U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan
The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs.
By Ralph Vartabedian
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity.The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nuke6apr06,0,5989419.story?coll=la-home-headlines
22 Chinese Stowaways Found at Cargo Facility in Seattle
The apparent human smuggling incident revives questions about security at U.S. ports.
By Sam Howe Verhovek
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
SEATTLE — After spending 15 days inside a cargo container shipped from Shanghai, 18 men and four women were discovered early Wednesday at the Port of Seattle. The stowaways made the arduous journey in the hopes of finding work here, officials said. All 22 people, said to be in their 20s and 30s, were apparently in relatively good health after surviving the trip in the 40-foot container stacked on the cargo ship Rotterdam.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smuggle6apr06,0,775362.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Insurers Saw Record Gains in Year of Catastrophic Loss
They say the profits are a fluke, but the industry has worked to shift risk to clients and the public.
By Peter G. Gosselin
Times Staff WriterApril 5, 2006
The companies that provide Americans with their homeowners and auto insurance made a record $44.8-billion profit last year even after accounting for the claims of policyholders wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and the other big storms of 2005, according to the firms' filings with state regulators.Top executives described the profit — an 18.7% increase over the previous year — as a fluke, the product of gains in other lines of insurance besides homeowners and a very good year for their investments.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-insure5apr05,0,3061059.story
110 American militrary wounded in Iraq each week
6% are commissioned officers
26% are National Guard
17,400 wounded so far since the invasion
12,500 medical personnel in Iraq
9,890 wounded by explosive devices
2% are female
"I don't want to sound like a psychopath or anything but I like having a rifle in my hands and doing my job. I like being a leader, leading soldiers, making a difference in the world." Army Stf. Sgt. Vincent Worrell.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wounded/la-na-wounded-series,0,936394.special
Sewage, Rain Wash Vacations Down the Drain
Officials in Hawaii say that some of the beaches closed by a wastewater spill will reopen and that the incessant storms have passed.
By Tomas Alex Tizon
Times Staff WriterApril 5, 2006
HONOLULU — The glum expression on Colleen Groat's face said it all. The 48-year-old Canadian had spent six months planning her first vacation in Hawaii, and not once during two weeks here did she set foot in the water. Her trips to the beach were met with signs that read: "WARNING. No swimming. No fishing. Sewage contaminated water."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oahu5apr05,0,156707.story
A Thai surprise
April, 6 2006
IT WASN'T ALL THAT LONG AGO that governments in Thailand had the lifespan of a butterfly, and the only constant was poverty. That has changed in recent years, but the sudden resignation Tuesday of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was an uncomfortable reminder of the fragility of Thailand's democracy.Thaksin was brought down not by popular vote but by Bangkok street protesters. Elected in 2001, Thaksin was Thailand's longest-serving prime minister and once its most popular. He won a majority of the votes in a snap election over the weekend, yet his victory did nothing to soothe angry urbanites fed up with his autocratic style. Apparently realizing it would be impossible to run the country with its capital paralyzed by protests, Thaksin cleaned out his desk and appointed his deputy, Chitchai Wannasathit, as acting prime minister.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-thailand6apr06,0,5080038.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials
The uneasy allies disrupting France
By K.A. Dilday, K.A. DILDAY is a France-based fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs.April 5, 2006
THE STREETS OF France were packed again Tuesday with protesters opposed to a controversial new law that makes it easier to fire young people from their jobs. More than 1 million people poured into the streets across the country — including 80,000 in Paris alone — scuffling with riot police, snarling airports and roads and prompting hundreds of arrests. The protests have been seen by some as evidence of French idealism and by others as symbolic of French entitlement. In fact, they may be both.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dilday5apr05,0,5771015.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Delayed reform
April, 5 2006
JACK ABRAMOFF WAS EVERY REPUBLICAN'S favorite lobbyist. Tom DeLay was every lobbyist's favorite Republican. Today, thanks to their own corruption, Abramoff is off to serve a 70-month jail term for fraud, and DeLay is walking away from what he loves best — campaigning for his congressional seat. Stung by a money-laundering indictment, multiple ethics lapses and the inconvenient fact that several of his former staffers have been implicated in the Abramoff affair, the former House majority leader from Texas is making a graceless exit from the political mess he helped create. You'd think such a backdrop would inspire Congress to crack down on lobbying abuse. Instead, the Senate voted last week for a tepid bill that purports to reform lobbying rules. The 90-8 vote for passage alone should call its value into question.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-lobby05apr05,0,4422292.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials
Before the levees break
April, 5 2006
IMAGES OF THE LINGERING devastation in New Orleans should be enough to persuade anyone not to bet the safety of their house or business on aging levees.But Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) doesn't want to rely on voluntary efforts in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river valleys. His bill, AB 1898, would require all property owners in those watersheds to buy federal flood insurance if they faced at least a 1-in-200-years chance of flooding. That mandate goes far beyond the current requirement, which applies only to those who obtain a mortgage or home-equity loan in areas with at least a 1-in-100-year risk.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-flood05apr05,0,2718352.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials
Duke's Lacrosse Coach Resigns Over Scandal
Pressler, who spent 16 seasons at the school, is out and the season is canceled in the wake of allegations that three players on the team raped a stripper.
From the Associated Press
April, 6 2006
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke's lacrosse coach resigned Wednesday and the university canceled the rest of the season amid a burgeoning scandal involving allegations that three players on the highly ranked team raped a stripper at an off-campus party. Mike Pressler spent 16 seasons at Duke and won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Last year, his team appeared in the national championship game.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-duke6apr06,0,1090927.story?coll=la-home-headlines
All Fired Up Over Water
As aging planes are grounded, the makers of converted jumbo jets fitted with huge tanks compete for lucrative contracts to fight blazes.
By Bob Pool
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
An aerial dogfight is shaping up over Southern California as rival millionaires duel to see who will be first to get his jumbo jet water tanker aloft to fight wildfires.One has his hopes pegged on a converted 747 cargo aircraft. The other is banking on a retrofitted DC-10 passenger plane.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tanker6apr06,0,5513120.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Jakarta Post
Dutch PM visits RI to strengthen ties with former colony
JAKARTA (AP): Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was traveling to Indonesia on Thursday for a two-day visit to boost ties with his country's former colony and meet Islamic leaders.
Balkenende will hold talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, officials said.
The trip follows recent visits by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minster Tony Blair, who both praised Indonesia's transition to democracy and its status as a moderate Muslim nation.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060406154116&irec=0
Labor rallies spread, business counts cost
Ridwan Max Sijabat
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Labor unions pooled their resources Wednesday in stepped-up protests nationwide against planned revisions to the labor law, with worker absenteeism due to demonstrations of the past two weeks causing mounting losses to industry.
Rallies have spread from Jakarta and provincial capitals in Java and Sumatra to industrial areas on the two main islands.
Workers in industrial zones in North Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra, Jakarta, West, Central and East Java left their workplaces to demand the dropping of the planned revisions.
The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) criticized the government for its failure to take a constructive approach to calming the protests, which they say are causing billions of rupiah in losses to their members.
Kalla takes it easy with worker reps
Tony Hotland
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Vice President Jusuf Kalla adopted a soothing approach Wednesday to a seething labor protest outside his office in Central Jakarta.
Kalla sat down with 10 labor union representatives after an estimated 60,000 protesters gathered to denounce controversial changes to the 2003 Labor Law.
"It's still a draft because we have to talk with labor unions and the House of Representatives. We will seek a balance between the interests of labor and the businesspeople," he said after the one-hour meeting with the officials from Jakarta, Banten and West Java.
Wolfowitz voices support for peace process in Aceh
Riyadi Suparno
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
A longtime friend of Indonesia, Paul Wolfowitz, now the president of the World Bank, has returned here after a visit last year to provide support for the landmark peace process in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and the physical reconstruction of the devastated province.
Wolfowitz, who arrived here Wednesday for a three-day visit to the country, said he was pleased with the peace accord signed by the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement after the devastating tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, and promised to extend a helping hand to reinforce the deal.
"Even in a terrible tragedy, some good things can happen. I'm very pleased that there has been a real peace process in Aceh so that not only will this beautiful part of Indonesia be rebuilt better than it was before, but it will live in peace as the people of Aceh so much deserve."
'Decree on houses of worship violates Constitution'
Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni and Home Minister Moh. Ma'ruf recently issued a joint ministerial decree on the establishment of houses of worship, which was immediately met with opposition by minority religious groups. The new decree replaces a 1969 joint ministerial decree. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic scholar and professor at Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy in Jakarta, shared his views on the controversial regulation with The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat.
Question: How do you see the new joint ministerial decree?
Answer: The decree goes against the amended 1945 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. What I regret is that it does not protect human rights and the people's constitutional right to exercise their freedom to worship. To be consistent with the Constitution, the government should allow all religious communities, including minority one, to build their own houses of worship without any restrictions.
Miami Herald
Formula changes the way kids are graded
Thousands of students' grades have been affected by new computerized gradebook software, forcing some teachers to change the way they calculate report cards.
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR
New gradebook software is forcing many Miami-Dade teachers to change the way they calculate student grades, potentially altering results for thousands of students.
The software -- already in 153 schools and being phased in at all 358 -- forces teachers to use the district's official grading formula. That system gives equal weight to any test score within a letter-grade range; an 89, for example, is treated the same as an 80 because they are both recorded in the computer as a B.
Countless teachers have ignored that 5-year-old rule, sticking with the more traditional method of averaging percentage scores earned on assignments and tests and then converting that average to a letter grade.
But as the gradebook forces them to adopt the letter-grade system on each assignment, an unknown number of grades have been inflated or reduced.
2,551 migrant licenses revoked
Florida has canceled more than 2,500 driver's licenses and ID cards because of fraudulent applications by foreign nationals who had no immigration status.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Florida has revoked more than 2,500 driver's licenses issued to foreign nationals -- most of them in South Florida -- who used fraudulent documents to obtain them, the head of the Homeland Security agency that oversees immigration services disclosed Wednesday.
Emilio González, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said at a news conference in Washington that agency employees detected the fraud and alerted the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles last summer.
''We identified the problem, informed the state of Florida of the situation and they expeditiously moved out with a bulletin,'' González said.
González's announcement marked the first time the federal government publicly acknowledges the success of a system set up in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to prevent undocumented foreign nationals from obtaining Florida driver's licenses and identification cards. Some of the 9/11 terrorist hijackers, including plot leader Mohamed Atta, had obtained Florida driver's licenses, though they were entitled to them because they had valid visas.
Legislation proposed by two Republican state lawmakers would dictate when police officers can use stun guns.
BY EVAN S. BENN, SUSANNAH A. NESMITH AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
TALLAHASSEE - With stun guns on the belts of thousands of Florida police officers, the Legislature is close to telling cops when they can use the weapons.
Two Republican lawmakers also want to require police recruits to go through state-mandated stun-gun training, even though most of the 430 Florida police agencies that use stun guns already have their own policies and training procedures.
The legislation specifies that stun guns may only be deployed ''during an arrest or custodial situation'' when a person uses active physical resistance and appears able to harm an officer or is attempting to escape.
Dade district plans to yank book about Cuban children
School officials said they would pull a book with pictures of a Cuban communist youth group from grade school library shelves.
BY PETER BAILEY
A children's book may be removed from dozens of elementary school libraries throughout the district because it contains themes from Cuba's communist regime.
The book, Vamos a Cuba (A Visit to Cuba), is available at 33 schools, district officials say.
A portrait of kids outfitted as Pioneers -- Cuba's communist youth group -- is emblazoned across the book's cover. Inside pages show scenes of a joyous carnival held on July 26, the anniversary of the Cuban revolution.
After seeing the book, the parent of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary student promptly contacted officials at the West Miami-Dade school.
''The parent was offended with the book's content,'' district spokesman Joseph Garcia said Wednesday. ``We're following School Board procedure to have the book removed from library shelves.''
Rolling Stones to play first China concert
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press
SHANGHAI, China - Having played before millions of fans worldwide over a four-decade career, there aren't many firsts left for rock icons the Rolling Stones. By the end of this week, there'll be one less, after their debut concert in mainland China.
The band was due to arrive in Shanghai on Thursday, three years after the SARS epidemic forced them to cancel an earlier visit to the country.
A sellout crowd was expected for Saturday night's show in the relatively intimate setting of the 8,000-seat Shanghai Grand Stage in the heart of China's biggest and brashest city.
The concert marks another milestone in the authoritarian communist state's opening to Western pop culture, although a host of limitations remain.
The Rolling Stones' 2002 greatest hits collection, "40 Licks," was cut by the censors to just 36 after "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together," were cut from the mainland Chinese release, apparently due to their suggestive lyrics.
Harris is due to answer some tough questions
BY FRED GRIMM
With the daily body counts coming out of her campaign headquarters, coverage of the Katherine Harris Senate run has come to resemble war dispatches. Gone, but not forgotten, are two campaign managers, her political consultant, a fundraiser, a communications director, a field operations director, a media consultant.
The candidate herself veers off on strange tangents. According to Florida Today, she told some supporters Saturday that her campaign staff had been ''infiltrated'' by enemies from within the Republican Party. ``I didn't know I was going to get the knives in my back from my own party.''
So the press spends time sorting out internecine intrigue.
The latest Harris turmoil comes after weeks of rumor-laden drama about whether she was going to quit her campaign. And reporters have been writing about the $10 million of her own inheritance she promised, with a biblical flourish, to add to her campaign fund. Or about the contributions she accepted from the same defense contractor who pleaded guilty in the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273640.htm
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