Wednesday NewsWatch

Odd Situations Spice Up Election

As Barack Obama moved to a decisive and historic victory Tuesday, some voters saw things that don't normally take place.

Kentucky Bucks Trends

In Kentucky, many long-term trends fell, Louisville television station WLKY reported. For the first time in 44 years, the state did not vote for the winner of the presidential election. Hamilton County, Ohio, however, voted for a Democrat for the first time in 44 years. Some things stayed the same, however. The small town of Rabbit Hash elected a dog as mayor. A border collie named Lucy Lou beat nine other dogs, a cat, one possum, one donkey and one person. The previous mayor - a dog named Junior Cochran - died in office.

State Senator Fights Over Sign

In Arizona, a Democratic Party worker said an Arizona state senator assaulted her when she tried to remove a sign near a polling location. Ruth Levin, 78, accused Republican Sen. John Huppenthal of driving up to the apartment complex where she was working, jumping out of a car and cutting down a sign that criticized his efforts to improve air quality at a high school. Huppenthal threw the sign into the back seat of the car and drove off, but not before Levin opened the car door, grabbed her sign and a handful of paperwork, police said. Huppenthal said the apartment complex's manager gave him permission to remove the sign from the property. Police said they are looking into the incident as a possible act of disorderly conduct or criminal damage.

Playoffs As Policy

While many voters chose their candidate based on policy issues, speaking ability or even as a way to protest against the current administration, other last-minute issues swayed some people. One Indiana University student told station WRTV in Indianapolis that he planned to vote for Sen. John McCain, but changed his mind when Obama said on "Monday Night Football" the day before the election that he would add a playoff system to college football if he could. McCain told ESPN's Chris Berman that he would do something about performance-enhancing drugs if he could change something about sports.

Father, Son To Serve Together

In San Antonio, a candidate for Bexar County Commission was elected to serve with his father. Kevin Wolff will join his father, Nelson Wolff. However, the younger Wolff said there will not likely be a conflict of interest, because he is a Republican, while his father is a Democrat.

Bush And Sewage

In San Francisco, voters rejected a measure that would have renamed a sewage treatment plant after President George W. Bush. Some critics said the name change for the facility wasn't fair - to the hard-working sewage plant, The Associated Press reported. The White House never commented on the ballot measure.

Voting At Barack

At one voting location, it would have been hard to imagine anyone but Obama winning. One Columbus, Ohio, poll was set up at the Barack Recreation Center.The rec center was dedicated in 1964 in honor of a former city recreation director. While the name is spelled the same, it actually pronounced BAYR'-ihk. Precinct presiding judge Hattie Harris said voting went smoothly at the rec center. She added lines weren't nearly as long as they were in 2004.

Medvedev: Russia to Deploy Missiles Near Poland

Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland to counter U.S. military plans in Eastern Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev has warned, setting a combative tone that clashed with global goodwill over Barack Obama's election.

In his first state of the nation speech, Medvedev blamed Washington on Wednesday for the war in Georgia and the world financial crisis and suggested it was up to Washington to mend badly damaged ties. Medvedev also proposed increasing the Russian presidential term to six years from four -- a change that could deepen Western concern over democracy in Russia and play into the hands of his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out a return to the Kremlin.

Extending the presidential term could mean a possible 12 more years in the top office for the popular Putin. Echoing Putin, who made criticism of Washington and the West a hallmark of his two-term, eight-year presidency, Medvedev used the speech in an ornate Kremlin reception hall to cast Russia as a nation threatened by encroaching American military might.

"From what we have seen in recent years - the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of NATO - we have gotten the clear impression that they are testing our strength," Medvedev said.

He signaled Moscow would not give in to Western calls to pull troops from Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or rescind its recognition of their independence following the August war.

Talking tough, he fleshed out long-promised military measures in response to U.S. plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellites now in NATO. The Kremlin claims the system is meant to weaken Russia, not defend against Iran, as Washington insists. The contract for the missile defense has already been awarded to Boeing.

Medvedev said Iskander missiles would be deployed to Russia's western enclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, "to neutralize, if necessary, a missile defense system." The Iskander has a range of about 280 kilometers (175 miles), which would allow it to reach targets in Poland but not in the Czech Republic -- but officials have said its range could be increased. Medvedev did not say whether the missiles would be fitted with nuclear warheads. Russia will also deploy electronic jamming equipment, Medvedev said.

After the speech, the Kremlin announced Medvedev had congratulated Obama for winning the U.S. presidency, saying in a telegram he was "counting on a constructive dialogue with you on the basis of trust and taking each other's interests into account."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack emphasized that the planned missile defenses were not aimed at Russia.

Medvedev appeared to be trying to improve Russia's bargaining position in potential talks with the Obama administration on missile defense. His wording suggested Russia would reverse the decision if the U.S. scraps its missile defense plans.

"Moscow isn't interested in confrontation, and if Obama makes some conciliatory gestures it will respond correspondingly," said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst at Moscow's Institute for World Economy and International Relations.

But independent military analyst Alexander Golts said Medvedev's "confrontational tone" could further harm relations with the United States, which plunged to a post-Cold War low over the war in Georgia.

Regional leaders criticized Medvedev's missile warning. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was "certainly the wrong signal at the wrong time" and urged the U.S. and Russia to see change in the White House as an "opportunity for a new beginning." Medvedev suggested the U.S. must make the first move to break the chill. The Kremlin hopes the incoming administration "will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," he said.

In addition to calling for a six-year presidential term, he said parliament's term should be extended to five years instead of four and its power over the executive branch increased.

Both changes could strengthen the hand of Putin, who can run for president again in 2012 and now heads the dominant United Russia party.

Huge Piece of Space Junk Splashes Down in Pacific

A refrigerator-sized piece of space junk fell harmlessly into the South Pacific Sunday night, according to NASA. The junk was a tank full of ammonia coolant on the international space station that was no longer needed. Astronaut Clayton Anderson threw it overboard during a spacewalk in July 2007.

Space station program manager Mike Suffredini said Monday that the debris splashed down somewhere between Australia and New Zealand Sunday night. The tank had served as a reserve supply of spare coolant at the space station since 2001.

Delta Charging $15 for Checked Baggage

Delta Air Lines, the world's biggest carrier, said Wednesday it will impose a $15 fee to check a first bag, becoming the last of the six legacy airlines to impose such a fee. It also said today it is cutting certain other fees as it aligns its policies with those of Northwest Airlines, which it acquired last week. Atlanta-based Delta says that effective immediately, for traffic on or after Dec. 5, customers flying within the U.S. will be charged $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag when traveling domestically, consistent with Northwest's existing policies. Delta also said it is eliminating SkyMiles and WorldPerks award ticket surcharges, reducing reservation sales direct ticketing charges and eliminating curbside check-in administrative fees.

Oldest Possibly Hebrew Inscription Possibly Found

An Israeli archaeologist digging at a hilltop south of Jerusalem believes a ceramic shard found in the ruins of an ancient town bears the oldest Hebrew inscription ever discovered, a find that could provide an important glimpse into the culture and language of the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.

The five lines of faded characters written 3,000 years ago, and the ruins of the fortified settlement where they were found, are indications that a powerful Israelite kingdom existed at the time of the Old Testament's King David, says Yossi Garfinkel, the Hebrew University archaeologist in charge of the new dig at Hirbet Qeiyafa.

Other scholars are hesitant to embrace Garfinkel's interpretation of the finds, made public on Thursday.

The discoveries are already being wielded in a vigorous and ongoing argument over whether the Bible's account of events and geography is meant to be taken literally.

Hirbet Qeiyafa sits near the modern Israeli city of Beit Shemesh in the Judean foothills, an area that was once the frontier between the hill-dwelling Israelites and their enemies, the coastal Philistines.

The site overlooks the Elah Valley, said to be the scene of the slingshot showdown between David and the Philistine giant Goliath, and lies near the ruins of Goliath's hometown in the Philistine metropolis of Gath.

A teenage volunteer found the curved pottery shard, 6 inches by 6 inches (15 centimeters by 15 centimeters), in July near the stairs and stone washtub of an excavated home. It was later discovered to bear five lines of characters known as proto-Canaanite, a precursor of the Hebrew alphabet.

Carbon-14 analysis of burnt olive pits found in the same layer of the site dated them to between 1,000 and 975 B.C., the same time as the Biblical golden age of David's rule in Jerusalem. Scholars have identified other, smaller Hebrew fragments from the 10th century B.C., but the script, which Garfinkel suggests might be part of a letter, predates the next significant Hebrew inscription by between 100 and 200 years.

History's best-known Hebrew texts, the Dead Sea scrolls, were penned on parchment beginning 850 years later. The shard is now kept in a university safe while philologists translate it, a task expected to take months. But several words have already been tentatively identified, including ones meaning "judge," "slave" and "king."

The Israelites were not the only ones using proto-Canaanite characters, and other scholars suggest it is difficult - perhaps impossible - to conclude the text is Hebrew and not a related tongue spoken in the area at the time. Garfinkel bases his identification on a three-letter verb from the inscription meaning "to do," a word he said existed only in Hebrew.

Other prominent Biblical archaeologists warned against jumping to conclusions.

Hebrew University archaeologist Amihai Mazar said the inscription was "very important," as it is the longest proto-Canaanite text ever found. But he suggested that calling the text Hebrew might be going too far. Some scholars and archeologists argue that the Bible's account of David's time inflates his importance and that of his kingdom, and is essentially myth, perhaps rooted in a shred of fact.

But if Garfinkel's claim is borne out, it would bolster the case for the Bible's accuracy by indicating the Israelites could record events as they happened, transmitting the history that was later written down in the Old Testament several hundred years later.

It also would mean that the settlement - a fortified town with a 30-foot-wide (10-meter-wide) monumental gate, a central fortress and a wall running 770 yards (700 meters) in circumference - was probably inhabited by Israelites. The finds have not yet established who the residents were, says Aren Maier, a Bar Ilan University archaeologist who is digging at nearby Gath. It will become more clear if, for example, evidence of the local diet is found, he said: Excavations have shown that Philistines ate dogs and pigs, while Israelites did not.

The nature of the ceramic shards found at the site suggest residents might have been neither Israelites nor Philistines but members of a third, forgotten people, he said. If the inscription is Hebrew, it would indicate a connection to the Israelites and make the text "one of the most important texts, without a doubt, in the corpus of Hebrew inscriptions," Maier said. But it has great importance whatever the language turns out to be, he added.

Saar Ganor, an Israel Antiquities Authority ranger, noticed the unusual scale of the walls while patrolling the area in 2003. Three years later he interested Garfinkel, and after a preliminary dig they began work in earnest this summer. They have excavated only 4 percent of the six-acre settlement so far.

Archaeology has turned up only scant finds from David's time in the early 10th century B.C., leading some scholars to suggest his kingdom may have been little more than a small chiefdom or that he might not have existed at all.

Garfinkel believes building fortifications like those at Hirbet Qeiyafa could not have been a local initiative: The walls would have required moving 200,000 tons of stone, a task too big for the 500 or so people who lived there. Instead, it would have required an organized kingdom like the one the Bible says David ruled.

Modern Zionism has traditionally seen archaeology as a way of strengthening the Jewish claim to Israel and regarded David's kingdom as the glorious ancestor of the new Jewish state. So finding evidence of his rule has importance beyond its interest to scholars. The dig is partially funded by Foundation Stone, a Jewish educational organization, which hopes to bring volunteers to work there as a way of teaching them a national and historical lesson.

"When I stand here, I understand that I'm on the front lines of the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines," said Rabbi Barnea Levi Selavan, the group's director. "I open my Bible and read about David and Goliath, and I understand that I'm in the Biblical context."

While the site could be useful to scholars, archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University urged adhering to the strict boundaries of science.

Finkelstein, who has not visited the dig but attended a presentation of the findings, warned against what he said was a "revival in the belief that what's written in the Bible is accurate like a newspaper."

That style of archaeology was favored by 19th century European diggers who trolled the Holy Land for physical traces of Biblical stories, their motivation and methods more romantic than scientific.

LISA

Hebrew University, WLKY, WRTV, The Associated Press, NASA

NEWSWATCH

Some Georgians Suspected Of Voting Twice

Georgia's Secretary of State has launched a full investigation and may seek criminal charges against three Georgia men who appear to have early-voted twice.

"This is extraordinarily disturbing," said Secretary of State Karen Handel.

A team of investigative journalists from WSB-TV in Atlanta, WFTV in Orlando and WFTS in Tampa and WCPO in Cincinnati compared Georgia's voter rolls with those in Florida and Ohio and found more than 100,000 people who appear to be registered to vote in more than one state, with no government oversight to catch it.

WSB-TV tried to find Thomas Habel at the home where he's registered to vote in Hartwell, Georgia, but was unable to locate him. That's because he was spending time at his other home in Marco Island, Florida. Before he left for the Sunshine State, according Georgia's Secretary of State, Habel early-voted at the Hart County elections office.

Chief registrar Elizabeth Forbes says she knows Habel and saw him cast his ballot. She even gave him a sticker. State records confirm Habel voting on October 1, 2008, but Florida records show him voting there on October 25.

"Oh, then that's not good," said Forbes when she saw both voting records with Habel's name on them.

Contacted at his Florida home Habel admitted voting in Florida at the Marco Island library, but says he doesn't recall voting in Georgia.

"Somebody would remember if they voted twice," Habel insisted. "I went and got a ballot for my wife she called me and said she forgot to vote, she was down there and I went in there and I signed for it." The registrar confirms Habel did that, too. His wife has already mailed in her Georgia absentee vote.

A check of Georgia's master voter rolls revealed more than 42,000 people who also appear to be registered in Florida. WSB-TV found three who appear to have double voted, which is a felony.

"Shocking, it's really shocking," said voter Kelley Johnson. "I wouldn't think to do something like that."

But Johnson could vote in two states. The college student has an absentee ballot from DeKalb County, even though she voted in Daytona Beach, Florida.

"Two days after I voted, my absentee ballot came in the mail," explained Johnson. "I was just shocked, it had my little sticker, ‘I'm a Georgia voter' on there."

WSB-TV found eight people who voted in Florida and received absentee ballots from Georgia. Another three voters who cast ballots in Ohio could have voted in Georgia.

"Because Ohio's a swing state, I'm not from here, I'm from Atlanta, so I re-registered in Ohio so we could possibly have a chance," admitted Lauren Arnone.

Arnone received her Cobb County ballot by mail, but vowed not to use it, even though she could.

"Something should be fixed about this because this can sway an election," said Arnone.

Haven't Made Up Your Mind? You're Not Alone

A new poll suggests one of the deciding factors in Tuesday's presidential election could be the undecideds. An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll said one in seven voters, or 14 percent, can't decide, or they back a candidate but might still switch.

Overall, the share of these voters, sometimes referred to as "persuadables," has barely budged from levels measured in June and September AP-Yahoo News polls, conducted online by Knowledge Networks. Of those now changeable, nearly three-quarters said in June their minds were made up, and half said so just last month.

The survey found Obama leading McCain among all likely voters, 51 percent to 43 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The AP-Yahoo News poll of 1,040 likely voters was conducted Oct. 17-27. It included interviews with 147 likely voters considered persuadable, meaning they're either undecided or back a candidate but say they might change their mind, and 893 likely voters considered not persuadable. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 8.1 percentage points for persuadable likely voters and 3.3 points for those considered not persuadable.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

Cities Readying For Election Night Security

Chicago authorities are bracing for as many as a million people in downtown Grant Park Tuesday night to cheer on Sen. Barack Obama as election returns come in, a potential celebration and security headache.

Police in Chicago and elsewhere around the country say intense interest in the election and the possibility of large crowds in major cities are leading them to take crowd-control precautions usually seen during Super Bowls and World Series. In addition, local police will be providing security at polling stations to keep things running smoothly on Election Day.

Security preparations in Obama's hometown include orders for off-duty firefighters to haul their helmets, breathing tanks and other gear home now until after the election in case of any emergency. All Chicago officers have also had their days off canceled and are required to work Tuesday, Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said.

Other parts of the country are thinking through security as well:

In Los Angeles, police typically deploy extra squad cars at polling places on Election Day and Tuesday will be no different, said Michael Downing, the Los Angeles Police Department's deputy chief. But he added that nothing suggests "people are going to riot or conduct themselves inappropriately depending on who gets in."

In Detroit, most of the city's 3,000 or so officers will be working Election Day, said police spokesman James Tate.

Asked if preparations are more intense than in previous years because of the heightened emotions surrounding this election, Steve Martin, chief sheriff's deputy in Franklin County, Ohio, said, "I think we take all of those into consideration."

A permit application for the Chicago event said 65,000 spectators would likely show up, but many more without tickets are expected to arrive for what Obama backers hope will be a celebration of the first black American elected to the presidency. Sen. John McCain is planning a smaller election-night party in his hometown of Phoenix, Ariz.

The huge Chicago crowd, unhappy or not, could pose usual hazards. Police have imposed sweeping street closures and parking bans that will effectively shut down the city center late Tuesday.

Mayor Richard Daley told reporters early that he would have preferred the rally at a stadium, where crowd control would be easier. Some church leaders, including the Rev. Albert Tyson, encouraged people to stay away from the event if they don't have a ticket. Faith leaders around the city, like Tyson, are hosting neighborhood viewing parties.

Daley estimated the cost to the city of helping to stage the event -- including adding more police and extra transit trains -- at around $2 million, and the Obama campaign has said it will pay all those costs.

The importance of Election Day security was driven home by the recent arrest of two white supremacists accused of plotting to kill Obama and dozens of other blacks, said Hilary Shelton, the director of the NAACP's Washington, D.C., bureau.

He added that anyone who might suggest Obama supporters in black communities might react violently if their candidate loses in a vote that is initially too close to call -- a la the 2000 presidential race -- may reveal their own racial biases.

Downing, who heads the Los Angeles department's counterterrorism bureau, put more emphasis on threats of a terrorist attack.

Palin Cleared In Troopergate Case

A report has cleared Gov. Sarah Palin of ethics violations in the firing of her public safety commissioner. The report, released today, said: "There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters." It was prepared by Timothy Petumenos, an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board.

A separate legislative investigation recently concluded that Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, abused her office by allowing her husband and staffers to pressure the public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister. Palin fired Walter Monegan, but denies his dismissal was related to the trooper.

Alaska Personnel Board investigations are normally secret, but the three-member board decided to release this report, citing public interest in the matter given Palin's status as a candidate for national office. Election Day is Tuesday.

Palin had earlier waived her privacy rights, but others in her administration did not and Petumenos sought to keep the matter from playing out in the media. Petumenos said documents to be released Monday would not include transcripts of separate depositions given by Palin and her husband, Todd.

That deposition was the only one given by Sarah Palin. She was not subpoenaed to answer questions in the Legislature's investigation, though her husband, Todd, gave an affidavit in that probe.

Palin initially said she would cooperate with the Legislature's probe. But after she became John McCain's running mate, she said the investigation had become too partisan and filed an ethics grievance against herself with the personnel board.

Fossett's Bones Identified Near Crash Site

Authorities have positively identified two large bones found a half-mile from the crash site of Steve Fossett's plane in California's Sierra Nevada as the adventurer's remains. Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said Monday that DNA tests conducted by the state Department of Justice positively identified the bones as the remains of the millionaire aviator who disappeared last year.

Authorities found the bones last week. They also discovered Fossett's tennis shoes and Illinois driver's license, both with animal bite marks on them. Anderson said Fossett would have died on impact. It's not unusual, he said, for animals to drag away remains.

Fossett vanished in September 2007 after taking off from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton.

Judge Considers Dismissing MySpace Suicide Case

A federal judge wants more time to consider a defense motion to throw out a case against a woman in a MySpace hoax that allegedly led to a 13-year-old girl's suicide. U.S. District Judge George H. Wu indicated he would likely reject the motion but wanted to look at arguments more closely.

Lori Drew of O'Fallon, Mo., is accused of helping create a false-identity account on the social networking site and harassing her young neighbor with cruel messages. She has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization.

Megan Meier hanged herself after allegedly receiving messages saying the world would be better off without her. She was being treated for depression.

The government seeks to prosecute Drew under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has never before been used in connection with a Web site's terms of service barring misrepresentation by users setting up new accounts. Prosecutors argue the statute can be used against cyber bullying.

Drew's defense attorneys have argued the indictment should be dismissed because it was too broad and there was a simple breach of contract not a federal crime. The case is being prosecuted in Los Angeles because MySpace computer servers are based in the area.

Cheetah Gets Loose In Cargo Hold Of Delta Flight

A Delta baggage worker got a bit of a fright the day before Halloween when she opened the door of a cargo bin to find a live cheetah running loose inside.

Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said that two cheetahs were being transported in the cargo area of a passenger flight from Portland, Ore. to Atlanta when one escaped from its cage.

Talton said the airline contacted Zoo Atlanta, which quickly sent help. She said zoo staff tranquilized the animals and took them to the zoo, where they were still being held as of Monday afternoon. Talton said the airline was working with the owner of the cheetahs to get the big cats back to them. She declined to identify the owners, citing customer privacy rules.

Talton said the cheetah did not damage any luggage.

WILL

WSB-TV, GA Secretary of State, Delta Airlines, Associated Press, Alaska Personnel Board, Yahoo.

School Clams Up on 'Gay' Pledges for Kindergartners

A California school system refuses to say what action, if any, it will take after it received complaints about a kindergarten teacher who encouraged her students to sign "pledge cards" in support of gays. During a celebration of National Ally Week, Tara Miller, a teacher at the Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science in Hayward, Calif., passed out cards produced by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to her class of kindergartners.

The cards asked signers to be "an ally" and to pledge to "not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language or slurs; intervene, when I feel I can, in situations where others are using anti-LGBT language or harassing other students and actively support safer schools efforts." The school has acknowledged that the exercise was not appropriate for kindergartners.

Parent Adela Voelker, who declined to be interviewed in depth for this report, said she was furious when she found her child's signature on one of the cards. She said she contacted a non-profit legal defense organization specializing in parents' rights.

Meanwhile, a school board member, Jeff Cook, says some type of action should be taken.

"We have a general rule that all instruction should be age appropriate, and this clearly was not," said Cook, who has served on the school board for five years.

Val Joyner, a school district spokeswoman, told FOXNews.com in an e-mail that when deciding what to teach on this subject matter, educators "gather materials from community agencies and other education groups" and that "the materials have grade level indicators which help determine what is age-appropriate."

The district said the pledge cards were intended for middle school and high school students. Asked last week if the district planned to take action against Miller, Joyner said she would have to look into the incident. On Thursday she told FOXNews.com that she did not have an answer for the question and that she would no longer be doing any media interviews.

Joyner said in an e-mail that Miller, the teacher, "planned to teach students how to become an ally and conflict-mediation through various activities." She added that the district doesn't advocate for a specific cause and/or lifestyle, and it has "no curriculum for gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyles."

The district employs a "Professional Learning Specialist: Equity," who is in charge of gathering material and helping teachers decide what should be taught on the subject matter.

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, the group representing Voelker, said parents at the Faith Ringgold School weren't notified of what was going to take place in the classroom. He said that teaching students as young as pre-school about gay, lesbian and transgender issues is common in California, but that there are "all kinds of material the average parent could find highly objectionable or potentially harmful" to their children.

When asked if the school district did anything wrong, he said, "possibly," but he declined to go into detail or say whether Voelker would sue the district.

Dacus would not comment specifically on whether children who signed the pledge could be held responsible if the school determined that they were not honoring it. He said they are minors and there are certain degrees of limited liability, but from a psychological and emotional perspective, it's a whole different ballgame.

"[There is] tremendous peer pressure put on children to accept a pro-homosexual philosophy and attitude," Dacus said.

Meanwhile, opponents of gay marriage are up in arms over the incident, which occurred as California voters prepare to vote Tuesday on Proposition 8, which would overturn the state Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage.

"How do you teach a 5-year-old to sign a pledge card for lesbian, gay and transgender issues without explaining what transgender and bisexual is?" asked Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for Protect Marriage California.

LISA

AP, Reuter's

NewsWatch: Asia and Europe

North Korea Threatens to Turn South Korea Into 'Debris'

North Korea's military warned Tuesday it would attack South Korea and turn it into "debris," in Pyongyang's latest response to what it says are confrontational activities by Seoul against the communist country. The threat comes a day after military officers from the two Koreas held brief talks at the heavily fortified border, their second official contact since the North broke off inter-Korean relations in February.

The North threatened to cut off all ties if the "confrontational racket" continues, citing a South Korean general's recent threats to launch a pre-emptive strike against its nuclear sites and the refusal of civic activists in the South to heed Pyongyang's demands to cease distribution of propaganda leaflets critical of its leadership.

"The puppet authorities had better remember that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris, not just setting them on fire," the North's military said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's administration took office earlier this year pledging to get tough with Pyongyang. Earlier this month, Gen. Kim Tae-young, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a parliamentary committee that his military was prepared to attack suspected nuclear sites in North Korea if the communist country attempts to use its atomic weapons on the South.

North Korea has demanded that South Korea stop activists from sending balloons carrying leaflets critical of the communist regime across the border, saying the flyers violate a 2004 inter-Korean accord banning propaganda warfare. The South Korean government has stopped official propaganda but says it cannot prohibit activists from sending the leaflets, citing freedom of speech.

Defying Pyongyang's demands, South Korean activists on Monday sent helium balloons carrying 100,000 leaflets to the North. Some noted Kim's reported health troubles and called for the North Korean people to rise up against the authoritarian leader. The North said it also was offended by recent comments by South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee about leader Kim Jong Il's health.

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a news conference in Washington earlier this month that both the U.S. and South Korea believed Kim Jong Il remained in control, adding: "If we show him too much attention, then we might spoil him."

U.S. and South Korean officials say Kim suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery in recent months, but the North has denied there is anything wrong with the 66-year-old leader. The two countries remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The peninsula is divided by one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.

Past Hardships Haunt Europe's Search for Financial Security

As Europeans grasp for security in the face of a financial storm that - at least so far - has affected them much less directly than it has many Americans, they are reflecting the history of their tortured continent that has weathered wars, revolutions and financial crises over the centuries. In America, wealth and retirement savings are much more tied up in the stock market, with a majority of people owning at least a modest stake. By contrast, only 13 percent of German households and 24 percent of French ones own shares, according to 2006 figures compiled by the European Savings Institute.

Pensions are still largely state-dependent, not 401(k)-style investment accounts. Even when it comes to the British, who look more like Americans in terms of credit card debt and mortgage exposure, only about 20 percent of them have invested in the market.

But history teaches Europeans that situations can go from bad to perilous in no time, and there is a long tradition of burying the family's treasures in troubled times. Today, tales of people taking money out of banks to keep it somewhere else are circulating in Paris bistros and London pubs. Companies selling or renting safes are reporting an increase in demand, though hard numbers are difficult to establish.

"History matters. In times of crisis you really get to know a country and its people," said Toni Pierenkemper, a professor of economic history at the University of Cologne. "Traumatic events are seared into the collective consciousness and often survive into the next generations."

Germany, where many people lost their savings twice in the 20th century, is one of the richest laboratories of European historical scars - welts that help explain the country's fears of inflation and its interest in maintaining a complex public-private banking system.

The network of 446 publicly owned savings banks, which have been guaranteeing their deposits for three decades, have proved popular in recent weeks as nervous Germans moved part of their savings onto their books. Even more striking, an overwhelming surge in the demand for gold has forced several Internet sites and gold vendors to temporarily shut down their sales operations.

"I've never seen anything like this. We're basically sold out until the end of the year," said Robert Hartmann, co-founder of ProAurum, a gold vendor based in Munich.

Despite the shortages, about 200 customers line up at his counter every day, he said, asking for coins and bars, not certificates. According to his estimates, "only about 5 percent of German investors" are interested in converting a small part of their savings to gold, "but it's enough to put suppliers under strain."

In France, gold sales have also increased, but people are more trusting of the government. The entire French banking system was state-owned as recently as 1987, and the state has played a prominent role in the economy since the days of Louis XIV. In contrast to the unease and suspicion among most Americans about the government's taking stakes in distressed financial institutions, many people in France feel comforted - even vindicated - in their belief that the state has a responsibility to look after the economy.

"We nationalize, we denationalize and we re-nationalize. That's the way it goes in France," quipped Bernard Candiard, director-general of Crédit Municipal de Paris, a 231-year-old pawnshop that is doing brisk business these days and is a state monopoly.

"Today we are again in the process of nationalizing banks," Mr. Candiard said. "It's a sign to the people. The government wants to give them confidence. And confidence in France is the state. We have a different tradition from America."

In Eastern Europe, where people were hardened by modest living standards under communism, the trust in government is more limited.

In Bulgaria, for example, more people are looking at moving their money to Western European banks that offer an unlimited deposit guarantee, said Adriana Alexandrova, a financial executive at the TV2 television station in Sofia.

"There is a great lack of confidence in the banks and in the government," said Ms. Alexandrova, whose parents had to close their pharmacy business after several Bulgarian banks collapsed in the mid-1990s. "Several of my friends have moved their money to safes."

The phrase "he likes gardening" has a double meaning in Bulgaria, she added. "Under communism it mainly meant people preparing jars of pickled vegetables to get them through the winter. These days, it mainly means someone is hiding money in their garden or under their pillow."

Will

AP/UPI Wire Reports

News Behind The Headlines

U.S. Cities Preparing for the Obama Riots

Cities around the U.S. have begun taking precautions, including hiring extra law enforcement, to prepare for the inevitable riots after the presidential election on November 4. One official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that “those people” will riot and loot on a whim, and that it will happen regardless of the Election Day outcome.

“If Obama loses,” he said. “It’ll be the Rodney King verdict all over again, and they’ll be all ‘oh, voter fraud,’ and ‘whitey this’ and ‘cracker that.’ If Obama wins, then it’s like the Pistons won the title or a brother made parole. It’s gonna be brutal no matter what. There’s just no escaping it.”

White people living in major cities are being encouraged to spend Election Day in the nearest suburb and vote via absentee ballot.

“Take your most valuable mode of transportation,” another official said. ”Because it will be turned over.”

Uses for $700B Bailout Money Keep Changing

First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets.

Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.

But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them. Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners keep the foreclosure wolf from the door.

As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress. In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has "deviated significantly from its original course," says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. "We need to examine closely the reason for this change," said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.

The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the "troubled asset relief program," or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying "toxic" mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices.

But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending.

Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was "beyond troubling." Sure enough, a day after Dodd, D-Conn., made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.

"Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program," Paulson recently told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. "The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now."

Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock.

"There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders," he said.

Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money "under the proverbial mattress" rather than make loans.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating. As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program.

"Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets," Kashkari said.

The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as "custodian" of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct "reverse auctions" to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities.

On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it. With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments.

"The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market," Dodd said. "And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures."

Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working "closely and creatively" with Treasury officials to "realize the potential benefits of this authority."

Hard Times Jolt Hot Economies, Even Poland’s

WARSAW - Poles were jolted last week by the sudden discovery that they were not immune to the financial crisis contagion rippling across the globe. The plunging stock market here and the drastic weakening of the Polish currency proved, as in so many corners of the fast-growing developing world, how wrong they were.

The go-go atmosphere in Poland has abruptly stilled to a cautious wait-and-see. Developers across the country have halted building projects for thousands of apartments as banks have grown stingy with lending. The boomtown energy here has been replaced by nervous eyeing of the once powerful zloty, as it retreats in value against the dollar and the euro.

The daily newspaper Dziennik summed up the mood on Friday with a front-page headline, "Welcome to the Tough Times." In a country that seemed to be on the fast track to full membership in the Western club, the question on everyone's lips is, "Why us?"

Emerging markets that seemed healthy, even thriving, barely a month ago are beginning to find themselves caught in the worldwide panic. This sharp turn has caught even the local financial guardians and experts by surprise, as they have clung to their indicators of fundamental economic soundness while forgetting that capital stampedes rarely tarry for fine distinctions.

From Europe's former Communist bloc to South America, fear and disbelief mingled with frustration that a breakdown in the United States mortgage market - one that most investors and institutions in emerging markets had avoided - was beginning to lead once again to their punishment at the indiscriminate hands of the capital markets.

Female Robber Hits 3 Ohio Banks In 1 Week

Police and the FBI said a female robber has hit three Ohio banks in one week -- a rare short-term streak of robberies and even rarer for a woman criminal. Authorities said the woman handed a note to a teller at a credit union in the Columbus area Thursday saying she had a gun and wanted a lot of cash.

Investigators said the same woman robbed two banks earlier in the week, both in the Columbus area. FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas said three bank robberies by the same person in a week is rare for anyone, male or female. Trombitas said several investigators recall the same woman robbing a bank in Columbus in January 2006.

The FBI said only 6 percent of the more than 7,000 bank robberies reported nationally last year were committed by women.

Meltdown To Make Public Transit Costs Rise?

People who rely on public transportation could wind up paying more for it thanks to the financial meltdown.

The problems stem from the collapse of insurance giant American International Group, which had guaranteed financing deals between transit agencies and banks. In a once-common practice that the IRS has ended, many transit agencies sold equipment to banks, which then leased the equipment back to the agencies.

The transit agencies got big money up front while banks got the lease payments and tax write-offs. Officials said about 30 transit agencies across the country had entered into these types of deals, involving billions of dollars.

Rob Healy of the American Public Transportation Association said fare increases, service reductions and delays in capital improvements could result.

OKC Gas Prices Fall Below $2

Some drivers have seen gas prices higher than $5 a gallon this year, but now Oklahoma City residents are paying less than $2. Despite all of the bad economic news, drivers are getting a glimmer of good news at the gas pump. Prices are at their lowest levels in more than a year and have even dropped below $2 a gallon in some places in Oklahoma City.

AAA said gas prices on Friday dropped for the 37th consecutive day and the downward trend may not be over yet.

"Oklahoma City is the lowest in Oklahoma, so we're probably the cheapest of any major metro area in the nation," said Chuck Mai, of the Oklahoma AAA.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline fell Friday to $2.78 overnight for the first time in a year, but the average in Oklahoma is much less. The statewide average is $2.25 and it's even lower in some locations. Experts said several factors should keep driving the prices down, including the strength of the dollar, lower demand, strong inventories worldwide, economies taking a beating and no bad news on the horizon.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we saw prices continue to drop in the crude oil market, down to maybe $50 a barrel," said Mai.

That could bring pump prices down another 20 cents per gallon. Mai said Oklahomans could see prices as low as $1.75 soon.

Lisa

Columbus Dispatch, Congressional Record, AP

NewsWatch

How Obama Would Handle a Surprise from Osama....
....would Obama run back to Momma?

The decision by Barack Obama to return to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother might not be the last surprise of the last fortnight of this campaign. Two weeks is an eternity in presidential politics, which means we're likely to have one more twist before this ends-though with early voting, more than a quarter of the electorate now votes before Election Day.

What will the twist be? Reviving Jeremiah Wright, which the McCain campaign is hinting at, won't mean much. Unless the Reverend Wright himself resurfaces (he's abroad and on radio silence), that thrust would be easily parried by the Obama campaign. That's because John McCain is on tape saying a man's pastor should not be relevant in judging his character. Even if an independent 527 committee were to make an attack ad involving Wright, Obama's got an obvious jujitsu response ad making McCain out to be a hypocrite.

Maybe McCain could buy a half hour of time for a big speech that realigns his campaign. Problem is, any sudden readjustments now would play into the narrative that McCain is erratic and unpresidential. And the Obama campaign has bought up most of the remaining available time across the country, anyway. In fact, the earliest McCain can launch any kind of new offensive is Saturday, when Obama returns to the mainland. Otherwise it looks like he's beating up on a guy for visiting his grandma.

But something else is going to happen. My money is on Osama bin Laden popping back up with a hate video, just as he did the weekend before the 2004 election. That tape reminded the public that the country was still at risk from this sickening terrorist and that President Bush had kept us safe for the three years since the September 11, 2001 attacks. In that close campaign, it was this video-not the Swift Boat tactics that got all the ink-that made the difference. John Kerry, who led in several polls that weekend, saw his margin melt away.

In 2005, Kerry himself said that 9/11 was the "central deciding thing" of the 2004 election and that the bin Laden video ended any chance he had of being elected. Just because it was convenient for him to say that doesn't make it untrue.

Why did the bin Laden tape do so much damage? The 9/11 attack was still fresh in Americans' memories, and the possibility of another one was on our minds. While sophisticated analysts could explain that bin Laden released the tape just before the election because he hoped Bush would win (Bush was a better recruiting tool for Al Qaeda than a President Kerry would have been), none of that got through. The tape had the effect of freezing the 2004 campaign in place. Kerry couldn't criticize Bush at all for a pivotal 24 hours.

This was partly Kerry's own fault. After his 2003 speech attacking Bush for letting bin Laden escape at Tora Bora, Kerry dropped most bin Laden references from his speeches. Internal polling by the Kerry campaign showed that voters didn't respond well to his talking points about Bush's failure to catch bin Laden, so he gave the whole subject a rest. This was a terrible mistake. Had Kerry kept the heat on, bin Laden's re-emergence would have reinforced the message that he had not been caught.

That's what would happen this time if bin Laden tried to intervene in another American election. Seven years after 9/11, the country is in a different place, and the Obama campaign would respond to a bin Laden tape in a different way. For two years, Obama has been reminding audiences that the Bush administration has failed to catch bin Laden. First with Hillary Clinton, then with McCain, Obama has made a point in debates of saying he would risk destabilizing Pakistan by bombing the border with Afghanistan if he had actionable intelligence that Al Qaeda targets had been identified. In the second debate, on Oct. 7, Obama brought up bin Laden again, making a point of stressing that he would "kill him" if possible.

McCain's position on bin Laden has opened him up to attack in a way that Obama failed to exploit. In the second debate, McCain said, "I know how" to find bin Laden. This should have led Obama to respond that if he knows how to catch him, he should have told his friend George Bush. Obama missed a chance for that riposte in the debate, but he may yet have another opportunity.

All of this sets up a quite different dynamic should bin Laden release another tape. After condemning the new tape, Obama could launch right into renewed criticism of the failure to catch Al Qaeda's mastermind seven years after 9/11. Instead of making him look like another weak Democrat, a new tape would give Obama a chance to seem muscular on national security. McCain would try to argue that the country would be safer with him, but it probably wouldn't have the potency of Bush's similar claim in 2004.

Should there be, God forbid, an actual terrorist attack between now and the election, all bets are off. But it's instructive that only three days after the 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid that killed 193, the most deadly act of Islamic terrorism in European history, the Spanish socialists won national elections. We aren't Spain, but we're also not a country that can have a whole election thrown into disarray by terrorists. At least I hope we aren't any more, though we won't know for sure unless it happens.

Real Estate: Home Prices Falling Around the World....
....a world of hurt

If declining home values have you down, and you'd like some company in your misery, here's a glimmer of good news: when it comes to the housing downturn, the United States is starting to have plenty of company.

It's been nearly three years since U.S. home values peaked at the height of what was, in retrospect, a bubble fueled by low interest rates, speculation and a general giddiness as millions of Americans began to look at their houses not only as a place to live, but as an asset that would make them rich. For years the experts assured nervous homebuyers that nationwide home prices had never fallen year-over-year since the Great Depression-a record that's come to a painful halt as the average U.S. home has now lost more than 15 percent of its value.

Meanwhile, a similar transformation has been taking place in other countries. In much of the world, home prices soared during the first half of this decade, rising far beyond the levels that you'd expect, based on traditional economic factors. In the last year, however, many of those markets have seen their housing bubbles burst, too. In fact, during the first six months of 2008, a host of economies-including that of Denmark, New Zealand, the UK, Spain, Sweden, Canada and Norway-have seen home prices fall at a faster rate than is occurring in the United States.

In a study published this month, economist Prakash Loungani of the International Monetary Fund examined how this boom-bust cycle is playing out around the globe. He and his colleagues looked at how and why home prices rose in a variety of countries between 1997 and 2007. They tried to figure how much of the rise could be explained by traditional economic drivers like income growth, population growth, interest rates, the availability of credit and the wealth being created by rising stock prices. In a host of countries, home price gains went well beyond the levels you'd expect based on those variables, and the IMF study looks at this "house price gap" as one indicator of just how bubbly each country's housing market became. In Australia, Ireland and the U.K., this gap ranged from 20 to 30 percent, and in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain the gap ran between 10 and 20 percent. In the last year, home values in all those countries have begun to fall more quickly than they are in the United States.

Atlanta AIG Layoffs

AIG got the bailout. Some of its Atlanta employees got the pink slip, according to WSB Radio.

Employees of AIG's auto insurance subsidiary in north Fulton County have lost their jobs. The workers at the company's Morris Road office packed up their personal items and were shown the door. A spokesman for AIG says the layoffs are part of a reduction in its auto group nationwide. The layoffs come weeks after AIG received a government bailout totalling $123 billion.

The company would not disclose exactly how many local workers were fired. But, prior to Tuesday, 660 people worked at the offices. One employee says they were told this was just the first round of firings and more layoffs are on the way.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Barack Obama, Delays Macon, Georgia Visit....
.....until after the November election

The controversial Chicago preacher and former pastor of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had been scheduled to preach a fall revival next week at the St. Paul AME Church in east Macon. He preached two sermons there last year. Instead, Wright will lead a winter revival at St. Paul on Dec. 15-17, said the Rev. Ronald Slaughter, the church's pastor.

Wright became a lightning rod in the presidential campaign after video clips from a few of his sermons were circulated on the Internet and reported on television news shows. During the sermons, Wright said, among other things, that the American government was to blame for 9/11 terrorist attacks and for creating AIDS to kill blacks.

A video excerpt from a Wright sermon described the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as America's chickens coming home to roost. In perhaps the most widely aired and criticized snippet, Wright discouraged his mostly black congregation from singing "God Bless America."

In the video, Wright shouted, "No, no, no, not God Bless America. God damn America!"

The controversy began in March after ABC News aired excerpts from Wright's sermons. Obama, who attended Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, initially denounced Wright's remarks but defended the man, saying he had never heard any of the controversial sermons. Obama has since resigned his church membership and distanced himself from his former pastor. Whatever.

Miss Louisiana Teen USA Winner Arrested.....
.....for not paying her restaurant bill.

The Miss Louisiana Teen USA winner has taught all restaurant diners a valuable lesson–pay your bill or you could end up behind bars.

Lindsey Evans was arrested after she ate at a restaurant with a group of friends and then left without paying the $47 bill.

According to TMZ, Evans forgot her purse at the restaurant, and when she returned to retrieve it, the cops were waiting for her. As a result of the arrest, pageant officials are stripping away the crown for her, even though her term expires in nine days.

This proves my point of what I have been saying about beauty pageant winners all along - especially the teen ones – they are all full of bull. They claim they want to bring world peace and cure world hunger, but yet, they don’t even have enough respect to pay for their own restaurant food bill.

Walter

NewsWatch

Important News Events to Follow This Week...

BIDEN RUMORED TO QUIT THE RACE, INSERT HILLARY!?

Joe Biden has in the past already sent up a trial balloon saying Hillary would have been a better choice for VP (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/09/10/bts.biden.hillary.better.vp.cnn). 360 Degrees recently learned that indeed may just be the case. Senator Biden may FAKE a medical condition to BACK OUT gracefully from the race, thus Hillary will be appointed. A condition that could be documented but would NOT preclude him from being VP. AND this will happen AFTER the VP debate so Hillary will not face Sarah Palin in a VP debate. If this actually happens, the people of this country should DEMAND a debate between Hillary & Sarah.......

It also seems Senator Biden would endorse Senator McCain if it came down to it:

WHERE THINGS STAND IN THE EFFORT TO FIX FINANCIAL MESS

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is asking Congress for unprecedented authority to buy from financial firms the troubled assets at the "root" of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. While many details remain unresolved, here's a rundown of how things stand.

Why is Treasury asking for authority to do this?

With credit markets frozen, the engines of the U.S. economy are essentially stuck. Companies are having trouble financing operations and lending for everything from homes to automobiles has slowed. Treasury argues the root of the problem is rotten assets sitting on the balance sheets of financial institutions. Buying these assets will help jump-start the economy by allowing financial institutions to raise more capital and begin lending and investing.

How much will it cost?

Treasury has asked Congress for $700 billion to buy assets but the cost could exceed that depending on how the assets are priced and how many assets are purchased.

Is it possible Congress won't approve this?

There seems to be broad agreement that something needs to be done to prevent the U.S. economy sliding into a deep and prolonged recession. With an election just eight weeks away, few expect Congress to let that happen.

Who is eligible to sell their assets to Treasury?

Treasury says any financial institution with "significant operations" in the U.S. will be eligible to participate in the program. Treasury is asking Congress for broad discretion here, saying that the Treasury secretary, in consultation with the chairman of the Federal Reserve, should have the authority to expand the eligibility if necessary "to effectively stabilize financial markets."

Who will manage the assets?

Treasury plans to hire "asset managers," financial intermediaries who will manage the assets, including buying and selling loans and securities. Treasury will use a competitive bidding process to hire the managers.

Will the government own my mortgage?

Possibly. Treasury has asked for authority to buy residential and commercial mortgages, along with mortgage-backed securities. So if a financial institution that holds your mortgage wants to dispose of it, it may sell it to Treasury.

Will this program help me refinance my loan or prevent foreclosure?

It could. If Treasury winds up owning mortgage-backed securities, as well as whole mortgages, it will have new leverage over the mortgage servicers and might be able to demand changes to certain loans. Congress is also looking to include additional provisions to help troubled borrowers stay out of foreclosure.

How long will the government hold the assets?

The government can hold the assets until maturity, meaning they could hold a 30-year mortgage for the entire 30 years or they can sell the assets at their discretion.

What will Treasury pay for the assets?

This is one of the biggest and thorniest questions. For the plan to succeed, financial institutions must be able to get these assets off their books at a high enough price so that their balance sheets aren't further pinched. But the market turmoil has complicated efforts to determine their "real" value. One reason financial institutions are in trouble is because they keep having to write-down the value of the assets as they fall in price. For the program to work, Treasury needs to pay enough that the institutions are able to record a price that doesn't exacerbate their woes.

The mechanics are expected to be worked out between the asset managers and Treasury. One option is a reverse auction. In that case, Treasury could determine a class of assets it wants to buy-such as all AAA-rated mortgage-backed securities-and would then purchase securities from financial institutions that offer to sell at the lowest price.

What will the government get in return?

This is another big open question. Some in Congress want the government to extract something from the companies that participate, such as restrictions on executive compensation or agreements that companies will modify loans on other mortgage assets. Treasury doesn't want the program to be punitive because it wants firms to participate.

What's the risk to taxpayers?

Taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill to buy the assets and could wind up on the hook if they continue to fall in price or can't be sold. Treasury has asked for authority to increase the debt ceiling, since it will have to borrow money to buy these assets. That's going to increase the federal deficit and increase interest payments on the federal debt. Treasury says the government could make money off the assets it buys if the housing market turns around and it's able to sell these at a profit.

How long will this program last?

Treasury has asked for authority to purchase assets for two years from the date the program begins.

How will this help homeowners?

In addition to potentially revising terms of some troubled mortgages, the plan could eventually make more mortgages available. If it helps revive firms, they should restart making loans for homes, small business and other matters. The aim is broader than helping just homeowners. Treasury says that without the program, the economy will stall, costing jobs, increasing costs for goods and services and sending the U.S. into a steep decline.

Additionally, The Federal Reserve has taken the extraordinary step of agreeing to convert the last two major investment banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, into traditional bank holding companies. With the move, Wall Street as it has long been known will cease to exist.

THE WORSE IS YET TO BE

Why spending hundreds of billions of dollars won't help the financial crisis....

THE Pamplona bull run - made famous by American writer Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises - starts promptly at 8am over eight days each year.

And so it did - on the dot - this year, just two months ago.

Every morning, from 7 to 14 Jul, runners dressed in white, each with a red handkerchief around their necks, were chased by six presumably fierce fighting bulls as well as two herds of relatively harmless bullocks.

Given the short distance - from the corral at Santo Domingo (where the bulls are kept) to the town's bullring (where they will fight that same afternoon) - the average time of this bull run, from start to finish, is about three minutes.

The Pamplona bull run, a part of Spain's famed Festival of San Fermin, is what you might call 'good clean fun'. Most times, no human runner ever really gets hurt (not in any serious manner, anyway), despite the adrenaline rush of its 'thundering herd'.

Not so for the bull run of another kind, in a city that never sleeps, across an ocean, six time zones away.

At precisely 9.30am on 7 Jul, in downtown New York City, a 'thundering herd' of wild and panicky investors started dumping shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wall Street - after a report suggested a change in accounting rules could require the two companies to raise more capital.

Thus began a topsy-turvy bull run that has gone astern - one that now threatens to stomp out the very foundations of the global financial system.

Over the past 77 days, what we have witnessed is the toppling of one Wall Street titan after another. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Merrill Lynch. Lehman Brothers. The American International Group (AIG).

Who might be next?

But the US is not alone. The way things are going, 'The Nightmare on Wall Street' has now caught up with 'Greed in the City'.

In a commentary in The Guardian, rogue trader Nick Leeson who brought down Barings Bank in 1995 wrote: 'Quite simply, the banks have traded recklessly over the past 10 years and have put everybody's wellbeing at risk. Anybody and everybody could get whatever credit they wanted as recently as three years ago.'

More weak spots

And that's not all. Events took an ominous turn on Wednesday when it became clear that even US money market funds - supposedly safe repositories for some $3.5 trillion in savings (roughly half of the US' M2 money supply) - were scaling back.

Yet another weak spot is the $62 trillion market for credit default swaps (CDS). This has given US regulators nightmares after Bear Stearns went kaput in March. Any collapse of this CDS market could lead to an even bigger mess than the fallout from the subprime mortgage debt. That collapse almost happened last week when CDS trading volumes reached unprecedented levels as hedge funds and dealers tried to unwind their positions.

This panic prompted the US government to save AIG, a key player in the CDS market. AIG's collapse could have nuked other banks and ushered in the unthinkable.

But, you know, the US has seen worse before.

When President Franklin D Roosevelt took office in 1933 - right in the midst of the Great Depression - about 4,000 banks had closed in just two months. It took him 100 days to roll out his New Deal program for rescuing American capitalism from the depths of the Depression.

Now, in response to what economists call the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s, the US government rolled out, in less than a day, a sweeping series of actions aimed at preventing the global financial system from grinding to a total halt. Not surprisingly, stock markets around the world rallied in relief, hoping that the US government's moves might finally address the roots of the problem.

What else needs to be done?

Leeson said: "For my role in the collapse of Barings I was pursued around the world, and ended up being sentenced to six and half years in a Singaporean jail. Who is going to go after the reckless individuals responsible for this financial catastrophe? Apparently no one."

Sad but true. the US financial mess - even if it has already taken down a few Wall Street giants - is far from over. After all, that 'thundering herd', first let loose on Wall Street 77 days ago, is still out there. Still frightened, still confused and still dangerously directionless.

Walter

Sources: WSJR, SEC sources, Wachovia Securities, AP, Fox News