Game Poultry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
The Treasury must seek Congressional approval if it wants to funnel some of its $700 billion bailout fund to jobs programs that do not involve financial services firms as intermediaries, a key overseer said on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Warren, chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel, told CNBC television that the Obama administration cannot simply spend TARP funds "in a jobs program somewhere else." The panel earlier on Wednesday released a report criticizing TARP for failing to adequately address the home foreclosure crisis and the contraction in credit in the U.S. economy.

"It is not simply a slush fund that can be used on anything anyone wants to do, no matter how worthy," Warren said of TARP.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

Because water usually had to be heated on a fire for washing, the warm soapy water was precious and would be reused over and over, first to wash the least soiled clothing, then to wash progressively dirtier clothing. The load of soaking wet clothing would be removed, and another load of dirty clothes added to the machine. While the earliest machines were constructed entirely from wood, later machines made of metal permitted a fire to burn below the washtub, to keep the water warm throughout the day's washing.

What is now referred to as an automatic washer was at one time referred to as a washer/extractor, which combines the features of these two devices into a single machine, plus also includes the ability to fill and drain water by itself. It is possible to take this a step further, to also merge the automatic washing machine and clothes dryer into a single device, but this is generally uncommon because the drying process tends to use much more energy than using two separate devices; a combined washer/dryer not only must dry the clothing, but also need to dry out the wash chamber itself.

Clean Washing Machine

Without regrets, the social secretary declined the invitation. Desiree Rogers skipped last week's congressional hearing to determine exactly who's to blame for the blemish that marred the first couple's big dinner party -- the entry of two interlopers. The guests of honor, the gate-crashing Tareq and Michaele Salahi, also declined to attend.

Official Washington is still all a-twitter over a celebrity-seeking Virginia couple's successful entry -- sans invitation, apparently -- into a high-security, invitation-only state dinner at the White House just before Thanksgiving. Investigations are in progress; a hearing was held; the Salahis continue to extend their 15 minutes of fame.

You'd think that with two wars, staggering debt and soaring unemployment, Congress would have weightier matters to explore. But the inside-the-Beltway milieu has its own rules, procedures and protocols. Somebody would have to be slow-roasted on a public spit for the security breach; no public official worth his salt could resist the opportunity to burnish his credentials while tarnishing those of his opponents.

So there was U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, head of the House Homeland Security Committee, mightily annoyed that the Salahis refused to appear before his panel on Thursday. He threatened to issue a subpoena and to hold them in contempt of Congress should they refuse to honor it. "We must dissect every fact," he declared.

Never mind that the Salahis are already the subject of an official investigation by the Secret Service. Thompson wants to borrow a couple of their 15 minutes.

Upping the ante on absurdity, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., threatened to subpoena Rogers, the White House social secretary. While Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee seemed content to drill the Secret Service, Republicans were looking for a way to tie the breach to the Obamas. Thus the focus on Rogers, an Obama appointee.

(Lest we forget, the people who would be the targets of any genuine security threat are the president and the first lady. But if King could find a way to blame them for the breach, well, that's the way the game is played in Washington.)

King managed to make her absence a matter of great import, calling it "stonewalling, pure and simple." Is this really a scandal of such magnitude that stonewalling would be called for? Is this Gate-crasher-gate?

I don't know Rogers. I don't even know what a social secretary is supposed to do, so I can't say whether she properly discharged her duties. (My soirees tend to be a bit more casual; my invitations issued with an eye toward keeping chaos to a minimum: "Hey, I'm cooking collard greens and black-eyed peas, as usual, on New Year's Day. How many people are you bringing?")

I do know that the members of the alumni sorority of social secretaries have passed harsh judgment on her performance, denouncing her for playing the role of honored guest rather than worker bee. Instead of manning a gate with invitation list in hand, Rogers, a former corporate executive and Chicago socialite, made a dramatic entrance in a rumpled tablecloth, ah, evening dress, apparently designed for the daring.

Rogers may not have figured out exactly what a social secretary does, either, but it's pretty clear that her job description does not include protecting the president. That job falls squarely on the shoulders of the Service Service, whose officialdom has already taken responsibility, apologized and meted out discipline.

"This is our fault and our fault alone," Secret Service chief Mark Sullivan told Thompson's panel. He noted that three Secret Service agents are on administrative leave because of the Salahis' stunt, and they could lose their jobs.

Congress surely can bow out of the matter now and forget the subpoenas. Thompson and his team might find more useful work, like guarding the borders.

As for the Salahis, they are narcissistic twits who would enjoy being the targets of a congressional probe. Ignoring them would be the punishment they deserve.

(Cynthia Tucker can be reached at cynthia@ajc.com.)

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) –
Holocaust survivors on Tuesday accused John Demjanjuk of faking the gravity of his illness to seek sympathy ahead of the first harrowing testimony on the killing of tens of thousands of Jews at the Sobibor death camp.

A lawyer for the alleged Nazi guard -- who faces charges of assisting in the gas chamber murder of 29,700 camp inmates -- in turn hit out at what he calls "double standards" in German justice by bringing action against a lowly soldier who did not give the orders.

Demjanjuk was pushed into his trial on Monday moaning in a wheelchair and later carried in on a stretcher. But at the end of the day he was seen laughing and joking.

Journalists and lawyers also witnessed an apparently much more active Demjanjuk outside the courtroom. Profile: John Demjanjuk

"I am sure he is faking his condition," said Thomas Blatt, an 82-year-old Sobibor survivor from the Netherlands camp who is to give testimony at Demjanjuk's trial.

"Yesterday the doctor said he was better now than he was in the United States," Blatt told reporters as he queued for Tuesday's hearing devoted to the formal reading of charges and the first testimony from survivors and relatives of those killed at the camp in occupied Poland.

The family of the 89-year-old Demjanjuk, who denies ever being at Sobibor, says he suffers from leukaemia and other illnesses and that he will probably not survive the trial in Munich.

"Given his now confirmed grave medical condition and his resulting inability to fully defend himself, it is farcical for anyone to say he is fit for trial and malpractice for any doctor to recommend it," his son John Demjanjuk junior said in a statement.

But Christoph Nerl, a specialist in blood diseases, told the court that Demjanjuk has a lesser complaint "which is definitely not leukaemia" and that Demjanjuk was "in a low-risk group."

Efraim Zuroff, head of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem, said: "It's a pathetic attempt to appear more crippled than he is. He belongs in Hollywood."

"People like Demjanjuk don't deserve any sympathy because he had no sympathy for his victims," he said.

Demjanjuk is accused of helping to kill 27,900 people while a guard at Sobibor in 1943. Prosecutors say they have an SS identity card bearing his name and transfer orders.

Demjanjuk's defence lawyer Ulrich Busch argues that the case is a farce because German SS members -- Demjanjuk was born in Ukraine and was taken prisoner while in the Soviet Red Army -- were acquitted in earlier trials.

"How can it be that those who gave the orders can have been innocent?" he said, attacking what he called the German justice system's "double standards."

Some of the 30 or so plaintiffs in the case, either Sobibor survivors or who lost family members there, were to begin giving testimony on Tuesday.

There are no living eyewitnesses who can attest to seeing Demjanjuk there, so prosecutors will rely heavily on written testimony by people now dead, and accounts from survivors saying that as a guard, he had blood on his hands.

"The guards were all murderers," Robert Franzman, a Dutch plaintiff, told reporters on Monday.

Demjanjuk says he was captured in 1942 by the Germans and then moved around various prisoner-of-war camps, but Israeli and US courts have already established he was at Sobibor.

If convicted, Demjanjuk will almost certainly spend the rest of his days behind bars. If not, he will face an uncertain future as he is stateless, having been stripped of his US citizenship.

Demjanjuk was sentenced to death in Israel in 1988 for being "Ivan the Terrible", a sadistic Nazi guard, but after five years on death row the conviction was overturned when Israel established this was another man.

BEIJING (Reuters) –
Talks remain the best way to solve the Iran nuclear issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday, after Iran announced plans to expand uranium enrichment in defiance of international pressure.

Iran announced plans on Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants in a big expansion of its atomic program, two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog rebuked it for carrying out such work in secret.

Qin also urged all sides to "intensify diplomatic efforts seeking a resolution."

China "advocates resolution of the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations," Qin added.

China supported the International Atomic Energy Agency's resolution, in a rare public show of anger at Iran, which supplies China with large quantities of oil.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; editing by Ken Wills)

Servitudes are legal arrangements of land use arising out of private agreements. Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields, where peasants were allocated strips of arable land that were used to support the needs of the local village or manor. By the sixteenth century the growth of population and prosperity provided incentives for landowners to use their land in more profitable ways, dispossessing the peasantry. Common fields were aggregated and enclosed by large and enterprising farmers -- either through negotiation among one another or by lease from the landlord -- to maximize the productivity of the available land and contain livestock. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the modern law of servitudes.

Distinctly different land ownership and fencing patterns arose in the eastern and western United States. Original fence laws on the east coast were based on the British common law system, and rapidly increasing population quickly resulted in laws requiring livestock to be fenced in. In the west, land ownership patterns and policies reflected a strong influence of Spanish law and tradition, plus the vast land area involved made extensive fencing impractical until mandated by a growing population and conflicts between landowners.

Z-Lokk Magnetic Gate Lock

MINNEAPOLIS – Two Northwest Airlines pilots failed to make radio contact with ground controllers for more than an hour and overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles before discovering the mistake and turning around.
The plane landed safely Wednesday evening, apparently without passengers realizing that anything had been amiss. No one was hurt.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew told authorities they became distracted during a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of their location, but federal officials are investigating whether pilot fatigue might also have played a role.
The National Transportation Safety Board does not yet know if the crew fell asleep, spokesman Keith Holloway said, calling that idea "speculative."
Flight 188, an Airbus A320, was flying from San Diego to Minneapolis with 144 passengers and five crew. The pilots dropped out of radio contact with controllers just before 7 p.m. CDT, when they were at 37,000 feet. The jet flew over the airport just before 8 p.m. and overshot it before communications were re-established at 8:14 p.m, the NTSB said.
The FAA notified the military, which put Air National Guard fighter jets on alert at two locations. As many as four planes could have been scrambled, but none took to the air.
"After FAA re-established communications, we pulled off," said Michael Kucharek, a North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman.
Andrea Allmon, who had been traveling from San Diego on business, said no one on the plane knew anything was amiss until the end of the flight.
"Everybody got up to get their luggage and the plane was swarmed by police as we were getting our bags down from the overhead bins," she said.
She said they were kept on the plane briefly while police talked to the crew, then allowed off. She said she was "horrified" to learn what had happened.
"When I do my job I do my job," she said. "These guys are supposed to be paying attention to the flight. The safety of the passengers should be first and foremost. (It's) unbelievable to me that they weren't paying attention. Just not paying attention."
As of Thursday afternoon, NTSB investigators had not yet examined the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which were being sent to Washington for analysis. He said the agency was also seeking to interview the pilots, but had not scheduled a meeting.
One of the two pilots should have been paying attention to the radio, said Ronald Carr, a former Air Force and American Airlines pilot who teaches flight physiology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But he added that "sometimes you can have such heated discussions and get so distracted that you lose situational awareness, and when you're traveling seven miles a minute, that can happen pretty quick."
The two pilots have been suspended from flying while Delta Air Lines Inc. conducts an internal investigation, said Anthony Black, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based airline, which acquired Northwest last year. He refused to name them or give further details on their background or what happened in the air.
Air traffic controllers in Denver had been in contact with the pilots as they flew over the Rockies, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. But as the plane got closer to Minneapolis, she said, "the Denver center tried to contact the flight but couldn't get anyone."
Denver controllers notified their counterparts in Minneapolis, who also tried to reach the crew without success, Brown said. Controllers and the pilots finally resumed communication when the plane was over Eau Claire, Wis.
"Radar controllers were the whole time trying to make audio contact with that plane," said Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman in Chicago. He said he was not aware of controllers diverting any other flights, which was unnecessary because the Northwest jet was flying high enough to safely avoid planes approaching Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
It was not clear who initiated communications when contact finally was made, Brown said.

After the plane landed, two airport police officers boarded the plane at the gate, which authorities said is standard procedure after a crew loses communication with air traffic controllers.

Kelly Regus, a spokeswoman for the Delta branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, declined to comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration is updating decades-old rules governing how long commercial pilots can fly and remain on duty. The NTSB also cautioned government agencies this week about the risks of sleep apnea contributing to transportation accidents.

The board cited an incident in January 2008 when two go! airlines pilots feel asleep for at least 18 minutes during a midmorning flight from Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii. The plane passed its destination before controllers raised the pilots, who landed safely. The captain was later diagnosed with sleep apnea.

___

Associated Press Airlines Reporter Joshua Freed in Minneapolis, AP writers Martiga Lohn and Brian Bakst in St. Paul, David Koenig in Dallas and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

FlightAware.com tracking of Northwest Flight 188: http://bit.ly/2QV9hX

These first loudspeakers used electromagnets because large, powerful permanent magnets were generally not available at a reasonable price. The coil of an electromagnet, called a field coil, was energized by current through a second pair of connections to the driver. This winding usually served a dual role, acting also as a choke coil filtering the power supply of the amplifier to which the loudspeaker was connected. AC ripple in the current was attenuated by the action of passing through the choke coil; however, AC line frequencies tended to modulate the audio signal being sent to the voice coil and added to the audible hum of a powered-up sound reproduction device.

Driver design, and the combination of one or more drivers into an enclosure to make a speaker system, is both an art and science. Adjusting a design to improve performance is done using magnetic, acoustic, mechanical, electrical, and material science theory, high precision measurements, and the observations of experienced listeners.

http://www.gracedigitalaudio.com/wireless-speakers-c-22.html

“Clothing worn in dance training generally reflects period, culture, and performance traditions” (Penrod 12). Throughout history clothing has become more simplified as dance becomes more physically demanding and free. In the past, dancers would dance in gardens and halls in elaborate and expensive costumes. However, in the eighteenth century they began to dance in theaters and to “discard cumbersome garments” (Penrod 13) by training in daily clothing.

The eyes are the most expressive part of the face. To enhance their features dancers should draw attention to and make their eyes appear larger. However, to maintain unity, the intensity of the eyes must be balanced with color and shape of the lips. The color of the lips needs to be complimentary to the skin color and costume (Art of Production 123).

French Maid Costume

Internet radio (also known as web radio, net radio, streaming radio and e-radio) is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means. Internet radio involves a streaming medium that presents listeners with a continuous "stream" of audio over which they have no control, much like traditional broadcast media; in this respect, it is distinct from "on-demand" file serving. Internet radio is also distinct from podcasting, which involves downloading rather than streaming. Many Internet radio "stations" are associated with a corresponding traditional (or "terrestrial") radio station or radio network. Internet-only radio stations are independent of such associations.

Internet radio services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world—for example, one could listen to an Australian station from Europe or America. Some major networks like Clear Channel in the US and Chrysalis in the UK restrict listening to in country because of music licensing and advertising concerns.[citation needed] Internet radio remains popular among expatriates and listeners with interests that are often not adequately served by local radio stations (such as progressive rock, ambient music, folk music, classical music, and stand-up comedy). Internet radio services offer news, sports, talk, and various genres of music—everything that is available on traditional radio stations.

Internet Radio Device

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Trail Blazers waived forward Ime Udoka and center Jarron Collins, bringing their roster to 15 players for the start of the season next week.
Both Udoka and Collins were vying for the 15th spot, which went to draft pick Patty Mills, who is out with a broken foot.
Udoka has played five seasons in the NBA, including a previous stint in Portland. He averaged 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 18.8 minutes in five preseason games.
Collins, who played eight years with the Utah Jazz, played in four preseason games with an average of 3.5 points, two rebounds and 14 minutes.
Meanwhile, there was no official word Thursday whether the Blazers and forward LaMarcus Aldridge had signed a contract extension.
A person close to the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been finalized told The Associated Press that the two sides were close.
The Blazers need to strike a deal with Aldridge by Oct. 31 to prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent next summer.
Aldridge, the second overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Texas, was acquired by the Blazers in a draft-day trade from the Chicago Bulls. Last season, he averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Mills fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during practice in the offseason. It is not clear when he will return.
After starring for Australia in the Beijing Olympics and for Saint Mary's in college, Mills was selected by the Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the NBA draft.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Mills averaged career highs of 18.7 points, 4.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals during his sophomore season with the Gaels before deciding to turn pro.

Cabinet Pulls

Cabinets usually have one or more doors on the front that are mounted with door hardware and occasionally a lock; they may also contain drawers. Short cabinets often have a finished surface on top that can be used for display, or as a working surface such as the countertops found in kitchens.

A cabinet intended for clothing storage is usually called a wardrobe or an armoire (or a closet if built-in). In previous centuries, such a cabinet was also known as a linen-press. In British usage, a wardrobe occasionally was referred to as an oakley, because of the oak wood used in its construction. In India, a cabinet is often referred to as an Almari.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) –
When he's far away from the bright lights of Hollywood, actor Kevin Bacon spends much of his time in second-rate hotels and hauling his own bags while trudging through airports.

And he wouldn't change it for anything.

For the last 14 years, the star of such movies as "Footloose" and "Apollo 13" has sung alongside his older brother Michael as a member of the Bacon Brothers, a six-member rock group that plays up to 60 shows a year.

"There's a lot of stuff you have to do that's not fun," Bacon told Reuters recently. "Getting places. Airports. You get there, you get the gear, you put the gear on the sidewalk. You stand around. You eat bad food. You stay in crappy hotels.

"The cliches of playing in a rock band are very applicable. There is a certain amount of drudgery.

"But the time that you get to play is still great. It's so much fun. Playing in a band is such a lucky thing to experience. To be able to share music is a rush," he said.

Bacon, who has made more than 40 movies, knew it was risky to become a singer in a rock band. But taking a chance is a fundamental part of living, he said, leaning back, stretching out, and locking his hands behind his head.

"There is a certain element of risk to it," the 51-year-old Bacon said about an actor who turns to music, a transition that usually raises eyebrows, elicits groans, and can do irreparable harm to a hard-earned reputation.

"I knew that going in. So what do you do? Do you say, 'Therefore I'm not going to do it?' Risk is really an essential part of being a creative person.

"If you're not risking, then sing karaoke. You have to be pushing yourself. Doing something outside your wheelhouse, that's what keeps you alive as a creative person," said Bacon who sings, plays guitar and percussion.

The band played recently at the 500-seat Birchmere, a club in suburban Washington. In the opening song of the two-hour set, Bacon delighted the audience with a rousing version of "Only A Good Woman," a single from their 1997 CD Forosoco.

HUMBLE ROOTS

Kevin and Michael Bacon come from humble roots and were encouraged as children to explore their artistic side.

"We always played music in our house. We grew up in a very skinny townhouse in the middle of downtown Philadelphia," said Michael, 60, an award-winning TV and film composer.

"Our parents were sort of hippies, even though there weren't hippies back then. They believed in creativity. Play an instrument, get acting lessons, paint, dance -- that's what they valued. And that's what they gave us."

The brothers began by writing country songs to pitch to other artists when a friend of Kevin's asked them to get a band together and play a show in Philadelphia.

"We just really enjoyed it," recalled Kevin, who is married to actress Kyra Sedgwick, star of TV crime show "The Closer."

"We've been following it ever since. There was never really any kind of master plan. We're just taking it one show, one record, one song at a time."

He concedes, however, that he would love the band to create a top-selling record.

"You'd have to live under a rock if you didn't want a hit record," he said. "You have the dreams that you put in the back of your mind. In your quiet moments, you can fantasize about things like hit records, stadiums, rock stardom."

Perhaps ironically, it's Kevin, despite his often hectic movie schedule, who is the more productive writer.

"He's a really interesting and talented songwriter with no training in music whatsoever," Michael said of his younger brother. "I have all the training.

"But Kevin has a wonderful way of communicating through songs. He has a need to do it. That's what I hear in the songwriting that he does."

COLOMBO (AFP) –
Ministers in the Maldives dived in their final rehearsals Friday ahead of an underwater cabinet meeting this weekend aimed at drawing attention to the dangers of global warming for the island nation.

Ministers in full scuba gear dived six metres (20 feet) for the dress rehearsal near the Girifushi island, 25 minutes by speed boat from the capital island Male, coordinator of the event Aminath Shauna said.

"All arrangements are now in place and we are fully prepared to have Saturday's cabinet meeting underwater," Shauna told AFP by telephone.

She said the ministers would sign their wet suits which would then be auctioned on the protectmaldives.com website to raise money to protect coral reefs in the archipelago.

The government has arranged a horse-shoe shaped table at the bottom of the sea for the ministers to hold Saturday's meeting during which they will communicate using white boards and hand signals.

The Maldivian archipelago, located south west of Sri Lanka, is on the front line of climate change and has become a vocal campaigner in the battle to halt rising sea levels.

In 2007, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that a rise in sea levels of 18 to 59 centimetres (seven to 23 inches) by 2100 would be enough to make the Maldives virtually uninhabitable.

More than 80 percent of the country's land, composed of coral islands scattered about 850 kilometres (530 miles) across the equator, is less than one metre above mean sea level.

Maldivian officials said the idea to hold the attention-grabbing underwater cabinet meeting came from President Mohamed Nasheed when he was asked by an activist group to support its "environmental day" action on October 24.

"The 350.org group asked if the Maldives can hold an underwater banner supporting environmental day," an official from the president's office said.

"The president thought for a while and then came up with the idea to have an underwater cabinet meeting."

A Raisin the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking play about social change and the American Dream, opens Oct. 8 in a new production by Denver Center Theatre Company. Previews began Oct. 1 at The Stage Theatre in Denver.
Israel Hicks - director of DCTC's ten-play August Wilson cycle - returns to the Denver Center to direct the African-American family drama set on Chicago's Southside. Performances continue to Oct. 31.

In the classic, father's $10,000 life insurance settlement inspires three generations of the inner-city Younger
family to dream of very different ways to spend the money, according to DCTC. Mama dreams of living in a better neighborhood, her daughter plans to go to medical school and her son intends to buy into a
liquor store.

Members of the Denver Center acting company in the cast include Kim Staunton as Ruth Younger, Dawn Scott as Beneatha Younger, Harvy Blanks as Bobo, Mike Hartman as Karl Lindner, and Doug Bynum as a moving man. Returning to Denver Center stages are Marlene Warfield
as Lena Younger and Tyee Tilghman as George Murchison.

Appearing for the first time at DCTC are Russell Hornsby as Walter Lee Younger, Sheldon Woodley as Joseph Asagai, Cajardo Rameer Lindsey as a moving man and Tyler Palmer as Travis Younger.

The creative team includes scenic designer Michael Ganio, costume designer David Kay Mickelsen, lighting designer Charles R. MacLeod and sound designer Craig Breitenbach.

For more information, visit www.denvercenter.org.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and will determine how many more U.S. troops to send to the war based only on keeping al-Qaida at bay, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The sharpened focus by Obama's team on fighting al-Qaida above all other goals, while downgrading the emphasis on the Taliban, comes in the midst of an intensely debated administration review of the increasingly unpopular war.
Aides stress that the president's decision on specific troop levels and the other elements of a revamped approach is still at least two weeks away, and they say Obama has not tipped his hand in meetings that will continue at the White House on Friday.
But the thinking emerging from the strategy formulation portion of the debate offers a clue that Obama would be unlikely to favor a large military increase of the kind being advocated by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal's troop request is said to include a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 combat troops to — the general's strong preference — as many as 40,000.
Obama's developing strategy on the Taliban will "not tolerate their return to power," the senior official said in an interview with The Associated Press. But the U.S. would fight only to keep the Taliban from retaking control of Afghanistan's central government — something it is now far from being capable of — and from giving renewed sanctuary in Afghanistan to al-Qaida, the official said.
The official is involved in the discussions and was authorized to speak about them but not to be identified by name because the review is still under way.
Bowing to the reality that the Taliban is too ingrained in Afghanistan's culture to be entirely defeated, the administration is prepared to accept some Taliban role in parts of Afghanistan, the official said. That could mean paving the way for Taliban members willing to renounce violence to participate in a central government — the kind of peace talks advocated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to little receptiveness from the Taliban. It might even mean ceding some regions of the country to the Taliban.
In Kabul on Thursday, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy and killed 17 people in the second major attack in the city in less than a month. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Obama has talked positively about reaching out to moderates in the Taliban since he first announced a new Afghanistan strategy in March. It would be akin to, though more complicated than, the successful efforts in Iraq to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents to cooperate with U.S. forces against al-Qaida there.
Obama has conferred nearly every day this week on the war, and continued that Thursday afternoon with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
On Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the war launched by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Obama and more than a dozen officials in his war council met for three hours to focus on Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. Another of those larger discussions — the fourth of five currently scheduled — is set for Friday, on Afghanistan. That meeting also could feature the group's first discussion of specific troop options.
In the first two of the sessions, which are taking place in the secure Situation Room in the White House basement, Obama kept returning to one question for his advisers: Who is our adversary, the official said.
The answer was al-Qaida, as it was back in March.
Amid changing circumstances in Afghanistan, the renewed determination has big implications for the current war debate.
There now are no more than 100 al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Instead, the U.S. fight in Afghanistan is against the Taliban, now increasingly defined by the Obama team as distinct from al-Qaida. While still dangerous, the Taliban is seen as an indigenous movement with almost entirely local and territorial aims and far less of a threat to the U.S.
Obama's team believes some elements in the Taliban are aligned with al-Qaida, with its transnational reach and aims of attacking the West, but probably not the majority and mostly for tactical rather than ideological reasons, the official said.
"They're not the same type of group," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "It's certainly not backed up by any of the intelligence."
That leaves the primary aim in Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida any ability to regroup there as it did when the Taliban was in power before the U.S. ousted them.

A focus on al-Qaida is the driving force behind an approach being advocated by Biden as an alternative to the McChrystal recommendation for a fuller counterinsurgency effort inside Afghanistan.

Biden has argued for keeping the American force there around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 extra troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but significantly increasing the use of unmanned Predator drones and special forces for the kind of surgical anti-terrorist strikes that have been successful in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere.

There also is increasing reluctance among Obama's advisers to commit large additional numbers of troops because of concerns about the impact on already severely strained U.S. forces and the troubled Karzai government.

In Pakistan, however, the administration has been encouraged by the government's recent willingness to aggressively battle extremists inside its borders. Getting additional cooperation from Pakistan is delicate, as the anti-extremist operations remain extremely controversial there and the U.S.-backed civilian government in Islamabad is weak. But the administration sees opportunity there nonetheless.

Clinton has not revealed how she is leaning in the sessions, according to aides. While she is broadly supportive of building up troop levels — although not necessarily in the bigger numbers favored by McChrystal — she also believes economic and other civilian efforts must be prominent parts of the plan too, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to detail her views.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, long wary of a large troop presence in Afghanistan, appears to have grown more comfortable with the prospect of a moderate, middle-path increase.

Many lawmakers from Obama's own Democratic Party do not want to see additional U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan. According to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, public support for the war has dropped to 40 percent from 44 percent in July.

Rep. David Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee who led an effort in 2007 to block money for the Iraq war, emerged with deep concerns from an hourlong Capitol Hill briefing Thursday for House lawmakers of both parties by Obama national security adviser James Jones. Obey cited the high cost to the country of a ramped-up war, as well as doubts about the ability of the Afghan and Pakistan governments to be effective partners.

Republicans, meanwhile, are urging Obama to heed the military commanders' calls soon or risk failure. "Unnecessary delay could undermine our opportunity for success," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday.

___

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan, Pamela Hess, Matthew Lee and Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

Conservative activist Cherilyn Eagar, who is trying to position herself to the right of Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah's GOP primary, announced that Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," will be stumping for her during her November "Eagar to Clean Up Washington Tour" of the state.

"We are honored that Joe is coming to Utah to meet with us and help us spread the message of this campaign," Eagar said in a campaign release Wednesday.

She also noted that during her events, "Joe will be selling his book -- his compelling personal account" titled "Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream."

Wurzelbacker was in the spotlight during last year's presidential campaign when, during a neighborhood campaign appearance by then-Sen. Barack Obama, he challenged the presidential hopeful's comment that he wanted to "spread the wealth around."

Eagar is one of several Republicans challenging Bennett in the primary. His top opponent is state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Shurtleff entered the Senate race in May and reported just over $100,000 in cash on hand in his June 30 report to the Federal Election Commission. He has said that he will be close to hitting his goal of raising $300,000 during the third quarter.

CQ Politics currently rates the race as Safe Republican.

To see how all the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics election map.

site

This weekend "Saturday Night Live" opened with Fred Armisen as President Obama, delivering an address from the Oval Office. Noting up front that he'd failed to secure the 2016 Olympic Games for Chicago, Armisen's Obama said it was just further proof that his detractors' fears are unfounded: How could he transform the country into something resembling the former Soviet Union or Nazi Germany when he's failed to accomplish anything at all? "When you look at my record," he said, "it's very clear what I've done so far, and that is nothing."

But are SNL's accusations of Obama being a do-nothing president accurate? Let's run down the list of the nine promises SNL lampooned President Obama for doing "nothing" on to see where he actually stands.
1. Close the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay: In one of his first acts as president, Obama signed an order mandating the close of the notorious lockup by January 2010. On Sunday, White House National Security Adviser James Jones said that he was "hopeful" that the White House would meet that deadline. Several legal and logistical questions remained to be answered, however, including the fate of the remaining detainees.2. Pull all troops out of Iraq: In February, Obama told congressional leaders that he wanted all troops out of Iraq by August 2010. On June 30th of this year, a large number of troops were pulled out of the country, a move that was understated here in the U.S., but was met by dancing in the streets in some parts of Iraq. At the time of the withdrawal, the American military leadership refused to put a number on how many troops remained, though some have estimated that number remains as high as 124,000.3. Improve the situation in Afghanistan: In a recent interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," General Stanley McChrystal, America's top commander in Afghanistan, said that things had become "a little worse" than he had originally anticipated in Afghanistan, adding that "the breadth of the violence, the geographic spread of violence, is a little more than I would have gathered." Wednesday marks the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, and last Sunday saw the deadliest single battle for American soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001. The administration is currently divided over how to change course in Afghanistan, weighing McChrystal's request for as many as 40,000 more troops against other options.4. Reform the nation's health care system: This year's health care reform debate has been one of the more contentious debates in American history. Originally, the president set an August deadline for Congress to pass legislation for him to sign. That obviously didn't happen. However, on Friday night the Senate Finance Committee finally released its mammoth health care bill -- the last panel to do so, with a committee vote potentially coming as early as the middle of this week -- setting the stage for an even more intense national debate as the full Senate and House finalize legislation.5. Cut down on global warming: Prior to the onset of the raucous health care reform debate, the centerpiece of the Administration's efforts to stem the increase of global warming, the Cap and Trade bill, was on the legislative fast-track. However, over the weekend Carol Browner, Obama's global warming czar, said that passage of the bill prior to December's Copenhagen Climate Change Conference was unlikely. 6. Reform the nation's immigration policies: In August, President Obama, under intense pressure from supporters for not moving fast enough on the issue, announced that he would have an immigration bill in Congress by the end of the year, though it likely wouldn't be voted on until 2010. Saying that "demagogues" who "suggest that any form of pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable" would attempt to obstruct his efforts, the president added, "Am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No."7. Changing the military's policies on gay soldiers: In his first week in the Oval Office, President Obama announced that his Administration would have to study the "implications for national security" before he could attempt to repeal the present "don't ask, don't tell" policy initiated by the Clinton administration in 1993. On Sunday, White House National Security Adviser James Jones reiterated Obama's commitment to fulfilling this campaign promise, but added that the president has "a lot on his plate" and would get around to addressing the issue at the "right time."8. Placing limits on executive powers: In the early days of his presidency, Congressional Quarterly praised Obama for appearing as if he was "rejecting some of Bush's most expansive executive power claims" in the White House. However, that sentiment quickly evaporated among Obama supporters and opponents, with Salon's Glenn Greenwald noting in April that the White House had "explicitly claimed to possess the very presidential powers that Bush critics spent years condemning as radical, lawless and authoritarian."9. Prosecute those who facilitate torture: In April, President Obama announced that his Administration would not bring charges against those who carried out acts deemed as torture upon U.S. terror detainees, but rather might seek to prosecute the Bush Administration officials who drafted the documents justifying the use of torture as lawful. In August, Attorney General Eric Holder followed through by announcing the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether or not the interrogations of suspected terrorists broke any laws. So, taking all of this into consideration, are SNL's satirical criticisms of President Obama's do-nothingness valid? Probably not, mainly because, as illustrated by the old adage about how one shouldn't watch sausage or legislation get made, the process of "change" and getting anything done in Washington is a long and messy one, and Obama is merely nine months into his term as president. But that doesn't mean that Saturday's SNL skit was humorless, which, for once, it most definitely was not.

-- Brett Michael Dykes is a contributor to the Yahoo! News Blog.

Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome of disordered metabolism, usually due to a combination of hereditary and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Blood glucose levels are controlled by a complex interaction of multiple chemicals and hormones in the body, including the hormone insulin made in the beta cells of the pancreas. Diabetes mellitus refers to the group of diseases that lead to high blood glucose levels due to defects in either insulin secretion or insulin action.

Values above 400 mg/dl (20 mmol/l) is sometimes accompanied by discomfort and frequent urination leading to dehydration. Values above 600 mg/dl (30 mmol/l) usually require medical treatment and may lead to ketoacidosis, although they are not immediately life-threatening. However, low levels of blood glucose, called hypoglycemia, may lead to seizures or episodes of unconsciousness and absolutely must be treated immediately, via emergency high-glucose gell placed in the patient's mouth or an injection of glucagon.

Diabetic Test Strips

STOCKHOLM – Scientists who developed a cornerstone in thinking behind quantum mechanics, the broad sweep of chaos theory or the expanding nature of the universe and dark energy could be rewarded for years of effort and research when the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics is announced Tuesday.
Who may win, and for what, is a guessing game at best. The Nobel Foundation does not proffer names of possible candidates or hints of any kind. That, along with the complexity of the science involved for an award encompassing a wide latitude of subjects, makes it difficult to say with any authority who could win.
Speculation is swirling around work by Israel's Yakir Aharonov and Britain's Michael V. Berry for work done on the Aharonov-Bohm Effect and the related Berry Phase.
The theory developed in 1959 by Aharonov with the late David Bohm, explains some of the obscure and weird actions of parts of atoms around a magnetic field "somehow allowing an electron effectively to split around the magnetic field and rejoin later," said Phil Schewe of the American Institute of Physics. "Experiments in this area helped vindicate current thinking in quantum mechanics that goes back nearly a century."
There is also sentiment gaining that Juan Ignacio Circ, directory of theory division at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, could share the prize with Peter Zoller of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck for their research into quantum optics and quantum computing.
Similarly, John B. Pendry of Britain, Sheldon Schultz at the University of California, San Diego, and David R. Smith at Duke University could be tapped for what Thomson Reuters Scientific called their prediction and discovery of negative refraction.
Karin Bojs, science editor of the Stockholm daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, who has stood out as a leading Nobel guesser over the years and correctly picked the winners of this year's medicine prize, guessed that Frenchman Serge Haroch would get the physics prize for research in quantum mechanics.
She also mentioned Aharonov and Berry as possible winners.
Another Frenchman, Alain Aspect, was also a possible contender, she said.
"He was the first to prove in practice that the paradox that Einstein didn't believe in, that particles in a seemingly mysterious way can communicate with each other at great distances," she said.
One of the biggest about-faces in physics took place in 1998, when what Albert Einstein called his greatest blunder was proven to be correct and that the universe's expansion is accelerating. Einstein came up with the idea of a "cosmological constant" to counter the force of gravity in the universe to keep it static, but Edwin Hubble found the universe to be expanding and Einstein's fudge factor was abandoned.
The University of California, Berkeley's Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt of Australia and Adam Reiss at Johns Hopkins University found the universe's expansion to be accelerating based on a study of supernovas and came up with the theory of "dark energy" to explain it.
Dark energy may account for 70 percent of the universe. The trio won the prestigious Shaw prize in astronomy three years ago.
Schewe said the Institute could take a broader approach with the award this year, looking to chaos theory and its advancement by several researchers, including Mitchell Feigenbaum at Rockefeller University in New York, Edward Ott and James A. Yorke at the University of Maryland and Celso Grebogi at the University of Aberdeen.
American Yoichiro Nambu and Japanese researchers Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa won last year's prize for work on "spontaneous broken symmetry" in subatomic physics.
Alfred Nobel, the Swede who invented dynamite, established the prizes in his will in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. The economics prize is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank.
The awards include a 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) purse, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
On Monday, three American scientists shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, who also has Australian citizenship, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak were cited for their work in solving the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.

___

AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Nobel Foundation: http://nobelprize.org/

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – New York Giants fans seemingly can exhale.
Barring anything unexpected in an MRI, quarterback Eli Manning's sore right heel is simply that.
"I don't think it's nothing to be worried about," Manning said Monday. "It will be getting rid of the soreness."
While the words were comforting for the Giants (4-0), so was the sight of Manning standing in front of his locker with neither a boot, a crutch or much evidence of heavy tape on his right foot.
The only obvious sign of an injury was a slight limp when he walked away.
"Yeah, that's all positive stuff," Manning said. "I think it's just time and ice and some treatment here and at home, kind of nonstop everything for the next couple of days. My goal is by Wednesday to be practicing and get out there and not being restricted."
The past 24 hours have been a scary time for Giants faithful, knowing an injury could suddenly elevate veteran David Carr to the starting job this weekend against Oakland, and a serious injury could crush hopes of another championship run.
Manning, who has thrown for 1,039 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions this season, was hurt early in the fourth quarter in a non-contact injury in New York's 27-16 win over the Chiefs in Kansas City.
The MVP of the Super Bowl in February 2008 made a fake on play-action and went back to throw. As he planted his right foot, he suddenly hopped as if he had stepped in a divot or something popped. He threw an incomplete pass to Steve Smith seconds later.
The play reminded many of the season-ending Achilles' tendon injury former Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde suffered at the start of the 1999 season.
"When I kind of felt it, I was a little worried," said Manning, who threw a touchdown pass to rookie Hakeem Nicks on the next play and then spent the rest of the game on the bench. "I knew what it was. I knew it was the bottom of my foot, my heel area. I could walk around a little bit. It was good that we got a touchdown on that play, kind of gave ourselves a pretty good lead at the time. I didn't have to come back in the game and risk anything worse to it."
Manning, who has started 82 consecutive games, still had some swelling and soreness Monday morning. He got ice and stimulation treatment and went through his strength program before attending meetings before talking to the media.
He said he was not worried about the MRI, which will be reviewed by Dr. Russell Warren later in the day.
"I think I am pretty quick healer," he said. "I think every day you are looking forward to tomorrow and seeing how it feels tomorrow, and hopefully it feels better."
Manning said his status for Sunday's home game against Oakland would depend on how fast the heel heals.
"It doesn't feel any worse today than it did yesterday, which is a good sign," Manning said. "Hopefully, it just gets better every day."
Manning has played through pain. He injured his right shoulder in a game against Dallas early in 2007 and came back the following weekend to play against Green Bay.
"When he played with the shoulder he couldn't practice that week," coach Tom Coughlin recalled. "He got right up to gametime and he was pretty adamant about wanting to play."

Coughlin said Manning is one of those players who wants to be out there with his teammates.

"I am not worried about him," guard Rich Seubert said. "A couple of years ago, he had the shoulder or whatever it was and he was fine and didn't miss anything. Then I let (Browns nose tackle) Shaun Rogers fall on him last year. He's a tough kid. I know on Sunday he will be out there playing with us."

Manning admitted he took a little ribbing from teammates during film reviews on Monday. Center Shaun O'Hara accused him of trying to get a little extra camera time.

"I had a few comments today, which were deserved," Manning said. "It didn't look pretty. I almost had a big play out of it, I got a touchdown on the next play, so it all worked out."

Carr, the No. 1 pick overall by Houston in the 2002 draft and a veteran of 79 NFL starts, is ready just in case.

"I feel as good as I did the day I showed up in the NFL," Carr said. "Mentally I am a lot better quarterback than I was my first year. I had no clue what I was doing."

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas leaders on Monday launched an unprecedented attack against President Mahmoud Abbas, saying they no longer consider him a Palestinian after he agreed to suspend efforts to go after Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The harsh verbal assault is likely to undermine attempts at reconciliation scheduled to conclude later this month between the Western-backed Abbas and his Islamic militant Hamas rivals, who control the Gaza Strip.
Syria abruptly postponed Abbas' planned visit to Damascus in what appeared to be the first diplomatic fallout from his decision to suspend a campaign to push for war crimes prosecutions in connection with last winter's Gaza war.
A U.N. report alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the three-week offensive in Gaza, a charge both deny.
The U.S. exerted pressure to delay of the vote, apparently to keep the hope of renewed Mideast negotiations alive. Israel's prime minister warned last week that pursuing war crimes charges would sabotage efforts to restart peace talks.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly deflected a question about whether the U.S. pressured the Palestinians, saying the main goal was to promote a peace accord. "We simply do not want the report itself to become any kind of impediment to this ultimate goal," he said. "We appreciate the seriousness with which the Palestinians approached this very difficult issue."
The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva decided last week to put off a vote on the report for six months, rather than refer it to the U.N. General Assembly immediately for possible action.
Abdullah Abdullah, a lawmaker in Abbas' Fatah movement, said Monday that the Palestinian diplomats had been urged by "certain friendly countries" to put off the vote.
The decision sparked outrage across a wide swath of Palestinian society.
In Gaza, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Monday that Abbas and others involved in the decision should be shunned. "We don't consider them Palestinians or representatives of the Palestinian people," Zahar said.
Hamas drove Abbas' forces out of Gaza in 2007, leaving him in control of only the West Bank. Repeated reconciliation efforts have failed, complicating peace efforts with Israel.
Egyptian mediators have asked Hamas and Fatah to return to Cairo for another round of talks later this month, and it appeared Hamas was using the domestic backlash against Abbas as leverage.
"I ask how the different parties can sit at the same table given this situation? How can the proper environment be created, given this unprecedented renunciation, this sacrifice of the martyrs' blood and our people's rights?" Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh said Monday.
But Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said during a visit Monday to Jordan that the rival Palestinian sides would meet in Cairo on Oct. 25 and sign a reconciliation charter. He said the meeting with bring together the heads of various Palestinian factions, but gave no further details.
Syria called off the Abbas visit, a Syrian official said Monday, refusing to give a reason. However, the cancellation came just a day after Syria criticized the Palestinian Authority for backing down on the war crimes issue. Abbas' visit was set to begin Tuesday.
Abbas adviser Nabil Abu Rdeneh said there had been a "technical change" in the president's schedule.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, several hundred protesters marched in the central square, calling for the resignation of those who took the decision. "Listen, listen, Abbas, our people's blood is not spilled in vain," they chanted.
In Jerusalem Monday, several dozen young Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli police near the main holy site in the Old City. Several arrests were made, police said. Tension has been high during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, when thousands of worshippers crowd the holy site.

Also, a Palestinian teenager stabbed a soldier at a checkpoint in the city, wounding him. The attacker was arrested, police said.

___

Associated Press Writers Ben Hubbard and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, and Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

CHICAGO – A former handyman was convicted Tuesday in the slayings of seven people whose bodies were found in a walk-in freezer and cooler at a suburban Chicago fast food restaurant 16 years ago.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours after the nearly monthlong trial of James Degorski, 37. They must now decide whether he is eligible for the death penalty and whether it should be imposed.
Prosecutors claimed Degorski shot and stabbed two owners and five employees of the Brown's Chicken and Pasta restaurant in Palatine in 1993 "because he wanted to do something big."
Degorski's conviction came despite a lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime. Public defender Mark Levitt noted that aspect of the case in closing arguments Tuesday.
"The prosecution has been scrambling," Levitt said. "They can appeal to your emotions, because we all have emotions. They can appeal to your senses, but what they're lacking is evidence."
Prosecutors told jurors that Degorski had told many people about the killings.
"The truth cannot be defeated," said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Tom Biesty. "The testimony corroborates the evidence."
Juan Luna, a high school friend of Degorski, also was convicted of the crime in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. Luna was a former employee of the restaurant who told authorities he thought it would be an easy target at closing time.
The robbery netted less than $2,000.
Prosecutors said the men shot and stabbed restaurant owners Richard Ehlenfeldt, 50, his wife Lynn, 49, and five of their employees: Michael Castro, 16; Rico Solis, 17; Marcus Nellsen, 31; Thomas Mennes, 32; Guadalupe Maldonado, 46.
In Luna's case, investigators had a wealth of physical evidence, including a palm print and DNA that put him at the crime scene. Luna also gave a lengthy videotaped statement to police in which he implicated himself and Degorski in the killings.
A brief statement taken from Degorski after his arrest was far less detailed, and prosecutors had to rely on the testimony of witnesses — including Degorski's former girlfriend — who said both men confessed their roles in the crime just after it happened.
Degorski and Luna were arrested in May 2002 after that former girlfriend, Anne Lockett, came forward to police.

As newer computers stopped using dedicated synthesis chips and began to primarily use sample-based synthesis, more realistic timbres could be recreated, but often at the expense of file size (as with MODs) and potentially without the personality imbued by the limitations of the older sound chips.

Modern computers can play a variety of chiptune formats through the use of emulators and platform-specific plugins for media players. Depending on the nature of hardware being emulated, 100% accuracy in software may not be available. The commonly used MOS Technology SID chip, for example, has a multi-mode filter including analog circuits whose characteristics are only mathematically estimated in emulation libraries.

Voice Chip

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
The White House on Tuesday mocked Republican attacks on President Barack Obama's trip to Copenhagen this week to play a starring role in Chicago's final 2016 Olympic presentation.

Some Obama critics, including Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, have accused the president of neglecting domestic and foreign crises to fly to Copenhagen ahead of Friday's vote on the venue of the 2016 Summer Games.

Chicago is locked in a pitched battle with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo for the right to host the global sporting extravaganza.

"Who's he rooting for?" White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, when told of Steele's remarks.

"Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio? I don't know. Maybe it's Madrid."

Earlier, in a conference call with reporters, Steele said it was noble of Obama to go to Denmark on behalf of his native "Chi-town" but that the president had other pressing business to attend to.

"I think at a time of war, I think at a time of recession, at a time where Americans have expressed rather significantly their concerns and frustrations.... I think that this trip, while nice, is not necessary for the president," Steele said.

"The goal should be creating, not job opportunities seven years from now, but job opportunities today."

"And I think that what the president is doing is not necessarily helpful and does not, in my view, instill the confidence in the American people that the focus is there on jobs, wealth creation and moving us beyond recession to prosperity."

Obama's trip is unlikely to take too much time out of his packed schedule. He will leave Washington Thursday night for Denmark, arriving on Friday morning hours before Chicago is set to make its final presentation.

After giving a speech, he is set to return straight home.

Designing a costume differs when creating for either a male or female dancer. Female dancer’s standard costume includes tights that cover the legs and hips and a leotard that covers the hips and trunk (Penrod 13). Leotards are an important basic garment in which most dance costumes are based from (Harrison 8). If the tights have a seam it is worn on the back of the legs. Women can wear underwear under their tights; however, if they do wear underwear, it must never be seen. By showing the line of their underwear on the leotard the long look of the leg is destroyed.

Women appear blusher, and have stronger eyes and lips (Cooper 78). Men apply a browner shade for their lips and have a stronger shadow for their jaw line. Dancers should also dust their faces with color and lightly add blush to their knuckles so it doesn’t contrast with their face (Art of Production 125).

French Maid Costume

NEW YORK – "Jon & Kate Plus 8" will soon be simply "Kate Plus Eight."
That's the word from the TLC network, who announced Tuesday that its hit reality show is adapting to changes in the Gosselin household, which has been disrupted by the split up of Kate and Jon.
The renamed "Kate Plus Eight," which begins Nov. 2, will continue to chronicle the lives of the Gosselin kids (5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins) but will also focus on Kate's role as a single mother.
"It's not a huge shift, but it's reflective of where the show was already going," said Eileen O'Neill, TLC's president and general manager.
"Jon's going to be involved in the show," she said, adding that he will be seen less often than before. TLC retains an exclusive arrangement with him, as well as the rest of the family, O'Neill said.
The couple made their separation official on a "Jon & Kate" episode that aired in June and was seen by 10.6 million viewers.
The rupture came after weeks of tabloid reports of marital strains and infidelities, which both spouses denied. On the show, the parental co-stars barely spoke to each other.
Since then, media coverage of the squabbling exes has continued full-bore, and both Jon and Kate have made separate he-said-she-said talk-show rounds. They are in divorce proceedings.
It's quite a change since the series clicked with viewers two years ago for its heartwarming look at the challenges of raising eight young children.
Going forward, O'Neill said, "We hope for the sake of the family that things are more manageable. I don't think anyone asked for that amount of attention."
She spoke hopefully of a bright future for the series and dismissed a report circulating Tuesday that Kate Gosselin had posted a tweet that this season might be the last: Kate doesn't have a Twitter account, O'Neill said.
Although the audience for recent "Jon & Kate" airings has dropped below two million viewers, the current season has averaged a robust 3.2 million (even omitting its two record-setting "event" episodes), which represents an increase of 300,000 viewers over last season.
Discussions are under way with Kate Gosselin for another series that might debut in 2010, O'Neill said.
"I think there's an opportunity for Kate beyond her role as a supermom to explore her other interests," O'Neill said.
Meanwhile, with reality-based programming that also includes "Little People, Big World," "What Not to Wear" and "LA Ink," the network is boasting a year of consecutive month-to-month audience gains.
"We're not a one-hit wonder," O'Neill said.
The series airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT.
___

TLC is owned by Discovery Communications, LLC.

___

On the Net:

http://www.tlc.com

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call 'The Twilight Zone.'" — Rod Serling
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — On a Friday night in October 1959, Americans began slipping into a dimension of imagination as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. They've really never returned.
"The Twilight Zone," first submitted for the public's approval by a reluctant CBS, has resonated with viewers from generation to generation with memorable stories carrying universal messages about society's ills and the human condition.
Like the time-space warps that anchored so many of the show's plots, Rod Serling's veiled commentary remains as soul-baring today as it did a half-century ago, and the show's popularity endures in multiple facets of American pop culture.
"I'm interested in the escapist ideas, the psychological nature of the stories," said Lauren Chizinski of Houston, a first-year graduate student in sculpting at Syracuse University who is among two dozen students taking a class on show and its 50th anniversary.
"The Twilight Zone" has been exulted in mediums such as pinball and video games and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disney theme parks.
The original show — which ran just five seasons, 1959-1964 — led to a feature film by Steven Spielberg and John Landis in 1983, and is reportedly soon to appear again on the silver screen from Leonardo DiCaprio's production company.
It's also resulted in short-lived television series in the 1980s and in 2002, and has been the subject of scores of books, Web sites, blogs, comic books and magazines and a radio series. It's even inspired music from the Grateful Dead, Rush, Golden Earring and Michael Jackson.
"Even people who have never seen 'The Twilight Zone' know about it," said Doug Brode, who is teaching the Serling class at Syracuse and teamed with Serling's widow to write "Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute."
With quality writing, acting and production, "The Twilight Zone" pioneered a genre, said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
"The whole idea of 'The Twilight Zone' jumped off the television screen and became a catchphrase, a buzzword for something much beyond the TV show itself," Thompson added. "When you say Twilight Zone, it's its own genre. The X-Files was working in 'The Twilight Zone' genre."
Its signature theme song even became part of popular language, allowing people to describe unusual or inexplicable moments with a simple "doo-doo doo-doo," Thompson said.
CBS has no plans to observe the show's 50th anniversary, said spokesman Chris Ender. The show has enjoyed nearly uninterrupted popularity through television, syndication and DVD releases and is under license to air in 30 countries, he said.
The Syfy Channel regularly broadcasts The Twilight Zone and plans a 15-show marathon Oct. 2.
Anniversary observances are planned in Binghamton, N.Y., where Serling grew up and went to high school; at Ithaca College in New York, where Serling taught from 1967 until his death in 1975, and which keeps Serling's archives; and at Antioch College in Ohio, where Serling was a student — met his wife, Carol — and later taught.
"I don't think he would have thought in a million years that Twilight Zone would be having an important 50th birthday or that it would still be on," said Carol Serling, who will attend the celebrations in Ithaca and Binghamton.
"Through parable and suggestion, he could make points that he couldn't make on straight television because there were too many sacred cows and sponsors and people who said you couldn't do that," she said, referring to the networks' reluctance to deal with contemporary issues in its prime-time programming.
There were 156 episodes filmed for the original series; Serling wrote 92 of them and other contributors included Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury, two of the deans of science fiction writing.

In a time on television when suburbia was idealized in popular shows such as "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Make Room for Daddy," Serling offered a mixture of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror — and the show's trademark macabre or unexpected twist.

Serling had already earned acclaim for his television writing ("Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Patterns,") but found himself fighting CBS to get "The Twilight Zone" on the air. Serling would have repeated conflicts with network censors throughout his career.

In 1958, CBS bought Serling's teleplay, "The Time Element," which he hoped would be the pilot to his weekly series. The story was about a bartender who keeps waking up in Pearl Harbor knowing the Japanese will be attacking the next day but unable to convince anyone he's telling the truth.

But CBS shelved the series after buying it because the studio didn't think there was much commercial value in science fiction. Bert Granet, producer of the weekly CBS anthology series "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse," stumbled on the script and wanted it. He bought it for $10,000.

The story aired on Nov. 24, 1958, and became the Westinghouse series' biggest hit, garnering more audience reaction than any previous episodes. CBS finally decided to take a chance on Serling's series.

___

On the Web:

Rod Serling Memorial Foundation: http://www.rodserling.org

Doug Brode: http://www.TwilightZone50th.com

Ithaca College: http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/serling

LOS ANGELES – With a departed teammate in their thoughts and celebrations, the Los Angeles Angels ended the AL West race with one emphatic win — followed by one cathartic party. Ervin Santana pitched a seven-hitter for his fourth career shutout, and Kendry Morales' early two-run homer propelled the Angels to an 11-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night, clinching Los Angeles' fifth division title in six seasons.
With fewer wins and more scars than last season's 100-victory club, the Angels are back in the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years. Outfielder Torii Hunter believes everything the Angels have endured in the past year, particularly pitcher Nick Adenhart's tragic death, only made them stronger for this October.
"We overcame a lot of obstacles, a lot more than anybody expected," Hunter said. "I definitely feel we haven't played our best yet, and this year is different. But if you want to put your money on Boston, go ahead, do it. We believe in ourselves."
Los Angeles (92-64) will open at home in the best-of-five first round next week — most likely against Boston, a familiar nemesis. The Red Sox, who have won all four of the clubs' playoff series, need one win or a Texas loss to earn the AL wild card.
After spending the past two months desperately fending off challenges from second-place Texas, the Angels refused to let the Rangers hang around the AL West race for even one more day. Texas arrived at Angel Stadium needing a four-game sweep to stay in contention for the division title, but that suspense lasted about as long as the first inning.
Kendry Morales hit a two-run homer, and Vladimir Guerrero started the rally with an RBI double off Rangers rookie Tommy Hunter (7-9), who stumbled to his shortest start of the season.
Maicer Izturis had three hits and two RBIs for the Angels, while Erick Aybar and Guerrero also drove in two runs — yet Santana (8-8) scarcely needed the help in his first victory in seven starts, allowing just one runner to reach third base. In the postgame mob on the field, Santana's teammates slapped his shoulders and rubbed his head.
About 10 minutes into their clubhouse celebration, the players grabbed Adenhart's No. 34 jersey and gave it a joyous group dousing in champagne and beer. The Angels have taken Adenhart's jersey on every road trip and kept his locker intact in memory of the 22-year-old who died in a car accident hours after his promising season debut in April.
"We remembered Nick before we started," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We've played the whole year with heavy hearts. But it was never about us, and it isn't about us. It's all about supporting Nick's family in any small way, and we're going to bring Nick's memory forward."
The Angels later posed for a group photo in front of the tribute to Adenhart on Angel Stadium's center field wall.
Michael Young had two hits in his return from a hamstring injury for the Rangers, on the verge of elimination from the pennant race after impressively staying in contention all summer despite several major injuries. Texas (85-71) trails Boston (91-65), which lost to Toronto, by six games with six to play.
"We didn't get it done, and that's not a good feeling," Young said. "The Angels had a great year and overcame a tremendous amount of adversity, and they deserve a lot of credit. But from our side, it's not a good feeling. We've got to get better. It's as simple as that."
Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 5
At Boston, Josh Beckett was scratched from his scheduled start and the Blue Jays scored seven runs off substitute Michael Bowden in a game that was called in the seventh inning because of rain.
It was the fourth straight loss for Boston, which could have clinched the wild card with a victory coupled with the Rangers' 11-0 loss to the Angels. Boston is six games ahead in the wild card with seven to play.
Yankees 8, Royals 2
At New York, Robinson Cano capped a five-run seventh inning with a grand slam to lead a makeshift Yankees lineup in win No. 101.
One day after the Yankees secured their first AL East title since 2006, Ramiro Pena hit his first major league home run and Shelley Duncan had a tiebreaking single in the sixth while New York rested most of its regulars.

Cano's second career slam was his 25th homer this season and helped set a franchise record for most players with at least 25 in a season. He joined Mark Teixeira (38), Alex Rodriguez (28), Hideki Matsui (28) and Nick Swisher (27).

White Sox 6, Indians 1

At Cleveland, Gordon Beckham drove in three runs and John Danks threw his first career complete game to win for the first time in more than a month.

Danks (13-10) allowed three hits and one run, striking out seven. Shin-Soo Choo hit his 19th homer leading off the seventh to break up the left-hander's bid for his first career shutout

Rays 7, Orioles 6

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and pinch-hitter Willy Aybar had one of four Tampa Bay homers to extend Baltimore's losing streak to 11 games.

Gabe Kapler, Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria also homered for the Rays, who are 8-5 since an 11-game skid. Tampa Bay has hit 193 homers this season, breaking the team record of 190 set in 2006.