Rare Treatment Is Reported to Cure AIDS Patient

Resort plans nude "anything goes" party

CANBERRA (Reuters) – An Australian holiday resort will hold a month-long, nude "anything goes" party to combat an expected economic downturn, media reports said on Thursday.

"Tough economic times call for stiff measures," Tony Fox, the owner of the White <snip>atoo resort in Mossman, in tropical Queensland state, told the Courier-Mail newspaper.

"It will be a hedonism resort, where anything goes for a month. It doesn't take rocket science to work out what it means," Fox said, naming March as the risque party month.

The controversial "clothes optional" resort made headlines three years ago when police were called to end partner-swapping parties after a swathe of public complaints.

"You've got to wonder what sort of people go and why. Where is the moral code of behavior and how do you stop jealousies and fights?" Cairns Catholic Bishop James Foley said after Fox's announcement.

But local regional Mayor Val Schier said she was not opposed to the event as long as no laws were broken.

"People in tropical north Queensland are extraordinarily creative," Schier said. "It is tough economic times and as long as it is with consenting adults, then there is no problem."

Australia's tourism in industry is being hit hard by global economic turmoil with official figures showing a 7.6 percent decline in overseas visitors in September.

Industry leaders expect holiday bookings may drop by up to a third in early 2009 and are planning a new international advertising campaign to coincide with the movie "Australia" starring Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman.

Fox said his resort was almost fully booked for the month-long rainforest party.

Midday & Evening

** until 11-14-08 **

840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849

390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399

Polygamist leader faces new sex assault charge

• Story Highlights
• Warren Jeffs indicted on second Texas sexual assault charge in four months
• Grand jury also indicts three other members of polygamous sect
• Charges stem from probe of sect's ranch outside Eldorado, Texas
• Jeffs convicted in Utah of accomplice to rape for role in member's marriage to teen

(CNN) -- A grand jury has indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on a second sexual assault charge in connection with a probe of his Texas compound, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Schleicher County, Texas, grand jury charged Jeffs, who already could be sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a different charge in Utah, with a first-degree felony count of aggravated sexual assault.

The indictment is Jeffs' second in Schleicher County.

In July, he was charged with sexually assaulting a child under 17.

Grand jurors have also indicted three more members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prosecutors said Wednesday. One member faces a count of conducting the unlawful marriage of a minor, another faces three counts of bigamy and a third faces three counts of bigamy and one count of tampering with evidence.

The Texas charges stem from a state and federal investigation into the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, about 190 miles northwest of San Antonio. In April, child welfare workers removed more than 400 children from the compound, citing allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

After a court battle, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the children returned in June, saying the state had no right to remove them and there was no evidence to show the children faced imminent danger of abuse on the ranch.

To date, 12 people associated with the compound have been indicted as part of the investigation, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said.

Jeffs, 52, is the leader and "prophet" of the estimated 10,000-member FLDS, an offshoot of the mainstream Mormon church. The FLDS openly practices polygamy at the YFZ Ranch, as well as in two towns straddling the Utah-Arizona state line -- Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.

In Utah, Jeffs was convicted on accomplice to rape charges for his role in the marriage of a sect member to a 14-year-old. He is awaiting trial in Arizona, where he faces similar charges.

He faces a sentence of up to life in prison for the Utah conviction, and he also could face another life term if convicted of the Texas charges.

His attorney in Arizona, Michael Piccarreta, has questioned the motives of Texas authorities, telling CNN in a July interview that the state's investigation into Jeffs and his followers is an effort "to cover themselves up on the botched attack on the ranch in Texas."

Apparent 6th severed foot found in British Columbia

• Story Highlights
• Shoe with what appears to be human foot found on riverbank, Canadian police say
• If it is a human foot, it would be the sixth found in British Columbia since 2007
• All of the separated feet were found washed ashore in running shoes
• Authorities investigating multiple possibilities, including foul play and a plane crash

(CNN) -- What appears to be a separated human foot inside a shoe -- possibly the sixth discovered in Canada's British Columbia in the past 15 months -- has been found on a riverbank, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Wednesday.

The shoe -- a left New Balance running shoe -- was found about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday on the south arm of the Fraser River by a Richmond, British Columbia, couple, police said.

It was turned over to the British Columbia Coroners Service for examination and DNA testing, authorities said.

Before Tuesday, five feet -- all inside running shoes -- had washed ashore in southern British Columbia since August 2007. One of them, a right New Balance shoe, was found May 22 on Kirkland Island. That foot was determined to belong to a female, authorities said. View a map of where the feet washed ashore »

The provincial coroners' office said in July that DNA tests determined that two of the five feet -- a right foot found February 8 and a left foot found June 16 -- were from the same male, but they said they didn't know to whom any of the feet belonged.

What was initially thought to be a sixth foot inside a running shoe, found in June, was determined to be a hoax. Authorities said a "skeletonized animal paw" was put in the shoe with a sock and packed with dried seaweed.

"Obviously, due to the fact that a hoax was perpetrated previously and then extensively reported on, we want to proceed cautiously [with Tuesday's discovery] until we know what exactly we are dealing with," said Constable Annie Linteau, an RCMP spokeswoman.

The provincial coroners' service said in July that the five sets of remains found to that point appeared "to have naturally separated (disarticulated) from the body."

There was no forensic evidence, such as tool or trauma marks, on the remains to suggest that they had separated in any way other than decomposition, the service said.

Authorities are investigating multiple possibilities on the origin of the feet, including foul play and the chance they could belong to victims of a plane crash. Missing persons files are also being reviewed.

Four of the five feet discovered between August 2007 and June 2008 were in running shoes made between 2003 and 2004, and the other was made in 1999, according to police. Royal Canadian Mounted Police have released photos of the shoes, hoping someone can help identify the remains.

Here is a timeline of the discoveries in British Columbia, according to police:

August 20, 2007

The first foot is found by an American man and his 12-year-old daughter boating near Jedidiah Island. The shoe is later identified as a Campus brand running shoe, primarily white with blue mesh, and is believed to be a size 12. It is determined that it was produced in 2003 and distributed primarily in India.

August 26, 2007

The second foot is found on Gabriola Island by a resident walking on a trail. The shoe is a size 12 men's Reebok running shoe, primarily white in color. It was produced in 2004 and was distributed globally, though mostly in North America. It was first available March 1, 2004, but is no longer available.

February 2

A third foot is found by two forest workers on Valdez Island. The shoe is a size 11 blue and white Nike running shoe, made in 2003 and sold in Canada and the United States from February 1 to June 30, 2003.

May 22

The fourth foot is found on Kirkland Island by a man walking along the shoreline. The size 7 blue and white New Balance running shoe was made in 1999 and distributed in major retail stores. DNA tests later determine that the remains belonged to a female.

June 16

A fifth foot is found on Westham Island, in the same type of Nike shoe as the foot found February 2. DNA tests later determine that both feet belonged to the same male.

Woman found dead outside Paula Abdul's home

By Andrew Blankstein

11:47 AM PST, November 12, 2008

A woman who authorities said once tried to become a contestant on "American Idol" was found dead outside the Sherman Oaks home of "Idol" judge Paula Abdul in a case police are investigating as a possible suicide.

Authorities identified the woman as Paula Goodspeed, 30, from Thousand Oaks. (Police earlier had said her name was spelled "Goodespeed.")

Goodspeed was found dead in a car about 6 p.m. Tuesday outside the house in the 3800 block of Beverly Ridge Drive.

"We are investigating the case as a possible suicide," said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. The cause of death will not be determined until after toxicology tests are completed, he added.

A law enforcement source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the woman was familiar to officials with the Los Angeles Police Department's threat management unit, which investigates stalking cases, but he declined to elaborate.

Abdul, a singer and former Laker girl, is best known in recent years as a judge on the popular "American Idol" TV show.

A video of Goodspeed’s appearance at an "Idol" tryout shows her singing "Proud Mary" in a pink dress. "Idol" panelist Simon Cowell remarked that Goodspeed looked a lot like Abdul.

2 men guilty of injecting 14 with HIV

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch court convicted two men Wednesday for attempting to infect 14 victims with HIV in a bizarre sex case.

The Groningen District Court found the two guilty of severe assault for injecting semiconscious men with HIV-infected blood at sex parties between January 2006 and May 2007.

Peter M., 49, who was also convicted of rape, was sentenced to nine years in prison and Hans J., 39, received a five-year sentence. Under Dutch privacy laws, the surnames of convicted criminals are not released.

Prosecutors said they would appeal for higher sentences.

"By committing these acts, (Peter M.) has shown himself to have a serious lack of respect for the rights of others," the three-judge panel's written ruling said. "While he knew from his own experience what far-reaching consequences are tied to an infection with HIV, he repeatedly attempted to bring this same hurt to others."

Prosecutors had argued that the two men, along with a third who was acquitted of major charges, had drugged the 14 victims and intentionally infected them.

But in Wednesday's ruling, judges said while the victims all had HIV, it could not be proven that they were infected by the injections because they willingly took part in orgies where gay men unprotected sex.

The judges also said allegations the victims were given GHB, known as a "date rape" drug, were also unproven.

The suspects were not charged with attempted murder since Dutch courts have held that HIV is a chronic illness rather than an inevitably fatal one.

Egypt: 4,300-year-old pyramid discovered

• Story Highlights
• Egypt's chief archeologist announces discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid
• Find made 20km south of Cairo at the burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis
• Pyramid is said to belong to Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti
• Saqqara most famous for Step Pyramid of King Djoser, built in 27th century B.C.

SAQQARA, Egypt (AP) -- Archaeologists have discovered a new pyramid under the sands of Saqqara, an ancient burial site that remains largely unexplored and has yielded a string of unearthed pyramids in recent years, Egypt's antiquities chief announced Tuesday.

The 4,300-year-old monument most likely belonged to the queen mother of the founder of Egypt's 6th Dynasty, several hundred years after the building of the famed Great Pyramids of Giza, the country's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said as he took the media on a tour of the find.

The discovery is part of the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, about 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Giza.

All that remains of the pyramid is a square-shaped 16-foot (5-meter) tall structure that had been buried under 65 feet (25 meters) of sand. Watch more about the discovery »

"There was so much sand dumped here that no one had any idea there was something buried underneath," said Hawass.

Hawass' team has been excavating at the location for two years, but he said it was only two months ago when they determined the structure, with sides about 72 feet (22 meters) long, was the base of a pyramid. They also found parts of the pyramid's white limestone casing -- believed to have once covered the entire structure -- which enabled them to calculate that the complete pyramid was once 45 feet (14 meters) high.

The pyramid is the 118th discovered so far in Egypt. "To find a new pyramid is always exciting," said Hawass. "And this one is magical. It belonged to a queen."

Hawass said he believes the pyramid belongs to Queen Sesheshet, who is thought to have played a significant role in establishing the 6th Dynasty and uniting two branches of the feuding royal family. Her son, Teti, is believed to have ruled for around 20 years until he was possibly assassinated, a sign of the time's turbulence.

Evidence of the identification is still indirect. The pyramids of Teti's two wives, already discovered 100 years ago and in 1994 respectively, lie next to it as part of the burial complex alongside the collapsed pyramid of Teti himself.

The Egyptian team is still digging and is two weeks from entering the burial chamber inside the pyramid, where Hawass hopes they will find proof of its owner -- a sarcophagus or at least an inscription of the queen, he said.

Finding anything more would be next to impossible, as robbers in antiquity looted the pyramid, Hawass added, pointing to a gaping shaft on the structure's top that remains a testament to the thieves' actions.

Dieter Wildung, head of Berlin's Egyptian Museum and a leading Egyptologists in Europe, said Hawass' claim is plausible because it was common in the Old Kingdom for kings to build pyramids for their queens and mothers next to their own.

"Hawass is likely right," Wildung, who is not involved in the dig, said in a phone interview. "These parallel situations give a very strong argument in favor of his interpretation."

Joe Wegner, an associate professor of Egyptian archaeology at University of Pennsylvania who has been involved in other expeditions at Saqqara, cautioned that until "inscriptional confirmation is found, it's still an educated guess" that the pyramid is Sesheshet's.

Although evidence of the queen's existence was found elsewhere in Egypt in inscriptions and a papyrus document -- a medical prescription to strengthen the queen's thinning hair -- the site of her burial was not known.

The find is important because it adds to the understanding of the 6th Dynasty, which lasted from 2,322 B.C. to 2,151 B.C. It was the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which spanned the 3rd millennium B.C. and was the first peak of pharaonic civilization.

Saqqara is most famous for the Step Pyramid of King Djoser, built in the 27th century B.C.

Only a third of the Saqqara complex has been explored so far, and recent digging has turned up a number of key finds.

The last new pyramid found there three years ago is thought to belong to the wife of Teti's successor, Pepi I.

In June, Hawass' team unveiled a "rediscovery" at Saqqara -- a pyramid believed to have been built by King Menkauhor, an obscure pharaoh whose pyramid was first discovered in 1842 by German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius. But desert sands later covered the pyramid and archaeologists were unable to find Menkauhor's resting place until three months ago.

White House Says Obama Leaks Not Accurate

Obama and Bush Disagree on Stimulus, Auto Help

By JENNIFER DUCK and MARK MOONEY

Nov. 11, 2008 —

President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama were all  smiles and handshakes  outside the White House Monday, but the president's aides strongly denied today leaks suggesting that Bush had tried to cut a deal with Obama over a new stimulus plan.

Leaks about their confidential chat in the Oval Office also suggested that Obama had pressed a reluctant Bush to extend an immediate helping hand to thedesperate auto industry.

The two men met for about an hour at the White House, and aides were excluded from the private sitdown.

Neither Bush nor Obama said anything publicly today about their meeting, although both made Veterans Day appearances.

Bush commemorated the day aboard the former aircraft carrier the  USS Intrepid, now a museum docked in Manhattan.

Obama, accompanied by disabled Iraqi War veteran Tammy Duckworth, laid a wreath in front of a bronze war memorial at the  John F. Kennedy War Memorial  at Chicago's Soldier Field.

Bush has vowed to carry out a smooth transition with Obama, despite the fact that Obama pummeled Bush's leadership for most of his two-year campaign for the presidency.

Those policy differences apparently surfaced during their Monday meeting when they disagreed on Obama's hopes for a quick stimulus package and prompthelp for the auto industry.

Reports leaking out of the meeting suggested that Bush indicated he would support Obama's hopes for another round of stimulus checks for U.S. taxpayers if Congress would also approve a long-stalled, free-trade pact with Colombia.

Leaks also said that Obama urged Bush to use part of the $700 billion in bailout funds to help the country's automobile makers immediately, to which Bush remained noncommital.

Obama's camp was mum today, but White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters before the ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid that the president did not try to cut a deal with Obama on his stimulus request.

"In no way did the president suggest a quid pro quo when it comes to the Colombian Free Trade agreement or other free trade agreements," she said. "He believes it can and should pass on its own merit.

Perino Calls Democrats' Stimulus Plan a 'Stretch'

"The president does support free trade, but did not suggest a quid pro quo. He did discuss the merits of free trade, but there was no linkage between Colombia Free Trade and a second stimulus package," Perino insisted.

When asked if there was some White House irritation about the leaks, Perino said, "You're not going to hear that from me. I think when you're dealing with aides who choose to be nameless rather than say what they feel ... on the record ... It happens, but the president did not suggest a quid pro quo."

Perino added, "I'll let unidentified aides defend themselves, if you guys can find them. But I can tell you here, on the record, not afraid to say it, the president does support free trade."

Perino made clear, however, that the president does not agree with Obama that a Democratic plan for a fresh round of stimulus checks is the best way to help the country's economy.

"When it comes to a second stimulus package, what I have told you for a week or so is that so far we have not seen something that would stimulate the economy right away," she said.

"The best way for us to do that is to implement the rescue package that we are currently doing to help improve the credit markets."

At another point, Perino said that it's a "stretch" for the Democrats to call their proposal a stimulus plan.

"So far, what we've seen would not actually stimulate the economy and get money moving into the system again. ... To call it a stimulus package would be a stretch at this point," she said.

Perino also made clear that Bush and Obama disagreed on whether the president has the authority under the $700 billion bailout legislation to spend some of that money on the auto industry.

"As we read it, we don't see anything in there that would give us the authority to help individual industries. ... We have gone as far as we can with the authority Congress has given us in order to help industries."

Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said the discussion about the car industry involved "the broad health of the industry" and was not just limited to any one of the three largest car makers.

Why most Zippers have the letters YKK on them.

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper and YKK is the Japanese company that makes them.

Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned.

A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson's idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his "separable fastener."

The name changed again when the B. F. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the "zipper" because the boots could be fastened with one hand.

The 1940s brought about research in Europe of the coil zipper design. The first design was of interlocking brass coils. However, since they could be permanently bent out of shape, making the zipper stop functioning, it was rather bad for business and wasn't too practical. The new design was improved after the discovery of stronger, more flexible synthetics. Coil zippers eventually hit the market in the early 1960s.

In 1934, Yoshida Kogyo Kabushililaisha was founded. Sixty years later they changed their name to YKK Co. The privately owned firm, headquartered in Japan, now is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries. Wow! you say? but of course, the demand for zippers is great. YKK makes everything from the dyed fabric around the zipper to the brass used to make the actual device.

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." - George Washington

Jennifer AnistonPhoto by: James Devaney / WireImage

Irate Congressman Demands Resignation of AIG CEO

Rep. Elijah Cummings: Latest "Junket" Violates AIG Pledge

By JOSEPH RHEE

November 11, 2008—

A leading critic of AIG today demanded the company's CEO resign in the wake of the disclosure of yet another  "junket"  at a resort spa. In a letter to AIG's CEO Edward Liddy, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said the decision to hold an event for independent financial advisors last week at a luxury Phoenix resort was "outrageous" given an earlier pledge by Liddy to curtail such events.

Cummings wrote that AIG can begin to restore its trust with Congress "by accepting your resignation from the positions of chairman and chief executive officer."

Reporters for abc15.com (KNXV) caught top AIG executives on hidden camera at a secretive gathering last week at the luxurious Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix. AIG instructed the hotel to make sure no company logos and signs were seen on the property, according to a company spokesman.

Click here to see the full KNXV report.

In his letter, Cummings questioned how the Phoenix event could have taken place given Liddy's earlier assurances that "not one cent of taxpayer dollars" would by used to pay for such events. The decision to hold the event while AIG was asking for billions of dollars more in federal loans was "even more shocking", wrote Cummings.

"Having received this assistance, which has been nothing less than a lifeline for AIG, you have decided to continue to hold corporate parties as if nothing has fundamentally changed with your business.

Click here to read letter.

An AIG spokesman has said that Cummings "was mistaken" about the nature of the Phoenix event. The spokesman said the meeting at the resort was for independent financial advisors and that most of the $343,000 cost would be paid by product sponsors.

Click here to read AIG's full response.

Cummings asked Liddy to provide him with details on who the sponsors were and how much money they were providing, as well as an itemized list of expenses incurred by AIG. Cummings also requested a list of each of the  160 planned events  that AIG said it had cancelled on or after October 30.

"The American taxpayers who have prevented your firm from literally disappearing will judge your commitment to re-establishing their trust by your willingness to act in accordance with their expectations for the effective and efficient use of their money," Cummings wrote.

Meanwhile, leading government watchdog groups are also taking AIG to task over the Phoenix event.

"AIG executives should be ashamed of themselves," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Individuals across the country are on the precipice of financial ruin while AIG personnel still attend extravagant getaways at the taxpayers' expense."

The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense also weighed in on on the controversy. "AIG officials are obviously sensitive to public perception. Just look at how they hid their sponsorship and logos," said Stephen Ellis, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "But you're not just supposed to hide your actions, you're supposed to change your behavior. AIG has lined up at the taxpayer trough again and yet current leadership still seems intent on living the lavish life."