November
03, 2000 - Bush once pleaded guilty to DUI -
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) - Texas Gov. George W. Bush said
Thursday he was arrested and pleaded guilty nearly 25 years
ago to driving while under the influence of alcohol.
"I'm not proud of that," he said. Confirming
reports that surfaced in the media five days before Election
Day, the GOP presidential nominee said in a hurriedly
arranged news conference, "I've often times said that
years ago I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too
much, and I did on that night. I regret that it
happened." The incident was first reported by Fox News,
based on a report prepared by a local affiliate in Maine.
Bush, who was 30 years old at the time, said he had chosen
to keep the incident private, but his hand was forced by the
news outlets. For months, the GOP nominee has refused to
answer questions about any "youthful
indiscretions," including whether he used illegal drugs
in the 1960s and early 1970s. He continued to avoid
specifics Thursday night, saying he has "been
straightforward with the people, saying that I used to drink
too much in the past. I'm straightforward with people saying
I don't drink now."
November 15, 2000 -
Heston
attacks British gun laws - Hollywood
actor Charlton Heston has attacked the UK's anti-gun laws in
a speech to students at Oxford University. The
Oscar-winning actor, and president of the influential
National Rifle Association (NRA) in the US, said British
anti-gun laws had led to an increase in gun-related crime...
November
22, 2000 - Report:
FBI could abuse Carnivore - By Robert
Lemos, ZDNet News, A government-funded report says that
the FBI's Internet surveillance system works as advertised,
but warns that Carnivore could be abused...
November
14, 2000
- $67 Million in Tax
Refunds Unclaimed - WASHINGTON (AP)
- More than $67 million in tax refunds remain to be claimed
by some 91,000 taxpayers, IRS officials said Monday.
"There's a ton of money sitting around," IRS
Commissioner Charles Rossotti said. "We want to get
these refund checks back to where they belong." The IRS
says some checks get returned because people move, or
because taxpayers provide inaccurate addresses. Deaths and
marriages are also frequent reasons why a refund doesn't
find its proper way. "Life gets busy and some people
can overlook or forget about a refund check," Rossotti
said. An annual review found that 91,823 tax refunds worth
$67.4 million were returned to the IRS with an average of
$734 per check. Last year, the figure was $72 million.
People who think they may be owed a refund can contact the IRS
toll-free at 1-800-829-1040.
November 21, 2000 - Election sparks protests online
- "In Florida, the presidential election won't end.
Online, the protests and humorous jabs have only begun.
Internet sites devoted to what one entrepreneur calls the
"Perpetual Election" have sprung up..."
November
14, 2000
- Church expected to be seized by IRS - INDIANAPOLIS
(AP) - A pastor who challenged the
authority of the IRS braced along with
his congregation for the seizure of
their Baptist church Tuesday for refusal
to pay a $6 million tax debt. Experts
have said they believe the case is the
first in which the federal government
has confiscated a church in a tax
dispute. Last month, a federal judge
ordered the Rev. Greg A. Dixon and the
1,500-member Indianapolis Baptist Temple
to vacate its church, school and
parsonages by noon Tuesday to satisfy
the tax lien, which consists of back
taxes, penalties and interest. The
independent Baptist church stopped
withholding federal income and Social
Security taxes from the paychecks of its
employees in 1984, saying that its duty
to obey God prevailed over manmade laws,
and that withholding taxes would make it
an agent of the government. Dixon said
the employees have paid their own taxes.
"We're not saying people shouldn't
pay taxes. We're just saying it's not
the church's responsibility," Dixon
said
November 10, 2000
- World
Views of U.S. Election: 'Like Italy!' and 'Banana Republic'
- "Many people around the world are used to
elections that are plagued by turmoil, confusion and
irregularities. They just are not used to seeing
them in the United States..."
November
17, 2000 - Amtrak debuts first bullet train
- WASHINGTON (AP) - A champagne christening in Washington, a
gala welcome in New York and fireworks in Boston were on
track Thursday to celebrate the debut, at last, of America's
first bullet train. The VIP-only inaugural run of Amtrak's
Acela Express, however, is just the first step on a long and
costly road toward European-style high-speed train travel in
the United States. Acela Express could be the swan song for
the federally subsidized railway that is under orders from
Congress to become financially self-sufficient by 2003.
Amtrak is relying on the service to earn $180 million a
year. Proponents say high-speed rail is needed regardless of
Amtrak's future, as an alternative to overcrowded air
travel. But that would require billions of public dollars to
lay new tracks in some corridors, straighten curves,
eliminate highway crossings and perform other upgrades of
the nation's rail network. A year behind schedule, Acela
Express begins daily service in the Northeast on Dec. 11,
with a top speed of 150 mph. Thursday's debut was to start
in Washington and end in Boston, with a stop in New York.
November
17, 2000 - Public records on Web questioned
- MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (AP) - As more individuals build
their own Web sites, some privacy advocates now question
requirements that the site owners disclose their personal
contact information. Names, e-mail addresses, postal
addresses and telephone numbers for more than 24 million
domain names are stored in databases called Whois. The
information is available to anyone with an Internet
connection. It's like a global phone directory - without the
option for an unlisted number - and can be easily accessed
through servers at companies that register domain names.
"Sacrificing your privacy should not be a condition of
access to the domain space," said Alan Davidson, staff
counsel with the Center for Democracy and Technology. Most
people may not care and would list their contact information
anyway, just like most telephone customers now list their
numbers. But Davidson said Internet users ought to have a
choice - for instance, they may want to stay anonymous if
they are human rights advocates and other dissidents fearful
of repercussion from oppressive governments.
November
17, 2000 - DaimlerChrysler
short on PT Cruisers - DETROIT
(AP) - DaimlerChrysler AG has warned
its dealers that it can't build enough
2001 Chrysler PT Cruisers to meet all
the orders customers have made. An
undetermined number of people who have
ordered one of the retro-styled
hatchbacks - some of whom paid
hundreds of dollars as a deposit -
might have to wait until the middle of
next year to get one and pay next
year's prices. The automaker's
inability to keep up with demand for
PT Cruisers could damage relations
with buyers Chrysler was hoping would
be repeat customers in years to come.
It also could mar what has been its
one unqualified success in a year of
troubles. DaimlerChrysler warned
dealers of the shortfall in a memo
sent earlier this month, saying it
would tell dealers by Dec. 1 how many
2001 PT Cruisers they would get
through summer of 2001 "to assist
with managing customer
expectations." The memo said
customers whose orders are not built
before then would be charged whatever
price the 2002 model carries.
November
17, 2000 - Gennifer
Flowers appeals defamation lawsuit
- LAS VEGAS (AP) - Gennifer Flowers is
appealing the dismissal of her
defamation lawsuit against first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton and two former
aides to President Clinton. The
lawsuit accuses the first lady of
orchestrating three burglaries of
Flowers' home, defaming her and
invading her privacy. It also alleges
former aides George Stephanopoulos and
James Carville libeled and slandered
her. A federal judge dismissed the
suit in August, ruling that the
lawsuit had passed the statute of
limitations. Flowers filed the appeal
Wednesday. Flowers first gained
national attention when she claimed
during the 1992 presidential campaign
that she had a 12-year affair with the
president when he was governor of
Arkansas. He later admitted to the
affair.
November
16, 2000 - Electoral
system review proposed -
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two congressmen on
Wednesday proposed a broad review of
the American electoral process, one of
numerous ideas arising out of Congress
in the wake of the presidential
election standoff that has brought
legislative work to a halt. Reps.
Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Jim Leach,
R-Iowa, introduced legislation to form
a bipartisan 12-member commission to
recommend how best to ensure the
integrity of future federal elections.
The panel would look into such issues
as the rationale for the Electoral
College, voter registration, mail-in
balloting, voting technology, ballot
design, weekend voting and campaign
finance reform. The uncertainty over
the presidential winner hit home in
Congress, where the House and Senate
agreed this week to extend the
lame-duck session with a three-week
recess. There was consensus between
the parties that differences cannot be
resolved this year without knowing who
will be in the White House next year.
November 10, 2000 -
Russians
Find Little of Interest in U.S. Campaign - MOSCOW
- When asked what Russians think of U.S. presidential
campaign, three possibilities come to mind: 1) Bush's legs;
2) Nothing; 3) Who cares. As for the first option, it's not
that Russians have an unnatural attraction to the Republican
candidate's extremities. Rather, it's an indication that
many Russians still remember the food aid provided by the
United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
November 10, 2000 -
DR
Congo Wants Future American President to Be Firm - Panafrican
News Agency, As Americans grapple
with a winding process of electing their new leader, the
Kinshasa government would want Washington under a new
President to take UN Security Council resolutions into
account in the resolution of the conflict in the DRC...
November 10, 2000 - CHAOS
REIGNS IN U.S. VOTE - Results of pivotal
Florida recount may take a week ... Fiasco In Florida ...
Who Will Be President, WASHINGTON - U.S. democracy
remains grid locked in the tightest presidential race in
American history as Republican George W. Bush's lead over
Democrat rival Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped to
a mere 229 votes in a suspense-filled recount yesterday.
November 08, 2000 -
WEB
GETS MIXED RETURNS ON ELECTION
- In some cases record-breaking traffic slowed or even
shut out some online vote counters, but others saw
smooth sailing...
November
05, 2000 - AOL
Fires Utah Gun Owners! - America Online has been
known to gun owners for some time for their support of
anti-gun organizations and policies. They've donated large
sums of money to liberal, anti-gun Democrat organizations
to support people like Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton
and Ted Kennedy. More recently, they've canceled accounts
for firearms related web sites on the grounds that such
material is no different than "pornography".
Never mind that guns are entirely legal items owned by
tens of millions of Americans. Never mind that AOL doesn't
seem to think that disgustingly offensive rock music is a
problem...
November
03, 2000 - New
International Cybersnooping treaty Attack on Privacy...
- "A new international computer-crime treaty the U.S.
government expects to sign this year is an "all-out
attack on computer privacy" and should be rejected,
Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne said
today. "This treaty doesn't attack crime," he
said. "Instead, it attacks privacy, the Fifth
Amendment, and certain kinds of software -- while giving
the government awesome new powers to cybersnoop on
innocent Americans." The so-called "Draft
Convention On Cybercrime" - the first international
computer crime agreement - is currently being negotiated
by the United States and the 41-nation Council of
Europe..."
