Condoleeza Rice: 'never dreamed of being Secretary of State.'
TidewaterAliveNews (TAN) -- Condoleeza Rice admits when she was a little girl in segregated Alabama, she had never dreamed of being Secretary of State. What an opportunity she has today. Some might say even Hillary Clinton can envy the role Dr. Rice now has on the world stage. Politics aside, let's hope the new Secretary revives respect for her country and brings a modicum of lasting peace to a hostile world. Rice stands on the sharp edge of history in the making. I believe, and hope, this making will affect her as much as she might affect a new respect for the American Spirit.
Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, Condoleeza Rice earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004.
Ms. Rice has been a member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an educational support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula . In addition, her past board service has encompassed such organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco.
From 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender -- Integrated Training in the Military.
In June 1999, she completed a six year tenure as Stanford University 's Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, on January 22, 2001.
America's first black and female secretary of state took the ceremonial oath of office last Friday surrounded by family and friends, some who had traveled from her native Alabama, as well as the president, first lady and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"Our family has been enriched by our friendship with this remarkable person," President Bush said about Rice at the oath taking. "We love her," he added. "I don't know if you're supposed to say that about the secretary of state."
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Palestinian territories on Feb. 6 or 7, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday, adding to the growing diplomatic momentum in the region.
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh expressed the hope that Rice's visit would provide a new push for the American-sponsored road map for Middle East peace, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"We highly appreciate this American interest in what is going on in the Palestinian territories," Libdeh said. "We hope that this will be a beginning of a big American involvement between the parties to implement the road map."
Since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and then-Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met with President Bush in Aqaba, Jordan, for a road map signing ceremony in June 2003, the plan has stalled amid persistent violence.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian police commanders began preparations Sunday to take control of four West Bank towns by midweek, after top Israeli and Palestinian officials agreed on a security plan for the West Bank.
Transfer of the towns' control would be the first large-scale Israeli move on the ground to acknowledge that violence has decreased significantly since Palestinians elected Mahmoud Abbas to replace the late Yasser Arafat as their leader Jan. 9.
If the calm holds, Israel promises to move all its troops back to positions they held before the latest Palestinian uprising began in September 2000, turning the populated areas of the West Bank back to Palestinian control and making a major step toward resuming peace talks.
In another significant move, an Israeli official said amnesty would be granted for fugitive Palestinians in the West Bank, ending Israel's relentless search for dozens of extremists suspected in attacks on Israelis. In more than four years of conflict, dozens of militants have been killed in Israeli raids and many more have been arrested.
"In the last few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me. The information is disgusting and false."
On the eve of his trial, Michael Jackson on Sunday condemned recent media leaks in his molestation case as "disgusting and false," saying he deserved a fair trial and predicting that he would be acquitted.
"In the last few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me," the singer said in a court-approved video statement released on his Web site. "The information is disgusting and false.
"Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court," Jackson added. "I deserve a fair trial like every other American citizen. I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told."
Graphic details of grand jury testimony were leaked earlier this month to thesmokinggun.com and ABC News despite the efforts of Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville to keep the 1,900 page transcript secret.
The source of the leaks remains the subject of speculation. The prosecution has not commented on the leaks, but Santa Barbara County sheriff's investigators have denied they were responsible.
Melville said Friday he will release the grand jury transcripts and other sealed material once a jury is seated.
Jury selection was set to begin Monday and could last a month as lawyers screen as many as 750 prospective jurors. The trial itself could take five more months.
Jackson, 46, was indicted last April on charges of molesting a boy and conspiracy involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. Some counts accuse him of administering alcohol to further child molestation.
Dozens of adult-oriented books, magazines and DVDs seized at Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch -- one with the fingerprints of Jackson and his accuser -- can be used as evidence in the singer's upcoming trial, the judge ruled Friday.
The judge also ruled that Jackson's accuser should testify in open court instead of in a closed courtroom with an audio hookup for the media.
Quotes on the Iraqi Elections Quotes about the Iraqi elections from Iraqi and world leaders, observers and voters:
--- This is "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny," Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
--- "The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East," President Bush.
--- "It may have been the force of arms that removed Saddam and created the circumstances in which Iraqis could vote, but it was the force of freedom that was felt throughout Iraq today," British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
--- "What we are seeing here is the emergence of an Iraqi voice of freedom," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
--- "They know they're voting for the future of their country. They're voting for the day when they're going to take their destiny in hand," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
--- "The irony is the Arab regimes, who criticize the gaps in the (Iraqi) elections and demand they be honest and transparent leading to full democracy for all Iraqis, are themselves banning such elections for their own peoples," Lebanon's Al-Anwar newspaper political analyst Rafik Khoury.
--- "As you can see, we broke a barrier of fear," Electoral Commission Official Mijm Towirish.
--- "Iraqis are walking over body parts of a bomber to vote," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn, who was making his seventh trip to Iraq. "Clearly more people are voting in this election than vote in our own elections."
--- "It is hard to say that something is legitimate when whole portions of the country can't vote and doesn't vote," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
--- "This is a chance for you as Iraqis to assure your and your children's future," Gov. Hamad Hmoud Shagti, of the mostly Sunni province of Salaheddin.
--- "Certainly, as a starting point when one considers from where the Iraqi people are coming ... this is very good, this is a very good process," Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada's top election official and the chief of the International Mission for Iraqi Elections.
--- "This is democracy. This is the first day I feel freedom," Fathiya Mohammed, an elderly woman who voted in the small town of Askan south of Baghdad.
President Bush today called Iraq's historic election a "resounding success" as Iraqis "take rightful control of their country's destiny." With polls now closed, Iraqi officials are reporting a higher turnout than expected, despite a spate of attacks and threats aimed at disrupting the vote. At least 25 people were killed and more than 70 wounded in a string of attacks.
The Independent Election Commission of Iraq clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout in Sunday's election, saying that the "figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field."
"It will take some time for the IECI to issue accurate figures on turnout," the statement said. "What is certainly the case is that turnout has exceeded expectations throughout the country."
More than 14.2 million Iraqis were registered for the vote. Polls have closed, although voters who were in line at the time of poll closings were being allowed to cast their ballots.
U.N. election organizer Carlos Valezuela said that while he was "happy with the turnout," it was too early to report numbers.
"I would rather wait until we have much better reporting to be able to come up with figures," he said.
Turnout was sporadic across the nation after 30,000 polling booths opened at 7 a.m. on Sunday (11 p.m. ET Saturday) under the watchful eye of Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops. Voting ended at 5 p.m. (9 a.m. Sunday ET).
In former president Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, polling stations were virtually empty. But in other parts of the country booths were packed with people casting their ballots, many of them for the first time in their lifetime.
At a polling station in the northeastern town of Baquba, a long line of Iraqi voters chanted joyfully and clapped their hands as they waited to cast their vote.
One voter said that Sunday's vote was a "bullet in the heart of the enemy."
Further north in the Kurdistan town of Salamanca, a 90-year-old woman was seen being taken to a booth in a wheelbarrow. Others came on crutches to cast their ballot.
I got up one morning, couldn't find my socks, so I called Information. She said, “Hello, Information.” I said, “I can't find my socks.” She said, “They're behind the couch.” And they were! _ comedian Steven Wright.
Web search giant Google can't find your lost socks — yet. But the search engine is recording yet another part of modern culture.
Google today released Google Video, a service that allows Web users to search for key phrases muttered during television programs.
Still in beta testing, Google's index of the television world is quite narrow. The search engine has been indexing programs shown on a limited number of television stations since December.
Google Video indexes television programs by recording the closed captioning content included with most television programs. It also captures a number of snapshots from each program.
“What Google did for the Web, Google Video aims to do for television,” said Larry Page, Google's co-founder. “This preview release demonstrates how searching television can work today. Users can search the content of TV programs for anything, see relevant thumbnails, and discover where and when to watch matching television programs.”
For instance, search for “Kansas City” in Google Video today and you'll find only about 103 programs, many of them reports of the Kansas City Chiefs' last couple of games. There also are several mentions out of Washington about new Congressman Emanuel Cleaver from CSPAN.
“We are committed to use new technologies to enhance the value of our services,” said Brian Lamb, C-SPAN's chief executive. “This partnership with Google further demonstrates how new technologies will expand our audience and make it easier to conduct online searches of our content for information most relevant to them.”
PBS and the National Basketball Association also are early partners with Google in the program.
Eventually, Page said, Google hopes to work with networks to allow Web searchers to watch television clips through the search engine.
Google currently indexes more than 8 billion Web pages, and has added online searching for other services which aren't necessarily a part of the online world, including Google Print, which lets users search books through the search engine.
First Execution Under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Sparks Protest
Campaigners called for Beardslee to be given a chance to reform
California has executed a triple murderer in the first death sentence to be served in three years, and the first under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Donald Beardslee, sentenced to death for two 1981 killings, was given a lethal injection shortly after midnight (0800 GMT) at San Quentin State Prison.
Mr Schwarzenegger rejected a plea for mercy, saying Beardslee had understood the gravity of his crimes.
Beardslee's lawyer, Steven Lubliner, said the execution "demeaned everyone".
His defence team had argued he was suffering from brain disorders when he killed Stacey Benjamin, 19, and Patty Geddling, 23, in a dispute over drugs in San Francisco in 1981.
Beardslee had been on death row since 1984.
He had previously served seven years for the second-degree murder in 1969 of Laura Griffin, a woman he strangled and stabbed after meeting her in a bar in Missouri.
Protest
The Supreme Court rejected without comment two appeals against his death sentence:
Beardslee shot and stabbed his victims
that the lethal injection he was due to receive was a cruel and unusual punishment
that jurors were unfairly influenced when they returned the death verdict.
Governor Schwarzenegger upheld the sentence, describing Beardslee as "not... a man who is so generally affected by his impairment that he cannot tell the difference between right and wrong".
Since his election just more than a year ago, the governor has denied clemency to one other person on death row, mass murderer Kevin Cooper. However, a federal appeals court granted Cooper a stay of execution.
California, where some 600 people are currently on death row, had not carried out an execution since January 2002.
A crowd of about 200 people protested against the execution outside San Quentin. Inside, Beardslee spent his final hours in a waiting room where he was able to watch television, read and talk to his spiritual adviser.
Donald Beardslee Executed, Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger Could Lose Citizenship
The execution sparked protests from California to Austria
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship should be ended over the execution of a convicted killer in the US, a politician in Austria has said.
Peter Pilz, of the Green Party, said the Californian governor broke Austrian law by allowing Donald Beardslee's death by lethal injection on Wednesday.
He said Mr Schwarzenegger, who has dual nationality, had "heavily damaged the reputation of the republic."
He has submitted a formal written request to the Austrian government.
"Schwarzenegger is possibly the most prominent Austrian abroad, and he shapes the picture of Austria," Mr Pilz said.
"I don't want that picture shaped by someone who commits state murder. That does not correspond to the political culture of this country."
Capital punishment 'unacceptable'
Mr Pilz said Austrian law states that citizenship can be revoked if an Austrian "in the service of another country substantially damages the interests or reputation of the republic by his or her behaviour."
Mr Pilz said: "Capital punishment is unacceptable in Austria and in Europe, and no Austrian citizen may take part in it or arrange it."
The Austrian interior ministry has not commented on Mr Pilz's request, which appears unlikely to hold much sway with Austria's conservative government.
Beardslee, 61, convicted of two killings in 1981, was given a lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.
The execution came hours after Mr Schwarzenegger rejected a clemency petition. In Vienna, it triggered a small but spirited protest outside the US embassy.
In Graz, near Mr Schwarzenegger's birthplace of Thal, the Greens have been campaigning to rename Schwarzenegger Stadium, a sports venue, over his support for capital punishment.
Focus on the Family Attacks SpongeBob, Nile Rodgers Video
US conservative groups are up in arms over a music video featuring children's TV heroes such as the cheerful cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
Focus on the Family and other groups say the video - a remake of the Sister Sledge hit, We Are Family - is a vehicle for pro-gay propaganda.
The video's makers plan to mail it to US schools in the spring to promote tolerance and diversity.
They say the attack is based on a misunderstanding.
The video also features children's favourites like Bob the Builder, along with characters from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.
We see the video as an insidious means by which the organisation is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids
Paul Batura Focus on the Family
But James Dobson, founder of right-wing Christian group Focus on the Family, singled out SpongeBob at a black-tie dinner in Washington in the run-up to President Bush's inauguration, the New York Times said.
SpongeBob - who appears on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon - is seen as an icon for adult gay men in the US, apparently because he regularly holds hands with his sidekick Patrick.
His creators deny that he is gay, but he is not the first such character to cause controversy.
In 1999 conservatives claimed handbag-carrying Teletubby Tinky Winky, an import from the UK, was a bad role-model.
'Easy lesson'
Nile Rodgers, who wrote the song and is founder of the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) which released the new video, says it is intended to help teach children the values of co-operation and unity.
"We believe that this is the essential first step to loving thy neighbour," he said. "And the fun and exciting format makes it a lesson that's easy for children to learn."
But conservatives say it sees the video as a cunning attempt to promote homosexuality.
They point to the fact that the WAFF is linked to a pledge being promoted by some liberal groups which includes a recognition of tolerance of sexual identity.
California is in poor financial shape. In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger won the governorship by promising to shape up the state's finances. Two days ago, Governor Schwarzenegger took on a supposedly sacrosanct issue - state pension funds. The state pension fund was, in the governor's words, "another government program out of control, threatening our state." But wait a minute. Wasn't this the same governor who came out in favor of the ballot initiative, Prop 71? Readers will recall that the aim of Prop 71 was to fund embryonic stem cell research in California to the tune of an additional $6 billion to be added to the state's debt. Such research is too risky for the "venture capital" crowd in California (but isn't the purpose of venture capital to take risks?). So they found a patsy, the California taxpayer. Now, poor and working people will be funding the biotech fantasies of the rich. Pardon us, Governor, but if you are as serious about fiscal responsibility as you claimed on Jan. 5, how could you have supported Prop 71? Could it be that liberal social ideology triumphed over conservative fiscal principle, sound science and common sense?
Essence magazine is a lifestyle magazine for African-American woman with a monthly circulation of more than one million. The editor in chief of the magazine, Diane Weathers, released a statement this week denouncing the degrading images and verbal abuse directed toward black women in rap lyrics and videos. This music portrays all women as sexual objects without consideration of their spirituality and intellect. the Family Research Council applauded the courage of Ms. Weathers to challenge the morally void rap industry. In the past, rap music has been brought into question, but Essence's objections may be more than a slap for rap. The editorial staff of Essence did research and held focus groups and town hall meetings looking at the impact of rap music on the African-American woman. We can only hope that others will follow her lead in standing against the cultural thuggery of many rap stars.
Conservative James Dobson Bashes SpongeBob SquarePants
By DAVID CRARY. AP National Writer.NEW YORK (AP) -- The producer of a pro-tolerance music video for kids, featuring scores of their TV heroes ranging from the Muppets to SpongeBob SquarePants, said Friday he is astounded that the project has been assailed by some conservatives as a cunning attempt to advocate homosexuality.
"The only response is, 'Wow,'" said Nile Rodgers, a veteran musician and producer whose We Are Family Foundation plans to give away 60,000 copies of the video after it is aired next month on several television networks.
The video itself involves a rendition of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family," that Rodgers co-wrote, and contains no reference to gay rights or sexual orientation.
However, the Mississippi-based American Family Association, in a detailed article by the editor of its monthly journal, insists the endeavor has a pro-gay subtext.
"On the surface, the project may appear to be a worthwhile attempt to foster greater understanding of cultural differences," wrote Ed Vitagliano. "However, a short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality."
To back his assertions, Vitagliano said the foundation's Web site contained links to other organizations' educational material supporting tolerance of gays and lesbians.
Vitagliano also complained of a "tolerance pledge" found on the We Are Family Web site, borrowed from a civil rights group, which says in part, "To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own."
Rodgers said he asked some of his foundation's officials if they thought the reference to "sexual identity" should be removed from the Web site, and the consensus was to keep it.
"I don't understand their motivation," Rodgers said of his critics. "Nothing could be more devastating to the people who believe in me and our organization than to imply there's an insidious undercurrent to it."
"As I grew older, I've grown to respect people with a different point of view," he said. "The problem with this whole thing is that people are forcing me to be confrontational."
The matter gained attention Thursday, after The New York Times reported that prominent conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, alluded to SpongeBob SquarePants' role in a "pro-homosexual video" during remarks to a pre-inauguration dinner in Washington.
By Stacy Jenel Smith. The Brad Pitt-Jennifer Aniston fortune includes a Santa Barbara beachfront compound (valued at $4 million or $11 million, depending upon whom you believe), a 12,000 square foot Beverly Hills estate (purchased for around $13 million, now worth $14 million to $15.2 million, depending upon which real estate expert you choose), a yacht (worth over $5 million, reportedly), a production company and seven dogs (priceless).
How will all that estimated $200 million in assets be divided?
Will Brad really sell off his local holdings and get out of Hollywood for good and all, as he's purportedly thinking about doing?
And what will become of the dogs?
Co-owned properties will be divvied up evenly and amicably, predicted Peter Newcomb, senior editor of Forbes, in USA Today. He noted that after all, Aniston and Pitt are pretty equal when it comes to earning money. From June 2003 to June 2004, Aniston earned $26 million, Forbes' power list says; while Pitt earned $25 million. "He's got to be worth $100 million; she's worth about $75 million," he added.
Brad's the bigger movie star - at the moment, anyway -- but Jennifer's got "Friends" residuals coming in until the next ice age, and she was earning $1.25 million per episode in the series' last year. They were both well-off established stars when they wed. "Friends" had already passed the 100 episode mark. Each owned a home in the Hollywood Hills. Interestingly, each chose to keep his/her pre-marital pad.
On the other hand, there is rampant buzz that - what a shock if true -- the Hollywood couple did NOT have a prenuptial agreement.
No one is commenting on the existence, or non-existence, of the legal document. There is a not-small amount of consternation on the part of some of the creative elites who are anxiously awaiting word on the disposition of their projects at the Pitt-Aniston Plan B production company. Plan B was already in a state of turmoil before the couple's split because the third Plan B partner, producer-talent agent-mogul Brad Grey, had agreed to become chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount on or before March 1, succeeding Sherry Lansing.
Plan B is not one of those vanity production entities that rarely actually produce anything - the kind that are often associated with big name stars. Its logo debuted on Pitt's "Troy," and will be seen on Johnny Depp's forthcoming "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." And the firm has more than a dozen more projects in various stages of development and preproduction. These are not someone's-friend-had-an-i dea types of projects. For example, in 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures shelled out a whopping $1.75 million to acquire remake rights to the hit Hong Kong crime drama "Infernal Affairs" - a property being bid on by all the major studios -- for the Pitt-Aniston-Grey production entity to make.
Plan B had screenwriter Bill Witliff ("Lonesome Dove") adapting Pat Conroy's My Losing Season, a coming-of-age memoir about Conroy's senior season as point guard for the Citadel basketball team in 1966-67.
It had Katherine Fugate's dark comedy - a starring vehicle for Jennifer -- about a wealthy politician's wife, whose world turns upside-down when the 10-year-old she'd given up for adoption at birth turns up.
Inside a dim American Legion hall in Florida, President Bush had just finished his inaugural address, and Joe Echeverria was impressed.
Bush spoke of freedom, of the goal to end tyranny and urged the nation to find unity.
Echeverria, a 62-year-old Air Force veteran and Republican, drank his whiskey from a tall glass, then pumped his fist in the air. He liked how concise Bush was and that he didn't make empty promises.
"All right, Bush!" he said to the television above the bar in Tampa.
Two barstools away, Democrat Phil Sullivan, another Air Force veteran, caught some of the remarks, but not because he wanted to. He had turned off his hearing aid. "I wish him the best, but I'm not wild about his war, and I am not wild about his Social Security plan," said Sullivan, 74. Bush spoke for 21 minutes, about the work needed to protect America and of a world moving toward liberty. He mentioned overhauling Social Security and spoke in sweeping terms about keeping the world safe. Never did he mention Iraq or Afghanistan.
From the Bush's Inauguration: Words for an Eventful Day
By LESLIE MILLER. Associated Press Writer.WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was a classic Clinton moment in the Capitol Rotunda.
Shortly after the inaugural ceremony, dignitaries scurried past reporters and police posted near the door - except for former President Clinton, who strolled along slowly with Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
Clinton paused in front of a marble statue of James Garfield, launching into a lecture about the 19th-century president's life.
Garfield was one of the greatest Civil War generals, Clinton said, adding that it was a "great tragedy" that his presidency was cut short. Garfield was gunned down a little more than a year after he took office and died of his injuries about two months later.
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Of his own health, Clinton said, "For an old guy, I'm doing all right."
--- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left the state's budget deficit - and Democratic wife Maria Shriver - back home when he made a quick trip to the snow-covered capital for Inauguration Day.
Schwarzenegger surprised constituents at a breakfast on Thursday hosted by his close Washington ally, Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.
Guests crowded around him to pose for pictures.
"Hasta la vista, baby!" said one fan, invoking Schwarzenegger's "Terminator" movie roles.
Even members of Congress requested autographs.
"It's always really very exciting celebrating, you know, a new beginning," Schwarzenegger said.
The Austrian-born former bodybuilder also weighed in, unasked, on foreign-policy goals for President Bush.
"I'm sure he has an interest, like every American, to get out of this war as quickly as possible," Schwarzenegger said. "The key thing now is, is to really create great relationships overseas."
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Along the inaugural parade route, protesters voiced their opinions on topics ranging from the president to the presidential trivia read by an announcer over a loudspeaker.
As the announcer recounted minutiae about past presidents, the protesters booed the names of those they didn't like, including Ronald Reagan. Then they shouted, "No more Bush! No more Bush!"
Growing restless by the parade's delay, they began chanting, "No more trivia! No more trivia! It is boring! It is boring!"
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Like the pairing of lobster and quail on the menu, the inaugural luncheon in the Capitol after Bush's swearing-in brought together people who typically wouldn't sit together.
Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., joined by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, shared a table with Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser.
Former President Carter, an outspoken critic of Bush's Iraq policy, was seated with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, while 23-year-old Bush daughter Jenna was able to chat with 70-year-old Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and 84-year-old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
Her twin, Barbara, got a chance to discuss her father's speech with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. At the same table were three women of influence: State Department Secretary-nominee Condoleezza Rice, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the president's mother, Barbara Bush.
Quotes from Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, from Rice's prepared statement and as transcribed by The Associated Press and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.:
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"Sept. 11, 2001 was a defining moment for our nation and for the world. Under the vision and leadership of President Bush, our nation has risen to meet the challenges of our time: fighting tyranny and terror, and securing the blessings of freedom and prosperity for a new generation. The work that America and our allies have undertaken, and the sacrifices we have made, have been difficult and necessary and right. Now is the time to build on these achievements to make the world safer, and to make the world more free. We must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favors freedom. And the time for diplomacy is now." - Condoleezza Rice, nominee for secretary of state.
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"Since 2001, we have witnessed terrorists killing thousands of people in this country and destroying the World Trade Center and a part of the Pentagon. We have seen United States military personnel engaged in two difficult and costly wars. We've seen the expansion of a nihilistic form of terrorism that is only loosely attached to political objectives, and is therefore very difficult to deter. We've seen frequent expressions of virulent anti-Americanism in many parts of the Islamic world. We have seen our alliances, our international standing and our budget strained by hard choices we've had to make in response to terrorism. In this context, many diplomatic tasks must be approached with urgency. In particular, our success in Iraq is critical. The election scheduled for January 30 must go forward. And the United States must work closely with Iraqi authorities to achieve the fairest and most complete outcome possible." - Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., chairman Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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"And the result is, despite our great military might, we are, in my view, more alone in the world than we have been in anytime in recent memory and the time for diplomacy, in my view, is long overdue. As a result, we're in, in my view, a less secure position than we should be in the world. That's because virtually all the threats we face, from terrorism to the spread of weapons of mass destruction, to rogue states flouting the rules, to the pandemic diseases that we face now and will face, none of them can be solved solely by American soldiers by themselves. America is much more secure working with and reaching out to others than it is walking alone. And I believe the heart of your mission must be to help rebuild America's power to persuade and to restore our nation to the respect it once enjoyed, quite frankly, for our own safety's sake." - Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., senior Democrat on the committee
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"As both the chairman and the ranking member have so well stated, American foreign policy today is at a crossroads. In Iraq, across the Middle East, in North Korea, in our relations with China and in so many other places we face major challenges. I would submit that Dr. Rice has the skill, the judgment and the poise and the leadership to lead in these difficult times. If confirmed, she will have the deep personal trust and confidence of the president, a real asset. She's been by his side for every crucial national security decision in the last four years. My sense is that the president trusts her implicitly. When Dr. Rice meets with Hu Jintao or Ariel Sharon or Vladimir Putin, there will be no doubt that she speaks for and on behalf of the president of the United States. The problems we face abroad are complex and sizable. If Dr. Rice's past performance is any indication, though, we can rest easy. It's difficult to know ahead of time how anyone will perform as secretary of state. Time and events test vision, facile thinking and resolute problem solving. But indeed, this is a remarkable woman that I introduce to you today, and it is with great pride that I do so." - Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., introducing Rice.
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"Would you explain to this committee what you and the president see as an exit strategy for America from Iraq, which would be, I suspect, connected to a post- January 30th election which will provide an elected Iraqi national assembly? What are our plans after that?" - Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
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"Well, we do have some things that we have to accomplish after the elections. Senator Biden has talked a lot about the training of Iraqi security forces. I think that's probably in many ways our most important task. The task of the Iraqis is to find a way forward from their elections for political reconciliation. And we can, of course, try to help in that and do what we can to support that effort. But that's largely an Iraqi task. I think for us to try and improve Iraq's capability to defend itself. ...I think they think that they are doing relatively well on starting to get the numbers up for Iraqi security forces, but that they do need to address these questions of leadership, which then lead to problems with desertion and the like; and that they need to do something that is actually quite promising, which is to work with the Iraqis who have some ideas themselves about how some of the security forces might be restructured." - Rice.
By ANNE GEARAN. AP Diplomatic Writer.WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice gave no ground in Senate confirmation questioning Tuesday, insisting the United States was fully prepared for the Iraq war and its aftermath and refusing to give a timetable for U.S. troops to come home.
An American exit strategy depends on Iraq's ability to defend itself against terrorists after this month's elections, she said.
Rice seemed headed for easy confirmation by the Senate as President Bush's choice to be the country's top diplomat. She did have a tense exchange with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. - Rice repeatedly asked the senator not to question her truthfulness - but former presidential nominee John Kerry, D-Mass., was the only member of the Foreign Relations Committee who told her she might not win his vote.
"This was never going to be easy," Rice said of the war and its aftermath during a confirmation hearing in which she painted an optimistic picture of the future in Iraq - and for resolution of the long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as well.
TOKYO (AP) -- It's back to work for Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston - but no breakup questions, please. In his first public appearance since the couple announced their split last week, Pitt arrived in Tokyo Wednesday to promote the heist sequel, "Ocean's Twelve." Hundreds of cheering Japanese fans met the 41-year-old actor at the Narita International Airport, where Pitt signed autographs.
But the international media, hoping for some insight into his marital separation, were barred from a press conference. Only Japanese media, who were restricted from asking personal questions, were allowed by Warner Bros. to attend.
Fans, though, waited up to 10 hours to meet Pitt and his "Ocean's Twelve" co-star George Clooney. The new film is a sequel to 2001's "Ocean's Eleven."
"He (Pitt) is so cool," one fan told AP Television News. "He was cooler than he was in the movies and truly a gentleman. He must be feeling sensitive now. Yet, I'm glad he came over in spite of such feelings."
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Dave Stewart asked buddy Mick Jagger to help him out writing songs for the Jude Law cad movie "Alfie." Their collaboration proved a winning one.
The Eurythmics guitarist and Rolling Stones lead singer earned a Golden Globe for best original song with "Old Habits Die Hard."
"We're kind of knocked out to win this because it's not really our business," Jagger said backstage Sunday night. "It's the first time we've written a whole bunch of songs for a movie."
A year ago, Stewart's former Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox won the same category for a song from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
"It's a strange coincidence," said Stewart, who sported black nail polish and dark shades.
Jagger, 61, was asked how he maintains his youthful appearance.
"By dancing a lot and going to the gym," he said.
Jagger is working with Charlie Watts and Keith Richards on a new Stones album, but couldn't give a release date.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Some quotes from onstage and backstage Sunday night at the Golden Globe Awards:
"I wanted to play Ray Charles." - Clint Eastwood.
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"He's doing a World War II movie and he doesn't have any women in it. I said, `Clint, I've played a boy before.'" - Hilary Swank, recounting a recent conversation with Eastwood. Swank won an Academy Award for her role in "Boys Don't Cry."
"Eva Longoria in lingerie is not exactly red state stuff." - "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry, asked backstage whether he considered his show liberal or conservative.
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"He was a man obsessed with everything he did in his life - whether it be women, airplanes, money, business, the man would not stop until he reached his own ideals of perfection, and when you play an obsessive character like that it's completely challenging and it's something you can't wait to do, so I've been waiting to do it for eight years." - Leonardo DiCaprio on Howard Hughes, whom he portrayed in "The Aviator."
By DAVID GERMAIN. AP Movie Writer. LOS ANGELES (AP) -- This year, the Golden Globes have left the road to the Oscars a fuzzy one. Potential Oscar front-runners Hilary Swank of the boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby" and Jamie Foxx of the Ray Charles film biography "Ray" came away with lead-acting prizes at Sunday's Globes.
But the Globes were a split decision for perpetual Oscar also-ran Martin Scorsese, whose Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator" won for best drama, yet missed out on the directing honor, which went to Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby."
Globe wins for underdogs Clive Owen and Natalie Portman, co-stars of the sex drama "Closer," leave the supporting-actor Oscar categories wide open. Morgan Freeman of "Million Dollar Baby" and Cate Blanchett of "The Aviator" had been viewed as more likely favorites.
Add in lead-acting Globes for two other Hollywood veterans, Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes in "The Aviator" and Annette Bening in the theater farce "Being Julia," and the Feb. 27 Oscars could be an anything-goes scenario across-the-board.
By DAVID GERMAIN. AP Movie Writer. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Jamie Foxx of the Ray Charles film biography "Ray," Annette Bening of the showbiz comedy "Being Julia" and director Clint Eastwood of the boxing tale "Million Dollar Baby" won Golden Globes on Sunday, boosting their Academy Awards prospects.
"Can I just tell you that I am having the ride of my life right now?" said Foxx, considered a front-runner to win the best-actor Oscar for his uncanny emulation of Charles, who died last year. "I wish I could take what I'm feeling right now and put it in the water system, and we would all love each other a whole lot more."
Earning a record three Globe nominations, Foxx lost in his other two categories, supporting movie actor for "Collateral" and actor in a TV movie or miniseries for "Redemption."
Bening won for best actress in a movie musical or comedy, playing an aging stage diva in 1930s London who plots gleeful revenge against the men in her life.
Remembering a King: Don’t just honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights work. Honor his political preaching as well.
By Patrick W. Gavin Web Exclusive: 01.14.05
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This Monday, the United States will commemorate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday. Throughout the day, Americans will hear stories of his fights against segregation, his powerful speech in Washington, and his struggle for voting rights. These are the stories and the history that Americans now feel comfortable with, and these are the parts of King’s life that we embrace and honor.
But each year, our celebration of King's vision is regrettably incomplete. Toward the end of his life, he espoused political views that made America -- then and now -- quite uncomfortable, and it is that part of his life that many Americans have ignored. Given our current international climate, however, it may be high time to take a second look at those views and to see if we can glean any valuable lessons from them.
King denounced U.S. foreign policy, criticizing America's "giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism," and calling the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." From Vietnam to Asia to Latin America, King said the United States was "on the wrong side of a world revolution."
Were King alive today, what would he make of the current war on terrorism? It is true that terrorism poses historically new and unique threats; but communism in King's time presented an equally menacing peril. King told his followers to "love your enemies." It would be hard to imagine him embracing some of the war fever that gripped this nation after September 11, 2001. And how would King reconcile his belief in "turning the other cheek" with President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemptive strikes?
It is also unlikely that King, who cautioned that "a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death," would endorse the enormous price tag of our war with Iraq, especially when Iraq's link to the events of September 11 is hazy at best and when there are daunting economic concerns at home.
When King assumed such positions, his words were called "demagogic slander" by Time magazine. The Washington Post editorialized that "King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people." The FBI tagged him as the "most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country."
It is safe to assume that, were King alive today, he would remind us that people everywhere -- regardless of religion, nationality, or creed -- are united in "a single garment of destiny" and that no nation should act unilaterally. He would assert that it is only through treating our enemies as children of God that we will ever create true global security.
And, even in the face of nuclear and chemical threats, he would remain steadfast in his belief in the power of nonviolence.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow moved from the home she bought with her late husband in 1965 after a series of burglaries, including one by a man who later confessed to killing several women in the neighborhood, her oldest son said Friday.
Coretta Scott King, 77, moved in June to a new condominium in Atlanta's upscale Buckhead neighborhood, Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press.
The younger King said the condominium was a gift from "a very dear friend," but the Chicago Defender reported this week that Mrs. King's new home was a gift from Oprah Winfrey. A warranty deed lists the buyer as Overground Railroad LLC, a company that is owned by Winfrey for real estate transactions, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The family home in southwest Atlanta's Vine City neighborhood had a couple of minor break-ins during the early 1990s, but the family decided it was time to move its matriarch after a third break-in when the suspect later admitted to killing several women in the area, King said.
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD. Associated Press Writer. NEWPORT, Tenn. (AP) -- A small group of Ku Klux Klansmen and their supporters demonstrated Saturday against a local daylong tribute to racial diversity and harmony during the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
About 30 white supremacists gathered, some wearing Klan robes, for two hours in a designated protest zone outside Newport's fourth annual Diversity Festival. They waved signs saying "Multiculturalism Destroys Diversity" and "Integration is an abomination."
That is the great thing about America, we can all disagree," said Randy Gray, a local Klan supporter and organizer. The Klansmen came mostly from Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Brittany Thompson, 18, of Cherokee, N.C., was among a handful of curious spectators watching the Klan.
"Ignorant," she said. "I never knew it existed. I just thought it was in the movies - that there are people like this."
About 100 law enforcement officers were on hand in the town of 7,200 near the North Carolina line, about 60 miles east of Knoxville. No arrests were reported.
"We are not worried about them at all," said Mayor Roland Dykes, who is black.
The festival was expected to draw about 2,500 people to sample native foods and listen to entertainers from a variety of races and cultures.
Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Archaic Singles Sex Law
By LARRY O'DELL. Associated Press Writer.RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down an archaic and rarely enforced state law prohibiting sex between unmarried people.
The unanimous ruling strongly suggests that a separate anti-sodomy law in Virginia also is unconstitutional, although that statute is not directly affected. The justices based their ruling on a U.S. Supreme Court decision voiding an anti-sodomy law in Texas.
"This case directly affects only the fornication law but makes it absolutely clear how the court would rule were the sodomy law before it," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia.
Virginia's anti-sodomy law prohibits oral and anal sex even for married couples, but gay-rights advocates say the statute is only used to target homosexuals. Legislators for years have rejected efforts to repeal the law. They left it on the books again last year even after the Texas decision held that such laws are unconstitutional.
By SAM HANANEL. Associated Press Writer. WASHINGTON (AP) -- An atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance lost a bid Friday to bar the saying of a Christian prayer at President Bush's inauguration.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said Michael Newdow's claim should be denied because he already had filed and lost a similar lawsuit in a federal appeals court in California last year.
Bates also said Newdow had no legal standing to pursue his claim. Even if Newdow could show he had suffered injury because he was offended in hearing the prayer, Bates said the court did not have authority to stop the president from inviting clergy to give a religious prayer at the ceremony.
In a telephone interview from his home in Sacramento, Newdow said Bates had written a thoughtful opinion "but he came to the wrong conclusion." He said he planned to appeal.
Celebrities were doing last minute primping as they prepared to walk the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. Jamie Foxx led the contenders with an unprecedented three acting nominations, including best musical or comedy actor for his uncanny portrayal of singer Ray Charles in "Ray."
Snarky fashion cops Joan and Melissa Rivers will be standing by, waiting to pounce on every questionable outfit for the TV Guide Channel. Star Jones Reynolds is the new girl on the block, replacing the mother-daughter duo on E! Entertainment Television.
In the end, though, the night will be all about the awards themselves.
Contending with Foxx in the best actor category is Paul Giamatti for the road-trip flick "Sideways," which earned a leading seven nominations, among them best musical or comedy. The Howard Hughes film biography "The Aviator" was next with six nominations, including best drama, actor and director.
Condoleeza Rice: 'never dreamed of being Secretary of State.' 
TAN) -- Condoleeza Rice admits when she was a little girl in segregated Alabama, she had never dreamed of being Secretary of State. What an opportunity she has today. Some might say even Hillary Clinton can envy the role Dr. Rice now has on the world stage. Politics aside, let's hope the new Secretary revives respect for her country and brings a modicum of lasting peace to a hostile world. Rice stands on the sharp edge of history in the making. I believe, and hope, this making will affect her as much as she might affect a new respect for the American Spirit.
President Bush today called Iraq's historic election a "resounding success" as Iraqis "take rightful control of their country's destiny." With polls now closed, Iraqi officials are reporting a higher turnout than expected, despite a spate of attacks and threats aimed at disrupting the vote. At least 25 people were killed and more than 70 wounded in a string of attacks. 
We see the video as an insidious means by which the organisation is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids 
By DAVID CRARY. 
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By LESLIE MILLER. 
