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WORLD
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay apologizes for detention of son of an Iraqi politician
U.S. troops temporarily detained the son of one of Iraq’s most prominent Shiite politicians as the son returned from Iran on, sparking bitter rebukes by Shiite leaders in Iraq and prompting an apology by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
Amar al-Hakim – son of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim – was detained around 9 a.m. while American forces searched his car and security detail after they came through the southern Iraqi border crossing in Badraw Jassan. He was released and continued on to Najaf 11 hours later.
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim heads the country’s largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which was founded in Iran to oppose the regime of Saddam Hussein. He appeared with President Bush at the White House in December, and his party is in the coalition behind the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“This sent a bad message in this sensitive time,” said Hamid al-Mualla, a Shiite parliament member allied with the elder al-Hakim. “It offended the dignity of the government that is trying to impose law.”
The detention comes at a time when U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concerns about the flow of arms and money into Iraq from Iran and other neighboring states. Last week, Iraq closed some border crossings from Iran and Syria as it began a security crackdown in Baghdad.
U.S. officials said they could not immediately explain why the son was arrested. Khalilzad said the arrest was being investigated and stressed that the United States meant no disrespect to al-Hakim’s father or his family.
“I am sorry about the arrest,” The Associated Press quoted Khalilzad as saying. “We don’t know the circumstances of the arrest and we are investigating … but he is being released.”
Amar al-Hakim holds no government post but is a religious figure with a high public profile in Iraq. He leads a charity honoring his uncle, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was assassinated in Najaf in 2003. Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim took over SCIRI shortly after that.
Amar al-Hakim had been in Iran since midweek, said al-Mualla, who did not have details of the visit.
NATIONAL
California man claims he has Sputnik remnants
Calling all rocket scientists – we mean real rocket scientists.
Bob Morgan, a 60-year-old jet-ski parts maker from the Santa Barbara, Calif., area, claims his family found pieces of Sputnik 1, the world’s first manmade satellite, that fueled the space race after its launching by the Soviet Union in 1957. And he’s looking for engineers, computer scientists and, yes, rocket scientists to help him verify their authenticity.
On Friday, Morgan held a press conference in San Francisco, where he made a plea to verify whether or not the plastic and metal wires that were found in his grandfather’s southern California backyard in December 1957 came from the actual Sputnik 1, which was said to have burned on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
He is appealing to Silicon Valley engineers because he knows that Sputnik served as an inspiration to many in the 1950s, getting them interested in science and the then-burgeoning field of electronics.
“We are looking for honest answers to an honest question,” said Jerry Cimino, the founder of the Beat Museum in San Francisco’s North Beach district.
Morgan said the plastic tubes, with burns on the ends, formed a complete ring about 18 or 19 inches in diameter when they were found glowing red in his grandparents’ backyard near Encino in early December 1957. They didn’t know what to do and moved them away from the house.
They soon heard of a $50,000 reward for Sputnik parts on the radio station KDAY. They brought the box with the 12 parts to the Los Angeles station, where they were met by Air Force representatives who took custody of the parts. They eventually got them back without a reward.
Many are skeptical, however.
“If this really had been pieces of Sputnik it would have been a huge deal,” said Paul Dixon, author of the book, “Sputnik, The Shock of the Century,” which is the basis of a movie due out late this year. He said he has talked to many space experts who are skeptical that the parts are from Sputnik.
“I don’t doubt for a second that something fell from the air. It was a huge year for experimentation in Southern California, there was experimental aircraft, all sorts of stuff was going on,” Dixon said. But “it doesn’t match up with the pictures of Sputnik,” he said.
Dixon and others said Sputnik re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in January 1958, which is later than when Morgan said the parts were found. Morgan and Cimino said that data on the reentry may not be accurate; they said there were no sighting of Sputnik after the first week of December.
The Beat Museum has its own connection to Sputnik. The late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen coined the term “beatnik” – referring to a group of free-thinking poets and writers of the post-War era, such as Jack Kerouac. Caen took his inspiration from the word Sputnik.
A mock Sputnik that hangs in Cimino’s museum got the attention of a visitor, who told him he knew a guy with the real thing. Cimino spoke to Morgan and decided to help him in his quest.
LOCAL/BSU
Air quality panel releases new plan for clearer skies
The Treasure Valley Air Quality Council presented its final plan to lawmakers on Friday. It outlines proposals to keep the area’s skies clear.
Officials say the recommendations in the plan are designed to further the mission of the council, which is to protect, preserve and improve air quality in the Treasure Valley.
The plan includes a request to develop a legislative task force, to be made up of representatives from Ada and Canyon counties. This task force would work with the council to write specific legislation and ordinances required for implementation of an emissions testing program in both counties.
The council has submitted the plan to the 2007 Idaho Legislature as required.
Its proposal, which would require on-board diagnostic testing for some cars in both Ada and Canyon County every other year would do away with tailpipe emissions testing in Ada County.
Instead, all vehicles 1996 or newer would be tested every other year, with the exception that new vehicles need not be tested until five years old.
A remote sensing program would be implemented, using “smog dogs” to identify gross polluters for all model-year vehicles.
The testing agency could charge motorists up to $10 a year on their vehicle registrations to fund the program.
During two hearings held in Boise and Nampa in January, the council received public feedback to the plan, although the Nampa hearing was sparsely attended. The council also collected written responses from the public, local business and government leaders, and government entities.
“We believe we have done what the Legislature asked us to do, which included making modifications to our final plan in response to the concerns we heard,” Council Chairman Pete O’Neill said. “We now need to move forward with diligence and momentum.”
O’Neill said local communities and businesses could face consequences for failing to meet federal air quality standards.
Dale Stephenson, vice-chairman of the Treasure Valley Air Quality Council, said backers of the plan are ready to move ahead.
“We look forward to working closely with lawmakers as we prepare our detailed implementation of an emissions testing model for legislative consideration next year,” he said.
The Regional Air Quality Council Act defines the Treasure Valley as the geographic areas of Ada and Canyon counties, although it recognizes that the airshed extends beyond those boundaries. Projected growth rates indicate the airshed will be home to roughly 1 million people by 2030, according to U.S. Census forecasts.
Courtesy Idaho Press-Tribune
WHAT THE ?
I’m just as surprised as you
Police in Southbury, Conn., arrested a man they had stopped for speeding after they discovered he was carrying 43 plastic baggies of cocaine.
They set bail at $5,000, so he called his aunt to bring his small portable safe, containing money, to the lockup.
However, in addition to the money, the safe also contained more cocaine. Upon seeing this, the cops filed additional charges against him and upped his bail to $125,000.
We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors
A teenager was given a job “on a trial basis” at a carwash in Slidell, La. On his first day, he stole a $70,000 BMW and led police on a seven-mile, high-speed chase before crashing the vehicle into a tree. He was not given a permanent position.
MCT Campus Wire Services
