Today Is November 29th 2007

Today is Thursday, Nov. 29, the 333rd day of 2007. There are 32 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 29, 1963, President Johnson named a commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.

On this date:

In 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, one-time adviser to England's King Henry VIII, died.

In 1864, a Colorado militia killed at least 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians in the Sand Creek Massacre.

In 1924, Italian composer Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels before he could complete his opera "Turandot." (It was finished by Franco Alfano.)

In 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of the British-mandated territory of Palestine between Arabs and Jews.

In 1961, Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas V spacecraft, which orbited Earth twice before returning.

In 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced he was leaving the Johnson administration to become president of the World Bank.

In 1981, actress Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island, Calif., at age 43.

In 1986, actor Cary Grant died in Davenport, Iowa, at age 82.

In 1987, a Korean Air jetliner disappeared off Burma, with the loss of all 115 people aboard; South Korean authorities charged North Korean agents had planted a bomb aboard the aircraft.

In 2001, George Harrison, the "quiet Beatle," died in Los Angeles following a battle with cancer; he was 58.

Ten years ago: Former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, the city's first black mayor who held office for an unprecedented five terms, died at age 79.

Five years ago: The White House quietly announced that federal workers would get a smaller pay raise the following month because President Bush was freezing part of the increase, citing the fight against terrorism. Celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman left the Suffolk County, N.Y., jail after serving 37 days of a 60-day sentence for backing her sport utility vehicle into a crowd outside a trendy Hamptons nightclub and fleeing.

One year ago: The first of two high-profile meetings in Jordan between Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was abruptly canceled amid conflicting explanations. (Bush met al-Maliki the next day.) Still losing money after job and factory cuts, Ford Motor Co. said 38,000 workers, almost half of its hourly production force, had accepted buyouts or early retirement offers.

Today's Birthdays: Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Vin Scully is 80. Blues singer-musician John Mayall is 74. Composer-musician Chuck Mangione is 67. Country singer Jody Miller is 66. Actress Diane Ladd is 64. Pop singer-musician Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals) is 63. Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee is 61. Comedian Garry Shandling is 58. Movie director Joel Coen is 53. Actor-comedian-game show host Howie Mandel is 52. Actress Cathy Moriarty is 47. Actress Kim Delaney is 46. Actor Tom Sizemore is 46. Actor Andrew McCarthy is 45. Actor Don Cheadle is 43. Actor-producer Neill Barry is 42. Musician Wallis Buchanan (Jamiroquai) is 42. Pop singer Jonathan Knight (New Kids on the Block) is 39. Rock musician Martin Carr (Boo Radleys) is 39. Actor Larry Joe Campbell is 37. Actress Gena Lee Nolin is 36. Actor Brian Baumgartner is 35. Actress Anna Faris is 31. Actor Julian Ovenden is 31. Rapper The Game is 28. Rock musician Ringo Garza is 26. Actor Lucas Black is 25.

Thought for Today: "A conference is a meeting to decide where the next meeting will take place." — Anonymous.

Sphere: Related Content

Greenspan's Fraud: How Two Decades of His Policies Have Undermined the Global Economy

The Two Faces Of Alan Greenspan

October 19, 1987, is known as Black Monday, the day the New York Stock Exchange suffered the worst crash in history, with a banf that echoed around the world. The Dow Jones Index (the Dow in short) then sank 22.6 percent, almost double the single-day drop in the motorious crash of 1929. From toronto to Tokyo. London to Sydney, Buenos Aires to Brasilia, share markets shed tears, mourning the demise of the Dow. Wall Street and investors across the globe agonized over a bleak future. They had been caught off guard, because no financial wizard had foreseen the debacle. But in one of financial history’s biggest ironies, Black Monday launched thebrilliant future of someone named Alan Greenspan It propelled him into glory and celebrity, giving him unprecedented influence over the global economy.

Barely two months before the disaster of dow, with large bipartisan support, Greenspan had been appointed the chairman of the Federal Reserve (the Fed in short), a coterie of 12 regional banks that control the levers of money supply in the United States. He came with no banking experience; his credentials as an econmist were considered by some to be mediocre, but he had foresight and business acumen that few can develop from their scholarship alone. He had not done any path-breaking work in economics, at least none that was commonly cited. Yet he was savvy enough to know when to open and shut the money pump that lubricates financial markets. He had made his marks through business forecasting, which had brought him close to big firms on wall street.

See Other Pages of Greenspan's Fraud: How Two Decades of His Policies Have Undermined the Global Economy (Hardcover)

Sphere: Related Content

Anti-APEC Protesters To Target President Bush

One group of militant APEC protesters is secretly plotting an outbreak of violence for US President George W. Bush's arrival in Sydney tomorrow, distributing a rioter's training manual on how to wear gas masks, confront police and even evade fares.

The clandestine anarchist action, six weeks in the making, has been dubbed "FLARE in the void" and is described as an "Anti-APEC counter convergence".

Police are already on edge about security, yesterday clamping down on activity in the Sydney CBD - including forcing three German tourists to delete photographs they had of the security fence.
Best Dresses For Fall
And APEC-related arrests have already begun with the charging of 12 Greenpeace activists who boarded inflatable boats early yesterday to paint "Australia Pushing Export Coal" on the side of a ship in Newcastle Harbour.

Protest tips

The FLARE (For Liberation Autonomy Resistance Exodus) manual openly declares an prepardeness to commit violence.

It tells protesters engaging in "direct action" to form small groups of five to 15 people and to wear masks so they cannot be identified.

"It is important to defy police attempts to frighten us," the so-called Mutiny Collective has written in one section.
George Bush Toilet Papers
The manual also tells protesters to wear gas masks, goggles, running shoes and full-body clothing to protect from tear gas and capsicum spray. It also advises carrying water and a bandanna soaked in vinegar to combat the effects of pepper spray.

Busloads of interstate activists expected to descend on Sydney are also told how to evade public transport fares, including forcing their way through railway station ticket barriers.

Threats

Mr Howard has acknowledged the threats of violence and the response of intrusive security precautions in Sydney's CBD.
Best Video Downloads
This morning the Prime Minister has made another YouTube appearance to spruik his APEC agenda.

But he has also said that if violence occurred people should not blame him or Mr Bush.

"Don't blame the police, don't blame the NSW Government, don't blame any of our (heads of government) guests, don't blame the Federal Government," he said.

"Blame the people who threaten violence."

Mr Howard said the APEC summit was an opportunity, despite the expected clashes, to present a positive image of Australia.

He said the nation's largest city, "undeniably the most beautiful big city in the world", would be seen as as a modern, sophisticated, tolerant, multi-racial society.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said violence would be unacceptable and backed a zero-tolerance policy by police towards protests who were not peaceful.

"I would appeal to anyone who is thinking of protesting out there to protest in peaceful terms only," he said.
George Bush Toilet Paper
Police were yesterday viewing anyone who photographed or filmed the fence with suspicion. As well as detaining the tourists, they also forced a Melbourne documentary maker out of the declared zone and arrested a homeless man with a mobile phone camera.

The Stop Bush Coalition, the umbrella protest group, has claimed its demonstrations will be peaceful.

However it is only taking responsibility for protests on Tuesday evening for Mr Bush's arrival and the main march on Saturday.

Sphere: Related Content

President Bush Miss G8 Meeting To Dodge Aid To Africa

US President George W Bush has skipped the morning session of the Group of Eight (G8) summit because he has a stomach virus, officials say.
White House counsellor Dan Bartlett says Mr Bush got up Friday morning (local time) to get dressed and realised he was "very much under the weather".
But the condition was "not serious".
The US President held one morning meeting with France's new President Nicolas Sarkozy in his bedroom at the luxury hotel in Heiligendamm where he is based for the summit, officials say.
"President Bush is slightly indisposed this morning and will rejoin the working meeting as soon as he can," Mr Sarkozy said after the hour-long discussion, the first between the two since the French leader was elected last month.
Mr Sarkozy emerged alone from Mr Bush's suite at the luxury hotel in the Baltic resort to speak with reporters.
Mr Bartlett says Mr Bush will be back at the summit meetings "as soon as possible".
"It's a stomach virus or something like that," Mr Bartlett said.
The White House says Mr Bush had sent his regrets to the other summit leaders and the US envoy to the G8, Dave McCormack, had represented him at the meetings.

However, World leaders went ahead and agreed on a $60 billion pledge to fight AIDS and other killer diseases ravaging Africa and restated broader promises to double development spending.
"We are aware of our responsibilities and will fulfill our obligations," German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting Group of Eight leaders, told reporters on the final day of the summit.
Campaigners complain that rich nations have fallen behind on commitments made to double development aid at a summit in 2005 in Gleneagles, Scotland. Many were unimpressed with the deal.

Leaders agreed to earmark $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, global diseases that have devastated African peoples and their economies.
But the declaration set out no specific timetable, saying the money would flow "over the coming years." Neither did it break down individual countries' contributions.
Campaigners for Africa say the pledge is made up largely of money which has already been announced, including $30 billion from the United States.
"While lives will be saved with more money for AIDS, this represents a cap on ambition that will ultimately cost millions more lives," said Steve Cockburn of the Stop AIDS Campaign.
FALLING SHORT
He said the pledge falls short of U.N. targets which oblige G8 nations to spend $15 billion per year to combat AIDS alone through to 2010. In comparison, the deal looks like committing them to about $12 billion per year for all three diseases.
Leaders also reiterated an overall pledge made in 2005 to raise annual aid levels by $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which is for Africa.
"The important thing is that we have recommitted ourselves to all the commitments we made a couple of years ago," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair who hosted the 2005 meeting.
Campaigners were not convinced.
"Despite last minute face saving measures, the G8 has failed its credibility test on Africa," said Collins Magalasi, ActionAids's country director for South Africa.
Blair and Merkel stressed they expect African leaders to fight corruption and boost transparency so donors can track aid as leaders of six African nations joined the G8 heads on Friday for their discussion on aid.

Sphere: Related Content

Democrats bask in 2006 success, look toward 2008 at annual event

Doug Wilson

Herald-Whig Senior Writer

Democrats are celebrating their recent election victories and trying to lay the groundwork for future gains during Democrat Days.

"A lot of people turned Northeast Missouri a little bluer than it used to be on the red and blue dials," said Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence.

Democrat Days co-chairman John Yancey cited voter backlash against President Bush and the Republican majority, but noted there also might have been regional motivations.

Others in attendance agreed.

"I think there's been a real unhappiness with what's going on in Washington and in Jefferson City," said former Rep. Robert Clayton III. "And when they're unhappy, they come out looking for alternatives and at Democrat Days they're definitely going to get different alternatives."

Rep. Rachel Bringer, D-Palmyra, said Northeast Missouri had more gains for Democrats than any other part of the state. Six of nine House seats are now held by Democrats and Shoemyer holds the Senate seat.

Others believe Democrats made big gains in the region because of a new mindset and approach to governance.

"We finally got organized and formed the Northeast Missouri Democrats. I believe if other areas would do this and do grassroots type things it would bring out more voters and the Democrat party would be stronger," said Mackey Johnston, a precinct committeeman from Newark.

Rep. Tom Shively, D-Shelbyville, pointed out a group of young volunteers who helped him win Linn County during his campaign last fall against incumbent Rep. Kathy Chinn, R-Clarence.

Shively wants to see more young people involved in politics. They may be motivated to get involved when they hear about the financial bills their generation may have to pay due to decisions by today's politicians.

Rep. Paul Quinn, D-Monroe City, has been attending Democrat Days for years. He spent 22 years in Monroe County offices before winning his legislative seat last November. He thought his schedule was busy before, but Quinn now sees lots of days where his activities calendar is full for 12, 13 or more hours.

Still, it's been an enjoyable experience so far and Quinn felt relaxed and at ease visiting with constituents gathered at the Hannibal Inn.

Shoemyer said the annual Democrat gathering is a good way to hear from voters. It's also good for energizing the party faithful.

Duane Burghard of Columbia was trying to energize the crowd in other ways. He took training from Al Gore so he could do slide presentations dealing with Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," which deals with global warming. Burghard was set to do two presentations during Democrat Days.

Burghard unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia, last fall. He said while talking with Hulshof after the final results were in, the incumbent told him that while Burghard had lost, many of the issues he espoused won nationwide.

More than 700 people had registered for this year's event. That's up from many non-election years.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who is expected to challenge Gov. Matt Blunt next year, is expected to attend the banquet tonight. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also is expected to attend. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will be the keynote speaker.

Contact Senior Writer Doug Wilson at dwilson@whig.com or (217) 221-3372

Sphere: Related Content