How Not To Fly (about)

Chinese Reinventing Mao As A Rapper

[Beijing] In a desperate appeal to China's fashionable youth, the Chinese Communist Party has approved the repackaging of Mao Zedong as a rap artist.... As Mao's 100th birthday anniversary on Dec. 26 approaches, the party is keen to use the opportunity to revive interest in his ideology, increasingly regarded as irrelevant by younger, more money-oriented, generations.

Bush Mispronounces Nevada In First Presidential Visit

Bush, in Las Vegas on Tuesday, repeatedly said Ne-vah-da. To properly pronounce Nevada, the middle syllable should rhyme with gamble. Mispronouncing the state's name "sets people's teeth on edge," said state Archivist Guy Rocha. "He's the president, and he ought to get it right. Nothing personal."

Bush Brother's Divorce Reveals Sex Romps

[Houston, TX] According to legal documents disclosed Tuesday, Sharon Bush's lawyers questioned Neil Bush closely about the deals, especially a contract with Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a firm backed by Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, that would pay him $2 million in stock over five years.

"You have absolutely no educational background in semiconductors do you?" asked Brown.

"That's correct," Bush, 48, responded... He was involved in a business controversy in the late 1980s when he was director of Denver, Colorado-based Silverado Savings & Loan, which collapsed at a cost to taxpayers of $1 billion. He denied any wrongdoing, but was sanctioned by the federal government for his part in the failure.

[Bush] admitted in the deposition that he previously had sex with several other women while on trips to Thailand and Hong Kong at least five years ago. The women, he said, simply knocked on the door of his hotel room, entered and had sex with him. He said he did not know if they were prostitutes because they never asked for money and he did not pay them.

"Mr. Bush, you have to admit it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her," Brown said.

"It was very unusual," Bush said.

Kucinich's Appeal Attracts Attention

At the forum, the [Democratic presidential] candidates were asked what role their first lady or spouse would play in their White House. "As a bachelor, I get a chance to fantasize about my first lady," said the twice-divorced Kucinich. "Maybe Fox will want to sponsor it as a national contest." Kucinich, 57, added that he wants a dynamic, outspoken woman who wants world peace, universal single-payer health care and a full employment economy. "If you are out there, call me!..."

In all, the Web site PoliticsNH.com received 80 essays, many accompanied with photos, when it stopped accepting first lady applications last week. The women are now in a primary runoff. "There are thousands of us that are in love with you and would give our left arm to have a few moments alone with you..."

Pornography Foe Arrested On Prostitution Charge

[Louisville, KY] [COMPASS], whose full name is Citizens of Metro for Property and Safety and Security, has been trying to stop adult bookstores and sex shops from opening near residential neighborhoods. Riddle resigned his post [as vice chairman] yesterday...

Police said that Riddle and [a reputed prostitute] were each charged with one count of prostitution after they told officers that Riddle had picked her up to have sex for money. Riddle had a bottle of Viagra in his possession...

His arrest "shocked me to the core," said Davis, a former Jefferson County commissioner... "I've known Mr. Riddle for a long time, and this is the last thing that we would have expected to happen..."

Rockets On Donkeys Hit Major Baghdad Sites

The Palestine and Sheraton Hotels, which are adjacent, were hit by a series of rockets fired by one unmanned donkey-drawn cart in the central Saydoon neighborhood of Baghdad at about 7:15 a.m. At about the same time, another series of rockets -- also fired from an unmanned cart -- hit the Oil Ministry, igniting a fire on the fifth floor of the sprawling office building, which was unoccupied at the time....

Another military source confirmed that two other donkey-powered missile carts were found wandering in the vicinity of the Italian Embassy, in a nearby neighborhood.... There is one confirmed serious casualty from the Palestine Hotel, where witnesses said a seriously wounded civilian was removed from the building by U.S. troops after the attack.

Jeb Bush Removes Broward County Elections Chief

Taking office shortly after the 2000 presidential election, Oliphant received heavy criticism for her role in the 2002 primary in which former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno lost to attorney Bill McBride in the Democratic race.

Some voters in Broward, which has more registered voters and Democrats than any other county in the state, received bad ballots and inaccurate registration information. Several polls opened late, and others closed early. Thousands of votes were not counted until a week after the election.

Oliphant hasn't responded to repeated requests to comment on Bush's suspension order. A Democrat, she has been a frequent critic of the governor's administration.

Bush based much of his [criticism] on a report by Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, a Republican who oversees the state's election system.... Hood dismissed allegations that criticism of Oliphant was motivated by anything other than her job performance....

"This issue is not about partisanship... It is not about gender or race. It is about the people of Florida, whose rights are expressly granted in our constitution, and of their unwillingness to condone certain conduct from their elected officials. We must never forget that public office is a public trust."

Blind Collector Of Child Porn Enters Guilty Plea

[Doylestown, PA] A legally blind Lower Southampton man pleaded guilty in Bucks County Court on Monday to collecting more than 1,000 child pornography images on his home computer. According to court records, Mark Shleifer, 48, who is losing his sight due to a degenerative disease, used a special viewing device attached to his computer to enlarge sexually explicit photos of children.

A Bequest Or A Breach Of Trust?

[Philadelphia, PA] [Prudential] has appealed [Judge] O'Keefe's ruling to Pennsylvania Superior Court.... The bank denies any breach of proper business practices. It takes the position that DiCesare had a right to place his money in trust for whomever he wished -- bank managers included...

In what may have been the most dramatic moment of the trial, Prior demanded of Mazzei on the witness stand: "Tell us why $7,000, $9,000 and $201,000 were removed from Prudential on Sept. 24, 2001, after you got word that Carmen DiCesare had living relatives. Tell us why?"

"Nobody told me not to do it," Mazzei answered. "It was my money...."

Mazzei and Squitieri said in legal papers that they spent much of it. It went for cash gifts to family members, new cars, and money used for personal items including bills, cosmetics, clothes, dining, gambling, vacations, and "social and entertainment activities."

Singer Will Be Fired

Sources told the Daily News yesterday that there is "no way" the embattled scout can survive the controversy he created when he approached Ng, a Dodgers' executive, during the GM meetings Tuesday in Phoenix and belligerently asked: "What are you doing here?" When she replied that she is the Dodgers' assistant GM, Singer apparently began making fun of Ng's Chinese heritage....

Singer, a two-time 20-game winner during his 14-year major league career, was hired only a week ago... The Mets, who hired Singer based on high recommendations from numerous baseball people regarding his player evaluation acumen, have already begun the process of replacing him.

Army Medic Who Returned To Care For Kids Informed Of Her Rights

When a Colorado judge ruled that one of the Holcombs must stay home to retain custody [of their seven children], Vaughn returned to Iraq and Simone stayed behind. The Army first ordered Simone Holcomb to Fort Carson to begin processing for departure from the service. And the National Guard, where Holcomb had served for six years prior to her deployment, offered to take her back....

But at 2 a.m. Monday, Holcomb received a call from her commander in Iraq informing her she was not only absent without leave but had willfully disobeyed a commander's orders. She was advised of her rights...

If charges are filed, the National Guard agreement to take Holcomb back could be in jeopardy...

CNN Went 'Too Far' In Debate, It Admits

In an editorial written for the Brown Daily Herald, Trustman said she was called the morning of the debate and given the topic of the question CNN producers wanted her to ask: whether the candidates preferred the PC or Mac format for their computers.

Trustman said she was "confused by the question's relevance," and constructed her own question "about how, if elected, the candidates would use technology in their administrations."

But when she arrived in Boston for the debate, Trustman wrote, "I was handed a note card with the Macs and PCs version of Clinton's boxers or briefs question" and told she couldn't ask her question "because it wasn't lighthearted enough and they wanted to modulate the event with various types of questions."

Breast Milk Ad Pulled Despite Good Intent

[Salt Lake City, UT] Newspaper Agency Corp. Classified Ad supervisor Barbara Wright said she received calls, including a few from health professionals, complaining about the ad.... "We haven't ever had anyone that wanted to place an ad like that before. It's not illegal to sell it. It's not safe, but it's not illegal..."

Obscenity-Laced Chant About Coach Ends Season

[Woodside, CA] On Friday evening, after Woodside's 30-12 home loss to Terra Nova High School of Pacifica, Woodside head coach Packy Moss walked into the locker room, accompanied by a parent of one of his players. Suddenly, a handful of Woodside players shouted "f--- Packy" several times....

"This is our only course of action," Moss said of the season's cancellation. "This is about sportsmanship, respect, dignity and character. We're trying to teach these kids that this behavior is not acceptable."

Fish Farting May Not Just Be Hot Air

"It sounds just like a high-pitched raspberry," says Ben Wilson of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Wilson and his colleagues cannot be sure why herring make this sound, but initial research suggests that it might explain the puzzle of how shoals keep together after dark.

Sales Of Cloned Cattle Surging

On Sept. 20, a cow replicated identically from Circle A Forever Lady 718, one of the most prodigious herd-producing cows ever, was auctioned for $170,000 in Iberia, Mo., according to its creator, Austin-based ViaGen.... [ViaGen executive] Davis said he expects that [new] FDA guidelines will be announced in mid-to-late 2004. The industry is following a voluntary moratorium on introducing cloned animals or their offspring into the nation's food supply.