This horror in France is Bush's fault! Bush so lowered the West's natural security as to frighten nearly everyone!
French PM sworn in, hits ground running

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Thu May 17, 3:34 PM ET

PARIS - France's new prime minister hit the ground running — literally.

After a brief inauguration where he promised to "assure an eminent place" in the world for France, reform-minded conservative Francois Fillon turned up in shorts at the presidential palace for a jog with his new boss, President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The hour-long run showcased the vigor France's new leadership wants to project after 12 years under Jacques Chirac.

Fillon was putting together a revamped Cabinet to make good on promises of change and restored pride for the economically sluggish nation.

The new Cabinet, to be announced Friday, will be likely be slimmed down to about eight men and seven women, including at least one minister from the opposition left. Many of those thought likely to head ministries met with Fillon at his office Thursday.

Among them was popular leftist Bernard Kouchner, a co-founder of the Nobel Prize-winning
Doctors Without Borders medical charity. Kouchner, who could become foreign minister, was the first U.N. administrator for
Kosovo in 1999-2000.

On the campaign trail, Sarkozy promised a break from the Chirac era of sluggish growth, failed reforms, mounting debt, persistent unemployment and 2005 riots in poor neighborhoods where many immigrants from Africa and their French-born children live.

Several Chirac-era veterans, however, met with the new premier Thursday, including Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, Labor Minister Jean-Louis Borloo and former Health Minister Xavier Bertrand.

Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe appeared poised for a remarkable political comeback, with speculation that he would be chosen to head the Ministry for Sustainable Development — newly created to help fight global warming and other environmental threats.

Juppe, who for years was thought to be Chirac's preferred successor, was convicted in a party financing scandal in 2005 and was barred from holding office for a year. Sarkozy has said battling global warming will be one of his priorities.

Fillon, 53, is known as an efficient four-time minister skilled at negotiating difficult reforms. He comes across as a cool-headed man of the shadows compared to Sarkozy, a media-savvy operator who once said his biggest defect was that he was "in a hurry." Sarkozy is likely to be far more involved in the daily operation of government than Chirac.

At a brief ceremony in which he took over from outgoing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Fillon echoed Sarkozy, promising to defend the heritage and identity of France and keep the nation together while pushing through change.

"In a world of 6 billion people, the 60 million French people must remain united," he said. "I will respect all of the commitments we made."

Events moved quickly after Sarkozy took office Wednesday and flew to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Friday, he will visit struggling European aircraft maker Airbus, which plans to shed some 10,000 jobs, a hot issue in the presidential campaign.

Sarkozy has many detractors on France's left. Angry youths clashed with police shortly after his victory; there have already been a few peaceful street protests against him; unions say they'll call strikes if they feel he is watering down France's labor protections.

Sarkozy, elected May 6, has sought to ease concerns, meeting union leaders and saying that he wants to include people from outside his political camp in his government. For Socialists, Kouchner's expected appointment as foreign minister would be a blow.

Fillon has led several reforms, including tough changes to retirement benefits in 2003 as social affairs minister, and ending the monopoly of France Telecom. As education minister from 2004-05, Fillon led a reform of the baccalaureate college examinations system that drew huge protests.

Sarkozy plans to put big reforms before parliament at a special session in July, including making overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more. He also wants to make it easier for companies to hire and fire workers, make it tougher for immigrants to bring their families to France and curb the ability of unions to cripple the country with strikes.

The future of such reforms hinges largely on whether Sarkozy's conservative Union for a Popular Movement party retains its parliamentary majority in legislative elections next month.

___

Associated Press Writer Emmanuel Georges-Picot contributed to this report.

...about so-called "conservatives;" resistence fighters who don't think they are fascists...
Methodist leader equates U.S. flag to swastika
Suggests symbol inappropriate in denomination's churches
Posted: May 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


? 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A leader in the United Methodist Church has equated the U.S. flag to the Nazi swastika, drawing the criticism of a watchdog organization that says it is an example of the church's "contemptuous" attitude towards the nation and its heritage.

The comments came from Rev. Clayton Childers, of the Washington-based United Methodist Board of Church and Society, who said, "The presence of a national flag in worship can imply endorsement of national policies which often run counter to the teachings of Jesus Christ and our Christian faith. … One need only recall the way the swastika flag was displayed prominently in German churches during the Nazi era."


Mark Tooley

He was discussing on the organization's website the propriety of having Old Glory in Christian churches, but his condemnation drew the ire of Mark Tooley, the executive director of UMAction, which monitors the eight-million member church and its activities.

"The United Methodist Church, under its liberal leadership, is losing over 50,000 members a year, and this church lobby official is oddly worried about getting American flags out of our churches," Tooley said.

"Unlike the blood-soaked swastika flags that the Nazis forced upon German churches, American churches voluntarily display their country's flag as a reminder of the country in which God has providentially placed them," Tooley said. "Typically, American flags stand against the side walls of American churches, quietly and [un]obtrusively. They are hardly the idolatrous object of imperialistic worship against which the United Methodist lobby official warned."

(Story continues below)

"Religious Left figures, like the United Methodist official, are hardly concerned about idolatry when their politically correct, rainbow paraphernalia and peace banners are woven into church worship services," he added. "They oppose the United States flag because they are contemptuous of our country, its history, its institutions, its culture, and its leadership role in the world," Tooley said.

Childers wrote that he, in fact, is "fond" of the flag.

"On the other hand, I do not believe in blind loyalty. I cannot affirm the idea of 'my country, right or wrong.' There are times when the United States has been very wrong in its actions, even outrageously wrong, and until we are able to own the hard truth of our failures, dare we say 'sins,' we will never be able to experience the full and abundant life God would have for us as a people and as one member in the world community of nations," he wrote.

He noted according to the denomination's director of worship resources, Rev. Dan Benedict, there is no church-wide policy on the use of the flag, but "the use of flags in worship has been discouraged over the years."

Childers said he believes it is inappropriate to continue displaying a U.S. flag in denominational churches, a tradition begun to encourage the preservation of the Union during the Civil War, because the "Church's confession 'Jesus is Lord' was actually a political statement and a direct challenge to both the Empire and Emperor."

He also noted 20 percent of Methodists live outside the U.S., and Old Glory sends "a message which limits our global vision and sense of oneness with the global community."

He cited another church leader, Hoyt Hickman, who concluded, "An American flag used in the worship of the universal church is no more appropriate than hanging a cross in a civil courtroom used by Americans of all religions."

"Most United Methodists, and most religious people in America, display the flag as a symbol of God's blessings upon our nation," said Tooley. "Following the commandments of Christ, all Christians are called upon to love their nation, wherever they live, and to render unto Caesar his due, even as they render their worship only to God."

"For the Religious Left, forever frustrated that more Americans do not share its views, the American flag is an angry 'sentry' that pollutes the church, glorifying imperial crimes, and blocking the stateless utopia about which the Religious Left dreams. But most religious Americans simply see the American flag on the side wall of their sanctuaries as a quiet reminder of their own history, civil duties, and cultural blessings, for which they give thanks to God," Tooley concluded.

On a blog run by Childers, a clergy member of the South Carolina Conference and director of annual conference relations for the General Board of Church and Society, church members didn't have too many objections.

"Appropriate to worship, NO. Appropriate in the sanctuary and present for worship, ABSOLUTELY," said Steve Nelson. "We periodically do a pledge of allegiance to the flag during our service, as requested by various members in the congregation."

Warren's Commision either naive or corrupt! "I hear four shots that are not echoes," - Experienced Combat Veteran
Researchers challenge Kennedy lone gunman theory

By David Morgan Thu May 17, 3:33 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bullet analysis used to justify the lone assassin theory behind President John F. Kennedy's assassination is based on flawed evidence, according to a team of researchers including a former top
FBI scientist.

Writing in the Annals of Applied Statistics, the researchers urged a reexamination of bullet fragments from the 1963 shooting in Dallas to confirm the number of bullets that struck Kennedy.

Official investigations during the 1960s concluded that Kennedy was hit by two bullets fired by Lee Harvey Oswald.

But the researchers, including former FBI lab metallurgist William Tobin, said new chemical and statistical analyses of bullets from the same batch used by Oswald suggest that more than two bullets could have struck the president.

"Evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed," the researchers said in their article.

"If the assassination (bullet) fragments are derived from three or more separate bullets, then a second assassin is likely."

The Kennedy assassination set off a whirlwind of theories about who killed the 46-year-old president.

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, concluded in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, fired three shots, one of which missed the president's car. There have been many challenges to its conclusions over the years.

The House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Oswald was probably part of a conspiracy that could have included a second gunman who fired but missed Kennedy.

The panel's supporting evidence was a bullet analysis that said fragments collected from the site were too similar to be from more than two slugs.

But the latest report found that many bullets from the same batch used by Oswald had a similar composition.

"Further, we found that one of the thirty bullets analyzed in our study also compositionally matched one of the fragments from the assassination," the article said.

"This finding means that the bullet fragments from the assassination that match could have come from three or more separate bullets."

Bloomberg said, "I think it's sick, is the nicest way to phrase it."
'Bloomberg Gun Giveaway' draws hundreds

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 13 minutes ago

ANNANDALE, Va. - Openly armed firearms enthusiasts packed a normally sedate government building Thursday night, hoping to win a pistol or rifle and at the same time send a defiant message to gun-control advocates, especially New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, organized the "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" in large part to thumb its nose at Bloomberg, who accuses some shops of allowing illegal purchases of firearms that later were used in crimes in his city.

The city has filed federal lawsuits against more than two dozen shops, including six in Virginia.

Two guns were awarded Thursday, a Para-Ordnance pistol and a Varmint Stalker rifle, each worth about $900. The winners did not immediately receive the weapons — they will still be required to undergo federal and state background checks.

The first winner, Jay Minsky, responded with an obscene hand gesture when asked what message he hoped to send to Bloomberg.

"If he doesn't like people in New York having guns, he should deal with New York," said Minsky, who grew up in Brooklyn. "Just keep out of Virginia."

The event drew an overflow crowd at a Fairfax County government building, with the fire marshal aggressively enforcing an occupancy limit of 150 for the meeting hall. Others stood outside and peered through open windows. About 200 people showed.

County officials opposed the drawing but concluded they could not prohibit a group from using the community meeting room because of its political views. The gun-rights group has met in the building for years.

The event drew protests from gun-control advocates and the parents of those killed in last month's shootings at Virginia Tech.

Peter and Cathy Read, whose daughter Mary was one of those killed, held a photo of their daughter outside the building.

"We're not here to have a debate. We're here to witness for our daughter," Peter Read said. "The victims need to be witnessed to. People of the commonwealth can make intelligent decisions about what's right."

Philip Van Cleave, the league's president, said he sympathizes with the families but maintained that some of the deaths might have been prevented if somebody had been armed.

Many in attendance said they were motivated not by the chance of a free gun, but to make a point to Bloomberg and express support for the Second Amendment.

"It'd be nice if I win, but that's not what this is about. It's about my constitutional right to defend myself," said Ron Stuebing, a league member.

The event had been planned for months as a fundraiser for two gun shops being sued by New York City. But officials said that giveaway violated state gambling laws, so the league quickly organized a new giveaway, open to anybody who showed up at its Thursday night meeting.

Most but not all in attendance carried holstered handguns. In Virginia, individuals need a permit only to carry a concealed weapon. Openly visible, holstered guns are permitted without a permit.

Anybody who showed up at Thursday's event was eligible for the drawing — except Bloomberg and his immediate family.

Asked Thursday about the giveaway, Bloomberg said, "I think it's sick, is the nicest way to phrase it."

Van Cleave responded that the members of his organization are law-abiding citizens, including many retired military, police officers and firefighters.

"If you're saying these are sick people, then I'm proud to be sick," Van Cleave said.

___

Associated Press writer Sara Kugler in New York contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

http://www.vcdl.org

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov

The brightest/best idea since Franklin flew his key in the rain...(?!)
First trains cross Korean Cold War border since 1951

By Jessica Kim 49 minutes ago

MUNSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Two trains from North and
South Korea crossed the heavily armed border on Thursday, restoring for the first time an artery severed in the 1950-1953 fratricidal war and fanning dreams of unification.

It took the two Koreas 56 years to send the trains -- one starting in the South and one in the North -- across the Cold War's last frontier for the runs of about 25 km (15 miles).

The trains carried 100 South Koreans and 50 North Koreans -- including celebrities, politicians and a South Korean conductor from one of the last trains to cross before the rail link was cut in 1951.

"Today the heart of the Korean peninsula will start beating again," South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said before the crossing. "The trains represent the dreams, the hopes and the future of the two Koreas."

The train from the South was seen off to fireworks, traditional drumming and hundreds of people waving flags showing a unified Korean peninsula in blue on a white background.

"I wish I could operate this train myself," said Han Chun-ki, 80, the conductor who made one of the last cross-border runs more than a half century ago. "I never thought this day would come."

North Korea's military, fearful of increased openings between the isolated country and the outside world, cancelled a planned run a year ago. It agreed last week to a one-off run, despite pressure from Seoul for more crossings.

The South Korean government has been criticized at home for sending massive aid to the North only to see Pyongyang respond to its largesse by halting cooperation projects and sparking a security crisis with a nuclear test last year.

South Korea, mindful of the hundreds of billions of dollars it would cost to unify with its impoverished neighbor, has sought a series of projects to gradually bring the two together.

The two Koreas, still technically still at war because their conflict ended only in a truce, have lived with a razor wire and land-mine strewn border dividing the peninsula for decades and while over a million troops are stationed near the countries' demilitarized buffer zone.

To entice the North to allow the crossing, South Korea has offered some $80 million in aid for its light industries.

Eventually, South Korea, which only shares a border with the North, said it wants to send passengers and cargo via its neighbor into China and Russia and link with the Trans-Siberian railway. Export-dependent South Korea could see huge savings in moving cargo if North Korea allows the rail link.

All these folks are getting old. Who's coming next now that George (etc.) has destroyed New Orleans?
Bo Diddley hospitalized after stroke

2 hours, 24 minutes ago

DES MOINES, Iowa - Bo Diddley is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in western Iowa, a publicist said Wednesday.

The 78-year-old singer-songwriter-guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was listed in guarded condition at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., said Susan Clary, a publicist for the musician's management team.

Diddley, who has a history of hypertension and diabetes, was hospitalized Sunday following a concert in Council Bluffs in which he acted disoriented, she said.

Tests indicated that the stroke affected the left side of his brain, impairing his speech and speech recognition, Clary said.

Clary said she has no other details on Diddley's condition or how long he would be in intensive care.

Diddley, with his black glasses and low-slung guitar, has been an icon in the music industry since he topped the R&B charts with "Bo Diddley" in 1955. His other hits include "Who Do You Love," "Before You Accuse Me," "Mona" and "I'm a Man."

Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1998.

A never ending pleasure...or not, but what as ride...
"Simpsons" voices may have best jobs in world

By Ray Richmond Tue May 15, 9:08 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - For the six primary voices who bring the characters on Fox's "The Simpsons" to life each week, the show is a gift that keeps on giving.

As the series wraps its 18th season this month and Fox's long-anticipated feature film arrives in theaters in July,
Hank Azaria,
Nancy Cartwright,
Dan Castellaneta,
Julie Kavner,
Harry Shearer and
Yeardley Smith have now held the same job for 20 years (the first "Simpsons" short aired on Fox's "The
Tracey Ullman Show" on April 19, 1987).

That sort of run for an intact primetime series cast is utterly without precedent. And while each will say that their jobs are duck soup compared to the perpetually workaholic writing staff, they have surely set a collective standard for excellence and consistency in their character-voice craft that isn't likely to be equaled.

"It really is the best job in the world," confirms Smith, the voice of Lisa. "To be around this long has been truly mind-blowing. And the reason it's been so wonderful is that it's afforded all of us freedom of choice in terms of other work. It's like I fell into the honey pot."

Smith gets no argument from Kavner, the voice of Marge. "This job is a gift from God," she says. "I just got so lucky -- not only to have such a long-running job but to also work with this quality group of people. I'm also so proud to be a part of this show, which besides being so funny has dealt honestly with real family issues in a genuine way."

Of course, part of the fun for the cast has been the rich "Simpsons" legacy of inviting guest celebrities on the show. The cast has worked with hundreds of them, including
Drew Barrymore, Johnny Carson,
Mel Gibson,
Susan Sarandon,
Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards, and
John Waters.

And to be sure, "Simpsons" has remained, throughout, one very cushy gig for the performing staff. They work the equivalent of one day a week for 22 weeks each year, earning a very healthy six-figure weekly salary. They don't have to go through makeup or wardrobe and don't even necessarily need to be present at the recording session, as they're permitted to deliver their lines while on location for other projects.

"That's why it's such a blessing and there's no reason to leave," notes Azaria, the voice of bartender Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum and numerous others. "I've recorded my stuff from New York, from Canada, from all over, depending on the job. So, it's a total piece of cake for us. We get the credit while the writers and animators get pushed to the limit. But they know how much we all owe them and how appreciated they are."

Things were not always so rosy. In 1998, when they were each earning about $25,000 per episode, the voice cast threatened to walk off the job unless they got big raises.

Shearer, who voices Mr. Burns, Smithers and numerous other characters, always chuckles when he's asked, "So, could you have anticipated this kind of run for the show?"

"It's such a lunatic question," he replies. "When we started out, the Fox network was still on UHF channels around the country. We were Channel 56 or 47. This show has been a succession of major flukes coming to confluence."

One of those flukes is being the star of a TV series for nearly two decades and being able to travel the country without being recognized, which Cartwright (the voice of Bart) sees as yet another job perk. "It's just ideal in that way," she says. "We have all of the advantages of artistic success -- job freedom, a great work environment -- with none of the downside."

While the show's vocal talents long ago came to terms with the fact that "Simpsons" is destined to define their legacies and will certainly be in the first sentence of their obituaries, that's just fine with Castellaneta (who voices Homer and Grandpa, among others).

"I'm sure the headline over my obit will probably be something like, 'Homer Simpson Is Dead -- D'oh!"' Castellaneta says. "But you know, how lucky for me that I'll be known for something that's so loved around the world. And I'll tell you what: It's still a huge amount of fun to do.

I hope we go 25 years because I'll never get sick of this."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

One less tick on the hide of the Republic...! Teletubbies leap and cheer, leap and cheer, leap and cheer...!
Famed Televangelist Dies at Age 73
By SUE LINDSEY
AP
LYNCHBURG, Va. (May 15) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

A Life of Politics and Religion
Talk About It: Post Thoughts

Live Coverage: From ABC News
Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said.

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges."

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"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.

The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.

He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.

Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

In 2006, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: "Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?"

Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer.

Falwell became the face of the religious right, appearing on national magazine covers and on television talk shows. In 1983, U.S. News & World Report named him one of 25 most influential people in America.

In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.

The case was depicted in the 1996 movie "The People v. Larry Flynt."

With Falwell's high profile came frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. The Rev. Billy Graham once rebuked him for political sermonizing on "non-moral issues."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Jump to Page Two
2007-05-15 12:43:57

Hey, you white trash skin-flints out there, maybe NOT impeaching the Bush gang is Treason...!
U.S. National Guard chief says funds lagging risks
Sun May 13, 2007 12:27PM EDT

By Kristin Roberts

MUSCATATUCK, Indiana (Reuters) - The National Guard is likely to see an unprecedented level of new funds to fix or replace equipment worn out in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that's still not enough to make the force ready for homeland missions, its chief said.

"The president's budget is unprecedented in the history of the Guard in providing money to the Army National Guard to reequip," said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

But still, it leaves equipment gaps, especially in the area of Humvees, trucks and other transport gear, that do not match the level of risk Blum said he sees.

"There's a serious commitment to do this, but that still only takes us to a level I'd rather not talk about."

Walking through a fake nuclear attack scene during a training exercise in Muscatatuck, Indiana, Blum said the National Guard needs about $14 billion above the $21.9 billion the Bush Administration has already requested for that reserve force over the next five years.

"It depends on how much risk this nation wants to assume," he told reporters on Saturday in the midst of the May 7-18 exercise.

"It's roughly in the vicinity of $14 billion that would buy down the risk to what I think would be an acceptable level, above and beyond" what is already in the fiscal 2008 budget request, he said.

Clearly, as chief of the National Guard, it is part of Blum's job to lobby for more money. And in fact, many military and defense officials credit Blum's force of personality for the gains the Guard has made in funding. Continued...

1 | 2 | 3 Next >

? Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

Cerberus, hmmmm, isn't that the Hound that guards the gates to the underworld and death?
Cerberus close to sealing Chrysler deal: source

By Michael Flaherty and Megan Davies 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cerberus Capital Management appears close to striking a deal to buy Chrysler Group, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday, in an agreement that would place the No. 3. U.S. automaker in the hands of a private equity owner.

An announcement of the pact could come as early as Monday, the source said, with several major newspapers also reporting that Cerberus was poised to win a majority stake in Chrysler.

Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG put its struggling U.S. auto unit up for sale earlier this year under the weight of rising costs plaguing the entire U.S. industry.

Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda would continue to run the company while former Chrysler chief operating officer and Cerberus adviser Wolfgang Bernhard would not have an executive role but could have a board seat, two newspapers reported on Sunday. Daimler would likely keep a minority stake in the company.

Cerberus and Chrysler declined to comment on the auction.

Details on the price or other terms of the offer were not clear on Sunday. A previous offer by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian of $4.5 billion in cash for Chrysler was rejected. The purchase price is expected to be well below the $36 billion the former Daimler-Benz AG paid for Chrysler Corp. in 1998.

Key to the offer is the company's $18 billion in pension and health-care liabilities owed to Chrysler's
United Auto Workers employees.

As in any auction, a deal could fall apart or a different outcome could occur.

The bidders that publicly said they were vying for Chrysler are Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. and Canadian autoparts maker Magna International. Private equity firm Blackstone Group also pursued Chrysler, and was said to be linked up with smaller buyout firm Centerbridge Partners.

Tracinda was frozen out of the bidding. The fate of the other offers remained unclear on Sunday.

New York-based Cerberus is a private investment fund that has built a huge private equity and hedge fund practice.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Key to its pursuit of Chrysler is the firm's experience with the auto industry and its stake in GM's financing arm. General Motors Corp. agreed in April 2006 to sell a 51 percent stake in its financing arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp., to a consortium led by Cerberus in a deal worth about $14 billion.

Among the prized assets within Chrysler is its own auto financing arm.

Private equity firms buy controlling stakes in companies, restructure the businesses, and typically sell them two to four years later. They borrow around two-thirds of the money to make their purchases.

Frothy debt markets and a steady economy have allowed these so-called buyout firms to go on an unprecedented buying spree.

Cerberus was among the firms that co-led the proposed $3.4 billion investment to support Delphi Corp. in the auto-parts maker's emergence from bankruptcy.

But Delphi said last month that it expected Cerberus to pull out of the plan. An exit from Delphi by Cerberus would underscore the difficulty in negotiating new labor contracts between the bankrupt supplier and the United Auto Workers union.

The tension between Cerberus and the UAW would spill over into a deal with Chrysler, where the UAW membership is strong. The union has said that it wants a corporate or "strategic" buyer for the company and not a private equity firm.

The cost cuts that private equity firms often impose has spurred unions in the United States and abroad to oppose the leveraged buyout industry.



Note:

Cerberus

The most dangerous labor of all was the twelfth and final one. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go to the Underworld and kidnap the beast called Cerberus (or Kerberos). Eurystheus must have been sure Hercules would never succeed at this impossible task!

The ancient Greeks believed that after a person died, his or her spirit went to the world below and dwelled for eternity in the depths of the earth. The Underworld was the kingdom of Hades, also called Pluto, and his wife, Persephone. Depending on how a person lived his or her life, they might or might not experience never-ending punishment in Hades. All souls, whether good or bad, were destined for the kingdom of Hades.


Toledo 1969.371
Main panel:Hercules and Cerberus, upper half
Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art

Cerberus was a vicious beast that guarded the entrance to Hades and kept the living from entering the world of the dead. According to Apollodorus, Cerberus was a strange mixture of creatures: he had three heads of wild dogs, a dragon or serpent for a tail, and heads of snakes all over his back. Hesiod, though, says that Cerberus had fifty heads and devoured raw flesh.

. . . A monster not to be overcome and that may not be described, Cerberus who eats raw flesh, the brazen-voiced hound of Hades, fifty-headed, relentless and strong.
Hesiod, Theogony 310

Cerberus' parents were the monster Echinda (half-woman, half-serpent) and Typhon (a fire-breathing giant covered with dragons and serpents). Even the gods of Olympus were afraid of Typhon.

etc. From:

(http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/cerberus.html)

Far worse than Imus, a clueless Pig like Bernard WOULD say Imus made Only ONE SMALL MISTAKE and Blame Sharpton!
Imus producer: Sharpton a 'race-baiter'

Sat May 12, 5:17 AM ET

NEW YORK - Don Imus' former producer on Friday called Rev.
Al Sharpton a "race-baiter" who was looking for attention when he led a campaign to fire the radio host, while Sharpton said Imus and his producer got what they deserved for making a racist, sexist remark on the air.

Bernard McGuirk and Sharpton appeared together for a combative debate on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" show. The producer was fired last month for his part in an exchange on the "Imus in the Morning" program in which the members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team were called "nappy-headed hos."

MSNBC took Imus' show off the air on April 11 and CBS fired him from his syndicated radio program a day later for the slur. McGuirk, a 20-year producer and on-air jester for the show that originated on WFAN-AM in New York, called the team "hardcore hos" in the April 4 exchange with Imus. Sharpton held protests and lobbied both networks to fire Imus.

McGuirk called Sharpton a "crude ... opportunist, a race-baiter" who campaigned against Imus to help his own career and raise his profile.

While McGuirk acknowledged that "these words did hurt these girls," he added, "until you, Reverend Al, got involved, they probably never would have heard of it. They would have probably never, quote unquote, got scarred for life until you got involved for your own self-serving interests."

Sharpton said he wasn't looking for more attention — "if you have any recollection at all, I had been in the papers all year," he said. He said Imus and McGuirk may have apologized for the remark, but "forgiveness is not the point. The question is the penalty."

"Consumers have the right to say to advertisers, are your standards going to be where people are attacked based on your gender and race?" Sharpton said.

McGuirk countered that Sharpton "terrorized these spineless, thumbsucking executives" into taking Imus off the air. In an earlier appearance on "Hannity & Colmes," he said the executives "were in a fetal position under their desks sucking their thumbs on their BlackBerrys, trying to coordinate their response."

Sharpton responded: "What he is saying is we want to apologize and we want to decide what the penalty is." He said that most people wanted Imus fired, including a minister who arranged Imus' meeting with the Rutgers team, and many NBC employees.

"Is Al Roker one of these guys hiding under the desk with a BlackBerry?" Sharpton asked.

McGuirk said that Imus "made one small mistake. He ran a red light" and shouldn't have been fired.

He asked Sharpton. "Who elected you the PC police chief? Who elected you to anything?"

Imus has not spoken publicly since his dismissal, but his lawyer has said he intends to sue CBS for $120 million, and said that the network encouraged irreverent, off-color comments on the program.

What's the difference between fundamentalist thought in one religion from another? None!
Thousands rally in Rome against unmarried couples law

By Deepa Babington Sat May 12, 2:26 PM ET

ROME (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Italians rallied at a Rome church square on Saturday to protest against a proposed law that would give greater rights to unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians.

The draft legislation, which requires parliamentary approval, has divided Italy's ruling coalition, angered the powerful Roman Catholic church and stirred passionate debate.

Waving banners and dancing to tambourines and trumpets, more than 500,000 people poured into the square outside Rome's St. John in Lateran cathedral to support traditional family values based on marriage between a man and a woman.

A large cardboard wedding cake with a bride and groom on top stood next to the stage, while nuns, parents and children chanted "Long live the family."

A host of conservative politicians including former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and some members of current premier Romano Prodi's government showed up, after days of speculation and debate over who would and should attend.

"The family is in danger because the more freedom and options you allow in creating other unions outside the natural family made of a husband and a wife with children, the more society itself dissolves," said one participant, William Bergamini.

The rally's organizers -- a consortium of largely Catholic groups -- handed out millions of flyers and plastered lampposts and walls with posters in a publicity blitz before the event that ensured a strong turnout.

Not far away at Piazza Navona, hundreds gathered at a counter-demonstration to support rights for gay couples, egged on by bemused tourists.

Supporters sang along to popular music, waved Communist flags and held banners like "Family Day - No thanks, Family Gay" and "Benedict XVI ... Century," referring to
Pope Benedict, who has exhorted Catholic lawmakers to oppose gay marriage.

'GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES'

The large turnout at "Family Day" is expected to embarrass Prime Minister Romano Prodi, whose government sponsored the bill to give more rights to unmarried couples in practical matters like welfare and inheritance.

The bill was immediately attacked by the Church, which sees it as an assault on family values by the Left and a 'Trojan Horse' that could ultimately usher in civil marriage ceremonies for gays and lesbians.

Members of Prodi's own government like Justice Minister Clemente Mastella also came out swinging against the bill, and the "Family Day" rally has became the latest issue to expose divisions within the Catholics-to-Communists coalition.

Mastella and Education Minister Giuseppe Fiorini ignored a fellow minister's plea to avoid the rally as a matter of correctness, while European Affairs Minister Emma Bonino turned up at the "Secular Courage" counter-rally.

Prodi, a practicing Catholic, was in Stuttgart on Saturday and urged Italians to avoid fighting like the "Guelphs and Ghibellines" -- rival Italian factions that fought in the 12th and 13th centuries.

"We must not manipulate religion," Prodi told Italian radio. "In all modern countries, secularists and Catholics live together."

(Additional reporting by Antonio Denti in Rome and Antonella Ciancio in Milan)

What goes up, must come down...Proud Mary...?
Ashes of Star Trek's Scotty beam down, go missing

Thu May 10, 4:48 PM ET

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Beaming him up was the easy part: the problem was transporting him back to Earth.

A search team continues to look for a rocket carrying ashes of the actor
James Doohan, who played Scotty on "Star Trek," almost two weeks after it hurtled to the edge of space from New Mexico, the company behind the launch said on Thursday.

Remains of the Canadian-born actor, who died two years ago at the age of 85, blasted off from a remote launch site on April 29 carrying a payload that included the ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper and several experiments.

A spokeswoman for Houston-based Space Services Inc., which organized the "memorial spaceflight," said the telephone-pole sized rocket descended by parachute into a rugged area that a search team has repeatedly failed to reach.

"The terrain is very mountainous; it's not somewhere that you can walk or drive to. My understanding is that it will take some time to get up into there," Susan Schonfeld told Reuters by telephone.

"They know the general location, and we have the utmost confidence that they will recover it."

Schonfeld said the search had been hampered by "horrendous" weather in the desert state, but expected the Up Aerospace Spaceloft XL craft to be recovered in coming days.

Doohan played the starship Enterprise's chief engineer Montgomery Scott in the original 1966-1969 Star Trek television series.

He inspired the legendary catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- even though it was never actually uttered on the show.

Hundreds of spectators clapped and cheered as his ashes roared aloft along with those of some 200 other people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went into space in 1963. Cooper died in 2004 at age 77.

Space Services Inc. charges $495 to send a portion of a person's ashes into suborbital space.

In 1997, the company blasted the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry into space.

Using your show to kill someone must at least cost you the show!
Nancy Grace wraps Court TV "Arguments"

By Paul J. Gough Wed May 9, 3:15 AM ET

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Nancy Grace will leave her daily Court TV show, "Closing Arguments" and the network that launched her TV career.

Grace, a former Georgia prosecutor who was hired by Court TV co-founder Steven Brill to co-host a show with Johnnie Cochran, worked for a decade at the channel. Sources said Grace had asked to be let out of her contract with Court TV to focus on her primetime legal show "Nancy Grace" on Headline News and charitable work.

"After 10 wonderful years at Court TV, I have decided to leave the network to focus on my Headline News program and my charitable endeavors," Grace said in a statement released by Turner Broadcasting System, which owns both Court TV and Headline News. "Court TV will always hold a special place in my heart."

Court TV said in a statement that she had asked to be let out of her contract, and that the channel agreed.

She's the second high-profile Court TV talent to leave the network in recent weeks. Catherine Crier's contract wasn't renewed.

Grace has been doing two shows a day since Headline News relaunched to great fanfare in 2005.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Write your own comment.
Tammy Faye Bakker writes farewell note to fans

Wed May 9, 1:52 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tammy Faye Bakker, the disgraced televangelist who is suffering from cancer, has penned a goodbye letter to her fans in which she says doctors have halted her treatment.

"The doctors have stopped trying to treat the cancer and so now it's up to God and my faith. And that's enough! But please continue to pray for the pain and sick stomach," Tammy Faye, 65, wrote in a letter on her Web site.

"My precious daughter, Tammy Sue, and her wonderful friends are staying with me," Tammy Faye wrote. "They don't want me falling down the stairs. I am down weight wise to 65 pounds, and look like a scarecrow. I need God's miracle to swallow."

In 1996 Tammy Faye was diagnosed with colon cancer. In 2004 she learned the cancer had returned, this time in her lungs.

Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim, were household names in the United States with a television evangelical empire that brought in an estimated $130 million annually at its height in the 1980s and reached 13 million homes daily.

Tammy Faye's face was one of the most recognized on American television as she tearfully asked viewers to open their hearts to Jesus -- and their wallets to the Bakkers' causes.

It all came crashing down amid sex and financial scandals that landed her husband Jim in prison for five years. Tammy Faye divorced him and married his best friend.

In 2000, a critically acclaimed documentary about her life, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" was released. In 2004 Tammy Faye appeared on the cult reality show "The Surreal Life," where she lived in a house with other celebrities such as rapper Vanilla Ice.

Reuters