A family of six was killed Tuesday in a pre-dawn house fire, and authorities suspected it was arson. Firefighters were called to the single-story, four-bedroom home just before dawn and found bodies throughout the residence, authorities said. Sheriff's Capt. Dave Compomizzo said investigators believe the fire may have been deliberately set because of "how fast it started, the potential of flammable liquids, as well as the condition of the victims." A seventh resident of the home was being questioned, but was not a suspect and had not been charged, authorities said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 23:12:00 04-10-07
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 Senior volunteer Moral Police enforce social manners |
At the respectable age of 74, most pensioners are enjoying hobbies or perhaps a trip on a cruise liner. But in communist China, it's a time to embark on a moral crusade and join the police. Hundreds of retired Beijing residents are lining up to join a government-approved Moral Police constabulary to rid the streets of the four "new pests" -- spitting, swearing, smoking and line-jumping. Wearing armbands and red caps, they appear as an elderly throwback to the 1960s Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong's Red Guards, who roamed the countryside and ousted closet capitalists, often violently. The youthful hysteria of that turbulent era, however, has been tempered with the passage of time. The new Red Guards possess pension books and publicly name and shame the bad-mannered. Retired factory worker Ma Runtian, 74, is among hundreds to sign up to walk the beat and reprimand fellow citizens for unruly behavior. ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070410-111409-5912r.htm
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Editor - 23:04:00 04-10-07
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| Panel Said to Alter Finding on Voter Fraud |
A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times. Instead, the panel, the Election Assistance Commission, issued a report that said the pervasiveness of fraud was open to debate. The revised version echoes complaints made by Republican politicians, who have long suggested that voter fraud is widespread and justifies the voter identification laws that have been passed in at least two dozen states. Democrats say the threat is overstated and have opposed voter identification laws, which they say disenfranchise the poor, members of minority groups and the elderly, who are less likely to have photo IDs and are more likely to be Democrats....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/washington/11voters.html?ex=1333944000&en=fdeb2bb80fd0b00f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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Editor - 22:53:00 04-10-07
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| In cutting taxes, liberal Sweden takes right turn |
Traditionally a European champion when it comes to high taxes, Sweden has been getting a dose of economic liberalization over the past six months from its new conservative government. In just a matter of weeks, the new government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced it is abolishing the property tax, and very symbolically, the wealth tax. The moves signal an easing of control by the state and a move away from the lavish welfare system that has been held up as a model of social democracy by a large part of Europe's left-wing for decades. "This is a step in a more liberal direction, but it's not a very big step, it's not a very radical change," said Stefan Lundgren, the director of the Swedish Center of Political Studies. ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070410-111408-6379r.htm
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Editor - 22:43:00 04-10-07
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| 3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar' |
The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military. "The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001776_pf.html
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Editor - 22:41:00 04-10-07
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| Myth of Tal Afar, beacon of American 'success' |
Pity the city that becomes a symbol of US success in Iraq. Last year,Tal Afar in the north-east of the country was being lauded in Washington as the one place where the US had brought peace. Perhaps the same prescription might work elsewhere in Iraq. Embedded American journalists scurried to this poor & depressing Turkoman city between Mosul & the Syrian border to report on the good news. Bush even singled it out for optimistic comment in March 2006. "Tal Afar shows that, when Iraqis can count on a basic level of safety & security, they can live together peacefully," he said. "The people of Tal Afar have shown why spreading liberty & democracy is at the heart of our strategy to defeat the terrorists." It was always a myth. On 27 March, a gigantic truck bomb exploded in a Shia market area in Tal Afar. It was the deadliest single bomb out of the many that have been detonated by Sunni insurgents. The Interior Ministry said that 152 people were killed & 347 wounded in the explosion....
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2439534.ece
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Editor - 22:37:00 04-10-07
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