Google shares top $500 for 1st time

MICHAEL LIEDTKE,

AP Business Writer

Google Inc.'s stock price surpassed $500 for the first time Tuesday, marking another milestone in a rapid rise that has catapulted the Internet search leader into the corporate elite.

Continuing a recent surge driven by Wall Street's high expectations for the company, Google's shares rose $11.38, or 2.3 percent, to $506.43 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

That left Google with a market value of about $155 billion just eight years after former Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin started the business in a Silicon Valley garage.

The Mountain View-based company now ranks as Silicon Valley's second most valuable business, eclipsing the likes of Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip maker, and Hewlett-Packard Co., a high-tech pioneer that also famously started in a garage 67 years ago. With a market value of about $164 billion, networking equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. is the only Silicon Valley firm worth more.

Google's remarkable success has minted Page and Brin, both 33, as multibillionaires along with their hand-picked chief executive, Eric Schmidt.

Hundreds of other Google employees are millionaires because so many investors want to own a piece of a company that has become the Internet's most powerful financial force while building a brand so ingrained in society that it has become part of the English language.

It took slightly more than a year for Google's shares to travel from $400 to $500 — the stock's longest journey from one major milestone to the next since the company priced its initial public offering at $85 in August 2004.

The shares topped $100 on their first day of trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, then crossed $200 in less than three months. The stock broke through $300 another seven months later in June 2005 and then breached $400 on Nov. 17 last year.

The latest spurt of optimism appeared to reflect a belief that Google will quickly introduce ways to mine more online advertising revenue from its just-completed $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube Inc. Google used its stock to finance the deal.

"Arguably, Google is positioning itself yet again to play in an emerging market that is going to be very significant," said David Garrity, director of research for Dinosaur Securities.

Like other Internet stocks, Google is also getting a seasonal lift in anticipation of more holiday shopping being done online. With a 45 percent share of the Internet search market in the United States, Google is expected to direct much of the shopping traffic — a role likely to generate more referral fees for the company.

Google so far has made most of its money selling brief, written ads that are posted alongside search results and other online content, but management believes it can amass even bigger profits by expanding into video and delivering more messages to mobile computing devices.

Management also wants to extend Google's advertising clout beyond the Web. The company is currently testing a program to place ads in 50 of the nation's largest newspapers and hopes to begin distributing radio ads by the end of this year.

"They have the opportunity to become a quasi-advertising agency," said Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen.

Those grand ambitions are one of the reasons that Google shares keep climbing. The run-up makes Google's stock look fairly expensive by one widely used barometer known as the price-to-earnings, or p/e, multiple.

Analysts, on average, predict Google will earn $13.70 per share next year, leaving the company's p/e at about 37. By comparison, the p/e of Microsoft Corp. — the world's most prized technology company with a market value of nearly $300 billion — is about 21, based on analyst's 2007 earnings projections.

Most analysts still believe Google is reasonably priced because of the breakneck growth that is expected to propel the company's profit well beyond $2 billion this year, up from a mere $106 million in 2003.

"It's not really trading at obscene levels," said Pyykkonen, who expects Google shares to hit $550 soon. Other analysts believe Google will hit $600 within the next year.

Betting against Google has proven to be foolish so far. In the months leading to Google's IPO, widespread skepticism about the company's growth prospects prompted management to discount its desired price, enriching investors who were able to buy at $85. And just eight months ago, Google shares dropped as low as $331.55 amid fears that the company's earnings growth might be on the verge of a dramatic slowdown.

Anyone waiting for a stock split before investing in Google risks being left on the sidelines. Although most publicly held companies regularly split their stock to create a lower per-share price that appeals to more Main Street investors, the proudly unconventional Page and Brin have repeatedly indicated they have no intention of resorting to that maneuver.

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Today in history - Nov. 22

The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 22, the 326th day of 2006. There are 39 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot to death while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Texas Gov. John B. Connally, in the same limousine as Kennedy, was seriously wounded. Suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested.

On this date:

In 1718, English pirate Edward Teach — better known as Blackbeard — was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.

In 1890, French president Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille, France.

In 1928, "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel made its debut in Paris.

In 1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, Calif., carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight.

In 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan.

In 1943, lyricist Lorenz Hart died in New York at age 48.

In 1965, the musical "Man of La Mancha" opened in New York.

In 1975, Juan Carlos was proclaimed King of Spain.

In 1986, Elzire Dionne, who gave birth to quintuplets in 1934, died at a hospital in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, at age 77.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election of the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation.

Ten years ago: O.J. Simpson took the stand as a hostile witness in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him, saying it was "absolutely not true" that he'd killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Martin Bryant, who'd gunned down 35 people at Port Arthur, Australia, was sentenced to life behind bars with no chance of parole.

Five years ago: With a tap on a laptop, Pope John Paul II for the first time sent out his official word over the Internet, apologizing for missionary abuses against indigenous peoples of the South Pacific. A huge landslide swept over gold miners illegally digging into the side of a mountain in western Colombia, killing 47 people. Cosmetics magnate Mary Kay Ash died in Dallas at age 83.

One year ago: Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen in Navy custody, was charged with supporting terrorism, but the indictment did not mention the alleged "dirty bomb" plot that had prompted his three-year detention. An Arab-American college student, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush. Angela Merkel took power as Germany's first female chancellor. Ted Koppel hosted his final edition of ABC News' "Nightline."

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I., is 88. Movie director Arthur Hiller is 83. Actor Robert Vaughn is 74. Actor Michael Callan is 71. Actor Allen Garfield is 67. Animator and movie director Terry Gilliam is 66. Actor Tom Conti is 65. Singer Jesse Colin Young is 65. Astronaut Guion S. Bluford is 64. Tennis player Billie Jean King is 63. Rock musician-actor Steve Van Zandt (AKA Little Steven) is 56. Rock musician Tina Weymouth (The Heads; Talking Heads; The Tom Tom Club) is 56. Former baseball player Greg Luzinski is 56. Rock musician Lawrence Gowan is 50. Actor Richard Kind is 50. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is 48. Rock singer Jason Ringenberg (Jason & the Scorchers) is 48. Actress Mariel Hemingway is 45. Actor Stephen Geoffreys is 42. Rock musician Charlie Colin is 40. Actor Nicholas Rowe is 40. Actor Mark Ruffalo is 39. Tennis player Boris Becker is 39. Actress Scarlett Johansson is 22.

Thought for Today: "Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so." — Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970).

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Toys Stolen From Firefighters' Holiday Cheer Fund

Jay Hermacinsski

The Grinch hit early this year in Columbus. Someone broke into a warehouse and stole shopping carts full of toys. The toys were donated by the community. Columbus firefighters were collecting them and planned to hand them out to deserving children next month.

Volunteers dropped off a truckload of toys and clothes at a warehouse in Columbus on Monday. The generous donations comes at a particularly needy time. Over the weekend, someone broke in and stole dozens of toys.

"You always hear about the Grinch who stole Christmas. Whoever done it is kinda the Grinch to us," Leroy Armstrong with the Columbus Fire department said.

Shelves that were once full are now empty. The thief or thieves nearly cleaned out the cd players and boom boxes. Costly gifts to replace.

Whoever broke in stole more than just a handful of items. Firefighters say they got away with at least two shopping carts full of goods.

"It's rather disappointing because you're here to help other people and someone comes in and helps themselves," Scott Stam with the Columbus Fire department said.

The toys are part of the Columbus firefighter's Cheer Fund. Founded in 1930, the fund provides holiday gifts to needy children, 1,500 kids last year alone.

The firefighters can't understand how someone could steal from them.

"The money, the time is donated by the community. They're stealing not only from kids who get the toys but from everyone else," Armstrong said.

Disappointed, yes but still focused on the kids. The firefighters say they will work hard to replace the stolen toys. They won't let some Grinch take the cheer out of this years Christmas.

While Columbus Police are investigating the theft, firefighters are asking for more donations from the community to make up for the stolen goods.

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Indianapolis Attorney Reacts To Canceled O.J. Simpson Book, Interview Deal

Eric Halvorson

O.J. Simpson's book and TV special have been canceled. "News Corporation," which owns the FOX network, planned to air the interview. It also owns the company that published the book.

News Corp's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, says the projects were "ill-advised." Others are much less diplomatic.

Simpson's book entitled "If I did it" inspired outrage from the Goldman family and from people across the country.

"I'm thrilled that the American public forced them to do what was right," Fred Goldman said.

Fred Goldman's son, Ron, was killed along with Simpson's wife, Nicole, in 1994.

Simpson always claimed he was innocent and the jury acquitted him.

But, he lost in a civil trial and was ordered to pay millions of dollars.

"We are elated at News Corp's decision to pull the book and pull the interview," Indianapolis Attorney Jonathan Polak said.

Polak represents the Goldman family. He's trying to help them collect on the civil judgment.

"We still have a great deal of legal work to do, to find out where the money went and why it went there," Polak said.

For now, he's grateful the Simpson story backlash forced News Corp to re-evaluate its plans, "Although they didn't do the right thing in the beginning they seem to have done the right thing now in pulling that."

"Unfortunately, we should not have been put through this insanity," Fred Goldman said.

And Polak says Simpson needs to know the Goldmans will never go away, "And we will continue to hound him and continue to seek justice against him for as long as he lives."

So, Polak says he and the Goldmans are planning more legal action.

He says they'll go after anyone from publishers, to producers, to lawyers who, they think, may have tried to hide Simpson's assets from the Goldmans as they try to collect the judgment.

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Why the U.S. and South Korea Don't See Eye to Eye

Rather than help the U.S., the APEC summit showed how Pyongyang has driven a wedge between Washington and its usual ally, South Korea.

Five years ago, the Presidents and prime ministers of the 21 countries that comprise the forum for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathered for the first time in the shadow of the War on Terror. The host city back then was Shanghai, and the Chinese had hoped the APEC summit would be a historic coming out party for the gleaming symbol of their reignited capitalist fervor. Given the timing — two months after September 11, 2001— it didn't quite work out like that.

President Bush just left the latest APEC meeting, this one held in another one party Communist country — Vietnam — hoping to impress the world with its own recent embrace of capitalism. And once again, five years on, it was the War on Terror, and its consequences, that sucked the oxygen out of the conference rooms. In fact, what people may remember most about this APEC meeting is that it became painfully obvious just how successful Kim Jong Il — charter member of the "axis of evil" — has been driving a wedge between the United States and its ostensible ally in Seoul.

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Why the U.S. and South Korea Don't See Eye to Eye

Bill Powell

Rather than help the U.S., the APEC summit showed how Pyongyang has driven a wedge between Washington and its usual ally, South Korea.
Five years ago, the Presidents and prime ministers of the 21 countries that comprise the forum for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathered for the first time in the shadow of the War on Terror. The host city back then was Shanghai, and the Chinese had hoped the APEC summit would be a historic coming out party for the gleaming symbol of their reignited capitalist fervor. Given the timing — two months after September 11, 2001— it didn't quite work out like that.

President Bush just left the latest APEC meeting, this one held in another one party Communist country — Vietnam — hoping to impress the world with its own recent embrace of capitalism. And once again, five years on, it was the War on Terror, and its consequences, that sucked the oxygen out of the conference rooms. In fact, what people may remember most about this APEC meeting is that it became painfully obvious just how successful Kim Jong Il — charter member of the "axis of evil" — has been driving a wedge between the United States and its ostensible ally in Seoul.

For his entire second term, as Iraq has gone from bad to worse, the President has desperately sought to cajole the other Great Powers to join him to help deter North Korea and Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran is still a slow motion work in progress, but the effort to deter Pyongyang from getting nukes failed. It's now about persuading Kim Jong Il to stand down his nukes in return for all sorts of unspecified economic and diplomatic goodies. But as the APEC meeting showed, on this matter South Korea and China have practically switched their standard roles of U.S. ally and irritant in the region.

The good news out of Hanoi, after all, is that China, North Korea's primary benefactor, still seems more determined than it had been before Pyongyang's July 4 missile test last summer to rein in Kim's nuclear program. An administration official said the U.S., China and Japan "see eye to eye" on their carrot and stick approach to the North. Given that China and Japan pretty much don't agree on anything — save the benefits of running mind bending trade surpluses with the United States — that's progress.

The bad news, however, is that South Korea — ostensibly (and unlike China) a close US ally — was notably absent from the "eye to eye" crowd. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, like Bush, a lame duck whose party has taken a drubbing in mid-term elections, is determined to pursue his country's "Sunshine Policy" toward the North — all carrots and virtually no stick — no matter what. At multilateral meetings like APEC, he's effectively become a more effective stand in for Kim Jong Il and his agenda than Chinese premier Hu Jintao.

Pressed by Bush to take a more proactive stance in the so called Proliferation Security Initiative against the North — which seeks to prevent WMD proliferation by interdicting ships if necessary — Roh demurred. The South Korean government issued an extraordinarily mealy mouthed statement, saying that it "supported" the "goals" of PSI — but wouldn't actually do anything when it comes to interdicting North Korean ships. At least the Roh government is pretty straightforward about the reason: it says it's afraid of provoking the North into a war.

For the same reason, South Korea had avoided, until earlier this month, voting on UN condemnations of North Korea's human rights record, which next to Sudan is about the worst on the planet. One bitter human rights campaigner told TIME last month that for all South Korea cares, "Kim Jong Il could personally drop North Korean citizens from a helicopter into boiling vats of acid — just as long as he didn't by mistake drop one over the 38 parallel [into South Korea."] Now that South Korean Ban Ki Moon is Kofi Annan's designated successor as UN Secretary General, the Seoul government couldn't quite bring itself to abstain from a resolution criticizing Pyongyang earlier this month. But make no mistake; South Korea's See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil stance toward the North is still in place, and it couldn't be more out of sync with Bush's.

Roh and Bush had a sideline summit in Hanoi, which both sides tried, as usual, to put the best face on. But there's genuine reason for skepticism as to just how united a front the US and its partners will present when the North finally shows up (as it has said it will) for the next round of "six party talks" about its nukes.

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6 imams removed from Twin Cities flight

Six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Monday and questioned by police for several hours before being released, a leader of the group said.

The six were among passengers who boarded Flight 300, bound for Phoenix, around 6:30 p.m., airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.

A passenger initially raised concerns about the group through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways. She said police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave the plane and the men refused.

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6 imams removed from Twin Cities flight

STEVE KARNOWSKI,
Associated Press Writer

Six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Monday and questioned by police for several hours before being released, a leader of the group said.

The six were among passengers who boarded Flight 300, bound for Phoenix, around 6:30 p.m., airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.

A passenger initially raised concerns about the group through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways. She said police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave the plane and the men refused.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," said Omar Shahin, of Phoenix.

The six Muslim scholars were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, president of the group. Five of them were from the Phoenix-Tempe area, while one was from Bakersfield, Calif., he said.

Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.

"I never felt bad in my life like that," he said. "I never. Six imams. Six leaders in this country. Six scholars in handcuffs. It's terrible."

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, expressed anger at the detentions.

"CAIR will be filing a complaint with relevant authorities in the morning over the treatment of the imams to determine whether the incident was caused by anti-Muslim hysteria by the passengers and/or the airline crew," Hooper said. "Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time."

Hooper said the meeting drew about 150 imams from all over the country, and that those attending included U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minneapolis, who just became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Shahin said they went as far as notifying police and the FBI about their meeting in advance.

Shahin expressed frustration that — despite extensive efforts by him and other Muslim leaders since even before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — so many Americans know so little about Islam.

"If up to now they don't know about prayers, this is a real problem," he said.

Reached by cell phone just after his release, Shahin said he didn't know where they would spend the night or how they would try to get back to Phoenix on Tuesday. Hooper said US Airways refused to put the men on another flight.

Hogan said more information would likely be released Tuesday.

The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members, were re-screened for boarding, Rader said. The plane took off about three hours after the men were removed from the flight.

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Today in history - Nov. 21

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2006. There are 40 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 21, 1922, Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. (Felton, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Thomas Hardwick to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas E. Watson, served only a day before Watson's elected successor, Walter F. George, took office.)

On this date:

In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

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Today in history - Nov. 21

The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2006. There are 40 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 21, 1922, Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. (Felton, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Thomas Hardwick to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas E. Watson, served only a day before Watson's elected successor, Walter F. George, took office.)

On this date:

In 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1934, the Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes," starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney, opened in New York.

In 1942, the Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.

In 1964, the upper level of New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which connected Brooklyn and Staten Island, was opened.

In 1969, the Senate voted down the Supreme Court nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, the first such rejection since 1930.

In 1973, President Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1979, a mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing two Americans.

In 1980, 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.

In 1985, former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested, accused of spying for Israel. (He later pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison.)

In 1995, The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time.

Ten years ago: Thirty-three people were killed, more than 100 injured, when an explosion blamed on leaking gas ripped through a six-story building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Five years ago: Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old resident of Oxford, Conn., died of inhalation anthrax in a case that baffled investigators. Actor-turned-author Gardner McKay died in Honolulu at age 69.

One year ago: General Motors Corp. announced it would close 12 facilities and lay off 30,000 workers in North America. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the hardline Likud with the intention of forming a new party. President Bush became the first U.S. chief executive to visit Mongolia. Time magazine political columnist Hugh Sidey died in Paris at age 78.

Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial is 86. Country singer Jean Shepard is 73. Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 72. Actress Marlo Thomas is 69. Actor Rick Lenz is 67. Singer Dr. John is 66. Actress Juliet Mills is 65. Comedian-director Harold Ramis is 62. Television producer Marcy Carsey is 62. Actress Goldie Hawn is 61. Movie director Andrew Davis is 60. Rock musician Lonnie Jordan (War) is 58. Singer Livingston Taylor is 56. Actress-singer Lorna Luft is 54. Journalist Tina Brown is 53. Actress Cherry Jones is 50. Rock musician Brian Ritchie (The Violent Femmes) is 46. Gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman is 44. Actress Nicollette Sheridan is 43. Singer-actress Bjork is 41. Football player Troy Aikman is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chauncey Hannibal (BLACKstreet) is 38. Rock musician Alex James (Blur) is 38. Baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. is 37. Rapper Pretty Lou (Lost Boyz) is 35. Country singer Kelsi Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 32. Actress Jena Malone is 22.

Thought for Today: "Never confuse motion with action." — Ernest Hemingway, American author (1899-1961).

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Iraqi Arrest Warrant Revives a Sunni Cleric's Fortunes

Harith al-Dari was in danger of drifting into obscurity until the Iraqi government ordered his arrest. Now he could emerge as the leader of Iraq's Sunnis.

Harith al-Dari is a wanted man — and the warrant for his arrest is the best thing that could have happened to him. By issuing the warrant Thursday, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has turned the dimunitive Iraqi cleric into a Sunni hero and a symbol of his community's angst and anger.

Even for a government that has shown all the political subtlety of a rampaging rhinoceros, this was an especially maladroit maneuver — and al-Dari's clerical organization, the Association of Muslim Scholars, has moved swiftly to capitalize on it. The Association's spokesmen have accused the Shi'ite prime minister of deliberately stoking sectarian tensions by singling out a 65-year-old Sunni cleric for arrest when tens of thousands of murderous Shi'ite militias and their leaders enjoy the protection of the government. They have also pointed out that a 2004 warrant for the arrest of radical Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr was never executed, even through he lives in plain sight in Najaf.

In practical terms, the arrest warrant is unlikely to threaten al-Dari's freedom: He spends much of his time shuttling from Amman, Jordan, to other Sunni Arab capitals, none of which are about to seize him and hand him over to the Iraqis. In political terms, the warrant gives the cleric a gilt-edged opportunity to stage a dramatic comeback after a long spell in limbo.

The Sunnis do not have a single dominant cleric in the way that the Shi'ites have in the person of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Al-Dari may head the AMS, which claims to include the imams of over 3,000 mosques, but unlike Sistani, he has never been able to mobilize the Sunni street. Despite the AMS's call for a boycott of the general election last December, Sunnis voted in large numbers. And even though al-Dari has heaped condemnation on the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), it has emerged as an important force in Sunni politics. An IIP leader, Tariq al-Hashimi, is one of Iraq's two vice-presidents and the senior-most Sunni in the government.

Since the general election, the AMS has seemed in a limbo. With Sunnis inclined to give their newly elected politicians a chance to protect their rights, the clergy lost much of their clout. "[The AMS] played an important role in the past, but now they have to sit back and let us do our job," al-Hashimi told TIME in the summer.

The growing sectarian violence — much of it perpetrated on Sunnis by Shi'ite militias — led to disenchantment with the political process, but that didn't automatically translate into a revival of fortunes for the AMS. Many Sunnis turned instead to the insurgency, reasoning that the best protection against armed gunmen would come from other armed gunmen. It didn't help the AMS's cause that its top leadership, including al-Dari himself, has spent much of the past year outside Iraq, trying to rally support among the governments of Sunni Arab nations like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait. The Association seemed rudderless and out of the mainstream of Sunni politics.

Now, the warrant against al-Dari has returned him to the front and center of Sunni politics, earning him sympathy and support even from those who have long disagreed with his political views. Most of the prominent Sunni politicians in the government — people al-Dari scorns for having collaborated with the U.S. — have denounced the warrant as an affront to the community. The two Sunni blocs in parliament have demanded the warrant be withdrawn. Adnan al-Duleimi, who leads the larger of the two groupings, has called for a formal government apology to al-Dari.

Ordinary Sunnis, too, are rallying to al-Dari. Many feel victimized by the Shi'ite political establishment and now see al-Dari as the personification of their community's predicament. On Sunni TV channels, newspapers and Internet bulletin boards, there is an outpouring of vitriol against the government and support for the cleric. A typical message reads: "We are your swords, O Lion Sheikh — From the people of Adhamiya." (Adhamiya is a Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Baghdad.) Several Sunni groups — insurgent, political and social — have paid "homage" to him, which is akin to naming him their spiritual leader.

That is precisely the role al-Dari has sought since his return to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Having spent much of the adulthood teaching Islamic law and history in various Arab universities, he was nonetheless able to adjust quickly to the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq. As an Islamic scholar of note, few questioned his right to lead the AMS, and he organized the clerics' body into a stridently anti-American organization that gave voice to the Sunni community's anxiety and resentment over the loss of their centuries-old grip on political power.

The Association dismissed Iraq's fledgling political process as illegitimate since it had been nurtured by an occupying power. But al-Dari rarely articulated a political vision for Iraq, speaking only in broad terms about an Islamic state governed by the just. In conversations with TIME, he said he didn't want any political office for himself, and that the future shape of the Iraqi government could only be determined after U.S. soldiers had departed.

It was clear al-Dari reveled in his role as the rebellious outsider; it was, after all, the part he was born to play. In a society where family background is often the main measure of political legitimacy, al-Dari's credentials are impeccable. His grandfather was Sheikh Dari, a tribal leader who killed a British colonial officer and set off the 1920 Iraqi rebellion against British rule. U.S. and Iraqi government officials believe the powerful insurgent group named after that uprising — the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution — is led by Harith al-Dari's son Muthanna. Father and son both deny this, but fighters from the group have told TIME they regard the al-Daris as their leaders.

Despite his harsh anti-American rhetoric, U.S. officials have made at least two clandestine attempts to negotiate with Harith al-Dari; the talks never got very far because the cleric could never trust the Americans, and they believed he was actively involved in the insurgency. The U.S. was also never fully convinced that al-Dari would be able to rally the entire Sunni community behind him.

Now he has an opportunity to do just that. If al-Dari plays his cards right in the next few weeks, he could emerge as the single most influential Sunni figure in Iraq. And the Americans will undoubtedly come calling again.

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Today in history - Nov. 20

Today is Monday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2006. There are 41 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 20, 1947, Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in a ceremony broadcast worldwide from Westminster Abbey.

On this date:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1910, revolution broke out in Mexico, led by Francisco I. Madero.

In 1925, Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.

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Today in history - Nov. 20

The Associated Press

Today is Monday, Nov. 20, the 324th day of 2006. There are 41 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 20, 1947, Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in a ceremony broadcast worldwide from Westminster Abbey.

On this date:

In 1789, New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

In 1910, revolution broke out in Mexico, led by Francisco I. Madero.

In 1925, Robert F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.

In 1929, the radio program "The Rise of the Goldbergs" debuted on the NBC Blue Network.

In 1943, during World War II, U.S. Marines began landing on Tarawa and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands, encountering fierce resistance from Japanese forces but emerging victorious three days later.

In 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

In 1959, the United Nations issued its "Declaration of the Rights of the Child."

In 1967, the Census Clock at the Commerce Department ticked past 200 million.

In 1975, after nearly four decades of absolute rule, Spain's General Francisco Franco died, two weeks before his 83rd birthday.

In 1980, faced with disastrous reviews from New York critics, United Artists announced it was withdrawing its $36 million movie "Heaven's Gate" for re-editing.

Ten years ago: House Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be speaker for a second term. Thirty-nine people were killed when fire broke out in a building in Hong Kong.

Five years ago: The alliance controlling Afghanistan's capital and much of its countryside agreed to attend power-sharing talks in Germany the following week. A federal judge extended a court order blocking an attempt by Attorney General John Ashcroft to dismantle Oregon's one-of-a-kind law allowing physician-assisted suicides. Federal health officials approved sale of the world's first contraceptive patch, Ortho Evra.

One year ago: Israel's dovish Labor Party voted to pull out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government in the opening salvo of an election campaign. A gunman opened fire at a crowded shopping mall in Tacoma, Wash., wounding seven people and taking three hostages before surrendering; suspect Dominick Sergio Maldonado has been charged with attempted murder and kidnapping.

Today's Birthdays: Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., is 89. Economist Beryl Sprinkel is 83. Actress-comedian Kaye Ballard is 81. Actress Estelle Parsons is 79. TV personality Richard Dawson is 74. Comedian Dick Smothers is 68. Singer Norman Greenbaum is 64. Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., is 64. Actress Veronica Hamel is 63. Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is 60. Actor Samuel E. Wright is 60. Singer Joe Walsh is 59. Actor Richard Masur is 58. Actress Bo Derek is 50. Reggae musician Jim Brown (UB40) is 49. Actress Sean Young is 47. Pianist Jim Brickman is 45. Rock musician Todd Nance (Widespread Panic) is 44. Actress Ming-Na is 43. Rapper Mike D (The Beastie Boys) is 41. Rapper Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) is 41. Actress Callie Thorne is 37. Actress Sabrina Lloyd is 36. Rapper Kamaal (aka Q-Tip) is 36. Actress Marisa Ryan is 32. Country singer Dierks Bentley is 31. Actress Laura Harris is 30. Country singer Josh Turner is 29. Actress Nadine Velazquez is 28.

Thought for Today: "The next great step of mankind is to step into the nature of his own mind." — Stanley Kauffmann, American film and theatre critic.

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Today in history - Nov. 19

Today is Sunday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2006. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange, Ohio.

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Today in history - Nov. 19

The Associated Press

Today is Sunday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2006. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange, Ohio.

In 1905, bandleader Tommy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pa.

In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55-39, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.

In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.

In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made man's second landing on the moon.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

In 1984, nearly 500 people died in a firestorm set off by a series of explosions at a petroleum storage plant on the edge of Mexico City.

In 1985, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

Ten years ago: Fourteen people were killed when a commuter plane collided with a private plane at an airport in Quincy, Ill. The United States vetoed U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's bid for a second term. The space shuttle Columbia lifted off with the oldest crew member at that time, 61-year-old mission specialist Story Musgrave.

Five years ago: The United States accused Iraq and North Korea of developing germ warfare programs. President Bush signed legislation to put airport baggage screeners on the federal payroll. Four journalists, an Afghan, an Australian, an Italian and a Spaniard, were murdered in eastern Afghanistan after an ambush on their convoy. Barry Bonds became the first player to win four Most Valuable Player Awards.

One year ago: President Bush arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders. For the first time in 58 years, Indians legally walked into Pakistan after a landmark decision to temporarily open divided Kashmir's heavily militarized border. Tropical Storm Gamma deluged the coast of Central America.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Alan Young is 87. Former U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick is 80. Talk show host Larry King is 73. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 70. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 68. Singer Pete Moore (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) is 67. Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record), D-Iowa, is 67. TV journalist Garrick Utley is 67. Actor Dan Haggerty is 65. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 65. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 64. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 57. Actor Robert Beltran is 53. Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 52. Actress Glynnis O'Connor is 51. Newscaster Ann Curry is 50. Actress Allison Janney is 46. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 46. Actress Meg Ryan is 45. Actress-director Jodie Foster is 44. Actress Terry Farrell is 43. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 40. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 40. Rock musician Travis McNabb (Better Than Ezra) is 37. Singer Tony Rich is 35. Country singer Billy Currington is 33. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 33. Country musician Chad Jeffers is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil' Mo is 29.

Thought for Today: "My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed." — Christopher Morley, American author and journalist (1890-1957).

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Sexy soul sisters shine in Shinjuku

Masuo Kamiyama

Stroll down the street in Shinjuku's sprawling adult entertainment zone, Kabukicho, and you're likely to be propositioned by a horde of aggressive black touts, who entice passers-by with offers of the area's many corporeal delights.

A more recent development appears to be the rapid emergence of black hostesses, who are making inroads on the Chinese and other Asians who had previously serviced customers.

"They're from Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia and other places," a source at one of the local clubs tells Asahi Geino. "There seem to be around 50 or 60 such girls working in Kabukicho."

Most of the hostesses work at a type of establishment referred to as an "international club," ostensibly inexpensive watering holes that operate similarly to Japan's native cabaret clubs. The posted signs indicate a price of 4,000 yen for 90 minutes of fun.

To ensure you get what you want, advises Asahi Geino, be sure and request "Afurika no ko" (an African gal) to the maitre d' upon entering.

In the reporter's case, this request resulted in an introduction to Kerrie, a stunning 26-year-old from Ethiopia who, he insisted, bore a striking resemblance to supermodel Naomi Campbell.

Kerrie's revealing costume with its plunging neckline displayed plenty of dusky skin and an impressively deep cleavage.

"Will you buy me a drink?" she urged our reporter, batting her long eyelashes furiously. Swallowing hard, the reporter nodded dumbly in agreement.

Kerrie polished off her glass of wine in minutes, and promptly cajoled the dumbstruck reporter for a refill. After she imbibed five in about an hour, at 3,000 yen a pop, his bill, with tax and service charges added, came to over 20,000 yen -- quite a bit more than the 4,000 yen promised on the sign posted outside. Not an outrageous rip-off by Shinjuku standards, true, but typically deceptive.

"They'll usually try to get a customer drunk while getting the hostesses to keep ordering drinks to inflate the tab," explains Taro Chikuzen, a writer familiar with the latest trends in crimes by foreigners in Japan, who adds that the previous July in Shinjuku a Nigerian club owner was arrested after padding a customer's bill to the tune of 230,000 yen.

"After the police and Immigration Bureau teamed up in a major sweep, the Chinese, who were getting too powerful, disappeared from the area," says Akira Hinago, a reporter who covers the Kabukicho scene. "But now the Africans have been moving in to fill the vacuum. And because their visa status is legal, it's harder for the cops to clamp down on them."

Get rid of one foreign hood, sighs Asahi Geino, and another one will just pop up in his place. As this game of leapfrog is likely to continue, all the usual caveats against Shinjuku swindlers continue to apply.

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Iraq's Divide at the Top

TONY KARON

Iraq's national unity government is the cornerstone of the U.S. exit strategy. But the week's events only highlight that national unity is its name, not its nature.

That Iraq is spinning dangerously out of control is no longer a matter of debate; the question has become how to stabilize it and limit the damage. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed up by former Secretary of State James Baker, is supposed to offer up some answers next month when it presents its much-anticipated report. But the events of the past week underscore how difficult even damage-control in Iraq has become.

U.S. policy in Iraq depends largely on the ability of the elected government to forge a national unity compact that can end both the insurgency and the sectarian violence that continues to claim hundreds of casualties every week. And right now the signs of that government being able to achieve that goal are not looking good.

The gloomy assessment of the situation in Iraq offered in the Senate this week by U.S. intelligence chiefs was echoed by events on the ground: The mass abduction of dozens of people inside the headquarters of the higher eduction ministry — by men wearing uniforms of the Interior Ministry police no less — highlighted the absence of security or government control even in the heart of the capital. And the reported arrests of senior police officers that followed — as well as sharply divergent accounts by different cabinet ministers of how many people had been kidnapped, how many had been released, and whether any had been killed or tortured — suggested that different arms of the government (often broken down on sectarian lines) are not reading off the same script.

That impression was reinforced Thursday when Interior Minister, Jawad al-Bolani, a Shi'ite, issued an arrest warrant for leading Sunni cleric Harith al-Dari, accusing him of fomenting terrorism and sectarian violence. Al-Dari is the head of the influential Muslim Scholars Association, who while condemning terror attacks on Iraqi civilians has nonetheless openly backed insurgent attacks on U.S. forces as "legitimate resistance." The arrest warrant was greeted with howls of protest by the Sunni parties participating in the government, who denounced it as a sectarian attack. Some Sunni leaders even warned that if it were not rescinded, they would quit the government.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd, hastened to distance the government from the warrant, perhaps mindful of the importance of leaders such as al-Dari for the government to have any real chance at tamping down the insurgency through a political accommodation of the Sunnis. And the government tried to stem the controversy Friday by clarifying that it had only issued an investigation warrant, not an arrest warrant; one official insisted that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki didn't know that any warrant was going to be issued. But the damage has already been done. It didn't help matters that the announcement had been made in a dramatic late-night television appearance by the Interior Minister, who warned that "this is the government's policy against anyone who tries to foment division among Iraq's sects." After a meeting of ministers on the security situation reportedly broke down into a Sunni-Shi'ite shouting match on Tuesday, President Jalal Talabani has moved to convene an urgent conference of Iraqi political leaders to address the crisis. >

But the failures of the Iraqi government are only one part of the challenge facing the Administration in setting an Iraq policy capable of delivering stability and offering the prospect of bringing home American troops. What are widely believed to be the Baker group's basic assumptions — that the U.S. can no longer achieve the goals defined by the Bush Administration at the outset of the war; that achieving stability will require a regional consensus in which Iran and Syria would be important stakeholders — have already entered conventional wisdom in U.S. debates over Iraq. Since the U.S. election, talk-shows and op-ed pages are filled with proposals ranging from partitioning Iraq to backing a friendly authoritarian regime taking power, from "phased withdrawal" of U.S. troops to force the Iraqis to get the job done to sending thousands more troops in the hope of reversing the slide into chaos. But Baker has made clear that there is no simple formula that can fix the mess in Iraq — the reality on the ground has already moved beyond U.S. control.

While the U.S. remains the single largest power center in Iraq, that power is not sufficient to impose Washington's will. There are too many other actors in the field who have enough influence of their own, or in combination, to prevent the U.S. from prevailing. Those power centers range from the Sunni insurgency and the Shi'ite militias to the Iraqi government and Iraq's neighbors, first and foremost Iran.

So, whatever direction Baker proposes, it is less likely to be a comprehensive blueprint than aprocess for the various stakeholders in Iraq to build consensus on how to establish a measure of stability. And that will necessarily be a long and drawn-out discussion, during which the security needs will remain unchanged and urgent. That may have been why President Bush's basic message on Iraq this week boiled down to this: Don't expect results in a hurry.

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Today in history - Nov. 18

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Today in history - Nov. 18

The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Nov. 18, the 322nd day of 2006. There are 43 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 18, 1928, Walt Disney's first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

On this date:

In 1820, U.S. Navy Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer and his crew discovered the frozen continent of Antarctica.

In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.

In 1886, the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York at age 56.

In 1903, the United States and Panama signed a treaty granting the U.S. rights to build the Panama Canal.

In 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

In 1966, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays.

In 1978, California Congressman Leo J. Ryan and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.

In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.

In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.

In 1999, 12 people were killed when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed.

Ten years ago: One-time CIA station chief Harold J. Nicholson was charged with selling top secrets to the Russians for more than $120,000. (Nicholson later pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to 23 1/2 years in prison; he was spared a life sentence for cooperating with investigators.)

Five years ago: Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco Inc. announced they were merging in a deal to create the third largest U.S. oil and gas company.

One year ago: The Republican-controlled House spurned a call for an immediate pullout of troops from Iraq in a 403-3 vote hastily arranged by the GOP that Democrats denounced as politically motivated. Suicide bombers killed more than 50 worshippers at a pair of Shiite mosques in Iraq. Eight months after Robert Blake was acquitted at a criminal trial of murdering his wife, a civil jury decided the actor was behind the slaying, and ordered him to pay Bonny Lee Bakley's children $30 million. Tropical Storm Gamma formed off the coast of Central America.

Today's Birthdays: Sen. Ted Stevens (news, bio, voting record), R-Alaska, is 83. Actor Brad Sullivan is 75. Actress Brenda Vaccaro is 67. Actress Linda Evans is 64. Country singer Jacky Ward is 60. Actor Jameson Parker is 59. Actress-singer Andrea Marcovicci is 58. Rock musician Herman Rarebell is 57. Singer Graham Parker is 56. Actor Delroy Lindo is 54. Comedian Kevin Nealon is 53. Actress Elizabeth Perkins is 46. Singer Kim Wilde is 46. Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 44. Rock singer Tim DeLaughter is 41. Actor Owen Wilson is 38. Singer Duncan Sheik is 37. Actress Peta Wilson is 36. Actress Chloe Sevigny is 32. Country singer Jessi Alexander is 30. Actor Steven Pasquale is 30. Rapper Fabolous is 27. Rapper Mike Jones is 26.

Thought for Today: "Your way of giving is more important than what you give." — Vietnamese proverb.

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