I think it is more important than ever to look at the way states and municipalities are taking on the challenge of fiscal responsibility and how that responsibility is being satisfied with the understanding the federal government is in failure and washing out on it's commitment to carrying it's weight.
There is some sale of property by insurance companies. It might be nothing but it could be something considering their increased liability with natural disaster claims across the country.
The Mercury News
Bush vs. Chávez at summit
34 HEADS OF STATE WILL ATTEND MEETING AT ARGENTINE RESORT
By Jack Chang
Knight Ridder
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina - Although 34 heads of state are expected to attend a hemisphere-wide summit in this seaside town starting today, the spotlight Thursday was on the arrival of two leaders who are bitterly at odds with each other.
President Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez are the stars of this fourth Summit of the Americas, and their presence was felt on the streets of Mar del Plata even before they arrived.
The official theme of the event convened by the Organization of American States, which comprises every country in the Americas except Cuba, is how to fight poverty and foster democracy.
Yet outside the Hermitage Hotel and other heavily policed meeting spots, the issue among protesters who had gathered to denounce Bush was whether the U.S. agenda of free trade was better for Latin America than the Chávez creed of nationalized industries and pumped-up social programs.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/13079154.htm
Loaded, ready and bored
Bruce Newman
Mercury News
There's something disorienting about a movie that tries as hard as ``Jarhead'' to be both pro-soldier and anti-war. It's like a car with bumper stickers that say ``Support Our Troops'' and ``Mean people suck.'' You don't know whether to salute it, pass it or wait to see if it has a nervous breakdown.
In ``Jarhead,'' director Sam Mendes attempts to capture the disorienting experience of fighting a war that comes and goes before its foot soldiers ever get their feet wet. When they finally do, it is in the muck of oil wells set on fire by retreating Iraqi troops. The movie has gotten bogged down long before that, however; it just never catches fire.
Pasted from <http://ae.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ui/mercurynews/movie.html?id=448082&reviewId=19420>
"Jarhead" Trailer
http://ae.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ui/mercurynews/movie.html?id=448082&reviewId=19415
S.F. voters consider tough handgun ban
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
The city that made Dirty Harry famous, but also witnessed the assassination of a mayor and supervisor a generation ago, on Tuesday will weigh enacting the toughest handgun ban in the nation.
If Proposition H passes on the ballot, San Francisco residents would not be allowed to own handguns and would have to turn in ones already in their possession by April 1.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13079135.htm
S.F. HANDGUN BAN
Highlights of Proposition H, on Tuesday's ballot:
Would ban possession of handguns within city limits by San Francisco residents unless they are active law enforcement or military personnel.
Would ban manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition within the city.
Would take effect Jan. 1, 2006, and residents would have until April 1 to turn in their handguns.
Source: San Francisco Department of Elections Web site
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13079136.htm
Another death in '05 attributed to hospital error
By Julie Sevrens Lyons
Mercury News
Christopher Wibeto wasn't the only South Bay Kaiser patient to die this year after receiving the wrong medication.
In July, a 12-year-old girl hospitalized at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center-Santa Clara was mistakenly given a double dose of epinephrine, which speeds up the heart rate, state records show.
Josephine Frances Hart, a San Jose resident who loved to play with marbles, died July 26, the same day of the error. Her official cause of death is still being investigated by the county coroner's office, but state health investigators determined that a nurse failed to check the medication label.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13079133.htm
Pedestrians who feel they're safer jaywalking should think again
By Gary Richards
Mercury News Staff Columnist
Q I suspect you will not get many disagreements on your article about pedestrians and crosswalks. However, I regularly and deliberately jaywalk across a busy road every day, and have good reason for doing so.
Steve Roth
Sunnyvale
A Oh, really?
Q When I cross in the crosswalk with the light, I have to worry about people turning right into my path without stopping at both ends of the crosswalk, and people running the red light turning left. When I use a crosswalk, I'm frequently in near-miss situations from all three. Quite frankly, crossing at the crosswalk was unsafe. Now I cross mid-block and believe I am much safer. I have to worry about traffic only in one direction at a time, and if there's an island in the middle of the road, I safely wait until the entire block is clear of traffic. I do not dispute that many jaywalkers are unsafe. But I firmly believe that under certain circumstances, and with appropriate care, jaywalking can be safer than crosswalks at busy intersections.
Steve Roth
A There is one, huge factor you ignore: Most drivers don't expect to see someone jaywalking. This puts you at great risk.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/13079139.htm
Playing poker for charity shouldn't be a crime
Mercury News Editorial
So, let's get this straight.
Californians are OK with the prospect of eventually becoming the nation's largest gambling venue, with millions of dollars wagered every day at casinos throughout the state.
But if a non-profit, charitable organization wants to hold a small-stakes game in which participants are essentially making a donation to benefit a worthy cause, that's illegal because . . . well . . . someone must have a good reason. It's just that one hasn't surfaced.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/13079155.htm
Glendale News Press
Local group wants to give peace a chance
By Vince Lovato, News-Press and Leader
It is a ritual.
For three years, a group of about 20 has gathered at the corner of Broadway and Brand Boulevard to passively protest the Iraq War.
They don't get arrested. They don't shut down businesses. They ask people to sign pre-addressed postcards asking U.S. Sen. Diane Fienstein to bring the soldiers home.
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Nancy Kent, 58, a retired elementary school teacher, might be called the leader of the group except there isn't one.
"We're just local residents. We're not really an organized group," Kent said. "We're calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and we were calling for it not to start."
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/politics/story/28983p-41960c.html
Governor should read a little history
By Chuck Sambar
The use of the initiative process to effect education reforms is not new in California. In 1998, former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson proposed initiatives for the "Permanent Class-Size Reduction and Educational Opportunities Act of 1998."
Unlike the hollow, shallow and political shenanigans proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Propositions 74, 75 and 76, Wilson was a statesman-leader with bold vision and courage and his proposals reflected a true effort at fundamental and genuine education reform. Schwarzenegger is well advised to read a little history from a distinguished former California governor and learn to deal with substance and quality rather than partisan politics, hostile macho-ism and mediocrity.
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Wilson's 1998 initiatives created a permanent Class-Size Reduction Fund to continuously appropriate state money to fully fund grades kindergarten through third grade at a 20-to-1 pupil-teacher ratio.
Voter approval of that initiative insured that sufficient state funds will always be available to maintain the class-size reduction unless a four-fifths vote by both houses of the Legislature suspend the funding.
Schwarzenegger's Proposition 76 aims to dismantle this substantive education reform and stable funding by giving him the dictatorial power to change school funding.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/story/28703p-41521c.html
Feeling urgency to document history
UCLA professor is honored for his work preserving histories of the Armenian Genocide on film.
By Vince Lovato, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- Time was running out, and at least one man knew what had to be done.
UCLA Professor Richard Hovannisian filmed the interviews of 800 survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in which 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman Turks.
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By the time he started filming in the early 1970s, many of the few survivors were dying.
"We felt that time was running out," said UCLA Professor Rubina Peroomian, who studied under Hovannisian and worked on the project. "I was afraid these stories would be buried with them."
In recognition of his work, the Armenian Educational Foundation presented a $50,000 grant check to Hovannisian's UCLA Armenian Genocide Oral History project in a ceremony before about 100 at the Brandview Collection Thursday.
Hovannisian recorded 1,600 hours of interviews that are in need of modern preservation.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/29040p-41953c.html
Not guilty plea in shooting
Teenager charged with seven counts of attempted murder includes gang enhancement.
By Tania Chatila, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- An 18-year-old accused of attempted murder in connection with a shooting Halloween night, pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday, Glendale court officials said.
Mkrtich Melkonian, of North Hollywood, is charged with seven counts of attempted murder, as is 18-year-old Hrant Barsegyan, also of North Hollywood, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/29039p-41956c.html
Trial set for accused abuser
Woman accused of abusing newborn baby for whom she was babysitting.
By Tania Chatila, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- The trial for a 31-year-old Los Angeles woman accused of abusing a Glendale couple's newborn baby more than a year ago was set Wednesday for Dec. 28, court officials said.
Amy Ennis faces one count of child abuse with a special domestic-violence allegation of causing great bodily injury, Deputy District Atty. Oscar Plascencia said. Her trial will likely not begin until January, he said.
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"The case will start within 10 days of that date, unless there is good cause for continuance," he said. "A lot of things can change between now and the trial date."
Ennis was arrested on Oct. 14, 2004, on suspicion of severely beating now-16-month-old Joseph Van De Yacht between July and October of last year, when she was hired to baby-sit him.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/29038p-41955c.html
Hilton workers file suit
Housekeepers, restaurant server claim failure to pay for overtime and lack of rest breaks.
By Fred Ortega, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- Four Hilton Glendale employees filed a lawsuit against the hotel Thursday, claiming their employer failed to pay overtime and provide adequate meal and rest breaks required by state labor laws.
Attorneys for Linda Orozco, Leticia Ceballos and Cinia Avelar, three housekeepers at the hotel, and restaurant server Juan Mendoza filed the suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court Thursday afternoon. The four are also seeking that the court certify the suit as a class action on behalf of all other Hilton Glendale employees, attorney Ira L. Gottlieb said.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/29037p-41958c.html
A lesson in dialysis
Students learn how to provide patients with dialysis during on-the-job training.
By Tania Chatila, News-Press and Leader
PASADENA -- Despite her experience as a medical assistant, Glendale Community College student Rosie Villon still gets nervous when she monitors patients at the Huntington Dialysis Center in Pasadena.
She often enlists the help and supervision of her teachers from the Glendale College hemodialysis program, of which she is a part.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/29036p-41940c.html
Sonoma Index Tribune
Love Our Libraries hits the mark
By Sierra Jenkins INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 3, 2005 5:55 PM PST
LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST Nancy Heil checks out books to an eager pack of fourth-graders at Prestwood Elementary.
Photo by Robbi Pengelly/Index-Tribune
11.04.05 - The fund-raising bar was sky-high - $130,000 in six weeks to rescue the Valley's school libraries - but the Love Our Libraries campaign has hurdled it with a united community push and a last-minute check of almost $54,000 from an anonymous donor.
Love Our Libraries had raised $75,000, with another $25,000 requested through grants, and was agonizing over whether to restore a few hours right away or hold out for full staffing that wouldn't start until later this year when the anonymous donation came in, according to Jennifer Yankovich, one of Love Our Libraries' founding members.
http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2005/11/03/news/news01.txt
VOMWD ponders new well
By Sandi Hansen INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 3, 2005 5:55 PM PST
11.04.05 - The impact of constructing a new water-supply well in the unincorporated area of Sonoma Valley remains unknown, and some local citizens are feeling uncomfortable with the thought that their private wells might run dry as a result.
More than a dozen residents of Sperring and Felder roads appeared at the Valley of the Moon Water District meeting Tuesday night to question boardmembers and the two consultants who presented a PowerPoint program titled "Why Do We Need Another Well?"
Martin Steinpress, chief hydrogeologist with Brown and Caldwell in Walnut Creek, and Iris Priestaf, president of Todd Engineers in Emeryville, said the Valley can no longer count on district-owned wells and water from the Sonoma County Water Agency to supply all its needs.
http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2005/11/03/news/news02.txt
Private imaging center denied use permit
By Emily Setzer INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 3, 2005 5:55 PM PST
11.04.05 - The Sonoma City Council heatedly debated the development of a private medical-imaging center near Sonoma Valley Hospital Wednesday night, but ended in a tie vote that upheld the planning commission's previous decision to deny the imaging center's use permit.
North Bay Imaging, the company which
proposed the medical imaging center for 210 Perkins St. and their planner, H&H Systems and Design Inc., filed an appeal of the planning commission's August decision.
The planning commission had denied the use permit for the project based on its detrimental economic impact to the hospital, as well as the lack of an environmental impact report and a residential component for the mixed-use property.
http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2005/11/03/news/news03.txt
Denver Post
Dems promise fiscal restraint despite allure of C's windfall
By Jim Hughes
Denver Post Staff Writer
The Democratic majority this winter will adhere to the spending areas spelled out in Tuesday's Referendum C, which authorized a $3.7 billion spending increase over the next five years, party leaders said Thursday.
Republicans say they don't trust Democrats to restrict themselves to spending on K-12 education, higher education and health care. But they will, Democratic Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff said.
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_3180962
Lawmakers caution that Ref. C no pot of gold
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Colorado's top lawmakers have little wiggle room in writing next year's state budget, even though voters this week agreed to let the state keep more taxpayer money over the next five years.
The state barely has enough to prevent deep cuts in existing programs - not a pot of gold that will pay for new programs, said top legislative Democrats a day after reports surfaced of tension over the money.
"I don't want people to have unrealistic expectations about any new programs," said Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver. "The only new programs could be to do things we are already doing in a more efficient way."
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_3180890
Foes of C weigh lawsuit to stop spending
By Jim Hughes
Denver Post Staff Writer
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, was among those celebrating the victory of Referendum C on Tuesday night at the Pinnacle Club. It was backed by 52 percent of voters. (Post / Hyoung Chang)
They lost the fight over Referendum C, but Colorado's small-government activists may not be out of tricks yet, they said Wednesday.
The leaders of the movement are considering their legal options, they said. They could move quickly and seek a court order stopping the legislature from spending any of the $3.7 billion to be generated by the five-year suspension of Taxpayer's Bill of Rights refunds. Or, they could wait until the referendum's statutory fix to TABOR's so-called ratchet effect kicks in, a tweak to the TABOR amendment that critics say will be unconstitutional.
"We're going to have to sit back and decide a strategy," Independence Institute president Jon Caldara said. "Do we try to pre-empt it with an early lawsuit or do we wait until the injury occurs?"
http://www.denverpost.com/localpolitics/ci_3176799
Tourism efforts get tax boost
Voters' OK of a hike in the lodgers' tax will let the Denver visitors bureau compete in the big leagues.
By Julie Dunn
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
With an extra $4.2 million a year, Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau president Rich ard Scharf said he can finally promote Denver as a top-tier tourist and meeting destination.
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3176387
Police likely to ignore pot vote
Officials say most marijuana arrests are made under a state law, not an existing ordinance, so cops will arrest users just as they did before Initiative 100 was approved.
By Christopher N. Osher
..."We've had some silliness," he said. "One man was arrested for trying to sell brownies to a police officer, and someone wanted to host a smoke-in in a park, but for the most part, I haven't seen a drastic increase."
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3176877
Denver weighing switch to voting centers
Denver would join four other Colorado counties - Larimer, Weld, Adams and Otero - in the switch.
By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Instead of going to their usual polling places next year, Denver residents may be headed to super voting centers placed in recreation centers and police stations throughout the city.
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3176496
Funding highways after Ref. D's defeat
The measure to authorize bonds for 55 projects was narrowly rejected. The state can find a funding plan that keeps faith with the voters' decision.
Voters will be gratified to see that Gov. Bill Owens and legislative leaders hit the deck running Wednesday, determined to set priorities that should ensure that the estimated $3.6 billion in additional revenue provided by Referendum C will be spent wisely.
http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_3176078
Lawmakers caution that Ref. C no pot of gold
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Colorado's top lawmakers have little wiggle room in writing next year's state budget, even though voters this week agreed to let the state keep more taxpayer money over the next five years.
The state barely has enough to prevent deep cuts in existing programs - not a pot of gold that will pay for new programs, said top legislative Democrats a day after reports surfaced of tension over the money.
"I don't want people to have unrealistic expectations about any new programs," said Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver. "The only new programs could be to do things we are already doing in a more efficient way."
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_3180890
New rules for off-road vehicles
The U.S. Forest Service's final off-road vehicle rules are well-intended and long overdue, but they will be hard to enforce by an agency already pressed for staff and funds. Colorado could help, however, by granting its outdoors law officers clear authority to enforce the federal regulations.
As the use of off-road and all-terrain vehicles tripled in recent years, there's been an alarming jump in the ecological damage done by careless drivers veering off designated roads and trails.
http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_3180415
Turning wind into hydrogen
A new partnership between Xcel Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden raises an intriguing possibility about America's energy future.
Xcel sells electricity made by wind turbines, and NREL develops cutting-edge "green" energy technologies. Wind energy has stubbornly remained more expensive and less reliable than traditional power sources. A key problem always has been how to store wind energy so it can be used to make electricity at any time.
That puzzle might be solved if Xcel and NREL can engineer affordable ways to make hydrogen from wind turbines. The physics are well known: Wind turbines generate electricity, and electricity is used to break apart water molecules, leaving just oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen can be stored in battery-like fuel cells or burned in combustion engines similar to those that use natural gas or propane. (Despite its reputation, hydrogen isn't more dangerous than other, commonly used flammable fuels such as natural gas, propane and gasoline.)
http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_3167026
Colorado Springs Gazette
High winds cause damage, power outages
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1311823
Winds wreak havoc
Winds caused a tree to fall Thursday and crush two cars in the driveway of Mary Hillmer’s store, Arts Antique Shop, on West Colorado Avenu
Larry Taylor of Greeley left his truck to meet his brother for lunch after high winds forced Taylor and other truckers to pull over near the Interquest Parkway overpass north of Colorado Springs.
A state plow worked to keep blowing sand off Colorado Highway 83 south of Interquest Parkway during high winds Thursday morning.
By ANSLEE WILLETT and DENNIS HUSPENI THE GAZETTE
Wind gusts reaching 84 mph turned parts of El Paso County into a dust bowl Thursday, overturning tractor-trailers, uprooting trees and bursting hundreds of vehicle windows.
There were no reports of serious injuries, authorities said.
Trees slammed into transformers, sparking small fires and knocking out power to traffic signals and about 5,000 customers. Wind snapped at least 29 power poles, tore down fences and flipped trampolines.
Spotters for the National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 60 mph in Black Forest, 74 mph in Colorado Springs and 74 mph in Monument.
The strongest reported gust was 84 mph at the Air Force Academy, where planes were grounded, canceling flight, glider and parachute training for dozens of cadets. But Mark Earle, the Colorado Springs Airport director, said the high winds didn’t affect the airport.
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1311828
China, Vietnam, Japan Report Flu Outbreaks
By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- China reported its fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks, saying Friday that 8,940 chickens died in a northeastern village despite a nationwide effort to contain the virus. The discovery prompted authorities to destroy about 370,000 birds.
Authorities in Japan have detected signs of bird flu at a northern farm and plan to kill 180,000 chickens after they detected antibodies in some for the H5 family of bird flu virus. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is the only one that has spread to humans, has not yet been detected in Japan but the less virulent H5N2 strain hit the country last year.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BIRD_FLU?SITE=COCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-11-04-08-57-24
Libya Reportedly Puts Blogger in Prison
By JASPER MORTIMER
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Libya has sent to prison for 18 months a blogger who criticized the government on the Internet, Human Rights Watch says in a report that inspired a series of Web tributes to the dissident Friday.
A Tripoli court convicted Abdel Raziq al-Mansuri of illegal possession of a handgun and sentenced him to 18 months' imprisonment on Oct. 19, the New York-based rights group said in an e-mail to The Associated Press in Cairo.
"The gun charges are a ruse," said the Middle Eastern director of HRW, Sarah Leah Whitson. "The authorities went after al-Mansuri because they did not like what he wrote."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LIBYA_BLOGGER?SITE=COCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-11-04-08-54-38
Mixed message on budget proposals
By KYLE HENLEY - THE GAZETTE
DENVER - Keep our money, but don’t go into debt.
That’s the morning-after message from voters that Colorado lawmakers and political pundits are divining from Tuesday’s passage of Referendum C but failure of Referendum D at the polls.
The two were pitched to voters as a package that needed to be approved together.
Referendum C allows the state to keep $3.7 billion in surplus tax money over five years and directs it toward education, health care and transportation.
Referendum D, which was rejected by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, would have let the state borrow up to $2.2 billion for highways, school buildings and police and fire pensions.
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1311800&secid=1
Our View - Thursday
The implications
Time will tell if voters’ optimism was justified
Coloradans were in a generous mood Tuesday, when they agreed to allow the state to keep nearly $4 billion in TABOR refunds over the next five years and approved a number of other ballot measures allowing more taxing, more spending and more bonding authority. These yes votes came when voters had every reason to be guarded with their money. But whatever distrust they may harbor about their government, their political leaders and their school district bureaucracies was set aside in a wave of optimistic voting. Whether that trust was well-placed now depends on whether the politicians hold up their end of the bargain and steward these funds wisely.
...“I think this is a victory for fiscal responsibility,” declared Gov. Bill Owens. But we see it differently. Handing nearly $4 billion over to the state isn’t an act of fiscal responsibility; it’s an act of trust on the part of taxpayers. The “victory for fiscal responsibility” will only come in five years, if elected leaders have managed these funds wisely and delivered on their promises. If they don’t, we’ll look back on Tuesday’s vote as an act of folly.
We prefer the less triumphalist tone taken by State Treasurer Mark Hillman, who said that passage of C “presents a challenge to exercise budgetary restraint by proving that the Legislature truly does not view Referendum C as a blank check.” Hillman warns that “nothing guarantees that (refund) revenues will rise to the levels that were forecast,” so the “state should spend cautiously, replenish reserves, and avoid the temptation to build unreasonable expectations for future spending.”
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?secid=13
Needed: political self-discipline
Refil cash reserves, fund infrastructure
November 3, 2005
As movie candidate Robert Redford famously asked after sweeping to victory, "What do we do now?"
The answer supplied by gubernatorial hopefuls in the wake of Referendum C's victory is, more or less, "Let's not spend it all in one place."
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_4207331,00.html
The Hartford Courant
Muslims Celebrate End Of Ramadan
November 4, 2005
By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR, Courant Staff Writer
Thousands of Muslims gathered in Hartford Thursday, in both the Civic Center and the Convention Center, to mark Eid Al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Crowds of families celebrating Eid streamed into both venues, many wearing colorful traditional clothing of India, Africa and the Middle East.
Eid is a day of celebration that ends Ramadan's 30 days of daytime fasting. Eid is also a lunar holiday determined by the sighting of the new moon.
Because the new moon is seen at different times in various parts of the world, the holiday can occur on different days, which almost happened for two groups of Muslims in Hartford.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-eid1104.artnov04,0,978398.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking
School Finance Battle Ahead
Lawsuit To Demand Sharp Spending Hike
November 4, 2005
By ROBERT A. FRAHM And STEPHANIE SUMMERS, Courant Staff Writers
A coalition of municipal officials and educators plans to go to court this month seeking to force Connecticut to dramatically increase spending on education and revamp the way it pays for public schools.
The group says it will file a lawsuit in Superior Court in Hartford Nov. 22, nearly three decades after another suit, Horton vs. Meskill, radically altered Connecticut's school finance system.
The proposed lawsuit comes as Gov. M. Jodi Rell is about to convene a task force to review Connecticut's 15-year-old school funding system, a complicated formula known as the Education Cost Sharing grant, which will distribute more than $1.6 billion to cities and towns this year.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-schoolsuit1104.artnov04,0,189952.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
MassMutual Near Sale Of Asylum Hill Office, Land
City Says Buyer's Priority Should Be Corporate Use
November 4, 2005
By JEFFREY B. COHEN And KENNETH R. GOSSELIN, Courant Staff Writers
A deal to sell the soon-to-be vacant MassMutual property on Garden Street in Hartford is close to being finalized, and city officials are urging the prospective buyer to consider a corporate tenant first - and condominiums second, officials said.
"I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet," said Matt Hennessy, chief of staff for Mayor Eddie A. Perez. "Maybe there was some last minute due diligence, but [two weeks ago] they were very, very close."
The mayor and his staff have met with the potential buyer - who, according to Hennessy, is a New York investor with no significant holdings in Hartford to date - to discuss the building's future.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-massmutual1103.artnov04,0,2024958.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Military Recruits More From Poor And Rural Areas
Increasingly, Jobless Are Targets
November 4, 2005
By ANN SCOTT TYSON, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- As sustained combat in Iraq makes it harder than ever to fill the ranks of the all-volunteer force, newly released Pentagon demographic data show the military is leaning heavily for recruits on economically depressed, rural areas where youths' need for jobs may outweigh the risks of going to war.
More than 44 percent of U.S. military recruits come from rural areas, Pentagon figures show. In contrast, 14 percent come from major cities. Youths living in the most sparsely populated ZIP Codes are 22 percent more likely to join the Army, with an opposite trend in cities. Regionally, most enlistees come from the South (40 percent) and West (24 percent).
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-military1104.artnov04,0,2540159.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld
Payrolls Expand in Oct.; Jobless Rate Dips
10:24 AM EST, November 4, 2005
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON -- America's payrolls grew by a rather tepid 56,000 in October, a sign that the nation's job market is slowly regaining its footing after the beating administered to the Gulf Coast area by Hurricane Katrina. The unemployment rate dipped to 5 percent of the labor force.
The latest snapshot released by the Labor Department on Friday offered fresh insights into the impact of Katrina, the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.
http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/sns-ap-economy,0,2602367.story
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Mourners pay tribute to Rosa Parks
DETROIT, Michigan -- Thousands of mourners packed a Detroit church Wednesday for an emotional tribute to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who changed the country 50 years ago when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man.
About 4,000 people crowded the Greater Grace Temple in Parks' adopted hometown for her funeral, and another 1,000 people sat in an overflow room of the church. Hundreds more lined up outside the building.
The ceremony brought together civil rights giants -- the Revs. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Joseph Lowery -- along with prominent figures such as former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Michigan Rep. John Conyers; Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan; and singer Aretha Franklin.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4762
Video clips from Rosa Parks' funeral
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Video clips from the Rosa Parks funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit:
http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm7103_20051102.htm
Thousands rally to stop the war in 60 cities, hundreds of high schools and over 40 college campuses
Thousands rally across US against Bush policies
By Christine Kearney / Reuters
NEW YORK - Thousands of protesters staged rallies on Wednesday across the United States against the policies of President George W. Bush, including the war in Iraq and response to Hurricane Katrina.
The World Can't Wait organization, a coalition of groups formed recently to stage the rallies, used the anniversary of Bush's re-election to call for his resignation in protests that took place in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4763
South Americans' Discontent Portends a Chilly Reception for Bush
By Monte Reel / Washington Post
BUENOS AIRES -- As President Bush prepares for a visit to South America this week, thousands of people in the region have been preparing to make sure he knows exactly what they think of him.
In Argentina, where Bush will attend a Summit of the Americas conference Friday and Saturday, small bombs have been tossed at several American bank branches and chain stores, and soccer idol Diego Maradona has urged viewers of his popular TV talk show to join him in a protest to "say no to Bush" outside the meeting, being held in the seaside town of Mar del Plata.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4764
Vigil For 2,000 Dead in Iraq Held on Campus
By Maury Hirschkorn
Staff Writer
Holding candles and singing softly, approximately 30 people held a vigil outside the Student Activities Center on the evening of Oct. 27th.
They were marking the 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq since the invasion of that country began in 2003.
“The purpose [of the vigil] was to make people aware that the war is still going on and that people are continuously dying,” said Charlene Obernauer, secretary of the Social Justice Alliance, a campus anti-war, human rights organization.
The Social Justice Alliance organized this vigil and publicized it largely through e-mail.
Most students walking by the vigil glanced at its direction and continuing walking without stopping or making a comment.
People who joined were given a candle to hold.
The people at the vigil were students, professors and others.
Their presence was also a quiet protest to the invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq .
http://sbindependent.org/node/693
City High School Students Stage Walk-Out To Protest Bush Policies
Hundreds of city high school students staged a walkout Wednesday, gathering in Union Square as part of a national day of resistance against the Bush administration.
Some students, most of whom are not even old enough to vote, started walking out of class this morning to show support for the group World Can't Wait. Students from all five boroughs took part in Wednesday’s rally.
The group urged people across the country to stand up against George W. Bush. Many students say the war in Iraq is their main cause for concern.
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=8&aid=54682
A Call To End The War
Demonstrators gather at Simmons' Norwich office to protest, pray
Dana Jensen
During a pause in the reading of the names of the U.S. servicemen and women killed in the Iraq war, Kit Johnson of Stonington listens to the Rev. Carolyn Patierno of the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London address a group of clergy and anti-war protesters gathered outside U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons' Norwich office Tuesday. The organizers billed the event as “Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice.” Similar demonstrations were held outside the state's five other congressional offices.
Dana Jensen
The Rev. Catherine Alder of the First Congregational Church of Lyme pauses after reading 20 names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq during a protest staged in front of the Norwich office of U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, on Tuesday. Local religious leaders and others opposed to the war in Iraq gathered to make a statement against the conflict and to read the names of the 2,000 U.S. servicemen and women who have died there. Similar protests were held in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury.
By PAUL CHOINIERE
Norwich Bureau Chief
Published on 11/2/2005
Norwich— At demonstrations Tuesday outside the state's five congressional offices, including the downtown office of U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, members of the clergy called on Congress to bring an end to the Iraq war and redirect taxpayer money to domestic needs, including hurricane relief.
About 20 demonstrators stood vigil outside Simmons' office at the corner of Main Street and Broadway. As noisy midday traffic rumbled past, speakers took turns reading the names of the more than 2,000 U.S. servicemen and women killed in the Iraq conflict, each name followed by a dirge-like drum beat.
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=960255c8-82a9-44f9-aee2-b815f5868210
Students gather at U of M to protest war
Students from the Twin Cities - and across the nation - walked out of class in protest Wednesday, marking the anniversary of President Bush's election to a second term.
About 1,000 high-school students gathered on the campus of the University of Minnesota to protest the war in Iraq.
"A lot of people feel strongly about it," said Minneapolis South High School freshman Ana McRae. "And (they) want to show what they feel by doing something slightly radical."
Around 100 of her fellow students left South at 10:30 to attend a rally at the University of Minnesota, where students wanted the war in Iraq, and military recruiting in schools, to end.
"It's amazing!" said event organizer Ty Moore, speaking to a crowd of students who gathered on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=110473
Anti-Bush demonstrators march down Market Street
Bay City News
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
San Francisco -- A large crowd of mostly peaceful marchers protesting the Bush administration snarled traffic on San Francisco city streets this afternoon.
While most marchers did not cause problems, police reported that 11 people were arrested for blocking the street and two others were arrested for possessing Molotov cocktails.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at Fifth and Mission Streets, burning the jacket of a police officer.
One officer estimated that a few thousand people were taking part in the protest, which was organized by the group World Can't Wait. The group at one point took up most of a city block.
Police Sgt. Neville Gittens declined to estimate how many marchers participated. Zara Williams, who helped organize the march, said between 3,000 and 4,000 people attended.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/baycitynews/archive/2005/11/02/protest02.DTL
Anti-war, anti-Bush protest draws hundreds to downtown Seattle
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Several hundred protesters filled Pine Street in downtown Seattle today to protest the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's stance on everything from Supreme Court nomination to reproductive rights.
The protest was organized by the Seattle chapter of World Can't Wait, a group started in New York City in June but that leaders say has since spread to more than 60 major cities across the country. High school and college students walked out of class to join the rally, which organizers say is dedicated to ousting President Bush.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002599929_webprotest02.html
Protests Close Streets Near Federal Building
POSTED: 8:42 am PST November 2, 2005
UPDATED: 7:08 pm PST November 2, 2005
LOS ANGELES -- An anti-administration group called on Los Angeles adults and children to skip work or school Wednesday as a mark of protest on the anniversary of President George W. Bush's election to a second term.
In Los Angeles, gatherings were scheduled along Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to the ocean, beginning at noon, according to the group. At 3:45 p.m., a rally and march were scheduled outside the federal building in Westwood, Lee said.
Drivers should expect street closures around the Federal Building in Westwood Wednesday afternoon and evening as demonstrators participate in a nationwide protest against the Bush administration.
Veteran Avenue between Wilshire Boulevard and Ohio Avenue were to be closed to traffic from noon to 10:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
http://www.nbc4.tv/politics/5232449/detail.html
Opposing Rallies on UW Campus
Wed 11/02/2005 -
It started with one group against the war in Iraq, calling for students to walk-out of class in protest. But, another group countered the Anti-War message head on, in the middle of Library Mall.
Just after Noon, both rallies began. The UW student support our troops group started at University Square. Those against President Bush and the war in Iraq started on Bascom Hill and headed into Library Mall. Kent Genis says, "Put it in people's faces, this is an important issue, just because we're not hearing about it constantly doesn't mean it's not real and affecting people's lives." The group gained momentum as community members and other students joined. Just a couple minutes into the peace rally the smaller support our troop group brought their message to counter.
Bob Thelen/College Republican says, "If they're for the troops why are they against them on our campus." Robert Gerndt/Against War says, "I'm a retiree of the Air Force, so I'm very much in support of the troops, but that doesn't mean you have to support Bush." And it wasn't just a message against the President and the war. Genis/Against War says, "Let the military recruiters know they're not welcome on campus." Thelen/Support Troops says, 'It's interesting that these people that preach tolerance here are intolerant of recruiters and ROTC's cadets on this campus."
The Anti-War group ended its rally at the campus Army ROTC building picking that site to show disapproval of UW's military recruitment.
http://www.wkowtv.com/index.php/news/story/p/pkid/22591
Group protests Bush, war
Demonstrators say there are options other than fighting
By Alex Muller
Collegian Staff Writer
About 25 demonstrators gathered at the Allen Street Gates yesterday afternoon to protest the fifth-year anniversary of President Bush's election into the presidency.
Members from the State College Peace Center and the Central Pennsylvania chapter of Veterans For Peace participated in the national movement called "The World Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime" by holding signs with Bush's face behind prison bars sporting the slogan "Impeach Them All" and asking local passers-by to join in their protest.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/11/11-03-05tdc/11-03-05dnews-10.asp
Protesters rally on South Oval
Students and Normanites protested the treatment of detainees in Iraq.
by Meredith Simons
November 02, 2005
Three men knelt on the street in front of Dale Hale. Their bodies were shrouded in sand-colored jumpsuits and burlap sacks covered their heads. The chains around their necks were clipped to black leashes that they held in their hands and offered to passersby.
“Take the leash!” they shouted through the sacks. “Does this make you sick to your stomach? It should, because people are being tortured!”
The startling display of anger at the war in Iraq drew a crowd quickly. The group of protesters, which was made up of sign-wielding students and Norman residents as well as the hooded men, gathered at noon in front of one of OU’s busiest buildings.
http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/02/43699e341739e
Students march in anti-war protest
Demonstration coincides with rallies nationwide
By: Chris Miles
Issue date: 11/3/05 Section: Campus News
Media Credit: Keith Smiley
Anti-war demonstrators carry a flag-draped coffin by rows of flags in front of the White Hall Classroom Building yesterday. The students were taking part in a rally to protest the more than 2,000 deaths of U.S. soldiers in the war in Iraq.
Media Credit: Keith Smiley
Students carry a flag-draped coffin from the W.T. Young library to White Hall Classroom Building yesterday as part of an anti-war demonstration.
Four anti-war demonstrators started on a march from the doors of the W.T. Young Library, holding a mock coffin with an American flag draped over the top. By the time the group reached its destination at the front of the White Hall Classroom Building, it had grown to more than 20 people.
http://www.kykernel.com/media/paper305/news/2005/11/03/CampusNews/Students.March.In.AntiWar.Protest-1043675.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.kykernel.com
Naked protesters bare opinions against Bush
By Dan O'Brien, Collegian Staff
November 03, 2005
The air was brisk yesterday at the Amherst Town Common, but that did not stop 16 people from removing their clothes to protest the presidential administration and the war in Iraq.
The protest, termed the "Naked Anti-Bush Demonstration," was a grassroots effort by people in the Five College area to stand against the policies of President Bush's administration.
Samantha Goldman and Usher Shrair are students at Mt. Holyoke College and members of the World Can't Wait group, which strongly opposes the Bush administration. The two women were the main speakers at the event, which mostly focused on the United States occupation in Iraq and the Christian ideologies of the administration.
http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/03/436985ad9f3e4
Students Get Crash Course in Protest
By Ann K. Williams
Staff Writer
November 3 -- Santa Monica’s teenagers gleefully took to the streets Wednesday afternoon as more than 200 middle and high school students ditched school to rally against the War in Iraq on the Third Street Promenade.
While the day off from school and work was part of a protest organized by anti-war groups across the nation, many of the local teens didn’t know about it until their parents got an email from Santa Monica High School Principal Ilene Straus Tuesday night.
In it, she explained that students who left campus at noon would have to hand in their IDs to security on the way out and face Saturday school detention as a consequence.
More than 100 SAMOHI students called her bluff as they ran across Pico at 6th Street, whooping and hollering with excitement. Passing cars honked as the teens chanted “1-2-3-4 we don’t want you’re f**king war.”
http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2005/November-2005/11_03_05_Students_Get_Crash_Course.htm
Protest calls for Bush to resign
UA students and Tucsonans march down the Fourth Avenue underpass during ‘The World Can’t Wait’ protest, one of more than 200 protests that occurred nationwide yesterday. Protesters assembled at the Alumni Plaza and marched to the intersection of South Church Avenue and West Congress Street, where they held a rally.
By Holly Wells and Laura Ory
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Print this
Students, Tucsonans march downtown
Students were urged to drop their pens and ditch their plans yesterday afternoon to march in protest of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
About 60 students and Tucsonans gathered on the Alumni Plaza and marched to South Church Avenue and West Congress Street in protest against the Bush regime.
Protesters said they were upset about several of Bush’s actions including those relating to Iraq, women’s rights, the Patriot Act and the relief response to Hurricane Katrina.
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/98/213/01_1.html
A tremendous first step...
November 2 marked a tremendous first step torward forcing Bush to step down and changing the whole direction of society. There were convergences from big cities to small towns, determined high school and campus walk-outs, prominent voices speaking out, and all this was covered in the major media. This powerful day of resistance reflected the Call for the World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Check out all the reports from Nov. 2nd, and send us more, as we are seeking to get as full a picture as we can. We will also be posting speeches from rallies across the country as they come in. And, we urge everyone who took part in actions on Nov. 2nd, or just heard about this movement for the first time to become an organizer. Hook up with your local committee , or start one where you are. Raise money so we can sustain this enormous effort. And start organizing for the next step , drowning out Bush's State of the Union speech in January with massive protest, and demanding that Bush "step down, and take your program with you."
Reports from Nov. 2:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=40&Itemid=90
Initial Report from NYC
More than 2000 people – over half high school students from throughout the five boroughs, gathered at Union Square to launch the movement to drive out the Bush regime. Wearing “Resist or Die” t-shirts, and covered in stickers, students were the clear majority. Many had to overcome real obstacles and repression to get there; some had to climb down fire escapes, ‘bumrush’ principals who wanted all the students to sign out, so the school could call their parents; reports came in of students getting picked up by cops and piled into vans; some traveled as far away as Princeton, NJ, and the top of the Bronx. Some came with teachers. As they streamed
into this main part of the city, the rebel music of Outernational reverberated off
the buildings.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=33&Itemid=86
San Francisco Report There were 3-4,000 people at the count at the Civic Center rally. 2,000 people at the beginning of the march. There was major participation by high school students. At least 15 high schools participated - not just Berkeley and San Francisco, but also Union City, Lafayette, and other areas. Some schools authorities said students could go, but at schools like Oakland High and Oakland Tech, students had to climb fences to get out. 200 or more Berkeley High students came, along with UC Berkeley students.
The march was very high energy and militant. At the end part of march down Market St (the main street through San Francisco), police lined both sides of the street to keep people from joining. Hundreds joined the march anyway, but probably many more would have without the heavy police presence that made the march look like an “illegal” march.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=36&Itemid=87
Report From Los Angeles
Determined to Drive out the Bush Regime, thousands of high school students walked out of schools all over L.A. county today and made their way to World Can't Wait convergence points all along Wilshire Blvd. Many of them risked suspensions, expulsions, and even arrest, while some had to break out of locked down campuses and past school administrators, locked school gates, and police threats.
At a rally at the Westwood Federal Building, thousands of people crowded the lawn in front of the stage, stirred by the words and performances of Bianca Jagger, Rickie Lee Jones, Culture Clash and others. The rally was followed by a spirited march of 2000-2500 people through Westwood Village, where they were warmly greeted by onlookers.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=34&Itemid=88
Colombia College 11am: The front lobby of the school had been turned into a sign-making operation – neon green attached to sticks. People gathered, a bullhord started listing the crimes and atrocities of this regime. Suddenly a cheer went up as people arrived in bunch – walking out of several classrooms to join in. Off we went, about 200, loud, across time for the main Chicago convergence – the buildings echoed with “The World Can't Wait—Drive out the Bush Regime” and “Join Us!”
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=198&Itemid=85
Report from Atlanta
500 to 600 people gathered in Woodruff Park downtown for the 1 PM rally. The crowd was mainly college and high school students. At least 7 high schools and 1 middle school had walkouts. The MC's of the rally were two students, one from Georgia State University and one from Spelman College, both of whom introduced themselves as having been activists for a whole 2 months! The first part of the rally was high school and middle schools students coming up to talk about why they came and what happened at the walkouts. At one high school, the administration had called an "intruder alert" at 10:45 AM, which means all the doors were shut and no one was allowed to leave their classrooms. The walkout had been scheduled for 11 AM. The "alert" was over at 11:15. One student walked out during the alert; others left when it was over. At another school, students were threatened with suspension and not being allowed to graduate.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=37&Itemid=84
Item Title
Hits
Arizona, Phoenix
365
Arizona, Tucson
105
California, Berkeley
95
California, San Antonio
19
California, San Diego
69
Colorado, Boulder
34
Florida, Ft. Lauderdale
244
Florida, Orlando
36
Hawai'i - Honolulu
313
Illinois, Batavia
290
Illinois, Oak Park
55
Illinois, Peoria
37
Massachusetts - Amherst
398
Michigan - Detroit
205
Michigan, Ann Arbor
68
Michigan, Detroit
357
Michigan, Kalamazoo
327
Minnesota, Minneapolis
348
Missiouri, Springfield
294
North Carolina - Boone
310
North Carolina, Boone
281
North Carolina, Greensboro
65
Ohio - Cleveland
395
Ohio, Cincinnati high school
27
Ohio, Columbus
168
Ohio, Ohio University
321
Oklahoma - University of Oklahoma
164
Oklahoma, Oklahoma University
57
Oklahoma, Tulsa
240
Oregan, Medford
84
Oregon, Hood River
40
Oregon, Portland
439
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
416
Rhode Island, Westerly
36
Tennesee, Chattanooga
154
Texas - Houston
331
Texas, Austin
103
Texas, San Antonio
94
Virginia, Hampton University
195
Washington DC
420
Washington, Anacortes
211
Washington, Seattle
178
Wisconsin, Eau Claire
29
Wisconsin, Madison
236
Wyoming, Jackson Hole
61
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=12&id=38&Itemid=94
Statement and Reading of Eve Ensler Poem by Senator Tom Duane
Kathy and Henry Chalfant Present a Statement from Gore Vidal
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=39&Itemid=91
November 2nd Statement
We are serving notice today that George W. Bush MUST STEP DOWN, GET OUT AND TAKE HIS PROGRAM WITH HIM! And we are further serving notice that this January we intend to make this demand resound throughout the country.
We remember how Bush used his State of the Union in 2003 to make his lying case for the war against Iraq. We know that he will want to use it this year to lay out his plans for another year of his literally horrific agenda and set the political terms for the whole country.
But imagine this:
a movement spreading in the next two months that demands that . . . BUSH STEP DOWN.
A movement growing, getting more organized, reaching deeper into the country and reverberating around the world with the simple phrase that . . . BUSH STEP DOWN.
A movement that, as Bush steps to the podium, politically drowns out his address with the simple demand that . . . BUSH STEP DOWN.
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=148&Itemid=93
National Guard is short on gear
By Philip Dine / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
National Guard units in Illinois and Missouri are underequipped across the board, from vehicles to radios to night-vision devices, according to internal military figures.
While Guard units' supplies are below full strength nationwide, as shown by a recent government study, military data on individual states paint a particularly stark picture for Illinois and Missouri.
The equipment shortage puts the states in a more vulnerable position in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack and makes it more difficult for reservists to properly train - whether for domestic emergencies or overseas deployment - political officials and Guard members say.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4772
Family Loses Home To Katrina, Son To The War In Iraq
WLOX-TV
Elaine Oneto was trying to rebuild her own life after Hurricane Katrina when she was informed her soldier son had lost his in Iraq. Now, coping with the loss of her home is taking a back seat to a new challenge - helping make a future for three young children who lost their father.
1st Lt. Robert C. Oneto-Sikorski of Bay St. Louis was on a foot patrol near al Haswah, in an area west of Baghdad, on Monday when he was killed by a roadside bomb, military officials said. The news came at a time when the National Guard soldier's family was reeling from the Aug. 29 hurricane.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4773
Iraqi Group Claims Downing of U.S. Copter
By Thomas Wagner / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday claimed to have shot down a U.S. Marine Super Cobra attack helicopter that crashed in a militant stronghold west of Baghdad the day before, killing its two crew members. The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.
Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier died Thursday when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, the military said. The killing raised to at least 2,037 the number of U.S. military service members who have died since the Iraq conflict began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4774
IS RESULT OF WAR IN IRAQ WORTH ITS COSTS?
Yes
Now 31%
10/2005 32%
No
Now 64%
10/2005 64%
Moreover, Americans do not think U.S. efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq are going well. 57 percent think things are going badly for the U.S. in Iraq right now, while 40 percent say things are going well for the U.S.
As for Iraq's future, the public remains divided on whether Iraq will ever become a stable democracy. 48 percent think that will never happen, but about as many think it will. Most of those who foresee a stable democracy in Iraq say it will take longer than a year or two for that to occur.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/02/opinion/polls/main1005327.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories
Cheney Approval Nearing Rock Bottom at 19%
Vice President Cheney seems to have brushed off the felony charges against his most senior aide:
The criminal indictment of the vice president’s chief of staff, a rare moment in White House history, does not appear to have derailed Dick Cheney’s career — or even his routine.
The vice president has replaced the aide, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, with two other longtime assistants and seems prepared to continue his role as a central player in the Bush presidency, particularly on foreign policy and the Iraq war.
But the American people haven’t:
Vice President Cheney has never been as popular as the president, but his favorable rating is down nine points this year to just 19 percent.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/03/cheney-19/
South Americans' Discontent Portends a Chilly Reception for Bush
By Monte Reel / Washington Post
BUENOS AIRES -- As President Bush prepares for a visit to South America this week, thousands of people in the region have been preparing to make sure he knows exactly what they think of him.
In Argentina, where Bush will attend a Summit of the Americas conference Friday and Saturday, small bombs have been tossed at several American bank branches and chain stores, and soccer idol Diego Maradona has urged viewers of his popular TV talk show to join him in a protest to "say no to Bush" outside the meeting, being held in the seaside town of Mar del Plata.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4769
City Council votes 8-1 to pull out of Iraq
By Phillip Reese / Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento City Council called Tuesday night for the "rapid and comprehensive withdrawal of United States military personnel and bases from Iraq," citing the financial and human costs of the war on local resources. The resolution, sponsored by council members Lauren Hammond and Ray Tretheway, puts Sacramento on a short but growing list of cities nationwide pressing for a quick withdrawal. Chicago's council recently approved a similar measure. San Francisco made the same call a year ago. And dozens of towns in Vermont have called for a withdrawal.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4768
Libby Pleads Not Guilty in CIA Leak Case
By Pete Yost / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff pleaded not guilty Thursday in the CIA leak scandal, marking the start of what could be a long road to a trial in which Cheney and other top Bush administration officials could be summoned to testify.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby entered the plea in front of U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a former prosecutor who has spent two decades as a judge in the nation's capital.
"With respect, your honor, I plead not guilty," Libby told the judge.
Libby, who is recovering from a foot injury, leaned his crutches against a podium from which lawyers normally question witnesses or address the court. He stood with his newly expanded legal team at the table reserved for the defense.
"He wants to clear his good name, and he wants a jury trial," one of Libby's new lawyers, prominent trial attorney Ted Wells, said later outside the courthouse.
During the 10-minute arraignment, Walton set Libby's next court appearance for Feb. 3 and learned from the lawyers they had no idea when they would be ready for trial.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald estimated it would take two weeks for the government to present its case against Libby, and the timing would depend on pretrial motions by his attorneys.
William Jeffress, one of the lawyers Libby hired this week to bolster his defense team, told the judge, "It may be a little early" to predict when they would be ready for trial. Jeffress said several First Amendment and national security issues would have to be resolved by the court before a trial could be held.
Among the issues is whether journalists will be compelled to testify during the trial and how quickly Libby's lawyers would receive security clearances so they can review classified documents that might prove useful in his defense.
Libby signaled his determination to fight the charges after Friday's grand jury indictment, and in the past few days hired Jeffress and Wells, two well-known defense lawyers, to assist in his defense.
Wells won acquittals for former Agriculture Secretary Michael Espy and former Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan. He is a partner at the New York-based firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Jeffress is from the firm Baker Botts, where Bush family friend and former Secretary of State James A. Baker is a senior partner. Jeffress has won acquittals for public officials accused of extortion, perjury, money laundering, and vote-buying, his firm's Web site says.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4767
Hadley should join Libby. By all means.
Hadley Says He Misses Libby As Colleague
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's national security adviser said Wednesday that indicted White House aide I. Lewis Libby is "a fine person" whom he misses both as a colleague and a friend.
Stephen Hadley said the charges against Libby would not undercut Bush's credibility as he meets with Latin American leaders in Argentina this weekend and travels to Brazil and Panama.
"The president makes foreign policy," Hadley said. "And it is the president who is going on this trip and he will be bringing his foreign policy with him."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4775
The True Cost of War
A message from Cindy Sheehan
This immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq has cost the world so much. George and his reckless war of choice have cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars that could be better spent at home. Judging from Katrina, Iraq has cost our country much of its security. It has cost the US any good standing we enjoyed in the world community. It cost America the post 9/11 good will from almost the entire world. We Americans are the laughing stock of the world community. Not only is our callous and careless leadership disdained, but we the people are scorned because we "re"-elected George for a 2 nd term and not only that, we are allowing him to continue to mis-lead our country into ruin.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=533
continued ...
Friday, November 04, 2005
This isn't a good depiction of the location of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. It actually straddles both the USA and Canadian borders. However, this shows a location of the reserve. The infrastructure costs alone for oil procurement will never return a dividend to reduce the cost of gasoline to the American consumer. This is just a bad idea and with the cost of infrastructure in the year 2005 it's a bad idea getting worse. It will never return benefit to this country to the degree everyone is hoping it will.
The Beauty of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
The Canadians don't want the drilling in a sensitive part of the world.
U.S. Senate backs oil drilling in Alaskan refuge
CTV.ca News Staff
A proposal that would have protected the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling has been voted down by the U.S. Senate.
An amendment brought forth by Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell proposed killing plans to open up the Alaska wilderness to drilling. However, it was voted down 51-48.
Canada opposes such drilling, arguing that it threatens the refuge's wildlife, including the migrating Porcupine River caribou herd. It migrates into Yukon and helps feed the Yukon's Gwich'in First Nation.
Environment Minister Stephane Dion said that Canada will continue to press its case. A 1987 agreement between the two countries states they're supposed to refrain from activities that could damage the caribou herd or its habitat.
"This is a sad day but its only one stage in the process," Larry Bagnell, parliamentary secretary to Canada's Natural Resources minister, told the Canadian Press.
Prime Minister Paul Martin has voiced his opposition to the plan -- most recently in early October, to a room full of Wall Street power brokers during a one-day blitz in New York.
Martin said it doesn't make sense to risk damage to the Arctic for a minimal amount of oil. He said Canada's oil sands and hydroelectric resources have the potential to cover for what could be produced in the Arctic.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the refuge may contain enough oil to supply the United States for 16 months.
Morning Papers - continued
The Gulf News
Madrid bombing mastermind likely in custody of Pakistani authorities
By Amir Mir, Correspondent
Lahore: Pakistani security and intelligence agencies reportedly have the alleged mastermind of the March 2004 Madrid bombings in their custody, a senior intelligence official told Gulf News.
Syrian national Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, who carries a US reward of $5 million on his head, is accused of playing a major role in the attacks on four commuter trains that killed around 200 people.
He is believed to be a key member of the Al Qaida network in Europe.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=190191
Various nationalities celebrate Eid in their own special way
By Nissar Hoath and Nina Muslim, Staff Reporters
Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Some danced and sang, some thronged parks and others stayed with friends and family, sharing special moments and lip-smacking cuisine.
The day began in Abu Dhabi with Eid congregations in the morning, followed by special prayers for regional and international peace as well as for prosperity for the country and the world.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=190164
Kuwaitis fly home from Guantanamo
Reuters
Kuwait City: Five Kuwaitis who had been held in Guantanamo Bay for three years were flying home where they will be tried in a local court, a representative of the detainees said yesterday.
The five were among a dozen Kuwaitis imprisoned at the US military base in Cuba during the 2001 US-led war to oust Al Qaida from Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.
Khalid Al Odah, Chairman of the Families of Kuwaiti Detainees at Guantanamo, said two of the five prisoners were in very bad health, adding that they were expected to arrive in Kuwait late last night or this morning.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190140
Mogadishu revels in goodwill and toy guns
Reuters
Mogadishu: Africa's most lawless city was awash yesterday with guns toy guns, that is as Mogadishu staged a rare moment of peace, gift-giving and goodwill to mark the end of Ramadan.
Children running through the city's battle-scarred streets replayed the clan fights of their elders, cocking toy firearms they had received in honour of Eid Al Fitr.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190047
Toy gun toting Palestinian shot at
Reuters
Jenin: Israeli soldiers shot and critically wounded a 13-year-old Palestinian carrying a toy weapon in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
The Israeli army said troops had mistaken him for a gunman.
The shooting, during an Israeli raid to detain suspected Palestinian militants, came amid the worst surge of violence since a truce was agreed nine months ago.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190139
Playing to the gallery or playing with fire?
By Pascal Boniface, Special to Gulf News
By declaring that "Israel should be wiped off the map", Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have crossed the line.
Not only with regard to Israel, but also with respect to the whole of the Middle East where such comments can only add fuel to fire.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190058
Actions hurt a lot more than words
By Manal Alafrangi, Staff Writer
Last week, the UN Security Council met in a special session and issued a strong condemnation of the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel.
In the same week, Israeli occupying forces launched more than 13 raids in Gaza resulting in the death of at least four innocent Palestinian civilians.
No meeting took place by the Security Council to condemn or even discuss this.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190057
UK soldiers cleared of Iraqi teen's murder
Agencies
London: Seven British soldiers were acquitted on Thursday of charges of beating an innocent Iraqi teenager to death with rifle butts.
A military court in eastern England ordered the "not guilty" verdicts against the seven because of sufficient evidence against them, the Ministry of Defence said.
The defendants, four serving soldiers and three former soldiers, were accused of killing 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah during a clash in a village near the southern city of Basra in 2003.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189981
Iran grants access to military site
Agencies
Vienna/Paris: Iran granted UN nuclear inspectors access to a high-security military site as part of efforts to avoid referral to the Security Council, the agency said yesterday.
However, Tehran has also told the IAEA that it will soon resume converting uranium into a gas that can be enriched either to generate energy or produce nuclear weapons, one of the diplomats said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189902
Tehran set to recall 40 envoys in major diplomatic shake-up
Agencies
Tehran: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has replaced top Iranian ambassadors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United Nations in Geneva.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President
The senior diplomats replaced were involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme under former leader Mohammad Khatami, the BBC reported.
Analysts for the BBC say the move could be a “tough new approach on [Iran’s] stalled nuclear issue” and may cause concern in Western capitals.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189967
Abdullah seeks Bush help for release of Saddam brother
Agencies
Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has asked US President George W. Bush to release Saddam Hussain's half brother on humanitarian grounds.
King Abdullah had sent a letter to Bush asking him to release Barzan Ebrahim Al Tikriti because he is suffering from an advanced stage of cancer, Al Riyadh daily reported on Wednesday quoting unidentified sources
The monarch was making the "humanitarian (request) because of (Barzan's) critical health condition, as he is suffering from a deteriorating cancer illness," it said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189965
Contradiction after contradiction after contradiction ...
Car bomb outside Shiite mosque kills 23
Reuters
Karbala: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in central Iraq killed at least 23 people and wounded 46 yesterday, targeting Iraqis on one of the last days of Ramadan.
Earlier several roadside bombs and shootings killed at least a dozen people, mostly in Baghdad, and a US helicopter crashed in Ramadi in the west of the country where US forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency that shows no signs of abating.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189879
BUT ACCORDING TO USA OFFICIALS ….
Life beginning to improve in Iraq, says top US officer
By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Iraqis are beginning to turn on their country's insurgents and security is improving as a result, a top US officer told Gulf News on Wednesday.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189878
Hamas to end truce with Israel as violence escalates
Agencies
Gaza City : Rocket fire at Israel from Gaza resumed on Wednesday as Hamas said it would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce, which expires at the end of the year.
The truce was brokered by Egypt which is expected to invite militant groups, including Hamas, to Cairo in coming weeks to discuss extending the agreement.
Israel killed a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank after a soldier was shot dead and militants fired rockets into Israel on Wednesday in the worst week of violence to threaten a truce deal since a Gaza pullout.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189973
Syria says it can cope with any sanctions
Agencies
London/Moscow: Syria is confident it could cope with any sanctions against Damascus over the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, its deputy prime minister said in comments published yesterday.
Speaking to Britain's Financial Times, Abdullah Al Dardari said Syria had set up an economic crisis team to plan for "every scenario".
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189884
San Francisco Chronicle
Visit by bluebloods has a green theme
Prince Charles, wife plan stops in Marin, Berkeley and S.F.
England's Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will arrive in San Francisco Friday night for a meticulously choreographed four-day visit that combines the earthy with the glitzy -- organic farmers with power brokers.
It will be the first British royal visit to the Bay Area since Prince Andrew was here for several days in 1997.
Amid gawking and gossip and layer upon layer of security, the royal couple will take in a small country church in Marin County, a zany musical revue, San Francisco's Ferry Building and a model homeless center in the heart of the Tenderloin.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/PRINCE.TMP
Overhaul of prison health system delayed
Court hires search firm after original effort can't find a manager for struggling system
A court-ordered takeover of California's dangerously mismanaged prison health care system could take months longer than expected despite a federal judge's insistence last summer that receivership was urgently needed to save lives.
The judge, Thelton Henderson of federal district court in San Francisco, had insisted in a dramatic series of hearings that, because of inadequate medical care, inmates were dying needlessly at the rate of one every week or so, and he ordered immediate action.
But the process has been more challenging than expected, several people involved in the search for a receiver said -- yet another sign of the extraordinary depth of the problems in the state's vast prison medical system.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/BAG6CFHV8U1.DTL
Brown Discussed Wardrobe During Katrina
(11-03) 16:09 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Newly-released e-mails show former FEMA director Michael Brown discussing his wardrobe during the crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina.
A House panel has released 23 pages of internal e-mail offering additional evidence of a confused and distracted government response to Katrina, particularly from Brown, the former head of Federal Emergency Management Agency, at critical moments after the storm hit.
The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w094831S76.DTL
Parents should be notified
THE LOGIC doesn't work. By definition, minors who get pregnant are less mature than those who do not -- in general, they belong to the subset of teens who have sex but don't use birth control at all or correctly, as opposed to teens who either use birth control consistently or abstain from having sex. So it doesn't make sense to have laws, like those in California, that give the least responsible teens more rights than are accorded a responsible teen who wants a tattoo.
Still, I seriously considered voting against Proposition 73, a constitutional amendment that would require parental notification or a judge's waiver before a minor has an abortion.
I would not support an initiative that made a pregnant teen carry an unwanted child. Prop. 73 does not require parental consent. An earlier law requiring parental consent was overturned by the California Supreme Court, thus this measure requires only that doctors notify a parent of a pending abortion, without requiring parental consent, unless a judge grants a waiver.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKD61.DTL
Bird Flu in Asia Could Kill 3 Million
By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:10 PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) --
The Asian Development Bank projected Thursday that a bird flu pandemic in Asia could kill 3 million people, cause economic losses of up to nearly $300 billion and possibly push the world into a recession. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would likely be hit hardest in the event of an outbreak, the report said.
The bank outlined two potential scenarios, both assuming a pandemic would last about a year, would cause 20 percent of the region's population to fall ill and would kill 0.5 percent of them — or 3 million people.
In the first scenario, where an outbreak seriously affects economic demand for six months, Asia could suffer $99.2 billion in lost consumer spending, trade, services and investment — equivalent to a contraction of 2.3 percentage points in regional gross domestic product.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/11/03/financial/f141024S95.DTL
House Vote Counters Eminent Domain Measure
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:03 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the sanctity of the home, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.
The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in June, recognized the power of local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue. The decision drew criticism from private property, civil rights, farm and religious groups that said it was an abuse of the Fifth Amendment's "takings clause." That language provides for the taking of private property, with fair compensation, for public use.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w154446S12.DTL
Sailors Prepare for Around-The-World Trip
By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:36 PST SANXENXO, Spain (AP) --
Fifty-foot waves, icebergs, exhaustion, savage weather. For 36,000 miles, crews in the Volvo Ocean Race will face all that the world's oceans can offer. The 10 sailors on each of the seven yachts begin their seven-month, around-the-world voyage with preliminary races Saturday.
They'll be soaked and hammered by waves that seem like car crashes and struggle for catnaps in the din of a tiny cabin.
"Everyone here is an adrenaline junkie," American sailor George Peet said. "It's only cold and wet. It's pretty minor suffering when you look at the best sailing in the world."
The crews from six nations — the United States, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia — begin with port racing off this small town on Spain's northwest coast. The first of nine offshore legs starts Nov. 12 from nearby Vigo and ends in South Africa.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/sports/s143644S75.DTL
Top Bush aides privately doubtful about Rove's future
Jim VandeHei, Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Washington -- Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.
If Rove stays, which colleagues say remains his intention, he may at a minimum have to issue a formal apology for misleading colleagues and the public about his role in conversations that led to the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, according to senior Republican sources familiar with White House deliberations.
While Rove faces doubts about his White House status, there are new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy from Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame leak. The prosecutor spoke this week with the attorney for Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about his client's telephone conversations with Rove before and after Plame's identity became publicly known because of anonymous disclosures by White House officials, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/MNGU4FIAOG1.DTL
Homosexual Kiss Causes Stir on Brazil TV
By MICHAEL ASTOR, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:45 PST RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) --
Brazilian TV is no stranger to scandal, but Friday night's final installment of the TV Globo telenovela "America," which may air a scene involving a kiss between two men, has created more than the usual stir.
Fans across the nation are eagerly waiting to see whether Junior, the son of a powerful ranch owner will go so far as to kiss, Zeca, one of the hired hands.
If he does, it would mark the first time two men have exchanged a homosexual kiss on Brazilian television.
"I think this is a very significant moment in Brazilian history. The gay movement has exploded and there's a real shift in people's understanding of homophobia. The media is finally catching up," James Green, author of "Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil," said in telephone interview from Rhode Island.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/entertainment/e111316S32.DTL
Where Are The Gay Pro Athletes?
No, the WNBA doesn't count. What about the NFL? The NBA? What about the big, macho men?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
You know they're out there. The gay pro male athletes, grunting and sweating and spitting and running and crashing and hurling, right now, acting all manly and tough and rugged and heroic on the field or on the court.
And they're signing autographs and getting themselves all beloved by largely homophobic 'Murkin men and swooning 'Murkin boys and even handfuls of women as they jam the secret of their sexuality way, way down and go on raking in their millions, leading their lives of quiet, albeit loaded, desperation.
Do the math, baby: There are 25 players on a major league baseball team roster, and there are 30 teams. That's a total of 750 spittin', groin-scratchin' men. For the NBA, it's 12 players per, across 30 teams, totaling 360 really tall dudes who can no longer wear excess bling. For the NFL, the numbers shoot way up: about 45 players each, across 32 teams, totaling nearly 1,440 hulking hunks of pummeled meat.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/11/02/notes110205.DTL
EDITORIAL
Beyond the indictments
Thursday, November 3, 2005
THE WHITE HOUSE had hoped to change the subject after Friday's indictment of the vice president's chief of staff showed that the effort to silence critics of the flawed prewar intelligence went to the highest levels of government.
To their credit, Senate Democrats this week kept the focus on the central question: Did the Bush administration intentionally mislead the nation into war with its now-discredited claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid drew heavy flak from the ruling Republicans for using a parliamentary maneuver Tuesday to bring the Senate into closed session to discuss the progress -- or lack thereof -- of its own investigation into the matter.
The Republicans tried to dismiss the closed session as a partisan publicity stunt, but there is no issue at hand that is more critical to this administration's credibility and this nation's international standing.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKDE1.DTL
Bush's Ratings Still Sink Over War, Court
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:19 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
President Bush's job approval has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency amid worries over the Iraq war, a fumbled Supreme Court nomination, the indictment of one White House aide and uncertainty about another.
Concerned that the president has lost his footing, some influential Republicans are urging Bush to shake up his staff and bring in new blood.
A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. About 59 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved.
The intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42 percent now saying they "strongly disapprove" of how Bush is handling his job — twice as many as the 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w141504S06.DTL
This is a couple of years in the offing. A lot can happen and the people of Alaska aren't really supportive of this measure. This is typical of this 'throw away' administration. They throw off all these federal regulations that no one wants to have destroyed so nothing is ever acted on. A lot of businesses receiving tax cuts and monies poured on them are looking at their infrastructure and not doing much with DC's measures. Businesses have employees and live in communities, they still have a lot to answer to regardless the deregulation of the federal laws. It's rather interesting actually.
Oil drilling in refuge a step closer
Senate refuses to keep home to Arctic wildlife free of wells, ending decades-long debate
Washington -- The Senate rejected a last-ditch effort by Democrats on Thursday to stop plans to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moving closer to ending one of the most heated environmental disputes of the past quarter century.
By a 51-48 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stripped a provision allowing drilling in the Alaskan refuge from the huge budget reconciliation bill.
"It's the beginning of the end of the opposition" to drilling, said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I think we're going to get it -- finally. This giant resource is going to be developed."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a longtime opponent of drilling, said of the vote: "The Republican Senate has shown its true colors -- it is clear by their overwhelming support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that they have no respect for the environment."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/REFUGE.TMP
This is an example of the 'give away and take back' efforts going on. If the aire is found to be fouled by efforts elsewhere then they permission to exploit natural resources will be on hold anyway. Then there is Canada. They aren't happy about the change in regime in DC. So, regardless of the activism of this regime in DC on a Greed Agenda there is a lot in the way of any of these initiatives being carried out. The federal government is only one layer of authority.
Senate approves funds for cleaning San Joaquin Valley Air
(11-03) 16:43 PST Fresno, Calif. (AP) --
Federal lawmakers on Thursday approved funding for research meant to reduce the San Joaquin Valley's long-standing air pollution problem.
The final version of the agriculture appropriations bill included $401,000 earmarked for studying pollution coming from farms and dairies, and to find cost-effective ways to combat it, officials said.
Farming is the biggest industry in the area, which is plagued by double-digit unemployment. But the valley also has the country's most persistent air pollution. Officials with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District say farming is responsible for much of the smog and the airborne specks that contribute to heart attacks and other fatal illnesses in the area.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/state/n164303S16.DTL
Senate OKs Bill Cutting $36B Over 5 Years
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
(11-03) 17:55 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved the first cuts since 1997 to benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and farm subsidies, giving Republicans a modest victory against ever-rising government spending.
The bill, passed by a 52-47 vote, makes mild cuts to the health care programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, but leaves the food stamp program untouched.
The measure also permits exploratory oil drilling in an Alaskan wilderness area. Five Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate who oppose the drilling voted against the bill.
"The Senate took an important step forward in cutting the deficit," President Bush said in a statement issued in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where he is attending a conference. "Congress needs to send me a spending-reduction package this year to keep us on track to cutting the deficit in half by 2009."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w151735S07.DTL
This is only one victory as the man was only on Vioxx for two months and the threshold for death is 16 - 18 months. It's sounds a little odd to me. But there are a lot more cases for Merck to weed through, in the hundreds if not thousands.
Merck Gets Victory in Second Vioxx Case
By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:07 PST Atlantic City, N.J. (AP) --
Merck & Co. won a major victory in the battle over its Vioxx painkiller Thursday when a New Jersey state jury found that the drugmaker properly warned consumers about the risks of the medication. The finding means Merck won't be held liable for the 2001 heart attack suffered by a man taking Vioxx.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/financial/f101956S41.DTL
New Zealand Herald
Pania statue found
04.11.05 2.15pm
The statue of Pania of the Reef, which was stolen from Napier's foreshore last month, has been found.
Napier police said they had located the statue at a residential address in Napier and were interviewing a person.
The life-sized bronze statue, which has been part of the Marine Parade landscape since 1954, disappeared nine days ago.
Napier area commander Inspector Kevin Kalff told a media conference that Pania had been found safe and sound as a result of "routine inquiries" based on information received during the investigation
No charges had yet been made yet, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10353607
Helicopter missing with two aboard
04.11.05 11.15pm UPDATE
An aerial search will begin at first light for a helicopter which went missing yesterday on a flight from Auckland to Queenstown.
The Eurocopter with HTF on its side, being flown by an Auckland man with an overseas passenger, was last seen on radar at 10.14am, over land south of Raglan Harbour after leaving Auckland at 9.45am, Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Heidi Brook said.
Liquor baron Michael Anthony Erceg, of Auckland, is listed by the Civil Aviation Authority as owning a Eurocopter with the registration number ZKHTF. He is ninth on the National Business Review Rich List.
Ms Brook said searches for the helicopter with planes and some helicopters would begin at first light, 5.40am.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353685
Somali asylum-seeker to be deported
04.11.05 12.25pm UPDATE
Somali asylum-seeker Abdikarin Ali Haji is to be deported from New Zealand following an investigation by the Ombudsman's office into his rejected residency application in 2003.
Ombudsman Mel Smith announced the decision today at a press conference, and said Haji had exhausted all legal options to stay in the country.
"Now the Department of Labour can take steps to remove Mr Haji," Mr Smith said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353574
US plan paints frightening bird flu picture
04.11.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - Nearly two million dead. Schools and public transit closed for days or even weeks. Hospitals overwhelmed.
This frightening picture of an influenza pandemic is envisaged in the official United States (US) plan released this week.
H5N1 avian influenza has killed 62 people and infected at least 122 since 2003 - hardly an alarming number. But the virus is sweeping through poultry flocks and has moved into birds in Europe.
Agriculture and health officials agree the H5N1 virus is probably unstoppable, and say it could mutate at any time to become a disease that sweeps just as easily among humans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353553
42 killed in Ethiopian unrest
04.11.05 1.00pm
The death toll from election-related political unrest in Ethiopia rose to 42 yesterday when three people were shot dead as police broke up anti-government protests in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The latest round of demonstrations, which have prompted the British government to advise against all but essential travel to Ethiopia, entered their third day yesterday.
Children were among a dozen people wounded.
The violence broke out on Tuesday, after a day of peaceful protests, when riot police clashed with opposition supporters claiming that elections last May were rigged.
The shootings yesterday took place at Old Airport, a wealthy neighbourhood where many foreign expatriates live, according to doctors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353596
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
The last time violence erupted on such a scale in French cities was in 1990 in the Lyons suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, also touched off by a controversial death involving the police.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Rival French leaders team up as riots spread
04.11.05 8.00am
BOBIGNY, France - France's rival leaders have closed ranks to denounce rioting in the poor suburbs ringing Paris after a seventh straight night of unrest in which protesters shot at police and firemen for the first time.
Prime Minster Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose bitter political rivalry has overshadowed the government's reaction, teamed up in the French Senate to announce that restoring order was their "absolute priority".
They spoke after an overnight rampage that left a trail of 177 torched vehicles and many burned shops in nine areas north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities that feel excluded from French society.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353533
10 migrants drown in Turkey boat accident
04.11.05 5.20am
At least 10 people drowned after a boat carrying illegal migrants to Greece capsized off the Turkish coast, authorities said.
Coastguards rescued seven migrants in the Aegean Sea off the town of Cesme, reports said.
Earlier television reports said 12 people drowned and that the Coast Guard was searching for 18 migrants.
Authorities said they could not determine the exact number of migrants aboard the boat.
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa pass through Turkish waters each year to reach Europe.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353469
Suspected al Qaeda militant caught in Pakistan
04.11.05 9.00am
ISLAMABAD - A suspected al Qaeda militant has been killed and another captured during a shoot-out with Pakistani security men in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Al Jazeera television said it had received a statement that two people had been arrested, identifying one as Mustafa Setmariam, a Syrian with a $5 million US reward on his head.
But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said authorities were still trying to determine if the arrested man was Setmariam. He believed neither the arrested man nor the man killed in the shoot-out were "high-value targets".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353542
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Station crew prepares for spacewalk
04.11.05 1.20pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Nasa next week will direct its first spacewalk in 2-1/2 years by International Space Station crew-members, space agency officials said today.
The spacewalk set for Monday will be the first under Nasa's full control since a glitch in the cooling system contaminated US spacesuits and the United States (US) airlock aboard the orbital outpost.
Crew-members fixed the airlock, but until a US space shuttle could deliver new US spacesuits, spacewalkers had to use Russian suits, which can only be serviced in the Russian airlock. Moscow oversees spacewalks from its airlock.
New US spacesuits arrived during July's mission to the station by the shuttle Discovery, the only shuttle flight since Columbia burst apart over Texas in 2003.
Station commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev have two main tasks during their planned 5-1/2-hour spacewalk.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353589
India maps DNA of basmati rice to protect it from West
04.11.05 1.00pm
By Justin Huggler
DELHI - Indian scientists are mapping the DNA of one of the country's basic food products: basmati rice.
Concerned that Western corporations may try to take out patents on the food, their aim is not to produce genetically modified rice but to protect one of India's most treasured natural products from aforeign takeover.
Basmati may be beloved of students because it is easy to cook, but to connoisseurs, its long grains and natural scent make it one of the world's most desired varieties of rice.
It is one of the Indian agriculture sector's prime exports.
Already the country has fought off an attempt by an American company to copyright the name basmati for its own product, a crossing of American rice and Indian basmati.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353593
US wants to cut security wait for air travellers
04.11.05 11.25am
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to move forward with a pre-screening plan nationally that would let certain airline passengers avoid extra security at airports, a top homeland security official said today.
Kip Hawley, administrator of the United States (US) Transportation Security Administration, told a House of Representatives hearing that the long-delayed voluntary Registered Traveller programme - designed mainly for business travellers and other frequent fliers - could get off the ground next June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353560
Belgium opens trial linked to Madrid bombings
04.11.05 10.20am
BRUSSELS - Belgium opened a trial on Thursday of 13 men accused of belonging to an Islamic militant group blamed for bombings in Madrid and Casablanca.
They face charges of providing false papers, safe houses and logistical help to members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), which is held responsible for the 2004 Madrid attacks on four commuter trains that killed 191 people.
The GICM has also been linked to the 2003 bombings in Casablanca, which killed 45 people including 12 suicide attackers.
Among those accused is Khalid Bouloudo, an alleged leader of the GICM's Belgian cell.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353543
Olympics could boost London tourism by $5b
04.11.05 11.30am
LONDON - London's tourism industry could benefit to the tune of £2 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) thanks to the 2012 Olympic Games, the organising committee's Keith Mills said to day.
Mills, deputy chairman of the London Games organisers, said that Olympic-related tourism had emerged as one of the key economic legacies for host cities and countries that have staged the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
"The experience of other cities indicates that London's visitor economy could benefit from as much as 2 billion pounds as a result of the Games," Mills told tourism industry representatives in London.
"The Olympic Games in London will showcase the capital's people, places, cultures and capabilities to the world like never before."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353548
continued...
Madrid bombing mastermind likely in custody of Pakistani authorities
By Amir Mir, Correspondent
Lahore: Pakistani security and intelligence agencies reportedly have the alleged mastermind of the March 2004 Madrid bombings in their custody, a senior intelligence official told Gulf News.
Syrian national Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, who carries a US reward of $5 million on his head, is accused of playing a major role in the attacks on four commuter trains that killed around 200 people.
He is believed to be a key member of the Al Qaida network in Europe.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=190191
Various nationalities celebrate Eid in their own special way
By Nissar Hoath and Nina Muslim, Staff Reporters
Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Some danced and sang, some thronged parks and others stayed with friends and family, sharing special moments and lip-smacking cuisine.
The day began in Abu Dhabi with Eid congregations in the morning, followed by special prayers for regional and international peace as well as for prosperity for the country and the world.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=190164
Kuwaitis fly home from Guantanamo
Reuters
Kuwait City: Five Kuwaitis who had been held in Guantanamo Bay for three years were flying home where they will be tried in a local court, a representative of the detainees said yesterday.
The five were among a dozen Kuwaitis imprisoned at the US military base in Cuba during the 2001 US-led war to oust Al Qaida from Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.
Khalid Al Odah, Chairman of the Families of Kuwaiti Detainees at Guantanamo, said two of the five prisoners were in very bad health, adding that they were expected to arrive in Kuwait late last night or this morning.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190140
Mogadishu revels in goodwill and toy guns
Reuters
Mogadishu: Africa's most lawless city was awash yesterday with guns toy guns, that is as Mogadishu staged a rare moment of peace, gift-giving and goodwill to mark the end of Ramadan.
Children running through the city's battle-scarred streets replayed the clan fights of their elders, cocking toy firearms they had received in honour of Eid Al Fitr.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190047
Toy gun toting Palestinian shot at
Reuters
Jenin: Israeli soldiers shot and critically wounded a 13-year-old Palestinian carrying a toy weapon in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
The Israeli army said troops had mistaken him for a gunman.
The shooting, during an Israeli raid to detain suspected Palestinian militants, came amid the worst surge of violence since a truce was agreed nine months ago.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190139
Playing to the gallery or playing with fire?
By Pascal Boniface, Special to Gulf News
By declaring that "Israel should be wiped off the map", Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have crossed the line.
Not only with regard to Israel, but also with respect to the whole of the Middle East where such comments can only add fuel to fire.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190058
Actions hurt a lot more than words
By Manal Alafrangi, Staff Writer
Last week, the UN Security Council met in a special session and issued a strong condemnation of the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel.
In the same week, Israeli occupying forces launched more than 13 raids in Gaza resulting in the death of at least four innocent Palestinian civilians.
No meeting took place by the Security Council to condemn or even discuss this.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190057
UK soldiers cleared of Iraqi teen's murder
Agencies
London: Seven British soldiers were acquitted on Thursday of charges of beating an innocent Iraqi teenager to death with rifle butts.
A military court in eastern England ordered the "not guilty" verdicts against the seven because of sufficient evidence against them, the Ministry of Defence said.
The defendants, four serving soldiers and three former soldiers, were accused of killing 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah during a clash in a village near the southern city of Basra in 2003.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189981
Iran grants access to military site
Agencies
Vienna/Paris: Iran granted UN nuclear inspectors access to a high-security military site as part of efforts to avoid referral to the Security Council, the agency said yesterday.
However, Tehran has also told the IAEA that it will soon resume converting uranium into a gas that can be enriched either to generate energy or produce nuclear weapons, one of the diplomats said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189902
Tehran set to recall 40 envoys in major diplomatic shake-up
Agencies
Tehran: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has replaced top Iranian ambassadors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United Nations in Geneva.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President
The senior diplomats replaced were involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme under former leader Mohammad Khatami, the BBC reported.
Analysts for the BBC say the move could be a “tough new approach on [Iran’s] stalled nuclear issue” and may cause concern in Western capitals.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189967
Abdullah seeks Bush help for release of Saddam brother
Agencies
Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has asked US President George W. Bush to release Saddam Hussain's half brother on humanitarian grounds.
King Abdullah had sent a letter to Bush asking him to release Barzan Ebrahim Al Tikriti because he is suffering from an advanced stage of cancer, Al Riyadh daily reported on Wednesday quoting unidentified sources
The monarch was making the "humanitarian (request) because of (Barzan's) critical health condition, as he is suffering from a deteriorating cancer illness," it said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189965
Contradiction after contradiction after contradiction ...
Car bomb outside Shiite mosque kills 23
Reuters
Karbala: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in central Iraq killed at least 23 people and wounded 46 yesterday, targeting Iraqis on one of the last days of Ramadan.
Earlier several roadside bombs and shootings killed at least a dozen people, mostly in Baghdad, and a US helicopter crashed in Ramadi in the west of the country where US forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency that shows no signs of abating.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189879
BUT ACCORDING TO USA OFFICIALS ….
Life beginning to improve in Iraq, says top US officer
By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Iraqis are beginning to turn on their country's insurgents and security is improving as a result, a top US officer told Gulf News on Wednesday.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189878
Hamas to end truce with Israel as violence escalates
Agencies
Gaza City : Rocket fire at Israel from Gaza resumed on Wednesday as Hamas said it would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce, which expires at the end of the year.
The truce was brokered by Egypt which is expected to invite militant groups, including Hamas, to Cairo in coming weeks to discuss extending the agreement.
Israel killed a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank after a soldier was shot dead and militants fired rockets into Israel on Wednesday in the worst week of violence to threaten a truce deal since a Gaza pullout.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189973
Syria says it can cope with any sanctions
Agencies
London/Moscow: Syria is confident it could cope with any sanctions against Damascus over the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, its deputy prime minister said in comments published yesterday.
Speaking to Britain's Financial Times, Abdullah Al Dardari said Syria had set up an economic crisis team to plan for "every scenario".
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189884
San Francisco Chronicle
Visit by bluebloods has a green theme
Prince Charles, wife plan stops in Marin, Berkeley and S.F.
England's Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will arrive in San Francisco Friday night for a meticulously choreographed four-day visit that combines the earthy with the glitzy -- organic farmers with power brokers.
It will be the first British royal visit to the Bay Area since Prince Andrew was here for several days in 1997.
Amid gawking and gossip and layer upon layer of security, the royal couple will take in a small country church in Marin County, a zany musical revue, San Francisco's Ferry Building and a model homeless center in the heart of the Tenderloin.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/PRINCE.TMP
Overhaul of prison health system delayed
Court hires search firm after original effort can't find a manager for struggling system
A court-ordered takeover of California's dangerously mismanaged prison health care system could take months longer than expected despite a federal judge's insistence last summer that receivership was urgently needed to save lives.
The judge, Thelton Henderson of federal district court in San Francisco, had insisted in a dramatic series of hearings that, because of inadequate medical care, inmates were dying needlessly at the rate of one every week or so, and he ordered immediate action.
But the process has been more challenging than expected, several people involved in the search for a receiver said -- yet another sign of the extraordinary depth of the problems in the state's vast prison medical system.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/BAG6CFHV8U1.DTL
Brown Discussed Wardrobe During Katrina
(11-03) 16:09 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Newly-released e-mails show former FEMA director Michael Brown discussing his wardrobe during the crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina.
A House panel has released 23 pages of internal e-mail offering additional evidence of a confused and distracted government response to Katrina, particularly from Brown, the former head of Federal Emergency Management Agency, at critical moments after the storm hit.
The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w094831S76.DTL
Parents should be notified
THE LOGIC doesn't work. By definition, minors who get pregnant are less mature than those who do not -- in general, they belong to the subset of teens who have sex but don't use birth control at all or correctly, as opposed to teens who either use birth control consistently or abstain from having sex. So it doesn't make sense to have laws, like those in California, that give the least responsible teens more rights than are accorded a responsible teen who wants a tattoo.
Still, I seriously considered voting against Proposition 73, a constitutional amendment that would require parental notification or a judge's waiver before a minor has an abortion.
I would not support an initiative that made a pregnant teen carry an unwanted child. Prop. 73 does not require parental consent. An earlier law requiring parental consent was overturned by the California Supreme Court, thus this measure requires only that doctors notify a parent of a pending abortion, without requiring parental consent, unless a judge grants a waiver.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKD61.DTL
Bird Flu in Asia Could Kill 3 Million
By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:10 PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) --
The Asian Development Bank projected Thursday that a bird flu pandemic in Asia could kill 3 million people, cause economic losses of up to nearly $300 billion and possibly push the world into a recession. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would likely be hit hardest in the event of an outbreak, the report said.
The bank outlined two potential scenarios, both assuming a pandemic would last about a year, would cause 20 percent of the region's population to fall ill and would kill 0.5 percent of them — or 3 million people.
In the first scenario, where an outbreak seriously affects economic demand for six months, Asia could suffer $99.2 billion in lost consumer spending, trade, services and investment — equivalent to a contraction of 2.3 percentage points in regional gross domestic product.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/11/03/financial/f141024S95.DTL
House Vote Counters Eminent Domain Measure
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:03 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the sanctity of the home, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.
The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in June, recognized the power of local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue. The decision drew criticism from private property, civil rights, farm and religious groups that said it was an abuse of the Fifth Amendment's "takings clause." That language provides for the taking of private property, with fair compensation, for public use.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w154446S12.DTL
Sailors Prepare for Around-The-World Trip
By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:36 PST SANXENXO, Spain (AP) --
Fifty-foot waves, icebergs, exhaustion, savage weather. For 36,000 miles, crews in the Volvo Ocean Race will face all that the world's oceans can offer. The 10 sailors on each of the seven yachts begin their seven-month, around-the-world voyage with preliminary races Saturday.
They'll be soaked and hammered by waves that seem like car crashes and struggle for catnaps in the din of a tiny cabin.
"Everyone here is an adrenaline junkie," American sailor George Peet said. "It's only cold and wet. It's pretty minor suffering when you look at the best sailing in the world."
The crews from six nations — the United States, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia — begin with port racing off this small town on Spain's northwest coast. The first of nine offshore legs starts Nov. 12 from nearby Vigo and ends in South Africa.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/sports/s143644S75.DTL
Top Bush aides privately doubtful about Rove's future
Jim VandeHei, Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Washington -- Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.
If Rove stays, which colleagues say remains his intention, he may at a minimum have to issue a formal apology for misleading colleagues and the public about his role in conversations that led to the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, according to senior Republican sources familiar with White House deliberations.
While Rove faces doubts about his White House status, there are new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy from Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame leak. The prosecutor spoke this week with the attorney for Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about his client's telephone conversations with Rove before and after Plame's identity became publicly known because of anonymous disclosures by White House officials, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/MNGU4FIAOG1.DTL
Homosexual Kiss Causes Stir on Brazil TV
By MICHAEL ASTOR, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:45 PST RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) --
Brazilian TV is no stranger to scandal, but Friday night's final installment of the TV Globo telenovela "America," which may air a scene involving a kiss between two men, has created more than the usual stir.
Fans across the nation are eagerly waiting to see whether Junior, the son of a powerful ranch owner will go so far as to kiss, Zeca, one of the hired hands.
If he does, it would mark the first time two men have exchanged a homosexual kiss on Brazilian television.
"I think this is a very significant moment in Brazilian history. The gay movement has exploded and there's a real shift in people's understanding of homophobia. The media is finally catching up," James Green, author of "Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil," said in telephone interview from Rhode Island.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/entertainment/e111316S32.DTL
Where Are The Gay Pro Athletes?
No, the WNBA doesn't count. What about the NFL? The NBA? What about the big, macho men?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
You know they're out there. The gay pro male athletes, grunting and sweating and spitting and running and crashing and hurling, right now, acting all manly and tough and rugged and heroic on the field or on the court.
And they're signing autographs and getting themselves all beloved by largely homophobic 'Murkin men and swooning 'Murkin boys and even handfuls of women as they jam the secret of their sexuality way, way down and go on raking in their millions, leading their lives of quiet, albeit loaded, desperation.
Do the math, baby: There are 25 players on a major league baseball team roster, and there are 30 teams. That's a total of 750 spittin', groin-scratchin' men. For the NBA, it's 12 players per, across 30 teams, totaling 360 really tall dudes who can no longer wear excess bling. For the NFL, the numbers shoot way up: about 45 players each, across 32 teams, totaling nearly 1,440 hulking hunks of pummeled meat.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/11/02/notes110205.DTL
EDITORIAL
Beyond the indictments
Thursday, November 3, 2005
THE WHITE HOUSE had hoped to change the subject after Friday's indictment of the vice president's chief of staff showed that the effort to silence critics of the flawed prewar intelligence went to the highest levels of government.
To their credit, Senate Democrats this week kept the focus on the central question: Did the Bush administration intentionally mislead the nation into war with its now-discredited claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid drew heavy flak from the ruling Republicans for using a parliamentary maneuver Tuesday to bring the Senate into closed session to discuss the progress -- or lack thereof -- of its own investigation into the matter.
The Republicans tried to dismiss the closed session as a partisan publicity stunt, but there is no issue at hand that is more critical to this administration's credibility and this nation's international standing.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKDE1.DTL
Bush's Ratings Still Sink Over War, Court
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:19 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
President Bush's job approval has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency amid worries over the Iraq war, a fumbled Supreme Court nomination, the indictment of one White House aide and uncertainty about another.
Concerned that the president has lost his footing, some influential Republicans are urging Bush to shake up his staff and bring in new blood.
A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. About 59 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved.
The intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42 percent now saying they "strongly disapprove" of how Bush is handling his job — twice as many as the 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w141504S06.DTL
This is a couple of years in the offing. A lot can happen and the people of Alaska aren't really supportive of this measure. This is typical of this 'throw away' administration. They throw off all these federal regulations that no one wants to have destroyed so nothing is ever acted on. A lot of businesses receiving tax cuts and monies poured on them are looking at their infrastructure and not doing much with DC's measures. Businesses have employees and live in communities, they still have a lot to answer to regardless the deregulation of the federal laws. It's rather interesting actually.
Oil drilling in refuge a step closer
Senate refuses to keep home to Arctic wildlife free of wells, ending decades-long debate
Washington -- The Senate rejected a last-ditch effort by Democrats on Thursday to stop plans to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moving closer to ending one of the most heated environmental disputes of the past quarter century.
By a 51-48 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stripped a provision allowing drilling in the Alaskan refuge from the huge budget reconciliation bill.
"It's the beginning of the end of the opposition" to drilling, said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I think we're going to get it -- finally. This giant resource is going to be developed."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a longtime opponent of drilling, said of the vote: "The Republican Senate has shown its true colors -- it is clear by their overwhelming support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that they have no respect for the environment."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/REFUGE.TMP
This is an example of the 'give away and take back' efforts going on. If the aire is found to be fouled by efforts elsewhere then they permission to exploit natural resources will be on hold anyway. Then there is Canada. They aren't happy about the change in regime in DC. So, regardless of the activism of this regime in DC on a Greed Agenda there is a lot in the way of any of these initiatives being carried out. The federal government is only one layer of authority.
Senate approves funds for cleaning San Joaquin Valley Air
(11-03) 16:43 PST Fresno, Calif. (AP) --
Federal lawmakers on Thursday approved funding for research meant to reduce the San Joaquin Valley's long-standing air pollution problem.
The final version of the agriculture appropriations bill included $401,000 earmarked for studying pollution coming from farms and dairies, and to find cost-effective ways to combat it, officials said.
Farming is the biggest industry in the area, which is plagued by double-digit unemployment. But the valley also has the country's most persistent air pollution. Officials with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District say farming is responsible for much of the smog and the airborne specks that contribute to heart attacks and other fatal illnesses in the area.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/state/n164303S16.DTL
Senate OKs Bill Cutting $36B Over 5 Years
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
(11-03) 17:55 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved the first cuts since 1997 to benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and farm subsidies, giving Republicans a modest victory against ever-rising government spending.
The bill, passed by a 52-47 vote, makes mild cuts to the health care programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, but leaves the food stamp program untouched.
The measure also permits exploratory oil drilling in an Alaskan wilderness area. Five Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate who oppose the drilling voted against the bill.
"The Senate took an important step forward in cutting the deficit," President Bush said in a statement issued in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where he is attending a conference. "Congress needs to send me a spending-reduction package this year to keep us on track to cutting the deficit in half by 2009."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w151735S07.DTL
This is only one victory as the man was only on Vioxx for two months and the threshold for death is 16 - 18 months. It's sounds a little odd to me. But there are a lot more cases for Merck to weed through, in the hundreds if not thousands.
Merck Gets Victory in Second Vioxx Case
By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:07 PST Atlantic City, N.J. (AP) --
Merck & Co. won a major victory in the battle over its Vioxx painkiller Thursday when a New Jersey state jury found that the drugmaker properly warned consumers about the risks of the medication. The finding means Merck won't be held liable for the 2001 heart attack suffered by a man taking Vioxx.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/financial/f101956S41.DTL
New Zealand Herald
Pania statue found
04.11.05 2.15pm
The statue of Pania of the Reef, which was stolen from Napier's foreshore last month, has been found.
Napier police said they had located the statue at a residential address in Napier and were interviewing a person.
The life-sized bronze statue, which has been part of the Marine Parade landscape since 1954, disappeared nine days ago.
Napier area commander Inspector Kevin Kalff told a media conference that Pania had been found safe and sound as a result of "routine inquiries" based on information received during the investigation
No charges had yet been made yet, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10353607
Helicopter missing with two aboard
04.11.05 11.15pm UPDATE
An aerial search will begin at first light for a helicopter which went missing yesterday on a flight from Auckland to Queenstown.
The Eurocopter with HTF on its side, being flown by an Auckland man with an overseas passenger, was last seen on radar at 10.14am, over land south of Raglan Harbour after leaving Auckland at 9.45am, Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Heidi Brook said.
Liquor baron Michael Anthony Erceg, of Auckland, is listed by the Civil Aviation Authority as owning a Eurocopter with the registration number ZKHTF. He is ninth on the National Business Review Rich List.
Ms Brook said searches for the helicopter with planes and some helicopters would begin at first light, 5.40am.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353685
Somali asylum-seeker to be deported
04.11.05 12.25pm UPDATE
Somali asylum-seeker Abdikarin Ali Haji is to be deported from New Zealand following an investigation by the Ombudsman's office into his rejected residency application in 2003.
Ombudsman Mel Smith announced the decision today at a press conference, and said Haji had exhausted all legal options to stay in the country.
"Now the Department of Labour can take steps to remove Mr Haji," Mr Smith said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353574
US plan paints frightening bird flu picture
04.11.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - Nearly two million dead. Schools and public transit closed for days or even weeks. Hospitals overwhelmed.
This frightening picture of an influenza pandemic is envisaged in the official United States (US) plan released this week.
H5N1 avian influenza has killed 62 people and infected at least 122 since 2003 - hardly an alarming number. But the virus is sweeping through poultry flocks and has moved into birds in Europe.
Agriculture and health officials agree the H5N1 virus is probably unstoppable, and say it could mutate at any time to become a disease that sweeps just as easily among humans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353553
42 killed in Ethiopian unrest
04.11.05 1.00pm
The death toll from election-related political unrest in Ethiopia rose to 42 yesterday when three people were shot dead as police broke up anti-government protests in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The latest round of demonstrations, which have prompted the British government to advise against all but essential travel to Ethiopia, entered their third day yesterday.
Children were among a dozen people wounded.
The violence broke out on Tuesday, after a day of peaceful protests, when riot police clashed with opposition supporters claiming that elections last May were rigged.
The shootings yesterday took place at Old Airport, a wealthy neighbourhood where many foreign expatriates live, according to doctors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353596
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
The last time violence erupted on such a scale in French cities was in 1990 in the Lyons suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, also touched off by a controversial death involving the police.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Rival French leaders team up as riots spread
04.11.05 8.00am
BOBIGNY, France - France's rival leaders have closed ranks to denounce rioting in the poor suburbs ringing Paris after a seventh straight night of unrest in which protesters shot at police and firemen for the first time.
Prime Minster Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose bitter political rivalry has overshadowed the government's reaction, teamed up in the French Senate to announce that restoring order was their "absolute priority".
They spoke after an overnight rampage that left a trail of 177 torched vehicles and many burned shops in nine areas north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities that feel excluded from French society.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353533
10 migrants drown in Turkey boat accident
04.11.05 5.20am
At least 10 people drowned after a boat carrying illegal migrants to Greece capsized off the Turkish coast, authorities said.
Coastguards rescued seven migrants in the Aegean Sea off the town of Cesme, reports said.
Earlier television reports said 12 people drowned and that the Coast Guard was searching for 18 migrants.
Authorities said they could not determine the exact number of migrants aboard the boat.
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa pass through Turkish waters each year to reach Europe.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353469
Suspected al Qaeda militant caught in Pakistan
04.11.05 9.00am
ISLAMABAD - A suspected al Qaeda militant has been killed and another captured during a shoot-out with Pakistani security men in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Al Jazeera television said it had received a statement that two people had been arrested, identifying one as Mustafa Setmariam, a Syrian with a $5 million US reward on his head.
But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said authorities were still trying to determine if the arrested man was Setmariam. He believed neither the arrested man nor the man killed in the shoot-out were "high-value targets".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353542
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Station crew prepares for spacewalk
04.11.05 1.20pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Nasa next week will direct its first spacewalk in 2-1/2 years by International Space Station crew-members, space agency officials said today.
The spacewalk set for Monday will be the first under Nasa's full control since a glitch in the cooling system contaminated US spacesuits and the United States (US) airlock aboard the orbital outpost.
Crew-members fixed the airlock, but until a US space shuttle could deliver new US spacesuits, spacewalkers had to use Russian suits, which can only be serviced in the Russian airlock. Moscow oversees spacewalks from its airlock.
New US spacesuits arrived during July's mission to the station by the shuttle Discovery, the only shuttle flight since Columbia burst apart over Texas in 2003.
Station commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev have two main tasks during their planned 5-1/2-hour spacewalk.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353589
India maps DNA of basmati rice to protect it from West
04.11.05 1.00pm
By Justin Huggler
DELHI - Indian scientists are mapping the DNA of one of the country's basic food products: basmati rice.
Concerned that Western corporations may try to take out patents on the food, their aim is not to produce genetically modified rice but to protect one of India's most treasured natural products from aforeign takeover.
Basmati may be beloved of students because it is easy to cook, but to connoisseurs, its long grains and natural scent make it one of the world's most desired varieties of rice.
It is one of the Indian agriculture sector's prime exports.
Already the country has fought off an attempt by an American company to copyright the name basmati for its own product, a crossing of American rice and Indian basmati.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353593
US wants to cut security wait for air travellers
04.11.05 11.25am
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to move forward with a pre-screening plan nationally that would let certain airline passengers avoid extra security at airports, a top homeland security official said today.
Kip Hawley, administrator of the United States (US) Transportation Security Administration, told a House of Representatives hearing that the long-delayed voluntary Registered Traveller programme - designed mainly for business travellers and other frequent fliers - could get off the ground next June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353560
Belgium opens trial linked to Madrid bombings
04.11.05 10.20am
BRUSSELS - Belgium opened a trial on Thursday of 13 men accused of belonging to an Islamic militant group blamed for bombings in Madrid and Casablanca.
They face charges of providing false papers, safe houses and logistical help to members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), which is held responsible for the 2004 Madrid attacks on four commuter trains that killed 191 people.
The GICM has also been linked to the 2003 bombings in Casablanca, which killed 45 people including 12 suicide attackers.
Among those accused is Khalid Bouloudo, an alleged leader of the GICM's Belgian cell.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353543
Olympics could boost London tourism by $5b
04.11.05 11.30am
LONDON - London's tourism industry could benefit to the tune of £2 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) thanks to the 2012 Olympic Games, the organising committee's Keith Mills said to day.
Mills, deputy chairman of the London Games organisers, said that Olympic-related tourism had emerged as one of the key economic legacies for host cities and countries that have staged the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
"The experience of other cities indicates that London's visitor economy could benefit from as much as 2 billion pounds as a result of the Games," Mills told tourism industry representatives in London.
"The Olympic Games in London will showcase the capital's people, places, cultures and capabilities to the world like never before."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353548
continued...
November 4, 2005. 0911 gmt.
West Pacific Satellite.
The second Earth 'hot spot' between Tahiti and Australia. There is a bifurcation of equatorial heat at that spot sending some of it to the Arctic Circle and some to Antarctica. It looks to be distributing north more than south. Makes sense. The Ice Ocean is more easily sublimed into temperature reduction of the oceans than the Ice Continent which has limited contact with the oceans. Cooling the aire is to indirect an effort for the physics. It would require convection to the oceans with the exception of addition storms which has a lower incidence now that the sun has migrated south.
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is warm:
Scott Base
Clear
-10.0°
Updated Friday 04 Nov 9:59PM
The Weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
36 °F / 2 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
30 °F / -1 °C
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
32 °F / 0 °C
Wind:
7 mph / 11 km/h from the NNW
Pressure:
29.23 in / 990 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 1500 ft / 457 m
Mostly Cloudy 4100 ft / 1249 m
Overcast 4900 ft / 1493 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
Scott Base
Clear
-10.0°
Updated Friday 04 Nov 9:59PM
The Weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
36 °F / 2 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
30 °F / -1 °C
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
32 °F / 0 °C
Wind:
7 mph / 11 km/h from the NNW
Pressure:
29.23 in / 990 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 1500 ft / 457 m
Mostly Cloudy 4100 ft / 1249 m
Overcast 4900 ft / 1493 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
Ah, Wind Power !!
October 30, 2005.
Lower Saxony, Germany.
In case you don't recognize it, that is a wind mill that produces energy by wind power.
Photographer states :: Taken on a beautiful Sunday just a few kilometers round my home in the fields... About 5 km to the North Sea. The temperatures went up to about 69F / 20,6C!
USAID Provides Assistance to Nicaragua Hurricane Victims
November 4, 2005. 0627 gmt.
The Western Hemisphere.
North Atlantic Vortex and "Beta" dominate this view. Nicaragua is still experiencing clouds and thunderstorms and rain. It is predicted to continue for another week at least. Nicaragua is a friend to Earth. The government embarked on a Rainforest Restoration Project a few years ago. Not a simple project given the shallow root systems of rainforests but one very worthwhile.
There is little interaction between the equator and the Antarctic Vortex but the peripheral reach north is still significant.
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite 12 hour loop - "Click On"
November 4, 2005. 0730z.
Enhanced Infrared Hemispheric Satellite of North Atlantic Vortex weather system.
It's a monster. And of course the heat would have to be right over the Greenland Icesheet. Where else would it be. A direct path from the equatorial 'hot spot' in the Caribbean to the Greenland Icesheet.
It must be Global Warming.
November 4, 2005. 0730z. The North Atlantic Vortex in full swing. And weather services have the audacity to call it 'The Jet Stream.' An intense heat storm continues in the Caribbean Sea. The vortex flow moving across the center of North America is exhibiting fall barometric pressures with wind direction changing from out of the south to south-southwest.
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