Officials to discuss Census participation

(News Terupdate) - The army of U.S. Census Bureau personnel poised to fan out across the country will find out Wednesday approximately how many doors they're going to be knocking on to complete this year's nationwide survey.

Census Director Robert Groves is scheduled to announce at 1 p.m. ET how well Americans responded by mail to the once-a-decade census, and thereby how many homes need to be contacted directly by census workers in an effort than begins in May.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that as of Tuesday night, 72 percent of U.S. households that were sent the census survey had mailed back, matching the rate achieved during the last census in 2000, and with some late-mail arrivals expected in coming days.

Midwestern states have turned in the highest participation rates, according to the bureau, with Wisconsin leading the country with an 80 percent rate. Minnesota follows with a 79 percent rate, then Iowa and Indiana with 77 percent and Nebraska at 76 percent.

The U.S. Census Bureau has chalked up vast array of numbers regarding the 2010 census and its importance: more than $400 billion in federal funds allocated based in part on the census, 134 million "housing units" contacted, 13.5 million bilingual (English/Spanish) questionnaires delivered in selected neighborhoods, and so on.

But there is one that cuts to the bottom line of census business:

It costs the government 42 cents for each response that comes back via mailed census form, while it costs the government an estimated $57 per household to obtain responses in person.

The latter figure can vary, according to the number of times census workers have to come knocking to get a response, the bureau says.

Taken on a grander scale, taxpayers would save $1.5 billion if everyone completed and mailed back the census questionnaire instead of requiring the hiring, training and dispatching of that army of census workers, the bureau says.

One bright economic light in all the census statistics, especially in these economically stressful times: the bureau is hiring an estimated 870,000 temporary workers as part of the 1.2 million field positions needed to conduct census operations this year.

That's more than the population of Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont or Wyoming.

Job information is available at the census Web site.

Source : CNN

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Senators urge Facebook to change privacy settings

Washington (News Terupdate) - Four Democratic senators called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday to reconsider the recent changes in its privacy settings and asked the Federal Trade Commission to streamline guidelines regarding privacy on all social networks.

"Now, users have less control over private information, and it was done without the users' permission," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said on Capitol Hill.

Schumer and Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Mark Begich of Alaska and Al Franken of Minnesota sent a letter to Zuckerberg about Facebook's decision to allow third-party sharing of users' information.

"We are writing to express our concern regarding recent changes to the Facebook privacy policy and the use of personal data on third party websites," the senators wrote. "The expansion of Facebook -- both in the number of users and applications -- raises new concerns for users who want to maintain control over their information."

Last week, Facebook began a "small pilot program" with Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp that would offer personalized experiences when visiting those sites.

"These partners have been given access to public information on Facebook -- such as names, friend lists and interests and likes -- to personalize your experience when you're logged into Facebook and visit their sites," Austin Haugen, a Facebook product manager, wrote on the network's blog.

The senators specifically took issue with the changes because the new settings require users to "opt out" if they do not want to share any information.

"The way to go is opt-in," Schumer said. "The default position should be that the information is not shared, not that the information is shared."

Amplifying his colleagues' concerns, Schumer called on Facebook to "reverse its policy so that users have to opt in to shared data, rather than opt out."

The New York Democrat added, "The onus here should be on Facebook, not the user."

Franken emphasized the difficulty for users to opt out under the current settings, saying he would "read what you have to do to opt out, but we really only have so much time."

Bennet, who was a superintendent of the Denver, Colorado, Public Schools before being appointed to the Senate, expressed concerns about children not understanding the privacy issues.

"We want to make sure that when it comes to the very important question of privacy, that the users of these websites are in control of their most personal information," he said. "This is an evolutionary technology. There is a huge amount of benefit that comes from Facebook and companies like Facebook. But we have to be vigilant to protect the information that is in a sense personal."

Facebook defended its privacy policies in a letter to Schumer before Tuesday's news conference.

Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of global communications, said the changes allow for enhanced personalization and social activity while providing users with the ability to limit who is able to view their information.

"Facebook is designed to give people the tools to control their information online and our highest priority is to keep and build the trust of the more than 400 million people who use our service," Schrage wrote. "These goals were central in the development of the new products we announced last week. Specifically, these new products and features are designed to enhance personalization and promote social activity across the Internet while continuing to give users unprecedented control over what information they share, when they want to share it, and with whom. All of Facebook's partner sites interact with a user's consent."

Schumer also called on the FTC to streamline guidelines on all social networks to allow users to easily understand privacy settings when signing up for sites.

Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategy Labs, said Facebook's privacy policies are common among digital companies and websites.

"The onus is on the user to opt out of data collection for every major site," said Corbett, whose firm consults for major brands on digital strategy.

Corbett noted that Google collects search information and Amazon collects a detailed analysis of what books and music its consumers are browsing to recommend other products.

"Most users probably don't understand how to opt out, nor care," Corbett said. "They want an easy way to buy books on Amazon or connect with friends on Facebook. We have sacrificed privacy for convenience."

CNN has a business relationship with Facebook that allows CNN.com users to recommend and share stories with their Facebook friends. This kind of arrangement is not what the senators expressed concern about.

Source : CNN

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Obama pushes wind power in Iowa visit

Fort Madison, Iowa (News Terupdate) - President Obama took his renewable energy push to the heartland Tuesday, trumpeting the merits of wind power during a visit to the state that launched him on the road to the White House a little over two years ago.

Obama's visit to the Siemens wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, was the latest stop in his "White House to Main Street" tour, part of his pitch to middle-class workers hurt by the economic downturn.

"Lately, we've been able to report some welcome news after a hard two years. Our economy is finally growing again," Obama told workers at the plant.

But "times are still tough for middle-class Americans, who had been swimming against the current for years before the economic tidal wave hit."

While in Iowa, the president also toured an organic farm in Mount Pleasant and was scheduled to host a town hall meeting at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa.

"The country that leads the clean energy economy will be the country that leads the 21st century global economy," Obama said at the Siemens plant. "I don't accept second place for the United States of America. That's why our energy security has been a top priority for my administration since the day I took office."

The president cited his controversial $862 billion economic stimulus plan, which passed over solid GOP opposition early last year. The measure helped reverse the economic downturn and will create or save more than 700,000 jobs by 2012, he claimed.

It will do so in part by funding larger investments in renewable energy projects, according to the administration. Obama claimed that, if the proper investments are made, wind could generate up to 20 percent of America's energy two decades from now.

"Wind power isn't the silver bullet that will solve all our energy challenges," he said. "There isn't one. But it is a key part of a comprehensive strategy to move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels to one that relies on more homegrown fuels and clean energy."

Republicans have repeatedly slammed the economic stimulus plan, characterizing it as a pork-laden bill that failed to prevent unemployment from rising.

Obama is scheduled to spend Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa, resting up for stops Wednesday in Illinois and Missouri.

It was just a month ago that Obama spoke at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, to tout the health care reform bill he had just signed into law. In May 2007, the then-presidential candidate chose Iowa to unveil his health care plan, which the White House says "launched a grass-roots campaign for reform that led directly to the legislation passed" by Congress last month.

Obama made his first trip as president to Iowa on April 22, 2009. He marked Earth Day in Newton by announcing an initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents.

Obama's victory in January 2008 in his party's Iowa caucuses boosted him into front-runner status along with Hillary Clinton in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, a fight he won when Clinton dropped out in June.

Obama ended up winning the state by 10 points, a switch in fortunes for the Democrats. Four years earlier, President George W. Bush narrowly won the state.

But the political climate has changed for the president and for the Democrats since those heady days of 2008. Iowans are now divided on the job Obama is doing in the White House.

According to a KCCI-Research 2000 poll conducted two months ago, 49 percent of Iowans approved of the president's performance in office, with 46 percent saying they disapprove. The same survey indicated that 35 percent of Iowa voters thought the country was headed in the right direction, with six in 10 saying it was headed the wrong way.

Source : CNN

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Jesse James spotted without ring

(News Terupdate) - After a month at a treatment facility to deal with "personal issues," Jesse James was spotted back at his Los Angeles area home Monday. He was not wearing a wedding ring as he took his children to school.

James, 40, checked into the treatment center last month after his marriage to Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock went into a crisis amid reports that he had multiple affairs.

Bullock, 45, had remained out of sight until earlier this month when she was photographed hiking in Northern California, also not wearing her wedding ring.

Source : CNN

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Alleged militia members due in court to challenge detention

(News Terupdate) - Nine alleged members of an anti-government militia are due in federal court Tuesday to challenge being held without bond pending their trial on a variety of charges.

The charges range from conspiring to overthrow the government to attempted use of weapons of mass destruction.

A similar hearing earlier this month for David Bryan Stone Sr., 45, the alleged head of the so-called Hutaree militia, and his co-defendants prompted government prosecutors to play a secretly recorded audiotape in which Stone expresses anger over the "new world order" and the "brotherhood" of law enforcement officers.

"In this nation, we think we are free, but you need a certificate to be born, a license to drive, a permit to build, a number to get a job and even a paper after you die," says Stone on the tape. He is accused of conspiring to overthrow the government and plotting to kill police officers.

"These are permission slips from the terrorists organization called the new world order," Stone says in the tape, which was recorded clandestinely by an FBI agent who infiltrated the militia and which was obtained by CNN.

At that hearing on April 2, prosecutors argued that the defendants would be a danger to the community and a flight risk if they were freed on bail before trial.

A federal magistrate in Detroit, Michigan, agreed and ordered the suspects to be held in jail pending their trial.

On Tuesday afternoon, the defendants are scheduled to be in U.S. District Court in Detroit, to challenge their detention without bond before Judge Victoria A. Roberts.

Stone, his sons, Joshua, 21, and David Brian Stone Jr., 19; as well as the eldest Stone's wife, Tina Stone, 44, have been charged with seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Alleged militia members Joshua John Clough, 28; Kristopher Sickles, 27; Michael David Meeks, 40; Jacob Ward, 33; and Thomas Piatek, 46, face the same charges.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

At the earlier hearing, prosecutors said the tape of Stone was recorded last winter when Hutaree members were driving to Kentucky for a meeting with other militias but were forced to turn back due to bad weather. Stone allegedly gave a speech inside the van.

"People in this nation as well as some around this world are waiting for those individuals like you see sitting in this room to actually make the decision to go to war against this evil, greedy new world order," Stone says on the tape.

"They need leaders who are not afraid to stand up and actually mean, 'No more.' We are free, and we should not be afraid or ashamed to admit that we are the American militia. We outnumber them. As long as we let them terrorize any American through fear and intimidation, then they are winning this battle and we should step up to the fight that they have started and finish it."

Defense attorneys dismissed the tape as just talk, and talk protected under freedom of speech.

But prosecutors have portrayed the Hutaree militia as a dark-hearted group with evil intent.

They said Stone's plan was to create his own country carved out of four Michigan counties, then defend that country against attack by the "One World Order" army.

The group allegedly planned to incite that attack by making a false 911 complaint, shooting any police officer who responded, and then attacking attendees at the funerals of those officers with improvised explosive devices.

Conviction on the charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction would carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, while seditious conspiracy and teaching the use of explosive materials each would carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The firearm charge would carry a mandatory minimum penalty of at least five years in prison, according to authorities.

Source : CNN

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Ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega extradited to France

(News Terupdate) - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived Tuesday morning in France -- where he was extradited to stand trial on charges that he laundered drug money.

Noriega arrived in Paris aboard an Air France commercial flight from Miami, Florida.

US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a surrender warrant Monday, clearing the way for Noriega's extradition after he spent more than 20 years in a U.S. federal prison.

The move came as a shock to the Miami attorneys who have defended Noriega for more than 20 years.

"I would have hoped, if an order was signed, that the State Department would have the courtesy to respond to his lawyers and tell them an order was signed," said Frank Rubino, Noriega's criminal defense attorney.

"I'm in total shock they did this without the common courtesy of a phone call. They owe us, as his lawyers, to keep us informed."

For the past two and a half years, Noriega and his attorneys had argued that the United States was violating the Geneva Convention by not sending him back to Panama, where he was seized by U.S. troops after the United States invaded Panama in 1989.

U.S. federal courts ruled against him.

His last shot had been an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected hearing his case in January.

U.S. forces removed the ex-dictator from office during Operation Nifty Package, the 1989 invasion of Panama. Noriega had fled his offices and tried to seek sanctuary in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City.

U.S. troops set up large speakers around the compound, blaring music at all hours, a psychological ploy to rattle the general.

He eventually surrendered on January 3, 1990, and was quickly escorted to the United States for civilian trial.

After his drug conviction, Noriega was given POW status. His federal sentence, originally for 30 years, ended in September 2007 after time off for good behavior.

In Panama, Noriega is wanted for the murder of a political rival.

Panama has requested his extradition, but the U.S. is honoring France's extradition request instead.

France has already convicted Noriega in absentia for money laundering but has promised him a new trial.

While in U.S. custody, Noriega suffered from prostate cancer and had a stroke.

Last month, in an exclusive interview with CNN, Noriega's grandson Jean-Manuel Beauchamp said that he had grown to admire his grandfather. He was only 4 months old when the U.S. invaded Panama.

"When I was a kid, I didn't grow up knowing he was in prison. I thought he was in school," Beauchamp said.

"I've spent quality time with him, but not private time," he said, alluding to prison security and the monitoring of conversations. "He's the smartest man I know. He's so friendly, outgoing, knowledgeable. He's always looking to teach or give advice."

But the U.S. government has portrayed Noriega as the ultimate crooked cop -- a man who was paid millions by the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia to protect cocaine and money shipments.

Panamanians remember him as a cruel dictator who was charged with murder and convicted in absentia.

Panama has also said he would get a new trial.

In the meantime, Beauchamp says that his grandfather reads and prays a lot, and still has a soldier's mentality.

"He's ready for anything. He's probably developed strategies, in his own mind, to emotionally prepare. He's been packed for two and a half years, waiting," he said.

But, he added, "The U.S. should be escorting him back to Panama, from where they took him."

Source : CNN

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What we do matters more than labels

(News Terupdate) - I am all that and yet I am none of it. These are the different ways people define me. They would relate to me in their own way -- see me in their own light -- and label me and box me as they see fit.

I have never been one to care much about what people think about me and how they label me. I don't preoccupy myself with it, since I have very little control over it.

Those who label me as an Iranian would argue with those who would label me as an American. Some would question why I should be called a Muslim and some would take offense if I wasn't. At the end of the day, none of it matters. At night, when I close my eyes and look back at my day, what matters is what I did and not what I was called doing it.

Who am I? I am a human -- plain and simple -- no labels attached. I would be honored if everyone would think of me and preferably others as such.

By labeling ourselves or others, we create boxes, boundaries and decide who belongs on what side of the line. We divide ourselves, and by dividing ourselves, one would determine which side of the line is better.

Sometimes each side believes that their side is better and sometimes one side can be so persuasive to make the other side believe that they are on the wrong side. At the end, it doesn't matter which side you are on because no one wins. The labels we put on ourselves and let others put on us are just that -- labels. And they can be removed. Once we are free, we can just be human, pure and simple.

I have lived my life fulfilling many roles, as mentioned above. Sometimes I did a great job at it and other times I came short. At the end, however, I filled each role with love.

As long as love was involved, it didn't matter what I was called -- I was doing something I loved, something I wanted to do and something that was important for me to do.

At my core, I am someone who is at awe of the universe and this mystery we call life. When I was floating freely in space and looking back on Earth from my safe haven amongst the stars, I saw a world without division -- just one Earth -- in this vast universe.

From my vantage point, the lines had been blurred and had become invisible. I knew that back on Earth, these imaginary lines were very much present and causing all of our problems. But up there, the lines did not matter. They did not exist. I made a promise to myself: Remind people of who they really are and not which box they are in, because those lines really do not exist.

So who am I? I am a human who loves to live my life to the fullest. That's who I am.

Source : CNN

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New immigration law won't hurt economy, Arizona governor says

(News Terupdate) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday deflected concerns that the state's new immigration law will hurt economic development, saying many businesses have long wanted tougher action.

The new law requires Arizona police to determine whether people are in the United States legally if there is a reason to suspect they aren't. Brewer signed the controversial legislation into law on Friday.

"The bottom line is that when I go about meeting with businesses that come into Arizona ... they want to know that we have a safe and secure environment into which to move their businesses here," Brewer said at an Arizona Town Hall event in Tucson. "They want to know that their employees are going to have a quality of life that they've had in the places where they're moving from to move here."

"I believe it's not going to have the kind of economic impact that some people think that it might," Brewer, a Republican, said.

The law, scheduled to go into effect 90 days after the close of the state's legislative session, would require immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times. Previously, officers could check someone's immigration status only if that person was suspected in another crime.

Critics say the law could foster racial profiling and prompt businesses, conventions and tourists to stay away from the state. The bill has prompted rallies by opponents and supporters, and some prominent politicians in Washington and Arizona have criticized the measure, including Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who has said he'll file a lawsuit to block the law.

People have been protesting the bill outside the state Capitol since Friday, CNN affiliate KTVK reported.

"People are going to be stopped just because of the color of [their] skin. And it ain't right," protester Jose Acosta told CNN on Sunday. "Are they going to be looking for Europeans as well, or is it just the brown people?"

Supporters say the measure is needed because the federal government has failed to enforce its own immigration laws. In Tucson on Monday, Brewer said she has written to the federal government five times about the issue in the past year and a half.

"[The letters] have been met with complete, total disrespect to the people of Arizona. I mean, we don't even get an answer back from our letters in regard to securing our border," Brewer said. "So, given that, I think it was time that Arizonans did step up, and that was one reason why I think that [the new state legislation] was signed."

Brewer emphasized an executive order she issued last week to accompany the law will require additional training for local officers on how to implement the law without engaging in racial profiling.

"I want you all to know that racial profiling is illegal. It's the law," she said Monday. "We are going to be very diligent, and we're going to make absolutely sure that that law ... will be implemented properly and respectfully."

Gordon, Phoenix's mayor and a Democrat, said his office hopes the City Council will authorize the city to file a lawsuit Tuesday.

"Convention [and] tourist business groups have already gotten dozens of calls. We're pleading with them not to boycott Phoenix or the state because of [the bill]," Gordon said Monday on CNN's "The Situation Room." "There will be court challenges. I'm confident that the federal courts will enjoin it at least until it is determined [whether it's] constitutional and how to enforce it so that officers don't get sued by individuals alleging civil rights violations."

President Obama last week called the legislation "misguided" and said the federal government must act on the immigration issue.

"Our failure to act responsible at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe," the president said in Washington at a naturalization ceremony for 24 members of the military.

Source : CNN

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Source: Bret Michaels was in excruciating pain

(News Terupdate) - As Bret Michaels continues to be watched closely by his doctors, a source reveals the rocker's excruciating moments before he was taken to the emergency room.

According to the source, Michaels, 47, said the headache that prompted him to call for an ambulance felt "like [getting] hit in the head with a baseball bat over and over again."

Often referred to by doctors as a "thunderclap headache" because of the intensity and suddenness of the pain, such headaches are a tell-tale symptom of the kind of brain hemorrhage that Michaels suffered.

The source close to the situation adds, "Bret is still in ICU. He still has the headache and is heavily sedated."

A statement on his fan site noted that doctors are still searching for the source of the bleeding.

"In some patients, doctors never find the source," says Dr. Keith Siller of New York University's Comprehensive Stroke Care Center. The bleeding could be very small, or the rupture itself can "cure" the source of the problem, says Dr. Siller.

If no source of an aneurysm or an abnormal vein-artery connection known as an AVM is found, "you basically just wait for the symptoms to go away," says Dr. Siller. The patient typically remains under close observation, as Michaels is, so doctors can monitor for possible complications.

But if the patient is able to speak, "they're on the better end of things," says Dr. Siller, noting that physical therapy and speech therapy are often required to make a full recovery.

On TV's "Celebrity Apprentice," on which Michaels is a participant, Sunday night's episode carried a post-script.

Accompanying slow-motion footage of Bret carrying luggage across a tarmac, a voiceover said, "Everyone here at NBC wishes Bret Michaels a speedy recovery."

Source : CNN

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Dems say go, GOP says not yet to finance reform debate

Washington (News Terupdate) - Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a late afternoon vote Monday to move ahead with a Senate financial reform bill, but Republicans warn they are not prepared to launch debate on the measure.

Leading lawmakers from both parties making the rounds of Sunday political talk shows said a deal is close on a reform bill, but top-ranking Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was among those saying he didn't expect debate to proceed on Monday.

"We don't have a bipartisan compromise yet," McConnell said on "FOX News Sunday." "But I think there's a good chance that we're going to get it."

Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that they would continue working during the day Sunday to reach a deal on financial reform, one of President Obama's top legislative priorities.

But Shelby said, "If nothing happens between now and (Monday), the Democrats will not get" any Republican support to open debate on the measure.

Republicans have enough seats in the Senate to block the start of debate; without at least one Republican vote, debate won't be able to begin.

The House has passed its version of a financial regulation reform bill intended to prevent another Wall Street meltdown like the one in 2008 that led to the U.S. recession.

Dodd and Shelby have been negotiating a Senate bill for months, though their talks broke down when Dodd recently held a vote on the proposal by the Senate Banking Committee he chairs. The committee's Democrats approved the measure without any Republican support.

Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee also passed a measure to tighten regulations on the complex system of trade known as derivatives.

One Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, joined Democrats on the committee in supporting the measure. Negotiations involving Dodd, Shelby and other senators now are focused on merging the two Senate proposals into a single bill.

Reid's strategy is to force Republicans to either allow debate to proceed or go on record opposing Wall Street reforms that are strongly supported by the American public.

On the NBC show, Dodd said he hoped the continuing talks with Shelby would yield an agreement to allow the debate to begin on Monday. Any further changes necessary could take place in the amendment process during debate, Dodd argued.

"This doesn't end the debate tomorrow. This begins debate," Dodd said of moving forward on the legislation in the Senate. "Tomorrow if another crisis occurs in this county, we're no better off than we were in 2008."

Shelby said the two sides were "very, very close" in concept, but still had to iron out differences over "two or three" provisions. "It's very tedious," he said, adding that a deal by Monday was doubtful.

Another top Republican negotiator, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, told ABC's "This Week" that talks are focused on the major elements that must be in the bill, which he identified as stronger regulations of derivatives, increased consumer protections and ensuring the orderly liquidation of failing companies.

Source : CNN

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Cult leader, ex-Nazi Schaefer dies in Chile

(News Terupdate) - Paul Schaefer, a former Nazi who fled Germany in 1961 and founded a cult-like commune in Chile, died Saturday in a prison hospital.

He was 88.

Schaefer was serving a 20-year sentence at the national penitentiary in Santiago for sexually abusing children at the notorious commune known as Colonia Dignidad (The Dignity Colony).

The commune in southern Chile, also called Villa Baviera, was created as a place to safeguard Germanic traditions. Under Schaefer's rule, contact with outsiders was largely forbidden.

Some of Schaefer's crimes date to the 1970s and 1980s, during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who had visited the commune.

Former members of the colony have admitted that human rights violations and sexual abuse of children occurred there, saying in a 2006 letter published in a leading Chilean newspaper that they were led by Schaefer's influence.

Schaefer had been in prison since 2006 when he was extradited to Chile from Argentina, where he had been living in hiding.

Schaefer died Saturday morning of cardiopulmonary arrest, the penitentiary said.

Source : CNN

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Victims of Baghdad bombing mourned

Baghdad, Iraq (News Terupdate) - Shiites in Iraq on Saturday mourned the victims of Friday's bombings in Baghdad, a wave of attacks thought to be retaliation for the killings of two top militants.

The violence brought an offer from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- whose militia supporters fought Iraqi and U.S. forces during the war -- to help the Iraqi government provide safety for citizens.

Friday, bombers linked to al Qaeda in Iraq targeted Shiites across the teeming capital on the day of the week that Muslims customarily go to their mosques for prayers.

Dozens of caskets were brought to the holy Shiite city of Najaf south of Baghdad for Shiite preburial rituals. They were taken into the Imam Ali shrine to give the victims a traditional last visit before the bodies are buried.

Angry and sad relatives toted the caskets and chanted "No God but God " and "God is great."

Mourners paid their last respects to families of the victims in funeral tents across Baghdad, including the predominantly Shiite district of Sadr City where the deadliest of the attacks occurred. Car bombings killed at least 39 worshipers and wounded dozens more.

In all, police said, the strikes killed at least 55 people and wounded 124 others across the capital on Friday, prompting fears of a return of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that once engulfed Baghdad.

Another bombing in the Anbar province town of Khaldiya on Friday left six people dead. Anbar is predominantly Sunni.

No one has claimed responsibility for the Baghdad attacks, but authorities believe such coordinated bombings bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda in Iraq, a predominantly Sunni group.

The bombings came days after Iraqi and U.S. officials announced they had killed the two most wanted al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called the bombings "cowardly terrorist attacks aimed to overshadow" the deaths Sunday of the two militants.

Al-Sadr -- an anti-American Shiite cleric with a political movement and a lot of grassroots support -- posted a statement on his website Saturday calling for restraint and offering help to security forces.

He asked Iraqis to not get drawn into what he described as the "malicious American plots" that want to pull Iraqis back into fighting, giving them an excuse to stay longer in Iraq.

"At the same time I offer my readiness to provide hundreds of believers ... to be official brigades in the Iraqi army and police so they can defend their shrines, mosques, prayers, markets, homes and cities in a way that saves face for the Iraqi government so it does not resort to the occupiers to protect its people and so Iraqis can live safely in their country," he said.

"If it refuses this, they are free to do so, but we will be fully ready to assist always."

Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia was blamed for much of the sectarian attacks on the Sunni population at the height of the violence in 2006 and 2007, and it was also involved in fierce fighting with Iraqi and U.S. forces in early 2008.

A freeze of the militia's activity by al-Sadr two years ago was credited as one of the main factors for the drop in violence across the country.

Sadrist politicians could be the kingmakers in Iraqi politics after last month's parliamentary elections, in which they fared well.

Al-Sadr has called for the formation of a "united Iraqi government that is non-sectarian, non-partisan and representative of all Iraqis far from the occupation, the Baath, terrorism and the militias."

The attacks came during the delay in the formation of a government, and many observers fear that a political vacuum could portend an increase in violence.

Al-Maliki, whose coalition lost the election by a hair to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's bloc, has called for a recount, and a court has granted it. But the Independent High Electoral Commission board of commissioners on Saturday asked the judiciary for a clarification of the decision, such as what ballots need to be recounted.

Source : CNN

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Lawyers hopeful for 'sorcerer' on death row

(News Terupdate) - A Lebanese man sentenced to die for "sorcery" in Saudi Arabia remains on death row but may not be executed -- at least not yet, the man's lawyer said.

May El Khansa said that Lebanon's justice minister met with Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon this week in an effort to spare the life of her client, Ali Hussain Sibat.

The Saudi ambassador told Lebanon's justice minister, Ibrahim Najjar, that Sibat wouldn't be beheaded because a final verdict had not been reached, El Khansa said, citing an account of the conversation that she received from the Lebanese justice minister.

Religious police in Saudi Arabia charged Sibat with sorcery as he visited the country in 2008. A court convicted him and sentenced him to death.

Saudi authorities have not disclosed details of the charge for which Sibat has been condemned. They also have declined to comment about the case.

Najjar could not be reached for comment this week, but he has told CNN that he considered the sentence "disproportionate."

"As far as I know, such an act doesn't deserve such a punishment," he said last month, "unless there is something else -- something that I have not had the possibility to study or to examine myself."

Sibat used to offer predictions and advice to callers on a Lebanese television network. Saudi Arabia's religious police charged him with sorcery while he was on an Islamic pilgrimage in the countr€y in 2008.

Outraged international rights groups have called on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to pardon Sibat.

His lawyer says her conversation with the Lebanese justice minister gave her reason to hope.

"I trust Miniser Najjar," El Khansa told CNN, "and I know he's doing so much to make sure Ali Sibat will be released.

"I have put my trust in the Saudi justice system and hope he will soon be allowed to come back to Lebanon," said El Khansa, who has asked Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to pardon her client.

Sibat, the married father of five, was convicted by a court in Medina and sentenced to death in November, El Khansa said. He appealed, and his case was sent back to the trial court for reconsideration. But the judges in Medina upheld their original verdict in March, she said.

Sibat's wife made an emotional plea for mercy last month.

"All I ask is for the Saudi king and the Saudi government to show him mercy -- let him come back to his country and his family," Samira Rahmoon said.

Source : CNN

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Disruptive plane passenger taken into custody

(News Terupdate) - A Delta Air Lines flight was rerouted Friday morning after a passenger threatened to blow up the plane, screamed "get behind me Satan" and sprayed passengers with water from a beverage-cart bottle, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

Flight attendants and other passengers on Delta Flight 2148 struggled to restrain the "erratic and dangerous" passenger with seat belts and plastic handcuffs while pilots rerouted the plane to Albuquerque, New Mexico, FBI Special Agent Benedict R. Bourgeois said.

The plane, which was flying from Los Angeles, California, to Tampa, Florida, landed in Albuquerque at 3:37 a.m. ET, the Transportation Security Administration said.

The passenger, Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, was taken into custody shortly afterward.

Law enforcement swept the plane and found nothing suspicious, TSA said. The flight landed in Tampa at about 9:20 a.m. ET, more than three hours after its scheduled arrival.

The complaint said Sheffield, 46, was heading back to his first-class seat from the plane's bathroom when he grabbed a 2-liter water bottle from a drink cart, began spraying passengers and shouted "get behind me Satan."

The complaint said that after a flight attendant asked him to return to his seat Sheffield threatened: "I am going to bring this plane down. ... You need to land this plane or I'm going to blow it up [and] I will blow up this plane and take you all with me."

Passengers "engaged Sheffield in a struggle and restrained him" when he approached the cockpit door, the complaint said.

CNN affiliate KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reported the passenger was a 46-year-old man who allegedly made threats, damaged a bathroom and attempted to enter the flight deck when seven passengers restrained him.

The man was treated for minor injuries he sustained during the struggle and later was turned over to the FBI, the report said.

The TV station reported that the FBI didn't believe the incident was terrorism-related but didn't know if drugs or alcohol were involved.

Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the airline was grateful to passengers for assisting the crew.

The incident comes a day after federal agents removed "a potential person of interest" from a Delta flight during a fuel stop in Puerto Rico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The passenger was taken into custody for questioning.

Delta said the flight was en route from Dakar, Senegal, to New York and continued to New York after the passenger was removed. Law enforcement sources said the passenger is Gambian.

Neither Delta nor the agency provided further details.

A law enforcement source said the passenger did not pose any kind of security threat. He came under suspicion because someone made a false accusation against him, the source said.

Source : CNN

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Sandra Bullock will return her Razzie

(News Terupdate) - Sandra Bullock was recently asked to return the Razzie she picked up for her rather ignominious turn in "All About Steve."

Apparently, since the awards show coordinators didn't know she was going to show up in person to receive her award, they had to give her the original Razzie prototype instead of the cheap $5 knockoff "winners" usually get, and now they want it back.

What should have been a quiet little exchange turned into a minor frenzy over nothing much at all, thanks to tabloid press, but the issue may finally be put to rest now Bullock's rep has told E! News that the Oscar-winner will indeed be returning her less-than-honorary award.

"We were never contacted by them to return the Razzie," Bullock's publicist, Cheryl Maisel, told E!. "I contacted them yesterday to check the validity of the story and was only told then that we had been given the wrong award. We will be returning the Razzie to them shortly."

My question is: Isn't this the one award which you'd be more than happy for someone to rescind? Does this brief kerfuffle, out of the harsh glare of awards season and with a newly super-sympathetic Bullock, make you reconsider the choice of her as Razzies' Worst Actress? Any other candidates you think deserved it more?

Source : CNN

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Arizona governor signs immigration bill

Phoenix, Arizona (News Terupdate) - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill Friday that requires police in her state to determine whether a person is in the United States legally, which critics say will foster racial profiling but supporters say will crack down on illegal immigration.

The bill requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there is reason to suspect that they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them.

The Republican governor also issued an executive order that requires additional training for local officers on how to implement the law without engaging in racial profiling or discrimination.

"This training will include what does and does not constitute reasonable suspicion that a person is not legally present in the United States," Brewer said after signing the bill.

"Racial profiling is illegal. It is illegal in America, and it's certainly illegal in Arizona," Brewer said.

The rules, to be established in by the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board, are due back to her in May. The law goes into effect 90 days after the close of the legislative session, which has not been determined.

What will Arizona's immigration law do?

Previously, officers could check someone's immigration status only if that person was suspected in another crime.

Brewer's executive order was in response to critics who argue that the new law will lead to racial profiling, saying that most police officers don't have enough training to look past race while investigating a person's legal status.

"As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration, I am equally committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this stature ever be misused to violate an individual's rights," Brewer said.

She added that the law would probably be challenged in courts and that there are those outside Arizona who have an interest in seeing the state fail with the new measure.

"We cannot give them that chance. We must use this new tool wisely and fight for our safety with the honor Arizona deserves."

The bill is considered to be among the toughest immigration measures in the nation. Supporters say the measure is needed to fill a void left by the federal government's failure to enforce its immigration laws.

Its leading sponsor, state Sen. Russell Pearce, said this week, "Illegal is not a race; it's a crime."

"We're going to take the handcuffs off of law enforcement. We're going to put them on the bad guy," said Pearce, a Republican.

Fellow Republican state Sen. Frank Antenori said the biggest reason he supported the bill was because a rancher in one of the counties he represents was murdered by someone who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico illegally. He said the person of interest in the killing had crossed the border numerous times and cited other similar violent crimes.

"The citizens of this state are tired of the catch and release that is going on by the federal government where they grab people, they process them, and they take them back and drop them on the other side of the border," Antenori said. "They just come back, and we have no border security down here."

After the signing, the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, which had opposed the measure, issued a statement saying, "law enforcement professionals in the State of Arizona will enforce the provisions of the new law to the best of their abilities."

The state's largest police union, the Arizona Police Association, is in favor of the law.

In the hours leading up to the bill's signing, about 2,000 people rallied at the Arizona capital, and President Barack Obama, in the nation's capital, called the legislation "misguided" but said the federal government must act on the immigration issue.

Read excerpts from remarks Friday by Obama and Brewer

"Our failure to act responsible at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe," the president said at a naturalization ceremony for 24 members of the military.

Brewer's counterpart in neighboring New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson, called the new law "a terrible piece of legislation."

"It's against the democratic ideals of this country," he told CNN's "Situation Room." "It's a step backwards. It's impractical."

He said the law would not combat the problem of illegal immigration or take the place of comprehensive reform.

iReport: Share your thoughts on immigration policy

Latino members of Congress also slammed the bill.

"When you institutionalize a law like this one, you are targeting and discriminating at a wholesale level against a group of people," Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, said Tuesday.

Grijalva closed his two district offices Friday when an unidentified caller threatened to blow up his Tucson office and kill his staff members. The caller also said he was going to be "exercising my civil liberties, and I'm shooting Mexicans at the border," according to Grijalva's district director, Ruben Reyes, who fielded one of the calls.

Grijalva and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, had called on Brewer to veto the measure.

Gutierrez is a leading supporter of a proposed overhaul of U.S. immigration laws and said the Arizona issue shows why an overhaul is necessary. He has urged Obama to "put his back into the push" and to let Arizona know that federal law trumps state legislation on immigration.

The Virginia-based Hispanic Leadership Fund also criticized the law, saying in a written statement, "Having to 'carry your papers' is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes -- not of the Constitutional Republic that our Founding Fathers wisely passed on to us. Arizonans and all Americans deserve an immigration system that works, not a draconian big government desecration of the Bill of Rights."

Brewer said that "decades of federal inaction and misguided policies" have created "a dangerous and unacceptable situation."

The governor said Arizona's law mirrors federal statutes on immigration enforcement, "despite the erroneous and misleading statements suggesting otherwise."

Asked what criteria will be used to establish reasonable suspicion of someone's legal status, Brewer said, "I don't know. I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like."

However, she added, her executive order requires the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board to address the issue.

"I know that if AZPOST gets [itself] together, works on this law, puts down the description, that the law will be enforced civilly, fairly and without discriminatory points to it."

Source : CNN

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Judge removed from Ohio serial killings case

(News Terupdate) - The Ohio Supreme Court has removed a Cleveland judge from a case after attorneys for serial killer suspect Anthony Sowell accused her of bias as a result of postings about their client on a newspaper website.

Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold was removed from the case Thursday, and it has been turned over to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for reassignment to another judge.

Sowell faces murder, attempted murder, rape and attempted rape charges in connection with the killings of 11 women and attacks on five other women. He was arrested after the bodies of the slain women were found at his house last fall, and he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Read the indictment (PDF)

Sowell's attorneys, John P. Parker and Rufus Sims, filed an affidavit Monday seeking Saffold's disqualification, according to court documents.

They alleged that Saffold had "improper," ex parte conversations with the former judge on the case, Timothy McGinty, and a newspaper reporter from The Cleveland Plain Dealer. They also said that e-mails from the judge's personal and office accounts allegedly were sources of information for a March 26 Plain Dealer article and that the judge has a financial interest in the case because she and her daughter have sued the newspaper over the apparent use of her e-mails as sourcing for that article.

The defense said someone using the moniker "lawmiss" posted derogatory comments on the newspaper's website about attorney Sims and Sowell.

Those comments were linked to Saffold's account, but she has denied posting them and has said her court computer was not used to make them.

Saffold could not be reached for comment Thursday.

However, she filed a response to the defense, insisting she harbors no bias in the case and denying she had any improper conversations about it with others. She also said her civil suit against the newspaper has nothing to do with the case against the defendant.

Still, acting Chief Justice Paul E. Pfeifer found the concerns over Saffold's e-mail accounts and the public postings particularly troubling.

"Although Judge Saffold denied that she was the source of these online comments, she has admitted that the comments originated from the online account shared by her and members of her family and that the comments were posted by her daughter," Pfeifer said in his ruling.

He said the "unfortunate postings" impede Saffold's ability to resolve legal issues in the case that would appear to be objective and fair.

While there's no evidence of Saffold's actual bias, Pfeifer said, "disqualification is appropriate where the public's confidence in the integrity of the judicial system is at stake."

Source : CNN

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Killer fungus seen in Pacific Northwest

(News Terupdate) - A rare but life-threatening tropical fungus that causes lung infections in both people and animals has been seen in the Pacific Northwest and could spread, researchers are reporting.

The fungus, known as Cryptococcus gattii (or C. gattii), has infected dozens of humans and animals--including cats, dogs, and dolphins--in Washington and Oregon in the past five years. While rare, the fungus has been lethal in about 25 percent of the people in the U.S. who have developed infections, according to Edmond Byrnes III, a doctoral student in molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University and one of the lead authors of a new study about the fungus.

In the study, Byrnes and his colleagues analyzed 18 cases in people and 21 in animals that occurred in the U.S. between 2005 and 2009.

The symptoms of infection include chest pain, a persistent cough, shortness of breath, fever, and weight loss. The fungus can also cause meningitis, or inflammation of the membranes lining the brain, but can be treated with antifungal drugs. C. gattii is found in soil and trees, but experts haven't yet determined how humans breathe it in.

Byrnes and colleagues have discovered a new, especially dangerous strain of the fungus. This strain--which is confined to Oregon, for now--is "highly virulent," says Byrnes. "Overall it's a pretty low threat, and it's still uncommon in the area, but as the range of the organism expands and the number of cases increases accordingly, it's becoming more of a concern," he says.

The new strain is likely to move into Northern California and other neighboring regions, the researchers say. Other strains of the fungus have been found in people in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and in a bottlenose dolphin as far south as San Diego.

Health.com: Can't stop coughing? 8 possible reasons

The fungus hails from the tropics and may have been carried to North America on imported plants or trees, experts say. It first emerged on this continent in 1999, on Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia, where it ultimately infected more than 200 people, killing nearly 9 percent of them.

From there, the fungus is believed to have crossed the border into the U.S. on logging trucks or car tires sometime before 2005, when the first infections were reported in Washington and Oregon. The cases in California "indicate that C. gattii can survive in that habitat," says Yonathan Lewit, a research technician at Duke and a co-author of the new study, which appears in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

Health.com: 7 surprising triggers of lung trouble

The new strain described by Byrnes and his colleagues seems to have mutated relatively recently, and has appeared in humans as well as in cats, dogs, and other animals. (In animals, symptoms include a runny nose and breathing problems, and other strains have been seen in ferrets and llamas too.)

The mutation "is causing major illness in the region, and it's different from what's causing disease on Vancouver Island," says Christina Hull, PhD, an assistant professor of medical microbiology and immunology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, in Madison.

Health.com: What ails you: Cold, flu, or something else?

"It supports the idea that this is a recent change in the organism," she adds. "That's a little more unnerving than what people had thought before."

In the past, C. gattii has tended to cause disease in people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS. (The fungus was found in AIDS patients in Los Angeles, for instance.) But the new strain is causing respiratory symptoms and meningitis in otherwise healthy people.

Experts aren't sure what makes some individuals more vulnerable to infection and illness. "We've not been able to distinguish these people from the population at large," says Hull. "Are they more likely to be smokers? No. And it's happened across a range of ages and different backgrounds."

Nor is it clear how people are contracting the infections. Although the fungus is found in trees and soil, Hull explains, it's unclear if breathing near a tree carrying the fungus is enough to infect a person. And because the incubation period is unknown, tracing the illness back to the point of infection is nearly impossible.

Health.com: 15 ways to breathe easier when eating

"Our best guess is that it's mostly associated with trees and soil, so certain disturbances might allow the organism to become airborne and more or less float in the area," says Byrnes.

Although C. gattii has been found in a North Carolina man who had traveled to San Francisco several months earlier, experts say that the fungus is not readily passed between people (or people and animals), and it's therefore unlikely that it will spread across the continent via plane or other travel.

Experts stress that even people near the epicenter of the outbreak should not be unduly concerned.

Philip Alcabes, Ph.D., an infectious diseases epidemiologist at Hunter College, in New York City, says that genetic changes such as those described by Byrnes are "a pretty normal, expectable evolutionary event in nature that has a slight amount of human fallout."

In fact, he says, if this fungus follows previous patterns, it's very possible that the virulence will decline with time.

And besides, there's not much you can do to protect yourself from it in the meantime.

"There are no real precautions you can take, because it's hard to tell which areas would be more infected or where levels of C. gattii could be higher," Byrnes says.

Source : CNN

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Obama to discuss Supreme Court pick with party leaders

(News Terupdate) - President Obama is expected to meet with key Republican and Democratic leaders Wednesday to discuss a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Obama has been privately reaching out this week to candidates for the pending Supreme Court vacancy, an administration source said Tuesday.

The president's conversations with potential candidates were conducted over the phone. Specifics of the discussions were not disclosed by the source.

Stevens announced he would retire shortly after the court's current term ends in late June.

White House officials have said they expect the president to pick his nominee by early May.

It was unclear which names on the White House short list of about 10 people are being given the most serious scrutiny.

Three names had an early edge: Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appeals judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, government sources had said earlier. But officials stressed that the president in recent days has expanded the list of names he wanted his staff to vet before he makes his decision.

Others being considered include Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Montana-based federal appeals judge Sidney Thomas.

A new national poll released this week suggests that a majority of Americans expect Obama to appoint a liberal to the Supreme Court, but only one in four want that to happen.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that 61 percent of the public expect the president to nominate a liberal to replace Stevens on the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, 21 percent said the president will name a moderate and 16 percent predicted that Obama will nominate a conservative.

On Tuesday Obama took time to pen a birthday letter to the retiring judge for his 90th birthday.

"Our system of justice and our Nation are stronger and fairer because of your sterling contributions. On behalf of the country, I thank you for your distinguished service," Obama wrote.

Source : CNN

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Angry at government, voters may revolt in November, survey shows

Washington (News Terupdate) - The party in power often suffers in midterm elections, but a recent survey suggests that "epic" discontent has created an angry and energized electorate.

And while things might look bleak for Democrats who control Congress, some Republicans tied to the establishment might also suffer the consequences.

History has shown that Americans' trust in government has declined during times of turmoil or when one party controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.

With Congress showing no signs of bipartisanship and Americans not yet feeling economic relief, the midterm elections outcome for incumbents -- especially Democrats -- may be bleak.

According to a Pew Research Center poll released this week, based on polling conducted in March and April, a growing segment of the American public holds intense anti-government views, with those surveyed describing themselves as angry with the federal government.

The reason? A "perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government -- a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials," the report concluded.

The poll showed that "Distrust of government soars when the public is unhappy with the way things are going in the country" and sad the recent downturn in trust began in the fall of 2008, "when public satisfaction plunged amid the financial crisis."

One of President Obama's top aides said Monday that there are "legitimate" reasons for Americans' anger.

"When the middle class in this country has seen their incomes lost and their costs of living go up, and the sense of those who are at the top act with a sense of irresponsibility that led to the worst economic crisis ... there's a reason for that frustration, and it's totally legit," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told PBS' Charlie Rose.

That rising anger may sway voter turnout in November.

"Hostility toward government seems likely to be a significant election issue and an important element in both midterm voting intentions and turnout," the report said. "Consistent with this pattern of partisanship, anti-government sentiment appears to be a more significant driver of possible turnout among Republicans and independents than among Democrats."

Read more of the poll

The poll found that 83 percent of Republican voters who are highly dissatisfied with the government said they are "absolutely certain" to vote in November, compared with 67 percent of Republicans who have lower discontent with the government.

Democrats should be worried, especially when it comes to the connection between anger at government and voting intentions by independents, the poll found.

"Independents who are highly dissatisfied with government are far more committed to voting this year than are independents who are less frustrated (78% vs. 58%)."

Independents are a fast-growing voting bloc that tends to lean toward Republicans' fiscal ideology and Democrats' social policies, polls have shown.

John Avlon, author of "Independent Nation" and a CNN contributor, said anger is especially high with independents who feel that only Wall Street is benefiting from the recovering economy.

"We are seeing a situation where Wall Street's rebounded but Main Street is still feeling the pain and there's a great deal of frustration and anger about that," he said.

The rising national debt and federal spending are major factors behind the anger, added Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.

"There's a tremendous national debt that just keeps growing no matter which party is in charge," he said.

Sabato said there have been many times when government has lost the trust of the people, usually over some scandal, such as Watergate, or during times of one-party rule, as was the case when Bill Clinton took office in 1993.

Noting their 1994 midterm losses, Democrats, he said, have reason to worry about what the Pew poll says.

"They're the incumbent party, and people are unhappy during a period when they're governing," he said. "The people's only recourse is to vote against incumbents in the governing party when they're unhappy."

But it's too soon to tell. It is April, after all, and the election is seven months away.

"Anybody that tells you that [Democrats will lose Congress] ... doesn't know what they're talking about because you couldn't answer that at this time in April," Emanuel said. "If they think the economy in the future is getting better, and we make this a choice about what led us into the worst recession and the set of policy changes we made to help us lead us out of it, I think we have a chance of turning this election around."

Avlon's recommendation for the top Democrat: changing voters' minds.

"Fundamentally, he [Obama] has got to get serious about the deficit," he said. "That's a lot of what this is all about -- independents' desire for checks and balances and divided government. ... There's nothing Democrats can do about that at this point."

If the economy continues to improve in a way that affects Main Street as well as Wall Street, that would be good for the party in power and incumbents in general, Avlon added.

The anti-incumbent feeling may also spill over to Republicans. Sabato said Tea Partiers and independents may turn against incumbent Republicans viewed as being a part of the establishment.

He cited the heated Florida Senate GOP primary race, where Gov. Charlie Crist, a one-time GOP establishment favorite, is trailing in the polls behind Marco Rubio, a candidate who has received numerous endorsements by Tea Party groups and conservatives.

"If you're identified with the establishment, you're not going to necessarily do well, assuming you have real competition," Sabato said.

But it's not all bad news for incumbents.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released last week indicated that if elections for Congress were held today, 50 percent of the public would back the Democratic candidate in their congressional district, with 46 percent supporting the Republican candidate.

That's a switch from CNN's last poll, conducted in late March, when the GOP had a 4-point advantage. The margins are within the poll's sampling error.

"Some core Democratic groups -- chiefly women and lower-income Americans -- may be coming back, and since those groups are the ones most affected by health care, it's possible that is a delayed reaction to new law," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

Read more about the poll

Democrats hold a 253-177 advantage in the House, with four seats that they once held vacant and one seat that the GOP held vacant. Republicans need to win 40 seats to take back control of the chamber.

Source : CNN

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