Watching the Wheels

The Corral Canyon fire that destroyed several homes in Malibu on Saturday was possibly started from the campfire of a group partying in the woods, according to CNN.com.

The officials hope parties responsible will come forward for the fire that was 40 percent contained by Sunday afternoon.

The fire grew quickly Saturday morning due to the low humidity and Santa Ana winds forcing thousands to evacuate and burning more than 49 homes in Malibu, according to the LA Times.

By the time the 60-mph Santa Ana winds died down 4,700 acres had been burned.

Residents in the Malibu area are required to clear brush 100 feet from the house, but the strong winds made the 75 to 100 feet high flames burn horizontally easily jumping that barrier and burning the houses of many, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Bob Goldman said.

"Basically, we were caught in a firestorm," Goldman said. "It was remarkable. At one point I was very concerned about our safety."

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The Bush administration has given almost $100 million over the past six years on a program devoted to aiding Pakistan in securing their nuclear weapons, and the New York Times has known details about the program for more than three years according to the Times' website.

"The newspaper agreed to delay publication of the article after considering a request from the Bush administration, which argued that premature disclosure could hurt the effort to secure the weapons," the article states.
But the Times does not describe in what way knowledge of the program could be damaging to the program's objectives.

The Times informs the Bush Administration that that they plan on reopening their examination of the program after Pakistani media reported on the program.

"Early this week, the White House withdrew its request that publication be withheld, though it was unwilling to discuss details of the program," the Times' story states. Even after Pakistani media reveal the program it seems like the Times was waiting for permission from the Bush administration.

How much influence are some major news networks allowing the White House to have on what is reported on and what is not?

Although the program's $100 million in funding accounts for less than one percent of the $10 billion in aid given to Pakistan since 9/11, it still raises some questions on the Bush administration's effect on US media.

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For the past 40 years the FBI crime laboratory has been using a science called bullet lead analysis in thousands of cases as evidence in criminal trials. The science claims that the lead used for bullets can be broken down and analyzed to reveal a unique chemical signature specific to each individual box of bullets.

The forensics tool was first used in the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy to tie bullet fragments found in Dealey plaza to bullets in Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle. The science since than had been used in numerous cases until 2004 when the National Academy of Science found that the science was "unreliable and potentially misleading."

Despite the scientific body's findings the FBI released a statement on Sept. 1, 2005 defending the science saying that although they would not use bullet lead analysis anymore the FBI "still firmly supports the scientific foundation of bullet lead analysis." Additionally the government has refused to release the list of more than 2,500 people convicted in cases where the debunked science was used in court.

William Tobin, a former chief metallurgist for the FBI, conducted his own study on how well bullet lead analysis could be supported scientifically.
"It hadn't been based on science at all, but rather had been based on subjective belief for over four decades," Tobin said.

The two-to-four-year window that convicted persons have to appeal their case with the finding of new evidence is closing soon, and the FBI has remained inactive in informing the affected, their lawyers and the courts that convicted them.

Dwight Adams, the former FBI lab director that put the technique to rest, said the government is obligated to make sure no one was wrongfully accused.

"It troubles me that anyone would be in prison for any reason that wasn't justified. And that's why these reviews should be done in order to determine whether or not our testimony led to the conviction of a wrongly accused individual," Adams said.

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The 13-year-old Mexican boy who fled the country with his school teacher amid a sexual abuse case between the two might be granted a visa to return to the country.
The week before the boy and his middle-school teacher Kelsey Peterson left for Mexico he applied for a visa that is granted to victims of sexual crimes. The visa will allow him to stay in the country for another four years and eventually apply for permanent residency. His parents and unmarried sibling under 18 can also apply for the visa.

The teacher is still in custody in El Centro, Calif. where she is charged with federal charges of crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, which is punishable by 10 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The boy can only receive the visa if he returns to the United States and cooperates with authorities investigating the sex crime.
The boy said he considered Peterson his best friend but not his girlfriend. He also said they had sex "maybe twice."

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A fundamentalist church that frequently protests at the funerals of fallen soldiers was ordered to pay $10.9 million in unspecified damages Wednesday to the grieving father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who was killed in Iraq.

Albert Snyder of York, Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against Kansas' Westboro Baptist church after members protested at his son's funeral in March 2006.

In court the defendants testified that they were spreading the message of the church that believes that the U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are divine punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality. Protesters carry signs that read "God Hates Fags", "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs."

Snyder based his claim on the fact that the protest disturbed what should have been a private ceremony.

"Albert Snyder's claimed physical injury is that the protest exacerbated his diabetes," The blog "Overlawyered.com" said. But the blog called this "junk science."

The church members plan to appeal the verdict they received from the Baltimore jury.

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Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his determination to find the culprits of the recent California fires that appeared to have been started intentionally. The governor confirmed that at least two of the fires were started from arson and two other fires have suspicious origins.

"If I were one of the people who started the fires, I would not sleep soundly right now, because we're right behind you," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference attempting to persuade the arsonists to turn themselves in.

The Santiago Fire in Orange County has a promising lead regarding a white F-150 pickup. Authorities received 1,700 tips in relation to the pickup.

At the same news conference State Insurance Commissioner Stephen Poizner said his office is preparing victims of the fires on ways to recognize scam artists. There are also sting operations that hope to catch people trying to exploit the residents who have lost their homes.

The fires in California have significantly raised the air pollution levels and residents have been advised to stay inside according to BBC NEWS. Pollution levels are three times higher than usual, and residents of five counties were told to stay indoors.

Over 640,000 people evacuated their homes making this the largest mass evacuation in the history of California. Approximately 23,000 homes are still at risk from five major fires that are still ablaze.

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MSN Health & Fitness did a story on the trend of more and more children being diagnosed with ADHD, bi-polar, asthma, and allergies. Some argue the increase is due to improved technology in recognizing these medical conditions while others blame over-diagnosis.

Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children has increased 400 percent in the last 25 years. The United States prescribes more medication to treat the disorder than any other country.

BostonHerald.com did a story on the use of energy drinks and Adderall (an ADHD prescription drug) on college campuses in order to boost productivity.

A survey of 11,000 college students found that more than one out of four students from the universities selected used Adderall or similar drugs to boost their academic performance, according to Washington State Univerisity's newspaper The Daily Evergreen. The common practice of people with prescriptions selling some of their pills to peers has contributed to the increase in use of drugs prescribed to treat ADHD like Adderall, The Daily Evergreen said.

Many of my gopher peers will admit to having used Adderall as a study aid or are at least aware of friends who have. Out of those I have known to consult their doctor about the possibility of having ADHD, not one has been turned down. It makes me think some doctors would diagnose anyone with ADHD.
Who wouldn't benefit from being more productive? Let's just put it in the water and boost the productivity of the whole nation! OR... let's enforce stricter policies on doctors in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies so Adderall is not so abundant in our society.

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A recent USA Today article makes note of a dozen instances of racist actions that have received public attention many using involving nooses which was the initial antagonizing object in the Jena 6 case.
A black Professor at Teachers College of Columbia University found a noose on her office door.
Over 10,000 people gathereda/a> in Jena on September 20th protesting the conviction of the black students in the Jena 6 case.
Another one of the racial incidents was in Hempstead, NY when a noose was found in the police department locker room. The display was appraently directed at the recently appointed deputy chief, Willie Dixon. The FBI is investigating the case and Dixon said "I feel a lot better knowing that the proper authorities are taking this seriously."

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Al Gore is not running for the 2008 Presidential election, but his supporters have not given up faith that Gore will throw his hat in especially if he wins a Nobel Peace Prize that he is nominated for. The Newsweek article commenting on the nomination lists the many groups that have been fighting hard to persuade Gore to run such as DraftGore.com or America for Gore. California Draft Gore organizers have planned a concert in Iowa performing "Run, Al, Run" in hopes of convincing the former VP. Concert organizer, Peter Ryder has strong convictions that Gore would be the best candidate.
"All the other candidates are fine, but Al Gore is the one person who has international stature, the intelligence, rigor and experience," he said.

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Eight detainees of Guantanamo Bay naval base were released Sunday according to StarTribune.com. The men have apparently been at Guantanamo since 2004 when they were subjected to military review panels.

There are still 330 detainees at the base most held on suspicion of terrorism with Al-Qaida or the Taliban.

The release comes a day before the Supreme Court begins the new term which will review the right to Habeas Corpus for detainees at Guantanamo according to latimes.com. Although the Supreme Court ruled that the right to plead innocence was applicable for captives at Guantanamo, the law was changed by congress so that it did not cover foreign-born "enemy combatants" according to latimes.com.

445 detainees have been released from Guantanamo since 2002 according to StarTribune.com

StarTribune.com
Eight more released as U.S. thins ranks at Guantanamo
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1455702.html

latimes.com
Guantanamo inmates' rights to get fresh look
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-scotus1oct01,1,1305363.story?coll=la-news-a_section

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The U.S. Senate passed a bill for transportation funding including $1 billion for bridge repair, but the bill was also packed with congressional "earmarks" ranging from new bike trails in Cambridge-Isanti Minnesota to a minor-league baseball Stadium in Billings, Mont. according to StarTribune.com. The Tribune says that In total the earmarks-- "defined as congressional directives written into law for specific projects" -- amount to $2.5 billion in the recent bill passed by the U.S. Senate. In addition to the new bike trails U.S. Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. guaranteed funds for additional light rail lines including one connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul says StarTribune.com.

Earmarks are common additions in transportation bills that members of Congress seek for transportation needs that the federal government is not legally responsible for, but the controversial earmarks to this recent bill are commonly referred to as "pork-barrel" spending. The Star Tribune makes note of such projects like the Peace Garden on the North Dakota/Canada border, and the critics in Congress that such earmarks attract. "The bridge in Minnesota didn't fail as much as Congress failed," said Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. who also called for an investigative into the allocation of funds in this transportation bill says StarTribune.com. USA Today says that the report found that often "low-priority" earmark projects edge out more important projects such as the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to update high-priority air-traffic control towers.

"No one in America seriously believes that bike paths, peace gardens and baseball stadiums are more important national priorities than bridge and road repairs," Coburn said. USA Today said Coburn proposed an amendment to put a halt on all earmarks until all bridges labeled structurally deficient are fixed, but it lost 82 to 14.

StarTribune.com
Funding for bridges served with a side of pork
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1421821.html

USA TODAY
$8B in pork clogs U.S. infrastructure plans
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-09-12-earmarks_N.htm

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