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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (89597)	12/7/2004 6:01:16 PM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793957

I wonder if there is any way to find out if my registration in King County is still in place and whether I "voted" in the last election. That would be worth looking into. I think Washington State has had fair and equal elections up till this one, and that the folks who run the elections are judicious, but just for your information, I'd try to find out. I would expect the buck to be passed several ways before you did though.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (89597)	12/7/2004 9:31:53 PM
From: Andrew N. Cothran	Respond to of 793957

Court Lifts Stay of San Diego Mayor's Re-Election Tue Dec 7, 2004 07:25 PM ET By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for incumbent San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy to take office for a second term by lifting an order that had brought the tumultuous election to a halt. A triumphant Murphy, who according to a final vote count beat write-in candidate Democrat Donna Frye by a razor-thin margin of 2,200 votes, ordered a special session of the city council to certify the results. "If all goes according to plan I expect to be sworn in immediately thereafter, right here in these chambers," the Republican mayor said at a press conference after the decision by the 4th District Court of Appeals. "Its been a long journey but we are getting closer to the finish line." But Frye, a 52-year-old environmental activist and surf shop owner who entered the race only five weeks before election day, said she was not ready to concede defeat. "I've got a variety of legal options, whether it is filing a writ, whether it is doing a recount, whether it's taking other issues," she told reporters. Frye lost votes because some of her supporters failed to darken in an oval next to her name on the ballot. A judge refused to order those votes counted. "It would be unlikely that I would support certification of an election where all the votes were not counted," Frye said. Murphy first declared victory in mid-November after a final count appeared to show him beating Frye. But several legal challenges were quickly filed and last week the 4th District ordered an eleventh halt to certification. In lifting the stay, the 4th District dismissed the final legal challenge by San Diego attorney Thomas McKinney, who claimed that Frye was ineligible to run under the city charter. McKinney sought a run-off between Murphy and the third-place finisher, Ron Roberts. The 4th District said that McKinney should have brought his lawsuit before the election and that if there was a violation of the city's charter, it did not amount to a violation of the U.S. Constitution. San Diego has only had one Democratic mayor in the last 30 years. Frye's campaign was driven by voter anger over a pension scandal that rocked the seventh-largest U.S. city. © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (89597)	12/8/2004 2:47:52 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793957

Who poisoned Yushchenko? December 08, 2004 timesonline.co.uk From Jeremy Page in Kiev Doctors at the Austrian clinic that treated Ukraine’s opposition leader confirm there was a plot to kill him MEDICAL experts have confirmed that Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s opposition leader, was poisoned in an attempt on his life during election campaigning, the doctor who supervised his treatment at an Austrian clinic said yesterday. Doctors at Vienna’s exclusive Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Mr Yushchenko’s face disfigured with cysts and lesions, Nikolai Korpan told The Times in a telephone interview. Specialists in Britain, the United States and France had helped to establish that it was a biological agent, a chemical agent or, most likely, a rare poison that struck him down in the run-up to the presidential election, he said. Doctors needed to examine Mr Yushchenko again at the clinic in Vienna to confirm their diagnosis but were in no doubt that the substance was administered deliberately, he said. “This is no longer a question for discussion,” Dr Korpan said. “We are now sure that we can confirm which substance caused this illness. He received this substance from other people who had a specific aim.” Asked if the aim had been to kill him, Dr Korpan said: “Yes, of course.” Proof that Mr Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow for his rival, the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, as the two candidates prepare for a repeat of a presidential run-off on December 26. It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Mr Yanukovych, his allies, or even the Kremlin, which fears that Mr Yushchenko will take Ukraine out of its sphere of influence by joining Nato and the EU. Mr Yushchenko had said recently that he would soon reveal proof that his opponents had tried to assassinate him, but a spokeswoman said he had no plans to travel to Vienna. Mr Yushchenko fell ill on September 6 and was rushed to Rudolfinerhaus four days later with severe abdominal pain and lesions on his face and trunk. His liver, pancreas and intestines were swollen and his digestive tract covered in ulcers, but doctors could not explain the symptoms. Against their advice he went back on the campaign trail after a week, but returned to the clinic two weeks later with back pain. Again he returned to campaigning, with his face half paralysed and a catheter inserted in his back so that doctors — still baffled — could inject painkillers into his spinal column. Rudolfinerhaus doctors had previously said that they did not have medical evidence to back up or rule out deliberate poisoning. Mr Yanukovych’s supporters ridiculed the opposition, saying the illness was probably caused by bad sushi, too much cognac or a severe case of herpes. A parliamentary investigation found no evidence of poisoning. But Dr Korpan said that toxicologists and other experts at laboratories in Britain, the US and France had since examined Mr Yushchenko’s blood samples and medical records. “We will reveal the results in the near future and confirm the cause of this mysterious illness,” he said. “We need to check him again here in Vienna. If we received him today, we could finish the whole investigation in two or three days.” He declined to say exactly what the substance might have been, or where it might have come from. “Maybe it was administered through injection, maybe in water, maybe through eating, but the way to give it to him is very simple. This substance can be given very precisely — to only one person,” he said. John Henry, a prominent British toxicologist, has suggested that Mr Yushchenko’s symptoms were consistent with dioxin poisoning, which causes a severe form of acne called chloracne. Doctors at Rudolfinerhaus did not initially test Mr Yushchenko for dioxin, in part because his skin changes were not as severe as they are now. He also refused a biopsy of his face because he did not want to campaign with stitches. Other doctors have suggested that Mr Yushchenko may have been struck down by a rare illness. Dr Korpan said that Mr Yushchenko should be able to make a full recovery but needed to get back to the clinic. “We are waiting to check him as soon as possible and then we can say what he needs.” He said Mr Yushchenko was no longer having injections, but was taking a combination of vitamins and medicine to boost his immune system. The offices of Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing President, and Mr Yanukovych did not comment on Dr Korpan’s disclosure. But Viktor Pinchuk, Mr Kuchma’s billionaire son-in-law, said in a recent interview he did not believe that there was evidence that Mr Yushchenko was poisoned. “I believe he is sure it was poisoning. He’s not a liar. But some people from his camp created this provocation against him, his image, the government and the country,” he said.