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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (344955)	7/30/2007 9:46:41 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575142

barbneal.com

To: jlallen who wrote (344955)	7/31/2007 1:21:07 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575142

Oops! Not another one......... FBI searches U.S. senator's home amid corruption probe WASHINGTON (CNN) -- FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched the Alaska home of veteran Sen. Ted Stevens Monday amid a corruption probe that has already snared two oil-company executives and a state lobbyist. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican, had his home searched by the FBI and IRS Monday. Dave Heller, an FBI spokesman in Anchorage, Alaska, confirmed that agents entered Stevens' home Monday afternoon, but he referred further comment to the Justice Department. Neither the senator nor any family members were home at the time, Heller said. Stevens, 83, and the most senior of Republicans in the Senate, has been under federal investigation for a 2000 renovation project more than doubling the size of his home in Girdwood, Alaska, near Anchorage, The Associated Press reported. The project was overseen by Bill Allen, a contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state legislators. Allen is founder of VECO Corp., an Alaska-based oil field services and engineering company that has reaped tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts. Watch CNN's Joe Johns give the latest details on the search » A law enforcement official familiar with the case confirmed the raid on Stevens' home was focused on records related to the ongoing VECO investigation, the AP said. Stevens said his lawyers were told Monday morning that federal agents wanted to search his home. In a written statement, Stevens said: "I urge Alaskans not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media. The legal process should be allowed to proceed so that all the facts can be established and the truth determined." Stevens is up for re-election in 2008. The former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee has represented Alaska in Washington since 1968 and is renowned for his prowess in steering federal funds to his vast, sparsely populated state. In May, the Anchorage Daily News reported that federal agents were asking contractors who carried out an extensive renovation of Stevens' home to turn over their records from the job. One contractor told the newspaper he was asked to appear before a grand jury in December. Monday's search comes two months after top executives of VECO admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to Alaska public officials. CEO Bill Allen and Richard Smith, the company's vice president and top lobbyist, pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges in May, and VECO said it is cooperating with the federal probe. Anchorage lobbyist William Bobrick has also pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges stemming from the probe, and three current and former state legislators face bribery and conspiracy charges in the probe. FBI agents also raided the office of Stevens' son, then-state Senate President Ben Stevens, in September 2006, but he has not been charged in connection with the probe. E-mail to a friend CNN's Joe Johns, Carol Cratty and Ted Barrett contributed to this report. cnn.com

To: jlallen who wrote (344955)	7/31/2007 11:57:46 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1575142

Planners move to close the window on American mansions Concern for communities and climate may halt zeal for big homes on tiny plots Dan Glaister in Los Angeles Tuesday July 31, 2007 The Guardian For many they are a blight on the American landscape. For others, they are an expression of freedom and success. Now legislators in cities across the US, alarmed at the spread of "McMansions", are trying to contain the size of American homes. Inspired by concerns that communities are disappearing and alarmed by the environmental costs, planners have drawn up measures to ensure new homes stay within a footprint that is proportionate to the plot size. Since 1973 the median size of a new home in the US has grown from 1,525 sq ft (142 sq metres) to 2,248 sq ft. At the same time, the number of people per household has fallen from 3.1 to 2.6. Huge mansions are a common site across the US, dotting the landscape alongside motorways in Colorado, or squeezed into tiny plots in urban areas. Wherever they are found, they share common features: large atrium-style hallways, showpiece kitchens, multiple bathrooms, walk-in wardrobes, built-in garage and garden statuary; a style familiar to viewers of the Sopranos. While McMansion is the most frequently used pejorative term, "plywood palazzo" is another. But the trend has alarmed planners and conservationists. In Boulder County, Colorado, which has recently adopted measures to cap the size of new homes, houses have grown from an average of 3,900 sq ft in 1990 to 6,300 sq ft last year. Last month in Los Angeles, the city's planning commission passed a motion to restrict the size of new homes. If the city council adopts the measure it could affect 300,000 properties in the city. Similar measures have been adopted in Minneapolis and in Florida. "I think people are suspicious of development in the US right now," says John Chase, architecture critic and urban designer for the city of West Hollywood. "People have an unconscious cultural association with a place. Mansion-building takes away from a person's sense of the identity of a place." But environmental pressures are also being felt. "According to scientists, if we don't learn to contain our use of fossil fuels we are in serious trouble," says John Nolon, a law professor at New York's Pace University. "One of the most egregious examples is a large house. A 6,000 sq ft-8,000 sq ft house is a climate change disaster. If the country doesn't rein in the construction of these mansions the message to individuals is that they're encouraged to follow their urges. The phenomenon with McMansions is similar to that with SUVs [sport utility vehicles or 4x4s]: they express a certain sort of success, they're available and they're fun. If legislative folks don't take some kind of position on mansionisation, it will go unchecked." But some discern signs that Americans are tiring of the architectural bling of the McMansion . "My sense is that in the luxury market people are less interested in size than they were a decade ago," says Kermit Baker, chief economist with the American Institute of Architects, which has recorded a levelling off in the size of new houses. Small may be beautiful, but new home owners may not want to go as far as the 250 sq ft micro-apartments proposed for central Los Angeles. That would be just enough space for a Humvee and a Prius to snuggle together. guardian.co.uk