How Not To Fly (about)

Heart Attack Victim Moved For Jackson / Family Says Woman Died After Hospital Moved Her to Accommodate Flu-Stricken Pop Star

Jury selection in Jackson's child molestation child had to be temporarily postponed Feb. 15 when the pop star was taken to Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, Calif., complaining of flu-like symptoms.

Manuela Gomez Ruiz, a 74-year-old ["mother of eight, grandmother of 24 and great-grandmother of 26"], was moved from the primary trauma room and taken off the machine ventilator, with her breathing instead assisted manually by hand pump, until she was relocated to a smaller room nearby, her family told ABC News....

• "He walked in," [daughter-in-law] Anna Ruiz said. "When I saw him, he was walking unassisted."
• "Why does she have to be moved if he's coming in for a stomach flu?" [daughter] Ortiz said. "I said, 'My mother just had a heart attack and I think it's more critical than a stomach flu.' They didn't say anything."
• No one knows if moving Ruiz added to her trauma, but family members said they were told her heart was functioning at 30 percent and other organs were failing.
• "This was the last time we might be able to talk with our grandma. They took that from us," said Marcos Meraz, one of Ruiz's grandsons.

In the meantime, the Ruiz family says it has struggled to find a way to pay for the funeral. Family members told ABC News they have had to take out a loan to pay for funeral costs.

Spam Filters May Lead Scientists To AIDS Vaccine

"HIV mutates like crazy, but it does show a pattern," said Dr. David Heckerman, a physician and computer scientist at Microsoft Research.

"It isn't completely random," added Heckerman's colleague Nebojsa Jojic. Just as a spammer can add only so much nonsense or other disguising characters without obscuring the message, Jojic said, so can the AIDS virus vary only so much without disabling itself.

Schoolbook Hails Drug Traffickers / Mexican Activists Say The Lyrics Aren't Appropriate For Pupils

Opposition activists are livid that the administration of President Vicente Fox, which has declared a "war on all fronts" against drug gangs, allowed tens of thousands of copies of the book 100 Corridos: The Heart of Mexican Song to slip into grade school libraries.

The book, printed by a private publishing company but bought in bulk by the government, contains lyrics for songs like "The Red Car Gang," which describes Mexican cocaine smugglers shooting it out with Texas Rangers:

They say they came from the south
In a red car
Carrying 100 kilos of cocaine
bound for Chicago...

Another song describes female drug traffickers who poisoned police with opium to protect a drug shipment, then praises "The Lord of the Skies," the nickname for the deceased drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes:

They caught him alive
but they couldn't pin anything on him
now they can display him dead
on trumped-up charges...

Cat Clinic Outrages D.C. Parents

Many parents at the school said they were not informed about the clinic and expressed outrage that surgical procedures were performed in the cafeteria....

Health officials said that all cafeteria tables were removed from the room and that veterinary workers performed the operations on top of plastic sheets and towels that covered the floor.

Secret Tapes Not Meant To Harm, Writer Says

A former adviser to George W. Bush said yesterday that he secretly taped Bush over a two-year period when the latter was running for president for "historic" purposes, and that he had planned eventually to give the recordings to Bush for his archives....

Asked whether Bush would view the actions as an act of treachery from a trusted friend, Wead said, "It depends on what else is on the tapes.... Ninety percent of the tapes have not been heard...."

"If I released all the tapes, it would be an act of betrayal," Wead said. "Most of them have never seen the light of day and never will."

Hunter S. Thompson Dead At 67

Journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, who unleashed the concept of "gonzo journalism" in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself in the head Sunday at his home near Aspen, Colorado... Subtitled "A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream," the 1971 book included his lament on the passing of the 1960s and its "sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil."

"There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs," he wrote. "We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

Gorilla Foundation Rocked By Breast Display Lawsuit / Former Employees Say They Were Told To Expose Chests

The lawsuit goes into more detail.

• "On at least two incidents in mid-to-late June 2004, [Francine] Patterson intensely pressured Keller to expose herself to Koko while they were working outside where other employees could potentially view Keller's naked body."
• During at least three visits... "Patterson communicated to Alperin that exposing one's breasts to Koko is a normal component to developing a personal bond with the gorilla."

San Francisco attorney Stephen Sommers, who is representing Alperin and Keller, has a transcript of [Koko's 1998 AOL] chat. "There's a history with this nipple thing," he said, leafing through the transcript and pointing out the word "nipple" -- which he'd highlighted in pink -- each time it appeared....

Gorilla expert Kristen Lukas, curator of conservation and science at the Cleveland Metro Park Zoo, said she'd never encountered a gorilla with a nipple fixation.... The zoo's publicist, Sue Allen, said, "Those of us in Cleveland would say: 'Only in San Francisco.'"

A Happy Wife Makes A Happy Life / Low-Stress Marriages Lead To Longer Lives, According To Study By A State Researcher

[Wisconsin epidemiologist Elaine Eaker] found that women who avoided conflict with their husbands -- what is referred to as self-silencing -- increased their risk of dying prematurely by four times.... She said about 45% of the men in her study said their wives brought home stress from their jobs that was disruptive to the marriage, including that it interfered with their ability to do chores....

"When the woman comes home, in most cases, they have another job waiting," said Byung-il Choi, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "It creates more tension in the home. Home is for relaxing." [He] said the results of the study are not surprising....

As it turned out, married men tended to be older and heavier and had higher blood pressure and cholesterol than unmarried men. Even so, married men were only about half as likely to die during the 10-year follow up period than their unmarried counterparts.... However, for women, being married did not increase their longevity compared with unmarried women.

"Marital status is protective for men," Eaker said. "It has no effect on women."

In related news, the White House announced abstinence-only education will be expanded to finally allow mention of birth control -- but only for condoms lubricated with semen.

Woman Sees Her Rapist Working At Target

It was more than eight years ago in Indiana that Andre Johnson raped and confined a woman, the first of two sexual assaults for which he would go to prison. On Monday, the victim found herself confronted by her attacker again -- this time at a Target at Roosevelt and Canal in Chicago, where Johnson was working as a security guard.

The woman, who is a representative of a greeting card company, continued with her business, said a police source. But Johnson approached the woman, repeatedly demanding to know her name, police said. When she refused, Johnson allegedly followed her out to her car, again demanding her name and then taking down her license plate....

Officers for the Central district arrested Johnson later that evening and charged him with misdemeanor assault and failing to register in Illinois as a convicted sex offender.... Johnson, 36, told police he didn't recognize the woman and suspected she was a shoplifter.

Online Nude Photos Are Latest Chapter In Jeff Gannon Saga

The problem for Gannon, whose real name is James Dale Guckert, is that he told The Washington Post and CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week that he never launched the Web sites whose provocative names he had registered, such as hotmilitarystud.com. But a Web designer in California said yesterday that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request.

• Gannon became a target of liberal bloggers after he asked President Bush at a news conference last month a loaded and inaccurate question about how he could deal with Senate Democrats "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." They pointed to articles such as one last year in which Gannon wrote that John Kerry "might someday be known as 'the first gay president'" because he "has enjoyed a 100 percent rating from the homosexual advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign..."
• In 2003 he interviewed [Valerie] Plame's husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, after unnamed administration officials leaked her role as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak. According to his Talon News story, Gannon asked Wilson about "an internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel [detailing] a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports."
• ...the Wilmington News-Journal, citing court records, reported Saturday that Gannon -- or Guckert actually -- failed to pay Delaware more than $20,700 in personal income tax from 1991 through 1994.

The contretemps sparked questions about why the White House [and secret service] had regularly cleared him for briefings, especially since he had been denied a press pass on Capitol Hill...

Iraq Winners Allied With Iran Are The Opposite Of U.S. Vision

...in one of the greatest ironies of the U.S. intervention, Iraqis instead went to the polls and elected a government with a strong religious base -- and very close ties to the Islamic republic next door. It is the last thing the administration expected from its costly Iraq policy -- $300 billion and counting, U.S. and regional analysts say....

Thousands of members of the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite-dominated slate that won almost half of the 8.5 million votes and will name the prime minister, spent decades in exile in Iran. Most of the militia members in its largest faction were trained in Shiite-dominated Iran....

Conversely, the Iraqi secular democrats backed most strongly by the Bush administration lost big.... Pachachi's party fared so poorly in the election that it won no seats in the national assembly.

CNN Executive Resigns After Controversial Remarks

[CNN chief news executive Eason] Jordan conceded that his remarks at the January 27 World Economic Forum were "not as clear as they should have been." Several participants at the event said Jordan told the audience U.S. forces had deliberately targeted journalists...

North Korean Central News Agency Release: Only Powerful Strength Can Protect Justice

The U.S. has declared a new ideological standoff aimed at a 'regime change' in the DPRK [North Korea] while talking much about 'peaceful and diplomatic solution' to the nuclear issue and the "resumption of the six-party talks" in a bid to mislead the world public opinion.

This is nothing but a far-fetched logic of gangsters as it is a good example fully revealing the wicked nature and brazen-faced double-dealing tactics of the U.S. as a master hand at plot-breeding and deception....

We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out of the NPT [nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] and have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK.

Its nuclear weapons will remain nuclear deterrent for self-defense under any circumstances. The present reality proves that only powerful strength can protect justice and truth.

Churchill Met With Gadhafi

In April 1983, Churchill went to Libya to meet with Col. Moammar Gadhafi.... "The main thing we sought and received was diplomatic support," Churchill told the Associated Press at the time. He added, "AIM [his American Indian Movement] has not requested arms from the Libyan government."

Controversy Fuels Interest In Churchill / Speakers Bureau, Book Distributor Seeing More Queries

While several institutions have canceled his appearances amid concerns over death threats, others may be lining up to book the University of Colorado professor....

Wednesday, AK Press had nine books and four CDs in stock by Churchill, who claims authorship of 24 books. The professor has a long history of controversial remarks, including telling a local newspaper in 1987 that he taught the Weather Underground how to make bombs...

• Churchill's expected pay, if the Wisconsin date stands, would be about $4,000, a school spokesman said.
• His scuttled appearance for a Feb. 3 Hamilton College panel discussion would have paid $3,500, according to a school spokeswoman.
• Safety also was the reason for the axing of Churchill's $3,000 appearance April 5 at Eastern Washington University, which let stand a planned visit by porn actor Ron Jeremy.

"Mr. Churchill still has multiple venues for the outlet of his ideas," said EWU President Stephen M. Jordan.

Crush Chaos At Ikea Store Opening

The store in Edmonton, north London, stayed open for just 30 minutes because of safety fears and five people had to be taken to hospital for treatment....

Advertising announcing cut price offers over 24 hours attracted between 4,000 and 6,000 people to the store, according to the London Ambulance Service.

• Eye-witness Patrick Passley told BBC News there was a lack of security and trouble flared when queue-jumpers got into the store past some customers who had been waiting outside since about 1800 GMT [for the midnight opening.]
• Patricia Ming said when the doors opened one woman "pushed her way forward screaming with excitement" then the crowd rushed in through the doors.
• Ian Burlinson, of north London, said he was thrown to the ground as people surged forward and had to be rescued by a passer-by.
• Bargain-hunters even abandoned their cars on the A406 north circular causing severe traffic problems, police said.

Not many people are aware that "ikea" is the first-person conjugation of the Swedish word for "submit." Ikea, therefore, builds a large following of customers eager to dominate it in commercial transactions.

Metabolife Founder Indicted On Weapons Charges In San Diego

The gun charges are the latest legal blow for the formerly high-flying Ellis, whose company was so flush with cash that he offered the Russian space agency $15 million in 1999 to put Metabolife's logo on an International Space Station rocket.

Both Ellis and Metabolife are fighting federal charges of lying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the dangers of Metabolife 356, a popular diet supplement containing ephedra, the now-banned herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths. Both Ellis and his company have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

...according to prosecutors, the company was receiving a cascade of complaints -- some 14,000 from 1997 to 2002. Among them: 18 heart attacks, 26 strokes, 43 seizures and five deaths.

Michael Blevins, 54, a high school friend whom Ellis made a Metabolife board member was indicted in 2003 for federal gun charges.... Blevins was barred from possessing weapons for his role in the same 1988 meth lab bust [from which Ellis was barred from possessing weapons]. Blevins served time in prison; Ellis, who worked as an undercover FBI informant, received probation.

Rep. Slaughter Calls On President Bush To Explain Emerging White House Briefing Room Scandal

Dear Mr. President:

In light of the mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brought to my attention by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my district, regarding James "JD" Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.

According to several credible reports, "Mr. Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the White House press corps by your office and has been regularly called upon in White House press briefings by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that "Mr. Gannon" is a Republican political operative, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, and according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel. [Jeffgannon.com, Hotmilitarystud.com, Militaryescorts.com, Militaryescortsm4m.com, etc, are registered to the same residence.]

...please explain to the Congress and to the American people how and why the individual known as "Mr. Gannon" was repeatedly cleared by your staff to join the legitimate White House press corps?...

Respectfully,
Louise M. Slaughter
Ranking Member, House Committee on Rules

Churchill Defends Essay

[University of Colorado ethnic studies chair] Ward Churchill made the comparison in an essay written hours after the 2001 attacks and later revised for a book. He called some [9-11] victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized the Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jews....

The essay, "Some People Push Back," attracted little notice until last month, after Churchill was invited to speak at Hamilton College, a private liberal arts school. Hamilton professor Theodore Eismeier has said he found the essay on the Internet during what he calls "a casual effort to learn more about Churchill."

...Eismeier said he was alarmed by the "outlandish and odious rhetoric" and urged Hamilton administrators to withdraw Churchill's invitation.

Chris Noth Returning To 'L&O' Fold

Noth, who left the original "Law & Order" 10 years ago, will become a regular on the [Criminal Intent] spinoff beginning next season, series spokeswoman Pam Ruben Golum said Tuesday....

Noth, who was Sarah Jessica Parker's love interest, Mr. Big, on HBO's "Sex and the City," will again play police Detective Mike Logan, his character from 1990-95 on "Law & Order."

A Virgin At 23, Male [Gorilla] Makes Mild Debut At S.F. Zoo

Bawang streaked by again and clapped, prompting Oscar to disappear through an arch in a giant rock. "She's waiting for him to show his masculinity, and he didn't show it," Kerr said. "He thinks she's rejecting him, and she's saying, 'Why doesn't he come on to me?' It's a little deflating for her."

Gates Launch Hit By Name Blunder

Bill Gates unveiled the EuroScience partnership scheme at a meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, on Wednesday. But the Euroscience open forum, with a membership of over 2,100 (including several Nobel Laureates), expressed astonishment at the initiative's name....

[A Microsoft spokesperson said] "For us, the name is not as important as the programme intention and if changing our programme name is the best way to collaboratively foster innovation, we are willing to change the name."

French Protests Over 35-Hour Week

Demonstrators have been buoyed by a recent poll showing that at least 69% of the French public supports the current protests.

The demonstrations came as a bill to enable private-sector employees to opt for longer hours makes its way through the French parliament.... However, the changes would not affect the public sector, which employs nearly a quarter of all French workers.

Unrequited Love Can Be A 'Killer'

Frank Tallis, a clinical psychologist in London, is among those calling for greater awareness of the "illness" in a report in The Psychologist magazine. He said many are "destabilised by falling in love, or suffer on account of their love being unrequited..."

Prof Alex Gardner, a clinical psychologist in Glasgow and a member of the British Psychological Society, agreed that doctors needed to be more aware of lovesickness as a possible diagnosis. He said: "People can die from a broken heart..."

Embattled Alaska Attorney General Resigns

Republican Gregg Renkes said he wanted to shield his family "from the vicious politics of personal destruction."

"I must leave this office and this privilege I have treasured and held dear. A family is priceless; a job can be done by others..."

[KFx Inc.] stood to benefit from an international coal deal between Alaska and Taiwan that Renkes played a major role in shaping.... The value of Renkes' KFx stock was about $100,000...

Detective Did Not Query 'Customers' Of Blake's Wife

• When Robert Blake's wife was slain, detectives searching her living quarters found foot lockers crammed with letters from "customers" of her mail-order sex scam but decided not to investigate most of them... "Most of them were just unhappy men," said [Detective] Ito. "I don't remember any of them threatening to kill her."
• Schwartzbach asked if Ito investigated up to eight men that Bakley married for their money and then divorced. "Two come to mind," said Ito, "one in Florida and one in Utah." But he said he found they had been dead for many years.
• In other testimony, Ito acknowledged that he never ordered a gunshot residue test of the restaurant booth where the actor claimed he had left a gun -- a key element of his alibi.... if Blake had handled the [murder weapon] that night, gunshot residue on his hands could have transferred to anything he touched.

Ford Pulls Lustful Clergy Ad

In the ad released to the press this week, a Christian clergyman finds a set of car keys in the collection plate. In the church parking lot, he finds the new Lincoln truck and begins caressing the vehicle but stops when a parishioner arrives with his young daughter and explains that the child dropped the keys into the plate by mistake. After collecting himself, the clergyman posts his next sermon's theme -- "Lust" -- on the church's outdoor sign....

"We were surprised by the negative reaction," said Lincoln Mercury spokeswoman Sara Tatchio. "It was not our intention to offend anyone."

So-Called U.S. Hostage Appears To Be Toy

On the Islamist Web site, a group calling itself the Al Mujahedeen Brigade, posted a photograph of a man it claimed was a captured U.S. soldier named John Adam, and it threatened to behead him if Iraqi prisoners are not released by U.S. forces. Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the U.S. military's press office in Baghdad told The Associated Press that "no units have reported anyone missing."