The Boston Globe
Fed boosts key interest rate to 4 percent
In a file photo Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, seated left, presides over a meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve in Washington Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be presiding at one of his last meetings when Fed policy-makers gather on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005. It is widely expected that he and his colleagues will do what they have done for the past 11 meetings _ boost a key interest rate by a quarter-point, to 4 percent. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Federal Reserve, still concerned about inflation, raised a key interest rate on Tuesday to the highest level in more than four years and signaled more increases are likely.
The Fed announced it was pushing its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to 4 percent from 3.75 percent, where it had been since the Fed's last interest-rate meeting on Sept. 20.
It marked the 12th consecutive quarter-point increase since the Fed began gradually raising rates in June 2004 to make sure that a growing economy did not generate higher inflation.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/fed_boosts_key_rate_by_quarter_point/
N.J. jury begins deliberating Vioxx case
Defense attorney Diane Sullivan motions to the jury during her closing arguments, Monday, Oct. 31, 2005, in Atlantic City, N.J. Sullivan is representing pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a product liability trial over the withdrawn paninkiller Vioxx. (AP Photo/Mary Godleski, pool)
By John Curran, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. --A state court jury in a closely watched Vioxx product liability case began deliberating Tuesday afternoon, capping a seven-week trial in which drug manufacturer Merck & Co. was accused of knowingly misrepresenting the safety risks of its blockbuster arthritis drug.
The six-woman, three-man panel on Tuesday heard the closing argument of a lawyer for an Idaho postal worker blaming Vioxx for his heart attack. Lawyer Chris Seeger called Merck a "monster" and told jurors that their verdict will send a message about what is acceptable when marketing drugs.
The jurors got the case after Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee finished instructing them on the laws at issue in the case of Frederick "Mike" Humeston. Jurors will have hundreds of documents and testimony from 21 witnesses -- enough to fill 5,764 pages of trial transcript -- to consider.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/lawyer_merck_tried_to_obscure_facts/
Dying whale key in attempt to drown south Ga. marina project
By atgjglbjc November 1, 2005
ATLANTA --Conservation groups are trying to scuttle construction of one of Georgia's biggest marinas by staking their argument on a whale dying off the coast of New England.
The endangered North Atlantic right whale was clipped in March by a yacht off Georgia's coast and has since become a rallying cry for environmental groups opposing the 400-boat marina at Cumberland Harbour. The whale was last seen earlier this fall, apparently near death, off the coast of Cape Cod.
The marina is a short boat ride from Cumberland Island, a federally protected seashore and a favorite breeding ground for the threatened whale species. Only about 350 remain.
"If a 65-foot commercial vessel can harm a right whale, so can a 65-foot recreation vehicle," said Chris DeScherer, senior lawyer at Southern Environmental Law Center.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/01/dying_whale_key_in_attempt_to_drown_south_ga_marina_project/
As student, Alito warned against reading too much into opinions
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --As a law student 31 years ago, Samuel A. Alito cautioned against trying to glean justices' personal opinions from their decisions.
But now that the 1975 Yale Law School graduate is President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, reporters, congressional aides and interest groups are trying to do just that: sifting through Alito's writings from 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in preparation for what's expected to be a contentious court fight.
Alito would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate voice who has been a swing vote on many issues considered by the court. The 55-year-old Alito could be in a position to cast the deciding votes in a range of cases from affirmative action to abortion, campaign finance to the death penalty if he is confirmed by the Senate.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/01/as_student_alito_warned_against_reading_too_much_into_opinions/
Democrats force closed meeting on Iraq
In this photo provided by ABC News, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., appears for an interview with George Stephanopolous on ABC's "This Week," in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/ABC News, Linda Spillers)
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that led to the Iraq war and deriding a lack of congressional inquiry.
"I demand on behalf of the America people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted," Democratic leader Harry Reid said.
Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.
"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader said.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/democrats_force_closed_meeting_on_iraq/
Put your 2 cents in: Stamp prices going up
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --A 2-cent boost in the price of a postage stamp was approved Tuesday by the independent Postal Rate Commission.
Under the recommendation, which now goes to the Postal Service's Board of Governors for final action, the cost of a first-class stamp will go from 37 cents to 39 cents and the postcard rate will rise a penny to 24 cents. The Postal Service requested the increase last April. It is expected to go into effect in January.
The increase is needed so the post office can make a $3.1 billion escrow payment required by Congress. A bill that would eliminate that payment and make other changes in postal operations was approved by the House but has not yet passed the Senate. The White House has expressed reservations about the bill.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/put_your_2_cents_in_stamp_prices_going_up/
Nightmare of 'loose nukes' still haunts
People walk through a security check point to enter the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research center, in Moscow, in this May 15, 2002 file photo. Since 1994, Russian work crews and U.S. money _ some $6 billion thus far _ have been hardening walls, installing surveillance cameras and radiation detectors, and otherwise "locking down" 600 tons of Russian bomb-grade material that isn't inside warheads. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, FILE)
By Charles J. Hanley, AP Special Correspondent November 1, 2005
VIENNA, Austria --After years of warnings, hard work and billion-dollar budgets, the "loose nukes" of Russia and other nations are coming under tighter control, and nuclear smuggling cases have fallen sharply, international and U.S. agencies report.
Despite the good news, however, the potential nightmare of nuclear terrorism still haunts those charged with preventing it.
"There's still so much to be done," said Jerry Paul, whose U.S. Energy Department office aims to complete work by late 2008 upgrading security at Russian nuclear sites, two years ahead of the original schedule.
Here in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency says only a dozen incidents of uranium or plutonium trafficking were reported worldwide in 2004, down from an average of about 30 a year in the mid-1990s. Only one reported last year involved bomb-grade material, and that was a minor amount.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/11/01/nightmare_of_loose_nukes_still_haunts/
'Intelligent design' battle goes to polls
By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
DOVER, Pa. --A battle over a policy requiring that ninth-graders in this rural community learn about "intelligent design" in biology class is being fought on two fronts -- one political, one legal.
In a federal courtroom in Harrisburg, 20 miles away, a judge is hearing arguments in the sixth week of a landmark trial over whether the concept can be introduced in public school. The non-jury trial is expected to conclude Nov. 4; it is unclear when the judge will issue a decision.
At the polls in Dover, voters will render their decision Nov. 8 on whether to retain eight of the nine Dover Area School Board members -- all Republicans -- or replace them with a Democratic slate whose platform calls for removing intelligent design from the curriculum.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/01/board_member_testifies_in_evolution_case/
Illegal fish threaten Wyo. trout stream
By Ben Neary October 31, 2005
CHEYENNE, Wyo. --Burbot -- an aggressive, eel-like fish that eat young trout -- have been illegally stocked in a reservoir in southwest Wyoming, and officials say they now pose a threat to some of the state's premier trout water in the upper Green River.
Craig Amadio, fisheries biologist for the Green River Region of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said the department found some young burbot, also called ling, in nets it set in Fontenelle Reservoir in late October. He said that while burbot have been found below the reservoir in the past, the dam has kept them from spreading upstream until now.
"Somebody has obviously put burbot upstream of Fontenelle Dam," Amadio said. "It's a pretty selfish action for somebody to take. They wanted fishing for burbot closer to home."
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/wyoming_trout_threatened_by_illegal_fish/
Great Salt Lake may return to normal level
October 31, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY --The drought-shrunken Great Salt Lake could be back at its typical level in as few as two or three years, experts say.
The U.S. Geological Survey automated gauge has recorded the level at about 4,195.5 feet above sea level for the past three weeks. That translates to a surface area of about 1,000 square miles.
By comparison, the average lake level over the years since Utah was settled is 4,200 feet, at which it covers 1,700 square miles, according to the USGS.
Many Utahns hope the lake will rise soon and "cover up those stinkin' mud flats, so it doesn't create a huge dust storm every time a storm comes through," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City.
And that may be exactly what will happen, provided the drought does not return.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/great_salt_lake_may_return_to_normal_level/
The Chicago Sun Times
School drops American Girl show
November 1, 2005
MILWAUKEE -- A Roman Catholic school in suburban Milwaukee is the first nonprofit group in the nation to cancel a coveted American Girl Fashion Show.
It comes after concerns that the doll company behind the show gives money to a national girls organization that accepts abortion and lesbian sexual orientation.
St. Luke School in Brookfield notified its parents through bulletins at masses over the weekend.
"It seemed like a match made in heaven; a motivated Catholic school and an all-American icon," wrote Frank Malloy, St. Luke pastor, in his explanation. "We seemed poised to raise enough funds for a new playground and a remake of the school library."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-girl01.html
White House says no to shakeup, apology
November 1, 2005
BY TERENCE HUNT
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way.
Bush ignored reporters' questions during a meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leak01.html
Anti-violence advocates want answers in 2003 slaying
November 1, 2005
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
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SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois State Police officials must explain why they didn't seize guns from an employee who threatened his girlfriend before killing her and himself in 2003, anti-violence advocates said Monday.
If State Police are correct that they were powerless to intervene and take guns away from Donald Dunkirk, they need to ask the Legislature to change the law, one activist said.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that police officials began paperwork to revoke Dunkirk's Firearm Owner's Identification card and confiscate his weapons after suspending him from his maintenance job at the police training academy.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun01.html
Martha sought to fire Trump, fly solo on 'Apprentice'
November 1, 2005
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NEW YORK -- Before her version of ''The Apprentice'' began, Martha Stewart thought she was saying ''you're fired'' to Donald Trump.
While ''The Apprentice: Martha Stewart'' hasn't done well in the ratings, Stewart initially had much higher hopes -- even that her NBC show would eclipse Trump's original.
''I thought I was replacing The Donald,'' Stewart says in the Nov. 14 issue of Fortune magazine, on newsstands Nov. 7. ''It was even discussed that I would be firing The Donald on the first show.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-martha01.html
Dawn
Creek Marina. Pakistan has plans. Earthquake buildings are an issue.
http://www.creekmarina.com/
G8, emerging powers meet in London to discuss climate change LONDON, Nov 1 (AFP) The world's emerging economic powers, including China and India, were encouraged Tuesday to join their Group of Eight seniors to develop sustainable clean energy sources in response to climate change. Meeting in London, energy and environment ministers from the G8 leading industrialised nation and from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa sought common ground on the pressing issue. "The focus of our agenda for this meeting is on energy, and on how we can make better use of technology to make the transition to a low-carbon economy," British Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said.(Posted @ 21:35 PST)
http://www.dawn.com/2005/11/01/welcome.htm
French leaders under fire over riots
Nov 2, 2005
French government leaders came under fire on Wednesday for their handling of unrest in a poor suburb north of Paris, as police braced for further possible violence after five successive nights of clashes.
The main opposition Socialists accused President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of an "inexcusable" silence over the violence, which began after the accidental death by electrocution last Thursday of two teenagers.
But most of their anger was directed toward Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious interior minister and would-be president, whose tough rhetoric on urban crime has aroused charges of pandering to the far right.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/623898
Paris suburb riots continue
2.34PM, Tue Nov 1 2005
French youths have rioted in a Paris suburb for the fifth night running despite calls for calm from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Eleven vehicles were burned out and a policemen lightly injured in the latest night of violence in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.
The violence began after two teenagers died last Thursday night when they were electrocuted in an electricity sub station while apparently fleeing police.
An official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny said: "It was less serious than the previous nights."
In the nearby area of Montfermeil, two cars were destroyed and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police garage.
http://www.itn.co.uk/news/554066.html
The Guardian
Sarkozy pledges police crackdown after riots in Paris
· Special units assigned to rundown districts
· 30 held after worst clashes with youths for years
Jon Henley in Paris
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian
France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday defended his law-and-order tactics and pledged rapid police reinforcements after four nights of rioting in Paris.
Mr Sarkozy, who also promised the parents of two teenagers whose deaths sparked the violence that they would learn "the full truth" about how their sons died, said the situation in some deprived neighbourhoods had been deteriorating "for 30 years" and had to be tackled firmly. More than 30 people were under arrest last night in the rundown northeastern district of Clichy-sous-Bois after some of the most violent clashes between riot police and mainly immigrant youths that the country has seen for some years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1605792,00.html
Tributes paid to July 7 victims
Mark Oliver and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
A memorial service for the victims of the London bombings gets underway in St Paul's Cathedral. Photograph: John D McHugh/AFP/Getty
The Archbishop of Canterbury told a national memorial service for victims of the July 7 bombings today that each of the victims was "unique, precious ... non-replaceable".
Rowan Williams told the service at St Paul's Cathedral that every victim of the attacks in London had "a separate, unique beauty".
The Queen and the prime minister joined relatives of the victims of the attacks, survivors and emergency workers for the 55-minute service.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1606219,00.html
Diwali celebrations defy Delhi bombers
Staff and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
Women light earthen lamps, in Agartala, India, for Diwali, the festival of lights. Photograph: Ramakanta Dey/AP
The sound of firecrackers greeted the dawn in Delhi today as the city began the Hindu festival of Diwali in the wake of bomb attacks at the weekend that killed 59 people.
Defiant shopkeepers decorated their stalls with glowing lights and shiny tinsel to mark the festival of lights - representing the triumph of good over evil - but security was tight as investigators continued their hunt for the bombers.
Police sifted through millions of mobile telephone call records, trying to uncover who had carried out the attacks, and checkpoints were set up around the city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1606197,00.html
Remote front line in the war on bird flu
In a small laboratory in a Budapest suburb, scientists are developing a vaccine which could prevent a global pandemic
Daniel McLaughlin in Pilisborosjeno
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
The road from Budapest meanders through forested hills and quiet villages, before reaching a neat yellow building guarded by an old man in a boiler suit and a barking alsatian. This is the unlikely front line in the global war against bird flu.
At this laboratory, Hungary is leading the fight against the H5N1 virus, which has arrived in Europe after killing dozens of people in Asia, and preparing for deadly future forms of an ever-changing disease that could cause a flu pandemic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604650,00.html
In deepest space, the earth really mustn't move for you
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
They should be out-of-this-world experiences. But US experts have warned that sex in space will bring problems not pleasure for men and women heading to the moon and Mars.
A panel of scientists has told Nasa interplanetary passion could cause chaos to its latest plans to send humans on long missions.
Cramped in spaceships for years, surrounded by the starry void, astronauts thoughts are bound to turn to romance, states the report, 'Bioastronautics Roadmap: a risk reduction strategy for human exploration of space'.
The resulting close encounters could have profound consequences, it adds. Without supplies of the necessary precautions, zero-gravity romps could lead to zero-gravity pregnancies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604708,00.html
Space flight is hell on Earth
A manned flight to Mars means up to three years of discomfort and isolation - how would the cosmonauts cope? Tom Parfitt visits a terrifying simulation
Thursday September 8, 2005
The Guardian
Past a loose pile of broken asphalt, down a weed-choked path behind the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) in Moscow lies the hidden jewel in Russia's space programme.
For decades, critics have bemoaned the state of modern space exploration. They rue the fact that since the Apollo moon landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s there has been no attempt at a manned mission beyond Earth's orbit. And the most gung-ho among them have their minds fixed on humans flying to Mars.
Last year, President Bush announced the US would send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, and from there to Mars. Spurred on, this summer the Russians included a groundbreaking experiment in their draft $10bn space programme for the next decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1564375,00.html
Bird-like lungs key to size of dinosaurs
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
Bird-like lungs could have helped the biggest dinosaurs reach their astonishing size, say scientists.
According to New Scientist, Steve Perry and Jonathan Codd from the University of Bonn said sauropods, which reached 40 metres and weighed 100 tonnes (10 times as much as the largest elephants) sucked in air more efficiently than mammals today. In mammals a diaphragm pumps air through the lungs.
Birds have up to nine extra air sacs to supplement their lungs. And birds' "lung" tissues are only half as thick as those of mammals. It adds up to around 80% greater efficiency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601296,00.html
Breathalyser detects traces of explosives
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
A device able to detect traces of chemicals found in explosives on the breath of people who have handled them has been developed.
Originally destined for medical diagnosis and already used to detect early-stage lung cancer, the Heartsbreath analyses the volatile organic compounds in a person's breath.
It works because chemicals from explosives can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and are subsequently stored in the body. Michael Phillips at Menssana Research in New Jersey, US, tested people who handled explosives regularly and found they exhaled compounds others did not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601324,00.html
The San Francisco Chronicles
SAN FRANCISCO
A not-too-scary Halloween
Crowds in Castro generally are well-behaved
Steve Rubenstein, Leslie Fulbright and Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
There were the typical -- angels, devils, Zorros, pirates and witches. And the San Francisco atypical -- men dressed as Midwestern beauty queens, a corpse bride protesting the governor's special election and an iPod Shuffle that blared thumping house music.
Halloween in the Castro district Monday night was crowded, but orderly and low-key compared with years past. Though thousands of people still attend, the festivities have mellowed considerably, and a rough estimate put only about 15 percent of the attendees in costume.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/HALLOWEEN.TMP
Governor raises the specter of taxation
He counters lack of support for his ballot measures
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a new Field Poll showing all of his ballot measures trailing, spent Halloween using a potential tax increase as the bogeyman waiting for Californians if his special election agenda fails at the polls next week.
Schwarzenegger rallied support for his budget-related initiative, Proposition 76, by saying it could be the only to way to avoid raising taxes to pay the state's bills. He made his pitch in a new commercial launched Monday and at a staged Southern California event featuring a Dracula-like character representing the car tax.
Supporters said the governor would continue the tax message through election day as a way to show voters how defeat of his plans to make changes in government could affect them. But Schwarzenegger's opponents called the theme a scare tactic raised by a desperate politician.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/FIELD.TMP
Election flummoxes many across state
Californians give mixed reviews to governor, measures
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
Fillmore, Ventura County -- On a sun-washed park bench in their small town plaza, Frank Cervantez, 56, a retired landscaper, and his buddy, Angel Carrillo, 53, are savoring their special corner of rural California on a spectacular fall day.
But as they tick off concerns about the future here -- growth, traffic and jobs -- Cervantez throws up his hands.
"Why," he asked, "are we having a special election again?"
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/MNG28FGN011.DTL
SF State launches investigation into arrest of professor
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 10:40 PST San Francisco (AP) --
The president of San Francisco State University said an independent commission will investigate alleged racial profiling after the arrest of a black professor on campus.
Antwi Akom, 37, an ethnic studies assistant professor, was arrested on October 25 after he allegedly refused to provide identification to a security guard during a late-night visit to his office. Authorities said Akom instigated a scuffle with university police officers.
Akom was charged with two felony counts of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. One officer was treated for minor injuries at a hospital.
Akom was released on his own recognizance and is expected to return to teaching Tuesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/10/31/state/n104048S31.DTL
Cheney Names Two to Fill Libby's Positions
By TERENCE HUNT, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 15:23 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
"We don't want to do anything from here that could prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/national/w092701S26.DTL
New IED - Armor Piercing.
Seven More U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 20:00 PST BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --
Capping the bloodiest month for American troops since January, the U.S. military reported Monday that seven more U.S. service members were killed — all victims of increasingly sophisticated bombs that have been become the deadliest weapon in the insurgents' arsenal.
Bombs also claimed a toll Monday among civilians in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the major metropolis of the Shiite-dominated south, which has witnessed less violence than Sunni areas. A large car bomb exploded along a bustling street packed with shops and restaurants as people were enjoying an evening out after the daily Ramadan fast. At least 20 were killed and about 40 wounded, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/international/i154922S56.DTL
Chronicle staff photographer Kim Komenich and staff writer Anna Badkhen went on assignment with U.S. Army and Marine units in Iraq in the spring and fall of 2005. The assignment has taken them from the border area near Syria, where U.S. Marines fought for towns controlled by insurgents, to the area around Tikrit, in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," which has long been a hotbed of insurgent activity.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/28/iraqgallery.DTL
John Ashcroft's Focus of Homeland Security was based in Anti-Arab profiling.
Sikhs struggle to be accepted
Since 9/11, many have been harassed or threatened
San Jose -- A teenager accosted Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal, 39, at Home Depot, saying he should take his turban back to the desert where he might actually need it.
Another time, a fellow driver swerved toward him, saying "Arab, get out of here." And once, the driver of a car near his rolled down his window to ask if Bainiwal had told his family he loved them that morning.
A member of Santa Clara County's Airport Commission and a software engineer at Sun Microsystems, Bainiwal is a Sikh. He is one of 500,000 in the United States, some 40,000 in the Bay Area alone, according to area Sikh leaders. Like many Sikhs, he has been threatened or harassed repeatedly since Sept. 11, 2001, by people who think he is Muslim and equate that with terrorism.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/BAGT3FGDR01.DTL
FINDING MY RELIGION
Neo-pagan witch on celebrating the dead and casting spells
This being Halloween, M. Macha NightMare will dress up with a pointy hat, black clothing and a broomstick. It's mostly for fun, but it's also what people expect from the 62-year-old educator, author and priestess, who also happens to be a witch.
NightMare -- not her given name -- considers herself a Neo-Pagan, an eclectic term describing a diverse cluster of religious movements in the last 100 years or so seeking to resurrect pre-Christian spiritual beliefs, like a reverence for nature and Goddess worship. Some Neo-Pagans are witches, others are Wiccans and still others are both and neither.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/31/findrelig.DTL
The Halloween Celebration
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?m=/c/pictures/2005/11/01/mn_halloween_jrs_0152.jpg&f=/c/a/2005/11/01/BAGPUFH6H61.DTL
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