[A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida says the group is against the pink plates because they punish and ridicule.]

According to the ACLU drivers with DUI's are not to be punished.

________________________________


Pink plates for DUI's in Florida?


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Clearwater, Florida - A state senator wants bright pink license plates on vehicles driven by convicted drunk drivers with limited driving privileges.

Republican senator Mike Fasano of New Port Richey filed a bill earlier this month that requires the first three characters on the
plate to read "D-U-I."

Fasano says this might embarrass people and make them think twice about drinking and driving.

The bill also says police may stop any vehicle with a D-U-I plate without probable cause to check the driver.

Ohio and Michigan have similar laws in place. Other states have debated the issue, but failed to pass it due to privacy reasons.

A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida says the group is against the pink plates because they punish and ridicule.

ACLU: Extend tax break to all religious books

By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/15/05

A retired Atlanta librarian and a Sandy Springs bookshop owner are challenging a state law that grants a sales tax exemption for purchases of the Bible and other books pertaining to "Holy Scripture."

Their lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, said if such works are exempt from sales and use taxes, other philosophical, religious and spiritual works should be as well.

"The law is written in such a way that minority religions don't get the same tax exemption as better-known religions such as Christianity and Judaism," said Maggie Garrett, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, which represents the two plaintiffs.

State law exempts from sales tax all "Holy Bibles, testaments and similar books commonly recognized as being Holy Scripture." The decades-old law also exempts "any religious paper ... when the paper is owned and operated by religious institutions and denominations," but it does not define religious paper.

State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, the defendant in the lawsuit because his agency oversees collection of sales taxes, said he was unaware of the dispute until notified of the lawsuit Monday afternoon.

"Most organizations or advocates will approach us to isolate a specific issue they have," Graham said. "Often we can take a number of issues off the table, either by rule or regulation. ... We don't like to start in court, but if someone wants to go down that road, we're more than happy to accommodate them and work through the issue."

Graham said his office, responding to a previous inquiry, had suspended the sales tax for purchases of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. But the office has not had inquiries about other religious or spiritual texts, he said.

Heather Hedrick, a spokeswoman for Gov. Sonny Perdue, said, "It appears that the question lies in the definition of Holy Scripture."

Filing suit were Thomas Budlong, a retired librarian and former president of the Georgia Library Association, and Candace Apple, who owns the Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore, which specializes in metaphysical books.

Apple said if the state is not going to tax the Bible, "it should be consistent and not tax scriptures from other religions and traditions or from a philosophical bent of those who do not follow a particular religion but who are searching for life answers."

If two customers are standing at the counter, one buying a Bible and another purchasing a sacred Hindu text, "I shouldn't have to say to the person buying the Bible, 'You don't have to pay tax because you have the right religion,' " Apple said Monday.

The lawsuit notes that Apple could be prosecuted for a misdemeanor for not collecting sales tax on her store's metaphysical and spiritual books.

Budlong objected to having to pay sales tax on his recent purchases of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values" and "The Bhagavad Gita," a sacred Hindu text, the lawsuit said.

The tax exemption is unconstitutional because it has "the primary effect of endorsing religion in general and Judaism and Christianity in particular," the lawsuit said.

Garrett, the ACLU staff attorney, emphasized that the lawsuit does not seek to strike down the sales tax exemption for Bibles and other Holy Scripture works.

"We're just saying the exemption should be broader so that it applies to religious text and nonreligious text."

The ACLU lawyer said the easiest solution is for the Legislature to amend the statute so that it encompasses a broader spectrum of religious and spiritual materials.

"I wouldn't expect it," said Michelle Hitt, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram). "It's not an issue that's been discussed, at all."

The law dates back to 1950s when Gov. Ernest Vandiver issued an executive order suspending the sales tax. Gov. Lester Maddox issued a similar order in 1970, and the Legislature approved it the following year.

French riots boost far right

By ELIZABETH BRYANT
UPI Correspondent

PARIS, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- It seems a flashback to 2002: The boisterous crowds cheering him on, the media attention, the sense that Jean-Marie Le Pen's French-first, immigrants-go-home message is again resonating in France.

Five years after capturing second place in presidential elections, the head of France's far-right National Front is again making waves -- or rather riding them, as he coasts on the backlash of more than two weeks of violence staged by ethnic-immigrant youths that has roiled this country.

"Immigration, explosion in the suburbs...Le Pen foretold it," reads a banner on his website, accompanied by alarming video images of the country's gritty housing projects going up in smoke.

"This kind of violence by ethnic immigrants naturally fits into the thesis of Jean-Marie Le Pen," said Steven Ekovich, a French politics professor at the American University in Paris. "And he's going to try to profit from this to rebuild his political fortunes based on a fear of violence coming from the suburbs. Not only from the immigrants, but also from the children and grandchildren of immigrants."

Along with soul-searching about whether France's theoretically colorblind integration model is a failure, the rioting and arson attacks that erupted Oct. 27 have also sharpened simmering anti-immigrant sentiments among some French, and support for a law-and-order response among many.

A poll published in Le Parisien newspaper last week found nearly three-quarters of the population supported the current state of emergency which has been extended until February. More than eight out of 10 French said they were "outraged" by the violence.

At a Monday night rally in Paris, 77-year-old Le Pen showed he could still pump up a crowd.

"For years, if not for decades we've been repeating our alarm," the National Front leader bellowed to several hundred gathered across the street from the Louvre Museum. "...of a massive immigration from outside Europe that will result in the submergence and ruin of France, and unhappiness of the immigrants themselves!"

The crowd erupted in clapping and whistles. Then came a steady drumbeat: "Le Pen, President."

"Le Pen is right -- the proof is there with the riots," said a 71-year-old retiree who gave his name only as Robert, and said he lived in some of the housing projects roiled by unrest.

"Look who's been staging the unrest?" he asked. "The blacks and the Arabs. These are racist, anti-white riots."

As France's center-right government grapples for ways to quell the unrest and find long-lasting solutions to its causes, Le Pen's prescriptions are clear cut: Stop immigration and kick out illegal immigrants; dismantle "ethnic ghettos" and give French preference in social services and jobs.

And, he now suggests: Start deporting second-and third-generation immigrants of French nationality who refuse to follow the country's laws and therefore do not deserve to be French citizens.

"The problem is that French never wanted immigration, but we weren't consulted" said 45-year-old Remy Carillon, who carried a sign Monday night reading: "No to Turkey in Europe," in reference to Ankara's quest to join the European Union. "If our government had asked citizens if they wanted immigration for the past decades we French and Europeans would have said, 'no. That's enough.'"

Le Pen claims such sentiments have already boosted the National Front's membership by 3,000-4,000 members since the riots began. And a poll published Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche placed his popularity at 24 percent -- just five points behind that of France's embattled President Jacques Chirac, his one-time presidential rival.

Five years ago, Le Pen convulsed the nation by placing just behind Chirac in the first-round of presidential elections, with 18 percent of the vote. Although the French president won the second round handily, the outcome was generally viewed as a massive rejection of extremism, rather than an endorsement for Chirac.

Le Pen has declared he will run in the 2007 presidential elections. Besides the handicap of his age -- he will be nearly 79 -- it is far from clear whether current French resentments will translate into massive support for the Front 18 months from now.

"Jean-Marie Le Pen says people are joining his party right now, but he has problems," said Nonna Mayer, a research director at the Paris-based Center for the Study of French Political Life, who is an expert on the far right. "First, the elections aren't tomorrow, and many things can happen."

The National Front is also deeply divided between supporters of the old guard -- led by Le Pen's chosen successor Bruno Gollnisch -- and a new generation, lead by Le Pen's daughter Marine, who are trying to soften the party's extremist image.

Political rivals are also cashing in on Le Pen's anti-immigration, law-and-order message. Chief among them: Philippe de Villiers, head of another rightist party, the Movement For France.

Like Le Pen, de Villiers has also declared his candidacy for the 2007 elections. His message to the rioting youths has essentially been "France, love it or leave it."

"De Villiers embodies a more radical right, but less extremist, more respectable one than the National Front of Jean Marie Le Pen," Mayer notes. "So that could steal away voters, especially those from the traditionalist right who adhere to values of family, order, authority, religion."

France's popular Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, has also been accused of hardening his discourse to attract National Front supporters -- with an eye, too, on a presidential run. While he sparked controversy recently for calling the young rioters "scum," Sarkozy remains France's most popular politician, with about 57 percent support in recent polls.

"I'm not afraid Mr. Sarkozy is trying to take my ideas," Le Pen said Monday, during an interview on Radio Monte Carlo. "Bravo. It shows my ideas are getting somewhere. It's the lePenization of thinking."

Others are not so sure. Even as Le Pen's anti-immigrant message draws new adherents today, experts say these same French may see immigrants very differently tomorrow.

"The opinion is divided," Mayer says. "There is the opinion among some that there is illegal immigration and we must fight against it. But as the population gets older, maybe we'll be very happy to have these immigrants in a few years -- to pay for our social security, to pay for our retirement funds."

Tropical Depression 27 forms over the eastern Caribbean

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

MIAMI, USA: The twenty-seventh tropical depression of the 2005 hurricane season has formed over the eastern Caribbean Sea, bringing heavy rains to portions of the Lesser Antilles.

According to the 11pm EST advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the depression could become Tropical Storm Gamma on Tuesday.

Interests throughout the Caribbean should monitor the progress of this system.

At 11 am EST Monday, the centre of tropical depression twenty-seven was located near latitude 14.5 north, longitude 65.3 west, or about 275 miles south of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph and a turn to the west is expected during the next 24 hours.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph, with higher gusts.

The depression is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 8 inches over the Windward Islands and 1 to 3 inches over the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Isolated maximum amounts of 10 to 12 inches will be possible over the higher terrain areas of the Windward Islands, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

For storm information specific to your area, including possible inland watches and warnings, please monitor products issued by your local weather office.

Colombian volcano threatens eruption
15/11/2005 - 14:11:43

Authorities today began evacuating 1,500 residents living on the slopes of a volcano in south-west Colombia over concerns it is about to erupt.

The evacuation order was given last night and emergency officials early today began knocking on the doors of the poor subsistence farmers who live on the Galeras volcano, located near the Ecuador border 340 miles south-west of Bogotá, said Roberto Torres, a geologist at Colombia’s Geology and Mines Institute.

'Quake orphans are being taken away for jehad'


 Children orphaned by the Kashmir earthquake are being "adopted" by terrorist groups that hope to train them to fight in the jehad, or holy war.

Pakistan's leading human rights organisation, the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, said jehadi groups fighting the Indian government were taking orphans off the streets and putting them in training camps.

The organisation said it also had evidence that sympathetic government officials were passing children on to the jihadis to be looked after.


The popularity of the Islamic militants has risen sharply since the earthquake struck on October 8, killing more than 87,000 people.

The militants were among the first to arrive with aid at some of the worst affected villages. Their organisation and ability to commandeer lifting equipment and tents have generated significant new support.

 But according to human rights campaigners they are using their new popularity to smuggle weapons and recruit the young and vulnerable.

"We have heard from very reliable sources and seen with our own eyes that orphaned and lost children are being taken by jehadi organisations in northern Pakistan to be trained," said Fahad Burney, of the trust.

Jamaat-ud Dawa, one of the largest jihadi groups in Pakistan, has called openly for orphans to be handed over for an "Islamic education".

Pakistan moved quickly following the quake to ban adoptions after aid agencies warned of child trafficking.

Another hazard facing children is pneumonia, which is taking its toll among the 750,000 survivors living in tent camps.

I haven't been in the forum as much as I would like to lately because of lower back pain and a frozen shoulder. I thought it was bursitis. Pray that God will intervene so I won't have to take any more medicine than I already take.

My prayers are with you sister.

 PA Hopes For Arab Majority in Land of Israel by 2010
11:11 Nov 15, '05 / 13 Cheshvan 5766

(IsraelNN.com) According to the Palestinian Authority's Bureau of Statistics, there are 4.7 Arabs in the Land of Israel (between the Jordan River and the Medditeranean).

The PA envisions that by 2010 there will be an Arab majority in the region. "At that point we will tell the Israelis that we are offering them an Israeli State," read a statement from the Bureau.

The PA hopes to speed the demographic growth through importing Arabs from throughout the Middle East to Gaza in order to threaten Israel with the demand for a binational state between the river and the sea that would be an Arab one.

Recent demographic studies have undercut many of the methods used by the PA Statistics Bureau however.

Saudi Arabia annuls embargo on Israel

Arab state to lift its economic embargo on Israel, as precondition to become member of World Trade Organization. Move is important milestone, may foretell relations with Arab countries in future, Israeli official says
Ynet

Saudi Arabia has agreed to annul its economic embargo on Israel, thus paving its way to become a member of the World Trade Organization , Israeli and American sources reported Tuesday.

 
The country is expected to officially join the international organization on December 11th, two days prior to the opening of the WTO's convention in Hong Kong.

 
All states that are members of the organization are obligated to adhere to the WTO's legislation, which include demands for the liberalization of various economic sectors, as well as a commitment to open the country's markets to trade with other member states.

 
The process to approve Saudi Arabia's appeal to register with the WTO has persisted for 12 years, in part due to the Arab embargo on Israel, which goes against the organizations' regulations.

 
A promise for the future?

 
Israel's ambassador to the trade organization, Yitzhak Levanon, said that Saudi Arabia has presented sufficient warranties to attest for its willingness to abide by the WTO's rules once it becomes a member, including the rule that pertains to the ban on embargos against other member states.

 

Levanon said he was pleased with Saudi Arabia's decision to bear with the rules, and added that he hopes this move will open the door for a better future in the region.

 
"Such embargos within the WTO are totally unacceptable. Once Saudi Arabia has accepted these rules, the door for future relations, when the time comes, has opened," he added.

 
Saudi Arabia's Assistant Minister of Petroleum Affairs Prince Abdulaziz, was more vague in his comment on the issue, and said that "they (Israel) are there as members of the organization, and so are we, there is nothing more to it."

 
According to Yair Shiran, deputy director-general for foreign trade in the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry, the Saudi obligation to remove the embargo represents an important milestone, in light of the fact that there are currently several other Arab states that are in stages of accession to the WTO.

 
These countries will also have to lift the embargo, if they wish to become members of the organization, he explained.

 

Sharon's son faces jail for election fraud
By Simon Freeman and agencies
The eldest son of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, today faces jail after pleading guilty to breaking campaign financing rules.

Omri Sharon admitted falsifying corporate documents, perjury and violating the party funding rules during his father's campaign in primary elections for the Likud Party in 1999. Mr Sharon was later elected Prime Minister in 2001 and 2003.

Omri, who must now step down as a member of Israel’s parliament, pleaded guilty to the charges at the opening of his trial before a court in Tel Aviv.

Dan Sheinman, his attorney, told Israel Radio that his client is demanding a light sentence in return for the guilty pleas. More serious charges of fraud and breach of trust were dropped.

The charges carry a maximum of seven years in prison. Although prosecutors have insisted that Omri must be sent to prison, the term is expected to be much shorter.

No details were given in court today but Mr Sheinman explained that under campaign law in 1999  politicians were allowed to collect only 800,000 shekels (£97,243) for party primaries. Omri collected about 6 million shekels (£747,000).

Menachem Mazuz, the Attorney General, decided to press charges against Omri in July, but had to wait until a Bill was passed limiting MPs’ immunity against prosecution before the court formally indicted him in late August.

Ariel Sharon was questioned by police but has always insisted he had no knowledge of the financing of his campaign, saying it was run exclusively by his son who is one of his closest advisors.

In court papers, prosecutors have said that a shell company controlled by Omri, Annex Research, took contributions from companies in Israel and abroad worth some $1.3 million (£750,000) which were illegally ploughed into his father’s campaign.

Evidence taken from taped phone conversations and documents in the 41-year-old’s handwriting formed part of the evidence against him, with prosecutors arguing that he disguised the true purpose of Annex and effectively "laundered" the incoming funds. Foreign funding of political campaigns is illegal in Israel.

Last year, the Prime Minister was cleared of involvement in a corruption probe into a property scandal known as the Greek island affair, in which he was suspected of accepting a bribe via his other son Gilad when he was foreign minister in the late 1990s.

The law has never been enforced, and character witnesses will testify that Omri is an upstanding public figure, Mr Sheinman said.

In addition, he said, lawmakers are now updating the legislation with more realistic figures.

"All of these things have great significance regarding the punishment, not regarding the actual violation of the law. We admit the violations ... he (Omri Sharon) takes full responsibility for this," Mr Sheinman said.

"He has to pay a price, but the price has to be very, very moderate."

Ariel Sharon’s two terms as Prime Minister have been marred by scandals over campaign financing and real estate deals since 2003, but he has not been indicted

Last June, Meni Mazuz, the Israeli Attorney-General, dropped a long-running bribery case against Mr Sharon, citing lack of evidence, despite the chief prosecutor’s recommendation to indict him.

The Public Security Minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, was forced to resign as police probed allegations that he appointed dozens of political allies to posts when he previously served as environment minister.

The Infrastructure Minister, Yosef Paritsky, was also sacked after he was exposed for trying to incriminate a party colleague in the run-up to primary elections.

Israel’s state comptroller delivered a withering verdict on the culture of cronyism and corruption at the heart of government in May, warning that it threatened the whole fabric of the state.

Presenting his annual report, Judge Eliezer Goldberg denounced "the corruption of power" which he said was "more dangerous than any other threat to which the state is exposed."

Powerful earthquake hits northern Japan
Tokyo, Japan   
15 November 2005 07:30
A powerful earthquake shook northern Japan early on Tuesday, triggering small tsunami waves that struck towns along the north-eastern coast about 350km away. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said the magnitude-7,1 quake hit at 6.39am local time off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, and issued a tsunami warning.

About 400 households along the coast were temporarily ordered to evacuate, public broadcaster NHK reported. Local authorities also ordered fishing boats to move to open water to avoid being washed up on the shore.

Small tsunami waves measuring up to 50cm hit Ofunato city on the coast of Iwate prefecture nearly an hour after the quake, the agency said.

Smaller tsunami waves hit at least four other coastal towns in Iwate, Aomori and Miyagi provinces, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The agency called off the tsunami warning about two hours after the quake.

Tsunami waves -- generated by earthquakes -- are often barely noticeable in the ocean, but can rise to great heights once they arrive at shore.

Tuesday's quake shook buildings across a wide area of northern and eastern Honshu, including Tokyo, and Hokkaido.

Express train services between Tokyo and north-eastern Japan were temporarily suspended for safety checks, but resumed later, NHK said.

Tokyo's metropolitan area is home to about 35-million residents, or a quarter of Japan's population.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because it sits atop four tectonic plates. A 7,2-magnitude earthquake shook north-eastern Japan in August, injuring at least 59 people, triggering landslides, damaging buildings and causing widespread power outages.

There was no destructive Pacific Ocean-wide tsunami threat following Tuesday's earthquake, based on historical quake and tsunami data, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

However, earthquakes as large as Tuesday's can generate a local tsunami capable of causing destruction along coastlines within 100km of the epicentre, according to the centre.

In 1993, a quake off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido triggered a tsunami measuring 30m tall on Okushiri Island, flattening homes there within minutes. More than 200 people died in the waves, and in fires caused by the quake.

A quake with an estimated magnitude of 8,3 hit Tokyo in 1923, killing 142 000 people. Tsunami waves followed that quake, but caused relatively little damage. -- Sapa-AP

It's great to see you, Brother. I'm sorry to hear about the pain though. Take care now and get plenty of rest.

I use both Opera and Firefox...i've gotten the latest Release Candidate for Firefox and it seems to be working fine. You all are correct about removing IE will cause major problems. That's microsoft's way of making things harder for PC's to be independent. I won't even use IE unless i'm getting windows updates from Patch Tuesday and occasionally when I want to do a virus scan from http://housecall.trendmicro.com which is a free virus scan. I dunno what the rules are about virus scanning websites, but it's worked for me so far. I use a cocktail of different services such as adaware, sygate firewall, peer guardian, microsoft antispyware beta 1 and avast antivirus...all right after the other so my machine stays pretty clean. I have mixed emotions about Spybot Search and Destroy, but i may break down and give it a try. Just a few thoughts.

Coram Deo,
Joshua

Spybot S&D is a pretty good program but with the other programs that you already have you will have to be careful what you remove with it. For example, Spybot recognises certain Adware cache files as adware bots and will remove them. Adware will still run but it won't be able to detect those adware bots if you have them in your system.

 

You are right Brother Tom. Portions of I.E. support many other functions in Windows programs. One of these is Desk Top functions. To delete it would make the desk top inoperative and therefore no computer.

Hi livingforthelord,

I see this is your first post so first I would like to welcome you to the forum.

I have a big disk drive so storage is not a problem for me. I personally would not delete the MS programs. There is a way though to change which ones are default and which ones are not.

I am not positive as to how to do that on Win2000. On the Win XP it is located in the Add/Remove Programs folder under the "Set Programs and Defaults" tab. When programs such as FireFox and Thunderbird etc are set as the default program they will be accessed much quicker and you wont have that problem you are talking about either.