By JAIME ARON
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Bill Parcells keeps coming up with humiliating ways to describe the Dallas Cowboys.
Not only are they stupid, as he repeatedly called them following a crushing loss to Cincinnati, he said Monday that this season's team exasperates him more than any he's ever coached.
"This is the only team I can ever remember having that I can't get to respond in the right way no matter how hard I try," Parcells said. "I feel like I'm having trouble with elementary things. Either I'm not communicating right or they're not paying enough attention. One of the two, and I assume it's me."
Perhaps it's his approach. Parcells said the only thing he's done differently from his previous 16 seasons is that he's been nicer - during the week maybe, but not in brutal postgame comments like "we're too stupid," as he said Sunday.
"I have not been hammering them," he said. "I have been encouraging them the whole way. ... Anyone can judge the wisdom of the decision by the result."
After overachieving and making the playoffs last season, Dallas (3-5) is underachieving this season. A 26-3 loss to the Bengals on Sunday was a perfect example - yet it's only the latest, replacing a 41-20 loss to Green Bay two weeks before as the biggest embarrassment.
Parcells had been telling players for weeks that if they came out of the Cincinnati game 4-4 they could still make the playoffs. His theory was that if they beat the teams they were supposed to (like the Bengals) and some they weren't (like the next foe, Philadelphia), they could start moving up the standings while the front-runners came back to the pack.
Part of the problem Sunday was that players seemed to think all they had to do to win was show up. Parcells said he could sense during warmups that they weren't ready.
"It looked like we had looked at the film on Cincinnati and decided how hard we had to play and it was a misjudgment," Parcells said. "To be lethargic in a game like that means they don't understand the situation, they don't understand the opportunity. They don't understand what the league is about, how this season is unfolding and where we are."
The Bengals played down to Dallas' low expectations, leading only 9-3 at halftime despite recovering three turnovers. The Cowboys opened the second half knowing they were lucky to be within a touchdown of the lead and reached the Cincinnati 23 on their first drive.
Then came consecutive penalties on third down, pushing Dallas out of field-goal range. The defense gave up a 76-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive and the game was essentially over.
"We self-destructed," Parcells said.
Among the exasperating examples Parcells listed were plays that had been worked on repeatedly in practice. Some of them are basic football, too, such as how to down a punt.
"That kind of thing just doesn't seem to get through to them," he said.
It doesn't help that many of the breakdowns are coming from players who should know better. Such as those ill-timed penalties called on Larry Allen (false start) and Vinny Testaverde (intentional grounding). Testaverde also threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and was stopped on fourth-and-inches at the Cincinnati 22 on the game-opening drive.
Testaverde said several of his turnovers came while trying to force things. For instance, the pickoffs all came on balls intended for Keyshawn Johnson, the only healthy veteran receiver.
Testaverde also blamed himself for the team being emotionally flat.
"It's my job when I see that to get them going," he said. "I did a poor job of that."
Safety Roy Williams said he was upset that even when something good happened, the team couldn't sustain any momentum.
"When we make plays, we're excited, then we fall back into work mode," Williams said. "It should be fun. Right now, we're not having fun on the field."
Despite it all, Parcells is not ready to give up on this season. That means he's sticking with Testaverde and not turning to backup Drew Henson, the former Michigan star who spent the last three years playing baseball in the New York Yankees organization.
"Why would you at this point in time take an unproven guy ... and throw him into this?" he said. "Only foolish people would ask the question right now."
Parcells also was dismissive of owner Jerry Jones' postgame comment that the two of them would be discussing personnel changes.
"Jerry's not making the personnel changes," he said. "I am."
Parcells added not to expect many.
"The options," he said, "are not available." ^Extra points:@ S Darren Woodson likely will be given semi-active status Tuesday to avoid going on injured reserve. Woodson will have three weeks to join the roster or be done for the season. He's not yet ready to practice, though, making his return unlikely. ... C Gennaro DiNapoli, who like Woodson has been on the physically unable to perform list, is headed for IR. ... The only injury Sunday was S Keith Davis, the team's top special teams player, hurting his hip. It's not serious.
It seems logical to get someone else in there since it is not working out with Testaverde after all. What do they have to lose? They are doing terrible this season. Now would be a good time to let someone else take the helm and get some practice in for next season.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minnesota is the nation's healthiest state, while Louisiana is the least healthy, a ranking it has held for 14 of the last 15 years of a national survey, officials said.
The annual report sponsored by the United Health Foundation weighs such factors as health insurance coverage, heart disease rates, total and infant mortality rates, the rate of motor vehicle deaths, high school graduation rates, childhood poverty, and public health spending.
"To rank well, you have to demonstrate success across the board," said Dr. Reed Tuckson, an official with the St. Paul-based United Health Foundation.
Since the rankings began in 1990, Minnesota has finished first nine out of 15 times, and never sunk lower than No. 2. Last year, it tied for first with New Hampshire.
This year New Hampshire came in second and Vermont third. Finishing at the bottom were Tennessee, Mississippi and in last place, Louisiana.
The nation's health showed improvement in the 1990s, with better public health spending and public education, and decreases in smoking, cardiovascular deaths and violent crime. But there's been little improvement nationwide since 2000 - primarily because of the spike in obesity rates, Tucker said.
Since 1990, the number of obese adults has almost doubled, to 22 percent.
The United Health Foundation is a nonprofit foundation established by UnitedHealth Group, the Minneapolis-based insurance company, to support public health and the work of doctors and other health providers around the country. The group undertakes the yearly study as a joint effort with the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention.
I'm thinking ole Ken is going to lose on Jeapordy tomorrow...
by Lisa
why else would College Jeopardy start on Novemeber 10 in the middle of the week..I went to the Jeopardy site and they usually show all the contestants for the upcoming week..but they are only showing the college ones..hmmm...
and every time I hear the rumors I'm a little bit leary..the last one I heard was the November 9th one..and I think it might be right..wouldn't surprise me if the people at Jeapordy are throwing these out there..lol
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A woman faces charges of having sex with an 8-year-old boy whom investigators said she considered her boyfriend.
Tammy Imre, 29, was arrested Friday and charged with sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. A judge set bond at $250,000 Monday.
Police began investigating in September after the third-grader's mother discovered a letter Imre had written him, in which she tells the boy she doesn't "want anyone but you."
She continued: "Now tomorrow it's supposed to rain, you can come over we can (you know what). Love ya! I want you!"
Police said the boy, the playmate of Imre's 7-year-old daughter, initially denied doing anything with Imre because he feared getting into trouble. He later told police he had sexual intercourse with her and that she gave him a key to her apartment.
Police said Imre, who is divorced, told investigators she planned to marry the boy someday. Nobody answered the door at Imre's home Monday.
If convicted, Imre could serve more than 20 years in prison. A trial date has not been set.
Plot:
Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman (The Hours) stars in "Birth" as Anna, a young widow who is finally getting on with her life after the death of her husband, Sean.
Now engaged to be married, Anna meets a ten year-old boy (Cameron Bright) who tells her he is Sean reincarnated. Though his story is both unsettling and absurd, Anna can’t get the boy out of her mind.
And much to the concern of her fiancée (Danny Huston), her increased contact with him leads her to question the choices she has made in her life. Birth, a dramatic mystery set in New York’s Upper East Side, is directed by Jonathan Glazer, who burst on the scene with the acclaimed Sexy Beast.
Isreal makes plan for Arafat's burial in Gaza Palestinians
by BDB
Israel makes plans for Arafat's burial in Gaza
Palestinians, who want leader buried in Jerusalem, say it's inappropriate to talk about plans while Arafat is still alive
By Craig Nelson and Don Melvin
INTERNATIONAL STAFF
Monday, November 8, 2004
JERUSALEM -- Israel said Sunday that it had completed arrangements to bury Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the Gaza Strip, not in Jerusalem as Palestinians wish.
With the 75-year-old lingering in intensive care at a military hospital outside Paris, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told a meeting of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet in Jerusalem that Israeli security officials were awaiting only the formal request of Palestinian authorities to carry out their plan for a Gaza funeral.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat criticized the Israeli plan in principle.
"I think it's inappropriate to speak about burying people when they're still alive," Erekat said. "I urge the Israelis to show some sensitivity."
The plan calls for allowing foreign dignitaries to fly directly to the Gaza Strip for Arafat's funeral and permitting representatives of Arab countries who do not have diplomatic relations with Israel to bypass border controls.
Sharon insists that Arafat cannot be buried in Jerusalem, which Jews, Muslims and Christians consider holy and both Israel and the Palestinians regard as their capital.
Israel captured eastern Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War and, in a move that has not been recognized internationally, declared the whole city its undivided capital.
Israeli officials say permitting Arafat's burial in Jerusalem might be interpreted by Palestinians as a tacit acknowledgement that they have political rights there. They also fear that Arafat's grave would become -- as Zalman Shoval, a senior aide to Sharon, put it Sunday -- a "pilgrimage destination for the enemies of Israel."
The burial dispute heated up Friday when Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told an Israeli TV station that Jerusalem should be reserved for the burial of Jewish kings, not an "Arab terrorist."
The same day, Ikrema Sabri, grand mufti of Jerusalem, said Arafat told him four months ago that he wanted to be laid to rest in Jerusalem's Old City at what Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif and Jews call the Temple Mount.
Shoval denied Sunday that the government was waging a public relations battle.
"The Palestinians understand that as a Muslim, Arafat must be buried quickly and the Gaza Strip is the most suitable place," the former Israeli ambassador to Washington said.
Arafat's clan is originally from Gaza, and though he grew up in Jerusalem and Cairo, the family has a small plot of about 30 graves in a weed-choked cemetery in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
A funeral in Gaza would pose a security nightmare for Palestinian officials. Large swaths of the coastal strip have been destroyed by Israeli forces in recent months, and factional fighting between rival Palestinian factions has broken out regularly in anticipation of Israel's proposed withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza next year.
cnelson@coxnews.com
dmelvin@coxnews.com
This article contains material from wire services.
WASHINGTON — President Bush in his second term "absolutely" would push for a constitutional amendment that says marriage consists only of the union of a man and a woman, White House political adviser Karl Rove said.
Bush believes states can deal with the issue of civil unions between gay people, an arrangement that if enacted would grant same-sex partners most or all the rights available to married couples, Rove said on "Fox News Sunday."
But a national ban on same-sex marriage is the only way to make sure "activist judges" don't redefine marriage, he said.
As for the Supreme Court, Rove said Bush would nominate only judges who would "strictly apply the law, strictly interpret the Constitution" from the bench.
"He views judges as the impartial umpires," Rove said. "They shouldn't be activist legislators who just happen to wear robes and never face election, ... (who) feel free to pursue their own personal or political agenda."
Rove said Sen. Arlen Specter, the Republican in line to head the Senate Judiciary Committee, has assured the president that he would make certain that all appellate nominees receive a prompt hearing and reach the Senate floor.
___
November 8, 2004 - 9:13 a.m. CST
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published
LOS ANGELES — Howard Keel, who lent his good looks and rich baritone to such movie musicals as "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" before reinventing himself as the macho star of westerns and later aboard TV's "Dallas," has died.
Keel died Sunday morning of colon cancer at his home in Palm Desert, according to his son, Gunnar. He was 85.
Keel starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals in New York and London before being signed to an MGM contract after World War II. He became a star with his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun."
Keel's size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams ("Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival," "Jupiter's Darling"), Ann Blyth ("Rose Marie," "Kismet"), Kathryn Grayson ("Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At," "Kiss Me Kate") and Doris Day ("Calamity Jane"). His own favorite film was the exuberant "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
When film studios went into a slump, MGM's musical factory was disbanded. Keel kept busy on the road in such surefire attractions of "Man of La Mancha," "South Pacific," "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
Keel was in his early 60s and presumably nearing the end of his career when he suddenly became a star in another medium.
From its start in 1978, "Dallas" with its combination of oil, greed, sex and duplicity had become the hottest series in television. Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing, died in 1981, and the producers needed another strong presence to stand up to the nefarious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman). They chose Keel.
"The show was enormous," Keel reflected in 1995. "I couldn't believe it. My life changed again. From being out of it, I was suddenly a star, known to more people than ever before. Wherever I went, crowds appeared again, and I started making solo albums for the first time in my career."
As Clayton Farlow, husband of "Miss Ellie" Ewing, Keel remained with "Dallas" until it folded in 1991.
When Keel was born in Gillespie, Ill., his name was Harold Clifford Leek. His father, once a naval captain, became a coal miner and drank to soothe his bitterness. During drunken rages, he beat his children. His mother, a strict Methodist, forbade her two sons from having any entertainment.
"I had a terrible, rotten childhood," Keel commented in 1995. "My father made away with himself when I was 11. I had no guidance, and Mom was six feet tall, bucktoothed and very tough. I was mean and rebellious and had a terrible, bitter temper. I got a job as an auto mechanic, and I would have stayed in that narrow kind of life if I hadn't discovered art. Music changed me completely."
At 20 he was living in Los Angeles and he was taken to a Hollywood Bowl concert featuring famed baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel was inspired, and he started taking vocal lessons at 25 cents an hour. His first semiprofessional opportunity came as a singing waiter at the Paris Inn Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles at $15 a week and two meals a day.
He sang in recitals and opera programs and was summoned to an audition with Oscar Hammerstein II, who was looking for young singers to play Curly in the growing number of touring "Oklahoma!" companies. Hammerstein approved, and soon under a new name Howard Keel he was singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" in New York eight times a week. He played "Carousel" for eighteen months in London.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were notorious for underpaying their actors and denying them billing. Keel rankled at being paid $250 a week for the unbilled starring role in a sellout musical. As soon as his contract expired, he hurried back to Los Angeles.
Desperately in need of handsome, virile actors who could sing, MGM signed Keel to a contract that paid $850 a week.
He made it big in musicals, but also appeared in westerns: "Waco," "Red Tomahawk," "The War Wagon" (with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas) and "Arizona Bushwhackers."
Keel was married and then divorced twice: to actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children: Kaija, Kristine, Gunnar. In 1970 he married former airline stewardess Judy Magamoll. They had one daughter, Leslie.
He continued singing in the 1980s, explaining: "As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing (than act). There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good numbers to do and having a fine orchestra."
High school band director arrested for sexual assault
by bugs
high school band director arrested for sexual assault
BEAUMONT, Texas — The band director at an East Texas high school was in custody Monday after being arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child for allegedly having sex with male students.
James Allen Pelloat, 57, the band director at Newton High School, was arrested Sunday. He faces two charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Newton County Justice of the Peace A.J. Satterwhite set Pelloat's bond at $500,000 for each charge Monday. When asked if he wanted a court appointed attorney, Satterwhite said Pelloat told him he thought he would be able to hire his own attorney. Satterwhite said Monday afternoon he didn't know who would represent Pelloat.
Newton County Sheriff Wayne Powell told the Beaumont Enterprise that Pelloat remained at the Newton County Correctional Center Monday under a suicide watch.
"This has been a tremendous shock to the school and community," Newton Independent School District Superintendent Gene Isabell told the paper.
Isabell told The Associated Press Monday that Pelloat, who has worked at the school for four years, has been placed on administrative leave.
Man accused of holding athletes on bus at gunpoint
by bugs
Man accused of holding athletes on bus at gunpoint
Associated Press
ELLENTON, FLA. - A motel manager was accused of holding a bus of Special Olympics athletes at gunpoint after a dispute about where the group should park.
John Embry, 47, was charged with aggravated assault and false imprisonment and was being held Sunday without bail, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said.
Embry, manager of the Sleep Inn, was accused of holding the bus at gunpoint for 10 minutes Friday because he did not want the bus parked in the motel's small lot.
The competitors had returned to the hotel to change for a dance, dinner and awards ceremony. There were 19 athletes on board, ages 8 to 22, and nine adult chaperones.
Amie Dugan, a spokeswoman for Special Olympics Florida, said one person was taken to the hospital for unrelated chest pains.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A newspaper mistakenly published the telephone number of a sex talk service on the front page on its Election Day issue. The number was supposed to be for a national voter hot line.
"We didn't follow our policy of calling the number before publishing it," said Pat Yack, editor of The Florida Times-Union.
Yack said as soon as the mistake was learned, a correction was published on the newspaper's Web site and in the paper.
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Former NHL tough guy Mike Danton was sentenced today to 7 1/2 years in prison for trying to have his agent killed.
Danton, 24, said nothing as U.S. District Judge William Stiehl imposed the sentence on the former St. Louis Blues player.
"I do not believe in over 18 years on the bench I have been faced with a case as bizarre as this one," Stiehl said, noting that Danton chose a 19-year-old acquaintance and a police dispatcher as his would-be helpers in the murder plot.
Danton is expected to seek transfer to a prison in his native Canada. As for his hockey career, there is no parole in the federal system and, the judge noted, Danton may not be allowed to return to the United States after completing his sentence.
Danton pleaded guilty July 16 to murder conspiracy charges. Prosecutors said he tried to hire a hit man to kill David Frost, his agent and Canadian youth hockey coach.
Authorities said Danton and Frost had argued over Danton's alleged promiscuity and alcohol use, and Danton feared Frost would tell the St. Louis Blues' front office about his behavior.
A federal jury on Sept. 20 acquitted Katie Wolfmeyer, 19, of Florissant, Mo., of charges she helped Danton in the plot.
ATLANTA (AP) - A trial opened Monday over whether a warning sticker in suburban Atlanta biology textbooks that says evolution is "a theory, not a fact" violates the separation of church and state by promoting religion.
The case is one of several battles that have been waged in recent years in the Bible Belt over what role evolution should play in science books.
Cobb County schools put the disclaimers in biology texts two years ago after more than 2,000 parents complained the books presented evolution as fact without mentioning rival ideas about the origin of life, namely creationism.
A group of parents and the American Civil Liberties Union then filed a lawsuit over the stickers. "It's like saying everything that follows this sticker isn't true," said Jeffrey Selman, a parent who filed the lawsuit.
The sticker reads, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
A lawyer for the school district, Linwood Gunn, said the sticker was meant to "encourage critical thinking" and said it did not imply that evolution was wrong. Gunn said it was silly to consider the stickers a promotion of religion.
"It doesn't say anything about faith. It doesn't say anything about religion," he said.
But U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper asked Gunn why it is necessary to have a sticker clarify evolution as a theory. "Why put a sticker on the book when that's already in the book?"
Gunn replied that school board members were simply trying to accommodate all views.
The first witness, parent Marjorie Rogers, started the drive to put the stickers in the books. She said it was only fair to put a small disclaimer in a textbook where religious-based ideas about the origin of life are not mentioned.
"I don't want the Bible taught in the classroom. But there is a wealth of science that would support intelligent design, and that is not taught," she said. "There should be a marketplace of ideas."
The judge also heard from a science teacher who said some students point to the sticker and argue evolution is "just a theory." The sticker "diminishes the status of evolution among all other theories," said teacher Wes McCoy. "I was worried. I didn't want college admission counselors thinking less of their science educations, thinking they hadn't been taught evolution or something."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that creationism was a religious belief that could not be taught in public schools along with evolution.
The theory of evolution says evidence shows current species of life evolved over time from earlier forms and that natural selection determines which species survive. Creationism credits the origin of species to God.
The trial, which will be decided by the judge, is expected to last several days.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas teachers have been told they can continue to reward students with candy, despite a state battle against childhood obesity in schools.
The Pulaski County School District had told elementary school principals last month that teachers could no longer hand out candy or ice cream as rewards.
But state Education Department director Ken James said no such directive has been approved by the state Board of Education.
"We need to be conscious of what we are doing in terms of sugar content, but we have not dictated to schools that they cannot use those as rewards," James said.
As a result, the district told teachers last week that they could resume handing out candy. The directive was based on a misunderstanding of a new law, officials said.
The law requires schools to calculate the body mass index for each student and bars access to vending machines for elementary school students.
think now, they deserve something for doing what they are supposed to.
A group of parents have told my kids principal not to include their kid in reward time. They insist they should know how to walk in the hall quietly etc., if they don't then teach them, don't reward them.
Judge Urges Jurors to Keep an Open Mind in Deliberations
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, AP
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Nov. 8) - In a sign of possible discord in the jury room, the judge in Scott Peterson's murder case lectured the panel Monday about the importance of deliberating with an open mind.
''Do not hesitate to change your opinion for the purpose of reaching a verdict if you can do so,'' Judge Alfred A. Delucchi said after summoning jurors to the courtroom just an hour and half after they resumed deliberations.
''The attitude and conduct of jurors at all times is very important,'' he added. ''It is rarely helpful for a juror at the beginning of deliberations to express an emphatic opinion on the case.''
The jurors listened with serious, even grim expressions before they were sent back into the jury room to deliberate.
It was not immediately clear what led to the judge's instructions, but trial observers speculated jurors are beginning to reach a deadlock.
''They're stuck,'' said Jim Hammer, a former prosecutor and trial regular. The judge ''clearly has indications that they're beginning to hang.''
Earlier Monday, Delucchi denied a defense motion for a mistrial after jurors examined the boat prosecutors claim Peterson used to dispose of his wife's body.
Defense lawyer Mark Geragos claimed jurors violated the judge's orders by doing ''a juror experiment'' when several panelists got inside the boat and rocked it from side to side.
The defense has argued that it would have been nearly impossible for Peterson to have heaved his wife's 153-pound body over the edge of the boat without tipping.
As an alternative to a mistrial, Geragos asked the judge to show jurors a videotaped experiment performed by the defense apparently showing that the boat would have tipped. Delucchi denied the motion.
Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried. Prosecutors claim Peterson killed Laci around Dec. 24, 2002, then sunk her weighted body in the bay.
Defense lawyers claim someone else abducted Laci and killed her, then framed her husband.
The sequestered jury began deliberations Wednesday and recessed for the weekend. Jurors were monitored in a hotel where they could watch only sports and movies on television, and could use a computer without access to the Internet. They were forbidden from discussing the case.
Jurors have two choices should they decide to convict Peterson - first- or second-degree murder. First-degree convictions, carrying the death penalty of life without parole, would mean jurors believe Peterson planned the killings in advance. Second-degree murder convictions don't require a finding of premeditation, and carry sentences of 15-years-to-life for each count.
Also Monday, the presiding judge of the courthouse ruled against media attorneys who were seeking to have cameras stationed about 40 feet down a hallway from the courtroom. Last week, Delucchi banned television and still cameras from the courtroom for the verdict, but said he would allow a live audio broadcast.
Peterson juror literally rocks boat -- Oh my %&#@^^
by jsp
Scott Peterson's lawyer asked for a mistrial this morning after at least one juror got inside Peterson's fishing boat and tried to rock it back and forth on its trailer to determine whether it would capsize if Peterson tried to throw wife Laci Peterson's body into the bay.
Judge Alfred Delucchi rejected the request and also denied Mark Geragos' second attempt to let jurors see for the first time a videotaped demonstration he did showing that a 14-foot Gamefisher would flip if someone tried to throw a 153-pound body over the side with cement anchors attached to it.
Jurors are in the fourth day of deliberations in the highly publicized case, in which Peterson is accused of murdering his wife and unborn son in December 2002. Prosecutors believe the former fertilizer salesman killed her, put her body in the boat and dumped it in the bay. Peterson's lawyer contends his client is innocent and that Laci Peterson was killed by someone else as Peterson was fishing on San Francisco Bay. Her body washed ashore months after her disappearance, not far from where Peterson contends he was fishing from his boat. Geragos has argued that the real murderer put the body in the bay to frame Peterson, whose alibi had been widely reported.
Jurors had asked to see the boat on Friday, and actually viewed it this morning in a storage area near the Redwood City courthouse, with Peterson as well as lawyers from both sides and the judge present.
Delucchi later said in court that he told jurors to remember that a boat's stability would be different on a trailer than on the water. He told Geragos that he believed jurors could walk away from the boat with mixed feelings. ``This works both ways,'' Delucchi said. ``This could work for the prosecution or the defense.''
In open court this morning, the judge said he gave jurors permission to get inside the boat, but he presumed they wanted to lie down in it to see whether Laci Peterson's body could have been stowed on the bottom. Delucchi seemed surprised that at least one juror began to rock back and forth.
Geragos said he had ``strenuous and vigorous opposition'' to jurors getting in the boat and rocking it because that amounted to a test or demonstration, not just viewing the evidence.
Jurors have so far asked to re-examine more than two dozen pieces of evidence, including the boat.
Peterson jurors might be having trouble reaching verdict
by jsp
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Jurors in Scott Peterson's trial are apparently struggling to reach a verdict.
After meeting behind closed doors with attorneys, Judge Alfred Delucchi summoned the six-man, six-woman panel into his courtroom Monday morning and reminded them that they had a duty to work together to decide whether Peterson is guilty in the murders of his pregnant wife, Laci, and unborn son.
"Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but you do so only after discussing the evidence ... with other jurors," Delucchi said. He then reinstructed them in the law that applies to deliberations.
Delucchi did not say what prompted the reinstruction, but typically judges do so if jurors say they are deadlocked or that one or more panelists are refusing to deliberate in good faith.
Story continues
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The jury is in its fourth day of deliberations, and Delucchi opened his remarks to the jury by emphasizing their long investment of time.
"We've been here for five and a half months and we're now in the deliberative process," he said.
He then slowly read them a paragraph from the state's official jury instructions entitled "How Jurors Should Approach Their Tasks," one of the dozens of jury instructions he gave them last week before they entered the jury room.
"Now, this is important for you now," he said.
"The attitude and conduct of jurors at all times are very important. It is rarely helpful for a juror at the beginning of deliberations to express an emphatic opinion on the case or to announce a determination to stand for a certain verdict. When one does that at the outset, a sense of pride may be aroused, and one may hesitate to change a position even if shown it is wrong. Remember that you are not partisans or advocates in this matter. You are impartial judges of the facts," he read.
Jurors appeared tired, but attentive as the judge read the instruction. They did not look at each other, nor around the court and quickly filed out when he finished.
"We'll see what develops now," the judge told the lawyers and Peterson after the panel left.
The hearing came about two hours after the jury inspected the 14-foot fishing boat that prosecutors allege Peterson used to dump his wife's body in the bay.
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9:00pm: "Nailed" - Advances in forensic science and DNA testing enable police to nail the killer.
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9:30pm: "A Touching Recollection" - A kidnapping victim memorizes clues to catch her abductor.
Psychic Detectives
10:00pm: "Strange Obsession" - A psychic has to deliver the news that a missing woman is dead, but she is also able to see the man who killed her.
I, Detective
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House of Clues
11:00pm: Premiere Episode of the New Season! Special Guest Omarosa from Television's "The Apprentice."
11:47 a.m.: REDWOOD CITY - Jurors in Scott Peteron’s double-murder trial appeared this morning to be at an impasse.
Judge Alfred Delucchi brought in the panel at about 10:35 a.m. and re-instructed them on certain areas of the law, including that “the attitude and the conduct of jurors at all times is very important” and that is was not helpful for jurors to initially “express an emphatic opinion on a case.”
The six men and six women on the jury, who have been deliberating since Wednesday afternoon, where then instructed to continue deliberating.
After they left the courtroom, Delucchi said he would read the jury an instruction from another case in which the jury initially was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on one of two counts, and the court further instructed the jury in an attempt to break the deadlock.
“We’ll see what develops,” Delucchi said. “We’ll be in recess until we hear from the jury.”
“They clearly sent out a note,” said former San Francisco prosecutor James Hammer, who observed the proceeding. “The judge has some indication they’re beginning to hang.”
Earlier this morning, Delucchi denied a defense motion for a mistrial after two jurors stood in Peterson’s fishing boat during an evidence viewing.
The jurors tried to rock the boat from side to side, defense attorney Mark Geragos said, apparently trying to test its stability. Geragos contends Peterson couldn’t have dumped his wife’s body overboard without capsizing the 14-foot aluminum vessel.
Short of a mistrial, Geragos this morning also requested that jurors be allowed to see a videotaped defense demonstration where a similar boat apparently flips when a simulated body is pushed over the side.
“I don’t want a mistrial,” Geragos said at one point. “I want to show the demonstration.”
Delucchi didn’t allow the video to be shown during testimony, and refused this morning to show it to the jury.
Delucchi said he had admonished the jury this morning that the boat was on a trailer, which affected the stability and did not accurately reflect water conditions. Jurors had asked to see the boat Friday; they viewed it this morning in a secure facility near the courthouse.
“Some of the jurors wanted to be able to sit in the boat,” Delucchi said. “I didn’t know they were going to jump up and down on the boat.”
Delucchi had ordered the jury not to conduct any experiments with evidence. Jurors in any criminal trial are precluded from testing evidence. Prosecutor Birgit Fladager argued that the jurors’ actions this morning did not amount to a demonstration or experiment.
At trial, prosecutors showed the jury photos of a woman roughly Laci Peterson’s size who could fit in the boat and not easily be seen.
Prosecutors contend Scott Peterson murdered his pregnant wife late Dec. 23 or early Dec. 24, 2002, attached homemade concrete anchors to her body and dumped her in San Francisco Bay, using a fishing trip as cover.
Police had discussed conducting an experiment in which a simulated body with concrete weights attached would be thrown from the boat, but they did not do it, detectives acknowledged at trial. The defense maintains that the results of any such experiment, even if it failed, would have had to be turned over to it.
In a separate hearing this morning, presiding San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Robert Forcum denied a media request to have a still camera and television camera outside in the hallway outside the courtroom when the verdict is read.
Delucchi earlier denied a media request to have a camera in the courtroom when the verdict is read, citing privacy concerns for family members.
keeps charges against him they can try him...if there is a mis-trial then they can retry him..if the jury finds him not guilty then he can write a book saying he killed her and no one can do anything..it's up to the prosecutors whether or not he will be retried in case of a mistrial...
has spent on this trial already...will they be willing to retry him or will they offer him a nice plea bargain? I think he is going to get off pretty easy either way.
Iraqi dentist reports on election fever in Iraq, mainstream media never reports this stuff
by Rosemary
Healing Iraq.blogspot.com
Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentist
Onset of Elections Fever in Iraq
I mentioned before in a previous post that a significant section of Iraqis seemed uninterested in the forthcoming national elections for various reasons, but that the general feeling in Kurdistan and southern Iraq was a bit different. My statement still holds true except that the last part of it is a gross understatement; Iraqis here in the south are ardently making preparations on all levels for the event, almost with religious zeal.
Posters with detailed instructions on voters registration are on every street corner and lamp post in Basrah, badly printed handbills and leaflets calling for people to vote are widely circulated, photocopied statements and fatwas from the Marji'iya and Hawza clerics in support for elections are hanging in stores, hospitals, governmental departments, and coffee shops. City councils, municipalities, civil society organisations, mosques and husseiniyas are all arranging and holding meetings to prepare for the voting procedures.
People in Baghdad and the surrounding areas may say that elections are irrelevant or that the outcome has already been decided by Zionists/infidels/neocons/imperialists/capitalists/Jews and that puppets/agents/lackeys/mercenaries/traitors will rule the country, but for the people around me here in Basrah, this is a historical moment they have all been waiting for. I admit that I may not share their enthusiasm but it is surely an encouraging scene to witness.
While many people in Baghdad still have no idea about the voting process or what/who they are supposed to be voting for, our janitor here at the doctors residence meticulously described the whole procedure to me. Many in Baghdad, for example, still erroneously believe that voting will be for presidential candidates, whereas people here are aware that they would be voting to elect a 275 member National Assembly and governorate councils, and that Iraqi Kurds, in addition, vote to elect Kurdish parliament members.
I observed that many posters on the streets in support for elections contained some inappropriate and insinuating slogans, such as "A small minority is trying to deny the right of the majority to choose its destiny. Vote and show the intruders who the true Iraqis are," and "Ba'athist remnants and people of the evil triangle oppose the elctions because it will demonstrate to all their true numbers."
A recent statement from Sistani advised local councils and clerics to help educate and assist people in distant villages to register for the voting. The statement also called for "people with disabilities, and even the elderly on their death beds" to vote because "every person counts and can influence the elections."
The Hawza also welcomed the decision to include Iraqis in exile in the elections. Some heated debates have been going on in Iraqi official circles on whether to include them or not. The Independent Electoral Commission claimed that there were a few technical difficulties. The National Council agreed on a further 90 billion dollars to the budget allocated for elections to ensure participation of Iraqi expatriates.
At least 4 million Iraqis live in exile with the majority living in the UK, Sweden, USA, Germany, Jordan, UAE, Iran and New Zealand. Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Syria, Libya and Yemen also have sizable Iraqi communities. Their votes have a significant importance since many of them are highly educated and have experienced western democracies firsthand.
Arafat dying of AIDS.....details about his sex life, yikes! way more than I needed to know
by rosemary
Suspicions grow that Arafat is dying of AIDS
November 6, 2004
Former White House speechwriter David Frum has joined the growing chorus of pundits, medical experts, and intelligence operatives who claim Yasser Arafat is likely suffering from AIDS.
Frum, a key figure in Republican politics and the man who coined the terms "axis of evil," writes in National Review Online that Arafat's undisclosed illness is well-known, but has been kept under wraps by the mainstream media.
"Speaking of media bias, here's a question you won't hear in our big papers or on network TV: Does Yasser Arafat have AIDS?" asks Frum, who also writes for the National Post.
"We know he has a blood disease that is depressing his immune system. We know that he has suddenly dropped considerable weight -- possibly as much as one-third of all his body weight. We know that he is suffering intermittent mental dysfunction. What does this sound like?"
Earlier, John Loftus told John Batchelor on ABC radio on October 26 that Arafat is dying from AIDS. Loftus said the CIA has known this about Arafat for quite awhile and that as a result the US has encouraged Sharon not to take Arafat out because the US has known Arafat was about done. It was deemed better to have Arafat discredited as a homosexual.
Although homosexuality is rife in the Arab world, it is at least officially considered a sin and a crime, and regarded--especially in fundamentalist circles--as a mark of great shame and depravity.
Intelligence on "the tiger" romping with bodyguards
Frum pointed to KGB evidence linking Arafat to homosexual activities, citing a 1987 book by Lt.-Gen. Ion Pacepa, the deputy chief of Romania's intelligence service under Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
In his memoirs "Red Horizons," Pacepa relates a conversation in 1978 with Constantin Munteaunu, a general assigned to teach Arafat and the PLO techniques to deceive the West into granting the organization recognition.
"I just called the microphone monitoring center to ask about the 'Fedayee,'" Arafat's code name, explained Munteaunu. "After the meeting with the Comrade, he went directly to the guest house and had dinner. At this very moment, the 'Fedayee' is in his bedroom making love to his bodyguard. The one I knew was his latest lover. He's playing tiger again. The officer monitoring his microphones connected me live with the bedroom, and the squawling almost broke my eardrums. Arafat was roaring like a tiger, and his lover yelping like a hyena."
Munteaunu continued: "I've never before seen so much cleverness, blood and filth all together in one man." Munteaunu, wrote Pacepa, spent months pulling together secret reports from Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian intelligence agencies as well as Romanian files.
"I used to think I knew just about everything there was to know about Rahman al-Qudwa," Arafat's real name, "about the construction engineer who made a fortune in Kuwait, about the passionate collector of racing cars, about Abu Amman," Arafat's nom de guerre, "and about my friend Yasser, with all his hysterics," explained Munteaunu, handing Pacepa his final report on the PLO leader. "But I've got to admit that I didn't really know anything about him."
Pacepa wrote: "The report was indeed an incredible account of fanaticism, of devotion to his cause, of tangled oriental political maneuvers, of lies, of embezzled PLO funds deposited in Swiss banks, and of homosexual relationships, beginning with his teacher when he was a teen-ager and ending with his current bodyguards. After reading the report, I felt a compulsion to take a shower whenever I had been kissed by Arafat, or even just shaken his hand."
"If true, Arafat would have a great deal to conceal from his people and his murderously anti-homosexual supporters in the Islamic world," writes Frum, suggesting that Arafat was airlifted to France for medical treatment because he "could trust the French to protect his intimate secret."
The medical evidence adds up
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath Monday said that all types of cancer had been ruled out, and the latest news is that French doctors have ruled out poisoning.
Medical observers note that a low blood platelet count is a sign of a weakened immune system, and indeed last week there were reports of a complete collapse of Arafat's immune system. Other than the ruled-out cancer, the low count could be attributed to bleeding ulcers, colitis, liver disease, lupus, or HIV. It is believed that ulcers and colitis have already been ruled out.
Arafat has lost a considerable amount of body weight. Hopital d'Instruction des Armees de Percy, southwest of Paris, is known to have some of France's best HIV/AIDS doctors. Other medical experts note that Arafat's activities in recent weeks and months suggest the dementia that accompanies late-stage AIDS.
Medical authorities not connected directly to his case are suggesting that he may have HIV/AIDS. One doctor reported to an Israel Insider source that his suspicions have been growing for more than a year.
"I began to see tell tale signs of kaposis sarcoma. His Parkinsonian tremor was more than just a Parkinsonian tremor and he was also showing signs of weakness. The rumor about homosexuality/bisexuality has been around for decades. So I put two and two together when they started talking about his health over a year ago. The talk of a mysterious illness in this day and age should be a tip-off. He has some of the best physicians in the world attending to him. He can be diagnosed clinically, without perfoming any tests. All the doctors surrounding him know what he has. All this cloak and dagger about tests is a ruse. They understand the implications of divulging that he has HIV. If I were Suha I would be getting a little concerned."
If Arafat has AIDS, that would also explain Suha's reticence to allow the release of significant information about Arafat's condition, and the almost ludicrously tight-lipped reports of the French hospital spokesman, and the refusal of anyone connected with Arafat to hold a press conference in recent days.
The one I knew was his latest lover. He's playing tiger again. The officer monitoring his microphones connected me live with the bedroom, and the squawling almost broke my eardrums. Arafat was roaring like a tiger, and his lover yelping like a hyena."
RALPH NADER wants a re count???
PREVIOUS First Daughter Chelsea, who doesn't want publicity, doesn't want interviews, just hired p.r. man Howard Rubenstein. What she does want isn't clear. Clear only is what those around say she does well — write. . . . NOT in the film "Ray" is when p.r. man Saul Richfield asked Ray Charles to do a benefit for a school for the blind in Atlanta. With no direct flight from L.A., Ray Charles changed planes three time to make it. . . . WE just read that Danny Pelosi's sister would take the stand against him. Pay attention. My column on Monday, Nov. 1: "Next to shove it to Danny is his sister. Her statements will be damning. I'm told it's devastating testimony. Watch." . . . THE dairy aisle of Whole Foods Market on Columbus Circle. Johnny Depp and playwright Patricia Walsh-Smith discussing the Caron Foundation's Celebrity Benefit reading of her play "Addictions."
THEY'RE saying Colin Powell's resignation is already written. They're guessing he's already weighing a book deal, which could bring $10 million. Could. But probably won't. Why? Because Washington's big mouths — and even in our town they don't come bigger — say his son is with the FCC and Powell won't risk the son's government career. Translation: He keeps his own mouth and diaries and memories shut. That means his kid's job keeps him controlled. That means he doesn't tell what he could or would or should. That means a publisher will maybe only hand him a pitiful $3 mil.
LIFETIME TV, working with Equality Now in the "Stop Vio lence Against Women" campaign, is taping public service announcements with Meryl Streep, Marisa Tomei and Sarah Jones in advocating a range of issues affecting women and their families and highlighting injustices faced by women around the world. Lifetime, the leader in women's television, is spreading the message that both sexes must work together to stop violence before it starts.
NICOLE Kidman and Stephen Bing, Liz Hurley's one-time lover, dining together at Il Caninori. Also present, Ingrid Sischy of Vanity Fair. . . . MONICA Lewinsky piloting two carts at Bed Bath & Beyond at 18th Street and Sixth Avenue. Stuff like bulbs. Two carts is a lot of bulbs. . . . PETE Hamill soon out with Little, Brown's "Downtown: My Manhattan." A lingering tour of the city he — and we — love, from the Bohemian Greenwich Village streets to the seedy Meatpacking District alleyways. . . . BURP from Elton John, who's lost 30 pounds. "I'm losing another 30. I'll be as svelte as Celine Dion." . . . DAVID Paymer, who's done such films as "Nixon," "City Hall," "The American President" and "RFK," now doing HBO's Roosevelt saga "Warm Springs." . . . Today's fakola beauties look as unreal as Purdue chickens??? December's Esquire calls chickies Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lind- say Lohan, Beyoncé, Julia Stiles and the Olsens "oven stuffers."
LUNA is a whole nutrition bar for ladies. Soy protein, 180 calories, calcium rich, 23 vitamins and minerals, high in folic acid, etc., etc. Maybe 25 flavors bow in the next two weeks, like Peanut Butter 'n Jelly, Chai Tea, Nutz Over Chocolate, Pecan Pie, Dulce de Leche, Nuts 'n Cranberry, Peppermint Stick, S'Mores, Cherry Covered Chocolate, Lemonzest, Caramel Apple. And the wrappers bear notes from the famous, like Kim Basinger's says: "To my daughter Ireland, who gave me the strength, courage and tenacity to stand up for myself." Aisha Taylor did one to her grandma. Mary-Louise Parker's is to her mother and reads: "You're my iron butterfly."
The stars are not being paid. They did this because they love that a daughter/grandma/mom and their friends can go into a grocery, buy the bars and read these love notes to their loved ones.
TOMORROW, 11 a.m., on the City Hall steps, the Speaker of the City Council Gifford Miller will propose an amendment to our administrative code. Miller is proposing the Jazzy Law, named for my Yorkie Jazzy, age 3, who died while, supposedly, in the care of those who call themselves trainers. To prevent others from suffering my pain, this local "Boarding Kennel Regulation Act" will: license kennels, monitor them regularly, fine those in violation, require records and rules, demand boarded pets prove vaccination and immunization against contagious doggy diseases.
Supporters of this law — dog lovers such as Tommy Tune, Barbara Walters, Barry Slotnick, Tama Jamowitz, Susan Lucci, Bernadette Peters — may be with Miller and me and my Yorkshire terriers, Jazzy Junior, 41/2 pounds, and Juicy, 31/2 pounds, at the announcement.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
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Crime summary has practical advice, observations on criminal 'Einsteins.'
11.08.04
Son, you don't know what real hassling i
• Detective Rose fights crime by laughing at it, sometimes
This column is excerpted from reports sent to residents.
Halloween was interesting. Pumpkin smashing was celebrated once again in Alpharetta. Some a little, some a lot. A few mailboxes were done in as well.
I had the pleasure of meeting a 15-year old young man who apparently thought he was a tough guy. I was moving some cars and kids from a shopping center. They like to gather and after a while it can get to be not good.
Most of them are very polite and move right along but for some reason this child, sitting in his friend's car, decided to say. "Hey man. Quit hassling us. We're not doing anything wrong. Go hassle someone else."
I think when an adult starts mouthing off it's one thing, but when a 15-year does it, I don't think the reaction is based so much on the "police" part of me. Instead, I think the "parent" reacts. It went sort of like this:
"Son, out of the car." (You don't get "please")
This is where his friends immediately abandon him under the "liability rule" of the teenager code of ethics: You get the cops mad at you, you're on your own.
I took my new friend over to where the others couldn't hear us.
"Son, what did you say?"
"You're hassling us."
"I asked you to move along, right?"
"Yeah."
(Silence on my part and laser beams from my eyes to his)
The smile faded.
"Uh, yes sir."
"You really think that's hassling you?"
"I guess."
"Wrong."
"What?"
"I'm not hassling you. I asked you to move along and I was nice about it. Did I yell at you?"
"No."
"If I don't yell, how can I be hassling you?"
"What?"
(More laser beams)
"Well, I don't know."
"Here's the difference. Asking you to move along is just good advice and you just need to do it. You can go anywhere you want, but just not here."
(Blank stare)
"Here's a good example of hassle. I tell your friends to leave but I keep you and call your mom and dad and talk to them about your nasty attitude and how you tried to upstage the nice officer with your rather rude comments and as a result I would like them to come and meet me to pick you up and take you home."
"They're not home."
"I know. Wherever they are they have a cell phone because everyone has a cell phone and when they have to stop what they're doing to come and get you, they're going to be mad. You go with them and get grounded, your friends go on having fun and I go about my business. Now, who loses out on this deal?"
"What?"
(The parental stare of death)
"Uh, I guess me?"
"Yes. Now, knowing this, would you like to take back all those nasty things you said?"
(He looks at me like he really doesn't know so I let him off the hook by nodding "yes.")
"Uh, yes?"
That a boy!
After a minute or so of additional conversation, the young man walked back over to the car and said:
"I apologize for being rude to the officer. It was a poor decision."
He forgot the next part, so I nudged him gently on his arm.
"Oh yeah, and police officers are your friends."
I know he really didn't want to say the last part, but he did a good job and I was proud of him!
As they drove off, I think I saw him wave at me from the back window.
Court to weigh in on evolution feud
Parents sue Cobb schools for putting disclaimers in books that teach the theory
By KRISTINA TORRES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/06/04
Cobb County schools needed new biology books.
The textbook selection committee chose books recommended by the state. The books included concepts about evolution, a widely accepted scientific theory. The committee, working in March 2002, told the school board to buy nearly $8 million worth.
Enter Marjorie Rogers, a parent for whom evolution is a theory that doesn't fly.
Her 2,300-signature petition decrying "Darwinism, unchallenged" prompted the school system to put evolution disclaimers on the inside front cover of the science books used in middle and high schools. And that, in turn, prompted another group of parents to file a federal lawsuit with potentially national implications.
Arguments start Monday before U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper in Atlanta in a case that could stir comparisons to the 1925 trial in Dayton, Tenn., when John Scopes was tried for teaching evolution.
The trial is expected to raise these questions:
• Is Intelligent Design, a leading alternate theory espoused by many opponents of evolution, religious? Intelligent Design holds that the variety of life on Earth results from a purposeful design rather than random mutation and that a higher intelligence guides the process.
• And, if the theory is found to be religious, do Cobb's disclaimers, which don't mention religion or Intelligent Design by name, violate the separation between church and state?
Six parents have sued the Cobb school system over the disclaimers, which read, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Filed in August 2002, the parents' lawsuit is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. It contends that the placement of the disclaimers restricts the teaching of evolution, promotes and requires the teaching of creationism and Intelligent Design and discriminates against particular religions.
The school system, Georgia's second-largest with more than 102,000 students, contends the disclaimers in science books do nothing more than promote "respectful discourse that is going to naturally arise," said system attorney Linwood Gunn.
Some people don't want the system to "teach evolution as dogma or force people to choose between evolution and dogma," Gunn said.
Gunn's attempts to have the lawsuit dismissed were turned down by Cooper in a series of rulings this year.
The judge in April said he weighed the constitutionality of the issue by applying a three-pronged test handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
To get the lawsuit dismissed, the Cobb school board had to show that the disclaimer was adopted with a secular purpose, that its primary effect neither advances nor inhibits religion, and that it does not result in an excessive entanglement of government with religion.
Cooper said the school board satisfied him the disclaimer was adopted for a secular purpose.
He noted the disclaimers have no biblical or "beliefs" reference, but he said they still could have the effect of advancing or inhibiting religion.
He also found that "the practical effect of students being encouraged to consider and discuss alternatives to evolution" could create concerns about the entanglement of government with religion.
Rogers, who has since enrolled both her children in private schools, views those discussions about alternatives to evolution as only fair.
"The whole dispute is about fairness and equal treatment," she said. "Give kids the opportunity to make a decision themselves."
The theory of evolution — that all living things developed from earlier forms through slight variations over time and natural selection determines which species survive — was developed by Charles Darwin in 1859.
Americans have long been divided on it, as evidenced by the Scopes trial. Dubbed "the monkey trial," it ended with Scopes' conviction for violating a Tennessee law that made it unlawful "to teach any theory that denies the story of divine creation as taught by the Bible and to teach instead that man was descended from a lower order of animals."
From the 1930s onward, the teaching of biological evolution became standard in U.S. classrooms. The long-standing challenge by creationists — strict biblical constructionists who believe Genesis is scientifically factual — has largely been repudiated by the courts.
A new and more sophisticated competitor — Intelligent Design — is gaining momentum, however.
Last month, the Dover area school board in Pennsylvania voted to specifically require the teaching of Intelligent Design, likely the first district in the nation to do so.
Earlier this year, Georgia became a national punch line after School Superintendent Kathy Cox removed the word "evolution" from the state's science teaching standards. She reversed herself after getting nearly 1,000 complaints.
Other districts and states have used or attempted to use textbook disclaimers about evolution, and some disclaimers had or suggested language that was overtly religious.
Cobb's language, attorney Gunn argues, has no religious content, and the system has the right to set the curriculum.
If you live in Roswell and your Kerry-Edwards sign went missing, I apologize. You folks want them back?
This culture war is way scarier than the Iraq war.
Wow! Who knew homophobia could get a man elected president?
Ouch! Last November I bought gas for $1.17 per gallon.
To the coach who teaches: Too bad you are not held accountable for more than football.
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead will have been dead for 10 years in August of 2005. Why is there no U.S. stamp in his honor?
When Bush starts talking in tongues I'm moving to Canada.
Can we get back to ignoring Ohio again?
I hate to blow your theory, but Clayton County was blue and has some of the lowest SAT scores in the nation.
Zell, Bush is more like Mussolini invading Ethiopia than Winston Churchill defending England.
Is it true Jim Wooten threw out his back giving himself high-fives?
Hey Republicans, can I still live with my girlfriend or is there an amendment coming up about that, too?
If members of Congress had to file their own income taxes, we'd have tax simplification in less time than it takes for them to pass a pay raise for themselves.
America looks good in red? I thought America was red, white and blue!
Given his strong opposition to gay marriage, it is surprising that President Bush is embracing his mandate.
I bet an amendment banning interfaith and interracial marriages would pass in Georgia, too.
Red is appropriate. It matches the color of most Republicans' necks.
"Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider God-fearing and pious." -- Aristotle
Liberals: Don't move to France; move to Ohio!
High SAT scores in the blue states just means they cheat better.
Yee-haw! Dubya got elected. No more science class!
Yeah, our country looks great in red, and with Bush in office, that's how it'll stay . . . in the red.
The AJC reports that parents want some books banned because they contain the words "damn" and "hell." I guess this means kids shouldn't read newspapers either.
I'm betting those fifth-grade books are the thickest ones those Cherokee parents ever finished.
I'm a man, married to a woman for almost 30 years, and I still don't understand how gay marriage threatens mine. We just don't fish in the same pond.
The next oil-producing country we should invade is Alaska!
To the man who found and returned my wallet at the Chamblee Post Office: You have destroyed my cynical outlook on the general population. Thank you.
"I'm a man, married to a woman for almost 30 years, and I still don't understand how gay marriage threatens mine. We just don't fish in the same pond."
Where do you get these? The Atlanta newspaper? I can tell it's the Atlanta area.
Fear Factor (New)
NBC: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Game show, Adventure, Reality
New York 100th Episode
Contestants must grab a flag from the bottom of the Roosevelt Island tram as it traverses the East River, dine on rat stew served up in Times Square and perform an aerial stunt dangling from helicopters near the Statue of Liberty
Life of Luxury (New)
ABC: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Entertainment
A tour of the Playboy Mansion with Hugh Hefner; Michael Flatley's collection of homes; hip-hop mogul Damon Dash.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
WB: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
2001, PG-13, ***1/2, 03:28, Color, English, United States,
A chosen hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his loyal friends join a wizard (Ian McKellen), humans, a dwarf and an elf on a quest to destroy a powerful ring and defeat an evil lord. Extended version.
Still Standing (New)
CBS: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Sitcom
Still Going First
After a visit to the doctor, Judy writes Bill a heartfelt letter filled with things he would need to know if she died, and she begs him to reciprocate.
Listen Up (New)
CBS: Monday, November 8 7:30 PM
Sitcom
The Gift of the Ton-I
The search for the perfect birthday gift turns into a competition between Tony and Dana.
Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (New)
FOX: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Reality
Norton/Verruto
The Verrutos and Nortons adjust to their new life; when the mothers return home, each family learns how they must spend their prize money.
One on One (New)
UPN: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Sitcom
You Don't Have to Go Home ...
Miss Swain (Kim Fields) discovers Arnaz living at the school, and he reluctantly turns to his estranged father (Tim Meadows) for help.
Half & Half (New)
UPN: Monday, November 8 7:30 PM
Sitcom
The Big Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls Episode
Spencer must control a rebellious performer (Ginuwine) in order to prove he is executive material.
Monster House (Repeat)
DSC: Monday, November 8 7:00 PM
Home improvement, House/garden, How-to, Reality
Viking House
A man wants a home that reminds him of his childhood and heritage.
Las Vegas (New)
NBC: Monday, November 8 8:00 PM
Crime drama
Two of a Kind
Ed, Danny and Mike work to help Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh (Jill Hennessy) and Detective Woody Hoyt (Jerry O'Connell) as they try to solve the murder of a high-stakes gambler who appears to have had many enemies.
NFL Football
ABC: Monday, November 8 8:00 PM
Sports event, Football
Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts
Two and a Half Men (New)
CBS: Monday, November 8 8:00 PM
Sitcom
A Kosher Slaughterhouse Out in Fontana
Charlie and Alan hire Berta's sister (Camryn Manheim) to cater a party their mother has conned them into throwing for her.
CSI: Miami (New)
CBS: Monday, November 8 8:30 PM
Crime drama, Action, Suspense
Crime Wave
As a tidal wave heads toward Miami, Caruso and the team must stop a gang of bank robbers who are trying to take advantage of the natural disaster.
The Swan (New)
FOX: Monday, November 8 8:00 PM
Reality, Self improvement
Two women from Washington undergo cosmetic surgery and a regimen of exercise, diet, therapy and inspiration.
Girlfriends (New)
UPN: Monday, November 8 8:00 PM
Sitcom
The Mother of All Episodes
Joan tries to ready herself for the opening of her restaurant, but an unexpected visit by her mother throws a wrench in her plans.
Second Time Around (New)
UPN: Monday, November 8 8:30 PM
Sitcom, Romance
Coupling Up
Ryan and Jackson reunite with a married couple (Dondrý Whitfield and Salli Richardson Whitfield) who they have not spoken to in years.
$25 Million Dollar Hoax (New)
NBC: Monday, November 8 9:00 PM
Reality, Game show
A woman must convince her family that she has won the lottery and changed from a level-headed, sweet girl to a selfish spend-a-holic.
Sports trainer Kenneth Baum, author of The Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential With the Mind/Body Connection (Perigee, 1999). share's his tips for getting your mind in sync with your feet:
Write a Desire Statement.On an index card, write your personal mission statement. Begin with "I walk because ..." and list the reasons you walk and the benefits you expect.
Reward Yourself. End your statement by promising yourself a specific reward after you walk regularly for, say, six weeks.
Read Your Desire Statement Every Morning. Tape a copy to your refrigerator, the dashboard of your car, your computer - anywhere you can see it and contemplate it throughout the day.
Create a Walking Mantra. Imagine how you'll feel after you achieve the walking goals you listed in your desire statement. Then, choose up to three words that capture that feeling, such as "I did it" or "Beautiful" or "Sexy."
Recite Your Walking Mantra. Repeat it over and over whenever you're trying to convince yourself to walk. "Your Walking Mantra connects you to all the positive feelings in your desire statement," Baum says.
Visualize a Successful Walk. When you're wavering on whether or not to hit the road, sit down and picture yourself walking. "See yourself walking with a smile on your face, walking your way to better health," Baum says. "That's very motivating to a lot of people."
Folate may be an important player in your quest to keep your mind young.
A daily helping of folate appears to help ward off one of the causes of age-related cognitive decline: high homocysteine levels. Folate lowers blood levels of homocysteine, a protein that can damage blood vessels and cells of the brain. Include folate-rich foods such as orange juice and dark leafy greens in your diet to ensure you get your share.
Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt May Enhance Weight Loss Efforts
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD
on Friday, April 16, 2004
-- Stocking the refrigerator with milk, cheese, and yogurt may make it easier to lose those extra pounds and burn fat without cutting back drastically on calories, according to new research.
Although calories still count, the study showed that obese adults who ate a high-dairy diet lost significantly more weight and fat than those who ate a low-dairy diet containing the same number of calories.
"If you compare a dairy-rich versus a dairy-poor diet you can nearly double the rate of weight and fat loss with the same level of calorie restriction," says researcher Michael Zemel, PhD, professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Zemel says the study also showed that eating three to four servings of dairy products a day is more effective at enhancing weight loss efforts than calcium supplementation alone with pills or calcium-fortified foods.
The study appears in the April issue of Obesity Research and was supported by the National Dairy Council.
Previous studies have already shown that dieters who eat a calcium-rich diet are more successful at losing weight, but this study indicates that it's more than just the calcium in dairy products that helps shed pounds.
"Calcium is a critical factor in controlling what your body does with calories, and dairy is an even more critical factor," says Zemel. "Without changing how many calories we take away, we can alter how much weight and fat you lose."
Dairy Products Beat Calcium for Weight Loss
In the study, researchers compared the effects of three different calorie-restricted diets on weight loss in 32 obese adults. Each of the participants reduced their daily calorie intake by about 500 calories per day for 24 weeks and were divided into three groups:
High-dairy. Total calcium intake of 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day from three to four servings of dairy foods, specifically milk, hard cheese, and yogurt.
High-calcium supplemented/low-dairy. Total calcium intake of 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day made up of no more than one serving of dairy per day plus an 800-milligram calcium supplement.
Low-calcium/low-dairy. Total calcium intake of 400-500 milligrams per day with no more than one serving of dairy per day and a placebo supplement.
Researchers say participants were free to choose from fat-free, low-fat, and regular milk, cheese, and yogurt. They typically picked fat-free and low-fat milk and yogurt and regular cheeses, while keeping their overall fat intake the same.
Serving sizes were 8 ounces or a cup for milk and yogurt and 1.5 ounces of hard cheese (about the size of six dice) or 2 ounces of processed cheese, such as two slices of American cheese.
The study showed that all of the groups lost weight, but those who ate the dairy-rich diet lost the most with an average of 24 pounds compared with 19 pounds in the calcium supplement group and 15 pounds in the low-calcium/low-dairy group.
That translates to a loss of an average of 11% of total body weight for those in the high-dairy group versus 6% in the low-calcium/low-dairy group.
"What that means is that if you're including three to four servings of dairy in your diet, you can make a modest degree of calorie restriction as effective as a severe degree of calorie restriction," Zemel tells WebMD.
In addition, researchers found the high-dairy group lost significantly more body fat than those in the other groups, particularly from the midsection. Excess fat in the abdominal area has been linked to a higher risk of heart attack and other health problems.
Dairy's Role in Weight Loss
Previous studies have shown that calcium can boost weight loss by increasing fat breakdown in fat cells. But experts say this study suggests that taking in calcium from dairy products may actually improve on those effects.
"Dairy for some reason, yet unexplained, has a greater effect on fat loss and specifically trunk fat loss than does calcium alone," says Rachel Novotny, PhD, RD, professor and chair of the department of human nutrition, food, and animal sciences at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.
Although the bulk of dairy's weight-loss enhancing effects is caused by its calcium content, researchers say there are a variety of potential mechanisms that may explain those additional benefits and merit further research.
For example, Novotny says that some of the minerals in dairy products, such as phosphorous and magnesium, may enhance calcium's beneficial effects on fat breakdown within the cells. In addition, the proteins in dairy products may help preserve muscle and increase metabolism.
But Novotny and Zemel are careful to point out that the results shouldn't be interpreted as license to indulge in dairy products in hopes of spurring weight loss. They caution that the bottom line of successful weight loss is still burning more calories than you take in.
"The question is whether within those calories are there choices you can make that will enhance the results," says Novotny. "I think the findings suggest that dairy products and calcium can be helpful in preserving muscle, losing fat from the upper body, and actually enhancing the weight loss process."
SOURCES: Zemel, M.Obesity Research, April 2004; vol 12: pp 582-590. Michael Zemel, PhD, professor of nutrition, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Rachel Novotny, PhD, RD, professor, chairwoman, department of human nutrition, food, and animal sciences, University of Hawaii, Manoa. WebMD Medical News "Calcium for Weight Loss?"
Fell off the exercise wagon? It's never too late to get back on! Losing your routine may slow you down, but you can get back on track in short order if you resume regular sessions. Get motivated by setting new goals; when you start back up, reduce by half the difficulty level where you left off.
Pollution May Hasten Hardening of Arteries
November 7, 2004 01:01:59 PM PST , HealthDay
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
SUNDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDayNews) -- Long-term exposure to air pollution may contribute to early hardening of the arteries, a new study says.
"If this can be confirmed, it would have huge implications," said Dr. Nino Kuenzli, lead author of the study, which was presented Sunday at the American Heart Association's scientific sessions in New Orleans. "Atherosclerosis is a major underlying disease process for so much morbidity and mortality in the United States. Some 50 percent of diseases and death have some underlying atherosclerosis."
Air pollution is, of course, something virtually everybody is exposed to at one level or another.
"If the findings can be confirmed, this really turns a new page on the story of chronic effects of air pollution," added Kuenzli, an associate professor of environmental health at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.
Confirmation of these findings, which are observational, is not a sure thing. "In some ways it confirms something that seems intuitively obvious -- that toxins inhaled into the body do have effects," said Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. "It supports previous notions, but still there could be other confounding factors."
Noted observational studies had found a significant reduction in heart disease in women taking hormones. A controlled study, the Women's Health Initiative, found the reverse was true, though.
In the case of air pollution, researchers had previously noted associations between bad air and cardiovascular death and heart attacks, but it hasn't been clear what the effect is early on in the process.
According to the authors, these results are the first evidence of an association between atherosclerosis and ambient air pollution.
Kuenzli and his colleagues looked at data from two clinical trials involving 798 people age 40 or older living in the Los Angeles area. They used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the inner lining of the neck arteries (known as carotid artery intima-media thickness, or CIMT).
Participants were then divided based on their geographic location, with each ZIP code given a different value based on the estimated concentration of PM2.5 particles. PM2.5 particles are air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, small enough to invade even the smallest airways. These particles generally come from activities that burn fossil fuels, such as traffic, smelting, and metal processing.
PM2.5 particles were measured in micrograms per cubic meter. For every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase of PM2.5, CIMT increased by 5.9 percent. After adjusting for various factors, including smoking, the researchers found that CIMT increased by 3.9 to 4.3 percent for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5. There were greater increases in people over 60, women, and people taking cholesterol-lowering medication. The greatest increases were seen in women 60 or older: a 15.7 percent rise in CIMT for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
The changes observed were similar to those that occur in people living with smokers, Kuenzli said.
According to Kuenzli, air pollution can cause inflammatory responses both in the body's respiratory tract and in the blood vessels. In the case of the circulatory system, this can eventually lead to thickening of the artery wall and its attendant problems.
Rabbit studies had shown that exposure to airborne particles produced all the signs of atherosclerosis, while human studies have shown that inhaling these particles resulted in systemic inflammation. "We think it's plausible," Kuenzli said.
Although the findings do need to be confirmed, maybe this information is enough to spur some action. "This really tells us that air pollution chronically contributes to the underlying process toward cardiovascular morbidity and death, not just yesterday's pollution or pollution during last two or three years of your life," he said. "This is really something that starts at birth."
"We are not policymakers, but it's obvious what you do. It's just not right to support an environment that is clearly unhealthy for a large mass of the population," Kuenzli added. "We know where air pollution is coming from, thus it's absolutely clear that we should clean up the air with more stringent policies."
"It is nice to have these things quantified so they can be used as a basis for public policy," Siegel said. "That's what the government needs sometimes, to have things put in terms of numbers. Whether it's generating any real new science, I couldn't tell."
You know the US Media would have been all over this photo...
by Tanya
but then I realized it was shot in London at the premiere of Pierce Bronsan's movie. So she got away with it. But one quick question, why did Serena feel the need to go to the premiere of Bronsan's movie twice. She went to the premiere first in London, then two days later showed up in a proper dress at the LA premiere. Are we craving for attention?
US tennis player Serena Williams (news - web sites) arrives for the world premiere of film 'After The Sunset,' starring British actor Pierce Brosnan (news), at Leicester Square in London, November 2, 2004. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Brett Ratner may be able to get Serena Williams into bed, but he struck out with Pierce Brosnan.
After shooting nearly a dozen takes of Pierce and sexy Salma Hayek in bed together for the upcoming flick ''After the Sunset'' director Ratner decided to play a little prank on his leading man, climbing into bed in Hayek's place and cuddling with Brosnan.
''When he went to kiss her, he closed his eyes and I was literally a half an inch from making out with him and he screamed at the top of his lungs and literally jumped out of the bed,'' Ratner told us.
The fun continued when Ratner and actor Woody Harrelson decided to punk the Post's Page Six by staging a brawl during shooting. ''He jumped in the water in full wardrobe to beat me up, but it was completely staged so we could get off early, and we said, 'I'll bet you tomorrow this is going to be in Page Six,''' Ratner laughed.
Ratner also says he's made a deal with Robert Evans to get first refusal on Woodlands, the producer's fabled Hollywood estate, should the vampiric Evans ever exit his Eden. But don't expect to see Ratner out on Evans' tennis court with his girlfriend, tennis ace Williams.
''There is nothing she hates more than playing me in tennis, because I'm probably not that good,'' he confessed.
