Morning Papers - It's Origins

The Rooster

"Cock-A-Doodle-Do"

"Okey-doke"

Kindly remember, the storms carrying down blasts and tornadoes are traveling far faster than before. Normally, tornadoes travel about 35 mph, but, these storms and tornadoes are traveling at 50 mph. It is becoming very, very difficult to out run them with a car. There is every reason to believe most people can no longer do that as the speed of these tornadoes are unpredictable at this point and could accelerate beyond 50 mph.

Please stay safe. Listening to 'Breaking Weather' is vital to safety. Watching the weather is no longer a casual activity. Being 'up' on the weather is a survival tool.

...But it took a few seconds for him to realize it was a tornado...

The Tennessean

5:45 p.m. Update:
Tornadoes sweeping across the region have killed at least seven people, as well as tearing off roofs, knocking down power lines, flipping cars and causing an unknown number of injuries, authorities said.
Fire Chief Joe Womack told the Associated Press that three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in the Woodhaven subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of Nashville.
The three bodies were loaded into an ambulance in the neighborhood where hundreds of homes were heavily damaged and many destroyed. State officials previously reported two deaths in the same county, but it was unknown whether those two were included in the three deaths reported by local officials.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage


Tornadoes hit Middle Tennessee; seven people dead
"More trailing behind the initial one," official says
By KATE HOWARD
Staff Writer
5:45 p.m. Update:
Tornadoes sweeping across the region have killed at least seven people, as well as tearing off roofs, knocking down power lines, flipping cars and causing an unknown number of injuries, authorities said.
Fire Chief Joe Womack told the Associated Press that three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in the Woodhaven subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of Nashville.
The three bodies were loaded into an ambulance in the neighborhood where hundreds of homes were heavily damaged and many destroyed. State officials previously reported two deaths in the same county, but it was unknown whether those two were included in the three deaths reported by local officials.
All seven deaths were reported in Gallatin, according to Eddie Boatwright, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
And the storms keep coming.

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS01/60407021



ONLY three days ago, deadly storms struck the same state. Does lightning strike twice? Definitely in a Global Warming environment. As a matter of fact, count on it. The same pattern was seen in November in Evansville.

Storms kill 24, injure dozens

An unidentified woman from the area of Griiffin Chapel Road in Gibson Co. is brought to the Bradford "command center", the Bradford Elementary School Gym, Sunday evening around 10:30pm Sunday night.
Katie Morgan/The Jackson Sun

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DN&Dato=20060403&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=604030801&Ref=PH



Powerful legislators choosing not to run
Almost 20 seats will become open
By TRENT SEIBERT
Staff Writer
A seismic shift of policy and culture on Tennessee's Capitol Hill may be in the works, as nearly 20 legislators are giving up their seats in the state legislature.
As the deadline passed yesterday for lawmakers to qualify to run for re-election in the August primaries, a picture emerged of a legislature that will be evolving over the next several months — into just what, voters will have to decide later this year.
Key figures who have shaped Tennessee law and the workings of the legislature are stepping down from their posts, including the ranking Democrat in the House and both of her predecessors in that job, as well as the man who is tied for the record of longest consecutively serving legislator in state history, state Sen. Curtis Person, 71.
Their departures are coming when the winds are shifting on the Hill: 11 months ago, four of their colleagues were arrested and charged in the Tennessee Waltz bribery scandal. Ethics legislation passed a couple of months ago in the Waltz's wake has made life different for lawmakers, too.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS0201/604070399



Many candidates join races for open House seats
Associated Press
The lineup of candidates to replace U.S. House members Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat from Memphis, and Bill Jenkins, a Republican from upper East Tennessee, topped 30 when qualifying ended yesterday.
The 1st and 9th Districts are the state's only congressional seats without an incumbent in the race.
Candidates had until noon yesterday to file petitions, and state elections officials said it would be today before they have an official list of those qualifying.
According to local election officials, 14 candidates, including 10 Republicans and four Democrats, filed to run for Jenkins' 1st District U.S. House seat.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS0206/604070374/1001



Saving pre-K dominates pleas for Metro schools
Board, facing difficult cuts, hears ideas from public
By CLAUDETTE RILEY
Staff Writer
Kindergartner Akolbia Biggers, held up to a podium microphone last night by a teacher, tried to persuade the Metro school board to keep a Montessori pre-kindergarten program for 3-year-olds.
"I started school here when I was 3 years old … I learned to count in Spanish and French. I learned to prepare my own snacks. I learned to read and write," said Akolbia, 5, who still attends Stanford Montessori. "If I did not go to this school, I would be upset."

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS04/604070398



NASA perplexed by worker accidents
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/SCOTT AUDETTE
More Science Video
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Over the past three months, workers at the Kennedy Space Center have tripped, dropped things, banged into sensitive equipment and started fires in a baffling string of accidents that have left one person dead.
NASA is investigating three of the accidents - the death of a worker who fell off a roof, the bumping of space shuttle Discovery's robotic arm by a platform, and damage last week to an instrument that supplies power to the orbiters.
But since the beginning of the year, there have been 20 other incidents in which a worker was injured or equipment was damaged in excess of $25,000. There were 14 incidents during the same period last year.
"There's enough going on that we're very, very concerned," said Bill Parsons, deputy director of the Kennedy Space Center.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NASA_MISHAPS?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



Immigration overhaul obstacle may be fatal
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
AP Photo/DENNIS COOK
AP VIDEO
Senate Shelves Immigration Bill
Other U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Landmark legislation offering eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants suffered a potentially fatal blow Friday in the Senate, the latest in a series of election-year setbacks for President Bush and the Republicans who control Congress.
"Politics got ahead of policy on this," lamented Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. an evenhanded assessment that belied the partisan recriminations from all sides.
Hailed as a bipartisan breakthrough less than 24 hours earlier, the bill fell victim to internal disputes in both parties as well as to bewildering political maneuvering. On the key vote, only 38 senators, all Democrats, lined up in support. That was 22 short of the 60 needed, and left the legislation in limbo as lawmakers left the Capitol for a two-week break.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



Nissan shutdown extended
Assembly lines to be idle for extra day at 2 plants
By BUSH BERNARD
Staff Writer
Slow cars sales have prompted Nissan North America to shut down its Smyrna and Canton, Miss., assembly plants for an extra day during the upcoming Easter holiday.
The plants were already scheduled to be closed on April 14 for Good Friday and on April 15, but they'll also be idled Easter Sunday night on April 16 and all day April 17, officials said. Employees were to be told of the plan yesterday.
"We have too many '06 models out," Nissan spokeswoman Vicki Smith said.
Nissan's U.S. sales were down 2.6% last month, its fifth sales decline in the past six months.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/BUSINESS01/604070389/1003



Love takes time that singles say they don't have
By LAURA SESSIONS STEPP
The Washington Post
Think romance is alive and well among young singles? That 20-somethings are checking each other out in the office and cruising the bars at night, looking for someone to love? Think again.
The major love story these days is this: Maybe later.
It's not that they take relationships lightly, or that they don't want to become attached — eventually. It's just, who has the time? They're working hard at college or in jobs that barely cover the rent and feel obligated to find fulfilling, well-paid careers. It will be easier to make their marks, they think, unfettered by relationships that, let's face it, can be so distracting.
This came as something of a surprise to researchers Lee Rainie and Mary Madden at the Pew Research Center when, in going over data in a larger dating survey, they found that among 18- to 29-year-olds, only slightly more than a third said they were in committed relationships. Among the remaining, more were not looking than looking.
The numbers do not astonish Pouya Dianat, 20, or Montana Wojczuk, 26, however.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/FEATURES01/604070343/1004


Sydney Morning Herald

Obese children: TV's role weighed up
By Mark Metherell
April 8, 2006
STATE health ministers have defied their federal counterpart, Tony Abbott, and are pressing for action on food advertising to combat the rise in child obesity.
At the health ministers' meeting yesterday, Mr Abbott rejected calls for action, arguing that more research was needed to make the link between TV advertising and obesity.
But state ministers, including NSW's John Hatzistergos, decided to take action without Federal Government support and develop "options for action" to be considered at the next health ministers' meeting in July.
In an unusual move, the ministers have agreed to ask representatives of the advertising and food industries to speak at that meeting. The issue has been examined by the ministers' obesity taskforce for three years, but failed to rate a mention in a "national action agenda" released yesterday.
Mr Hatzistergos said the food industry would not be paying for advertisements in children's television time slots if it did not think it was getting results.
It is believed the states do not expect action would necessarily involve bans on television advertising, but want to see changes to the code of conduct concerning advertising to children.
Mr Abbott said after the meeting of Australasian ministers in Wellington that "we agreed to disagree on TV advertising because there is not enough evidence, and more research is needed to determine its effectiveness". But the executive officer of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Dr Tim Gill, said recent studies in Britain and the US found that advertising influenced eating behaviour, particularly of younger children.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/obese-children-tvs-role-weighed-up/2006/04/07/1143916722777.html



Environment pays hefty price for waste of water
AUSTRALIA has a major problem with water. Market economics offer the obvious solution. But in the hands of our politicians, the solution's becoming hugely expensive.
Which explains why it's taking so long and why we'll probably never spend enough to halt and repair the damage we're doing to our environment.
The economics of water is outlined by three Treasury officers - Rowan Roberts, Nicole Mitchell and Justin Douglas - in an article in the latest issue of Treasury's Economic Roundup. But I'll be filling in the political gaps they leave.
Water is not only essential to human life, it's an important input to almost every industry. But even before you allow for the possible effects of climate change, Australia suffers from extremely variable weather as well as the lowest average rainfall of any inhabited continent.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/environment-pays-hefty-price-for-waste-of-water/2006/04/07/1143916718751.html


Scientists confirm: no pain, no gain
By Deborah Smith Science Editor
April 8, 2006
A WORLD without punishment sounds like paradise and, given a choice, most people opt for this live and let live approach. But as freeloading inevitably becomes rife, they quickly flee to join a group where selfish members are made to pay, new research shows.
The study fills a gap in the puzzle of why humans are the only animals to have evolved societies where large numbers of strangers co-operate for the common good, even at a cost to themselves.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/scientists-confirm-no-pain-no-gain/2006/04/07/1143916722780.html


Decades later, a familiar syndrome of complicity
THIRTY years ago I met a Papuan man called Imser in a place called Valley X, high in the mountainous spine of the Indonesian half of New Guinea.
First contact with the outside world had come only a few years earlier, when the French documentary filmmaker Pierre Dominique Gaisseau parachuted into an open patch of grassland, escorted by some Indonesian special forces troops under a young captain named Faisal Tanjung. Gaisseau had traversed Western New Guinea by land and river in 1958, when it was still held by the Dutch.
After pressure from the US, the Dutch had reluctantly transferred the territory to Indonesian control in 1963, after a brief United Nations interregnum, and a manipulated "act of free choice" in 1969 had resulted in a decision to stay with Indonesia.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/familiar-syndrome-of-complicity/2006/04/07/1143916718087.html


Critics line up to accuse Bush of hypocrisy
President Bush delivers a speech on the global war on terror at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C.
Photo: Gerald Herbert
By Michael Gawenda, Herald Correspondent in Washington
April 8, 2006
SENIOR Democrats have described as "breathtaking" testimony that President George Bush personally authorised the leaking of classified pre-Iraq war intelligence to a reporter.
Democrats lined up to accuse Mr Bush of hypocrisy - and worse - after the revelation that the Vice-President, Dick Cheney's former chief-of-staff, Lewis Libby, told a grand jury that he was authorised by the President, through Mr Cheney, in July 2003 to disclose key portions of a sensitive assessment in a bid to discredit former ambassador Joseph Wilson, a persistent critic of Mr Bush and the Iraq war.
"If the disclosure is true, it's breathtaking," said Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "The President is revealed as the leaker-in-chief."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/critics-line-up-to-accuse-bush-of-hypocrisy/2006/04/07/1143916718075.html


Terrorism films to open old wounds
UNIVERSAL Studios is to go ahead with plans to show an adrenaline-pumping trailer for United 93, its forthcoming thriller about the passenger revolt on one of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001, despite qualms from some moviegoers and families of the victims.
Adam Fogelson, the company's president of marketing, said the trailer, which was pulled from a Manhattan cinema last weekend after complaints from patrons, would be shown only before R-rated movies or "grown-up" PG-13 ones. He said the trailer was created to give a candid sense of the film itself, which opens in the US at the end of the month and in Australia in August.
"The film is not sanitised or softened, it's an honest and real look [at the events on United Airlines flight 93]," Fogelson said.
"If I sanitised the trailer beyond what's there, am I suggesting that the experience will be less real than what the movie itself is? We as a company feel comfortable that it is a responsible and fair way to show what's coming."
...Tom Roger, whose 24-year-old daughter, Jean, was a flight attendant on American Airlines flight 11, which flew into the north tower, said he wished the studio had somehow notified other families of the victims about the trailer. "It's not the first time someone is trying to exploit the history of this event," he said. "I don't have a problem with it. But there's a warning that ought to be put in advance of the trailer. I don't know how these things can be treated in a more sensitive manner. But that's the issue."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/terrorism-films-to-open-old-wounds/2006/04/05/1143916591606.html



Hamas hints at moderation in bid for funding
By Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Gaza
April 8, 2006
IN GAZA these days it is considered bad form to acknowledge the bombardment. The explosions come at odd hours of the day or night - the jarring thud of aerial bombs dropped from US-made jets, the insistent tap-tap of artillery shells stalking the outlying farmlands.
Unless the explosion is very large or very close, or followed by the sound of ambulances, no one seems to notice. Occasionally there comes a different sound, the wuthering noise of an outgoing Palestinian rocket, and then the people shake their heads, or smile.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hamas-hints-at-moderation-in-bid-for-funding/2006/04/07/1143916718099.html



Mean girls - the rise of the violent femmes
Sugar and spice no longer. Girls are becoming increasingly violent, writes Paola Totaro.
IT'S been dubbed the phenomenon of the violent femmes, an ugly social trend identified in the US and Britain. Now, it is being documented in Australia - and the numbers suggest this is not a mere statistical blip.
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, violence among young girls has grown at almost four times the rate of its rise among young boys - and has doubled over the past 10 years.
Upward trends have also been noted in charges for offensive language, offensive behaviour and exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol, suggesting that when it comes to risk-taking and crimes traditionally dominated by teenage boys, girl power has developed a darker side.
In 1995 for example, the rate per 100,000 head of population of 10- to 14-year-old girls involved in assault was 175. By 2005, this had nearly tripled, to 487.
Among 15- to 17-year-old girls, the rate has almost doubled from 567 to 1046. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, the rise is a little lower, from 351 to 561.
Now, the very youngest group of girls represents nearly 13 per cent of all females who have been involved in an assault - a jump from 8.9 per cent 10 years ago.
According to Professor James Garbarino, an American psychologist and expert in juvenile violence, "girl power" has indeed been a shaping force, one which has motivated them, encouraged their entry into contact sports and to enjoy and be proud of their physicality. Slowly but surely, it has overtaken and replaced the old notion that little girls are just "sugar and spice and all things nice".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mean-girls/2006/04/07/1143916722751.html


Bunny battle: farmers take carrot and stick approach

A LOT of bunnies down Boorowa way will not live to see Easter this year.
Eleven years after the deadly calicivirus escaped from a remote research facility in South Australia, the disease has had a change of name, and the go-ahead has finally been given to coat it on a rabbit's favourite food: carrots.
With the new delivery system approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, farmers are hopeful that rabbit hemorrhagic disease will hit hard along the NSW tablelands. The approval process took more than four years because of strong opposition and extensive testing.
A week or so ago rangers from the Young Rural Lands Protection Board, armed with vials of the virus, started visiting farms around Boorowa to lace carrots. The baits must be put out within 24 hours to be effective, and death can come within 48 hours.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bunny-battle-farmers-take-carrot-and-stick-approach/2006/04/07/1143916722810.html



Health system close to bottom of the class

AUSTRALIA'S health system performs below average compared with five other Western nations, an international survey of patient attitudes has found.
Despite routine claims by Australian political leaders that this country is the best place in the world to fall ill, the survey by the influential American health research body, the Commonwealth Fund, ranked Australia fourth out of six.
Disturbingly, the survey also ranked Australia's patient safety fourth, and on other measures including efficiency and effectiveness the system ranked indifferently.
The New Zealand and British health systems, often looked down on by Australian health leaders, rated ahead of Australia's even though both spend significantly less per head of population on health than Australia does.
The survey ranked patients' views and experiences of their country's health schemes, such as access to care, patient choice, problems with medicines and treatment and the extent to which low-income patients were able to access care compared with those on higher incomes.
The surveys of thousands of patients were undertaken in 2004 and 2005. German patients' ratings of their system scored highest in three of six categories.
The results showed that national expenditure was no indicator of performance in patients' views. The United States, which spends by far the most per head on health - $US5635 ($7826) - was the wooden spooner on the patient scores, managing to win only one category, "effectiveness" - basically quality of care.
Australia spends much less - about $4030 - but failed to top any of the six categories, which were largely dominated by Germany. It spends only slightly more than Australia on its health system.
Australia's highest rating - second - was on equity, which gauged the extent to which patients' income affected their ability to get care. Britain ranked first on this measure, with patients saying they experienced no or negligible differences.
The US, with large numbers of people uninsured, came last, and even among Americans on above-average incomes the US lagged considerably.
The findings will provide fresh ammunition for critics of the Federal Government's backing for private health insurance and the failure of the $3 billion health insurance rebate to reduce pressures on public hospitals.
But on the issue of "patient-centredness", Australia was described as performing relatively well on the responsiveness to patient preference.
Britain rated slightly ahead of Australia in the "efficiency" stakes, a finding that will surprise the many critics in this country of the lumbering British National Health Scheme. The authors of the Commonwealth Fund survey acknowledge that patients' assessments might be affected by their experiences and expectations "which could differ by country and culture".
They say internationally developed indicators to measure clinical effectiveness found that none of five English-speaking countries was systematically the best or worst on clinical effectiveness measures, "confirming the mixed story reported by patients".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/health-system-close-to-bottom-of-the-class/2006/04/07/1143916722813.html


Offbeat shows turn web into world wide TV network
April 7, 2006 - 5:03PM
AdvertisementAdvertisement
The widely hyped merging of the PC and TV is finally taking shape in a way that only a few people imagined in the late 1990s internet boom.
From independent producers like Mondo Media to big media companies like MTV, and even kids who post videos on community sites like YouTube.com, the World Wide Web is becoming a sort of worldwide TV network for audiences seeking offbeat entertainment not shown on mainstream television.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/offbeat-shows-turn-web-into-tv-network/2006/04/07/1143916709822.html


New breed of online games have sex appeal
April 7, 2006 - 7:00AM
Page 1 of 3 Single page
Online games have so far mainly revolved around the killing of fantasy monsters. The occasional fight with a Stormtrooper provides some variety.
Companies are now developing a handful of games - though calling them that is a stretch - designed to give players a very different option: making love, not war.
In "Naughty America: The Game," set to launch early this summer, players will assume the forms of alluring but cartoonish people who meet, flirt and have sex with other player characters.
Characters will have their own apartment, but the world will have also have "public sex zones" and themed rooms, said Tina Courtney, the game's producer.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/new-breed-of-online-games-have-sex-appeal/2006/04/07/1143916680947.html


The princess and the little scallywag
Her Serenity … the official portrait of Princess Mary painted by Ralph Heimans; inset, one of the early drawings he gave to his former babysitter Marjorie Green.
AdvertisementAdvertisement
By Sunanda Creagh
April 8, 2006
WITH three works in the National Portrait Gallery, Ralph Heimans is one of Australia's premier portrait artists. So it was no great surprise when he was selected to paint the first official royal portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
But in a little unit in Cammeray, Marjorie Green, 88, proudly displays some rare early Heimans works - childhood drawings by the artist as a bub.
"I have known him all his life and babysat him since he was born," Miss Green said yesterday. "The royal couple love him, and he certainly is brilliant. I have lots of drawings and paintings that he did when he was a little boy.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/04/07/1143916723245.html?from=top5


Washington Post


In Argentina, They've Got a Beef
Many Incredulous at Call to Eat Less Meat in Bid to Curb Inflation
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 20, 2006; Page A08
BUENOS AIRES -- Guillermo Ugartemendia has nothing against making sacrifices for his country, but like millions of Argentines, he drew the line when the president asked everyone to stop eating so much beef.
"Unthinkable," said Ugartemendia, 35, after polishing off a rack of ribs at a steakhouse Thursday night. "It's not a viable option."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/19/AR2006031900996.html?sub=AR



Why a Hairstyle Made Headlines
By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page C01
When Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) summoned the media to Howard University last week to tell her side of the story in an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, she assumed the traditional news conference position behind a podium and a bank of microphones.
She stood there wearing a coral-colored jacket and dangling earrings and raising the serious issue of racial injustice. But it was impossible not to stare at her hair. As your plainspoken mother might say, it appeared to be standing all over her head.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040602341.html



Immigration Bill Stalls in Senate
Republicans Insist on Amending Measure
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; 12:27 PM
A Senate compromise on a major overhaul of the nation's immigration laws hit a roadblock today, as majority Republicans insisted on being allowed to amend the measure and balked over cutting off debate on it.
Most Senate Democrats had resisted efforts to amend the compromise bill, fearing that GOP opponents of provisions to legalize the status of millions of illegal immigrants would push through fundamental changes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700182.html



Judge Rules in Favor of 'Da Vinci Code' Author
By Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; 11:30 AM
A British judge today rejected a closely watched copyright infringement claim against the author and publisher of "The Da Vinci Code," who were accused of appropriating the central theme of the blockbuster novel from the central theme of a work of non-fiction.
High Court Justice Peter Smith dismissed the claim brought by the authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" as virtually devoid of merit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700601.html



Passover Cooking
Gil Marks
Jewish cooking expert
Friday, April 7, 2006; 12:00 PM
The Jewish holiday of Passover begins Wednesday, April 12, at sundown. This eight-day holiday commemorates the exodus of Israelite slaves from Egypt during the reign of the Pharoah. The first two nights are celebrated with seder feasts, which include many culinary symbols and traditions connected to the story of the Hebrew flight from slavery.
Jewish cooking expert Gil Marks will field your questions and comments about Passover and its many food traditions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/04/DI2006040400702.html?nav=nsc



Blasts at Baghdad Shiite Mosque Kill Scores
By Omar Fekeiki and Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 7, 2006; 11:30 AM
BAGHDAD, April 7 -- Explosions tore through at least one Shiite Muslim mosque in Baghdad Friday as hundreds of worshipers were at prayer. Police reports of the death toll in the first hours after the blast ranged from 40 to more than 60.
A Post reporter was near the scene as three explosions ripped through central Baghdad's Baratha mosque, which is closely associated with the biggest Shiite Muslim religious party leading Iraq's government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700548.html



A Post-College Path to Somewhere
By Laura Sessions Stepp
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page H01
Timothy Ziese, a 22-year-old college senior poised to join the adult ranks, thinks frequently these days about a 6-year-old named Calvin.
Calvin and Hobbes was a comic strip that assumed cult status when he and his friends were in elementary and middle school. Ziese recalls the last strip, on Dec. 31, 1995: the precocious Calvin, standing alongside his sardonic stuffed tiger, Hobbes, near the top of a snow-covered hill, a toboggan nearby.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600039.html



Newly Translated Gospel Offers More Positive Portrayal of Judas
By Guy Gugliotta and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page A01
The National Geographic Society released yesterday the first modern translation of the ancient Gospel of Judas, which depicts the most reviled villain in Christian history as a devoted follower who was simply doing Jesus's bidding when he betrayed him.
The text's existence has been known since it was denounced as heresy by the bishop of Lyon in A.D. 180, but its contents had remained an almost total mystery. Unlike the four gospels of the New Testament, it describes conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot during the week before Passover in which Jesus tells Judas "secrets no other person has ever seen."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600921.html



Ancient 'Gospel of Judas' Translation Sheds New Light on Disciple
Discussion About the National Geographic Project
Marvin Meyer
Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, Orange, Calif.
Friday, April 7, 2006; 2:30 PM
The National Geographic Society is displaying the first modern translation of the ancient "Gospel of Judas," which says that the most reviled villain in Christian history was simply doing his master's bidding when he betrayed Jesus.
Marvin Meyer, who is on the nine-person Codex Advisory Panel assembled by the National Geographic Society, will be online Friday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m. ET to field questions and comments about the first modern translation of the ancient "Gospel of Judas" released Thursday by the organization.
Meyer is Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies and director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, Orange, California. He is one of the foremost scholars on Gnosticism, the Nag 'Hammadi library, and texts about Jesus outside the New Testament. He is one of the translators of the codex.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/06/DI2006040601589.html?nav=nsc

continued ...

Rwanda Genocide Crosses

The World failed to stop this insanity. We are failing in Sudan as well.

Rwanda's genocide began on the night of April 6, 1994, after the shooting down of a plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, who both died in the crash near Kigali.

Morning Papers -continued

Twelve years ago today, the Rwandan genocide began.

Special Event

"Through My Eyes"
A Documentary About Rwandan Youth
Special benefit screening in NYC on April 7th

http://www.globalyouthconnect.org/rwanda_film


Keepers Of Memory (2005)
Film Festival Favorite
Be the first person to review this film!
Directed by: Eric Kabera
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Length: 58 minutes
Country: USA
Description: Through eyewitness accounts and gripping footage, acclaimed director Eric Kabera takes the viewer on an emotional journey into the 1994 Rwandan genocide, its survivors, and the memorials created in the victims‚ honor. The film focuses on the personal accounts of men and women who watch over the sacred burial sites keeping the memories alive for future generations. Includes Photo Gallery, Director's Commentary, Guidebook/Lesson Plan

http://www.buyindies.com/listings/1/1/1134149435375.html


"Keepers of Memory" Film Screening
Director Eric Kabera presents his touching account of the men and women who watch over sacred burial sites in Rwanda, ensuring no one forgets the 1994 genocide.
Friday, January 27, 2006
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Room 100
Moore Hall
UCLA campus
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Keepers of Memory - Survivors' Accounts of the Rwandan Genocide - 60 minutes
Eric Kabera will introduce the film and conduct a question and answer session immediately after the conclusion of the film.
Synopsis:
Through eyewitness accounts and gripping footage, acclaimed director Eric Kabera takes the viewer on an emotional journey into the 1994 Rwandan genocide, its survivors, and the memorials created in the victims' honor. The film focuses on the personal accounts of men and women who watch over the sacred burial sites keeping the memories alive for future generations.

http://www.international.ucla.edu/showevent.asp?eventid=4079


Michael Moore Today

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is."
-- George W. Bush, September 30, 2003

April 6th, 2006 2:53 pm
Libby: Bush OK'd Secret Intel Leak
(CBS/AP) Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors that President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.
Before his indictment, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information — and that it was Mr. Bush who authorized the disclosure, the court papers say.
According to the documents, the authorization led to the July 8, 2003, conversation between Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
In the past, Mr. Bush has denounced leaking to the media. For instance, in September 2003 during a speech in Chicago, Mr. Bush said of the Libby investigation, "Let me just say something about leaks in Washington. There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6447


Libby: Bush Authorized Plamegate Leak

http://www.thesmokinggun.com//archive/0406061libby1.html


Q Will the President move aggressively to see if such a transgression has occurred in the White House? Will he ask top White House officials to sign statements saying that they did not give the information?
MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, if someone leaked classified information of this nature, the appropriate agency to look into it would be the Department of Justice. So the Department of Justice is the one that would look in matters like this.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030929-7.html


Gonzales: Bush Could Order Domestic Wiretaps
By Dan Eggen / Washington Post
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales left open the possibility yesterday that President Bush could order warrantless wiretaps on telephone calls occurring solely within the United States -- a move that would dramatically expand the reach of a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program.
In response to a question from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Gonzales suggested that the administration could decide it was legal to listen in on a domestic call without supervision if it were related to al-Qaeda.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6449


Bush Defends Iraq Strategy but Admits Mistakes
By John O'Neil / New York Times
President Bush told a town-hall meeting in Charlotte, N.C., today that he was "constantly looking back to see if things could have been done differently or better" in Iraq.
Mr. Bush gave a forthright defense of what he called "the strategic objective" in Iraq and his decision to order an invasion, saying "knowing what I know today, I'd have made the same decision."
But he acknowledged that there had been problems with the "tactics" used in Iraq, citing flaws in the initial approach to reconstruction and the training of the Iraqi army and police force.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6448


Study: Katrina Aid From Abroad Was Lost
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Federal auditors laid out a scenario of omissions, missteps and bureaucratic nightmares that caused the loss of money and other donations sent from abroad to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Government Accountability Office attributed the errors, which involved as many as eight government agencies, to the United States' lack of experience as a recipient of huge amounts of aid from others.
"Given that the U.S. government had never before received such substantial amounts of international disaster assistance, ad hoc procedures were developed to manage the acceptance and distribution of the cash and in-kind assistance," the GAO said in remarks prepared for delivery to a House committee Thursday.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6443


Bush Defends Surveillance Policy
By Nedra Pickler / Associated Press
President Bush, told by a critic he should be ashamed of his policies, defended the government's secret eavesdropping program Thursday and said he would not apologize for listening in on the phone and e-mail conversations of Americans talking to people with suspected al-Qaida links.
A man who identified himself as Harry Taylor rose at a forum here to tell Bush that he's never felt more ashamed of the leadership of his country. He said Bush has asserted his right to tap phone calls without a warrant, to arrest people and hold them without charges and to revoke a woman's right to an abortion, among other things.
He was booed by the audience, but Bush interrupted and urged the audience to let Taylor finish.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6445


Teen Detainee Boycotts His War Crimes Trial
At a Guantanamo tribunal, the Canadian demands to be returned to a less restrictive cell. Now 19, he has been held for four years.
By Carol J. Williams / Los Angles Times
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Canadian teenager Omar Khadr refused Wednesday to participate in the war crimes case against him, in protest of being moved to what was described as solitary confinement.
The military tribunal's presiding officer, Col. Robert S. Chester, put off a defense motion seeking Khadr's return to the least restrictive holding facility, but he did agree to consider hearing testimony on the highly secretive detention procedures.
Khadr and nine other detainees being charged in a military tribunal at the U.S. naval base were reportedly transferred to the facility's maximum-security camp.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6442


Vendetta’ a powerhouse
Examining the thin line between terrorist and hero.
David Koon / Arkansas Times
Though it’s not very popular to say so in America these days, it’s as true as it ever was: One man’s “terrorist” is another man’s “freedom fighter” — it all depends on who is wearing the jackboots.
A superb new film that explores the hair-thin line between hero and villain — especially when it comes to blowing things up for political aims — is “V for Vendetta.” A stunningly original and even profound movie from the Wachowski brothers (creators of “The Matrix” series), it’s both a modern-day swashbuckling tale and a none-too-subtle commentary on Bush-era governance by fear, one sure to spur debate among both comic book freaks and political science professors.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6298


Peace House Work Days Set April 11-12
Lone Star Iconoclast
CRAWFORD — To prepare for Cindy Sheehan’s Easter visit to Camp Casey, the Crawford Peace House will be hold two work days on April 11-12.
“Come be part of the team and the fun,” said Rena Guay Communications Coordinator Crawford Peace House. “We need help with cleaning, fixing, building, moving, sorting, planting, painting, chucking and more! So much to do — so little time!”
The preparations will start Saturday morning. Coffee and pastry will be served, along with pizza later in the day. Participants are encouraged to bring tools and work gloves.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=613


Camp Casey Easter
Once again the President will be home for the holidays. We as Gold Star Families for Peace have had our holidays forever tarnished by George Bush's' reckless policy of occupying Iraq. We will be returning to Camp Casey for our Easter holiday and we invite you to join us. Everyone is welcomed.
It is important that we let George Bush know that his war and policies are unacceptable. Because of his free speech zones this is about as close as anyone who disagrees with him can get. Imagine thousands of us at his backdoor showing him the error of his ways.
Also joining us at Camp will be Hurricane Katrina survivors through the Common Ground Collective. Many of whom are still displaced from their homes due to the incompetence and indifference of the Bush administration.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=621


Easter in Crawford
Submitted by admin on Tue, 03/07/2006 - 8:31pm. Events
Attend this event Volunteer for this event Donate in support
With President Bush planning to take his usual Easter vacation at his ranch, the peace activists from around the country, including Cindy Sheehan and other Gold Star Families for Peace, will return to Camp Casey for four days of rallies, performances, teach-ins and more. Also at the heart of this event: Vets for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink and more.

http://crawfordpeace.nfshost.com/easter


End the war in Iraq -- Bring all our troops home now!
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
NEW YORK CITY
Unite for change -- let's turn our country around!
The times are urgent and we must act.
Too much is too wrong in this country. We have a foreign policy that is foreign to our core values, and domestic policies wreaking havoc at home. It's time for a change.
No more never-ending oil wars!
Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal spying, government corruption and the subversion of our democracy.
Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast. Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy while ignoring our basic needs.
Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the accelerating destruction of our environment.
Our message to the White House and to Congress is clear: Either stand with us or stand aside!
We are coming together to march, to vote, to speak out and to turn our country around!

http://www.april29.org/


The Anti-War Movement?
By Cindy Sheehan
Being a so-called anti-war movement leader (at least to the MSM), brings much responsibility and so much love for the people and the groups who are working hard to end this insane occupation, but is this enough?
Recently, a blog written by an acquaintance, Scott Ritter, on AlterNet was called to my attention, where Scott, who is a self-proclaimed Republican, conservative who courageously opposed this war from the beginning, is predicting the eminent demise of the anti-war movement.
At first, I was highly offended and defensive at what I thought was Scott's arrogant attack on the movement that I am so intimately and overwhelmingly involved in. But then after my knee-jerk reaction, I realized that for all of the wrong reasons, Scott was partially correct.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=624


Guardian

70 killed in Iraq mosque attack
Agencies
Friday April 7, 2006
The aftermath of the bombing of a Shia mosque in Baghdad. Photograph: Asaad Muhsin/AP
Three suicide bombers killed at least 70 people in an attack on a Shia mosque in Baghdad today, Iraqi police said.
Around 158 people were wounded in the attack, which was the biggest single suicide bombing since November last year.
Two bombers blew themselves up inside the Buratha mosque, in the north of the capital, and another detonated explosives outside, Reuters reported.
The bombers were dressed in traditional Shia women's black robes when they struck. Some police sources said the attackers had been women, while others said there had been one woman and two men dressed as women.
A health ministry official, Dr Riyadh Abdul Ameer, said 77 people had been killed.
The violence came as the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned that Iraq faced the threat of civil war if efforts to build a national unity government proved unsuccessful.
The mosque belongs to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the most powerful party in the country's ruling Shia Alliance.
The SCIRI leader, Jalal al-Deen, who was at the mosque when the explosion happened, told Reuters the attack was "a sectarian act".
"The Shia are the target," he said, adding that he had counted 65 bodies in the aftermath of the blasts. "There is nothing to justify this act but black sectarian hatred."
Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, the preacher at the mosque and one of the country's leading politicians, accused Sunni politicians and clerics of waging "a campaign of distortions and lies against the Buratha mosque".
He said they had made false claims that it held Sunni prisoners and the mass graves of Sunnis.
"Shia are the ones who are targeted as part of this dirty sectarian war waged against them as the world watches silently," he told al-Arabiya television.
Earlier, officials said shrapnel found at the scene suggested the blasts could have been caused by explosive vests. However, some reports said the attack could have been a combination of mortar fire and a stationary bomb.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1749341,00.html


US admits to talks with Iraqi insurgents
Staff and agencies
Friday April 7, 2006

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA
The US ambassador in Iraq today admitted that US officials had held meetings with some insurgent groups, and claimed the tactic had led to a decline in attacks.
Zalmay Khalilzad, who was appointed US ambassador last June, would not specify which groups had been engaged in the talks.
But he ruled out any discussions with Saddamists or terrorists seeking a "war on civilisation", taken to mean Ba'ath loyalists or extremists linked to al-Qaida.
"We are talking to people who are willing to accept this new Iraq, to lay down their arms, to cooperate in the fight against terrorists," Mr Khalilzad told the BBC.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1749288,00.html


Brown wins Da Vinci Code case
Staff and agencies
Friday April 7, 2006
A high court judge today rejected claims that Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code breached the copyright of an earlier book.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh had sued publishers Random House claiming that Mr Brown's book "appropriated the architecture" of their book, The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail, which was published in 1982 by the same publishing house.
The claimants said Mr Brown - whose book has made him the highest-paid author in history - had "hijacked" and "exploited" their book, which took them five years to create.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/danbrown/story/0,,1749361,00.html


The Plame game
By Guardian Unlimited / USA 04:20pm
The latest revelation about George W Bush's involvement in the Valerie Plame scandal is unlikely to be the smoking gun that finishes off his administration, writes David Fickling.
But it is the most damaging allegation yet to emerge about Bush's involvement in the campaign to discredit a high-ranking critic of his Iraq policy.
So far, Bush has been more or less insulated from the Plame scandal. Despite nearly three years of inquiries and investigations into the affair, the buck has always stopped at the door of Washington's political advisers, rather than their masters.
Now there is the suggestion that Bush and Cheney may have respectively given their subordinates permission and encouragement in the campaign against Valerie Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/04/07/the_plame_game.html


New bird flu tests prove negative
Matt Weaver and agencies
Friday April 7, 2006

The goverment's chief scientific adviser, Professor Sir David King. Photograph: PA
Tests on nine birds checked for bird flu in the wake of the first UK case of the deadly H5N1 virus proved negative, the Scottish Executive announced today.
It followed reassurances that bird flu still posed minimal risk to the British public despite confirmation that a dead swan found in the coastal village of Cellardyke, in Fife, had tested positive for H5N1.
The Scottish Executive yesterday said the remains of another 14 birds found in Scotland were being tested for the disease.
Article continues
Today, a spokeswoman said she could not confirm how many birds were still being tested and whether the number had risen or fallen since yesterday.
"No further positive results have been received," she said. "Nine negative results have come back, but we are unable to provide a running commentary on every test result."
The Scottish Executive has set up a 2,500km sq wild bird risk area in which farmers have been told to keep poultry indoors. Bird gatherings such as pigeon races have been banned, and the surveillance of wild birds will be stepped up.
The area encompasses 175 registered poultry farms containing more than 3m birds, including 260,000 free range poultry.
The swan infected with H5N1 was discovered more eight days ago in Cellardyke, which is around nine miles from St Andrews.
Local poultry farmers and the Scottish National party criticised the time it had taken to confirm the swan had died of the virulent strain of avian influenza.
The Cabinet Office's civil contingencies committee, Cobra, held a second meeting with Scottish Executive officials to discuss the situation today.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also announced that tests on six dead swans found in the province had proved negative.
Four carcasses recovered in Portglenone, Co Antrim, and two found in Moira, Co Down, were checked for H5N1 and given the all-clear.
"So far this year, DARD has tested 23 swans, all of which have been negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza," the chief veterinary officer for Northern Ireland, Bert Houston, said. "We will continue to undertake such testing as necessary."
Earlier today, the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, insisted that Britain was better prepared than any other country to cope with bird flu.
He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that one case of a bird with the H5N1 strain - which can pass to humans - did not constitute a crisis.
The current outbreaks of pathogenic avian flu began in south-east Asia in mid-2003. There have been 191 confirmed human cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu reported to the World Health Organisation to date, and 108 human deaths.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1749268,00.html


Cygnet of the times
Its gleaming plumage is now tarred by being a harbinger of pestilence but let us remember the swan's long and noble heritage, says Mark Cocker
Friday April 7, 2006
I don't think that we should be surprised that the only bird they've found to date bearing the H5N1 virus is a mute swan. It's one of the biggest birds in this country and its entire plumage is pure, gleaming white. A dead one in the middle of the fields stands out like a snowman in summer. It's probably the only dead bird that the public will spot and it makes one wonder how many examples of smaller, inconspicuous wildfowl could have died from exactly the same cause but will never be discovered.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1749372,00.html


Gossip columnist under FBI investigation
Stephen Brook, press correspondent
Friday April 7, 2006
The New York Post has suspended a writer on its Page Six gossip column after the FBI investigated suspicions that the man had demanded money from a billionaire in return for protecting him from unflattering gossip stories.
Billionaire Ronald Burkle allegedly told the FBI that Jared Paul Stern, described as a "fixture on the city's gossip scene" demanded $100,000, plus $10,000 monthly payments in return for stopping negative stories running in the New York tabloid, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, according to US media reports.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1749466,00.html


Newsdesk notes for Friday April 7
By Jon Dennis 12:00pm
Today I speak to Sir Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem leader. The bird flu outbreak happened in his constituency. The Guardian's Gerard Seenan's describes the reaction from local people. And Peter Singer, the moral philosopher, gives us his view of bird flu, and talks about ethical eating.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/podcasts/2006/04/newsdesk_notes_for_friday_apri.html

continued ...

Mattoon, Illinois (Click on for official city website)

Kindly note, the map above is of a city well above sea level and not near any major river or larger tributary. The ground saturation is already quite extensive.

April 6, 2006.

Matton, Illinois.

Elevation 726 feet.

Photographer states :: It has been raining heavy all morning. The fields are under water...won't be any farming here for awhile.

These towns are only a few hundred feet above sea level, however...

... cities such as Fargo, Minnesota have river valleys fed by glaciers and drainage systems far greater than simple rainfall. 'The head waters' of the Red River starts in Canada.

Red River of the North BasinGlacial Lake Agassiz and the Red River Valley (Click on title above to access site of "Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.")

As the glaciers melt down, there is not only increased percipitation from severe and deluging storms there is also river rise from the glaciers. This is met with sea level rise at the drainage basin. In this case, the mouth of the Mississippi River. Regardless the elevation of the city there will be saturation throughout the entire 'traverse' of the water.

The Gulf Coast of the USA is affected by not only the severe storms but also the rising rivers that provide it's valued commerce. Senator Landreau is correct. She has the 'big picture.'

An island of sand bags in an ocean of flood plain.

April 6, 2006.

Budapest, Hungary.

Photographer states :: 2006/04/06 18:14 CEST. The water-level of the river Danube increased continually for seven days in a row. Yesterday the flood culmination had eventuated with a depth of 860 centimetres at Budapest. Since then the water level decreased a bit - 20-22 centimetres - but henceforward it is far taller than was during last 120 years whenever - the news said. Most seriously affected are the localities situated in the landscape called the Bend of Danube. Flooded places are in the north-western suburbs of the capital city, too. Lots of small businesses and private individuals are seriously affected. I took this picture on the right side of the river Danube; the Margaret island is in the background. It is raining.

As the polar cap melts the water will seek 'holes' in terra firma first.

April 6, 2006.

Budapest, Hungary.

As the spaces, even miniscule spaces due to 'grain size' of earth fill with water there will be permanent flood plains where there was once none.

Photographer states :: 2006/04/06 18:12 CEST. The water-level of the river Danube increased continually for seven days in a row. Yesterday the flood culmination had eventuated with a depth of 860 centimetres at Budapest. Since then the water level decreased a bit - 20-22 centimetres. Most seriously affected are the localities situated in the landscape called the Bend of Danube. Flooded places are in the north-western suburbs of the capital city, too. I took this picture on the right side of the river Danube; the Margaret island is in the background. It is raining.

Earthen levees and dams in the USA with the same happening in Europe. The sea level is rising. Subterrestrial saturation.

April 6, 2006.

Budapest, Hungary.

Photographer states :: 2006/04/06 18:51 CEST. The water-level of the river Danube increased continually for seven days in a row. Yesterday the flood culmination had eventuated with a depth of 860 centimetres at Budapest. Since then the water level decreased a bit - 20-22 centimetres. I took this photo on the Margaret island - the Arpad bridge is in the background. The Margaret island was not flooded.

April 2, 2006.

Large hail in Illinois.

This system covered several states. Lots and lots of square miles.

April 2, 2006.

Terra Haute, Indiana.

Photographer states :: storm from sunday left behind golf ball size hail...talk about noisy on the neighbors barns!

Morning Papers - continued ,,,

Los Angeles Times

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan
The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs.
By Ralph Vartabedian
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity.The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nuke6apr06,0,5989419.story?coll=la-home-headlines


22 Chinese Stowaways Found at Cargo Facility in Seattle
The apparent human smuggling incident revives questions about security at U.S. ports.
By Sam Howe Verhovek
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
SEATTLE — After spending 15 days inside a cargo container shipped from Shanghai, 18 men and four women were discovered early Wednesday at the Port of Seattle. The stowaways made the arduous journey in the hopes of finding work here, officials said. All 22 people, said to be in their 20s and 30s, were apparently in relatively good health after surviving the trip in the 40-foot container stacked on the cargo ship Rotterdam.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smuggle6apr06,0,775362.story?coll=la-home-headlines


Insurers Saw Record Gains in Year of Catastrophic Loss
They say the profits are a fluke, but the industry has worked to shift risk to clients and the public.
By Peter G. Gosselin
Times Staff WriterApril 5, 2006
The companies that provide Americans with their homeowners and auto insurance made a record $44.8-billion profit last year even after accounting for the claims of policyholders wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and the other big storms of 2005, according to the firms' filings with state regulators.Top executives described the profit — an 18.7% increase over the previous year — as a fluke, the product of gains in other lines of insurance besides homeowners and a very good year for their investments.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-insure5apr05,0,3061059.story


110 American militrary wounded in Iraq each week

6% are commissioned officers

26% are National Guard

17,400 wounded so far since the invasion

12,500 medical personnel in Iraq

9,890 wounded by explosive devices

2% are female

"I don't want to sound like a psychopath or anything but I like having a rifle in my hands and doing my job. I like being a leader, leading soldiers, making a difference in the world." Army Stf. Sgt. Vincent Worrell.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wounded/la-na-wounded-series,0,936394.special


Sewage, Rain Wash Vacations Down the Drain
Officials in Hawaii say that some of the beaches closed by a wastewater spill will reopen and that the incessant storms have passed.
By Tomas Alex Tizon
Times Staff WriterApril 5, 2006
HONOLULU — The glum expression on Colleen Groat's face said it all. The 48-year-old Canadian had spent six months planning her first vacation in Hawaii, and not once during two weeks here did she set foot in the water. Her trips to the beach were met with signs that read: "WARNING. No swimming. No fishing. Sewage contaminated water."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oahu5apr05,0,156707.story


A Thai surprise
April, 6 2006
IT WASN'T ALL THAT LONG AGO that governments in Thailand had the lifespan of a butterfly, and the only constant was poverty. That has changed in recent years, but the sudden resignation Tuesday of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was an uncomfortable reminder of the fragility of Thailand's democracy.Thaksin was brought down not by popular vote but by Bangkok street protesters. Elected in 2001, Thaksin was Thailand's longest-serving prime minister and once its most popular. He won a majority of the votes in a snap election over the weekend, yet his victory did nothing to soothe angry urbanites fed up with his autocratic style. Apparently realizing it would be impossible to run the country with its capital paralyzed by protests, Thaksin cleaned out his desk and appointed his deputy, Chitchai Wannasathit, as acting prime minister.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-thailand6apr06,0,5080038.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials


The uneasy allies disrupting France
By K.A. Dilday, K.A. DILDAY is a France-based fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs.April 5, 2006
THE STREETS OF France were packed again Tuesday with protesters opposed to a controversial new law that makes it easier to fire young people from their jobs. More than 1 million people poured into the streets across the country — including 80,000 in Paris alone — scuffling with riot police, snarling airports and roads and prompting hundreds of arrests. The protests have been seen by some as evidence of French idealism and by others as symbolic of French entitlement. In fact, they may be both.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dilday5apr05,0,5771015.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions


Delayed reform
April, 5 2006
JACK ABRAMOFF WAS EVERY REPUBLICAN'S favorite lobbyist. Tom DeLay was every lobbyist's favorite Republican. Today, thanks to their own corruption, Abramoff is off to serve a 70-month jail term for fraud, and DeLay is walking away from what he loves best — campaigning for his congressional seat. Stung by a money-laundering indictment, multiple ethics lapses and the inconvenient fact that several of his former staffers have been implicated in the Abramoff affair, the former House majority leader from Texas is making a graceless exit from the political mess he helped create. You'd think such a backdrop would inspire Congress to crack down on lobbying abuse. Instead, the Senate voted last week for a tepid bill that purports to reform lobbying rules. The 90-8 vote for passage alone should call its value into question.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-lobby05apr05,0,4422292.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials


Before the levees break
April, 5 2006
IMAGES OF THE LINGERING devastation in New Orleans should be enough to persuade anyone not to bet the safety of their house or business on aging levees.But Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) doesn't want to rely on voluntary efforts in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river valleys. His bill, AB 1898, would require all property owners in those watersheds to buy federal flood insurance if they faced at least a 1-in-200-years chance of flooding. That mandate goes far beyond the current requirement, which applies only to those who obtain a mortgage or home-equity loan in areas with at least a 1-in-100-year risk.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-flood05apr05,0,2718352.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials


Duke's Lacrosse Coach Resigns Over Scandal
Pressler, who spent 16 seasons at the school, is out and the season is canceled in the wake of allegations that three players on the team raped a stripper.
From the Associated Press
April, 6 2006
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke's lacrosse coach resigned Wednesday and the university canceled the rest of the season amid a burgeoning scandal involving allegations that three players on the highly ranked team raped a stripper at an off-campus party. Mike Pressler spent 16 seasons at Duke and won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Last year, his team appeared in the national championship game.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-duke6apr06,0,1090927.story?coll=la-home-headlines


All Fired Up Over Water
As aging planes are grounded, the makers of converted jumbo jets fitted with huge tanks compete for lucrative contracts to fight blazes.
By Bob Pool
Times Staff WriterApril 6, 2006
An aerial dogfight is shaping up over Southern California as rival millionaires duel to see who will be first to get his jumbo jet water tanker aloft to fight wildfires.One has his hopes pegged on a converted 747 cargo aircraft. The other is banking on a retrofitted DC-10 passenger plane.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tanker6apr06,0,5513120.story?coll=la-home-headlines


The Jakarta Post

Dutch PM visits RI to strengthen ties with former colony
JAKARTA (AP): Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was traveling to Indonesia on Thursday for a two-day visit to boost ties with his country's former colony and meet Islamic leaders.
Balkenende will hold talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, officials said.
The trip follows recent visits by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minster Tony Blair, who both praised Indonesia's transition to democracy and its status as a moderate Muslim nation.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060406154116&irec=0

Labor rallies spread, business counts cost

Ridwan Max Sijabat

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Labor unions pooled their resources Wednesday in stepped-up protests nationwide against planned revisions to the labor law, with worker absenteeism due to demonstrations of the past two weeks causing mounting losses to industry.
Rallies have spread from Jakarta and provincial capitals in Java and Sumatra to industrial areas on the two main islands.
Workers in industrial zones in North Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra, Jakarta, West, Central and East Java left their workplaces to demand the dropping of the planned revisions.
The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) criticized the government for its failure to take a constructive approach to calming the protests, which they say are causing billions of rupiah in losses to their members.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060406.@01&irec=0

Kalla takes it easy with worker reps
Tony Hotland

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Vice President Jusuf Kalla adopted a soothing approach Wednesday to a seething labor protest outside his office in Central Jakarta.
Kalla sat down with 10 labor union representatives after an estimated 60,000 protesters gathered to denounce controversial changes to the 2003 Labor Law.
"It's still a draft because we have to talk with labor unions and the House of Representatives. We will seek a balance between the interests of labor and the businesspeople," he said after the one-hour meeting with the officials from Jakarta, Banten and West Java.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060406.@02&irec=1

Wolfowitz voices support for peace process in Aceh
Riyadi Suparno

The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
A longtime friend of Indonesia, Paul Wolfowitz, now the president of the World Bank, has returned here after a visit last year to provide support for the landmark peace process in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and the physical reconstruction of the devastated province.
Wolfowitz, who arrived here Wednesday for a three-day visit to the country, said he was pleased with the peace accord signed by the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement after the devastating tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, and promised to extend a helping hand to reinforce the deal.
"Even in a terrible tragedy, some good things can happen. I'm very pleased that there has been a real peace process in Aceh so that not only will this beautiful part of Indonesia be rebuilt better than it was before, but it will live in peace as the people of Aceh so much deserve."

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060406.A04&irec=3

'Decree on houses of worship violates Constitution'
Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni and Home Minister Moh. Ma'ruf recently issued a joint ministerial decree on the establishment of houses of worship, which was immediately met with opposition by minority religious groups. The new decree replaces a 1969 joint ministerial decree. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic scholar and professor at Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy in Jakarta, shared his views on the controversial regulation with The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat.
Question: How do you see the new joint ministerial decree?
Answer: The decree goes against the amended 1945 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. What I regret is that it does not protect human rights and the people's constitutional right to exercise their freedom to worship. To be consistent with the Constitution, the government should allow all religious communities, including minority one, to build their own houses of worship without any restrictions.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060406.B07&irec=6



Miami Herald

Formula changes the way kids are graded
Thousands of students' grades have been affected by new computerized gradebook software, forcing some teachers to change the way they calculate report cards.
BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR
mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com
New gradebook software is forcing many Miami-Dade teachers to change the way they calculate student grades, potentially altering results for thousands of students.
The software -- already in 153 schools and being phased in at all 358 -- forces teachers to use the district's official grading formula. That system gives equal weight to any test score within a letter-grade range; an 89, for example, is treated the same as an 80 because they are both recorded in the computer as a B.
Countless teachers have ignored that 5-year-old rule, sticking with the more traditional method of averaging percentage scores earned on assignments and tests and then converting that average to a letter grade.
But as the gradebook forces them to adopt the letter-grade system on each assignment, an unknown number of grades have been inflated or reduced.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273864.htm

2,551 migrant licenses revoked
Florida has canceled more than 2,500 driver's licenses and ID cards because of fraudulent applications by foreign nationals who had no immigration status.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
Florida has revoked more than 2,500 driver's licenses issued to foreign nationals -- most of them in South Florida -- who used fraudulent documents to obtain them, the head of the Homeland Security agency that oversees immigration services disclosed Wednesday.
Emilio González, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said at a news conference in Washington that agency employees detected the fraud and alerted the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles last summer.
''We identified the problem, informed the state of Florida of the situation and they expeditiously moved out with a bulletin,'' González said.
González's announcement marked the first time the federal government publicly acknowledges the success of a system set up in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to prevent undocumented foreign nationals from obtaining Florida driver's licenses and identification cards. Some of the 9/11 terrorist hijackers, including plot leader Mohamed Atta, had obtained Florida driver's licenses, though they were entitled to them because they had valid visas.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273747.htm

Legislation proposed by two Republican state lawmakers would dictate when police officers can use stun guns.
BY EVAN S. BENN, SUSANNAH A. NESMITH AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
TALLAHASSEE - With stun guns on the belts of thousands of Florida police officers, the Legislature is close to telling cops when they can use the weapons.
Two Republican lawmakers also want to require police recruits to go through state-mandated stun-gun training, even though most of the 430 Florida police agencies that use stun guns already have their own policies and training procedures.
The legislation specifies that stun guns may only be deployed ''during an arrest or custodial situation'' when a person uses active physical resistance and appears able to harm an officer or is attempting to escape.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273746.htm

Dade district plans to yank book about Cuban children
School officials said they would pull a book with pictures of a Cuban communist youth group from grade school library shelves.
BY PETER BAILEY
pbailey@MiamiHerald.com
A children's book may be removed from dozens of elementary school libraries throughout the district because it contains themes from Cuba's communist regime.
The book, Vamos a Cuba (A Visit to Cuba), is available at 33 schools, district officials say.
A portrait of kids outfitted as Pioneers -- Cuba's communist youth group -- is emblazoned across the book's cover. Inside pages show scenes of a joyous carnival held on July 26, the anniversary of the Cuban revolution.
After seeing the book, the parent of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary student promptly contacted officials at the West Miami-Dade school.
''The parent was offended with the book's content,'' district spokesman Joseph Garcia said Wednesday. ``We're following School Board procedure to have the book removed from library shelves.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273749.htm

Rolling Stones to play first China concert
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press
SHANGHAI, China - Having played before millions of fans worldwide over a four-decade career, there aren't many firsts left for rock icons the Rolling Stones. By the end of this week, there'll be one less, after their debut concert in mainland China.
The band was due to arrive in Shanghai on Thursday, three years after the SARS epidemic forced them to cancel an earlier visit to the country.
A sellout crowd was expected for Saturday night's show in the relatively intimate setting of the 8,000-seat Shanghai Grand Stage in the heart of China's biggest and brashest city.
The concert marks another milestone in the authoritarian communist state's opening to Western pop culture, although a host of limitations remain.
The Rolling Stones' 2002 greatest hits collection, "40 Licks," was cut by the censors to just 36 after "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together," were cut from the mainland Chinese release, apparently due to their suggestive lyrics.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14274362.htm

Harris is due to answer some tough questions
BY FRED GRIMM
fgrimm@herald.com
With the daily body counts coming out of her campaign headquarters, coverage of the Katherine Harris Senate run has come to resemble war dispatches. Gone, but not forgotten, are two campaign managers, her political consultant, a fundraiser, a communications director, a field operations director, a media consultant.
The candidate herself veers off on strange tangents. According to Florida Today, she told some supporters Saturday that her campaign staff had been ''infiltrated'' by enemies from within the Republican Party. ``I didn't know I was going to get the knives in my back from my own party.''
So the press spends time sorting out internecine intrigue.
The latest Harris turmoil comes after weeks of rumor-laden drama about whether she was going to quit her campaign. And reporters have been writing about the $10 million of her own inheritance she promised, with a biblical flourish, to add to her campaign fund. Or about the contributions she accepted from the same defense contractor who pleaded guilty in the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14273640.htm


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