President signs eminent domain order preventing land seizure for private use
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Jennifer Loven
Associated Press
Washington - President Bush declared Friday that the federal government can seize private property only for a public use such as a hospital or road.
The president signed an executive order in response to a Supreme Court decision granting local governments broad power to bulldoze people's homes to make way for private development.
It was the first anniversary of the controversial Supreme Court decision in a case involving New London, Conn., homeowners.
The majority opinion from the divided court limited homeowners' rights, saying local governments could take private property for purely economic development-related projects because the motive was bringing jobs and tax revenue to the city.
But the court also noted that states are free to pass additional protections if they see fit, and many have done so, prohibiting so-called takings for shopping malls or other private projects.
Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, welcomed Bush's exec utive order. But since the federal government has only a limited role such projects, he said Congress must do more. Cornyn has introduced legislation that also would bar federal funding for any state or local projects in which the land was obtained through eminent domain.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1151155865207790.xml&coll=2
Family, friends defend terror suspects as innocent, hardworking
BY TRENTON DANIEL, NICOLE WHITE AND ANDRES VIGULUCCI
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MIAMI - When federal agents swooped in to arrest the alleged ringleader in a purported terror plot, Narseal Batiste was applying stucco to an apartment building in Miami's historic Buena Vista East neighborhood.
The job was left unfinished when Batiste and two of his crew were cuffed and taken away by FBI agents, said the startled landlord, John Tronolone. "They seemed like nice enough guys," he said.
Batiste - a small contractor who provided work, martial-arts training and religious instruction to his tiny knot of followers - was among the seven South Florida men charged with conspiring to blow up buildings and wage war against the American government.
They are all young, ranging in age from their early 20s to the early 30s. Five were born in the United States, four of Haitian descent and another of Dominican parents. Two others were Haitian immigrants.
It's unknown what particular grudge, if any, they held against the United States. The government's indictment contends they were inspired by Islamic belief to wage jihad against America, but it's unclear what religious belief they embraced. One relative said they studied a faith that blends Christianity, Judaism and Islam with an emphasis on self-discipline.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/14889543.htm
6 Legislature makes New Yorkers safer, but richer?
By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer
June 24, 2006, 10:48 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- In the legislative session that ended late Friday, the Legislature and Gov. George Pataki became crime fighters and, perhaps, sleight-of-hand artists.
"I can almost guarantee we will have a significant drop in violent crime next year," Pataki said.
The 2006 session resulted in many anti-crime laws that avoided the gridlock of past years, when tough-on-crime measures often withered under unbending posturing by both sides.
The other major focus of the six-month session was cutting the nation's highest state and local property tax bills and reviving the upstate economy. On that, the scorecard is mixed. The Legislature approved unprecedented returns of tax dollars to New Yorkers. But it also made unprecedented promises to special interests that some say soon could grab those dollars back and more.
Criminal justice highlights included:
_An expansion of the state's DNA database to require genetic samples from more than half of people convicted of misdemeanors and felonies. That's up from 14 percent now. The move is expected to help solve crimes and stop violent offenders.
_An end to the statute of limitations for rape, which has been five years. Sentences were also toughened.
_Longer prison time for the most egregious drunken drivers.
_An addition of moderate-risk sex offenders to the state sex offender registry. It also allows police to notify the public online when the most serious offenders move into a community.
"On crime issues, this was truly an historic session," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
New Yorkers also will get something rare from Albany as a result of the session: Change back from their dollar.
A property tax rebate check of $200 to $800 will be in the mail this fall, when school tax bills come out and lawmakers are running for re-election. New York City residents who rent could see a $120 income tax break. A child tax credit will be worth another $300 for all taxpayers with school-age kids.
The state also froze its tax on gasoline at $2 per gallon, while allowing the sales tax on clothes under $110 to expire.
The givebacks are part of the more than $4 billion surplus in the 2005-06 budget.
But some say the 2006 session could become the gift that keeps on taking.
"It's deliberately designed to make you feel real good in the short term, especially before Election Day," said E.J. McMahon, director of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. "But it's also loaded with stuff that will give you a nice big hangover in future years."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--yourlegislature0624jun24,0,7594376.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Official: Sears Tower Never in Imminent Danger
By VOA News
24 June 2006
The Sears Tower
A Chicago police official says there was never any imminent threat to the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the U.S., despite allegations that seven men arrested this week were planning to attack it.
Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline said the investigation continues, but the Sears Tower has been found to be secure and free of explosives.
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows Narseal Batiste
The suspects' leader, Chicago native Narseal Batiste, and six other men are accused of plotting to attack the Sears Tower and several other buildings, including FBI offices in five cities. Batiste appeared Friday before a judge in Miami, Florida, with four other suspects.
The indictment says he asked an FBI informant posing as a member of al-Qaida for guns, uniforms, radios and $50,000 in cash to wage a holy war against the U.S. that would be "just as good or greater" than the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A friend of one of the defendants says the group was a sect based on an early 19th century religion that combines Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Five of the suspects are U.S. citizens. The other two men are from Haiti - one a permanent resident, the other an illegal immigrant.
Several al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the September 11 attacks had lived and trained in the South Florida area.
http://voanews.com/english/2006-06-24-voa14.cfm
Rip-off of Indian tribes no reason to restrict lobbying, report says
June 23, 2006
Senate Indian Affairs Committee: www.indian.senate.gov/public.
National Congress of American Indians: www.ncai.org.
By Ana Radelat
aradelat@gns.gannett.com
WASHINGTON -- A disgraced lobbyist's success in fleecing American Indian tribal clients out of millions of dollars does not indicate a need for new lobbying restrictions, according to a report released Thursday.
The report caps a two-year investigation by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee into the activities of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partner, public relations specialist Michael Scanlon.
The committee's report portrayed the Indian tribes -- including at least one in Louisiana -- as unwitting participants in the schemes hatched by Abramoff and Scanlon. The two men are portrayed in the report as callous manipulators who gloated about their ability to bilk their clients.
In an e-mail, Scanlon wrote Abramoff of plans to visit the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Louisiana Band of Coushattas and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan.
"We will take two, maybe three days and take no prisoners -- we are coming home with big bags of cash," Scanlon wrote.
The report also said Abramoff and Scanlon immersed themselves in tribal politics, helping candidates who supported their proposals.
The panel's report, dubbed "Gimme Five," the name that Abramoff and Scanlon gave their kickback scheme, detailed how the men targeted Indian tribes that sought political protection for their gaming operations.
The two have pleaded guilty to corruption charges and are cooperating with a federal investigation.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060623/NEWS01/606230321/1002/NEWS
Transportation secretary resigns
Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:28pm ET
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By John Crawley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who spearheaded an unprecedented overhaul of transportation security after the September 11 attacks, announced his resignation on Friday.
Mineta, 74, the lone Democrat in President George W. Bush's Cabinet, will leave on July 7 after 5 1/2 years on the job. He not only was the nation's longest serving transportation secretary but the most visible as well.
Transportation Department spokesman Robert Johnson said Mineta will announce his plans in the coming weeks but would not say if he had another job. Johnson said Mineta informed Bush of his decision to resign earlier this week.
The White House has not nominated a successor. One possible replacement mentioned by transportation insiders is Marion Blakey, who heads the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mineta spent most of his tenure juggling the fallout of the September 11 hijack attacks on the transportation system, including the near financial collapse of the U.S. airline industry.
Historically a second-tier Cabinet agency, the Transportation Department was thrown into the global spotlight by the attacks on New York and Washington.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-06-23T172752Z_01_WAT005901_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-MINETA.xml
Some Democrats coming to terms with Iraq rift
Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:47pm ET
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By Patricia Wilson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Iraq looming over critical U.S. congressional elections this year and the 2008 presidential campaign, some Democrats are beginning to be less fearful of the party split over the war.
While President George W. Bush, his political architect Karl Rove and Republicans in Congress step up their attacks, Democrats say the fact they are challenging the administration's conduct of the war will play well with voters in November when the balance of power in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives is at stake.
"We don't have a single answer," said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the centrist New Democrat Network. "I don't think we need one."
Democrats have differed openly on options in Iraq, ranging from quick withdrawal of the 127,000 U.S. troops there, to a gradual pullout, to the need for a stand-down plan, to support for the war effort.
They offered competing amendments in the Senate this week, one demanding Bush start pulling out combat forces immediately and finish the job by July 2007, and another urging a phased withdrawal starting this year but without a deadline for completion.
Republicans voted down both, dismissing the first as a "cut-and-run" plan and ridiculing the second as "cut-and-jog."
Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a potential presidential contender in 2008, said on Friday the party's diversity of opinion on Iraq was a strength that stood in stark contrast to the broad Republican loyalty toward Bush.
"Although unity is important, it is not the most important value," Clinton told the second day of a conference sponsored by the New Democrat Network. "It is, I think, a tribute to the Democratic Party that we are honestly and openly struggling with a lot of the difficult issues facing our country."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-23T164720Z_01_N22449824_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-POLITICS-DEMOCRATS.xml&archived=False
MRSA superbug linked to illegal tattoos
Posted on : Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:02:00 GMT | Author : James Simpson
News Category : Health
ATLANTA - Federal health officials announced yesterday that a new superbug, generally found in prisoners and athletes is fast showing up in people who acquire illegal tattoos. An article in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report says that these superbug infections were traced to 13 unlicensed tattoo artists between 2004 and 2005.
The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections appeared in 44 people in Ohio, Kentucky and Vermont. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that four of these people had to be hospitalized, but all have recovered from their infections. The infections were caused by the failure of the tattoo artists to use gloves; masks; sterilized needles; or even single-use other equipment like needles, tattoo guns, and ink supplies.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7327.html
Viagra Found to Help High-Altitude Athletes
By Alan Zarembo, Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2006
Scientists have found a performance-enhancing drug that could be exploited by endurance athletes at high altitudes and soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan: Viagra.
One group of research subjects — riding stationary bicycles and breathing through masks to simulate the low-oxygen conditions found at 12,700 feet — improved its times for six kilometers by an average of 39% after taking the erectile dysfunction drug, researchers at Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System reported Thursday.
Military researchers are considering a study to see whether Viagra could help soldiers function better at high altitudes.
"It provides a pretty clear advantage to some people," said Anne Friedlander, senior author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Originally conceived as a potential treatment for high blood pressure, Viagra, whose chemical name is sildenafil, causes blood vessels in the penis and lungs to relax. It won federal approval in 1998 as the first erectile dysfunction pill, becoming an instant blockbuster for drug maker Pfizer Inc.
Last year, the company won approval for Viagra, under the new name Revatio, to treat pulmonary hypertension, or high fluid pressure in the lungs.
Altitude researchers saw the potential of the drug because pulmonary hypertension is an effect of exercise in oxygen-poor environments. As blood vessels constrict in the lungs, the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-viagra23jun23,0,3350462.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Alcoa says deal reduces costs, helps competitiveness
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By Greg Edwards
Last Update: 1:32 PM ET Jun 23, 2006
Alcoa Inc. (AA) said Friday its new four-year contract with the United Steelworkers of America will improve its competitiveness by reducing health-care costs.
The contract, which requires union workers at 15 U.S. plants to pay premiums and deductibles for the first time, "will help reduce the escalating cost of providing health-care coverage," Alcoa said in a statement on its Web site.
Jim Robinson, the union's chief negotiator, said the deal "beat back a host of concessions originally demanded by the company."
The contract, covering 9,000 workers at the plants, was ratified by the union in voting that extended until late Thursday.
"It passed by a majority vote. Let's leave it at that," union spokesman Howard Scott said Friday, calling the exact vote count "an internal union matter."
The ratification averted a strike that could have reduced supplies of aluminum and increased prices. The plants produce 30% of Alcoa's aluminum.
Alcoa said it expects a second-quarter charge of 4 cents a share on costs related to ratification of the contract and preparations for a potential strike.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B428DEF5F-1973-40F0-917F-978E4E0790F9%7D&keyword=
Six Flags shares drop 25% on dour outlook
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Investors in Six Flags shaved 25 percent off the theme park operator's share value yesterday after the company said it may be in trouble with debt and could sell six theme parks. The announcement prompted credit rating agencies to issue downgrades.
Six Flags Chief Executive Mark Shapiro had announced late Thursday that the operator of Louisville's Kentucky Kingdom and other amusement parks no longer expects to meet its earnings guidance and that revenue and attendance have been lower than projected.
Shares fell in after-hours trading by about 20 percent and kept falling when the market reopened yesterday. Shares tumbled $1.90, or 25.5 percent, to close at $5.55 yesterday.
Standard & Poor's and Moody's lowered their outlooks for Six Flags yesterday.
Shapiro told analysts and investors that revenue was down about 1 percent through Sunday, attendance fell 13 percent, and the company may fail to comply with certain bank credit covenants. Shapiro also said the company would explore selling six properties, including one of its flagship locations, Magic Mountain near Los Angeles. Kentucky Kingdom was not on the list.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060624/BUSINESS/606240352/1003/BUSINESS
Exits soar at Delphi plant
Coopersville buyouts bode well for supplier, GM
June 24, 2006
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BY JASON ROBERSON
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
What's next?
Monday: GM CEO Rick Wagoner is to host a news conference at 5:15 p.m. on preliminary results of the plan.
Thursday: Delphi's bankruptcy judge is to consider a similar attrition package for the International Union of Electrical Workers.
Friday: Deadline for GM and Delphi UAW workers who accepted the attrition package to change their minds.
Aug. 11: Hearings resume on Delphi's motion to cancel union contracts and eliminate retiree medical and life insurance benefits.
Aug. 31: Deadline the judge set for reaching a decision on whether Delphi can cancel contracts and eliminate retiree medical and life insurance benefits.
Feb. 1, 2007: Deadline for Delphi to file a reorganization plan.
April 2: Deadline for responses to Delphi's plan.
When Robert Betts, UAW president of Local 2151 in Coopersville, got to work Friday morning, 470 of the Delphi plant's 560 workers were in line, signing up to leave the company.
Betts, who has signed up for the $35,000 early retirement offer, fears the attrition program designed to relieve Delphi of its workforce will leave the auto-parts plant without enough workers. Delphi's second attrition offer hasn't been formally issued for the remaining 90 workers.
"That could be a major train wreck. I'm hoping it's not, but I don't think it's avoidable," Betts said. "Time will tell. We're turning people over so fast it's crazy."
Thousands of similar decisions made through Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. bode well for the companies' going forward. The fewer active workers they're responsible for, the cheaper GM's bill to bail out bankrupt Delphi.
For GM, the attrition plan allows for a mass exodus of high-wage employees, which moves toward the goal of shedding 30,000 hourly U.S. workers by 2008. Reports and those close to the tallying say the number of GM workers accepting the early retirement or buyout offer has surpassed 28,000, and the number of Delphi workers is at 9,000.
Those empty spots on the assembly line give GM flexibility. It can hire cheaper temporary workers or relieve Delphi of its most-expensive remaining workers by allowing more employees to flow to the automaker's open positions.
And each attrition participant means one less union worker who might strike, which the UAW has threatened to do if Delphi unilaterally cancels labor contracts and slashes wages.
A full strike at Delphi would affect GM in a matter of days and eventually the entire auto industry, starting with other Delphi customers and GM's 3,000 other suppliers.
Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 8, seemingly will be positioned well after all of the attrition is tallied, because it will have:
Alleviated the shock of its sweeping reorganization plan that aims to close 25 of 33 U.S. plants and eliminate 23,000 hourly workers and 8,500 salaried workers.
Simplified remaining negotiations with GM and the unions to reduce wages and benefits. Fewer workers mean fewer have to be convinced to accept concessions.
More resources to devote toward technology initiatives. Earlier this week, Delphi won the first of three rounds of approval from the Department of Energy for a fuel cell that could be available for commercial vehicles or other uses by 2011.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060624/BUSINESS01/606240310
AMD chooses upstate N.Y. for chip plant
JUN. 23 4:56 P.M. ET Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which was offered about $1 billion in state incentives, will build a multibillion dollar chip manufacturing plant in upstate New York, creating 2,000 permanent jobs, state and company officials said Friday.
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif. chose to locate the new plant on a 600-acre site in Malta, about 25 miles north of Albany, after considering bids from East Asia and Germany, state officials said.
"The Hudson Valley is going to be America's next Silicon Valley and we're well on our way to achieving that," Gov. George Pataki said.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8IE5BJ00.htm?sub=apn_tech_down&chan=tc
Saudi Forces Arrest 42 Terror Suspects
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI
The Associated Press
Saturday, June 24, 2006; 11:25 AM
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi security forces arrested 42 suspected terrorists, including four foreign nationals, allegedly involved in earlier attacks across the kingdom, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.
On Friday, Saudi security forces killed six suspected al-Qaida members and arrested a seventh following a shootout in the capital, Riyadh. One policeman was killed.
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, launched an aggressive anti-terrorism campaign in May 2003 after suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida attacked three residential compounds in the capital, Riyadh.
Hundreds have been detained in the campaign, which has managed to capture or kill most of those named on the kingdom's two most-wanted lists.
The 42 suspects are said to belong to a group inspired by "takfiri doctrine," which maintains that those not adhering to its particular fundamentalist vision of Islam are considered "infidels."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062400414.html
World Cup fans fail to lift local sex industry
Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:53pm ET
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By Karin Strohecker
BERLIN (Reuters) - The hordes of beer-swilling men who have descended on Germany for the World Cup are proving a disappointment for the host nation's sex workers, preferring to party in public rather than spend time with prostitutes.
While some larger red-light establishments in host cities have seen their cash tills ringing, a lot of prostitutes say the anticipated boost for Germany's liberal sex industry has failed to materialize.
"The pent-up sexual demand of horny fans from around the world which has been widely anticipated has not materialized at all," said Karolina Leppert, president of Germany's association for sexual service providers BSD.
"Business is pretty dead, even the regulars stay away because of all the crowds and the hype," said Leppert, who has been working as a dominatrix in Berlin for eight years.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-06-23T182703Z_01_L23473371_RTRUKOC_0_US-SOCCER-WORLD-PROSTITUTES.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Jennifer Loven
Associated Press
Washington - President Bush declared Friday that the federal government can seize private property only for a public use such as a hospital or road.
The president signed an executive order in response to a Supreme Court decision granting local governments broad power to bulldoze people's homes to make way for private development.
It was the first anniversary of the controversial Supreme Court decision in a case involving New London, Conn., homeowners.
The majority opinion from the divided court limited homeowners' rights, saying local governments could take private property for purely economic development-related projects because the motive was bringing jobs and tax revenue to the city.
But the court also noted that states are free to pass additional protections if they see fit, and many have done so, prohibiting so-called takings for shopping malls or other private projects.
Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, welcomed Bush's exec utive order. But since the federal government has only a limited role such projects, he said Congress must do more. Cornyn has introduced legislation that also would bar federal funding for any state or local projects in which the land was obtained through eminent domain.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1151155865207790.xml&coll=2
Family, friends defend terror suspects as innocent, hardworking
BY TRENTON DANIEL, NICOLE WHITE AND ANDRES VIGULUCCI
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MIAMI - When federal agents swooped in to arrest the alleged ringleader in a purported terror plot, Narseal Batiste was applying stucco to an apartment building in Miami's historic Buena Vista East neighborhood.
The job was left unfinished when Batiste and two of his crew were cuffed and taken away by FBI agents, said the startled landlord, John Tronolone. "They seemed like nice enough guys," he said.
Batiste - a small contractor who provided work, martial-arts training and religious instruction to his tiny knot of followers - was among the seven South Florida men charged with conspiring to blow up buildings and wage war against the American government.
They are all young, ranging in age from their early 20s to the early 30s. Five were born in the United States, four of Haitian descent and another of Dominican parents. Two others were Haitian immigrants.
It's unknown what particular grudge, if any, they held against the United States. The government's indictment contends they were inspired by Islamic belief to wage jihad against America, but it's unclear what religious belief they embraced. One relative said they studied a faith that blends Christianity, Judaism and Islam with an emphasis on self-discipline.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/14889543.htm
6 Legislature makes New Yorkers safer, but richer?
By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer
June 24, 2006, 10:48 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- In the legislative session that ended late Friday, the Legislature and Gov. George Pataki became crime fighters and, perhaps, sleight-of-hand artists.
"I can almost guarantee we will have a significant drop in violent crime next year," Pataki said.
The 2006 session resulted in many anti-crime laws that avoided the gridlock of past years, when tough-on-crime measures often withered under unbending posturing by both sides.
The other major focus of the six-month session was cutting the nation's highest state and local property tax bills and reviving the upstate economy. On that, the scorecard is mixed. The Legislature approved unprecedented returns of tax dollars to New Yorkers. But it also made unprecedented promises to special interests that some say soon could grab those dollars back and more.
Criminal justice highlights included:
_An expansion of the state's DNA database to require genetic samples from more than half of people convicted of misdemeanors and felonies. That's up from 14 percent now. The move is expected to help solve crimes and stop violent offenders.
_An end to the statute of limitations for rape, which has been five years. Sentences were also toughened.
_Longer prison time for the most egregious drunken drivers.
_An addition of moderate-risk sex offenders to the state sex offender registry. It also allows police to notify the public online when the most serious offenders move into a community.
"On crime issues, this was truly an historic session," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
New Yorkers also will get something rare from Albany as a result of the session: Change back from their dollar.
A property tax rebate check of $200 to $800 will be in the mail this fall, when school tax bills come out and lawmakers are running for re-election. New York City residents who rent could see a $120 income tax break. A child tax credit will be worth another $300 for all taxpayers with school-age kids.
The state also froze its tax on gasoline at $2 per gallon, while allowing the sales tax on clothes under $110 to expire.
The givebacks are part of the more than $4 billion surplus in the 2005-06 budget.
But some say the 2006 session could become the gift that keeps on taking.
"It's deliberately designed to make you feel real good in the short term, especially before Election Day," said E.J. McMahon, director of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. "But it's also loaded with stuff that will give you a nice big hangover in future years."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--yourlegislature0624jun24,0,7594376.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Official: Sears Tower Never in Imminent Danger
By VOA News
24 June 2006
The Sears Tower
A Chicago police official says there was never any imminent threat to the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the U.S., despite allegations that seven men arrested this week were planning to attack it.
Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline said the investigation continues, but the Sears Tower has been found to be secure and free of explosives.
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows Narseal Batiste
The suspects' leader, Chicago native Narseal Batiste, and six other men are accused of plotting to attack the Sears Tower and several other buildings, including FBI offices in five cities. Batiste appeared Friday before a judge in Miami, Florida, with four other suspects.
The indictment says he asked an FBI informant posing as a member of al-Qaida for guns, uniforms, radios and $50,000 in cash to wage a holy war against the U.S. that would be "just as good or greater" than the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A friend of one of the defendants says the group was a sect based on an early 19th century religion that combines Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Five of the suspects are U.S. citizens. The other two men are from Haiti - one a permanent resident, the other an illegal immigrant.
Several al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the September 11 attacks had lived and trained in the South Florida area.
http://voanews.com/english/2006-06-24-voa14.cfm
Rip-off of Indian tribes no reason to restrict lobbying, report says
June 23, 2006
Senate Indian Affairs Committee: www.indian.senate.gov/public.
National Congress of American Indians: www.ncai.org.
By Ana Radelat
aradelat@gns.gannett.com
WASHINGTON -- A disgraced lobbyist's success in fleecing American Indian tribal clients out of millions of dollars does not indicate a need for new lobbying restrictions, according to a report released Thursday.
The report caps a two-year investigation by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee into the activities of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partner, public relations specialist Michael Scanlon.
The committee's report portrayed the Indian tribes -- including at least one in Louisiana -- as unwitting participants in the schemes hatched by Abramoff and Scanlon. The two men are portrayed in the report as callous manipulators who gloated about their ability to bilk their clients.
In an e-mail, Scanlon wrote Abramoff of plans to visit the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Louisiana Band of Coushattas and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan.
"We will take two, maybe three days and take no prisoners -- we are coming home with big bags of cash," Scanlon wrote.
The report also said Abramoff and Scanlon immersed themselves in tribal politics, helping candidates who supported their proposals.
The panel's report, dubbed "Gimme Five," the name that Abramoff and Scanlon gave their kickback scheme, detailed how the men targeted Indian tribes that sought political protection for their gaming operations.
The two have pleaded guilty to corruption charges and are cooperating with a federal investigation.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060623/NEWS01/606230321/1002/NEWS
Transportation secretary resigns
Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:28pm ET
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By John Crawley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who spearheaded an unprecedented overhaul of transportation security after the September 11 attacks, announced his resignation on Friday.
Mineta, 74, the lone Democrat in President George W. Bush's Cabinet, will leave on July 7 after 5 1/2 years on the job. He not only was the nation's longest serving transportation secretary but the most visible as well.
Transportation Department spokesman Robert Johnson said Mineta will announce his plans in the coming weeks but would not say if he had another job. Johnson said Mineta informed Bush of his decision to resign earlier this week.
The White House has not nominated a successor. One possible replacement mentioned by transportation insiders is Marion Blakey, who heads the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mineta spent most of his tenure juggling the fallout of the September 11 hijack attacks on the transportation system, including the near financial collapse of the U.S. airline industry.
Historically a second-tier Cabinet agency, the Transportation Department was thrown into the global spotlight by the attacks on New York and Washington.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-06-23T172752Z_01_WAT005901_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-MINETA.xml
Some Democrats coming to terms with Iraq rift
Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:47pm ET
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By Patricia Wilson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Iraq looming over critical U.S. congressional elections this year and the 2008 presidential campaign, some Democrats are beginning to be less fearful of the party split over the war.
While President George W. Bush, his political architect Karl Rove and Republicans in Congress step up their attacks, Democrats say the fact they are challenging the administration's conduct of the war will play well with voters in November when the balance of power in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives is at stake.
"We don't have a single answer," said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the centrist New Democrat Network. "I don't think we need one."
Democrats have differed openly on options in Iraq, ranging from quick withdrawal of the 127,000 U.S. troops there, to a gradual pullout, to the need for a stand-down plan, to support for the war effort.
They offered competing amendments in the Senate this week, one demanding Bush start pulling out combat forces immediately and finish the job by July 2007, and another urging a phased withdrawal starting this year but without a deadline for completion.
Republicans voted down both, dismissing the first as a "cut-and-run" plan and ridiculing the second as "cut-and-jog."
Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a potential presidential contender in 2008, said on Friday the party's diversity of opinion on Iraq was a strength that stood in stark contrast to the broad Republican loyalty toward Bush.
"Although unity is important, it is not the most important value," Clinton told the second day of a conference sponsored by the New Democrat Network. "It is, I think, a tribute to the Democratic Party that we are honestly and openly struggling with a lot of the difficult issues facing our country."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-06-23T164720Z_01_N22449824_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-POLITICS-DEMOCRATS.xml&archived=False
MRSA superbug linked to illegal tattoos
Posted on : Sat, 24 Jun 2006 16:02:00 GMT | Author : James Simpson
News Category : Health
ATLANTA - Federal health officials announced yesterday that a new superbug, generally found in prisoners and athletes is fast showing up in people who acquire illegal tattoos. An article in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report says that these superbug infections were traced to 13 unlicensed tattoo artists between 2004 and 2005.
The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections appeared in 44 people in Ohio, Kentucky and Vermont. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that four of these people had to be hospitalized, but all have recovered from their infections. The infections were caused by the failure of the tattoo artists to use gloves; masks; sterilized needles; or even single-use other equipment like needles, tattoo guns, and ink supplies.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7327.html
Viagra Found to Help High-Altitude Athletes
By Alan Zarembo, Times Staff Writer
June 23, 2006
Scientists have found a performance-enhancing drug that could be exploited by endurance athletes at high altitudes and soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan: Viagra.
One group of research subjects — riding stationary bicycles and breathing through masks to simulate the low-oxygen conditions found at 12,700 feet — improved its times for six kilometers by an average of 39% after taking the erectile dysfunction drug, researchers at Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System reported Thursday.
Military researchers are considering a study to see whether Viagra could help soldiers function better at high altitudes.
"It provides a pretty clear advantage to some people," said Anne Friedlander, senior author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Originally conceived as a potential treatment for high blood pressure, Viagra, whose chemical name is sildenafil, causes blood vessels in the penis and lungs to relax. It won federal approval in 1998 as the first erectile dysfunction pill, becoming an instant blockbuster for drug maker Pfizer Inc.
Last year, the company won approval for Viagra, under the new name Revatio, to treat pulmonary hypertension, or high fluid pressure in the lungs.
Altitude researchers saw the potential of the drug because pulmonary hypertension is an effect of exercise in oxygen-poor environments. As blood vessels constrict in the lungs, the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-viagra23jun23,0,3350462.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Alcoa says deal reduces costs, helps competitiveness
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By Greg Edwards
Last Update: 1:32 PM ET Jun 23, 2006
Alcoa Inc. (AA) said Friday its new four-year contract with the United Steelworkers of America will improve its competitiveness by reducing health-care costs.
The contract, which requires union workers at 15 U.S. plants to pay premiums and deductibles for the first time, "will help reduce the escalating cost of providing health-care coverage," Alcoa said in a statement on its Web site.
Jim Robinson, the union's chief negotiator, said the deal "beat back a host of concessions originally demanded by the company."
The contract, covering 9,000 workers at the plants, was ratified by the union in voting that extended until late Thursday.
"It passed by a majority vote. Let's leave it at that," union spokesman Howard Scott said Friday, calling the exact vote count "an internal union matter."
The ratification averted a strike that could have reduced supplies of aluminum and increased prices. The plants produce 30% of Alcoa's aluminum.
Alcoa said it expects a second-quarter charge of 4 cents a share on costs related to ratification of the contract and preparations for a potential strike.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B428DEF5F-1973-40F0-917F-978E4E0790F9%7D&keyword=
Six Flags shares drop 25% on dour outlook
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Investors in Six Flags shaved 25 percent off the theme park operator's share value yesterday after the company said it may be in trouble with debt and could sell six theme parks. The announcement prompted credit rating agencies to issue downgrades.
Six Flags Chief Executive Mark Shapiro had announced late Thursday that the operator of Louisville's Kentucky Kingdom and other amusement parks no longer expects to meet its earnings guidance and that revenue and attendance have been lower than projected.
Shares fell in after-hours trading by about 20 percent and kept falling when the market reopened yesterday. Shares tumbled $1.90, or 25.5 percent, to close at $5.55 yesterday.
Standard & Poor's and Moody's lowered their outlooks for Six Flags yesterday.
Shapiro told analysts and investors that revenue was down about 1 percent through Sunday, attendance fell 13 percent, and the company may fail to comply with certain bank credit covenants. Shapiro also said the company would explore selling six properties, including one of its flagship locations, Magic Mountain near Los Angeles. Kentucky Kingdom was not on the list.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060624/BUSINESS/606240352/1003/BUSINESS
Exits soar at Delphi plant
Coopersville buyouts bode well for supplier, GM
June 24, 2006
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BY JASON ROBERSON
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
What's next?
Monday: GM CEO Rick Wagoner is to host a news conference at 5:15 p.m. on preliminary results of the plan.
Thursday: Delphi's bankruptcy judge is to consider a similar attrition package for the International Union of Electrical Workers.
Friday: Deadline for GM and Delphi UAW workers who accepted the attrition package to change their minds.
Aug. 11: Hearings resume on Delphi's motion to cancel union contracts and eliminate retiree medical and life insurance benefits.
Aug. 31: Deadline the judge set for reaching a decision on whether Delphi can cancel contracts and eliminate retiree medical and life insurance benefits.
Feb. 1, 2007: Deadline for Delphi to file a reorganization plan.
April 2: Deadline for responses to Delphi's plan.
When Robert Betts, UAW president of Local 2151 in Coopersville, got to work Friday morning, 470 of the Delphi plant's 560 workers were in line, signing up to leave the company.
Betts, who has signed up for the $35,000 early retirement offer, fears the attrition program designed to relieve Delphi of its workforce will leave the auto-parts plant without enough workers. Delphi's second attrition offer hasn't been formally issued for the remaining 90 workers.
"That could be a major train wreck. I'm hoping it's not, but I don't think it's avoidable," Betts said. "Time will tell. We're turning people over so fast it's crazy."
Thousands of similar decisions made through Delphi Corp. and General Motors Corp. bode well for the companies' going forward. The fewer active workers they're responsible for, the cheaper GM's bill to bail out bankrupt Delphi.
For GM, the attrition plan allows for a mass exodus of high-wage employees, which moves toward the goal of shedding 30,000 hourly U.S. workers by 2008. Reports and those close to the tallying say the number of GM workers accepting the early retirement or buyout offer has surpassed 28,000, and the number of Delphi workers is at 9,000.
Those empty spots on the assembly line give GM flexibility. It can hire cheaper temporary workers or relieve Delphi of its most-expensive remaining workers by allowing more employees to flow to the automaker's open positions.
And each attrition participant means one less union worker who might strike, which the UAW has threatened to do if Delphi unilaterally cancels labor contracts and slashes wages.
A full strike at Delphi would affect GM in a matter of days and eventually the entire auto industry, starting with other Delphi customers and GM's 3,000 other suppliers.
Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 8, seemingly will be positioned well after all of the attrition is tallied, because it will have:
Alleviated the shock of its sweeping reorganization plan that aims to close 25 of 33 U.S. plants and eliminate 23,000 hourly workers and 8,500 salaried workers.
Simplified remaining negotiations with GM and the unions to reduce wages and benefits. Fewer workers mean fewer have to be convinced to accept concessions.
More resources to devote toward technology initiatives. Earlier this week, Delphi won the first of three rounds of approval from the Department of Energy for a fuel cell that could be available for commercial vehicles or other uses by 2011.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060624/BUSINESS01/606240310
AMD chooses upstate N.Y. for chip plant
JUN. 23 4:56 P.M. ET Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which was offered about $1 billion in state incentives, will build a multibillion dollar chip manufacturing plant in upstate New York, creating 2,000 permanent jobs, state and company officials said Friday.
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif. chose to locate the new plant on a 600-acre site in Malta, about 25 miles north of Albany, after considering bids from East Asia and Germany, state officials said.
"The Hudson Valley is going to be America's next Silicon Valley and we're well on our way to achieving that," Gov. George Pataki said.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8IE5BJ00.htm?sub=apn_tech_down&chan=tc
Saudi Forces Arrest 42 Terror Suspects
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI
The Associated Press
Saturday, June 24, 2006; 11:25 AM
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi security forces arrested 42 suspected terrorists, including four foreign nationals, allegedly involved in earlier attacks across the kingdom, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.
On Friday, Saudi security forces killed six suspected al-Qaida members and arrested a seventh following a shootout in the capital, Riyadh. One policeman was killed.
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, launched an aggressive anti-terrorism campaign in May 2003 after suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida attacked three residential compounds in the capital, Riyadh.
Hundreds have been detained in the campaign, which has managed to capture or kill most of those named on the kingdom's two most-wanted lists.
The 42 suspects are said to belong to a group inspired by "takfiri doctrine," which maintains that those not adhering to its particular fundamentalist vision of Islam are considered "infidels."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062400414.html
World Cup fans fail to lift local sex industry
Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:53pm ET
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By Karin Strohecker
BERLIN (Reuters) - The hordes of beer-swilling men who have descended on Germany for the World Cup are proving a disappointment for the host nation's sex workers, preferring to party in public rather than spend time with prostitutes.
While some larger red-light establishments in host cities have seen their cash tills ringing, a lot of prostitutes say the anticipated boost for Germany's liberal sex industry has failed to materialize.
"The pent-up sexual demand of horny fans from around the world which has been widely anticipated has not materialized at all," said Karolina Leppert, president of Germany's association for sexual service providers BSD.
"Business is pretty dead, even the regulars stay away because of all the crowds and the hype," said Leppert, who has been working as a dominatrix in Berlin for eight years.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-06-23T182703Z_01_L23473371_RTRUKOC_0_US-SOCCER-WORLD-PROSTITUTES.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-2
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