Catholic furor over birth control rule turns Democrats on one another - Christian Science Monitor

So what does contraception at a Catholic hospital or college have to do with a $109 billion highway bill?

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Nothing, it would seem.  

But US senators can propose amendments on any subject. And the Obama administration’s proposed rule requiring church-affiliated organizations to provide health insurance that covers contraception has turned toxic.

It has thrown the White House back on defense after a rare spike of good economic news. It’s also dividing Democratic ranks at a time when both the White House and top Democratic leaders are urging a display of unity.

And that brings us back to the highway bill.

Senate Republicans wanted to get a vote on the matter as soon as possible. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Roy Blunt (R) of Missouri, would allow employers the right to provide employees with health coverage “consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions,” without risk of federal penalties.

“This bill would just simply say that those health-care providers don’t have to follow that mandate if it violates their faith principles,” said Senator Blunt in a floor speech on Thursday.

The measure, cosponsored by Sen. Ben Nelson (D) of Nebraska, prompted an objection by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, which blocked a floor vote.

“Republicans never lose an opportunity to mess up a good piece of legislation,” he said.

“They’re talking about a First Amendment right and I appreciate that,… but there’s no final rule," he said, suggesting that the rule is not yet set in stone. "Why don’t we just calm down and see what the final rule is.”

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is not waiting. The USCCB, which initially opposed the health-care reform bill in 2010 in the fear that abortions could be federally funded, has called on Catholics across the nation to write to their elected representatives to protest the proposed rule.

“Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience,” said USCCB President and Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan.

On Wednesday, Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio pledged to overturn the rule.

While some Roman Catholic Democrats, such as Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, have called on the White House to back off the proposed rule, others – also Roman Catholics – are rallying around the president.

“I am dumbfounded that in the year 2012 we still have to fight over birth control,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York, in a statement on Thursday.

“It is sad that we have to stand here yet again to fight back against another overreach and intrusion into women’s lives. This is what it is – a political overreach to roll back access to birth control – not a religious issue,” she added. 

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New year's mission at NASA: repair new cracks on Discovery fuel tank - Christian Science Monitor

Newly discovered cracks in the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank will keep repair crews busy into the New Year's weekend as NASA eyes a Feb. 3 launch for the orbiter and its six-member crew.

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The small cracks, uncovered Thursday as technicians used X-ray devices to inspect the external tank, represent the latest bump along the road to launch. The cracks were found following a chain of inspections, repairs, and more inspections dating back to Discovery's scrubbed Nov. 5 liftoff.

That liftoff was canceled after unacceptably high levels of explosive hydrogen were detected outside a crucial fixture on the side of the tank. The fixture transfers excess gas that accumulates as the tank fills to a line that carries the hydrogen to a flare stack, where the excess gas is burned.

IN PICTURES: NASA's Space Shuttle

When technicians returned to the launching pad after the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks had been emptied, they noticed cracks in the external tank's foam insulation at one of 108 "stringers" – long U-shaped aluminum ribs that reinforce a section of the tank's outer shell. This section, toward the top of the tank, spans a gap between the hydrogen and oxygen tanks inside.

Once technicians removed the cracked segment foam in anticipation of repairing it, they found that the stringer beneath the foam had cracked, too – shifting enough to fracture the foam. Subsequent inspections showed that a second, adjacent stringer hosted a small crack as well.

Although these cracks have appeared in past tanks and were successfully repaired, this incident was unusual because in the past, the cracks were caught far earlier in the shuttle program's inspection process, mission managers say.

As a result, they wanted to take the time needed to review the inspections on this tank to make sure the process hadn't broken down. And if it hadn't, they wanted to get a clear grasp of the causes that would trigger cracks at the last minute.

The problem appeared on the side of the tank facing the underside of the orbiter, where the shuttle's heat-shedding tiles and carbon-composite edged to the wings could be vulnerable to damage if a piece of foam broke loose and struck them.

In 2003, the shuttle Columbia broke up on reentry, killing its seven-member crew – an accident traced to chunks of foam striking the orbiter's thermal-protection system during ascent.

In this case, technicians were able to repair the stringers on the pad. On Dec. 15, controllers refilled the external tank to see if the repairs held up to the expansion and contraction the tank experiences as it undergoes the extreme temperature changes presented by ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

But managers were uncertain if the problem extended to additional stringers on sides of the tank workers can't reach while the shuttle is on the pad. So on Dec. 21, Discovery headed back to the towering Vehicle Assembly Building for additional inspections.

The cracks technicians uncovered Thursday appeared to vindicate the decision to send Discovery back to the barn for an additional look. Officials say they could decide on Jan. 3 whether to return the orbiter to the pad after weekend repairs or keep Discovery in the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional modifications to the tank.

IN PICTURES: NASA's Space Shuttle

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Nexus S review roundup - Christian Science Monitor

The Nexus S arrives December 16th, but several outlets already have their hands on the new Android phone. Here are some of the early Nexus S reviews.

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The pitch

"Though not officially positioned as such, the Nexus S is an update to the now-retired HTC Nexus One," writes CNET in its preview. CNET likes to take its time with gadgets, so expect its review later this week. "Like its predecessor, the Nexus S offers the 'pure Google' experience without a disruptive manufacturer skin. That means you'll get direct access to a full set of Google applications.... It's the first handset with 'Gingerbread,' the next version of the Android operating system, and it offers a number of feature improvements like a Super AMOLED display with a contour design, an NFC chip, and a second camera. Not everything sounds promising--the Nexus S lacks a memory card slot and support for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network--but we're excited to see it just the same."

The NFC chip

"The much-touted 'Near field communication,' so far, is a let down however," says the UK Telegraph. "That's because few people - in the UK at least - are yet using it. But as with so many Google features it could, in due course, be revolutionary: payments, transport tickets and more could – and should – all soon be based on this technology. For now, however, it’s simply a way of taking people to websites quickly."

The interface

"The UI has also been nipped and tucked all over the place, with icons and navigational elements taking on more of a buffed glass feel," writes Engadget in its preview. "Google has made big improvements to the keyboard, copy / paste, and text selection options, bringing the on-screen QWERTY and its associated components much closer to parity with iOS 4."

The downsides

"The lack of a comma on the keyboard might sound like a little issue, but to us, it's massive and could quickly get annoying," pans Tech Radar. "The text wrapping on the internet browser was hard to get right too (although that could be simply due to the early software build, so we'll wait for judgement on that). The price [$199 on contract, $529 unlocked] is ridiculously high for the average gadget lover - sure, it has come neat features but we reckon that slightly curved display added a few quid to the cost of manufacture, and had it been flat the world would have simultaneously wept."

The final word
"The bottom line is this," states TechCrunch. "If you are an iPhone user this isn’t going to make you switch. If you’re an Android user you will want this phone more than any other. If you’re currently neither, we recommend that you go with the Nexus S. It is better than the iPhone in most ways. What you lose with the slightly less impressive screen and iOS’s slightly slicker user experience you will more than make up for with the Nexus S’s ability to actually make phone calls that don’t drop and Google’s exceptional Navigation and voice input applications. The fact that the phone is unlocked and can be used abroad with other carriers is also a very big plus."

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British police know location of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange: report - Christian Science Monitor

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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Police in Britain know WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s whereabouts in the country, but have not acted on an international arrest warrant for him, a British newspaper reported Thursday.

The enigmatic figure, whose organization is in the midst of releasing some 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables that have been embarrassing to the US and, according to some, could damage diplomatic relations around the world, is wanted in Sweden for questioning on rape allegations. Mr. Assange has been absent from public view for nearly a month.

In a statement on its website Dec. 1, the international police organization Interpol said that it had put out a "red notice" for Mr. Assange on Nov. 20 to all 188 member countries. The red notice was only made public this week, however, following official authorization by Sweden, Interpol said.

A red notice is not itself an arrest warrant, but a notification that a warrant exists in one country and that that country will seek extradition of the suspect if arrested, as The Christian Science Monitor reported Tuesday. Some nations treat the notice as request for an arrest.

British newspaper The Independent reported today that police in Britain are “fully aware” of where Assange is staying, but have not authorized his arrest because officials are seeking “clarification” about his Swedish arrest warrant. Assange gave the police contact information when he moved to Britain in October, and Scotland Yard has been in touch with his attorneys for a month, reports the paper. He is believed to be in southeast England.

But unnamed sources told The Independent that Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) wants more information on the European Arrest Warrant issued for him by Swedish prosecutors. The Independent describes the warrant as using a “fast-track system for arresting suspects within the EU.”

MSNBC reports that according to Scotland Yard, “Swedish authorities need to issue a European arrest warrant – which is executable in the UK – before Assange can be arrested.”

The revelation comes as circumstances are already looking grim for Assange. On Thursday a Swedish court rejected his attempt to appeal his detention order in Sweden, reports the BBC. He had attempted to appeal court rulings allowing his arrest warrant to be issued. He has not been charged in the alleged rape, sexual molestation, and coercion but is wanted for questioning.

And the Associated Press reported Wednesday that Amazon.com refused to continue hosting WikiLeaks on its servers, and those who run the site were forced to move it back to a Swedish host. The website came under cyber attacks as it released the secret diplomatic cables, causing it to be unavailable at times. Amazon’s decision came after US senators contacted the company about the issue, according to the AP. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has also said the US may want to prosecute Assange for violating secrecy laws or espionage.

Assange’s lawyers have denied the charges against him, and said Swedish authorities have ignored his requests for a meeting. People close to Assange have said he has been subject to death threats. And his mother recently defended him, saying much of what had been written about him is untrue, and he is merely “fighting baddies,” reported The Christian Science Monitor.

But the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks are causing concern in the international community, with some saying they will have far-reaching damage on diplomatic relations. The Monitor reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the release “an attack on the international community.”

… Secretary Clinton said that both the furthering of US national interests and the operation of the world’s international political system depend on thousands of confidential exchanges, assessments, and conversations every day.

Far from being a “laudable” effort to make the workings of government transparent, the leaking of classified cables, she said, can have a chilling effect on such US foreign policy goals as the promotion of human rights or expansion of religious freedoms by discouraging the foreign proponents of those goals from working with the US.

The Monitor reports the released cables are unlikely to “lead to any significant geopolitical shifts or fundamental reworkings of US relations with other countries,” but may have a negative impact on the US diplomatic corps in its ability to have open conversations with their counterparts in foreign governments.

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WikiLeaks: Leaked cables reveal the rough workings of diplomacy - Christian Science Monitor

After days of anticipation and unheeded warnings from the Obama administration, the huge and controversial data dump from whistle-blower website WikiLeaks is being published and broadcast.

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As reported by the New York Times (which, along with the British newspaper the Guardian and the German news magazine Der Spiegel, began revealing the data Sunday afternoon), the cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables “provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats.”

The Guardian reports the leaked information as including: Arab leaders privately urging an air strike on Iran, US officials being instructed to spy on the United Nation's leadership, alleged links between the Russian government and organized crime, “devastating criticism” of British military operations in Afghanistan, and claims of “inappropriate behavior” by a member of the British royal family.

RELATED: Julian Assange - the hacker who created WikiLeaks

“The cables name countries involved in financing terror groups, and describe a near ‘environmental disaster’ last year over a rogue shipment of enriched uranium,” reports the Guardian. “They disclose technical details of secret US-Russian nuclear missile negotiations in Geneva, and include a profile of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who they say is accompanied everywhere by a ‘voluptuous blonde’ Ukrainian nurse.”

According to the New York Times, the cables include: “A dangerous standoff with Pakistan over nuclear fuel … gaming out an eventual collapse of North Korea … bargaining to empty the Guantánamo Bay prison … suspicions of corruption in the Afghan government … and a global computer hacking effort” directed by the Chinese Politburo.

The New York Times reports leaked diplomatic message traffic indicating that “Saudi donors remain the chief financiers of Sunni militant groups like Al Qaeda,” “clashes with Europe over human rights,” and an “intriguing alliance” between Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi involving “lavish gifts,” lucrative energy contracts and a “shadowy” Russian-speaking Italian go-between.

As the information was being released, the White House called the publication of confidential diplomatic cables "reckless and dangerous,” warning that it could "deeply impact" US interests as well as those of allies and friends.

"To be clear, such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world who come to the United States for assistance in promoting democracy and open government," presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday. "These documents also may include named individuals who in many cases live and work under oppressive regimes and who are trying to create more open and free societies."

"By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals," Gibbs said. "We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information."

Late last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to soften the potentially-embarrassing impact of the leaks by contacting government officials in China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, and Afghanistan. Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Poland were also warned.

In a letter to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Saturday, State Department legal adviser Harold Koh said the publication of secret diplomatic cables would "place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals," ''place at risk on-going military operations," and "place at risk on-going cooperation between countries."

US officials have known for some time that WikiLeaks held the diplomatic cables. No one has been charged with passing them to the website, but suspicion focuses on US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in June and charged regarding an earlier leak of some 400,000 documents related to the war in Iraq.

Most of the current batch of leaked diplomatic cables go back to 2007, including message traffic from both the Obama and Bush administrations.

RELATED: Julian Assange - the hacker who created WikiLeaks

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Angry voters flood streets as several candidates reject Haiti election - Christian Science Monitor

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Frustrated voters flooded the streets and several presidential candidates called for the government to annul Sunday’s Haiti election due to problems at polls throughout the country.

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Scores of voters said they were prohibited from voting because their names did not appear on rolls at the polling places. Angry voters threw rocks and bottles at United Nations peacekeeping forces and shut down polling places.

Twelve of the 19 presidential candidates held an afternoon press conference calling for the vote to be canceled. They accused the Inite party, backed by President Rene Preval, of "massive fraud."

RELATED: In Haiti election, voter confusion, apathy loom large

As polls closed at 4 p.m. peaceful demonstrations clogged the streets of Petionville, a neighborhood in the hills above downtown Port-au-Prince.

“We are not going to stand for an election that is not the will of the people,” says Abner Jean, who could not vote despite holding a valid registration card. His name did not appear on rolls. “If they put in a candidate that we did not choose, we’ll use whatever means necessary to kick them out.”

Observers said problems were reported throughout the country. Many voters who’d been displaced by the earthquake did not know where to vote, resulting in frustration and confusion.

The electoral commission held a press conference urging calm and reassuring the public that the vote was on track.

Representatives for the commission, CEP, said voters tried to use out-of-date cards or were going to the wrong polling places. They urged voters to call a toll-free number or go to the commission’s Web site to find their polling place.

“There are places where bandits shut down polls, shots were fired, and stones were thrown,” said Opont Pierre, director general of the CEP. “But it is only a small percentage of the polling areas and it won’t stop us from voting and getting a valid result.”

By that time, however, Haitians had already taken to Port-au-Prince streets. They rushed to the candidates’ press conference.

Michel Martelly, a popular musician considered one of the leading candidates in a field of 19, said the meeting was held "to denounce today's massive fraud all over the country."

Rapper Wyclef Jean appeared moments later with Martelly, who is known as “Sweet Mickey.” The crowd that formed erupted as Jean hugged Martelly.

Song broke out with lyrics like “Oh Mickey, now we’ve been delivered,” and “They gave us cholera, they call it poison,” a reference to the cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,600 and continues to spread.

Nearby, blue helmeted UN soldiers and Haitian police in riot gear lined street sides.

The crowd followed Martelly and Jean, who were joined by Charles Henry Baker, a white-haired businessman who also complained that the vote was unfair.

It was a raucous end to a voting day that began quietly with teenagers playing soccer on traffic-free streets, using earthquake rubble as goal markers as women and children filtered to church.

Tensions grew as the day unfolded and more people complained they’d been prohibited from voting.

Laurent Yvone, who lives in a camp for people displaced by January’s earthquake, lined up with thousands of early this morning. The polling place for the camp, known as Camp Corail, had just 39 registered names, however.

“There are more than 5,000 people here and the [Interim Electoral Commission] sent us less than 40 names. We don’t have enough ballots,” says the polling place’s supervisor, Elizer Fritznel.

Mr. Fritznel fled before the polls were supposed to close at 4 p.m. Only a handful of voters cast ballots there.

“If we can’t vote, these ballots are not going to leave here,” Mr. Yvone said. “This is corruption.”

RELATED: In Haiti election, voter confusion, apathy loom large

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Cold war era fades further as Russia, NATO agree to 'reset' relations - Christian Science Monitor

Lisbon, Portugal

?In a speech last week to “young Atlanticists” - young people from Europe, the US, and Canada – NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he realized that to them, talking about the cold war must be akin to discussing the Peloponnesian War.

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Yet the six-decade-old North Atlantic defense alliance between Europe and North America has its origins in the cold war. And that is one reason that anyone a little older than Mr. Rasmussen’s audience could have been justifiably amazed at the degree of cooperation launched between NATO and its old nemesis, Russia, at this weekend’s NATO summit.

As Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined NATO leaders including President Obama on Saturday, Russia formally agreed to expand its cooperation with the NATO effort in Afghanistan. Russia will allow more NATO supplies to pass through its territory, and for the first time agreed that non-lethal military equipment leaving Afghanistan can also exit across its borders.

Perhaps even more striking for anyone with memory of the cold war, Russia not only accepted NATO’s decision at the summit to develop a missile defense system to protect Europe’s territory and population from ballistic missile attack, but Mr. Medvedev also agreed to a plan for Russia and NATO to study missile defense cooperation and how the two might eventually coordinate their systems.

In a post-summit press conference, President Obama said that one advantage of launching NATO-Russia cooperation on missile defense was to demonstrate how “a topic of past tension can become a point of cooperation in the future.” Obama, who referred to Medvedev as “my friend and partner” – a characterization that hinted at what is one of the few warm relationships Obama has developed with a foreign leader – said that just as the US and Russia have “reset” their relations, “we are also resetting the NATO-Russia partnership.”

NATO’s reinvigorated cooperation with Russia – a process that began earlier in the decade, but was cut off in 2008 over Russia’s incursion into Georgia and occupation of two Georgian regions – was only one of the summit’s signs of the cold war era retreating further into history books. More broadly, the new “strategic concept” or mission statement the Alliance leaders adopted was a re-orientation of NATO away from the 20th-century threats of its origins to those of the 21st century.

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California 'mystery missile' ignites debate: Friend, foe, or faux? - Christian Science Monitor

A mysterious missile launch from California or an optical illusion?

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That's a question the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is trying to resolve – and the blogosphere is hotly debating – after CBS News in Los Angeles aired what appeared to be a rocket launch from the Pacific Ocean just north of Santa Catalina Island, taken at sunset Nov. 8.

The "mystery missile" video, shot from a helicopter operated by local CBS affiliate KCBS, shows what appears to be an arcing plume of engine exhaust rising into the sky west of Los Angeles. Speculation about its source ranges from an airliner, whose contrail is giving the illusion of rocketry, or a missile itself.

About the only thing unambiguous about the event is that the go-to agencies either with jurisdiction over launches or with fingers poised over launch buttons – the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Defense Department – said, in effect, "It wasn't us."

Despite the official uncertainty behind the vapor trail, NORAD and the US Northern Command, which oversees the defense of the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii, issued a statement aimed at reassuring the country that the event represents no threat.

"We can confirm that there is no threat to our nation, and from all indications this was not a launch by a foreign military," they said. "We will provide more information as it becomes available."

Coastal southern California is no stranger to rocket launches. The US Air Force launches military and commercial rockets from Vandenberg Air Force base north of Santa Barbara; NASA occasionally launches sounding rockets from San Nicholas Island, some 80 miles west of Los Angeles. Nor is it stranger to spectacular sunsets and odd aircraft contrails.

At contrailscience.com, a Santa Monica-based private pilot who operates the cite has posted several sunset contrails that look similar to the vapor trail the CBS news crew recorded.

David Wright, co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Mass., notes that his initial speculation about what happened leaned toward the rocket-launch explanation, given NASA's launches from San Nicholas Island.

The CBS report suggested the plume was rising from some 35 miles offshore, but Dr. Wright adds that evening lighting and atmospheric moisture could have conspired to make a launch contrail look larger and closer than it actually is.

But after reviewing photos on contrailscience.com, he adds, he's reconsidering a jet contrail as an explanation – one he tended to dismiss early on.

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California 'mystery missile' ignites debate: Friend, foe, or faux? - Christian Science Monitor

A mysterious missile launch from California or an optical illusion?

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That's a question the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is trying to resolve – and the blogosphere is hotly debating – after CBS News in Los Angeles aired what appeared to be a rocket launch from the Pacific Ocean just north of Santa Catalina Island, taken at sunset Nov. 8.

The "mystery missile" video, shot from a helicopter operated by local CBS affiliate KCBS, shows what appears to be an arcing plume of engine exhaust rising into the sky west of Los Angeles. Speculation about its source ranges from an airliner, whose contrail is giving the illusion of rocketry, or a missile itself.

About the only thing unambiguous about the event is that the go-to agencies either with jurisdiction over launches or with fingers poised over launch buttons – the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Defense Department – said, in effect, "It wasn't us."

Despite the official uncertainty behind the vapor trail, NORAD and the US Northern Command, which oversees the defense of the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii, issued a statement aimed at reassuring the country that the event represents no threat.

"We can confirm that there is no threat to our nation, and from all indications this was not a launch by a foreign military," they said. "We will provide more information as it becomes available."

Coastal southern California is no stranger to rocket launches. The US Air Force launches military and commercial rockets from Vandenberg Air Force base north of Santa Barbara; NASA occasionally launches sounding rockets from San Nicholas Island, some 80 miles west of Los Angeles. Nor is it stranger to spectacular sunsets and odd aircraft contrails.

At contrailscience.com, a Santa Monica-based private pilot who operates the cite has posted several sunset contrails that look similar to the vapor trail the CBS news crew recorded.

David Wright, co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Mass., notes that his initial speculation about what happened leaned toward the rocket-launch explanation, given NASA's launches from San Nicholas Island.

The CBS report suggested the plume was rising from some 35 miles offshore, but Dr. Wright adds that evening lighting and atmospheric moisture could have conspired to make a launch contrail look larger and closer than it actually is.

But after reviewing photos on contrailscience.com, he adds, he's reconsidering a jet contrail as an explanation – one he tended to dismiss early on.

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Haiti spared the worst of Tomas - Christian Science Monitor

Tropical storm Tomas is heading into the central Atlantic Ocean after splitting the uprights – the 50-mile -wide Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba – as a category 1 hurricane Friday.

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After inflicting an estimated $185 million in damage on the island of St. Lucia in the Lesser Antilles last weekend, resulting in 14 deaths, Tomas's effect on Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic has been more restrained.

For residents of Haiti, still struggling to recover from last January's destructive earthquake and more recently trying to cope with an outbreak of cholera, the country dodged a bullet. So far, seven fatalities have been attributed to Tomas so far, mostly around the town of Leogane, southwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The city lies in a region where flooding and storm surge were said to be particularly heavy.

IN PICTURES: Tropical storm Tomas

There, initial reports indicate the storm destroyed 48 homes, partially damaged as many as 2,800, and slightly damaged another 150. But vast numbers of people in tent cities to the east have largely been spared, if initial reports hold up.

In Cuba, civil-defense officials said their country sustained little damage and no fatalities, according to the Cuban News Agency.

In Jamaica, officials were fending off questions about whether the government had over-prepared in the face of tropical-storm warnings.

"There can be no over-planning or over-reaction when there is a probable threat of a disaster," government information minister Daryl Vaz told reporters after Tomas had passed. "This was probably the best prepared we have been in terms of being proactive and doing everything we needed to do" to protect Jamaicans.

Meanwhile, across Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, floods from the storm destroyed an estimated 1,700 homes and forced at least 8,500 people to evacuate. So far, no fatalities have been reported.

Prior to the storm, concerns centered on the effect a direct hit would have on some 1.3 million people living in tent cities in and around the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. In some ways, it's a vulnerability too many Haitians have long experienced, says Julie Schindall, a spokeswoman for Oxfam/America in Port-au-Prince.

She notes that before the earthquake, some 80 percent of the capital's residents lived in slums in shelters hardly more robust than the tents that now house them. Even before the quake, they lived "in a country that doesn't have the infrastructure to take care of itself on a day-to-day basis the way that its neighboring countries do," she says.

As it turned out, winds in the capital were mild, and the rainfall not nearly as heavy as people feared. The worst flooding came to tent cities built on the streets of Port-au-Prince, says Andrea Koppel, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross who currently is in the capital. There were no other paths for running water to follow.

Outside the city center, the Red Cross had been working with residents for months to dig drainage ditches and build sandbag retaining walls to keep water and mud at bay.

Teams have been working their way through these areas assessing any damage, Ms. Koppel notes. And while they have yet to report in, she says she counts it as an encouraging sign that during the height of the storm, volunteers in these areas still had cell phone service, and they reported nothing significant in the way of damage.

Prior to the storm, public health officials and aid groups were trying to stem an outbreak of cholera that threatened to reach the city and spread. At the time, representatives of the American Red Cross in Port-au-Prince expressed concerns over the effect flooding through the tent cities would have in spreading the disease.

So far, public-health officials have succeeded in keeping the small handful of cases isolated, Koppel says.

Given the 800 people killed during the 2008 hurricane season, when Haiti fell within the crosshairs of four tropical cyclones and fewer people were exposed to the elements, "we got very, very lucky" with Tomas, Koppel says.

The event once again throws a spotlight on the challenges the international community faces in trying to keep the tottering country upright while also trying to help it rebuild and become self-sustaining, aid workers say.

Tomas's timing was terrible, Oxfam's Ms. Schindall says, adding, "I sincerely hope that this is a reminder to us all that we need to seize on this opportunity after the earthquake to rebuild this country properly."

IN PICTURES: Tropical storm Tomas

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Daylight savings ends: Time to 'fall back' - Christian Science Monitor

If you've ever wished you could have one hour back, tonight's your night.

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At 2 a.m. local time Nov. 7 – the wee hours of Sunday morning – Daylight Saving Time ends for much of the United States. That means turning clocks back one hour for an extra bit of shut-eye or an extra chapter or two in that novel before hitting the pillow.

The "Spring forward, Fall back" ritual was codified in the Uniform Time Act of 1966. States can opt out, of course. Hawaii and Arizona have said no thanks to the time changes that kick in on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.

But the rest of the country, including the once temporally bifurcated Indiana, are now on board.

If the twice-a-year clock tweaking seems a bit of a hassle, don't blame Ben Franklin, the oft-cited originator of the policy. He did offer up a version, but as satire – a dig at folks in Paris who apparently didn't hew to the "early to bed, early to rise" mantra he crafted.

Blame the Kiwis, instead. Back in 1895, one George Vernon Hudson, post-office clerk by day, entomologist during his off hours, offered up the notion of a two-hour time shift to the Wellington Philosophical Society as a means "to bring working-hours of the day within the period of daylight." Many were the tut-tuts, according to a brief record of his presentation.

Three years later, he offered up a refined version of the idea, arguing that "in this way the early-morning daylight would be utilised, and a long period of daylight leisure would be made available in the evening for cricket, gardening, cycling, or any other outdoor pursuit desired."

Perhaps not wanting to sound too self-serving, he declined to list his his favorite off-duty activity -- bug hunting. That presumably fell under the catch-all "any other outdoor pursuit."

It would be another 19 years before a nation would formally adopt the idea – Germany during World War 1 – as a way to cut down on energy demand, an aspect of Daylight Saving Time that is still a subject of dispute.

So before you trundle off to sleep tonight, make the rounds and tweak the clocks. While you're at it, public safety officials nationwide add that it's a good time to put new batteries in smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors.

Savor the extra hour, if you get one. Come next March, it's outta here again when Daylight Saving Time returns.

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Biodiversity study sounds an extinction alert (for things with spines) - Christian Science Monitor

If a creature has a spine and walks, flies, swims, or crawls, it may be in serious trouble.

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Some 20 percent of all vertebrate species on Earth are threatened by extinction, according to a newly published survey – a study the research team involved says is the most exhaustive to date on biodiversity among vertebrates.

The losses are due largely to human encroachment on habitat, over-fishing and over-hunting, as well as the arrival of invasive species in habitats whose natural inhabitants have no defenses against the invaders, the study says.

But within an admittedly bleak global picture, the researchers add, conservation efforts have halted the decline in some species and brought others a significant step closer to recovery.

"The bad news can be extremely disheartening," says Ana Rodrigues, a scientist with the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Paris and one of a team of 174 scientists from 38 countries who co-authored the study.

"But our results show that conservation efforts are not wasted," she adds.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of plant and animal species in an ecosystem. Generally the greater the diversity, the more resilient the ecosystem is to disturbances, either natural or man-made.

Using an internationally recognized "red list" index that tries to capture changes in a species' population size, structure, and geographic range, among other factors, the team found that without conservation programs, biodiversity among birds and mammals would have declined an additional 18 percent over the past 30 years. The programs range from efforts to establish safe havens such as marine protected areas or wildlife reserves to campaigns to battle invasive species.

The report draws on research conducted by some 3,000 scientists worldwide. It was published Tuesday on the journal Science’s website as delegates from 194 countries were meeting in Nagoya, Japan, to try to set conservation targets for the next decade under the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity, which is scheduled to end Oct. 29.

Eight years ago, parties to the convention agreed to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. But in April, a study published online in Science showed that the rate of decline in biodiversity across a broad range of plants and animals was not slowing. Countries had failed to meet the 2010 goal.

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Obama talks of 'MythBusters' - plus math, science, and tamales - Christian Science Monitor

President Obama hosted math and science fair winners at the White House Monday, and here’s the breaking news from the event: Mr. Obama did not get to blow anything up when he filmed a guest appearance on “MythBusters.”

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“I was a little frustrated with that,” he said of his lack of explosion-initiation.

Obama will appear on the Dec. 8 episode of the popular Discovery Channel show, if you haven’t heard. "MythBusters" examines common legends, myths, or film stunts, and then rigs up actual experiments to see if they’re true. The president will introduce a bit that looks at whether ancient Greek scientist Archimedes really could have set fire to an invading Roman fleet using only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sun.

Perhaps there are Democrats who wish they could set fire to the fleet of newly elected Republican House members they'll be seeing after November, but that’s another story.

PRESIDENTS ON TV SHOWS: Five memorable appearances

Anyway, the "MythBusters" announcement was just a small part of the event. The White House had assembled a cast of dozens of America’s most inspiring math and science students and their projects. Among those present was Mikayla Nelson, for instance. Mikayla is a Billings, Mont., high school freshman who had helped design and build a solar-powered carbon-fiber car from scratch. Also mentioned were Jonathan Berman, Benjamin Kotzubei, and Austin Veseliza, a trio of seventh-graders from Los Angeles whose experiments indicate that gel is a better shock absorber than foam for sports helmets.

Then there were Diego Vasquez and Antonio Hernandez, representing Cesar Chavez High School in Phoenix. They were inspired to develop a motorized chair to help a classmate with disabilities – work that won them a grant from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The first time they were ever on an airplane was when they flew to present their invention,” said Obama.

The president also seemed quite taken with the way Diego and Antonio raised money for their efforts. It involved tamales – lots of them.

They and their parents made a big batch of tamales and sold them.

“You know, that’s not just the power of science. That’s the promise of America,” said Obama.

No word yet on whether Obama sampled any of the aforesaid tamales. Perhaps he’ll mention that on “MythBusters,” too.

PRESIDENTS ON TV SHOWS: Five memorable appearances

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Ahmadinejad taunts Israel from border with Lebanon - Christian Science Monitor

Bint Jbiel, Lebanon

Iran's president taunted archenemy Israel on Thursday from just across the tense border in Lebanon, rallying tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters as Israeli attack helicopters buzzed in the skies nearby.

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"The world should know that the Zionists will perish," declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, echoing previous verbal attacks in which he has said Israel should be wiped off the map.

"Occupied Palestine will be liberated from the filth of occupation by the strength of resistance and through the faith of the resistance," the Iranian leader vowed as cheers went up from the crowd, waving a sea of Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.

The fiery speech was delivered in the border village of Bint Jbeil, which was nearly destroyed by Israeli bombs in the 2006 war with Hezbollah and rebuilt with the help of Iranian cash. A stronghold of the Shiite militant group, Ahmadinejad's visit to the southern Lebanese area was denounced by Washington and Israel as a provocation.

The Iranian president's first state visit to Lebanon, it was turned into a show of strength by Hezbollah, Iran's close ally in Lebanon, which shares power in a fragile unity government with a Western-backed coalition.

Hezbollah organized a rapturous welcome Wednesday in Beirut's streets, which were bedecked with billboards and signs bearing photos of Ahmadinejad.

By contrast, Lebanon's pro-Western leaders have been pushed to the background, underscoring their eroding position— and suggesting the competition over influence in Lebanon may be tipping in favor of Iran and its ally Syria, away from the United States and its Arab allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Ahmadinejad's border visit by saying Israel knows how to protect itself.

"We heard today the cursing and invectives from the Lebanese border. The best answer to the deriders was given here 62 years ago — the state and all that we've built and created since," Netanyahu said.

"Look what a nation, what a state and what an army the state of Israel has. We will continue building, we will continue to create our state and we will know well how to defend ourselves."

While Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome from Hezbollah's Shiite supporters, his visit intensified fears among Sunnis and Christians that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on Lebanon and possibly pull it into a conflict with Israel.

Van loads of Shiites organized by Hezbollah made their way Thursday to Bint Jbeil's stadium, traveling along roads lined with Iranian flags. Located just two miles from the Israeli border, the village has a special significance for Shiites.

Dubbed "the capital of resistance" during Israel's two-decade occupation of the south, Hezbollah's leader gave a victory speech here after Israel withdrew in 2000, calling Israel "weaker than a spider's web" — a phrase that adorns a stadium wall along with photographs of weeping Israeli soldiers.

During Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Bint Jbeil was targeted by Israeli troops, who met stiff resistance from dug-in Hezbollah guerrillas. The close-quarter fighting was among the fiercest of the monthlong war and much of the town was destroyed or damaged.

Now, with an influx of Iranian money, it looks brand-new, with freshly built roads and apartment buildings.

Addressing the roaring crowd in Bint Jbeil's stadium, Ahmadinejad said: "You proved that your resistance, your patience, your steadfastness, were stronger than all the tanks and warplanes of the enemy."

"You are the mighty mountain, and I am proud of you," he said.

Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old Shiite who works in Saudi Arabia, said he came home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader.

"He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush said. "No Arab leader has done what he has done."

Nearby, two Israeli attack helicopters could be seen hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim.

Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is believed to supply much of its arsenal. Hezbollah boasts widespread support among Shiites and virtually runs a state-within-a-state in Shiite areas of Lebanon.

Ahmadinejad met late Thursday with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and held talks earlier in the day with Lebanon's pro-Western prime minister Saad Hariri.

Throughout his visit, the Iranian leader has stressed unity among Lebanese, aiming to depict Iran as an ally of the entire nation, not just Hezbollah.

But the strains have been clear.

The Western-backed coalition has warned that Ahmadinejad is seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean." And among Shiites, mentions of Hariri were roundly booed during Ahmadinejad'sspeeches.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev slammed the trip.

"Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.

Hezbollah has nearly quadrupled its arsenal since the 2006 war to more than 45,000 rockets and missiles, including weapons that are more accurate and more powerful than the past, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren said in Washington.

Washington also came out strongly against the Iranian leader's visit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating American concerns about Iran's nuclear program and its "support of terrorism."

"So when the Iranian president goes to Lebanon, and we know that they are supporting financially and in every other way Hezbollah, which is on the border of Israel and the border of the Palestinian areas, then that is a volatile situation," she said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC.

Still, Israeli residents of Avivim, a farming village that looks across the border at a makeshift stage and replica of the Dome of the Rock built in honor of Ahmadinejad, showed little interest.

"We're not excited about his visit. ... Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 300 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?"

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Skype, Facebook partnership a boon for both companies - Christian Science Monitor

Facebook, meet Skype. Skype, Facebook.

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Skype 5.0 for Windows, the latest iteration of the popular VoIP platform, will incorporate many Facebook functionalities, Skype reps announced today. Among the features included in Skype 5.0 are an integrated Facebook News feed, and the ability to call and text Facebook friends on their mobile phones or landlines. In addition, Skype users will soon be able to sync Facebook status updates with Skype "mood" messages.

"We're working with companies such as Skype to make it easy to find your friends anytime you want to connect," Ethan Beard, the director of the Facebook Developer Network, wrote on the official Facebook blog today. Beard's post had received upward of 1,700 comments as of this afternoon, most of them overwhelmingly positive.

The Skype and Facebook partnership, of course, is good business for both companies. Skype will likely see a jump in the amount of time its users spend on the platform. And Facebook will again increase its reach – a prerogative for the social network in recent months.

In August, Google introduced its own VoIP service. Google Voice, as the service is called, allows Gmail users to text or call any US or Canadian phone line at no cost. According to Google, a million users tried out its new Gmail call functionality within the first 24 hours the service was available – a ringing success for Google, and a sure sign of the demand for good VoIP platforms.

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Chile mine rescue nears after an engineering showcase - Christian Science Monitor

Calderon, Chile

Engineers and technicians emerged victorious from the San Jose mine today after finishing a 33-day project to drill a half-mile-deep rescue shaft for the Chilean miners who, all going well, will be brought to service for a joyful reunion with families tomorrow night.

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As the engineers hugged family members and said goodbye to one another, several carried flags for Geotec Boyles Bros. SA, the company that operated the drill. Someone threw company baseball caps and T-shirts to the crowd.

Companies are aiming to capitalize on the global media coverage of the historic rescue effort. The miners have now survived longer below ground than the victims of any other known mine collapse. They will come up through the deepest rescue chute ever drilled. And more than 1,000 reporters, representing every continent, are on hand to document the event.

IN PICTURES: Chile mine collapse

UPS, the US shipping company, brought a 13-ton drilling tool from Pennsylvania in less than 48 hours. The company boasted of its achievement in a blog post on its Web site. Around the drills themselves, corporate banners join the ubiquitous Chilean flag. Lettering on a pickup truck from a local wiring company reads: "Communicating with the San Jose miners." Steel company Techint has had a camera crew on the scene all week to document the use of the company's tubes in the rescue shaft.

Excitement around the mine rescue has been growing as preparations speed to a close. Welders put a 24-inch steel pipe into the hole early
this morning. The main rescue capsule was then lowered almost to the bottom and raised back up.

"Not even dust fell off the walls" of the passage, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told reporters. The capsule wasn't sent all the way down so no one would be tempted to jump in, Golborne said.

So far, the big publicity winners have been Geotec and its equipment manufacturers -- Center Rock Inc. made the drill bit and Schramm Inc. made the truck-mounted drill. The T-130, as the Schramm rig is known, has become a bit of a celebrity. Families chanted and cheered as it left the drilling site today.

"We have had no greater mission" than helping the miners, Schramm said on its Web site.

Precision Drilling Corp., the Canadian company whose rig continues to drill a backup rescue shaft, has been giving updates on its Web site. The company was little known in South America before Chilean authorities contacted it about drilling a large-diameter hole.

The corporate involvement reaches into every aspect of the rescue effort. With plenty of time to fill and, for months, very little to show, Chilean television carried live interviews with the maker of a portable oxygen tank.

Zephyr Technologies, the Annapolis, Maryland-based maker of the remote monitors of vital signs that miners will wear during their
ascent, has workers on the scene.

As a publicity opportunity, "it's certainly good to get it out there for similar situations or scenarios that are not so extreme," said Ben
Morris, who works at Zephyr.

One company keeping a lower profile is Compañia Minera San Esteban Primera, the owner of the San Jose mine, where the miners are trapped. The owners aren't taking calls.

IN PICTURES: Chile mine collapse

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Meg Whitman vs. Jerry Brown: Can Tom Brokaw steer them toward substance? - Christian Science Monitor

Los Angeles

In their third and final debate Tuesday, California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown (D) and Meg Whitman (R) will have their last chance to clear up the haze of scandal that hangs over each of their heads. Ms. Whitman is still being dogged for firing an undocumented maid and Mr. Brown’s campaign is in hot water for a sexist slur.

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Just as pressing, though, is the need for both to put the scandals aside and focus on what they will do for the state, some analysts say.

“People have already made up their minds about character and will be looking for answers to ‘What will you do for me?’ ” says Barbara O’Connor, director of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. “Each needs to spell out what they will do about jobs, economic recovery, education and the other top issues, voters care about.”

What voters want to know is which candidate has the plan that will work to turn California around, says Gary Aminoff, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. “Those questions [the maid and the slur] are irrelevant,” he says.

Many have hopes that moderator Tom Brokaw, with his decades of experience at NBC, will be able to keep the candidates focused on substance.

“He is a master and a pro’s pro, so if there is any indication that the debate will veer off into titillation, he will steer it back,” says Hal Dash, CEO of Cerrell and Associates, a Democratic strategy consulting firm.

Mr. Brokaw commands respect among voters, says Ms. O'Connor, and the candidates will forget that at their peril. "He is the closest thing we have to Walter Cronkite,” she says. “He’s so loved by most people watching that Whitman and Brown don’t dare try to crawl over him because the people will resent it,” says O’Connor.

Not everyone is so sure that Brokaw will be able to steer the two toward meaningful discussion. “He will not be able to declare any kind of truce,” says Thad Kousser, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego.

Yet if candidates are not specific on their own, the debate’s ultimate value may rest in Brokaw's skill as an interviewer.

“Meg Whitman wants to cut 40,000 jobs. She needs to be asked how that can be done without hurting the state,” says Mr. Kousser. “Jerry Brown says he won’t raise taxes without voter approval. He needs to be asked what he’ll do if voters say no – then what are his plans?”

Whitman probably has the bigger challenge, says Mr. Dash, because Brown has inched ahead in several polls.

“She will have to find a way to be specific about what she will do that is actually achievable and will resonate with those watching,” he says.

Whitman lost ground after debate No. 2 on Oct. 2, in which she chided out Brown for attacking her on the housekeeper scandal. Clips of the exchange were played on local newscasts and went viral on the Internet.

The debate will ask a lot of the candidates, say analysts, and both will have to grapple with how to tell voters what they need to hear without angering them or making their eyes glaze over.

“Expecting politicians to acknowledge harsh reality is like expecting health food at a county fair,” says Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. “The state faces a painful dilemma. It needs to reduce the deficit and create jobs. But the steps necessary to reduce the deficit – tax hikes or spending cuts – run counter to job creation.”

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India, South Africa could complicate US agenda in UN Security Council - Christian Science Monitor

Washington

The rise of the world’s middle powers was on display at the United Nations Tuesday as India, South Africa, and Germany were all elected to join the big guns on the United Nations Security Council for two years, starting in January.

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The arrival of the South Asian and African regional powers as two of the five new nonpermanent members elected to the Security Council Tuesday could bring new clout to the council – in developing nations, in particular.

But adding India and South Africa to a council where Brazil already holds one of the 10 total nonpermanent seats could also pose new challenges to the council’s old guard, including the United States. Iran, for example, could find a new base of support in the troika of developing powers, all of which have resisted mounting US-led pressures on Iran over its nuclear program.

Brazil voted against the latest round of UN sanctions against Iran in June, and India indicated at the time that it did not favor the resolution and considered sanctions “counterproductive.”

Brazil, India, and South Africa "want to be among the big players, they want to be the ones who get permanent seats [on the Security Council] eventually," says Steve Groves, an expert in international institutions at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

The UN General Assembly elected five new nonpermanent members to join the five nonpermanent members that still have a year on their revolving terms. Together the 10 will join the council’s five permanent and veto-wielding members: The US, China, Russia, France, and Great Britain.

India, South Africa, and Colombia ran unopposed for the two-year terms reserved for their regions, while Germany and Portugal were elected to two seats reserved for the “Western” regional group.

Portugal won over Canada in what in the end was the election’s only hotly contested race.

With the addition of India, the Security Council will include all of the world’s major emerging powers known as the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
At the same time, the newly configured council will also include five of the six countries that are pressing for a permanent seat on a proposed expanded Security Council.

The gathering of so many powerful developing countries on the council at once has some diplomatic experts predicting trouble for the US agenda, be it Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Burma (Myanmar). But Heritage's Mr. Groves says the US should take this "rather unprecedented opportunity" to test the kind of world powers these countries want to be.

"I would hope the US would take this as an opportunity to say, 'OK, Brazil, India, and South Africa, you are among the rising powers of the world and want to play a bigger role, let's see how responsible you are now,' " he says, "When the question is Iran or North Korea, will they act with international security in mind or follow the same regional and parochial interests? Let's see if they really want the responsibility."

The confluence of potential permanent members onto the council – Germany, India, South Africa, Brazil and Nigeria (like Brazil an existing nonpermanent member) – is likely to boost pressure for a reform of the council, which has operated under the same five post-World-War-II powers since the UN’s founding in 1945. Japan, which is also a likely candidate for an expanded council, finishes up its current nonpermanent term in December.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that Germany would “want to use this seat to increase our influence on the reform of the UN.”

Germany already is a member of the group of nations – the council’s five permanent members plus Germany, or the so-called “P5 + 1” – that are attempting to address the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means.

The Iran issue remains unresolved, with Tehran continuing to pursue a nuclear program that it says is peaceful but which world powers suspect is aimed at delivering a nuclear weapon. With Iran moving forward just as the Security Council balance appears to be shifting away from favoring additional punitive action, some diplomatic experts suggest the Iran portfolio could eventually be taken up outside the council by an ad-hoc “collation of the willing.”

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Tea party convergence: Big boost for Republicans in Election 2010 - Christian Science Monitor

It’s still three weeks and a couple days before the midterm election. But the likelihood of a Republican takeover in Congress just keeps growing, powered by a major boost from the tea party movement – a political phenomenon that has evolved from a scattered and sometimes flaky insurgency into a sophisticated, organized effort.

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In his latest estimate, polling expert Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight blog says Republicans have a 72 percent chance of taking over the House, up from 67 percent last week. Also, he writes in his latest New York Times column, the GOP has “nearly even odds of a achieving a net gain of 50 seats” – 11 more than it needs to become the majority party in the House.

No doubt that’s thanks in large measure to the higher level of preelection energy among tea-fueled Republicans.

IN PICTURES: Tea parties

The latest survey conducted jointly by the Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University shows why.

“On every measure, strong supporters of the tea party movement stand above the rest of the field,” writes Dan Balz in the Post.

“For starters, take the question of whether people are very interested in these elections,” Balz writes. “Forty-three percent of Democrats said they are. Among Republicans, 57 percent said they're very interested. Among tea party supporters the figure was 74 percent, and among the strongest tea party supporters it was 83 percent.”

While the Republican Party has had its run-ins with tea partyers – most notably in GOP primaries where establishment candidates got whacked – the Washington Post-Kaiser-Harvard poll shows a large majority of tea party supporters favoring a GOP takeover of Congress.

Meanwhile, what probably should have been called the “tea parties” – over the past year there have been many disparate and sometimes contending groups – are becoming more organized and unified as the election approaches.

In Virginia, for example, groups from around the state have formed a federation called “Virginia Tea Party Patriots.” The group just held a two-day convention in Richmond.

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Attorney general pushes for court-appointed monitor in Bell - Los Angeles Times

Attorney general pushes for court-appointed monitor in Bell - latimes.com div.thumbnail span.credit { font-weight: normal !important;}div.article div.articlerail ul li.relatedTitle, div.storygallery div.storyGalleryRail ul li.relatedTitle { font-size: 12px !important;} Mobile Site Subscribe/Manage Account Print Ads Place an Ad LAT Store Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals More Classifieds   Local HOME Breaking iPhone Apps Weather Traffic Obituaries Community Crosswords Comics Health Event Local L.A. Now Politics Crime Education O.C. Westside Neighborhoods Environment Obituaries Hot List U.S. Politics Now Top of the Ticket Science & Environment Obituaries Religion World Afghanistan & Pakistan Africa Asia Europe Iran Iraq Latin America Mexico Under Siege Middle East Business Money & Co. Technology Personal Finance Small Business Company Town Jobs Real Estate Cars Sports Lakers Clippers Dodgers Angels NFL Ducks/Kings USC UCLA Soccer High Schools Scores/Stats Entertainment Movies Television Music Celebrity Arts & Culture Company Town Calendar Envelope Books Hot List Health Booster Shots Fitness & Nutrition Medicine Mental Health Healthcare Reform Breast Cancer Hospitals Living Home Food Image Books Parenting Hot List Brand X Magazine Your Scene Cars Travel California Hawaii Mexico Las Vegas Europe Asia Australia Travel & Deal Blog Destinations Opinion Editorials Op-Ed Letters Endorsements Opinion L.A. More Corrections Readers' Rep Photos Video Blogs Data Desk Comics Puzzles & Games Community Mobile Site Subscribe/Manage Account Print Ads Place an Ad LAT Store Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals More Classifieds In the News: Debra Wong Yang Robert Rizzo Roy Halladay no-hitter SoCal weather State Budget Attorney general pushes for court-appointed monitor in Bell But even if the city agrees, huge problems remain. Without a functioning City Council, 'running a city ... is virtually impossible,' says one expert. 1 2 next |   single page Lorenzo S. Velez, the only Bell City Council member not charged with a crime, was the only one who showed up for Monday night’s council meeting. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times / October 4, 2010)

Share Related No quorum No-shows force Bell to cancel meeting Former Bell official Rizzo will again try to post bail Stories Bell residents to deliver recall petitions to county registrar Bell crackdowns hand statewide candidates a chance to shine Bell doubled public service taxes and funneled $1 million to Rizzo, audit finds See more stories » X Photos: Eight arrested, arraigned in scandal By Hector Becerra, Jeff Gottlieb and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times October 6, 2010

E-mail Print Text Size la-me-bell-20101006 Lorenzo Velez stepped onto the Bell City Council dais Monday night and took his seat as the crowd cheered and applauded the only council member not charged with a crime — and the only one who showed up for the council meeting.

Councilman Luis Artiga had resigned earlier in the day. Councilman George Mirabal remains in jail. And Mayor Oscar Hernandez and Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo — both charged with felonies in the public corruption case that has enveloped the city — didn't attend the meeting, saying they were ill.

That left Velez, the only council member who never received the inflated salaries paid to other top Bell officials and the only one untainted by the city's scandals. But while the image of the lone, honest sheriff plays well in movies of the Old West, a single working councilman in a scandal-rocked city can't do much. And for now, experts say, neither can Bell.

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The small, working-class city of roughly 40,000 southeast of downtown Los Angeles has been in governmental chaos ever since July, when The Times disclosed that its city administrator, Robert Rizzo, and other top officials were being paid salaries higher than any other municipal officials in the state. But in recent days, with Rizzo in jail, the municipal credit rating sinking and the City Council unable to meet for lack of a quorum, Bell's problems have deepened.

In a letter obtained Tuesday by The Times, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown asked the city to agree to a court-appointed monitor who would have "complete and unfettered access to all matters relating to the City."

The proposed monitor would have authority to investigate "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement, or any irregularity" in city government and would be able to interview any city official or employee, according to the letter, which Brown e-mailed to city officials Sept. 30. If the city agrees to the monitor, the letter implied, the attorney general's office would drop its proposal to turn city government over to an appointed receiver.

A monitor could be installed more quickly than a receiver, "and the need to protect the people in Bell was paramount," said Brown's spokesman, Jim Finefrock. The attorney general's office has given the city until Friday to agree to the monitor or else it will continue its push for a receiver.

Pedro Carrillo, Bell's interim chief administrative officer, said he flew to Sacramento recently and met for several hours with officials from the attorney general's office. "We will work diligently with all agencies to fix the errors and mistakes of the previous administration," he said.

But the monitor would not have the authority to run city agencies or set policy. For that, a working City Council is required. And to achieve that goal, legal experts say, Bell has limited options — all of them problematic.

"Running a city without a City Council is virtually impossible," said Ventura City Manager Rick Cole, a longtime writer on Southern California cities.

Legally, Carrillo, as city administrator, can pay city bills up to $50,000, according to an audit by state Controller John Chiang that was released last month. Amounts greater than $50,000 have to be approved by the council. Also, amendments or approval of resolutions, ordinances and changes to city policies would be put on hold until a quorum is available.

Many Bell residents have called on the remaining three City Council members facing criminal charges — Mirabal, Hernandez and Jacobo — to follow Artiga's lead and resign. But if that happens, three months probably would be required until a special election could be held to replace them.

Likewise, the effort to recall most council members also could force an election, but again, months off.

"I tell people, when asking for resignations be careful what you wish for because there are no good options," said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate), who represents Bell. "In the meantime, the city is almost paralyzed like we saw last night."

The alternatives to waiting for a new election are largely untested and some may not be legal. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently backed the idea of a receiver, who would oversee the city's affairs, possibly with the power to veto the City Council or make decisions in its place if there is no quorum.

Velez said he is opposed to receivership, but would go along with it if that's what citizens demand.

"What people don't understand is that they think we're still going to participate in the handling of the day-to-day business," Velez said. "That's not so. The receiver is going to take over all of the administrative operations and I fear that the city will lose its identity."

But Patrick Whitnell, general counsel for the League of California Cities, said he has never heard of a city going into receivership, nor could he find any laws that would allow such a step.

The desert mobile home shantytown of Duroville, located on an Indian reservation in Riverside County, was placed into receivership, but Duroville was not an incorporated city with elected council members. Still, Mark Adams, who was the receiver for the shantytown, said the case in Bell seems extreme.

1 2 next |   single page Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

E-mail Print Digg Twitter Facebook Read This Later   Comments (8)Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ etsnell at 10:59 AM October 06, 2010

Pullen infected teeth or removing the cancer is painful but necessary to heel. Brown has the best lawyers around and anything is better than what we have. Pull there covers and please  indicte. Cassio/Carillo/Valdez/Guiterez

No one has a crystal ball and Bell well obviously be the first town in recievorship with a sitting council . We are in unchartered waters but this is better than what we had. The sleeping monster has been awakened from there siesta and will settle for only the truth. Drop the axe jerry it is time to sleigh the Monster. Enough stalling enough corruption enough is enough. Bell residents have endured but Bell residents are coming together and well endure after all they are proud and good family orientated God fearing people.

ET Snell

x=clown community activist

victorthevoter at 8:56 AM October 06, 2010

So Velez is afraid the City of Bell is going to loose its identity? 

I say the people want Bell to get an identity make-over. In fact, I think Bell residents want an EXTREME MAKEOVER AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY.

Why is it that everyone with a political and/or fiscal interest (current or future) is afraid of receivership.

Why is that everyone with a political and/or fiscal interest is more afraid of impartial experts coming in and cleaning up than incompetent insiders continuing to soil the people's house.

So Velez prefers Carrillo, who's connections to Rizzo and Cole are unquestionable but his professional qualifications are still unknown, running the place instead of an impartial, respected & trustworthy city manager?

So Velez is comfortable taking legal advice from a lawyer who did bidding for Vignali and whose firm did bond work for Bell?

Velez should not worrying about Bell's identity and start worrying about Bell's bottom line and future.

And the people of Bell need to remember that Velez was handpicked by Rizzo too. 

Bell deserves better and bolder leadership for the $600 dollars they pay Velez.

victorthevoter at 8:37 AM October 06, 2010

De La Torre's wrong!

The community's "not stuck on anger."

"THE COMMUNITY'S STUCK ON UPROOTING CORRUPTION, CROOKS & CRONIES," but De La Torre can't tell the difference.

The entire City of Bell complex is engulfed in political & fiscal flames & De La Torre's walking around with a gardening hose.

The same guy who wanted voters to believe he can stand up to the insurance companies can't stand up to these ruffians & call for receivership.

De La Torre's comments out of touch, & they're condescending & paternalistic.

The community isn't angry, they want Carrillo out because he's connected to Cole, Rizzo and others.

Carrillo's not trusted & you can't govern when you're not trusted. (I learned that in middle school - the one De La Torre didn't teach at.)

The community isn't angry, they want Casso out because he was handpicked by the Council, in spite of the fact his law firm did bond work for the City of Bell, and in spite of the fact that nobody else was interviewed. CASSO'S APPOINTMENT WAS AN INSIDE JOB - AND THE POA AND BASTA TACITLY SIGNED OFF.

The community isn't angry.  They want new, impartial and qualified people brought in, not a bunch of connected cronieS, hacks and flacks playing musical chairs.

The community's not angry, & they're not dumb either.

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