Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"
"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Monday, Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2005. There are five days left in the year.
The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today.
This is Boxing Day.
1522 One of the first slave revolts occurs on a sugar plantation owned by Christopher Columbus’ son in Hispaniola.
1776, the British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.
1799, former President George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
1893, Chinese leader Mao Zedong was born in Hunan province.
1894 Author Jean Toomer is born. He will publish his experimental novel "Cane" of the Harlem Renaissance. His novel is considered a masterpiece.
1898 First Black musical comedy is written and produced by Bob Cole. He will co-produce a musical comedy called "A Trip to CoonTown" with William F. Johnson and "The Shoo Fly Regiment" with J. Rosamond Johnson.
1908 Controversial Black boxer Jack Johnson wins the World Heavyweight Boxing title when he defeats Tommy Burns. He will become the inspiration for the play, "The Great White Hope."
1917, during World War I, the U.S. government took over operation of the nation's railroads.
1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
1944, in the World War II Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division was relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division.
1966 KWANZAA, a 7-day holiday celebrating African American culture, created by Maulana Karenga, begins this day with Umoja (oo-MOH-jah)
1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo.
1975, the Soviet Union inaugurated the world's first supersonic transport service with a flight of its Tupolev-144 airliner from Moscow to Alma-Ata.
1980, Iranian television footage was broadcast in the United States, showing a dozen of the American hostages sending messages to their families.
2003, an earthquake struck the historic Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 26,000 people.
Ten years ago:
Israel turned dozens of West Bank villages over to the Palestinian Authority in a smooth transfer of power.
Five years ago:
Michael McDermott, an employee at an Internet firm in Wakefield, Mass., shot and killed seven co-workers. (McDermott was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
Veteran stage and screen actor Jason Robards died in Bridgeport, Conn., at age 78.
One year ago:
More than 200,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a tsunami triggered by the world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years beneath the Indian Ocean.
An unmanned cargo ship docked at the international space station, ending a shortage that forced astronauts to ration supplies.
Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts broke Dan Marino's single-season touchdown pass record when he threw his 48th and 49th of the season against San Diego. (The Colts defeated San Diego in overtime, 34-31.)
Legendary Reggie White, a 43-year-old NFL star, dies unexpectedly in North Carolina. The All-Pro defensive player played with three different National Football League teams before retiring after a 15-year career in football. He was an ordained minister and was called "Minister of Defense.
Missing in Action
1961 FRYETT GEORGE FREDRICK LONG BEACH CA 06/24/62 RELEASED RET-ADDRESSED AS SIR GEORGE/ALIVE 98
1969 TROWBRIDGE DUSTIN C. WAYNE IL
1971 GUENTHER LYNN THE DALLAS OR 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED ALIVE IN 98
1971 KOONS DALE F. EATON OH "DEAD, PHOTO OF ID" REM RET 1/03/90
1971 STOLZ LAWRENCE G. HAUBSTADT IN "DEAD, PHOTO OF ID" REMAINS RETURNED 1/03/90
1972 COOK JAMES R. WILMINGTON NC 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 HUDSON ROBERT M. SHAWNEE MISSION KS 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 LABEAU MICHAEL M. LINCOLN PARK MI 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 MORRIS ROBERT J. JR. ST CHARLES MO 09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV
1972 VAVROCH DUANE P. TAMA IA 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 WIMBROW NUTTER J. WHALEYSVILLE MD 09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV
December 25
1965 BAILON RUBEN
1965 O'LAUGHLIN STEPHEN M. SALMA AL REMAINS RECOVERED 6/03/73
1967 BURNS FREDERICK J. MERRICK NY "01/02/69 DIC, ON PRG DIC LIST" " REMAINS RETURNED 1994, ID 04/95"
1967 KOONCE TERRY T. SAN ANTONIO TX
1968 KING CHARLES D. MUSCATINE IA
1968 MEHRER GUSTAV A. "LEOBEN, AUSTRIA" 03/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
1972 RICKMAN DWIGHT G. JOPLIN MO BURIED AT CRASH WITH VIET OBSERVER
December 24
1965 CHRISTIANO JOSEPH ROCHESTER NY MAYDAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1965 COLWELL WILLIAM K. GLENCOVE NY MAYDAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1965 EILERS DENNIS L. CEDAR RAPIDS IA MAYDAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1965 HASSENGER ARDEN K. LEBANON OR MAYDAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1965 JEFFORDS DERRELL B. PHOENIX AZ DAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1965 THORNTON LARRY C IDAHO FALLS ID MAYDAY HEARD SEARCH NEG
1967 POWERS VERNIE H. BALTIMORE MD
1968 BROWNLEE CHARLES R. ALAMOSA CO
1970 LUNDY ALBRO L. JR. SHERMAN OAKS CA
1971 FINN WILLIAM R. METAIRIE LA
1971 TUCKER TIMOTHY M. LAS ANIMAS CO
1972 CLARK PHILLIP S. JR. FAIRCHILD AFB WA GOOD CHUTE AND VOICE CONTACT REMAINS RETURNED 03/88
1972 JACKSON PAUL V. III HAMPTON VA
1972 RIESS CHARLES F. EAST ST. LOUIS IL 03/28/73 RELEASED BY PL
RIA Novosti
Update: Gas poisoning in St. Petersburg not a terrorist attack - governor
ST. PETERSBURG, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - All the people affected by the gas, now identified as mercaptan, dispersed in trade centers in St. Petersburg have received medical aid and have been released from hospitals, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said Monday, emphasizing that the incident was not a terrorist attack.
"All the people who asked for medical assistance after being affected by the unknown substance dispersed in several trade centers in St. Petersburg were given medical aid and sent home," Matviyenko said.
She said experts were still trying to identify the gas, but could confirm that the incident was not an act of terrorism.
Devices containing capsules with an unidentified gas were planted in three Maxidom trade centers and went off in two of them.
About 80 people, including several policemen, asked for medical assistance.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42718568.html
140 patients exposed to HIV+ blood test negative
VORONEZH, December 13 (RIA Novosti) - So far, 140 out of the 208 recipients of albumin injections produced from HIV-infected blood in central Russia have tested negative, the local health department said Tuesday.
Mikhail Ivanov, a senior department official, told a Voronezh news conference that local albumin production had been suspended but that the region had about two metric tons of reserve medicine that would last at least six months.
Ivanov said that, contrary to media reports, the city had not received any orders from the Federal Service for the Oversight of Public Health and Social Affairs to cancel the regional blood bank's license to produce albumin.
As for the HIV+ donor, a 35-year-old woman, Ivanov said she had left the city with her children.
"We have no right to look for her under the law," Ivanov said.
Ramil Khabriyev, the head of the service, said earlier that the woman, who was a regular donor, had tested HIV-negative when she last donated blood on May 5.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051213/42473021.html
Putin orders completing GLONASS satellite system before 2008
Adds paragraphs 7, 8 and background
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he wanted Russia's GLONASS global navigation satellite system ready before 2008.
"The GLONASS system should be created before 2008, as it was originally planned," Putin told government members. "We have the possibility. Let us see what can be done in 2006-2007."
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said three new satellites had been successfully put into orbit Sunday to expand the navigation system.
He said 19 out of 24 GLONASS satellites were currently in orbit.
"I am convinced that by 2008, all the 24 satellites will be in orbit as part of the GLONASS federal target program," Ivanov said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42711260.html
Putin ratifies Russia-N.Korea agreement on investment protection
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws ratifying the agreements between Russia and North Korea, Russia and Laos and Russia and Mongolia on the encouragement and mutual protection of capital investment, the Kremlin press service said Monday.
The laws were adopted by the lower house of the Russian parliament December 9 and approved by the upper house December 14.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42720454.html
Gold and currency reserves hit $173 bln
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves have reached $173 billion, a senior Central Bank official said Monday.
"The gold and foreign currency reserves have been growing fast on the back of a strong positive balance of trade and payments and have reached $173 billion as of today," First Deputy Chairman Alexei Yulyukayev said.
The reserves have increased by $50 billion since the start of the year and would have grown by $70 billion if not for foreign debt payments.
The increase in gold and currency reserves has expanded the monetary base by 24%, whereas money supply has increased 40%, according to the bank official.
Ulyukayev said these changes had promoted higher liquidity in the banking sector but had not stoked inflationary pressures.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42706873.html
Russia to donate 50 APCs, 2 helicopters to Palestine
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is expected to donate 50 armored personnel carriers (APCs) and two Mi-17 transport helicopters to Palestine, a source close to the negotiations said Monday.
"We will supply the equipment to Palestine as aid," the source said.
The arrangement, including financing, has already been agreed on by all the ministries involved. However, it is not yet clear when the deliveries will take place, the source said.
Relevant issues have also been agreed on with Israel, the source added.
In February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We supplied military equipment to the Palestinians earlier. They recently approached us with a request for more equipment, including APCs. This request is being studied, and the Russian leaders are in support of it."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42703727.html
Russia's Middle East policy to gather momentum in 2006
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Marianna Belenkaya.) The Middle East was a major part of Russia's foreign policy in 2005, which saw a number of crucial events in its relations with the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visits to Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian National Authority, and Russia was granted observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
In 2006, Russia will take the rotating chair of the G8, which advanced the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA) at its summit in the Untied States in 2004.
Russia will organize several functions within this program, which may help formulate goals and opportunities in the region more clearly. Russia's Middle East policy should become more transparent, so that the West and the East stop wondering about its goals in the region.
Unfortunately, in 2005 Russia had to answer many embarrassing questions. All sides wondered where it was leaning, toward the West or the East, Israel or the Arab (Islamic) world.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20051226/42714199.html
Europeans to offer Moscow's initiative to Tehran
Moscow. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov). - Iran is to conduct a difficult dialog with the EU on the Iranian nuclear program.
The talks will be resumed on December 21 in Vienna and focus on one subject - the Europeans will offer Moscow's initiative to Tehran -- to take the process of uranium enrichment outside the country. In the opinion of the majority of experts, such a variant would undoubtedly contribute to restoring trust in the Iranian nuclear program as one designed to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
What position will Iran take at the talks? Is Tehran prepared for a compromise?
So far, Tehran has been insisting on its legitimate right to produce nuclear fuel for its own nuclear power plant situated on its territory. Iran has rejected all accusations of allegedly using the peaceful nuclear program as a cover for creating a nuclear bomb. The Iranians see projects to create joint uranium enrichment ventures in third countries as a direct threat to the development of national science. Last Sunday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani stated that "the current problem between the U.S.A. and the West on the one hand, and Iran on the other, is not a nuclear bomb. These countries want Iran to remain, like some of its neighbors in the region, a consumer of technologies provided, not to produce these technologies." Perhaps, the talks will be a success, if the sides find a solution that would not raise obstacles to Iranian specialists' research, on whatever territory.
The current round of the Vienna talks may turn out to be decisive before the adoption of the final verdict on the Iranian nuclear file. In March next year, the IAEA Board of Governors must decide whether to submit the Iranian nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council, as demanded by the U.S.A., or close it.
However, in experts' opinion, the next round of Iran-EU talks beginning this week will not yield any tangible results. In that case, it is beyond doubt that the U.S.A. and the West intend to put pressure on Russia, which has been supporting Iran's peaceful nuclear program, not to use its right of veto during the examination of the imposition of international sanctions against Iran.
A special - and currently, increasingly prominent - place has traditionally been allotted to Russia in the solution to the Iranian nuclear problem. Russia supports Iran's peaceful nuclear program and actively cooperates with it in the military, security, nuclear energy and other fields.
The prevailing opinion is that Russia should become the country where a joint uranium enrichment venture should be created and that respective offers have been made to Iran. Admittedly, Iranian parliament speaker Golamali Haddad-Adel, who visited Moscow last week, told the press that "Tehran has not received such offers from Moscow but would welcome talks on this subject".
Tehran does not conceal that it considers the forthcoming talks to be "important and difficult" and Iran's future nuclear policy will be built depending on the results of these talks.
Upholding Iran's right to create a full nuclear cycle, a few days ago Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed the law denying international inspectors access to Iranian nuclear facilities in the event of the aggravation of the international controversy over its nuclear program. It should be recalled that so far inspectors have been actively working, without encountering any obstacles.
Under this law, the Iranian government must take respective measures in case the IAEA submits the conflict over Iran's nuclear program to the examination of the U.N. Security Council. It is hard to say whether this law will be really effective. However, it is clear that by signing this law President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated the possibility of Iran suspending the implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Meanwhile, this Protocol obliges signatories to ensure the transparency of their nuclear technologies.
In the opinion of Russian sources close to the negotiating process, Moscow's position on the Iranian nuclear issue will remain intact - the IAEA must remain the main mechanism of solving the Iranian nuclear issue. However, the sources state that it would be advisable for Tehran to remember that apart from the rights granted by the IAEA regime, there are also obligations.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20051220/42586821.html
Russia set to launch communications satellite
MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) - A rocket carrying two satellites will be launched from the northern Plesetsk space center Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for the Russian Federal Space Agency said Monday.
"The carrier rocket will orbit the Gonets-1M communications satellite to provide services for security agencies and another satellite ordered by the Defense Ministry whose functions were not specified," the source said.
Gonets-1M will ensure the rapid transmission of brief messages, e-mail and other kinds of communications. The satellite's service life is slated for seven years and its orbit can be corrected if necessary.
Russia's security agencies will use Gonets to improve efficiency and reliability, provide confidential communications, and ensure automated data collection, including on the transportation of hazardous cargoes. Moreover, it will allow the creation of reliable closed-data networks for anti-terrorism purposes.
Russian Insurance Center, a space insurer, has underwritten the launch, covering third party liability.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051219/42557489.html
Russian pundit predicts Russia-Ukraine "gas war"
KIEV, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Director of the Russian Political Research Institute Sergei Markov said Wednesday that a "gas war" between Russia and Ukraine is inevitable after the postponement of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's visit to Ukraine.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov had originally planned to visit Ukraine on November 23, but during a phone conversation with Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, agreed to determine a new date for the meeting after coordinating the issue of Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine and its transit via Ukrainian territory in 2006.
"The Ukrainian leadership is counting on the fact that Russia has its interests and Ukraine has its strength: a gas pipe to Europe and support from its European partners and the United States. The Ukrainian leadership is therefore maintaining a very rigid stance and in fact the talks are collapsing," Markov said.
"Ukraine is leading things to a gas war and wants all issues to be resolved through a harsh standoff," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/business/20051123/42187461.html
Ukraine, U.S. sign nuclear waste storage construction contract
KIEV, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's National Nuclear Power Generating Company Energoatom and Holtec International, a U.S. corporation involved in some nuclear waste disposal projects in Ukraine, signed a contract Monday for the construction of a dry nuclear waste storage facility in Ukraine.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20051226/42720326.html
Ukraine set to announce draft resolution on gas transit Dec. 27
KIEV, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine will announce its position on the draft protocol to the Russia-Ukraine intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the natural gas sector December 27, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said Monday.
"I cannot say we are about to adopt an intergovernmental agreement, but we will discuss the draft protocol to the agreement and inform the mass media," Yekhanurov's press service quoted him as saying.
He said he would inform President Viktor Yushchenko on the Russian-Ukrainian natural gas talks Tuesday.
Under a 2001 agreement for 2003-2013 between Russia and Ukraine, the volumes of Russian gas transit via Ukraine and transit payments should be specified in annual intergovernmental protocols for a specific period.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20051226/42719839.html
Ukrainian-Iraqi trade up 67-fold in 7 years
KIEV, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian-Iraqi trade has grown 67-fold from $1.5 million to $100 million since 1998, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Monday.
Ukrainian-Iraqi relations "could be much more closer," Yushchenko said after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari.
Yushchenko proposed improving bilateral military, technical, engineering and energy cooperation.
"I expect today's talks with the Iraqi prime minister to launch real economic cooperation," he said.
The president also met with Ukrainian servicemen who had been deployed in Iraq 2.5 years ago and are to be withdrawn from the country by December 29.
Yushchenko said Ukrainian peacekeepers had fulfilled their mission in Iraq and helped promote trade and economic and political relations with the country.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20051226/42719420.html
Putin dismisses First Deputy Foreign Minister Loshchinin
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin in order to transfer him to another position, the Kremlin press service said Monday.
Putin appointed Loshchinin the permanent representative of Russia to the UN Office, the Disarmament Conference and other international organizations in Geneva. Diplomat Leonid Skotnikov previously held the post, the press service said.
Skotnikov will be appointed Russia's representative to the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest judicial body.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051226/42719710.html
Schroeder accepts, Evans declines
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Nina Kulikova.) Donald Evans, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, has declined the Russian authorities' offer to chair the board of Rosneft, a major state-owned oil company, report The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Is it good or bad news for the Russian expert community? On the one hand, the possibility of Evans becoming the chairman of Rosneft, which the leading Russian and foreign newspapers reported last week, promised quite a few benefits to Russia. On the other hand, it was a questionable offer.
If Evans accepted it on the eve of Rosneft's initial public offering (IPO), the Kremlin would have presented this as proof of Western principles in the company's management. This would have improved the company's standing harmed by the acquisition of the former Yukos assets, as well as the reputation of Russia, which badly needs its companies to be seen as reliable partners.
The invitation of such a skilled and influential specialist to Rosneft's board shows that the Russian company is trying to work according to international standards, publicly and transparently.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20051220/42585215.html
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Celebrating pride and unity
By JOHN BLAKE /
Published on: 12/26/05
"A single straw is easily broken, but woven together, a mat is very strong."
That is one of Jeanette Vaughn's favorite proverbs, a phrase she often recites when explaining the meaning of Kwanzaa, one of her favorite holidays.
The Atlanta storyteller says that Kwanzaa, the week-long African-American holiday that starts today, celebrates community. The veneration that Rosa Parks elicited after her death in October made Vaughn think of Kwanzaa.
"The Montgomery bus boycott is such an excellent example of all the Kwanzaa principles coming together," says Vaughn, who has performed Kwanzaa presentations for the last five years. "For over a year, no African-Americans used the bus system. They pooled their resources to buy cars. There's strength in unity."
http://www.ajc.com/holiday/content/holidayguide/events/stories/kwanzaa122605.html
Remembrance of rededication of the Temple
Published on: 12/24/05
Hanukkah — the eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem — begins at sundown on Sunday, coinciding with Christmas for the first time since 1978.
Around Atlanta, families will celebrate by lighting one of the eight candles on the menorah on each night. Several community singalongs are planned as well as the lighting of community menorahs in Duluth and Marietta.
A special menorah is used for Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.
The holiday commemorates the Maccabees, a group of Jewish men who defied Hellenistic Syrian conquerors and reclaimed the Temple more than 2,000 years ago.
Antiochus, the Greek king of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods, and in 168 B.C., the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus.
But a small band of Jews fought back, eventually led by Judas Maccabaeus. They defeated the Syrians against overwhelming odds and refurbished the Temple.
But when the sacred lamp was rekindled, there was only enough oil to last one day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight days, giving them time to purify new oil.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/holidayguide/events/stories/24hanukkah.html
Mora apologizes for outburst
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/26/05
Flowery Branch — Falcons coach Jim Mora extended a public apology to any members of the flagship radio station he may have upset during and after a postgame interview following Saturday's 27-24, overtime loss at Tampa Bay.
"If I offended anyone, I apologize," Mora said a Monday news conference from team headquarters. "That wasn't my intent."
Mora admitted throwing a radio headset onto the ground when radio analyst Dave Archer asked him about possibly running a play on fourth-and-two with just more than a minute left in overtime instead of punting, ending the live interview. The equipment nearly hit two radio station employees, according to team and radio employees. Archer was in the studio on the media level, several flights above the locker room.
Team officials said there would be no disciplinary action taken.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/falcons/1205/27mora.html
UGA police will begin arresting students for underage drinking
Associated Press
Published on: 12/25/05
ATHENS — Starting next year, underage students caught drinking at the University of Georgia will be arrested and sent to jail.
The change represents a tougher stance on underage drinking after years of simply giving out citations.
Do you agree with UGA's plan to arrest underage drinkers?
Yes, it's the best way to teach these kids a lesson.
No. Drinking is just a part of college life, regardless of age.
Voter Limit: Once per Hour
The new policy is aimed at changing campus culture and increasing students' sense of responsibility, UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said.
"What I want is that someone think about their actions," he said. "I'm not running a Gestapo."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1205/26ugadrink.html
Mother Accidentally Runs Over Daughter
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A woman backing out of a driveway to get Christmas candy accidentally ran over her 6-year-old daughter and killed her, police said.
Cordelia Quistorf, 24, did not realize the girl had gone outside, police said.
Quistorf's other daughter and two sons were in the car with her.
Detective Ed Worthman said no charges were expected.
December 26, 2005 - 1:55 p.m. EST
Copyright 2005, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/BRF_Girl_Killed.html
Delta flight attendant hurt during shaky trip to Philly
Published on: 12/26/05
A flight attendant on a Delta flight to Philadelphia was hurt Sunday afternoon when the plane encountered heavy turbulence, according to the airline.
Paramedics treated the injured employee on Flight 476, which originated from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and then stopped in Atlanta before landing in Pennsylvania at 3:42 p.m., said Kip Smith, a spokesman for the airline.
No passengers were hurt, and the company did not release any further details.
— Charles Yoo
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1205/26metdelta.html
One Police Officer Dead, Another Missing
By MATTHEW VERRINDER
Associated Press Writer
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Two police officers in an emergency truck plunged more than 40 feet off an open drawbridge in thick fog. One was killed; the other was missing and feared dead.
The vehicle fell into the Hackensack River on Sunday night, after the officers crossed the Lincoln Highway Bridge and placed flares to warn motorists that the bridge's safety warning system was not operating, said Police Chief Robert Troy.
In this undated photo provided by CNN, Jersey City police officer Shawn Carson, 40, is shown. Carson was one of two Jersey City, N.J., police officers in an emergency truck that plunged about 45 feet into the Hackensack River from an open drawbridge shrouded in dense fog, Christmas night Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005. Officials said Monday that the body of Officer Carson was recovered Christmas night and authorities continued to scour the Hackensack River on Monday for Officer Robert Nguyen, 30. (AP Photo/Jersey City Police via CNN)
Listen Now: Healy says this tragedy feels personal
Before the officers turned around and drove back across the river, the bridge's middle span was raised to allow a tugboat to go under.
"They dropped off the cones and the flares, wished everyone a Merry Christmas and were joking around. From what I've heard they were all in good spirits," Mayor Jerramiah Healy said.
"The horrible irony is they were responding to the very situation that caused their demise. The bridge operator wanted cones and flares and our police department was the first to respond."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Officers_River_Plunge.html
'3 strikes' law a loser with mother
By By DAVID SIMPSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/26/05
Ashley Stokes Plunkett should have turned 20 years old on Dec. 1.
For her mother, Debbie Plunkett, the happiest part of the day was learning that someone had been arrested and charged with murdering her.
It is a measure of how upside down her world has become since her daughter died June 21 that Plunkett felt "elated" to hear the news from detectives at the DeKalb County Police Department.
But her emotions took another turn when she learned that the suspect, Selwyn Henry of Decatur, had been released from his fifth stay in a Georgia prison just seven months earlier.
Henry, 32, now is being held without bond in the DeKalb jail.
Regardless of whether he is ultimately found guilty, Plunkett could not understand why he was a free man.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/dekalb/1205/26ashley.html
College grads' literacy shows 'appalling' drop
Test finds many cannot interpret tables, food labels
By LOIS ROMANO
Washington Post
Published on: 12/26/05
Literacy experts and educators say they are stunned by the results of a recent adult literacy assessment that shows the reading proficiency of college graduates has declined in the past decade, with no obvious explanation.
"It's appalling — it's really astounding," said Michael Gorman, president of the American Library Association and a librarian at California State University at Fresno. "Only 31 percent of college graduates can read a complex book and extrapolate from it. That's not saying much for the remainder."
While more Americans are graduating from college, and more than ever are applying for admission, far fewer are leaving higher education with the skills needed to comprehend routine data, such as reading a table about the relationship between blood pressure and physical activity, according to the federal study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Experts could not definitively explain the drop.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1205/26natliteracy.html
Schwarzenegger Name Removed From Stadium
By WILLIAM J. KOLE
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria — Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz quietly and under cover of darkness removed giant metal letters spelling out his name on a soccer stadium.
The California governor had asked for his name to be stricken from the 15,300-seat arena after critics in his birthplace, where opposition to capital punishment runs high, scorned him for refusing to block this month's execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams.
The stadium at Graz, Austria, on Monday Dec, 26, 2005, after the name of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was removed from the stadium overnight. Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown Graz, removed his name from the soccer stadium overnight, complying with the California governor's demand in a bitter dispute over his death penalty stance. Schwarzenegger had written to the mayor of Graz a week ago, asking that his name be removed after local activists called for the stadium to be renamed because of Schwarzenegger's refusal to block the execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams in California.(AP Photo/Markus Leodolter)
Late Sunday night or early Monday, authorities in the southern Austrian city unbolted the 20 letters spelling out the action star-turned-politician's name from Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium. They timed the work to take advantage of the Christmas lull to avoid attracting attention "and keep the media from taking photos," a local city hall official who declined to be named told Austrian television.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Europe/Austria_Schwarzenegger.html
Discovery in Portugal solves centuries-old religious riddle
By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press
Published on: 12/26/05
Porto, Portugal — A chance discovery during renovation of a building in this Atlantic port city has revealed a dark secret from Portugal's past: a 16th-century synagogue.
Built at a time when Portugal's Jews had been forced to convert to Catholicism or risk being burned at the stake, the house of worship was hidden behind a false wall in a four-story house that the Rev. Agostinho Jardim Moreira, a Roman Catholic priest, was converting into a home for his old-age parishioners. A scholar of Porto's Jewish history, he says that as soon as the workers told him of the wall, "I knew there had to be some kind of Jewish symbol behind it."
A man walks past a building in Porto, northern Portugal where a medieval holy ark, where a synagogue's Torah scrolls are kept, was recently found during refurbishing work.
His hunch was confirmed when the wall came down to reveal a carved granite repository, about 5 feet tall, arched at the top and facing east toward Jerusalem. It was the ark where the medieval Jews kept their Torah scrolls. Pieces of decorative green tiles in the ark further confirmed its age when experts dated their glazing to a method used in the 16th century.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1205/26natsecretsynagogue.html
Teddy Roosevelt shows set off Wildlife Week at Pigeon Forge
By PAULA CROUCH THRASHER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/25/05
Nebraska actor Mark Klemetsrud will portray President Theodore Roosevelt in a pair of one-man shows, "Rancher, Hunter, Cowboy" and "Conservation President," Jan. 7-8 during Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
The 16th annual observation Jan. 7-15 will attract nature lovers of all ages to east Tennessee for nine days of free programs celebrating the natural attractions in and around the Great Smoky Mountains.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/travel/articles/stories/1205/25trgoing.html
Breaking up the SAT
By Patti Ghezzi Thursday, December 22, 2005, 02:10 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So counselors are urging the College Board to allow students to take portions of the SAT separately, meaning a students who is satisfied with her math and writing scores but wants to retake verbal could take - and pay for - only the verbal portion.
In a letter to the College Board, counselors and other educators who work with high school students noted that for decades the subject tests have been offered separately. Why not the core sections, math, writing and verbal? Even students who get a perfect score on one portion of the test have to retake that portion if they want another crack another portion.
Their proposal would make the SAT more fair for students who cannot afford to retake the $41.50 test over and over.
Also, students would be less likely to make mistakes because of because of fatigue and hunger. The entire test lasts more than three hours.
Students, parents, teachers … should kids be allowed to take portions of the SAT separately?
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/education/entries/2005/12/22/breaking_up_the.html
Jerusalem Post
Doctors to fix hole in Sharon's heart
By JUDY SIEGEL AND GIL HOFFMAN
Talkbacks for this article: 18
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will in two weeks undergo a catheterization to insert a clam shell-shaped clamp on two sides of a small hole in his heart. The procedure will prevent the formation of more blood clots and greatly reduce his risk of a recurrent stroke.
This was announced by Prof. Chaim Lotan, chief of cardiology at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem, and Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur, the hospital's chief of neurology, both of whom were responsible for the 77-year-old prime minister's treatment during his day-and-a-half hospitalization after a mild stroke last week. Lotan will head the team chosen to perform the procedure, which is usually carried out under partial or complete sedation.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309647572&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel to enforce off-limits zone in Gaza Strip
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israel will enforce a new off-limits zone in the Gaza Strip with artillery, helicopter and gunboat fire, its latest response to rocket attacks on Israeli towns, defense officials said Friday.
If enforced, the aerial barrage would mark some of the toughest military response in Gaza since it withdrew from the coastal strip in September.
Palestinian officials on Friday promised to send in more security forces to the border area to prevent the rocket attacks.
Deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, said the no-go zone was part of Israel's stepped up response to the rocket fire, which has intensified since the Gaza withdrawal. Israel has already launched missiles and artillery fire at suspected launching areas and killed several terrorists in recent months.
Israel hopes the Palestinians "will get the message and that this will stop the rocket squads," Boim told Israel Radio. "If we must, we will have to tighten the screw further."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309637665&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
IDF changes Kassam response policy
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN AND JPOST.COM STAFF
Talkbacks for this article: 65
A new IDF protocol for defending Israel from Kassam attacks dictates that IAF planes will aerially monitor Gaza Strip districts from which Kassam rockets are most frequently launched and open fire if suspicious activity is spotted.
The protocol has not, however, been implemented and still requires more specific delineation of the areas to monitored so as to not harm innocent civilians, Army Radio reported.
Despite the mandate to refrain from harming civilians, potential air force targets will be populated areas, and not open territory, as have seen the thrust of much of the recent IDF response to Kassam and mortar fire.
The IDF said that it would notify civilians in targeted areas a number of hours prior to carrying out the missions.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1134309627917&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Survivors recount plot to kill Nazis
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
A group of elderly Holocaust survivors came forward Friday with accounts of a death squad they formed after World War II to take revenge on their Nazi persecutors, recounting a brazen operation in which they poisoned hundreds of SS officers.
In a broadcast on Channel Two TV, the survivors - some of whom fought in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising - recalled hunting down SS officers in the dead of night. Disguised as British or American officers, they would drag the SS men out of their homes and execute them, they said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309638128&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Churches owe J'lem around NIS 300m
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
The Vatican and an array of Christian churches in Jerusalem owe the Jerusalem Municipality hundreds of millions of shekels in overdue property tax, with the State of Israel and the Vatican in negotiations over the repayment of the debt, city officials said this week.
According to law, properties that are used as houses of prayer are exempt from paying property tax (arnona).
But the churches, which owe vast amounts of properties in Jerusalem, are required to pay property tax for buildings they own that are not used for worship, such as hostels and schools, the city said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309633370&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Netanyahu outlines plan for limited territorial concessions
By GIL HOFFMAN
Talkbacks for this article: 16
Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu started off his party's campaign on Monday with a show of unity at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds in the first meeting of the Likud central committee since his election as party leader a week ago.
The central committee nearly unanimously passed Netanyahu's proposals to reserve the second slot on the Likud list for Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and to delay the elections for the Likud's Knesset list from January 3 to January 12.
Netanyahu outlined his positions on diplomatic and socioeconomic issues without getting heckled by a crowd that regularly attacked his predecessor, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"The time has come for a party to say what Israel will keep and not what we should give away," Netanyahu said. "There are three different approaches: Keeping all the land, which I think would be a mistake; withdrawing from nearly all the land, which Ehud Barak, Sharon and Amir Peretz support and I think is dangerous; and our policy, which is defensible borders for Israel."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309652745&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Tenders issued for 228 W. Bank homes
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP
Talkbacks for this article: 4
The Housing Ministry published tenders on Monday morning for the construction of 150 housing units in Beitar Illit, and another 78 in Efrat's Givat Hazayit neighborhood.
Peace Now representatives counted 1,131 tenders for housing units in the West Bank since the beginning of 2005.
The left-wing organization claimed that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was allowing the construction in order to gain votes.
Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Sharon, said plans for the latest construction began more than five years ago and would take place in existing communities.
Gissin also noted that the construction would be in settlements that Israel plans to retain after a final peace settlement with the Palestinians.
"These are the large settlement blocs, they will be strengthened," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309652019&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israelis return home in record numbers
By JESSICA FREIMAN
Some 5,700 emigrants have returned to live in Israel in 2005, according to the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption. This figure represents a significant jump from the 5,000 returning citizens in 2004, and eclipses the 3,052 new immigrants from North America this year.
But those were only the registered ones.
"We estimate that there are an additional 5,000 returning Israeli citizens who came back in 2005 who did not register with us," ministry spokesperson Tamar Abramowitz said.
Asked what drove some 10,000 Israelis who had left to make their lives elsewhere give Israel a second chance, Abramowitz replied, "They have come to the conclusion that Israel is the only place that they can truly feel at home. A common theme among many returning citizens is that they would prefer to raise their children in Israel."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309653673&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
J'lem mayor faces questioning for dirty city
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
In a burgeoning scandal, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski is reportedly facing questioning by the Environment Ministry's 'green police' for ignoring directives to clean public sites in the city.
Earlier this year, the Environment Ministry opened a criminal investigation against Lupolianski for failing to properly clean the city, in the wake of an amalgamation of waste and garbage at five city sites, which include the city's main Givat Shaul cemetery.
The investigation was launched after the mayor ignored five clean-up orders signed by the Environment Ministry's Jerusalem district director Shoni Goldberger.
Lupolianski spokesman Gidi Schmerling said Sunday that two of the five dirty garbage sites in question have already been cleaned, while three additional locations will be cleared within the next three weeks.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309646371&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Terrorists threaten to upgrade missiles
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Talkbacks for this article: 30
Three armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip on Monday threatened to continue their attacks on Israel and said they have long-range missiles capable of reaching more Israeli towns and cities.
One of the groups belongs to Fatah, the ruling party headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The two others are the Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of various armed groups, and al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309652347&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Court rules Fatah can submit united list
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
RAMALLAH, West Bank
A Palestinian court decided Monday that the ruling party can still submit a single list for the parliamentary elections, ending the split and reducing the threat of a Hamas victory.
Earlier this month, Fatah's disgruntled young guard broke away and presented its own list of candidates under the name "Future." Eager to bring the young guard back into the fold, PA and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed to award top slots to many of the younger activists who had done well in Fatah primaries.
Initially, Abbas had given many of these spots to oldtimers, who will now have to compete in districts, where their re-election is not secured
Meanwhile, a poll released on Monday indicated that Hamas would earn the greatest number of seats if the Fatah factions remained split.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309652642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Boston Globe
Scientists: Coral reefs spared worst of tsunami's effects
By Bob Salsberg, Associated Press Writer December 26, 2005
BOSTON --Doctor Gregory Stone was on a diving expedition off Fiji on December 26, 2004, when the first sketchy reports reached his ship about the undersea earthquake that had spawned a catastrophic tsunami in South Asia. Amid his horror over the human toll, another thought quickly formed in the scientist's mind: What would be the impact of this natural disaster on the region's stunningly beautiful and ecologically critical coral reefs?
Several months later Stone, vice president of global marine programs for the New England Aquarium, traveled with a team to Phuket, the Thai resort island that became well-known to the world in the days after the tsunami. Over the next two weeks, the team made approximately 500 dives at 56 sites, surveying the reefs to determine how badly they had been damaged and how long they might take to recover.
They found destruction, but also hope.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/12/26/scientists_coral_reefs_spared_worst_of_tsunamis_effects/
Summary: Alaska researchers study reindeer
By The Associated Press December 25, 2005
ROAST RUDOLPH: Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks say reindeer has great potential as livestock. The meat is prized for its rich flavor, tenderness and low fat content.
SUBSISTENCE ROOTS: Siberian reindeer were introduced to Alaska in the late 1800s as an alternative food source for Alaska Natives after numbers of native subsistence animals dwindled.
FUGITIVE HERDS: Scores of domesticated reindeer have run off with their wild, migrating cousins from the Western Arctic caribou herd.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/12/25/summary_alaska_researchers_study_reindeer/
Families in need
December 26, 2005
IN MASSACHUSETTS, children who engage in self-injuring but not illegal behavior can be legally declared a Child in Need of Services. Under varying circumstances, parents, police, and school officials can file CHINS petitions with the courts in cases where children run away from home, refuse to attend school, chronically break school rules, or resist obeying their parents. Parents surrender oversight to court officials, and they may lose custody of their children.
The designation was created in 1973. Now, a bill in the State House would obliterate CHINS -- to make way for a better system.
An overhaul is crucial. More than a judge's attention, what many troubled children and their families need are comprehensive social services. Pain drives a lot of youthful offenses. Counseling can lead to understanding, recovery, and behavior that improves life. And some parents who file for CHINS do so out of desperate need for services they can't find access to any other way.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/12/26/families_in_need/
N.H. Republicans drift from national party
Delegation breaks on major issues
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff December 26, 2005
WASHINGTON -- With signs pointing to a resurgent Democratic Party in New Hampshire, the state's all-Republican congressional delegation is becoming increasingly at odds with the national Republican Party in a state that was long a GOP bellwether, according to an analysis of votes and other actions in Congress over the past year.
Congressmen Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass voted for expanded stem cell research and opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and Bradley notably declined to endorse Bush's Social Security plan.
Senator John E. Sununu opposed Bush's plan for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, joined a filibuster to insert civil liberties protections into the USA Patriot Act, and voted against his party leadership on several major spending bills.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/26/nh_republicans_drift_from_national_party/
Attacks, protests erupt in Iraq
Post-election period of relative peace ends
By Louise Roug and Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times December 26, 2005
BAGHDAD -- A rash of roadside bombings and shootings and a series of bitter demonstrations across Iraq yesterday ended a relatively peaceful stretch since parliamentary elections a week and a half ago.
In the capital city, insurgents set an American tank ablaze, causing an undisclosed number of casualties, and elsewhere in the country explosions and assassinations killed Iraqi civilians and security forces.
The violence occurred after more than a week of discontent and acrimony among some voters over the preliminary results of the Dec. 15 balloting for the first permanent national government since the US-led 2003 invasion.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/12/26/attacks_protests_erupt_in_iraq/
Ex-hostage says abductors treated her OK
By Mariam Fam, Associated Press Writer December 26, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq --A German woman freed after being held hostage in Iraq for more than three weeks said in an interview broadcast Monday that she was treated well by her kidnappers.
Susanne Osthoff, an aid worker and archaeologist, told the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera satellite channel that her abductors weren't trying to get a ransom. Rather, they were demanding that schools, hospitals and other humanitarian projects built in Sunni Arab areas, she said.
"Thank God, I am still alive," Osthoff, 43, said in Arabic, a black scarf wrapped around her head.
Osthoff, the first German to be kidnapped in Iraq, disappeared with her Iraqi driver in northern Iraq on Nov. 25. Her release was announced Dec. 18. The driver is also believed to have been let go.
The German government expressed concern Monday that Osthoff has not ruled out going back to Iraq and appealed to her not to return.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/12/26/ex_hostage_says_abductors_treated_her_ok/
Accidental acetaminophen poisonings rise
By Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer December 26, 2005
WASHINGTON --Think popping extra pain pills can't hurt? Think again: Accidental poisonings from the nation's most popular pain reliever seem to be rising, making acetaminophen the leading cause of acute liver failure.
Use it correctly and acetaminophen, best known by the Tylenol brand, lives up to its reputation as one of the safest painkillers. It's taken by some 100 million people a year, and liver damage occurs in only a small fraction of users.
But it's damage that can kill or require a liver transplant, damage that frustrated liver specialists insist should be avoidable.
The problem comes when people don't follow dosing instructions -- or unwittingly take too much, not realizing acetaminophen is in hundreds of products, from the over-the-counter remedies Theraflu and Excedrin to the prescription narcotics Vicodin and Percocet.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2005/12/26/accidental_acetaminophen_poisonings_rise/
14 years after evil empire, a stable Russia
By Graham Allison December 26, 2005
FOURTEEN YEARS ago yesterday, the Soviet Union disappeared. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR on Christmas Day 1991. Boris Yeltsin became independent Russia's first president. The Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, dissolved itself. The iconic hammer and sickle flag that had flown over the Kremlin for seven decades came down. What Ronald Reagan rightly called the ''evil empire" was erased from the map. In its place emerged Russia and 14 other newly independent states.
As former Czech president Vaclav Havel observed, ''Things have changed so fast we have not yet taken time to be astonished." Nowhere is this truer than on the territory of the former Soviet Union.
Who could have imagined the evil empire disappearing -- without war?
Who could have imagined a revolution that buried communism -- without blood? Recall: Crane Brinton's classic, ''The Anatomy of Revolution," requires blood for a genuine revolution.
Who could have imagined US victory over its Cold War rival -- with a whimper rather than a bang? The tectonic collapse of one pole of a bipolar international system with so few aftershocks?
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/26/14_years_after_evil_empire_a_stable_russia/
Poisoned politics
By Cathy Young December 26, 2005
EVEN AS the war in Iraq goes on and the war with a global terror network shows no signs of abating, our domestic political scene seems to have become a war zone as well.
It's happening on political websites, where ''debate" often consists of trading invective and where opponents are ridiculed with slurs like ''libs" and ''repugs." It's happening in mainstream politics, too. Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean slams Republicans as ''brain-dead" people many of whom ''have never made an honest living in their lives." Republican master strategist and senior Bush adviser Karl Rove slams liberals as wimps whose reaction to Sept. 11 was to ''offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."
Everyone seems to agree that there is far too much nastiness in American political discourse today. And everyone seems eager to blame the other side for it.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/26/poisoned_politics/
Staying the course
By James Carroll December 26, 2005
AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE was proving itself inadequate to the challenge. The president appointed a special commission to make recommendations. The year was 1954. The commission chairman was James Doolittle, the retired bomber general who had led the first air raid against Tokyo.
''It is now clear," he stated in his report to President Eisenhower, ''that we are facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and whatever cost. There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply. If the United States is to survive, longstanding concepts of 'fair play' must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and counter-espionage services, and must learn to subvert, sabotage, and destroy our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated, and more effective methods than those used against us. It may be necessary that the American people be made acquainted with, understand, and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy."
Sound familiar? Again and again, in the year now ending, the American people have been told by their leaders that strategies based on a new ''repugnant philosophy" are required if the nation is to survive the challenge facing it. Forbidden incendiary weapons must be used in urban settings. Prisoners of war must be deprived of Geneva protections. Aggressive interrogations of enemies must approach torture. Commitments to provide US combat forces with adequate protective gear must be forsworn. Extrajudicial kidnapping of bad people must be justified. Allies must be pressured into joining secret networks of detention camps.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/26/staying_the_course/
A maritime museum for Boston
By Henry A. Lachance December 26, 2005
''MOST AMERICAN seaports, including Boston, have shamefully neglected the splendid history of their maritime efforts."
That statement was made by historian Samuel Eliot Morison in his classic ''Maritime History of Massachusetts," and for Boston the sentence rings as true today as in 1921, when that matchless volume was first published.
A most important era of American maritime history, spanning nearly three centuries of wooden shipbuilding in Massachusetts Bay, began in 1631 when colonial governor John Winthrop built and launched his little 30-ton trader ''Blessing of the Bay" from his seat at Medford on the Mystic River, and continued to the end of the great Age of Sail at the turn of the 20th century.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/26/a_maritime_museum_for_boston/
What Bush could learn from Lincoln
By Robert Kuttner December 24, 2005
MY CHRISTMAS present to George W. Bush is a copy of Doris Kearns Goodwin's splendid study of Lincoln and his Cabinet, ''Team of Rivals." President Bush believes in redemption, and so do I. Here are just a few things Bush might profitably learn from our first Republican president.
Lincoln assumed the presidency at a time when the nation was horribly divided, not into culturally warring ''blue" states and ''red" ones, but into a real civil war between blues and grays -- the states that stayed in the Union and those that seceded. Even among the unionists, Lincoln's own Republican Party and Cabinet were bitterly rent between those who wanted to accelerate emancipation and punish the South and those who gave top priority to keeping the Republic whole.
Lincoln's priority, always, was to preserve the Union and to reduce the sectional and ideological bitterness. As Goodwin brilliantly shows, he did so by the force of his personality and the generosity of his spirit. Lincoln had an unerring sense of when public opinion was ready for partial, then full abolition of slavery, and he would not move until he felt he had the people behind him. He governed by listening and persuading.
By contrast, Bush's entire presidency is about eking out narrow victories, not about building national consensus. Even when he prevails, Bush wins by manipulation and stealth. His legacy is deepened division and bitterness.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/24/what_bush_couldlearn_from_lincoln/
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