Times of the Internet RSS Feed - nation

House approves sweeping healthcare reform

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) --

The U.S. House Saturday night narrowly passed a sweeping overhaul of the healthcare system that backers say would provide coverage to almost all Americans.

The measure passed 220-215 about 11:15 p.m. after a day of intense lobbying, including a visit to the U.S. Capitol by President Barack Obama, who has made healthcare reform his top priority.

For generations, the American people have called for affordable, quality healthcare for their families, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on the House floor before the vote. Today, the call will be answered.

The first major reform of the U.S. healthcare system in four decades would provide insurance to 36 million more Americans, so 96 percent of the nation's population would be covered, supporters said. The plan, which would cost more than $1 trillion over a decade, would add a government-run health insurance option and provide subsidies for poor people to buy insurance.

The House measure has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans, who say it would amount to a government takeover of healthcare and reduce the quality of care.

This is one of those bills that takes a system that is the best in the world and will turn it on its head, and I don't believe this is what the American people want, said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee. To me, this doesn't make any sense and I know it doesn't make any sense to the vast majority of people out there.

Obama and Democratic supporters in Congress, however, say the bill would reduce costs and improve care.

In a statement Saturday night, Obama called the vote historic and added, The House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people.

The reform measure would limit how much people can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And it would forbid insurance companies to cancel coverage because someone gets sick, deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition or put annual or lifetime caps on coverage.

The measure would be paid for through added fees, tax increases and some cuts in Medicare.

An alternative Republican healthcare plan failed Saturday.

Democrats agreed late Friday to allow members of the party who oppose abortion to offer an amendment that would effectively block federal funds from being used for the procedure. The amendment would ban the public option plan from covering abortions and bar anyone getting a subsidy for insurance from buying a private plan that pays for them.

Investigators believe Hasan acted alone

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

The massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, was not part of a terrorist plot, investigators have tentatively concluded.

But Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused in the shooting rampage, may have believed he was carrying out an extremist suicide mission, investigators told The New York Times reported Saturday.

Investigators said Hasan, 39, may have suffered emotional problems worsened by the stress of counseling returning veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress brought on by witnessing the horrors of war. The psychiatrist's work with veterans seems to have contributed to his anger and to his militant views as he adopted more extreme Islamic beliefs, investigators told the Times.

The investigators, the newspaper said, concluded such emotional, ideological and religious pressures appeared to boil over when Hasan was assigned to serve in Afghanistan. He has spoken openly about his opposition to U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Investigators who scoured Hasan's computer and interviewed family members, co-workers and neighbors focused on a key question: whether he had had contact with extremists. The investigators have found no evidence Hasan had e-mailed known terrorists or anyone who urged him to open fire at the military post or helped him plan the shootings, and he did not travel overseas to meet with extremists.

Hasan had visited Web sites that supported radical Islamic ideas and had e-mailed people with similar views and may have written postings, under his name, that indicated a favorable view of suicide attacks. But investigators remain uncertain whether he wrote the postings.

But a senior intelligence official, who requested anonymity, told the Times investigators knew of no co-conspirators. Hasan is the only name that's emerged so far, the official said.

Fort Hood officials said Hasan opened fire Thursday, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30.

Report: Dems have votes on healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

Democrats in the U.S. House said Saturday they had the votes needed to pass a $1 trillion healthcare bill, a Washington publication reported.

Politico cited unnamed Democratic sources as saying their internal head counts show they have more than the 218 votes needed for passage.

For generations, the American people have called for affordable healthcare, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on the floor. Today, we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Since all Republicans are expected to vote against the bill, passage depends on keeping enough wavering Democrats in the fold.

President Barack Obama, in a last-minute lobbying bid, came to the U.S. Capitol about three hours after the debate began.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports the rest of the bill, lobbied fiercely on the abortion issue. Republicans and a handful of Democrats say the bill is too expensive

Today is the showdown on a government takeover over healthcare, said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La..

The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and need at least 218 votes to pass the bill.

Student charged with killing rooommate

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A California State University-Sacramento student who allegedly killed one of his roommates with a baseball bat has been charged with murder.

Quran Mahammed Jones, who turned 20 Friday, remains in the Medical Center of the University of California-Davis, The Sacramento Bee reported. Jones, who was shot when he allegedly approached police officers carrying a knife, faces assault charges in addition to the charge of killing Scott Hawkins, 23.

Jones reportedly was in good condition Friday. He will be arraigned once he is moved from the hospital to jail.

The criminal complaint says Sacramento State police officers responded to a call at a dorm of someone acting violent. They could see someone swinging a baseball bat inside the suite Jones shared with four other students.

The officers said they opened the suite with a key they got from a student adviser and found Jones holding a knife with a crazed look in his eyes. They said he kept coming at them even after several bullets had hit his chest.

In the ambulance, Jones allegedly told a police officer Hawkins shot himself. But investigators say all shots were fired by police.

UPI NewsTrack TopNews

House debates healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- As the U.S. House of Representatives debated the healthcare bill Saturday, President Obama came to the Capitol to help win over doubters.

Democratic House leaders hope to win approval for the 1,900-page, $1 trillion bill by the end of the day, The Washington Post reported. Since all Republicans are expected to vote against the bill, passage depends on keeping enough wavering Democrats in the fold.

Obama got to the Capitol just before noon, about three hours after the debate began.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports the rest of the bill, lobbied fiercely on the abortion issue. Republicans and a handful of Democrats say the bill is too expensive

Today is the showdown on a government takeover over healthcare, said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La..

The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and need at least 218 votes to pass the bill.

Afghans: 7 soldiers killed by NATO strike

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A NATO air strike killed seven Afghan security force members searching for two missing U.S. soldiers, officials said Saturday.

A spokesman for NATO confirmed the deaths, first reported by the Afghan Defense Ministry, The New York Times reported. The spokesman said the operation Friday in Badghis province also wounded five U.S. and 15 Afghan soldiers, two Afghan police officers and an Afghan civilian who was part of the mission, which arrived in the area Thursday.

NATO is investigating whether its air support was responsible for the deaths and injuries.

A Taliban commander gave his own version of events, the Times said. Maulvi Ghulam Farouk says the missing soldiers were attacked by the Taliban when they went to pick up supplies from an air drop.

On Friday, they came with Afghan forces, looking again for their dead soldiers. It was afternoon when they came, and there was fighting for half an hour or maybe even one hour, Farouk said. Then the aircraft came. And when the aircraft came, we Taliban dispersed and they bombed where the Afghans and their NATO soldiers had been fighting. There were many casualties.

Ground broken for Flight 93 memorial

SHANKSVILLE, Pa., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Ground was broken Saturday for a memorial to the passengers of United Flight 93 who crashed it in western Pennsylvania to foil hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar promised the memorial would be completed by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that also toppled the World Trade Center twin towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon in Washington.

On behalf of a grateful nation, we say to the men and women of Flight 93 who gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, to prevent terrorists from attacking our nation's capital 'We will never forget you,' Salazar

said. This national memorial will always stand to honor you and to remind future generations that you fought and were victorious over the forces of evil.

The plane, flying from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, was one of four planes hijacked in 2001. The 40 passengers, who knew from cell phone conversations, that hijackers had flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, decided to retake the plane or bring it down.

Investigators believe the hijackers intended to aim the plane at the Capitol or White House.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., also attended the ceremony.

Barbour: Elections showed peoples' concern

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Saturday the recent elections reflected U.S. citizens' concern with the direction the U.S. government is headed.

The Republican governor, providing the party's response to President Barack Obama's weekly address to the nation, applauded the election of Republican candidates to governorships in Virginia and New Jersey this week, saying the wins reflect concerns about Democrats' political goals.

The results made clear the American people don't like where the Democrats are trying to take our country, he said.

Tuesday's elections ended with gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell winning in Virginia, while fellow Republican Chris Christie defeated New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat.

Barbour said U.S. voters have failed to see positive results from the surge in federal spending Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have marshaled through this year to combat the financial markets crisis and ongoing recession.

Americans think economic growth and job creation are priorities 1, 2, 3 and 4. Despite all the trillions of dollars in spending by this administration and Congress, voters see little progress on jobs, the Mississippi official said.

Afghans: 7 soldiers killed by NATO strike

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A NATO air strike killed seven Afghan security force members searching for two missing U.S. soldiers, officials said Saturday.

NATO is investigating whether its air support was responsible for the deaths and injuries.

A Taliban commander gave his own version of events, the Times said. Maulvi Ghulam Farouk says the missing soldiers were attacked by the Taliban when they went to pick up supplies from an air drop.

Federal judge now in state custody

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A former federal judge serving a prison sentence for lying about sexual assaults has been moved to protective custody in Florida, officials say.

Samuel Kent had been housed in a prison hospital in Massachusetts, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday. Kent, who had been a judge in U.S. District Court in Houston and Galveston in Texas, was sentenced to 33 months for lying about sexual assaults on female employees and still has 28 months to serve.

His lawyer, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, told the Chronicle Kent mostly handled civil cases and would be unlikely to meet anyone behind bars he had put there. He said the move to the Florida state prison system might be a matter of federal officials being overly cautious.

John Gaither, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons in Florida, said Kent was transferred to Florida custody Sept. 23.

You can imagine why we're housing him there -- he's a federal judge, Gaither said.

Kennedy memorabilia up for auction

DALLAS, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

Memorabilia linked to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy was being auctioned Saturday in Dallas, the city where he died, the auction firm said.

The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday's Heritage Auction Galleries sale was to include a newspaper whose front page Kennedy signed shortly before his 1963 assassination. The newspaper, which Kennedy signed for a hotel maid, enjoyed bids as much as $10,000 in advance bidding.

Also among the nearly 700 pop-culture items up for auction was a gray fedora regularly worn by Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

Joyce Gordon, who worked for Ruby when he was a nightclub owner, recalled how she knew her boss shot Oswald in 1963 based on the hat description.

They said over the radio a man in a gray felt hat had just shot Oswald, she said of a news report of the deadly shooting.

I said, 'Oh my God, he did it.'

The Morning News said the hat was won by its current owner at a 2008 auction for $61,000.

Bank tax goes down at G20

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A proposal to levy a tax on bank transactions, urged by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has been rejected by the United States, officials say.

Brown asked world financial leaders at the Group of 20 summit to consider putting a tax on financial transactions. The money would go into a global fund and would be used to bail out failed banks. This would protect taxpayers and make banks more accountable, Brown said.

But U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is not in favor of the proposal, Britain's Sky News reported Saturday.

It was not something that we're prepared to support, Geithner said. The secretary's rejection of Brown's proposal almost certainly means the death of the plan, Sky News said.

The plan's chances were dealt a further blow when leader of the International Monetary Fund called it unworkable.

The G20 summit is being held at St. Andrews, Scotland. The group of finance ministers and central bank governors was established in 1999 to discuss key issues in the global economy.

Ground broken for Flight 93 memorial

SHANKSVILLE, Pa., Nov. 7 (UPI) --

Ground was broken Saturday for a memorial to the passengers of United Flight 93 who crashed it in western Pennsylvania to foil hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001.

said. This national memorial will always stand to honor you and to remind future generations that you fought and were victorious over the forces of evil.

Investigators believe the hijackers intended to aim the plane at the Capitol or White House.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., also attended the ceremony.

Republican Party courting Latinos

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

The Republican Party has to repair fences with Latino voters in America after losing their support in the 2008 presidential election, party officials say.

Much of the Latino vote was driven toward the Democratic party by conservative Republican calls for border fence proposals and cutting healthcare options for illegal immigrants, ABC News reported Saturday.

Conservative attempts to exploit fears of illegal immigration also eroded Latino support for the GOP, Nevada Republican national committeeman Robert List said.

I think the party needs to rethink their approach to illegal immigration, he said. However many illegal immigrations there are is almost irrelevant -- they're here.

List said the Republicans have to consider demographic shifts in his state and in the border states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, which have traditionally elected GOP candidates: They need to recognize that Latinos are going to be majorities in some cases.

Nevada's Latinos are being given close attention by both parties after the 2008 results. The Republicans have chosen Brian Sandoval, 46, as their front-runner for governor in an effort to attract the young Latino vote, ABC News said.

I firmly believe that the Latino community has deep commitment to family values and are natural constituents of the GOP, List said. We need to reclaim that voting bloc. I think we can re energize that effort among Latinos.

Source: W.H. warns consultant off Fox

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A Democratic consultant says the White House criticized him for appearing on Fox News, sources say.

The strategist said he got a blunt and intimidating phone call from an administration official saying, We'd better not see you on again, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. The implied message was that clients might stop using you if you continue, the consultant said.

Presidential aides have characterized the Fox News Channel as a political opponent set on damaging the president's administration rather than as a news organization, the Times said.

Others say they're not surprised. I have heard that they've done that to others in not too subtle ways. I find it appalling. When the White House gets in the business of suppressing dissent and comment, particularly from its own party, it hurts itself, Fox News contributor Patrick Caddell said.

White House Communications Director Anita Dunn told CNN last month that Fox, in effect, acts as an arm of the Republican Party. Let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is, Dunn said. But she denied the White House has told people to avoid Fox.

Meat purveyor gets 15 years for fraud

DENVER, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A kosher meat business owner in Denver has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for swindling investors, many of them retirees who lost their savings.

Arnold Zaler, 60, received a sentence far above the eight years recommended by prosecutors, The Denver Post reported. U.S. District Judge John Kane ordered him to pay $2.5 million in restitution.

He is a hard-core recidivist, and sentences of lesser time imposed on him in the past have utterly failed at preventing further crimes of fraud and deception, Kane said at Friday's hearing. He deserves a sentence where he is too old to offend again.

Zaler's Kosher Meats had legitimate contracts with Pepsi Center and Invesco Field to operate hot dog stands. Zaler forged documents to convince investors he had additional large contracts with both venues.

Otti Seiden of Denver, who invested his savings with Zaler, called him a smooth talker.

I have not been out to dinner, breakfast or lunch in months, Seiden said.

Zaler's lawyers argued he was trying to keep his business going and did not intend to cheat investors. The judge called that a tale told more often than not by fraudsters.

Multimillions fund brain research

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

University of Calgary will use two large donations to create a $64 million endowment for neurological research, officials at the Canadian school say.

Outgoing university President Harvey Weingarten announced Friday a $39 million gift from Calgary Flames hockey team owner Harley Hotchkiss to the school's Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

It will be combined with $25 million pledged by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens to hire scientists and fund mental health research, The Calgary Herald reported.

Hotchkiss, who gave $10 million to the institute in 2004, said he's sure his money will be put to good use for research and clinical activities. I believe it's going to be well looked after, he said.

President Weingarten, who will step down Jan. 1, headed the university during a period of dramatic growth that saw huge capital expansion and efforts to raise the school's research profile, the Herald said.

Suspect in officer's killing wounded

SEATTLE, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A 40-year-old man suspected of killing a Seattle police officer was in stable condition Saturday after being shot by police, officials said.

Christopher John Monfort was wounded in the head and shoulder Friday afternoon by police in the suburb of Tukwila as a memorial service for Officer Timothy Brenton was concluding at KeyArena, The Seattle Times reported. He was being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Police Chief John Diaz said.

Investigators say Monfort also is suspected in the Oct. 22 fire bombing of a police maintenance yard.

Brenton was gunned down Oct. 31 by someone who pulled up next to his cruiser.

Police had been looking for a Datsun 210 that had driven by 20 minutes earlier. Tukwila police got a tip about a similar car Friday.

Police said Monfort started running when police tried to question him and then pulled out a handgun.

Gerry Wegner, a former state criminal justice official who taught Monfort at Highline Community College, said he was shaken to my toes by learning a man he described as a mature, stable individual was a suspect in a police killing.

Monfort graduated from the University of Washington in 2008. He was accepted into a program for minority students considering graduate work.

The Times, citing sources, said he was recently laid off from a job as a security guard. He has also worked as a volunteer with juvenile offenders.

Palestinians threaten return to violence

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

Fatah, a major branch of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, may return to violent protests, a senior operative of the Middle East group said Saturday.

After Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not run again, many within Fatah are calling for popular warfare if progress is not made in the peace process, a Fatah source told the Israeli news site Ynetnews.com.

We are not talking about terror attacks and weapons, but we are talking about protests and (throwing) stones, like the anti-fence protests, and about strikes and protests by the people, so that the world understands that the next step will be unpleasant and we go back to the way things were before Oslo, the source said.

The Oslo accords of 1993 set the framework for all future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Fatah is not planning another intifada (uprising) like 2001's, the operative stressed, but there are people who understand that clinging to the peace process damaged Fatah, he said. It presented us at best as people clinging to a failing process, with Israel giving us the finger time and time again, and at worst as collaborators with Israel.

New trial sought in killing of boy

HAMPTON, Va., Nov. 7 (UPI) --

A Virginia man convicted of killing a boy in his care has asked for a new trial, saying his lawyer kept him from testifying.

William Shanklin, 32, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Davion Franklin of Hampton in 2005. Shanklin was then the boyfriend of Davion's aunt, and prosecutors said he gave the 4-year-old a fatal shaking because he was angry the boy had dirtied himself.

Shanklin's appeal lawyer, David Hargett, said the trial lawyer, William Fasonaro, barred him from the witness stand after telling jurors in his opening statement that his client would be testifying. The state Supreme Court returned the case to the trial court for a hearing, held Tuesday, the Newport News Daily Press reported.

Fasonaro testified during the hearing that Shanklin made the final decision whether to testify. He said he was reluctant to call him as a witness in his own defense because he had changed his story on what happened.

Hampton Circuit Judge Louis Lerner must submit his findings within 60 days to the Supreme Court, which will then decide on a new trial.

Husband cleared in cancer hoax

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

Charges have been dropped against an Ohio man whose wife has admitted telling friends and relatives he had cancer to get money from them.

Phylip Chen, 38, of Columbus was told Friday he no longer faces prosecution, The Columbus Dispatch reported. He had taken and passed a polygraph test.

Chen took the test under an agreement between his lawyers and prosecutors that he would be cleared if he passed. If he had failed, the agreement called for him to plead guilty to receiving stolen property and tax charges.

Melanie Chen pleaded guilty to theft and received an eight-year prison term. She always told investigators she acted on her own, telling her husband his parents were giving her money for helping them with their Taiwan real estate business.

The whole time, I was speaking the truth, and they weren't whatsoever the least bit interested in hearing it, Chen said.

Chen said he had little contact with his parents at the time and only learned his wife had told them he had cancer when he and Melanie were charged.

House debates healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

As the U.S. House of Representatives debated the healthcare bill Saturday, President Obama came to the Capitol to help win over doubters.

Obama got to the Capitol just before noon, about three hours after the debate began.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports the rest of the bill, lobbied fiercely on the abortion issue. Republicans and a handful of Democrats say the bill is too expensive

Today is the showdown on a government takeover over healthcare, said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La..

The Democrats have 258 seats in the House and need at least 218 votes to pass the bill.

WWII museum expansion opens in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 7 (UPI) --

The expansion of a National World War II Museum in New Orleans will help visitors remember the worldwide mid-20th century conflict, veterans say.

Former U.S. Marine Bert Stolier, who served during World War II, said Friday the museum is integral because without such sites there won't be anyone left to tell what went on in Europe and the Pacific, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

Also on hand for the grand opening of the museum expansion was former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, who was a pilot during the war.

The former Democratic senator for South Dakota and presidential candidate said the museum is in the business of glorifying the men and women who fought.

The museum expansion sits across the street from the museum's original building and the 70,000-square-foot addition will feature live performances patterned after the U.S. clubs soldiers visited prior to shipping off to fight the war.

The Times-Picayune said the expansion is part of a Battle Barksdale Parade Ground project that will add two more structures at an expected cost of $300 million. The project should be completed by 2015.