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Back in the Fray, Gore Announces PAC, Gearing Up for Possible '04 Presidential Run The New York Times, by RICHARD L. BERKE   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 11:34:26 PM    Post Reply WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — In a sign that he should not be ruled out as a White House contender in 2004, former Vice President Al Gore announced today that he had formed a political action committee to help Democratic Congressional candidates in 2002. The announcement of the committee, called Leadership '02, was intended as a buildup for Mr. Gore's appearance on Saturday night at a $25-a-head fund-raising rally in Nashville for the Tennessee Democratic Party. Mr. Gore has appeared at few political functions since he lost the presidency to George W. Bush. This will be his first major political address in his home state, which he lost to Mr. Bush in 2000.

Air force jets scrambled to Golden Gate Bridge after small planes circle sfgate.com, by sfgate.com   Original Article Posted By: Blue Moon - 1/31/2002 11:34:10 PM    Post Reply Two Air Force jets were scrambled to the Golden Gate Bridge during the evening commute hours Thursday after bridge officials noticed two small airplanes circling the famous span. The small propeller planes left the area after about 15 minutes, said Golden Gate Bridge District Lt. Mike Locati. Locati says small planes are not supposed to be in the area, an air space change instituted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bridge officials followed protocol and called the Federal Aviation Administration which had the jets sent to the area, Locati said. Locati called the appearance of the two small planes in such close proximity to the bridge "out of the ordinary."

Janet Reno's health magnified in Florida governor's race © 2002 Associated Press, by KEN THOMAS   Original Article Posted By: berryberry - 1/31/2002 11:18:09 PM    Post Reply MIAMI (AP) -- Janet Reno's fainting spell during a speech prompted concern Thursday among Democrats about her ability to run for governor and stirred fears that her Parkinson's disease might become a campaign issue. The 63-year-old former attorney general is considered the front-runner among the Democrats vying to face Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Reno has battled Parkinson's disease for seven years, and doctors have said repeatedly that it should not hamper her ability to campaign or serve as governor.

U.S. Repeats Warnings on Terrorism The Washington Post, by Karen DeYoung and Dana Milbank   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:58:31 PM    Post Reply With President Bush in the lead, the administration yesterday toughened its warnings to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, brushing off angry responses from the targets of its rhetoric even while seeking to clarify its policy for U.S. allies. Those three nations and any others that develop weapons of mass destruction, sponsor terrorists or both "don't hold the values we hold dear" and are on a "watch list," Bush told a cheering crowd of Republican supporters in Atlanta. "People say, what does that mean? It means they better get their house in order, is what it means. It means they better respect the rule of law. It means they better not try to terrorize America and our friends and allies, or the justice of this nation will be served on them as well," Bush said.

Combating Terrorism: 'It Starts Today' The Washington Post, by Bob Woodward and Dan Balz   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:56:08 PM    Post Reply Monday, September 17 At 9:35 a.m., President Bush and his war cabinet reconvened at the White House. Some of those gathered around the conference table in the Cabinet Room did not know what to expect – perhaps more review and discussion, even more questions or analysis. When their meeting broke up Saturday afternoon at Camp David, Bush had not made up his mind about the options presented to him that day. But after returning to the White House Sunday, he had told national security adviser Condoleezza Rice what he wanted to do. Now he shared his decision with the other advisers. "The purpose of this meeting is to assign tasks for the first wave of the war against terrorism," the president said, sitting at the traditional center seat on the window-side. "It starts today."

Bush to Propose More Flexibility on 401(k) Plans The New York Times, by RICHARD W. STEVENSON and STEPHEN LABATON   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:50:56 PM    Post Reply WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — President Bush plans to propose giving workers more flexibility to sell their company's stock in their 401(k) retirement plans. The proposal is part of a package of legislative changes he will present on Friday in his first major response to the collapse of the Enron Corporation, administration officials said today. Mr. Bush's proposal would allow workers to sell any company stock that their employers contribute to 401(k) plans after three years, ending the practice by some businesses of requiring employees to hold stock in their employer's company much longer. In Enron's case, employees were barred from selling the company stock before age 50, the maximum age for such a requirement under existing law.

Regulation change sparks abortion debate cnn.com, by cnn.com   Original Article Posted By: Blue Moon - 1/31/2002 10:47:29 PM    Post Reply The Bush administration said Thursday it wants to let states classify a fetus as an "unborn child" so low-income women can qualify for prenatal care -- a move that has infuriated abortion rights advocates. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a statement that the goal of the regulation change is to provide health care services for pregnant women who would not be eligible otherwise. In what it billed as clarification, the administration shifted the definition of "child" to include those "from conception" to age 19.

Terrorists Noted Flaws in Security, Report Says The Los Angeles Times, by ERIC LICHTBLAU, Times Staff Writer   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:45:08 PM    Post Reply WASHINGTON -- A confidential intelligence report issued Thursday indicates that Osama bin Laden's operatives displayed a keen interest in exploiting vulnerabilities in security at sensitive U.S. facilities, and FBI Director Robert Mueller said he believes that Al Qaeda-trained agents are still at large in the United States. The intelligence report, reviewed by The Times, revealed that U.S. personnel in Afghanistan have discovered an Al Qaeda-linked computer hard drive containing a congressional study that exposed startling shortcomings in security at U.S. government facilities.

Republicans Hold Retreat, Prepare Offensive Yahoo! News, by Thomas Ferraro   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:39:32 PM    Post Reply WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. (Reuters) - U.S. congressional Republicans privately hashed over their differences at a mountain retreat on Thursday as they also prepared to go on a united election-year offensive. Vice President Dick Cheney wrapped up a one night visit on Thursday to rally lawmakers, who were to meet on Friday with President Bush. Topics of discussion at closed-door sessions included congressional elections this coming November and Republicans' 2002 legislative agenda, lawmakers and aides said.

Vibrating games health warning BBC News, by Staff   Original Article Posted By: Kalkin - 1/31/2002 10:36:42 PM    Post Reply Doctors are calling for vibrating computer game controllers to carry health warnings after a teenager developed a painful condition known as hand-arm vibration syndrome. The 15-year-old boy spent seven hours a day playing computer games and particularly enjoyed those using the vibration mode on the control device.

Church leaders insist on a life in the shadows Irish Independent, by MARESE McDONAGH    Original Article Posted By: Liberty7 - 1/31/2002 10:34:53 PM    Post Reply BISHOP Eamonn Casey has developed a close relationship with his son Peter, a factor that will be taken into account as decisions are made about his future in Ireland. While Church leaders here are at pains to point out that there is no opposition to his return, they are adamant that he must assume the anonymous existence of any retired bishop. Many of them believe this will be difficult partly because of the huge media interest in the former Bishop of Galway which would have abated long ago if he had confronted it in 1992 and partly because Dr Casey is a passionate campaigner against injustice who will not be able to avoid the limelight. Church sources said yesterday that one option was ``a quiet pastoral role'' for Dr Casey perhaps as a chaplain to a religious community but this is not the type of lifestyle which the Bishop can be imagined feeling comfortable with.

Senate wants thumbprints on driver's licenses The Virginian-Pilot, by LOUIS HANSEN   Original Article Posted By: Double Darius - 1/31/2002 10:34:26 PM    Post Reply A little ink, a pad and a clean thumb might be required later this year when you renew your license. The state Senate approved a measure Wednesday requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect thumbprints on all applications for driver's licenses. The bill, SB62, allows the Department of Motor Vehicles to take thumbprints or other types of biological identification -- eye scans, pictures or DNA samples -- and place the information on driver's licenses. The measure passed, 28 to 10, with one abstention. It now goes to the House of Delegates for consideration.

Dartmoor 'as bad as Camp X-Ray' The Telegraph (U.K.), by Philip Johnston   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:31:35 PM    Post Reply PRISONERS at Dartmoor jail were "caged, degraded and abused" in conditions likened by penal reformers last night to the way al-Qa'eda captives are being held in Cuba. Segregated inmates were made to exercise in 12-foot square pens within a granite-walled punishment block described as "medieval" in a damning inspection report published today.

Canada Wants Some Trucks Exempt From Border Inspection The New York Times, by JOEL BRINKLEY   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:27:38 PM    Post Reply WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — At a time when the Bush administration is trying to tighten security along its 4,000-mile northern border, Canada is aggressively pushing a plan that would eventually allow more than 7,000 trucks each day to pass the border uninspected, United States and Canadian officials said. The plan would allow companies with regular freight traffic across the border to undergo security prescreening.

Free Condoms for Athletes at Olympics Draws Protest The New York Times, by MICHAEL JANOFSKY   Original Article Posted By: Dreadnought - 1/31/2002 10:25:38 PM    Post Reply SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 31 — As stars of the show, athletes gathering here for the Winter Olympics want for nothing. That includes condoms. They are free for the asking, where athletes live and where they compete. In many places, it would not be a big deal. Vital for safe sex, condoms are distributed by cities and school systems all across the country. They have been provided at every Olympics since 1992, including the Summer Games of 2000 in Sydney, Australia, where more than 70,000 condoms in a rainbow of colors were distributed to athletes. Some countries exhausted their supply.

Teletubbies say Eh Oh to China BBC News, by Staff   Original Article Posted By: Kalkin - 1/31/2002 10:12:18 PM    Post Reply Teletubbies, the BBC children's show which has already been sold to more than 100 countries, is to be broadcast on Chinese TV - to a potential audience of hundreds of millions. The series will be renamed Tianxian Baobao - Mandarin for Antenna Babies - and aired on CCTV1, the major state TV channel.

Deal Made in Irish Child Sex Abuse Cases Fox News, by AP/no byline   Original Article Posted By: Liberty7 - 1/31/2002 10:11:49 PM    Post Reply The deal late Wednesday was designed to conclude a 10-year struggle by the church in this predominantly Catholic nation to overcome sex scandals going back to the 1940s. More than 20 priests, brothers and nuns have already been convicted of molesting children, with much of the abuse taking place in state-funded, church-run schools.

Newswoman Gets Eyes Done Before Switching to Fox News Zap2it.com, by uncredited   Original Article Posted By: pythonmonty - 1/31/2002 10:09:01 PM    Post Reply LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The fact that Greta Van Susteren will be on Fox News Channel instead of CNN won't be the only change noted by viewers when her new show premieres this Monday (Feb. 4). Van Susteren's eyes will also be getting a make-over. On Thursday, Jan. 14, the newswoman had surgery to removed bags under her eyes

UN seeks urgent aid for Palestinians BBC News, by Kylie Morris   Original Article Posted By: Kalkin - 1/31/2002 10:04:06 PM    Post Reply The United Nations says it needs more than $100m immediately to fund emergency operations in the Palestinian territories. Food and work programmes are at the top of the list of needs assessed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

Daniel Pearl kidnapping plot thickens Asia Times Online, by Syed Saleem Shahzad    Original Article Posted By: Liberty7 - 1/31/2002 10:03:35 PM    Post Reply The kidnapping mystery surrounding the Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau chief, Daniel Pearl, is still unresolved after more than a week. Insiders in Pakistani intelligence agencies say the case is not as simple as it appears. But the theories emanating from these agencies have one thing in common: that the kidnapping is an Indian ploy to provide American detective agencies, which are already established in the country, with a chance to discover all the strings of the Pakistani secret underworld as they investigate the case. Sources say that in the past few days the course of investigation into Pearl's kidnapping has suddenly changed, and all fingers are now pointing toward outfits that are little known but have been operational in India. One of these organizations, Jamiatul Faqurah, is alleged by India to have carried out terrorist activities, and now, strangely for the first time, its connections to underworld Muslim groups have been established by the United States.

Enron's Web of Complex Hedges, Bets LA TIMES, by MICHAEL A. HILTZIK   Original Article Posted By: ClangClang - 1/31/2002 9:58:13 PM    Post Reply As accountants and investigators begin poring over Enron Corp.'s books, they are likely to collide head-on with a factor that makes its finances particularly impenetrable--the extent to which the company relied on financial instruments known as commodity derivatives to inflate income, hide losses and misrepresent the true nature of its business.

Fears 'evil' tag will threaten stability Sydney Morning Herald, by Shane Green   Original Article Posted By: Jonahfan - 1/31/2002 9:48:16 PM    Post Reply There are concerns that George Bush's naming of North Korea as a new front in the war against terrorism will heighten unease in the region, increase fears of conflict and further set back Seoul's policy of engagement with the North. In its first response to being linked to Iraq and Iran as part of an "axis of evil", North Korea yesterday accused Washington of "a shenanigan aimed at continuing with its policy of aggression against us". "The remarks were also aimed at justifying the stationing of US troops in the South and keeping up with its hostile and aggressive policy," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

Bullies' bill dies in House committee TIMES-DISPATCH, by PAMELA STALLSMITH   Original Article Posted By: cannonfodder - 1/31/2002 9:44:58 PM    Post Reply A bill that would have allowed public school children to defend themselves against bullies who start fights with them died in the House Education Committee yesterday.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2002