DECEMBER 2004 NEWSGRIDS

December 31, 2004

WAR IRAQ On the ground:
Iraqi Prime Minister Warns Neighbors Against Cross-Border Insurgency + Suicide Car Bomber Kills Seven in Iraq's North + Deadly Year in Iraq Has Grown Worse + US Troops Round Up 49 Suspects Near Tikrit + Entire Mosul Election Staff Quits After Threats + 'Bang, Bang You're Dead': UK Troops Head Blindly Into Iraq + Arab League Won't Dispatch Troops to Iraq Under US Command + Attacks claim more than a dozen Iraqi lives + Rebels die in Mosul battle + American forces decided on Musil clashes by warplanes + Explosions, Gunfire and Other Clatter Are the Soundtrack for Life in Baghdad + IRAQ: A Year of Unreality + Citizens urged to take part in elections; on the file of kidnapped in Iraq + Not a Happy New Year in Fallujah + Orders of battle + Juan Cole reports

Occupation: Legal Flaws Threat to Saddam Trial + Iraqi Candidate Names Not Released for 'Security Reasons' Click. + Iraq's Mrs. Anthrax has cancer

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Minister Quits Over Censorship of Speeches

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli calls for wider pullout + Jerusalem at heat of conflict Sharon Deputy Calls for Wider Withdrawals From West Bank

Egypt announces success in the mediation between Libya and Saudi Arabia

RUSSIA: Russian Army’s 2005 Shopping List + Russia: The Kremlin's Oligarchs

UKRAINE: Yanukovych Resigns Post As Ukraine PM + Jonathan Steele on US influence in Ukraine

EUROPE: Lithuania shuts down atomic unit

Blair refuses to convene G8 summit

Man Wielding Camera Tripod Strikes Italy's Berlusconi; No Major Injuries

AFRICA: Sudan, Rebels Sign Landmark Peace Deals

Uganda's full ceasefire deal indefinitely postponed: mediators

ASIA PACIFIC: Musharraf reneges on pledge to resign as head of army. He says change now would be dangerous

In Rare Glimpse Behind Sri Lankan Rebel Lines, Guerrilla Base Lies in Ruins After Tsunami Disaster

AMERICAS: Guatemala: A tenuous calm where death once stalked

Locked Exit Doors Prevented Escape From Buenos Aires Nightclub Fire That Killed 175 People, Say Officials, Survivors

Calvo: Colombia's Private War

African-Based Religions Surge in Brazil

Race to Lead OAS Highlights Group's Growing Clout

INTELLIGENCE AGENTS AT WORK AND AT PLAY....

FBI to Probe Mystery Lasers Aimed at Planes

Pentagon Boots Official Over WMD Claim

Space Tiff Signals Rapid, Alarming Freeze in US-Russia Relations

Chem Attacks an Easier, but Less Deadly, Terror Recipe

Click. UK Army spy site warns of "unit's terror link"

Saudi Arabia: Two Most Wanted Terrorists Killed

U.S. & Japanese Forces Train Together

CIA goes public in classified ads

CIA looking for medical doctors

Two Agencies Melding Minds on Intelligence

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK....

Supplying troops in Iraq, profits clothed in sadness

Dire times for United pilots' pensions. Federal agency petitions to take over $1.4 billion in costs

Click. Last chance to apply for Medicare pharmacy discounts

Plenty of fun set for big year for Disney

Hormel buys Farmer John, Clougherty Packing Co. for $186 million

A modern prefab house fills the bill

2004 "a flat year" for biotech industry

GE Completes $500 Million Sale of Global Outsourcing Operations Stake 

HOW LOW
THE
LAW GOES....

Justice Department revises legal definition of torture

Justice Thomas leads court in getting gifts, ethics disclosures show

Colombia Extradites Rebel Leader 'Trinidad' to U.S.

Anna Nicole's Lawyer Vows to Appeal Ruling

The Legal System and Clergy Abuse in 2004: Reasons for Victims to Be At Least Somewhat Optimistic

Buffett firm helps with SEC probe

UK: Militant fathers intimidating court staff

4 Allegedly Rolled Back Own Prices at Wal-Mart

No Big Payout for Elderly Lottery Winner

Court targets abuses by immigration lawyers

High-Profile Murders Have Called Florida's Probation System Into Question

Judge Allows Wal-Mart Immigrant Janitors' Lawsuit to Proceed

CALIFORNIA BREAKING LAW NEWS....

Calif. prepares first execution in 3 years after appeal rejected + Plea for clemency sent to governor

Youth Authority reins in wards after two escape + CYA suspends work project after escapes

Sacramento: Builder warned by state to drop racketeering suit + Sacramento regulators say Comcast owes $400,000 in franchise fees + Greenville teen likely killed by train + State Comp Ins. Fund files suit to ensure insurance adequately covers staff from outsourcing firms

San Francisco, San Mateo: Third Bayview shooting victim dies + S.F. slayings soar in '04 + Click. Murdered man's wife accused of taking $1.8M.

Alameda: Thieves swindle Oakland teacher for $500 + Oakland: Loaded ammo clip found on jetliner

New Oakland Police Chief will face a tough initiation + Authorized passenger carried clip + Robbers strike twice in Warm Springs + Sheriff's detectives thaw cold cases

Santa Clara: Police Blotter + S.J.'s 2004 homicide rate lowest in years

Contra Costa: Alert is issued for Richmond teen after carjack + Influential Richmond police officer retires

Sonoma: Merchants say fur protests backfired + Petaluma wetlands Alliance shifts focus + Housing for mentally ill delayed + The year in review

Solano: Police, fire officials warn against gunfire, fireworks + Emergency flights taking longer to reach Vacaville + Vallejo Police Calls

Monterey: Cars vandalized in Chualar, Spreckels

Central Valley: Selection of Nesler jury set Jan. 12 + Man's ferocious injury kicks off debate + Law & Order

Southern California: Violent crime down sharply in L.A. in past year + Court orders new hearing for strip club
+ Court rules against panel + Listen Up, Politicians: It's Ears Before Ayes + Rounding Up New Ideas for Trial Courts + Santa Ana Couple Slain in Their Home; Man Sought + Businessman Held Over Alleged Threat to Judge

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA....

The Governor:  Death-row inmate asks Gov. for clemency

Editorial: Rents out of reach

Bill would require birth control sales + License gone for good on 3rd DUI?

Editorial: Embrace the Ugly Ripe

LOCAL NEWS:  The new year will come storming in

PG&E offers outage wake-up calls

Sacramento & north: Grocery workers would take hit + CHP official seeks workers' comp + Top 5 stories of 2004 + Fire reinstatements raise brows + Rivers called repository of sunken boats + Elvis has left the region - for a banking job in Alabama + R.E. Graswich: Looking back at '04: Secrets revealed, wrongs righted, friends lost + Airport concourse is evacuated + Six missing Woodland men rescued in Mendocino forest + Highway 20 crash victim is identified + Yuba-Sutter jobless rate hits 13%

San Francisco, San Mateo: How San Francisco went national in '05 + S.F.: Buddha arrives in the Mission. German Lutheran church now serves growing Asian community + S.F. slayings soar in '04

Alameda: Bernal designs go to Pleasanton council + Christine Gualt of Castro Valley wins medals for her bravery in Iraq + Oakland welcomes challenge of pandas +" Fremont man recounts his tsunami experience + Stage set for fight over Oakland Airport proposals + Tight-lipped Alameda city manager Jim Flint opens up on the way out + Supervisor Scott Hagerty quits Coliseum Authority + Cabbies continue fight against fees + Protecting Oakland is a labor of love + Center offers work, hope to day laborers + Alameda County focuses on attracting business + Farm workers' son welcomes readers to 'Tavo's World' + Pipeline construction dilemmas to subside + Second pet saved after dog killed on interstate + Alameda ferry service resumes

Santa Clara: FIREFIGHTERS PROVIDE FAMILY WITH FOUNDATION OF COMFORT + Los Altos nursing home ousts pair of live-in companion dogs East Bay parks have money worries

Contra Costa: Child care training may face overhaul + Martinez to vote on police pensions + Walnut Creek: Woman found dead in house

Marin: Marin's $45 million royal secret + Marin family was nearly swept away

Sonoma: Merchants say fur protests backfired + Petaluma wetlands Alliance shifts focus + Housing for mentally ill delayed + The year in review

Napa: Local residents escape deadly tsunami + Teen exchange student from Calistoga safe from Thailand's deadly tsunami disaster + 2004- The year that was in Napa + Robert Redford joins Land Trust of Napa County's Advisory Council

Solano: Mare Island lifts barriers, draws crowd + To Benicians, a little green was big deal + - County tried, then discarded touch-screen voting + - Comcast gives customers free access to Asian news

Monterey: Sunset's new chief to meet Carmel City Council + Service set for Seaside soldier killed in Iraq

Central Valley: Merced grad remains missing + Turlock couple's family escapes harm + Listen, Sayeth The Dragon + Mike Farrell of 'MASH' to speak at MLK event + Del Rey's end won't stop group + Council urged to revisit construction slowdown + Rain can't keep Hmong from celebration + News & Notes + Around the Region + Community Briefing

Central Coast: Businessman sets sights on library crisis + Watsonville couple buys new home with help from nonprofit + County public health nurse retires after 32 years + Santa Cruz parade denies entry to troop supporters

Southern California: Click. Longtime Haven's Black Population Dwindles + Frye's Backers Issue Appeal to City Council + Protest Spirit Has a Home in Laguna + Workshop Offered on Caring for Feral Cats

School days: Applications pour into Cal State University + Sonoma County preparing students for global workplace + Two top-10 lists for state schools

TSUNAMI: Scientists in Pacific 'saw' event unfold + Tsunami Death Toll Climbs to 150,000; Donations to Victims at $1.2 Billion + UN says warning systems could be working in southern Asia within a year + A diver's account from the sea + Click. Digital Globe Satellite Images of Tsunami + 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CONNECT THE DOTS....

Millionaires Flocking to Yellowstone Club

Dog therapist explains it all to you: "You have to treat the entire dog"

Electricity? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Electricity

Blood for pork....

New weapons around the world

AP Enterprise: Top Homeland Security Contractors Had Recent Run-Ins With Government

BIOWARFARE  WATCH....

Respiratory illness taking grim toll at nation's boot camps

Spain back to the barricades over Civil War archive

Canada suspects new mad cow disease case. Positive test comes after U.S. says normal cattle trade can resume

Suspect Cow Won't Affect Imports, U.S. Says

INEEL-designed System Assists Army With Chemical Weapon Destruction

Prominent Wildlife Experts Die in Colo. Highway Crash


More Than 10% of Preschoolers Are Overweight

Eli Lilly Said to Know of Prozac Risks

Snow leopard project faces finish

Genetic Shortcut To Breeding Super-healthy Salmon

Cassini Scientist Sees Evidence That Saturn's Outer Rings Could Be Disappearing

The Secret Life Of Acid Dust: Team Discovers Large, New Class Of Airborne Particles Unaccounted For In Climate Models

After Combing The Scientific Literature, Researchers Conclude Head Hair And Fur Aren't The Same

Increased Asthma Found Among Iowa Children Living On Hog Farms

How Platelets Help Cancer Invade Other Tissues

Return Of The Staphylococcus Aureus 'Superbug'

Loss Of Fruit Fly Retinal Protein Delays Blinding Light Damage

Science's Breakthrough Of The Year: Salty, Acidic Soup Could Have Supported Life On Mars

New Model Of Cancer Syndrome Could Lead To Treatments

Alcohol Vulnerability Linked To Action Of Insulin

New Route To Parkinson's Found In Cells' 'Garbage Disposal' System

Witnessing Event Can Produce Same Fear Response As Experiencing It, NYU Study Shows

Team Engineers Cell-deforming Technique To Help Understand Malaria

Study Medication May Improve 'Wearing-Off' Effects Of Parkinson's Drugs

University Takes National Lead On Earthquake Study

Vitamin E In Plant Seeds Could Halt Prostate, Lung Cancer, Says Purdue Scientist

Stanford Study Questions Accuracy Of Ads For Body Scans

Lilly Documents Link Prozac to Violence, British Medical Journal Reports

FDA Approves Pfizer Drug for Diabetes Pain, but Not for Seizures

Surgery Restores Man's Tears; 'Imagine Sandpaper Scratching Your Eye Every Day'

Apple buzz: $499 computer

Accidents Waiting to Happen: Rural Roads In Southeast Are Deadliest In Nation

Gladwin County Man Invents Snow Boat Recognized by Time Magazine

THE BUSHWORLD...

US pledges $350m in tsunami aid

Bush Foreign Policy Team to Focus on Iraq, Allies

Bush Downplays Sunni Election Boycott

US-Funded Arabic Station to Offer Iraqi Election Night Coverage

U.S. Aid Generous and Stingy

Bush Breaks Silence on bin Laden

Pentagon Misses Goal for Missile Defense System

Social Security Underestimates Future Life Spans, Critics Say

Carrier and Jets to Go in Bush's Military Budget Cuts

Federal Lawsuit Filed Challenging Nebraska's Corporate Farming Ban

After 100 Years, Forest Service Still Focus of Debate

Congress: L.A.'s party animals in Congress + Click. Conflict-of-interest woes involving House and Senate members have resulted in wrist slaps and promises -- but little actual reform.

Democrats: A bluer shade of New England + Rep. Patrick Kennedy Says No to a Senate Bid in 2006 in Rhode Island

Vote fraud: Gregoire certified as next governor + Contesting it: Uncharted territory + Jamieson: Re-do would create 'Dino-zilla' + Ohio Justice to Remain on Vote Challenge+ Rally Jan. 3 in San Francisco to urge Sen. Boxer to contest Ohio vote + Ohio Candidates Seek Second Presidential Recount

OPINIONS:

Heather Wokusch: 'Stingy? Not with WMD and war Click.

Molly Ivins: 2004: How 'bout a do-over? Click.

Jonathan Chait: Billions for pork as science is slashed Click.

Patrick Cockburn: The bullet and the ballot

John Dean: Jim Haynes As a Stalking Horse In Torturegate: Why President Bush Renominated Him for A Federal Appellate Judgeship

Can I Quietly Reverse My Pro-War Position?

A Vietnam Grunt Looks at Iraq

The Wreath Blair Didn't Lay

Confused About Democracy: Alan Bock

The price of Ukrainian democracy

Bush administration targets medical care for the poor

Who's To Blame?

Risk and privatized Social Security

MILITARY City Plans a Texas-Size Send-Off for Guard Troops Headed to Iraq

Travis unit leaves today to help out in Tsunami area

INFANTRY: Essential Arab Phrases for the Combat Soldier

COMBAT SUPPORT: Putting Commercial Games in Uniform

For families of war dead, a final choice

Navy's Final Gem: an Emerald

Antarctica: Casualties of cold war in a cold place

Army chief joins order of chivalry

Terrorism: Troubles with Germany's Star Terror Witness

Soldier Shot While Allegedly Vandalizing Homes

Report: Academy Scandal Investigator May Have Known of Allegations in Mid-2002

LEAKGATES  Did FBI Use Pentagon Analyst to ‘Sting’ AIPAC?

Robert Novak "Failing as a Journalist" in Plame Affair?


Single US ID Moves Closer to Reality

US Muslim Rights Group Seeks Probe Over Fingerprinting for Religious Profiling

Department of Justice issues first-ever medical guidelines for treating sexual-assault victims - without mention of emergency contraception, standard precaution against pregnancy after rape Click.

Political pitfalls of a Japanese war shrine

Columbian paper unveils human rights violations in Polisario-controlled camps

Columnist Pipes Calls for Crackdown on Civil Liberties for all Muslim-Americans

Click. 26th MEU enhances urban warfare capabilities in New Orleans

A Merry Prankster Keeps On Chuckling

Santa Cruz parade denies entry to troop supporters

Lake Superior State University's 2005 List of Words Proposed for Banning

San Francisco gay marriage and beyond:  New year, new laws: Gay couples to acquire new rights

The Pen Is Mightier.... 

Iraq vs. Tsunami: Duplicity of the media

Federal Complaint Charges 'L.A. Times' Disclosed Patient Info

Readers Defend "Traitor" Al Neuharth--and Freedom of Speech

Today's papers



Gauguin, Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers
Enlarge
 

Daily picture from the Metropolitan

ARTIE SHAW: 1910-2004. Bandleader was last of the swing-era giants

I'm still damn good (at age 48), says Navratilova

Berkeley p

photographer captures the soul of jazz

Stories of Man, Carved in Detail Through the Ages

Report: Martha Stewart loses decorating contest in prison

Kamiel Proost

Zen Gardens

Longbow-Archers

Pre-Raphaelite Passion + Medieval and Arthurian Pre-Raphaelite art

Women in Greek Myths

John Lahr on Neil LaBute

Alex Ross on William Bolcom

Restored Egyptian pyramid to reopen + Chephren pyramid open

Thanks For The Memories: Cinematic Portrayal Of Amnesia Is Profoundly Misleading

Happy dis-mas, Martha

Ben Widdicombe's Gatecrasher: Do you know your 2004 gossip?

Page Six

Liz Smith

Cindy Adams

Your daily braindrop

Word of the day

December 30, 2004

WAR IRAQ On the ground:
Guerrillas ambush U.S. post in Mosul + US Soldier, 25 Rebels Killed in Mosul Battle + Fallujans Jolted By City's Condition + U.S. military launches attack in 'triangle of death' + US Bombs, Battles Mosul Militants + New Offensive Launched South of Baghdad + New attacks target psyche as Iraqi vote nears + Orders of battle + Juan Cole reports

Occupation: Iraq attacks claim more lives as plans unveiled to protect voters + Gas shortage fuels resentment in Iraq

MIDDLE EAST: Sharon, Peres Reach Deal on Israel Unity Government

RUSSIA: A Spinning Yukos Goes (Almost) Full Circle

UKRAINE: Ukrainian election commission rejects appeal of Sunday's vote by Viktor Yanukovych + Organizer of Viktor Yanukovich's election campaign found dead in Kiev

EUROPE: In Europe, Islam Fills Marxism's Old Shoes

AFRICA: Vote Fraud Fuels Nigerian Oil Delta Strife

ASIA PACIFIC: China's Luster Fades

Pakistani president tells nation he'll stay on as army chief; accuses opposition of 'threatening' democracy

TSUNAMI: Indian Officials to Investigate Newspaper Report That Early Warning on Tsunami Fell Through Cracks + Islands so remote that no one knows if there are survivors + Five million people in 11 countries lack the basic requirements for life + France urges Paris Club moratorium on debt owed by tsunami-hit countries + Tsunami death toll hits 123,000 + Berlusconi calls for G8 tsunami talks

INTELLIGENCE AGENTS AT WORK AND AT PLAY....

U.S. Attorney Assails Lawyer Lynne Stewart in Terror Trial + Push to jail terror lawyer

FBI Probes Laser Beams in Plane Cockpits

Head of CIA analysis unit joins exodus of top officials in shake-up + FBI Names 6th Counterterrorism Chief Since 9/11

Saudis hunt bombers' accomplices + Saudi Says Kills 10 Militants in 2 Days of Raids

Trial of bin Laden driver may affect Hussein case

Chilling report details al-Qaida surveillance techniques

ETA Attacks Cost Spain Billions

In Iraq, a clear-cut bin Laden-Zarqawi alliance

Feds claim Trenton man aided Nazis in Ukraine

MILITARY Ft. Lewis Remembers Six Strykers Killed in Mess Tent Suicide Blast

Improved armor, care keep wounded troops alive

Daley's son ships out

Air Force Academy Ignored Rape Allegations


For China masses, an increasingly short fuse

Why We Shouldn't Ban Hezbollah TV

Muslims See Imam's Case as an Omen

HOW LOW
THE
LAW GOES....

Republican Judge Takes Aim at Bush Terror Policies

Yakama tribal lockup again under federal scrutiny

Can you copyright a stick figure? Chinese court says yes, fines Nike

Anonymous lawyer's blog

CALIFORNIA BREAKING LAW NEWS....

Hundreds of new laws set to take effect

U.S. court refuses to block execution of Donald Beardslee set to die Jan. 19 + Improper jury instruction didn't affect verdict

Death row inmate on row 17 yrs, dies of complications from cancer

New year, new laws: Hybrids stall on way to car-pool lane

U.S. court refuses to block execution of Donald Beardslee set to die Jan. 19

Hybrids can't use carpool lanes despite signing of new state law Click.

Plaintiffs in Suit Claim Wal-Mart Fudged on Study Click.

Buyers are snatching up pricey .50-caliber rifles soon to be outlawed in California Click.

Sacramento & north: Marjie Lundstrom: Charm vs. clutter: Highway 99 may be on the road to a face-lift 2 CYA inmates flee Cal Expo work assignment + Happy the donkey can bray away, judge rules + Civil claims re: alleged sexual assault by firefighters at Porn Start Costume Ball + Ramcho Cordova: Fourth suspect in slaying sought + Stockton psychiatrist sues county

San Francisco, San Mateo: Woman, 50, mistakenly gunned down in Bayview home. Police believe killing may be related to 2 shootings earlier in day + Redwood City: $12,000 gift makes up for Grinch-like theft of Salvation Army kettles

Alameda: Livermore gas station robbed + Livermore: Rapist gets six years for teen's attack + Police say robbery, assault in Union City wasn't random + Bullets found on Oakland jet

Santa Clara: Suspect freed in death of fetus

Contra Costa: Concord stabbing leads to arrest

Marin: Marin woman's killer loses appeal of death sentence

Sonoma: New law bans camping or living in vehicles in unincorporated Sonoma County Click. + Police say SR man fatally shot by friend + Ukiah: Jobless claims called fake, 4 indicted + Money stolen from Petaluma Salvation Army returned

Napa: Death certificates offer few clues on murders

Solano: Publicized cases find closure + Vallejo Police Calls

Monterey: Health group head indicted + Woman evades abduction attempt + Residents caught in dark courthouse + Father pleads not guilty

Central Valley: Out-of-town judge likely to hear case + Law & Order

Central Coast: Girl admits to stabbing outside S.C. High Southern California: Lawsuit says actress Debbie Reynolds, son breached lease contract + Prosecutors subpoenaed 12 San Diego officials in pension probe + Thieves steal artifacts from Mojave desert museum+ Dog finds molester evidence + Jackson trial summonses on way

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA....

The Governor: Board of Ed member resigns before confirmation hearing + Ex-CalPERS president blames Gov for ousting + CalPERS' ex-chief howls on + State works on tsunami plans

Legislative 'Pork' OKd in Boom Leaves Bad Taste in Lean Times

Click. Two recent moves by Bush administration and U.S. Forest Service may leave communities throughout the Sierra at too great a risk from fire. + Agriculture official planning review of Sierra forest decision

State victims fund rebounds Click.

Disney fends off CalPERS Click.

LOCAL NEWS:  East Bay Regional Park District struggles to maintain support

Sacramento & north: First Night Stockton set to ring in the New Year + Concern over levee collapses growing Click. + Crash victim, 85, identified + Stockton psychiatrist sues county + Marjie Lundstrom: Charm vs. clutter: Highway 99 may be on the road to a face-lift

San Francisco, San Mateo: Union: Lockout hurt hotels + S.F. man killed in hit-and-run + Union links cutbacks to fatal fire. S.F. firefighters contend station 'brownouts' may be putting lives at unnecessary risk

Alameda: 1,200 mourn Greek Orthodox church leader. He was noted for folk-dance festival, ecumenical work

Santa Clara: Herhold: Tsunami's wrath touches Stanford

Contra Costa: Martinez holiday bash is alcohol-free

Marin: Disputed paintings in Mill Valley removed + Rainstorms help fragile salmon set record flow

Sonoma: Small twister damages SR home; heavy rain expected today + North Coast pastor Monaghan dies at 90 + SR woman, trapped underwater, had given up

Napa: Local residents escape deadly tsunami + Teen exchange student from Calistoga safe from Thailand's deadly tsunami disaster + Actor Redford appointed to Land Trust's advisory group

Solano: Benicia woman hopes to make injured troops more comfortable + Local News Briefs + Fat cat or mountain lion

Monterey: City opts to put hotel tax hike on ballot + Local group to rebuild Indian village + New ambulance bids sought + No word from local sailor in Thailand

Central Valley: Ridiculous ban on 'ugly' tomato sales +Wounded soldier's buddy is off to Iraq + Country man won't sell land for any price + Valley's ideas for state parks sought + News & Notes + Around the Region

Central Coast: Take me to the river: Santa Cruz First Night 2005 celebrates flow of life + County cuts deal to turn dump gas into power + Sacramento lawyer pays for Pajaro mother’s humanitarian mission to Jordan + Bond seals deal for affordable housing units + High-speed chase leads to Highway 1 crash; driver gets away + Nightmare tow job on Highway 17 turns into good deed + Preservation group buys Watsonville’s historic Redman House

Southern California: Troubled LA hospital could lose funding after failing inspection+ Southern California gets twister, more rain, as new storm nears+ Hertzberg's Gimmick + Sepulveda dam functioned just as it was designed

School days: Schools chief calls universal preschool a priority for 2005+ Think you can't afford college in 2005? Think again, experts urge + State education chief praises Marin public schools

BIOWARFARE  WATCH....

U.S. Stands Firm on Canadian Beef Imports Despite Suspected Mad Cow Case

Canada Finds Suspected New Case of Mad Cow

New Study Shows How Mad Cow Prions Hitch A Ride Into Intestine

False Positive Screening For Cancer Found To Be Frequent And Costly


Simple Science Could Have Saved Thousands

How safe is the water?

More Than One Can Conceive

Captive shark feasting on record

Vitamin D deficiency tied to host of dangers

Einstein's century

UCI May Have Prescription for Improving Latino Healthcare

Researchers Control Chemical Reactions One Molecule At A Time

A Genetic Difference At The Opiate Receptor Gene Affects A Person's Response To Alcohol

$43 Million Grant From Gates Foundation Brings Together Unique Collaboration For Antimalarial Drug

Space Scientist Proposes New Model For Jupiter's Core

Purdue Scientists Hunt For 'Secret X' To Treat Liver Cancer

UCSB Makes Important Advances In Studies Of Retinal Detachment

The Human Eye Cannot Spot The Offside Rule

Research Led By UGA Professor Reports First Routine Tool Use By Wild Capuchin Monkeys

Satellite Tags Show How White Sharks Travel

Drinking Dangers in Older People

On Pins and Needles: Acupuncture for Arthritis Relief

Lifting heavy weights all the time is not the best way to build muscle

Doctors Link Common Chemotherapy Drug To Jawbone Necrosis

Efficiently Organic: Researchers Use Pentacene To Develop Next-generation Solar Power

Kinder, Gentler Procedure Gives Superior Results For Stem Cell Transplants

CT Imaging Can Help Diagnose And Define Occult Recurrent Cancer

Ice Cores Disagree On Origin Of White River Ash Deposit

UCSC Engineers Develop Assistive Technologies For The Blind

Winds, Ice Motion Root Cause Of Decline In Sea Ice, Not Warmer Temperatures

Cumulative Trauma In Adulthood Can Worsen Health In Later Years

Very High Prevalence Of Virus Linked To Cervical Cancer Found In Adolescent Women

Microbe's Genome Reveals Insights Into Ocean Ecology

Surgery Helps Relieve Migraines

Windows XP users Phelled by new Trojan

Microsoft revokes Passport service

Cheap Cell Calls Have a Price

Satellites Plus Software Equal Best-ever Mediterranean Heat Map

Scientists 'PAD' Their Way To New Metal-oxide Film Technology

THE BUSHWORLD...

Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition'

Pentagon Official Who Disclosed Russia-Iraq Arms Link Ousted + Freeze: Pentagon not talking to Israelis after China standoff

Bush Takes Rare Step of Debating bin Laden

U.S. rule of Pacific waves faces challenge from China

Shred the Roadmap to Salmon Extinction

Poll: War Bad for Business

Pentagon Offers $60 Billion in Cuts Over 6 Years

Extensive early warnings, next a global warning system?

How the 2005 economy could affect Bush's big plans

Bush strategies called better bang for buck. Major parties spent more than $2 billion in '04 campaign

No Longer a Superpower

Time to Bring Out the Tar & Feathers?

U.S. to Defend Foresters Sued by Developer

Congress: New Congress will confront funding disaster relief

Feinstein's federal anti-gang drive resumes

US Congress Working on Tsunami Aid Package

How five newcomers could change Senate

G.O.P. to make ethics inquiries harder to begin Click. + House GOP wants tighter rules for ethics investigations. Panel chief may lose post for allowing criticisms of Delay

Democrats: To boost party support, strategists tell Democrats to look West Click.

Vote fraud: Democrat Declared Wash. Governor-Elect + Gregoire declared governor-elect, but Rossi wants new vote + Mark Halvorson & Kirk Lund: 'We may never know what happened in the Ohio vote Click.

OPINIONS:

An Arctic threat

Bush's 'Healthy Forests' plan more bad news for California

Poll: War Bad for Business: Jim Lobe

Blowback in Britain: How Iraq Tore the UK Apart

Who's Whipping Up Iran Hysteria?

America's Maginot Minds

Treason's Greetings!

Elections - Mission Accomplished again

Bush's response to South Asia disaster: indifference compounded by political incompetence

Catherine O'Sullivan: Is George W. Bush a psychopath — literally? Click.

Greg Mitchell: Some readers want to lock up Al Neuharth Click.

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK....

How Setbacks Sent a Family Tumbling Out of Prosperity

IPOs come rocketing back in 2004

Disney wins bid on proxy access

Wal-Mart anti-suit tactics assailed

Celebrex Prescriptions Plunge After Risk Found

EBay latest to dump Microsoft's Passport

China and Latin America trade

Parmalat

Microsoft loses in court again; Could its bundling strategy be coming apart?

CONNECT THE DOTS....

Chris Cane: Fully recovered and ready for '05

An emerging philanthropic trend: the 'giving circle'

Toys With A Switch: Barney, Elmo And Others Repaired, Modified For Kids With Disabilities By Case Engineers

San Francisco gay marriage and beyond:  Gay partners receive legal responsibilities + California: New benefits for gay couples + Highlights of new state law on benefits for gay couples + Arkansas judge voids ban on gay foster parents + Montana High Court: Gay Couples Due Same Benefits as Unmarried Opposite-Sex Couples

The Pen Is Mightier.... 

A year of writing dangerously

'The Sun' Asks Judge to Lift Ban on State Workers Speaking To Reporters

"Slate" is brought in chains to NY

You go to war with the press you have

Today's papers



Gauguin, Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers
Enlarge
 

Daily picture from the Metropolitan

Historic Redman home in Watsonville to be restored

Sean Penn Finds Truth in Tale of Would-Be Assassin

They year in comics

Iran, Russia To Study UFO Wave

New Yorker's Diary by Bruce Feirstein

At The Theater With John Heilpern

Battle over inspiration for Middle Earth

Page Six

Liz Smith

Cindy Adams

Your daily braindrop

Word of the day

December 29, 2004

WAR IRAQ On the ground:
U.S. Troops Launch Offensive as 29 Die in Insurgent Ambush of Elite Iraqi Police Unit + 2 Police Among 62 Killed in Iraq + Dozens of Iraqi Police Die in Booby trapped House + Huge Baghdad Bomb Kills 29 + Insurgents Focus On Tikrit Area + Spate of attacks on Iraq security forces kills 33. Most violence in Sunni triangle, but cops in Baghdad lured to blast on phony tip + Freed Polish Hostage Feared Rescue + U.S. toll + Orders of battle + Juan Cole reports

Occupation: