If you like to test your geography skills... However being nearly there doesn't cut it
I scored 93% and 7 miles ( not sure what that means)
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Politics, Entertainment, Editorials, Essays, Rants Life news, emotional dialouges, and other Weirdness from Larry Bernard out of The Cigar city of Tampa
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Chinese leader Hu Jintao signed an agreement on economic cooperation on Tuesday, building on ties at a time the debt-laden, isolated African state is seeking new sources of aid.
Democrats Discussing 'What We Stand For'
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
July 25, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - The Democratic Leadership Council, which describes itself as a centrist group, is holding a "national conversation" on what the party should stand for.
The meeting in Columbus, Ohio, began on Saturday and winds up Monday with a speech from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the not-yet-running-for-president candidate.
"At a time when Washington remains gripped in partisan warfare based on the Bush administration's narrow and ideologically driven agenda, it's a good time for Democrats to look beyond the Beltway and talk honestly with each other about what we should stand for," the DLC said in a press release.
"That will be the primary purpose of the DLC 2005 National Conversation," it added.
President Bush has chosen federal appeals court judge John Roberts, 50, as his nominee to the Supreme Court...
Roberts: 'We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled'...
The case involves former employees at the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla who complained about then-warden Lewis Kuykendall, who was sexually involved with at least three women at the same time.
The plaintiffs, Edna Miller and Frances Mackey, sued the Department of Corrections for sexual harassment in 1999.
A lower court ruled against the women, saying they "were not themselves subjected to sexual advances and were not treated any differently than male employees." The state Supreme Court overturned that decision Monday.
An isolated instance of favoritism would not ordinarily constitute sexual harassment, Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote in the unanimous decision.
But when it is so widespread that "the demeaning message is conveyed to female employees that they are viewed by management as 'sexual playthings' or that the way required for women to get ahead in the workplace is by engaging in sexual conduct," it constitutes harassment, he wrote.
Both women subsequently left their jobs, and Mackey died in 2003. An Internal Affairs investigation in 1998 resulted in Kuykendall's retirement.
"Deferred success" should replace the idea of failure for low-achieving pupils, a teachers' organisation will hear at its annual conference.
If you engage a builder to build a 5-foot wall and he only does it 4' 9", you fetch him back.
"You don't demolish it and make him start all over again - he simply lays another course of bricks to 'top it up'.
"But failing an exam - especially if it involves repeating an entire year - does demolish and make you start again," said Mr Paxton.
Anime Lover Congratulations! You scored 56%! |
You're getting up there!! You may not have reached Fan Boy/Fan Girl status, but you've thrown yourself into this crazy anime world and now there's no escaping!! You're just going to fall further and further into the hole. You relish in finding new series to love and pass on to your friends. You look forward to attending cons and beginning or expanding the crazy collection your beginning to gather. Congrats!! |
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My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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Link: The Are You an Anime Geek? Test written by Beckachu3 on Ok Cupid |
In a letter she is sending Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission, the New York Democrat expresses concern over reports that anyone who uses a free code downloaded over the Internet can unlock sexually graphic images hidden inside the game, called "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."
Clinton asked the commission to determine "the source of this content," especially since the game can fall into the hands of young people. The game industry's self-policing unit, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, is investigating whether the maker of the game violated the industry rule requiring "full disclosure of pertinent content."
Politically, Clinton's decision to wade into the controversy over Grand Theft Auto is noteworthy. She singled out the game when many Democrats were trying to figure out ways their party can match Republicans on the issue of family values.
Patricia Vance, president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, defended the rating system. "'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' was rated Mature, for ages 17 and older, with five content descriptors: intense violence, blood and gore, strong sexual content, strong language and use of drugs," she said. "It's hard to call that inaccurate. It's been appropriately rated."
But, it is worth examining- What if this had happened during the Clinton administration? What if it was Paul Begala or someone like him who was accused of outing a CIA agent? What would the right be doing?
Begala's presence on the panel created a stir when he declared that Republicans had "done a p***-poor job of defending" the U.S.
Republicans, he said, "want to kill us.
"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said.
"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."
Begala also included Republican domestic policies in his sweeping criticism. The GOP, he said, "ain't had a new idea since they opposed Social Security, and guess what, they still do. ... They are beginning to figure out that there is no Soviet Union, but they still want Star Wars to stop it," Begala said.
"Franklin Roosevelt got us in World War II. They dragged the Republicans kicking and screaming. They didn't want to get in that war. They didn't have any problem with Hitler. I won't go so far as to say they thought Hitler rocked. But there were people in America who did, and they didn't want us to get in that war. Democrats have always been just as tough as Republicans once they're in office," Frank said.
Instead, the Ventoro survey found that savings averaged slightly less than 10 percent for all the offshore outsourcing projects that Ventoro reviewed, Hatch said.
The average cost savings increased to 19 percent when Ventoro excluded offshore engagements that were deemed to be a failure by executives or engagements that didn't have a prior baseline to compare cost savings.
However, the report concluded that cost savings of 30 percent is a realistic target for well planned and managed offshore outsourcing projects.
Hatch, who prior to founding Ventoro two years ago, worked as a market researcher and executive with Luxsoft, a Russia-based outsourcing company, said that one of the key reasons why outsourcing programs fail is because customers have absurdly unrealistic expectations about cost savings.
It was not unheard of, Hatch said, for customers to go into an offshore outsource engagement expecting to received 80 percent cost savings.
The enterprise has to have a clear idea of what it wants to achieve from the offshore project, and the goal shouldn't be just to reduce labor costs. Instead it should be something with the potential to generate a return on investment, improve business processes to lower operating costs, or serve customers better.
There has to be an organizational chart that clearly delineates roles and leadership responsibility between the offshore team and the onshore team, the report concluded. Without this, neither team will have a clear idea of how to meet project objectives.
Finally, enterprises have to recognize that achieving ROI from an offshore outsourcing project won't happen overnight, the report said; they have to be willing to set realistic goals for cost savings and expect that it will take time to realize potential cost savings and ROI.
"While we are forced to live in a democracy with several branches of government, sometimes in a democracy the process is frustratingly slow," Blagojevich said.
"So whatever criticism and remarks that come my way--and I suspect there will be a firestorm of criticism because I'm using executive power--I enthusiastically embrace it," Blagojevich said. "I feel very good about this decision."
n California, voters recently approved $3 billion over 10 years for research. New Jersey has allocated only $6.5 million so far, but has proposed spending an additional $300 million, while Connecticut has approved $100 million over 10 years.
Wisconsin also has approved a new $375 million research facility in Madison and millions more for research at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, officials said.
Blagojevich expressed the hope the $10 million will be the start of a bigger effort. A panel under the Public Health Department will begin taking applications for grants by the end of the year, officials said.
More importantly, "having the building look like the office a typical [person] would enter five days a week is right in line with what we're trying to do," he said, adding that's making people feel more at ease about church.
Stanley delivers his messages in khakis and golf shirts. His opening act is a live band jamming Christian rock music. The laid-back elements, like the architecture, are designed to put people at ease, McDaniel said.
On June 18, the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles honored singer Janet Jackson with its Humanitarian Award, citing her financial contributions to AIDS organizations.
While Jackson’s efforts are praiseworthy, calling her humanitarian of the year is a stretch that could affect the value of future awards presented by HRC, said Jim Key, chief public affairs officer for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center.
But honoring celebrities and high-profile politicians simply to “curry press and favor” has brought no rewards or civil rights victories to gay organizations, said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network.
“I think it sends the message that our community is about fluff and glitter, and not about civil rights, because if you flatter our egos by associating with us, then that is good enough,” Thayer said. “It says something about the lack of self esteem that our community has that we’re willing to glom onto anyone with a big name who is willing to give us the time of day.”
The Sat-1 channel sent reporters to take 46 swabs from toilets and other public areas of the Brussels buildings. Nearly all tested positive for cocaine.
The parliament may look into whether the testing was legal as it was performed without its consent or knowledge.
“Certainly, their unemployment is lower than ours. But if you take the big elements in society — health policy, the fight against poverty, . . . spending involving the future — you notice that we are much, much better placed than the English.”
M Chirac said that France spent 5.6 per cent of its annual income on education, compared with Britain’s 4.2 per cent. Later, citing Britain unprompted, he noted that 7 per cent of French children lived in poverty compared with 17 per cent in Britain
The Iranian government responded Wednesday that Bush should not intervene in the case of the jailed dissident, especially in light of allegations of U.S. human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons.
Included in the evidence cited by the Times: Hillary's quote to WABC Radio's John Gambling on Feb. 11, 2003, wherein she proclaimed, "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration."
The only problem is, Mrs. Clinton never spoke those words.
Apparently, the Times was offended by what she actually said, which was: "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants" - a quote first reported by NewsMax an hour after Clinton uttered it.
The distinction is important, since, in the Times version, Mrs. Clinton is condemning the crime of illegal immigration, while in realty, what Hillary did was state her opposition to the immigrants themselves.
every other news agency that has picked up Mrs. Clinton's blast at "illegal immigrants" in the ensuing two years - including the Washington Times, the National Review, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and MSNBC - managed to get the quote correct.
A company which utilized slaves gained profits it would not have gained, which is then passed on to its (white) executives and its (white) shareholders. Those gains are illegitimately taken. While it is true that today there are some black shareholders and executives sharing the wealth, they are in a distinct minority (well behind the proportion you'd expect given their numbers in American society). The benefit to them is incidental and de minimis, about as relevant as saying that our obligations to slaves were fulfilled because we gave them housing and food.
Almost every business has at least an indirect link to slavery, he said. For example, some railroad and Southern utility companies can trace their roots to businesses that used slave labor. Textile companies, for example, use cotton that was grown on Southern plantations.
"There's never going to be a solid number because the idea of how you connect a company to slavery is more a political one than a historical one," Mr. Lide said.
hat's all well and good, and it explains why reparations doesn't and shouldn't consist of reaching into white bank accounts and drawing out enough money until the "debt is paid."
he fundamental goal of the NAACP's education advocacy agenda is to provide all students access to quality education. The NAACP Education Department seeks to accomplish this goal through policy development, training, collaboration, negotiation, legislation, litigation, and agitation. The NAACP Education Department's resources are strategically focused on three major objectives:
1) Preventing Racial Discrimination in Educational Programs and Services;
2) Advancing Educational Excellence; and
3) Promoting an Equal Opportunity Education Agenda.
The NAACP Education Department coordinates, supports, and advises, the more than, 2,200 NAACP units efforts to annually meet these objectives through a nationwide emphasis on program development, capacity building, and collaboration. Through these elements, the NAACP seeks to:
1. Empower students, parents and local advocates to assess their local schools, school districts, universities, and state educational agencies through data collection and the production of substantive research on key educational equity issues.
2. Empower students, parents and local advocates to assist their local schools, school districts, universities and state educational agencies through training, and collaborative technical assistance designed to prevent discrimination in educational programs and services.
3. Empower students, parents and local advocates to advance educational excellence through programmatic support and development based on sound research, strategic planning and strong collaborative networks.
guess. But think of the precedent we're setting: that if you can dodge liability for massive injustices for X amount of years, then you're home free. In cases of massive wrongs (and in civil claims in general), this "modified statute of limitations" argument simply doesn't fly--especially since it was our legal system which prevented Blacks from pursuing slavery reparation claims when it would have been timely.
When Arie Zmora escorted an Israeli TV news crew around St. Cloud a few years back, he didn’t expect any trouble. The former St. Cloud State University (SCSU) professor had given an exclusive interview for a feature news story about anti-Semitism in the Granite City.
Eventually, they stopped in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral to get shots of the swastika engravings high on the church’s north and south walls. Seeing swastikas on a church shocked the veteran news team, even though they had years of experience filming some rather fierce scenes in Israel.
Soon, a small, curious crowd gathered around the crew, and a few of the onlookers angrily questioned why they were taking footage of the swastikas. After all, it was 2002, a year in which St. Cloud faced an onslaught of negative news coverage, from the Star Tribune to the Washington Post, about incidents of racism, anti-Semitism, and hate crimes. Many St. Cloud residents felt the coverage to be heavily imbalanced and unfair.
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that 2002 was the same year that the St. Mary’s church council first voted to remove the swastika discs. Rev. Steve Binsfield, rector of St. Mary’s, has repeatedly expressed his frustration over such coverage and criticism.
In a recent church bulletin, Binsfield noted how “the press can twist anything,” and how members of the church can “understand the history of the symbol and that it was a part of our church building before Nazism took strong root, the presence of that broken cross does more harm today in the public perception of our Church than good.”
Unfortunately, many subscribed to the ‘gospel of hate’ preached by radio priest, Father Charles Coughlin,” he wrote. In the 1930s, Charles Coughlin became the national mouthpiece of hate and anti-Semitism, with millions of listeners tuning in to his weekly radio program. A Catholic priest based in Michigan, Coughlin ranted endlessly about absurd Jewish-Communist conspiracies on his program. He also founded proto-White supremacist organizations that would go on to support Nazism and fascism.
From February 1999 to November 2002, deputies read almost all arrestees a Miranda rights form that the courts have found was flawed. The form advised suspects they could request an attorney before questioning, but omitted mentioning that they have a constitutional right to have an attorney present during questioning. Courts have found that the missing word means juries can't hear the defendants' often damning statements to deputies because they weren't properly advised of their rights.
Sheriff's top officials insisted on using the form even after State Attorney Michael Satz urged them to change it as early as May 2001.
He's on videotape calmly recounting to a Broward Sheriff's detective why he shot his best friend. A jury needed less than two hours to convict him of the May 2000 slaying. A judge sentenced him to life......
Four suspected killers have either been freed from prison or seen their cases dropped. Another three accused murderers will receive new trials. The statements of four more accused killers have been or could be suppressed......
He's on videotape calmly recounting to a Broward Sheriff's detective why he shot his best friend. A jury needed less than two hours to convict him of the May 2000 slaying. A judge sentenced him to life.
And three months ago, John Q. Ripley walked out of prison.
One simple word helped him regain his freedom. That word, missing from a Miranda rights form used by the Broward Sheriff's Office, has or could undercut at least 24 other cases against suspected killers, robbers and drug dealers. The word has left a trail of overturned convictions, dismissed charges and weakened cases for prosecutors.
Four suspected killers have either been freed from prison or seen their cases dropped. Another three accused murderers will receive new trials. The statements of four more accused killers have been or could be suppressed.
From February 1999 to November 2002, deputies read almost all arrestees a Miranda rights form that the courts have found was flawed. The form advised suspects they could request an attorney before questioning, but omitted mentioning that they have a constitutional right to have an attorney present during questioning. Courts have found that the missing word means juries can't hear the defendants' often damning statements to deputies because they weren't properly advised of their rights.
Sheriff's top officials insisted on using the form even after State Attorney Michael Satz urged them to change it as early as May 2001.
The courts have set clear parameters on what cases are affected by the disputed form, limiting the number of successful legal challenges. But when defendants' statements are suppressed, the cases sometimes have been irreparably harmed. Defendants who have benefited include:
Ripley, 48, who said on tape he "had to kill" his friend and led deputies to the murder weapon. An appellate court tossed out his first-degree murder conviction because of the flawed rights form and detectives illegally arresting him outside their jurisdiction. With a jury prevented from hearing his statements or any evidence gathered because of them, prosecutors dropped the case.
Nneka West, a Dania Beach woman convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for taking part in a September 1998 drug rip-off that left her boyfriend dead. After she was granted a new trial, she pleaded no contest to second-degree murder. She walked out of jail in April.
Willems Calixte, a Pembroke Park man charged with two counts of second-degree murder. Authorities said he participated in a botched robbery that left his brother and an accomplice dead. Without his statement to detectives, prosecutors said they had to drop the case against him.
Walter Dendy, sentenced to life in prison, and Neal Bross, sentenced to 15 years, for a fatal acid throwing attack. Jury selection for their new trial is scheduled to begin Mondayfor the July 2000 death of Leonard "Rudi" Houda. Jurors won't hear incriminating statements Dendy and Bross gave authorities after their arrests. Dendy's attorney, Fred Haddad, said his client's statement was "devastating" at the first trial.
"There's a saying in criminal law that a fish doesn't get caught if it keeps its mouth shut," said defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich, who represents a man whose 30-year prison sentence for attempted robbery was overturned because of the form. "Confessions are often the most damaging part of a defendant's case."
Sheriff's administrators dismissed Satz's suggestions, internal Broward Sheriff's Office memos show.
"Adding additional cautionary warnings pertaining to a suspect's rights to counsel are not mandated by law and are in my opinion an additional obstacle for our investigators to overcome," wrote Lt. Col. Thomas J. Brennan in a May 29, 2001, memo to Undersheriff Thomas Carney.
That same day, Major Tony Fantigrassi wrote to Brennan that Patricia Windowmaker, an attorney within the Sheriff's legal department, revised the form in February 1999 "after conferring with the State Attorney's Office."
"This form was sanctioned by them prior to our approval and distribution," Fantigrassi wrote about Satz's office.
But Chief Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton said Thursday that Windowmaker never talked with Satz or anyone else from the State Attorney's Office about the Miranda rights form before changing it.
"On the morning of the full moon day of June 21, I noticed my thing (sex organ) was not the same as before," Thin Sandar, who now goes by the male name Than Sein, told AFP in an interview at his home.
"And my breasts disappeared," Than Sein added. "So I called out and showed it all to my mom and dad. It was very strange."
Regardless of the official findings, local villagers and other curious Myanmar nationals are flocking to the Aung Myay Thar Yar pagoda, in this new satellite township 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Yangon, to see Than Sein for themselves and make donations to him or the temple.
Up to 400 gather at the pagoda each day, often in a courtyard under colorful umbrellas to ward off the sun's rays, waiting for the chance to talk with and touch Than Sein.
"I have never heard of anything like this, so I came to see him," 21-year-old housewife Thandar Win told AFP.
Iowa - Iowa, a hotbed for politics, is unfriendly terrain for female candidates. The state that holds the nation's first presidential caucus stands as one of just two — Mississippi is the other — never to have elected a woman governor or sent a woman to Congress.
Iowa's record on female candidates has never been tested by presidential politics. Although they campaigned in the state, Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder in 1988,
Elizabeth Dole in 2000 and
Carol Moseley Braun in 2004 quit before Iowans caucused in the opening nominating contests of their campaigns.
Since 1920, when women gained the right to vote, only 11 women have won statewide election in Iowa. All told, 21 states have elected women as governors, and eight states have a woman in the statehouse today.
There's considerable frustration among activists. Campbell noted that Florida has an older population yet little hesitation sending women to Congress. Nebraska and Kansas are rural, too, but have had female governors.
"There have been women elected in far more conservative states than Iowa," Campbell said. "It is a bit of a perplexing question."
"It may be the candidates," Conlin said. "It may be the right woman has not come along."
The NAACP will target private companies as part of its economic agenda, seeking reparations from corporations with historical ties to slavery and boycotting companies that refuse to participate in its annual business diversity report card.
"Many of the problems we have now including poverty, disparities in health care and incarcerations can be directly tied to slavery."
She said two banks trying to do business with Chicago have recently apologized for their role in slavery and promised to make amends by offering scholarships to blacks and money for other education projects that benefit blacks.
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank recently completed an examination of its history and found that two financial institutions it absorbed years ago -- Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana -- had owned more than 1,250 black people until the Civil War, procured as collateral on defaulted loans.
The company apologized and officials said it will start a $5 million scholarship program for children in Louisiana.
Wachovia Corp. was accused by a Chicago alderman of lying last month when it submitted its statement in January stating it had no knowledge of any involvement with slavery. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company later apologized and indicated that it would create an education fund or contribute money toward black history education.
Almost every business has at least an indirect link to slavery, he said. For example, some railroad and Southern utility companies can trace their roots to businesses that used slave labor. Textile companies, for example, use cotton that was grown on Southern plantations.
"There's never going to be a solid number because the idea of how you connect a company to slavery is more a political one than a historical one," Mr. Lide said.
A team of Senate and House Democrats today are planning to introduce legislation today aimed at significantly increasing size of the U.S. Army.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services (SASC) airland subcommittee, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a SASC member, and Reps. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), both members of the House Armed Services committee, are pressing for the passage of the United States Army Relief Act.
"All of a sudden," he continued, the media began asking, "'Is she selling out? Is she abandoning her principles?' But if John McCain, who's pro-life, works with Hillary on global warming, he's a man of principle moving to the middle."
"It's nuts," the former president said.
The fact is, there are a thousand movable parts in a presidential campaign, but the two most indispensable are (1) a candidate with charisma
money
and a broad following in his or her party
a ticket that espouses values and policies that Middle Americans agree with
A candidate, the polls now suggest, like Hillary Clinton.
Or John McCain.
"I don't know how you beat her for the Democratic nomination," former Sen. Bob Kerrey told New York magazine. "She's a rock star."
SEN. MCCAIN STARS IN BOOB RAUNCH FEST
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- who once held hearings chastising Hollywood studios for producing R- rated films and marketing them to teens -- is now playing a part in one!
Opening this weekend, WEDDING CRASHERS, a movie packed with raunchy moments and bare-breasted beauties bedding down with the guys.
"At one point we sent the script to someone who knew about the rating system," Dobkin reported, "and he sent back a list of R-rated elements. It was a massive list. The two funniest scenes in the movie would have had to go."
During his senate hearings on Hollywood, McCain lectured Hollywood executives for pushing R-rated films:
"Motion pictures have to ability to elevate and inspire us. To weave wonderful tales, and to record our history. Clearly though, such is not the case."
BEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) - China has moved for the second time this year to limit outside involvement in its electronic media, banning city and provincial broadcasters from even cooperating with foreign firms.
One Chinese television company, Qinghai TV, said such regulations had caused it to cancel plans to work with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the China News Service and the People's Daily Online reported.
"Radio and television stations may not rent channels to foreign organisations (and) may not cooperate in funding and operating radio and television channels with foreign organisations," the regulations published on the Web site of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said.
The regulations, which did not apply to central media, also said foreign organisations could not cooperate with local broadcasters on programming, including live shows.
He wants the Queen to order Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson to refuse to grant royal assent once the bill is passed.
"Our beloved Queen Elizabeth II, I know that the refusal of the Governor General to give royal consent would precipitate a crisis. Millions have nowhere else to turn but you," Mainse wrote in a letter he sent last week to Buckingham Palace.
"Should you act in this, millions of us would surely become more fervent supporters of the monarchy than ever," he wrote.
TOKYO - A group of teachers and translators in Japan on Wednesday sued Tokyo's outspoken nationalist governor for allegedly calling French a "failed international language," a news report said.
Twenty-one people filed the lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court, demanding that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara pay a total of 10.5 million yen (US$94,600) compensation for insulting the French language in remarks last October, national broadcaster NHK said.
In their suit, the plaintiffs accused Ishihara of saying: "French is a failed international language because it cannot be used to count numbers."
NEW YORK (Reuters) - CBS News on Tuesday unveiled plans to enlarge its online presence with a 24-hour broadband Internet service providing video clips that consumers can assemble into their own individually tailored newscasts.
For the mainstream Washington media, which have faced criticism for appearing to go easy on the Bush White House, the new link to Rove provided a hook on which to hang tough questions. "Since it involves the media themselves, it's natural that the media would have a strong interest," says Professor Pitney. "For the time being," he adds, "there's an absence of competing political stories. We don't have a Supreme Court nominee, and the middle of summer is generally not a time for major legislation."
So in the interest of filling media time and space, Democrats are more than happy to oblige. And because of the Plame case's ultimate link to the run-up to the Iraq war - and her husband's role in raising questions about Iraq's efforts to acquire materials for use in nuclear weapons - Democrats now have a reason to revisit their core allegation about a White House they view as less than forthcoming on Iraq.
"If anything, the attacks by Democrats could enhance [Rove's] stature with the people he deals with," says Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont-McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.
Clinton has said he got the idea for the meeting from Davos, where the
World Economic Forum meets each year in Switzerland. That meeting has come under fire by critics who complain it is all talk and no action.
"If you come to my meeting, at the end I want you to make a commitment," Clinton said. "If we did one of these every year at the opening of the UN ... and these commitments were made and kept for a decade, I think it would change the world."