"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2005. There are 45 days left in the year.
1776, British troops captured Fort Washington during the American Revolution.
1864, Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the Civil War.
1873 W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues, is born in Florence, AL. He will compose numerous hits such as "St. Louis Blues" and "Memphis Blues".
1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.
1941 Composer and organist Edward Margetson is honored by the Schubert Music Society at the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1959, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway.
1973, Skylab 3, carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission.
1973, President Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.
1981 Pam Johnson is named publisher of the Ithaca Journal (NY), becoming the first Black woman to run a daily newspaper
1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.
2000 Coca Cola settles race discrimination case to approximately 2,000 African American workers for $193 million in compensation. This is the biggest settlement in the history of USA Coca Cola.
2000 Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams dies from prostate cancer at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA. He was a top lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who continued the battle for civil rights long after King's death.
Ten years ago: Refusing to yield, President Clinton threatened anew to veto the latest Republican offer to end a three-day partial government shutdown; Democrats savaged House Speaker Newt Gingrich for claiming Clinton had snubbed him recently aboard Air Force One.
Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed she had Parkinson's disease.
Five years ago: Al Gore won a legal fight to expand manual recounts as he struggled to trim George W. Bush's 300-vote lead in Florida's presidential race.
President Clinton began a visit to Vietnam.
Civil rights activist Hosea Williams died in Atlanta at age 74.
One year ago: President Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be his new secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell.
Al-Jazeera television said it had received a video showing a hooded militant shooting a blindfolded woman in the head; it's believed the woman was kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan.
Sunni Muslims in Iraq expressed anger over videotape showing the fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine.
Missing in Action
1965 GREEN DONALD GEORGE BALDWIN PARK CA
1966 PITTMANN ALAN D. SHELBY IA "MULTIPLE SPELLINGS -- ON WALL AS ""PIITTMANN""" ALSO USG LISTS AS ALLAN PITTMAN REFNO 0524
1967 SCHULZ PAUL H. EIRE PA 03/14/73 RELEASED / HELI TO HANOI ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 COPLEY WILLIAM M. NORTHRIDGE CA
1968 KARST CARL F. GALATIA KS REMAINS RETURNED APRIL 1994
1968 WIECHERT ROBERT CHARLES WEST JORDAN UT
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Tentative deal on Patriot Act, sources say
By LAURIE KELLMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators struck a tentative deal on the expiring Patriot Act that would curb FBI subpoena power and require the Justice Department to more fully report its secret requests for information about ordinary people, according to officials involved in the talks.
The agreement, which would make most provisions of the existing law permanent, was reached just before dawn Wednesday. But by midmorning GOP leaders had already made plans for a House vote on Thursday and a Senate vote by the end of the week. That would put the centerpiece of President Bush's war on terror on his desk before Thanksgiving, a month before more than a dozen provisions were set to expire.
Officials negotiating the deal described it on condition of anonymity because the draft is not official and has not been signed by any of the 34 conferees.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Patriot_Act.html
Government gives orcas a shield
Puget Sound's 'local' whales receive 'endangered' status
By LISA STIFFLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
In a move that surprised and pleased environmentalists and whale enthusiasts, the federal government declared Puget Sound orcas "endangered" Tuesday, triggering the most protective actions and requirements legally available.
The decision comes at a time when laws safeguarding orcas and other vanishing creatures have come under attack by some federal lawmakers. Tuesday's announcement underscores their importance, environmentalists said.
"This listing is long overdue, but it's the right decision and we're really happy," said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound, an environmental group.
"We know that these whales are in serious trouble," she said. "But the good news is this will give a real boost to make sure the actions are taken to make sure that these whales survive."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/248515_orcas16.html
Canada's salmon fishery target of two lawsuits
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Canadian fishing is severely cutting into salmon recovery efforts in the Pacific Northwest, according to two new federal lawsuits.
One lawsuit seeks to bar the import from Canada of any salmon protected by the Endangered Species Act; the other would force the U.S. government to reconsider a biological opinion it wrote supporting the 1999 Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada.
Both lawsuits were filed Monday in U.S. District Court by the Salmon Spawning and Recovery Alliance, a collection of environmental and recreational groups from Washington and Oregon, as well as the Snohomish County Public Utility District. The lawsuits name the Commerce Department, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the State Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Interior Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service as defendants.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/248496_salmon16.html
Chemical weapons dump off Vancouver Island studied
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A safety assessment is being made of a newly revealed chemical weapons dump that reportedly contains mustard gas and phosgene off the west coast of Vancouver Island, officials said.
Judith Bennett, an environmental engineer in Canada's Department of National Defense, said Tuesday the deadly chemicals and ammunition were dumped in about 8,000 feet of water 100 miles off the coast and at one of two East Coast sites after World War II.
One of the Atlantic sites is off Sable Island, roughly 200 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the other involves a Canadian ship containing chemical warfare agents that was sunk by a German U-boat. The location of the sunken ship was not immediately available.
The West Coast site was identified through a review of military archives which showed the ammunition and chemical warfare agents were taken across Canada by train for disposal, Bennett said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_CAN_Chemical_Weapons.html
Ford Motor Co. recalls 220,000 vehicles
By KEN THOMAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. recalled 220,000 vehicles from the 2005 model year Wednesday amid fire worries from a battery cable rubbing against the frame and concern that a fuel tank strap could separate after tens of thousands of miles.
The recall linked to the cable involves more than 98,000 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans. Ford said in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has received four reports of fires.
Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said chafing of the cable caused the exposure of wires to the vehicle frame, causing the frame to become electrified in some cases and carry the potential for heat damage or fires.
The affected vehicles were built from March 2004 through February 2005.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_Ford_Recall.html
Michael Moore Today
Mike has the 'white phosphorus' video on his website. I'm impressed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
RATING: R
SHOWTIME ADVISORIES: Violence, Adult Language, Adult Content
Dolby Digital 5.1 / CC
2 h 3 m
SYNOPSIS:
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore ("Roger & Me," "Bowling for Columbine") crafted this incendiary piece of skillful agitprop, an exploration of the tragic chain of events before and after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center of September 11, 2001. Pointing his finger at a global conspiracy of war, greed, and media manipulation, Moore leaves no political figure unscathed in his most passionate, outraged condemnation of a president and policies he considers illegitimate and incompetent.
UPCOMING AIRDATES:
Click on the airtime below if you would like an email reminder to watch. All times ET/PT.
Showtime
Tomorrow
1:15 AM
Showtime Too
Friday
9:00 PM
Showtime Showcase
Saturday
9:45 PM
Showtime Next
Monday
11:30 PM
Showtime Too
Tuesday
11:00 PM
http://www.sho.com/site/schedules/product_page.do?seriesid=0&episodeid=123757
...a message frtom Cindy Sheehan
Court Day
-- a message from Cindy Sheehan
Today is the day that a portion of the 376 people who were arrested in front of the White House are going to court to fight our arrest.
Out of the 376, 125 have their appearance day today. The court (Scooter and Karl's court) is expecting about 60 to 70 people to come today to contest the arrest.
We have a team of fine DC lawyers helping us today. My attorney, Jon Norris, has informed me that we could be facing up to a 500.00 fine and/or 6 months in jail.
This seems like a pretty stiff sentence to me for demonstrating without a permit!
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=543
Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force
By Dana Milbank and Justin Blum / Washington Post
A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.
The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4886
They were never sworn in and Stevens may have broken the law !
Senate Hearings on Big Oil
Boston:The nation's biggest oil companies defended their combined quarterly profits of more than $30 billion on Wednesday at a Senate hearing where lawmakers demanded to know when prices would ease.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/11/09.html
Case Against GMU Protester Is Dropped
Student, an Air Force Veteran, Passed Out Fliers Saying Military Recruiters Lie
By Tom Jackman / Washington Post
Fairfax County prosecutors yesterday dropped charges against a George Mason University student who was arrested by campus police in September while protesting military recruiting at the school.
After investigating the case, George Mason officials asked last month that the charges against Tariq Khan, 27, be dismissed. Fairfax prosecutors complied in a brief hearing in Fairfax General District Court. Neither school officials nor prosecutors would explain why yesterday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4888
US used white phosphorus in Iraq
BBC
The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used white phosphorus during last year's offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Falluja.
"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said.
The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja at all.
Col Venable denied that the substance - which can cause burning of the flesh - constituted a banned chemical weapon.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4884
The US used chemical weapons in Iraq - and then lied about it
Now we know napalm and phosphorus bombs have been dropped on Iraqis, why have the hawks failed to speak out?
By George Monbiot / Guardian
Did US troops use chemical weapons in Falluja? The answer is yes. The proof is not to be found in the documentary broadcast on Italian TV last week, which has generated gigabytes of hype on the internet. It's a turkey, whose evidence that white phosphorus was fired at Iraqi troops is flimsy and circumstantial. But the bloggers debating it found the smoking gun.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4875
'I treated people who had their skin melted'
By Dahr Jamail / The Independent
Abu Sabah knew he had witnessed something unusual. Sitting in November last year in a refugee camp in the grounds of Baghdad University, set up for the families who fled or were driven from Fallujah, this resident of the city's Jolan district told me how he had witnessed some of the battle's heaviest fighting.
"They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud," he said. He had seen "pieces of these bombs explode into large fires that continued to burn on the skin even after people dumped water on the burns".
As an unembedded journalist, I spent hours talking to residents forced out of the city. A doctor from Fallujah working in Saqlawiyah, on the outskirts of Fallujah, described treating victims during the siege "who had their skin melted".
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4874
CIA Accused of Using Airport in Mallorca
By Maria Jesus Prades / Associated Press
MADRID, Spain -- European probes of the CIA's alleged covert transfers of Islamic terror suspects have spread to Spain, where a court said Monday it has received a prosecutor's report on allegations that the agency used a Spanish airport on the island of Mallorca.
The document stemmed from a four-month investigation prompted by reports from a Mallorca newspaper on the arrivals of suspicious aircraft.
The newspaper, Diario de Mallorca, said a CIA plane that took off from the Mediterranean island was involved in the alleged kidnapping of a Lebanese-born German national, who says he was transported to Afghanistan, questioned as an al-Qaida suspect and tortured.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4881
CIA planes used Swedish airports
The Local
At least two planes used by America's CIA have landed at Swedish airports, according to research by news agency TT. Arlanda, Örebro, Sturup and Bromma airports have all hosted the intelligence organisation's aircraft.
One of them has been at the prison base in Guantanamo.
Similar reports have come from Iceland, Norway, Denmark and the Baltic states. It is not known in what capacity the planes were in Sweden but they were mentioned in a news report which revealed how the CIA organises transport of prisoners.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4882
Krever svar om CIA-fly
Hemmelige CIA-fly har vært på norsk jord i opptil tolv timer. Nå krever Utenriksdepartmentet en forklaring fra USA.
By Dag Yngve Dahle / AftenPosten
Utenriksdepartementet skal i dag onsdag ha et møte med USAs ambassadør i Norge.
- Vi vil ta opp landingen på Gardermoen i juli, der et amerikansk fly landet uten tillatelse. Jeg kan ikke si noe nå om hva som kommer frem på møtet. Det får vi ta når møtet har funnet sted, sier pressetalskvinne Anne Lene Dale Sandsten i Utenriksdepartementet, til Aftenposten.no.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4890
Activists discuss cost of Iraq war
By Rob Daniel / Iowa City Press-Citizen
Al Zappala said he was introduced to his adopted son Sherwood Baker when Baker was 13 months old.
"That's when I fell in love with Sherwood," Zappala said.
Twenty-nine years later, on April 26, 2004, Baker, a sergeant in the Pennsylvania National Guard, was killed by an exploding bomb at a warehouse in Baghdad, Iraq. He was 30 and left behind a wife, 9-year-old son and grieving parents, Zappala said. He said that he was not alone in his grief, knowing other soldiers have died in Iraq.
"We don't have a monopoly on grief," he said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4867
Wal-Mart, the high cost of low price.
The DVD is full of special bonus features:
The full 98 minute film
A shorter 20 minute version
Behind the Scenes documentary
Director's commentary
8 parody commercials
The Spoofmakers
Spanish and French subtitles and four additional videos not in the film -- Canada, England, Our Moral Voices, and Don't Mourn...Take Action!
http://www.walmartmovie.com/watch.php
PREMIERE WEEK DAY 4: LEARN ABOUT WALMART
7000+ screenings planned in the largest grassroots mobilization in movie history!
http://www.walmartmovie.com/find.php?track=moore
Wednesday Screenings 16th
http://www.walmartmovie.com/wednesday.php
Thursday Screenings 17th
http://www.walmartmovie.com/thursday.php
Friday Screenings 18th
http://www.walmartmovie.com/friday.php
Saturday Screenings 19th
http://www.walmartmovie.com/saturday.php
More Soldier Letters...
Too many to fit in one book...
(an online companion)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/willtheyevertrustusagain/
The Boston Globe
National Adoption Day
More women interested in adoption
Ernest Oliver, 2, arrived with his mother to finalize his adoption at the Family Court in Brooklyn, New York, today. (AP Photo)
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
WASHINGTON --The number of women interested in adopting children is up, but fewer of those women are acting on that impulse, a study being released Wednesday shows.
The Urban Institute reported that more women are willing to adopt hard-to-place children, including those with disabilities, minority children and older children.
"More interest isn't necessarily translating into more action," said Jennifer Macomber, a research associate at the Urban Institute.
The study, funded by the National Adoption Day Coalition, analyzed data from 1995 and 2002 surveys of women conducted by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/16/more_women_interested_in_adoption/
Sheehan, other protesters plead not guilty
War protester Cindy Sheehan speaks to her supporters as she arrives at the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005. Sheehan said she is demanding a trial after being arrested demonstrating without a permit outside the White House on Sept. 26. Her son Casey was killed in Iraq last year and she gained notoriety last summer as she led a growing anti-war movement near President Bush's Texas ranch during his vacation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Pete Yost, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
WASHINGTON --War protester Cindy Sheehan and several others pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of demonstrating without a permit outside the White House.
The protesters, who face fines and not jail time, were being tried Wednesday afternoon by U.S. Magistrate Alan Kay after several hours of talks with court officials about how quickly their trial could be wrapped up.
Before the trial began, Sheehan announced plans to revive her protest near President Bush's Texas ranch during Thanksgiving week, despite new county ordinances banning roadside camping.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/16/sheehan_other_protesters_plead_not_guilty
Global warming poses ethical challenge: scientists
By Patricia Reaney November 16, 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - Global warming poses an enormous ethical challenge because countries that produce the least amount of greenhouse gases will suffer the most from climate change, scientists said on Wednesday.
Whether it is an increase in poor health from diseases such as malaria or shrinking water supplies, nations in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America are vulnerable to the consequences of changes in global temperatures.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that climate change leads to more than 150,000 deaths every year and at least 5 million cases of illness.
In a review of the impact of global warming on public health, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the WHO predict countries in Africa and coastal nations along the Pacific and Indian Oceans will be hardest hit.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/16/global_warming_poses_ethical_challenge_scientists/
Philly kindergartner found with heroin
November 16, 2005
PHILADELPHIA --A kindergarten teacher found eight bags of heroin in a 5-year-old student's pocket, police said.
The matter was under investigation and the boy's mother could be charged, police Inspector William Colarulo said.
The heroin was discovered Oct. 25. On Tuesday, the school sent a letter home to parents. The letter did not explain why the school waited three weeks to tell parents. It was sent home after a story about the incident aired on WCAU-TV.
Neither the child nor his classmates at Richmond Elementary School were harmed, a schools spokesman said.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/11/16/philly_kindergartner_found_with_heroin/
Study questions health effects of decaf
Jose Abel Aguillar, 9, of Nicaragua, works picking coffee on a plantation as juice from ripe coffee berries stain his hands near Palmares, Costa Rica, 55 kilometers (34 miles) northwest of San Jose, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005. Coffee industry experts from around the world are taking part in the XIX Sintercafe International Coffee Conference this week to discuss trends in the coffee industry. (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)
By Marilynn Marchione, AP Medical Writer November 16, 2005
DALLAS --Fresh questions are percolating about the health effects of coffee, this time the decaffeinated variety. One of the first substantial studies to test it like a drug instead of just asking people how much of it they consumed found higher blood levels of cholesterol-precursor fats in those drinking decaf vs. regular coffee or none at all.
But the differences were very small, especially when compared with the effects of, say, the doughnut that might be dunked into the brew.
"I don't think there's a health threat," regardless of which type of coffee is consumed, said Dr. H. Robert Superko of Fuqua Heart Center in Atlanta, who did the study when previously at Stanford University. He reported on it Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference.
It was one of the few coffee studies not funded by industry -- federal taxpayers picked up the more than $1 million tab. (If you think that's a lot of money, consider that more than half of Americans drink three cups or more a day).
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2005/11/16/study_questions_health_effects_of_decaf/
C-sections in U.S. are at all-time high
By Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
ATLANTA --The rate of Caesarean sections in the U.S. has climbed to an all-time high, despite efforts by public health authorities to bring down the number of such deliveries, the government said Tuesday.
Nearly 1.2 million C-sections were performed in 2004, accounting for 29.1 percent of all births that year, the National Center for Health Statistics reported. That is up from 27.5 percent in 2003 and 20.7 in 1996.
The increase is attributed to fears of malpractice lawsuits if a vaginal delivery goes wrong, the preferences of mothers and physicians, and the risks of attempting vaginal births after Caesareans.
The C-section rate increased for all births, even those that involved healthy, first-time pregnancies with a full-term, single child. In 2000, the government announced a national public health goal of reducing the C-section rate for such births to 15 percent by 2010, but the actual rate now is about 24 percent and rising.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/11/16/c_sections_in_us_are_at_all_time_high/
WHO says not enough done to fight obesity
By Uta Harnischfeger, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
GENEVA --Efforts so far by the food and drink industry to improve the nutritional value of their products to help fight childhood obesity are simply not good enough, the World Health Organization said.
"The industry's efforts are commendable, but inadequate. They are only a drop in the ocean," Colin Tukuitonga, who oversees the WHO's global strategy on diet and physical activity, said before a meeting with representatives of the food and soft drink industry on Wednesday.
Some industry giants such as Kraft, Nestle and Unilever have recently reviewed their recipes and reduced the salt, sugar and fat content of some of their products. They have also pledged to change some of their advertising and marketing practices.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2005/11/16/who_says_not_enough_done_to_fight_obesity/
Senate passes bill to shore up pensions
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
WASHINGTON --Hoping to reverse the deterioration of pension plans covering 44 million Americans, the Senate voted Wednesday to force companies to make up underfunding estimated at $450 billion and live up to promises made to employees.
The action came a day after the federal agency that insures such plans reported massive liabilities and predicted a troubled future.
The Senate legislation, passed 97-2, takes on the daunting task of compelling companies with defined-benefit plans to live up to their funding obligations -- without driving those companies into abandoning the plans and further eroding the retirement benefits of millions of people.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/16/senate_passes_bill_to_shore_up_pensions/
Attorney general seeks law clarifying no-work on Christmas Sunday
November 16, 2005
BOSTON --Attorney General Tom Reilly has asked the Legislature to clarify that retail employees do not have to work this Christmas, which falls on a Sunday.
Under existing law, when the holiday falls on a Sunday, the legal holiday is marked the following day, Monday, Dec. 26. Most businesses and state offices will be closed that day.
Reilly, however, is concerned the state's blue laws could be read in a manner that retail workers feel compelled to work on that Sunday, the true date of Christmas. Unlike the other businesses, retail stores will be open Dec. 26.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/16/attorney_general_seeks_law_clarifying_no_work_on_christmas_sunday/
Senate passes bill to fund crimefighting
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
WASHINGTON --The FBI and other federal crimefighting agencies came out well in a $57.9 billion spending bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday, but funds for state and local law enforcement were cut.
The 94-5 Senate vote sent the bill, which covers Justice, Commerce, State Department and science agency programs, to President Bush for his signature.
House and Senate negotiators also were wrapping up work on a $140 billion spending bill for Transportation, Treasury and Housing programs after the Senate agreed to remove a provision -- under the threat of a presidential veto -- that would have eased restrictions on agriculture trade to Cuba.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/16/senate_passes_bill_to_fund_crimefighting/
New reports emerge about Castro's health
Cuban President Fidel Castro sits in a wheelchair as he recovers from a fall he took the previous month while giving a speech, in this Monday Nov. 22, 2004 file photo, in Havana, Cuba. The reports about Fidel Castro's health have swirled around for years, growing more frequent as the 79-year-old Cuban leader grows older and interest in his inevitable succession sharpens. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia)
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer November 16, 2005
HAVANA --The reports about Fidel Castro's health have swirled around for years, growing more frequent as the 79-year-old Cuban leader grows older and interest in his inevitable succession sharpens.
Sometimes he is said to have cancer. Other times, he is said to have suffered a series of small strokes.
Most recently, a U.S. official told The Associated Press in Washington Wednesday that an intelligence assessment based on a wide variety of material suggests Castro has Parkinson's disease -- something rumored and laughed off by the president as long as seven years ago.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitivity, emphasized the assessment is based on analysis and is not a definitive conclusion.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/11/16/new_reports_emerge_about_castros_health/
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Tamoxifen cuts breast cancer, but many still wary
By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer
The final results of a landmark study confirm that the drug tamoxifen prevents breast cancer, cutting the expected incidence by nearly half among women at increased risk of the disease.
On top of that, it protects bones and reduces cholesterol.
But the wrap-up of the $68 million, 13-year Breast Cancer Prevention Trial underscores an equally remarkable finding: Most at-risk women who could benefit from taking the drug choose not to. A study published last year by the American Cancer Society found that 60 percent of such women said no thanks.
The reasons for this, researchers say, include exaggerated perceptions of tamoxifen's risks, lack of marketing, the prospect of even better preventive drugs, and differing opinions about what level of risk is high enough to take the drug.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13177367.htm
New drug plan opens to a torrent of callers
By Marian Uhlman
Inquirer Staff Writer
Medicare yesterday opened enrollment for its ambitious new drug benefit to mixed reviews, with federal officials saying they were keeping up with growing interest in the plan.
But private and state groups said they were continuing to be swamped by anxious seniors trying to decide what they should do.
"It's certainly a stretch to our limitations," said Jack Vogelsong, Pennsylvania's coordinator for the health insurance counseling program.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13177366.htm
The New Medicare Prescription Plan
Explaining what you need to know
Richard Stefanacci
Richard G. Stefanacci is the founding executive director of the Health Policy Institute at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
Having served as a Medicare policy scholar, he is an expert on its new prescription drug plan, the biggest change to Medicare since its inception in 1965. To help allay confusion and anxieties, he's agreed to answer your questions.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/phillytalk/qa_forum.htm
Poll: Doubt lingers over Catholic Church abuse response
Most say they believe the church places its image before children's welfare.
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia still has a way to go to restore public confidence in its handling of clergy sex abuse, a new Temple University/Inquirer poll has found.
A majority of adults polled said they believe archdiocesan leaders continue to put the church's reputation ahead of protecting children.
While many of those interviewed said the archdiocese has improved its handling of clergy sex abuse in recent years, 43 percent of Catholics - and 63 percent of non-Catholics - polled said they felt archdiocesan officials are first concerned with the church's reputation when confronted with abuse allegations.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13177400.htm
Editorial Philadelphia freedom
It's not the Berlin Wall tumbling, but the National Park Service plan to pull down bicycle barricades around Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell pavilion is a breakthrough in its own right.
For visitors to Independence Mall, it's a huge, practical victory. For the cause of liberty, it's a symbolic high five long in coming.
Finally, the ugly barriers ringing the old Statehouse and bell since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will be removed and replaced by a more permanent security setup.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/13177379.htm
Editorial Goodbye season, hello Sundays
No Supe for you, Donovan.
Most Eagles fans probably are stuck in the middle stages of the Kuebler-Ross grief cycle, lingering somewhere between anger and depression.
It'll take some time to achieve acceptance that this, just like the 44 years before it, just isn't going to be the Birds' year. Their midnight meltdown in a nationally televised loss to hated Dallas will take a while to digest.
We're here to help you find the bright side, Eagles fans. You have no idea of this, but Sundays in the autumn offer a bright array of possible activities, none of which you have ever tried since you got that first green jersey under the Christmas tree when you were 4. Every Sunday since you've spent weeping at missed tackles and botched kicks.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/13177412.htm
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