Docudharma Times Sunday Oct. 21

This is an Open Thread. Scream All You Want

USA

Tighter Border Delays Re-entry by U.S. Citizens

By JULIA PRESTON

Published: October 21, 2007

The increased enforcement is in part a dress rehearsal for new rules, scheduled to take effect in January, that will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter the United States. The requirements were approved by Congress as part of antiterrorism legislation in 2004.

Border officials said agents along the southern border were asking more returning United States citizens to show a photo identity document. At the same time, agents are increasing the frequency of what they call queries, where they check a traveler’s information against law enforcement, immigration and antiterror databases.

EL PASO – United States border agents have stepped up scrutiny of Americans returning home from Mexico, slowing commerce and creating delays at border crossings not seen since the months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The increased enforcement is in part a dress rehearsal for new rules, scheduled to take effect in January, that will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter the United States. The requirements were approved by Congress as part of antiterrorism legislation in 2004.

Border officials said agents along the southern border were asking more returning United States citizens to show a photo identity document. At the same time, agents are increasing the frequency of what they call queries, where they check a traveler’s information against law enforcement, immigration and antiterror databases.

Energy Traders Avoid Scrutiny

As Commodities Market Grows, Oversight Is Slight

By David Cho

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, October 21, 2007; Page A01

One year ago, a 32-year-old trader at a giant hedge fund named Amaranth held huge sway over the price the country paid for natural gas. Trading on unregulated commodity exchanges, he made risky bets that led to the fund’s collapse — and, according to a congressional investigation, higher gas bills for homeowners.

But as another winter approaches, lawmakers and federal regulators have yet to set up a system to prevent another big fund from cornering a vital commodity market. Called by some insiders the Wild West of Wall Street, commodity trading is a world where many goods that are key to national security or public consumption, such as oil, pork bellies or uranium, are traded with almost no oversight.

Republicans against war face uphill races

By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 21, 2007

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — The Crystal Coast Republican Men’s Club faithful were all smiles as they gathered at a restaurant to listen to their candidate for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District.

But the warm reception wasn’t for the Republican who since 1995 has represented this stretch of coast from the Virginia state line to the sprawling Marine base at Camp Lejeune. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a soft-spoken, deeply religious man who two years ago turned against the Iraq war, was not there.

The GOP activists dining on fried fish were cheering Joe McLaughlin, a county commissioner and retired Army major who has launched a hard-charging bid to dispatch Jones in next year’s primary by highlighting Jones’ votes against the war.

“His is a message of despair, a message of defeat,” McLaughlin told the appreciative crowd as he derided Jones, accusing him of abandoning the troops, President Bush, even talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

Sexual misconduct plagues U.S. schools

AP finds 2,500 teachers punished in 5 years

By MARTHA IRVINE AND ROBERT TANNER

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sensational cases make headlines, but the scale of sexual misconduct by teachers in America’s schools gets little attention. The Associated Press has spent months digging through public records to document the problem in every state, revealing a disturbing national picture. This story is the first in a three-day series on an overlooked blight on our education system.)

The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader’s breast during recess. “I guess it was just lust of the flesh,” he told his boss.

That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn’t end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations.

Asia

Zeng Qinghong Leaves China Communist Party Leadership

By Allen T. Cheng and Dune Lawrence

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Three top Chinese Communist Party officials including Vice President Zeng Qinghong stepped down, clearing the way for President Hu Jintao to install younger leaders on China’s ruling council.

Zeng, 68, wasn’t included in a list of the party’s 200-plus Central Committee, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, meaning he can’t be chosen for its ruling Politburo Standing Committee. Two other members of that group, Wu Guanzheng and Luo Gan also weren’t on the list.

Hu, 64, is reshuffling his team to tackle social unrest caused by corruption and pollution in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. While his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Deng Xiaoping opened up the country and powered growth, Hu has stressed creating a “harmonious society” to spread the benefits and maintain public support.

NKorea warns South over naval movements

SEOUL (AFP) – Pyongyang Sunday accused South Korea of “provocation”, claiming its neighbour’s navy had intentionally strayed into the North’s waters and warning against it happening again.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said South Korea sent 50 navy ships and boats deep into disputed Northern waters last week, with as many as 30 coming in on Thursday alone.

“The (North Korean) Navy will never remain an onlooker to the South Korean naval warships’ reckless military provocations as intruding into the inviolable territorial waters of the North side,” KCNA said.

Tokyo soccer robots don’t quite have Becks appeal

TOKYO (Reuters) – David Beckham doesn’t have anything to fear from robot players — for now.

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At an indoor field in Tokyo, dozens of robots played soccer while others danced to samba music to cheer them on.

For the contestants, most of the movements were, well, mechanical and even a little clumsy — far from the acrobatic grace of premier-league soccer stars.

Several small humanoid robots taking part in “Robot Athletic Meet 2007” toppled over as they collided on the indoor field, their every move buzzing with the sound of their motors.

Middle East

Report: 9 Turkish soldiers killed

ANKARA, Turkey – Separatist Kurdish rebels attacked a military unit near Turkey’s border with Iraq and Iran on Sunday, killing nine Turkish soldiers, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The attack came four days after Turkey’s Parliament passed a motion allowing its military to launch an offensive into neighboring northern Iraq to stamp out the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, hiding there.

The rebels attacked the military unit, based near the Turkish town of Yuksekova, in Hakkari province, with heavy machinery, Anatolia said. Several soldiers were also injured in the violence.

Guards ‘undermine’ US Iraq aims

The activities of security contractors are “in conflict” with the US military’s mission in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said.

But he acknowledged that the US could not manage without contractors, except by diverting thousands of troops.

On Thursday, three Iraqis were injured when guards from a UK company fired into a taxi in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Security firms are under scrutiny after 17 Iraqis died in a clash involving guards from the US firm Blackwater.

Europe

Poles start voting in early parliamentary election

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poles began voting on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election that could cost the conservative ruling Kaczynski twins their full grip on government in the European Union’s biggest former communist country

Opinion polls suggest a centre-right opposition party might do best in the vote, with plans to speed up economic reform, pull troops out of Iraq and rebuild relations with EU allies that have suffered under the strongly nationalist brothers.

But the race could still be close.

Polls before campaigning ended on Friday put the opposition Civic Platform between 4 and 17 points ahead of the conservative ruling Law and Justice Party. They gave the opposition party up to 47 percent support.

Africa

Ethiopian rebels claim killing 140 government troops

NAIROBI (AFP) – Ethiopian rebels on Sunday claimed they had killed at least 140 government troops in an attack in the Ogaden region, where the army is carrying out a crackdown.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said in a statement that almost 1,000 of its fighters attacked Ethiopian troops near Wardheer early Saturday, killing more than 140 troops, with “many more wounded”.

Wardheer is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.

Muslim pop stars unite for Darfur

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend a charity concert in London to raise money for war-torn Darfur.

The event on Sunday at Wembley Arena will highlight the crisis in the Sudanese region and feature some of the Muslim world’s biggest stars.

Among them is Sami Yusuf – dubbed the Islamic Bono – and Texan country and western singer Kareem Salama.