jusis

Crypts for Remains From NYC Crash

2012-03-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - The last unidentified remains of people killed in the 2001 crash of an American Airlines flight to the Dominican Republic have been placed in two crypts, officials said Saturday.

Families of the 265 victims of the crash in the quiet neighborhood of Belle Harbor, Queens, were invited to a dedication ceremony Sunday at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, said Susan Olsen, a cemetery official.

Olsen said the unidentified remains, in four caskets, were entombed at a mausoleum in the cemetery on Friday.

The bodies of all 265 victims of the crash of Flight 587 had been identified, but the medical examiner's office was left with some remains that could not be …

There's gold in the house as Liukin visits worlds

2012-03-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

Nastia Liukin has been to plenty of world championships. None quite like this, however.

The Olympic champion got to see what the view is like from the spectator seats Thursday night when she came to the World Figure Skating Championships to root on fellow American Evan Lysacek. Liukin got to know several of the U.S. skaters during a made-for-television skating and gymnastics show last December.

"It's so cool to be here," said Liukin, who was in town for a photo shoot. "I've never been to an actual skating competition. I'm nervous! It's so different. When you're out there on the floor (competing), you're nervous. But when you're a spectator, …

TV home auction to air live Aug. 25

2012-03-15T02:03:00.000-07:00

A Chicago auctioneer is gearing up for the "first-ever" live,televised real estate auction on Aug. 25 over WPWR-Channel 50.

The first round of programming, from 8:30 to 9 a.m., willpresent exterior and interior photographs of the 93 Chicago arearesidential and commercial properties to be auctioned, said JerryOstry, a partner in Ostry Financial Real Estate Auction Exchange.

From 9 to 10 a.m., the firm will present an off-the-air seminaron buying and selling techniques at the auction site at the EmbassySuites Hotel on Butterfield and Highland in Lombard.

The actual auction will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. atthe hotel and will be …

Macedonia, Qatar sign deals on investment, tourism

2012-03-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonian authorities say Qatar and Macedonia have agreed to mutually protect and promote investments, as well as to cooperate on tourism.

The office of Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov has not made public any details on the treaties signed Monday during a visit to Macedonia …

Tesco PLC says 1Q sales up 13.7 pc but UK sales growth rate slows

2012-03-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tesco PLC, Britain's largest grocer, reported Tuesday that group sales rose 13.7 percent in the first quarter but that the rate of sales growth in nonfood categories in its core U.K. market had slowed.

Analysts said the report was at the lower end of market expectations.

The company's sales growth in the 13 weeks ending May 24 was led by a strong performance outside Britain, with so-called international sales up 26.6 percent at actual exchange rates and by 13.9 percent at constant rates. Sales in Europe were up 32.4 percent at actual rates and sales in Asia was up 16.7 percent.

At home, total sales were up 9.4 percent led by the soaring prices of …

Show Me You'Re Good Enough, Says Thorburn Show Me You'Re Good Enough, Says Thorburn

2012-03-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

Bristol Shoguns head coach Peter Thorburn knows his side need toprove they are good enough to stay in English rugby's top flightafter their 34-19 defeat put them bottom of the Zurich Premiership.

The Shoguns now have just three games left - against Saracens,Bath and London Irish - to show the rest of the Premiership elitethey are good enough to survive.

Newcastle's 22-20 home win over Northampton yesterday saw theFalcons leapfrog over Bristol and the West Country showdown againstBath on May 4 now has all the look of a winner-takes-all relegationbattle.

With owner Malcolm Pearce set to cease funding the side at the endof the season after five years of …

NSF approves 29 new connections to high-performance computer network

2012-03-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that 29 additional institutions will be connected to the very high-performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS), allowing engineers and scientists nationwide to collaborate and share powerful computing and information resources. This brings the total number of institutions approved for connections to 92.

The vBNS is a crucial player in the President's Next Generation Internet and is the initial interconnect for Internet2 member institutions. "By building an Internet that is faster and more advanced, we can keep the United States at the cutting edge of Internet technology, and explore new applications in distance learning, …

Report: Danger from electrical work in Iraq severe

2012-03-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report.

A Senate panel investigating the electrocutions of Americans on bases in Iraq was told last week by former KBR Inc. electricians that the contractor used employees with little electrical expertise to supervise subcontractors in Iraq and hired foreigners who couldn't speak English. The Pentagon has said 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq since September 2003. It has ordered Houston-based KBR to inspect all the facilities it maintains in Iraq for electrical hazards.

The New York Times …

Students keep on top of technology

2012-03-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

WHILE browsing through a popular Internet starting point recently,USA Today's Web Traveler (look under Web Tech at www.usatoday.com) Icame across an intriguing site produced by students in Rochester,N.Y.

Esprit (Electronic Still Photography at the Rochester Institute ofTechnology) is an annual publication started at the college about adecade ago by professor Douglas Ford Rea of the College of ImagingArts & Sciences. It is now being produced on CD-ROM and for the Webas well, and you'll find the online version of the latest issue atwww.espritmillennium.com.

As might be expected, the students (from fields such asphotography, illustration, design, computer graphics, …

Funding conversation for national church

2012-03-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada

"God has enough [resources] to do what we are called to do," said Al Rempel to the MCEC representatives who met at St. Jacobs on November 16 for the "national church conversation on funding" initiated by Mennonite Church Canada. He added, "This doesn't mean we sit back and say 'If it's God's will, it's God's bill!'"

Rempel, development director for MC Canada, and Dan Nighswander, general secretary, spoke of the partnership of MC Canada and MCEC. MCEC is the only area church that has a funding formula whereby a percentage of givings from congregations are forwarded to MC Canada instead of being sent directly by churches.

MC Canada …

Hong Kong declines despite Citi bailout

2012-03-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong shares fell Monday, led by financials despite a U.S. government move to stabilize troubled banking giant Citigroup Inc.

Trading volume hit its lowest in months as the blue-chip Hang Seng Index dipped 210.26 points, or 1.6 percent, to 12,457.94.

The market opened lower after Citigroup shares plunged Friday, then recovered some before sliding again after Washington announced its plans to rescue the New York-based financial institution.

Also weighing on financials was word from Standard Chartered PLC, the British bank with major operations in Asia, to raise 1.8 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in a rights offer to shore up its balance …

Job well done

2012-03-14T04:56:00.000-07:00

I commend lead prosecutor Patrick Collins' dedication, honesty anddetermination in successfully directing the prosecution of formerGov. George Ryan and Larry Warner. It is refreshing for all citizensto know that engaging in corrupt acts in the State of Illinois has atangible consequence. Accountability for these …

Israel: No reason to think Mossad killed Hamas man

2012-03-14T02:15:00.000-07:00

Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday there was no reason to assume the Mossad assassinated a Hamas military commander in Dubai, even as suspicions mounted that the country's vaunted spy agency made the hit using the identities of Israelis with European passports.

While few people are privy to the cloak-and-dagger operations of the Mossad, senior Israeli security officials not directly involved with the affair said they were convinced it was a Mossad operation because of the motive and the use of Israeli identities. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a government order not to discuss the case, characterized it as a significant Mossad bungle.

The suspicions ratcheted up pressure on Israel to be more forthcoming over the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a man it claims supplied Gaza's Hamas rulers with the most dangerous weapons it possesses. Israeli critics pointed the finger at Mossad, accusing it of sloppiness and endangering Israeli citizens.

Dubai police this week released names, photos, and passport numbers of 11 members of an alleged hit-squad that killed al-Mabhouh in his luxury Dubai hotel room last month. Dubai said all 11 carried European passports. But most of the identities appear to be stolen and at least seven matched up with real people in Israel who claim they are victims of identity theft.

"I don't know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio in Israel's first official comments on the affair.

But Lieberman did not deny involvement outright, saying Israel rightly maintains a policy of ambiguity where security operations are concerned.

"Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," he said. "There is no reason for Israel to change this policy."

Amir Oren, a military analyst for the Israeli daily Haaretz, called for the ouster of Mossad director Meir Dagan.

"What is needed now is a swift decision to terminate Dagan's contract and to appoint a new Mossad chief," wrote Oren in a front-page commentary. "There's no disease without a cure."

The Iranian-backed Hamas has been blaming Israel for al-Mabhouh's killing from the beginning.

"The investigation of the police of Dubai proves what Hamas had said from the first minute, that Israel's Mossad is responsible for the assassination," Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas legislator in Gaza, said Wednesday.

Al-Mabhouh was one of the founders of the Hamas militant group, which has carried out hundreds of attacks and suicide bombings targeting Israelis, and now rules the Gaza Strip. He also was involved in the 1989 capturing and killing of two Israeli soldiers.

Israel considered him to be the point man in smuggling Iranian rockets into Gaza that would be capable of striking the Jewish state's Tel Aviv heartland.

Al-Mabhouh was targeted in three previous assassination attempts, his brother Hussein told The Associated Press.

At least seven people who live in Israel share names with suspects identified by Dubai police. One, a British-Israeli citizen named Melvyn Adam Mildiner, said the passport photo on the Dubai wanted flier was not him but the passport number was correct. He also denied having been to Dubai.

Another of the seven, Stephen Hodes, denied any link to the case in an interview with Israel Radio and said he, too, had never visited Dubai.

"I'm shocked. I don't know how they got to me. Those aren't my photographs, of course," Hodes said. "I don't know how they got to my details, who took them. .... I'm simply afraid. These are powerful forces."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday promised an inquiry into the use of fake British passports in the killing.

"We are looking at this at this very moment," Brown told London's LBC radio. "We have got to carry out a full investigation into this. The British passport is an important document that has got to be held with care." He did not assess blame for the forgeries.

Several senior British lawmakers said Israel's envoy should be summoned to the Foreign Office to explain what his country's role in the slaying was.

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, the smallest of Britain's three main parties, said that "if the Israeli government was party to behavior of this kind it would be a serious violation of trust between nations."

Menzies Campbell, who serves on the House of Common's Foreign Affairs Committee, said "the Israeli government has some explaining to do" and called for the ambassador to be summoned "in double-quick time."

The committee's chairman, Mike Gapes, a member of Britain's ruling Labour party, added that the assassination was either the work of Israelis "or someone trying to make sure it looks like the Israelis."

Like Lieberman, Israeli security analyst Ephraim Kam said the use of Israeli identities did not prove the Mossad killed al-Mabhouh.

"I cannot see a reason why the Mossad would use the names of Israelis here or citizens who live here," Kam said.

Rafi Eitan, a former Cabinet minister and Mossad agent who took part in the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, thought Israel's foes were trying to frame it by using the identities of Israelis.

"It means some foreign service, an enemy of Israel, wanted to taint Israel. It took the names of Israeli citizens, doctored the passports ... and thus tainted us," Eitan said.

Lawmaker Yisrael Hasson, a former deputy commander of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, said he would ask to convene a meeting of the Israeli parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defense committee to discuss the matter.

"No one should use someone's identity without his permission or without his understanding in some way what it is being used for," Hasson told Israel Radio.

The Mossad has been accused of identity theft before. New Zealand convicted and jailed two Israelis in 2005 of trying to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports. New Zealand demanded _ and won _ an apology from Israel, which Auckland said proved the pair were spies.

But this would be the first time that the Mossad has been suspected of using the identities of its own citizens.

If the Israeli government was behind the identity theft, it broke Israeli laws against impersonation and fraud, said Nirit Moskovich of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Kam, the security analyst, said the people whose identities were released could be in danger from Hamas.

"I think they should be careful," he said.

The affair could have unwanted diplomatic repercussions for Israel if it indeed used the foreign passports of its own nationals. Several British lawmakers on Wednesday called for the Israeli ambassador to be summoned to the Foreign Office immediately to explain what happened.

The affair could also have fallout for the Mossad as an agency, and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Dagan personally.

Netanyahu's first tenure in the late 1990s was marred by the Mossad's botched attempt at assassinating the man who now is Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.

But while Haaretz commentator Oren was calling for Dagan's head, analyst Ronen Bergman of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper deemed the operation a success.

"Al-Mabhouh is dead and all the partners to the operation left Dubai safely," he said.

____

Associated Press reporter Rizek Abdel Jawad contributed to this report from the Gaza Strip.

Mechanical squirrels, robot lizards jump into academic research on animal behavior

2012-03-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

One gray squirrel, its bushy tail twitching, barked a warning as another scrounged for food nearby.

It was an ordinary spring day at Hampshire College, except that the rodent issuing the warning was powered by amps, not acorns.

Dubbed "Rocky" after the cartoon character, the robo-squirrel is working its way into Hampshire's live-squirrel clique, controlled by researchers several yards (meters) away with a laptop computer and binoculars.

Sarah Partan, an assistant professor in animal behavior at Hampshire, hopes that by capturing a close-up view of squirrels in nature, Rocky will help her team decode squirrels' communication techniques, social cues and survival instincts.

Rocky is among many robotic critters worldwide helping researchers observe animals in their natural environments rather than in labs. The research could let scientists better understand how animals work in groups, court, intimidate rivals and warn allies of danger.

In Indiana, for instance, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness. In California, a tiny video camera inside a fake female sage grouse records close-up details as it's wooed _ and more _ by the breed's unusually promiscuous males.

The research may even help explain similar instinctive behaviors in humans, researchers say.

"Animals and humans are all affected by behaviors, body postures and signals from each other that we may not be aware of," Partan said.

The use of fake critters to infiltrate real groups of animals is so new that few companies build or sell such tools to researchers.

Many of the scientists using animal doppelgangers have modified toy animals or, like Partan and her students, cobbled together their own with fake fur, small motors, circuits and other material. Partan, who created Rocky a few years ago with students when she taught at the University of South Florida, is constantly refining its actions and updating its technology.

Rocky's movement is controlled by basic computer programs, and it has tiny speakers inside that play recordings Partan purchased from an animal-sounds library at Cornell University.

One recent afternoon, she and students Maya Gounard, 20, and Andrew Fulmer, 19, brought Rocky out for field testing and placed him near real squirrels. Mounted on a board, he was shielded by a camouflage hood and a long cord connected him to the researchers' laptop.

After the computer's program flipped the hood open, Rocky went into a sequence of tail-flagging, barking and other motions squirrels recognize as warnings of danger.

The most successful experiments are when the real squirrels respond by "flagging" their own tail, halting their foraging to check for danger, scamper up a tree or take other actions that show they picked up on the signals, Partan said.

"We watch for a trade-off in their behavior," she said, pointing out a squirrel that jerked to its hind legs and froze, its eyes scanning the area as it heard Rocky's barks. "He gave up foraging to focus on being vigilant, so that's something we'd note as a discernible response."

They focus on whether squirrels react more strongly to Rocky's noises or movements or a combination that researchers call multi-modal signals.

Although animal behavior has been studied for years, much remains unknown about instinctive responses.

A particular sound may be the courting equivalent of, "Come over here, you sexy beast." But a tiny change can alter the message entirely, making it something akin to, "You're about to be torn to shreds if you don't get out of my territory."

"Whether it's a bunch of squirrels in a field or humans in a mall, there are general principles of behavior that seem to hold up across species lines," said Greg Demas, director of Indiana University's Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior and an associate professor of biology.

Robot critters also can help researchers discover how far a species can be pushed beyond its survival instincts.

Researchers at the Free University of Brussels, for instance, found that fake roaches doused in familiar pheromones became so accepted among their cockroach compatriots that the real bugs succumbed to the interlopers' peer pressure to move out of dark areas into the light.

In other experiments, a robotic lizard developed by Indiana University researcher Emilia Martins uses energetic push-ups to trigger similar displays of courtship, power and machismo among real lizards.

Depending on the fake lizard's prompting, the real critters react as if they're being taunted, threatened or titillated _ all of which gives researchers a chance to study the tiniest movements of their legs, eye flaps and other quirks.

"There's been the old, classic trade-off for years between the ecological relevance you get (researching) in the field, versus those studies in the lab where you can control the environment while knowing they're not going to react as much," Demas said. "Having these models out in the field is taking us to the next steps of the research."

Researchers say the applicability of fake animals in research can depend on the intelligence, size, eyesight and sense of smell in the real species.

"The bigger the animal is and the more complicated it is, the harder it is to have a proper robot that mimics the signals and has the right visual cues," said Cornell ornithology professor Jack Bradbury.

Bradbury's research has ranged from vocal mimicry in wild parrots to the sexual choices of hermaphroditic sea slugs. He hasn't used robots but does use sound cues _ emanating from speakers hidden in bushes _ to manipulate animals in the wild by "talking" with them or playing noises they recognize.

"Wild parrots are pretty smart, but I've gone on for hours interacting with them that way," he said. "They come up to the bush and look at it and don't see the birds, but they keep communicating with the belief there's another parrot in there somewhere."

He said mechanical animals aren't used "just to be clever."

"The real issue from a scientist's point of view is, 'Can I come up with a robot that will help me answer a question that I couldn't answer otherwise?'"

Data encryption just got a whole lot more sophisticated

2012-03-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's time for you (yes, you) to learn about data encryption. And Iwon't tolerate any debate.

I realize that for most users, encryption is like the section ofthe video store that sells the smutty Japanese horror occultcartoons. You're aware it's there, but it's just a blur on your wayto the Simpsons Season Three boxed set.

Well, sit tight, sensation-seekers, because the day is fastapproaching when no sensible computer user should go out in the wide,wild world without a working knowledge of Vampire Princess Miyu orTenchi Muyo.

Why? Well, for one, your computer's more vulnerable now than itever was. You have a big, broadband pipe to the Internet that's on 24/7, and while you've installed firewall software to defend your PCagainst unauthorized remote access no protection is 100 percenteffective.

Even if your PC is secure, how's that mail server you justtransmitted a confidential report through? How's the hard drive ofthe person who received it?

Furthermore, more of your personal business is being conducted viayour PC. Five years ago, the worst that people could get off yourmachine would have been a set of game high scores and a collection oflight bulb jokes. Today, there's hardly a piece of financial orpersonal information that doesn't sit on your drive somewhere.

If you're not worried about someone breaking through yourfirewall, you ought to be worried about someone breaking into yourhouse and running off with your laptop. You didn't think about that,did you?

It's time for some added vigilance. PGP (pretty good protection)is the current de-facto standard for personal encryption. Head towww.pgp.com, where both free and commercial ($50) versions of PGPsoftware are available for both Windows and MacOS.

When you first install the PGP software, you choose a long,impossible-to-guess private key. We're not talking about somethingsimple like "swordfish" or "sesame" here; we're talking about"marleywasdeadtobeg1nw1ththerewasnodoubtaboutthat4242" because that'sthe magic key that can unlock anything and everything you'veprotected via PGP.

Here's what the app can do for you.

For starters, the commercial version can create a virtual "PGPDisk." This is a chunk of your hard drive in which every scrap ofdata is automatically encrypted when it's written and decrypted whenit's read. Think of it as a locked file cabinet in your office. It'sinaccessible until you specifically open it and enter your key, atwhich time the OS treats it like a removable volume.

As soon as you tell PGP to unmount the PGP Disk--or if you putyour laptop to Sleep or if X minutes pass without your accessing it--PGP closes the disk, locks it and hides it away again. The advantageover a real filing cabinet is that its entire contents are unreadablegarbage without the right key.

The second half of PGP's features will protect your e-mail. Fromyour private key, PGP generates a "public key:" a block ofgobbledygook that will allow a third party to encrypt a message or afile so that only your private key can decrypt it.

It's sort of like having an enormous box of padlocks that all usethe same key. You can openly send a lock to a friend, he snaps itaround whatever he wants to send you, and then even he can't read itin transit. Not by grabbing it off a server or sniffing the networktraffic: no way, no how, not without help from the gummint.

You don't even have to send someone your public key first. "Keyservers" are centralized storehouses of the things; ask it "What'sGern Blanstev's public key?" and it'll tell you--though of coursethere's no assurance that this is the specific Gern Blanstev you'relooking for.

In the field of security, the stakes have gone sky-high. It'slamentable that you need to start learning about such things, in muchthe same way that it's lamentable that you can no longer simply hitch-hike your way across the country any more. But it's necessary.

Ignorance is deadly.

Andy Ihnatko writes on computer issues for the Sun-Times.

Binkley, Thomas (Eden)

2012-03-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Binkley, Thomas (Eden)

Binkley, Thomas (Eden), American lutenist, wind player, and music scholar; b. Cleveland, Dec. 26, 1931; d. Bloomington, Ind., April 28, 1995. He studied at the Univ. of 111. (B.M., 1956), then pursued postgraduate studies at the Univ. of Munich (1957–58) and the Univ. of 111. (1958–59). His principal mentors were Dragan Plamenac, Claude Palisca, John Ward, Thrasybulos Georgiades, and George Hunter. From 1960 to 1980 he was director of the Studio der fruhen Musik in Munich; also taught and performed in the medieval program at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel (1973–77). In 1979 he became prof. of music and director of the Early Music Inst. at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington. He served as general ed. of its book series Music: Scholarship and Performance, and of its monograph series Early Music Inst. Publications. He ed. the vol. Willi Apel, Medieval Music: Collected Articles and Reviews (Wiesbaden, 1986), and contributed articles to other publications. As a performing musician, he made appearances in major music centers in America and Europe.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

Yankees again without closer Rivera

2012-03-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

CLEVELAND (AP) — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will miss his second straight game because of a sore right arm muscle.

Rivera felt soreness in his triceps while playing catch before Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Indians. The 41-year-old reliever, who was not available for Monday's game, said he is not concerned by the discomfort. Rivera said his arm feels better, but he doesn't want to take any chances and make it worse.

He said he would only pitch in "an emergency" but would rather sit another day. Rivera is hopeful he can pitch in Wednesday's series finale.

The 12-time All-Star has 21 saves and 1.91 ERA in 35 games. He has 580 career saves, the most in AL history and 21 behind leader Trevor Hoffman.

Iraqi Shiites Denounce Draft Legislation

2012-03-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Shiite legislators on Monday denounced a draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government services, dampening hopes of progress for the U.S.-backed legislation aimed at promoting national reconciliation.

The debate over rehabilitating former members of Saddam's ruling Baath Party has been a major obstacle to the ability of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to bring minority Sunnis into the political process and stem support for the insurgency.

Parliament began debate on the latest version of the measure on Sunday. But the session adjourned after lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began pounding their fists on their tables in protest.

Many Shiites suffered terribly under the ousted Sunni-dominated regime.

"The justice system has to have its say in this. There are Baathists who committed crimes and atrocities against the Iraqi people and those must be tried," Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker from al-Sadr's 30-member bloc, said Monday at a news conference.

He said the legislators understood many members were forced to join the Baath Party but said the legislation did not sufficiently distinguish those who willingly participated in suppression of majority Shiites.

"We have to first compensate the families of those who were killed and imprisoned by those Baathists and then discuss the law," he said.

The prospect of rehabilitating former Baathists did not sit well with Shiite lawmakers from other political parties as well.

"This draft amounts to an unannounced general pardon by the government," said Safiya al-Suhail, a Shiite female lawmaker whose father was assassinated by Saddam's agents in Beirut in the 1990s.

"There is no punishment for wrongdoers," she added. "The victims of the former regime should see justice done to them. We will not accept national reconciliation at the expense of justice."

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said parliament would discuss the draft again on Wednesday.

"I think that the bill is in general a good one," Othman said. "The country is in dire need of national reconciliation ... Iraqis should abandon revenge and adopt forgiveness."

The United States has been pressing the Iraqis to relax the ban to allow thousands of lower-ranking Baathists to regain their posts, but the legislation has frequently been stalled due to the stark differences between Shiites seeking revenge and those who want to put the past behind them.

Enacting and implementing legislation on so-called de-Baathification is one of 18 so-called benchmark issues that the U.S. has set as measures for progress.

Another controversial issue is the need to develop legislation for the equitable sharing of Iraq's oil wealth among the varied ethnic and religious groups.

Kurdish authorities insisted on their right to issue oil drilling and exploration contracts to foreign firms despite objections by the central government.

The Kurds, who enjoy self-rule in their oil-rich northern territory, have signed eight contracts and others are expected soon for operations in the area. But the Oil Ministry said last week that the contracts were invalid and that foreign companies that sign them risk being blacklisted by the Iraqi government.

"I'd like to say frankly that Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani cannot nullify any contract the Kurdistan government has concluded with the foreign companies," the semiautonomous region's prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, told AP Television News.

"And the Kurdistan government will continue with concluding contracts within the context of Iraq's constitution. And if there is any problem of such kind, we have a constitutional court, and al-Shahristani can resort to this court," he added.

The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft bill last February to regulate the country's oil industry and forwarded it to parliament. But parliament, citing legal technicalities, kicked it back to the Cabinet. The measure has been bogged down in negotiations ever since.

Last August, the Kurds enacted their own oil law to regulate the oil sector in the region, further angering the central government in Baghdad. Most of Iraq's oil lies in the Shiite-controlled south and the Kurdish north.

The political paralysis has raised concerns that failure to achieve reconciliation could stanch military progress in quelling the violence, which has continued despite a relative lull.

The Sadrists also are angry over recent raids against followers, primarily in southern Iraq where rival militias have been battling, raising fears that an order by the radical cleric to his Mahdi Army militia to stand down won't hold.

An al-Sadr follower from Diwaniyah, a mainly Shiite city 80 miles south of Baghdad, expressed outrage over a series of recent operations.

"Diwaniyah local authorities are now alleging that everybody belonging to the Sadrists or the Mahdi Army or who perform the Friday prayers are outlaws and should be detained" Ali al-Miali said at the joint news conference.

In violence Monday, at least two people _ a civilian and a policeman _ were killed in separate drive-by shootings by gunmen on motorcycles in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said.

US: transit mechanic shoots 2, is killed by police

2012-03-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

A mechanic at a bus depot in downtown San Diego shot a co-worker to death and critically injured another early Tuesday before being killed by police, authorities said.

After finishing his shift around 2 a.m., the Metropolitan Transit System worker walked into a lounge area and shouted "nobody's going to leave" before heading out to a parking lot and firing several shots, police Capt. Jim Collins said.

Arriving officers found a dead man on the ground at the facility and the mechanic holding a handgun at his side. He ignored repeated demands to drop the weapon and used his other hand to make a cell phone call, Lt. Kevin Rooney said.

"When the call ended, he started to raise the gun at the officers and they shot him," Rooney said.

Three officers fired their weapons.

Rooney said the officers were not close enough to hear what the man said during the phone call, and investigators were trying to find out who the gunman called.

After the gunman was shot, employees alerted officers to a second victim who was critically wounded in an office. The injured man was taken to a hospital and placed on life support, Rooney said.

Neither the gunman's nor the victims' names were immediately released.

Rooney said investigators have "some indication" of the motive for the shooting, but he declined to elaborate.

At the time of the shooting, about 10 other employees were working at the facility near the Petco Park baseball stadium.

The transit system bus and rail services to the 3 million residents of San Diego County.

Brownback Bows Out of 2008 Race

2012-03-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

TOPEKA, Kan. - Republican Sen. Sam Brownback abandoned his 2008 presidential bid Friday, his White House aspirations dashed by a lack of money and a failure to gain traction nationally.

"I'm ending my candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president," said the Kansas senator. "My yellow-brick road came just short of the White House this time."

The conservative managed to gain the support of only 1 percent of Republicans in this month's Associated Press-Ipsos poll, after peaking at 3 percent in June. Fundraising reports earlier this week showed that his campaign was struggling financially, with $94,000 available to spend.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Republican Sen. Sam Brownback abandoned his 2008 presidential bid Friday, his White House aspirations dashed by a lack of money and a failure to gain traction nationally.

The Kansas conservative managed to gain the support of only 1 percent of Republicans in this month's Associated Press-Ipsos poll, after peaking at 3 percent in June. Fundraising reports earlier this week showed that his campaign was struggling financially, with $94,000 available to spend.

French agents arrest 2 men suspected in 2006 ETA airport bombing in Madrid

2012-03-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

Two men suspected of involvement in the deadly 2006 bombing at a Madrid airport by Basque separatist group ETA have been arrested in France, the French and Spanish interior ministers said Saturday.

A total of four suspected ETA members were arrested Friday night in Saint-Jean-de-Luz on France's southern Atlantic coast, the ministries said. Two are bombing suspects and the other two were their hosts. All four were in custody Saturday in nearby Bayonne.

The two chief suspects "had been actively sought by judicial authorities and police, who suspect them of being involved in the deadly attack of December 2006," French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in a statement.

"These arrests have enabled us to deactivate a part of ETA's reception apparatus in France, which they used to hide those who had fled from Spain," her Spanish counterpart, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, said in Seville, Spain.

Spanish officials identified the suspects as Mikel San Sebastian, 29, and Joseba Iturbide, 30 _ both suspected in the airport bombing that killed two people in December 2006. Their hosts were Jose Antonio Martinez Mur, 58, and his partner, Asuncion Bengoechea Arano, officials said.

Police raided the home after several weeks of surveillance, and resumed a detailed search early Saturday of the house where the four were arrested, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement.

International arrest orders had been issued by Spain's National Court against San Sebastian and Iturbide, the statement said.

Martinez, whose trail the police have followed in Spain, France and Mexico, is suspected of having formed part of ETA's financial structure, the statement said. He is believed to have raised money for ETA in Mexico in the 1990s.

Paris prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation, judicial officials said.

The massive truck bombing on Dec. 30, 2006, at Terminal 4 of Madrid's airport destroyed a multistory parking garage and killed two Ecuadorean immigrants who were sleeping in cars inside the building.

Two other alleged ETA members were arrested in France in January in connection with the bombing.

ETA had declared what it called a permanent cease-fire in March 2006 in its decades-old battle for Basque independence, but had grown frustrated with a lack of government concessions in ensuing peace talks.

After the airport bombing, it insisted the deaths were unintended, but the government called off peace talks.

ETA declared the cease-fire formally over in June 2007, and has carried out nearly a dozen attacks since. Only one involved a killing _ the death of two officers in December.

___

Associated Press writer Harold Heckle contributed to this report from Madrid, Spain.

NHL owners agree on penalties for blindside hits

2012-03-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

NHL owners unanimously agreed Thursday to penalize blindside hits to the head with major penalties and ejections.

The new rule was the biggest development from the league's board of governors meeting, held one day before the NHL draft at Staples Center.

The board's approval was the final step to institute five-minute in-game penalties and game misconducts for such dangerous hits. Offenders still will be subject to possible supplemental discipline, as well.

"I wish we had changed this rule a year ago," Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said. "Maybe we wouldn't have had those last two horrible incidents."

Burke referred to two nasty hits that went unpenalized during games last season, sparking relatively quick action on a new rule.

Philadelphia's Mike Richards landed a blindside hit on Florida's David Booth in October, keeping Booth out for 45 games with a concussion. Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke then leveled Boston's Marc Savard in March, sidelining the Bruins' star playmaker for the final 18 regular-season games and their first-round playoff series because of a concussion.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the only change to the rule originally proposed by the league's general managers and then approved by the competition committee was the removal of the phrase "back-pressure," which players felt was too vague.

The rule now prohibits "lateral or blindside hits to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact."

Boston Bruins president Cam Neely, who both received and dished out more than his share of big hits during his Hall of Fame playing career, approved of the move.

"I don't know if they're going to make everybody happy, but at least they're making an attempt to get it out of the game," Neely said.

The rule, titled "Illegal Check to the Head," also gives the referee the ability to hand out a match penalty if he believes the player attempted to deliberately injure his opponent. Any player who receives two game misconducts under this rule, in the regular season or playoffs, will be suspended automatically for the next game.

For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension will be increased by one game.

The board of governors met for five hours Thursday at a downtown hotel across the street from Staples Center, where the draft will begin with the first round Friday night. An economic status report took up much of the session, including a detailed breakdown of the numbers behind the new salary cap.

Earlier, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association jointly announced that next season's salary cap will be $59.4 million, up from $56.8 million. Teams must maintain a minimum payroll of $43.4 million.

The owners also got an update from deputy commissioner Bill Daly on the NHL's progress in selling the league-owned Phoenix Coyotes. Bettman and Daly have been monitoring talks between the city government of Glendale, Ariz., and various potential ownership groups working on a mutually agreeable lease for Jobing.com Arena.

"We showed them last year's budget, this year's budget, and everybody is completely comfortable with what's going on," Bettman said. "We've been leaving it to Glendale to figure out who they can make a deal with, but I'm hopeful in the course of the summer, things will get resolved."

Media Mavericks

2012-03-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Media consultants aren't afraid to step on a few toes in the cutthroat business of sex, lies and videotape

Their critics regularly refer to media consultants as bullies and bottom-feeders, saying they twist-or fabricate-the truth to suit their needs and play on voters' worst fears.

But strategists, while acknowledging their willingness to go for the jugular, generally take exception to their critics' accusations, saying their ads are factually sound, backed up by reams of research and generally dictated by the tenor and pace of a campaign.

Still, the successful ones-those who win campaigns-are effective for a reason: they're willing to push the limits of what others consider acceptable in order to get the job done.

Scott Howell: Fair and Funny

"I'm the guy the Democrats love to hate," said Republican media consultant Scott Howell, who is based in Dallas. "I try to define a race on my terms and keep it in front of me when I can."

Howell is best known, of late, for Grafting an independent expenditure ad for the Republican National Committee last cycle targeting then-Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D) who lost the Tennessee Senate race to Republican Bob Corker.

The anti-Ford ad featured a white woman who said she met Ford, who is black, at a Playboy party and invited him to call her. The spot made national headlines when critics accused it of including racial overtones, but Howell takes strong exception to that suggestion.

"We had to do something to cut through the clutter. We thought it was a fair and funny ad that defined Harold Ford," Howell said. "We wouldn't put it up if we didn't think it would work. We were going off of our research and where the campaign was at that time."

Many political consultants say success comes to those who aren't afraid to push the envelope. One Republican operative said the controversial Ford spot was exactly what was needed at the time to salvage the teetering Corker campaign.

Furthermore, this insider added, it is not surprising that Howell was the media strategist behind the ad.

"Scott Howell is creative and takes risks with his ads. But his record shows that his approach works, and he wins campaigns," the operative said. "This ad effectively refocused the camp on Ford's record and his votes, no doubt it worked."

Howell stresses that there's no substitute for the facts, noting that even his most visually creative and entertaining ads are laden with facts that convey specific messages about his candidate, his candidate's opponent or both.

Media consultants like Howell may be anonymous to most American voters, but their handiwork isn't. And, increasingly, the television and radio commercials they create are becoming stories that eclipse the candidates they're charged with aiding (or those they're paid to discredit).

One Republican operative, who requested anonymity, said Howell's ads are likely to get covered as news stories because of their entertainment value. This operative, while acknowledging that a hard-charging style doesn't always guarantee a successful campaign, said it's preferable to hire someone with a pit bull mentality.

"Howell will do whatever it takes to win, and I applaud that approach," the GOP insider said.

Bill Hillsman: Gives Longshots a Chance

Hard-hitting humor can work especially well for relative unknowns. Bill Hillsman has made a career of helping long shots like Ned Lamont, Kinky Friedman, Ralph Nader and the late Democrat Paul Wellstone.

Wellstone faced a 50-point gap in his first Senate campaign to unseat Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, R-Minn, in 1990. Using a wildly popular "Where's Rudy" ad that went for the jugular with a smile, Hillsman helped propel Wellstone to national acclaim.

But Wellstone turned elsewhere for his re-election campaign in 2002.

"I've heard of many people who used him once who wouldn't use him again," said one Democratic consultant who requested anonymity. "His vision could drive you off a cliff. He's a lightening-in-a-bottle kind of marketer. He either gets it right or gets it spectacularly wrong to such a degree that it will cost you the race."

After Colleen Rowley made the cover of Time magazine for being an FBI whistleblower, for example, she hired Hillsman to help her run for Minnesota's Third Congressional District. Hillsman pushed her into an "agent for change" slogan that some consultants considered a cartoon-like effort that belittled her courage. Voters agreed, and Rowley lost by 16 percent.

Hillsman says his creative ads (like the "Insanity" car crash spot he created for Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont that one blogger called "sheer genius") have contributed to his tough-guy image. But, like many consultants, he runs from the title.

"Slash-and-burn tactics ... don't appeal and they don't work," said Hillsman. "But there's nothing wrong with doing contrast ads," he said. "The way we do them is quite different than the typical attack ads that people see."

He points to his firm's unique "honesty" clause, which protects him from being fired if he refuses to produce an ad that wouldn't meet the veracity standards legally demanded from commercial ads.

Steve Murphy: T-Rex in a Bullpen

Steve Murphy is one Democratic strategist who has less of a problem with his pit-bull image. Murphy said he's willing to do what it takes to be effective. (Translation: He'll go after his opponent with the advertising equivalent of a hatchet as long as the ad can be backed up with facts and focus groups like it). Ironically, Murphy said the ads that tend to work the best in the modern media environment are those that use humor to discredit an opponent. Murphy described them as ads that "take the edge off."

Murphy produced a number of independent expenditure ads last cycle for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee-the spots helped the DSCC win Senate campaigns in Maryland, Montana and Rhode Island, to name a few. With the proliferation of cable stations, the Internet and digital video recorders. Murphy said consultants need to pay a lot more attention to creativity, production values and voter appeal.

"At times we're extremely hard-hitting," Murphy said. "I wouldn't quarrel with that characterization. We're keeping up with what voters on the other end of the phone will tolerate."

One Democratic operative, who requested anonymity, declined to go so far as to refer to Murphy as a bull in a china shop. But that's only because this insider doesn't believe politics is analogous to fine china. "He's like a T-Rex in a bullpen."

The consultant said Murphy is known for his willingness to tell clients "like it is," even going so far to raise his voice to get his point across if needed. This Democrat said Murphy's willingness to be blunt can be helpful to his clients in the long-run.

"I think sometimes that can be effective with clients, because you have to be able to give them tough medicine," the Democratic operative said. On the other hand, it can also rub them the wrong way and lead them to hire another media strategist.

Doug McAuliffe: Respectful Bulldog

Doug McAuliffe, a Republican consultant who did work for President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, has also worked on Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel's two successful Senate races. Last cycle he worked for Pete Ricketts' unsuccessful attempt to oust Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, D.

McAuliffe tries to create a sense of controversy, raising questions about his target's character and judgment. He said much of what he creates, whether hard-hitting or lighthearted, is based on the pace of a campaign and what is required at a given moment.

McAuliffe created a series of ads for Ricketts that suggested Nelson wasn't being forthright in how he was paying his property taxes. McAuliffe was quick to point out that he went after Nelson on the property tax issue because the Nelson campaign raised the issue first in a similar attack on Ricketts-and data showed the issue resonated with voters.

"I think good consultants do not make decisions in vacuums," said McAuliffe, who directs his own commercials and has an edit suite at home in Great Falls, Va.

Barry Rubin, who was executive director of the Nebraska Democratic Party last cycle, didn't dispute the effectiveness of attack ads per se, but said the tactic backfired here. Rubin said the hard-biting tax ads turned off even moderate Republicans, and pushed them into the Nelson camp. "McAuliffe may push the limits, but in Nebraska his ads only hurt [his candidate]," said Rubin.

But although Ricketts lost, his campaign manager calls McAuliffe one of the GOP's best media minds. "Just statistically, he's had a lot of wins. And in this case, aggression didn't have a negative connotation, I thought it was definitely a positive," said Jessica Moenning, Ricketts' campaign manager.

"One of the things about Doug that I think is really good is he doesn't just direct your commercials, he'll dig into your poll results ... and wants to know what's going on in your ground game," Moenning said. "In terms of the quality of his products, he just really creates some beautiful pictures."

Moenning says any A-type personality is bound to step on toes, but that McAuliffe, at least, "is not always straight-ahead bulldog" when making the case for his ideas. "For instance, when we were working with the governor to record his radio commercials, the governor had several ideas and Doug was very respectful. If he feels like an idea is going to be helpful, he can be very soft."

Lou Ann Linehan, chief of staff for Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., worked in the trenches with McAuliffe during Hagel's first Senate race.

"In 1996, everybody else left, said it was over. We were falling like a rock. We were getting outspent, and they were just pounding [Hagel]. Doug and I drove around in his rental car for like two hours, and he came up with an idea that turned a race that was falling into a race that was winning by a significant percentage, and stayed within the parameters Sen. Hagel had given him," Linehan said. The ad McAuliffe created, she said, "delivered a harsh message without looking mean and negative."

Hagel went on to a stunning upset and is now mulling a presidential bid.

Regardless of their opinion on what makes a good attack ad, most media consultants tend to agree that attacking just for its own sake is a waste of time. An effective hit piece should be backed up by facts gleaned from extensive research, and make sense based on the dynamics of a particular campaign.

And if you can hit your opponent with a little humor, so much the better.

"In order to be effective with the comparative ad today, you have to get out of the typical doom-and-gloom ad with draconian music and a photograph of your opponent picking his nose," Murphy said. "Voters have seen all of that. They're not responding like they did 20 years ago."

[Sidebar]

One Republican operative said the controversial Ford spot was exactly what was needed at the time to salvage the teetering Corker campaign.

[Sidebar]

Regardless of their opinion on what makes a good attack ad, most media consultants tend to agree that attacking just for its own sake is a waste of time.

DSE's Second Coming ; The Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) is all set to begin its new innings from February.

2012-03-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) is all set to begin its newinnings from February. It'll start with equity trading and graduallyscale up and enter the futures and options segment as well. Facedwith dwindling volumes, the exchange was shuttered seven years ago.The exchange, though, is buoyed by soaring trading volumes on theNSE and the BSE. "The increasing volumes show that there is anappetite for 4-5 stock exchanges in the country. At present, almost40 per cent of NSE volumes come from north India, " says H.S. Sidhu,Executive Director & CEO, DSE.

Exchange officials are now working overtime to woo back oldtrading members. DSE is doling out heavy discounts on deposit-basedtrading memberships. Moves are also afoot to ensure liquidity in the2,833 listed companies as many as 1,800 are exclusively listed onthe exchange. DSE is in the process of taking approval from SEBI tointroduce the marketmaking mechanism to improve their liquidity.

Despite the grand plans, clearly, it's going to be an uphill taskfor DSE to become a vibrant platform for equity trading again at atime when big daddy NSE has a stranglehold over the Indian stockmarkets.

THE GAMEPLAN

Undercut NSE's Market Share: Delhi alone accounts for 20 per centof NSE's volumes and DSE hopes to gradually nibble into its marketshare.

Retain Trading Members: DSE offers steep discounts on tradingmemberships Rs 13 lakh compared to NSE's Rs 3 crore and BSE's Rs 1crore.

Revive Liquidity on Listed Companies: Through market-making,which offers two-way quotes given by jobbers.

Oil Prices Hover Below $65 a Barrel

2012-03-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE - Oil prices were steady Friday on persistent concerns that U.S. refiners are not producing enough gasoline to meet peak summer demand following reports of more refinery snags.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery edged down 10 cents to $64.76 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange mid-afternoon in Singapore, after topping $65 a barrel in early morning trading. The contract on Thursday climbed $2.31 to settle at $64.86 a barrel, the highest close this month.

Brent crude for July delivery lost 34 cents to $69.93 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

With the Northern Hemisphere's summer driving season set to begin in just over a week, energy traders have been concerned that gasoline supplies are not catching up to demand, and a string of planned or unexpected refinery shutdowns have fueled such worries.

"It seems that every day there are announcements of refinery glitches in the U.S., and this rash of refinery snags is driving the crude futures market," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Murphy Oil Corp. said its 125,000-barrel-a-day Meraux, La., refinery has shut down a crude unit for minor repairs, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Shutdowns at a number of U.S. refineries were also reported by BP PLC, ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp., analysts said.

"The market's immediate concern is the tight gasoline supply situation in the U.S.," Shum said.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that gasoline stocks, while increasing to 195.2 million barrels last week, remained well below the average for this time of year.

The EIA says in a report on its Web site that over the 12 consecutive weeks from February to April, gasoline stockpiles in the U.S. declined by a cumulative total of more than 34 million barrels, or 15 percent. That makes it the sharpest decline in gasoline inventories over a consecutive 12-week period, according to the agency's recorded historical data.

Shum said crude futures were also supported by news of a planned nationwide strike in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, at the end of the month.

Labor leaders in Nigeria on Thursday called a two-day strike on May 28 in protest of last month's elections. The strike is scheduled to coincide with the inauguration of a new government. The unions argue that the April elections which gave a sweeping victory to President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua and the ruling People's Democratic Party were fraudulent and unacceptable. They have called for a re-run of the vote.

"In Nigeria, the news of a general strike towards the end of the month means here we go again, more supply disruptions out of Nigeria," Shum said.

A series of recent bombings, kidnappings and protests have slashed production by nearly 1 million barrels per day in Nigeria, representing around one-third of its total capacity.

Also giving prices a boost, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri on Thursday in Bali, Indonesia, said global oil markets are amply supplied and do not need an increase in crude oil production before the summer.

Heating oil futures dropped 1.34 cents to $1.9233 a gallon while natural gas prices rose 2.5 cents to $8.1 per 1,000 cubic feet.