Government documents obtained by The Associated Press show extensive efforts since 2000 to remove vast amounts of waste and contaminants from Plum Island. The 840-acre island _ located 100 miles east of Manhattan _ was the site of top-secret Army germ warfare research and decades of studies of dangerous animal diseases.
Some environmentalists remain concerned about the secrecy …
* Clendenin is in his second season as the girls basketball headcoach at Buffalo High School. n A former player at Buffalo, Clendeninserved as a boys assistant coach for several seasons under ChuckElkins * Clendenin has coached the Buffalo girls to a 5-2 record thisseason with their only losses to Wahama and Class AA No. 1 Winfield.The …
A 13-year-old boy out deer hunting with his father had his hat shot off his head but wasn't injured.
Jeffrey Trepanier, 32, called the sheriff's office Monday to report someone shot the hat off his son's head while they hunted on public lands just north of Theresa.
"That was way too close for comfort," said Dodge County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Blaine Lauersdorf. "We searched the area and where unable to determine where the shot came from."
Lauersdorf said the incident only …
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2. Pair found with counterfeit cash
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3. Husband accused of strangling …
Tobias Rehberger
FONDAZIONE PRADA, MILAN
SINCE THE BEGINNING of his career, German artist Tobias Rehberger has made the creative input of others integral to his practice. He has constructed living-room-like spaces based on his friends' notes and sketches for a "relaxed and meditative environment" (for the project Fragments of Their Pleasant Spaces [In My Fashionable Version], realized first in 1996 and again in 1999); once he even arranged for craftsmen in Thailand to make full-size, functional versions of high-end cars on the basis only of rough pencil sketches he provided (Nana, 2000). More recently, Rehberger built a thirty-six-foot-long boat based on one constructed in …
WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department will speed up warnings about contaminated meat in the future, officials said Thursday, as they sought to quell criticism of an 18-day delay in seeking the recall of millions of pounds of tainted ground beef.
Briefing reporters, department officials acknowledged that they knew as early as Sept. 7 that frozen hamburger patties could be contaminated after preliminary tests indicated the E. coli bacteria strain O157:H7.
They said it was impossible to seek a recall without conducting a more sophisticated test to confirm the original results, but said they would reevaluate what USDA can do better to warn the public sooner.
"Let …
The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom, national pride _ and for one couple, romance.
Aaron Weisinger, 26, got down on one knee on the crown's small floor, pulled out a diamond ring and proposed to his girlfriend, Erica Breder. Stunned, she whispered an immediate yes.
"To propose in the crown was perfect," the 25-year-old Breder said later.
Cheering the Walnut Creek, Calif., couple, fellow visitors also felt the gravity of the occasion.
"I feel the Statue of Liberty represents global …
Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear from some fed-up, angry,can't-take-it-anymore citizen about the maddening frustrations ofdealing with some government bureaucracy.
Not many of these all-too-true adventures, though, top thefarcical saga of the lost keys to the locked file cabinet at theIllinois Department of Children and Family Services, recounted thisweek by Diane Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick owns and operates, has for 11 years, a large daycare center in suburban Oak Forest that requires license renewal byDCFS every two years.
So our story begins last June 10 as the DCFS representativeassigned to Kirkpatrick's case shows up for the required …
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Morocco captain Houssine Kharja and striker Youssef El-Arabi scored first-half goals in a 2-0 win over Senegal in an international friendly on Wednesday, inflicting the home team's first defeat in Dakar in a decade.
Kharja put the Moroccans ahead in the eighth minute and El-Arabi struck in the 25th for a surprise win for the north African country at …
Captain Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers spanked unbeaten centuries as South Africa racked up an impressive 365-2 against India in the third and final one-day international on Saturday.
Kallis made 104 off 94 balls while De Villiers consumed only 59 deliveries in raising his seventh ODI hundred with 11 fours and three sixes. He finished 102 not out.
India has already won the three-match series with wins at Jaipur and Gwalior.
Kallis imperiously lifted paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth for successive sixes in the penultimate over to raise his 17th century in limited-over internationals.
De Villiers followed his skipper in the last over …
I am a stressed-out office worker. Pale, tense, the weight of atough winter on my shoulders.
I am a sailor. Tanned, barefoot, windblown hair.
What a difference a day makes.
It's a gray and blah winter in Chicago, while in the Caribbean,it's . . . the Caribbean. Crystal-clear water, white sand, tropicalcocktails, reggae-cliches, perhaps, but with a power to rejuvenatethat should not be underestimated. And beyond the mega-ships and all-inclusive resorts is a different kind of getaway aboard the newluxury schooner Arabella.
With 22 cabins and a crew of nine, the 160-foot Arabella is a findfor those of us with the sensibilities of the private yachtsman, …
LONDON (AP) — Britain's foreign secretary said Sunday that European nations will intensify pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, but insisted the West wasn't pressing for military action.
William Hague told Sky News television that he believed the European Union would agree tough new sanctions against Tehran's oil sector later this month, and would continue to look for peaceful methods of persuading Iran to ditch its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
Iran insists its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes, but the West and others accuse it of attempting to build a bomb. Britain's defense secretary Philip Hammond said earlier this month that Tehran was working …
WASHINGTON (AP) — Echoing President Barack Obama's warning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Social Security payments would stop if there is no deal to raise the government's borrowing limit by Aug. 2.
Speaking on the Senate floor, the Nevada Democrat said flatly that payments for veterans benefits and the military, as well as Social Security, would cease if the government defaults on its obligations. His statement goes beyond Obama, who said earlier this week that he could not guarantee Social Security checks will be issued on Aug. 3.
Later, a Reid spokesman said the senator meant to say the payments "could" stop, which would be consistent with the president's comments.
Republicans have called such statements scare tactics.
About 55 million Americans receive Social Security payments each month, totaling about $60 billion.
Editorial
They call themselves "Occupy Wall Street," and no one should be confused about their numbers swelling and their protests expanding to more and more cities outside of New York City.
Their aim is not at a particular location, to be sure. They are aiming instead at a mindset that is represented by the kinds of business that takes place on Wall Street, or whatever street in any city where corporate profits come ahead of the greater good.
Again, it is not just a mindset on Wall Street, but it is also a mindset on Capitol Hill, or in Springfield, or at City Hall that turns a blind eye to suffering, that shreds safety nets so that "job creators" can feel comfortable enough to invest their over-the-top earnings in jobs, rather than just continue to sit on their largesse.
Make no mistake, the protests are growing, and even though there are critics who say the "occupiers" have an unclear agenda, it is that lack of a concrete agenda that is promoting protestors' growth. What the protestors know for sure is that the unfairness in this country - economic, judicial, educational - must be addressed, and it can only be addressed if it is exposed and protested.
In Chicago, the Occupy Wall Street protestors joined with the "Take Back Chicago" protests, recognizing that meir aims were similar, that cutting funding to schools while increasing funding fot prisons made no sense. They could understand a protest against corporate tax breaks for local businesses in the form of Tax Increment Financing, while agencies to help people avoid foreclosures on their homes go unfunded.
We're happy to see thousands come out in protest, representing several organizations - including unions, social service agencies and community ac�vists. We're happy that finally, grudgingly, several entities in the community have recognized that if they do not unite, do not work together, their constituencies will be pushed further into the margins and never get to say their piece.
The numbers, though disruptive, did not reach the level that signals a tide rolling. But it was a start, and it raised awareness for other organizations that there is a place for protest, there is a voice they can use. Whether the aim is to exhort Congress to pass President Barack Obama 's jobs bill, or to make sure state pensions are properly funded, or complain about banks raising fees while their customers are jobless, we have to speak up. Perhaps an even greater number can come out, with even louder voices, to talk about the unchecked violence that ravages too many of our neighborhoods, or the levels of poverty that are hidden from view - until a national report shines a light on our horrible secret.
Again, this is a start. There are many other issues that deserve to be highlighted, and we need to pressure those in positions of authority to come up with solutions to those issues. The protests must lead to plans, and the plans lead to action. If those plans are met with inaction, then those in positions of authority can be removed.
What the gathering downtown, buoyed by the Occupy Wall Street protestors, showed is that Chicago is not asleep, and that the people can be roused to - if not take back Chicago - at least endeavor to make sure no more of Chicago gets taken.
Japan's central bank on Tuesday unveiled details of a new $33 billion low-interest lending scheme intended to fuel economic growth and fight deflation.
The plan accompanied the Bank of Japan's decision to keep its key interest rate near zero.
As widely expected, the eight-member policy board voted unanimously to leave the overnight call rate target at 0.1 percent. The bank has not touched the rate since December 2008.
It cited robust overseas demand for helping the world's second biggest economy continue a moderate recovery. Exports and production are up, and corporate capital investment is climbing. Government stimulus measures are also driving consumer demand at home.
The jobs and wages situation "remained severe, but the degree of severity has ease somewhat," the central bank said.
It pledged to keep monetary policy "extremely accommodative" to fight deflation and foster sustainable growth in the country.
Still, the central bank faced persistent political pressure to do more as prices in the country continued to fall. Deflation plagued Japan during its "Lost Decade" in the 1990s, hampering growth by depressing company profits, sparking wage cuts and causing consumers to postpone purchases.
The new credit program, first announced last month, is designed to encourage private banks to lend money to businesses in growth sectors such as environment, energy, elderly care and tourism.
"The most critical challenge the Japanese economy is currently facing is to raise the potential economic growth rate and productivity," the Bank of Japan said in its statement.
"The fund-provisioning measure aims to act as a catalyst for financial institutions in making efforts toward strengthening the foundations for economic growth" and to broadly support financial institutions' own initiatives.
Through the lending facility, commercial banks will have access to a total 3 trillion yen ($32.8 billion). Approved banks will be able to borrow up to 150 billion yen each for up to four years at an annual interest rate of 0.1 percent.
The central bank aims to start the program by the end of August.
Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa's latest move met with skepticism among economists, who question whether companies really need more loans.
"We reiterate that we see little impact at this stage due to a lack of demand for funds and rising corporate fund surpluses," Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee said in a report.
Meanwhile, government pressure on the central bank is unlikely to fade under new Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Kan, who served a short stint as finance minister, warned in his first address to Parliament last week that Japan could face a Greece-like crisis if the country does not shrink its swelling national debt. He also promised to work closely with the Bank of Japan to tackle deflation.
Brett Favre threw a career-high and Jets-record six touchdown passes, three to Laveranues Coles, and New York took advantage of mistakes by Arizona in a big second quarter of a 56-35 victory Sunday.
Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin was carted off the field after a scary helmet-to-helmet collision with Eric Smith in the end zone with 27 seconds remaining. Boldin was moving all his extremities on the field and was talking to his teammates coming off the field and going into the locker room. He was being taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons.
New York's defense forced three fumbles and two interceptions in the first half and the Jets (2-2) set a franchise record by scoring 34 points in the second quarter.
Favre, showing no signs of a left ankle injury that hobbled him during the week, finished 24-for-34 for 289 yards. Coles had eight catches for 105 yards and Jerricho Cotchery had two touchdown catches as the Jets scored the second-most points in franchise history.
Warner tried to bring the Cardinals (2-2) back in the second half as Arizona scored 35 points. Warner, 40-of-57 for 472 yards, threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jerheme Urban with 4:49 left, but lost the ball again on a fumble with less than 3 minutes left.
Favre hit Dustin Keller for a 24-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 1:54 remaining to seal it.
Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald had eight catches in his 64th career game, making him the third-fastest to 350.
Chiefs 33, Broncos 19
At Kansas City, Missouri, Larry Johnson ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns and the Chiefs took advantage of four Denver turnovers. It was the first win for Kansas City since Oct. 21, 2007, a club-record 12 straight losses that had angry fans calling for the dismissal of everyone from the general manager to the quarterbacks coach.
Nick Novak kicked three field goals for the Chiefs (1-3), who did not seem to be out of danger until Tony Gonzalez snared a 10-yard touchdown pass with 12:40 to go.
The Broncos came to town one of five 3-0 teams, thanks in no small part to a series of lucky breaks that included an official's premature whistle and New Orleans' kicker Martin Gramatica's sudden, unexpected inaccuracy.
Denver quarterback Jay Cutler kept misfiring and Johnson kept running, and the Chiefs, 10-point underdogs at home, finally broke their skid.
Titans 30, Vikings 17
At Nashville, Tennessee, rookie Chris Johnson scored two touchdowns and the defense forced four turnovers that the Titans turned into 21 points. The Titans improved to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Not even dating back to their AFL start in Houston as the Oilers had this team started a season so well. In their 10th season as the relocated Titans, they also have won an NFL-best seven straight regular-season games and had the crowd chanting "4-and-0" as the final seconds ticked off.
Minnesota (1-3), which came in hoping to start its own winning streak, outgained Tennessee 333-275. The Titans had allowed an NFL-fewest 29 points, then gave up a season-high 17 to the Vikings.
But the Titans also came up with four sacks to go with the turnovers.
Albert Haynesworth sacked Gus Frerotte twice, and Nick Harper intercepted a Frerotte pass with 3:46 left after the Vikings pulled within 23-17 on Adrian Peterson's second touchdown run. Frerotte hurt his hand on that play and left the game.
Johnson then scored his second TD on a 6-yard run, and the Titans sacked Tarvaris Jackson twice to seal the victory.
Buccaneers 30, Packers 21
At Tampa, Florida, Derrick Brooks had one of three interceptions of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and also forced a fumble that Jermaine Phillips returned 38 yards for a touchdown.
Rodgers threw two touchdowns to Greg Jennings, who had six receptions for 109 yards, but was sacked three times and left for one series with a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter.
The fourth-year pro returned briefly after Green Bay (2-2) fell behind 23-21 on Matt Bryant's third field goal of the game. But he was hit from the blindside as he launched a pass on second down, and the ball was picked off by Gaines Adams with just over 2 minutes to go.
Rodgers was one of just three starting quarterbacks who didn't throw an interception during the first three weeks of the season.
Bryant was kicking four days after his infant son died at home. He booted a 23-yarder to put the Bucs (3-1) ahead for good.
Earnest Graham put away Tampa Bay's third straight victory with Brian Griese at quarterback, breaking a 47-yard run to the Packers 1, then scoring on the next play. He finished with 111 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Saints 31, 49ers 17
At New Orleans, San Francisco's shaky run defense had trouble stopping Deuce McAllister's power running. The Saints' all-time rusher is now playing on two reconstructed knees. It hardly looked that way when he bowled over tacklers for first downs, moved the pile or dived over it for his first touchdown of the season.
He carried 20 times for 73 yards and had a 10-yard reception to convert a third down. McAllister gave the Saints (2-2) the credible power running threat they needed to open up deep throws for Drew Brees.
Brees was 23-of-35 for 363 yards and three scores, including touchdowns of 47 yards to Robert Meachem and 33 yards to Lance Moore. Brees also set up scores with a 52-yard pass to Meachem and an 81-yard connection with Devery Henderson.
J.T. O'Sullivan was 18-of-36 for 257 yards, but continued to take too many sacks for San Francisco (2-2). Sacked 13 times through the Niners' first three games, O'Sullivan was brought down six more times, twice by Charles Grant. O'Sullivan also fumbled in 49ers territory on one early sack, setting up the Saints' first touchdown, and threw two interceptions in the end zone.
Panthers 24, Falcons 9
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Steve Smith broke two tackles and raced 56 yards for a touchdown, then did perhaps his most important work. Nearly two months after he broke teammate Ken Lucas' nose with a sucker punch in training camp, Smith retrieved the ball and handed it to Lucas on the sideline.
Smith's first touchdown following his two-game suspension was part of a dominating day. Jake Delhomme was mistake-free, Smith and Muhsin Muhammad combined for 243 yards receiving and two scores, and Carolina (3-1) shut down the league's top rushing unit.
The Panthers held Michael Turner, who came in as the league's top back with 336 yards rushing, to 56 yards on 18 carries. Matt Ryan threw for only 158 yards and the Falcons (2-2) remained winless on the road.
Muhammad, who had eight catches for 147 yards, caught a 36-yard TD pass from Delhomme early in the fourth quarter for the final margin.The Panthers didn't turn it over and recovered after losing both starting tackles to injury to win the 100th game in franchise history.
Jaguars 30, Texans 27, OT
At Jacksonville, Florida, Josh Scobee won a second straight game for the Jaguars, with plenty of help from David Garrard again. Scobee's 37-yard field goal in overtime won it. Scobee hit a 51-yarder with 4 seconds remaining last week to beat Indianapolis 23-21.
Garrard put Jacksonville in position for the winner against the Colts and did the same a week later. He completed a 24-yard pass to Matt Jones on third down to get to the Houston 41, then found Greg Jones in the flat for 22 more yards.
Scobee lined up two plays later and drilled it down the middle.
Houston (0-3), getting a strong outing from quarterback Matt Schaub, looked like it might get its first victory of the season. Schaub threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Kevin Walter. His last one was an 8-yard strike that put the Texans ahead 24-20 with 7:06 remaining.
But Garrard brought the Jaguars (2-2) right back, mostly with his legs. Garrard scrambled for two first downs and then ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play. He gained 13 yards on third-and-10, then picked up 9 more a few plays later on fourth-and-8.
Browns 20, Bengals 12
At Cincinnati, embattled quarterback Derek Anderson did just enough _ and it wasn't much _ to rally Cleveland over a winless Cincinnati team missing its starting quarterback.
Anderson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards that put the Browns (1-3) ahead to stay in the fourth quarter, his best play on an afternoon that had few of them. Even that moment came with an asterisk: A Bengals penalty wiped out a potential interception on the drive.
Coach Romeo Crennel made it known that backup Brady Quinn was ready to take over if Anderson struggled again on Sunday. Playing with a sore right forearm that was tightly wrapped, Anderson went 15-of-24 for 138 yards with a touchdown and an interception, keeping Quinn on the sideline.
Carson Palmer rested a sore passing elbow that forced him to miss a game for the first time since 2004, a huge setback for a struggling offense. Cincinnati couldn't do much behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, who hadn't completed a pass in a regular-season game in three years.
Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions and finished the game as Cincinnati's leading rusher with 41 yards on four scrambles, underscoring the Bengals' futility. They're 0-4 for the first time since 2002, when they went a franchise-worst 2-12 that got coach Dick LeBeau fired.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Florida Democrats asked a state court Friday to block Election Day notices at polling places that would inform voters in Rep. Mark Foley's district that his GOP replacement on the ballot will receive his votes.
Foley had been a shoo-in for re-election before he resigned from Congress on Sept. 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit instant messages he wrote to male Congressional pages.
Foley's name is still on the ballot, though, and election supervisors want voters to know that votes for Foley will be given to state Rep. Joe Negron instead.
Democrats say that would be electioneering, which is illegal under state law.
"We think the issue is very simple. What they propose to do is electioneering, and the law says electioneering is not allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. Simple as that," said Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski.
Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for the Florida secretary of state, said electioneering includes any notice or advertisement that informs voters about a specific candidate but does not necessarily ask voters to cast their ballots for that candidate.
She called the Democratic Party's motion for an emergency injunction "a reach." Democrats filed the motion in state court in Tallahassee.
The notices also would let voters know that a vote for Tim Mahoney, Negron's Democratic challenger, will count for Mahoney and a vote for unaffiliated Emmie Ross will count for Ross.
"There is plenty of support in Florida election code for both the department and the supervisors to educate voters and to provide them with necessary information," Nash said. "We feel it's a commonsense approach that in order to avoid confusion at the polls, voters should be educated to any last-minute changes to the ballot."
Negron called the Democrats' request "a desperate attempt to try to confuse voters."
"I can't imagine why anyone would oppose voters knowing how their votes will count," he said. "But you know what, voters are a lot smarter than the experts give them credit for."
Registered Republicans in the district outnumber Democrats 202,500 to 170,369, according to the latest state figures. Foley had been seeking his seventh term in Congress.
Donald Trump argued his case Tuesday for the construction of a 1 billion-pound (US$2 billion; euro1.3 billion) golf resort on a stretch of coast in northeast Scotland after months of acrimony between the billionaire developer and local residents.
Trump was in a bullish mood as he faced a panel of planners and environmentalists' lawyers in a public inquiry in Aberdeen. He told the inquiry that his golf course will be the greatest in the world _ better than the Royal & Ancient at St. Andrews, Turnberry, Carnoustie or Troon.
"The sight has superb topography and who's to disagree it has great vistas and magnificent views," he said.
He wants to build the "world's greatest golf course" at the Menie Estate, 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of the oil town. The development has divided political opinion in Scotland and embroiled Scotland's first minister in a dispute about overstepping his jurisdiction in planning law.
The plans to create a course on a legally protected site of scientific interest have been met with opposition from local environmentalists and a landowner who steadfastly refuses to sell his property. Local fisherman Michael Forbes became famous after he refused the Trump Organization's offer of 350,000 pounds (US$690,000) to sell his family's run-down small farm in the center of the estate.
The proposals for two golf courses, 900 timeshare apartments, a 450-bed hotel and 500 luxury homes were narrowly rejected by the Aberdeenshire Council late last year after local residents and conservationists said one course should not be built on the Foveran Links, a stretch of shifting sand dunes that are home to some of the country's rarest wildlife including skylarks, kittiwakes, badgers and otters.
But local business leaders, tourism agencies and Scotland's nationalist First Minister Alex Salmond approve of the development, which could bring-much needed jobs and money to the area.
Under cross-examination by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Trump drew snickers from the audience when he said he knew more about the environment than his consultants did. He acknowledged he had not read environmental reports that he commissioned.
Trump said that the moveable sand dunes would benefit from having a golf course on them as they will be stabilized and would not be blown away in a storm.
The tycoon is facing a panel of three senior planning officials appointed by Salmond's government and lawyers representing environmental agencies.
Trump was expected to play on his Scottish roots as he makes the last-ditch appeal to push through the golf complex.
On Monday he visited his mother's childhood home on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides and after touring the humble house in Stornoway he told journalists: "If it weren't for my mother would I have walked away from this site? I think probably I would have, yes. Possibly, had my mother not been born in Scotland, I probably wouldn't have started it."
The Israeli government has asked President Shimon Peres to escort Pope Benedict XVI around the Holy Land when the pontiff visits in May.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. He said Peres will join the pope at various sites around the country. He did not give a specific date for the visit.
The pope announced plans for the visit last week.
Relations between the Vatican and the Jewish state were strained earlier this month when the pope decided to reinstate a Holocaust-denying bishop. The pope managed to ease tensions last week when he condemned the bishop's remarks.
There has been only one other official visit by a pope to the Jewish state, by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
A federal judge has restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, derailing plans by three states to hold public wolf hunts this fall.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula granted a preliminary injunction late Friday restoring the protections for the wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Molloy will eventually decide whether the injunction should be permanent.
The region has an estimated 2,000 gray wolves. They were removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort.
Environmentalists sued to overturn the decision, arguing wolf numbers would plummet if hunting were allowed. They sought the injunction in the hopes of stopping the hunts and allowing the wolf population to continue expanding.
"There were fall hunts scheduled that would call for perhaps as many as 500 wolves to be killed. We're delighted those wolves will be saved," said attorney Doug Honnold with Earthjustice, who had argued the case before Molloy on behalf of 12 environmental groups.
In his ruling, Molloy said the federal government had not met its standard for wolf recovery, including interbreeding of wolves between the three states to ensure healthy genetics.
"Genetic exchange has not taken place," Molloy wrote in the 40-page decision.
Molloy said hunting and state laws allowing the killing of wolves for livestock attacks would likely "eliminate any chance for genetic exchange to occur."
The federal biologist who led the wolf restoration program, Ed Bangs, defended the decision to delist wolves as "a very biologically sound package."
"The kind of hunting proposed by the states wouldn't threaten the wolf population," Bangs said Friday. "We felt the science was rock solid and that the delisting was warranted."
Bangs said government attorneys were reviewing Molloy's court order and would decide next week whether to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Federal and state officials had argued killing some wolves would not endanger the overall population _ as long as numbers did not dip below 300 wolves. With increasing conflicts between wolves and livestock, they said public hunts were crucial to keeping the predators' population in check.
FALLON, Nev. - Children in a northern Nevada leukemia cluster are more likely to have a variation in a gene that helps combat unsafe chemicals, and more research is needed to learn why, federal researchers said Thursday.
The study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the latest to suggest genetics and toxins play a role in the cancer cluster plaguing the agricultural community.
Since 1997, 17 children with ties to Fallon have been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Three have died. Health officials say about one leukemia case in five years would be expected.
"All we can say is we saw a difference but we don't know what that means yet. The significance is that researchers need to investigate this," said Dr. Karen Steinberg, chief science officer of the CDC's Coordinating Center for Health Promotion.
"It might mean that it alters susceptibility (to leukemia) but it doesn't cause leukemia," she said at a media briefing Wednesday, adding there would have to be other factors to alter susceptibility.
An earlier study headed by CDC failed to find an environmental cause for the cluster. It found Fallon-area residents had higher levels of tungsten and arsenic in their blood and urine, but there was no evidence the substances caused leukemia.
The latest DNA study revealed that all 11 children with leukemia who were tested had a variation in the SUOX gene, which tells the body how to make sulfite oxidase.
By comparison, 10 of 24 healthy Fallon-area children who were tested had the gene variation. Sulfite oxidase changes an unsafe chemical into a safer one.
CDC officials said even if the variation in the SUOX gene adds to the risk for leukemia, other factors must be involved. Researchers have not identified those factors or the cause of the Fallon cluster, they said.
Scientists must determine the effect of variations in the SUOX gene and whether the variation affects the likelihood that a child will get leukemia, they added.
"The genetics test took it (research) to the next logical level and what we have to do is build on it," said Dr. Carol Rubin, chief of the CDC's health studies branch. "We're hoping this leads to other genetics research."
The call for more research was immediately embraced by incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"While the exact cause of the cancer cluster is still unknown, I remain committed to finding answers," Reid said.
Jeff Braccini of Fallon, whose 8-year-old son, Jeremy, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, said he was pleased with the CDC's latest study.
He's treasurer of Families in Search of Truth, which has secured $750,000 in federal funding through Reid's help for research projects.
"Any time we get sound science, I fully applaud it," Braccini said. "My goal now is to tie the CDC and what they have done into our grant process that we have going on."
Richard Jernee of College Place, Wash., whose 10-year-old son, Adam, became the first child to die in the cluster in 2001, said CDC waited too long to do DNA testing.
"It should have been conducted right away," he said. "I certainly hope it can be used as a stepping stone to get to the truth."
CDC officials insisted their work in Fallon reflects the most thorough study of any leukemia cluster in the nation. But they have no plans to take more samples in Fallon, they said.
"We're now waiting for results of outside research and we're working with researchers to look at larger groups of children with leukemia," Rubin said. "We're learning the pieces of the puzzle, but it's going to take a lot of research to unravel the mystery of pediatric leukemia."
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On the Net:
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Tara VanDerveer has a long to-do list for her Stanford team during its two-week break from games during the school's final exam period: take better care of the ball, block out more consistently, find ways to regularly get to the free throw line.
Not that things are way off.
Kayla Pedersen had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and No. 3 Stanford held off 16th-ranked Texas 93-78 on Sunday in a matchup of unbeaten teams.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 22 points and seven rebounds and her freshman sister, Chiney, scored 14 for the Cardinal, who moved VanDerveer (798-195) within two victories of joining the elite 800 club. She is trying to become the fifth women's coach to do it. VanDerveer is 646-144 in her 25th year at Stanford.
"I honestly don't think about it at all. I'm really focused on the moment, this team, this game, looking at what combinations need to be out there," VanDerveer said. "I'm enjoying coaching this team. Maybe I've got another 800."
Stanford took a 2-0 lead before tipoff of the nationally televised game because Texas received a technical for failing to get its lineup turned in to the scorer's table on time.
Chassidy Fussell scored 17 points, Kathleen Nash 14 and Ashleigh Fontenette 11 for Texas (4-1).
Sarah Boothe had 14 points and six rebounds as a reserve for Stanford (5-0), playing its second straight in Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal shot 57.4 percent and converted 11 of 12 free throws on a day former Stanford stars Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel sat together courtside. The fifth-ranked Cardinal football team was recognized during a timeout late in the first half. Players held up the Axe they won by whipping rival California 48-14 in the Big Game on Nov. 20.
"I think we're doing a lot better than we were two weeks ago. Today you saw a toughness out of us and a will to persevere," Pedersen said. "I think people are just learning their roles and learning how they can play with each other and we're a lot more confident right now."
After a slow start, Texas scrapped its way back into the game. This was the first road game of the season for the Longhorns, who have a tough stretch with three out of four games against Top-25 teams — including a home date with No. 4 Tennessee on Dec. 12. The Lady Vols then host Stanford in Knoxville on Dec. 19.
Fontenette, the Longhorns' second-leading scorer, went down with 12:38 left grabbing at her leg, but returned. She said afterward she twisted her right ankle but didn't expect to miss any time.
Stanford made 14 of its first 22 shots and used a 28-9 run midway through the first half to take a 34-18 lead. VanDerveer has one of her deepest teams yet at Stanford and regularly switched players in and out to keep them fresh — getting balanced contributions from throughout the lineup.
"We are a very deep team and we have a lot of talent, and it does take pressure off our big three," Boothe said.
Stanford's stingy man-to-man defense caused Texas trouble and made it difficult to penetrate against the taller, more athletic Cardinal. The Longhorns shot 9 for 17 from 3-point range, though.
Stanford held a 39-32 rebounding edge but committed 17 turnovers.
Texas ended the first half with a 15-7 spurt to pull within 49-39 at the break, then scored the first four points of the second half.
"We've pushed the ball on everybody else but nobody's pushed it back on us," Texas coach Gail Goestenkors said. "That was new for us for somebody to attack us the way we've been attacking other people."
Stanford has won the last four meetings between the schools and leads the series 4-2 overall. But this was the teams' first meeting since Dec. 30, 1995, when the Cardinal won 72-68 in Austin, and the first visit by Texas to Maples since Jan. 5, 1993.
Texas senior Nash extended her streak with at least one 3-pointer to 17 straight games, connecting with 1:58 remaining after missing her first two attempts from long range.
Beware of a defending state champion that begins to solve some ofits problems.
The Palatine Pirates have not had much offensive production thisyear, but on Friday, they scored three goals against a Maine Southteam that had only given up one goal coming into the game.
No. 6 Palatine defeated the No. 5 host Hawks 3-1 and handed themtheir first loss of the season."We've been taking a pounding in our own conference," Palatinecoach Willie Filian said. "Maine South is a good, quality team, andI thought that we played as well as we have this season."It didn't look that way in the beginning for Palatine (8-2-3),though, as the Hawks (8-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when sophomoreKrissy Seberhagen one-touched a pass into the net that got byall-state goalie Erin Ekeberg.But Palatine waited just over two minutes to bounce back.That's when Suzanne Ternes kicked in a shot off a scramble after acorner kick.In the second half, junior Kathleen Schager also kicked in agoal after her initial shot was stopped on a corner-kick pass.Thirteen minutes later, Schager sealed the victory when she floated ashot from 35 yards out that sailed over the head of Alice Gleason."They are a great program, and they do a lot of things extremelywell," Maine South coach Tom Kerth said. "They're excellent on deadballs."Our corner-kick defense has been perfect, but we're a shortteam, and we couldn't match up with some of their taller players."The Pirates are hoping to use the momentum of their comebackvictory in Monday's game against Barrington, which leads theMid-Suburban North Conference."We know the things we need to work out," Filian said. "It's atthe point of the season where you have to worry about it."Despite his team's first loss, Kerth was happy with his players'effort."We've been winning, but it hasn't been very pretty," he said."Today we lost, but we lost pretty."
Strategic cleaning is a must when getting your home ready for theinflux of guests, both invited and uninvited, who show up during theholiday season. Our method -- prioritize and then tackle it room byroom.
*Common areas should be put in order first, that means living roomand-or great room, den, dining room, entry area (including the catch-all hall coat closet), kitchen and guest bathroom.
*Begin by opening windows to air things out and filling the CD orMP3 player with holiday tunes to make the work go faster.
*Dust first (don't forget the high places like corners wherespider webs can hide), then vacuum furniture, rugs and bare floor(removing the dislodged dust).
*Finish by putting the spit and polish on surfaces, fluffingpillows, spraying on fabric fresheners and lighting a few scentedcandles.
*Don't undermine your hard work by not maintaining the order.Taking an extra half-hour in the morning before work for any neededtouchups will allow you to relax in the evenings and enjoy your timewith friends and family.
The boating season is about to begin again.
The Wendella boats will start offering tours of the ChicagoRiver and Lake Michigan at 10 a.m. today at the northwest corner ofthe Michigan Avenue Bridge. Boat rides lasting 1 1/2 hours willleave at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:15, 3 and 7:30 p.m. every day.Tickets are $8; $7 for senior citizens and $4 for children. One-hourcruises will leave at 2:15 and 9 p.m. each day. Tickets are $6; $5for senior citizens and $3 for children.
Commuter service between the Michigan Avenue Bridge and theChicago & North Western Ry. and Union train stations will beginMonday. Boats will leave every 10 minutes between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m.and between 4:45 and 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $1.
On late Friday nights during prom season, Wendella will offerone-hour prom rides at 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. Tickets are $20 percouple.
For more information, call (312) 337-1446.
The Mercury Cruiseline, based at Michigan Avenue and lowerWacker Drive, will open its season April 26. Cruises lasting 1 1/2hours will leave at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and at 1:15, 3:15 and 7:30 p.m.every day. Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for children under 12.Call (312) 332-1368.
The National Heritage Corridor Cruise will leave at 9 a.m. May19 and return at 4 p.m. The 70-mile cruise will feature commentary byDavid Salzman, professor of urban geography at the University ofIllinois at Chicago. Tickets are $39.50 and include breakfast.Passengers should bring lunch and beverages. Call (312) 332-1368.
WASHINGTON - The Army will rebid the multibillion-dollar contract under which a Halliburton Co. subsidiary has been providing services to troops around the world after years of complaints over how the deal has worked in Iraq.
Critics of the contract said the move was overdue and that hundreds of millions of dollars had probably been wasted.
Halliburton subsidiary KBR, also known as Kellogg Brown & Root, provides food, water, shelter, laundry service and other logistical support for troops under a 2001 contract that has been extended several times.
Halliburton is a Texas-based oil services conglomerate once led by Vice President Dick Cheney. Bush administration officials have come under fire since the beginning of the war in Iraq for awarding more than $10 billion to the company and its subsidiaries in 2003 and 2004, some of it in no-bid contracts. There have been allegations of fraud, poor work, overpricing and other abuse, which the company has denied.
Army spokesman Dave Foster said Wednesday that although the service will rebid the contract, it has not decided yet how that will be done. KBR would be allowed to bid in the new competition, but one option Army officials are considering is to divide the work among three companies.
Asked why the contract was being discontinued, Foster said it was part of the Army's "lessons learned" process.
"The Army lives on 'lessons-learned.' We get better each and every time we do it," Foster said. "There's discussion under way that there may be - may be - a better way of doing this. If you open it up to as many as three bids, that offers more open competition."
Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said it was "neither unusual nor unexpected that the ... contract may be replaced with another competitively bid approach."
KBR's achievements in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan have been "nothing short of amazing," she said, noting that KBR has prepared nearly 375 million meals, washed more than 18.5 million bundles of laundry and transported hundreds of millions of gallons of military fuel for troops in America's two ongoing wars.
Shares of Halliburton Co. stock declined on the New York Stock Exchange on the news, dropping 70 cents to close at $74.88.
"It has taken them far too long," Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said of the Army. "I believe literally hundreds of millions, and probably billions, of dollars have been wasted - it's almost an unbelievable amount of waste and abuse and likely fraud."
Earlier in the day in a speech on the Senate floor, he held up a hand towel that he said cost double what it should have because the company "wanted its name embroidered on the towels given to the troops."
"Taxpayers can breathe easier knowing that the days of $45 cases of soda and $100 bags of laundry are coming to a close," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
The Washington Post reported the decision to end Halliburton's contract Wednesday, saying the Army had paid KBR $7 billion under the contract last year and is expected to pay between $4 billion and $5 billion this year.
Halliburton's Norcross said KBR - with some 50,000 employees and subcontractors in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Djibouti - has won outstanding performance ratings from the government for its work under the contract.
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On the Net:
Army: http://www.army.mil
Halliburton Co.: http://www.halliburton.com
Twenty-one Palestinians, including at least eight civilians, were killed late Friday and early Saturday in escalating Israeli-Palestinian fighting that renewed threats of an Israeli invasion of Gaza and clouded peace efforts. A baby and two teenagers were among the dead, and dozens of people were wounded.
In all, 54 people have died since clashes between Israel and extremists affiliated with Gaza's ruling Hamas movement spiked Wednesday. At least 23 were civilians, the youngest a 6-month-old boy. An Israeli man was also killed by Palestinian rocket fire that grew more ominous earlier this week when it struck closer to Israel's heartland.
Hamas said the baby, Malak Karfaneh, died just before midnight Friday in an Israeli strike on Beit Hanoun, a northern town where Palestinian militants often launch rockets at nearby Israel. But local residents said one of those rockets fell short and landed in the area of the baby's house.
The Israeli military, which sent troops, tanks and aircraft after Gaza rocket squads, said it only attacks rocket-launching operations, but noted that militants sometimes operate within civilian areas. On Saturday, it said troops identified 15 hits in its operations against rocket squads and militants laying explosive devices against Israeli targets.
Fierce fighting Saturday erupted near the northern town of Jebaliya, pitting Israeli troops backed by tanks and aircraft against Palestinian militants launching crude rockets and mortars.
Among those killed were at least six militants, but also at least four civilians, including a 17-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother and a 45-year-old man and his 20-year-old son, medical officials said. Medical officials reported that two women and a man were killed after a tank shell struck a house. The military said it would look into the report.
One of the dead militants was identified as the commander of a rocket unit in Gaza City.
Tareq Dardouna, a resident of the Jebaliya area, told The Associated Press that a relative was killed outside his home in the crossfire that has raged since 3 a.m.
"His body is still on the ground," Dardouna said in a telephone interview from his home, where he was tending to four wounded people. "Ambulances tried to come, but they came under fire. ... We are in a real war."
The Israeli military said five soldiers were wounded in the clashes. Nearly two dozen rockets landed Saturday in southern Israel, including three that struck in and around the city of Ashkelon, 17 kilometers (11 miles) north of Gaza. Two children and a woman were slightly wounded in the Ashkelon attacks, the military said.
Hamas fighters were unbowed by the spiraling violence.
"The Zionist forces failed in Gaza before," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing. "We will respond to any aggression...with every available means."
Israel evacuated its troops and settlers from Gaza in late 2005, but militants proceeded to fire rockets from the abandoned territory. On Thursday, militants raised the stakes significantly by firing Iranian-made rockets into Ashkelon, a coastal city of 120,000 people.
While Ashkelon had been targeted sporadically before, it never suffered direct hits. The assault increased the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to protect a widening circle of people at risk.
Next week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit the region to try to prod Israel and moderate Palestinians forward in their bid to reach a peace accord by the end of the year. The two sides declared that goal at a U.S.-sponsored conference in November.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' efforts are compromised by the fact that he only rules the West Bank, while Gaza is controlled by the violently anti-Israel Hamas. And Israel's fragile governing coalition would be hard pressed to make concessions to the Palestinians while Gaza militants pummel southern Israel with rockets.
Palestinian rockets with increasing range have put tens of thousands of Israelis in jeopardy, and on Friday, Israeli leaders warned of an impending invasion because of the growing menace.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Friday that Israel had "no other choice." And Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the assaults on Ashkelon "demand an Israeli retaliation."
Barak, who has warned repeatedly of a large-scale military operation in Gaza, blamed Hamas for the rise in violence and said the militant movement would "suffer the consequences."
On Friday, Abbas called on Israel to stop all attacks in Gaza and urged Palestinian militants to halt the rocket fire. "It is in the interest of the Palestinian people not to give Israel any pretext to continue its aggressions," a statement from his office said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey denounced Hamas' rocket attacks as "completely unacceptable" and demanded they stop. He also said the U.S. regularly urges Israel to consider the consequences of its actions and to pay careful attention to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi wishes senior players Shoaib Malik and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were in the team for the tour of New Zealand.
The selectors have ignored Malik and Akmal for next month's three Twenty20s and two tests against New Zealand. The squad for six one-day internationals against the Black Caps will be named later.
"They (Malik and Akmal) are requirements of the team," Afridi said on Friday in the southern port city of Karachi. "I think you (reporters) should ask the Pakistan Cricket Board and the selection committee what's the problem in the selection of Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal."
Malik's exclusion from the tour has surprised because of his impressive form in the domestic first-class competition. Malik was also not named in the match-fixing or spot-fixing controversy that marred Pakistan's tour of England.
Three Pakistan cricketers are under suspension and four more were named in a video obtained and aired by Geo television on Tuesday, when players' agent Mazhar Majeed fingered Akmal. Akmal averages more than 27 in 123 ODIs since 2002, but his glovework hasn't been as good as his batting.
Malik, who also played in the 2007 World Cup, was dropped for the recent series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates, and Afridi said it was due more to the allrounder's poor form.
"Malik has always been good," Afridi said. "If he was dropped it doesn't mean he was out of the national team forever.
"When a player stays away from international cricket for one or two series, it gives him good time to think about and realize his mistakes."
After Pakistan lost the Twenty20 and one-day series to South Africa in the UAE, Afridi said he needed experienced players for next year's World Cup.
"You can't take a new team to the World Cup," he said. "I know there's not much expectations from our team, but I will continue to motivate my players."
Afridi said he wanted the pool of Pakistan's World Cup players to be finalized as soon as possible so that he could have a fair idea about the composition of the team.
"I know it's difficult (World Cup), but I am positive that we could do well."
One of these 94 million Americans recently wrote to me. Hername is Sue, she's 45, and she lives in a small town in Minnesota.She said that last year was the most difficult year she has everexperienced as a school volunteer.
Many of the boys she tried to help treated her with undisguisedcontempt and talked to her profanely. "They made it clear that theyconsidered school-oriented women to be losers and bores.
"At the same time, they admire sports and singing superstarsalmost to the point of worship. To the kids, these performers withmegabucks are society's big winners."
Sue had pointed advice for these kids:
"Get real! Madonna is not going to volunteer to run your GirlScout troop. Charles Barkley won't be your reading tutor. Admirethese people, but understand that they are not available on apersonal level.
"Meanwhile, all around you are people who may not have theirnames in the paper, but do have a ton of love, concern and mentoringto offer. They want to nourish the spark of superstar they see inyou.
"Relationships with these real people, unlike relationships withpeople on MTV, are a two-way street. So cut out the verbal abuse,the snotty remarks and the attitude that volunteers aren't goodenough for you. Someday you might regret how you treated people whotried to help you."
Arthur Smith, spokesman for Volunteers of America, knows howthis woman feels. "It's common," he says. "If volunteers are notappreciated and cherished, they can have a very sour experience."
VOA, with 16,000 volunteers in 400 programs, is one of thenation's largest nonprofit human services agencies.
"Volunteers are the horsepower behind a lot of agencies," Smithsays. "If they're not encouraged and made to feel worthwhile, thewhole nonprofit world could collapse."
Sue had hoped that ungrateful kids would read her letter. Butchildren aren't her most important audience. The rest of us are.
As Smith says: "It's not just the ethos of these particularbratty kids. It's a cultural problem."
One of his colleagues at VOA, Linda Slaughter, adds: "Oursociety pays its football stars $2 million and its teachers $22,000.It shows where our priorities are."
Consider this, too: It took until 1990 for a woman to be namedthe most admired person in the annual World Almanac "Young America"poll. The woman? Paula Abdul.
Parents should teach children that entertainment and sportsstars can be admired for their God-given abilities. But many of themrose to the top by being self-centered. A basketball star who hasspent much of his life perfecting his foul shot might be a nice guywith plenty of determination. But he might not have a well-honedsense of obligation to others.
"Becoming a star athlete requires a profound and long-term kindof self-absorption, a single-minded attention to the development of afew rather odd physical skills and an overarching competitiveoutlook," writes Matthew Goodman in an Utne Reader article on sportsheroes. "These qualities may well make a great athlete, but theydon't necessarily make a great person."
But there are other people, closer to home, who are very muchworth admiring. We should be telling this to our children.
"Some kids might not know they should be appreciative,"Slaughter says. "They're not being told this in the home. Kidsshould pick heroes who've had an impact on their lives."
Many teens are compassionate and appreciative, and a lot of themdo volunteer work themselves. But for those kids who define theirheroes by movie grosses or batting averages alone, we ought to helpthem broaden their definitions.
Find the people making a difference in your community, and tellyour children about them. They're worth emulating and celebrating.
Call Zazz's hotline, (312) 321-2003.
Number 2 Mountbeacon Hill, in Bath, does not go down in historyas significant but maybe it should?
This was the home of Hodgson Pratt, who was born in Bath 184years ago today, January 10.
He was educated at Haileybury School and London University,worked in India, and later became globally prominent in the "peaceby arbitration" movement.
In 1894 his name appeared in the list of Honorary Membersinvited for the founding Congress of the International OlympicCommittee in Paris. The founder - Pierre de Coubertin - invited Hodgson as the representative of the International UniversityAlliance.
He could not attend, but in his letter of apology he said …
Police have shot dead two relatives of convicts during a melee that erupted at a public execution in southern Iran.
The state-owned Iran daily says the relatives, who came to watch the hanging of two convicts, started a scuffle, prompting the police to open fire.
The paper's report on Thursday says 27 other people were injured in the melee.
It says the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in the town of Sirjan, some 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tehran, where the two convicts were hanged for armed robbery.
The men were initially to be hanged on Tuesday morning, but a similar scuffle disrupted that execution.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are crimes punishable with the death penalty in Iran.
A look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Would new health care legislation allow abortions to be funded with tax money?
THE POLITICS: Abortion opponents say proposed government-sponsored health insurance plans would change federal policy by paying for abortions in many cases. For years, a restriction in the law that governs Medicaid _ health insurance for the poor _ has barred federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother's life. The proposed legislation would permit government-sponsored health plans, open to non-Medicaid patients, to cover abortions. In seeking a political compromise, a House version would require publicly sponsored plans to pay for abortions with private funds from customers' premiums, not tax dollars. Critics call the requirement meaningless. They say public and private sources of insurance funding would essentially go into, and come out of, one big pot.
WHAT IT MEANS: Women with private insurance plans that cover abortion might be able to switch to a less-expensive public plan without losing that coverage. Anti-abortion activists would feel they've lost an important battle, as taxpayer funds mingle with some insurance plans that, one way or another, pay for abortions.
_ Charles Babington
The national signing day for basketball recruits came and wentwithout any word from all-everything Kevin Garnett of Farragut.
Garnett, who hasn't met academic requirements for a collegescholarship as a freshman, apparently has narrowed his choices toMichigan, Arkansas, North Carolina or South Carolina.
He was in Michigan over the weekend for a high school all-stargame at the Palace in Auburn Hills. He scored eight points and hadseven rebounds, and failed to …
The ASHRAE Building EQ program would be appropriate should a rating program be required by a local, state or national government. This was the case in the United Kingdom, which enacted a labeling program in 2008 that uses energy labels, known as Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). This assesses the potential energy efficiency of the building, independently of how it's used. These labels are a requirement of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, introduced by the European Union (EU) to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, cut carbon emissions, reduce energy demands and improve European energy security by reducing dependence on oil and gas from the Middle East …
Byline: KATHLEEN DOOLEY Staff writer
The Shenendehowa Public Library has announced several student winners of a Children's Bookmark Design contest.
The winners were Ashley Maggiacomo, 4, in the ages 4 to 6 category. Her theme was ``A Happy Person Book and a Tree with Sunshine.''
Paulina Pascual, 8, in the ages 7 to 9 category. Her theme was ``Read Books!''
Zack Predmore, 12, in the ages 9 to 12, chose ``Be Wild About Reading'' for his theme.
The winning designs have been professionally printed and are now available at the children's room of the library.
Because of the contest's success, librarians expect to hold this …
2004 DEC 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Curon Medical, Inc., (CURN) announced financial results for the third quarter and 9 months ended September 30, 2004.
For the third quarter of 2004, Curon Medical reported net sales of $862,000 compared with net sales of $783,000 in the third quarter of 2003 and $931,000 in the second quarter of 2004. Net loss for the quarter was $4.3 million, or $0.18 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.9 million, or $0.19 per share, for the third quarter of 2003, and $3.2 million, or $0.13 per share, for the second quarter of 2004. Third-quarter results reflected the sale of 6 Stretta Control Modules and 5 Secca Control Modules plus the …
TOKYO - Japanese stocks were lower Wednesday morning, falling amid profit-taking on financial stocks in the wake of an overnight decline on Wall Street. The dollar was lower against the yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 144.85 points, or 0.87 percent, to 16,466.74 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday morning. The index lost 81.17 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 16,611.59 points the previous day.
Profit-taking particularly among financial stocks drove the Nikkei down Wednesday in the wake of an overnight decline on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.58, or 0.26 percent, to 11,950.02, rattled by unfavorable economic data and …
ALPHARETTA, Ga. -- Lance Armstrong looks Tour-ready.
With a surprising burst of April power, Armstrong cruised to acomfortable win Sunday in the Tour de Georgia, his first victory inan American stage race since 1998.
Of course, this was only a prelude to Armstrong's summer plans --going for a record sixth straight win in the Tour de France. By allindications, he's right on schedule.
"I don't think I can say anything is wrong right now," Armstrongsaid, sporting a yellow jersey as the overall winner. …
Auto Business News-18 May 2010-Automobile mag.com reveals details of 2013 Audi A2(C)2010 ENPublishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk
Auto Business News - 18 May 2010(c)2005 - Electronic News Publishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk
Automobile mag.com, an automotive website, has revealed details of …
Serb nationalists are convinced that the Muslims of Bosnia are fundamentalists intent on establishing a radical, Iranian-style Islamic republic--one in which all women would be veiled and all Christians oppressed. Since 1992, say the Serbs, Muslims have been conducting a jihad, a holy war, against Serbia, in the pursuit of which they have castrated young men and crucified babies. If the war against Serbia succeeds, they warn, the Muslims will be in a position to threaten the rest of Europe.
Some important political leaders in Europe, while dismissing the more paranoid aspects of the Serb nationalist vision, share their dread that Bosnia might become an Islamic beachhead in the West. In France, Gaullist leaders admit they fear "the emergence of a kind of Gaza strip in the midst of the Balkans. . . . There's a widespread view that an isolated Muslim entity would not prove viable and that a drift to radical Islamic politics would follow."
Lately, anxiety about "Bosnian fundamentalism" has begun to spread. Some of Bosnia's western partisans, including Margaret Thatcher, have inadvertently stoked these fears by arguing that if the West does not intervene forcefully to protect Bosnia--a prospect that no longer seems likely- embittered Bosnians will be driven toward fundamentalism, forming an "Islamic timebomb" in the soft underbelly of Europe.
It may be understandable for Westerners to project onto Bosnia concerns that originally developed in their confrontation with the Middle East. But, as a closer look at Bosnia's Muslims will show, it is also a mistake--with potentially disastrous consequences.
Fundamentalism vs. Islamism
The term "Islamic fundamentalism," lately a buzz-word for journalists and officials alike, makes many experts on the Middle East uncomfortable, for it lumps together tendencies within political Islam that are not only quite distinct but even antagonistic. In the early 1980s French scholars sought a more sophisticated terminology to distinguish among different currents of Muslim political thought. They reserved the term "fundamentalism" for the doctrine that Muslims should draw inspiration solely from the Qur'an and the Sunna (the example of Prophet Muhammad) and reject all non-Islamic traditions and values accumulated over the past 1400 years. That doctrine appeals to urban elites, particularly merchants and the bourgeoisie, who view it as an affirmation of their values against more popular and rustic variations of Islam common among the lower classes, particularly recent arrivals from the countryside. Fundamentalism has been embraced with particular ardor by the ulama, Islamic religious scholars. Politically, fundamentalists tend to favor regimes that strictly enforce Islamic law, the shari'a--as interpreted, not surprisingly, by the ulama. Fundamentalism is now state doctrine in both Iran and Saudi Arabia, despite the Sunni-Shi'a dispute between the two. There are no fundamentalists in Bosnia. There are, however, small numbers of Islamists.
While Islamists and fundamentalists might appear similar to an American, to Muslims themselves the differences are striking. Islamism appeals to intellectuals and professionals who have had Western-style educations or lived abroad. Islamist ideologists invoke some of the medieval clerics who inspire the fundamentalists, but also draw on Western anti-modernist philosophers, such as Spengler, Heidegger, and Althusser. Emulating Leninism, they emphasize the need for a vanguard party organized into cells that can mobilize the masses. Their style of governing is totalitarian, using the power of the modern state and electronic media to prod Muslims to lead Qur'anic lifestyles.
Islamism is a post-modernist doctrine, an attempt to reconstruct a new communitarian ideology by men (and an occasional woman) who have been exposed to, and grown disenchanted with, modernity. Far more than fundamentalists, Islamists have been able to attract a following among the urban poor, a broad and volatile …
good grades have won him his dream date: country music star Chely Wright.
The 27-year-old singer agreed to accompany Showalter to his high school prom in Pennsylvania May 28 after the Altoona High School student sent his request through Wright's fan club.
``We found out that he was a great guy and a good student from a good family,'' her …
Stepping Stones to Nowhere: The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867-1945, by Galen Roger Perras. Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, 2003. xvi, 274 pp. $85.00 US (cloth), $24.95 US (paper).
This is a good book. There area number of reasons for that. The research is thorough, wide-ranging, and original. The writing is clear, precise, and cogent. The topic is innovative without being ridiculously revisionist or provocative only for the sake of provoking. And finally, Perras has situated the American topic neatly into the complicated folds of America's relationship with Imperial Great Britain and Canada, the Dominion and fledgling autonomous state.
Taking the last point first, Perras has avoided the blind and narrow Canadian nationalist approach, for so long a mainstream of unthinking or unquestioning students produced in the Granatstein and Mortenson sausage factories that used to pass for serious …
