day after landing in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian capsule last week, Scott Kelly was able to visit Giffords Friday evening, said Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin.

There were more smiles than tears at the "exciting reunion," he said.

"The congresswoman was beaming," Karamargin said. "There were a lot of smiles, a lot of broad smiles."

Scott Kelly told Giffords what his time in space was like, from living in a weightless environment to his bouncy landing back on Earth, Karamargin said.

The shooting, "without a doubt," was the low point of the 159-day mission. "Shocking, very sad, tragic," Scott Kelly said in a NASA interview conducted within hours of his touchdown.

"It certainly was difficult," he said about being stuck in space when the shooting occurred.

Karamargin himself hadn't seen Giffords since she was transferred from Tucson to her Houston hospital in January and said she's "really making amazing progress."

"Gabby is pushing herself," he said.

Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges, many of which carry the death penalty if prosecutors pursue it. State charges are on hold until the federal case is complete.

Since the shooting, Giffords has seemingly made progress every day. She now talks on a regular basis and sings some of her favorite songs as part of her musical therapy.

Mark Kelly is the commander of NASA's next shuttle flight on April 19. Giffords still plans to attend the launch in person, but that will depend on doctors' approval and working out the logistics, Karamargin said.

"When you see the improvements that are being made on a daily basis, then it's just more reason to hope that it will be able to happen," he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42202254/ns/us_news/

[Fashionista]

<center>


Rep. Gabrielle Giffords boards jet in Houston to attend space shuttle launch



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[Fashionista]

<center>First Pictures of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Since Shooting, Walking on Her Own


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Courtesy KTRK
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords arrives to board an airplane Wednesday,
April 27, 2011, to travel to Florida to see her husband's space shuttle
launch, in another important step in her long recovery from a bullet
wound to the head suffered at a political event nearly four months ago.</center>


By GINA SUNSERI and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
HOUSTON April 27, 2011

A fragile but determined Rep. Gabrielle Giffords walked one careful step at a time today up the steps of a plane that will take her Florida to watch her husband blast off on the final mission of the space shuttle Endeavor..

The gritty walk by Giffords, who was wearing a padded medical helmet, was her first public steps since being shot in the head at a public event in January.

The Arizona congresswoman left TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital and boarded a waiting NASA plane at Ellington Airport in Houston.

Giffords was spotted leaving the hospital in a wheelchair and with her face covered before being driven to the airport. At the airport, she walked under her own power and without assistance from the car to the plane stairway and slowly up the steps.

Giffords' staff has tried to keep her out of view from the public, and said she would not be making any public appearances during the Endeavor's launch. Giffords will be joined on Friday by Kelly's three daughters, President Obama and the first lady at Cape Canaveral to watch the launch.

Giffords' husband navy pilot and astronaut Mark Kelly arrived at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday.

"She's been working really hard to make sure that her doctors would permit her to come," Kelly said Tuesday.

NASA said Giffords would receive a "little more care and attention" as she visited Florida to watch the launch.

"She is over here just like any other crew family. She needs a little more care and attention," said NASA manager Mike Moses.

"The only real impact is the extra traffic in the area but we are pleased she is here to witness her husband's launch," he said.

Kelly struggled with whether he would pilot the mission, the second to last flight of a NASA shuttle, or stay at his wife's bedside. As Giffords began showing marked improvement, he decided to fly.

On Monday, Giffords' staff said the congresswoman had just started learning details of the shooting that injured 13 people and killed 6, including federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

Her doctors said Giffords' speech and walking was improving and visiting Florida launch was a rehabilitation goal.

"Attending the launch is an opportune time for her to continue her therapy progression," Dr. Gerard Francisco, lead physician of the brain injury rehabilitation team at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, said in a statement.

"Her attending the launch is a goal that we were working toward, and we have achieved that end. She has made remarkable progress in her rehabilitation, and we saw no reason why she could not travel safely to Florida."

The crew of Endeavour will wear blue bracelets in honor of Giffords and when Kelly, 47, reaches space, he will read a personal note from his wife. The crew will also wake up to a song chosen by Giffords. During Kelly's 2006 mission, Giffords, Kelly's girlfriend at the time, selected U2's "Beautiful Day" to wake up the crew.

Kelly's mission, STS 134, is the second to last space shuttle flight for NASA, and will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the space station. AMS will detect particles to prove or disprove the Big Bang Theory of the formation of the universe.

Kelly and five other astronauts on this mission are in quarantine now, standard practice before any space shuttle launch to keep the crew healthy for their mission.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/pictures-gabri ... d=13469566



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[yankee-in-france]

... now this is good news. Thanks, Fash.

[Fashionista]

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[Fashionista]

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[Fashionista]

<center>Gabrielle Giffords Smiles in First Photos Since Shooting</center>

By Champ Clark and Alison Schwartz
Sunday June 12, 2011 09:05 AM EDT

<center>

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her mother Gloria Giffords
P.K. Weis / Giffords Campaign</center>


Since the January shooting that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords seriously wounded, the Arizona congresswoman has been recovering in private.

But on Sunday, Giffords posted two photographs of herself on her official Facebook page.

The images, which were taken by photographer P.K. Weis, on May 17 – the day after the congresswoman attended husband Mark Kelly's NASA shuttle launch – outside a Houston, Texas, medical center. They show a smiling Giffords with short, darker hair wearing wire-rimmed glasses.

"These photos reveal an upbeat image of Gabrielle Giffords," spokesman C.J. Karamargin tells PEOPLE. "When you see the pictures you see that she has progressed in leaps and bounds. When they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, if ever that was true, it is true here."

In one of the images she's with her mother, Gloria Giffords. "Gloria has been by her side throughout," Karamargin said. "You can see the mother-daughter bond [in the photo]. It is an apt reflection of their relationship."

As for that smile, Karamargin said Giffords was beaming after watching the launch of space shuttle Endeavor captained by her husband.

"She was in very, very good spirits. The reason was that she got to watch Mark ride off into space. She was thrilled by that. People who know her say they saw a boost in her spirits and her strength. And her doctors predicted this might happen," Karamargin said. "Going to the launch was a tremendous milestone for her."

Giffords will soon have even more to smile about when she reaches another milestone. Doctors, Karamargin said, expect to release her from the hospital to an outpatient program.

"They are preparing her to go home," he said. "This is wonderful for her."



http://www.people.com/people/article/0, ... 32,00.html

[Fashionista]

<center>


Hospital in Texas says U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was released and expects to begin outpatient treatment soon. </center>



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[Fashionista]

<center>Breaking News: House Approves Debt Deal | Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Applauded on Return to House for Vote







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The House of Representatives decisively passed a bill tonight to raise the nation's debt ceiling, capping months of negotiation between House Republicans and President Obama.

And Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, made her first appearance on Capitol Hill since being shot in her district in January. She voted in support of the deal that would raise the debt ceiling.

"Gabrielle has returned to Washington to support a bipartisan bill to prevent economic crisis," read a tweet from her office account as the vote was starting.


http://abcnews.go.com/

[yankee-in-france]

I just read the story, Fash. Oh, I am very happy that she has progressed so well and was able to be there for the vote.

[gwen]

Gabrielle Giffords interview with Diane Sawyer to air Nov. 14

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will sit down with Diane Sawyer for her first TV interview since she was shot Jan. 8, ABC News announced on Monday.

The Arizona Democrat will appear with her husband Mark Kelly during a prime-time special Nov. 14, the Associated Press reported. On Nov. 15, her joint memoir with Kelly, entitled “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope,” hits bookshelves.

The book will chart the couple’s romance, Giffords’ political rise, Kelly’s work as an astronaut and the Jan. 8 shooting when a gunman killed six and shot Giffords in the head at a constituent meeting she held near Tucson. The memoir will also cover her intensive recovery over the past few months.

Kelly has given interviews since the shooting — he granted his first to Sawyer as well — but Giffords has not.

And a spokesperson for Scribner, the book’s publisher, told the New York Times on Monday that Giffords and Kelly have not scheduled any other interviews related to the memoir.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/09 ... z1XmPNvvgt

[Fashionista]

<center>Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Rejected Staff Request to Skip Meeting Where She Was Shot


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By COLLEEN CURRY
Nov. 11, 2011


The night before Gabrielle Giffords was shot, she sent an email to her husband and a friend, bemoaning the state of politics in Arizona.

"My poor state!" she wrote. "The nut jobs have stolen it away from the good people of Arizona."

The nut jobs, who in the past months had shot out the glass doors and windows of Giffords office, were beginning to worry the congresswoman, according to the new book Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, written by Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly. But Giffords forged ahead, meeting with constituents to hear their concerns.

Giffords' office had been flooded with violent phone calls and e-mails during the health care debate in 2010. The congresswoman had been threatened and called derogatory names, and her staffers had feared for their safety.

At a meet-and-greet at a Tucson supermarket in 2009, as protesters shouted Giffords down over the controversial health care law, a gun slipped from someone's holster and slid across the floor toward Giffords and her staff.

"That was a scary moment for Gabby and her staffers," Kelly writes. "They realized people could be coming to (Congress on Your Corner) events armed."

Watch "Gabby and Mark: Courage and Hope," a Diane Sawyer Exclusive on Monday, Nov. 14 at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT on ABC.

But on Jan. 5, as she was sworn into her third term in Congress, Giffords decided that despite the danger, she would have another Congress on Your Corner event at the same supermarket, just three days later.

"Why don't you take Saturday to yourself?" Kelly recounts her chief of staff, Pia Carusone urging. "Give yourself a break."

"No," Giffords replied. "Let's do it. Let's hear what people think of everything."

The Democratic congresswoman was not going to let the growing signs of menace keep her away from constituents. At the same time she was making a point to stay away from the violent rhetoric and the deeply partisan spirit that had overtaken Washington.

After a health care reform opponent shot out the windows and doors of Giffords' Tucson office in 2010, she had told MSNBC viewers that violence had no place in politics.

Determined to display a bipartisan spirit, Giffords waited in a line full of Republicans to shake the hand of new House Majority Leader John Boehner. Though many other Democrats decided not to show up, Giffords said she wanted to respect the office of majority leader. She and Boehner posed for a picture together, Republican and Democrat, side-by- side.

Giffords also recorded a robo-call while in Washington that would be distributed to 20,000 people back home, in the vicinity of the Tuscon Safeway grocery store where she would hold the Congress on Your Corner meet-and-greet. The call would reach the home of Jared Loughner, a troubled constituent who had attended a Giffords event in the past.

"This is Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and I hope to meet you in person this Saturday," Giffords said cheerfully into the phone, offering the exact time and place to meet their representative that Saturday.

Then, she headed home to Arizona.

When Giffords arrived at the Safeway in Tucson there was a folding table and some chairs, an American and Arizona flag and a banner with Giffords name already set up.

Ahead of her, already in line at the supermarket, were more than a dozen constituents, including a 9-year-old girl.

"Nice to see you," Gabby said to them, smiling. "Thanks so much for coming."

And then, the optimistic, unsuspecting Giffords walked to the front to begin greeting those who had come.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/gabby_giffords ... d=14881689

[yankee-in-france]

.. interesting article, thanks, Fash.

[Fashionista]

Jan 22, 2012 2:05pm


<center>
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to Step Down from Congress</center>


Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will step down from the House this week and not seek re-election when her current term expires this year, she announced today.

Giffords has made a stunning recovery after being shot in the head when a gunman opened fire while the Arizona congresswoman was meeting with constituents at a suburban Arizona supermarket in January 2011. But she said in the video today that she needs to focus on her rehabilitation.

“I have more work to do on my recovery and so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week,” Giffords, speaking clearly but slowly and haltingly, said in a video posted online Sunday. “Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover.”

Before leaving office, Giffords will complete the “Congress On Your Corner” event that was interrupted last January when 22-year-old gunman Jared Loughner opened fire, killing six and wounding twelve.

Giffords will also attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

In a statement today, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Giffords has been “an inspiring symbol of determination and courage to millions of Americans.”

“Gabby’s message of bipartisanship and civility is one that all in Washington and the nation should honor and emulate,” Pelosi said in the statement. “I join all my colleagues in Congress in thanking Gabby for the honor of calling her colleague and wishing Gabby and Mark great success and happiness. She will be missed in the House of Representatives, but her legacy in the Congress and her leadership for our nation will certainly continue.”

<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nguu0TkCTd4" frameborder="0"></iframe></center>


Full statement from Giffords:

“Arizona is my home, always will be. A lot has happened over the past year. We need to not change that but I know on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better. We can do so much more by working together. I don’t remember much from that horrible day but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery and so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week I’m getting better every day. My spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country.”




http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/20 ... -congress/



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