The Rooster
Friday, October 14, 2005
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.
1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.
1923 The novel, "Cane", is published by Jean Toomer.
1944 German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
1947 Air Force test pilot Charles E. ("Chuck") Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1960 the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience of students at the University of Michigan.
1964 civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1968 the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1980 Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would name a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. (He later nominated Judge Sandra Day O'Connor of Arizona.)
1904 W.E.B. DuBois publishes his "Credo" in the New York Journal which describes his beliefs in liberty.
Missing in Action
1966 THOMAS DARWIN JOEL SANTA CLARA CA
1967 CONAWAY GARY LEE BLUE ISLAND IL REMAINS RETURNED 8/84 FAMILY HAS NUMEROUS STORIES? REM RET NOV 67
1967 VAUGHAN ROBERT REDDINGTON LOS ANGELES CA
1977 DELLENBAUGH CORNELIA 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 DICKERMAN LEELAND 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 AFFEL CHARLES
October 13
1966 BORDEN MURRAY L. GOLDSBORO NC
1966 MEADOWS EUGENE T. HIDDENITE NC REMAINS RETURNED 11/94
1967 MILLER EDISON WAINRIGHT CLINTON IA 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED
1967 WARNER JAMES H. YPSILANTI MI 03/73 RELEASED BY DRV " ALIVE IN 98 ""HONORABLE JAMES WARNER"""
1968 HUNT JAMES D. MISSOULA MT
1968 MASTERSON MICHAEL J. EPHRAYA WA
1968 ORELL QUINLEN R. BARNESVILLE OH
1969 GETCHELL PAUL E. PORTLAND ME
1970 CHESTNUT JOSEPH L. MURFREESBORO TN REMAINS RETURNED/IDENTIFIED 07/25/95
October 12
1966 ELKINS FRANK C. BLADENBORO NC REMAINS IDENTIFIED 2/26/90
1966 WOODS ROBERT D. ARCHIE MO 03/04/73 RELEASED ALIVE IN 98
1967 DERRICKSON THOMAS G. LOS ALTOS CA
1967 HARDY JOHN K. LOS ANGELES CA
1972 BRUNSON CECIL H. MEMPHIS TN 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 1998
1972 PRICE WILLIAM M. KEWANEE IL
1972 PEACOCK JOHN R. II KAILUA HI
1972 YOUNG MYRON A. NAPA VALLEY CA 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV RIP 07/03/99
October 11
1968 FERGUSON WILLIE C. JR. OKLAHOMA CITY OK 02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
1968 HELLER IVAN LOUIS GENESEO IL 03/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
The Wichita Eagle
Despite ruins, Mardi Gras prep goes on
By Kim Hone-McMahan
Knight Ridder Newspapers
NEW ORLEANS - They don't call this a party town for nothing.
Despite fetid piles of garbage, thousands homeless from flooding and the city on the brink of financial ruin, artists have begun crafting puckish icons for Mardi Gras parades four months away.
The pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebrations here boast masquerade balls and raucous merrymaking that gain worldwide attention. And for Blaine Kern, the 78-year-old known as "Mr. Mardi Gras," a little joy is exactly what this town needs.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884803.htm
Steps being taken to avoid avian flu crisis
By Robert S. Boyd
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Authorities cite a long list of reasons to fear a possible bird-flu pandemic, but they also say there are reasons not to panic - at least not yet.
The concern is that the H5N1 strain of bird - or avian - flu virus that's sweeping across bird flocks in Asia and Eastern Europe might learn to jump between humans, like the 1918 "Spanish flu" that killed as many as 50 million people worldwide.
"That's why every virologist in the world is flying around with his hair on fire," said Dr. Tara O'Toole, a virus specialist and director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884424.htm
Judge wants to curb BTK's access to images
Sedgwick County District Court Judge Greg Waller announced in a hearing at El Dorado Correctional Facility this afternoon that he is recommending that BTK serial killer Dennis Rader be imprisoned with several restrictions.
Among Waller's recommendations are that Rader should not be allowed to possess, receive or create: images of humans or animals, including drawings; documents that describe bondage; or inanimate objects that could be used as representations of humans or animals. Waller also is recommending that Rader not be allowed to view stories or reports about his murders, and that no video and audio recordings of interviews with Rader be allowed, unless specifically authorized by the Department of Corrections.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884432.htm
FDIC approves deal to buy Commercial Federal Bank
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday approved Bank of the West Inc.' s application to acquire Commercial Federal Bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision had already given its approval. Next, Commercial Federal shareholders will vote on the proposal Nov. 1. The transaction is expected to close in December, and local branches will then take the Bank of the West name, spokesman John Stafford said.
Omaha-based Commercial Federal has eight branches in the Wichita metropolitan area. According to the FDIC, Commercial Federal is the eighth-largest bank in the Wichita metro area, based on its 3.3 percent share of local deposits in 2004.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885253.htm
More Kansas schools fail to meet U.S. goals
Associated Press
TOPEKA - Nineteen more Kansas public schools have failed to meet federal education benchmarks that determine such things as whether students are allowed to transfer or receive tutoring, according to data released Tuesday by state education officials.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are required to make sufficient progress on improving test scores, graduation and attendance rates to achieve what is called "Adequate Yearly Progress." The goal is to have all students proficient in math and reading by 2014.
Schools that fail to meet the standards could be forced to do everything from providing tutoring for students to reorganizing. Those penalties apply only to schools that receive federal money to assist poor children.
School officials said the number of schools failing to meet the benchmarks grew by 19 between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years to 121. That's about 9 percent of the total number of schools in the state.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879479.htm
Wichita schools' test scores rise
BY AMANDA O'TOOLE
The Wichita Eagle
If it weren't for Hamilton Middle School students' struggles on state tests, Tracy Harmen isn't sure her daughter Robin would be doing so well.
Because Hamilton is on a state list of schools that need to improve test scores, Robin and her fellow students receive hours of extra help and individual attention. And it's apparently working.
Hamilton mirrors what's going on in the district and the state: While the district still trails the state's averages, and while high school students statewide trail younger students, scores overall continue to rise and the achievement gap between races continues to close.
At the district level -- an average of all schools' scores -- Wichita students gained on every test except 10th-grade math, which dropped to 33.8 percent passing from 2004's score of 36.9 percent.
The biggest leap was a 12.9 percentage-point improvement in fifth-grade reading. Just over 70 percent passed.
By comparison, the state average gained 5.6 percentage points, to 77.6.
The gap between Wichita's black and white students shrank by 2.3 percentage points in seventh-grade math and 5.8 percentage points in eighth-grade reading.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879478.htm
Sectarian resentment extends to Iraq's army
By TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Swadi Ghilan's two sons were dropping their sister off at high school earlier this year when a carload of Sunni Muslim insurgents pulled up and emptied their AK-47s into their bodies. In broad daylight his children were torn to pieces, their blood splashed against the windshield as they screamed and died.
Ghilan is a major in the Iraqi army and a Shiite Muslim, the sect that makes up some 60 percent of Iraq's population. Now, more than ever, the grieving father says he wants to hunt down and kill not only Sunni guerrilla fighters but also Sunnis who give those fighters shelter and support. By that, he means killing most Sunnis in Iraq.
"There are two Iraqs; it's something that we can no longer deny," Ghilan said. "The army should execute the Sunnis in their neighborhoods so that all of them can see what happens, so that all of them learn their lesson."
The Bush administration's exit strategy for Iraq rests on two pillars: an inclusive, democratic political process that includes all major ethnic groups and a well-trained Iraqi national army. But a week spent eating, sleeping and going on patrol with a crack unit of the Iraqi army - the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division - suggests that the strategy is in serious trouble. Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885151.htm
Sectarian violence tears at the lives of Iraq's soldiers
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The men of the 1st Brigade of the Iraqi army's 6th Division work in the shadow of death.
Most of the soldiers are Shiite Muslims, from Iraq's majority religious sect. Saddam Hussein's military intelligence unit - mainly Sunni Muslims - once used the base they live on, in the Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Kadhemiya, to interrogate and torture Shiites. They sleep in rooms where Saddamist thugs slept before them. They work in offices that were once torture chambers.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885217.htm
Russians storm store to free hostages
MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Russian security forces in an armored personnel carrier smashed through the wall of a store to rescue two hostages held by suspected Islamic militants Friday as authorities tried to clear out the last pockets of rebel resistance after more than a day of fighting that killed at least 108 people.
Chechen rebels claimed involvement in the near-simultaneous attacks on police and security facilities that began Thursday in this southern Russian city of 235,000 people and left corpses lying on the streets.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895791.htm
Millions to receive Social Security boost
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - More than 48 million Americans will get a 4.1 percent increase in their monthly Social Security checks next year, the largest increase in more than a decade. For the average retiree, it will mean an increase of $39 a month.
The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, was announced Friday by the Social Security Administration. It will be the biggest increase since a 5.4 percent gain in 1991. The increase last January was 2.7 percent.
The inflation adjustment is based on the amount prices - as measured by the Consumer Price Index - have risen in the July-September quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Rising energy costs have driven inflation sharply higher this year, including a record monthly surge in energy costs in September related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12899667.htm
Rove testifies again in CIA leak probe
PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Karl Rove testified for the fourth time Friday before the grand jury in the CIA leak probe, following public disclosure of his conversations with two reporters about the identity of a covert officer at the spy agency.
It was likely the White House aide's final chance to convince grand jurors he did nothing criminal in the leak case. Prosecutors have warned Rove, a top adviser and architect of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, that there is no guarantee he will not be indicted. The grand jury's term is due to expire Oct. 28.
The White House has shifted from categorical denials two years ago that Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were involved in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity to "no comment" today.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12896418.htm
DeLay associates freed on personal bonds
SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - Two associates of Rep. Tom DeLay were released Friday on $10,000 personal bonds on the two most recent charges against them stemming from alleged campaign-finance wrongdoing in the 2002 Texas legislative races.
Jim Ellis, John Colyandro and DeLay all are awaiting trial on charges including money laundering, criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate the election code. They are accused of scheming to circumvent the state's ban on corporate money for 2002 political campaigns.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895787.htm
The Gulf News
A contest which promotes peace and love
By Bassam Za'za
An award established in Dubai in 1997 to encourage young Muslims to memorise the entire Quran has seen an unprecedented number of entries this year.
Organisers of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) reported this year's contenders numbered 81 and that participation had been increasing each year.
The award's organising committee has put plans in place to deal with the large amount of contestants expected next year. It admitted it had found it difficult to accommodate the numbers for this year's competition.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=186700
Dubai team rescues boy after 96 hours under debris
Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
Balakot: A 14-year-old boy was rescued by a Dubai police rescue team on Wednesday after surviving 96 hours under the debris of his collapsed house.
The boy was barely conscious when the rescuers pulled him out of the rubble.
"We used our heat sensing device to locate the position of the boy and dig a hole to get him out," said Captain Hussain Al Rahoomi, head of the Dubai police rescue team.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186746
Smoking is the top preventable cause of cancer deaths worldwide
Reuters
New York:
In the year 2000, about 1.4 million cancer deaths, or more than one in every five cancer deaths worldwide, were caused by smoking, "making it possibly the single largest preventable cause of cancer death", Dr Majid Ezzati from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said.
Smoking is widely recognised as a major cause of cancer, but there is little information on how it contributes to the global and regional burden of cancers in combination with other risk factors, Ezzati and colleagues point out in the latest issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186517
Dozens of anti-Arroyo activists hurt in clashes
Reuters
Manila :
Dozens of people were hurt yesterday in clashes between student activists and Philippine anti-riot police who used a fire hose to break up the protest near the presidential palace in Manila.
At least 10 organisers of the march were arrested.
Protests against President Gloria Arroyo, who weathered an impeachment attempt last month, have turned more violent since her administration recently adopted a tough line against rallies held without permits.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186537
EU enlargement is good for Europe
By Borut Grgic, Special to Gulf News
The EU ministers recently decided in favour of enlargement. Both Turkey and Croatia were given the green light.
This decision was important for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it goes to show that enlargement continues to be a critical component of the overall European ambition.
On the other hand, the decision goes to show that the EU can keep strategy ahead of internal politicking. Despite many suggesting the contrary, enlargement fatigue and enlargement postponement never evolved beyond boorish isolationism spun by the populist crowds.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186534
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Teen killed in southeast Atlanta 'ambush'
Published on: 10/13/05
A 15-year-old was killed Wednesday in an attack in southeast Atlanta that police are calling an "ambush."
The boy was walking with friends Wwednesday night when police say three men dressed in black approached him. He was shot and killed.
Police have not yet released a motive for the shooting or the teen's name. His friends were not injured.
The gunmen fled and police were searching for them today.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/1005/13ambush.html
School fight may be tied to death
Police pursue leads in teen's fatal shooting
By BILL MONTGOMERY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
Atlanta homicide detectives are looking for a possible connection between the fatal shooting of a teenager and a fight at South Atlanta High School.
Addonis "Donnie" Cunningham, a 15-year-old sophomore, faced a disciplinary hearing Sept. 13 for his involvement in the Aug. 26 fight between several South Atlanta students and 10 other teenagers who had scaled a chain-link fence to get onto school grounds during lunch hour, said Atlanta schools spokesman Joseph Manguno.
"His mother withdrew him from South Atlanta High on Aug. 31, and he hasn't been connected with the system since then," Manguno said.
The slain teenager, two weeks shy of turning 16, was accosted by three male suspects shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday as he walked toward a convenience market on Jonesboro Road, said police spokeswoman Sylvia Abernathy. He was shot once in the upper body and died about an hour later at Grady Memorial Hospital
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1005/14boykilled.html
Passengers tattle on pilot after ride in stolen jet
By MARK DAVIS , JOHN GHIRARDINI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip, covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed across black velvet.
Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride, a $7 million Cessna Citation VII.
Daniel Andrew Wolcott, 22, of Buford has been arrested in connection with the theft of a $7 million jet in St. Augustine, Fla
That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford. Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13metplane.html
Pilot crashed plane in 2003, FAA says
Buford man charged with stealing jet found in Gwinnett
By DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
The pilot of the stolen corporate jet that landed at Gwinnett's Briscoe Field last weekend pulled off the aviation equivalent of driving the wrong way on a busy highway at night with the lights out, aviation experts said.
"I don't think the five passengers on that plane had any idea how much danger they were in," said Steve Haslup, a flight instructor who teaches at Briscoe Field where the Cessna Citation VII landed late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. "It's remarkable that no one was hurt."
FAA officials said the plane's transponder was turned off or disabled so that air traffic controllers couldn't easily track it on radar as it approached Atlanta air space, among the busiest in the world. The pilot didn't file a flight plan or talk to air traffic controllers, and the plane likely flew through low clouds and fog as it approached for landing.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/14planefolo.html
Police seek leads on missing Woodstock mom
By DON PLUMMER, CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
A flurry of cellphone calls placed about the time Sueann Ray disappeared six weeks ago is one of many avenues police are exploring as they seek to solve the mysterious disappearance of the 26-year-old Woodstock mother.
The review of calls between her estranged husband, Quinton Ray, and his family are among a number of police activities that have come to light since the case fell under a national spotlight over the weekend when her friend and family posted a $105,000 reward.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cherokee/1005/14metmissing.html
Consumer Prices Surge; Retail Sales Rise
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices surged in September by the largest amount in more than 25 years as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent energy prices soaring at the fastest pace on record.
The Labor Department reported Friday that inflation jumped 1.2 percent last month. It said that 90 percent of that increase came from a record-setting 12 percent surge in energy prices which reflected gasoline prices that briefly topped $3 per gallon last month after widespread shutdowns of refineries and oil and natural gas platforms along the Gulf Coast.
The White House downplayed the report.
"The president has confidence in the Federal Reserve when it comes to monetary policy and their ability to address any inflation concerns," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/Finance_Government/Economy.html
NASA takes cue from Apollo era
By MIKE TONER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
More than 36 years after the first manned lunar landing, NASA has a new road map for its return to the moon – and plans for a fleet of new space vehicles that look a lot like the right stuff of a bygone era.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the new "architecture" for future space exploration "Apollo on steroids." This time, however, there are no ringing calls to beat the Russians to the moon. The race is not against time. It's against the federal budget.
In a nod to the Apollo program, NASA's new lander would put four astronauts on the moon and support operations there for up to six months.
The space agency's new lunar road map calls for a "safe, sustained, affordable human and robotic" program that will fit within NASA's existing $16 billion annual budget, an approach Griffin calls "go-as-you-pay."
The goal: land four Americans on the moon by 2020. The cost: $106 billion. In inflation-adjusted dollars, that's a little more than half what the Apollo program cost.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1005/13natnasa.html
Welcome to Atlanta, Kamau
The new pride of Zoo Atlanta is here, only the public can't see him for another month or so. A 13-month-old male lion cub named Kamau (Swahili for "quiet warrior") arrived Saturday from the Denver Zoo. He will be in quarantine at the Grant Park facility -- routine procedure for new animals -- before going on exhibit in late November. Kamau, already 180 pounds, will grow to between 400 and 450 pounds at maturity. He will join two other lions at Zoo Atlanta -- Farasi, a 15-year-old male, and Masai, a 15-year-old female. He'll be dining on a commercially prepared diet of rabbits, chicken and fish. Maybe that will help his mane grow. "Right now, it's just a stubble," says zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/open/1005/lioncubbig.html
South leads trend of motherhood without marriage
By HELENA OLIVIERO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Nearly four in 10 babies in Georgia are born out of wedlock in a decades-long shift away from the traditional family, according to an analysis of a new census report released today.
Other Southern states reported even higher rates, making the region the
single-mother hub of the nation.
In Mississippi, 46 percent of women giving birth were single; in Louisiana, 40 percent, according to the analysis of marriage and fertility data by the U.S. Census Bureau — based on information collected between 2000 and 2003.
Only Washington, D.C., beats Mississippi, with more than half its mothers unmarried. The report is considered the first state-by-state look at links between marriage, fertility and other characteristics.
Nationwide, about 29 percent of babies were born to single mothers, according to the census numbers.
Factors such as racial composition, poverty and school dropout rates make Georgia and other Southern states more likely to have out-of-wedlock births, experts say.
But even taking into account those issues, some people wonder whether the statistics might be a symptom of the widening cultural chasm on what constitutes a sanctioned union.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1005/13motherhood.html
Visit site of first U.S. gold strike
By BILL CISSNA
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/12/05
Concord, N.C. — In 1799, a 12-year-old boy playing along Little Meadow Creek when he should have been in church found a 17-pound rock, which served as a doorstop in his family's home until it was identified as gold in 1802 — the first documented discovery of gold in the new United States.
A recent visit to the Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, south of Concord, and along a vital fault line, uncovered this and other intriguing facts about gold. A visit with man's most-wanted metal can be enlightening, though if my visit was any indication, the easily-bored younger or older child may not find it as deeply enthralling as the history- or geology-minded adult.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/travel/southeast/nc_stories/1005/12getaway.html
Profiles of Americans who have died.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Cpl. Joe Johnson of Lyerly, Ga., deployed after his son's death in Iraq last year. STORY
As of Oct. 11, at least 1,960 members of the U.S. military have lost their lives in Iraq, with at least from 54 from Georgia, according to the AP.
Sgt. Howe
Dreamed of Christmas
High school wrestler Casey E. Howe told mom he was looking forward to the holidays.
Felt for Katrina victims
George R. Draughn Jr. of Decatur, Ga., was concerned about people of New Orleans.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/index/casualties1.html
$12 million to sign workers' kin
By KEN SUGIURA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Richard and Juanita Fowler decided they would not keep the settlement amount quiet.
The parents of Josh and Anthony Fowler, the two billboard workers killed when a 35,000-pound sign collapsed on them in Snellville three years ago, wanted the settlement made public, their lawyer said.
JENNI GIRTMAN/AJC
Workers Josh and Anthony Fowler were killed when this billboard in Snellville collapsed on Aug. 1, 2002
They sought a figure large enough, attorney Gerald Davidson said, "that hopefully it would send somebody a message in the billboard business that nothing like this could ever happen to any other family."
The Fowlers, of Snellville, settled with three defendants Tuesday night for $12 million, according to Davidson.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13billboard.html
Haaretz
Government okays preparations for possible bird flu outbreak
By Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies
The government approved the purchase of medicines and vaccines as part of the preparations of a possible outbreak of bird flu, Health Ministry Director General Professor Avi Yisraeli told Israel Radio on Friday.
Meanwhile, laboratory workers in Israel have refused to work to identify any possible cases of avian flu in humans, Israeli media reported Friday.
According to reports, the technicians are concerned over poor protective gear while they are working and say they have insufficient manpower to meet the demands posed by a flu outbreak.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634871.html
Peres and Erekat fail to resolve Gaza-Egypt border issue
By Aluf Benn and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Vice Premier Shimon Peres and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat failed to reach an agreement on Friday after a further round of talks in Tel Aviv aimed at resolving the issue of supervision at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing. However, both sides expressed the belief that the issue would be resolved shortly.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are considering a proposal by Egypt and the World Bank suggesting that the PA and Egypt jointly operate the crossing from Rafah into the Sinai peninsula.
"I don't think we are far apart. I think we are getting closer," Erekat said after Friday's meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634850.html
Syria's former top man in Lebanon commits suicide
By News Agencies
Syria's interior minister, who ran Lebanon as security chief until 2003, committed suicide Wednesday, days before the expected release of a United Nations report into the assassination of a former Lebanese leader, Syria's official news agency reported.
"Interior Minister Brigadier General Ghazi Kenaan committed suicide in his office before noon," the Syrian Arab News Agency eported. "Authorities are carrying out the necessary investigation into the incident."
The death of Ghazi Kenaan - just days before the final UN investigation report is due on October 21 - was a new and startling sign of turmoil in Syria, whose authoritarian regime is girding for the chance that the UN report might implicate high-ranking officials in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minster Rafik Hariri, who was strongly opposed to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634568.html
New Zealand refuses to release brain-dead Israeli prisoner
By DPA
Wellington - New Zealand Justice Minister Phil Goff said
Thursday that he had no power to order officials to free a brain-dead Israeli prisoner so that he can go home to die.
The Parole Board has rejected an appeal to grant Aviv Atias, who is serving an 8-1/2 year sentence for drug running, a compassionate release.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634601.html
Days of Awe: Hebron 5766
By Aharon Shai
What is an almost extinct creature to do - let's say a former Mapainik, a veteran of the Nahal paratroop brigade who believes the disengagement was a first step toward peace and innocently believes the Palestinians also have human rights? How can he express his protests about the ongoing injustices when Peace Now had been practically wiped off the map?
The Mapainik well remembers the riots of 1921 and 1929 and the murder of the infant Shalhevet Pass in 5761. His family, which has roots in the old settlement there, experienced first hand the attacks on the Zionist enterprise. Nonetheless, he wants to believe that one day the madness will come to an end.
Now he sees the wall being built, and not on the proper route, and the Jerusalem envelope giving a bear's hug to all around it. If he is ready to take a risk, he could join the tours conducted by Bnai Avraham, a Jewish-Arab peace education NPO, sensitive to the rights of others, and not only those of animals on the one hand and colonialist settlers on the other. That's what I did one Friday afternoon, finding myself on the road to Hebron. I was a fighter in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Six-Day War, but I didn't recognize the new route to the City of the Patriarchs. Entrance by Jews is now only from Kiryat Arba. The "locals" only have the road through Halhoul.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/633820.html
U.S. says sorry for plundering Hungarian `Gold Train'
By DPA
WASHINGTON - The U.S. apologized yesterday for the plundering at the end of World War II of a train laden with valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews. The apology comes two weeks after the U.S. agreed to a $25.5 million settlement in the so-called Gold Train case that was filed on behalf of Holocaust survivors.
The suit accused U.S. soldiers of taking the valuables and blamed the U.S. government for mishandling the property that was originally seized by the Nazis.
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"The United States regrets the improper conduct of certain of its military personnel and seeks in this settlement to provide meaningful assistance to those Hungarian Holocaust survivors still living who qualify as financially needy," the U.S. Justice Department said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634313.html
Employer to compensate woman fired for undergoing sex change
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv District Labor Tribunal ordered an employer to pay compensations to a female worker who was dismissed from her job for undergoing sex-change treatment, it emerged on Friday.
The woman, who is to be paid 24 salaries by her former employer, lived until last year as a heterosexual man. He was regarded as an excellent professional and was highly esteemed by his employers. But for many years the man felt his biological sex did not match his gender and finally decided to commence the process of physiologically changing his sex.
The man began taking hormones to depress the body's production of male hormones and also took female hormones. He will undergo sex-change surgery in two years' time to complete the process.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634868.html
Majority of Labor members want Likud's Sharon as PM
By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is riding a wave of popularity not only among the general public and among Labor voters, but also among members of the Labor Party, according to a Dialog poll for Haaretz published on Friday.
The poll, conducted at the beginning of the week revealed that a large majority of Labor Party members want Sharon to head their party list in the next elections. Sharon enjoys in the poll the suppport of 39 percent who would like him to be the next prime minister, while Labor chairman Shimon Peres inches ahead with a meagre 43 percent of poll participants who think he should be the next prime minister.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634847.html
The Jordan Times
More attention to our planet
Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
One is certainly excited about the attention that we, human beings, give to space, to cosmos more generally. Space exploration and travel cause a lot of stir, thrill and hope, despite the failed attempts and the tragic accidents that happen every now and then. But the matter goes beyond sheer adventure or mere curiosity.
Space exploration, and study of the universe in general, is a necessity. After all, we are part and parcel of this huge universe and whatever we learn about it helps us not only to know it better, but to know our place in it and relation to it, and how precisely it influences our planet and our lot.
Having said this, however, I would say that while we need to continue to devote attention to the universe at large (perhaps even more than before), we also need to pay more attention to our own planet. Charity begins at home, and our home is in need of a lot of attention.
There is so much that we do not know about our planet, and so much that is troubling, even disastrous.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/opinion/opinion3.htm
State of the World Population 2005 report launched
Unless action is taken now to end gender discrimination, all global efforts to 'make poverty history' will fail, according to the report
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Investment in family planning and women's health education will be one of the Kingdom's key assets for improving the quality of citizens' lives, a global UN report revealed Thursday.
The State of the World Population 2005 report, launched by UNFPA, made an urgent call to governments on what they need to do to guarantee their people's quality livelihoods.
The report, titled “The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals,” cited these three aspects as crucial to achieving that end.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews2.htm
Project empowers women to advocate for community rights
By Anne Womer
AMMAN — The dilapidated state of the Khadija Bint Khuweilad Primary School in Jerash's Kitteh village dismayed 23-year-old Eman Zu'bi, who had attended the school as a child. Overcrowding and general disrepair had plagued the school for over a decade, and plans to build a new school had been stalled for years.
When she became a volunteer with Makana, a project that teaches women how to advocate for people's rights, Zu'bi was given the opportunity to help the students of her former school. Over the course of eight months, Makana volunteers paid weekly visits to the Jerash Directorate of Education, carrying a petition signed by displeased parents. The need for so many visits because of the slowness of the government's response was an embarrassment to local education officials.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews5.htm
Deal on constitution amounts to little more than time-out
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The US-brokered deal to win Sunni support for Iraq's draft constitution, while boosting the charter's chances in this weekend's referendum, delays the basic problems of power-sharing among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
The last-minute compromise is just another stop in a tortured process going back to the early days of the US occupation. In 2003, the newly empowered Shiite majority forced Washington to abandon its blueprints for the charter to ensure its domination.
Shiites and Kurds then formalised their power in elections in January that were boycotted by Sunni Arabs, who hold only 17 seats in the 275-member parliament.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news2.htm
Iran ready to restart talks with EU — ministry
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said Wednesday it was ready to restart talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme, but insisted it was not prepared to hear renewed demands it abandon sensitive fuel cycle technology.
Iran "favourably welcomes and judges as positive a resumption of negotiations with the three main European countries," a foreign ministry statement said in a further sign the regime was softening its tone.
Negotiations were needed to "get out of the impasse and assure Iran's right to master peaceful nuclear technology," the statement added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Iraq's constitutional chaos
By Abbas J. Ali
Faced with an extraordinary historical responsibility in 1920, the Iraqi religious authority in Najaf was collectively steadfast in not abandoning its moral and national duties. The authority vehemently rejected any compromise on the unity of Iraq and its identity with the Arab nation. Powerful foreign and internal forces mounted aggressive efforts to lure the religious authority into sectarian and ethnic discourse, to no avail.
The message from Najaf was precise, clear and patriotic: end occupation and maintain Iraq Arab character. The British occupational power reluctantly bowed, gracefully but cunningly.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 may resemble the British invasion during World War I. So far, however, the outcome appears to be different.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion6.htm
'Global Microentrepreneurship Awards to promote microfinance'
AMMAN (JT) — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Suhair Al-Ali said Wednesday that Jordan has joined 29 other countries in launching the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA) to encourage true entrepreneurship as part of plans to eradicate poverty in the country.
The minister's remarks came during a meeting held with members of GMA's National Advisory and Selection Committees chaired by Al-Ali. Both committees are being tasked with overseeing the awards' implementation in Jordan.
The meeting was also attended by the National GMA Team comprising the UNCD, Citigroup and Sanabel (the Microfinance Network of the Arab Countries).
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/economy/economy2.htm
AU force seen as target in Darfur
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AFRICAN UNION TROOPS in Sudan's troubled Darfur region are in danger of being dragged into the conflict after rebels abducted and killed African Union (AU) soldiers in a series of attacks targeting the neutral force.
Five AU soldiers and civilian personnel were killed when rebels ambushed a convoy on Saturday, the force's first losses in more than a year working in remote Darfur. The next day, another rebel group abducted and held hostage 38 AU troops in the Chadian-Sudanese border town of Tine.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Kingdom bans imports of live birds as preemptive measure
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN — Imports of live birds and their products have been banned in the Kingdom as a preemptive measure against bird flu.
A national committee formed recently to create a strategy to combat bird flu and prevent its spread instituted the ban on Wednesday.
Khalid Abu Rumman, spokesperson of the committee, said the group decided yesterday that it was crucial to stop the importation of farm birds and pet birds, such as parrots and lovebirds, as well as feathers used for decoration.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews3.htm
The true spirit of Ramadan
Randa habib's corner
Call me crazy, but I think that too often the real meaning of Ramadan is missed by many people.
This holy month should not be an excuse for some to work less, eat more and be grumpy. The true message should be to continue working regardless of the fasting, and not to spend the day thinking of what one will eat after sunset.
Just look around you in the supermarkets! See how people buy more and pile up foodstuff in their trolleys, as if there is going to be a famine?
Do they really need all this food? Maybe it is a good idea to shop only in the evening and not during the day, on an empty stomach.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion4.htm
Syria can't evade pressure
Relatives of Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan weep Thursday during his funeral procession in his hometown Bhamra, 350km northwest of Damascus (AFP photo by Joseph Barrak)
By Alistair Lyon
Reuters
LONDON — Ghazi Kanaan's death silences a man at the heart of Syria's security apparatus, but is unlikely to deflect US-led pressure on Damascus or divert UN scrutiny of Syria over the assassination of a top Lebanese politician.
The 63-year-old Syrian interior minister, who served as feared intelligence chief in Lebanon for two decades from 1982, was being given a low-key funeral on Thursday, a day after officials said he committed suicide.
Analysts said any attempt to use Kanaan as a scapegoat over the Beirut bomb blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri eight months ago would at best provide temporary respite to President Bashar Assad's isolated government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news3.htm
US steps up diplomacy in Sudan
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday dispatched a new charge d'affaires to Sudan as part of a fresh round of diplomacy to stabilize the African country and halt persistent violence in its western Darfur region.
Washington also reiterated its warnings to the Khartoum government to halt the bloodshed which the United Nations said had rendered most of Darfur unsafe for humanitarian operations.
“There are obviously things the government of Sudan wants that they're not going to get if they continue to do this,” Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news9.htm
Daily Star
Syria ready to punish 'traitors' in Hariri murder
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
President Bashar Assad vowed that Syria would punish as a traitor any national implicated in the murder of Rafik Hariri, adding he was prepared to hand such suspects over to an international court.
Even as Assad defended his country against increasing international pressure, President George W. Bush said he expects many changes in Syria's conduct regardless of whether a UN investigation implicates Damascus in Hariri's assassination.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Assad brushed aside suspicions about Syria's role in Hariri's death, saying Damascus was not involved explaining that the assassination was against Syria's interests.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19287
Iraqi leaders agree to amend draft charter
Suicide bombing kills 30 police recruits
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Iraqi leaders agreed to amend a draft constitution just three days before it goes to a referendum but many minority Sunnis rejected the compromise and insurgents struck again, killing 30 in a suicide bombing.
As ruling Shiites and Kurds formally announced concessions that persuaded one prominent Sunni political group to back the amended text that will be put to voters on Saturday, the suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of army recruits at a military base at Tal Afar in the north, also wounding 35 people, police said.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomber caused similar casualties at a market in the town. Al-Qaeda claimed both attacks.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19288
PA says report into Arafat's death inconclusive
Symptoms 'could not be explained'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, October 13, 2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank: A report released by a Palestinian ministerial commission charged with investigating the causes of President Yasser Arafat's death has proved inconclusive, Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said. The report, which was heavily based on the findings of French doctors who treated Arafat before his death last November, was unable to pinpoint an exact cause of death but said that it might be possible to do so in the future.
"The French and Palestinian doctors have concluded that there was no known cure for the illness that afflicted the president," said Qorei, who wrote a foreword to the report.
Qorei said the death of the long-time Palestinian president was not a result of "bacteria, nor a virus, a microbe, a cancerous tumor nor of AIDS as has been said."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19271
Iraqi republic will - explicitly - not be Arab
By David Hirst
Commentary by
Friday, October 14, 2005
In the great settlement that followed World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, one of the Middle East's largest ethnic groups, the Kurds, were the main losers. They had been promised a state of their own, but, thanks to Ataturk's nationalist rebellion and abandonment of the project by the Western powers, they ended up as minorities, more or less severely repressed, in the four countries, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, among which their vast domains were divided.
The Kurds are set to become the greatest beneficiary of whatever new order emerges from the current Western intervention in the region's affairs. This hasn't reached the scale of the earlier one, being mainly confined, in its radical form at least, to Iraq, but, in its expanding - and unplanned - ramifications, it could well be on the way. After all, its chief architects, the Bush Administration's pro-Israeli, neo-conservative hawks, with their grandiose ideas of "creative chaos" and "regime change" everywhere, always saw Iraq, conceptually, as the springboard of an enterprise that, to succeed, had to be region-wide or not at all. In this respect if no other, they are in unison with the inhabitants of the Middle East themselves, for whom it is virtually axiomatic that what happens in Iraq profoundly affects everyone else.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19301
How Iran won the U.S. war in Iraq
By Afshin Molavi
Commentary by
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi hardly agreed on anything. The two regimes they led - an authoritarian, Western-oriented monarchy and an authoritarian, cleric-dominated Islamic Republic - represented dramatic contrasts. Culturally, politically, economically, socially, the two men could not be further apart. On one issue, however, the two men - and two regimes - agreed: Saddam Hussein's Baathist Iraq was a dangerous, unpredictable threat on Iran's border.
The U.S. defeat of Iraq in 2003 thus eliminated a modern strategic rival of Iran (the earlier defeat of the Taliban eliminated another Tehran foe). This historical context is important to remember as Iran jockeys for influence in post-Saddam Iraq. A gift has been bequeathed to the Shiite Iranian state: the defeat of an aggressive Baathist, Sunni-dominated historic rival, and the emergence into power of a network of both religious and secular Shiite figures, Kurds and a smattering of Sunnis with close ties to Iran
The irony is not lost on many Western observers. An oft-heard exchange goes: Q: Who won the U.S. war in Iraq? A: Iran did. Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and adviser to the Iraqi Kurds Peter W. Galbraith puts it bluntly: "The U.S. now has to recognize that [it] overthrew Saddam Hussein to replace him with a pro-Iranian state."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19208
The Charlotte Observer
Officials: Bond package for biotech hub won't tap taxpayers
City would use new revenue to pay debts
VICTORIA CHERRIE
Staff Writer
When Kannapolis city leaders issue bonds to support billionaire David Murdock's plans for a $1 billion biotech hub downtown, the whole city will benefit at no cost to taxpayers, officials say.
The city council began discussions Monday night on issuing self-financing bonds to help pay for water and sewer lines and streets for the North Carolina Research Campus, planned at the site of the former Pillowtex Plant 1, said Eddie Smith, an assistant city manager.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/cabarrus/12888501.htm
Mortgage rates rise; topping 6 percent
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a fifth consecutive week, topping 6 percent for the first time since March as financial markets continued to worry about inflation.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the nationwide average for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose this week to 6.03 percent, the first time the rate has been above 6 percent since it hit 6.04 percent in the last week in March.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/12893711.htm
Australia probes doc linked to 88 deaths
Associated Press
BRISBANE, Australia - A medical administrator rated the work of a surgeon linked to the deaths of 88 patients at an Australian hospital as "excellent," an inquiry heard Thursday.
The government inquiry is investigating how the surgeon, Jayant Patel, came to be employed at the rural Bundaberg Base Hospital as director of surgery for two years despite being cited for negligence in Oregon and New York.
Patel fled to the United States in April after claims of his medical negligence were raised in Queensland state parliament.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12891850.htm
Powerball prize soars to $290 million
Associated Press
None of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Wednesday night matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 4, 9, 18, 51, 54. Powerball 10. Power Play: 5
Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $247 million jackpot. The prize goes to an estimated $290 million for Saturday.
Tickets that match the first five numbers, but miss the Powerball, win $200,000 each, and there were 14 of those. They were sold in: Arizona (4), Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Chechen rebels claim credit for attacks
FATIMA TLISOVA
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/12888862.htm
Wilmington Star News
Floodwater testing causes worry about Lake Pontchartrain
By Malcolm RitterAssociated Press
Chemicals in New Orleans floodwater from residential neighborhoods posed little risk to people but may raise a long-term hazard to wildlife in Lake Pontchartrain, a new study reported Tuesday.
In general, water samples taken soon after the flood caused by Hurricane Katrina found that the water resembled normal rain runoff in its chemical makeup, said the study’s lead author, John Pardue.
"We don’t feel anything we’ve seen will point to any kind of a problem on the chemical side" for human exposure, said Dr. Pardue, director of the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute at Louisiana State University.
Still, people returning to their homes should protect themselves from germs that may be left behind in the sludge, he said.
The study, funded by the institute, found high levels of fecal bacteria in the water, just as previously published testing by the federal Environmental Protection Agency did. Normal rainwater in the area has high levels too because of leaky sewers, but Katrina flooding was different because of its sheer volume, Dr. Pardue said.
The study didn’t sample water from industrial areas, and researchers cautioned that their results can’t be used to assess nonresidential areas. Their findings were published online Tuesday by the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Virtually all the floodwater that once covered New Orleans has been pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, and Dr. Pardue said he and his colleagues are now analyzing the sediment it left behind.
As for the impact of the pumped water on the lake, Dr. Pardue said it didn’t introduce any new chemicals but provided a large dose in a short time. He noted that all rainwater that falls in New Orleans is eventually pumped into the lake.
"What this really represented was a year or two’s worth of rain being pumped out in a very short time," he said.
What’s more, Dr. Pardue said chemicals left behind in the sediment will eventually find their way to the lake as the sediment is cleaned up and rain washes it into the canals that feed Pontchartrain.
Copper, zinc, cadmium and lead found in the floodwater could build up in the lake sediment and pose long-term hazards for wildlife. The study can’t evaluate that, Dr. Pardue said, but the results suggest officials should keep an eye out for trouble.
Dr. Pardue noted that the state Department of Environmental Quality is studying the problem and said he’s satisfied with their efforts.
Embryonic Cells, No Embryo Needed: Hunting for Ways Out of an Impasse
If there were no controversy over human embryonic stem cells, Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch of M.I.T. and Dr. George Daley of Harvard Medical School would probably never have started some unusual, and difficult, experiments.
Stem cells, a type of universal cell in early embryos, can in theory grow into any of the body's tissues and organs. But embryonic stem cells are drawn from human embryos after they have grown for about five days in the lab, and obtaining those cells requires that the embryos be destroyed. The moral objection has been that that is destroying human life.
So while most stem cell scientists focus on obtaining stem cells from early embryos, Dr. Daley and Dr. Jaenisch have begun asking if they can get stem cells another way, perhaps by creating aberrant cell clusters that contain stem cells but could never survive more than a week or so. The idea is to produce embryonic cells without the embryos and make nearly everyone happy.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005510120410&source=email
AROUND THE WORLD
Voters choose Liberian president
– From wire service reports
MONROVIA, LIBERIA - With U.N. tanks and troops standing guard, Liberians waited in long lines Tuesday to vote for the country’s first postwar president, who many hope will bring stability to one of Africa’s most turbulent countries.
Turnout appeared strong, with some voters lining up hours before the polls opened in churches, schools and long-shuttered banks. Some 1.3 million Liberians had registered to vote at more than 3,000 polling stations.
Twenty-two candidates are vying for the top job in Liberia, in tatters after 14 years of nearly continuous civil war that ended with a peace deal in 2003. A transitional government has arranged the vote, and 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are keeping the calm.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005210120397&source=email
continued ...
"Okeydoke"
History
1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.
1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.
1923 The novel, "Cane", is published by Jean Toomer.
1944 German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
1947 Air Force test pilot Charles E. ("Chuck") Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1960 the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience of students at the University of Michigan.
1964 civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1968 the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1980 Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would name a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. (He later nominated Judge Sandra Day O'Connor of Arizona.)
1904 W.E.B. DuBois publishes his "Credo" in the New York Journal which describes his beliefs in liberty.
Missing in Action
1966 THOMAS DARWIN JOEL SANTA CLARA CA
1967 CONAWAY GARY LEE BLUE ISLAND IL REMAINS RETURNED 8/84 FAMILY HAS NUMEROUS STORIES? REM RET NOV 67
1967 VAUGHAN ROBERT REDDINGTON LOS ANGELES CA
1977 DELLENBAUGH CORNELIA 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 DICKERMAN LEELAND 01/12/78 RELEASED FROM SAIGON
1977 AFFEL CHARLES
October 13
1966 BORDEN MURRAY L. GOLDSBORO NC
1966 MEADOWS EUGENE T. HIDDENITE NC REMAINS RETURNED 11/94
1967 MILLER EDISON WAINRIGHT CLINTON IA 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED
1967 WARNER JAMES H. YPSILANTI MI 03/73 RELEASED BY DRV " ALIVE IN 98 ""HONORABLE JAMES WARNER"""
1968 HUNT JAMES D. MISSOULA MT
1968 MASTERSON MICHAEL J. EPHRAYA WA
1968 ORELL QUINLEN R. BARNESVILLE OH
1969 GETCHELL PAUL E. PORTLAND ME
1970 CHESTNUT JOSEPH L. MURFREESBORO TN REMAINS RETURNED/IDENTIFIED 07/25/95
October 12
1966 ELKINS FRANK C. BLADENBORO NC REMAINS IDENTIFIED 2/26/90
1966 WOODS ROBERT D. ARCHIE MO 03/04/73 RELEASED ALIVE IN 98
1967 DERRICKSON THOMAS G. LOS ALTOS CA
1967 HARDY JOHN K. LOS ANGELES CA
1972 BRUNSON CECIL H. MEMPHIS TN 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 1998
1972 PRICE WILLIAM M. KEWANEE IL
1972 PEACOCK JOHN R. II KAILUA HI
1972 YOUNG MYRON A. NAPA VALLEY CA 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV RIP 07/03/99
October 11
1968 FERGUSON WILLIE C. JR. OKLAHOMA CITY OK 02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
1968 HELLER IVAN LOUIS GENESEO IL 03/73 REMAINS RECOVERED
The Wichita Eagle
Despite ruins, Mardi Gras prep goes on
By Kim Hone-McMahan
Knight Ridder Newspapers
NEW ORLEANS - They don't call this a party town for nothing.
Despite fetid piles of garbage, thousands homeless from flooding and the city on the brink of financial ruin, artists have begun crafting puckish icons for Mardi Gras parades four months away.
The pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebrations here boast masquerade balls and raucous merrymaking that gain worldwide attention. And for Blaine Kern, the 78-year-old known as "Mr. Mardi Gras," a little joy is exactly what this town needs.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884803.htm
Steps being taken to avoid avian flu crisis
By Robert S. Boyd
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Authorities cite a long list of reasons to fear a possible bird-flu pandemic, but they also say there are reasons not to panic - at least not yet.
The concern is that the H5N1 strain of bird - or avian - flu virus that's sweeping across bird flocks in Asia and Eastern Europe might learn to jump between humans, like the 1918 "Spanish flu" that killed as many as 50 million people worldwide.
"That's why every virologist in the world is flying around with his hair on fire," said Dr. Tara O'Toole, a virus specialist and director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884424.htm
Judge wants to curb BTK's access to images
Sedgwick County District Court Judge Greg Waller announced in a hearing at El Dorado Correctional Facility this afternoon that he is recommending that BTK serial killer Dennis Rader be imprisoned with several restrictions.
Among Waller's recommendations are that Rader should not be allowed to possess, receive or create: images of humans or animals, including drawings; documents that describe bondage; or inanimate objects that could be used as representations of humans or animals. Waller also is recommending that Rader not be allowed to view stories or reports about his murders, and that no video and audio recordings of interviews with Rader be allowed, unless specifically authorized by the Department of Corrections.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12884432.htm
FDIC approves deal to buy Commercial Federal Bank
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday approved Bank of the West Inc.' s application to acquire Commercial Federal Bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision had already given its approval. Next, Commercial Federal shareholders will vote on the proposal Nov. 1. The transaction is expected to close in December, and local branches will then take the Bank of the West name, spokesman John Stafford said.
Omaha-based Commercial Federal has eight branches in the Wichita metropolitan area. According to the FDIC, Commercial Federal is the eighth-largest bank in the Wichita metro area, based on its 3.3 percent share of local deposits in 2004.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885253.htm
More Kansas schools fail to meet U.S. goals
Associated Press
TOPEKA - Nineteen more Kansas public schools have failed to meet federal education benchmarks that determine such things as whether students are allowed to transfer or receive tutoring, according to data released Tuesday by state education officials.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are required to make sufficient progress on improving test scores, graduation and attendance rates to achieve what is called "Adequate Yearly Progress." The goal is to have all students proficient in math and reading by 2014.
Schools that fail to meet the standards could be forced to do everything from providing tutoring for students to reorganizing. Those penalties apply only to schools that receive federal money to assist poor children.
School officials said the number of schools failing to meet the benchmarks grew by 19 between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years to 121. That's about 9 percent of the total number of schools in the state.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879479.htm
Wichita schools' test scores rise
BY AMANDA O'TOOLE
The Wichita Eagle
If it weren't for Hamilton Middle School students' struggles on state tests, Tracy Harmen isn't sure her daughter Robin would be doing so well.
Because Hamilton is on a state list of schools that need to improve test scores, Robin and her fellow students receive hours of extra help and individual attention. And it's apparently working.
Hamilton mirrors what's going on in the district and the state: While the district still trails the state's averages, and while high school students statewide trail younger students, scores overall continue to rise and the achievement gap between races continues to close.
At the district level -- an average of all schools' scores -- Wichita students gained on every test except 10th-grade math, which dropped to 33.8 percent passing from 2004's score of 36.9 percent.
The biggest leap was a 12.9 percentage-point improvement in fifth-grade reading. Just over 70 percent passed.
By comparison, the state average gained 5.6 percentage points, to 77.6.
The gap between Wichita's black and white students shrank by 2.3 percentage points in seventh-grade math and 5.8 percentage points in eighth-grade reading.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12879478.htm
Sectarian resentment extends to Iraq's army
By TOM LASSETER
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Swadi Ghilan's two sons were dropping their sister off at high school earlier this year when a carload of Sunni Muslim insurgents pulled up and emptied their AK-47s into their bodies. In broad daylight his children were torn to pieces, their blood splashed against the windshield as they screamed and died.
Ghilan is a major in the Iraqi army and a Shiite Muslim, the sect that makes up some 60 percent of Iraq's population. Now, more than ever, the grieving father says he wants to hunt down and kill not only Sunni guerrilla fighters but also Sunnis who give those fighters shelter and support. By that, he means killing most Sunnis in Iraq.
"There are two Iraqs; it's something that we can no longer deny," Ghilan said. "The army should execute the Sunnis in their neighborhoods so that all of them can see what happens, so that all of them learn their lesson."
The Bush administration's exit strategy for Iraq rests on two pillars: an inclusive, democratic political process that includes all major ethnic groups and a well-trained Iraqi national army. But a week spent eating, sleeping and going on patrol with a crack unit of the Iraqi army - the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division - suggests that the strategy is in serious trouble. Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885151.htm
Sectarian violence tears at the lives of Iraq's soldiers
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The men of the 1st Brigade of the Iraqi army's 6th Division work in the shadow of death.
Most of the soldiers are Shiite Muslims, from Iraq's majority religious sect. Saddam Hussein's military intelligence unit - mainly Sunni Muslims - once used the base they live on, in the Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Kadhemiya, to interrogate and torture Shiites. They sleep in rooms where Saddamist thugs slept before them. They work in offices that were once torture chambers.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12885217.htm
Russians storm store to free hostages
MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Russian security forces in an armored personnel carrier smashed through the wall of a store to rescue two hostages held by suspected Islamic militants Friday as authorities tried to clear out the last pockets of rebel resistance after more than a day of fighting that killed at least 108 people.
Chechen rebels claimed involvement in the near-simultaneous attacks on police and security facilities that began Thursday in this southern Russian city of 235,000 people and left corpses lying on the streets.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895791.htm
Millions to receive Social Security boost
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - More than 48 million Americans will get a 4.1 percent increase in their monthly Social Security checks next year, the largest increase in more than a decade. For the average retiree, it will mean an increase of $39 a month.
The cost of living adjustment, or COLA, was announced Friday by the Social Security Administration. It will be the biggest increase since a 5.4 percent gain in 1991. The increase last January was 2.7 percent.
The inflation adjustment is based on the amount prices - as measured by the Consumer Price Index - have risen in the July-September quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Rising energy costs have driven inflation sharply higher this year, including a record monthly surge in energy costs in September related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12899667.htm
Rove testifies again in CIA leak probe
PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Karl Rove testified for the fourth time Friday before the grand jury in the CIA leak probe, following public disclosure of his conversations with two reporters about the identity of a covert officer at the spy agency.
It was likely the White House aide's final chance to convince grand jurors he did nothing criminal in the leak case. Prosecutors have warned Rove, a top adviser and architect of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, that there is no guarantee he will not be indicted. The grand jury's term is due to expire Oct. 28.
The White House has shifted from categorical denials two years ago that Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were involved in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity to "no comment" today.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12896418.htm
DeLay associates freed on personal bonds
SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - Two associates of Rep. Tom DeLay were released Friday on $10,000 personal bonds on the two most recent charges against them stemming from alleged campaign-finance wrongdoing in the 2002 Texas legislative races.
Jim Ellis, John Colyandro and DeLay all are awaiting trial on charges including money laundering, criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate the election code. They are accused of scheming to circumvent the state's ban on corporate money for 2002 political campaigns.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/12895787.htm
The Gulf News
A contest which promotes peace and love
By Bassam Za'za
An award established in Dubai in 1997 to encourage young Muslims to memorise the entire Quran has seen an unprecedented number of entries this year.
Organisers of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA) reported this year's contenders numbered 81 and that participation had been increasing each year.
The award's organising committee has put plans in place to deal with the large amount of contestants expected next year. It admitted it had found it difficult to accommodate the numbers for this year's competition.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=186700
Dubai team rescues boy after 96 hours under debris
Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
Balakot: A 14-year-old boy was rescued by a Dubai police rescue team on Wednesday after surviving 96 hours under the debris of his collapsed house.
The boy was barely conscious when the rescuers pulled him out of the rubble.
"We used our heat sensing device to locate the position of the boy and dig a hole to get him out," said Captain Hussain Al Rahoomi, head of the Dubai police rescue team.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186746
Smoking is the top preventable cause of cancer deaths worldwide
Reuters
New York:
In the year 2000, about 1.4 million cancer deaths, or more than one in every five cancer deaths worldwide, were caused by smoking, "making it possibly the single largest preventable cause of cancer death", Dr Majid Ezzati from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said.
Smoking is widely recognised as a major cause of cancer, but there is little information on how it contributes to the global and regional burden of cancers in combination with other risk factors, Ezzati and colleagues point out in the latest issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186517
Dozens of anti-Arroyo activists hurt in clashes
Reuters
Manila :
Dozens of people were hurt yesterday in clashes between student activists and Philippine anti-riot police who used a fire hose to break up the protest near the presidential palace in Manila.
At least 10 organisers of the march were arrested.
Protests against President Gloria Arroyo, who weathered an impeachment attempt last month, have turned more violent since her administration recently adopted a tough line against rallies held without permits.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186537
EU enlargement is good for Europe
By Borut Grgic, Special to Gulf News
The EU ministers recently decided in favour of enlargement. Both Turkey and Croatia were given the green light.
This decision was important for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it goes to show that enlargement continues to be a critical component of the overall European ambition.
On the other hand, the decision goes to show that the EU can keep strategy ahead of internal politicking. Despite many suggesting the contrary, enlargement fatigue and enlargement postponement never evolved beyond boorish isolationism spun by the populist crowds.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=186534
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Teen killed in southeast Atlanta 'ambush'
Published on: 10/13/05
A 15-year-old was killed Wednesday in an attack in southeast Atlanta that police are calling an "ambush."
The boy was walking with friends Wwednesday night when police say three men dressed in black approached him. He was shot and killed.
Police have not yet released a motive for the shooting or the teen's name. His friends were not injured.
The gunmen fled and police were searching for them today.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/1005/13ambush.html
School fight may be tied to death
Police pursue leads in teen's fatal shooting
By BILL MONTGOMERY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
Atlanta homicide detectives are looking for a possible connection between the fatal shooting of a teenager and a fight at South Atlanta High School.
Addonis "Donnie" Cunningham, a 15-year-old sophomore, faced a disciplinary hearing Sept. 13 for his involvement in the Aug. 26 fight between several South Atlanta students and 10 other teenagers who had scaled a chain-link fence to get onto school grounds during lunch hour, said Atlanta schools spokesman Joseph Manguno.
"His mother withdrew him from South Atlanta High on Aug. 31, and he hasn't been connected with the system since then," Manguno said.
The slain teenager, two weeks shy of turning 16, was accosted by three male suspects shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday as he walked toward a convenience market on Jonesboro Road, said police spokeswoman Sylvia Abernathy. He was shot once in the upper body and died about an hour later at Grady Memorial Hospital
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1005/14boykilled.html
Passengers tattle on pilot after ride in stolen jet
By MARK DAVIS , JOHN GHIRARDINI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip, covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed across black velvet.
Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride, a $7 million Cessna Citation VII.
Daniel Andrew Wolcott, 22, of Buford has been arrested in connection with the theft of a $7 million jet in St. Augustine, Fla
That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford. Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13metplane.html
Pilot crashed plane in 2003, FAA says
Buford man charged with stealing jet found in Gwinnett
By DAVE HIRSCHMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
The pilot of the stolen corporate jet that landed at Gwinnett's Briscoe Field last weekend pulled off the aviation equivalent of driving the wrong way on a busy highway at night with the lights out, aviation experts said.
"I don't think the five passengers on that plane had any idea how much danger they were in," said Steve Haslup, a flight instructor who teaches at Briscoe Field where the Cessna Citation VII landed late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. "It's remarkable that no one was hurt."
FAA officials said the plane's transponder was turned off or disabled so that air traffic controllers couldn't easily track it on radar as it approached Atlanta air space, among the busiest in the world. The pilot didn't file a flight plan or talk to air traffic controllers, and the plane likely flew through low clouds and fog as it approached for landing.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/14planefolo.html
Police seek leads on missing Woodstock mom
By DON PLUMMER, CLINT WILLIAMS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/14/05
A flurry of cellphone calls placed about the time Sueann Ray disappeared six weeks ago is one of many avenues police are exploring as they seek to solve the mysterious disappearance of the 26-year-old Woodstock mother.
The review of calls between her estranged husband, Quinton Ray, and his family are among a number of police activities that have come to light since the case fell under a national spotlight over the weekend when her friend and family posted a $105,000 reward.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cherokee/1005/14metmissing.html
Consumer Prices Surge; Retail Sales Rise
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices surged in September by the largest amount in more than 25 years as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent energy prices soaring at the fastest pace on record.
The Labor Department reported Friday that inflation jumped 1.2 percent last month. It said that 90 percent of that increase came from a record-setting 12 percent surge in energy prices which reflected gasoline prices that briefly topped $3 per gallon last month after widespread shutdowns of refineries and oil and natural gas platforms along the Gulf Coast.
The White House downplayed the report.
"The president has confidence in the Federal Reserve when it comes to monetary policy and their ability to address any inflation concerns," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/Finance_Government/Economy.html
NASA takes cue from Apollo era
By MIKE TONER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
More than 36 years after the first manned lunar landing, NASA has a new road map for its return to the moon – and plans for a fleet of new space vehicles that look a lot like the right stuff of a bygone era.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the new "architecture" for future space exploration "Apollo on steroids." This time, however, there are no ringing calls to beat the Russians to the moon. The race is not against time. It's against the federal budget.
In a nod to the Apollo program, NASA's new lander would put four astronauts on the moon and support operations there for up to six months.
The space agency's new lunar road map calls for a "safe, sustained, affordable human and robotic" program that will fit within NASA's existing $16 billion annual budget, an approach Griffin calls "go-as-you-pay."
The goal: land four Americans on the moon by 2020. The cost: $106 billion. In inflation-adjusted dollars, that's a little more than half what the Apollo program cost.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/1005/13natnasa.html
Welcome to Atlanta, Kamau
The new pride of Zoo Atlanta is here, only the public can't see him for another month or so. A 13-month-old male lion cub named Kamau (Swahili for "quiet warrior") arrived Saturday from the Denver Zoo. He will be in quarantine at the Grant Park facility -- routine procedure for new animals -- before going on exhibit in late November. Kamau, already 180 pounds, will grow to between 400 and 450 pounds at maturity. He will join two other lions at Zoo Atlanta -- Farasi, a 15-year-old male, and Masai, a 15-year-old female. He'll be dining on a commercially prepared diet of rabbits, chicken and fish. Maybe that will help his mane grow. "Right now, it's just a stubble," says zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/open/1005/lioncubbig.html
South leads trend of motherhood without marriage
By HELENA OLIVIERO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Nearly four in 10 babies in Georgia are born out of wedlock in a decades-long shift away from the traditional family, according to an analysis of a new census report released today.
Other Southern states reported even higher rates, making the region the
single-mother hub of the nation.
In Mississippi, 46 percent of women giving birth were single; in Louisiana, 40 percent, according to the analysis of marriage and fertility data by the U.S. Census Bureau — based on information collected between 2000 and 2003.
Only Washington, D.C., beats Mississippi, with more than half its mothers unmarried. The report is considered the first state-by-state look at links between marriage, fertility and other characteristics.
Nationwide, about 29 percent of babies were born to single mothers, according to the census numbers.
Factors such as racial composition, poverty and school dropout rates make Georgia and other Southern states more likely to have out-of-wedlock births, experts say.
But even taking into account those issues, some people wonder whether the statistics might be a symptom of the widening cultural chasm on what constitutes a sanctioned union.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1005/13motherhood.html
Visit site of first U.S. gold strike
By BILL CISSNA
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/12/05
Concord, N.C. — In 1799, a 12-year-old boy playing along Little Meadow Creek when he should have been in church found a 17-pound rock, which served as a doorstop in his family's home until it was identified as gold in 1802 — the first documented discovery of gold in the new United States.
A recent visit to the Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, south of Concord, and along a vital fault line, uncovered this and other intriguing facts about gold. A visit with man's most-wanted metal can be enlightening, though if my visit was any indication, the easily-bored younger or older child may not find it as deeply enthralling as the history- or geology-minded adult.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/travel/southeast/nc_stories/1005/12getaway.html
Profiles of Americans who have died.
Louie Favorite/AJC
Cpl. Joe Johnson of Lyerly, Ga., deployed after his son's death in Iraq last year. STORY
As of Oct. 11, at least 1,960 members of the U.S. military have lost their lives in Iraq, with at least from 54 from Georgia, according to the AP.
Sgt. Howe
Dreamed of Christmas
High school wrestler Casey E. Howe told mom he was looking forward to the holidays.
Felt for Katrina victims
George R. Draughn Jr. of Decatur, Ga., was concerned about people of New Orleans.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/index/casualties1.html
$12 million to sign workers' kin
By KEN SUGIURA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/13/05
Richard and Juanita Fowler decided they would not keep the settlement amount quiet.
The parents of Josh and Anthony Fowler, the two billboard workers killed when a 35,000-pound sign collapsed on them in Snellville three years ago, wanted the settlement made public, their lawyer said.
JENNI GIRTMAN/AJC
Workers Josh and Anthony Fowler were killed when this billboard in Snellville collapsed on Aug. 1, 2002
They sought a figure large enough, attorney Gerald Davidson said, "that hopefully it would send somebody a message in the billboard business that nothing like this could ever happen to any other family."
The Fowlers, of Snellville, settled with three defendants Tuesday night for $12 million, according to Davidson.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/1005/13billboard.html
Haaretz
Government okays preparations for possible bird flu outbreak
By Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies
The government approved the purchase of medicines and vaccines as part of the preparations of a possible outbreak of bird flu, Health Ministry Director General Professor Avi Yisraeli told Israel Radio on Friday.
Meanwhile, laboratory workers in Israel have refused to work to identify any possible cases of avian flu in humans, Israeli media reported Friday.
According to reports, the technicians are concerned over poor protective gear while they are working and say they have insufficient manpower to meet the demands posed by a flu outbreak.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634871.html
Peres and Erekat fail to resolve Gaza-Egypt border issue
By Aluf Benn and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Vice Premier Shimon Peres and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat failed to reach an agreement on Friday after a further round of talks in Tel Aviv aimed at resolving the issue of supervision at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing. However, both sides expressed the belief that the issue would be resolved shortly.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are considering a proposal by Egypt and the World Bank suggesting that the PA and Egypt jointly operate the crossing from Rafah into the Sinai peninsula.
"I don't think we are far apart. I think we are getting closer," Erekat said after Friday's meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634850.html
Syria's former top man in Lebanon commits suicide
By News Agencies
Syria's interior minister, who ran Lebanon as security chief until 2003, committed suicide Wednesday, days before the expected release of a United Nations report into the assassination of a former Lebanese leader, Syria's official news agency reported.
"Interior Minister Brigadier General Ghazi Kenaan committed suicide in his office before noon," the Syrian Arab News Agency eported. "Authorities are carrying out the necessary investigation into the incident."
The death of Ghazi Kenaan - just days before the final UN investigation report is due on October 21 - was a new and startling sign of turmoil in Syria, whose authoritarian regime is girding for the chance that the UN report might implicate high-ranking officials in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minster Rafik Hariri, who was strongly opposed to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634568.html
New Zealand refuses to release brain-dead Israeli prisoner
By DPA
Wellington - New Zealand Justice Minister Phil Goff said
Thursday that he had no power to order officials to free a brain-dead Israeli prisoner so that he can go home to die.
The Parole Board has rejected an appeal to grant Aviv Atias, who is serving an 8-1/2 year sentence for drug running, a compassionate release.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/634601.html
Days of Awe: Hebron 5766
By Aharon Shai
What is an almost extinct creature to do - let's say a former Mapainik, a veteran of the Nahal paratroop brigade who believes the disengagement was a first step toward peace and innocently believes the Palestinians also have human rights? How can he express his protests about the ongoing injustices when Peace Now had been practically wiped off the map?
The Mapainik well remembers the riots of 1921 and 1929 and the murder of the infant Shalhevet Pass in 5761. His family, which has roots in the old settlement there, experienced first hand the attacks on the Zionist enterprise. Nonetheless, he wants to believe that one day the madness will come to an end.
Now he sees the wall being built, and not on the proper route, and the Jerusalem envelope giving a bear's hug to all around it. If he is ready to take a risk, he could join the tours conducted by Bnai Avraham, a Jewish-Arab peace education NPO, sensitive to the rights of others, and not only those of animals on the one hand and colonialist settlers on the other. That's what I did one Friday afternoon, finding myself on the road to Hebron. I was a fighter in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Six-Day War, but I didn't recognize the new route to the City of the Patriarchs. Entrance by Jews is now only from Kiryat Arba. The "locals" only have the road through Halhoul.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/633820.html
U.S. says sorry for plundering Hungarian `Gold Train'
By DPA
WASHINGTON - The U.S. apologized yesterday for the plundering at the end of World War II of a train laden with valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews. The apology comes two weeks after the U.S. agreed to a $25.5 million settlement in the so-called Gold Train case that was filed on behalf of Holocaust survivors.
The suit accused U.S. soldiers of taking the valuables and blamed the U.S. government for mishandling the property that was originally seized by the Nazis.
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"The United States regrets the improper conduct of certain of its military personnel and seeks in this settlement to provide meaningful assistance to those Hungarian Holocaust survivors still living who qualify as financially needy," the U.S. Justice Department said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634313.html
Employer to compensate woman fired for undergoing sex change
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv District Labor Tribunal ordered an employer to pay compensations to a female worker who was dismissed from her job for undergoing sex-change treatment, it emerged on Friday.
The woman, who is to be paid 24 salaries by her former employer, lived until last year as a heterosexual man. He was regarded as an excellent professional and was highly esteemed by his employers. But for many years the man felt his biological sex did not match his gender and finally decided to commence the process of physiologically changing his sex.
The man began taking hormones to depress the body's production of male hormones and also took female hormones. He will undergo sex-change surgery in two years' time to complete the process.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634868.html
Majority of Labor members want Likud's Sharon as PM
By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is riding a wave of popularity not only among the general public and among Labor voters, but also among members of the Labor Party, according to a Dialog poll for Haaretz published on Friday.
The poll, conducted at the beginning of the week revealed that a large majority of Labor Party members want Sharon to head their party list in the next elections. Sharon enjoys in the poll the suppport of 39 percent who would like him to be the next prime minister, while Labor chairman Shimon Peres inches ahead with a meagre 43 percent of poll participants who think he should be the next prime minister.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634847.html
The Jordan Times
More attention to our planet
Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
One is certainly excited about the attention that we, human beings, give to space, to cosmos more generally. Space exploration and travel cause a lot of stir, thrill and hope, despite the failed attempts and the tragic accidents that happen every now and then. But the matter goes beyond sheer adventure or mere curiosity.
Space exploration, and study of the universe in general, is a necessity. After all, we are part and parcel of this huge universe and whatever we learn about it helps us not only to know it better, but to know our place in it and relation to it, and how precisely it influences our planet and our lot.
Having said this, however, I would say that while we need to continue to devote attention to the universe at large (perhaps even more than before), we also need to pay more attention to our own planet. Charity begins at home, and our home is in need of a lot of attention.
There is so much that we do not know about our planet, and so much that is troubling, even disastrous.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/opinion/opinion3.htm
State of the World Population 2005 report launched
Unless action is taken now to end gender discrimination, all global efforts to 'make poverty history' will fail, according to the report
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Investment in family planning and women's health education will be one of the Kingdom's key assets for improving the quality of citizens' lives, a global UN report revealed Thursday.
The State of the World Population 2005 report, launched by UNFPA, made an urgent call to governments on what they need to do to guarantee their people's quality livelihoods.
The report, titled “The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals,” cited these three aspects as crucial to achieving that end.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews2.htm
Project empowers women to advocate for community rights
By Anne Womer
AMMAN — The dilapidated state of the Khadija Bint Khuweilad Primary School in Jerash's Kitteh village dismayed 23-year-old Eman Zu'bi, who had attended the school as a child. Overcrowding and general disrepair had plagued the school for over a decade, and plans to build a new school had been stalled for years.
When she became a volunteer with Makana, a project that teaches women how to advocate for people's rights, Zu'bi was given the opportunity to help the students of her former school. Over the course of eight months, Makana volunteers paid weekly visits to the Jerash Directorate of Education, carrying a petition signed by displeased parents. The need for so many visits because of the slowness of the government's response was an embarrassment to local education officials.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews5.htm
Deal on constitution amounts to little more than time-out
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — The US-brokered deal to win Sunni support for Iraq's draft constitution, while boosting the charter's chances in this weekend's referendum, delays the basic problems of power-sharing among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
The last-minute compromise is just another stop in a tortured process going back to the early days of the US occupation. In 2003, the newly empowered Shiite majority forced Washington to abandon its blueprints for the charter to ensure its domination.
Shiites and Kurds then formalised their power in elections in January that were boycotted by Sunni Arabs, who hold only 17 seats in the 275-member parliament.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news2.htm
Iran ready to restart talks with EU — ministry
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said Wednesday it was ready to restart talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme, but insisted it was not prepared to hear renewed demands it abandon sensitive fuel cycle technology.
Iran "favourably welcomes and judges as positive a resumption of negotiations with the three main European countries," a foreign ministry statement said in a further sign the regime was softening its tone.
Negotiations were needed to "get out of the impasse and assure Iran's right to master peaceful nuclear technology," the statement added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Iraq's constitutional chaos
By Abbas J. Ali
Faced with an extraordinary historical responsibility in 1920, the Iraqi religious authority in Najaf was collectively steadfast in not abandoning its moral and national duties. The authority vehemently rejected any compromise on the unity of Iraq and its identity with the Arab nation. Powerful foreign and internal forces mounted aggressive efforts to lure the religious authority into sectarian and ethnic discourse, to no avail.
The message from Najaf was precise, clear and patriotic: end occupation and maintain Iraq Arab character. The British occupational power reluctantly bowed, gracefully but cunningly.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 may resemble the British invasion during World War I. So far, however, the outcome appears to be different.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion6.htm
'Global Microentrepreneurship Awards to promote microfinance'
AMMAN (JT) — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Suhair Al-Ali said Wednesday that Jordan has joined 29 other countries in launching the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA) to encourage true entrepreneurship as part of plans to eradicate poverty in the country.
The minister's remarks came during a meeting held with members of GMA's National Advisory and Selection Committees chaired by Al-Ali. Both committees are being tasked with overseeing the awards' implementation in Jordan.
The meeting was also attended by the National GMA Team comprising the UNCD, Citigroup and Sanabel (the Microfinance Network of the Arab Countries).
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/economy/economy2.htm
AU force seen as target in Darfur
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AFRICAN UNION TROOPS in Sudan's troubled Darfur region are in danger of being dragged into the conflict after rebels abducted and killed African Union (AU) soldiers in a series of attacks targeting the neutral force.
Five AU soldiers and civilian personnel were killed when rebels ambushed a convoy on Saturday, the force's first losses in more than a year working in remote Darfur. The next day, another rebel group abducted and held hostage 38 AU troops in the Chadian-Sudanese border town of Tine.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Kingdom bans imports of live birds as preemptive measure
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN — Imports of live birds and their products have been banned in the Kingdom as a preemptive measure against bird flu.
A national committee formed recently to create a strategy to combat bird flu and prevent its spread instituted the ban on Wednesday.
Khalid Abu Rumman, spokesperson of the committee, said the group decided yesterday that it was crucial to stop the importation of farm birds and pet birds, such as parrots and lovebirds, as well as feathers used for decoration.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews3.htm
The true spirit of Ramadan
Randa habib's corner
Call me crazy, but I think that too often the real meaning of Ramadan is missed by many people.
This holy month should not be an excuse for some to work less, eat more and be grumpy. The true message should be to continue working regardless of the fasting, and not to spend the day thinking of what one will eat after sunset.
Just look around you in the supermarkets! See how people buy more and pile up foodstuff in their trolleys, as if there is going to be a famine?
Do they really need all this food? Maybe it is a good idea to shop only in the evening and not during the day, on an empty stomach.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion4.htm
Syria can't evade pressure
Relatives of Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan weep Thursday during his funeral procession in his hometown Bhamra, 350km northwest of Damascus (AFP photo by Joseph Barrak)
By Alistair Lyon
Reuters
LONDON — Ghazi Kanaan's death silences a man at the heart of Syria's security apparatus, but is unlikely to deflect US-led pressure on Damascus or divert UN scrutiny of Syria over the assassination of a top Lebanese politician.
The 63-year-old Syrian interior minister, who served as feared intelligence chief in Lebanon for two decades from 1982, was being given a low-key funeral on Thursday, a day after officials said he committed suicide.
Analysts said any attempt to use Kanaan as a scapegoat over the Beirut bomb blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri eight months ago would at best provide temporary respite to President Bashar Assad's isolated government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news3.htm
US steps up diplomacy in Sudan
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday dispatched a new charge d'affaires to Sudan as part of a fresh round of diplomacy to stabilize the African country and halt persistent violence in its western Darfur region.
Washington also reiterated its warnings to the Khartoum government to halt the bloodshed which the United Nations said had rendered most of Darfur unsafe for humanitarian operations.
“There are obviously things the government of Sudan wants that they're not going to get if they continue to do this,” Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news9.htm
Daily Star
Syria ready to punish 'traitors' in Hariri murder
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
President Bashar Assad vowed that Syria would punish as a traitor any national implicated in the murder of Rafik Hariri, adding he was prepared to hand such suspects over to an international court.
Even as Assad defended his country against increasing international pressure, President George W. Bush said he expects many changes in Syria's conduct regardless of whether a UN investigation implicates Damascus in Hariri's assassination.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Assad brushed aside suspicions about Syria's role in Hariri's death, saying Damascus was not involved explaining that the assassination was against Syria's interests.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19287
Iraqi leaders agree to amend draft charter
Suicide bombing kills 30 police recruits
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Iraqi leaders agreed to amend a draft constitution just three days before it goes to a referendum but many minority Sunnis rejected the compromise and insurgents struck again, killing 30 in a suicide bombing.
As ruling Shiites and Kurds formally announced concessions that persuaded one prominent Sunni political group to back the amended text that will be put to voters on Saturday, the suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of army recruits at a military base at Tal Afar in the north, also wounding 35 people, police said.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomber caused similar casualties at a market in the town. Al-Qaeda claimed both attacks.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19288
PA says report into Arafat's death inconclusive
Symptoms 'could not be explained'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, October 13, 2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank: A report released by a Palestinian ministerial commission charged with investigating the causes of President Yasser Arafat's death has proved inconclusive, Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said. The report, which was heavily based on the findings of French doctors who treated Arafat before his death last November, was unable to pinpoint an exact cause of death but said that it might be possible to do so in the future.
"The French and Palestinian doctors have concluded that there was no known cure for the illness that afflicted the president," said Qorei, who wrote a foreword to the report.
Qorei said the death of the long-time Palestinian president was not a result of "bacteria, nor a virus, a microbe, a cancerous tumor nor of AIDS as has been said."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19271
Iraqi republic will - explicitly - not be Arab
By David Hirst
Commentary by
Friday, October 14, 2005
In the great settlement that followed World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, one of the Middle East's largest ethnic groups, the Kurds, were the main losers. They had been promised a state of their own, but, thanks to Ataturk's nationalist rebellion and abandonment of the project by the Western powers, they ended up as minorities, more or less severely repressed, in the four countries, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, among which their vast domains were divided.
The Kurds are set to become the greatest beneficiary of whatever new order emerges from the current Western intervention in the region's affairs. This hasn't reached the scale of the earlier one, being mainly confined, in its radical form at least, to Iraq, but, in its expanding - and unplanned - ramifications, it could well be on the way. After all, its chief architects, the Bush Administration's pro-Israeli, neo-conservative hawks, with their grandiose ideas of "creative chaos" and "regime change" everywhere, always saw Iraq, conceptually, as the springboard of an enterprise that, to succeed, had to be region-wide or not at all. In this respect if no other, they are in unison with the inhabitants of the Middle East themselves, for whom it is virtually axiomatic that what happens in Iraq profoundly affects everyone else.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19301
How Iran won the U.S. war in Iraq
By Afshin Molavi
Commentary by
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi hardly agreed on anything. The two regimes they led - an authoritarian, Western-oriented monarchy and an authoritarian, cleric-dominated Islamic Republic - represented dramatic contrasts. Culturally, politically, economically, socially, the two men could not be further apart. On one issue, however, the two men - and two regimes - agreed: Saddam Hussein's Baathist Iraq was a dangerous, unpredictable threat on Iran's border.
The U.S. defeat of Iraq in 2003 thus eliminated a modern strategic rival of Iran (the earlier defeat of the Taliban eliminated another Tehran foe). This historical context is important to remember as Iran jockeys for influence in post-Saddam Iraq. A gift has been bequeathed to the Shiite Iranian state: the defeat of an aggressive Baathist, Sunni-dominated historic rival, and the emergence into power of a network of both religious and secular Shiite figures, Kurds and a smattering of Sunnis with close ties to Iran
The irony is not lost on many Western observers. An oft-heard exchange goes: Q: Who won the U.S. war in Iraq? A: Iran did. Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia and adviser to the Iraqi Kurds Peter W. Galbraith puts it bluntly: "The U.S. now has to recognize that [it] overthrew Saddam Hussein to replace him with a pro-Iranian state."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=19208
The Charlotte Observer
Officials: Bond package for biotech hub won't tap taxpayers
City would use new revenue to pay debts
VICTORIA CHERRIE
Staff Writer
When Kannapolis city leaders issue bonds to support billionaire David Murdock's plans for a $1 billion biotech hub downtown, the whole city will benefit at no cost to taxpayers, officials say.
The city council began discussions Monday night on issuing self-financing bonds to help pay for water and sewer lines and streets for the North Carolina Research Campus, planned at the site of the former Pillowtex Plant 1, said Eddie Smith, an assistant city manager.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/cabarrus/12888501.htm
Mortgage rates rise; topping 6 percent
MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a fifth consecutive week, topping 6 percent for the first time since March as financial markets continued to worry about inflation.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the nationwide average for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose this week to 6.03 percent, the first time the rate has been above 6 percent since it hit 6.04 percent in the last week in March.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/12893711.htm
Australia probes doc linked to 88 deaths
Associated Press
BRISBANE, Australia - A medical administrator rated the work of a surgeon linked to the deaths of 88 patients at an Australian hospital as "excellent," an inquiry heard Thursday.
The government inquiry is investigating how the surgeon, Jayant Patel, came to be employed at the rural Bundaberg Base Hospital as director of surgery for two years despite being cited for negligence in Oregon and New York.
Patel fled to the United States in April after claims of his medical negligence were raised in Queensland state parliament.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12891850.htm
Powerball prize soars to $290 million
Associated Press
None of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Wednesday night matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 4, 9, 18, 51, 54. Powerball 10. Power Play: 5
Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $247 million jackpot. The prize goes to an estimated $290 million for Saturday.
Tickets that match the first five numbers, but miss the Powerball, win $200,000 each, and there were 14 of those. They were sold in: Arizona (4), Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska (2), Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Chechen rebels claim credit for attacks
FATIMA TLISOVA
Associated Press
NALCHIK, Russia - Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles that killed at least 49 people.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks, which forced the evacuation of schools and left corpses littering the streets of Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkariya.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/12888862.htm
Wilmington Star News
Floodwater testing causes worry about Lake Pontchartrain
By Malcolm RitterAssociated Press
Chemicals in New Orleans floodwater from residential neighborhoods posed little risk to people but may raise a long-term hazard to wildlife in Lake Pontchartrain, a new study reported Tuesday.
In general, water samples taken soon after the flood caused by Hurricane Katrina found that the water resembled normal rain runoff in its chemical makeup, said the study’s lead author, John Pardue.
"We don’t feel anything we’ve seen will point to any kind of a problem on the chemical side" for human exposure, said Dr. Pardue, director of the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute at Louisiana State University.
Still, people returning to their homes should protect themselves from germs that may be left behind in the sludge, he said.
The study, funded by the institute, found high levels of fecal bacteria in the water, just as previously published testing by the federal Environmental Protection Agency did. Normal rainwater in the area has high levels too because of leaky sewers, but Katrina flooding was different because of its sheer volume, Dr. Pardue said.
The study didn’t sample water from industrial areas, and researchers cautioned that their results can’t be used to assess nonresidential areas. Their findings were published online Tuesday by the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Virtually all the floodwater that once covered New Orleans has been pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, and Dr. Pardue said he and his colleagues are now analyzing the sediment it left behind.
As for the impact of the pumped water on the lake, Dr. Pardue said it didn’t introduce any new chemicals but provided a large dose in a short time. He noted that all rainwater that falls in New Orleans is eventually pumped into the lake.
"What this really represented was a year or two’s worth of rain being pumped out in a very short time," he said.
What’s more, Dr. Pardue said chemicals left behind in the sediment will eventually find their way to the lake as the sediment is cleaned up and rain washes it into the canals that feed Pontchartrain.
Copper, zinc, cadmium and lead found in the floodwater could build up in the lake sediment and pose long-term hazards for wildlife. The study can’t evaluate that, Dr. Pardue said, but the results suggest officials should keep an eye out for trouble.
Dr. Pardue noted that the state Department of Environmental Quality is studying the problem and said he’s satisfied with their efforts.
Embryonic Cells, No Embryo Needed: Hunting for Ways Out of an Impasse
If there were no controversy over human embryonic stem cells, Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch of M.I.T. and Dr. George Daley of Harvard Medical School would probably never have started some unusual, and difficult, experiments.
Stem cells, a type of universal cell in early embryos, can in theory grow into any of the body's tissues and organs. But embryonic stem cells are drawn from human embryos after they have grown for about five days in the lab, and obtaining those cells requires that the embryos be destroyed. The moral objection has been that that is destroying human life.
So while most stem cell scientists focus on obtaining stem cells from early embryos, Dr. Daley and Dr. Jaenisch have begun asking if they can get stem cells another way, perhaps by creating aberrant cell clusters that contain stem cells but could never survive more than a week or so. The idea is to produce embryonic cells without the embryos and make nearly everyone happy.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005510120410&source=email
AROUND THE WORLD
Voters choose Liberian president
– From wire service reports
MONROVIA, LIBERIA - With U.N. tanks and troops standing guard, Liberians waited in long lines Tuesday to vote for the country’s first postwar president, who many hope will bring stability to one of Africa’s most turbulent countries.
Turnout appeared strong, with some voters lining up hours before the polls opened in churches, schools and long-shuttered banks. Some 1.3 million Liberians had registered to vote at more than 3,000 polling stations.
Twenty-two candidates are vying for the top job in Liberia, in tatters after 14 years of nearly continuous civil war that ended with a peace deal in 2003. A transitional government has arranged the vote, and 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are keeping the calm.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005210120397&source=email
continued ...
Morning Papers - continued
The Boston Globe
Northeast states endure eighth day of rain
A view of a flooded neighborhood near to the Passaic River in Fairfield, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005. With flood waters rising in northern New Jersey, the state activated its emergency management office Thursday morning, preparing high-water rescue vehicle and swift-boat rescue teams for use in flooded communities. The northern section of the state got more than 5 inches of rain over the past two days, with an additional 2 inches expected in some places. The rain was expected to continue through Saturday. (AP Photo/Jose F. Moreno)
By Wayne Parry, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
FAIRFIELD, N.J. --Much of the waterlogged Northeast entered its eighth straight day of rain Friday, a deluge that has trapped motorists, delayed airline flights and sent streams surging over their banks.
At least 10 people have died in the region since last weekend because of the downpours, and four others were missing in New Hampshire. Forecasters predicted another 2 to 3 inches of rain.
Flood warnings covered parts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and residents in some New Jersey communities were urged to evacuate their homes.
When water from the rain-swollen Passaic River began seeping into Nick Sitarella's home, he loaded a moving van with his belongings and got out.
"I'm not taking any chances," Sitarella said. "It's a horrible way to live."
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/10/14/northeast_states_endure_eighth_day_of_rain/
Romney promises aid for flooded Western Mass
Gov. Mitt Romney (center) met with western Mass. lawmakers in his chambers, including state Sen. Brian Lees (left) and state Sen. Stephen Brewer (right), as they discussed the state's response to recent flooding in the western part of the state.
(Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki)
By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer October 12, 2005
BOSTON --Gov. Mitt Romney, who has faced criticism for his response to flooding in Western Massachusetts, promised aid to the affected communities on Wednesday after meeting with the region's lawmakers.
Romney met for an hour with Senators and Representatives from areas that received nearly a foot of rain last week, with more expected on Wednesday and in coming days.
"We're safe and sound. Now the question is how are we going to pay for the damage that's been caused," Romney said.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/12/romney_promises_aid_for_flooded_western_mass/
Southwestern N.H. braces for possibility of more flooding
By Anne Saunders, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
CONCORD, N.H. --Light rain fell over southwestern New Hampshire on Friday morning and was expected to strengthen during the night, bringing a renewed threat of flooding in already saturated areas.
Gov. John Lynch headed back to the area, meeting with officials in Walpole, Alstead, Langdon and Acworth. It was his fourth trip to the area this week.
The area, which was under a flood watch, should escape further flood damage as long as any new rainfall stays below 3 inches, Emergency Management Director Bruce Cheney told lawmakers Thursday.
With the National Weather Service on Friday calling for up to 3 inches of rain by nightfall, it could be a close call. "The three to four inches of rain falls in the next 24 hours anywhere in the watch area, small stream or serious urban flooding would result," the weather service said in a statement Friday.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2005/10/14/southwestern_nh_braces_for_possibility_of_more_flooding/
Man arrested for two Faneuil Hall rapes
By Associated Press October 12, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --A man suspected in the rapes of two women near Faneuil Hall last month was arrested in Maine over the weekend and is being held on $2 million bail.
Authorities said Kevin Bennett, 33, of Arlington, Mass., picked up the women near Faneuil Hall Marketplace on separate nights last month and then took them to Cambridge, where he allegedly raped and assaulted them.
He was arraigned Wednesday in Cambridge District Court on rape, kidnapping and assault with intent to murder charges. The women believed they were getting into cabs.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/12/man_arrested_for_two_faneuil_hall_rapes/
Union agrees to postpone strike after request from governor
October 12, 2005
HARTFORD, Conn. --The state's largest health care union agreed Wednesday to postpone a strike threatened for later this week, after Gov. M. Jodi Rell's budget director requested that workers not walk out at four nonprofit agencies.
Union leaders representing workers at the four agencies agreed to reschedule a strike date from Friday to Oct. 28 at 6 a.m.
The New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, is slated to meet with Robert Genuario, the secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management and Rell's budget director, on Friday afternoon.
About 1,200 mental health and mental retardation workers at the Oak Hill School in Hartford, New Seasons in Manchester, The Caring Community in Colchester and North Central Counseling Services in Enfield have been without a contract since April.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/10/12/union_agrees_to_postpone_strike_after_request_from_governor/
Red Cross shelters for hurricane victims
By The Associated Press October 12, 2005
More than 22,000 hurricane victims -- about 8 percent of the total in early September -- remain in shelters, most of them run by the American Red Cross. As of Wednesday, 161 Red Cross shelters remained open in eight states:
-- 81 Louisiana
-- 63 Texas
-- 11 Mississippi
-- 2 Arkansas
-- 1 Alabama
-- 1 Kentucky
-- 1 Tennessee
-- 1 Georgia
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/red_cross_shelters_for_hurricane_victims/
White House backs plan to shut Hub energy office
Critics fear closure could hinder grants
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has endorsed a Senate plan to close the Boston regional office of the US Department of Energy, which distributed tens of millions of dollars last year to help low-income New Englanders make their homes more energy-efficient.
Though New Englanders would continue to be eligible for DOE grants, elected officials as well as the nonprofit agencies that administer the grant programs expressed concern that closing the Boston office would make it more difficult for local groups to apply for conservation grants, which they then distribute to eligible homeowners.
The local office has worked to help area nonprofit groups take advantage of DOE grants. The agency recently paid to weatherize more than 2,600 homes during one year in Massachusetts alone, helping lower residents' heating bills.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/10/14/white_house_backs_plan_to_shut_hub_energy_office/
Studies are fine if there were time to conduct one. At this point there should be emergency management included in widespread disease regardless the source. I am surprised this was not already done as part of Massachusetts Homeland Security. This is typical 'reactionary' government rather than leadership with insight. It reminds me of someone standing at the shoreline asking for a study as the tidal wave approaches.
Romney orders study of facilities that could be used in flu epidemic
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff October 14, 2005
Governor Mitt Romney directed public health authorities yesterday to explore the feasibility of converting state-owned college dormitories, National Guard armories, and other facilities into makeshift medical wards in the event that victims of a future influenza epidemic swamp hospitals.
The governor said in an interview that he also asked officials from the Department of Public Health to evaluate whether the state should stockpile additional doses of medication to treat the flu, as well as antibiotics to combat bacterial complications such as pneumonia stemming from the disease.
The directives were issued a day after more than 250 doctors, hospital administrators, and emergency authorities conducted a drill at a Boston hotel to test their ability to contend with a potential outbreak of avian flu.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/14/romney_orders_study_of_facilities_that_could_be_used_in_flu_epidemic/
Questions and answers on bird flu virus
By John J. Lumpkin, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON --A bird flu virus spreading through Asia, and now reported in the European part of Turkey, has world health authorities warning of a worldwide pandemic unseen since World War I. The Bush administration is discussing quarantines and other methods to control its spread should it arrive in the United States, but for the moment, bird flu remains only a potential threat.
Some questions and answers on the bird flu:
Q: What is bird flu?
A: The term "bird flu" generally describes one of several influenza viruses that birds can carry. But several types can also infect humans. These are different in makeup from the usual human flus.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2005/10/14/questions_and_answers_on_bird_flu_virus/
Former N.C. congressman gets four years
By Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press Writer October 12, 2005
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. --Former Rep. Frank Ballance was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for conspiring to divert taxpayer money to his law firm and family through a charitable organization he helped start.
Ballance, a 63-year-old Democrat who was a state senator before being elected to Congress in 2002, also agreed to repay $61,917 and to forfeit $203,000 in a bank escrow account in the name of the John A. Hyman Memorial Foundation.
The forfeited funds will be returned to North Carolina taxpayers, federal prosecutor Dennis Duffy said.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/former_nc_congressman_gets_four_years/
Poll: Bush presidency judged unsuccessful
President Bush takes questions from reporters during his meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski in the Oval Office in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Will Lester, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON --For the first time, more people say George W. Bush's presidency will be judged as unsuccessful than say it will be seen as a success, a poll finds.
Forty-one percent of respondents said Bush's presidency will be seen as unsuccessful in the long run, while 26 percent said the opposite. Thirty-five percent said it was too early to tell, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
In January, 36 percent said successful and 27 percent said unsuccessful.
The increasing pessimism about Bush's long-term prospects comes at a time when many polls have found the public increasingly is negative about Bush's performance and the direction of the country.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/10/14/poll_bush_presidency_judged_unsuccessful/
Dog welcomes squirrel into litter of pups
October 12, 2005
SEATTLE --Animal lover that she is, Debby Cantlon didn't think twice when someone asked if she could take in an orphaned newborn squirrel and nurse it back to health.
It also was apparently a no-brainer for Mademoiselle Giselle, her pregnant Papillon.
The black and white pooch with long-haired butterfly ears dragged the squirrel's cage to her bedside -- twice -- before she gave birth to her pups on Sept. 9.
Cantlon was concerned at first, but ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out, then Giselle actively encouraged the little rodent to join her litter.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/dog_welcomes_squirrel_into_litter_of_pups/
Army reviews how it notifies families of deaths
By Will Dunham October 12, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has launched a review into how it notifies families that a soldier has been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan after hearing complaints from some of them, including the parents of former professional football player Pat Tillman, officials said on Wednesday.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey has directed that the review into the notification process be completed by January, said his spokesman, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins.
"We're going to fix this," Collins said. "The whole goal here is to make the system more accurate and quicker, too."
"The last thing we want to do is have somebody get the wrong information about how their loved one died," Collins added.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/12/army_reviews_how_it_notifies_families_of_deaths/
Israel locks down for solemn fast of Yom Kippur
Troops carry out security sweep in West Bank towns
Orthodox Jews strike the backs of other Orthodox Jews as part of the 'Malkot' ceremony to atone for their sins for the Yom Kippur holiday in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem. (Reuters Photo)
By Steve Weizman, Associated Press October 12, 2005
JERUSALEM --Israel prepared Wednesday to lock down for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, when borders close, streets empty of traffic and Jews fast, pray and ask for forgiveness.
In a sweep through West Bank towns before the holy day, Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians, including a teenage boy allegedly coerced by militants into becoming a suicide bomber and a senior Hamas fugitive who was on the run for eight years, the army said.
In another arrest in the Hebron-area town of Dahariya, troops brought a fugitive's mother to call on him to surrender. When he came out of his hideout, he was forced to strip to show he had not strapped explosives to his body.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/12/israel_locks_down_for_solemn_fast_of_yom_kippur/
THIS IS A EXCUSE FOR OIL EXPLORATION.
US wants to push ocean boundaries to limit terror threat
By Stefano Ambrogi October 12, 2005
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The United States wants to search foreign ships far outside its territorial waters to stop a possible terrorist attack on the country coming from the sea, a U.S. coastguard leader said on Wednesday.
"If the threat is significant enough we will board that ship as far from our coast as we can," said Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson who is Pacific Area commander of the U.S. coastguard.
Johnson, who oversees key trade routes with Asia, told a maritime security conference in Copenhagen the policy of the United States was to "push back" its sea borders for searches as much as possible -- perhaps by as much as 2,000 nautical miles.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/10/12/us_wants_to_push_ocean_boundaries_to_limit_terror_threat/
Kashmir's double tragedy
October 12, 2005
THE HUNDREDS of thousands of Pakistanis whose lives were shattered by an earthquake over the weekend were not just living on a geological fault line. They were doubly victimized by the political fissures that have inhibited political and economic development in this corner of Asia for almost 60 years.
Some Pakistani officials put the death toll as high as 40,000, with falling debris causing most of the deaths, many of them in schools. Much is known today about ways to protect buildings from earthquake damage, but doing so would be an unachievable luxury in a nation where the gross domestic product was only $2,200 per person in 2004. Many buildings are being strengthened in Japan, another nation vulnerable to earthquakes, but there the comparable GDP figure in 2004 was $29,400.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/10/12/kashmirs_double_tragedy/
The Australian
Bali mob want Amrozi dead
Cameron Stewart and Sian Powell
October 13, 2005
CHAOTIC scenes marred yesterday's third anniversary of the Bali bombings as a former Indonesian president suggested his country's military or police may have been behind one of the 2002 bombings.
A violent mob of 2000 angry protesters stormed Bali's Kerobokan jail, breaking down a wall outside the prison and demanding the execution of three of the Bali bombers.
Chanting "Kill Amrozi, kill Amrozi", the crowd removed part of the jail's main steel door before riot police stopped them from entering the prison where some of the Bali bombers are held.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16903182%5E601,00.html
Tourist struck by skateboarder
October 13, 2005
A EUROPEAN tourist is critically ill in hospital after being struck down by a skateboarder in Sydney's tourist precinct, police said.
A 65-year-old Norwegian woman was walking along George Street, The Rocks, with her husband about 4pm (AEST) yesterday when she was hit.
The skateboarder, who had been travelling on the footpath, stopped to ask if she was okay before skating off, a NSW police spokeswoman said.
The couple then caught a taxi to their hotel in Wentworth Avenue but the woman soon fell ill and was taken to St Vincent's Hospital.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904778%5E1702,00.html
Vaccine for heart disease
From correspondents in Stockholm, Sweden
October 13, 2005
RESEARCHERS in the United States and in Sweden are working together to develop the world's first vaccine against heart disease, one of the scientists involved said today.
"We have produced a simple form of vaccine that has worked well on test animals... Now we're trying to develop it into a vaccine that has the quality and safety needed to use on humans," Jan Nilsson, a professor at the Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit of Lund University in southern Sweden, said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904771%5E1702,00.html
Troops cross Kashmir border with help
From correspondents in Srinagar, India
October 13, 2005
INDIAN soldiers today crossed the de facto border dividing the Indian and Pakistani zones of disputed Kashmir to rebuild a quake-destroyed bunker, an Indian army spokesman said.
"It is unprecedented in the manner that our soldiers have gone across the border to extend help," Lieutenant Colonel K Seghal said in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
The soldiers crossed a bridge that spans the Line of Control, the 770-kilometre de facto border that divides the two zones of the Himalayan territory, Lt-Col Seghal said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904755%5E1702,00.html
Landslide kills quake troops
From correspondents in Jammu, India
October 12, 2005
AT least six Indian soldiers on a rescue mission in earthquake-hit Kashmir were killed by a landslide triggered by rain, a military officer said today.
The rockslide wiped out part of a patrol walking along a track, Colonel Hemant Juneja said.
The incident happened yesterday in Kupwara, one of the worst-hit areas in Indian Kashmir, where officials say more than 1200 people have died.
"We have fanned these foot patrol parties in different directions to provide relief and rescue operations in inaccessible areas," Col. Juneja said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16901744%5E1702,00.html
No bird flu in Romania
By Jeremy Smith in Brussels
October 13, 2005
BIRD flu has not been detected in Romania, European Union veterinary experts said overnight, confirming that the highly contagious disease has not yet reached Europe.
"The disease situation amongst poultry and wild birds ... the available epidemiological data and the laboratory results at present do not confirm the presence of avian influenza," the European Commission said in a statement after a meeting of EU member state vets.
Preliminary tests last week on three ducks in Romania's Danube delta near the Black Sea proved positive and raised fears that the disease had entered Europe, but the EU vets' results made clear the virus was not present.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904739%5E1702,00.html
Spike Lee to make Katrina film
From correspondents in Los Angeles
October 13, 2005
FAMED US filmmaker Spike Lee is to produce and direct a new documentary about the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in flood-stricken New Orleans, the entertainment industry press announced overnight.
Lee, 48, the maker of such hit feature films as Malcolm X (1992) and Do The Right Thing (1989), is to make When the Levee Broke for the US HBO cable television channel, the network told Daily Variety.
No details of the project were immediately available, however. Lee is currently putting the final touches on his latest film, The Inside Man, starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904734%5E1702,00.html
Microsoft, Yahoo to share messaging
By correspondents in New York
October 13, 2005
YAHOO and Microsoft said overnight they signed an interoperability agreement that will allow people who use their respective consumer instant messaging services to interact with each other.
The companies expect to launch the free interconnectivity services in the second quarter of 2006.
Yahoo and Microsoft estimate they will have a high percentage of the 275 million people who use IM services worldwide.
"Yahoo and Microsoft share a commitment to providing the highest-quality experience possible for consumers, and today's groundbreaking announcement underscores our desire to provide consumer interoperability between our thriving IM communities," said Terry Semel, chief executive at Yahoo.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16905278%5E1702,00.html
Nuclear facility escapes damage
Rahul Bedi
October 14, 2005
PAKISTAN'S main nuclear weapons facility at Kahuta, just 75km from the epicentre of the earthquake, is undamaged, according to military officials.
"There is no danger to our nuclear installations and weapons from earthquakes," Pakistan's military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said. "They are fully safe."
But Major-General Sultan could not confirm what intensity of earthquake the Khan Research Laboratories at Kahuta had been designed to withstand.
The research centre is the country's flagship nuclear weapons facility and technicians there are working on developing long-range missiles to deliver strategic weapons.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911262%5E2703,00.html
Quake villages wait for aid
Correspondents in Islamabad
October 14, 2005
AS many as 70 per cent of the remote villages devastated by the Central Asian earthquake almost six days ago have yet to receive any outside help.
Relief workers in northern Pakistan said they had not yet reached many villages in the remote mountainous region close to the quake's epicentre.
Jan Vandemoortele, UN resident co-ordinator for Pakistan, said most roads had now been cleared but many remote areas remained inaccessible.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911264%5E2703,00.html
Militants move on Kashmir chaos
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi
October 14, 2005
ISLAMIC militant groups closely linked to al-Qa'ida have been swift to establish relief operations in the earthquake-ravaged Kashmir region of northern Pakistan, according to security sources in New Delhi.
"Their aim is not only to expand and consolidate their already considerable influence and presence in the region, but also to operate as a credible front to raise desperately needed money for their jihadist activities," a senior intelligence official said.
Over the past year, under mounting pressure from the US and other Western countries, funding has become an acute problem for al-Qa'ida and associated insurgent groups, with large money transfers being closely monitored.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911260%5E2703,00.html
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Government urged to back science education
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The government was urged Wednesday to launch a broad program supporting science education, research and innovation in an effort to maintain the nation's economic dominance.
Leadership in science and technology helped make the United States a world leader, but there are indications that could slip away, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences warned.
For example, 70,000 engineers were graduated in the United States last year, compared to 350,000 in India and 600,000 in China, the committee said in a new report. And in 2001, U.S. industry spent more on liability lawsuits than on research and development.
The report calls for four main efforts to shore up the nation's position.
-Improve math and science education in elementary and high schools by establishing a merit-based scholarship program to attract 10,000 students per year to careers teaching math and science.
-Increase the nation's investment in basic research by 10 percent each year for the next seven years, with a special emphasis on physical science, math, engineering and information science.
-Provide 25,000 new undergraduate scholarships each year and 5,000 new graduate fellowships for U.S. citizens enrolled in physical science, life science and math programs in American colleges and universities.
-Modernizing the U.S. patent system, provide tax credits to companies that increase research and development, ensure affordable broadband internet access.
Other recommendations included providing automatic visa extensions to foreign students who have received doctorate degrees who want to seek employment in the United States and establishing an advanced research agency within the Department of Energy.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_Pushing_Science.html
Cooling newborns may help protect brains
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chilling a newborn's entire body can help prevent or reduce brain damage caused by lack of oxygen during difficult births, research suggests.
However, experts say the results are too preliminary and in conflict with previous research for the treatment to be used outside of medical studies.
"Widespread application of brain cooling ... would be premature," Dr. Lu-Ann Papile, a neonatologist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. She had no role in the study.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Chilling%20Babies
Consular: Man in Bush plot denied torture
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A U.S. consular officer in Saudi Arabia who made jail visits to a man accused of plotting to assassinate President Bush testified Wednesday that he saw no evidence the inmate had been tortured, but he said he was denied access to him for nearly a month.
The testimony came during a pretrial hearing to determine the validity of a confession given to Saudi authorities by Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen.
In the videotaped confession, Abu Ali says he "was interested in jihad" because of "my hatred of the United States for support of Israel against the Palestinian people." He said he discussed possible terrorist acts with two al-Qaida leaders, who encouraged him to return to America and establish an al-Qaida cell.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Bush_Plot.html
Mobile homes, campers wait at FEMA sites
By JAY REEVES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A police officer patrols a row of travel trailers at a Federal Emergency Management Agency staging area on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005, in Selma, Ala. The federal government is acquiring temporary homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina far faster than it can distribute them, with more than 9,000 campers and mobile homes now sitting empty at staging areas awaiting delivery. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- More than 9,000 mobile homes and campers meant for the victims of Hurricane Katrina are sitting unused at government staging areas while displaced families continue to live out of tents and shelters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the backlog was inevitable: The temporary housing is easier to acquire than distribute because of the limited number of accessible roads, cleared lots and trucks to haul housing to the storm-ravaged region.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Housing_Backlog.html
Text of proposed Iraqi constitution
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SECTION SIX: FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER ONE: FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 122:
First: The President of the Republic and the Council of the Ministers collectively or one-fifth (1/5) of the Council of Representatives members may propose to amend the Constitution.
Second: The fundamental principles mentioned in Section One and the rights and liberties mentioned in Section Two of the Constitution may not be amended except after two successive electoral terms, with the approval of two-thirds of the Council of Representatives members, and the approval of the people in a general referendum and the ratification of the President of the Republic within seven days.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Constitution_Text_5th_Add.html
Reputed IRA official denies link to firm
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DUBLIN, Ireland -- The reputed chief of staff of the outlawed Irish Republican Army on Wednesday denied having anything to do with an English property portfolio that detectives suspect of being a shelter for IRA money.
Thomas "Slab" Murphy - who has never issued a public statement before - said he had "never conducted any business" with the Manchester-based property firm at the center of the probe, the Craven Group.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Ireland_IRA_Money.html
Schroeder's seven years in power ending
By MELISSA EDDY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERLIN -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday he will not participate in Germany's new coalition government, ending seven years in power marked by a newly assertive foreign policy and efforts to prune welfare benefits that were a drag on Europe's biggest economy.
In a speech to a trade union conference in his hometown of Hanover, Schroeder also took swipes at President Bush and Tony Blair, opponents in the debate over the Iraq war.
Schroeder's Social Democrats lost last month's parliamentary elections to conservative Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, and Merkel struck a power-sharing deal Monday to become Germany's first female chancellor.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Germany_Election.html
Haiti rules U.S. citizen can seek office
By ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A Haitian-born U.S. businessman may run for president, Haiti's highest court ruled Tuesday in a decision the would-be candidate said marked a turning point in the roles expatriate Haitians could play in their homeland.
The elections will be the first since a February 2004 revolt toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected president in the country that has suffered decades of civilian and military dictatorships and coups.
Presidential and legislative elections were scheduled Nov. 20, but elections officials have said preparations are behind schedule and the vote likely will be postponed for up to a month.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Haiti_Elections.html
Canada argues against Chinese asylum bid
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA -- A former senior prison official in China who defected to Canada has no right to refugee status in Canada because of his complicity in crimes against humanity, federal lawyers argued in documents filed in court on Tuesday.
Han Guangsheng's bid for asylum "completely disregards" his involvement in a system linked to widespread human rights abuses, according to documents by federal prosecutors.
The former supervisor of prisons and labor camps in northeastern China faces possible deportation following the Immigration and Refugee Board's rejection of his claim.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Canada_Chinese_Defector.html
China warns Canada on Taiwan trade bill
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA -- China's ambassador to Canada warned Wednesday that a bill before Parliament calling for formal trade and cultural ties with Taiwan could destroy the foundations beneath 35 years of diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing.
Ambassador Lu Shumin said there would be serious "consequences" if the measure introduced by British Columbia Conservative Jim Abbott were passed. Though the measure is considered unlikely to become law, the issue is creating tensions as Canada and China move toward building much stronger trade ties.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Canada_China_Taiwan.html
Cheney Observer
Halliburton sold assets to outsourcing.
Halliburton Sells Westport Technology Center to Intertek Caleb Brett
Houston -
HOUSTON -- Halliburton's (NYSE:HAL) Energy Services Group has reached an agreement to sell its Westport Technology Center to Intertek Caleb Brett, a division of Intertek Group plc (FTSE:ITRK), a global leader in outsourcing, testing, inspection, certification and related services.
Intertek has acquired the assets, contracts, technology and intellectual property assets of Westport Technology Center International.
Westport Technology Center delivers comprehensive upstream technical services to the global Oil and Gas Exploration and Production industry, including expertise in drilling fluids, flow assurance, reservoir fluids, well productivity, materials, corrosion, geochemistry, geology, hydrates, and more. Westport's management team and staff will continue to run the business integrated into Intertek Caleb Brett's global laboratory network, from which it will further expand and internationalize the services from Westport's main facility in Houston.
http://houston.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=46620&type_news=latest
New Zealand government taps Landmark Graphics for data storage deal
Landmark Graphics Corp. has been hired by the New Zealand government to provide Web site and database technology for an internal department that manages the country's government-owned mineral assets.
Houston-based Landmark, a division of Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL), supplies software and services for the upstream oil and gas industry. Under the contract, Landmark will provide a single data storage solution for New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development.
"This will directly support the Ministry of Economic Development's efforts to promote and encourage exploration in New Zealand," said Halliburton vice president Peter Bernard.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/10/10/daily10.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Bush's faith-based nominee
By Cathy Young October 10, 2005
THE NOMINATION of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court ignited an unexpected controversy, mainly among Bush supporters. The debate has not focused on Miers's ideology, since no one seems to know much about it. But if Bush's choice for the high court seems lackluster, the political reaction to it has been far more interesting.
The outcry has focused in large part on Miers's qualifications, or lack thereof. She has never held a federal judgeship and has spent most of her career in the private sector (though one could argue that this may bring diversity to the court). Her few writings show little if any intellectual flair.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/10/bushs_faith_based_nominee/
Term limited
Bush's miscalculations and mistakes are thwarting his ability to push his agenda
By CARL P. LEUBSDORF
First published: Sunday, October 9, 2005
Troubled second terms are a fact of presidential life. No modern chief executive has escaped.
Like most predecessors, President Bush has brought on many of his problems through miscalculations and mistakes. One result: the lowest job approval of any modern president at this point in his term.
Several factors are responsible:
Weak re-election: Though Bush surpassed 50 percent in 2004 and won clearly over John Kerry, in contrast to his disputed 2000 triumph, his margin was by the smallest percentage of any re-elected president in U.S. history. He claimed a mandate, but polling showed the public almost evenly split over his handling of most issues but terrorism.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=406881&category=OPINION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=10/9/2005
Norfolk election officials, voter group clash over registration woes
04:03 PM EDT on Sunday, October 9, 2005
Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. — More than half of Norfolk's new voter applications have been incomplete or rejected.
That has prompted the registrar's office and a social action group to call for intervention by the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Lawyers from the Washington-based Advancement Project got involved at the request of Project Vote, which has submitted five-thousand voter applications in Norfolk this year.
State election officials were in town last week at the request of General Registrar Elisa Long, who says they are expected to issue a report sometime this week. Andrew Rivera of the Advancement Project asked the state elections board for a similar review.
Rivera has repeatedly asked to see the voter applications that could not be processed but Long has refused, citing election law and privacy concerns.
http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/100905cckkWVECelection.111a19b66.html
Hungarian prime minister awarded University's top honor
by Robert Parker
In addition to students and professors, new Elliott School Dean Michael Brown attended the event, along with Hungary's ambassador to the United States András Simonyi and American ambassador to Hungary George Herbert Walker III. Walker is the first cousin of former President George Bush and uncle to the current president.
http://www.gwhatchet.com/media/paper332/news/2005/10/10/CampusNews/Hungarian.Prime.Minister.Awarded.Universitys.Top.Honor-1015100.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com
A key journalistic principle
New York Times reporter Judith Miller, finally released from prison, testified before the grand jury investigating the case in which Bush Administration officials may have revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Ms. Miller was imprisoned without trial for 85 days in civil contempt of court when she refused to reveal the name of her source. She and her newspaper took that stand in the face of substantial pressure, including that originating from the fact that some of her media colleagues, including syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, who first published Ms. Plame's name, and NBC News journalist Tim Russert, talked to prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
Ms. Miller stayed true to her principles to the end, only agreeing to testify when her source, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, specifically relieved her of a pledge to protect him.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051010/OPINION02/510100313
NO NOBEL PRIZE FOR WAR PRESIDENT
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- George W. Bush doesn't like to play hurt but he has no choice. Every week now, he's getting clobbered. His Nixonian administration can only struggle to stop the bleeding, bandage the wounds and pray that the twin enemies of truth and time will stop. The Busheviks are in full retreat. Events, largely of their own creation, are overwhelming them. The self-inflicted assault is endless.
The president's "brain," his political "genius," good ole "Turd Blossom" himself, Karl Rove, is a desperate man, crawling and begging as he tries to escape indictment on federal felony charges. Bush, the cowboy president, is all hat, no horse; Rove, his ramrod, is now all turd, no blossom.
Initially, Rove lied to FBI agents about his role in identifying and outing CIA officer Valerie Plame. This week, he'll make his fourth visit to the grand jury, trying to explain why he lied when he was first questioned about his role in exposing Plame.
Publicly, Rove denied he had "any knowledge" about the leak and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan scoffed that "it is a ridiculous suggestion" to say Rove was in any way involved in the scandal. Lies. All lies.
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher234.html
DeLay's Lawyers Subpoena His Prosecutor
By LARRY MARGASAK
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 11, 2005; 11:17 PM
WASHINGTON -- Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay's attorneys turned the tables on a Texas prosecutor Tuesday, delivering a subpoena to compel his testimony about his conduct with grand jurors.
Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, who contends there was misconduct by prosecutors, said Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle refused the subpoena at his Austin office when he declined to sign a paper acknowledging its delivery. Earle said he had voluntarily accepted the subpoena.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, arrives to make a statement in his office on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 in Washington after a Texas grand jury charged Rep. DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme. Setting aside his own aversion to the media, DeLay has waged a blitz on radio, on TV and in print as he tries to shore up his support in his own congressional district while assuring fellow Republicans he plans to return to power. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)
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The subpoena is part of the defense tactic to have charges dismissed before trial against DeLay, R-Texas, who was obligated to temporarily step aside as House majority leader when charged with conspiracy and money laundering in a state campaign finance investigation. DeLay has denied any wrongdoing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101327.html
Frustrated mayor says helping city will help Louisiana
By JOE GYAN JR.
jgyan@theadvocate.com
New Orleans bureau
Advocate staff photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Hurricane Katrina evacuee Albert Chui Clark, right, from New Orleans' 3rd Ward, speaks his mind to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin during a brief get-together Thursday inside the Baton Rouge River Center. The center is closing its doors to evacuees and forcing them to leave today.
A frustrated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned Thursday that it would be in the state's best interest to help the Crescent City jump-start its Hurricane Katrina-riddled economy, saying the impact on the state -- if nothing is done -- will pale in comparison to the layoffs the city recently announced.
"You think 3,000 layoffs in New Orleans is a big deal. Just wait,'' Nagin, his sleeves rolled up, said during an evening meeting with The Advocate's editorial board. "I see a state in crisis.''
The mayor pointed out during the Baton Rouge meeting that New Orleans accounts for 35 percent of the state budget.
http://2theadvocate.com/stories/101405/new_nagin001.shtml
Nagin Visits Cajundome Evacuees
Posted: Oct 14, 2005, 05:48 AM EDT
With evacuees shouting his nick-name, 'Ray Nay' as he arrived at the Cajundome, it was clear New Orleans evacuees were happy to see a familiar face.
Mayor Ray Nagin told them the city needs workers, and working is the best way for displaced residents to find temporary housing. "If they sign up for a job, employers have temporary housing - FEMA has temporary housing, that jumps them in front of the line," Nagin tells KATC.
Right after the storm, thousands called the Cajundome home. That number's down to about 500, and many of those folks told Nagin they want to be back in New Orleans as soon as possible. "If he would have come here with a bus and said 'how many people want to leave here today and go back to New Orleans to work' - everybody in here would have left," says one Cajundome resident.
Nagin did not bring a bus, but he did bring a message of hope.
Despite giving no timeline on re-populating hard-hit areas, the mayor pointed out positive signs like re-opening schools, and livable neighborhoods.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3976872
Claim: Cheney's office opposed Miers nomination to court
RAW STORY
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Veteran conservative columnist and pundit John Fund asserts in the Wall Street Journal today that the offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to block the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, RAW STORY has learned.
"A last minute effort was made to block the choice of Ms. Miers, including the offices of Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales," Fund claims. "It fell on deaf ears."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Report_Cheneys_office_opposed_Miers_nomination_1013.html
Exclusive Interview: Murray Waas On How Dick Cheney's Top Aide 'Scooter' Libby Misled Federal Prosecutors in the CIA Leak Case
Democracy Now!
October 12, 2005
As speculation grows that Libby and Karl Rove could be indicted, we speak with Waas on his new expose that Libby never told prosecutors that in June 2003 he spoke with New York Times reporter Judith Miller about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a critic of the Iraq war. Miller will testify once again today about their conversations. [includes rush transcript]
Speculation is growing in Washington that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby and President Bush's top advisor Karl Rove could soon be indicted by a federal prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Investigative Journalist Murray Waas is reporting in the National Journal that Libby failed to tell the grand jury about a discussion he had with New York Times reporter Judith Miller in June 2003 - weeks before Plame's name first appeared in the press. Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald only learned of the discussion after Miller announced last week that she had discovered a set of notes on the conversation. Fitzgerald, who has been investigating the case for nearly two years, has now asked Miller to testify again today before the grand jury.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m16719&date=13-oct-2005_04:51_ECT
Subpoena issued for Frist stock records
By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY
Federal investigators looking into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's well-timed sale of HCA stock earlier this year have issued a subpoena seeking any personal records or correspondence that the Tennessee Republican has pertaining to the transaction, according to a lawyer familiar with the matter.
The subpoena, from attorneys at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, comes after Frist's vow last month that he would cooperate fully. The lawyer did not want to be named because of confidentiality.
Frist's brother and father founded Hospital Corporation of America. Since Frist was elected to the Senate in 1994, he has fended off questions that his stake in HCA posed a conflict of interest with his role in health care legislation.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-10-13-frist_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
Public Figures: Ethical trifecta
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
When it comes to accusations of ethical improprieties, Republicans have scored a sort of trifecta. GOP leaders in the White House and both branches of Congress are under investigation.
Nothing is proved, though Karl Rove deserves frequent traveler mileage for his visits to the grand jury investigating a CIA agent's exposure. Tom DeLay has stepped down as House majority leader while he fights his indictment in connection with political fund raising. Two investigations are looking at Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stocks, which he said he ordered to guard against conflicts of interest if he runs for president.
We recall a certain hoo-hah during the Clinton administration about private failings proving an inability to conduct public business honestly. Our faith in the ability of Rove, DeLay and Frist to run their private lives honestly remains undiminished. But we certainly do worry whether they can provide ethical leadership of government.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/244530_shocked.asp
The 'Dubya' papers
By Gil Jenkins, Collegian columnist
October 14, 2005
The year 2008:
In a powerful move by the Democratic majority, a landmark bill is passed through Congress overturning former President Bush's Executive Order 13233. This order stipulated that all presidents' private papers could only be released by the approval of both the former and current presidents. Under the new bill, the power to release such papers is returned to the National Archives, which first had that power under the Presidential Records Act of 1978. The bill requires that the archives release all presidential papers not dealing with national security 12 years after said president leaves office.
The year 2020:
The first set of presidential papers is released from George Walker Bush's first and second terms. One such paper released from his second term is a transcripted oval office conversation between President Bush and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, dated Oct. 2005. The contents of the conversation prove to be quite unsettling:
Bush: (To Rove) Come on in T.B. (Turd Blossom)
Rove: Yes sir, Mr. President. Thank you for meeting with me.
Bush: Always a pleasure to meet with my "architect." Karl, I'm
http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/14/434f04b1b0118
Papers: DeLay group used $100K for races
By SHARON THEIMER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Tom DeLay's political group used nearly $100,000 in corporate and unlimited donations to mail last-minute political appeals praising five congressional candidates despite rules meant to keep such money out of federal races, documents released Thursday show.
The records also detail payments DeLay's group made to Jim Ellis and Warren Robold, two longtime fundraisers indicted in Texas in the same state campaign finance case as DeLay. All three men say they are innocent in that case.
The documents from the Federal Election Commission's audit of DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC (ARMPAC) were obtained by Political Money Line, a group that studies campaign fundraising.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_DeLay_Donations.html
IT is upto Mr. Earle as thse are probably baseless accusations, but, all this might better be put into the State Attorney General's safe keeping rather than run the risk of conflict of interest and possibly compromising the integrity of the case.
Ronnie Earle linked to Miers-run lottery
Posted: October 13, 2005
1:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In 1997, when Harriet Miers was chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission, controversy swirled in Texas regarding allegations that former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes had made an illegal campaign contribution to Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. At the time, Ben Barnes was a political lobbyist under contract to GTECH, the Rhode Island firm running the Texas Lottery.
Under the GTECH contract, Barnes was receiving 4 percent of GTECH's gross revenue in Texas, a contract worth some $3 million a year to Barnes. Barnes, a Democrat, obtained the GTECH contract in 1991, arguing that as a Democrat he could influence then-Gov. Ann Richards, also a Democrat. When George W. Bush was elected Texas governor in 1995, he persuaded GTECH that his influence over the governor's office continued, since he was the person who was responsible for pulling the strings needed to get Bush into the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46816
U.S. cash, demands of war fuel human trade
BY CAM SIMPSON AND AAMER MADHANI
Chicago Tribune
(KRT) - American tax dollars and the wartime needs of the U.S. military are fueling an illicit pipeline of cheap foreign labor, mainly impoverished Asians who often are deceived, exploited and put in harm's way in Iraq with little protection.
The United States has long condemned the practices that characterize this human trade as it operates elsewhere in the Middle East. Yet this very system is now part of the privatization of the American war effort and is central to the operations of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, the U.S. military's biggest private contractor in Iraq.
To document this system, the Chicago Tribune retraced the journey of 12 Nepalese men kidnapped last year from an unprotected convoy en route to an American military base in Iraq. The Tribune's reporting found that:
To maintain the flow of low-paid workers key to military support and reconstruction in Iraq, the U.S. military has allowed KBR to partner with subcontractors that hire laborers from Nepal and other countries that prohibit citizens from being deployed in Iraq. That means brokers recruiting such workers operate illicitly.
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/world/12891064.htm
AP Releases Full New Orleans Beating Video
Thursday October 13, 2005 11:46 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - The Associated Press on Thursday released the full video of police officers beating a retired teacher as they tried to arrest him on New Orleans' Bourbon Street.
On Sunday, the news agency had released an edited version of the video, shot by an AP Television News crew the night before.
``Viewer interest in these images has been enormous, so we are putting out the entire video,'' said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. ``Many times people like to see more information, which is why we post documents, transcripts and other amplifying material to our Web customers.''
The full version of the video runs just over five minutes, about one minute more than the edited version. The additional minute mostly shows the street scene and the officers continuing to struggle with 64-year-old Robert Davis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5342364,00.html
Finalists cut to 4 in bid for presidential library
Associated Press
DALLAS — The list of finalists to build the George W. Bush Presidential Library has been limited to four: Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas, Baylor University in Waco and a group led by Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Eliminated were the city of Arlington, Texas A&M and the University of Texas System, Donald Evans, head of the library selection committee, confirmed Wednesday night.
"It will be the finest presidential library museum that has been built," said Evans, former commerce secretary and President Bush's longtime friend.
The next step for the four finalists will be to make oral presentations of their proposals in Washington next month, Evans said.
The cost to build the library is estimated between $200 million and $300 million. The library will be financed with private donations.
A committee led by Evans and Marvin Bush, President Bush's youngest brother, will consider the proposals. But the president and first lady Laura Bush will have the final decision.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3394905
St Gobain is takeover target for 3 US funds - report
10.13.2005, 05:05 AM
PARIS (AFX) - Saint-Gobain is being eyed as a takeover target by three US hedge funds - The Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Blackstone Group, French magazine Challenges reported.
The funds are eying separate bids for the French glassmaker, which is itself bidding for UK plasterboard maker BPB.
At 9.49 am, Saint Gobain was up 0.81 eur or 1.7 pct at 47.79 eur.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/10/13/afx2274734.html
CORRECT: Morgan Stanley Spun Off US, Not Asia Pvt Equity
(This is the first in a series of articles on the expanding activities of private equity firms in Asia)
By Nisha GopalanOf DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Asia's emergence as a private equity hotspot has generated quite a bit of work for an old breed of dealmakers - investment bankers.
… "This is a very important business for us. We can help the private equity firms buy the company, fix the company and sell the company," said Morgan Stanley Executive Director Dennis Montecillo, who has been covering the private equity industry and financial sponsors in Asia for five years."With the uptick in financial sponsor activity across the region, investment banks have become more active advisers (to private equity firms)."
Private equity investment, which fled Asia after the dotcom bust and ensuing weak markets, came back in force last year, emboldened by several successful exits that showed the market was open again, 3i's Paton said. Among them was a consortium of investors led by U.S. firm Carlyle Group that more than doubled its initial investment when it sold a 40% stake in South Korea's KorAm Bank to Citigroup for US$2.73 billion.
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/051013/15/3vmg8.html
Lehman closes $650 million fund of funds
Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:42 PM ET
NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holding Inc.(LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it closed its first dedicated fund of funds vehicle, raising $650 million to invest in such firms as the Carlyle Group, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus.
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=fundsNews2&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051011:MTFH68267_2005-10-11_22-43-19_N11501322:1
WYCS-TV executives lobby local government to prevent change
A letter from executives at WYCS-TV, a small Louisville television started in 1996, has been sent to members of the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Council, urging them to act before a decision by Insight Communications forces the station to change channel positions.
WYCS, which bills itself as the area's only minority-oriented TV station, is located on channel 24 for cable subscribers in Louisville. The station currently has access to 273,000 cable homes.
Doutrick said Insight's Louisville office has not received letters or complaints from any Metro Council members. The office did receive one letter of protest from a customer and another letter from a former customer both complaining about the change.
"We're looking for some better programming for our basic service," she said. "We really feel this is better for our customers."
Insight Communications Co. was purchased in July by its co-founders through The Carlyle Group, a private equity company. Insight is based in New York City.
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2005/10/10/daily6.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Geeks with Guns
QinetiQ - history and structure
QinetiQ was formed in July 2001 when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) split its Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in two. The smaller portion of DERA, which engaged with the more ‘sensitive’ military research, including running Porton Down, was rebranded DSTL and remains part of the MoD. The larger part of DERA, including most of the MoD's non-nuclear testing and evaluation establishments, was renamed QinetiQ and prepared for privatisation. The company became a public private partnership in 2002 with the purchase of a stake by US based private equity company the Carlyle Group.
QinetiQ is now
56% owned by the MoD
31% owned by the Carlyle Group
13% owned by QinetiQ employees
In the summer of 2005 it was announced that QinetiQ is to be floated on the stock market -- early estimates value the company at around £1bn. Carlyle Group and QinetiQ, executives are likely to make around £300m and £145m respectively from the sale of shares, which may have been undervalued at the first stage of privatisation.
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a massive ($24bn capital) US-based investment firm with interests ranging from energy to healthcare to media to defence. It is most noted by campaigners for its military interests and its close links with political power. Current and past executives include former UK Prime Minister John Major, former US President George Bush Sr and former US Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci.
[box]
QinetiQ's website describes the company as 'Europe's largest technology research company'. The company's website stresses its 'technology rich services and solutions', how it 'operate[s] at the leading edge of technology' and 'gives customers access to the output of 50 years of national investment at the forefront of technology'. But QinetiQ also demostrates exactly what its state and corporate backers mean by 'technology' -- and what they think technology is for.
Most of QinetiQ's work is still based on military applications -- weapons, guidance systems, military aircraft technology etc. From this, it branches out into surveillance and security technologies (including some of the technologies being considered for use in ID cards), communications and high-tech materials, including nanotechnology and 'energetic materials' (i.e. explosives) among other areas. This is cutting-edge technology as our society's political and corporate leaders currently see it -- even where it is not arms-based, it is capital-intensive, centralised, facilitates state or corporate control, and is overwhelmingly irrelevant to the most crucial problems facing our planet.
The QinetiQ approach views state-funded military research as a starting point, out of which come military technologies. If they are too sensitive (e.g. nuclear weapons) they are developed by the state, otherwise they are licensed to private companies to manufacture and sell back to the state. Out of this military research come by-products with civilian applications -- so-called 'dual-use technologies' -- which are similarly licensed to the private sector to profit from.
This approach thus assumes that:
•funding military research is a proper state activity
•it is right to devote a high proportion of technological research resources to military ends
•the profits of research belong in the private sector, even where it was publicly-funded
•civilian research is secondary to military in the state's priorities
•spin-offs from military projects are an acceptable means of developing civilian technologies
•research is a self-propelling process producing morally-neutral 'discoveries', and that any problems should be dealt with after the fact
Specific technologies
QinetiQ is one of the UK's leaders in developing nanotechnology. Its subsidiary QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd, founded in 2002, manufactures bulk quantities of nanoparticles and pSiMedica Ltd (a joint venture with Australian-based pSivida) is involved in developing 'biosilicon', a nano-engineered material with possible medical applications. See the Corporate Watch briefing (http://archive.corporatewatch.org/newsletter/issue22/issue22_part6.htm) for more on the safety and structural issues around nanotechnology.
On ID cards, QinetiQ, in its role as consultant to the government, does not, for once, seem to be backing the highest-tech option, arguing for barcoded or memory-stick cards rather than the government's favoured biometrics. However, this is not due to any qualms over the fundamental concept. Neil Fisher, QinetiQ's Director of Security Services, has said 'You will want, in what's fast becoming a digital society, to be able to authenticate your identity almost for any transaction that you do, be it going to the bank, going to the shops, going to the airport.'
QinetiQ privatisation and the military-industrial complex
The 'military-industrial complex' is the coalition of interests that develops between the armed forces, government bureaucracy and the private companies that benefit from miltary contracts. Since the coining of this phrase, by former US president Eisenhower, many have viewed this complex as an anti-democratic force, skewing government policy towards militaristic ends for the benefit of particular companies, or subsections of government and the military. In this context, the privatisation of a company like QinetiQ represents a shift in the balance of power in the military-industrial complex -- towards increasing the private sector's influence over the state, over military policy and over technology development.
Other sources:
http://www.qinetiq.co.uk/
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=2065
Carlyle and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to sell Dex Media in $9.5bn deal
04/10/2005. Source: AltAssets.
The Carlyle Group and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe have agreed to sell yellow pages publisher and directional media company Dex Media to its competitor R.H. Donnelley Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, each Dex share will be exchanged for $12.30 in cash and 0.24154 RHD shares. In aggregate, current Dex shareholders will receive approximately $1.85bn in cash and 36.4 million RHD shares, for total equity consideration of approximately $4.2bn. RHD will also assume Dex's net debt outstanding, expected to be approximately $5.3bn at year end 2005.
'We are thrilled to be joining with Dex Media. This combination will create a company with the scale, innovative products and services and proven business processes to lead our industry into the era of integrated local commercial search, encompassing both print and digital platforms,' said David C Swanson, R.H. Donnelley's chairman and chief executive officer.
RHD has also agreed to repurchase the remaining outstanding convertible preferred stock issued upon completion of the Sprint Publishing and Advertising acquisition in January 2003 and held by investment partnerships affiliated with The Goldman Sachs Group for approximately $337m including accrued dividends. The preferred shares were convertible into approximately 5.2 million RHD common shares as of 30 September 2005.
Upon completion of the transaction, current RHD and Dex shareholders will own approximately 47 per cent and 53 per cent of the combined company, respectively.
http://www.altassets.com/news/arc/2005/nz7527.php
A Run On Detroit's Parts Makers
Big money is chasing the thousands of outfits that supply U.S. carmakers
It's hard to imagine a less sexy business than auto parts -- especially these days. The industry has nearly every problem afflicting American business: union strife, runaway health-care costs, heavy debt, overcapacity, and exposure to raging steel and fuel prices, not to mention an uncertain future amid rising competition from Asia and Eastern Europe.
And yet plenty of big money is chasing parts makers these days. From a passel of private equity buyers, including New York investor Wilbur Ross, to a handful of foreign parts makers, investors are trolling for deals among America's ailing auto suppliers. They've got plenty to choose from: Just since the start of 2004, 35 parts makers have filed for bankruptcy protection. Chunks of Delphi Corp. (DPH ) and Visteon Corp. (VC ) -- respectively the No. 1 and No. 2 industry players -- could soon be on the block. And dozens of small, still-healthy outfits are ready to sell out as big customers such as Ford Motor Co. (F )and General Motors Corp. (GM ) insist that more parts be manufactured in low-cost Asia. "Literally every day, some company comes up for sale," says Thomas T. Stallkamp, former Chrysler Group (DCX ) president and now a managing partner with New York private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC.
...BOLTED TOGETHER
So what do acquirers see in these smaller companies? In some cases, diversifying their customer base is the goal. Private equity investor Carlyle Group in Washington, D.C., which has deep roots in the defense industry, recently snapped up AxleTech International in Troy, Mich. Carlyle figures there's plenty of growth to be had expanding AxleTech's defense business by making more parts for tactical military vehicles.
...Things are about to get very Darwinian in the auto-parts industry -- and given the pricing pressures, overcapacity, and weak profits, that's exactly what it needs.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_41/b3954053.htm
$209 Million Back Taxes Slapped on 5 Foreign Funds
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The National Tax Service (NTS) has slapped a total of 214.8 billion won ($209 million) in penalties on Lone Star Funds and four other foreign funds for evading on capital gains taxes on transactions of stocks and other assets.
But the tax agency did not specify how much it taxed each foreign fund.
It also plans to refer several high-ranking officials at the foreign funds to the prosecution for possible violations of domestic tax law and financial transaction law, the agency said.
The five foreign funds are the Carlyle Group, Lone Star, Goldman Sachs, AIG and Westbrook.
Officials from the funds were not immediately available for comments.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200509/kt2005092918001310230.htm
Pravda
Russia kills 72, arrests 31 terrorists as the battle in Nalchik ends
10/14/2005 16:00
About 1,500 Russian military men and 500 commandoes have been sent to Nalchik in connection with a huge terrorist attack on the city
Russian special forces destroyed 72 terrorists during the military operation in the city of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino Balkaria republic, situated in Russia's south near Chechnya. The terrorists killed from 14 to 24 local residents; the exact number of victims among the civilians is yet to be specified.
Battles in the Russian city of Nalchik have finally ended at about 10:00 a.m. local time today, during the second day of the special operation to eliminate a large group of terrorists in the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16303_Nalchik.html
Terrorists kill 12 civilians in Nalchik attack
10/13/2005 23:23
Police units of the republic have destroyed 50 terrorists; gunmen release some of the hostages in return to drinking water
The battles in the city of Nalchik have subsided. There are hardly any people in the streets. Seven terrorists have blockaded
themselves in the building of the Third Police Department of the city. "The federal forces have ousted the terrorists from the ground floor of the building and made them retreat in two offices. The terrorists are holding several people hostage," Deputy Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, Alexander Chekalin said. The official added that the Russian soldiers offered the gunmen to lay down their arms, but they refused.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16301_Nalchik.html
Putin orders to blockade embattled Nalchik and destroy all terrorists
10/13/2005 16:11
About 20 civilians have been reportedly killed in the attack, 40 other people have been hospitalized with injuries
President Vladimir Putin has ordered to blockade the embattled Nalchik not to let any of the terrorists escape from the city, the Deputy Interior Affairs Minister of Russia, Alexander Chekalin, told reporters after a meeting with the Russian president.
According to Chekalin, the president ordered to destroy all armed terrorists, who show resistance to the federal forces.
President of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic, Arsen Kanokov, said that several terrorists had been captured alive. All of the arrested gunmen belong to the so-called Jamaat terrorist group, the president added.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16297_Nalchik.html
Rain, hail and fatal diseases hamper rescue efforts in quake-stricken Pakistan
10/12/2005 13:28
UN health officials warn of diseases, including malaria, cholera and dysentery, due to a lack of clean water and sanitation
Helicopters resumed delivering urgently needed relief supplies Wednesday to those who survived the weekend earthquake in hard-to-reach areas of Indian Kashmir, after nearly 12 hours of disruption caused by torrential rains and snow, AP said.
Torrential rain has halted aid efforts in the earthquake-ravaged region of Kashmir, bringing yet more misery to the millions of homeless living in the open.
Asian earthquake levels Pakistan: New photos from the scene
As survivors prayed for food and fresh water, health officials reported another blight on the shattered landscape - an outbreak of fatal diseases. Rain turned roads into rivers of mud and swamped decomposing bodies that lay under rubble and on the roadsides.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16293_earthquake.html
Russia suffers decline in oil industry as crude market recovers after hurricanes
10/12/2005 22:24
Russia still remains one of the top oil exporters, although the national crude output has been decreasing laltely
The Russian oil industry has boundless opportunities and brightest perspectives. This assumption has become quite popular during the recent years, although it has been called into question now. Experts say that Russia has been losing its oil power on the world market of liquid black gold.
According to the report from the International Energy Agency, which was published yesterday in Paris, the crude output started decreasing in Russia in 2005 and dropped almost 2.5 times as opposed to 2004. However, Russia still ranks the top oil exporter among all non-OPEC members. According to preliminary estimates, Russia was extracting 9.8 million barrels of crude daily in September of the current year and gained 70,000 barrels a day in comparison with August of the same year. It is expected that the crude output will increase by some 300,000 barrels a day until the end of 2005 vs. 2004. A similar increase in the Russian oil industry was forecast for 2006 too. Nevertheless, IEA experts believe that it is not an optimistic factor at all. The growth in the oil extraction during the forthcoming two years in Russia will be a lot lower than in 2004, when the crude output increased by 740,000 barrels a day over a year.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/89/357/16295_oil.html
Vladimir Putin celebrates his 53rd birthday in St.Petersburg's most beautiful palace
10/07/2005 16:03
The palace employees cleaned every corner in and out of the palace, although it used to be a dilapidated building just several years ago
Did schoolboy Vladimir Putin think 40 years ago that one of the most beautiful palaces in St.Petersburg will be restored especially for him and his guests? Obviously no. Nowadays, there is a whole crowd of people waiting for a chance to take a glance at the beautiful residence of the Russian president. Vladimir Putin uses the residence for official meetings with the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Russian president is currently expecting another guest of honor in his residence - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The sign on the doors of the palace says now that the palace will be closed for visits on October 5-7. The palace was closed due to Vladimir Putin's birthday, which the president celebrates today, on October 7.
It is worthy of note that Putin always tries to celebrate his birthday in his native city, St.Petersburg. In 2003, for example, the president went on board a tour boat to take a ride in a company of his friends along the Neva River in St.Petersburg.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/16271_Putin.html
A tell-all story of Eric Clapton to be published in 2007
02:35 2005-10-13
The memoirs of Eric Clapton, a tell-all story that has been one of the most sought manuscripts in publishing, will be released by Doubleday in 2007.
Financial terms were not disclosed, although Clapton was widely believed to be seeking a multimillion-dollar contract and numerous publishers were interested.
http://newsfromrussia.com/culture/2005/10/13/65111.html
Condoleezza Rice tries to win Central Asia's sympathies for USA's purposes
10/12/2005 16:04
Condoleezza Rice's current visit to Central Asia is connected with the fact that the USA has been losing its positions in the region
The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has started her debut tour of Central Asian states. The program of the tour includes official visits to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Ms. Rice may also visit Pakistan to express sympathies on behalf of the USA in connection with the recent devastating earthquake.
Condoleezza Rice arrived in the republic of Kyrgyzstan yesterday. "It is important for Kyrgyzstan to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors, there are no reasons for the republic to choose between Russia and the USA," the US Secretary of State said at the briefing in Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Russian politicians had a similar reaction to the visit of the top US official. The Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated during his visit to Paris that there was no opposition between Russia and the USA in Central Asia, although there were certain legal interests in the region, the minister added.
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/373/16294_Rice.html
Rain, hail and fatal diseases hamper rescue efforts in quake-stricken Pakistan
10/12/2005 13:28
UN health officials warn of diseases, including malaria, cholera and dysentery, due to a lack of clean water and sanitation
Helicopters resumed delivering urgently needed relief supplies Wednesday to those who survived the weekend earthquake in hard-to-reach areas of Indian Kashmir, after nearly 12 hours of disruption caused by torrential rains and snow, AP said.
Torrential rain has halted aid efforts in the earthquake-ravaged region of Kashmir, bringing yet more misery to the millions of homeless living in the open.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16293_earthquake.html
Guatemala: Over 1,000 killed in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan
10/11/2005 11:19
Authorities said they would abandon communities buried by landslides and declare them mass graveyards
More than 100 Guatemalan communities buried by massive landslides are to be declared mass graveyards by local authorities, in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan that left over 1,000 killed in the Central American country. The death toll has now reached 652, with 384 people missing, while some Indian villages are, in effect, mass graves, according to figures released by the army and civil defence rescue teams.
Hurricane Stan also affected Mexico, where left 61 killed and hundreds injured, and El Salvador that suffered from the death of 70 people and major losses to its agriculture.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16285_Stan.html
continued ...
Northeast states endure eighth day of rain
A view of a flooded neighborhood near to the Passaic River in Fairfield, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005. With flood waters rising in northern New Jersey, the state activated its emergency management office Thursday morning, preparing high-water rescue vehicle and swift-boat rescue teams for use in flooded communities. The northern section of the state got more than 5 inches of rain over the past two days, with an additional 2 inches expected in some places. The rain was expected to continue through Saturday. (AP Photo/Jose F. Moreno)
By Wayne Parry, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
FAIRFIELD, N.J. --Much of the waterlogged Northeast entered its eighth straight day of rain Friday, a deluge that has trapped motorists, delayed airline flights and sent streams surging over their banks.
At least 10 people have died in the region since last weekend because of the downpours, and four others were missing in New Hampshire. Forecasters predicted another 2 to 3 inches of rain.
Flood warnings covered parts of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and residents in some New Jersey communities were urged to evacuate their homes.
When water from the rain-swollen Passaic River began seeping into Nick Sitarella's home, he loaded a moving van with his belongings and got out.
"I'm not taking any chances," Sitarella said. "It's a horrible way to live."
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/10/14/northeast_states_endure_eighth_day_of_rain/
Romney promises aid for flooded Western Mass
Gov. Mitt Romney (center) met with western Mass. lawmakers in his chambers, including state Sen. Brian Lees (left) and state Sen. Stephen Brewer (right), as they discussed the state's response to recent flooding in the western part of the state.
(Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki)
By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer October 12, 2005
BOSTON --Gov. Mitt Romney, who has faced criticism for his response to flooding in Western Massachusetts, promised aid to the affected communities on Wednesday after meeting with the region's lawmakers.
Romney met for an hour with Senators and Representatives from areas that received nearly a foot of rain last week, with more expected on Wednesday and in coming days.
"We're safe and sound. Now the question is how are we going to pay for the damage that's been caused," Romney said.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/12/romney_promises_aid_for_flooded_western_mass/
Southwestern N.H. braces for possibility of more flooding
By Anne Saunders, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
CONCORD, N.H. --Light rain fell over southwestern New Hampshire on Friday morning and was expected to strengthen during the night, bringing a renewed threat of flooding in already saturated areas.
Gov. John Lynch headed back to the area, meeting with officials in Walpole, Alstead, Langdon and Acworth. It was his fourth trip to the area this week.
The area, which was under a flood watch, should escape further flood damage as long as any new rainfall stays below 3 inches, Emergency Management Director Bruce Cheney told lawmakers Thursday.
With the National Weather Service on Friday calling for up to 3 inches of rain by nightfall, it could be a close call. "The three to four inches of rain falls in the next 24 hours anywhere in the watch area, small stream or serious urban flooding would result," the weather service said in a statement Friday.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2005/10/14/southwestern_nh_braces_for_possibility_of_more_flooding/
Man arrested for two Faneuil Hall rapes
By Associated Press October 12, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --A man suspected in the rapes of two women near Faneuil Hall last month was arrested in Maine over the weekend and is being held on $2 million bail.
Authorities said Kevin Bennett, 33, of Arlington, Mass., picked up the women near Faneuil Hall Marketplace on separate nights last month and then took them to Cambridge, where he allegedly raped and assaulted them.
He was arraigned Wednesday in Cambridge District Court on rape, kidnapping and assault with intent to murder charges. The women believed they were getting into cabs.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/12/man_arrested_for_two_faneuil_hall_rapes/
Union agrees to postpone strike after request from governor
October 12, 2005
HARTFORD, Conn. --The state's largest health care union agreed Wednesday to postpone a strike threatened for later this week, after Gov. M. Jodi Rell's budget director requested that workers not walk out at four nonprofit agencies.
Union leaders representing workers at the four agencies agreed to reschedule a strike date from Friday to Oct. 28 at 6 a.m.
The New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, is slated to meet with Robert Genuario, the secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management and Rell's budget director, on Friday afternoon.
About 1,200 mental health and mental retardation workers at the Oak Hill School in Hartford, New Seasons in Manchester, The Caring Community in Colchester and North Central Counseling Services in Enfield have been without a contract since April.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/10/12/union_agrees_to_postpone_strike_after_request_from_governor/
Red Cross shelters for hurricane victims
By The Associated Press October 12, 2005
More than 22,000 hurricane victims -- about 8 percent of the total in early September -- remain in shelters, most of them run by the American Red Cross. As of Wednesday, 161 Red Cross shelters remained open in eight states:
-- 81 Louisiana
-- 63 Texas
-- 11 Mississippi
-- 2 Arkansas
-- 1 Alabama
-- 1 Kentucky
-- 1 Tennessee
-- 1 Georgia
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/red_cross_shelters_for_hurricane_victims/
White House backs plan to shut Hub energy office
Critics fear closure could hinder grants
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has endorsed a Senate plan to close the Boston regional office of the US Department of Energy, which distributed tens of millions of dollars last year to help low-income New Englanders make their homes more energy-efficient.
Though New Englanders would continue to be eligible for DOE grants, elected officials as well as the nonprofit agencies that administer the grant programs expressed concern that closing the Boston office would make it more difficult for local groups to apply for conservation grants, which they then distribute to eligible homeowners.
The local office has worked to help area nonprofit groups take advantage of DOE grants. The agency recently paid to weatherize more than 2,600 homes during one year in Massachusetts alone, helping lower residents' heating bills.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/10/14/white_house_backs_plan_to_shut_hub_energy_office/
Studies are fine if there were time to conduct one. At this point there should be emergency management included in widespread disease regardless the source. I am surprised this was not already done as part of Massachusetts Homeland Security. This is typical 'reactionary' government rather than leadership with insight. It reminds me of someone standing at the shoreline asking for a study as the tidal wave approaches.
Romney orders study of facilities that could be used in flu epidemic
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff October 14, 2005
Governor Mitt Romney directed public health authorities yesterday to explore the feasibility of converting state-owned college dormitories, National Guard armories, and other facilities into makeshift medical wards in the event that victims of a future influenza epidemic swamp hospitals.
The governor said in an interview that he also asked officials from the Department of Public Health to evaluate whether the state should stockpile additional doses of medication to treat the flu, as well as antibiotics to combat bacterial complications such as pneumonia stemming from the disease.
The directives were issued a day after more than 250 doctors, hospital administrators, and emergency authorities conducted a drill at a Boston hotel to test their ability to contend with a potential outbreak of avian flu.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/14/romney_orders_study_of_facilities_that_could_be_used_in_flu_epidemic/
Questions and answers on bird flu virus
By John J. Lumpkin, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON --A bird flu virus spreading through Asia, and now reported in the European part of Turkey, has world health authorities warning of a worldwide pandemic unseen since World War I. The Bush administration is discussing quarantines and other methods to control its spread should it arrive in the United States, but for the moment, bird flu remains only a potential threat.
Some questions and answers on the bird flu:
Q: What is bird flu?
A: The term "bird flu" generally describes one of several influenza viruses that birds can carry. But several types can also infect humans. These are different in makeup from the usual human flus.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2005/10/14/questions_and_answers_on_bird_flu_virus/
Former N.C. congressman gets four years
By Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press Writer October 12, 2005
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. --Former Rep. Frank Ballance was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for conspiring to divert taxpayer money to his law firm and family through a charitable organization he helped start.
Ballance, a 63-year-old Democrat who was a state senator before being elected to Congress in 2002, also agreed to repay $61,917 and to forfeit $203,000 in a bank escrow account in the name of the John A. Hyman Memorial Foundation.
The forfeited funds will be returned to North Carolina taxpayers, federal prosecutor Dennis Duffy said.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/former_nc_congressman_gets_four_years/
Poll: Bush presidency judged unsuccessful
President Bush takes questions from reporters during his meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski in the Oval Office in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Will Lester, Associated Press Writer October 14, 2005
WASHINGTON --For the first time, more people say George W. Bush's presidency will be judged as unsuccessful than say it will be seen as a success, a poll finds.
Forty-one percent of respondents said Bush's presidency will be seen as unsuccessful in the long run, while 26 percent said the opposite. Thirty-five percent said it was too early to tell, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
In January, 36 percent said successful and 27 percent said unsuccessful.
The increasing pessimism about Bush's long-term prospects comes at a time when many polls have found the public increasingly is negative about Bush's performance and the direction of the country.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/10/14/poll_bush_presidency_judged_unsuccessful/
Dog welcomes squirrel into litter of pups
October 12, 2005
SEATTLE --Animal lover that she is, Debby Cantlon didn't think twice when someone asked if she could take in an orphaned newborn squirrel and nurse it back to health.
It also was apparently a no-brainer for Mademoiselle Giselle, her pregnant Papillon.
The black and white pooch with long-haired butterfly ears dragged the squirrel's cage to her bedside -- twice -- before she gave birth to her pups on Sept. 9.
Cantlon was concerned at first, but ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out, then Giselle actively encouraged the little rodent to join her litter.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/12/dog_welcomes_squirrel_into_litter_of_pups/
Army reviews how it notifies families of deaths
By Will Dunham October 12, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has launched a review into how it notifies families that a soldier has been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan after hearing complaints from some of them, including the parents of former professional football player Pat Tillman, officials said on Wednesday.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey has directed that the review into the notification process be completed by January, said his spokesman, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins.
"We're going to fix this," Collins said. "The whole goal here is to make the system more accurate and quicker, too."
"The last thing we want to do is have somebody get the wrong information about how their loved one died," Collins added.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/12/army_reviews_how_it_notifies_families_of_deaths/
Israel locks down for solemn fast of Yom Kippur
Troops carry out security sweep in West Bank towns
Orthodox Jews strike the backs of other Orthodox Jews as part of the 'Malkot' ceremony to atone for their sins for the Yom Kippur holiday in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem. (Reuters Photo)
By Steve Weizman, Associated Press October 12, 2005
JERUSALEM --Israel prepared Wednesday to lock down for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, when borders close, streets empty of traffic and Jews fast, pray and ask for forgiveness.
In a sweep through West Bank towns before the holy day, Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians, including a teenage boy allegedly coerced by militants into becoming a suicide bomber and a senior Hamas fugitive who was on the run for eight years, the army said.
In another arrest in the Hebron-area town of Dahariya, troops brought a fugitive's mother to call on him to surrender. When he came out of his hideout, he was forced to strip to show he had not strapped explosives to his body.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/12/israel_locks_down_for_solemn_fast_of_yom_kippur/
THIS IS A EXCUSE FOR OIL EXPLORATION.
US wants to push ocean boundaries to limit terror threat
By Stefano Ambrogi October 12, 2005
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The United States wants to search foreign ships far outside its territorial waters to stop a possible terrorist attack on the country coming from the sea, a U.S. coastguard leader said on Wednesday.
"If the threat is significant enough we will board that ship as far from our coast as we can," said Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson who is Pacific Area commander of the U.S. coastguard.
Johnson, who oversees key trade routes with Asia, told a maritime security conference in Copenhagen the policy of the United States was to "push back" its sea borders for searches as much as possible -- perhaps by as much as 2,000 nautical miles.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/10/12/us_wants_to_push_ocean_boundaries_to_limit_terror_threat/
Kashmir's double tragedy
October 12, 2005
THE HUNDREDS of thousands of Pakistanis whose lives were shattered by an earthquake over the weekend were not just living on a geological fault line. They were doubly victimized by the political fissures that have inhibited political and economic development in this corner of Asia for almost 60 years.
Some Pakistani officials put the death toll as high as 40,000, with falling debris causing most of the deaths, many of them in schools. Much is known today about ways to protect buildings from earthquake damage, but doing so would be an unachievable luxury in a nation where the gross domestic product was only $2,200 per person in 2004. Many buildings are being strengthened in Japan, another nation vulnerable to earthquakes, but there the comparable GDP figure in 2004 was $29,400.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/10/12/kashmirs_double_tragedy/
The Australian
Bali mob want Amrozi dead
Cameron Stewart and Sian Powell
October 13, 2005
CHAOTIC scenes marred yesterday's third anniversary of the Bali bombings as a former Indonesian president suggested his country's military or police may have been behind one of the 2002 bombings.
A violent mob of 2000 angry protesters stormed Bali's Kerobokan jail, breaking down a wall outside the prison and demanding the execution of three of the Bali bombers.
Chanting "Kill Amrozi, kill Amrozi", the crowd removed part of the jail's main steel door before riot police stopped them from entering the prison where some of the Bali bombers are held.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16903182%5E601,00.html
Tourist struck by skateboarder
October 13, 2005
A EUROPEAN tourist is critically ill in hospital after being struck down by a skateboarder in Sydney's tourist precinct, police said.
A 65-year-old Norwegian woman was walking along George Street, The Rocks, with her husband about 4pm (AEST) yesterday when she was hit.
The skateboarder, who had been travelling on the footpath, stopped to ask if she was okay before skating off, a NSW police spokeswoman said.
The couple then caught a taxi to their hotel in Wentworth Avenue but the woman soon fell ill and was taken to St Vincent's Hospital.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904778%5E1702,00.html
Vaccine for heart disease
From correspondents in Stockholm, Sweden
October 13, 2005
RESEARCHERS in the United States and in Sweden are working together to develop the world's first vaccine against heart disease, one of the scientists involved said today.
"We have produced a simple form of vaccine that has worked well on test animals... Now we're trying to develop it into a vaccine that has the quality and safety needed to use on humans," Jan Nilsson, a professor at the Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit of Lund University in southern Sweden, said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904771%5E1702,00.html
Troops cross Kashmir border with help
From correspondents in Srinagar, India
October 13, 2005
INDIAN soldiers today crossed the de facto border dividing the Indian and Pakistani zones of disputed Kashmir to rebuild a quake-destroyed bunker, an Indian army spokesman said.
"It is unprecedented in the manner that our soldiers have gone across the border to extend help," Lieutenant Colonel K Seghal said in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
The soldiers crossed a bridge that spans the Line of Control, the 770-kilometre de facto border that divides the two zones of the Himalayan territory, Lt-Col Seghal said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904755%5E1702,00.html
Landslide kills quake troops
From correspondents in Jammu, India
October 12, 2005
AT least six Indian soldiers on a rescue mission in earthquake-hit Kashmir were killed by a landslide triggered by rain, a military officer said today.
The rockslide wiped out part of a patrol walking along a track, Colonel Hemant Juneja said.
The incident happened yesterday in Kupwara, one of the worst-hit areas in Indian Kashmir, where officials say more than 1200 people have died.
"We have fanned these foot patrol parties in different directions to provide relief and rescue operations in inaccessible areas," Col. Juneja said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16901744%5E1702,00.html
No bird flu in Romania
By Jeremy Smith in Brussels
October 13, 2005
BIRD flu has not been detected in Romania, European Union veterinary experts said overnight, confirming that the highly contagious disease has not yet reached Europe.
"The disease situation amongst poultry and wild birds ... the available epidemiological data and the laboratory results at present do not confirm the presence of avian influenza," the European Commission said in a statement after a meeting of EU member state vets.
Preliminary tests last week on three ducks in Romania's Danube delta near the Black Sea proved positive and raised fears that the disease had entered Europe, but the EU vets' results made clear the virus was not present.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904739%5E1702,00.html
Spike Lee to make Katrina film
From correspondents in Los Angeles
October 13, 2005
FAMED US filmmaker Spike Lee is to produce and direct a new documentary about the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in flood-stricken New Orleans, the entertainment industry press announced overnight.
Lee, 48, the maker of such hit feature films as Malcolm X (1992) and Do The Right Thing (1989), is to make When the Levee Broke for the US HBO cable television channel, the network told Daily Variety.
No details of the project were immediately available, however. Lee is currently putting the final touches on his latest film, The Inside Man, starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16904734%5E1702,00.html
Microsoft, Yahoo to share messaging
By correspondents in New York
October 13, 2005
YAHOO and Microsoft said overnight they signed an interoperability agreement that will allow people who use their respective consumer instant messaging services to interact with each other.
The companies expect to launch the free interconnectivity services in the second quarter of 2006.
Yahoo and Microsoft estimate they will have a high percentage of the 275 million people who use IM services worldwide.
"Yahoo and Microsoft share a commitment to providing the highest-quality experience possible for consumers, and today's groundbreaking announcement underscores our desire to provide consumer interoperability between our thriving IM communities," said Terry Semel, chief executive at Yahoo.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16905278%5E1702,00.html
Nuclear facility escapes damage
Rahul Bedi
October 14, 2005
PAKISTAN'S main nuclear weapons facility at Kahuta, just 75km from the epicentre of the earthquake, is undamaged, according to military officials.
"There is no danger to our nuclear installations and weapons from earthquakes," Pakistan's military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said. "They are fully safe."
But Major-General Sultan could not confirm what intensity of earthquake the Khan Research Laboratories at Kahuta had been designed to withstand.
The research centre is the country's flagship nuclear weapons facility and technicians there are working on developing long-range missiles to deliver strategic weapons.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911262%5E2703,00.html
Quake villages wait for aid
Correspondents in Islamabad
October 14, 2005
AS many as 70 per cent of the remote villages devastated by the Central Asian earthquake almost six days ago have yet to receive any outside help.
Relief workers in northern Pakistan said they had not yet reached many villages in the remote mountainous region close to the quake's epicentre.
Jan Vandemoortele, UN resident co-ordinator for Pakistan, said most roads had now been cleared but many remote areas remained inaccessible.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911264%5E2703,00.html
Militants move on Kashmir chaos
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi
October 14, 2005
ISLAMIC militant groups closely linked to al-Qa'ida have been swift to establish relief operations in the earthquake-ravaged Kashmir region of northern Pakistan, according to security sources in New Delhi.
"Their aim is not only to expand and consolidate their already considerable influence and presence in the region, but also to operate as a credible front to raise desperately needed money for their jihadist activities," a senior intelligence official said.
Over the past year, under mounting pressure from the US and other Western countries, funding has become an acute problem for al-Qa'ida and associated insurgent groups, with large money transfers being closely monitored.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16911260%5E2703,00.html
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Government urged to back science education
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The government was urged Wednesday to launch a broad program supporting science education, research and innovation in an effort to maintain the nation's economic dominance.
Leadership in science and technology helped make the United States a world leader, but there are indications that could slip away, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences warned.
For example, 70,000 engineers were graduated in the United States last year, compared to 350,000 in India and 600,000 in China, the committee said in a new report. And in 2001, U.S. industry spent more on liability lawsuits than on research and development.
The report calls for four main efforts to shore up the nation's position.
-Improve math and science education in elementary and high schools by establishing a merit-based scholarship program to attract 10,000 students per year to careers teaching math and science.
-Increase the nation's investment in basic research by 10 percent each year for the next seven years, with a special emphasis on physical science, math, engineering and information science.
-Provide 25,000 new undergraduate scholarships each year and 5,000 new graduate fellowships for U.S. citizens enrolled in physical science, life science and math programs in American colleges and universities.
-Modernizing the U.S. patent system, provide tax credits to companies that increase research and development, ensure affordable broadband internet access.
Other recommendations included providing automatic visa extensions to foreign students who have received doctorate degrees who want to seek employment in the United States and establishing an advanced research agency within the Department of Energy.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_Pushing_Science.html
Cooling newborns may help protect brains
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chilling a newborn's entire body can help prevent or reduce brain damage caused by lack of oxygen during difficult births, research suggests.
However, experts say the results are too preliminary and in conflict with previous research for the treatment to be used outside of medical studies.
"Widespread application of brain cooling ... would be premature," Dr. Lu-Ann Papile, a neonatologist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. She had no role in the study.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Chilling%20Babies
Consular: Man in Bush plot denied torture
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A U.S. consular officer in Saudi Arabia who made jail visits to a man accused of plotting to assassinate President Bush testified Wednesday that he saw no evidence the inmate had been tortured, but he said he was denied access to him for nearly a month.
The testimony came during a pretrial hearing to determine the validity of a confession given to Saudi authorities by Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen.
In the videotaped confession, Abu Ali says he "was interested in jihad" because of "my hatred of the United States for support of Israel against the Palestinian people." He said he discussed possible terrorist acts with two al-Qaida leaders, who encouraged him to return to America and establish an al-Qaida cell.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Bush_Plot.html
Mobile homes, campers wait at FEMA sites
By JAY REEVES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A police officer patrols a row of travel trailers at a Federal Emergency Management Agency staging area on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005, in Selma, Ala. The federal government is acquiring temporary homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina far faster than it can distribute them, with more than 9,000 campers and mobile homes now sitting empty at staging areas awaiting delivery. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- More than 9,000 mobile homes and campers meant for the victims of Hurricane Katrina are sitting unused at government staging areas while displaced families continue to live out of tents and shelters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the backlog was inevitable: The temporary housing is easier to acquire than distribute because of the limited number of accessible roads, cleared lots and trucks to haul housing to the storm-ravaged region.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Housing_Backlog.html
Text of proposed Iraqi constitution
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SECTION SIX: FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER ONE: FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 122:
First: The President of the Republic and the Council of the Ministers collectively or one-fifth (1/5) of the Council of Representatives members may propose to amend the Constitution.
Second: The fundamental principles mentioned in Section One and the rights and liberties mentioned in Section Two of the Constitution may not be amended except after two successive electoral terms, with the approval of two-thirds of the Council of Representatives members, and the approval of the people in a general referendum and the ratification of the President of the Republic within seven days.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Constitution_Text_5th_Add.html
Reputed IRA official denies link to firm
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DUBLIN, Ireland -- The reputed chief of staff of the outlawed Irish Republican Army on Wednesday denied having anything to do with an English property portfolio that detectives suspect of being a shelter for IRA money.
Thomas "Slab" Murphy - who has never issued a public statement before - said he had "never conducted any business" with the Manchester-based property firm at the center of the probe, the Craven Group.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Ireland_IRA_Money.html
Schroeder's seven years in power ending
By MELISSA EDDY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERLIN -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday he will not participate in Germany's new coalition government, ending seven years in power marked by a newly assertive foreign policy and efforts to prune welfare benefits that were a drag on Europe's biggest economy.
In a speech to a trade union conference in his hometown of Hanover, Schroeder also took swipes at President Bush and Tony Blair, opponents in the debate over the Iraq war.
Schroeder's Social Democrats lost last month's parliamentary elections to conservative Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, and Merkel struck a power-sharing deal Monday to become Germany's first female chancellor.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Germany_Election.html
Haiti rules U.S. citizen can seek office
By ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A Haitian-born U.S. businessman may run for president, Haiti's highest court ruled Tuesday in a decision the would-be candidate said marked a turning point in the roles expatriate Haitians could play in their homeland.
The elections will be the first since a February 2004 revolt toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected president in the country that has suffered decades of civilian and military dictatorships and coups.
Presidential and legislative elections were scheduled Nov. 20, but elections officials have said preparations are behind schedule and the vote likely will be postponed for up to a month.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Haiti_Elections.html
Canada argues against Chinese asylum bid
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA -- A former senior prison official in China who defected to Canada has no right to refugee status in Canada because of his complicity in crimes against humanity, federal lawyers argued in documents filed in court on Tuesday.
Han Guangsheng's bid for asylum "completely disregards" his involvement in a system linked to widespread human rights abuses, according to documents by federal prosecutors.
The former supervisor of prisons and labor camps in northeastern China faces possible deportation following the Immigration and Refugee Board's rejection of his claim.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Canada_Chinese_Defector.html
China warns Canada on Taiwan trade bill
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA -- China's ambassador to Canada warned Wednesday that a bill before Parliament calling for formal trade and cultural ties with Taiwan could destroy the foundations beneath 35 years of diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing.
Ambassador Lu Shumin said there would be serious "consequences" if the measure introduced by British Columbia Conservative Jim Abbott were passed. Though the measure is considered unlikely to become law, the issue is creating tensions as Canada and China move toward building much stronger trade ties.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Canada_China_Taiwan.html
Cheney Observer
Halliburton sold assets to outsourcing.
Halliburton Sells Westport Technology Center to Intertek Caleb Brett
Houston -
HOUSTON -- Halliburton's (NYSE:HAL) Energy Services Group has reached an agreement to sell its Westport Technology Center to Intertek Caleb Brett, a division of Intertek Group plc (FTSE:ITRK), a global leader in outsourcing, testing, inspection, certification and related services.
Intertek has acquired the assets, contracts, technology and intellectual property assets of Westport Technology Center International.
Westport Technology Center delivers comprehensive upstream technical services to the global Oil and Gas Exploration and Production industry, including expertise in drilling fluids, flow assurance, reservoir fluids, well productivity, materials, corrosion, geochemistry, geology, hydrates, and more. Westport's management team and staff will continue to run the business integrated into Intertek Caleb Brett's global laboratory network, from which it will further expand and internationalize the services from Westport's main facility in Houston.
http://houston.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=46620&type_news=latest
New Zealand government taps Landmark Graphics for data storage deal
Landmark Graphics Corp. has been hired by the New Zealand government to provide Web site and database technology for an internal department that manages the country's government-owned mineral assets.
Houston-based Landmark, a division of Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL), supplies software and services for the upstream oil and gas industry. Under the contract, Landmark will provide a single data storage solution for New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development.
"This will directly support the Ministry of Economic Development's efforts to promote and encourage exploration in New Zealand," said Halliburton vice president Peter Bernard.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/10/10/daily10.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Bush's faith-based nominee
By Cathy Young October 10, 2005
THE NOMINATION of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court ignited an unexpected controversy, mainly among Bush supporters. The debate has not focused on Miers's ideology, since no one seems to know much about it. But if Bush's choice for the high court seems lackluster, the political reaction to it has been far more interesting.
The outcry has focused in large part on Miers's qualifications, or lack thereof. She has never held a federal judgeship and has spent most of her career in the private sector (though one could argue that this may bring diversity to the court). Her few writings show little if any intellectual flair.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/10/bushs_faith_based_nominee/
Term limited
Bush's miscalculations and mistakes are thwarting his ability to push his agenda
By CARL P. LEUBSDORF
First published: Sunday, October 9, 2005
Troubled second terms are a fact of presidential life. No modern chief executive has escaped.
Like most predecessors, President Bush has brought on many of his problems through miscalculations and mistakes. One result: the lowest job approval of any modern president at this point in his term.
Several factors are responsible:
Weak re-election: Though Bush surpassed 50 percent in 2004 and won clearly over John Kerry, in contrast to his disputed 2000 triumph, his margin was by the smallest percentage of any re-elected president in U.S. history. He claimed a mandate, but polling showed the public almost evenly split over his handling of most issues but terrorism.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=406881&category=OPINION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=10/9/2005
Norfolk election officials, voter group clash over registration woes
04:03 PM EDT on Sunday, October 9, 2005
Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. — More than half of Norfolk's new voter applications have been incomplete or rejected.
That has prompted the registrar's office and a social action group to call for intervention by the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Lawyers from the Washington-based Advancement Project got involved at the request of Project Vote, which has submitted five-thousand voter applications in Norfolk this year.
State election officials were in town last week at the request of General Registrar Elisa Long, who says they are expected to issue a report sometime this week. Andrew Rivera of the Advancement Project asked the state elections board for a similar review.
Rivera has repeatedly asked to see the voter applications that could not be processed but Long has refused, citing election law and privacy concerns.
http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/100905cckkWVECelection.111a19b66.html
Hungarian prime minister awarded University's top honor
by Robert Parker
In addition to students and professors, new Elliott School Dean Michael Brown attended the event, along with Hungary's ambassador to the United States András Simonyi and American ambassador to Hungary George Herbert Walker III. Walker is the first cousin of former President George Bush and uncle to the current president.
http://www.gwhatchet.com/media/paper332/news/2005/10/10/CampusNews/Hungarian.Prime.Minister.Awarded.Universitys.Top.Honor-1015100.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com
A key journalistic principle
New York Times reporter Judith Miller, finally released from prison, testified before the grand jury investigating the case in which Bush Administration officials may have revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Ms. Miller was imprisoned without trial for 85 days in civil contempt of court when she refused to reveal the name of her source. She and her newspaper took that stand in the face of substantial pressure, including that originating from the fact that some of her media colleagues, including syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, who first published Ms. Plame's name, and NBC News journalist Tim Russert, talked to prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
Ms. Miller stayed true to her principles to the end, only agreeing to testify when her source, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, specifically relieved her of a pledge to protect him.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051010/OPINION02/510100313
NO NOBEL PRIZE FOR WAR PRESIDENT
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- George W. Bush doesn't like to play hurt but he has no choice. Every week now, he's getting clobbered. His Nixonian administration can only struggle to stop the bleeding, bandage the wounds and pray that the twin enemies of truth and time will stop. The Busheviks are in full retreat. Events, largely of their own creation, are overwhelming them. The self-inflicted assault is endless.
The president's "brain," his political "genius," good ole "Turd Blossom" himself, Karl Rove, is a desperate man, crawling and begging as he tries to escape indictment on federal felony charges. Bush, the cowboy president, is all hat, no horse; Rove, his ramrod, is now all turd, no blossom.
Initially, Rove lied to FBI agents about his role in identifying and outing CIA officer Valerie Plame. This week, he'll make his fourth visit to the grand jury, trying to explain why he lied when he was first questioned about his role in exposing Plame.
Publicly, Rove denied he had "any knowledge" about the leak and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan scoffed that "it is a ridiculous suggestion" to say Rove was in any way involved in the scandal. Lies. All lies.
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher234.html
DeLay's Lawyers Subpoena His Prosecutor
By LARRY MARGASAK
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 11, 2005; 11:17 PM
WASHINGTON -- Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay's attorneys turned the tables on a Texas prosecutor Tuesday, delivering a subpoena to compel his testimony about his conduct with grand jurors.
Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, who contends there was misconduct by prosecutors, said Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle refused the subpoena at his Austin office when he declined to sign a paper acknowledging its delivery. Earle said he had voluntarily accepted the subpoena.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, arrives to make a statement in his office on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 in Washington after a Texas grand jury charged Rep. DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme. Setting aside his own aversion to the media, DeLay has waged a blitz on radio, on TV and in print as he tries to shore up his support in his own congressional district while assuring fellow Republicans he plans to return to power. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)
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The subpoena is part of the defense tactic to have charges dismissed before trial against DeLay, R-Texas, who was obligated to temporarily step aside as House majority leader when charged with conspiracy and money laundering in a state campaign finance investigation. DeLay has denied any wrongdoing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101327.html
Frustrated mayor says helping city will help Louisiana
By JOE GYAN JR.
jgyan@theadvocate.com
New Orleans bureau
Advocate staff photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Hurricane Katrina evacuee Albert Chui Clark, right, from New Orleans' 3rd Ward, speaks his mind to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin during a brief get-together Thursday inside the Baton Rouge River Center. The center is closing its doors to evacuees and forcing them to leave today.
A frustrated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned Thursday that it would be in the state's best interest to help the Crescent City jump-start its Hurricane Katrina-riddled economy, saying the impact on the state -- if nothing is done -- will pale in comparison to the layoffs the city recently announced.
"You think 3,000 layoffs in New Orleans is a big deal. Just wait,'' Nagin, his sleeves rolled up, said during an evening meeting with The Advocate's editorial board. "I see a state in crisis.''
The mayor pointed out during the Baton Rouge meeting that New Orleans accounts for 35 percent of the state budget.
http://2theadvocate.com/stories/101405/new_nagin001.shtml
Nagin Visits Cajundome Evacuees
Posted: Oct 14, 2005, 05:48 AM EDT
With evacuees shouting his nick-name, 'Ray Nay' as he arrived at the Cajundome, it was clear New Orleans evacuees were happy to see a familiar face.
Mayor Ray Nagin told them the city needs workers, and working is the best way for displaced residents to find temporary housing. "If they sign up for a job, employers have temporary housing - FEMA has temporary housing, that jumps them in front of the line," Nagin tells KATC.
Right after the storm, thousands called the Cajundome home. That number's down to about 500, and many of those folks told Nagin they want to be back in New Orleans as soon as possible. "If he would have come here with a bus and said 'how many people want to leave here today and go back to New Orleans to work' - everybody in here would have left," says one Cajundome resident.
Nagin did not bring a bus, but he did bring a message of hope.
Despite giving no timeline on re-populating hard-hit areas, the mayor pointed out positive signs like re-opening schools, and livable neighborhoods.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3976872
Claim: Cheney's office opposed Miers nomination to court
RAW STORY
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Veteran conservative columnist and pundit John Fund asserts in the Wall Street Journal today that the offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to block the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, RAW STORY has learned.
"A last minute effort was made to block the choice of Ms. Miers, including the offices of Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales," Fund claims. "It fell on deaf ears."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Report_Cheneys_office_opposed_Miers_nomination_1013.html
Exclusive Interview: Murray Waas On How Dick Cheney's Top Aide 'Scooter' Libby Misled Federal Prosecutors in the CIA Leak Case
Democracy Now!
October 12, 2005
As speculation grows that Libby and Karl Rove could be indicted, we speak with Waas on his new expose that Libby never told prosecutors that in June 2003 he spoke with New York Times reporter Judith Miller about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a critic of the Iraq war. Miller will testify once again today about their conversations. [includes rush transcript]
Speculation is growing in Washington that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby and President Bush's top advisor Karl Rove could soon be indicted by a federal prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Investigative Journalist Murray Waas is reporting in the National Journal that Libby failed to tell the grand jury about a discussion he had with New York Times reporter Judith Miller in June 2003 - weeks before Plame's name first appeared in the press. Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald only learned of the discussion after Miller announced last week that she had discovered a set of notes on the conversation. Fitzgerald, who has been investigating the case for nearly two years, has now asked Miller to testify again today before the grand jury.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m16719&date=13-oct-2005_04:51_ECT
Subpoena issued for Frist stock records
By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY
Federal investigators looking into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's well-timed sale of HCA stock earlier this year have issued a subpoena seeking any personal records or correspondence that the Tennessee Republican has pertaining to the transaction, according to a lawyer familiar with the matter.
The subpoena, from attorneys at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, comes after Frist's vow last month that he would cooperate fully. The lawyer did not want to be named because of confidentiality.
Frist's brother and father founded Hospital Corporation of America. Since Frist was elected to the Senate in 1994, he has fended off questions that his stake in HCA posed a conflict of interest with his role in health care legislation.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-10-13-frist_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
Public Figures: Ethical trifecta
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
When it comes to accusations of ethical improprieties, Republicans have scored a sort of trifecta. GOP leaders in the White House and both branches of Congress are under investigation.
Nothing is proved, though Karl Rove deserves frequent traveler mileage for his visits to the grand jury investigating a CIA agent's exposure. Tom DeLay has stepped down as House majority leader while he fights his indictment in connection with political fund raising. Two investigations are looking at Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stocks, which he said he ordered to guard against conflicts of interest if he runs for president.
We recall a certain hoo-hah during the Clinton administration about private failings proving an inability to conduct public business honestly. Our faith in the ability of Rove, DeLay and Frist to run their private lives honestly remains undiminished. But we certainly do worry whether they can provide ethical leadership of government.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/244530_shocked.asp
The 'Dubya' papers
By Gil Jenkins, Collegian columnist
October 14, 2005
The year 2008:
In a powerful move by the Democratic majority, a landmark bill is passed through Congress overturning former President Bush's Executive Order 13233. This order stipulated that all presidents' private papers could only be released by the approval of both the former and current presidents. Under the new bill, the power to release such papers is returned to the National Archives, which first had that power under the Presidential Records Act of 1978. The bill requires that the archives release all presidential papers not dealing with national security 12 years after said president leaves office.
The year 2020:
The first set of presidential papers is released from George Walker Bush's first and second terms. One such paper released from his second term is a transcripted oval office conversation between President Bush and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, dated Oct. 2005. The contents of the conversation prove to be quite unsettling:
Bush: (To Rove) Come on in T.B. (Turd Blossom)
Rove: Yes sir, Mr. President. Thank you for meeting with me.
Bush: Always a pleasure to meet with my "architect." Karl, I'm
http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/14/434f04b1b0118
Papers: DeLay group used $100K for races
By SHARON THEIMER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Tom DeLay's political group used nearly $100,000 in corporate and unlimited donations to mail last-minute political appeals praising five congressional candidates despite rules meant to keep such money out of federal races, documents released Thursday show.
The records also detail payments DeLay's group made to Jim Ellis and Warren Robold, two longtime fundraisers indicted in Texas in the same state campaign finance case as DeLay. All three men say they are innocent in that case.
The documents from the Federal Election Commission's audit of DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC (ARMPAC) were obtained by Political Money Line, a group that studies campaign fundraising.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_DeLay_Donations.html
IT is upto Mr. Earle as thse are probably baseless accusations, but, all this might better be put into the State Attorney General's safe keeping rather than run the risk of conflict of interest and possibly compromising the integrity of the case.
Ronnie Earle linked to Miers-run lottery
Posted: October 13, 2005
1:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In 1997, when Harriet Miers was chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission, controversy swirled in Texas regarding allegations that former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes had made an illegal campaign contribution to Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. At the time, Ben Barnes was a political lobbyist under contract to GTECH, the Rhode Island firm running the Texas Lottery.
Under the GTECH contract, Barnes was receiving 4 percent of GTECH's gross revenue in Texas, a contract worth some $3 million a year to Barnes. Barnes, a Democrat, obtained the GTECH contract in 1991, arguing that as a Democrat he could influence then-Gov. Ann Richards, also a Democrat. When George W. Bush was elected Texas governor in 1995, he persuaded GTECH that his influence over the governor's office continued, since he was the person who was responsible for pulling the strings needed to get Bush into the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46816
U.S. cash, demands of war fuel human trade
BY CAM SIMPSON AND AAMER MADHANI
Chicago Tribune
(KRT) - American tax dollars and the wartime needs of the U.S. military are fueling an illicit pipeline of cheap foreign labor, mainly impoverished Asians who often are deceived, exploited and put in harm's way in Iraq with little protection.
The United States has long condemned the practices that characterize this human trade as it operates elsewhere in the Middle East. Yet this very system is now part of the privatization of the American war effort and is central to the operations of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, the U.S. military's biggest private contractor in Iraq.
To document this system, the Chicago Tribune retraced the journey of 12 Nepalese men kidnapped last year from an unprotected convoy en route to an American military base in Iraq. The Tribune's reporting found that:
To maintain the flow of low-paid workers key to military support and reconstruction in Iraq, the U.S. military has allowed KBR to partner with subcontractors that hire laborers from Nepal and other countries that prohibit citizens from being deployed in Iraq. That means brokers recruiting such workers operate illicitly.
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/world/12891064.htm
AP Releases Full New Orleans Beating Video
Thursday October 13, 2005 11:46 PM
NEW YORK (AP) - The Associated Press on Thursday released the full video of police officers beating a retired teacher as they tried to arrest him on New Orleans' Bourbon Street.
On Sunday, the news agency had released an edited version of the video, shot by an AP Television News crew the night before.
``Viewer interest in these images has been enormous, so we are putting out the entire video,'' said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. ``Many times people like to see more information, which is why we post documents, transcripts and other amplifying material to our Web customers.''
The full version of the video runs just over five minutes, about one minute more than the edited version. The additional minute mostly shows the street scene and the officers continuing to struggle with 64-year-old Robert Davis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5342364,00.html
Finalists cut to 4 in bid for presidential library
Associated Press
DALLAS — The list of finalists to build the George W. Bush Presidential Library has been limited to four: Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas, Baylor University in Waco and a group led by Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Eliminated were the city of Arlington, Texas A&M and the University of Texas System, Donald Evans, head of the library selection committee, confirmed Wednesday night.
"It will be the finest presidential library museum that has been built," said Evans, former commerce secretary and President Bush's longtime friend.
The next step for the four finalists will be to make oral presentations of their proposals in Washington next month, Evans said.
The cost to build the library is estimated between $200 million and $300 million. The library will be financed with private donations.
A committee led by Evans and Marvin Bush, President Bush's youngest brother, will consider the proposals. But the president and first lady Laura Bush will have the final decision.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3394905
St Gobain is takeover target for 3 US funds - report
10.13.2005, 05:05 AM
PARIS (AFX) - Saint-Gobain is being eyed as a takeover target by three US hedge funds - The Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Blackstone Group, French magazine Challenges reported.
The funds are eying separate bids for the French glassmaker, which is itself bidding for UK plasterboard maker BPB.
At 9.49 am, Saint Gobain was up 0.81 eur or 1.7 pct at 47.79 eur.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/10/13/afx2274734.html
CORRECT: Morgan Stanley Spun Off US, Not Asia Pvt Equity
(This is the first in a series of articles on the expanding activities of private equity firms in Asia)
By Nisha GopalanOf DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Asia's emergence as a private equity hotspot has generated quite a bit of work for an old breed of dealmakers - investment bankers.
… "This is a very important business for us. We can help the private equity firms buy the company, fix the company and sell the company," said Morgan Stanley Executive Director Dennis Montecillo, who has been covering the private equity industry and financial sponsors in Asia for five years."With the uptick in financial sponsor activity across the region, investment banks have become more active advisers (to private equity firms)."
Private equity investment, which fled Asia after the dotcom bust and ensuing weak markets, came back in force last year, emboldened by several successful exits that showed the market was open again, 3i's Paton said. Among them was a consortium of investors led by U.S. firm Carlyle Group that more than doubled its initial investment when it sold a 40% stake in South Korea's KorAm Bank to Citigroup for US$2.73 billion.
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/051013/15/3vmg8.html
Lehman closes $650 million fund of funds
Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:42 PM ET
NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holding Inc.(LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it closed its first dedicated fund of funds vehicle, raising $650 million to invest in such firms as the Carlyle Group, Blackstone and Warburg Pincus.
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=fundsNews2&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051011:MTFH68267_2005-10-11_22-43-19_N11501322:1
WYCS-TV executives lobby local government to prevent change
A letter from executives at WYCS-TV, a small Louisville television started in 1996, has been sent to members of the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Council, urging them to act before a decision by Insight Communications forces the station to change channel positions.
WYCS, which bills itself as the area's only minority-oriented TV station, is located on channel 24 for cable subscribers in Louisville. The station currently has access to 273,000 cable homes.
Doutrick said Insight's Louisville office has not received letters or complaints from any Metro Council members. The office did receive one letter of protest from a customer and another letter from a former customer both complaining about the change.
"We're looking for some better programming for our basic service," she said. "We really feel this is better for our customers."
Insight Communications Co. was purchased in July by its co-founders through The Carlyle Group, a private equity company. Insight is based in New York City.
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2005/10/10/daily6.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Geeks with Guns
QinetiQ - history and structure
QinetiQ was formed in July 2001 when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) split its Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in two. The smaller portion of DERA, which engaged with the more ‘sensitive’ military research, including running Porton Down, was rebranded DSTL and remains part of the MoD. The larger part of DERA, including most of the MoD's non-nuclear testing and evaluation establishments, was renamed QinetiQ and prepared for privatisation. The company became a public private partnership in 2002 with the purchase of a stake by US based private equity company the Carlyle Group.
QinetiQ is now
56% owned by the MoD
31% owned by the Carlyle Group
13% owned by QinetiQ employees
In the summer of 2005 it was announced that QinetiQ is to be floated on the stock market -- early estimates value the company at around £1bn. Carlyle Group and QinetiQ, executives are likely to make around £300m and £145m respectively from the sale of shares, which may have been undervalued at the first stage of privatisation.
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a massive ($24bn capital) US-based investment firm with interests ranging from energy to healthcare to media to defence. It is most noted by campaigners for its military interests and its close links with political power. Current and past executives include former UK Prime Minister John Major, former US President George Bush Sr and former US Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci.
[box]
QinetiQ's website describes the company as 'Europe's largest technology research company'. The company's website stresses its 'technology rich services and solutions', how it 'operate[s] at the leading edge of technology' and 'gives customers access to the output of 50 years of national investment at the forefront of technology'. But QinetiQ also demostrates exactly what its state and corporate backers mean by 'technology' -- and what they think technology is for.
Most of QinetiQ's work is still based on military applications -- weapons, guidance systems, military aircraft technology etc. From this, it branches out into surveillance and security technologies (including some of the technologies being considered for use in ID cards), communications and high-tech materials, including nanotechnology and 'energetic materials' (i.e. explosives) among other areas. This is cutting-edge technology as our society's political and corporate leaders currently see it -- even where it is not arms-based, it is capital-intensive, centralised, facilitates state or corporate control, and is overwhelmingly irrelevant to the most crucial problems facing our planet.
The QinetiQ approach views state-funded military research as a starting point, out of which come military technologies. If they are too sensitive (e.g. nuclear weapons) they are developed by the state, otherwise they are licensed to private companies to manufacture and sell back to the state. Out of this military research come by-products with civilian applications -- so-called 'dual-use technologies' -- which are similarly licensed to the private sector to profit from.
This approach thus assumes that:
•funding military research is a proper state activity
•it is right to devote a high proportion of technological research resources to military ends
•the profits of research belong in the private sector, even where it was publicly-funded
•civilian research is secondary to military in the state's priorities
•spin-offs from military projects are an acceptable means of developing civilian technologies
•research is a self-propelling process producing morally-neutral 'discoveries', and that any problems should be dealt with after the fact
Specific technologies
QinetiQ is one of the UK's leaders in developing nanotechnology. Its subsidiary QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd, founded in 2002, manufactures bulk quantities of nanoparticles and pSiMedica Ltd (a joint venture with Australian-based pSivida) is involved in developing 'biosilicon', a nano-engineered material with possible medical applications. See the Corporate Watch briefing (http://archive.corporatewatch.org/newsletter/issue22/issue22_part6.htm) for more on the safety and structural issues around nanotechnology.
On ID cards, QinetiQ, in its role as consultant to the government, does not, for once, seem to be backing the highest-tech option, arguing for barcoded or memory-stick cards rather than the government's favoured biometrics. However, this is not due to any qualms over the fundamental concept. Neil Fisher, QinetiQ's Director of Security Services, has said 'You will want, in what's fast becoming a digital society, to be able to authenticate your identity almost for any transaction that you do, be it going to the bank, going to the shops, going to the airport.'
QinetiQ privatisation and the military-industrial complex
The 'military-industrial complex' is the coalition of interests that develops between the armed forces, government bureaucracy and the private companies that benefit from miltary contracts. Since the coining of this phrase, by former US president Eisenhower, many have viewed this complex as an anti-democratic force, skewing government policy towards militaristic ends for the benefit of particular companies, or subsections of government and the military. In this context, the privatisation of a company like QinetiQ represents a shift in the balance of power in the military-industrial complex -- towards increasing the private sector's influence over the state, over military policy and over technology development.
Other sources:
http://www.qinetiq.co.uk/
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=2065
Carlyle and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to sell Dex Media in $9.5bn deal
04/10/2005. Source: AltAssets.
The Carlyle Group and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe have agreed to sell yellow pages publisher and directional media company Dex Media to its competitor R.H. Donnelley Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, each Dex share will be exchanged for $12.30 in cash and 0.24154 RHD shares. In aggregate, current Dex shareholders will receive approximately $1.85bn in cash and 36.4 million RHD shares, for total equity consideration of approximately $4.2bn. RHD will also assume Dex's net debt outstanding, expected to be approximately $5.3bn at year end 2005.
'We are thrilled to be joining with Dex Media. This combination will create a company with the scale, innovative products and services and proven business processes to lead our industry into the era of integrated local commercial search, encompassing both print and digital platforms,' said David C Swanson, R.H. Donnelley's chairman and chief executive officer.
RHD has also agreed to repurchase the remaining outstanding convertible preferred stock issued upon completion of the Sprint Publishing and Advertising acquisition in January 2003 and held by investment partnerships affiliated with The Goldman Sachs Group for approximately $337m including accrued dividends. The preferred shares were convertible into approximately 5.2 million RHD common shares as of 30 September 2005.
Upon completion of the transaction, current RHD and Dex shareholders will own approximately 47 per cent and 53 per cent of the combined company, respectively.
http://www.altassets.com/news/arc/2005/nz7527.php
A Run On Detroit's Parts Makers
Big money is chasing the thousands of outfits that supply U.S. carmakers
It's hard to imagine a less sexy business than auto parts -- especially these days. The industry has nearly every problem afflicting American business: union strife, runaway health-care costs, heavy debt, overcapacity, and exposure to raging steel and fuel prices, not to mention an uncertain future amid rising competition from Asia and Eastern Europe.
And yet plenty of big money is chasing parts makers these days. From a passel of private equity buyers, including New York investor Wilbur Ross, to a handful of foreign parts makers, investors are trolling for deals among America's ailing auto suppliers. They've got plenty to choose from: Just since the start of 2004, 35 parts makers have filed for bankruptcy protection. Chunks of Delphi Corp. (DPH ) and Visteon Corp. (VC ) -- respectively the No. 1 and No. 2 industry players -- could soon be on the block. And dozens of small, still-healthy outfits are ready to sell out as big customers such as Ford Motor Co. (F )and General Motors Corp. (GM ) insist that more parts be manufactured in low-cost Asia. "Literally every day, some company comes up for sale," says Thomas T. Stallkamp, former Chrysler Group (DCX ) president and now a managing partner with New York private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC.
...BOLTED TOGETHER
So what do acquirers see in these smaller companies? In some cases, diversifying their customer base is the goal. Private equity investor Carlyle Group in Washington, D.C., which has deep roots in the defense industry, recently snapped up AxleTech International in Troy, Mich. Carlyle figures there's plenty of growth to be had expanding AxleTech's defense business by making more parts for tactical military vehicles.
...Things are about to get very Darwinian in the auto-parts industry -- and given the pricing pressures, overcapacity, and weak profits, that's exactly what it needs.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_41/b3954053.htm
$209 Million Back Taxes Slapped on 5 Foreign Funds
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The National Tax Service (NTS) has slapped a total of 214.8 billion won ($209 million) in penalties on Lone Star Funds and four other foreign funds for evading on capital gains taxes on transactions of stocks and other assets.
But the tax agency did not specify how much it taxed each foreign fund.
It also plans to refer several high-ranking officials at the foreign funds to the prosecution for possible violations of domestic tax law and financial transaction law, the agency said.
The five foreign funds are the Carlyle Group, Lone Star, Goldman Sachs, AIG and Westbrook.
Officials from the funds were not immediately available for comments.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200509/kt2005092918001310230.htm
Pravda
Russia kills 72, arrests 31 terrorists as the battle in Nalchik ends
10/14/2005 16:00
About 1,500 Russian military men and 500 commandoes have been sent to Nalchik in connection with a huge terrorist attack on the city
Russian special forces destroyed 72 terrorists during the military operation in the city of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino Balkaria republic, situated in Russia's south near Chechnya. The terrorists killed from 14 to 24 local residents; the exact number of victims among the civilians is yet to be specified.
Battles in the Russian city of Nalchik have finally ended at about 10:00 a.m. local time today, during the second day of the special operation to eliminate a large group of terrorists in the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16303_Nalchik.html
Terrorists kill 12 civilians in Nalchik attack
10/13/2005 23:23
Police units of the republic have destroyed 50 terrorists; gunmen release some of the hostages in return to drinking water
The battles in the city of Nalchik have subsided. There are hardly any people in the streets. Seven terrorists have blockaded
themselves in the building of the Third Police Department of the city. "The federal forces have ousted the terrorists from the ground floor of the building and made them retreat in two offices. The terrorists are holding several people hostage," Deputy Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, Alexander Chekalin said. The official added that the Russian soldiers offered the gunmen to lay down their arms, but they refused.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16301_Nalchik.html
Putin orders to blockade embattled Nalchik and destroy all terrorists
10/13/2005 16:11
About 20 civilians have been reportedly killed in the attack, 40 other people have been hospitalized with injuries
President Vladimir Putin has ordered to blockade the embattled Nalchik not to let any of the terrorists escape from the city, the Deputy Interior Affairs Minister of Russia, Alexander Chekalin, told reporters after a meeting with the Russian president.
According to Chekalin, the president ordered to destroy all armed terrorists, who show resistance to the federal forces.
President of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic, Arsen Kanokov, said that several terrorists had been captured alive. All of the arrested gunmen belong to the so-called Jamaat terrorist group, the president added.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/382/16297_Nalchik.html
Rain, hail and fatal diseases hamper rescue efforts in quake-stricken Pakistan
10/12/2005 13:28
UN health officials warn of diseases, including malaria, cholera and dysentery, due to a lack of clean water and sanitation
Helicopters resumed delivering urgently needed relief supplies Wednesday to those who survived the weekend earthquake in hard-to-reach areas of Indian Kashmir, after nearly 12 hours of disruption caused by torrential rains and snow, AP said.
Torrential rain has halted aid efforts in the earthquake-ravaged region of Kashmir, bringing yet more misery to the millions of homeless living in the open.
Asian earthquake levels Pakistan: New photos from the scene
As survivors prayed for food and fresh water, health officials reported another blight on the shattered landscape - an outbreak of fatal diseases. Rain turned roads into rivers of mud and swamped decomposing bodies that lay under rubble and on the roadsides.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16293_earthquake.html
Russia suffers decline in oil industry as crude market recovers after hurricanes
10/12/2005 22:24
Russia still remains one of the top oil exporters, although the national crude output has been decreasing laltely
The Russian oil industry has boundless opportunities and brightest perspectives. This assumption has become quite popular during the recent years, although it has been called into question now. Experts say that Russia has been losing its oil power on the world market of liquid black gold.
According to the report from the International Energy Agency, which was published yesterday in Paris, the crude output started decreasing in Russia in 2005 and dropped almost 2.5 times as opposed to 2004. However, Russia still ranks the top oil exporter among all non-OPEC members. According to preliminary estimates, Russia was extracting 9.8 million barrels of crude daily in September of the current year and gained 70,000 barrels a day in comparison with August of the same year. It is expected that the crude output will increase by some 300,000 barrels a day until the end of 2005 vs. 2004. A similar increase in the Russian oil industry was forecast for 2006 too. Nevertheless, IEA experts believe that it is not an optimistic factor at all. The growth in the oil extraction during the forthcoming two years in Russia will be a lot lower than in 2004, when the crude output increased by 740,000 barrels a day over a year.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/89/357/16295_oil.html
Vladimir Putin celebrates his 53rd birthday in St.Petersburg's most beautiful palace
10/07/2005 16:03
The palace employees cleaned every corner in and out of the palace, although it used to be a dilapidated building just several years ago
Did schoolboy Vladimir Putin think 40 years ago that one of the most beautiful palaces in St.Petersburg will be restored especially for him and his guests? Obviously no. Nowadays, there is a whole crowd of people waiting for a chance to take a glance at the beautiful residence of the Russian president. Vladimir Putin uses the residence for official meetings with the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Russian president is currently expecting another guest of honor in his residence - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The sign on the doors of the palace says now that the palace will be closed for visits on October 5-7. The palace was closed due to Vladimir Putin's birthday, which the president celebrates today, on October 7.
It is worthy of note that Putin always tries to celebrate his birthday in his native city, St.Petersburg. In 2003, for example, the president went on board a tour boat to take a ride in a company of his friends along the Neva River in St.Petersburg.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/16271_Putin.html
A tell-all story of Eric Clapton to be published in 2007
02:35 2005-10-13
The memoirs of Eric Clapton, a tell-all story that has been one of the most sought manuscripts in publishing, will be released by Doubleday in 2007.
Financial terms were not disclosed, although Clapton was widely believed to be seeking a multimillion-dollar contract and numerous publishers were interested.
http://newsfromrussia.com/culture/2005/10/13/65111.html
Condoleezza Rice tries to win Central Asia's sympathies for USA's purposes
10/12/2005 16:04
Condoleezza Rice's current visit to Central Asia is connected with the fact that the USA has been losing its positions in the region
The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has started her debut tour of Central Asian states. The program of the tour includes official visits to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Ms. Rice may also visit Pakistan to express sympathies on behalf of the USA in connection with the recent devastating earthquake.
Condoleezza Rice arrived in the republic of Kyrgyzstan yesterday. "It is important for Kyrgyzstan to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors, there are no reasons for the republic to choose between Russia and the USA," the US Secretary of State said at the briefing in Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Russian politicians had a similar reaction to the visit of the top US official. The Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated during his visit to Paris that there was no opposition between Russia and the USA in Central Asia, although there were certain legal interests in the region, the minister added.
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/373/16294_Rice.html
Rain, hail and fatal diseases hamper rescue efforts in quake-stricken Pakistan
10/12/2005 13:28
UN health officials warn of diseases, including malaria, cholera and dysentery, due to a lack of clean water and sanitation
Helicopters resumed delivering urgently needed relief supplies Wednesday to those who survived the weekend earthquake in hard-to-reach areas of Indian Kashmir, after nearly 12 hours of disruption caused by torrential rains and snow, AP said.
Torrential rain has halted aid efforts in the earthquake-ravaged region of Kashmir, bringing yet more misery to the millions of homeless living in the open.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16293_earthquake.html
Guatemala: Over 1,000 killed in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan
10/11/2005 11:19
Authorities said they would abandon communities buried by landslides and declare them mass graveyards
More than 100 Guatemalan communities buried by massive landslides are to be declared mass graveyards by local authorities, in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan that left over 1,000 killed in the Central American country. The death toll has now reached 652, with 384 people missing, while some Indian villages are, in effect, mass graves, according to figures released by the army and civil defence rescue teams.
Hurricane Stan also affected Mexico, where left 61 killed and hundreds injured, and El Salvador that suffered from the death of 70 people and major losses to its agriculture.
http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/16285_Stan.html
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