I used to know a guy named Bates in Cubs. He ate the candles on everyone's birthday cakes and found them to be delicious!
For sale: World's smallest country with sea view

By Paul Majendie Tue Jan 9, 8:14 AM ET

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters Life!) - For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.

Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.

Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.

He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England and just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.

The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.

The family saw off an attempt by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.

Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."

He suggested Sealand, which has eight rooms in each tower, could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.

Asked to describe the delights of living on what he described as a cross between a house and a ship, the 54-year-old said: "The neighbors are very quiet. There is a good sea view."

As yet, no response from the Von Helsings!
Dracula's castle is for sale for $78M

By ALISON MUTLER Wed Jan 10, 8:47 AM ET

BUCHAREST, Romania - The Habsburg family said Wednesday that it wanted to sell a Transylvanian castle famous for its connections to the 15th century medieval ruler who inspired "Dracula" for 60 million euros, or $78 million, to the local authorities, an attorney said.

The local council says it is interested in buying Bran Castle, but a government minister criticized the price tag, calling it too expensive.

Dominic Habsburg, the owner, insisted the family had honorable intentions.

"We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran," Habsburg said in a statement made available exclusively to The Associated Press.

The castle was returned to Habsburg, a New York architect, on May 26, decades after it was confiscated by the communists from Habsburg's mother, Princess Ileana, in 1948, the year the royals were forced to leave the country.

After the restitution, concerns were raised that the family could sell castle to a hotel chain and that the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside.

The castle, perched high on a rock and surrounded by snowcapped mountains in southern Transylvania, is one of Romania's top tourist attractions and is visited by 400,000 people each year.

Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved.

"The family has the country and the people in their heart. We are grateful for the restitution as a moral act to amend injustice," the statement from Habsburg said.

But he added, "The way of life cannot be returned and the restitution has come with financial sacrifice. ... We would like Castle Bran to remain a symbol of everything that is honorable and good in Romania."

The community of Bran, where the fortress was built in the 14th century to help stave off invasion, gave it to Ileana's mother, Queen Marie, in 1920 to thank her for her efforts in unifying the country. It was briefly associated with Prince "Vlad the Impaler," whose cruelty inspired novelist Bram Stoker's creation, the vampire Count Dracula. History says he spent one night there.

In 1938, Ileana inherited the castle, which is located some 105 miles north of Bucharest.

In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats floating around its ramparts in the twilight — has attracted movie makers as a backdrop for films about Dracula and other spooky themes.

Lia Trandafir, an attorney for Habsburg, said the local authorities are interested in buying it. "They'd like to see it coming back to the community and they consider it a central pillar of tourism in Brasov county," she said.

Aristotel Cancescu, head of the local city council is due to travel to Vienna, Austria, on Monday to open discussions about a bank loan. If he manages to secure a loan, it will need to be approved by local councilors.

Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu has criticized the planned purchase of the castle, saying it is too expensive. "I have nothing against the castle being bought by the city council if they are stupid enough to pay this money," he said. He added he believed the castle was worth a fourth of Habsburg's asking price.

Please circulate widely! www.answercoalition.org
U.S. Peace Movement Plans to “Escalate” Street Protests

The ANSWER Coalition Responds to
Bush’s War Speech of January 10, 2007

ANSWER Coalition Statement:

Unwilling to accept the failure of his war of aggression in Iraq, his “war of choice,” Bush announced tonight a plan that will succeed only in sending thousands of Iraqis and U.S. soldiers to their graves in the next year.

What Bush is really proposing is using thousands of additional U.S. soldiers in a planned reign of terror in the streets and neighborhoods of Baghdad against those who want the U.S. to leave. Bush chose to use a euphemism about the planned reign of terror when he stated that one of the past “mistakes” of the U.S. military operation in Baghdad was that, “there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have.” The blood will flow just as Bush promises but this plan will fail just as badly as every announced initiative since Bush arrogantly taunted the Iraqi resistance with his infamous “Bring em on” speech back in 2003.

Bush gave the people of the United States a warning that they should expect the coming year will be "bloody and violent," with "television screens filled with images of death and suffering." He tried to innoculate himself from responsibility for this carnage although his plan makes it inevitable.

Bush’s aspiration to salvage his “legacy” and his place in history isn’t worth one more life. Every mother and father of a U.S. soldier, every person who has a loved one in the U.S. armed forces should make it clear that the lives of their family members are too precious to be sacrificed for such an ignoble cause.

For the last six years, Bush has provided huge tax breaks for the billionaires and multimillionaires of this country. But it will not be their children who will be sent to fight and die in Iraq. The privileged ultra-rich, Bush's real "base," are shielded from the horrors of the war.

The deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis since March 2003 (see Lancet medical journal 10/06), proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Bush’s claim that his invasion was for the liberation of the Iraqi people is a complete and utter lie.

“Clearing and holding neighborhoods in Iraq” is not the duty or right of members of the U.S. military. The people who live in those neighborhoods lived in peace before the arrival of the occupation forces. The occupation is illegal and the order to stiffen the occupation is illegal too. U.S. soldiers have the right and duty to disobey illegal orders.

Neither one more Iraqi nor one more soldier should die so that the politicians, who inaugurated a criminal “pre-emptive” invasion of a country that posed zero threat to the people of the United States, can postpone the verdict of history.

For their part, the Democrats in Congress are involved in a slightly more complicated dance. They want to posture as opponents of Bush’s escalation and so-called surge without taking responsibility for bringing the war to a close. They could cut funding for the war which is their exclusive Constitutional prerogative. But they will absolutely refuse to take this responsibility. They are merely posturing for the 2008 elections hoping to take advantage of the well deserved public disgust for Bush and the Iraq war.

The issue right now for the anti-war movement can not simply be opposition to a surge or an escalation: the issue is the war itself. The troops must be brought home now. As in Vietnam, that is the only solution. Those who initiated the war and who funded the war should be held accountable for one of the great crimes of the modern era.

Everything that Bush has said about the Iraq war has proved to be a lie. This was always a war for Empire in a strategic area that possesses two thirds of the world's oil supply. He proclaimed tonight that, "failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States." If Bush fails in Iraq the people of the United States lose nothing. It is not our Empire.

On March 17, 2007, the anniversary of the start of the criminal invasion of Iraq, tens of thousands of people from around the country will descend on the Pentagon in a mass demonstration to demand: U.S. Out of Iraq Now! 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 anti-war march to the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. The message of the 1967 march was "From Protest to Resistance," and marked a turning point in the development of a countrywide mass movement.

Thousands of organizations and individuals are mobilizing for the upcoming March on the Pentagon. Organizing committees and transportation centers are being established to bring people to the March on the Pentagon.

Tomorrow, January 11, there will be emergency demonstrations in scores of cities around the country protesting Bush's planned escalation of the war in Iraq.

The March 17 demonstration will assemble at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Constitution Gardens) at 12 noon in Washington, D.C. and march to the Pentagon. Go to http://www.answercoalition.org/ for more information. There are more than 1,000 endorsers for the March on the Pentagon...

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
Seattle: 206-568-1661

Iphone?
Apple introduces iPhone

Tue Jan 9, 1:35 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) Chief Executive
Steve Jobs on Tuesday introduced an eagerly-anticipated Apple-branded mobile phone with a touch-screen that combines features from the company's popular iPod music player.

While Apple watchers were expecting details on an Apple smartphone able to play music, make calls and perform other functions, the announcement at the annual Macworld conference still helped push the company's shares up more than 5 percent.

Jobs did not give immediate details on the pricing of the phone or its availability, but his speech was expected to continue until 11:00 a.m. local time. The phone will use the network of AT&T's (NYSE:T - news) cellular unit, Cingular Wireless.

The move also could help Apple bolster its dominant position in the market for portable digital media devices. The iPod now commands more than a 70 percent share of the U.S. market for MP3 players, as the devices are also known.

The new 11.6 millimeter phone includes a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen display with multi-touch support, 2 megapixel camera and 8 gigabytes of storage. It runs Apple's
OS X operating system.

Jobs also said another device that allows users to stream movies, music, photos, podcasts and TV shows to their home entertainment systems would ship in February. Dubbed "AppleTV," the 40 gigabyte machine will cost $299, the same price Jobs forecast back in September.

Jobs also said movies from Paramount films would be sold in on Apple's iTunes online music store in addition to titles from Disney (NYSE:DIS - news).

Apple has sold more than 70 million iPods since they were introduced and consumers have bought more than 2 billion songs for about 99 cents each on iTunes. More than 220 television shows are also available on iTunes.

Apple shares rose $4.30 to $88.77 following the announcement.

Glimpse a potential History of the
Long-Term Global Forecast? Fewer Continents

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: January 9, 2007

Kiss the Mediterranean goodbye. Ditto the Red Sea and its wonderland of coral reefs and exotic sea life. And prepare for the day when San Francisco has a gritty new suburb: Los Angeles. Indeed, much of Southern California, including the Baja Peninsula, will eventually migrate up the west coast to make Alaska even more gargantuan.

Scientists predict that in 25 million years, The Gulf of California will widen into a narrow seaway.

Geologists have long prided themselves on their ability to peer into the distant past and discern the slow movements of land and sea that have continuously revised the planet’s face over eons. Now, drawing on new insights, theories, measurements and technologies — and perhaps a bit of scientific bravado — they are forecasting the shape of terra firma in the distant future.

The maps and animations by these scientists are helping explain core principles of geology to increasingly wide audiences. Schools, textbooks, museums, Web sites and television shows now routinely feature images of what the forecasters say the planet will look like eons from now. And geologists are using the forecasts to deepen their own investigations of plate tectonics.

“It’s tremendous,” said Warren J. Nokleberg, a senior research geologist at the United States Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif. “It lets students and scientists better appreciate the mobile Earth, to see where it’s going. That’s very powerful.”

Practitioners acknowledge that their predictions, however intriguing, become more theoretical when pushed far into the future, as with advanced weather forecasts. Their most ambitious efforts peer 250 million years ahead. But their more short-term predictions, they note, draw on mountains of geophysical data and involve relatively small extrapolations of current trends, like the steady northward march of Southern California.

Despite uncertainties, the field of geopredictions is booming. One Web site has received almost 30 million hits since its debut in 1998, and the field’s admirers now include top scientists.

“It’s quite good pedagogically,” said Frank Press, a geologist and past president of the National Academy of Sciences. “It captures the attention.”

Dr. Press features one of the forecasts in his introductory college text, “Understanding Earth” (Freeman, 2006). He and three co-authors present a snapshot of how the planet’s surface might look 50 million years from now, calling it “a plausible scenario.”

Among other things, the snapshot shows that Africa has drifted to the north, plowing into Europe and fusing the two landmasses, eliminating the Mediterranean Sea and replacing it with the Mediterranean Mountains. The rugged range runs down the middle of a continent far bigger than current-day Eurasia, a giant new agglomeration that might be called Afrasia.

While peering 50 million years into the future may seem like a stretch, geologists consider such spans of time the blink of an eye. If one year represented Earth’s past, 50 million years would equal less than 4 days, or about the limit of accurate weather forecasts.

“Fifty million is fairly straightforward,” said Christopher R. Scotese, a geologist at the University of Texas, Arlington, who has pioneered the predictions in recent years. “It’s like you’re driving on the highway and you want to know where you’re going to be in 10 minutes. You check the speedometer, do a calculation, and project your present motion.

“But beyond 50 million years,” Dr. Scotese added, “like on the highway, unexpected things can happen.”

Forecasts of future continental motion developed slowly as offshoots of the theory of plate tectonics, which won acceptance in the 1960s and 1970s, shattering old dogmas of continental immobility. The theory of plate tectonics holds that the surface of Earth is composed of a dozen or so huge crustal slabs that float on a sea of partially molten rock. Over ages, hot convection currents in this sea, as well as gravitational forces, move the plates and their superimposed continents and ocean basins, tearing them apart and rearranging them like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.

The theory, named for the Greek word “tekton,” or builder, is a study in slowness. Colliding plates grind past one another about as fast as fingernails grow.

Today, geologists measure such changes with great precision thanks to the advent of global positioning satellites and small base stations that dot remote areas of the planet and operate unattended. Arrays of such instruments track the overall movement of plates.

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"Get your hands off me, you damned dirty Human!" ..."improve conditions for real (REAL) apes in captivity." (???)
Australia zoo puts humans on display

Tue Jan 9, 6:37 AM ET

ADELAIDE (Reuters Life!) - An Australian zoo has put a group of humans on display to raise awareness about primate conservation -- with the proviso that they don't get up to any monkey business.

Over a month, the humans will be locked in an unused orang-utan cage at Adelaide zoo, braving the searing heat and snacking on bananas. They will be monitored by a psychologist who hopes to use the findings to improve conditions for real apes in captivity.

Audiences can vote for their favorite "ape" via mobile phone text messages, in the style of reality television shows, and at the end of the month, a "super human" will be selected to represent the zoo.

"They're completely mad," said one visitor to the exhibit, as the humans, who are allowed home at night, played up to the crowds and checked each other for imaginary lice.

"It's not as exciting as the animals actually, they're not really doing very much," another onlooker said, clearly unimpressed by the volunteers' shenanigans.

One of the human apes, Josh Penley, said the experiment was a chance to "get myself out of my comfort zone and to get a week off work."

Participants wear microphones in front of Web cams to allow watchers to hear the action in what has been billed as "Big Brother behind bars."

Dr. Carla Litchfield, who is conducting the experiment, has laid down firm rules for the new apes: no nudity, no rude behavior and no jumping into the enclosure spa.

Zoo vets haven't ruled out using tranquillizer darts if the humans misbehave.

One born every minute...this time Nixon was the One!
Elvis-Nixon meeting has fans shook up

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago

YORBA LINDA, Calif. - The meeting between two of the most improbable cultural icons of the 1970s lasted all of 30 minutes, but it has fascinated the nation for years.

A photo of a cloaked and bejeweled
Elvis Presley solemnly shaking hands with a grim-faced President Nixon remains the No. 1 requested document from the National Archives, nearly four decades after the secret meeting took place on Dec. 21, 1970.

Now, on what would be Elvis's 72nd birthday, the
Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Birthplace is giving the curious public a good, long look at the relics of the coming together of The King and The President — and it's got Elvis fans all shook up.

The free exhibit, which opened Monday and will run several months, includes the outfit Elvis wore (a black velvet overcoat, a gold-plated belt and black leather boots); Nixon's outfit (a gray woolen suit, tie and size 11 1/2 black shoes); letters; and a World War II .45-caliber Colt revolver that Elvis gave to Nixon.

"The two of them together somehow is almost incomprehensible," said Bud Krogh, Nixon's former deputy counsel who set up the impromptu meeting that day 36 years ago. "The king of rock and the president of the United States shaking hands in the Oval Office doesn't compute for a lot of people."

About 50 people were waiting early Monday to see the exhibit.

"Of all the two people, who would ever think that Elvis and Nixon would get together? I couldn't believe it," said Gloria Matta Tuchman, 65, of Santa Ana, who said she became enthralled with Elvis as a girl and met him when she was in her 20s.

The chain of events that led to the meeting began when a stretch limousine carrying Elvis pulled up outside the White House. One of his guards handed over a letter from Elvis addressed to Nixon requesting a meeting to discuss how the rock star could help Nixon fight drugs — including getting credentials as a "federal agent at large."

"I will be here as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent," Elvis wrote. "I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good."

The
Secret Service agents alerted Krogh. A self-confessed Elvis fan, Krogh met with Elvis, decided he was sincere and scrambled to get him into a noon meeting with Nixon.

About 2 1/2 hours later, Elvis walked into the Oval Office wearing his flamboyant outfit, as well as sunglasses and two huge medallions. But when Elvis entered the Oval Office, Krogh recalls, he froze.

"I think he was just awed by where he found himself. I ended up having to help him walk across over to the president's desk," he said.

Elvis and Nixon talked for about 30 minutes, during which Elvis showed Nixon pictures of his daughter and a pair of cufflinks given to him by Spiro Agnew. He also showed Nixon police badges from around the country and asked again for a badge from the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Nixon agreed to give him the badge — but only after learning that the chief of the narcotics bureau had turned down the same request earlier that day and told him the only person who could overrule his decision was the president.

"Oh man, we were set up! But it was fun," said Krogh. "He said all the right words about trying to do the right thing and I took him at his word, but I think he clearly wanted to get a badge and he knew the only way he was going to get it."

At Elvis' request, the meeting remained secret for more than a year — until The Washington Post broke the story on Jan. 27, 1972.

Since then, the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace has more than made up for Elvis' ruse: T-shirts, cups, notepads and watches bearing the famous black-and-white photo remain the top-selling items at the museum's gift shop.

"We've known for years that that photograph is an icon image," said Sandy Quinn, the museum's assistant director. "It is The President and The King."

_____

On the Net: http://www.nixonlibrary.org

Yia Thao, president of the United Hmong Community Center, said, "I told them we have to listen to what is actually happening."
Hmong hunter's death has Wis. on edge

By EMILY FREDRIX, Associated Press Writer Sun Jan 7, 5:20 PM ET

GREEN BAY, Wis. - A Hmong hunter has been found dead in a wildlife area in a case that is stirring memories of a mass shooting that exposed racial tensions.

Cha Vang, 30, of Green Bay, was found dead Saturday morning, a night after he was reported missing in the Peshtigo Harbor Wildlife Area in northeastern Wisconsin. Investigators have not said how they believe he died but said they are treating the case as a homicide. An autopsy is planned for Monday.

Authorities detained a 28-year-old Peshtigo man, James Nichols, who showed up at a medical center Saturday with a gunshot wound that wasn't life-threatening, said Laurel Steffes, a spokeswoman for the Marinette County Sheriff's Department. He is considered a person of interest but was being held on a parole violation from an unrelated burglary conviction and had not been charged in Vang's death, she said.

Dealings between the Hmong, an ethnic minority group from Southeast Asia, and predominantly white residents of the mostly rural north woods have been on edge since November 2004, when Hmong immigrant Chai Soua Vang, 38, of St. Paul, Minn., killed six white hunters and injured two while trespassing in a private tree stand.

Chai Vang claimed he acted in self-defense after they shouted racial epithets, cursed at him and one fired a shot in his direction. The former truck driver is serving multiple life terms.

Vang is a very common name among the Hmong, an increasing number of whom have moved into the Midwest.

Even before those shootings, Hmong hunters claimed they had been harassed, and whites complained that the Hmong do not respect private property.

People at Green Bay Hmong Alliance Church were told of the killing Sunday morning, though many had heard about it the night before and their first thought was of the 2004 shootings, said Nao Vang, 60.

"Some worry this could be retaliation. People are very concerned about that," he said.

Yia Thao, president of the United Hmong Community Center, said he heard the same thing but urged caution.

"I told them we have to listen to what is actually happening," he said.

Cha Vang's wife, Pang Vue, said the family came to the U.S. two years ago because her husband wanted their five children to have a better life than the one he had growing up in refugee camps, she said.

"Our dream was just starting, just now beginning, and now it falls apart again," Vue, 25, said through an interpreter as dozens of family members and friends gathered at her home Sunday afternoon.

Cha Vang had a hunting license and was with three other people Friday hunting for small game, Steffes said.

Nichols, also a licensed hunter, was alone, Steffes said. She couldn't say what he was hunting or whether he had a weapon. A bow-and-arrow deer hunt was also going on at the time, she said.

___

Associated Press writer Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

What is one to do! How does one prove "Mary" wasn't a slut, while Joseph was a "saint?"
Painting of Jolie draws notice

By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press Writer Sun Jan 7, 6:43 AM ET

RALEIGH, N.C. - A North Carolina artist intrigued by the public obsession with celebrity has found herself feeding that obsession with a painting of actress
Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary hovering over a Wal-Mart check-out line.

Kate Kretz has painted for 20 years but none of her previous work has garnered the attention given "Blessed Art Thou," showing this weekend at Art Miami, an annual exposition of modern and contemporary art.

The painting has gotten much attention from celebrity web sites and blogs. Since the buzz started, the number of daily unique visitors to Kretz's own blog has jumped from an average of 30 to 15,000 on Wednesday.

"My intention was to ask a question and get people to think," Kretz said in a telephone interview Friday from Miami. "I had no idea so many people would be asking a question and thinking."

The painting — acrylic and oil on linen — depicts an angelic Jolie in the clouds, holding her newborn daughter, Shiloh, with children Maddox and Zahara at her legs. Below them is a Wal-Mart checkout line. The painting is for sale for $50,000 through Chelsea Galleria in Miami, which represents Kretz.

On her blog, Kretz, 43, said the painting addresses "the celebrity worship cycle." She said she chose Jolie for the subject "because of her unavoidable presence in the media, the worldwide anticipation of her child, her 'unattainable' beauty and the good that she is doing in the world through her example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions surrounding her status."

Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik, asked to comment about "Blessed Art Thou" on a Post blog, was unimpressed. "Once you've deciphered it, there's not much chance of giving it a second look," Gopnik wrote.

___

On the Net:

http://www.katekretz.com

The stronger resistence looks, the more believable the charade...pretending withdrawal, while exicuting withdrawal...!
Pelosi hints at denying Bush Iraq funds

1 hour, 4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give
President Bush a blank check to wage war in
Iraq, hinting they could deny funding if he seeks additional troops.

"If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request, we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now," she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them. But if the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it and this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight, no standards, no conditions," said Pelosi, D-Calif.

Her comments on CBS' "Face the Nation" came as Bush worked to finish his new war plan that could send as many as 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and provide more money for jobs and reconstruction programs.

Bush is expected to announce his plan as early as Wednesday.

When asked about the possibility of cutting off funds, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer declined to say whether Democrats might do so, saying only that the current strategy clearly is "not working."

"I don't want to anticipate that," said Hoyer, D-Md., on "Fox News Sunday."

Some military officials, familiar with the discussions, say Bush at first could send 8,000 to 10,000 new troops to Baghdad, and possibly Anbar Province, and leave himself the option of adding more later if security does not improve.

"Based on the advice of current and former military leaders, we believe this tactic would be a serious mistake," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Saturday in the Democratic radio address.

Pelosi and Reid told Bush in a letter last week that Democrats oppose additional U.S. forces in Iraq and want him to begin withdrawing in four months to six months American troops already there.

Pointing to the November elections that ousted Republicans from control of the House and Senate, Pelosi said on CBS the public is "watching to see what difference this election can make. The president ought to heed their message. ... We should not be obliged to an open-ended war."

She said Democrats are not interesting in cutting off money for troops already in Iraq — "We won't do that" — and that her party favors increased the overall size of the Army by 30,000 and Marines by 20,000 "to make sure we are able to protect the American people."

"That's different though, than adding troops to Iraq," Pelosi said.

The speaker stopped short of stating categorically that Democrats would block money for additional troops in Iraq. But she did say, "The burden is on the president to justify any additional resources. ... The president's going to have to engage with Congress in the justification for any additional troops."

Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it would be a "tragic mistake" if Bush chooses to increase troops. But Biden, D-Del., said cutting off funds was not an option.

"As a practical matter there is no way to say this is going to be stopped," Biden said regarding a troop increase, unless enough congressional Republicans join Democrats in convincing Bush the strategy is wrong.

Biden added that it probably would be an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers if Democrats were to block Bush's efforts as commander in chief after Congress had voted to authorize going to war.

"It's unconstitutional to say, you can go, but we're going to micromanage," Biden said.

Although most of the discussion about Bush's anticipated plan has focused on troop strength, his strategy also is expected to address political and economic issues.

Military analysts say Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who recently finished his tour as the No. 2 general in Iraq, has recommended a short-term jobs program.

Bush is said to favor short-term jobs programs, making micro-loans to small business and increasing the amount of money that military commanders can spend quickly on local projects to improve the daily lives of Iraqis.

Bush is expected to continue his briefings with lawmakers this week, culminating in a meeting with bipartisan leadership on Wednesday, according to lawmakers and aides.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress has approved about $500 billion for Iraq,
Afghanistan and other terrorism-fighting efforts. The White House is working on its largest-ever appeal for more war funds — a record $100 billion, at least. It will be submitted along with Bush's Feb. 5 budget.

"This war cost a trillion dollars if it ended now," Pelosi said. "But more important than that, the lives lost, the casualties sustained, the lost reputation in the world, and the damage to our military readiness. For these and other reasons we have to say to the president, in your speech ... we want to see a plan in a new direction because the direction you've been taking us in has not been successful.

"So when the bill comes ... it will receive the harshest scrutiny. What do we really need to protect our troops? What is there for an escalation? What is the justification for that?"

___

Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

More heroic than trying to achieve the Medal Of Honor!
Teen dies trying to save cats from fire

Sun Jan 7, 6:45 AM ET

CAMBRIDGE, Ill. - A teenager is being hailed as a hero for saving his aunt from a fire at their house, but he lost his own life when he went back into the burning building to search for the family's two cats, authorities say.

Seth A. DeShane, 14, was pronounced dead late Thursday at the family home, which was destroyed in the fire.

"He really saved his aunt," said the Rev. Kris Dietzen, pastor at Cambridge Lutheran Church. "He woke his aunt up and told her the Christmas tree was on fire.

"He got her out of the house. She thought he (Seth) was behind her, but he went back inside."

Dietzen said that when Seth's aunt realized the boy had gone back inside, she tried to get back in herself, but by then the smoke was so thick and the fire so intense, she had to leave the house.

"She ran to a neighbor's farm, and they proceeded to call 911," Dietzen said.

The fire is being blamed on malfunctioning lights on the Christmas tree on the first floor, Chief Edward Bole of the Cambridge Fire Department said. The front half of the two-story home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.

No Corn Flakes and Virgin Olive Oil will be cheaper than Corn Oil....?
Rise in Ethanol Raises Concerns About Corn as a Food
Ed Zurga for The New York Times

All 110 acres of corn harvested by Mid-Missouri Energy last fall from a farm in Saline County will be used for ethanol production.

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By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: January 5, 2007

CHICAGO, Jan. 4 — Renewing concerns about whether there will be enough corn to support the demand for both fuel and food, a new study has found that ethanol plants could use as much as half of America’s corn crop next year.

Dozens of new ethanol plants are being built by farmers and investors in a furious gold rush, spurred by a call last year from the Bush administration and politicians from farm states to produce more renewable fuels to curb America’s reliance on oil. But the new study by the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental group, found that the number of ethanol plants coming on line has been underreported by more than 25 percent by both the Agriculture Department and the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry’s main lobbying group.

The Earth Policy Institute says that 79 ethanol plants are under construction, which would more than double ethanol production capacity to 11 billion gallons by 2008. Yet late last month, the Renewable Fuels Association said there were 62 plants under construction.

The lower tally has led to an underestimate of the grain that would be needed for ethanol, clouding the debate over the priorities of allocating corn for food and fuel, said Lester R. Brown, who has written more than a dozen books on environmental issues and is the president of the Earth Policy Institute. “This unprecedented diversion of corn to fuel production will affect food prices everywhere,” Mr. Brown said.

Bob Dinneen, the president of the Renewable Fuels Association, said the group had not intentionally tried to play down the number of plants under construction. “It has been a moving target,” Mr. Dinneen said in an interview on Thursday. “We are not trying to hide the ball. We are trying to keep up with a growing and dynamic industry as best we can.”

The Renewable Fuels Association has generally played down concerns in the food versus fuel debate over ethanol, saying that estimates showed there would be plenty of corn to meet the demand for both. “We can absolutely do that without having a deleterious impact on consumer food prices,” Mr. Dinneen said.

The National Corn Growers Association said Thursday that farmers were keeping up, noting that growers produced their third-largest crop in 2006 of 10.7 billion bushels. “All demands for corn — food, feed, fuel and exports — are being met,” Rick Tolman, chief executive of the corn growers, said in a statement. “Farmers have always responded to price signals from the marketplace and, historically, we have had much more challenge with overproduction than shortage.”

With spot prices of corn soaring to record highs of nearly $4 a bushel last month, farmers are expected to plant some 85 million acres of corn this year, an increase of 8 percent over 2006 and what would be the largest corn-seeding in the country since 1985, said Dan Basse, president of AgResource, an agricultural research company in Chicago.

Ethanol has raised the incomes of farmers and given new hope to flagging rural economies. But the reliance on corn to produce ethanol in the United States has drawn concerns from some economists, who question whether the drive to corn-based fuel will push up the prices of livestock and retail prices of meat, poultry and dairy products.

Mr. Brown is among those who believe the ethanol industry is growing too quickly. He called for a federal moratorium on the licensing of new distilleries. “We need a time out, a chance to catch our breath and decide how much corn can be used for ethanol without raising food prices,” he said Thursday.

Like many other experts, he advocates moving past corn-based ethanol into cellulosic ethanol, produced from plant waste and nonfood crops like switch grass.

For now, however, in the anticipation of high potential returns, ethanol plants that rely on corn are being built by everyone from farmers to Bill Gates of Microsoft to a mix of Wall Street investors. In addition to the 116 ethanol plants in production, and the 79 under construction, at least 200 more ethanol plants, with a capacity of 3 billion gallons a year, are in the planning stages.

In all, ethanol distilleries now running or in the works will pull an estimated 139 million tons of corn from the 2008 corn harvest, according to the Earth Policy Institute. That is about double the demand projected by the Agriculture Department and will require over half of the projected 2008 corn harvest of about 11 billion bushels.

Keith Collins, the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, did not respond to requests for comment. One reason for the department’s projection of just 60 million tons of corn used for ethanol is that it was released last February, before surging oil prices set off investor interest in ethanol plants. The Agriculture Department will release its new projections next month.

But the pace of plant construction may be slowing. Shortages of galvanized steel and backlogs for special tanks for the distilleries have pushed construction time back from 18 months to as much as 28 months for some plants, Mr. Basse said.

Some towns are also demanding environmental studies to better understand the impact ethanol plants can have on water supplies and quality of the groundwater, which has delayed permits for new processing plants.

Seems like a comment on color and gender....
Bush likely to name Negroponte on Friday

Thu Jan 4, 3:20 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President Bush is expected on Friday to nominate national intelligence director John Negroponte to become deputy secretary of state, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

Bush will also likely nominate retired Navy Admiral John McConnell, currently a senior vice president at the Washington contracting and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, to replace Negroponte, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said Negroponte accepted the position to serve as deputy to Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice at the personal behest of Bush and insisted that "this is by no means a demotion."

"John Negroponte's done a great job. He is also somebody who is a career diplomat who is going to be able to continue to use those skills in the No. 2 position at State," the official said.

"This is something where the president went to John and asked him to take the job because it was that important," the official said.

The official said new Defense Secretary Robert Gates was a strong supporter of naming McConnell to the intelligence position.

Note: Press gratuitously continues to describe Bush as a President knowledgeable about what he is doing...
Reports: Bush to replace top generals

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 56 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
President Bush is shaking up the team responsible for carrying out his military and diplomatic strategies in
Iraq as he prepares to outline a new direction for the war that has raged for nearly four years.

Bush will replace Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, and Gen. George Casey, the chief general in Iraq, in the coming weeks, according to media reports Thursday. A revamping of the administration's national security team was already under way.

Bush wants to replace Abizaid with Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, and Casey's replacement will be Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who headed the effort to train Iraqi security forces, the reports citing administration officials said.

Giving Fallon and Petraeus the top military posts in the Middle East would help Bush to assert that he is taking a fresh approach in the region and help pave the way for him to turn policy there in a new direction. Both Abizaid and Casey have expressed reservations about the potential effectiveness of boosting troop strength in Iraq.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (news, bio, voting record), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Defense appropriations subcommittee, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he understands Bush wants to appoint Fallon to head the U.S. Central Command, a position responsible for directing the wars in both Iraq and
Afghanistan.

"He's highly knowledgeable and well-educated and respected," Inouye said of Fallon. "I would think that his nomination, if the president is to submit it, would go flying through."

In a news conference Thursday, Bush said that he would go before the nation next week with his long-anticipated speech about the next steps in Iraq. The war was a major factor in the Republicans' loss of Congress and Bush's slide in the polls. More than 3,000 members of the U.S. military have lost their lives in the war.

"I'll be ready to outline a strategy that will help the Iraqis achieve the objective of a country that can govern, sustain and defend itself sometime next week," the president said. "I've still got consultations to go through." Some members of Congress have been invited to the White House on Friday for discussions about Iraq.

Considering more troops to deal with the rising violence in Baghdad, Bush said, "One thing is for certain: I will want to make sure the mission is clear and specific and can be accomplished." Senior generals have cautioned against sending additional troops unless their role is defined.

Abizaid and Casey have at times sounded skeptical about increasing the size of the U.S. force in Iraq.

In November, Abizaid told the
Senate Armed Services Committee that boosting the roughly 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by 20,000 would have a temporary impact, but he warned that the military's ability to maintain in increase of that size "is simply not something that we have right now."

Casey told reporters in Iraq last month that he is "not necessarily opposed to the idea" of sending in more troops, but said any increase would have to "help us progress to our strategic objectives."

Along with changes in policy in Iraq, Bush is rearranging his national security team. Retired Vice Adm. Mike McConnell, a veteran of more than 25 years in the intelligence field, will be named Friday to succeed John Negroponte as national intelligence director, officials said.

In addition, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, will be nominated to become the U.S. envoy to the
United Nations, according to a senior Bush administration official. He is likely to be replaced in Baghdad by Ryan Crocker, a veteran American diplomat now U.S. envoy to Pakistan.

Bush's new plan for Iraq is expected to contain economic, political and diplomatic components.

Given the need to reduce high unemployment and draw Iraqis away from Shiite militias and the Sunni insurgency, the president is considering loans to businesses. He is looking at getting Iraqis into short-term jobs by proposing a significant increase in the discretionary funds that military commanders can use for reconstruction projects.

Questions about what the president's plan will mean for the U.S. military presence in Iraq have gotten the most attention.

One option presented to Bush calls for an initial infusion of 8,000 to 9,000 troops, mainly to reinforce Baghdad. The option involves sending two additional Army brigades, or roughly 7,000 soldiers, to Baghdad, and two Marine battalions, totaling about 1,500 troops, to western Anbar Province, the center of the Sunni Arab insurgency.

Sen. Ben Nelson (news, bio, voting record), a member of the Armed Services Committee, was one of those asked to Friday's meeting at the White House. Nelson, D-Neb., said he planned to urge the president to resist sending more troops without setting firm conditions.

Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke on a secure video hookup for nearly two hours Thursday. He appeared later in the day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and recounted some of his discussions with al-Maliki.

The president said he talked with the prime minister about the final moments of Saddam's life, when he was taunted before being hanged. An unauthorized video showed images of Saddam's dangling body. The White House has been reluctant to criticize the proceedings, which have been condemned by some world leaders as deplorable.

"My personal reaction is that
Saddam Hussein was given a trial that he was unwilling to give the thousands of people he killed," Bush said. "I wish, obviously, that the proceedings had gone on in a more dignified way."

___

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

Victim of Jerry-rigged traffic control system, an X-file, or Al Qaeda stealing an airplane????
Disappearance of Indonesian jet baffling

By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 4, 8:26 PM ET

MAKASSAR, Indonesia - An hour after Adam Air Flight KI-574 took off on New Year's Day with 102 passengers and crew for what should have been a short hop between islands, the pilot reported heavy winds. Then, the plane disappeared, seemingly into thin air.

Thousands of soldiers battled rugged jungle terrain, a fleet of aircraft took to the skies, and ships scoured the sea for a third day Thursday in a search of an area roughly the size of California.

By nightfall, there was still no trace of the missing Boeing 737, its six crew members and 96 passengers — including an Oregon man and his two daughters.

"It is kind of strange," said Febrizal Lubis, a pilot for another Indonesian airline. "The plane was going along at 35,000 feet, and then with no mayday or distress signal, it disappeared like that."

The mother of the two missing girls, both students at the University of Oregon, said she is holding out hope.

"There are times that I'm extraordinarily competent in all this and times when I break down," Felice Jackson DuBois told The Oregonian newspaper. "It's one confident foot forward and then one emotional foot forward. We're doing as best we can."

Stephanie Jackson, 21, and Lindsey Jackson, 18, both from Bend, Ore., were visiting their father, Scott Jackson, 54, Felice's former husband and a wood-products industry representative who lives part time in Indonesia. They were reported to be the only Americans aboard.

A top aviation official said the plane, which left Indonesia's main island of Java on Monday for Manado on Sulawesi Island, did not issue distress signals or complain of mechanical problems, contradicting earlier reports.

On Tuesday, authorities wrongly said they found the jet's charred wreckage, and an Adam Air spokesman said there were 12 survivors, causing anguish among families of the plane's passengers, who included 11 children.

Hundreds of relatives have camped out at airports and hotels in Manado, which was supposed to be Flight KI-574's final destination, and Makassar, initially believed to be closer to the crash site.

Many wondered how a Boeing 737 could vanish.

"It's impossible," said Junus Tombokan, 53, who was awaiting news about his nephew. "How could a plane disappear for several days without any clues whatsoever?"

Iksan Tatang, Indonesia's director general of air transportation, said that while the jetliner experienced severe weather halfway through its two-hour flight, there were no complaints from the pilot about navigation or mechanical difficulties.

But he told reporters Thursday that at least two signals from Flight KI-574's emergency beacon — activated on impact or when a plane experiences a sharp, sudden descent — were picked up by another aircraft in the vicinity and by a satellite.

Eddy Suyanto, the head of the search and rescue mission, later put the number of emergency signals at six — saying the last one came over waters just south of Manado.

Because there was no mayday, industry experts and pilots said it is possible the plane experienced a sudden, catastrophic mechanical failure, serious navigational problems, or even an explosion.

But Indonesia's transport minister cautioned against playing guessing games.

"I urge people not to speculate," Hatta Radjasa said. "We must wait until the National Commission for Transportation Safety has located the ill-fated plane."

Adam Air is one of at least a dozen budget carriers that sprang up in Indonesia after 1998, when the industry was deregulated.

The rapid expansion has led to cheap flights to scores of destinations across Indonesia, but has also raised concerns because of reports of poor maintenance of the leased planes.

Professional pilots discussing the plane's disappearance in online chat rooms have alleged that cronyism and political favoritism in Indonesia's aviation industry has undermined public safety.

Air navigation can be difficult in Indonesia, which has been called the world's largest archipelago, because there are gaps in the communications systems. Last year, an Adam Air Boeing 737 flew off course on a stretch of the same route and was lost for several hours before it made an emergency landing at the small Tambalaka airstrip, hundreds of miles from where the plane was supposed to be.

Experts say that until the flight recorder is found or radio transmissions are released, the fate of Flight KI-574 will remain a mystery.

"We know nothing — whether it disintegrated in midair, flew into a storm or there were technical problems," said Nicholas Ionides, managing editor for Flight International Magazine in Asia. "We just don't know."

___

Associated Press Writer Anthony Deutsch and Christopher Brummitt contributed to this report from Jakarta.