Iran: West's 'Arrogance' Could Doom Nuke Talks

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president said Wednesday that upcoming talks with six world powers about its disputed nuclear program will fail if those nations continue along what he called a "path of arrogance."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments, made in an address to a crowd of thousands in northeastern Iran, cast doubt on any possible progress in talks that Tehran has said it is ready to hold with the six powers -- the U.S. Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- sometime after Nov. 10.

The U.S. and some of its allies suspect Iran's civil nuclear energy program is a cover for a secret effort to develop weapons and are pushing Iran to fully open all facilities to international inspection and to give up uranium enrichment, a key element of its nuclear work that could give it a pathway to the bomb.

Iran denies having nuclear weapons ambitions and says it only wants to enrich uranium to the lower levels used in producing fuel for power plants.

The standoff is the central issue of dispute between Iran and the West, and Ahmadinejad often accuses the U.S. in particular of using the confrontation to thwart Iran's technological progress and of wanting to dominate the nations of the Middle East.

"If you want to continue the previous path of arrogance ... these people (the Iranian nation) will pursue you until you end up in hell," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

The crowd, in the city of Bojnord, responded with chants of "death to the U.S."

The U.N. Security Council imposed a fourth round of tough sanctions against Iran in June over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which at higher levels of processing, can be used to make the fissile core of warheads.

At the time, Ahmadinejad dismissed the U.N. sanctions as "annoying flies" and as useless as "used tissues." In response, he said then that Iran would not hold talks with the West for at least two months to "punish" world powers.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which handles the country's nuclear negotiations, and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, are now exchanging letters on the date and place of a new meeting.

Negotiations foundered a year ago over a U.N.-drafted proposal for Iran to ship most of its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad for further processing and to be returned in the form of fuel rods for a Tehran research reactor that makes isotopes used in cancer treatment.

Fuel rods cannot be used to make weapons material. Iran balked at that deal. It accepted a similar proposal from allies Brazil and Turkey, but the other six nations said that offer fell short of their demands.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad warned that the new talks will fail if the West seeks to impose tougher conditions than those Tehran rejected last year.

But the Iranian president said a compromise could be reached if Iran is respected.

"The best path for them (world powers) is to respect nations, stop being obstinate, get out of glass palaces and sit down like a polite boy and talk on the basis of justice and respect. If they come like this, they may get results," Ahmadinejad said.

"But if they come with arrogance and deception, the response of the Iranian nation is the same it has already given."

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Man Could Face Death Penalty in Ill. Student Death

DEKALB, Ill. -- A 34-year-old DeKalb man may face the death penalty if convicted in the slaying of Northern Illinois University freshman Antinette "Toni" Keller, the judge in the case said.

William Curl, who is jailed on $5 million bail, appeared in court Saturday in DeKalb County via closed-circuit TV. He has been charged with first-degree murder, criminal sexual assault and arson.

During the court session, Judge James Donnelly told Curl about the possibility of the death penalty. Curl, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit with his hands cuffed behind his back, showed little emotion but hung his head at times. A public defender has been appointed for Curl.

The next hearing in the case is set for Monday.

Keller, 18, of Plainfield was last seen about noon Oct. 14 when friends said the NIU art student was headed to a park and nature preserve near the university. Burned remains were found in the park two days later, and forensic experts confirmed the remains were human a week later.

Prosecutors said Saturday in court that police found Keller's burned clothing and her cell phone near the remains.

Police in DeKalb, a city 65 miles west of Chicago where the 25,000-student campus is located, still haven't positively identified the remains as belonging to Keller, though they reclassified her case as a homicide investigation.

Investigators said it appears to have been a crime of opportunity and that Curl did not know Keller.

Police said they interviewed Curl because he was known to frequent the park. They said he failed to show up for further questioning and instead fled to Mexico in a stolen Ford Explorer.

He crossed the border into Mexico but returned to Louisiana where he was arrested Tuesday at a motel in Covington, La., investigators said.

Assistant State's Attorney Phil Montgomery said Curl has a criminal history, including felony criminal damage to property.

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Midterm Races Could Hold Key to White House, Congress in 2012

President Obama's name is not on the ballot Nov. 2, but his chance at a second term in the White House could be on the line. 

As the president and top Democratic surrogates like Bill Clinton criss-cross the country to campaign for their party's gubernatorial candidates, party operatives are looking ahead to what this year's race will mean for 2012. 

And so far, it's not looking good for Democrats. 

Several peculiarities in the 2010 landscape could have great bearing on the next election. For starters, Republicans are projected to pick up several seats in the 37 governors' races being held next Tuesday. That could give whoever is running as the GOP presidential nominee in 2012 a powerful surrogate at the helm of a number of key swing states. 

In addition, this year's governors' races coincide with the 2010 Census, the national head count that will be used as the basis for reshaping congressional districts nationwide. The governors, by virtue of their veto pen and other factors, have considerable sway over that process -- and if Republicans make the kind of gains forecasters predict, the party will be poised to redraw the congressional map to their advantage come 2012. This would help the party either build, or reinforce, a congressional majority two years from now, while having a more indirect impact on the presidential race. 

Finally, projections show that when the districts are redrawn, red states will likely end up gaining seats in Congress while blue states will lose them. For Obama, this means a more grueling and challenging climb to the 270 electors needed to secure reelection in 2012 -- the number of electors each state has is based on the number of its congressional seats, and if deep-red states like Texas grow, that's bad news for the sitting president. 

"The states that are going to gain congressional seats are the ones that John McCain won," said David Avella, executive director of Republican recruitment arm GOPAC. 

All these factors are on the minds of Republicans who, in some cases, are plotting a two-cycle path to Washington domination. The Republican Governors Association publicly claims that its races in 2010 are the key to a 2012 wave. 

"The RGA believes Republicans won't win back the U.S. Senate, House or presidency until first reclaiming a majority of governorships for the GOP," the group says on its website. 

Democratic governors provided Obama a big boost in the 2008 presidential election in several battleground states -- Democrats were at the helm of nearly every "purple" state Obama won, from Colorado to Virginia to Ohio to Iowa. 

But what if some of those seats change hands? Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was an enthusiastic advocate for Obama's presidential campaign in 2008, but now he's fighting for his political life against GOP candidate John Kasich. Republican gubernatorial candidates are poised to take back Democratic seats in Obama-supporting Pennsylvania, Iowa and Michigan, among other states. The storied battleground of Florida is still a toss-up in the race between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink. 

Avella said the outcomes play heavily into the 2012 presidential race. 

"The governor controls the political machinery for his party," he said. He said Republican governors will be able to leverage fundraising networks in support of the GOP nominee as well as shape legislative agendas that could rally Republican voters in the next cycle. 

Plus, most of the new governors -- as well as the state legislatures -- will have sway over the redistricting process, one of the biggest prizes to come out of the Nov. 2 midterms. 

"That's why the governor's (seat) is so important at this particular time" said Jerry Shuster, political communication professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "It's a critical time for both parties and they know that." 

Governors can help shape congressional districts for the benefit of their party's incumbents and challengers; for Republicans, this would mean upping their chances at a congressional takeover in 2012 if they fall short next month. This process also can have an indirect effect on the presidential race. Avella noted that a boost in the number of Republican-friendly congressional districts could give more momentum to GOP candidates, and in turn rally more GOP operatives and money to turn out the vote for the presidential nominee. 

While Obama would not have to worry in most states about the shape of congressional districts -- presidential electors are divvied up based on the popular vote in each state -- the individual districts come into play in Maine and Nebraska. Those two states have a hybrid system where the votes in each congressional district factor into which presidential candidate wins their electors. 

More importantly, a study released at the end of September showed that blue states stand to lose about a half-dozen districts while red states stand to scoop up about that many as a result of the redistricting process. 

The analysis from Election Data Services projected that Texas, a GOP stronghold, would gain a whopping four congressional districts. New York, a Democratic powerhouse, would lose two, according to the data. 

Shuster said the impact of those shifts on the White House race depends on a host of factors. If the economy starts to turn around, it's a "limited" issue, he said. But if Republicans field a strong candidate and the economy stagnates for another two years, "then it has the possibility of having an impact on the outcome of the election."

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British-Style Spending Cuts Would Shock U.S. Budget -- But Could It Work?

The British government this past week announced the steepest set of spending cuts in decades, vowing to slash department budgets by close to 20 percent and eliminate a half-million public sector jobs -- all in the name of closing the country's stubborn deficit. 

The sweeping proposal has given way to bickering in London, but it already has observers on this side of the pond wondering, what if? 

Britain's austerity program would surely shock U.S. senses, at a time when the Obama administration has taken a slow-and-steady approach to closing the deficit. To replicate in the United States what Prime Minister David Cameron's government is doing in Britain, an economy one-fifth the size of America's, Washington would have to propose a set of cuts well above anything proposed so far on Capitol Hill. But the exercise shows just how drastic an effort may be needed to keep the United States from going broke. 

"The Obama administration is showing no appetite whatsoever to do what the British are doing," said Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the conservative Heritage Foundation. But, he said, the U.S. has to "at the very least do what the British are doing" to avoid a fiscal calamity. 

Gardiner said congressional Republicans will be paying close attention as they craft their agenda should they end up with a majority in either chamber come Nov. 3. "I do think what Cameron is doing is going to be seen as inspirational by many conservatives on Capitol Hill," Gardiner said. 

Cameron is calling for $130 billion in cuts from his country's budget by 2015. If Washington were to cut a similar percentage from its federal budget, it would need to carve out more than $450 billion. Gardiner estimated that, based on the size of the United States' economy, Washington would need to find more like $650 billion to excise by 2015. 

Though some agencies have been spared, the average hit each department would take under Cameron's plan amounts to about 19 percent. 

Applied in the United States, that would mean a $4.9 billion hit to the Department of Agriculture; a $5.6 billion hit to the Department of Justice; a $5.4 billion hit to the Department of Energy; and a whopping $11.5 billion hit to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Britain's military got away with just an 8 percent reduction -- but for the U.S. Department of the Defense, that would translate to more than $56 billion from its proposed 2011 budget. 

To put the potential backlash to such a move in context, look at how Defense Secretary Robert Gates' latest spending cut proposal was received. Gates in August called for Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. -- a $240 million-a-year operation -- to be eliminated and was met with bipartisan backlash from regional lawmakers. Gates nevertheless says he wants to find $100 billion in savings over five years. 

Obama has said he wants to halve the federal budget deficit by the end of his first term, a move that would likely mean hundreds of billions of dollars in savings from somewhere. But he's still awaiting a report from his debt and deficit commission on how best to accomplish those goals. One of Obama's first fiscal exercises as president was to call for $100 million in cuts from his Cabinet secretaries. 

The prebuttal has already begun, lest Washington consider going the route of the British government. 

The New York Times called the proposal an "austerity overdose" in its Saturday editorial. Liberal economist Paul Krugman wrote that such measures would further "depress" the economy by slashing the federal workforce when there's not enough room in the private sector to absorb those employees. He equated the cutback to a 3-million-person mass layoff in the United States. 

While the federal workforce in the United States is actually less than 3 million, even an 8 percent cutback -- the size of Britain's personnel squeeze -- would amount to about 200,000 fewer U.S. federal workers, among the best-paid employees in the country. 

Britain also wants to cap long-term jobless benefits at 12 months; in the United States, that would cut the current extension of 99 weeks in half. 

But if the United States wanted to tackle its debt and deficit with the same kind of vigor as Britain, it might end up dealing with even steeper cuts. The latest Treasury Department report showed the U.S. deficit was nearly $1.3 trillion in 2010. And while Britain's national debt is a paltry trillion, the United States owes $13.6 trillion. 

As some economists warn that Britain's approach could backfire during an uncertain time for economic growth, one British official suggested the upcoming election in the U.S. could take the pulse of whether America is ready to try something similar. 

"We have made our choice," Mark Hoban, financial secretary to the Treasury in Britain, told The Washington Post. "I have to leave it to the Americans to decide in the midterm elections whether (the Obama administration's) policy is right."

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Mattress Found in Landfill Could Be Key Evidence in Case of Missing North Carolina Girl

Published October 22, 2010

| FoxNews.com

North Carolina police hope DNA from a mattress found in a landfill will help crack the case of a 10-year-old girl who has been missing at least two weeks.

The mattress belonging to the missing girl, Zahra Clare Baker, had been thrown out by her parents days before her father reported her missing Oct. 9, police said. Police didn't expect to find her body in the landfill.

"Investigators hoped to use the mattress to confirm interviews with persons associated with this investigation and to reinforce the timeline," Hickory, N.C., police said in a written statement announcing the conclusion of their landfill search. "We also hoped it could provide some DNA evidence related to this case."

The discovery comes on the heels of a judge deeming Zahra's stepmother a flight risk after the woman's grown daughter testified that she's carrying on an online relationship with a man in England who was sending her thousands of dollars.

Catawba County District Judge Robert Mullinax Jr. said there were "disturbing and unsettling allegations" in the case as he increased Elisa Baker's bond from $40,000 to $65,000. Defense attorneys had asked him to lower bond to $10,000, which they said fits legal guidelines for her charge of obstructing justice.

Investigators said Baker wrote a bogus ransom note found Oct. 9, the day she and her husband reported Zahra missing. Police have said they think someone killed the girl who used hearing aids and a prosthetic leg because of bone cancer, but have not found her body and haven't charged anyone with killing her.

Investigators said earlier this week that they were seeking a serial number and other details about the artificial leg the girl used since surviving bone cancer.

The girl was last seen in public Sept. 25, but investigators want to know if anyone else outside the family had seen her more recently to fill in gaps in the case's timeline.

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Could I get a tapper with my school lunch?

Published October 13, 2010

| Associated Press

LA POINTE, Wis. –  Elementary school students on a Lake Superior island eat lunch at an unconventional location each day. That's until their parents found out their kids were walking and skipping to the Bell Street Tavern to eat lunch.

Superintendent Linda Kunelius said she solicited bids for the lunch program and the tavern was the low bidder at $5 per plate. Parents and teachers didn't learn their children at La Pointe Elementary would be eating lunch at a tavern until the day before school started. Parent School Association president Jen Croonberg-Murphy said most parents can't get past the idea their children are eating lunch at a bar.

The Daily Press of Ashland said the Bayfield School Board finally considered the matter this week and decided that for the short term, the tavern will deliver lunch to the school.

___

Information from: The Daily Press, http://www.ashlandwi.com

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Senate, Gubernatorial Races Could Tip House Contests

WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats are mindful that victories at the gubernatorial and Senate level could be a boon for candidates who are caught up in contested races for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ahead of the Nov. 2 election, some 75 House races are seen as very competitive.

From coast to coast, Republicans have the upper hand and are likely to gain seats up and down the ballot given a troubling climate for Democrats, who are being blamed for the slow economic recovery and continuing high unemployment.

The Republican Party is looking to its strength among gubernatorial nominees, in particular, to help it pick up the 40 seats it needs to win power in the House.

The House is more likely than the Senate to change hands, where the Republicans would need to gain 10 seats to take control from the Democrats.

Governing parties typically lose seats in U.S. midterm elections, which take place in the middle of a president's four-year term.

But Democratic losses are likely to be particularly severe as President Barack Obama has lost public support as he has struggled with the weak economy, high unemployment and the country's general anti-Washington mood.

That's why strong candidates for governor or the U.S. Senate are likely to help House candidates, experts say.

"In a midterm election where turnout could be a key factor in deciding which party holds a majority in Congress, enthusiasm for (Republican) candidates at the top of the ticket will benefit Republicans in battleground districts," said Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, the chairman of the House Republicans' campaign committee.

But David Plouffe, a Democratic National Committee senior adviser, predicted that Democrats will do better than expected in key races. Said Plouffe: "If we continue to show progress gradually ... we're going to win some of these close elections. We're going to surprise people."

And there are issues other than the economy that will help or hurt candidates.

In Ohio, for example, a published report Saturday says a Republican candidate for the House dressed up in a German SS uniform to participate in Nazi reenactments.

The Atlantic magazine said Rich Iott, a tea party favorite, has taken part in the reenactments for years. He's seeking a seat held by Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur since 1982.

Iott defended reenactments, but the Democrats' House campaign arm jumped on the disclosure he played a Nazi, saying it sends a chilling message to Americans.

Republican and Democratic strategists say House races are growing more competitive as voters pay closer attention to issues as the election nears.

The Republicans have significant opportunities to win governorships across the Great Lakes states, a recession-weary region where Democratic House candidates are in jeopardy. Polls also show Republicans favored to take the biggest prizes in other states with competitive House races.

Among such races for governor are:

--Pennsylvania, where Republican candidate Tom Corbett is running ahead of Democratic rival Dan Onorato. Republican Pat Toomey also has an edge in the Senate fight. Double-barreled Republican victories could help Republican candidates take over up to six Democratic-held House seats.

--Wisconsin, where Republican Scott Walker is leading Democrat Tom Barrett. Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold also is in a tough re-election battle. Two Democratic House seats are at stake.

--Ohio, where former Republican Rep. John Kasich is trying to fend off an ascendent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. It's all but certain Republican Rob Portman will win the Senate race. No less than five Democrats could lose their House seats.

--Nevada, where Republican Brian Sandavol is favored to beat Democrat Rory Reid. His father, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is in a tight re-election battle, too. So is a freshman Democrat.

Elsewhere, Democratic House candidates are appearing to benefit from their party's strength at the top of the ticket in a handful of states. Among those with strong Democratic chances for governor are Colorado and Maryland.

In California, Democrat Jerry Brown is locked in a battle with Republican Meg Whitman for governor, and Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has recently seen her re-election prospects strengthen. Two House members would benefit from Democratic triumphs.

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