Secure Border Snow

Cue sports (sometimes spelled cuesports), also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber cushions.

Historically, the umbrella term was billiards. While that familiar name is still employed by some as a generic label for all such games, the word's usage has splintered into more exclusive competing meanings in various parts of the world. For example, in British and Australian English, "billiards" usually refers exclusively to the game of English billiards, while in American and Canadian English it is sometimes used to refer to a particular game or class of games, or to all cue games in general, depending upon dialect and context.

Pool Table Lights

A race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed.

In North America, the cars used in the National Championship (currently the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, and previously CART) have traditionally been similar though less sophisticated than F1 cars, with more restrictions on technology aimed controlling costs.

High Performance Driving School

CHICAGO – Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.
The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
"Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it's not the kind of thing people want to talk about," Rank said.
The analysis was released Monday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The authors say it's a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty.
"This is a real danger sign that we as a society need to do a lot more to protect children," Rank said.
Food stamps are a Department of Agriculture program for low-income individuals and families, covering most foods although not prepared hot foods or alcohol. For a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000.
According to a USDA report released last month, 28.4 million Americans received food stamps in an average month in 2008, and about half were younger than age 18. The average monthly benefit per household totaled $222.
Rank and Cornell University sociologist Thomas Hirschl studied data from a nationally representative survey of 4,800 American households interviewed annually from 1968 through 1997 by the University of Michigan. About 18,000 adults and children were involved.
Overall, about 49 percent of all children were on food stamps at some point by the age of 20, the analysis found. That includes 90 percent of black children and 37 percent of whites. The analysis didn't include other ethnic groups.
The time span included typical economic ups and downs, including the early 1980s recession. That means similar portions of children now and in the future will live in families receiving food stamps, although ongoing economic turmoil may increase the numbers, Rank said.
An editorial in the medical journal agreed.
"The current recession is likely to generate for children in the United States the greatest level of material deprivation that we will see in our professional lifetimes," Stanford pediatrician Dr. Paul Wise wrote.
Wise said the Archives study estimate is believable.
"I find it terribly sad, but not surprising," Wise said.
James Weill, president of Food Research and Action Center, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the analysis underscores that "there are just very large numbers of people who rely on this program for a month, six months, a year."
"What I hope comes out of this study is an understanding that food stamp beneficiaries aren't them — they're us," Weill said.
The analysis is in line with other recent research suggesting that more than 40 percent of U.S. children will live in poverty or near-poverty by age 17; and that half will live at some point in a single-parent family. Also, other researchers have estimated that slightly more than half of adults will use food stamps at some point by age 65.
___

On the Net:

Archives: http://www.archpediatrics.com

USDA: http://www.fns.usda.gov

KABUL (AFP) –
Election organisers on Monday declared Hamid Karzai president of Afghanistan for another five years, cancelling a run-off which threatened to descend into farce and further destabilise the country.

The announcement followed intense diplomatic pressure and sought to draw a line under two months of political chaos in a war-torn nation where 100,000 NATO and US troops are battling an increasingly virulent Taliban insurgency.

"We declare that Mr Hamid Karzai, who won the majority of votes in the first round and is the only candidate in the second round, is the elected president of Afghanistan," Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman Azizullah Ludin said.

The president's only challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, quit the contest on Sunday charging there were no safeguards to prevent a repeat of massive fraud that threw out nearly a quarter of votes cast in August.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon met Karzai and Abdullah amid a concerted diplomatic push to bring a quick end to chaos that has undermined Western efforts to cultivate democracy in Afghanistan eight years after a US-led invasion.

Ludin, a Karzai appointee who oversaw a fraud-riddled first round, said the decision had been made in line with the provisions of Afghan electoral law and the constitution and was "consistent with the high interest of the Afghan people".

The commission also wanted to save money, given "the huge expense that the election requires" and cited security reasons as motives to cancel the poll, which had been scheduled to take place this Saturday.

US President Barack Obama said he had told Afghan President Hamid Karzai to step up efforts "to eradicate corruption" and called for a "new chapter" in cooperation between their countries.

In a telephone call with Karzai, Obama congratulated the Afghan leader but told him to make "a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption".

"This has to be point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter based on improved governance," Obama said he had told Karzai.

Earlier the White House declared Karzai the "legitimate leader of the country" but said it would begin "hard conversations" with the new president as it mulls whether to deploy thousands more troops. Reactions: World powers stick by Karzai, US says fight corruption

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is the second biggest contributor of foreign troops in Afghanistan, telephoned Karzai to urge him to plot a course of national unity.

"They discussed the importance of the president moving quickly to set out a unifying programme for the future of Afghanistan," said a spokesman for Brown.

NATO powers France and Germany urged Karzai to work with his defeated rival to end the political strife.

A senior European diplomat said there was great unease about staging a second round at a time when a Taliban insurgency is gathering pace.

The diplomat said a second round would have been akin to "a 15-round boxing match when after 12 rounds one of the two fighters says for one reason or another, 'I am leaving'", and yet the contest still goes on.

The IEC's deputy chief electoral officer Zakria Barakzai said the commission would have been in breach of article 61 of the constitution -- which states two candidates must contest a run-off -- had they allowed the contest to go ahead without Abdullah.

First-round turnout was as low as five percent on August 20 in areas worst hit by the Taliban insurgency and with the militia threatening fresh attacks. Analysts said Karzai, already tainted by the first-round fraud, would struggle to proclaim his legitimacy in such circumstances.

After Karzai snubbed a series of demands promoted by his rival as a chance to avoid a repeat of the fraud, Abdullah said Sunday that he saw no point in standing, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

The IEC initially said the run-off would take place as scheduled on Saturday, saying the deadline for Abdullah to withdraw had passed.

Insistent that first round fraud had been overstated, Karzai only agreed to a run-off under extensive diplomatic pressure.

After the August fraud, Abdullah demanded Karzai sack Ludin and suspend ministers who campaigned for the incumbent -- conditions that were stonewalled.

Karzai's share of the vote in the first round fell to 49.67 percent after around a quarter of all votes were deemed fraudulent. Abdullah won just over 30 percent.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve would police banks' pay policies to ensure they don't encourage employees to take reckless gambles like those that contributed to the financial crisis, according to a proposal unveiled Thursday.
Unlike a Treasury plan to slash pay at certain companies that were bailed out with large sums of taxpayer money, the Fed proposal would cover thousands of banks, including many that never received a bailout.
The Fed would not actually set compensation. Instead, the central bank would review — and could veto — pay policies that could cause too much risk-taking by executives, traders or loan officers.
It's the Fed's latest response to criticism that it failed to crack down on lax lending, irresponsible risk taking and other practices that many blame for contributing to the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
The Fed's goal is to make sure banks' pay policies don't encourage top managers or other employees to take gambles that could endanger the company, the broader financial system or the economy.
"Compensation practices at some banking organizations have led to misaligned incentives and excessive risk-taking, contributing to bank losses and financial instability," said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. "The Federal Reserve is working to ensure that compensation packages appropriately tie rewards to longer-term performance and do not create undue risk for the firm or the financial system."
Under the proposal, the 28 biggest banks would develop their own plans to make sure compensation doesn't spur undue risk taking. If the Fed approves, the plan would be adopted and bank supervisors would monitor compliance.
To get a broad picture of industry pay, the Fed also will internally compare and contrast results across the big banks. It is not anticipated that the central bank will make public the results of this so-called "horizontal review," Fed officials said.
The Fed refused to identify the 28 banks that will have to submit plans. But Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. are usually included among the largest banks.
Compensation arrangements for senior executives at big banks are likely to be better balanced if they involve deferral of a "substantial portion" of compensation over a multiyear period in a way that reduces the amount received due to poor performance, the Fed suggested.
At smaller banks — where compensation is typically less — Fed supervisors will conduct reviews. Those banks don't have to submit plans.
All told, nearly 6,000 banks regulated by the Fed would be covered.
Because of differences between large and small banks and the various ways compensation can be structured, the Fed said it decided against a "one size fits all" approach.
The Fed did suggest that banks, among other things, carefully review "golden parachutes," which typically provide senior executives with large payments without regard to outcomes, to ensure they don't encourage undue risk-taking.
Banks too often rewarded employees for increasing the firm's short-term revenue or profit, without adequate recognition of the risks posed for the company, one of the many factors feeding into the financial crisis, the Fed said.
"Aligning the interests of shareholders and employees ... is not always sufficient to protect the safety and soundness of a banking organization," according to the Fed proposal.
The public, industry and other interested parties will have an opportunity to weigh in on the Fed's proposal.
After a 30-day comment period, the proposal could be revised before a final plan is adopted. Fed officials said they want to move quickly but wouldn't commit to a final plan being adopted this year.

Still, the Fed said it expects banks to immediately review their compensation arrangements and implement "corrective programs where needed."

The Fed also may ban certain practices if "further experience" reveals a problem. The central bank said it will ask the public, industry and others to provide feedback on this point.

The findings from the Fed's compensation reviews will be included when supervisors rate a bank for financial soundness. Bank ratings are usually kept confidential.

The Fed also will put together a report — sometime after next year — on trends and developments in compensation practices at banks.

Although Fed officials said they were confident that supervisors would have the necessary expertise to assess compensation practices, outside experts thought the Fed might have to hire additional people to do so.

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal judge has ruled that Virginia violated the voting rights of military service members and other Americans overseas when officials failed to mail more than 2,100 absentee ballots in time for last year's presidential election.
U.S. District Judge Richard Williams also ordered Friday that the Virginia Board of Elections count and certify the absentee ballots.
The ballots from military service members and others living outside the state were the focus of a lawsuit filed by Republican candidate John McCain's campaign, which alleged that they weren't mailed in time for overseas voters to return them before the polls closed Nov. 4.
The missing ballots would not have swung the election in Virginia where President Barack Obama won by nearly 233,000 votes.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – An African man who worked for years as a nurse's aide in the United States, caring for the elderly and sick, is back in his homeland to be crowned king of his people in the mountains of western Uganda.
Charles Wesley Mumbere's coronation is scheduled Monday in the Kasese district. He will rule over Rwenzururu, a kingdom of about 300,000 people — roughly the size of Pittsburgh — that is now recognized by the national government.
Mumbere, who is in his 50s, lived in the United States for 25 years. He kept his royal roots secret until July, when he granted an interview to The Patriot-News of Harrisburg as he was preparing to return to Uganda.
"I find it was very good interacting with the people I was taking care of," he told the newspaper at the time. "It was very lovely and friendly."
In the 1960s, Mumbere's father, Isaya Mukirane, led a secessionist movement by an ethnic group known as the Bakonjo, and they recognized him as their king.
Mumbere inherited the title at 13 and took charge of the kingdom when he turned 18.
"I grew up in the mountains, fighting in the war," he said.
When he was 30, the Bakonjo and the government negotiated an agreement that provided for Mumbere to be sent to the United States for an education.
Mumbere arrived in 1984 and attended a business school until his government stipend was stopped amid political upheaval in Uganda. In 1987, he gained political asylum, trained as a nurse's aide and took a job in a suburban Washington nursing home to pay his bills, the newspaper said.
In 1999, he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, where he worked for at least two health care facilities.
He was "very loyal, a very hard worker, a very private person," said Johnna Marx, executive director of the Golden Living Center-Blue Ridge Mountain on the outskirts of Harrisburg.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) –
A bomb exploded near a police investigation bureau Friday, killing six people in an army garrison of Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar, said a police official.

Police said the bomb was apparently the work of a suicide car bomber.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and will determine how many more U.S. troops to send to the war based only on keeping al-Qaida at bay, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The sharpened focus by Obama's team on fighting al-Qaida above all other goals, while downgrading the emphasis on the Taliban, comes in the midst of an intensely debated administration review of the increasingly unpopular war.
Aides stress that the president's decision on specific troop levels and the other elements of a revamped approach is still at least two weeks away, and they say Obama has not tipped his hand in meetings that will continue at the White House on Friday.
But the thinking emerging from the strategy formulation portion of the debate offers a clue that Obama would be unlikely to favor a large military increase of the kind being advocated by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal's troop request is said to include a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 combat troops to — the general's strong preference — as many as 40,000.
Obama's developing strategy on the Taliban will "not tolerate their return to power," the senior official said in an interview with The Associated Press. But the U.S. would fight only to keep the Taliban from retaking control of Afghanistan's central government — something it is now far from being capable of — and from giving renewed sanctuary in Afghanistan to al-Qaida, the official said.
The official is involved in the discussions and was authorized to speak about them but not to be identified by name because the review is still under way.
Bowing to the reality that the Taliban is too ingrained in Afghanistan's culture to be entirely defeated, the administration is prepared to accept some Taliban role in parts of Afghanistan, the official said. That could mean paving the way for Taliban members willing to renounce violence to participate in a central government — the kind of peace talks advocated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to little receptiveness from the Taliban. It might even mean ceding some regions of the country to the Taliban.
In Kabul on Thursday, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy and killed 17 people in the second major attack in the city in less than a month. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Obama has talked positively about reaching out to moderates in the Taliban since he first announced a new Afghanistan strategy in March. It would be akin to, though more complicated than, the successful efforts in Iraq to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents to cooperate with U.S. forces against al-Qaida there.
Obama has conferred nearly every day this week on the war, and continued that Thursday afternoon with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
On Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the war launched by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Obama and more than a dozen officials in his war council met for three hours to focus on Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. Another of those larger discussions — the fourth of five currently scheduled — is set for Friday, on Afghanistan. That meeting also could feature the group's first discussion of specific troop options.
In the first two of the sessions, which are taking place in the secure Situation Room in the White House basement, Obama kept returning to one question for his advisers: Who is our adversary, the official said.
The answer was al-Qaida, as it was back in March.
Amid changing circumstances in Afghanistan, the renewed determination has big implications for the current war debate.
There now are no more than 100 al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Instead, the U.S. fight in Afghanistan is against the Taliban, now increasingly defined by the Obama team as distinct from al-Qaida. While still dangerous, the Taliban is seen as an indigenous movement with almost entirely local and territorial aims and far less of a threat to the U.S.
Obama's team believes some elements in the Taliban are aligned with al-Qaida, with its transnational reach and aims of attacking the West, but probably not the majority and mostly for tactical rather than ideological reasons, the official said.
"They're not the same type of group," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "It's certainly not backed up by any of the intelligence."
That leaves the primary aim in Afghanistan to deny al-Qaida any ability to regroup there as it did when the Taliban was in power before the U.S. ousted them.

A focus on al-Qaida is the driving force behind an approach being advocated by Biden as an alternative to the McChrystal recommendation for a fuller counterinsurgency effort inside Afghanistan.

Biden has argued for keeping the American force there around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 extra troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but significantly increasing the use of unmanned Predator drones and special forces for the kind of surgical anti-terrorist strikes that have been successful in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere.

There also is increasing reluctance among Obama's advisers to commit large additional numbers of troops because of concerns about the impact on already severely strained U.S. forces and the troubled Karzai government.

In Pakistan, however, the administration has been encouraged by the government's recent willingness to aggressively battle extremists inside its borders. Getting additional cooperation from Pakistan is delicate, as the anti-extremist operations remain extremely controversial there and the U.S.-backed civilian government in Islamabad is weak. But the administration sees opportunity there nonetheless.

Clinton has not revealed how she is leaning in the sessions, according to aides. While she is broadly supportive of building up troop levels — although not necessarily in the bigger numbers favored by McChrystal — she also believes economic and other civilian efforts must be prominent parts of the plan too, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to detail her views.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, long wary of a large troop presence in Afghanistan, appears to have grown more comfortable with the prospect of a moderate, middle-path increase.

Many lawmakers from Obama's own Democratic Party do not want to see additional U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan. According to a new Associated Press-GfK poll, public support for the war has dropped to 40 percent from 44 percent in July.

Rep. David Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee who led an effort in 2007 to block money for the Iraq war, emerged with deep concerns from an hourlong Capitol Hill briefing Thursday for House lawmakers of both parties by Obama national security adviser James Jones. Obey cited the high cost to the country of a ramped-up war, as well as doubts about the ability of the Afghan and Pakistan governments to be effective partners.

Republicans, meanwhile, are urging Obama to heed the military commanders' calls soon or risk failure. "Unnecessary delay could undermine our opportunity for success," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday.

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Associated Press writers Anne Gearan, Pamela Hess, Matthew Lee and Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

DETROIT – Kris Draper and Johan Franzen scored 1:34 apart late in the second period to put Detroit ahead and Chris Osgood made 31 saves to help the Red Wings hold on for a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in a rematch of Western Conference finalists on Thursday night.
Detroit came from behind to win its home opener after blowing a pair of two-goal leads in losses to the St. Louis Blues in Sweden.
Patrick Sharp's goal early in the second period gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead. Nicklas Lidstrom tied it midway through the period on a shot that caromed off Chicago's John Madden and past goalie Cristobal Huet.
Kris Versteeg pulled the Blackhawks within a goal midway through the second period, but they couldn't get another shot past Osgood.
Huet made 21 saves.
The Red Wings eliminated Chicago from the playoffs last season in five games, then came within a win of repeating as NHL champions.
Detroit began to put memories of its Game 7 loss to Pittsburgh in the past with a solid showing against its biggest Central Division rival. The Blackhawks improved themselves with the signing of Marian Hossa after his one-year shot at the Cup with the Red Wings didn't work out.
Hossa, though, is out until at least November after having shoulder surgery.
The Blackhawks took the first lead and had chances to add to it, but Osgood played well after he was shaky against the Blues in Sweden.
Chicago hurt its comeback chances with 8 minutes left when Brent Seabrook was called for hooking. The Red Wings played conservatively the rest of the game to keep their lead.
Detroit gave Chicago a great opportunity, though, with 1:38 when Niklas Kronwall was called for holding.
NOTES: The Red Wings signed 37-year-old F Brad May on Thursday and sent F Justin Abdelkader to Grand Rapids (AHL), hoping he would add toughness. May did, getting into a fight with Dustin Byfuglien midway through the first period. ... Sharp has scored in all three of Chicago's games. ... Former Red Wings and Blackhawks player Chris Chelios, a 47-year-old defenseman, might try to continue his career with the AHL's Chicago Wolves.

The Republican Party is harnessing the furious debate over health care to raise campaign cash from doctors, dangling the promise of including donors' names in advertising that attacks President Barack Obama's overhaul plan.
The GOP's House campaign arm says it has raised $1.3 million since June by targeting thousands of physicians across the country with phone calls and faxes, inviting them to join the fight "against any proposal that creates a government-run health care system in America."
Some 5,000 doctors have donated, said GOP spokesman Paul Lindsay, and another 10,000 have lent their names as supporters without donating.
Some of the appeals also have gone astray. Paul Kramer, an occupational and family medicine doctor in Henderson, Ky., initially liked the idea when he was called about joining the Physicians' Council for Responsible Reform, but then perceived it as "a bald fundraising effort."
"When I told the woman I wouldn't be interested in making any financial contribution, the call was quickly ended. I want reform and wanted to tell them that not all physicians were interested in seeing this effort tank," Kramer said. "I never got the chance."
The campaign is not only an example of opportunistic fundraising, but also of how both parties are vying to show backing from the nation's doctors, who polls indicate rank among the country's most trusted professionals.
Obama had scores of doctors flanking him at the White House Monday as he spoke on the issue, members of a physicians group that supported his presidential campaign. Republicans responded with a conference call for reporters with former American Medical Association president Donald Palmisano, who no longer speaks for that organization, and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., one of several GOP members of Congress who are doctors.
A brochure sent to the potential GOP contributors spells out how donors can benefit. A check for at least $5,000 earns a donor face time with "key decisionmakers" in Washington, and "media training" so they can enlist colleagues to join the effort, according to the document. Lesser contributors are promised such privileges as "special closed door briefings" or recognition on a Web site.
Price is chairman of the physicians' council that is raising money for GOP candidates. Documents provided to The Associated Press and interviews with participants in the campaign shed light on how it operates.
Doctors around the country said in recent weeks they have received an unsolicited fax from Price or telephone calls from the GOP asking them to join the physicians' council. The GOP's Lindsay said that during one three-day period alone — Sept. 21-23 — more than 5,000 doctors were contacted.
They were sent a proposed print advertisement headlined, "The RIGHT Kind of Health Care Is Not Run By Our Government." The proposed ad, in the form of a petition opposing federally run health care, showed a list of about 40 doctors' names. Among that list of names was either the name of the doctor receiving the ad or the phrase, "Your Name Here."
Lindsay said the names on some ads doctors received were made up, generated randomly by computers, while others bore the names of doctors who had previously joined the physicians' council.
The effort appeared aimed at legitimizing the Republican stance in the health care fight by implying to the doctors being solicited that other physicians were already on board. The fax seeking names for the advertisements notes its sponsorship by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Dr. Michael Harbut, an occupational and environmental specialist and researcher in Royal Oak, Mich., declined to participate but worried other doctors might see his name on materials sent to enlist them as well. He sent a mass e-mail to ensure no one thought he and Price were "singing out of the same hymnal."
No doctors' names are used either in solicitations or ads unless they consent, Lindsay said. He said ads will run in Capitol Hill publications when it's determined they'll have the most impact.
One doctor who signed on was Barton Butterbaugh of Scottsdale, Ariz., a GOP contributor since 2004. He wanted his name among doctors who are "proactive with respect to knowing what Americans need and want because each of us is out treating Americans."
___
Beamish reported from San Mateo, Calif., Fram from Washington.

The Republican Party is harnessing the furious debate over health care to raise campaign cash from doctors, dangling the promise of including donors' names in advertising that attacks President Barack Obama's overhaul plan.
The GOP's House campaign arm says it has raised $1.3 million since June by targeting thousands of physicians across the country with phone calls and faxes, inviting them to join the fight "against any proposal that creates a government-run health care system in America."
Some 5,000 doctors have donated, said GOP spokesman Paul Lindsay, and another 10,000 have lent their names as supporters without donating.
Some of the appeals also have gone astray. Paul Kramer, an occupational and family medicine doctor in Henderson, Ky., initially liked the idea when he was called about joining the Physicians' Council for Responsible Reform, but then perceived it as "a bald fundraising effort."
"When I told the woman I wouldn't be interested in making any financial contribution, the call was quickly ended. I want reform and wanted to tell them that not all physicians were interested in seeing this effort tank," Kramer said. "I never got the chance."
The campaign is not only an example of opportunistic fundraising, but also of how both parties are vying to show backing from the nation's doctors, who polls indicate rank among the country's most trusted professionals.
Obama had scores of doctors flanking him at the White House Monday as he spoke on the issue, members of a physicians group that supported his presidential campaign. Republicans responded with a conference call for reporters with former American Medical Association president Donald Palmisano, who no longer speaks for that organization, and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., one of several GOP members of Congress who are doctors.
A brochure sent to the potential GOP contributors spells out how donors can benefit. A check for at least $5,000 earns a donor face time with "key decisionmakers" in Washington, and "media training" so they can enlist colleagues to join the effort, according to the document. Lesser contributors are promised such privileges as "special closed door briefings" or recognition on a Web site.
Price is chairman of the physicians' council that is raising money for GOP candidates. Documents provided to The Associated Press and interviews with participants in the campaign shed light on how it operates.
Doctors around the country said in recent weeks they have received an unsolicited fax from Price or telephone calls from the GOP asking them to join the physicians' council. The GOP's Lindsay said that during one three-day period alone — Sept. 21-23 — more than 5,000 doctors were contacted.
They were sent a proposed print advertisement headlined, "The RIGHT Kind of Health Care Is Not Run By Our Government." The proposed ad, in the form of a petition opposing federally run health care, showed a list of about 40 doctors' names. Among that list of names was either the name of the doctor receiving the ad or the phrase, "Your Name Here."
Lindsay said the names on some ads doctors received were made up, generated randomly by computers, while others bore the names of doctors who had previously joined the physicians' council.
The effort appeared aimed at legitimizing the Republican stance in the health care fight by implying to the doctors being solicited that other physicians were already on board. The fax seeking names for the advertisements notes its sponsorship by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Dr. Michael Harbut, an occupational and environmental specialist and researcher in Royal Oak, Mich., declined to participate but worried other doctors might see his name on materials sent to enlist them as well. He sent a mass e-mail to ensure no one thought he and Price were "singing out of the same hymnal."
No doctors' names are used either in solicitations or ads unless they consent, Lindsay said. He said ads will run in Capitol Hill publications when it's determined they'll have the most impact.
One doctor who signed on was Barton Butterbaugh of Scottsdale, Ariz., a GOP contributor since 2004. He wanted his name among doctors who are "proactive with respect to knowing what Americans need and want because each of us is out treating Americans."
___
Beamish reported from San Mateo, Calif., Fram from Washington.

Creators Syndicate –
The Pentagon's pre-emptive strike came with the leak of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's confidential review of the Afghan war to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post.

McChrystal's painting of the military picture was grim.

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."

If I don't get the troops to reverse the Taliban gains, said McChrystal, we face "mission failure." A Saigon ending to the Afghan war. Word was quickly out that McChrystal wanted 40,000 troops, to bring U.S. force levels to 110,000 and coalition forces to 140,000.

Last week, a three-hour review was held at the White House. McChrystal participated by teleconference. His strategy — fight a counterinsurgency against the Taliban by taking and holding population centers, protecting the Afghan people and building up Kabul's army, economy and government — was challenged.

Among those urging a smaller U.S. footprint and a strategic shift from fighting the Taliban to killing al-Qaida in Pakistan with drone and Special Forces strikes was Joe Biden.

McChrystal answered Biden in a speech and Q-and-A session in London, all but saying Joe ought to stick to the rubber-chicken circuit and leave war to the warriors. A "counter-terrorist focus" like the Biden strategy, said McChrystal, would lead straight to "Chaos-istan."

Would he support it?

"The short answer is no," said McChrystal. "Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support" — a shot at what critics are calling Obama's dithering in deciding on McChrystal's troop request.

Obama, said to be "furious," called McChrystal to Copenhagen for a 25-minute face-to-face on Air Force One.

Yet McChrystal is now quoted in Newsweek about any half measures to reverse a deteriorating situation. "You can't hope to contain the fire by letting just half the building burn."

Sunday, National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said of the McChrystal-Obama meeting, "I am sure they exchanged direct views."

Jones went on to suggest McChrystal's recommendations were merely the general's "own opinion" of "what he thinks his role within that strategy is." Other factors must go into the final decisions on strategy and force levels. Among them, said Jones, is the election debacle in Kabul that made Tehran's vote look like Iowa.

Jones tossed ice water on McChrystal's urgency. Afghanistan is "in no imminent danger of falling to the Taliban," and al-Qaida has "less than 100" fighters in the country, "no bases, no buildings to launch attacks either on us or our allies."

As for McChrystal's public campaign, said Jones, "It's better for military advice to come up through the chain of command."

Concentrating the minds of all on Sunday was news that 10 U.S. soldiers were killed, two by an Afghan solider, eight when their remote outpost near Pakistan was attacked by hundreds of Taliban.

As Obama approaches the pivotal decision of his presidency, here is where the major players seem to be lining up.

McChrystal believes so strongly in the need for 40,000 troops he could resign his command if denied them. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Michael Mullen seems to be in the McChrystal camp.

Gen. David Petraeus, regional commander for Afghanistan and Iraq, has yet to commit himself. But as architect of the surge in Iraq, he would seem to support McChrystal. What Petraeus will do, if the McChrystal request is denied, is the big question in Washington. For Petraeus reportedly sees himself as a presidential candidate.

From her own words, Hillary is with McChrystal: "Some people say, well, al-Qaida's no longer in Afghanistan. If Afghanistan were taken over by the Taliban, I can't tell you how fast al-Qaida would be back in Afghanistan."

This challenges what Gen. Jones said Sunday when he minimized the al-Qaida threat in Afghanistan and the Taliban threat to Kabul.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be a key player. It was he who relieved Gen. David McKiernan of his command in May, saying we need "fresh thinking," and turned Afghanistan over to McChrystal, whom he described as a soldier who shared the perspective of Petraeus. Can Gates come down against the general he appointed only months ago?

Yet Biden is not alone. Jones is receptive to his views, as are a majority of Obama's party on the Hill, as are White House aides who see Afghanistan as Obama's Vietnam, as is most of the nation.

Obama is thus being told by the McChyrstal camp: If you do not send the 40,000, you lose the war and the presidency. He is being told by the Biden camp: If you send the 40,000, Afghanistan will be your Vietnam; you will not win it by 2012; and you will lose the presidency.

Look for Obama, not a natural Decider, to split the difference and send a few thousand U.S. troops to train the Afghan army.

Patrick Buchanan is the author of the new book "Churchill, Hitler and 'The Unnecessary War." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM

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PADANG, Indonesia (Reuters) –
Health workers fanned out across Padang on Tuesday to douse the Indonesian city with disinfectant over concerns about disease outbreaks six days after a deadly earthquake rattled Sumatra.

The rescue mission in Padang, a port city of 900,000, and in surrounding hills devastated by landslides has now turned to a huge relief effort to help thousands who have lost their homes. While aid has poured into the area, the scale of the disaster, heavy rains and damage to roads has meant that some relief supplies have built up at various points, triggering anger on the ground.

"I have seen reports on TV of boxes piling up at the airport and not making it to victims. That's not fair. Those are the secondary items, not the priority items like food and water," said Gamawan Fauzi, the governor of West Sumatra.

On Monday, Reuters correspondents in a number of different areas were told by villagers that little if any aid had arrived.

"Yesterday all I had to eat was a packet of instant noodles. All of us are hungry. We hear on the radio very nice words that aid is pouring in, but where is it?," asked Erol, a resident with a 10-day-old infant in Pasa Dama, a village outside Padang.

Governor Fauzi denied that any of the aid supplies were falling into the wrong hands.

"The receipt of aid is signed off by the head of each sub-district. So we know what they have received. I think the risk of corruption is small, but if anyone is caught doing that they must punished," added Fauzi.

The governor said rotting bodies were a big hazard to health now and experts were monitoring for cases of cholera and tetanus. "We have sent out of a lot of disinfectant and we will spray in Padang today," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono criticized on Monday evening local officials in the quake-hit area for not focusing enough on emergency needs and too much on reconstruction needs.

"What I want to know is what is being done for emergency steps, such as food supply, electricity supply, fuel supply and other aspects," Yudhoyono said before a cabinet meeting.

The president also called for an Aceh-style reconstruction.

"In my view I think we could implement what has been done in Aceh, Nias and Yogykarta," he added.

The rebuilding of Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra after the 2004 tsunami has largely been held up as success, while massive rehabilitation also took place on the island of Nias, also in Sumatra, and in the city of Yogyakarta in Java after quakes.

Yudhoyono thanked fellow Muslim nation Saudi Arabia for donating $50 million to the recovery effort. Aid from at least 16 nations and international bodies has arrived since last week, although foreign search and rescue teams are now leaving.

Indonesia's official death toll from the quake is 625 dead and 295 missing, but Indonesia's health minister has said the toll could reach as high as 3,000.

(Additional reporting by Olivia Rondonuw in Jakarta; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)