Sebastian Sylvester of Germany stopped Billy Lyell of the United States in the 10th round to retain his IBF middleweight title on Saturday.
Lyell's corner threw in the towel after Sylvester landed a hard right to the American's chin and followed …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Allman finds some spirituality
As he prepared to embark on a tour with a revamped lineup thatincludes new guitarist Jack Pearson (who is recovering from anemergency appendectomy), keyboardist-vocalist-guitarist Gregg Allmanmarveled that the band is just a year shy of its 30th anniversary.But as a songwriter and musician, he's not lacking for material, saidAllman.
"There are different ways of saying things, plus the stuffthat's happening now; it's …
Halliburton says Libya sanctions will hit earnings
HOUSTON (AP) — Halliburton Co. said Monday that turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, and especially sanctions imposed on Libya, will cut first-quarter earnings by 3 cents to 4 cents per share.
The oilfield-services company also said winter weather usually shaves 5 cents to 8 cents per share from earnings, and this quarter might be on the high side because of severe weather in North …
Nigeria announces power grid sale, repair
Nigeria's president announced a multi-billion-dollar plan Thursday to repair and privatize the oil-rich nation's decrepit national power grid that forces people to rely on private generators to provide electricity.
President Goodluck Jonathan said the nation would sell off the state-run Power Holding Company of Nigeria and workers at the state-run power company would receive "generous" severance package.
In a speech before journalists and the nation's political elite, Jonathan said the nation would rely on private companies to build new power generation plants relying on the nation's vast natural gas reserves.
"We need a revolution …
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Jazz Fest kicks off Thursday
The 23rd Chicago Jazz Festival gets underway Thursday at 4:30 p.m.at the Chicago Cultural Center with a solo piano performance by JasonMoran. One of the most highly praised of young jazz talents, he willalso appear Saturday at the fest proper in Grant Park Saturday as amember of the Greg Osby Quartet.
Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. at the Petrillo Music Shell, thefestival …
Nowitzki, Mavs Beat Rival Spurs 95-92
SAN ANTONIO - Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, 14 in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-92 on Friday night for their eighth straight victory.
Jason Terry had 14 points and 10 assists, Josh Howard added 12 points in his return to the lineup, and Erick Dampier contributed 11 in the Mavericks' first game at San Antonio since their overtime victory in Game 7 of last season's Western Conference semifinals.
Tim Duncan made three free throws with 12 seconds left to bring the Spurs within one, but two from the line by Nowitzki and last-second misses by Robert Horry and Michael Finley sent the Spurs to their third home loss of the season. …
N. Ireland police say officer shot dead in ambush
A Northern Ireland police officer was shot and killed while on patrol Monday, police and politicians said, raising fears of a return to tit-for-tat violence just two days after IRA dissidents killed two British soldiers.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a patrol was investigating suspicious activities in Craigavon, a religiously divided town southwest of Belfast, when the unit came under fire from a predominantly Irish Catholic area. The officer was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital.
A local Catholic politician, Dolores Kelly, warned that Northern Ireland could suffer a spiral of bloodshed if Protestant extremists _ who traditionally killed …
Bits and pieces of this and that from Gault to Sabo
Spraying to all fields: Rumor has it that with Willie Gault long gone to the Los AngelesRaiders, the local chapter of the Me Generation is still searchingfor a suitable replacement as its chief spokesman.
How much would you pay to see Robin Givens and Janet Jones slug itout toe-to-toe, checkbook-to-checkbook for the dragonweightchampionship of the world? Since it appears we're going to get Soviet athletes in the NHL andin the NBA, at what point do we get to send back Yakov Smirnoff? A guy who really knows his sports is Jimmy Shorts of WLUP-AM. What a great deal that John Tudor for Pedro Guerrero swap wasbetween St. Louis and Los Angeles. It's like trading Oscar …No. 5 West Virginia Runs Over Marshall
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Steve Slaton's sophomore season started the same way he ended last year - with a big performance. Slaton ran for 203 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead No. 5 West Virginia past Marshall 42-10 on Saturday.
Slaton, the nation's top freshman in 2005 with 19 rushing TDs, had his second straight 200-yard game. He set a Sugar Bowl record with a career-high 204 yards in a win over Georgia in January.
Slaton was the backbone of the nation's fourth-best rushing attack last season and he tore up Marshall (0-1) in just the second meeting between the state's two Division I-A schools since 1923.
"The line and I had a good game plan coming in and we …
Red Cross worker freed in Philippines
On the worst days, kidnapped Italian Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni couldn't stop himself from picturing how he feared his monthslong jungle captivity in the southern Philippines would end: with his decapitated head in a basket.
Gaunt, exhausted and barely able to walk due to a hernia, the 62-year-old engineer did not believe his al-Qaida-linked captors when they told him he would finally be freed _ until a government negotiator showed up Sunday morning to escort him away.
Vagni was reunited with his wife and daughter Sunday in Manila. After six months of fraught negotiations and periodic pursuit by the Philippine army, his Abu Sayyaf captors released him after the government …
Smaller Bags May Help Zip Up Appetites
Here's a diet tip for those goal-oriented people who simply haveto finish that bag of pretzels or whatever: Try putting your snacksin small …
Filmmaker George Hickenlooper dies in Denver
DENVER (AP) — George Hickenlooper, who won an Emmy Award in 1992 for directing "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," has died. He was 47.
In a statement Saturday, Denver mayor and Colorado Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper says his cousin died of apparent natural causes.
Los Angeles-based George Hickenlooper was in Denver for the premiere of his latest …
Netherlands beats Ukraine 3-0 in international friendly
Dirk Kuyt, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Ryan Babel scored Saturday to help the Netherlands beat Ukraine 3-0 in a friendly tuneup for next month's European Championship.
Kuyt's first international goal in nearly a year put the Netherlands in front when the Liverpool forward headed in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's cross in the 22rd minute.
Huntelaar doubled the lead with a shot from inside the area in the 37th after Rafael van der Vaart's pass.
Van der Vaart turned provider again in the 63rd, setting up substitute Babel for the third.
Kuyt had previously scored in the 2-1 defeat against Switzerland in August 2007.
Bogus council worker
SOUTHMEAD: Police are appealing for information after a man posingas a council worker stole a 72-year-old woman's purse from her homein Greystoke Avenue.
The man called at the victim's house and claimed to work for thecouncil, saying he would do some work on her garden for free.
When the victim went to make a cup of tea, he stole her purse fromher handbag and fled in a van that was parked outside.
The man is described as white, of large build, with dark brownhair and a round face. He was in his mid-forties, clean-shaven andwore a white speckled knitted jumper and dark trousers.
A second man was waiting in the passenger seat of the van. He isalso white with short dark brown hair and was clean-shaven. He waswearing a grey coat and was younger than the other man.
The van was white, in good condition, and had small black letterson the side.
Anyone with any information should contact Crimestoppers on 0800555 111.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Go vegetarian at grilling time
Portobellos are
hearty enough
to be a main dish
By BEVERLY MILLS
and ALICIA ROSS
WHEN we think grilling, we think meat: steaks, London broil,burgers and chicken breasts. But we've been missing a fast andflavorful vegetarian dinner by limiting our horizons.
Portobellos - huge mushrooms now the rage in all of our favoriterestaurants - are flavorful, nutritious and meaty enough to star asthe main dish at dinner. We didn't realize how easy they are to cookuntil we started to experiment at home.
These beauties are appearing in even the smallest grocery storesthese days, verifying their popularity. Portobellos are the matureversion of another favorite fungi - the cremini mushroom. Whilecreminis are the size of regular mushrooms, a portobello cap canmeasure from three inches to eight inches in diameter (although thereally large specimens are harder to find).
It's best to buy fresh mushrooms within a few days of when youplan to eat it. If a mushroom starts to lose moisture, that meansit's losing flavor. The texture is also compromised.
Portobellos come as whole mushrooms, as caps, or even alreadysliced. For today's super-simple Portobello Mushroom SteakSandwiches, buy whole mushrooms or caps. Because mushrooms areporous, they absorb our savory glaze of oil, vinegar and basil injust seconds.
Next time you think of grilling, think "mushroom steaks" and knowthat dinner is less than 20 minutes away.
Send us desperate tales of woe or everyday success stories andyour favorite quick recipes to Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media,200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016; or e-mail: ddinners@aol.com.
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Zedillo Backers Here Reject Claims of Fraud
After Mexican voters decided the ruling InstitutionalRevolutionary Party (PRI) would control that country's government forsix more years, a group of Chicago supporters of President-electErnesto Zedillo called the electoral process "fair," dismissingcomplaints of massive vote fraud.
Zedillo gathered about 48 percent of the vote Sunday, while theconservative National Action Party's (PAN) candidate, Diego Fernandezde Cevallos, received slightly more than 30 percent. The DemocraticRevolution Party's (PRD) Cuauhtemoc Cardenas came in third with 16percent.
George Loera, a local businessman and president of Chicago'sMexican American Chamber of Commerce, observed the balloting. Hetold the group gathered at a Chicago downtown hotel Monday that hehad been impressed by the participation in the generally trouble-freeelections.
"Eighty percent of the 45 million eligible voters cast theirballots," Loera said. He added that only about 1 percent of thevoters had difficulty casting their ballots.
Jaime Bermudez Sr., a Mexican entrepreneur from Ciudad Juarez inMexico, said the elections opened a new period of democracy for thenation.
He also acknowledged criticisms directed at Mexico becausenationals residing in other countries are not allowed to vote.
"It is constitutionally prohibited," he said, pointing out thatthe electoral process continues "to be fine-tuned."
Bermudez rejected the claims of fraud issued by PRD candidateCardenas.
"If Cuauhtemoc had won," Bermudez said, "he would haveprotested that result too."
Gabriela Bustamante, editor of La Raza, an influential newspaperin Chicago's Spanish-speaking community, told the Sun-Times after themeeting of Zedillo supporters that she agreed the elections had notbeen rigged. The newspaper closely monitored the balloting for itsMexican-American readers.
"There was not much opportunity to commit vote fraud," she said.
The speakers predicted that a two-party system would eventuallyestablish itself in Mexico, and the PRD would cease to be a factor.
"The PRD is very dependent on Cuauhtemoc," Bustamante said."When his popularity ebbs, the party will cease to be a strongpolitical force in Mexican politics."
For the Zedillo government, nevertheless, the electoral victoryis only a first step, Bermudez said.
"The easy part was getting elected," he said. "The hard partwill be to govern.
Steppenwolf actor goes gray on TV
Tom Irwin's new job has given him a few gray hairs. In fact, ithas given him a whole head of them.
Every week, the 34-year-old Steppenwolf actor sprouts grayhairs, wrinkles and age spots as he is transformed into an85-year-old in the ABC series "My Life and Times." The show, from"Beauty and the Beast" creator Ron Koslow, will premiere Wednesday at8:30 p.m. on WLS-Channel 7.
Set in the year 2035, the series is a sort of golden age "WonderYears" that gives Irwin a chance to play a different age in eachepisode. His character, Ben Miller, is a retired writer who recallsa new chapter of his life each week. It's a wonderful challenge foran actor, but it may take audiences some getting used to.
"Whether people will have the patience for this, I don't know,but I love the idea that it travels back and forth in time," saidIrwin, who was in town last week for the opening of Steppenwolf's newcomplex. Irwin, who appeared in Steppenwolf productions of "TheGlass Menagerie," "The Homecoming," "Tracers" and "Balm in Gilead,"created roles of the narrator and the "Ragged Man" for the company's"The Grapes of Wrath."
Like other Steppenwolf actors, Irwin has scaled the heights ofHollywood and kept his feet on the stage. His latest film is "TheMrs.," a psychological thriller with Goldie Hawn and John Hurt, setfor a summer release.
If television is a departure for him, the series also is adeparture for the medium, which routinely packages sitcoms inhalf-hour chunks and dramas in hourlong blocks. "My Life and Times"offers a fully developed story in a half-hour episode.
Irwin and his wife, Patricia Hammell, maintain homes in Chicagoand Los Angeles. But Irwin's real home always will be Steppenwolf.In 1979, he got his start there among an extraordinary group ofactors and directors.
"I don't know how many of us would be in the business if itweren't for the fact that we had this kind of comfort and this familyatmosphere that remains a comfort still."
Cameron vows he'll go to wall despite ankle sprain
ARLINGTON, Texas Mike Cameron won't be fenced in. He'll stillchallenge walls the way he did Saturday night, when he slightlysprained his right ankle trying for Rusty Greer's second home run inthe Texas Rangers' 13-8 victory.
"I never think of running into walls," Cameron said. "I thinkof getting to them to make the catch.
"Most of the walls up here have some give to them. You can getkilled running into the ones in the minors."Cameron, whose foot was bent backward when he tried to climb thewall, will have two days to recuperate. Darren Lewis replacedCameron Sunday, and the Sox are off today.THE QUOTE: Scott Eyre, on giving up two homers Saturday toGreer:"He's so hot, he can't get himself out."BIRTHDAY BOYS: Albert Belle and twin Terry are 31 today. Albertwas first - by four minutes. "It's too bad (Monday) is an off day,"Terry said. "Albert does pretty well on his birthday."Belle had a two-run single for the Cleveland Indians on hisbirthday last season after the Milwaukee Brewers walked Jim Thome andhit two homers against the Detroit Tigers the previous year.CATCHER'S EYE VIEW: Catcher Jorge Fabregas had no problemwearing a mini-camera atop his mask at ESPN's request."It's a little heavy with the battery packs, but it won't giveaway any secrets," he said. "If anything, it may show if the umpiremisses a pitch."CASTILLO A CLOSER: Carlos Castillo, announced as a starter twoweeks ago, is now closing games at Class AAA Nashville.The Sox want him to work on holding runners on base in pressuresituations."Carlos has cut his time down in delivering the ball, but hestill needs work on getting it to first," coach Mike Pazik said.HERE'S HOW: Chuck McElroy is a counselor for young relievers,having retained good advice when he broke in in 1989.McElroy's latest pupil is Nelson Cruz, who took the 13-8 lossSaturday with five runs in 2 1/3 innings."He'll be all right; he's got a good head on his shoulders,"McElroy said. "He only made one bad pitch (a three-run homer by IvanRodriguez). The trick is how you use your talent the next time."
Airport attack gives firms a wake-up call
The terror attacks in Glasgow have seen 100 North-east companies turn to a specialist security firm for help.
Aberdeen's reputation as the oil capital of Europe means many arewondering whether it could be a target for terrorists.
And the botched attack on Glasgow Airport on June 30 has focusedthe minds of some North-east business bosses.
Helensburgh-based terrorism expert 360 Defence has seen a hugeamount of business from the Aberdeen area since June 30.
The firm has links with the UK and US security services and ismade up of people who trained in the Israeli security services, theworld's most experienced anti-terror operators.
Since the Glasgow attack it has had around 2,200 hits on itswebsite a week from the North-east and almost 100 companies havecalled for advice.
The firm's defence director Simon Leila said: "We get a lot ofbusiness from Aberdeen.
"We always had some but it has definitely increased a lot sincethe summer.
"Most of it is from oil companies who feel particularlythreatened."
The company offers advice from increasing the security of offices,rigs and boats, to dealing with the aftermath of a bomb attack.
Mr Leila said: "Rigs are particularly vulnerable because they areso exposed.
"Oil companies need to have systems in place to prepare for anattack on a rig and keep traffic out at sea.
"Boats are also vulnerable, mainly as they can potentially carrya bomb to a rig."
But he said that offices and headquarters are also potentialtargets.
And he said: "We help companies draw up contingency plans tooperate after an attack on their offices.
"We even prepare companies for a nuclear attack. It's going tohappen somewhere someday."
Mr Leila said the biggest security threat was a lack ofobservation by staff.
"Staff need to be as watchful, as they would be when they drive acar, and report anything different or suspicious.
"That's the same for Joe Public. You may think it's nothing, butif 300 people lose their lives in a bomb blast you will feelterrible, or could be dead yourself."
The firm also gives self defence training for people going toplaces like Nigeria where they might be taken hostage.
"Hostage taking is an increasing problem. In Nigeria it is justto earn some cash, but in the Middle East it is far different.Usually there it is a desire to get publicity."
Stopping information theft is also on his list of requests.
IT systems can prevent security breaches by people passingthemselves off as employees to get information.
dmaddox@ajl.co.uk
Jurors receive cases in WR Grace trial
Cases in the W.R. Grace & Co. environmental crimes trial went to jurors Wednesday after closing arguments in which prosecutors relied heavily on documents and a company lawyer responded that documents "don't capture the flow of human experience."
"You have to listen to what people say, and they said it in this courtroom," defense attorney David Bernick said in highlighting some of the witnesses who have testified since the U.S. District Court trial began Feb. 19.
Maryland-based chemical company Grace and three former executives are accused of conspiring to hide health risks posed by asbestos in vermiculite that Grace mined years ago near Libby, in northwestern Montana. Attorneys for some Libby residents blame tremolite asbestos for about 2,000 cases of illness and about 225 deaths in and around the community.
Grace bought the mine in 1963 and closed it in 1990.
Bernick spoke after Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean walked jurors through a series of Grace memos and other documents presented during the trial. Human memories fade, McLean said, but the information on paper reveals some of what the company knew about asbestos hazards and shows that Grace sought to build a bank of information on which to draw if the company eventually was challenged about asbestos exposure.
"They needed to keep it a secret so they could continue making money as well as avoid liability," McLean said.
The prosecution's closing relied on the "same old, same old," said Bernick, telling jurors that "you've probably seen some of these documents seven, eight, nine times." The government cherry-picked documents to present in court rather than acknowledge its case lacks merit, Bernick said.
Prosecutors "know what the record in this case is" but have chosen not to tell the full story, said Bernick, who added that allegations about what happened in Libby include "junk science."
McLean opened with an apology for earlier failing to give defense lawyers copies of e-mails relevant in the defense of Robert Bettachi, one of the former executives.
"That was my mistake," McLean said. "My mistake caused an interruption in this trial."
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy had told jurors not to consider the testimony of Robert Locke, a key prosecution witness involved in the e-mail communications, when considering the charges against Bettachi. The judge told jurors Wednesday to regard Locke's testimony cautiously when weighing the cases of other defendants.
Molloy has broadly criticized the prosecution, at one point telling federal attorneys they did not understand the evidence they were presenting. Last week he dismissed charges against two former executives, shrinking the number still on trial to three, but he refused to end the trial on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. Motions to acquit remain pending, and Molloy said Wednesday that he would not rule on them before the jury returns verdicts.
The judge expanded his instructions to the jury after some members of the defense team objected to part of the prosecution's closure. Closing defense arguments included statements by attorneys for former executives Henry Eschenbach and Jack Wolter, as well as Bettachi.
NO: STV is not truly proportional and is less democratic than FPTP
There are multiple problems with the Single Transferable Vote (STV) proposed by the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly that will be voted on in a May 17 referendum.
First off, if STV is so great, why is it used as the national electoral system in just two countries: Ireland and Malta, representing about 0.1% of the world population? And those countries have both used STV since the 1920s. STV is not exactly catching on like wildfire!
By comparison, our current first-past-the-post system is used by about 45% of the world's population in democratic countries.
What's wrong with STV? The short version is that it is complicated, confusing, prone to errors and delay, and not truly proportional; that it reduces local accountability, increases party control and discipline, and allows special interests to dominate party nominations.
It also doesn't do many of the things its proponents claim-such as increase the ability of third parties and independents to get elected
Let's talk about complexity.
In recent New Zealand local elections using STV for the first time, 12% of all votes were disqualified, more than 14 times the number rejected in the previous election.
The STV will use a mathematical quota called the Weighted Inclusive Gregory System. Voters will be confused about how the quota works, how their vote will be "transferred," how to rank a large number of candidates in each riding-expect 50-plus in a seven-member constituency-and if they can trust computers to get the results right.
STV will mean less local representation and accountability because STV will mean much larger ridings, and MLAs will be representing far more people over a wider geographic area.
Fair Voting B.C., an STV proponent, estimates that there will be just 18 ridings under STV, compared to the current 79 ridings across the province, with each riding having between two and seven members. In large rural ridings that contain a major town, it's possible that all MLAs elected will come from that town because that's where the most voters are, reducing accountability for other parts of the riding.
Does STV give proportional results? That is, if a party gets 10% of the popular vote in B.C., would it win 10% of the seats? No. STV supporters say it is more proportional than FPTP, but there is no guarantee that seats won will correspond with the popular vote.
And in rural ridings of two members, there is virtually no chance of a third party winning a seat, since the quota means a candidate needs at least 33% support to win.
Another concern is that votes are worth different amounts depending on the size of the riding. A candidate in a two-member riding needs 33% support to win, but a candidate in a seven-member riding would need only about 13% support-yet both MLAs would be treated as equals.
The STV record is not much better on improving the odds of independent candidates to win seats. Malta has used STV since 1921, but not a single independent candidate has been elected since 1950.
Any candidate requires significant funding to win election, and with STV the ridings will be much bigger, forcing candidates to raise even more money. In a seven-member riding, as proposed for Vancouver, major parties will likely each spend $1 million or more, based on spending in the last municipal election-an amount no independent candidate could possibly raise.
The same problems would discourage election of smaller third parties under an STV system. Again, in Malta, there are only two parties with elected officials. In recent elections the largest third party has won less than 2% of the vote and no seats. In Ireland, small parties have won seats, but so have smaller parties in B.C. under first-past-the-post, as recently as 1996.
Professor Lee Komito, a prominent academic at University College in Dublin, has written that: "Under the Irish system, in theory, marginal parties should be able to achieve political representation . . . In practice, however, the Irish party system is dominated by large parties, and small parties are unable to break into the system."
Would STV encourage more women to be elected? No. In Malta, women make up just 9.2% of the country's legislators, with only six women elected out of 65 representatives. In Ireland, just 13.3% of elected officials are women. By comparison, in British Columbia, under our first-past-the-post system, women make up 22.8% of our MLAs, 18 out of 79. And women represent 21.1% of all our elected Members of Parliament, with 65 women out of 308 seats. While it isn't representative of our society, it is significantly better than under either STV system.
Yvonne Galligan, an expert on Irish politics, says that "Ireland ranks close to the bottom of the European scale in terms of women's representation in political life, yet there is no discernible bias among the electorate against women candidates."
"Deviations from party solidarity," says Prof. Michael Gallagher, "are very rare in Ireland and are met with a draconian response-typically, expulsion from the parliamentary party. Fianna Fail, indeed, has a rule that any of its TDs [Members of Parliament] who even abstain on a measure, never mind vote against the party line, automatically incur expulsion."
In conclusion, voting for STV would be a huge mistake that would be very, very difficult to fix for many years.
[Sidebar]
"If STV is so great, why is it used as the national electoral system in just two countries, Ireland and Malta, representing about 0.1% of the world population?"
[Author Affiliation]
(Bill Tieleman is a political commentator and communications strategist who writes a weekly column on B.C. politics in the Georgia Straight newspaper. He is president of West Star Communications and has previously been communications director in the B.C. Premier's Office and also at the B.C. Federation of Labour. He can be reached at weststar@telus.net)
Monday, March 12, 2012
No. 3 Senate Dem Urges Gonzales to Quit
WASHINGTON - The Senate's No. 3 Democrat said Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign because he is putting politics above the law. Sen. Charles Schumer cited the FBI's illegal snooping into people's private lives and the Justice Department's firing of federal prosecutors.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said Gonzales repeatedly has shown more allegiance to President Bush than to citizens' legal rights since taking his job in early 2005.
He branded Gonzales, a former White House counsel, as one of the most political attorneys general in recent history.
"Attorney General Gonzales is a nice man, but he either doesn't accept or doesn't understand that he is no longer just the president's lawyer, but has a higher obligation to the rule of law and the Constitution even when the president should not want it to be so," Schumer said.
"And so this department has been so political that I think for the sake of the nation, Attorney General Gonzales should step down," he said.
As vice chairman of the Democratic caucus, Schumer is No. 3 in the Senate leadership.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a member of the Democrat-controlled Judiciary Committee, said Gonzales would be "better off" if he resigned.
"There is very little credibility in the Justice Department right now," Biden said. He cited what he said were abuses of power dating to Gonzales' tenure as White House counsel in which he advocated aggressive interrogations of suspected terrorists that pushed the boundaries of the law.
"I think Gonzales has lost the confidence of the vast majority of the American people," he said. "I think he's lost the confidence of the Congress."
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the committee, said Gonzales' resignation was a "question for the president and the attorney general."
"I do think there have been lots of problems," said Specter, who last week suggested that a Gonzales tenure may have run its course. "Before we come to conclusions, I think we need to know more facts."
Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the attorney general had made significant strides to protect national security, increase prosecutions of sex offenders and immigration offenses and fight gang violence.
"The attorney general demonstrated decisive leadership by demanding a new level of accountability to address systematic problems in oversight over some of the FBI's national security tools," Roehrkasse said.
The lawmakers' comments come after a week in which the Justice Department found itself on the defensive over the U.S. attorneys and the FBI's misuse of a type of subpoena known as national security letters.
On Friday, Gonzales and FBI director Robert Mueller acknowledged the FBI had broken the law to secretly pry out personal information about people in the U.S. as part of its pursuit of suspected terrorists and spies.
The admission came after a blistering 126-page report by the Justice Department's inspector general that found agents improperly obtained telephone records and demanded sensitive data. The information was obtained via security letters, which are special warrants issued without judicial approval.
Under criticism by lawmakers, Gonzales also agreed to tighten the law for replacing U.S. attorneys and to let Congress hear from senior department officials with roles in the ousters.
Several U.S. attorneys allege they were unfairly dismissed without explanation after they pursued corruption probes into Republicans or declined to rush specific investigations into Democrats before last November's congressional election. Gonzales and other officials have denied the charges.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it is the Bush administration's right to fire U.S. attorneys because they serve at the will of the president. Still, he said, the Justice Department was wrong to attack their reputations.
"I don't believe the attorney general will resign, but this whole episode was unnecessarily poorly handled," Graham said.
Over the weekend, Bush pledged an end to the FBI lapses that caused the illegal snooping but expressed confidence in the response by Mueller and Gonzales. Mueller has accepted responsibility, and both have pledged to fix problems.
Bush said that while the inspector general's report "justly made issue of FBI shortfalls, (it) also made clear that these letters were important to the security of the United States."
Lawmakers from both parties called the FBI abuses unacceptable. They noted it was Congress that demanded the inspector general review the program even as Justice Department officials were providing assurances the government's surveillance programs were being run responsibly.
In coming hearings by the Judiciary Committee, senators plan to consider whether to scale back some of the government's law enforcement powers in light of the abuses.
Schumer and Specter were on "Face the Nation" on CBS; Biden and Graham spoke on "Late Edition" on CNN.
---
On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov/
Senate Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov/
Cops Not Pawns in Clinton's Political Game
President Clinton has been running campaign commercials praisinghis so-called crime bill and using police officers as politicalpawns. As a police officer, I find these commercials very divisiveand offensive.
By using police officers, Clinton wants to demonstrate that hisassault weapon ban is going to save the lives of police officersaround the country even though these weapons are used in fewer than 1percent of crimes committed with a firearm.
Let's not drag police officers into politics. It's bad enoughthat the federal agencies are used by the president for his politicalplan. The street cop should be left alone to do his or her jobwithout being displayed in Clinton's political circus. Michael J. Sulla, Park Ridge Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
So Albert Einstein's prediction of a new state of matter hasbeen confirmed by an experiment. Fantastic!
Pro-life doctors and lawyers predicted more than 30 years agothat the legalization of abortion would not only fail to "liberate"women but would have numerous other negative consequences, especiallythe loss of respect for human life.
They predicted that the logic of Roe vs. Wade justifiesinfanticide, euthanasia and assisted suicide. We're beyond thosecrimes already, debating the rationing of health care for those withpoor "quality of life" and whether to legalize lethal injection.
They predicted an increase in child abuse. The U.S. AdvisoryBoard on Child Abuse reported recently that more babies and youngchildren die at the hands of their parents than in car accidents,house fires, falls or drownings.
You don't have to be an Einstein to see that these predictionshave all been confirmed by our country's costly experiment withabortion-on-demand. When will the media recognize it? Richard O'Connor, executive director, Illinois Right to Life Committee The Great Conciliator
Thomas F. Roeser's claim, in a recent column (May 31), thatHouse Speaker Lee Daniels has done little to advance the cause ofsocial issues in the Illinois Legislature has the taint of sourgrapes.
In fact, Daniels has opened up debate on the House floor to bothmoderate and conservative views and has successfully brought the twofactions together, presenting a unified Republican front in theHouse.
This session was historic not only in the legislation that waspassed, but also the cooperation that occurred. For the first timein recent memory, conservatives and moderates joined to craft acompromise on the parental notification bill to protect the healthand safety of pregnant minors.
Giving individual members of the House the floor to voice theirdiverse philosophies, Daniels called for a vote on theconservative-backed cutback of the Medicaid-funded abortions bill,only to see the bill fail on the House floor. Daniels allowed thebill to be called for a second vote and it passed.
Roeser also criticized legislation to improve the quality andexpand the services of early childhood facilities.
The voluntary program is aimed at increasing the education andhealth services of Ready to Learn facilities. This is neither aliberal nor a conservative bill; it is legislation that puts ourchildren first.
For Roeser to assert that Daniels broke a pledge to top socialconservatives is nonsense. Daniels promoted debate on all issues,ended the stagnation of political gridlock in the House chamber andrestored dignity and openness to the governmental process inSpringfield. State Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Hinsdale) Truckers for Sanity
The editorial page cartoon (Steve Benson, July 7) depicting anoversize truck with a "states' rights" sign barreling down on a carthat says "55 saves lives" was off the mark.
The implication that the trucking industry is pushing for higherspeed limits under the guise of "states' rights" is absolutely false.We strongly support a uniform, national 55 m.p.h. speed limit forboth trucks and cars for one simple reason - it save lives.
I understand that editorial cartoons are designed to exaggeratein order to make their points. But they should at least have a basisin reality - yours does not. Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive officer, American Trucking Associations Inc., Alexandria, Va. Trick or Treat
It seems every time there is a holiday approaching, the Rev.George Clements (Personal View, July 2) feels it is his duty toremind us about the horrors of slavery.
He uses the holiday to put his own personal spin on the issue.This time the bandwagon is the Emancipation Proclamation and hisnotion that both black and European Americans were granted realfreedom. He does not mention Native Americans, or Americans of otherracial backgrounds. If Clements is so intent on rehashing the sameinjustice from different angles, I can't wait for Halloween! Mike Koskiewicz, Portage Park
Altschuler, Modest
Altschuler, Modest
Altschuler, Modest, Russian-American conductor; b. Mogilev, Feb. 15, 1873; d. Los Angeles, Sept. 12, 1963. He studied cello at the Warsaw Cons., and then was a student of Arensky and Taneyev (composition) and Safonov (piano and conducting) at the Moscow Cons, (graduated, 1890). In 1903 he went to N.Y., where he was founder-conductor of the Russian Sym. Soc. (1904–16). Altschuler conducted the premiere of Scriab–in's Le poème de Vextase (N.Y., Dec. 10, 1908), and the U.S. premiere of his Prométhée, le poème du feu (N.Y., March 20, 1915). He also conducted the U.S. premieres of works by Rachmaninoff, Liadov, Ippolitov-Ivanov, and Vasilenko.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire
Europe to agree A350 financing within a month
The four European countries that produce Airbus jets hope to agree on funding arrangements for the redesigned wide-body A350 XWB commercial jet within a month, France's transportation minister said Monday.
In a meeting with German and British ministers at the Paris Air Show, Dominique Bussereau said they failed to make a decision Monday because their Spanish counterpart was absent.
France would provide loans of euro1.4 billion ($1.94 billion), he said, and Peter Hintze, Germany's deputy economy minister, said his country will offer up to euro1.1 billion ($1.52 billion). Britain's Lord Drayson, minister for business and defense, declined to say how much Britain is willing to finance.
The three countries said in a statement that they "look forward to funding arrangements for the A350 XWB being finalized soon."
The wide-body aircraft is designed to compete with Boeing Co.'s hot-selling 787. Both models are more energy-efficient than aircraft flying today thanks to a greater use of composite carbon materials.
Airbus' program was set back when it was forced into a costly redesign after customers balked at an earlier version. The first flight is now scheduled for 2012.
Bussereau said the development costs of the program should be around euro11 billion, a figure Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath declined to confirm. Governments could finance up to a third of the program costs in reimbursable loans.
Airbus parent company EADS had cash reserves of euro8.7 billion at the end of the first quarter, but has said preserving cash amid tight credit conditions is a priority.
Airbus and Boeing are locked in a dispute over alleged large commercial aircraft subsidies and are awaiting a ruling by the World Trade Organization.
The U.S. and EU have accused each other of providing billions in illegal subsidies to the companies. The U.S. says EU subsidies have enabled Airbus to capture long-standing Boeing customers. The EU counters that Boeing receives U.S. federal and state tax breaks, development funding and grants, as well as large amounts of military contract.
Pa. governor fishes for recognition
Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey discovered that you're neveras big a fish as you might think.
It happened in Hamlin, Pa., population 300, while he was at hisvacation home. Casey was chauffeured by a state police trooper on atrip to buy a fishing license.
Dressed in shorts and a golf shirt, Casey filled out anapplication and handed it to the clerk. "She looks at me and says,`Are you a Pennsylvania resident?' " Casey said.
"And I just deadpanned. I said, `Yes, I'm a Pennsylvaniaresident."'
"She says, `You got a driver's license?' "
"I said no."
"You got a voter's card?"
"No."
"You got the certificate of title to your car?"
"No."
"She said, `Where do you live?' "
"And I said, `I live in Scranton, I got a place in Lake Arieland I'm a Pennsylvania resident.' "
Finally, the trooper with Casey vouched for him. The clerkapproved the application, telling the governor, "I'm going to make anexception in your case."
Myanmar's Suu Kyi says she won't vote in elections
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has decided not to vote in upcoming elections, even though authorities have told her she is on the electoral roll, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said she informed him that she does not intend to vote in the Nov. 7 general elections in which her now-disbanded party has decided not to participate.
The military government dissolved her National League for Democracy party because it declined to reregister for an election it considers unfair and undemocratic. Nyan Win told reporters her position after meeting her for 2 1/2 hours at her home Tuesday.
She has previously advised followers that they have the right not to vote. The state-controlled press has criticized that position.
Suu Kyi told her lawyers that authorities informed her Sept. 24 that her name is on the electoral list and that she will be able to cast a ballot. She said that violated an election law that prohibited convicted people from voting.
According to the law, convicted people include those serving prison terms imposed by a court and those who are undergoing an appeal process, Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi was convicted in August 2009 of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited to her lakeside home. She is currently serving an 18-month term of house arrest that will expire Nov. 13, six days after the elections.
Suu Kyi "said the decision to put her on the electoral roll is against the law and this is lawlessness. She has instructed us to tell authorities that the decision was against the law," Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi's name was not on an initial voting list, but was added to a supplementary list posted a few days later. It is not clear why it was added.
The elections will be Myanmar's first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results and has kept Suu Kyi jailed or under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years.
Critics call the upcoming polls a sham designed to cement military rule. Myanmar has been under military control since 1962.
Despite criticism, Myanmar has rejected offers of help in carrying out the elections, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday.
Abhisit said he offered his country's assistance during a visit to Myanmar on Monday. He met Prime Minister Thein Sein and junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Abhisit told reporters in Bangkok he conveyed the international community's concerns. Myanmar's leaders replied they were "aware of the concerns, but did not want any outside help," he said.
Governor calls school session for Thursday
Cash-strapped Chicago schools saw signs for hope on two frontsFriday: Gov. Edgar called a special session for next week and teachercontract talks resumed two days earlier than scheduled.
Gov. Edgar ordered the special session to begin at noonThursday, saying that without action by the General Assembly, Chicagoschools won't open Sept. 8.
Under state law, however, the School Board must present abalanced budget to the School Finance Authority by Tuesday forschools to open on time.
Daley warned that the timing of the special session - two daysafter the deadline for the School Board to come up with a budget -appears to make it inevitable that the school system will shut downfor at least two days. Daley said his staff was studying whether ashort shutdown next week would necessitate a delay in the start ofclasses.
Edgar has said that deadline can be relaxed by the GeneralAssembly once a special session convenes.
"Legislation must be approved to allow Chicago schoolauthorities and the teachers union to close their budget gap usinglocal resources," Edgar said.
Edgar said he and Mayor Daley are "in agreement" on "theapproach" of Daley's $300 million school crisis plan to close theSchool Board's budget gap. Said Edgar: "No state resources will berequired. There will be no state bailout."
Daley said he was "very excited" and "very grateful" that Edgarhad scheduled the special session.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union announced that contracttalks resumed at 3 p.m today - two days earlier than scheduled.Resolution of teacher talks before any special session wouldshort-circuit any Republican attempts to legislate union concessionsinto Daley's funding plan. The CTU contract expires Tuesday.
The School Board must have a balanced budget by that same date,and currently has a funding gap of $298 million. Board member PamelaLenane said the board is meeting in executive session Saturdaymorning to discuss how to present a balanced budget to the SchoolFinance Authority on Tuesday without the $120 million in fundspromised in the Daley plan.
Daley dismissed growing Republican opposition to the bailout as"posturing" and outright rejected a demand by Senate President James"Pate" Philip (R-Wood Dale) to make a school voucher system part ofthe plan.
"They had six months to talk about the voucher program. Theyhad six months to deal with state funding for education, which theydid not deal with last session," Daley said during a live broadcastthis morning of WBBM-AM's "At Issue" program. "You can bringanything else you want in later on, but not this time."
"I don't think vouchers should be considered whatsoever for thisplan," said Daley.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
`No foul play' in Pappas death // Coroner hints ex-pitcher's wife was killed in accident
No evidence of foul play was found in an autopsy performedSaturday on the body of Carole Pappas, who disappeared in 1982 andwhose body was found Friday in her submerged auto in a Wheaton pond.
Du Page County Coroner Richard Ballinger, who announced theresults, said the wife of former Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas waspositively identified through dental records.
"There was no indication to suggest anyone else was involved inher death," Ballinger said, adding, "I do not believe she was deadbefore entering the water."
Ballinger said the cause of death was not known. A toxicologyreport will not be available until four or five weeks, at which timea coroner's inquest will be held.
Lack of evidence of foul play bolstered the theory that herdeath was an accident - that she may have driven into the pondaccidentally.
Investigators said she was taking codeine, a pain-killingmedication, after undergoing gum surgery the day before shedisappeared and raised the possiblity that she might have becomedisoriented and driven into the pond.
However, her husband said she had taken no pain-killer pills orany other medication on the day she disappared because she insistedshe didn't need anything. Pills left on dresser
"In fact, her pills were on the night table near her dresserwhen she left to go shopping" on the day she vanished, he said. "Thatwas the last time I saw her alive."
"As far as I'm concerned, it will take a lot of convincing tomake me sure my wife was not the victim of foul play," said Pappas,48, whose wife was 42 when she disappeared on Sept. 11, 1982.
"There are too many strange aspects to my wife's case that areunanswered," he said. "This (supposedly) happened in broad daylight -why didn't somebody see her drive into that pond?"
Carole Pappas had left home that morning for a shopping trip tothe Stratford Square mall in west suburban Bloomingdale. The lastperson known to have seen her there was a saleswoman in the MarshallField's store.
Pappas also said police should investigate foul play because"we've had a lot of crimes with young women the victims in this andsurrounding areas," and because "the police investigator told me thatthe window on the driver's side of (the discovered) car was open."
Pappas said it was "eerie and scary" to realize that sinceCarole's disappearance he has driven by the pond "at least twice aday."
"In fact, I drove by there (Friday) afternoon to get a carton ofcigarettes," he added. "I saw the helicopter, I saw the commotion,but I had no idea what was going on. . . . It may sound strange, butI was unaware that there was a pond or a body of water there." Sharp curve noted
Asked if he had any idea how she might have driven into the15-foot-deep pond near 1590 S. President in the western suburb,Pappas acknowledged that "there's a sharp curve, but it's hard for meto believe she could have driven into that pond herself. I wonder ifsomeone else may have done it. Perhaps I always will."
Police Chief Carl Dobbs said the body was found in the car'spassenger section. But Pappas said police weren't sure whether thebody might have originally been in the driver's seat and shiftedposition. The driver's window was rolled down, and the car wasfilled with mud and water.
Concerning whether Carole, who had had bouts with depression andalcoholism years before, behaved unusually the day she disappeared,Pappas said, "Absolutely not. She was very excited, elated aboutseeing the honeymoon couple and our having dinner together."
Their son, Steven, then 21, and his new bride were to arrive atthe house that evening from their honeymoon for dinner.
With Pappas Friday night was his fiancee, Judi Bloom, 35, andtheir 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Alexandria, as well as his andCarole's daughter, Michelle, 25.
Pappas said that he and Carole are "still legally married. Imiss her very much."
For eight months after her disappearance, Pappas had kept hiswife's clothing hanging in her closet and her jewelry on her dresser.He finally moved her belongings to the basement in May, 1983, a monthbefore Bloom moved in with him.
Under Illinois law, a person must wait seven years from the datea spouse is reported missing before the spouse can be declared deadand remarriage can take place.
Described as a devoted baseball wife, Mrs. Pappas attended allof her husband's home games and wore a charm bracelet featuring hiscareer highlights.
During Pappas' road trips, she was left alone with her twochildren and he said she occasionally turned to alcohol. She joinedAlcoholics Anonymous in 1971.
"Carole had a drinking problem," Pappas said in 1983. "We hadups and downs in our marriage, but she never left."
Pappas, who now works for a building-products business, brokeinto the major leagues in 1957 with the Baltimore Orioles and retiredin 1974 after playing for the Cubs for four years.
One of the charms on Mrs. Pappas' bracelet commemorated a Sept.2, 1972, no-hitter her husband pitched for the Cubs against the SanDiego Padres.
The Pappas car was found as firemen from a nearby firehouse weresailing a remote-controlled three-foot boat, which became stuck onthe car's roof.
A work crew had begun draining the pond Thursday for aconstruction project, lowering the level of the pond enough Fridayfor the boat to become stuck.
Bath sunk by Bale
A Solitary strike from Merthyr Tydfil's Chris Bale was enough tosend Bath City out of the Southern League Cup at the third-roundstage last night.
Bale's goal 13 minutes from time completed the perfect smash-and-grab raid by the visitors, who were forced to withstand long periodsof City pressure.
Fielding an under-strength side with player-boss Gary Owers andexperienced midfielder Russell Milton occupying the full-back berths,City came out of the traps flying and almost took the lead mid-waythrough the first half when former Bristol City youngster DarrenHawkins flashed an effort wide of goal.
Owers himself was inches away from putting his team in …
WFP: 200,000 displaced by fighting in Congo
The World Food Program says fighting in eastern Congo's province of North Kivu has driven around 200,000 people from their homes since August.
The U.N. previously reported half that number were displaced by fighting in the area.
The new director for WFP's Geneva office says between 1.4 million and 2 million people in total are displaced in North Kivu. The figure includes those uprooted from earlier waves of fighting since 2007.
Charles Vincent says people are increasingly malnourished in eastern Congo and that officials report some have died of hunger.
Vincent told reporters Friday the agency is short of 33,000 tons of food for the country through March, and needs $46 million in donations to buy it.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sharif aide: Party wants out of Pakistan coalition
The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is poised to quit Pakistan's ruling coalition unless judges ousted by ex-President Pervez Musharraf are reinstated by a Monday deadline, Sharif aides said.
A Sharif lieutenant also volunteered Sunday to contest the election for Musharraf's successor, raising the prospect of a divisive race against Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Since forcing Musharraf to quit, Pakistan's coalition government has been split over who should replace him and how to reverse his most draconian actions.
The rift has Pakistan's voters and foreign backers worried that the government is too distracted to tackle rising Islamic militancy and serious economic problems.
Pervez Rasheed, a close aide of Sharif, said the party's leaders would meet Monday to decide whether to remain in the five-month-old coalition government or join the opposition.
"General opinion in the party is in favor of parting ways," Rasheed told The Associated Press.
Sharif says the coalition must agree on the judges by Monday if it is to resolve its differences in time for federal and provincial lawmakers to select the new head of state on Sept. 6.
Musharraf purged the Supreme Court during a burst of emergency rule in November.
Zardari and Sharif pledged to bring back the judges quickly after routing Musharraf's allies in February elections.
But a debate on how to solve Pakistan's constitutional mess quickly bogged down in political calculations, including whether stalwart U.S. ally Musharraf should face trial.
Sharif, who accuses Musharraf of treason, says Zardari reneged on a written agreement to restore the judges within 24 hours of Musharraf's Aug. 18 decision to quit rather than face impeachment charges.
Zardari, head of the main ruling Pakistan People's Party, has accused the judges of being too political, and analysts say he may also fear that the justices could reopen old corruption cases against him.
The People's Party has "arbitrarily opted for breaking up the coalition," said Ahsan Iqbal, a Sharif party spokesman.
Rasheed said Monday's party meeting would also discuss the race to succeed Musharraf.
Zardari announced his candidacy on Saturday and appears assured of victory since a major opposition party has backed him for the post.
That support also suggests that Zardari has enough allies to keep control of the government and avert fresh elections, even if Sharif withdraws from the coalition.
Javed Hashmi, one of Sharif's most senior lieutenants, volunteered Sunday to run against Zardari.
"I am also willing to contest the presidential election, but I am bound to obey what the party decides," Hashmi told the AP.
Sharif said Saturday that his party will only back Zardari for president if the post is stripped of key powers accumulated by Musharraf, such as the right to dissolve Parliament and appoint the chiefs of Pakistan's powerful military.
Monday, March 5, 2012
3 Get Jail for Dodging Community Service
Saying they had "thumbed their noses" at the court system, ajudge Thursday sentenced three men to a month in jail for payingbribes to avoid doing janitorial work as part of their communityservice sentences.
U.S. District Judge Milton I. Shadur told the three men they had"poisoned the well of justice" by paying security guards at BaratCollege bribes ranging from $100 to $300 to falsely state they hadperformed the work.
The three men also were ordered to serve three months of homeconfinement and 200 hours of community service, in addition towhatever community service they still must perform under theirprevious sentences.
Two of the defendants - restaurant …
Torch of Freedom.(Brief article)(Book review)
Torch of Freedom
David Weber & Eric Flint
Baen Books
Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471
9781439133057, $26.00 www.baen.com
Torch of Freedom: Keepers of the Flame offers a fine story of the slavemasters of Mesa who plot …
BALLOONIST NARROWLY ESCAPES CRASH INTO SEA.(MAIN)
Byline: Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- Stormy weather almost sent adventurer Steve Fossett's around-the-world ballooning quest splashing into the South Pacific.
Fossett used three gas burners on the balloon to counter downdrafts during squalls east of New Zealand on Sunday. The balloon dipped as low as 400 feet above the sea.
``The margin for error was razor thin,'' Fossett told …
Mix it up.(Products: products and tools every builder should know about)
MIX IT UP: Featuring a sturdy polyethylene drum, the PortoMix can mix up to 3 cubic feet of concrete for footings and bases. It has a steel frame and is powered by a 3/4 horsepower electric motor. The unit …
50 Suspected Taliban Killed or Wounded
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A six-hour battle in southern Afghanistan left over 50 Taliban fighters killed or wounded, while a suicide bomber targeting a police patrol ended in the deaths of three civilians and an officer, officials said Monday.
Also in the south, a roadside bomb against a U.S.-led coalition convoy killed one soldier and wounded another, a coalition statement said. In the east, coalition forces raided a compound suspected of housing al-Qaida facilitators, killing several militants on Sunday, a coalition statement said.,
NATO-led troops and Afghan army soldiers launched an attack in Baluch village in Uruzgan province during a gathering of local Taliban on …
There's no cause for 'Concern' about making a mockery of family name
CD REVIEW
LISA MARIE PRESLEY
"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN'
To her credit, Elvis' daughter has spent much of her life fendingoff the forces that would turn her into a pop commodity. Now,entering the music world at age 35, she tries to maintain a measureof the strong will and complex, contrary personality that we'veglimpsed behind the gossipy headlines. But she only succeeds to apoint.
While somewhat limited in range, Presley has a powerful voice:smoky, sexy and sultry, the aural equivalent of Dad's brooding poutand curled-lip sneer. She can't match the heartbreaking romanticappeal of the sweet Elvis, but she's certainly nailed the black-leather King: No one …
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Collector.(The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest)(Brief article)(Book review)
The Collector
Jack Nisbet
Sasquatch Books
119 South Main St., Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98104
1570616132, $23.95 www.sasquatchbooks.com
THE COLLECTOR: DAVID DOUGLAS AND THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST surveys David Douglas's discoveries of hundreds of western plants and tells …
"The Idea of North": Isabella Bortolozzi.(art exhibition)
An exhibition about the north seems like a timely event, as global warming alters the nature of the Arctic. But if guest curator Dieter Roelstraete hoped to challenge rustic, romantic fantasies about northernness, he should have used a compass, if not a reality check. The group show of Canadian artists featured Allison Hrabluik, Zin Taylor, and Ron Terada. By attributing special insight about the north to Canadians--80 percent of whom live within 150 miles of the country's southern border with the United States, which is to say, not very far north--Roelstraete offered a symptom of the fantasy he would like to diagnose. Glenn Gould's 1967 radio piece was likely an inspiration …
ON THIS DATE...(LIFE & LEISURE)
Byline: Associated Press
Today is Thursday, March 12, the 71st day of 1998. There are 294 days left in the year. In 1664, New Jersey became a British colony as King Charles II granted land in the New World to his brother James, the Duke of York. In 1947, President Truman established what became known as the Truman Doctrine to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism.
Ten years ago: Rev. Jesse Jackson won …
Mapping Lives: The Uses of Biography.(Book Review)
Peter France and William St. Clair, eds. Mapping Lives: The Uses of Biography. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 2002. 335 pp. + index. ISBN 0-19-726269-4, $49.95.
This volume in the British Academy Centenary Monographs series offers eighteen essays by as many contributors. As the following summaries may suggest, seven or eight of the essays are first-rate, a half dozen are readable but unstimulating, and a few seem confused or restate the obvious.
Among the highlights are two learned, informative studies of early biographical traditions. In "From Biography to Hagiography," Sergei S. Averintsev clarifies the meaning of biographia, hagiographa, and other key terms in classical life writing, and takes up the old question of whether the Gospels can be considered part of Hellenistic biography (no). Martin McLaughlin memorably surveys "Biography and Autobiography in the Italian Renaissance," focusing on the emergence during the period of secular biographies written in the …
Court upholds municipal bond tax exemption
The $2.5 trillion municipal bond market skirted a land mine Monday when the Supreme Court ruled that states could continue to give special tax breaks on the bonds that fund hospitals, roads, schools and other services.
The justices ruled 7-2 in a case from Kentucky that states can exempt interest on their own bonds from taxation while taxing residents for interest on bonds issued by other states.
In the municipal bond market, 41 states have systems similar to Kentucky's. Seven states do not impose taxes on personal income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Indiana has a tax exemption for interest on municipal bonds from …
A FAMILY FOR US; A FAMILY FOR ME (STANDARD)
Natasha is 9 years old and will attend fifth grade this fall.David is 8 years old and will attend third grade. Her likes:
Tap dancing, playing with her dolls and Nintendo. His likes:
Playing with a variety of games and puzzles and Nintendo. Healso enjoys watching movies. Others say:
Natasha loves to be noticed, but sometimes seeks attentionthrough inappropriate …
Reports from University of Kassel add new data to research in agriculture and soil science.
"Predicting chemical and biological reactions during unsaturated flow through soils is complex, and the accuracy of model predictions is open to question. were to test how accurately the transport of nutrients (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, NH4+, and NO3-) in soils can be predicted when differing amounts of nutrients or acid are added," researchers in Witzenhausen, Germany report.
"Undisturbed columns of 2 sandy surface soils from arable sites in Darmstadt, Germany, and Sohar, Oman, were irrigated for 360 and 376 days with 3 mm/day at 10 degrees C. Three treatments were carried out: the columns were irrigated with differing fertilising solutions (Fert-1 or Fert-2 treatments) or with HCl. …
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Painting Iraq failure as victory.(Perspective)
Byline: MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON - The President prides himself on being a pig-headed guy. He is determined to win in Iraq even if he is not winning in Iraq.
So get ready for a Mohammedan mountain of spin defining victory down. Come what may - civil war over oil, Iranian-style fatwas du jour or men on prayer rugs reciting the Quran all day on the Iraqi TV network our own geniuses created - this administration will call it a triumph.
Even for a White House steeped in hooey, it's a challenge. President Bush will have to emulate the parsing and prevaricating he disdained in his predecessor: It depends on what the meaning of the word "win" is.
…
Disappointing win.
Byline: James Allen
Dec. 6--TROY -- Rich Hurley walked off the court and toward his team's locker room Tuesday night simply shaking his head.
As he was about to go in and address his players, Hurley, the Bishop Maginn boys' basketball coach, instead decided there were a few thoughts he wanted to share with the media.
"We played way too aggressive and too fast all night long," he said. "If we play like that again on Friday, we're going to be in for a long, long night. We've got to be better."
It speaks to the level of expectations Hurley has. While they played sloppy at times, the Golden Griffins managed to defeat La Salle 78-65 in the Big …
California Lowers Auto Emissions Rule
California regulators have drastically cut the number of zero-emission vehicles required to be sold in the state by the year 2014, a decision that frustrated environmentalists but came as a relief to auto manufacturers.
The rules adopted Thursday put the number of electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that automakers sell in California at 7,500 by 2014 _ a 70 percent reduction from the 2003 target.
"We are disappointed. We think this proposal doesn't take us on the road to meeting the state's long-term global warming goals," said Spencer Quong, a senior vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Auto manufacturers said they …
Americans’ tax pain not too bad
Americans pay much less in taxes than most other people in the industrialized world.
Surprised?
According to the latest estimates from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States pays 24 percent of its total economy (as measured by gross domestic product) to taxes collected by all levels of government.
That's a bargain compared with most developed nations.
Australians pay 27 percent; the Japanese pony up 28 percent; Canadians, 31 percent; British, 34 percent; Germans, 37 percent; French, 42 percent; and Swedes, 46 percent. Danes lead the world by forking over 48 percent to their government.
Economic …
Crops that kill only the insect species that feed on them are being developed in a joint venture between Monsanto and Devgen.(Science briefs)
Crops that kill only the insect species that feed on them are being developed in a joint venture between Monsanto and Devgen. The plants express small pieces of RNA that interfere with the development of cotton bollworm and beege larva and other pests, stunting growth and increasing mortality. (Nature …
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