http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/341723
County, state flu cases up

The Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center reports a drastic increase in influenza and influenzalike illnesses since early February. According to physicians who report sentinel flu data, Illinois has seen a fourfold increase in the number of patients seen with influenza symptoms compared to January. Flu is more common in winter months because the virus prefers colder temperatures and low humidity. In addition, people congregate inside helping it spread. An unexpected change in the virus, which decreased the flu vaccine's protection, complicated matters this season, officials said.

'Oz' tickets on sale now

Tickets are now available for Lake Zurich High School's presentation of "The Wizard of Oz." Performances are at 7:30 p.m. April 23 through 26 and at 2 p.m. April 26 and 27 at the high school's Performing Arts Center, 300 Church St. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, students and children. To purchase tickets, call the hotline at (847) 540-4740 or order at boxoffice@lz95.org to avoid an additional $2 per ticket at the door.

Impaired drivers targeted

Wheeling police officers will target impaired drivers with a roadside safety checkpoint March 15 and DUI saturation patrols during the St. Patrick's Day weekend. The department reminds party-goers to act responsibly by making alternative travel arrangements if their celebration plans include alcohol consumption.


]]> Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:49:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/341723 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/333059 Los Angeles' Top 25 culinary deals
Cheap eats in Oahu, Hawaii
Top 10 Hawaiian culinary specialties
Top 15 California destinations
Sampling strange food abroad
2008 California food festivals
20 of Los Angeles' most delicious culinary deals
Hawaiian flavors at reasonable prices on Oahu
HOLTVILLE
61st Carrot Festival
Through Feb. 10: The root-vegetable celebration brings out amateur chefs and duffers with cookery contests for kids and adults, plus a golf tournament, a parade and midway. A low-key, family vibe prevails at the Feb. 10 Día de la Familia, where a cook-off (carrots not required) carries a $1,000 first-place prize.

Where: Holt Park, at Holt Road and 6th Street.

Cost: Free admission; $25 for cook-off entry fee.

Info: (760) 356-2923, www.holtvillechamber.com.

MADERA COUNTY
Feb. 9 and 10: Wine Chocolate Weekend
Winemakers will be on hand to chat with visitors as 10 family wineries on the Madera Wine Trail open their doors. Current and new vintages will be available for tasting while visitors nibble on chocolate, cheeses, olives and other specialty foods. Also: live music and fine-art displays, including a juried show at Quady Winery.

Where: Various sites in Madera County.

Cost: $20 buys a wine glass, which covers wine and food tasting for both days.

Info: (800) 613-0709, www.maderavintners.com.

INDIO
Riverside County Fair National Date Festival
Feb. 15 to 24: A different date concoction is whipped up daily at the annual fair by area chefs who stop in for a cooking show. Amateurs can compete for best date recipe or amble the grounds munching on date pastries washed down with date shakes (a popular choice) and watch the camel and ostrich races. Plus: big-name entertainment, with concerts included in the fair admission. This year, it's LeAnn Rimes, Heart and Blues Traveler.

Where: Riverside County Fairgrounds, 82-503 California 111, Indio.

Cost: $8, $6 ages 5 to 12, 4 and younger free.

Info: (800) 811-3247, www.datefest.org.

SANTA CRUZ
Santa Cruz Clam Chowder Cook-Off
Feb. 23: It might be the seaside location or the theme of the day, but participants are inspired to dress up as scuba divers, mermaids -- there was even a "clam fairy," a spokeswoman said. Teams compete in three divisions (individuals, restaurants and corporate/media) for "best clam chowder," be it Boston or Manhattan. There are cash prizes, round-trip plane tickets and other awards.

Where: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St.

Cost: Admission free; contest entry fees are $50 or $60; $7 to taste chowders.

Info: (831) 420-5273, www.beachboardwalk.com/clamchowder.

SAN FRANCISCO
6th annual Celebrity Crab Cracking
March: Players for the San Francisco 49ers show they have finesse as well as muscle when they team with Bay Area chefs to provide a crab-cracking how-to demonstration. After the demo, the players, the 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleaders and local VIPs compete in a timed crab-cracking-and-cleaning contest. Visitors can sample Dungeness crab and follow it with sips from the Wine Beer Garden.

Cost: Free admission; tickets for tastings of food, beer and wine are $5 each or six for $25.

Where: Union Square, 301 Post St.

Info: (415) 781-7880, www.unionsquaresf.net.

PEBBLE BEACH
Pebble Beach Food Wine
March 27-30: This high-end event features culinary dream teams creating multi-course meals, such as a rare-wine auction dinner. In addition, two grand tastings will be held in a 30,000-square-foot tent where 300 wines from 200 top wineries will be poured, and there will be edibles created by 16 celeb chefs. And master sommeliers will take part in the Sommelier Challenge, a blind tasting of wines.

Where: The Inn at Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach Resorts, 2700 17-Mile Drive.

Cost: $165 for a single-day event pass to $4,750 for a three-night stay with VIP package that includes after-hours parties with chefs and winemakers.

Info: (866) 907-3663, www.pebblebeachfoodandwine.com.

STOCKTON
Asparagus Festival
April 15-28: The claim to fame is the best deep-fried asparagus found anywhere. Organizers also say they have the finest celebrity-chef cooking-demonstration kitchens. This year, the celeb kitchens feature chef Martin Yan (of TV cooking shows and travelogues and the Yan Can restaurants in Santa Clara and Pleasant Hill, Calif.). Also: the Spear-Its of the Valley wine and beer pavilion, entertainment on two stages and more.

Where: Weber Point Events Center, 221 N. Center St.

Cost: $10, $5 ages 11 to 17, 10 and younger free.

Info: (209) 644-3740, www.asparagusfest.com.

OXNARD
California Strawberry Festival
May 17-18: Several publications have ranked Oxnard's event among the nation's top outdoor festivals, and this is its 25th anniversary year. The goings-on are going to get gooey with the Tart Toss, the Strawberry Pie Eating Contest and the Strawberry Stomp (said to be similar to the classic "I Love Lucy" episode when Lucy stomps grapes in a barrel). Visit the Build Your Own Strawberry Shortcake tent, or try the strawberry pizza, strawberry nachos, strawberry funnel cakes and fresh-brewed strawberry beer. Also: The Budweiser Clydesdales will be on parade, and top-name acts will perform on two stages.

Where: Strawberry Meadows of College Park, 3250 S. Rose Ave.

Cost: $12, $5 ages 5 to 12, 4 and younger free.

Info: (888) 288-9242, strawberry-fest.org.

SAN FRANCISCO
Uncorked! Wine Festival
May 17: Seminars such as "Wine 101" and "Chocolate Wine Pairings" are among highlights of the event, a fundraiser for COPIA, the Napa nonprofit dedicated to wine, art and food. Thirty-plus wineries will be pouring samples as area chefs do demonstrations.

Where: Ghirardelli Square, 900 N. Point St.

Cost: Free admission; seminars free; $40 for wine tasting.

Info: (415) 775-5500, www.ghirardellisq.com.

CASTROVILLE
Artichoke Festival
May 17-18: Artichokes aren't just boiled, grilled and fried at this fest, they're made into art. The "agro art" competition features three-dimensional fruit-and-veggie works; each work must be at least 10% artichoke. Cooked creations include artichokes in burritos, breads, soup, chow mein, ice cream, etc. The fest features a parade down Merritt Street; live music; stilt walkers, clowns and other kid-friendly stuff; cooking demos; and field tours to a nearby farm.

Where: Several blocks along Merritt are closed to traffic.

Cost: $8, $4 children 12 and younger.

Info: (831) 633-2465, www.artichoke-festival.org.

SANTA BARBARA
Santa Barbara French Festival
July 12-13: Little tables with checkered cloths set the mood for this Bastille Day celebration, as do cancan dancers, artists in berets and the Poodle Parade (costumed poodles welcome). Among the offerings: crepes, French-style hot dogs in baguettes, pâté, escargots, onion soup and Cajun and French Moroccan fare.

Where: Oak Park, 300 W. Alamar Ave.

Cost: Free.

Info: (805) 564-7274, www.frenchfestival.com.

MARYSVILLE
California Peach Festival
July 18-19: Peaches in pies, peaches in turnovers, peaches in ice cream, shortcake, jam, marinade, muffins and fudge. The peachy list goes on. Also: stages with live music, singers, comedians and children's acts, and fun stuff for the kids including bounce houses and craft-making booths.

Where: Along D Street downtown.

Cost: Free.

Info: (530) 671-9600, www.capeachfestival.com.

GILROY
Gilroy Garlic Festival
July 25-27: Perhaps the most aromatic festival around, the event this year features a return of the Garlic Showdown, an "Iron Chef"-style competition with four top San Francisco Bay Area chefs competing for $5,000 and 1,000 pounds of fresh garlic. And the most popular attraction of the festival, the Gourmet Alley Demonstration Stage, will have chefs explaining how they prepare their garlic-laced entrees. Among fare at the fest: garlic fries, garlic calamari, garlic scampi, garlic ginger chicken stir fry, garlic frog legs, French-fried garlic artichoke hearts and garlic chocolate.

Where: Christmas Hill Park, 7100 Miller Ave.

Cost: $12, $6 ages 6 to 12, 5 and younger free

Info: (408) 842-1625, www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.

OXNARD
Salsa Festival
July 26-27: The dancing is spicy and the food spicier. The Chile Kitchen has how-to's on salsa preparation and cooking with chiles. At the Salsa Tasting Tent, visitors can sample and purchase salsas. The salsa dancing is continuous, with three bands a day, a large floor for dancing and salsa dance contests. Featured fare includes carne asada tacos, tamales, tortas and margaritas, barbecued corn on the cob and Mexican-style shrimp cocktail.

Where: Plaza Park at Plaza Park, 5th and B streets

Cost: Free admission; $4 for salsa tasting (10 tastes plus tortilla chips).

Info: (800) 269-6273, www.oxnardsalsafestival.com.

ANAHEIM
America's Best: Celebrity Food Show
Aug. 15-17: A general admission ticket buys you access to samples of products from 100 gourmet food companies and sips from more than 50 wineries. Meanwhile, restaurants cook and compete daily for "Chef Best Product Award" and TV chefs whip up dishes on stage.

Where: Anaheim Hilton, 777 Convention Way.

Cost: $10 for admission to the main floor, with food sampling, wine tasting; $35 also includes a chef show.

Info: (949) 366-8379, www.celebrityfoodshow.com.

SAN RAFAEL
San Rafael Food Wine Festival
Aug. 16: Area vintners will pour, and Marin County-based chefs will show off their techniques during cooking demonstrations.

Where: Falkirk Cultural Center, 1408 Mission Ave., and on Mission from D to E streets.

Cost: Free admission; $15 buys five tasting tickets and a glass, which can be returned for $5 refund.

Info: (800) 310-6563, www.sresproductions.com.

FAIRFIELD
Tomato Festival
Aug. 16-17: If you want to compete in the Best Home Grown Tomato Contest, you'd better get planting. The fruit will be judged on color, flavor and size. If you'd prefer just to enjoy the fruits of the vine, there's a Tomato Eating Contest and Tomato Alley; last year, there were nearly 100 varieties of tomatoes in a rainbow of colors and tomato products to sample and purchase. The West Coast Barbeque Championship pits experts as well as rookies in these categories: chicken, ribs, brisket, butt and tri-tip. The event also features live music and two blocks of children's activities.

Where: Along seven blocks of Texas Street in downtown Fairfield.

Cost: Free.

Info: (707) 422-0103, www.fairfielddowntown.com/3events/tomato/tomatofest.html.

BODEGA
Bodega Seafood, Art Wine Festival
Aug. 23-24: The party atmosphere is a draw, with more than 20 wineries and a dozen microbreweries pouring samples in a large tent while music acts hold forth outside. But the big draw may be seafood dishes such as crab cakes, albacore kebabs wrapped in bacon, barbecued oysters, cioppino, coconut shrimp, fish tacos, cedar plank salmon with apricot glaze, sushi and Key lime calamari.

Where: Watts Ranch, 16855 Bodega Highway.

Cost: $12, $8 ages 12 to 16 , 11 and younger free.

Info: (707) 824-8717, www.winecountryfestivals.com.

LIVERMORE
Harvest Wine Celebration
Aug. 31-Sept. 1: Thirty-five to 40 wineries will greet guests with food, art and entertainment. At the event, organized by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Assn., winetastings will be accompanied by live music, dancing, fine-art displays, olive-oil and mustard tastings and more.

Where: At wineries in the Tri-Valley area, which includes Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, San Roman and Danville.

Cost: $45 to $65 per person

Info: (925) 447-9463, www.livermorewine.com.

VENTURA
Lemon Fest
Sept. 6-7: Pucker up. Lemonade, lemon bars, seafood with lemon, funnel cakes with lemon topping, lemon chicken, lemon cheesecake and lemon-and-chipotle braised short ribs are on the menu at this citrusy fair. Plus: live music, a recipe contest, lemon-meringue-pie eating contests, Lemonhead-spitting contests and a children's play area with crafts and activities.

Where: Pacific View Mall, at East Main Street and Lemon Grove Avenue.

Cost: Free.

Info:www.lemonfest.com.

OAKLEY
Almond Festival
Sept. 19-21: A classic parade with baton twirlers and marching Cub Scouts opens the festival, which ends at the event site. Live bands will entertain, there will be a carnival, an art contest for the kids and, of course, heaps of almonds.

Where: O'Hara park, 1100 O'Hara Ave. at West Cypress Road.

Cost: $2

Info: (925) 625-1035, www.oakleychamber.com.

NAPA
Wine Country Cajun Food Music Festival
Oct. 4: N'awlins-style fare and wines from Napa chefs and wineries are the culinary core of this Mardi Gras-flavored celebration. Also: Zydeco bands and dancing, parades and roving musicians playing blues, gospel and Dixieland jazz.

Where: Oct. 4 in downtown Napa, in the area of 1st and 2nd streets.

Cost: Free.

Info: (707) 257-0322, www.winecountrycajunfestival.com.

LOOMIS
Loomis Eggplant Festival
Oct. 4: Imagine, if you can, a hot Belgian waffle topped with eggplant ice cream and eggplant syrup. Unique new concoctions are created every year for the Loomis fest. Other nibbles: spicy eggplant garlic dip with pita chips, eggplant burger, charbroiled eggplant Benedict, eggplant tacos and roasted eggplant soup. Winners of a cooking contest are announced at the event, and a cookbook with the winners' recipes is for sale. There's also a wine garden with gift and gourmet items, two stages of live music and vendors selling crafts and home-and-garden wares.

Where: Taylor Road between Horseshoe Bar Road and Webb Street.

Cost: Free.

Info: (916) 652-7252, www.loomischamber.com.

FAIRFIELD
Candy Festival
Oct. 11: The sugar rush centers on Candyland, where as many as 25 candy-related companies set up shop, including Granny Jan's Homemade Fudge, Guittard Chocolate Co. and Jelly Belly. Magicians, barbershop quartets and street performers are among entertainment as organizers go for an old-fashioned ice-cream-parlor state of mind.

Where: Seven blocks along Texas Street.

Cost: Free.

Phone: (707) 422-0103, www.fairfielddowntown.com.

SPRINGVILLE
Apple Festival
Oct. 18-19: Visitors can pile on the calories at the apple-pie-eating contest and then work it off at the Apple Run -- 5K, 10K and kids' runs -- a seven-mile mountain bike race. There's also an apple baking contest, live bluegrass tunes, clowns, kids' rides and more than 200 juried crafts booths.

Where: Most activities at Springville Park, along California 190 in downtown Springville.

Cost: Free.

Info: (559) 539-0619, www.springville.ca.us/applefest/index.html.

BERKELEY
North Berkeley Spice of Life Festival
Oct. 19: In Berkeley's so-called Gourmet Ghetto, home of Alice Waters' Chez Panisse, this foodie event has cooking demos by neighborhood chefs, gourmet food offerings and vendors alongside bistro-style seating, and wine and beer gardens. Businesses will host author appearances and cookbook signings, interactive art projects, and yoga and bodywork demonstrations.

Where: On Shattuck Avenue from Virginia to Rose streets.

Cost: Free.

Info: (800) 310-6563, www.sresproductions.com.

SAN DIEGO
San Diego Bay Wine Food Festival
Nov. 12-15: Billed as one of Southern California's largest wine and culinary events, the weeklong festival has celeb-chef cooking demonstrations, master sommelier wine-tasting seminars and the Reserve New Release Wine Tasting. To top it off, the Nov. 15 finale, dubbed the Grand Event, showcases more than 160 domestic and international wineries, 60 San Diego restaurants, gourmet fare, live music, a Chef of the Fest contest, an olive oil tasting tent and more.

Where: Various venues.

Cost: Tickets $40 to $450 for a weekend package.

Info: (619) 342-7337, www.worldofwineevents.com.

AUBURN
Mountain Mandarin Festival
Nov. 22-23: Mandarin lovers get a workout hauling home 10-pound orange-mesh bags filled with this late-fall fruit. At the festival, they can sample foods enhanced with mandarins such as ice cream, nuts, barbecue sauce and marinades; and don't miss the chocolate-dipped mandarins. Also: 250 gourmet food, home décor, gift and handcraft vendors.

Where: Gold Country Fairgrounds, 1273 High St.

Cost: Admission $5, parking $5; prices subject to change.

Info: (916) 663-1918, www.mandarinfestival.com.

YUCAIPA
Apple Butter Festival
Nov. 28-30: Help make apple butter at a period encampment set up at Los Rios Rancho. The theme is pioneer days, with demonstrations of tomahawk throwing, archery and cornhusk-doll construction. And visitors can help slice apples, stir the apple butter simmering in a big copper kettle and take home free samples of the results. Saturday night, there's a hoedown in the barn and a harvest supper featuring pumpkin stew served in a hollowed-out pumpkin.

Where: Los Rios Rancho, 39611 Oak Glen Road.

Cost: Free admission; $25 for hoedown.

Info: (909) 797-1005, www.losriosrancho.com.

INDIO
Tamale Festival
Dec. 6-7: Indio's tamale-eating, tamale-judging, folklorico-dancing bash has been ranked by Food Network as among the top 10 All-American U.S. food festivals. In 1999, it made it into the Guinness Records with a 40-foot-long tamale. And big things are also being cooked up for this winter's event.

Where: In the area of California 111 and Indio Boulevard.

Cost: Free.

Info: (760) 391-4175, www.tamalefestival.net.

]]> Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:32:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/333059 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/329783 Clinton wasted no time Friday morning seizing on a far weaker-than-expected January jobs report, saying it "confirms my view that we are sliding into a second Bush recession.
"During the same month that President Bush declared that the state of our union was strong, the economy lost 17,000 jobs, the worst jobs performance in four-and-a-half years," Clinton said in a statement an hour after the report was released.

Not to be outdone, Obama blasted out a statement of his own shortly after Clinton did.
"It is time to provide immediate relief to families who are struggling in this economy, and it's time to turn the page on the failed Bush policies of tax breaks for those who didn't need them and didn't ask for them so we can put America back on the path to prosperity and opportunity," the Illinois senator said.

Obama is holding an economic summit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, one of the states where Democrats will caucus on Tuesday as part of the 24-state "Super Tuesday."
At a debate Thursday night in Hollywood, Calif., Obama and Clinton sought to portray their beef with the Republicans versus with each other.
"The differences between Barack and I pale in comparison to the differences we have with Republicans," Clinton said.

Obama went after Republican frontrunner John McCain, homing in on the Arizona senator's support for extending tax cuts championed by Bush.
"Somewhere along the line, the Straight Talk Express lost some wheels," Obama said in a reference to McCain's campaign bus. Both he and Clinton agreed that Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy should be allowed to expire.

The Democratic rivals sparred over health care, which both are seeking to expand to more Americans. Clinton is aiming to insure almost all Americans while Obama's plan doesn't have mandatory coverage. Still, he said, his proposal will insure as many people as Clinton's.
Clinton was again forced to justify her vote to authorize the war in Iraq while Obama said, "we shouldn't have invaded in the first place."

Friday afternoon, Obama picked up the endorsement of MoveOn, a controversial liberal advocacy group. Republicans have slammed the group for, among other things, referring to Iraq war commander Gen. David Petraeus as "Gen. Betray Us" in a newspaper ad last year.
Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:51:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/329783 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/328395  I read recently how you defined the situation in the Darfur section of Sudan as ‘getting worse’.
 I have been trying to follow your career during the time you have served as Secretary of State and I have to say I am not seeing anything that I expected.

 You have achieved the position of Secretary of State and are the first, black female Secretary of State of the United States of America but that is just a title.

 Your work in Iraq and the Middle East does not stand out.  Iraq is an occupied nation and even thought the security situation in Occupied Iraq is terrible because of mismanagement its not really any of your responsibility just as Occupied Okinawa did not and still does not require much attention from your office.

 I can understand that if you stood up and spoke out evenly and with the force that God obviously gave you that you would be attacked by some or all of the hyenas that you serve with.  At the same time those good people that you serve our nation with might find the courage to back you up though I have to tell you I doubt that would be the case.

 As for Darfur in Sudan.  I have been following that more closely than I have been following your career.  In a related matter, I think it was within the past year and a half, some French citizens were murdered in a West African nation.  I don’t think the number was more than ten French citizens.  In response France destroyed the entire air force of that nation.

 I suspect that what you will do about the situation in Darfur in Sudan will be nothing more than what you have done already.  Your actions as Secretary of State and your simple remark about the horror and destruction taking place in that North African nation caused me to believe that you may be filling the position of Secretary of State acting as a highly paid, dandified secretary.

 You have an opportunity to save lives and make a difference.
 I am not concerned with your history or how you rose up to prominence by going from university to university or that your grandfather or great-grandfather was a slave who was sent to become a minister because of his fine mind.  I am concerned about the women and children and men and society of the people who have lived in that part of Africa for a very long time and who are now being savaged by a bunch of ignorant, perverted madmen in and around the government of Sudan.

 I won’t waste your time or my time urging you to take action.  I will, however, finally get to the point.  If I were Secretary of State I would pitch a fit about what is going on in Sudan, hold press conferences and use the wonders of the internet, television, radio, newspapers, magazines and my own pen to save those people in Darfur from the savage, greedy and ignorant men that are killing, raping and terrorizing them.

 If I could not get the hyenas you work with to assist I would ply my trade as Secretary of State with every nation on earth until I could find one that would send the heroes to put an end to the bloodletting and set the people of Southern Sudan free.
 Sudan was drawn from the dying fires of the European Empires.  The fact that the northern cities are on the Mediterranean and filled with friends of Osama Bin Laden and the Saudi King should not stop all of us as humans from doing what is right.

 Your decision is to decide who you are.  Are you making the mistake of believing that you are what you do and as Secretary of State you cannot act with human kindness and compassion and help to bring the power of the United States of America to the aid and assistance of the weak and afflicted?
 If it were in my power I know what I would do.

 I would do it even if I were dismissed by the President or attacked by some of the hyenas you work with.
 I have no idea what you would do.  During your entire term since you took over from Colin Powell I have not been able to discern a human being directing the activities of the office of Secretary of State of the United States of America.
 Your observation that it is getting worse in Darfur is a message God sent to you.

 The world is not waiting to see what you will do about it because it is painfully apparent that you probably won’t do anything at all.  Your job should be hard and you have been making it look easy, Ms. Rice, I fear, because you have been taking it easy.

[IMG][/IMG]
]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:37:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/328395 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/327827 "It would be a huge thing to be able to insure millions of people who for one reason or another don't have insurance," said state Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, who, like other Democratic senators, wants to vote for the bill but isn't sold on it. "But my larger concerns are financial. Will it pencil out financially?"

Alquist sits on the Senate Health Committee, which is expected to cast a do-or-die vote Monday on the bill, ABX1. Even if the plan passed the Senate and was signed by the governor, it would have to be.ratified by voters in a November referendum, and time is running short to qualify an initiative for that ballot.

The plan aims to cover more than two-thirds of the 5.1 million permanently uninsured residents in the state. (Another roughly 1.4 million go without insurance for at least part of any given year.) Insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Businesses that don't offer insurance would have to start doing so, or pay into a state health fund. Uninsured people would have to buy coverage, although lower-income earners would qualify for government subsidies or tax credits.

Proponents fret that if the effort fails, it could be years before another opportunity like this arises. Although the plan faces opposition on the left from some unions, and on the right from some business groups and insurer Blue Cross of California, the governor has assembled a wide spectrum of backers. He has enlisted a group of large employers including supermarket chain Safeway, the powerful Service Employees International Union and the state hospital association, among others.

"To have a Republican governor come together with Democratic majorities and a coalition of business, labor, (health care) providers, and consumer groups, it's never happened," said Daniel Zingale, a senior adviser to Schwarzenegger. "But every delay lessens the likelihood of reform."
The governor's health care push has been left for dead repeatedly over the last year only to be revived, and another resuscitation is possible. But that appears less likely than ever.
The turning point came in December, after the Assembly approved the plan in a party-line vote. With time already running short to qualify a companion ballot initiative - which is needed to overcome Republican lawmakers' opposition to taxes in the plan - Perata put off a hearing in the Senate until January. At the same time, he asked the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office to study the $14.7 billion plan's finances - and determine how the new program might affect the state budget.

The answer was not encouraging. The analyst, Elizabeth Hill, wrote that the health plan could be billions in debt within years if health care premiums slightly exceed the proponents' $250 per month estimate. The report shifted the focus of the debate from what good the proposal might do, to how much debt it might saddle the state with.
Supporters emphasize that the plan would not take effect unless finance officials determine ample money is available. But Perata said that's a difficult nuance to explain as the economy continues to falter and the state faces a projected $14.5 billion deficit.

"When people are losing their homes, losing their jobs, losing their net worth," Perata said this week, "we need not appear insensitive and out of touch with those realities."
If the health committee vote proceeds as planned Monday, health care reform will almost certainly go down to defeat. Two Democratic senators - Chairwoman Sheila Kuehl of Los Angeles and Leland Yee of San Francisco - oppose the plan (Kuehl is consistently critical but hasn't definitively announced her vote). And the panel's four Republicans are also expected to vote against it. That would leave the bill one vote shy.

There are doubts about whether it would fare any better in the full Senate, where only five Democratic "no" votes would kill the bill.
Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is another committee member who is sympathetic to the plan and would usually be regarded as a reliable backer. But he, too, is unconvinced that the plan holds up financially.
"The plan essentially says, 'You can trust our projections,' " Steinberg said. The senator wants the proposal to be tweaked to provide additional "assurances," but he acknowledged that the clock is ticking.
"I'd like to see more people insured," Steinberg said. But "the potato is in our lap, without much time to negotiate."]]> Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:49:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/327827 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/325445
While some bloggers have dismissed the image as a trick of light, others say it is evidence of an alien presence.

The image is a recent Nasa posting of the Spirit's landing in 2004.

Perspective

When the robotic rover set down on 24 January 2004, its images disappointed space-watchers hoping for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Now they appear convinced that this image provides the evidence they have been trawling Nasa's photo files for.

The blown-up image seems to resemble a figure striding among the Martian rocks.

The internet has been abuzz with postings offering theories.


Copenhagen's mermaid: Evidence of Martian settlers?

One said it was a garden gnome, another that it was the Virgin Mary.

A third suggested Bigfoot, the hairy bipedal mountain beast that appears in various guises in a number of legends around the world.

But the consensus seemed to be that it bore a striking resemblance to the Little Mermaid statue in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Poster "Madurobob" said it was a statue "obviously built by an ancient civilisation that later departed Mars and settled Denmark".

Badastronomy.com tried to apply some perspective: "A man? It's a tiny rock only a few inches high. It's only a few feet from the rover!"

]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:07:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/325445 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/324485 That was the scene at Caesar's Palace hotel and casino, one of nine locations on the Las Vegas strip to hold Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday.

The Strip's famous gambling and the glitter was out front. The political action was behind the scenes in meeting rooms where the caucuses were held and the "back of the house" - the kitchens and employee cafeterias - where candidates and their surrogates sought last-minute support.
At the Bellagio hotel-casino, some 200 people stood on each side of the caucus room, shouting loudly across rows of empty chairs separating them. On one side of the room, Clinton backers waved blue signs while the Obama supporters in red T-shirts shouted back.
In quintessential Nevada style, two caucus races in small northern towns came down to a draw of the cards.
At the Jacks Valley Elementary School in Genoa, the votes in District No. 5 split 26-26 between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.
According to state Democratic Party rules, caucus chair Nancy Downey shuffled a deck of cards. A Clinton backer drew a five. An Obama supporter pulled out a king. The crowd whooped. Obama earned two delegates; Clinton got one.
A similar Old West tiebreaker played out at Zephyr Cove along Lake Tahoe, where the two candidates tied 24-24. Again the Clinton camp drew a five only to be trumped by a nine.
Republicans also held caucuses Saturday, and turnout was reported mix throughout the state with some sites swamped with voters and others nearly vacant.
Precinct workers ran out of registration forms and preference cards for about 200 people who turned out to caucus at Doris French Elementary School near UNLV and McCarran International Airport.
"We have nothing. We've run out of everything," precinct captain Naomi Catlin said as she sent out for more forms. "But the turnout has been fabulous."
At the Wynn hotel-casino on the Strip, Patrick Garibay, 27, of Henderson, a plumber's apprentice with the local pipefitter's union, arrived wearing a T-shirt, jeans and dusty work boots to caucus for Obama.
Standing beneath chandeliers in the plush hallway outside a large ballroom, Garibay said he endured barbs from his wife and co-workers for taking unpaid time off work to participate in the caucus.
"I was told you could go to the caucus or you could go to work," he said, adding, "This is a big deal to me."
Earlier in the day, former President Clinton and daughter Chelsea worked the employee cafeteria at the MGM Grand casino, where they handed out buttons and fliers and encouraged workers to split from their union, which endorsed Obama.
"I support my union, I support Hillary," the fliers said.
Hillary Clinton worked employees at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
"I feel good," she said as she left the casino.
Obama stopped by the employees-only area of The Mirage casino, where he shook hands with workers picking up uniforms, eating in the "Strip Joint" cafeteria and working in the kitchen. He was accompanied by leaders of the Culinary Workers union, who reminded workers to caucus in the Events Center Room A.
"I tell you what, I would not want to have anybody other than these two standing next to me going into a caucus," Obama said, referring to two Culinary Workers top organizers walking on either side of him. "These are the folks you want to take into a fight."
Nevadans appeared determined to put their own stamp on the race for the White House, turning out in such offbeat venues as casinos and cowboy bars for the state's first early presidential caucuses, as well as the standard high school gyms and senior citizens centers.
At Rancho High School, in a largely Hispanic neighborhood within sight of the Strip, low turnout left Republicans short of the number of people needed to select delegates to the state convention.
In one classroom, 30 participants from 14 precincts sat at school desks and tried to figure out how to pick 23 delegates and 23 alternates.
"This is the Republican Party. We're fighting for our lives here!" Didi Lima, precinct captain, cajoled from the front of the room. "Do you want a Democrat in the White House? Then come on, volunteer."
But In Sparks, a line snaked for more than one-half mile at Reed High School as GOP caucus goers stood in frigid temperatures trying to get into the gymnasium to conduct a straw poll.

]]> Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:13:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/324485 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/324285 Story Highlights
• U.S. intelligence official: Leader of the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack
• Pakistani government blamed Mehsud's organization for the killing last month
• Mehsud operates out of the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan
• CNN analyst: U.S. officials are increasingly worried about the stability of Pakistan
The CIA believes extremists associated with a Pakistani tribal leader are responsible for the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, according to a U.S. intelligence official.
Supporters of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto light candles in tribute to their former leader.

The official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the agency concluded that Baitullah Mehsud -- the leader of the Pakistani Taliban who has ties to al Qaeda -- was behind the attack.

The Pakistani government was quick to blame Mehsud's organization for Bhutto's death in December, producing an intercepted audio communication in which Mehsud confirmed his men were responsible for the attack.

The U.S. intelligence community was first cautious about drawing the same conclusion as the Pakistanis.

But after reviewing various other intelligence, the CIA agreed Mehsud played a role in Bhutto's killing, the U.S. official said.

The CIA viewpoint was first made known in a Washington Post interview with CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden published Friday.

"This was done by that network around Baitullah Mehsud. We have no reason to question that," Hayden told the newspaper.

Mehsud operates out of the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan. Pakistani officials have blamed Mehsud's forces for a number of attacks directed against the government, including one this week in which Islamic militants overran a military outpost in South Waziristan.
U.S. officials and terrorism experts are increasingly worried about the stability of Pakistan.

The Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda have drawn closer ideologically over the past couple of years and see themselves at war with the Pakistani state, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen said at a conference at a Washington think tank Wednesday.

He pointed to the growing number of attacks against Pakistani government officials and the ISI, the country's intelligence service.

Also at the New America Foundation conference, the organization's president, Steve Coll, indicated al Qaeda and the local insurgency are gathering strength as the government of President Pervez Musharraf is weakening.

Hayden praised Musharraf's cooperation in the war on terror, but also said the militants in Pakistan are a "serious base of danger to the current well-being of Pakistan."

A U.S. intelligence official said the stepped-up campaign by the extremists creates a "challenging environment" for the Pakistanis, but indicated the Musharraf government is "increasingly cognizant" of the problem it faces.








]]> Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:53:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/324285 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/323283
For over a week, we have heard from an optimistic president.

But ask White House insiders for a list of concrete achievements from the last eight days, and there are few specifics.

There is a belief that without the president's 48 hours in Jerusalem and Ramallah, there would have been no meeting this week between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

On Iran, the Gulf allies share some of the US concerns over the Iranian nuclear issue.

As for democracy? Well, even the White House has to admit that he has not been touring the most liberal countries in the world.


This was probably in the long run more about belief. The belief within the Bush White House that they are finally pursuing policies that might work
But, again, there is a hope that improving educational standards and the like will help open up these societies over the years.

For many years I watched this president from afar, while reporting from the Middle East.

What has been interesting watching him up close is how, on occasion, his understanding of the issues has seemed far more nuanced than in the past.

I spent four years talking to people who loathe the man.

Palestinians who despair as he criticises their violence and not Israel's occupation - which they believe causes that violence.

Iranians angered as he accuses them of failing to adhere to UN resolutions while never mentioning that Israel has been ignoring UN resolutions for decades.

Iraqis who just shake their heads when he speaks of freedom and democracy in their country.

Lebanese who want him to stop meddling because they are sure it is making things worse, not better.

Balance

On this trip, though, there seems to have been a slight change.

George W Bush has appeared more balanced in his public statements.

He said, in Jerusalem, that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands that began in 1967 must end.


He has stressed that he is not trying to impose solutions, merely create the conditions in which solutions might be possible if the people of the Middle East want to pursue them.

He was genuinely impressed with what he saw as the spirit of ingenuity in the United Arab Emirates (so impressed that one were left wondering whether he had not known much about the UAE before he touched down).

Why has this happened? I wonder if the changes at the White House may have had an impact.

Maybe those with a better grasp of the issues in the state department are finally having their voices heard.

Maybe after so many problems with his Middle East policy, Mr Bush is listening more to the experts around him. It is only speculation.

Of course the Arab newspapers have been critical. "Too little too late," they say.

They probably have a point.

This is a president whose administration has only relatively recently changed its policy towards post-invasion Iraq, and which seems only now to have fully grasped that development and rebuilding civil society are crucial.

As Mr Bush said, in a rare admission on this trip, up until a year ago his administration was making mistakes in Iraq.

Long-term strategy

So ultimately, what was this trip all about?

There is always the chance that it was a smokescreen for something we do not know about. But we will not find out for years.


So, was it about legacy? White House watchers suggest not. And anyway the Arab world, for one, has already decided how Mr Bush will go down in history.

Achievements? Not anything obvious - the Bush strategy is a long term one, which will take years to play out - if Mr Bush's successor decides to continue what he believes he has started.

No, this was probably in the long run more about belief. The belief within the Bush White House that they are finally pursuing policies that might work.

When Mr Bush addressed staff at the US consulate in Jerusalem I am told the president welled up with emotion as he spoke of the importance of what he was trying to do.

He really believes in his strategy. Many will call that naive. A handful may call it visionary.

The reality is that belief alone will not bring peace to the Middle East.

]]> Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:05:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/323283 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/321831
The writer use the word "might" to suggest that there is an uncertainty about the results of the study. The study is not a trial. Likely many other studies of the type, it is merely a statistic analysis of an association between drinking/exercising and heart disease, which in itself could not provide a definite conclusion.

The study showed people who didn't drink and weren't physically active were 30 to 49 percent more likely to develop heart disease than people who drank, exercised or did both. This should be 100% accurate for those who were in the study. But one should not expect he would reduce his risk for heart disease by this much by just drinking and exercising.

Just imagine the possibility that those who were not physically active and or did not drink were not physically fit or they had an underlying condition in the first place. We know people who were not healthy stopped drinking or never start drinking. We know that people who were ill were not as active physically. This means these people died from heart disease not because they did not drink or exercise, but because they had a disease or condition.

The study led by Morten Gronbaek at the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen and colleagues involved 11,914 men and women age 20 or older when entering the Copenhagen City Heart Study. The researchers followed the participants for an average of 20 years during which 1,242 people died from heart disease and 5,901 died from other causes.

They found those being physically active were significantly less likely to have fatal heart disease and die from any other cause than those being physically inactive. Please note that being physically active could be just a symbol of being healthy, not necessarily the cause for being healthy. Of course, this observation could not exclude a possible positive effect of physical activity.

The same association was also found with drinking alcohol. The risk for fatal heart disease was lower in those who drank than those who did not drink. Moderate drinking was also associated with reduced risk of death among men and women, but heavy drinkers faced the risk of dying similar to that for non-drinkers.

Specially, among physically active people, non-drinkers had a 30 to 31 percent higher risk of fatal heart disease than moderate drinkers.

People who did not drink, but had moderate or high levels of physical activity, their risk for fatal heart disease were 33 percent lower than those who did not exercise or drink.
Those who both drank (at least one drink a week) and were physically active were 44 to 50 percent less likely to die from heart disease than those who did not drink nor did physical exercise.

The study also found light drinkers (a drink a week) being physically active were 33 percent lower risk of dying from any cause.

The problem with this type of study is that the researchers did not know why those who did not drink did not drink and why those who were physically inactive were physically inactive. The researchers could not exclude the possibility that those who did not drink and or were physically inactive might have some underlying condition or disease in the first place.

"It is very important to note that these findings, especially with regards to alcohol consumption, have never been confirmed in randomized clinical trials and need to be before any recommendations can be made regarding the use of alcohol for cardiovascular risk reduction," cautioned Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Regardless, doing physical exercise moderately is expected to help maintain heart health. Many studies have provided explanations for the benefit. For instance, moderately exercising increases the level of nitric oxide which benefits cardiovascular health.

It is also chemically possible, in the writer's opinion, that small amounts of alcohol can help clean up blood vessels and prevent heart disease. The problem is, alcohol is carcinogenic, meaning that it can cause cancer in humans. It can also damage the liver.

It should be remembered that not every one can digest alcohol equally efficiently. The amount of alcohol can bring pleasure to one drinker, but may kill another drinker.

The American Heart Association states "drinking more alcohol increases such dangers as alcoholism, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, breast cancer, suicide and accidents." It cautions that "if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. If you do not already drink alcohol, do not start drinking"


]]> Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/321831 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/321185 The unveiling,Tata Motors has unveiled the world's cheapest motor car at India's biggest car show in the capital, Delhi.,The vehicle, called the Tata Nano, will sell for 100,000 rupees or $2,500 (£1,277) and enable those in developing countries to move to four wheels.

The four-door five-seater car, which goes on sale later this year, has a 33bhp, 624cc, engine at the rear.

It has no air conditioning, no electric windows and no power steering, but two deluxe models will be on offer.


Tata will initially make about 250,000 Nanos and expects eventual annual demand of one million cars.

The price will be slightly more than the 100,000 once tax and other costs are taken into consideration.

The Nano release comes as India's domestic car market is predicted to soar in the coming years on the back of the country's fast-growing economy and increased consumer wealth.

'People's car'

Indian car sales are predicted to more than quadruple to $145bn by 2016.

Company chairman Ratan Tata said the launch of the Nano was a landmark in the history of transportation.


Tata Motors' engineers and designers gave their all for about four years to realise this goal
Ratan Tata, Tata Motors
He said the car was "a safe, affordable and all weather transport - a people's car, designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to all".

Environmental critics have said that the car will lead to mounting air and pollution problems on India's already clogged roads.

But Tata said the car had passed emission standards and would average about 50 miles to the gallon, or five litres per hundred kilometres.

The firm also said it would introduce a diesel version of the Nano at a later date.

'Family transport'

At the unveiling ceremony Mr Tata said: "I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby.


TATA'S NANO
3.1m long, 1.5m wide, 1.6m high
Can seat four to five people
Meets European emission standards
Costs 100,000 rupees ($2,500)
Tata hopes to eventually export the car
Source: AFP
"It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.

"Tata Motors' engineers and designers gave their all for about four years to realise this goal.

"Today, we indeed have a People's Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms, to be fuel efficient and low on emissions."

Ravi Vangala, of Hyderbad, India, said: "I... congratulate Tata for his dream, and I will definitely buy the Tata Nano car."





]]> Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/321185 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/318839 Free hiking permits allow visitors to wander the island at will
Barefoot on the sandy shore of Catalina Island, Kim Francis shades her eyes from the sun and peers back to mainland California. "I can't believe we're 22 miles from Los Angeles," she says, grinning. "I may never go back."

Behind her, the rugged terrain of Two Harbors stretches over rolling hills crossed by winding paths. Near the ferry dock, the modest village (a gift shop, an activities booth and one restaurant) buzzes with visitors. They come here to Catalina's west end -- away from Avalon, the island's much larger settlement -- to hike and watch wildlife.

Many have their first try at snorkeling and paddling, says kayak guide Jason Clarke. Adjusting his colorful mask and snorkel, Jason plunges from the 45-foot catamaran Garibaldi into Isthmus Cove and encourages a tour group to do the same.

"You won't find kelp forests like this just anywhere," Clarke says. "And always cross your fingers for a dolphin."

Paddlers can experience Catalina from the water's surface, with tours that visit secluded coves and mysterious caves, all open for exploration. A few strokes of the paddle separate kayakers from pelicans, sea lions and a bison, which watches from land.

"If his tail wags, the buffalo is in a good mood," says Rod Jackson, who helps run Hummer tours to see bison. "But never get too close."

The bison have been on the island since the 1920s, when they were brought in as film extras. Today, they number nearly 250 and are protected by the Catalina Island Conservancy. "Sometimes we get a rebel," Jackson says, gesturing to a lone bison across from the area's only inn, The Banning House Lodge.

Free hiking permits allow visitors to wander the island at will. Adrenaline junkies will want to tackle Boushay Trail, which climbs 1,800 feet to Silver Peak, the highest point west of Two Harbors. Those who make it to the top will be rewarded with sweeping Pacific views. And, like Kim Francis, they may not want to leave.

Best of the west end

For comprehensive information about all of the businesses listed, visit visittwoharbors.com.

Stay: The Banning House Lodge, a rustic 1910 bed-and-breakfast with 11 rooms, has no TVs, clocks or telephones. Some rooms provide views of Isthmus Cove and Catalina Harbor. (Room 11 has spectacular cove vistas.) Winter rates start at $89; call 310/510-4228. To camp in the area, call 310/510-8368, or to rent a cabin between November and April, call 800/626-0720.

Play: Visitor's Center; 310/510-4205. Dive and Recreation Center; 310/510-4272. For charter-fishing day trips to Two Harbors, call Afishinado Charters at 323/447-4669 or visit fishcatalina.com.

Dine: The Harbor Reef Restaurant and the Harbor Reef Saloon serve fresh seafood entrées, steaks and unique cocktails. We recommend the signature Two Harbors "Buffalo Milk" -- a sweet (and strong) concoction of liqueurs, vodka and whipped cream; 310/510-4215.]]> Sun, 06 Jan 2008 19:41:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/318839 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/318551
I spotted two metal watering cans before I reached the host station, one of them perched near an antique bin brimming with pomegranates. The restaurant’s floors, wainscoting and tables bring to mind barn wood.

“What did this used to be?” asked one of my companions, taking in the straw-colored space near Union Square that Irving Mill inhabits.

“A stable?” cracked another.

The quip shortchanges the polish of the place, which is gussied up with enormous floral arrangements — in muted colors, of course — and bracketed on opposite walls by semicircular booths. Servers wear crisp white shirts under their suspenders. They’re the kind of farmhands you find only below 23rd Street.

And Irving Mill, named for its proximity to Irving Place, is the kind of restaurant you find more and more of: an ode to the seasons and the simple life, built, paradoxically, around elaborate décor and dishes that take nature’s bounty and tweak it a bunch.

It’s also a self-conscious heir to Gramercy Tavern, which long ago helped to usher in the whole rustically urbane (or is it urbanely rustic?) genre. Irving Mill’s chef, John Schaefer, spent more than a decade cooking there, and Irving Mill’s layout — a casual front section with a prominent bar, a quieter back area with more elbowroom between tables — recalls Gramercy’s.

If only it performed at the same level. It’s a pleasant restaurant, make no mistake: comfortable and good-natured, with a selection of about 20 wines by the glass that represent real diversity and reflect real thought, not just the default presentation of a pinot grigio here, a pinot noir there. The equally thoughtful list of bottles has many tempting selections in the $40 to $70 range.

In fact prices in general aren’t as steep at Irving Mill as at many restaurants with lesser standards or ambitions. No dinner entree is over $28. A four-course tasting menu, including dessert, is $54.

And at Irving Mill’s finest moments, with its finest dishes, it’s decidedly more than pleasant. The grilled quail at the center of one appetizer quickly silenced a quail naysayer at my table, who foresaw a bony, puny bird. This one had plenty of juicy meat, placed over stone-ground grits flavored with Cheddar cheese and dusted with smoked paprika.

If you follow that dish with a main course of braised rabbit — served here with pork sausage, salty black olives, roasted shallots and a potato purée — you’re bound for a tremendously satisfying meal. With the rabbit, as with the quail, Mr. Schaefer takes a meat that other kitchens sometimes render stringy and gets tender results.

Stringy, however, aptly describes the short ribs I tried on a different night. They reminded me of pro forma pot roast, an association underscored by their unimaginative adornment with carrots and a horseradish cream.

Inconsistency dogs Irving Mill, and is perhaps best exemplified by the change in the cauliflower ravioli from one of my visits to the next. The first time out, the gently firm pasta was cooked just as it should have been, and the cauliflower had real presence. The second time, the pasta was limp and the cauliflower a washout, beyond the salvage efforts of the hazelnuts and the capers (too few and too retiring) in the mix.

The dinner menu is divided into about 10 appetizers, 8 entrees and 4 sides, including brussels sprouts, the rags-to-riches vegetable story of recent years. At Irving Mill they’re unusually tiny and unusually terrific.

Apart from the quail and the ravioli (on their good night), I couldn’t find an appetizer to get too excited about. I enjoyed chicken liver crostini, but it’s rare that I don’t. Octopus had vaulted past tender to mushy, and a soup made with roasted garlic, white beans, sheep’s milk ricotta and rosemary somehow managed to be boring, not to mention sludgy. This is a menu that reads more flavorful than it tastes.

How, for example, did the tangle of wild mushrooms, butternut squash and orecchiette that encircled lamb shoulder — which was braised, like the short ribs and rabbit — manage to make such a weak impression? At least the lamb itself was superb.

So were the sea scallops on a tasting menu, and the hen-of-the-woods mushrooms with them had exactly the nutty, earthy charge they were supposed to. It’s hard to get a handle on Irving Mill, because pitch-perfect dishes keep company with off-key ones.

Given the meaty predilections of New Yorkers today, it was surprising to find that half the entrees were fish. The standout was Arctic char, served with lentils and Savoy cabbage.

Among the desserts, by the pastry chef Colleen Grapes, there weren’t any big disappointments, but there was just one knockout: a rich, tangy Greek yogurt panna cotta with stewed apricots and — most enticing of all — a bevy of toasted pistachios.

More in keeping with the restaurant’s countrified soul were a pumpkin and apple strudel and a cranberry and apple crisp with a topping of almonds and oatmeal. The crisp is by far the better choice.

A plate of warm cookies comes just before, or with, the check, because that’s the kind of down-home hospitality Irving Mill means to project.

But projecting it in a 110-seat space as open and vast as this one — it really could be converted into a barn — has a somewhat awkward, counterfeit effect. Cultivated rusticity usually works better in a series of smaller rooms, or on a smaller scale.]]> Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:09:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/318551 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/317413
Announcing the warning in a statement yesterday the Federal health regulators said the skin patch that delivers a potent pain killer containing the narcotic fentanyl has been involved in hundreds of deaths.

The FDA said the widely used fentanyl patch was being wrongly prescribed by doctors and being misused by patients. The US health watchdog warned that using fentanyl skin patch outside of approved guidelines could result in deadly overdoses.

The US health agency warned the fentanyl skin patch poses unique risks that doctors and patients generally fail to understand. They also urged doctors to take care in prescribing the skin patch and to make patients fully aware about how to use it.

"There are a small number of cases [of deaths and life-threatening side effects] that are very concerning, because they are preventable," said Dr. Bob Rappaport, the FDA's director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Rheumatology Products.

"Unfortunately, we are still seeing prescribers giving these patches to patients who are not opioid-tolerant, or for treatment post surgery, for mild pain. We've even seen cases for headache," Rappaport said. "There are still cases of patients who are not using the product correctly."

FDA first issued the warning in 2005 in regard to the safety of the Duragesic Fentanyl patch after 120 patients taking the drug died. Now, after receiving some reports of deaths and dangerous side effects tied to misuse of fentanyl skin patches, the health agency again issued the warning, urging the manufacturers of the patches to update information and develop a medication guide for patients.

Made by Johnson Johnson and sold as Duragesic, the patch was developed for cancer patients who suffer severe chronic pain and in some cases have trouble taking oral form of drug.

The Duragesic Fentanyl patch’s purpose is to relieve severe chronic pain, such as for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis. One patch relieves pain for up to 3 days.

The patch should only be used to treat patients who have already taken narcotic painkillers and find that short-action pain killers to do completely relieve their pain, FDA said.]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:25:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/317413 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/311079
Clinton gave the commencement address at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

The graduating class is the second for the Clinton School, which offers the country's only master's degree in public service.

One graduate is Rina Meutia, a survivor of the 2004 Asian tsunami. Meutia is a native of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra. She came to the Clinton School on a Fulbright Scholarship. She says she has a job lined up with the World Bank in Washington, D.C. She hopes to return to Indonesia and work for the government.

Students in the Clinton School must complete research projects along with international internships.

The students worked on service projects in Little Rock and the impoverished Mississippi Delta, along with other projects.]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:08:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/311079 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/310421
That didn't happen, of course, and on Monday he gave an Iowa crowd his version of why it didn't.

"I thought it would be wrong for me to rob her of the chance to be what I thought she should be," said Clinton. "She laughed and said, 'First I love you and, second, I'm not going to run for anything, I'm too hardheaded.'"

Hillary Rodham Clinton is running now, and husband Bill was stumping for her in the 2008 campaign's leadoff caucus state _ two days after rival Democrat Barack Obama got a full weekend's worth of attention by bringing in talk show queen Oprah Winfrey to campaign for him.

The former president opened a two-day swing through Iowa on behalf of his wife, packing nearly 500 people into a theater on the campus of Iowa State University.

"She has spent a lifetime as a change agent when she had the option to do other things," he said.

"I thought she was the most gifted person of our generation," said Clinton, who said he told her, "You know, you really should dump me and go back home to Chicago or go to New York and take one of those offers you've got and run for office."

Now that she's a New York senator and in a tight Democratic contest _ with Illinois Sen. Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards _ the former president said he wanted to persuade voters that she has "the best combination of mind and heart."

He offered a self-deprecating view of the couple's early life in Arkansas.

"When she came down there and we got married, I was a defeated candidate for Congress with a $26,000 salary and a $42,000 campaign debt," said Clinton. "If she were half as calculating as someone said, that's a really great way to run for president."

In his latest Iowa swing, Clinton is bringing heavy attention to his wife, who is competing in the precinct caucuses that will launch the presidential nominating season on Jan. 3.

"It's one thing to have good intentions; it is another thing entirely to change people's lives," Clinton said. "She's the best non-incumbent I have ever had a chance to vote for. In my whole life I've never met anyone like her."

While Clinton remains very popular among Democrats, his image is mixed in the wider population. An Associated Press-Yahoo poll last month showed that 54 percent of those questioned had a very or somewhat favorable view of the former president, while 43 percent had a very or somewhat unfavorable view.

"He did an excellent job as president and we need some changes," said 82-year-old Morris Mericle, who attended Monday's event and said he wanted to see a former president he had voted for. Still, Mericle was keeping his options open for next year.

"I have an open mind," he said. "I have not decided, I'll wait and listen to the debates."

Maureen Ogle said she also wanted to keep her options open and was eager to sees a president about whom she has decidedly mixed views.

"I'm never going to forgive him for the way he humiliated his wife and daughter, but I would vote for him in a heartbeat,' said Ogle. "He is one of two or three of the most powerful people in the world."

Clinton was more than an hour late opening his swing in Ames, with campaign staffers alternately blaming the weather and airplane problems. Still, virtually everyone who showed up stuck around to hear a speech that was shorter than the wait.

"I'm out of politics now except every two years the Democrats kind of haul me out of the barn like an old horse to see if I can make it around the track one more time," he said.

Clinton said he would understand if people assume he has a prejudice in the 2008 race. "I always tell people when I speak that you're entitled to discount what I have to say," he said. "I want to say a few things that are very personal."

Later in the day, Clinton repeated his pitch to a spillover crowd of more than 400 at a YMCA gym in Newton, where he joked about his campaign schedule.

"They always send me to rural areas," said Clinton. "I've got boots that have been worn and I know one end of a horse from the other."

He rejected suggestions that touting his record as president amounted to trying to turn the clock back, as Obama has suggested.

"People say we shouldn't refight the battles of the '90s and I agree with that," said Clinton. "I'd sure like to have some of the victories of the '90s."

]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:52:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/310421 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/305275
Other studies show that dark-colored berries can reduce the risk of cancer too -- adding more evidence to a growing body of research that shows fruits and vegetables, especially richly colored varieties, can reduce the risk of cancer.

Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, surveyed 275 people who had bladder cancer and 825 people without cancer. They asked especially about cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage.

These foods are rich in compounds called isothiocyanates, which are known to lower cancer risk.

The effects were most striking in nonsmokers, the researchers told a meeting being held this week of the American Association of Cancer Research in Philadelphia.

Compared to smokers who ate fewer than three servings of raw cruciferous vegetables, nonsmokers who ate at least three servings a month were almost 73 percent less likely to be in the bladder cancer group, they found.

Among both smokers and nonsmokers, those who ate this minimal amount of raw veggies had a 40 percent lower risk. But the team did not find the same effect for cooked vegetables.

"Cooking can reduce 60 to 90 percent of ITCs, (isothiocyanates)," Dr. Li Tang, who led the study, said in a statement.

A second team of researchers from Roswell Park tested broccoli sprouts in rats. ]]> Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:52:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/305275 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/281357 Australians were found to be the world's worst polluters per capita, producing five times as much carbon from generating power as China.

The US came second with eight tonnes of carbon per head - 16 times more than that produced by India.

The US also produced the most carbon in total, followed by China.

The Carbon Monitoring for Action (Carma) website is the first global inventory of emissions and looks at 50,000 power stations.

Its data was compiled by the Center for Global Development, a US think-tank.

Least efficient stations

Carma points out that while US power plants emit the most CO2, releasing 2.5bn tonnes into the atmosphere each year, Australian power stations are the least efficient on a per capita basis, with emissions of 10 tonnes, compared with the US's 8.2 tonnes.


TOP 10 EMITTERS
National power sector emissions (in tonnes of CO2):
US - 2,530 million
China - 2,430 million
Russia - 600 million
India - 529 million
Japan - 363 million
Germany - 323 million
Australia - 205 million
South Africa - 201 million
UK - 192 million
South Korea - 168 million
(Source: Carma/CGD)
China's power sector emits the second-highest total amount of carbon dioxide, pumping 2.4bn tonnes of the gas into the atmosphere annually.

However, its emissions are only one fifth of Australia's when measured on a per capita basis.

The UK's 192 million tonnes make it the ninth highest emitter, with per capita CO2 emissions of 3.2 tonnes.

The nation's largest power station, the coal-fired Drax plant, is deemed to be the 23rd most polluting power station in the world.

Powering change

Kevin Ummel, a research assistant at the Center for Global Development, hoped the online inventory would help the push towards a low carbon future.

"The experience of people in the environmental field has been that supplying the public and markets with information that they did not have has often led to improvements in environmental quality," he told BBC News.


CO2 EMISSIONS PER CAPITA
Australia - 10.0 tonnes
US - 8.2 tonnes
UK - 3.2 tonnes
China - 1.8 tonnes
India - 0.5 tonnes
(Source: Carma/CGD)
"There is no reason why this could not happen for carbon emissions."

He said that the data for power stations in the US, Canada, Europe and India came from official, verified reports.

For the power plants that did not have robust reports, Mr Ummel said a model was used to calculate the volume of emissions.

The figure is derived by taking factors such as fuel type, size, age and various other technical specifications in account.

"It turns out that if you have this information then you can predict emissions from the plants with a high degree of certainty," he said.

"Carma is built from a massive database provided by private sector (organisations). It includes every type of fuel and it includes power plants of almost any size.

"Not only do we have the massive plants, like Drax in the UK, but everything down to the solar panels on the local high school.

"We feel quite confident that no-one else has information in such detail."

The philosophy behind the website is to provide people with information that they currently do not have.

"In this website, we do not push a particular agenda or outcome," explained Mr Ummel.

"In fact, we are very interested to see how people choose to use the data."

]]> Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:52:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/281357 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/279059
The nudist group had rented an indoor town swimming pool in suburban Surrey, British Columbia, in 2002 and 2003 for late-night members-only gatherings, but the permit was cancelled after a newspaper story prompted public complaints.

Surrey argued that nude swimming might be a health hazard, and said it was unfair to make lifeguards protect swimmers "not in suitable bathing attire", since those who objected for personal reasons would lose potential overtime income.

The judge dismissed those arguments and noted that, since the swimmers could not be seen from outside the building, any complaints would be from people "shocked by what they had neither seen nor heard, but suspected."]]> Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:56:00 EST http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/279059 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/274851
The products to look out for are:
(SKU = stock keeping units or UPC codes)

-- Totino's Party Supreme - SKU number 42800-10700
-- Totino's Three Meat - SKU number 42800-10800
-- Totino's Pepperoni - SKU number 42800-11400
-- Totino's Pepperoni - SKU number 42800-92114
-- Totino's Classic Pepperoni - SKU number 42800-11402
-- Totino's Pepperoni Trio - SKU number 42800-72157
-- Totino's Party Combo - SKU number 42800-11600
-- Totino's Combo - SKU number 42800-92116
-- Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Supreme - SKU number 35300-00561
-- Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Pepperoni - SKU number 35300-00572
-- Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Combo - SKU number 35300-00576

When 21 cases of E.coli related illnesses were reported in ten states, with half of the patients being hospitalized, authorities started to investigate. The first case happened in June 20th, 2007, while the latest one happened on October 10th, 2007. Nine of those patients had consumed Totino's or Jeno's pizza with pepperoni topping prior to becoming ill. Over 120 million Totino's and Jeno's pizzas have been distributed since the first reported illness.

The company says that as soon as it learnt about the potential problem it launched an investigation. As a precaution, Totino's and Jeno's parent company, General Mills, issued a Class I recall. According to the company, the investigation is still underway - it also adds that it is cooperating fully with state and federal authorities.

Totino's / Jeno's
P.O. Box 200 - Pizza
Minneapolis, MN 55440-0200
Consumers concerned about the recall can telephone (800) 949-9055.

What is E. coli?

E. coli is short for Escherichia coli, it is one of the bacteria that line the gut of humans and animals. It also exists in raw and undercooked beef, infected water and milk. Most E. coli strains are harmless. However, O157:H7 can cause food poisoning.

A sample of a person's feces (stool) must be tested to confirm E.coli poisoning.

Cattle are believed to the main source of infection.

It can spread as a result of:

-- Eating contaminated food, such as undercooked beef burgers, raw vegetables which have been washed or watered with contaminated water
-- Drinking untreated milk or dairy products
-- Contact with infected animals

Symptoms of E. coli Poisoning

-- Diarrhoea (sometimes bloody)
-- Abdominal pain
-- Fever (sometimes)

Symptoms usually appear about 1-3 days after infection.
]]> Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:25:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/274851 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/273603 Intelligence chief Mike McConnell said he would give no breakdown of how the money was spent, saying that disclosure could harm national security.

The disclosure was made to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

The 2007 sum, split among 16 agencies, is almost double what was spent in 1997 and 1998, the last budgets made public.

According to legislation signed into law by US President George W Bush, total intelligence spending must be revealed 30 days after the end of the fiscal year, on 30 September.

Exactly where the money goes remains classified, but a share will go on salaries for an estimated 100,000 people, among them intelligence analysts and spies, the Associated Press reports.

Also covered will be such expenses as high-tech secret satellite programmes, aircraft, weapons, computers and software.

Secret satellites

The budget includes money for the CIA, the Defence Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and FBI intelligence programmes, as well as agencies within the state and treasury departments.

The figure does not include what is spent by the US military on gathering intelligence.

Mr McConnell, releasing a brief statement highlighting the main figure, made it clear he did not intend to give more details.

"Any and all information concerning the intelligence budget, whether the information concerns particular intelligence agencies or particular intelligence programmes, will not be disclosed," he said.

Intelligence officials have argued that detailed figures could be used by others to track fluctuations in spending and so ascertain information about secret intelligence schemes.

Former CIA director George Tenet released the budget figures for 1997 ($26.6bn) and 1998 ($26.7bn), saying he saw no risk to national security in doing so.

Intelligence spending increased significantly after the 11 September, 2001, terror attacks on the US.

The 2007 figure is greater than the national economies of all but the world's 60 or so richest nations.





]]> Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:36:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/273603 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/266245
Despite that, Carter said formal charges or a trial "would be inappropriate."

Addressing Iraq, he said that all 168,000 U.S. troops could be withdrawn in 18 months and that he disagreed with the 2013 timetable proposed by fellow Democrats Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama.

Here are excerpts from the interview with Wolf Blitzer:

Regarding the Bush administration and allegations of torture:

BLITZER: President Bush said as recently as this week the United States does not torture detainees.

CARTER: That's not an accurate statement. If you use the international norms of torture as has always been honored, certainly in the last 60 years, since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated. But you can make your own definition of human rights and say, we don't violate them. And we can — you can make your own definition of torture and say we don't violate it.

BLITZER: But by your definition, you believe the United States, under this administration, has used torture.

CARTER: I don't think it, I know it, certainly.

BLITZER: So is the president lying?

CARTER: The president is self-defining what we have done and authorized in the torture of prisoners, yes.

BLITZER: But that raises a really important question. Those who are engaged in torture, who commit torture, potentially that could be a violation of international or other laws.

CARTER: Yes, I think so.

Regarding “holding someone accountable” for violations of international laws:

CARTER: Well, I think we — the best way to hold people accountable in this country is through the election process.

BLITZER: That is the best way to get -- in other words, from your perspective, to get rid of the incumbent administration and move on. But you don't want to see any formal charges or a trial...

CARTER: No, I don't think so. I think that would be inappropriate. That has been done in some cases, as you know, but I don't think it is appropriate at all.

Regarding leaving Iraq and Republicans wanting “to stay there permanently”:

BLITZER: So on this issue, you disagree with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

CARTER: Absolutely. We ought to get out earlier than 2013.

BLITZER: How quickly do you think the U.S., realistically, could withdraw all 168,000 troops from Iraq?

CARTER: I think over an 18-month period, we could be totally out, if that's our desire, but I never have seen anybody in this current administration or the Republican candidates advocate that we ever get out of Iraq. I think they want to stay there permanently.]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:35:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/266245 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/261743
If the blood-drenched history of the century just past had taught American academics one thing, it should have been that the totalitarian impulse knows no accommodation with reason. You cannot change the totalitarian mind through dialogue or conversation, because totalitarianism -- however ingenious the superstructure of faux ideas with which it surrounds itself -- is a creature of the will and not the mind. That's a large lesson, but what should have made Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia University this week a wholly avoidable debacle was the school's knowledge of its own, very specific history.

In the 1930s, Columbia was run by Nicholas Murray Butler, to whose name a special sort of infamy attaches. Butler was an outspoken admirer of Italian fascism and of its leader, Benito Mussolini. The Columbia president, who also was in the forefront of Ivy League efforts to restrict Jewish enrollment, worked tirelessly to build ties between his school and Italian universities, as well as with the powerful fascist student organizations. At one point, a visiting delegation of 350 ardent young Black Shirts serenaded Butler with the fascist anthem.

Butler also was keen to establish connections with Nazi Germany and its universities. In 1933, he invited Hans Luther, Adolf Hitler's ambassador to the United States, to lecture on the Columbia campus. Luther stressed Hitler's "peaceful intentions" toward his European neighbors, and, afterward, Butler gave a reception in his honor. As the emissary of "a friendly people," Luther was "entitled to be received with the greatest courtesy and respect," the Columbia president said at the time.

It was such a transparently appalling performance all around that one of the anonymous authors of the New York Times' "Topics of the Times" column put tongue in cheek and looked forward to the occasion when "the Nazi leaders will point out that they were all along opposed to any measures capable of being construed as unjust to any element in the German population or as a threat to peace in Europe."

Arrogance, though, is invincible -- even to irony.

Three years later, Butler sent a delegation of Columbia dignitaries to participate in anniversary celebrations at the University of Heidelberg. That was after Heidelberg had purged all the Jewish professors from its faculty, reformed its curriculum according to Nazi educational theories and publicly burned the unapproved books in its libraries.

It would be interesting to know if any consideration of these events -- and all that followed a decade of engagement and dialogue with fascism -- occurred before Columbia extended a speaking invitation to a man who hopes to see Israel "wiped off the face of the Earth," has denied the Holocaust and is defying the world community in pursuit of nuclear weapons. Perhaps they did and perhaps that's part of what motivated Lee Bollinger, Columbia's president now, to deliver his extraordinarily ill-advised welcoming remarks to Ahmadinejad.

Bollinger clearly had an American audience in mind when he denounced the Iranian leader to his face as a "cruel" and "petty dictator" and described his Holocaust denial as designed to "fool the illiterate and the ignorant." Bollinger's remarks may have taken him off the hook with his domestic critics, but when it came to the international media audience that really counted, Ahmadinejad already had carried the day. The invitation to speak at Columbia already had given him something totalitarian demagogues -- who are as image-conscious as Hollywood stars -- always crave: legitimacy. Bollinger's denunciation was icing on the cake, because the constituency the Iranian leader cares about is scattered across an Islamic world that values hospitality and its courtesies as core social virtues. To that audience, Bollinger looked stunningly ill-mannered; Ahmadinejad dignified and restrained.

Back in Tehran, Mohsen Mirdamadi, a leading Iranian reformer and Ahmadinejad opponent, said Bollinger's blistering remarks "only strengthened" the president back home and "made his radical supporters more determined," According to an Associated Press report, "Many Iranians found the comments insulting, particularly because in Iranian traditions of hospitality, a host should be polite to a guest, no matter what he thinks of him. To many, Ahmadinejad looked like the victim, and hard-liners praised the president's calm demeanor during the event, saying Bollinger was spouting a 'Zionist' line."

All of this was bad enough, but the almost willful refusal of commentators in the American media to provide their audiences with insight into just how sinister Ahmadinejad really is compounded the problem. There are a couple of reasons for the media's general refusal to engage with radical Islamic revivalists, like Ahmadinejad. He belongs to a particularly aggressive school of radical Shiite Islam, the Haghani, which lives in expectation of the imminent coming of the Madhi, a kind of Islamic messiah, who will bring peace and justice -- along with universal Islamic rule -- to the entire world. Serious members of this school -- and Ahmadinejad, who was a brilliant university student, is a very serious member -- believe they must act to speed the Mahdi's coming. "The wave of the Islamic revolution" would soon "reach the entire world," he has promised.

As a fundamentally secular institution, the American press always has had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that Islamists like the Iranian president mean what they say and that they really do believe what they say they believe.

Finally, there's the fact that the neoconservative remnants clustered around Vice President Dick Cheney are beating the drums for a preemptive military action against Iran before it becomes a nuclear nation, as North Korea already has, thereby constraining U.S. policy in northwest Asia. After being duped by the Bush administration into helping pave the way for the disastrous war in Iraq, few in the American media now are willing to take the Iran problem on because they don't want to be complicit in another military misadventure.

Fair enough -- but that anxiety doesn't exempt the press from being realistic about who Ahmadinejad really is and the danger he really does pose to all around him.
]]> Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:01:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/261743 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/253761
A former travelling preacher, he began using television to reach his audience in the 1950s and by the 1970s was known across the globe for his services.

Among the admirers of his Cathedral of Tomorrow broadcasts was Elvis Presley and Mr Humbard spoke at the American superstar's funeral in 1977.

"He was the ultimate role model in showing love and caring about other people over and above himself," grandson Rex Humbard III said in tribute.

Vast audience

The son of preachers, Mr Humbard saw the potential of television from early, making his first broadcast in 1949.

"The vast majority of people do not go to church and the only way we can reach them is through TV," he explained in his book Miracles in My Life. "We must go into their homes - into their hearts - to bring them the gospel of Jesus Christ."

He eventually built his 5,000-seat non-denominational Cathedral of Tomorrow, where he was joined in a programme of preaching and music by his gospel singer wife Maude Aimee.

Regular performers on his shows included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Johnny and June Cash.

By the end of the 1970s his programmes were not only broadcast to millions of viewers across the US, but all around the world too.

Hundreds of thousands of people also filled stadiums to hear his message first hand. In 1979 1.2 million people turned out to see him on a tour of Brazil.


]]> Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:47:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/253761 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333 http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/251431 The new iPod Touch from Apple (AAPL) is in a class by itself. It's like an iPhone, only without the phone. It's a music player, though not your best choice if that's what you're looking for. It's a wonderful video player and Web browser, despite certain limitations. Most important, it's beautiful, and I bet it sells like crazy, even at $299 for an 8-gigabyte version and $399 for 16GB.

The Touch screams out for comparison to the iPhone, which costs the same as the 16GB version but offers half the storage. The new iPod has the same general appearance, with a similar 3.5-in. display, but is shorter, noticeably thinner, and features the iPod's trademark polished metal back. Its basic software is the same as the iPhone's, though tweaked in some interesting ways. And Wi-Fi is the only wireless option. That means no voice service, but also no commitment to pay ATT (T) at least $1,400 over a two-year contract.

Although it's called an iPod, for music, the iPod Classic, at $249 for 80GB, is much more capacious, and the newly video-enabled Nano, $149 for 4GB, is much cheaper. Besides, devices optimized for one function—playing music—do it better than the most elegant multipurpose product. The lack of dedicated volume-control buttons on the Touch is especially annoying.

Flash-Challenged
The chief attraction of the Touch is the Web browser which technology is shared with the iPhone and is by far the best on any handheld device. None of the others let you magnify or shrink the contents of a large Web page by spreading or pinching your thumb and index finger, or drag a page just by touching the screen. But the Touch shares a major defect with the iPhone: the inability to play Adobe (ADBE) Flash, which prevents many videos and Web pages from displaying properly, or at all. This would be easy to fix if Apple would just do it.

Wi-Fi can also be used to download music, but not videos, directly from the iTunes store. (The same capability has been added to the iPhone.) And the Touch can view a selection of videos from YouTube (GOOG). But the iPhone's weather and stock-price applications have been left off the new device. And with no phone service, there's no text messaging, other than resorting to Web-based chat programs.

E-mail is a much bigger omission. You can use the browser to reach Web services such as Hotmail, but they are hard to navigate on the small screen. The iPhone's mail application, while not great, is much better than this. Apple apparently believes you should buy an iPhone if you want real e-mail.

This Is Not a Phone
Don't even think about using the Touch's Wi-Fi for a Skype-like phone service. Programmers often figure out how to add applications, as they have to the iPhone. But Apple has made sure hackers won't turn the Touch into a phone. It has neither an audio input jack nor Bluetooth wireless, so there's no way to connect a microphone.

With the Touch, you're also getting about half a personal digital assistant. You can download your calendar from Microsoft (MSFT) Outlook, but you cannot edit or add appointments, nor can you get updates over Wi-Fi. Contacts are a different, happier story: You can add, delete, or edit those synced with Yahoo! (YHOO) or Outlook.

Apple's marketing mavens are very clever folks, and I'm sure that all of the decisions about what to include and what to leave off result from careful calculations. The omissions I've described probably won't make a dent in the soon-to-be explosive sales of the Touch. Still, it's a shame Apple has delivered such a beautiful and well-conceived piece of hardware with locked-down software that makes it far less useful than it could be.]]> Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:04:00 EDT http://HUMES23.tigblog.org/post/251431 37.7750000 -122.418333337.7750000-122.4183333