Mood:  cheeky

GOP's Kean Leads Menendez in N.J.

Republican Tom Kean Jr. has taken the lead over Democratic incumbent Robert Menendez in the race for the Senate seat from New Jersey, a new poll discloses.

In the survey of likely voters by Strategic Vision, LLC, 44 percent of respondents favored McKean and 40 percent favored Menendez, with 16 percent undecided. It was a complete reversal of the past two Strategic Vision polls, which had Menendez in the lead.

On Monday, NewsMax reported that a new Zogby poll found Kean had pulled into a dead heat with Menendez.

The Strategic Vision poll revealed that 39 percent of respondents viewed Kean favorably, compared to 42 percent for Menendez. But 29 percent had an unfavorable view of Menendez, while only 22 percent felt that way about Kean.

"New Jersey appears to present Republicans with a potential pickup seat with Kean having a magic name in New Jersey politics and a feeling that Senator Menendez is part of the status quo,” said David E. Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision.

When asked if they felt New Jersey was going in the right or wrong direction, 22 percent said right, 65 said wrong and 13 percent were undecided.

Other poll results:
Respondents were split on whether U.S. forces should withdraw from Iraq within the next six months -- 45 percent said yes, 45 percent said no, and 10 percent were undecided.

84 percent said they expected another terrorist attack in the United States in the next six months.

67 percent said they opposed granting amnesty to all illegal immigrants currently in the country, 16 percent favored it, and 17 percent were undecided.

News Max.com ** GOP's Kean Leads Menendez in N.J.

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 2:01 AM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

AFP Photo: A wounded Iraqi rests inside a hospital in Baghdad. Iraq announced the slaying of a top Al-Qaeda militant as police recovered 20 tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of men shot dead in sectarian killings across Baghdad.

Top aide of Qaeda leader in Iraq killed

BAGHDAD -- A Libyan who was a top aide of Al-Qaeda in Iraq's leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed in an operation by Iraqi security forces, an interior ministry spokesman has told AFP.

Abu Jaafar al-Lybi was killed on Sunday, Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said Thursday.

He said Lybi was the head of "Al-Qaeda's criminal operations" in Baghdad's Rusafa, Karrada districts and the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad.

Yahoo News ~ Agence France-Presse ** Top aide of Qaeda leader in Iraq killed

But that's impossible. Everybody knows there were no connections between Iraq/Al Qaeda!

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 1:28 AM EDT

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Mood:  d'oh

Air America Radio Bankruptcy, Sale Possible

BANKRUPT?

Air America Out Of Ca$h, Up For Sale

Cash- starved Air America Radio is broke and up for sale, the Radio Equalizer has learned exclusively.

In addition, a liberal website is reporting that the so- called "progressive" radio network will announce a bankruptcy filing on Friday. As of this moment, the story has yet to be verified.

What our own sources are telling the Radio Equalizer is that two potential buyers have recently been looking to scoop up Air America's assets. But internal board squabbling has created a disunited front, with some members looking to hand the network back to eccentric co- founder (and Huffington Post contributor) Sheldon Drobny, while the rest shop for buyers.

Jon Sinton, a former Air America and Clear Channel Radio executive, is said to be leading the effort to seek a purchaser.

Drobny, meanwhile, has been scrambling to figure out a way to retake the network and intends to rehire former COO Carl Ginsburg if he is successful.

To Radio Equalizer readers as well as Air America staffers, none of this should come as any surprise. Big layoffs came earlier this week and insiders have been bracing for the worst possible news.

Recently, we had reported on a number of management departures and the fact that Air America could no longer afford to pay the Associated Press for wire service coverage. Plus, the Gloria Wise scandal has still not been resolved.

In addition, this indication of Air America's financial condition allows Al Franken to trigger a clause in his contract that would allow him to immediately depart the network if he so chooses. He first must request a financial statement, however.

If Air America isn't able to continue its programming, it opens the door for new feminist talk radio network GreenStone Media to take over some, or perhaps many, of its stations. As we've reported exclusively, GreenStone, founded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, has gradually begun to take over Air America's physical operations in New York City.

Because readers are telling us they've been having trouble getting to the Think Progress report on Air America's possible bankruptcy, here's an excerpt:

EXCLUSIVE: Air America To Declare Bankruptcy, But Progressive Radio Remains Strong

Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.

Air America could remain on the air under the deal, but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer.

The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts -- Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, for instance -- aren’t even associated with Air America.

But Think Progress is dead wrong, progressive radio simply isn't strong, beyond the moderate success Jones Radio has found with Schultz and Miller. Two examples aren't enough, especially when there have been so many failures.

In addition, it's quite clear that the "leak" to the liberal blogger was intended to allow the left time to spin the network's failure. It can't be that "progressive" radio is unpopular, instead, the problem is with Air America's mismanagement. Expect that one to be seared into the left's talking points list.

What's next for Air America? That isn't clear, but what is known from our end is that the most explosive stories on what has gone on behind the scenes have yet to be written. Watch for them here.

Meanwhile, Matt Drudge continues his bizarre antagonism toward conservative bloggers, ignoring every story about Air America's troubles that originated from the blogosphere. But today, he had no problem running with the bankruptcy story, since it originated from a left- wing site, even though it isn't yet verified. Update: he provides MORE links to liberal sites!

SPECIAL THANKS to Michelle Malkin for her continued support, read her take here. Michelle has a great point: some of the very sites (sometimes even on the conservative side of things) who have resisted linking to our reports (going all the way back to our collaborations on the Gloria Wise scandal) have now, without hesitation, immediately bought into an unconfirmed "report" from the left, that may or may not be true. We don't trust our own to be accurate, but assume the other side knows what it is talking about.

UPDATE: Randi Rhodes says she will address these reports after a staff meeting being held now. We may be able to get confirmation at that time. Rhodes sounds very distracted. Rush Limbaugh also discussed the story on his show today.

Randi: "why does all the scary crap happen on my watch? I'll be briefed shortly."

AIR AMERICA DUCKS THE ISSUE: a big hat tip to Perry Simon, who just obtained this quote from the company:

"If AIR AMERICA had filed for bankruptcy every time someone rumored it to be doing so, we would have ceased to exist long ago; it may be frustrating to some that this hasn’t happened. No decision has been taken to make any filing of any kind, we are not sure of the source of these rumors and frankly can not respond to every rumor in the marketplace."

Hey guys, this report comes from LEFTISTS! Are you smoking crack in there?

UPDATES: Randi is filibustering, rather than addressing the issue at hand.

Al Franken says he hasn't been paid in some time. Reader John B notes:

He hasn't been paid in a while? Hmmm... might be true, but I recall you had a detailed explanation of how he got paid in advance, on a quarterly basis. So he could be appearing to tell the truth, (woe is me!), but still laughing all the way to the bank (I already got mine!).

John, that's true, Franken and executive producer Billy Kimball planned for this years ago.

Images: David A Lunde
Thanks to Michelle Malkin, National Review's Media Blog, Ace Of Spades, Gawker, Wizbang and others for links today.

Technorati tags: al franken air america liberal talk radio talk radio jane fonda gloria steinem air america bankrupt randi rhodes

The Radio Equalizer ~ Brian Maloney ** Bankrupt? Air America Out Of Ca$h, Up For Sale

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 2:21 AM EDT

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Mood:  party time!

Federal deficit shrinks

WASHINGTON -- The federal budget deficit, helped by a surge in government revenue, is running 14.1% below the pace of last year, the government reported Wednesday.

The Treasury Department said that with just one month to go in the budget year, the deficit totals $304.3 billion, down from $354.1 billion during the same period a year ago.

The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the deficit for the entire year will be $260 billion, which would mean that September will see a sizable surplus.

The administration is somewhat less optimistic, forecasting a deficit of $295.8 billion for the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30.

However, both the CBO and the administration are expecting an improvement from last year's deficit of $319 billion, the third highest amount of red ink in history. The record deficit in dollar terms was $413 billion set in 2004.

Even with the improvement, Democrats point to CBO forecasts that the deficit over the next decade will total $1.76 trillion as evidence that President Bush's emphasis on tax cuts has put the country on an unsustainable fiscal path.

The administration counters that Bush's first term tax cuts helped to lift the country out of the 2001 recession and provided support for a strong economic rebound that has resulted in the gusher of revenues this year.

For August, the deficit jumped to $64.6 billion, up from $51.3 billion in August 2005. The federal government has run a deficit in August every year since 1954.

Through the first 11 months of the current budget year, revenues have totaled a record $2.12 trillion, up 11.5% from the same period a year ago.

Government spending is also at record levels so far this budget year, totaling $2.43 trillion, an increase of 7.6% from the same period a year ago.

The faster growth in revenues than in spending has meant that the 11-month deficit of $304.3 billion is 14.1% below the red ink run up during the same period a year ago.

USA Today ~ Associated Press ** Federal deficit shrinks
Also at:
Breitbart.com ~ Associated Press - Martin Crutsinger ** Treasury: Federal Deficit Down 14.1 Pct.

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 1:27 AM EDT

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Mood:  silly

I would think that someone in Karl Rove's position would have far too much to do, than to get some thieving bastard spammer tossed in jail.
But HEY!
They blame bush and Rove for everything else, so why not this, too?
Morons.

Man Accused of Fraud Blames Karl Rove

NEW YORK -- Attorneys for a man accused of fraud say he was charged at the behest of presidential adviser Karl Rove in retaliation for a flood of spam e-mails sent to a campaign Web site. A federal prosecutor says the claim is "absurd."

Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Siegal urged U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain on Monday to reject arguments that Rove caused the criminal investigation that led to charges against Robert McAllister.

Siegal said lawyers for McAllister made the "patently absurd argument that the U.S. attorney's office in the Southern District is a shill for Karl Rove and has arrested and indicted their client in some sort of vindictive retaliation."

McAllister's lawyer Gerald L. Shargel said Monday he plans to try to call Rove as a witness, if the court allows it.

McAllister, of Jupiter, Fla., is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud while he was chief executive officer and president of Millennium National Events Inc., an events promotion company. He was arrested in August 2005.

The government says McAllister and Millennium tried to inflate the price of the company's stock by "spreading false and misleading information" about the company via unsolicited e-mails, or spam, to potential investors. McAllister could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Shargel said McAllister's efforts to grow his company were "thwarted by the wrongful conduct of stock promoters," one of whom sent e-mails to a presidential Web site, georgewbush.com. That Web address currently connects automatically to the Republican National Committee, http://www.gop.com.

"Mr. Rove used his power and influence at the White House to seek quick punishment of Millennium, and therefore also Robert McAllister, for daring to spam the president's personal Web site," Shargel said.

The Daily News reported Sunday that e-mails, phone records and transcripts of phone conversations indicate Rove contacted McAllister and at least three stock promoters. The newspaper reported that White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Rove "vaguely remembered" the e- mail onslaught but could not recall whether he or any other White House worker contacted the Department of Justice.

Breitbart.com ~ Associated Press - Larry Neumeister ** Man Accused of Fraud Blames Karl Rove

So the guy isn't denying that he committed wire fraud, he's saying that he's only being prosecuted because he sent spam to the President and the GOP??
I'd say he's trying to establish an insanity defense!

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 1:48 AM EDT

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Mood:  chatty

The fifth annual Arlington Police/Sheriff/Fire 9-11 5K Race drew thousands to Crystal City on Sept. 9. It was one of many events taking place across the county to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Arlingtonians Remember 9/11 in Their Own Ways

The fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was commemorated Monday in a ceremony that not only honored those who died, but saluted those whose actions on 9/11 made a difference.

“Arlington remembers all responders,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said at the event, held in the courtyard of the Arlington County Justice Center. “The families, the non-profits, members of the public, victims who lost their lives, families and loved ones who lost their lives, and the spirit that brought us together.”

At 9:37 a.m., the exact time the plane hit the Pentagon five years ago, Zimmerman called for a minute of silence. A bell was then tolled 184 times, to remember the victims who died when American Airlines Flight 77 was deliberately crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon.

U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th, lauded the “perfect professionalism” of Arlington's public-safety personnel, who responded to the Pentagon after the crash and won worldwide accolades for containing the damage with no additional loss of life.

He also praised the community-wide outreach effort that occurred after the attacks.

“Arlington has woven together the fabric of a community that can't be torn apart,” he said.

But Moran then maneuvered into more sensitive ground, suggesting that the country was not safer and intimating that the Bush administration's foreign policy was headed in the wrong directions.

“More people hate us,” Moran said, a comment that drew an outburst from the crowd.

“My brother died on 9/11 - don't make this political,” a woman in audience cried out.

Moran continued, calling on the nation to address the root causes of terrorism by the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

Arlington will play host to a number of other commemorative events this week, including a Sept. 14 concert by the Arlington Philharmonic.

For details on other events that are part of the Sept. 11 commemoration, see the Arlington County government Web site at www.arlingtonva.us.

At the Pentagon, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld presided over a morning ceremony honoring those who died.

“We honor the men, women and children whose lives were taken so suddenly and so coldly,” Cheney said.

About 100 family members of those killed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11 attended the ceremony.

Cheney said that the events of Sept. 11, 2001, created “a day of national unity.”

At the event, Rumsfeld said that “the highest tribute we can pay to them is to commit ourselves to doing everything possible to fight the extremists wherever they are, to making every effort to stay united as a country and to give our truly outstanding men and women in uniform all that they need to succeed.”

The American Forces Press Service contributed to this report.
Arlington Sun Gazette ~ Kristen Armstrong ** Arlingtonians Remember 9/11 in Their Own Ways

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 1:30 AM EDT

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Mood:  spacey

Rockefeller: Bush Duped Public On Iraq

Senator Says World Would Be Better Without Iraq Invasion

WASHINGTON -- When the Senate Intelligence Committee released a declassified version of its findings this past week, the Republican chairman of the committee, Pat Roberts, left town without doing interviews, calling the report a rehash of unfounded partisan allegations.

Its statements like this one, made Feb. 5, 2003, by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell that have become so controversial, implying Iraq was linked to terror attacks.

"Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associated collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda lieutenants," Powell said.

But after 2 1/2 years of reviewing pre-war intelligence behind closed doors, the lead Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), who voted for the Iraq War, says the Bush administration pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

"The absolute cynical manipulation, deliberately cynical manipulation, to shape American public opinion and 69 percent of the people, at that time, it worked, they said 'we want to go to war,'" Rockefeller told CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. "Including me. The difference is after I began to learn about some of that intelligence I went down to the Senate floor and I said 'my vote was wrong.'"

Rockefeller went a step further. He says the world would be better off today if the United States had never invaded Iraq -- even if it means Saddam Hussein would still be running Iraq.

He said he sees that as a better scenario, and a safer scenario, "because it is called the 'war on terror.'"

Does Rockefeller stands by his view, even if it means that Saddam Hussein could still be in power if the United States didn't invade?

"Yes. [Saddam] wasn't going to attack us. He would've been isolated there," Rockefeller said. "He would have been in control of that country but we wouldn't have depleted our resources preventing us from prosecuting a war on terror which is what this is all about."

Republicans say there was flawed intelligence to be sure, but they insist there was no attempt to mislead the public.

"In 2002 and 2003, members of both parties got a good look at the intelligence we had and they came to the very same conclusions about what was going on," White House Spokesman Tony Snow said.

CBS News NY ** Rockefeller: Bush Duped Public On Iraq

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 1:59 AM EDT

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Mood:  caffeinated

Menendez questions timing of subpoena

ATLANTIC CITY -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez suggested Friday that the state's chief federal prosecutor is part of a Republican plot to tarnish his character in the middle of a competitive campaign.

Menendez and other top Democrats implied that the Republican U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Christopher Christie, had partisan motives in subpoenaing records related to Menendez's lease deal with a federally funded non-profit group. The development had Menendez's fellow Democrats worrying about the potential damage to his deadlocked contest with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr.

A knowledgeable source said the subpoena delivered Wednesday sought lease agreements, canceled checks, correspondence and other records related to the arrangement dating from 1993, the year before the North Hudson Community Action Corp. began renting Menendez's two-story brick building in Union City. The source said the office is also seeking records related to the agency's federal grants, which Menendez's office touted and in some cases helped to acquire.

Menendez said he has not seen the subpoena and had not been served with one.

But Menendez, who sold the building three years ago, said the timing of the subpoena and the publicity that followed raises "serious questions."

"Suddenly, 61 days before an election, a prosecutor appointed by George Bush decides to take an interest and, not coincidentally, leaks to the press follow immediately," he said.

He said the events fit a pattern of dirty campaigning by Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser.

"We have seen an orchestrated series of leaks, bogus ethics complaints and outright fabrications since the beginning of this campaign," Menendez told a crowd of Democrats gathered for the state party convention at Bally's Atlantic City.

"Tom Kean Jr.'s entire campaign has been straight out of the Bush-Rove playbook, and now he's even got the U.S. attorney involved."

A spokesman for Christie declined to comment on Menendez's remarks or the subpoena. Christie was an avid Bush fund-raiser whose brash style has drawn accusations of partisanship before.

However, Christie's high-profile public corruption prosecutions have been bipartisan and widely praised.

'Serious concerns'
Governor Corzine, who in January appointed Menendez to serve the last year of his U.S. Senate term, said he respects Christie but also harbors "serious concerns about the timing" of the subpoena and leaks to the press about it.

"It has the appearance of being less than objective," said Corzine, also attending the convention in Atlantic City.

Corzine and the state's Democratic members of Congress, some of whom aggressively sought Corzine's seat, publicly rallied around the senator while heaping abuse on Kean and other Republicans.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg said Kean, the son of former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, "comes to the table with nothing."

Menendez effectively called his opponent a "trust fund baby."

Asked about the investigation at a press conference Friday, Kean said it would be "inappropriate" to comment.

Thursday night, however, he had issued a statement saying the investigation showed "the need to clean up the corruption and scandal that has plagued Washington, D.C., and our state, so we can finally restore the public's faith in government."

Menendez reiterated Friday that he had informally cleared the lease with the House ethics committee, and for the first time named a committee aide, Mark Davis, who he thought had reviewed the matter.

But after a Capitol Hill newspaper reported that the staffer had already left the ethics committee by 1994, spokesman Matt Miller said Menendez had remembered incorrectly because it was so long ago.

He did not offer another name.

Over the course of nine years while he represented Hudson County in the House, Menendez collected more than $300,000 from the non-profit group for its preschool program's offices.

At the same time, the organization's employees gave Menendez tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and named a facility after him.

The Kean campaign has charged that Menendez was effectively profiting from federal funds over which he had influence.

Representatives of the agency were not available for comment Friday.

Craig Holman, a campaign finance lobbyist with the ethics advocacy group Public Citizen, said the lease appears to have violated ethics rules, but he found the involvement of law enforcement "surprising."

To be guilty of a crime, Menendez would have had to have realized a financial benefit that could be attributed directly to his office, such as unusually high rent from the federally subsidized agency.

"It sounded like it was just a rules violation," Holman said. "It would have to be inflated rent. If the rent is anything in the ballpark of what space is going for in the area, that would be market rate.

"It could be the U.S. Attorney's Office is trying to make sure nothing happened here," Holman added.

"They could be on a fishing expedition."

'Big financial advantage'
Political experts expected the investigation to be harmful but not fatal to Menendez's prospects for a full term.

Cook Political Report analyst Jennifer Duffy, who had changed her New Jersey forecast from "leans Democratic" to "tossup" just before news of the federal probe broke, said Menendez still has natural advantages.

"It's still New Jersey, it's still a blue state and he still has a big financial advantage," she said. "But what this might do is let Kean run this race on his own terms because fundamentally, if he can keep this race about ethics, he's got a shot. If Menendez succeeds in making it about Bush and Iraq and homeland security, Kean's got a problem."

It's difficult to judge how much of an impression the latest developments will make in scandal-inured New Jersey, said Rutgers University political science Professor Ross Baker.

"There's a lot of cynicism in New Jersey voters," Baker said. "It's almost as if this stuff is to be expected. ... It's harmful, no doubt about it. It's the kind of thing every candidate dreads. But I wish I could be more convinced that there was not a political motivation behind this and the timing of it. It's just too neat."

Staff writer William Lamb contributed to this article. E-mail: gohlke@northjersey.com
North Jersey.com ~
The Herald - Josh Gohlke, Herb Jackson, Peter Sampson ** Menendez questions timing of subpoena

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 5:32 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 9 September 2006 5:44 PM EDT

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Mood:  surprised

AP Photo: The home where court records allege an 11-year old girl was the victim of repeated sexual assaults by as many as 15 boys as a 16-year old girl watched and told her what sex acts to perform, is seen Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, in Milwaukee. Criminal complaints filed Wednesday in Milwaukee County Children's Court said the alleged attack took place Monday at the home of the older girl, who is 16.

Wisconsin Alderman Says Girl, 11, Has HIV

MILWAUKEE -- An 11-year-old girl who allegedly had sex with as many as 20 people as a 16-year-old girl watched and coached her has had HIV since birth, an alderman who met with the family said Friday. Alderman Mike McGee Jr. told The Associated Press that he met with the girl Thursday and described her as distraught.

"You can't expect her to be doing well," he said Friday.

McGee said the girl feels like she was misled by the 16-year-old.

"She now is trying to sort out who to trust and who not to," he said.

Her mother died of AIDS and the girl lives with family members, he said.

Also Friday, the 16-year-old's uncle, Freeman Gurley, 40, and Darnell Chaney, 17, were charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child in the incident, which authorities said took place Monday in a house on the city's north side.

The 16-year-old girl was charged Wednesday in juvenile court with four counts of being a party to first-degree sexual assault of a child. A 15-year-old boy was charged with two counts in juvenile court.

Court records say as many as 20 men and boys took part in the sex acts.

Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said Friday they were still seeking five others in the case.

No child can give legal consent for sex, District Attorney E. Michael McCann said in a statement Friday.

"Whether the 11-year-old child consented or not is utterly irrelevant," he said.

As of this summer, 338 Wisconsin residents under the age of 19 had reported having the AIDS virus since 1983, according to the state health Web site.

The likelihood of someone spreading the AIDS virus through a single sex act is not well known. A key factor is how much virus is in the infected person's blood, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who have studied this topic. Treatment with AIDS drugs greatly reduces the amount of virus in the blood.

HIV is spread through blood, semen and vaginal fluids — not saliva. Cases of an infected woman passing HIV to a male partner solely through oral sex have been reported, but these are very rare. If the woman had bleeding gums or mouth sores, that could expose the recipient to her blood and increase the potential risk, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's web site.

As for vaginal sex between an infected female and an uninfected male, studies suggest the probability of getting HIV from a single act is far less than 1 percent.

According to the complaint filed Friday in adult court against Gurley and Chaney, the 11-year-old said the 16-year-old told her she should perform various sex acts on a number of young men at the house Monday and she agreed.

She was in a bedroom and began performing sex acts on a number of males, the complaint said.

When the uncle, Freeman Gurley, came home from work the teenage girl encouraged the 11-year-old to have sex with him, the complaint said. Initially, the 11-year-old refused but then gave in, the complaint said.

At one point the 11-year-old was performing oral sex on Chaney while Gurley was having intercourse with her, the complaint said.

Gurley admitted he had unprotected intercourse with the girl on the bed, the complaint said. In the juvenile court documents, Gurley said his niece coached the 11-year-old.

Chaney admitted the girl performed oral sex on him. He also told police the 16-year-old was directing the 11-year-old girl, the complaint said.

According to court records from the juvenile court case, the 11-year-old told police after the incident in the bedroom she went to the basement, where there were about 15 males and "began to choose who she wanted to perform oral sex on."

The 16-year-old denied encouraging her, court records said.

McGee said he handed out fliers Friday, letting people know about a reward for anyone who had information that would lead to an arrest in the case. Residents had donated $2,000, he said.

AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report.
Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Carrie Antlfinger ** Wis. Alderman says girl, 11, has HIV

Well, it seems that the devil has a (sick) sense of humor.

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 4:47 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 9 September 2006 4:55 PM EDT

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Mood:  spacey

Retailers peddle padded bras for girls

Breast-enhancing padded bras for girls as young as six are being sold in Victorian shops.

Childhood experts have warned parents they could be baiting pedophiles by dressing their young girls as raunchy women.

Tiny matching lingerie sets of lacy bras and knickers in many children's brands including Bratz, Saddle Club and Barbie, have hit the shelves aimed at girls who are barely old enough for school.

The Herald Sun last week revealed the latest Bratz Babyz range included sexually provocative baby dolls dressed in leather and lingerie.

The padded Bratz "bralettes" were among more than 30 different junior bra styles starting at size six on sale at a city Target store visited by the Herald Sun yesterday.

The Australian Family Association warned parents against sexualising their children. "We have a growing problem with pedophilia and people viewing children as sex objects," spokeswoman Angela Conway said.

"Children do not need these products and I am appalled. It is more than bad taste. The sexual portrayal of children in this country is illegal and these products are pandering to just that."

Australian Childhood Foundation CEO Dr Joe Tucci said padded bras were "the most ridiculous piece of clothing a parent could buy".

Bratz distributor Funtastic defended the range.

"The idea of the padding is for girls to be discreet as they develop," a spokeswoman said.

"It is more about hiding what you have got than showing it off. It is certainly not there to make children look like they have breasts."

Target also stood by the underwear range. It provided "fashionable items that give girls modesty and style as they go through development changes", a spokeswoman said.

Herald Sun AU ~ Jane Metlikovec ** Retailers peddle padded bras for girls

Posted by yaahoo_06iest at 3:56 PM EDT

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