Luciferian News Hour

March 10

Welcome to the Luciferian News Hour with Jim and the Dragon. We are broadcasting life on Thursday, and the program will be rebroadcast for regular listeners on Friday night due to a conflict in Friday night broadcasts. Beginning next week, the News Hour will be moved to a new time, Thursday night at 10 p.m. Be sure to mark that on your calendars.

Bush In The Middle East

Getting U.S. President George W. Bush into not one but two battlegrounds in the war on terrorism last week -- Pakistan and Afghanistan -- stretched his security detail. But Bush was adamant about going despite the risks.

In doing so, he offered a boost to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, both struggling to contain Islamist militants trying to destabilize their governments.

The trouble for these two leaders is that many of their countrymen see them as lackeys of Bush. And they perceive Bush as a U.S. president whose own job approval ratings at home have fallen below 40 percent due largely to the Iraq war and a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

By making the trip, Bush may well have been within several hundred miles of Osama bin Laden, the elusive al Qaeda leader who Bush wanted "dead or alive".

Many intelligence analysts believe bin Laden is hiding in the remote mountains along the Pakistan border with Afghanistan.

Bush and Pakistani President Musharraf recommitted their nations Saturday to the task of hunting down terrorists still hiding in Pakistan and across the globe.

The U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are unpopular, and Pakistan's strong anti-American sentiment was reflected in the thousands who demonstrated across the country against Bush's visit. While there are suspicions that al-Qaida and Taliban operatives maintain some degree of safe sanctuary inside Pakistan, Musharraf has defied criticism he is too cozy with Washington to be a strong U.S. partner in the anti-terrorism campaign.

Bush said his visit convinced him that Musharraf is as committed as ever.

The Bush Effect?

Immediately after the Bush visit, India has been rocked by bombings. Explosions rocked a packed railway station and crowded Hindu temple Tuesday in Hinduism's holiest city Varanasi, and 20 people were killed and dozens injured. At least 10 people died in what appeared to be two bombings at the city’s train station, and two others were killed in another blast at the temple on the banks of the holy Ganges River. Security forces deployed to holy sites across India on Wednesday over concern of possible widespread sectarian violence.

Ethiopian Bombings

Three explosions rocked the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa at midday on Tuesday, injuring four people, police said.

One blast hit the Lalibela restaurant in the southern part of the city, extensively damaging the structure. Restaurant manager Asnketch Makaonnen said the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in a flower pot outside.

The other explosion struck a market, also in the south of the city. Police said the device was hidden in a rubbish bin. There were no injuries.

A third blast later occurred outside the gate of a hotel and tourism training center in the center of the city. No one was injured in the blast, which damaged a small guard shack at the gate.

Fessin’ Up To Civil War

For the first time today, Bush Administration officials were talking about the reality of a civil war in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S commander in the Middle East, told Congress today they had to admit that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated to a point where Sunni-Shiite violence has become more of a threat to US success there than the insurgency.

Rumsfeld said he still does not believe Iraq will descend into an all-out civil war. But it is impeding efforts to stabilize the country.

Daily Killings

Updating events in Iraq; gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in west Baghdad early Sunday, killing three people in a 25-minute gun battle. Seven people were wounded.

There was an apparent lull in reported events for a day. Then on Tuesday a string of explosions killed at least four people in Baghdad. Also 23 bodies, many of them hanged, were found dumped in parts of the Capital. It seems that the killing was going on silently while nobody was looking.

The killing continued steadily throughout the week. The thunder of five explosions rocked Baghdad early today with at least 16 people killed. The city also was hit today with a severe sand storm.

Cindy Sheehan Busted Again

Cindy Sheehan took another bust for the anti-war cause Monday. She was cuffed and forcefully dragged away from the plaza in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she had marched with a delegation of Iraqi women in hopes of delivering a petition to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces from Iraq.

Saber Rattling With Iran

On the Iranian issue, a senior EU diplomat said the U.N. Security Council is expected to meet to look at this problem next week. Meanwhile, nuclear watchdog governors met to debate a report on the Iranian nuclear drive

Iran has threatened full-scale uranium enrichment if its nuclear work is referred to the UN Security Council.

The defiance came ahead of the UN atomic watchdog meeting in Vienna that cleared the way for possible action against Tehran over suspicions that it's  seeking nuclear weapons.

The Islamic republic's top nuclear negotiator said Iran would not freeze small-scale nuclear fuel work even if referred to the world body.

The Bush administration drew a hard line on Iran Tuesday, warning of "meaningful consequences" if the Islamic government does not back away from an international confrontation over its disputed nuclear program.

Edging toward the U.N. Security Council review it has long sought, Washington rejected any potential 11th hour compromise that would allow Iran to process nuclear fuel that could be used for weapons.

Vice President Dick Cheney started rattling sabers early in the week. He said the United States and other nations are agreed that "we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." He said, "The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences."

Speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, Cheney did not specify what the U.S. would do but said it "is keeping all options on the table." American officials have said the government has no plans for military force but will not rule it out.

Of course Iran retaliated by threatening the United States with "harm and pain" for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council.

This is a very ugly situation that needs to be resolved quickly or we are going to be embroiled in yet another war. With Russia and China expressing interest in Iranian oil, such a conflict could have a global impact.

Bullets And Bombs

The clash between the newly elected leaders of the militant group Hamas to political office in the Palestinian government and Israeli leadership has turned from words to bullets and bombs.

Islamic Jihad threatened on Wednesday to target Israeli leaders after a series of Israeli air strikes and raids killed key members of the Palestinian militant group.

"Leaders of the enemy should know that they personally are targets," Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

The Israeli air-strike against two Palestinian suspects in Gaza City killed three bystanders, a child and two teenagers. Israel’s Defense Minister said this was a targeted assassination and he made it clear that such attacks will continue. “No one will be immune,” he said.

The Defense Minister said the attack was designed to warn the new Hamas cabinet that the same strategy will be applied to leading members of the government if suicide-bombings in Israel resume.

Ariel Sharon’s peace efforts seem to be falling apart, even as the Prime Minister lies in a coma in a hospital somewhere in Israel.

Islamist militant Hamas, which is forming a Palestinian government, will not recognize Israel despite pressure from Russia to do so during talks in Moscow, a senior leader of the group said.

The Moscow visit was the first by Hamas leaders to a major foreign power since it won Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 25.

Hamas was hoping to gain a measure of international standing from the three days of talks, opposed by Israel and the United States, which both brand the group a terrorist organization. The Hamas charter calls for the Jewish state's destruction.

Government Under Duress

The new Palestinian parliament began its first working session this week, in spite of the conflict and efforts by Israel to keep many elected members from showing up.

The new speaker of the legislative council, Hamas deputy Aziz Dweik, opened proceedings in front of 112 of the 132 MPs -- many of whom took part via video-link from the parliament's regional base in Gaza City because of Israeli-imposed travel restrictions.

Large photographs were placed on the parliament's benches of 12 deputies who are being held behind bars in Israel.

Among the first topics for debate was how to register the votes of the jailed MPs, nine of whom are members of Hamas.

Port Takeover Killed?

That Dubai-owned company in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday it is giving up its entire stake in U.S. ports after both the US House and Senate appeared ready to block the takeover.

The deal became an election-year burden for Republicans after President Bush said he would veto any attempt to stop it.

"DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations ... to a United States entity," the firm's top executive, H. Edward Bilkey, said.

Earlier this week DP World finalized its $6.8 billion purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British firm that through a U.S. subsidiary runs important operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. It also plays a lesser role in dockside activities at 16 other American ports.

Relieved Republicans in Congress said the firm had pledged full divestiture, a decision that one senator said had been approved personally by the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

"The devil is in the details," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, reflecting a sentiment expressed by numerous critics of the deal. They want to make sure the Arab interests are completely out of the picture.

Trouble Over The Falklands?

Argentina was accused this week of staging 'worrying' maneuvers around the Falkland Islands. The accusation was made by the Tories who questioned whether overstretched British forces could repulse a new assault on the islands.

The Falklands, lying just off the Argentina coast, remain a commonwealth of England. British troops were sent there in after Argentina threatened to seize the islands as its own territory. It is an old dispute dating back for more than a century.

Shadow defense secretary Liam Fox accused the Argentines of 'increasing the tension' with submarine incursions as they doubled the size of their air force and fitted new missiles.

'Their air force has been testing the response times of our Tornados after an Argentine plane shows up on the Falklands radar. All these developments have been very worrying. Under this Labor government, could we respond to a renewed attack from Argentina?  he asked a Conservative party conference in Scotland yesterday.

$8.2 Trillion In Debt?

Treasury Secretary John Snow notified Congress Monday that the administration has now taken "all prudent and legal actions" to keep from hitting an $8.2 trillion national debt limit.

Can you imagine how much money that is? And that the United States has a debt approaching such a level?

In a letter to Congress, Snow urged lawmakers to pass a new debt ceiling immediately to avoid the nation's first-ever default on its obligations.

Treasury officials, briefing congressional aides last week, said that the government will run out of maneuvering room to keep from exceeding the current limit sometime during the week of March 20.

Now that is scary.

Goodby Nuclear Disarmament

The United States has signaled its apparent abandonment of the goal of nuclear disarmament "for the foreseeable future" as it embarked on a quest for a new generation of more reliable nuclear warheads.

Although the term "nuclear disarmament" quietly disappeared from the Bush administration's vocabulary long ago, the statement by Linton Brooks, head the National Nuclear Security Administration, marked the first time a top government official publicly acknowledged a goal enshrined in key international documents will no longer be pursued.

After years of work on the part of past leaders of the United States and Russia to remove this global threat of nuclear self-destruction, it is a tragedy that the Bush Administration has taken this approach.

This news also is very scary.

The Cunningham Sentencing

A disgraced former Republican US congressman, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, was sentenced to more than eight years in jail for taking 2.4 million dollars in bribes in return for influencing defense contracts.

Cunningham, 64, was sentenced to 100 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy and tax evasion in the latest legal scandal to engulf President George W. Bush's beleaguered party.

US District Judge Larry Burns said that the eight-term congressman had experienced 59 years of "pretty good living" before betraying the public trust.

Rejecting the disgraced politician's tearful appeal for mercy, Burns also ordered Cunningham to pay 1.8 million dollars in restitution.

Bush Polls Still Sinking

President George W. Bush's approval ratings continue to slide to record lows. Now they have hit figures of 38 and 39 percent, pushed there in part by that controversial ports deal.

Sixty percent of those surveyed in a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, released late last week, disapproved of Bush's performance in general. The negatives hit 58 percent in a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, and 54 percent in a Fox News poll.

The percentage of those polled who solidly backed the job Bush is doing was 20 percent, down 10 percent in a year, while those who strongly disapproved of Bush's performance surged to a record high of 44 percent, the USA Today poll found.

Only two US presidents had as low an approval rating two years after being reelected: Harry Truman, in February 1950, and Richard Nixon in February 1974, six months before he resigned amid the Watergate scandal.

Impeaching Bush?

There has been a growing call throughout the nation this winter for the impeachment of President Bush. It has always been out there, but recently, some towns and civic leaders have joined in and the voices are getting louder.

On February 28, the City and County of San Francisco became the first large municipality to call for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney, by a 7-3 vote.

The March edition of Harper’s Magazine calls for the Bush impeachment.

In five Vermont communities, a centuries-old tradition of residents gathering in town halls to conduct local business became a vehicle to send a message to Washington: Impeach the president.

An impeachment article, approved by a paper ballot 121-29 in Newfane Tuesday, calls on Vermont's lone member of the U.S. House, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against President Bush. The documents allege that Mr. Bush misled the nation into the Iraq war and engaged in illegal domestic spying.

Pissing Off Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of attempting to foment the secession of an oil-rich region in western Venezuela and demanded independence for the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.

Chavez said US officials were working behind the scenes with the governor of Zulia state, which is home to much of Venezuela's all-important oil industry, to create a secession movement loyal to US interests.

Pissing Off Morales

President Evo Morales of Bolivia accused the U.S. government of trying to intimidate his country by announcing it would cut some aid because of a disagreement over the appointment of a military commander.

Bolivia’s armed forces received a letter from U.S. officials saying the United States was cutting about half a million dollars in funding for Bolivia’s anti-terrorist unit, Morales said in a speech.

“We cannot accept threats and intimidation of our armed forces,” Morales said. “It’s not possible that external forces come to change commanders and ministers.”

Bird Flu Gaining Ground

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu swept into Poland, a laboratory confirmed, as world health experts prepared for a feared mutation of the virus that could kill millions.

Tests on two swans in Poland confirmed the presence of disease, which has killed at least 94 people since 2003 as it raced through Asia, then into Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Also several cats have tested positive for the deadly strain of bird flu in Austria's first reported case of the disease spreading to an animal other than a bird, state authorities said Monday.

Two or three cats, all of which are still alive, have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease.

German authorities last month confirmed that a cat on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen succumbed to the deadly virus, which it is believed to have caught by eating an infected bird.

That would be consistent with a pattern of disease transmission seen in wild cats in Asia.

German officials have warned pet owners to keep their cats indoors and dogs on a leash in areas where the disease has been detected

La Nina Looming

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said it saw unprecedented signs pointing to a looming La Nina, a phenomenon that originates off the western coast of South America but can disrupt weather patterns in many parts of the globe.

The agency said temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific had been between 0.5 and 1.0 C (0.9 and 1.8 F) below normal since the start of the 2006.

" It is unprecedented in the historical record for a La Nina of substantial intensity or duration to develop so early in the year,"  a WMO statement said.

La Nina, which has the opposite effects to the more notorious El Nino, last occurred from mid-1998 to early 2001.

Under La Nina, the sea-surface temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific falls below normal.

This typically brings far dryer weather to the southwestern United States, Florida and western Latin America and above-average rainfall to Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

But there can also be a knock-on much further afield, with an increase to monsoon rainfall in South Asia, unusual coolness in tropical West Africa, Southeast Africa, Japan and the Korean peninsula.

La Nina usually lasts nine to 12 months, although "some episodes may persist for as long as two years," the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says on its website.

Dying Honey Bees

With all the sophisticated technology farmers use, little honeybees remain crucial, pollinating billions of dollars of fruit, vegetable and nut crops each year.

But the number of honeybees and managed beehives is down so much that production of pollinated plants has fallen by about a third in the last two years from the usual $15 billion per year.

The culprit is a tiny mite that is killing the bees in the larvae stage in the hives. Bee keepers are spending a lot of money on pesticides in an effort to protect their hives, but the mite appears to be winning this war all around the world. It is in Europe and all over the United States.

Most wild honeybees have been wiped out by the mite, so farmers have resorted in some areas to renting bees.

Commercial beekeepers, crunched by huge bee losses and rising costs for fuel and chemicals to kill mites, have boosted the fees they charge farmers to rent honeybees.

Killer Drought In Africa

An estimated 11 million people across East Africa face starvation after the worst drought in 20 years hit the poverty stricken region, a British charity has warned.

The lack of rain across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and other smaller countries over the past two years has seen wells and watering holes dry up completely.

Up to 80% of cattle herds have died in the drought. Aid agencies are receiving reports of people dying of thirst and others being driven to drink their own urine to survive.

"This is a crisis on the verge of becoming a catastrophe," a social worker from Nairobi, Kenya said.

"There are dead cattle everywhere and people have sold everything they have to buy food. These are the last few weeks that many people are going to be able to survive without help."

And Armyworms . . .

Adding to the horrors in the South African region, armyworms have destroyed at least 45,000 hectares of crops in different parts of Tanzania, where a searing drought is already threatening millions of people.

So far, at least 45,087 hectares of crops, including maize farmland, have been ruined by the worms since last month, the agriculture ministry said.

Armyworms, which last attacked Tanzania in 1996, destroying thousands of hectares of farmlands, devour all green plants in their path. They breed fast, making them difficult to control. Pesticides are being used to attempt to stop their progress.

Heavy Snow In Africa

Heavy snow in Northern Africa has cut off villages and clogged key arteries leading away from the Algerian capital Algiers for several days, national police said on Sunday.

Djelfa, which had 70cm, was "totally paralyzed", the Algerian Press Agency said.

At least 60cm of snow blanketed towns south of Algiers.

An AFP reporter said only donkeys and mules could ply the roads around the villages.

Snow is unusual in the North African country, but last winter saw snowfalls of more than two meters in several parts of the northeast.

Killer Snows In Europe

Heavy snow and high winds lashed Europe over the weekend, causing the deaths of at least 17 people in weather-related accidents and avalanches in Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Thousands of people in France and southern Germany spent a night trapped in their cars, trains or emergency shelters after heavy snow blanketed the Alps, officials said.

Packed with holidaymakers on ski trips, much of the area was placed under a maximum avalanche alert, with authorities closing off access to many ski resorts.

Avalanches claimed two more lives in a season set to be one of the worst on record.

One avalanche in the southern Swiss Alps on Sunday killed a 45-year-old woman snowshoeing, while another in the northeastern Italian province of Trento killed a 28-year-old Norwegian man.

At the other end of Italy, on the French border, an avalanche trapped three people on Mount Jaferau but rescue workers were able to pull them out alive.

Bangladesh Tropical Storm

In Bangladesh at least four people were killed and more than 100 injured as a tropical storm flattened hundreds of houses in six villages in the country's southern coastal region, police said.

The storm hit late Saturday night, killing at least four people in the massive mangrove forest that runs along the Bay of Bengal coast from southern Bangladesh to India, area police reported.

"More than 100 people have been injured in the storm that flattened more than 500 houses completely," one officer said.

China Cuts The Juice

China has told its government departments to cut electricity and water consumption by 20 percent by 2010, state media reported on Saturday.

The edict from the central government was even stricter on energy usage by office buildings, which had to fall more than 20 percent by 2010 from 2005 levels.

"According to the notice, government institutions should play a leading role in reducing resources consumption and guide the consumption mode of society."

The notice also applied to vehicle fuel without giving details.

Planting Trees In China

China also has planted 12 billion trees over the past five years in an effort to restore its scarce forest cover and combat flooding and the loss of farmland blamed on excessive tree-cutting.

The new trees, many planted by volunteers, covered 80 million acres, according to the director of the State Forestry Administration.

China has been trying for more than a decade to reverse the rapid loss of what little remains of its forests.

Experts blame heavy tree-cutting, spurred by rapid economic growth, for the loss of farmland to deserts and devastating summer flooding in areas where denuded hillsides fail to trap rainfall.

Tree-planting in northern China has helped to reduce the severity of the spring dust storms in Beijing and other northern cities.

Greenhouse Gas Draws More Oil

The United States, where oil production has been declining since the 1970s, has the potential to boost its oil reserves four-fold through advanced injection of carbon dioxide into depleted oilfields, the Department of Energy said.

The United States, the world's top oil consumer, has been successfully pumping small amounts or carbon dioxide into depleted oil and natural gas fields for 30 years to push out hard-to-reach fossil fuels.

The DOE said 89 billion barrels could potentially be added to current proved U.S. oil reserves of 21.9 billion barrels through injection of carbon dioxide, the main gas that most scientists believe is warming the earth. Now that is what the world needs now, a way to get more carbon fuels by pumping greenhouse gasses into the worn out oil wells. Somehow that seems to be the wrong thing to do.

Forcing EPA Action

A dozen U.S. states appealed to the Supreme Court on a case that seeks to force the U.S. government to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks.

The states, three cities including New York, and several green groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate the car emissions most scientists link to global warming.

Last August the full bench of the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., the nation's second-highest court, denied a request to hear the case in a 4 to 3 decision.

Earlier, that court ruled 2 to 1 that the U.S. government does not have to regulate carbon dioxide emissions spewed from cars and trucks.

Environmental Satellite In Trouble

Budget cuts and poor management may be jeopardizing the future of our eyes in orbit _ America's fleet of environmental satellites, vital tools for forecasting hurricanes, protecting water supplies and predicting global warming.

"The system of environmental satellites is at risk of collapse," said Richard A. Anthes, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. "Every year that goes by without the system being addressed is a problem."

Anthes chairs a National Academy of Sciences committee that advises the federal government on developing and operating environmental satellites. In a report issued last year, the committee warned that "the vitality of Earth science and application programs has been placed at substantial risk by a rapidly shrinking budget."

Since that report came out, NASA has chosen to cancel or mothball at least three planned satellites in an effort to save money. Cost overruns have delayed a new generation of weather satellites until at least 2010 and probably 2012, leading a Government Accountability Office official to label the enterprise "a program in crisis."

Scientists warn that the consequences of neglecting Earth-observing satellites could have more than academic consequences. It is possible that when a big volcano starts rumbling in the Pacific Northwest, a swarm of tornadoes sweeps through Oklahoma or a massive hurricane bears down on New Orleans, the people in harm's way _ and those responsible for their safety _ will have a lot less information than they'd like about the impending threat.

Hawaiian Flooding

The Island of Oahu, Hawaii, was declared a state of emergency on Saturday after three days of heavy rains brought severe flooding.

Gov. Linda Lingle issued an emergency proclamation covering the period from Feb. 20, through today to help residents and businesses recover from flooding and mudslides.

Oahu was under a flash-flood warning this morning with rains continuing to soak the Koolau Mountains and Windward Coast, from Punaluu to Waimanalo.

Oahu, Kauai and Niihau were also under a flash-flood watch, in effect through this afternoon.

Torrential rain from Waiahole to Kahuku flooded roadways and homes, closed schools and caused at least two landslides yesterday.

The storm stranded many Windward Oahu residents for hours in their cars and spurred others to wage a battle against Mother Nature to clean out storm drains and save their property.

The weather service said the rain, which started Wednesday on the Windward Coast, was associated with a low-pressure trough several hundred miles off Oahu coupled with southeasterly winds.

Over the 72-hour period ending at 5 a.m. today, Punaluu saw 22.84 inches of rain. Kahuku was not far behind at 12.26.

Australian Floods

Thousands of Australians along the country's east coast were stranded by floods late last week. Some 2,500 residents of the northern New South Wales town of Bellingen had been isolated by floodwaters which were nearing their expected peak of about 25 feet Friday afternoon, an emergency services spokesman said.

Deadly Smokestack Fire

Officials in Moundsville, West Virginia, Sunday were letting a fire in a 100-story high smokestack burn itself out before resuming the search for the body of a worker that died inside.

The worker was installing a fiberglass lining inside the stack of a power plant when the fire broke out. Three other workers at the top of the stack were trapped for two hours above the flames before their dramatic helicopter rescue.

"They were able to get on top of the stack and secure themselves on the side to stay out of the fire," one police officer said.

Ground crews communicated with the men by radio and the three remained calm while awaiting rescue. They were all in stable condition at area hospitals early Sunday.

The workers were rescued by a Maryland State Police helicopter, which lowered a bucket to lift each worker out individually.

Punk Rock Rioting

Rioting broke out Saturday night in San Bernardino, California, at British punk band concert, injuring several people and destroying two police cars, officials said.

Some in the crowd of about 1,500 at the "British Invasion 2K6" show pelted police with rocks and bottles, forcing the officers to withdraw.

Two concertgoers were hospitalized with serious injuries, and two officers suffered minor injuries, he said.

The rioting began when police responded to a report of a stabbing at the National Orange Show Events Center concert. When officers arrived, the crowd became agitated and several fights broke out, forcing the officers to back off. The cops returned with riot gear and broke up the concert crowd.

As the crowd dispersed they destroyed two police cars and vandalized area businesses, Lindsey said. A trash bin was set on fire and storefront windows were smashed.

Cruise Sickness

Royal Caribbean International of Miami said 243 of 3,252 passengers on board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas caught a stomach virus during a weeklong cruise. The virus is common in hospitals, nursing homes, cruise ships and other semi-enclosed environments. All those affected were treated.

Big Telephone Merger

Analysts say the blockbuster deal to merge AT and T and BellSouth signals a shift in the telecom industry with powerful competitors slugging it out in telephone, wireless, Internet and even pay-TV markets.

The 67-billion-dollar merger announced Sunday, if approved by US regulators and shareholders, would create the country's largest telecommunications group and put back together much of the "Ma Bell" empire broken up in the 1980s.

The combined company would serve 70 million local-phone customers and 10 million high-speed DSL Internet users. It would also have about 315,000 employees -- though that number would surely fall after the merger -- and combined revenue of 121 billion dollars, based on Wall Street's estimate of annual 2006 sales.

With Lost Jobs

AT&T Inc. plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs, mostly through attrition, if its $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. goes through, AT&T's chief financial officer said Monday.

The work force reduction would take place over three years, AT&T's Rick Lindner said. The acquisition is expected to close next year.

Before the cuts, the combined company would have around 317,000 employees, including Cingular Wireless LLC, which is now a joint AT&T- BellSouth venture.

Fastow Sings

The architect of Enron's financial schemes is in the witness box this week, spilling the beans about how Enron officials ripped off shareholders for personal gain as the company crashed around them.

Former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow testified this week against his old boss, former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. He hasn't yet testified about the other former executive on trial for fraud and conspiracy, Enron founder Kenneth Lay.

Fastow is testifying as part of a plea deal that will limit him to ten years in prison.

On Tuesday, Fastow portrayed himself to a jury as an opportunistic savior who helped prop up a failing business while lining his own pockets.

Dana Bankruptcy

The struggling US auto sector claimed another victim this week. The Dana Corp., of Toledo, Ohio, filed for bankruptcy protection.

Dana Corp., once considered one of the richest and best managed companies supplying American carmakers, said it and 40 of its US subsidiaries have voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

The maker of axles, transmissions and other auto components said it had obtained 1.45 billion dollars in special debtor financing from Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase Bank to continue operations during the reorganization.

Northwest Airlines Settlement

Northwest Airlines avoided a crippling strike when it reached a tentative agreement with its pilots union that includes a pay cut for pilots.

The pilots authorized a strike after the Minnesota-based airline asked a bankruptcy judge to reject the union's contract.

Friday's agreement, which must be ratified by members, includes pay and benefit cuts that total 358 million dollars a year, Northwest said in a statement.

It was the third pay cut pilots have accepted since December 2004.

BlackBerry Settlement

The maker of the popular BlackBerry wireless device, Research in Motion, said it had reached a 612.5 million dollar settlement to a patent lawsuit that could have shut down its US service.

The Canadian company said it reached a "full and final settlement" with NTP Inc., a US firm that had accused RIM of violating its patents in the mobile software used in the Blackberry.  This means BlackBerry users can continue using their devices without fear of restriction or infringement.

Natural Gas In Kuwait

Kuwait announced it had discovered natural gas for the first time, in commercial quantities, as well as a new light oil.

"We have found ... for the first time in Kuwait very encouraging quantities of 'free' gas," the Energy Minister said.

He said the reservoir was 35 trillion cubic feet, and that studies have proven 60 to 70 percent of it is recoverable.

The minister also told reporters that some 10 billion to 13 billion barrels of light crude have been discovered.

Cops On Drugs

The police chief and a sergeant in Trout, Texas, were arrested on drug and evidence tampering charges and the department shut down.

Police Chief Chester Kennedy was charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He was released from jail on a $400,000 bond.

Sgt. Mark Turner, last year's chamber of commerce Officer of the Year, was booked into Smith County Jail on a misdemeanor delivery of marijuana charge and a third-degree felony charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Turner was being held on bonds totaling $500,000.

The Beethoven Bug Spray

Residents of one Hartford neighborhood hope Beethoven and Mozart will help drive drug dealers and prostitutes out of a local park.

Activists propose playing recordings of classical music in Barnard Park in hopes of annoying petty criminals so much that they'll leave. They also hope the music will make the park more pleasant for other people once it is cleaned up.

Resident Carol Coburn said she came up with the idea after reading about similar efforts in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she said crime decreased as much as 40 percent in parks where classical music was played. Cities in Canada and Australia have reported success with similar efforts.

But to University of California-Los Angeles musicologist Robert Fink, the plan makes Hartford's crime-fighting efforts look desperate.

"Beethoven is not going to save you," he said. It's ironic that "some of the greatest composers in history are now being viewed as some kind of bug spray or disinfectant."

The Coat Hook Rule

Restaurants, gas stations, stores and other businesses in one Connecticut city may soon face another regulation _ coat hooks in all public bathrooms.

The City Council Ordinance Committee has endorsed a proposal from City Councilman Keith Rodgerson to create a local law requiring coat hooks. Rodgerson has said no one should have to leave belongings on a public bathroom floor because there is no coat hook.

And that is not a bad idea.

Sri Lanka Time Shift

Sri Lanka will put the clock back by half an hour and revert to its original time after a 10-year experiment that largely failed to save energy.

The nation’s president ordered that Sri Lanka revert to its original standard time, five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which the country maintained till May 1996.

"The change will take place from the Tamil and Sinhala New Year on April 13," SLBC radio said. "The president made the order after complaints from parents that schoolchildren were inconvenienced by the new time."

Faced with an electricity crisis in May 1996, the government advanced the clock by an hour to extend daylight hours. In October that year it brought it back by half an hour to put Sri Lanka six hours ahead of GMT.

The island will now return to five and a half hours ahead of GMT and be on the same time zone as its giant neighbor India.

Lesbian Named Homecoming King

Hood College in Maryland is reviewing its homecoming rules after a lesbian was elected and crowned king.

Jennifer Jones, the 21-year-old senior who beat out three men for the honor, says her victory last month was a plus for the private liberal-arts college.

But waves of discontent are still rippling through the 2,100-student campus weeks after Jones was crowned at the Feb. 18 homecoming dance

Santo Provenzano, 21, who competed for the crown, said Jones' selection made the event seem like a joke. "It discourages guys from wanting to take part in the future," he said.

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And that is the news for this week. We hope we have left you better informed than you were an hour ago. If you have been noticing, we have been breaking stories that gain national and sometimes international attention weeks later. So we say you can hear it first on Luciferian News Hour.

Remember that we will be changing our regularly scheduled live show to Thursday nights, starting at 10 p.m. Eastern Time beginning next week.

Be sure to tune in Saturday night to catch the popular Infinate Chaos With Zurx, and on Sunday night to hear Psychic and Prophet Aaron C. Donahue and his Psychic Sister Jennifer Sharpe during the Voice of Lucifer. Both shows start at 10 p.m. Eastern.

RV classes with Jennifer are offered for advanced students now on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. and at the regular Saturday night time following the Zurx show.

Good night and thanks for listening.