The Miami Herald
Justice sought in old murder
An influential Jacksonville law firm has agreed to help a Miami man whose mother, a black housekeeper, was shot to death four decades ago, allegedly by four white men.
BY AUDRA D.S. BURCH
aburch@herald.com
For 60 hours over six days, the Miami man with the sandwich board that stretched from kneecap to chin picketed in front of the Duval County courthouse in Jacksonville, waging a fight he has been fighting since he became a man.
Forty-one years ago in Jacksonville, somebody killed Shelton Chappell's mother, Johnnie Mae Chappell. And Tuesday, just days after the son finally stopped marching for justice, somebody important stopped to listen.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12878410.htm
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld address a conference of his Central American counterparts in Key Biscayne.
By FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@herald.com
Arguing that a sound economy makes for a safe nation, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pushed regional trade to Central American defense ministers Wednesday in the first day of a ministerial conference in Key Biscayne.
Rumsfeld met with top ministers of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama at the Ritz Carlton Hotel to hash out regional plans to combat trans-national issues like gangs, natural disasters and the smuggling of migrants, drugs and weapons.
''There are still some who want to obstruct the path to social and economic progress, to return Central America to darker times of instability and chaos,'' Rumsfeld said. ``They form an anti-social combination that recognizes no border and preys on the vulnerabilities that exist.''
That's why he said the region needs the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, recently passed by the U.S. Congress, which opens U.S. markets to its member nations. or all of Central America and the Dominican Republic. All the nations have ratified the treaty except for Costa Rica.
Rumsfeld said economic stability and open markets are the way to encourage foreign investment.
'I am convinced the opportunities ahead are limited only by our countries' commitment to defending our free systems that so many have fought so long and so hard to secure,'' Rumsfeld said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12885085.htm
HERALD INVESTIGATION BLIND EYE
Vital storm radars went off course
BY DEBBIE CENZIPER
dcenziper@herald.com
They were billed as one of the most important advances in the history of weather forecasting: radars so powerful, they could spot a swarm of insects soaring through a field some 30 miles away.
Known as Doppler radars, they were 10 times more sensitive than the vintage radars that had dotted the nation's landscape since the 1950s, and would give forecasters more details than ever about hurricanes making landfall.
But the National Weather Service project that came with such high hopes in 1987 was quickly battered by schedule delays, contractor clashes and runaway spending.
Congress stepped in, lambasting the Weather Service. Audits and hearings were ordered, consultants hired, administrators fired. Finally, after 10 years and $1.4 billion, four times more than the original cost estimate, the nation's forecasters had their state-of-the-art radars.
Except they died -- during hurricane season. The 158 new radars lost power in strong wind, rain and lightning. Worse: The backup power system was inadequate, leaving the radars vulnerable at critical times.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12878089.htm
Guatemala seeks global aid for food, clothes after floods
Guatemala relied heavily on international aid and issued an urgent call to the U.N. following deadly floods and landslides.
BY MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala - Authorities abandoned efforts Tuesday to recover bodies from a deadly landslide and turned to international agencies to help feed, clothe and treat the tens of thousands of residents who lost everything in a week of deadly rains and floods.
President Oscar Berger and 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú arrived in this hard-hit town by helicopter to the cheers of hundreds of people who swarmed Santíago Atitlán's town square, a stone courtyard fronting a 17th century church.
''We came to share the pain of all the people who lost loved ones,'' Berger said after hugging the town's mayor. ``We are very worried about Santíago Atitlán, [but] I have the impression that we have never been as united.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12878128.htm
NICARAGUA
Embattled president negotiates deal
Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños moved toward resolving a political crisis by striking a deal with Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega.
BY TIM ROGERS
Special to the Herald
MANAGUA - After 10 months of political crisis dubbed a ''creeping coup,'' embattled Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños has struck a deal with the rival Sandinista party to return a measure of stability to the country.
Bolaños has been battling constitutional reforms that severely restricted his control over his own administration. They were approved by Congress earlier this year after a deal by the Sandinistas and critics from his own Liberal Constitutional Party.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12878138.htm
U.N. relief chief urges faster quake aid
ZARAR KHAN
Associated Press
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan - With snow falling in parts of Kashmir, harried relief workers tried to reach remote areas on foot Thursday as the U.N.'s emergency relief chief warned time was running out for many survivors of South Asia's massive earthquake.
U.N. Undersecretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland flew by helicopter to the Kashmiri city of Muzaffarabad, where he said millions of people urgently needed food, medicine, shelter and blankets. The U.N. estimates 2 million people are homeless ahead of the Himalayan region's fierce winter.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12885923.htm
Death rates among infants still following racial lines
Large racial disparities in South Florida's infant mortality rates continued in 2004, according to new Department of Health data.
By JACOB GOLDSTEIN
jgoldstein@herald.com
Hispanic babies survived more often than babies in any other major group in Florida while black infants were more than twice as likely as other babies to die before their first birthday, according to the latest infant mortality rates from the state Department of Health.
These rates are consistent with national trends, yet experts don't fully understand what causes the disparities.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12887518.htm
State Democrats raise near-record funds
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@herald.com
The embattled Florida Democratic Party raised a near-record $1.2 million over the past three months, despite widespread reports of bungled bookkeeping under the watch of its former chairman.
The party was outpaced by the Republican Party of Florida, which reported raising $2.7 million for the quarter.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12887460.htm
Two Democrats court gay votes
The two candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor made their pitches to a politically active group of gay Democrats in Fort Lauderdale.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@herald.com
Florida's two Democratic candidates for governor told a gay political group Wednesday night that they would work to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.
U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and state Sen. Rod Smith also said they support allowing gays to adopt children and extending legal benefits to gay partners.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12887464.htm
Keep drilling out of the Eastern Gulf
OUR OPINION: ACT IN UNISON TO PROTECT FLORIDA TOURISM, RESOURCES
Damage to oil derricks and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has sent the price of gasoline to $3 a gallon and given ammunition to proponents of drilling off Florida's coasts in the Eastern Gulf. So once again there is a push in the House of Representatives to open these waters to gas and oil production. We urge state leaders to resist pressure to change their long opposition to drilling.
Sensing a harsher political climate, Gov. Jeb Bush, unfortunately, has modified his hard-line, anti-drilling stance. He now supports a 100-mile no-drilling buffer zone around Florida in exchange for allowing drilling in areas beyond the buffer.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12885706.htm
Stan's deadly toll
OUR OPINION: OUR NEIGHBORS IN CENTRAL AMERICA NEED HELP, TOO
Natural disasters are in abundance this year, sad to say, enough so that folks could simply burn out on responding to new victims. But respond we must. Between the time that Hurricane Katrina smashed the U.S. Gulf Coast and a devastating earthquake struck northern Pakistan on Saturday came yet another disaster that got far less attention.
On Oct. 4 Hurricane Stan roared across the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, dumping torrential rains that first caused flooding and then massive mudslides in the region. Guatemala was the hardest hit, with 652 dead and 577 missing thus far.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12885705.htm
… isms
Anti-intellectualism in the United States
Anti-intellectualism is found in every nation on earth. Americans, among others, have been accused quite vocally of suffering from it, particularly by the liberal literati both in the USA and in Europe. Such accusations are particularly fueled by the existence of the political schism between the Republican and Democratic parties which prompts the less scrupulous contenders on both sides use it as a term of abuse for their opponents. By comparison societies in Europe and Asia are much more politically homogenous.
In the U.S., the Republican Party is typically home to anti-intellectuals. Many conservative activists have displayed utter disdain for academia and such reputable institutions as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and various other colleges which many on the right-wing contend are hotbeds of political liberalism.
Historically, anti-intellectualism did play a prominent role in American culture. Some of it originated from the commonly held view among conservative Christians of old that education subverts religious belief. The validity of this view, in fact, was well substantiated by the spread of atheism and Deism among the educated during the Enlightenment. Hence, for instance, the New England Puritan writer John Cotton wrote in 1642 that "The more learned and witty you bee, the more fit to act for Satan will you bee."
A much more important historical source of anti-intellectualism has been the 19th century popular culture. At the time when the vast majority of the population was involved in manual labor, and most of the population was rural and engaged in agriculture, bookish education, which at the time focused on classics, was seen to have little value. It should be noted that Americans of the era were generally very literate and, in fact, read Shakespeare much more than their present day counterparts. However, the ideal at the time was an individual skilled and successful in his trade and a productive member of society; studies of classics and Latin in colleges were generally derided in popular culture.
Anti-intellectual folklore values the self-reliant and "self-made man," schooled by society and by experience, over the intellectual whose learning was acquired through books and formal study. This folklore has a long history in the United States. In 1843, Bayard R. Hall wrote of frontier Indiana, that "(w)e always preferred an ignorant bad man to a talented one, and hence attempts were usually made to ruin the moral character of a smart candidate; since unhappily smartness and wickedness were supposed to be generally coupled, and incompetence and goodness." A character of O. Henry has noted that once a graduate of an East Coast college gets over being vain, he makes just as good a cowboy as any other young man. The related stereotype of the slow-witted naïf with a heart of gold also frequently appears in American popular culture, recently and conspicuously in the 1985 novel and 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump.
In the United States, Robert Warshow has put forth the hypothesis that the Communist Party became central to American intellectual life during the 1930s:
For most American intellectuals, the Communist movement of the 1930s was a crucial experience. In Europe, where the movement was at once more serious and more popular, it was still only one current in intellectual life; the Communists could never completely set the tone of thinking. . . . But in this country there was a time when virtually all intellectual vitality was derived in one way or another from the Communist party. If you were not somewhere within the party’s wide orbit, then you were likely to be in the opposition, which meant that much of your thought and energy had to be devoted to maintaining yourself in opposition.[1]
Today, Christian thinkers, who have less influence in society, no longer consider education in general evil, although they may object to some of its specific un-Christian aspects, e.g. alleged anti-religious or pro-abortion propaganda in schools and colleges. The once-plentiful industrial jobs have disappeared and have been replaced with low-wage service and specialty ones, which at most require a high school diploma. Statistics indicate that in the United States half the population has at least some college experience, however only one-third of the population graduates from college.
Perceived lack of "real life" usefulness, as well as, allegedly, academic rigor in humanities studies in the universities have contributed to much disdain for such studies, particularly among those who study, or have studied, technical subjects. This may be considered anti-intellectualism, or perhaps a "rival-intellectualism" inasmuch as people, who may think that intellectual pursuit of study of English literature is useless, may think that studying mechanical engineering, which is an intellectual activity of great complexity, is useful and good. A characteristic criticism, not necessarily valid by any means, of the study of humanities is that teaching students literature prepares them to become future professors of literature, and not much else.
The American educational system also serves as a significant wellspring of anti-intellectualism in its reputed failure to impart the necessary knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about the world to its students.
Segment of Evangelical Christianity Rejects Rigid Right and Timid Liberals
By PAUL NUSSBAUM
Knight Ridder Newspapers
FEASTERVILLE, Pa. -- The church is a converted machine shop in an industrial park. The choir is three young women, accompanied by drums and guitars. There is no offering plate. Communion is self-serve. Sunday worship at the Well in Feasterville, Pa., is coffee-house casual, complete with couches and computer stations and an artists' corner. The 40 parishioners, some of whom carry their coffee and doughnuts into the candlelit worship area, favor jeans and shorts. Most are under 30.
The Well is one of a growing number of churches in the "emergent" movement, a disaffected segment of evangelical Christianity that rejects what it sees as the rigidity of the religious right and the timidity of liberal mainline churches.
Brad Jackson, a 33-year-old former seminarian who is the pastor, doesn't so much deliver a sermon as lead a discussion. Today's topic: Christian identity.
Jackson, invoking Galatians 2, says Jesus, not cultural or religious trappings, should be the constant model.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050820/NEWS/508200328/1021
The Universist Movement
The Faithless Community
http://www.faithless.org/community/index.php?showtopic=2816&st=80
College Students' Spirituality and Religiousness Vary by Race and Gender; New Study Shows African Americans Most Religious Group
Date: October 6, 2005
Contact: Shaena Engle ( engle@gseis.ucla.edu )
Phone: 310-206-5951
While today's college students have a very high level of interest and involvement in spirituality and religion, there are important differences among student subgroups, most significantly between African Americans and whites, and between men and women, according to new research.
A survey of 112,232 students at 236 colleges and universities found that the biggest differences between African American and white students were in their levels of religious commitment, ethic of caring, religious engagement and spiritual quest. African Americans are also far more likely than whites to believe in God, pray and attend religious services frequently.
While gender differences are not always large, women score higher on 11 of 12 scales that measure various aspects of students' spirituality and religiousness. The most marked differences are in women's higher levels of charitable involvement and religious commitment.
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6514
The Next Michael Moore?
Micha Peled's "China Blue" takes a stealthy look at Chinese sweatshops and mixes in a little love
courtesy of Teddy Bear Films Director Micha Peled delivers a jeans shipment from China to a store.
It Grows on You From the Big Screen to Your Screen Bavarian Hospitality Old-Fashioned Fun Martha's Breakdown The Arts & Entertainment Channel Do you want Richmond.com A&E stories delivered direct to your desktop? Check out our RSS feeds.
Mike WardRichmond.comThursday, October 06, 2005A documentary film about Chinese sweatshops conjures up many images and motifs: wasted youth, depression and harrowing danger to name a few. But love?
That's the theme that filmmaker Micha Peled has woven through "China Blue," a film that recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will make its U.S. debut Friday night in Ashland.
"At first blush, it looked like the whole the film was going to have miserable people hunched over sewing machines and who wants to look at that?" the San Francisco-based filmmaker said to Richmond.com in a recent phone interview.
http://www.richmond.com/ae/output.aspx?Article_ID=3919277&Vertical_ID=127&tier=1&position=2
Alleged Race Discrimination
By Daniel Pulliam
dpulliam@govexec.com
Alleging race discrimination in hiring and advancement practices, 13 current and former employees of the Commerce Department filed a $500 million class action lawsuit Wednesday, 10 years after the first complaint was made.
The suit -- filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- includes 11 black and two white plaintiffs and includes allegations that employees saw recriminations after speaking out against the alleged "pervasive race discrimination at Commerce."
Approximately 60 people gathered in front of the Commerce headquarters in Washington on Wednesday to draw attention to the lawsuit. One person wore a set of yellow plastic chains around her neck and others carried signs calling for "equal pay now."
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1005/100705lb.htm
Federal jobs open to all as policy of regional discrimination ends next April at 16:43 on October 6, 2005, EST.
OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government plans to throw open its doors to job applicants from across the country and end its long-standing practice of regional discrimination.
But a host of hurdles still face most Canadians hoping to land full-time permanent employment in the federal civil service.
Personal favouritism, racial discrimination and bilingual imperatives - not to mention a growing federal addiction to temporary employees - are among the impediments to a federal workforce that accurately reflects the Canadian population, suggest three audits and an annual report released Thursday in Ottawa.
"Access and representativeness are very important to me," Maria Barrados, president of the Public Service Commission of Canada, said at a news conference.
http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=23&id=100665
MAINE ATTORNEYS SAY ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW PROVIDES NO LEGAL BASIS FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Maine Won’t Discriminate calls on opponents to finally start talking about what the law really does.
PORTLAND, Maine – In a legal memorandum released today, leading members of Maine’s legal community conclude that “the addition of sexual orientation to Maine’s non-discrimination law provides no legal basis for same-sex marriage.” The memo reviewed Maine’s Anti-Discrimination and specifically, compared it to the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. The answer is clear -- Maine’s Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination based upon sexual orientation in employments, housing, credit, public accommodations and education -- nothing more, nothing less.
http://business.mainetoday.com/newsdirect/release.html?id=2244
Airport agreement to end discrimination against disabled
06/10/2005 - 17:36:43
A new agreement ensuring all European Union airports are made fully accessible prohibits airlines from discriminating against passengers over age or disabilities, a minister said today.
Transport Minister Martin Cullen said a deal struck at the European Council of Ministers guaranteed the rights of persons with reduced mobility to full and free access at all EU member states’ airports.
“This is a good deal. It ensures equality for all and at no cost to people with reduced mobility. Heretofore, a person in a wheelchair may have had to pay an additional charge when travelling by air because of their disability. Today’s agreement will see an end to this practice,” Mr Cullen said.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=130051660&p=y3xx5zz4x
UK employers unprepared for age discrimination law
06 October 2005 13:50
Four out of five employers have taken no steps to prepare themselves for new age discrimination legislation due next year, research shows.
The survey of 1,000 employers by Eversheds law firm and Cranfield School of Management also found that one in five respondents believe their board members or and senior managers are not committed to eliminating ageism in the workplace.
The legislation will come into force in October 2006 and will outlaw any discrimination on grounds of age in recruitment, training and promotion.
http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/10/06/31968/UK+employers+unprepared+for+age+discrimination+law.htm
The Predators of New Orleans
By Mike Davis
Oct 6, 2005, 10:21
After the criticism of his disastrous handling the Katrina disaster, President George Bush promises a reconstruction programme of $200bn for areas destroyed by the hurricane. But the first and biggest beneficiaries will be businesses that specialise in profiting from disaster, and have already had lucrative contracts in Iraq; they will gentrify New Orleans at the expense of its poor, black citizens.
THE tempest that destroyed New Orleans was conjured out of tropical seas and an angry atmosphere 250km offshore of the Bahamas. Labelled initially as “tropical depression 12” on 23 August, it quickly intensified into “tropical storm Katrina”, the eleventh named storm in one of the busiest hurricane seasons in history. Making landfall near Miami on 24 August, Katrina had grown into a small hurricane, category one on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with 125 km/h winds that killed nine people and knocked out power to one million residents.
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_19768.shtml
New sex discrimination law is no nightmare for business
04 October 2005 11:09
Business should not be concerned by 'alarmist reports' about changes to sex discrimination laws, according to Croner HR consultancy.
New sexual harassment legislation, aimed at tackling discrimination in the workplace, came into force over the weekend.
The European Equal Treatment Directive has extended the definition of sex discrimination to cover any act that leads to intimidation or degradation.
Under the new law, an employee who persists in making remarks about a woman's appearance could be accused of sexual harassment.
http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/10/04/31954/New+sex+discrimination+law+is+no+nightmare+for+business.htm
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Blagojevich announces program to combat housing discrimination
CHICAGO Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vitch) says many Illinoisans face housing discrimination due to their race, color, national origin, disabilities or religion.
His office today announced the creation of a Fair Housing program to help protect home buyers from discrimination.
The Illinois Department of Human Rights will conduct a series of seminars over the next few weeks in Chicago, Decatur, Peoria and Rantoul.
The seminars will inform homebuyers, landlords, tenants and property owners about the state's anti-discrimination laws.
They'll also include information about how to file discrimination charges with the state.
http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3932797&nav=7k7NJ1IJ
University Settles Discrimination Suit
By Ron Wood
The Morning News
FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas settled a federal lawsuit filed by Linda Schilcher, a former professor, who claims she was discriminated against and fired from the Middle Eastern studies program.
Neither side would divulge terms of the out-of-court agreement Monday. The final document is being drafted and should be filed with the court in a couple of days. An order of dismissal, subject to terms of the settlement agreement, was filed Monday. The case was set for trial later this month.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/10/04/news/fayetteville/05fzschilcher.txt
Major League Baseball accused of discrimination against Caribbean fans
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
ST. THOMAS, USVI: Innovative Cable TV on Tuesday charged Major League Baseball with discriminating against baseball fans in the region by not allowing the telecasts of the baseball playoffs.
“Our representatives at ESPN tell us that Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB will not license to them outside of the continental United States,” said Jennifer Matarangas-King, president and general manager of Innovative Cable TV. “We only want to be treated equally as Hawaii and Alaska but obviously Commissioner Selig is unaware that these two states are not part of the continental U.S. We are very much a part of the U.S., which is why United States is part of our name, United States Virgin Islands.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/10/05/accused.shtml
The ‘disability.gov.uk’ website
With the merger of disability.gov.uk and the ‘disabled people’ section of Directgov, it’s now easier to find the information you are looking for.
Directgov provides a single point of access to government information and services and this includes much of the information previously on disability.gov.uk.
Find out about:
the Disability Discrimination Act
the Disability Rights Commission and the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights
It puts ‘disability rights’ in context of everyday life – from employment and education to transport and health services.
Directgov has a wide range of information of interest for everyone from students to over 50s, motorists to parents.
As well as disability rights information, Directgov offers disabled people information on a wide range of topics including financial support, home and housing, leisure and travel.
Please use the options on the left to begin to get the most out of Directgov.
(If you link to disability.gov.uk from your website or browser, please amend the link to Directgov - 'disabled people' section.)
http://www.direct.gov.uk/DisabledPeople/DisabledPeopleArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10023362&chk=85yA9r
Social Engineering
The Dark Art of Social Engineering
By Duane Laflotte.
Date: Oct 6, 2005.
"It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on."—Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I'm here to teach you what social engineers do when trying to manipulate the human element of a system. Only when you understand that will you know exactly how to defend yourself and your company. As a good friend of mine once said, "It's all about control."
Social Engineers Are High-Tech Con Artists
The art of the con is one of the oldest forms of social engineering. Essentially, con artists try to talk you into doing, buying, or selling stuff that you normally wouldn't. They exploit your confidence in what they're talking about, to their own personal gain. Most cons don't involve anything high-tech at all. But a talented con artist who knows something about networks, computers, and security would be a dangerous individual indeed. These hybrid con artists are popularly known as social engineers.
Before I regale you with stories of social engineering, let me first tell you why I would even know of such things: I'm a professional hacker. My job is to discover all your corporate secrets, all the sensitive data, all the things that would cripple or destroy your company if they were ever to fall into the wrong hands. To neglect the human component of the system that is your company and just focus on the network or the computer infrastructure would be an incomplete view of your total security—and the security of the data you may believe is vaulted away.
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=417272&rl=1
Panda Software Reports the Return of Sober Worm Which Uses Social Engineering Techniques
The Sober.Y Worm Spreads Via Emails in English or German, Claiming to Be a New Password Notification or a Photo of Old School Friends Panda Software's TruPrevent(TM) Technologies Blocked This Threat Without Prior Identification, so Users of These Technologies Have Been Protected From the OutsetGLENDALE, Calif., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- PandaLabs has recorded the appearance of a new variant of the Sober worm, Sober.Y, which spreads using social engineering techniques in emails sent in English or German. This worm was intercepted by Panda Software's TruPrevent(TM) Technologies without prior identification, so users of these technologies have been protected against this threat from the outset.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-06-2005/0004163143&EDATE=
AFA grad: school 'very, very ill'
By Associated Press
October 10, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — When Mikey Weinstein was 2 years old, according to family lore, his parents received a knock on the door. It was the neighbors, upset that the boy had bitten their dog.
"I guess I've always been very resolute," Weinstein said.
These days, the 50-year-old New Mexico lawyer who spent three years working in the Reagan White House is biting into a project that — to hear him describe it — absolutely turns his stomach.
The Jewish father of two Air Force Academy cadets sued the Air Force in U.S. District Court last week, claiming senior officers and cadets illegally imposed evangelical Christianity on others at the school.
"I love the Air Force Academy more than anything but my own family," said Weinstein, a 1977 academy honor graduate who lives in Albuquerque. "But the academy is very, very ill right now."
An Air Force spokesman in Washington, Lt. Col. Frank Smolinsky, declined to discuss specifics of the lawsuit Thursday. He said the Air Force "is committed to defending the rights of all our men and women, whatever their beliefs."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/home/article/0,1299,DRMN_1_4146884,00.html
Dawn
Rain, storm hit relief work: Quake casualty figures keep rising
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Rain and hailstorms hampered rescue and relief work in quake-stricken areas on Tuesday as the government-estimated death toll from Saturday’s disaster in Azad Kashmir and the NWFP mounted to 30,000.
The government deployed thousands of more army troops to join the relief work that seemed to be gaining momentum after complaints by the sufferers about absence or slow arrival of help after Saturday’s earthquake.
Heavy rains and hailstorms hit the quake-stricken region in early afternoon on Tuesday, making the relief workers’ task difficult although aid had started pouring in after some key roads blocked by landslides were reopened for traffic.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top1.htm
Bagh — help seen only on TV
BAGH, Oct 11: The only aid anyone from Bagh has seen from the government since the earthquake struck has been on television. Three days after the disaster the people of this once-prosperous little town set deep in the hills of Azad Kashmir have all but given up hope.
“The government is only showing us the relief on television,” said Abdul Razzaq, a storekeeper in the town, 70km southwest of Islamabad, and just 20km away from Uri, an Indian town across the ceasefire line that divides Kashmir.
“We haven’t seen a drop of water or medicine coming to us, not even a single grain.”
People lined up at a small army camp for blankets and mattresses, but Samaritans bringing in supplies independently had their truck ransacked before it could cross a small bridge to enter the town.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top2.htm
World response poor: NA
By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Following criticism from opposition members of what they called a poor foreign response over Pakistan’s earthquake disaster, the National Assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution seeking more “technical and financial assistance from the international community”.
“This house appeals to the world community for financial and technical assistance to carry out relief and rescue activities in the (earthquake-) affected areas effectively,” said the joint resolution, read out by MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, minutes before deputy speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob adjourned the assembly until 10am on Friday.
Through the same resolution, the National Assembly expressed solidarity with the victims of the massive earthquake that struck various parts of the country on Saturday. “We pray for those who have been killed in the earthquake and early recovery of the injured persons,” the resolution said.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top3.htm
Two women pulled alive from debris
By Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Two women were plucked alive from the rubble of collapsed Margalla Towers on Tuesday after they remained trapped there for more than 80 hours since Saturday’s earthquake.
The two women — Mrs Tariq, 55, and her mother Mah Begum, 75, — were the only survivors pulled to safety on Tuesday.
The recovery brought the figure of survivors from the building to 89 while 33 bodies have also been found from the ruins, according to a local official Tariq Rahim.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top5.htm
Japan offers $20m, helicopters
TOKYO, Oct 11: Japan said on Tuesday that it would offer $20 million and was ready to dispatch several transport helicopters and dozens of troops to assist with relief efforts in the earthquake disaster zone.
“The Self-Defence Force is planning to send around 100 or more troops to Pakistan with a few transport helicopters” in response to President Pervez Musharraf’s plea for help, a defence agency official said.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, in a letter to President Musharraf released by official media in Havana, offered to send 200 doctors to Pakistan to help treat victims of the earthquake.
He said the doctors would be ready to leave for Pakistan within 24 hours.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top8.htm
UN seeks $272m for relief work
By Masood Haider
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11: The United Nations on Tuesday launched a $272 million flash appeal for Pakistan’s earthquake victims. The appeal sought life-saving and early recovery activities for a six-month emergency phase in a remote region which provides enormous logistical difficulties with landslides cutting off many roads, allowing access only by foot or helicopter to areas where more than 80 per cent of buildings have been destroyed.
At a press conference in New York, the Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary General of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr Hamsjoerg Strohmeyer, said heavy machinery and equipment were being acquired.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/12/top6.htm
Chicago Tribune
The Bush years: Outrage, after outrage, after …
"It is our country, not George W. Bush's personal property."
Asked to name the Outrage of the Week, how could anyone possibly choose?
By Molly Ivins
Published October 13, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- On one of those television gong shows that passes for journalism, the panelists used to have to pick an Outrage of the Week. Then, each performer would wax indignant about his or her choice for 60 seconds or so. If someone asked me to name the Outrage of the Week about now, I'd have a coronary. How could anyone possibly choose?
I suppose the frontrunner is the anti-torture amendment. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) proposed an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of prisoners in the custody of the U.S. military.
This may strike you as a "goes without saying" proposition-the amendment passed the Senate 90 to 9. The United States has been signing anti-torture treaties under Democrats and Republicans for at least 50 years. But the Bush administration actually managed to find some weasel words to create a loophole in this longstanding commitment to civilized behavior.
According to the Bushies, if the United States is holding a prisoner on foreign soil, our soldiers can still subject him or her to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment-the very forms of torture used by the soldiers who were later prosecuted for their conduct at Abu Ghraib. Does this make any sense, moral or common?
So deeply does President Bush feel our country, despite all its treaty commitments, has a right to torture that he has threatened to veto the bill if it passes. This would the first time in five years he has ever vetoed anything. Think about it: Five years of stupefying pork, ideological nonsense, dumb administrative ideas, fiscal idiocy, misbegotten energy programs-and the first thing the man vetoes is a bill to pay our soldiers because it carries an amendment saying, once again, that this country does not torture prisoners.
This is the United States of America. It is our country, not George W. Bush's personal property. The United States of America still stands for the rights of man, for freedom, dignity and justice. We do not torture helpless prisoners. Our soldiers are not the Nazi Waffen SS, not the North Vietnamese who tortured McCain and others for years on end, not bestial Argentinean fascists, not the Khmer Rouge.
Remember, we invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein was such a horrible brute that he tortured people. This is beyond disgusting. The House Republicans, who have no shame, will try to weaken McCain's amendment. They need to hear from decent Republicans all over this country. Don't leave this hideous stain on your party's name. This is not what America stands for. We've had more loathsome and more dangerous enemies than Al Qaeda and managed to defeat them without resorting to torture.
And leading the charge in the House will be Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), that pillar of moral rectitude and Christian mercy. Wait a minute: Didn't DeLay have to step down from his leadership position after he got indicted? Well, yes, but some step-downs are more down than others. There was "The Hammer" in full glory Friday, twisting arms and working the floor on behalf of a real cutie of a bill to benefit the oil companies.
Even Republicans revolted. As Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) said, "We are enriching people, but we are not doing anything to give the little guy a break."
I have become inured to Bush's idea of foreign policy. But the policy does result in some lovely ironies. On Friday, Mohamed ElBaradei, the highly respected head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Quite apart from whether you support Bush or not, ElBaradei and the IAEA deserve the honor-they have been both diligent and effective.
ElBaradei was right when he repeatedly warned the Bush administration that Iraq did not have any weapons of mass destruction and has said the day the United States invaded "was the saddest in my life."
But you know our boy George: not for him the gracious, "Gee, you were right, and we were wrong after all." Nope, after ElBaradei was proved right, Bush tried to have him fired. And the man in charge of carrying out the campaign to have the guy fired for being right? John Bolton, now our ambassador to the United Nations.
Molly Ivins is a syndicated columnist based in Austin, Texas. E-mail: info@creators.com. Creators Syndicate
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-051013ivins,1,1810813.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
Black males and media coverage
Published October 13, 2005
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are said to have ripped the blinders off the nation and the news media and made them aware again of the ugly realities of poverty and racial inequity in American society.
I don't think Phillip Jackson would wish a disaster of any magnitude on Chicago, but he does wish something would induce an epiphany among us on the issues of race, poverty, educational underachievement by black children and what he sees as the fundamental problem: the failure of too many black males to thrive as students, as fathers, as husbands, as breadwinners, as citizens, as people.
Jackson, a thin, bespectacled man of formal manner, comes armed with a sheaf of documents that attest statistically to the gravity of the black male predicament. A sampler:
791,600 black men in jail or prison in 2000, compared with 602,032 in colleges or universities;
In 1999, just 992 black men received bachelor's degrees at Illinois public universities;
In 2000, roughly 7,000 black men who had been confined for drug crimes were released from Illinois prisons.
In 2000, only 38 percent of black children nationwide resided in two-parent households, the optimal condition for a successful outcome, compared with 77 percent for whites and 65 percent for Hispanics.
And on and on he goes with one dismal statistic after another, each with a citation of a government agency or other source.
"This is serious," Jackson said to me a few weeks ago during lunch in a South Loop restaurant. "It's also unreported. All I'm trying to do is to put the story out there so it can be addressed. Newspapers basically report what school districts tell them."
The reference to school districts stems from what Jackson has made the focus of his efforts: the public schools, 11 of which he attended while growing up in Chicago. His thinking goes like this: It takes a village to educate a child; black children are lagging educationally because their village is broken, destroyed; at the bottom of that destruction is the broken black family; and beneath that is the broken black male.
The reference to newspapers stems from his persistent frustration with the media in general and the Tribune in particular for not giving more attention to efforts like that of his Black Star Project to rebuild the black "village" and thereby begin to close the intractable gap in educational achievement between black children and their white counterparts.
This neglect was shown most recently this year, he said, when the Tribune ignored the "Million Father March," a Black Star-initiated effort in more than 80 cities to get fathers to take their children to school on opening day. He notes that the march was mentioned in a number of other outlets-The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the BBC-but not in the Tribune.
"It is my feeling that the Tribune does not know how much the black community is suffering," Jackson said, adding that "covering the schools is not covering the education of black children."
Julie Truck, an assistant metropolitan editor who directs the work of the Tribune's downtown six-member education team, said that, over the last several years, the paper has "made a concerted effort to focus on the classroom."
That focus has paid off for Tribune readers with excellent coverage of the teaching and learning processes, especially in the Chicago Public Schools. As I observed in a previous column, no other newspaper has done a better job of observing and recording the success-or lack of it-of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
But Truck doesn't get Jackson's point about the broken black village and the need to rebuild it if black children are to benefit maximally from what the schools offer.
Asked whether she felt handicapped in her coverage by a lack of diversity on her team-it consists of five white women and a white male-Truck said no, that she felt her reporters are sensitive to the various problems and constituencies in the schools here and do a good job recognizing stories and pursuing them. (Given the current composition of the Tribune newsroom, however, it's not clear where she would get more diversity if she felt she needed it.)
In fairness to the Tribune and other local media, Jackson does have a history in Chicago that may account for the reluctance to pay attention to him. He served for what some observers felt was an undistinguished year as head of the Chicago Housing Authority, from May 1999 to May 2000. And he can come off in conversation as something of a zealot-during our lunch most eyes at neighboring tables were on us because of Jackson's highly animated manner of speaking.
Leaving aside whether such criticisms are valid or not, Jackson sees them as nothing more than excuses.
"If your editors think this is about me, they're off base," he said. "This is about black people. You tell your editors that Phillip Jackson will move out of the way if they begin to cover these issues fairly and substantially."
Even a stopped watch is right twice a day. Whatever his personal quirks and shortcomings, Phillip Jackson is on to something very, very important. We in this newsroom would do well to pay him heed.!
Don Wycliff is the Tribune's public editor. He listens to readers' concerns and questions about the paper's coverage and writes weekly about current issues in journalism. His e-mail address is dwycliff@tribune!.com. The views expressed are his own.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-051013wycliff,1,6908908.column?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
Pinter Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
By MATT MOORE
Associated Press Writer
Published October 13, 2005, 10:13 AM CDT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- British playwright Harold Pinter, who juxtaposed the brutal and the banal in such works as "The Caretaker" and "The Birthday Party" and made an art form out of spare language and unbearable silence, won the 2005 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday.
Pinter "in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms," the Swedish Academy said. The chilling, understated style of his work even inspired an adjective all his own: Pinteresque.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-ap-nobel-literature,1,4335079.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Foundation contributes $45 million to refurbish two Smithsonian art museums
By CARL HARTMAN
Associated Press Writer
Published October 12, 2005, 2:57 PM CDT
WASHJNGTON -- The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation donated $45 million on Wednesday to help cover the estimated $270 million cost of refurbishing the building that houses two of America's great art museums.
The National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, both part of the Smithsonian Institution, were moved from the Old Patent Office nearly six years ago and renovations began.
They are expected to move back by next July 4. Though retaining their separate names, the two museums will be housed in what will be called the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-051012smithsonian-donation,1,4231425.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed
Google Commits Funds to Philanthropic Arm
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer
Published October 12, 2005, 12:45 AM CDT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. is financing its promise to make the world a better place with an initial commitment of nearly $1 billion to a philanthropic arm devoted to causes that mesh with the online search engine leader's crusade.
The altruistic effort, formally announced late Tuesday under the umbrella of Google.org, follows through on a pledge that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company made last year as it prepared its ballyhooed initial public offering of stock.
At the time, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin vowed to create a company "that does good things for the world even if we forgo short-term gains." Toward that end, the pair said they would earmark 1 percent of Google's stock and future profit for a charitable foundation.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/sns-ap-google-philanthropy,1,3108311.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Garciaparra Rescues Two Women From Water
By Associated Press
Published October 12, 2005, 12:21 PM CDT
BOSTON -- Nomar Garciaparra rescued two women who had fallen into Boston Harbor, his uncle and a witness told the Boston Herald.
Garciaparra, the former Red Sox shortstop who played for the Chicago Cubs last season, was in his Charlestown condominium with his uncle Friday night when they heard a scream and a splash, said the uncle, Victor Garciaparra.
As soon as the two-time American League batting champ ran out the door to help the woman, her friend also fell in, hitting her head on the pier, said Victor Garciaparra, who oversees his nephew's business and charitable ventures.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sns-ap-bbo-garciaparra-rescue,1,899522.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Rebels Launch Attacks in Southern Russia
By FATIMA TLISOVA
Associated Press Writer
Published October 13, 2005, 9:50 AM CDT
NALCHIK, Russia -- Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-russia-attack,1,7429039.story?coll=chi-news-hed
7th death this year tied to West Nile disease
Published October 13, 2005
ILLINOIS -- West Nile disease contributed to a seventh death this year in Illinois, the state Department of Public Health said Wednesday.
An 84-year-old McLean County man died Monday, the state said. Though he had been hospitalized with West Nile neuroinvasive disease, his doctor said other conditions, which the state did not name, contributed to his death.
Also Wednesday, the state announced two new cases of West Nile, bringing the total to 211 so far this year.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0510130161oct13,1,741308.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Honda Hybrid Tops Auto Fuel Economy List
By Associated Press
Published October 13, 2005, 5:24 AM CDT
WASHINGTON -- The manual version of the hybrid Honda Insight tops the latest government auto fuel economy list, with 60 miles per gallon in the city and 66 mpg on the highway.
The competitor hybrid Toyota Prius was second with 60 mpg in the city and 51 on the highway, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy said Wednesday.
Ford Motor Co., with its hybrid SUVs, was the only American carmaker to crack the top-10 list for 2006 vehicles.
Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen make eight of the top 10 cars, mostly hybrid electric-gas or diesel-powered. Ford Escape hybrid SUVs, two-wheel and four-wheel drive, round out the list.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-fuel-economy,1,5309760.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Black, with singular sensations
Published October 13, 2005
Understatement is so overrated. That being my credo, perhaps it's surprising that I'm thrilled that the fashion gods have decreed that Black is Back.
In fact, those of us committed to the achromatic--men and women alike--know that black never left the building.
We're always on the lookout for the perfect black T-shirt, slacks, turtleneck, jacket, jeans, sweater, suit, skirt, blouse, cami, swimsuit, coat, parka, pump, flat, loafer, purse, evening bag, computer bag, wallet, tote, suitcase, briefcase, scarf, belt, umbrella and, needless to say, little black dress (LBD).
Anyone who travels a lot, works in an office (other than a pristine white laboratory), has messy kids or animals, drinks red wine or coffee, or tries to keep dry cleaning bills to a minimum already knows the virtues of black. Plus, of course, it's wonderfully slimming.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0510120404oct13,1,1823377.column?coll=chi-entertainmentfront-hed
Mardi Gras? A Head-Scratcher
Blaine Kern's factory of float-making is back in business with a third of its staff. He says New Orleans' party will go on, but some doubt it.
By Martin Miller
Times Staff Writer
Published October 12, 2005
NEW ORLEANS — Blaine Kern Sr. is "Mr. Mardi Gras." The artist-turned-multimillionaire businessman, noted for about half a century of float building for the city's signature event, has even copyrighted the celebratory name. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that threatens to downscale, if not cancel, the parade, it's not clear how much the nickname will mean this year.
For years, Kern has charged camera-toting tourists up to $15 to enter his 75,000-square-foot riverside haven and warehouse where artisans design, build and paint about three-quarters of the Mardi Gras floats. The sprawling complex is like Kern's giant toy chest, stuffed with hundreds of carnival floats past and present — including a life-size Col. Sanders and a 140-foot-long sea monster called Leviathan.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/la-na-blaine12oct12,1,1066864.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed
Venezuela promises cheap oil to poor Chicagoans
By Oscar Avila
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 13, 2005, 6:07 PM CDT
Venezuelan officials today promised to offer discounted oil to benefit poor Americans, with Chicago one of four U.S. cities to be included in the initial energy offer.
The pledge came at the start of a two-day series of events in Chicago by Venezuelan government officials to promote better relations between Americans and the controversial regime of leftist President Hugo Chavez.
"Venezuela Matters" is unusual public diplomacy by Chavez to mix his anti-American rhetoric with generosity toward the American people.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051013venezuela,1,3551625.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Man arrested for freeing hawk raised in captivity
The Associated Press
Published October 13, 2005, 3:12 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- A man who felt sorry for a caged hawk stole the bird and set it loose, although the bird was raised in captivity and may not be able to survive in the wild, police said.
The red-tailed hawk named "Mani" had lived at Springfield's Henson Robinson Zoo for 25 years.
"I can sympathize with the fact that he didn't like seeing the bird caged, but ... all of us who work out at the zoo (are) very worried for the bird," said zoo director Talon Thornton.
Zoo officials discovered Mani had been stolen on Oct. 6.
Glenarm resident Sean J. Coleman, 19, was arrested Wednesday after police got a Crime Stopper tip about the missing hawk. He was released and could face charges of theft, burglary and trespassing, officials said Thursday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051013hawk,1,4167716.story?coll=chi-news-hed
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