HavenWorks.com/people/archive/2007

A-Z

!Search

News by Date

NewsStand

_Global_

_US_

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

- People Archive
People News, People News History Archives

Use "Ctrl F" [control F] to FIND what you're looking for.
"Right Click" - "Open in New Window." to avoid reloading this page.
2007 People News History Archives


	ARCHIVES NEWS People News History Archives People Archives 2006 Peoples Archive 2005 Peoples Archive 2004 Peoples Archive 2003 Peoples Archive 2002 Peoples Archive 2001 Peoples Archive Peoples News

2007 People Archive:

20071230

John Edwards - Mike Huckabee - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Mitt Romney - Money - Religion - People - US- Iraq - Military - Iowa - 2008 Election - Poll - "Iowa: Edwards surges, Huckabees bubble bursts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards has clawed his way into contention to win Iowa's caucuses on Thursday in the first vote for the Democratic presidential nomination, gaining strength even as rivals [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama have lost ground, according to a new McClatchy-MSNBC poll." ... "At the same time, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney has regained the lead among Iowa Republicans as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee has lost momentum and support, even among the evangelical Christians who had propelled him into the top spot just weeks ago." ... "If all second-tier Democratic candidates fall short [in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses] and their supporters switch to other candidates, Edwards gains the most, rolling up a clear lead at 33 percent to 26 percent each for Clinton and Obama." ... "Edwards, pushing a people-versus-the powerful message, owes his gains to voters looking for a general election winner, someone who agrees with them on the issues, and those who rank Iraq their top concern." -By Steven Thomma -McClatchyDC.com

20071227

US - Iraq - Military - " US military deaths in Iraq at 3,900." ... "As of Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, at least 3,900 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count." -AP via -Yahoo

20071222

Families - Poverty- Agriculture - Christmas-Holidays - Thanksgiving - Gasoline - Households - Money - People - "Food Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ... "The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households. And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ... "At Thanksgiving, the [America's Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million meals. " -AP via -CBSNews

20071220

Mitt Romney - Rudy Giuliani - Mike Huckabee - Tom Tancredo - Criminal - Illegal - Employer - Immigrants - Employees - Language - Terrorism - History - Colo - New York - Arkansas - US - Mexican - People - Noteworthy - 2008 Election - "GOP hopefuls run in a hypocrisy derby." ... "Everybody knows that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney was running - as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani put it - a "sanctuary mansion." But not many people know that he was not the only one." ... "No less an anti-immigrant zealot than [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Colorado Representative] Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.[Republican-Colorado]), the would-be President who built a failing campaign on the single issue of persecuting "criminal aliens" - as he is fond of calling undocumented immigrants - also has a few skeletons in his closet." ... "Listen to this: Five years ago, when Tancredo wanted to install a home theater and make other renovations in his house, he had no qualms hiring a contractor that - gasp! - also employed undocumented workers." ... "The man who had said, "[The face of illegal immigration] is the face of murder. It is the face of infiltration into the country of people who are coming to do us great harm," wasn't at all troubled by the fact that only two in the crew of five or six laborers spoke English." ... "[In 1994, then New York Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani said] "If you come here and you work hard, and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city," he told The New York Times in 1994." ... "While in Arkansas, he [Arkansas Republican Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee] was instrumental in bringing a Mexican Consulate to Little Rock [Arkansas's capital]. That consulate issued thousands of identification forms that now, after he has become a presidential hopeful, Huckabee has begun to call "illegal immigrant identification cards."" ... "And do not forget that if he is elected President, he has vowed to expel the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants within 120 days, which comes to deporting 100,000 people per day." -By Albor Ruiz -NYDailyNews.com

20071219

Stephen Johnson - Mary E Peters - Dick Cheney - Government - Political - Gas - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - Laws - Environmental- Health - Safety - American - People - Transportation - California - History - Global - Climate - Clean Air Act - "EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ... "The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population, and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary." ... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution."" ... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy." -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com

20071218

Fed - Money - Politics - Investigate - Law - History - People's - Homes - Consumer - California - New York - Wyo - "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." ... "Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves." ... "Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford." ... "But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman." ... "In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of “best practices” and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip." ... "And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading." ... "John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct." ... "“He never gave us a good reason, but he didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Gnaizda said last week. “He just wasn’t interested.”" ... "“The Federal Reserve could have stopped this problem dead in its tracks,” said Martin Eakes, chief executive of the center [Center for Responsible Lending]. “If the Fed had done its job, we would not have had the abusive lending and we would not have a [home] foreclosure crisis in virtually every community across America.”" ... "Mr. Greenspan and other Fed officials repeatedly dismissed warnings about a speculative bubble in housing prices. In December 2004, the New York Fed issued a report bluntly declaring that “no bubble exists.” Mr. Greenspan predicted several times — incorrectly, it turned out — that housing declines would be local but almost certainly not nationwide." ... " “Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers?” Mr. Gramlich asked in a speech he prepared last August for the Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo[Wyoming]. “The question answers itself — the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products.”" (1, 2, 3) -By Edmund L. Andrews with contributions by Gretchen Morgenson -NYTimes

20071215

Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Foreign - US- Military - Illegal - Immigrants - People - Baptist - Iowa - Massachusetts - Arkansas - Ads - 2008 Election - "Romney Hits Huckabee for Criticizing Bush." ... "Sensing an opening in his desperate effort to retake the lead in Iowa, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Saturday pounced on comments by [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in which he characterized [Republican] President Bush's foreign policy as an "arrogant bunker mentality."" ... "Romney has started heaping criticism on Huckabee as the former baptist minister has climbed into a comfortable lead in Iowa caucuses. On television and in mailings to voters, Romney has attacked Huckabee's position on illegal immigrants in the hopes of halting his momentum." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

20071204

Consumer - Health - Safety - Food - Agriculture - Country - Peoples - Labor - Law - Money - Politics - Language - West Virginia - "Democrats Use Fine Print to Stymie Bush's Deregulation Agenda." ... "It is a single sentence, on page 147 of the annual appropriations bill funding the [Republican President Bush] White House, listed under the title ``Additional General Provisions.''" ... "The 18-word clause eliminates the money to pay for political appointees in each federal agency whose jobs are to approve any new regulations. By cutting the money for the positions, Congress would effectively repeal President George W. Bush's 11-month old initiative." ... "Democrats, writing the budget for the first time since Bush took office, are using their power over the purse to thwart Bush's campaign to loosen federal regulations. Lawmakers have added fine print to must-pass appropriations bills that sets new policy goals and increases funding for regulators such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission." ... "``It is critically important when we are facing beef recalls, toy recalls, mine collapses and workplace infringements that Congress provide the necessary resources to the relevant agencies for them to do the jobs they are required to do,'' said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, 90, a West Virginia Democrat." ... "Lawmakers also want agencies to file periodic reports to Congress charting their progress toward a host of Democratic policy goals, such as developing workplace ergonomic guidelines for a dozen industries, requiring country-of-origin labels on meat products and regulating a flavoring chemical that has been linked to lung disease." -By Brian Faler -Bloomberg

20071203

United States - Debt - Government - Fiscal - Politics - People - Parents - Accounting - History - Homeowners - Japan - China - Britain - Saudi Arabia - Oil - Countries - "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute." ... "Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute." ... "What's that mean to you?" ... "It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States." ... "Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion." ... "And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt -- now at relatively low interest rates -- rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain." ... "The national debt -- the total accumulation of annual budget deficits -- is up from $5.7 trillion when [Republican] President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion [$10,000,000,000,000.00] sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009." ... "Foreign governments and investors now hold some $2.23 trillion -- or about 44 percent -- of all publicly held U.S. debt. That's up 9.5 percent from a year earlier." ... "Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury." ... "Democrats are blaming the runup in deficit spending on [Republican President] Bush and his Republican allies who controlled Congress for the first six years of his presidency." (1, 2, 3) -By Tom Raum -AP via -ChicagoTribune
Noteworthy - Housing - Consumers - Employed - People - Fla - "Foreclosure gridlock threatens economy: Millions 'in limbo' face possible default as adjustable mortgages reset." ... "Like a lot of Americans, Anne Violette is having trouble with her mortgage." ... "Violette, a self-employed photographer, moved to Delray Beach, Fla. [Florida], in 2004 and bought a home with a 30-year fixed-rate loan. A year later, she said, a friend in the mortgage industry sold her on the idea of refinancing with an adjustable-rate mortgage that saved her hundreds of dollars a month." ... "Violette said her problems began when she learned that the rate on her loan could nearly double, despite assurances that it would not rise more than a half-percent a year for the first three years. Eventually her monthly payments rose by $900, and she was unable to keep up. She began making calls to the lender, moving from one department to another, to see if she could work out a payment plan." ... "“They say, 'I’m sorry, but we can’t restructure your loan until you’re caught up,'” she said. “But I keep saying, ‘I can never be caught up until you restructure my loan.'”" ... "After more phone calls, Violette found a bank representative who agreed to help modify her mortgage. That was in August. The bank had her house appraised, but then she got a letter from another bank saying they had taken over her loan. In October, she called the first bank to find out where things stood and learned that the title company she used when she bought the house is out of business and that her loan is "in limbo," she said." ... "As consumers watch home prices slump and their equity melt away, some economists fear the housing recession could spill over to the broader economy." ... "25Over the next four years, some $1.5 trillion in mortgages are scheduled to reset, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By John W. Schoen -MSNBC

20071129

Rudolph Giuliani - Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Immigration - Politics - Employee - Legal - Children - College - 2008 Election - Iowa - New York - Arkansas - "Topic of immigration animates testy Republican debate." ... "The Republican candidates for the presidency engaged in a slashing debate over immigration and other issues, confronting one another in testy exchanges that reflected the wide-open nature of the race in the final sprint toward the Iowa caucuses." ... "The debate Wednesday night showcased some of the fierce battles that have raged recently between [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Romney accused Giuliani of making New York a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants when he was mayor; Giuliani turned the tables on him, noting that Romney had employed illegal immigrants at his home and adding, "I would say he had sanctuary mansion, not just sanctuary city."" ... "After Romney and Giuliani argued over immigration, Romney turned on [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates Mike] Huckabee for a proposal he made as governor of Arkansas to give breaks in college tuition to the children of illegal immigrants." (1, 2) -By Michael Cooper and Marc Santora -IHT.com
Immigration - People - Law - Politics - "Immigration at Record Level, Analysis Finds." ... "Immigration over the past seven years was the highest for any seven-year period in American history, bringing 10.3 million new immigrants, more than half of them without legal status, according to an analysis of census data released today by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington." ... "One in eight people living in the United States is an immigrant, the survey found, for a total of 37.9 million people — the highest level since the 1920s." ... "The survey was conducted by Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the center, which advocates reduced immigration." -By Julia Preston -NYTimes

20071127

Mitt Romney - Religious - Politics - Government - National-Security - 2008 Election - People - Massachusetts - US - Foreign - "Religious Minority Candidate Mitt Romney Comes Out In Favor Of Religious Bigotry." ... "In a recent interview with [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former conservative Fox News pundit Mansoor Ijaz asked the former [Massachusetts] governor whether he would consider nominating a Muslim to be a member of his national security cabinet. Ijaz reports:"

I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that “jihadism” is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. [Emphasis added:] He answered, “…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration.”

"Note to Romney: As a Mormon running for President, you’re going to need to come up with a better justification for religious bigotry against Muslims." ... "According to the CIA World Factbook (which uses 2002 numbers), Mormons comprise just 2 percent of the U.S. population, while Jews and Muslims comprise 1 percent each. Based on 2001 numbers, there were 2.8 million Mormons and 1.1 million Muslims in the United States. Surveys since that time indicate that the number of Muslims may have eclipsed the number of Mormons living in the U.S." -By Faiz Shakir

-ThinkProgress.org

20071122

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - People - Brain- Science - Accounting - Politics - NJ - "20,000 vets' brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally." ... "At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY." ... "The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327." ... "More than 150,000 troops may have suffered head injuries in combat, says [New Jersey Democratic Representative] Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force." ... "About 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq, where traumatic brain injury can occur despite heavy body armor worn by troops." -By Gregg Zoroya -USATODAY

20071119

Military - People - Money - Politics - "Wounded Soldier: Military Wants Part Of Bonus Back." ... "The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments." ... "To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases." ... "Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back." -By Marty Griffin -KDKA.com

20071116

Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Nevada - 2008 Election - People - Politics - "Democrats spar in Las Vegas [Nevada]." ... "Critical of [2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton’s failure to take a firm stance on Social Security, an audience member’s question gave [2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama the opportunity to chide her on the notion that lifting the cap of incomes over $97,500 a year would increase the middle class tax burden, stating, “Hillary I have heard you say this is a trillion-dollar tax cut on the middle class by adjusting the cap. Understand that only 6% of American’s make more than $97,000 a year. So 6% is not the middle class.”" ... "“This is too important—this is too important for us to pretend that we are using numbers like a trillion dollar tax cut instead of responsibly dealing with the problem that Judy asked for, and she said she wants a specific answer. And she said she wants a specific answer and that’s what I provided. But understand that this is the top 6%, and that is not the middle class,” Obama continued." -KCRG.com

20071114

Children - Food - Poverty - Homeless - "Over 35.5 million found hungry in 2006." ... "More than 35.5 million people in this country went hungry in 2006 as they struggled to find jobs that can support them, a figure that was virtually unchanged from the previous year, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday." ... "Single mothers and their children were among the most likely to suffer, according to the study." ... "The 35.5 million people represented more than 1 in 10, or 12.1 percent, who said they did not have enough money or resources to get food for at least some period during the year, according to the department's annual hunger survey. That is compared with 35.1 million people who made similar claims in 2005." ... "The survey was based on Census Bureau data and does not include the homeless. About three-quarters of a million people were homeless on a given day in 2005, according to federal estimates." ... "Of the 35.5 million people reporting periods of hunger last year, 12.6 million were children." -By Hope Yen -AP via -SeattlePI

20071113

Soldiers - Mental - Health - Science - "Later Army test finds more mental health issues." ... "U.S. soldiers are significantly more likely to report mental health problems six months after returning home from combat than on initial assessments, Army researchers said on Tuesday." ... "Soldiers reported greater concern about interpersonal conflicts, post-traumatic stress, depression and alcohol problems in the second mental health screening, the researchers said." ... "They also found that one in five active-duty soldiers and almost half of reserve soldiers were receiving or in need of mental health services after combat." ... ""The rates that we previously reported based on surveys taken immediately upon return from deployment substantially underestimate the mental health burden," the military authors wrote in the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association." (1, 2) -By Kristin Roberts with contributions by Xavier Briand -Reuters

20071110

US - Afghanistan - Military - Terrorism - "2007 Deadliest for US in Afghanistan." ... "Six U.S. troops were killed when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol in the high mountains of eastern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday." ... "The six deaths brings the total number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to at least 101, according to a count by the AP. That makes this year the deadliest for Americans here since the 2001 invasion, a war initially launched to oust Taliban and al-Qaida fighters after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, but one that has evolved into an increasingly bloody counterinsurgency campaign." ... "Overall violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the Taliban's ouster. More than 5,800 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence, according to an AP count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials." (1, 2) -By Jason Straziuso with contributions by Amir Shah -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Los Angeles - California - Police - Government - Mapping - Religious - Peoples - Race - Civil Libertarians - Scientific - Terrorism - Intelligence - Law - "LAPD defends Muslim mapping effort: Police call program an effort to improve relations with Islamic community. Civil libertarians criticize profiling while other skeptics note that population is dispersed and defies easy classification." ... "The [Los Angeles, California] LAPD's plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday." ... "In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and then reach out to them through social service agencies." ... "LAPD officials said that it is crucial for them to gain a better understanding of isolated parts of the Muslim community. Those groups can potentially breed violent extremism, the LAPD said in its plan." ... ""This is not . . . targeting or profiling," Police Chief William J. Bratton said Friday in defending the program. "It is an effort to understand communities," he said." ... "But the effort sparked an outcry from civil libertarians and some Muslim activists, who compared the program to religious profiling." ... "Others noted that the effort faces enormous practical difficulties. The U.S. Census Bureau is barred by law from asking people for their religious affiliation. As a result, there is no scientific data on the size of the nation's Muslim population, let alone its location, with estimates of the population nationwide ranging from about 1.4 million adults in a Pew Research Center study this year to the 7 million or more claimed by some community organizations." ... "Census data on ancestry also would not yield accurate Muslim estimates, because significant numbers of ethnic Iranians are Jewish and many ethnic Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians are Christians." (1, 2) -By Richard Winton, Teresa Watanabe, and Greg Krikorian with contributions by Jean-Paul Renaud -LAtimes

20071109

Secret - Women - Health - Money - People- Accounting - Consumer - Law - "Health insurer tied bonuses to dropping sick policyholders." ... "One of the [California] state's largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved." ... "Woodland Hills [California]-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed." ... "The revelation that the health plan had cancellation goals and bonuses comes amid a storm of controversy over the industry-wide but long-hidden practice of rescinding coverage after expensive medical treatments have been authorized." ... "These cancellations have been the recent focus of intense scrutiny by lawmakers, state regulators and consumer advocates. Although these "rescissions" are only a small portion of the companies' overall business, they typically leave sick patients with crushing medical bills and no way to obtain needed treatment." ... "The bonuses were disclosed at an arbitration hearing in a lawsuit brought by Patsy Bates, a Gardena [California] hairdresser whose coverage was rescinded by Health Net in the middle of chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer." ... "Health Net had sought to keep the documents secret even after it was forced to produce them for the hearing, arguing that they contained proprietary information and could embarrass the company." (1, 2) -By Lisa Girion -LAtimes
Alberto Gonzales - Bradley Schlozman - Michael Mukasey - Poor - Race - Politics - People - Election - Civil Rights - Enforcement - "Justice Department returns to enforcing voter laws." ... "The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is reversing course and has begun taking steps to enforce a 1993 law that's intended to make it easier for poor minorities to register to vote." ... "The division, which has come under attack for allegedly pursuing policies aimed at suppressing the votes of Democratic-leaning minorities, has demanded that 18 states provide evidence that they're complying with the National Voter Registration Act." ... "If it is fully pursued, this new action will represent the first significant return to traditional enforcement of voting-rights laws since a scandal erupted earlier this year over the alleged politicization of the Justice Department." ... "McClatchy Newspapers disclosed last spring that the Civil Rights Division had failed to enforce a variety of voting-rights laws intended to protect the ability of minorities, especially African-Americans, to vote. The controversy led to the resignations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and seven other officials, including Bradley Schlozman, the former acting civil rights chief." ... "Now attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey, whose confirmation was debated by the Senate Thursday night, has pledged to insulate the agency's law enforcement decisions from partisan politics." ... "Some election watchdog groups are skeptical, saying that the enforcement push might be a cosmetic response to widespread criticism and congressional scrutiny of the division." -By Greg Gordon -McClatchyDC.com

20071106

US - Iraq - Iran - Military - "2007 Deadliest Year For U.S. In Iraq: Deaths Of 6 U.S. Forces Push Toll To 853 During Year Of Massive Troop Buildup." ... "With nearly two months remaining, 2007 became the bloodiest year of the Iraq war for American troops - 853 dead. The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of five more soldiers and one sailor, pushing the toll past the previous worst - 850 in 2004." ... "While 2007 became the war's deadliest year, there has been a sharp downturn in both Iraqi and American deaths over the past two months and a decline in Iranian weapons deliveries could be one of several factors for the decrease." ... "Iran publicly denies that it has sent weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq." ... "The grim milestone for American forces was passed despite a noticeable drop in U.S. and Iraqi deaths here in recent months, after a 30,000-strong U.S. force buildup. There were 39 deaths in October, compared to 65 in September and 84 in August. " (1, 2) -AP via -CBSNews

20071026

Humanity - Global - Environmental - Science - Disaster - Politics - UN - Earth - Climate - Animals - Rivers - "Environmental failures 'put humanity at risk': · UN report bemoans lack of urgency by governments· Five-year study involved more than 1,400 scientists." ... "The future of humanity has been put at risk by a failure to address environmental problems including climate change, species extinction and a growing human population, according to a new UN report." ... "In a sweeping audit of the world's environmental wellbeing, the study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that governments are still failing to recognise the seriousness of major environmental issues." ... "The study, involving more than 1,400 scientists, found that human consumption had far outstripped available resources. Each person on Earth now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the planet can supply, it finds." ... "Meanwhile, biodiversity is seriously threatened by the impact of human activities: 30% of amphibians, 23% of mammals and 12% of birds are under threat of extinction, while one in 10 of the world's large rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea." ... "The report - entitled Global Environment Outlook: Envir