Sitting here tonight, trying to decide whom to support in the Dallas County Judge Race.. What does the Dallas Morning News say about the race...

Democrats gear up for decisive primary

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, January 5, 2010
By KEVIN KRAUSE and GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas County Judge Jim Foster, whose victory in 2006 shocked the political establishment, faces a daunting challenge from his own party as he attempts to capture a second term.

And in constable races that normally draw little public attention, incumbents confront an unusually large number of candidates this year, in part because of ongoing criminal and civil investigations of two Democratic constables.

As the filing deadline for the March 2 party primaries closed Monday, Foster drew two Democratic challengers – Dallas lawyer Clay Jenkins and Dallas County Schools president Larry Duncan.

Foster's victory four years ago as a political unknown against a popular Republican incumbent headlined an election that swept dozens of other Democrats into office and transformed Dallas County into a Democratic Party stronghold.

But his shaky first months in office drew scorn from both sides of the political aisle and convinced many Democrats a stronger county standard-bearer was needed.

Meanwhile, District Attorney Craig Watkins, the Democrat who has emerged as a national figure because of his novel DNA exoneration program, won't have an opponent until November. He will face Republican Danny Clancy, a Dallas lawyer, in his effort to win a second term.

Despite the prospects of a nasty primary battle for county judge, Dallas County Democrats are hoping to maintain their dominance in county elections. Political observers believe the Democratic primary will decide the outcome of many county races.

County Democrats seek to finally unseat Republican County Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, thus providing them a chance to gain control of the commissioners court for the first time in years.

Mayfield, who eked out narrow victories in the past two elections, is expected to face another tight race in his attempt for a fifth term. He will face the winner of the Democratic contest between former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia and Rose Renfroe, who nearly beat him four years ago.

Renfroe, who lost to Mayfield by only 709 votes in 2006, is making her third attempt to unseat him. Renfroe, who is not Hispanic, will again use her controversial nickname, "Rosita," on the ballot. A judge ruled the nickname could remain on the 2006 ballot after Mayfield challenged it, saying it was an attempt to trick Hispanic voters.

Democratic Party Chairwoman Darlene Ewing said that the county is now navy blue but that she expected Republicans to fight vigorously to reverse the trend.

"People clearly believe it's a solid Democratic county," Ewing said. "But we knew Republicans would put together a full slate."

Four years ago, Democrats shook up the local political scene by winning every contested countywide race, turning the county in a single night from red to blue. In 2008, Democrats, buoyed by the historic presidential campaign of Barack Obama, staged another sweep.

This year sets up a rematch of 2008, with Republicans now on the outside hoping to catch lightning as Democrats eye the last vestiges of GOP power – the Dallas County Commissioners Court.

The county also is the scene of hotly contested state House races, which could dictate whether Democrats or Republicans control the Texas House.

Jonathan Neerman, Republican county chairman, said his party has the momentum.

Along with dozens of judicial candidates, the party has challengers lined up for county judge and district attorney.

Wade Emmert, a Cedar Hill council member, will face the winner of the Democratic primary for county judge.

"The candidates who are willing to put aside a year of their lives believe we have a chance," Neerman said.

County Commissioner Mike Cantrell, who represents a solidly Republican district, is unopposed in his primary this year, and he won't face a Democratic challenger in November.

Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University, said the highlight of this year's election will be Democratic efforts to oust Mayfield and take over the Commissioners Court.

Jillson said Mayfield has pointedly defied demographic shifts in his district, which now is home to more Democratic-leaning Hispanics than in previous years.

"We'll see how it plays out," Jillson said.

He said he expected Democrats to roll up more victories.

"It will be a difficult year for Democrats, but locally Democrats are so entrenched that they will have the advantage," he said.

After a rocky first couple of years in office, Foster has emerged as a vocal advocate for ethics and transparency in county government. He has been the leading voice for reform within the two embattled constable precincts.

"I feel better every day. I think we're picking up steam every day," Foster said Monday.

But critics say he is vulnerable because he hasn't proven to be a strong leader and has failed to amass much campaign cash.

In the constable races, three of the 17 candidates are running against their former bosses who fired them.

Constables Derick Evans of Precinct 1 and Jaime Cortes of Precinct 5 are the focus of a criminal investigation and a civil county investigation into their employment practices.

Evans faces three Democratic challengers, including two former employees he fired. Cortes also has three opponents in the Democratic primary. A Republican constable, Roma Skinner, drew three challengers in his primary.

The last day to register to vote in the March primaries is Feb. 1.

Early voting begins on Feb. 16 and ends Feb. 26.

Walt Mossberg's Review of the new Google Nexus One phone. I consider Mr. Mossberg the best Hitech Journalist on Consumer products....

By Walter S. Mossberg

Google this week is taking two dramatic steps to try to catapult devices using its Android mobile operating system into stronger competition with Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry in the battle for supremacy in the
super-smartphone category.

First, the search giant is bringing out a beautiful, sleek new Android phone, the Nexus One, built to its specifications. Second, it has decided to offer the new phone-and future models-to consumers directly, unlocked, via the Web, and then invite multiple carriers to compete to sell service plans and subsidized versions of the hardware.

One carrier is ready to support the Nexus One on day one: the U.S. arm of T-Mobile, a longstanding Google partner. The new Google Phone, built by HTC of Taiwan, will cost $529 unlocked direct from Google, at google.com/phone. It will cost $179 from T-Mobile online with a two-year contract that will set you back $79.99 a month.

Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe will sell the Nexus One eventually at subsidized prices that haven't yet been announced. All of this will take place on a Google-hosted Web site, a much easier way to buy a phone and service than is typical today, and one that promises to further weaken the
power of the carriers.

Continue reading Walt's review and a related video here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904574638582669722774.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

When something like this occurs, you realize how few independent brands exist... your favorite is just one of several made by a single company plant.

Food giant Nestle Tuesday announced it was buying Kraft Foods' frozen pizza units in the United States and Canada for 3.7 billion US dollars (2.5 billion euros).

"This frozen pizza business greatly enhances Nestle's frozen food activities in North America, bringing together a selection of great US and Canadian brands, industry-leading R&D and excellent route-to-market capabilities, which complement our existing ice cream direct-store-delivery," Nestle chief Paul Bulke said.

"With total sales of around 3 billion (Swiss francs), Nestle will become the world leader in the attractive, fast-growing frozen pizza category," he said.

A Nestle statement said the US is the largest pizza market in the world with consumer sales of about 37 billion US dollars.

It said with estimated sales of 2.1 billion US dollars in 2009, Kraft Foods was the leader in the frozen pizza category and had enjoyed double-digit growth in the US and Canada over the last four years. The Kraft brands include DiGiorno, Tombstone and California Pizza Kitchen.

"Selling this business now not only delivers an attractive return for our shareholders, but enables us to better focus our resources on priority global brands and categories," said Kraft chief executive officer Irene Rosenfeld.

"Nestle is well-positioned to continue building these powerhouse pizza brands, given its strength in frozen foods," Rosenfeld said

With a focus on convenient, nutritious and delicious meals, the Nestlé Prepared Foods Company is the maker of America's most popular frozen food brands, including STOUFFER'S®, LEAN CUISINE®, Maggi,and Papa Giuseppe.

Finally, look at the brands under another North American packaged foods company - ConAgra Foods, Inc.

Act II - Microwave Popcorn
Alexia - Appetizers, Artisan Breads, and Potato Products
Andy Capp's fries - flavoured corn and potato snack made to look like French fries.
Angela Mia - Tomato products and authentic Italian specialtiesAward Cuisine - Foodservice specialties that cross dayparts and temperature classes
Banquet - Frozen chicken and ready-to-heat meals
Big Mama Sausage - Snack-sized preserved sausages
Blue Bonnet - Margarine and bread spreads
Chef Boyardee - Ready-to-eat pasta meals
ConAgra Mills - Multi-use flours
Crunch 'n Munch - Glazed popcorn/nut mixture
David Sunflower Seeds - Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
Dennison's - Chili
Eagle Mills with Ultragrain - All-Purpose Flour made with Ultragrain
Egg Beaters - Processed egg product
Fernando's - Mexican entrees and appetizers
Fiddle Faddle - Glazed popcorn/nut mixture
Fleischmann's - Bread spreads
Gebhardt - Tex-Mex style foods
Gilroy Foods & Flavors - Vegetables, garlic, onions, and capsicums
Golden Cuisine - Ready-made food for seniors
Gulden's - Mustard
Healthy Choice - Ready-to-eat and prepared foods
Hebrew National - Kosher sausages, cold cuts and condiments
Hunt's - Canned tomato products, ketchup and barbecue sauce
Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding - Shelf-stable pudding
J. Hungerford Smith - Dessert ingredients for restaurants
J.M. Swank - Food ingredient distributor
Jiffy Pop - Popcorn
Kid Cuisine - Prepared foods for children
La Choy - Chinese-style foods
Lamb Weston - Potato products
Lamb Weston Inland Valley - Consumer sales of frozen potato products
Lightlife - Vegetarian meat product substitutes
Luck's - Canned baked beans
Manwich - Canned sloppy Joe mix
Margherita - Italian-style processed meats
Marie Callender's - Frozen meals
Move Over Butter - Margarine
Orville Redenbacher's - Popcorn
PAM - Spray cooking oils
Parkay - Bread spreads
Patio - Tex-Mex-style frozen meals
Pemmican - Beef and turkey jerky
Penrose - Pickled sausages
Peter Pan - Peanut butter
Poppycock - Premium Glazed popcorn/nut mixture
Ranch Style - Baked and Refried beans
Reddi-wip - Whipped cream
Ro*tel - Canned tomato sauce
Rosarita - Mexican - style foods
Screaming Yellow Zonkers - Glazed popcorn (Discontinued)
Slim Jim - Meat snacks
Swiss Miss -Powdered cocoa for hot chocolate and pudding
Squeez 'N Go - Prepared pudding
The MAX - Pizzeria quality products for foodservice operators
Van Camp's - Canned beans
VH - Sauces (Available in Canada only)
Vogel Popcorn - Popcorn
Wesson - Cooking oils
Wolf Brand Chili - Chili

It is not surprising that Google Doodles get great media coverage... I was working with google searches all day, and heard that thuk alot today....

Isaac Newton: Who He Was, Why Google Apples Are Falling all day.
Today on the Google home page, an animated apple is falling, over and over, with a satisfying plunk—a 367th birthday tribute to Sir Isaac Newton. ... Google celebrates Isaac Newton's birthday with a falling apple today, Google has a surprising animated logo to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas day in 1642

My daily (m-f) paper is the Wall Street Journal, still a well edited and written publication of daily news from all over the world... see what I mean?

WASHINGTON/WSJ -- The suicide bomber who killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees and one Jordanian intelligence officer was likely a Jordanian doctor affiliated with al Qaeda, according to current and former U.S. officials and an Afghan security official.

[FD: See how complex this little war in Afghanistan has gotten. Jordanian Bomber brought in to Afghanistan to discuss Pakistan tribal region... then he wipes out the CIA intellegence structure of the larger area with HIS one bomb. How do you fight this type of war?]

The bomber was recruited as an informant and brought to the CIA's base in Khost Province by a Jordanian intelligence official, Sharif Ali bin Zeid, who was working with the CIA, according to an Afghan security official.

The blast on Dec. 30 killed four CIA officers, three CIA contractors and Mr. bin Zeid, officials said. Six CIA employees were wounded in the attack.

The new information about the bomber's Arab background suggests that the meeting was significant, possibly relating to intelligence collection or operations against al Qaeda's top leadership, who are believed to be guarded by Arabs in Pakistan's tribal region, a former senior U.S. intelligence official said.

The CIA's deputy chief of station from Kabul also traveled to the meeting at the CIA Khost base, Forward Operating Base Chapman, according to former intelligence officials, further pointing to the meeting's importance.

The Afghan security official said the bomber was Hammam Khalil Abu Mallal, who is also known as Abu Dujana Al-Khurasani. The Pakistani Taliban also claimed that Mr. Hammam was the bomber, Arabic Web sites reported Monday.

Mr. Hammam was an active recruiter and an "elite writer" on al Qaeda's secure al-Hisba Web site, where he went by the name Abu Dujana Al-Khurasani, according to the journal of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center.

In a posting on the site in May of 2007, Mr. Hammam sought to persuade people from a variety of backgrounds, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Vietnamese, and poor immigrants to joint the fight against their "oppressor," which is the United States, the West Point analysts found.

Mr. Hammam had studied medicine in Turkey with government funding, according to a translation of the Jordanian website Jerasa News by the Middle East Media Research Institute. He left Jordan about a year ago after being detained for a few months by Jordanian intelligence officers.

The Jordanian news outlet cited eyewitness reports that Jordanian security forces had arrested Mr. Hammam's youngest brother and summoned his father. A Jordanian official denied that the bomber came from Jordan, according to the Jordanian news site.

My wife and I have made two trips to New Zealand... the South Island region of Southland is the very South Tip of a country, already very far South

A different approach to policing in Southland that included officers visiting criminals at home for a friendly chat had contributed to a 17 per cent drop in crime in the region, a police boss said.

Southland police area commander Inspector Barry Taylor said they had been working since July on increased urgency and accountability, with a big focus on reducing crime rather than just arresting criminals.

As a result, indicative crime figures – which were not official police statistics – showed overall crime in Southland was down 17 per cent for the first five months of the reporting year, compared with the same period the previous year, Mr Taylor said.

Burglaries were down 28 per cent, while provisional indicators showed other types of crime were also down, he said. "We have just had a bit of a look at how we are going about our business and we felt we could do it a bit smarter, and the initial indicators are we are on the right track."

The altered approach to policing included working to prevent crime rather than react once a crime had been committed, he said.

"A lot of it is problem-solving work. For example, houses we may regularly visit over the weekend may be visited again during the week to work out why we were called and what interventions can be put in place to prevent us being called the following weekend."

Police called in for a chat with the offenders during the week to help sort out issues, with other agencies often being involved also, Mr Taylor said. "It's not rocket science but the provisional results are starting to speak for themselves ... if we can prevent crime from taking place it means fewer victims and less victimisation."

The new focus on crime fighting was already being used in some other areas of the country, he said.

Communities in Southland were also helping to reduce crime because they had had enough of people making a living and lifestyle out of criminal activity, he said. People had become more alert in reporting crime and police were dealing with it with more urgency, Mr Taylor said. The community policing group and volunteer community patrol group were also doing their part in reducing crime.

However, it was early days, with much work needed to sustain the improvements, he said.

"We have set a platform and it's up to the community to take some ownership and responsibility, and between everyone we can make a significant impact, and that's what I want to see progress in 2010."

Senior Sergeant Dave Raynes, of Invercargill, said the new style of policing included having daily morning meetings to discuss crime during the previous 24 hours, identify problems and assign relevant staff to intervene.

Mr Raynes said when he joined the police 36 years ago the glory was in arresting criminals. "Now the glory is in preventing the offences being committed."

Southland police have tackled family violence during the past two Christmas seasons by visiting Invercargill's top 10 offenders and asking them to take it easy.

I turn to the BBC for news, because you don't read this type of story in the USa Press ...

'Missing arms spark Yemen alert'

The closure of three embassies in Yemen followed local security forces losing track of six trucks full of arms and explosives, say reports from Yemen.

France announced its mission in the capital Sanaa was shut on Monday, a day after the US and UK closed theirs.

It comes after threats from an al-Qaeda wing linked to an alleged plot to blow up a transatlantic plane over the US.

The UK Foreign Office said it was unaware of such a threat, and denied it was the cause for the embassy closure.

Yemeni government sources, meanwhile, said their forces had shot dead two militants north of Sanaa.

A Yemen-based group called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqap) last week urged attacks on "crusaders" in embassies, as it claimed an alleged attempt to bomb a US airliner on Christmas Day.

The US shut its embassy in Sanaa on Sunday, citing "ongoing threats" by the militant organisation, and the UK followed suit.

On Monday, France shut its Yemen embassy, Japan suspended its consular service in Sanaa, and Spain restricted public access to its mission there.

According to Yemeni media, it comes after six trucks full of weapons and explosives entered the capital, and the security forces lost track of the vehicles.

Britain said on Sunday the shutdown was for unspecified security reasons.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardener says Western embassies in the region are a prime target for al-Qaeda.

The Yemeni authorities have tightened security measures at Sanaa's airport, as well as around a number of embassies.

Meanwhile, all travellers flying to America are now being subjected to tougher screening, introduced by the US government (Bet we paid for it, too.) .

Passengers from 14 countries, including those the US deems state-sponsors of terrorism - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - will face extra searches. (Notice they never mention The Kingdom of S.A.)

Yemen and Nigeria - through which the main bomb plot suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, travelled - also face the new restrictions.

Passengers flying from other countries will be checked at random.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8439892.stm