Fantasy Basketball

There are many rule variations when playing fantasy basketball. The rules used in a particular league are determined by the rule settings. Some common rule variations are discussed below. Commonly, fantasy basketball leagues may track as few as three or as many as eleven categories. Three-category leagues usually account for only points, rebounds, and assists. Five-category leagues generally add blocks and steals. Eight-category leagues usually add field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and either three-point field goals made or three-point field goal percentage. Nine-category leagues usually add the category of turnovers. Rarely, other statistics such as fouls are counted.

Some leagues allow the league "commissioner" to determine which categories will be tracked. If these categories are chosen poorly, the league may be unfairly weighted for or against certain positions. For example, a league that tracks points, rebounds, assists, steals, and three-point field goals would be weighted toward guards, who typically have higher numbers in many of these categories, and against power forwards and centers, who typically have higher numbers in the block and field goal percentage categories, which are not counted. In public leagues, the number of teams in a league is typically ten or twelve. In private leagues, which are invitation-only and usually utilized by players who want to compete against a group of people they know, the number of teams will vary substantially.

TEHRAN (AFP) –
Iran said on Tuesday that five British sailors detained in southern Gulf waters by the elite Revolutionary Guards would be dealt with firmly if found guilty of what it called "ill intentions."

The five men on board an 18-metre (60-foot) racing yacht were detained last week by the Revolutionary Guards, the force's navy chief told the Fars news agency.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, said the way to deal with the Britons "arrested in the Persian Gulf by Iranian forces will be decided by the judiciary," Fars reported.

"If these people's ill-intention is proven, they will be dealt with seriously and firmly," he said, adding that Tehran had in the past dealt firmly with people who "entered Iran illegally."

Reacting to Mashaie's comments, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "there's certainly no question of any evil intent," insisting that the five were clearly innocent and saying that he hoped for a speedy resolution.

He also said the sailors' detention has "nothing to do" with politics or the standoff over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, which the West suspects has military aims despite Tehran's denial.

"This is a human story of five young yachtsmen," Miliband told reporters in London. "It's a consular case, which is being treated as a consular case by the UK, and I'm sure will be treated as a consular case by the Iranian authorities."

He said earlier on Tuesday that Britain has "no argument" with Tehran over the sailors and stressed that they were being treated well.

The seizure, which recalls the detention by Iran of 15 British navy personnel in the Gulf in 2007, comes amid already heightened tensions between Tehran and the West over Iran's nuclear plans.

The five were sailing from Bahrain to the start of a race in the emirate of Dubai when their yacht, "The Kingdom of Bahrain," was stopped last Wednesday in the Gulf, the Foreign Office said.

They are believed to have been intercepted near the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa, whose ownership is disputed by Iran and the United Arab Emirates, a Bahraini interior ministry source told AFP.

Miliband stressed that the latest incident was different from the one in 2007, which involved military personnel.

"It is important to say that these are civilians, not Royal Naval personnel," he said. "They are yachtsmen, they were going about their sport and it seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters."

Revolutionary Guards navy chief Ali Reza Tangsiri told Fars that the Britons had been arrested by his forces.

"The British intruders have been arrested by the Guards' navy," he said, adding that "the movements in the Persian Gulf are under the supervision of Sepah (Guards)."

The yacht may have been drifted into Iranian waters after breaking its propeller en route to the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which started last Thursday, British media reports said.

Informed sources in London have named the crew as Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and David Bloomer.

On a visit to Seoul, Iran's Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi called for their release. "I believe the Iranian government has arrested them without warnings. They must be released as soon as possible," she told reporters.

Ebadi, a lawyer, said the Britons might have entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. "In this case, maritime police should have escorted them out into international waters," she said through an interpreter.

Charles Porter said he had spoken to his 21-year-old son Luke on a mobile phone since the incident and that he appeared to be in good spirits.

"From what we understand there was an oilfield on their charts -- which is a restricted area -- so they chose to go one side of it," Porter said, adding the yacht may therefore have strayed too close to an Iranian island.

The Foreign Office said it could not say where the Britons were being held or if they were in prison.

In the 2007 incident, eight sailors and seven marines were captured on March 23. Britain insisted they were in Iraqi territorial waters, while Tehran said they were in Iranian waters.

During the 13 days they were held, the 14 men and one woman were not mistreated but they were paraded on Iranian television, sparking anger from Britain and other Western governments.

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
President Barack Obama has given fateful orders likely to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan in a political gamble meant to forge an eventual US exit from a costly and gruelling war.

"The commander in chief has issued the orders," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday, as Obama briefed world leaders on his new Afghan strategy, a day before making a major televised address to the American people.

The plan emerged from an exhaustive policy review amid extreme weariness of the war among Americans, and as supporters warned Obama could be risking his presidency by deploying thousands more men to a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Obama is expected to order between 30,000 and 35,000 more troops to bolster the US effort to repel a resurgent Taliban, secure major cities and fast-track training for Afghan security forces, alongside a separate civilian aid surge.

The president will also assure Americans and regional leaders he will not underwrite an indefinite and costly stay in Afghanistan for US troops.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," Gibbs said, painting the plan as an eventual pathway for US troops to come home.

"We are there to partner with the Afghans, to train the Afghan national security forces, the army and the police, so that they can provide security for their country and wage a battle against an unpopular insurgency."

The White House said Obama delivered orders marking the most crucial leadership test of his presidency in the Oval Office so far, on Sunday, after telling top aides of his final decision.

He met generals and top security aides in the Oval Office.

He then spoke directly by secure video-link to Afghan war commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned earlier this year the conflict would be lost without more troops -- and US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry.

Obama will address Americans in a major televised speech to cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point at 8:00 pm Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday).

He will tell a nation weary of years of conflict and humbled by the worst economic crisis in generations, why it must risk yet more lives and wealth in a war launched after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

His message will be compelling listening for voters, lawmakers and soldiers, US allies, leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents battling Washington in a bloody eight-year war.

Many of Obama's core political supporters, and key Democrats worried about ballooning budget deficits, are wary of more troop deployments. Republicans have however demanded the president answer the generals' calls for more help.

As he launched a public relations offensive to market the new strategy, Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.

French newspaper Le Monde said Washington had asked for 1,500 more French troops.

Obama also spoke with by secure video link with Gordon Brown after the British prime minister announced he would increase British regular troop numbers by 500 to 9,500 in December.

Obama will also talk to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who both will be key players in the new strategy.

The US leader told Australian Prime Minsiter Kevin Rudd of his plans in person, during Oval Office talks.

Rudd pledged send more police trainers and civilian aid experts to Afghanistan, saying his country was in "for the long haul" but did not pledge more troops beyond 1,550 Australia has already committed.

Consultations with key players in Congress, where some Democrats have expressed skepticism about new troop deployments, were taking place on Monday and Tuesday.

Some 35,000 American soldiers were fighting the Taliban-led insurgency when Obama took office. After an initial boost in February there are now about 68,000.

More than 900 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan and October was the deadliest month since the start of the war in 2001 with 74 US soldiers killed.

Obama Sunday spoke to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by telephone, then met Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs; White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and General David Petraeus, head of US central command.

Adult Halloween Costumes

One custom which persists in modern-day day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish "báirín breac"), which is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. See also king cake.

Scotland, having a shared Gaelic culture and language with Ireland, has celebrated the festival of Samhain (Pronounced Sow-win) robustly for many centuries. The autumn festival is pre-Christian Celtic in origin, and is known in Scottish Gaelic as Oidhche Shamhna the “End of Summer”. During the fire festival, souls of the dead wander the earth and are free to return to the mortal world until dawn. Traditionally bonfires and lanterns (samhnag) in Scottish Gaelic, would be lit to ward off the phantoms and evil spirits that emerge at midnight. The term Samhainn or Samhuinn is used for the harvest feast, and an t-Samhain is used for the entire month of November.

WASHINGTON – A threatened Republican boycott of a Senate committee's consideration of climate legislation is exposing the sharp partisan divide over a Democratic proposal to combat global warming.
Republicans for the most part plan to stay away from a meeting of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday as the panel begins deliberations over legislation that would cap greenhouse gases from power and industrial plants and curb the use of fossil fuels.
Democrats have a 12-7 majority in the committee and enough votes to advance the measure to the full Senate. But GOP members are demanding additional studies on the cost and job impact of the bill, arguing that an analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency was inadequate. The EPA study projected it would cost average households no more than $111 a year.
On Monday, the ranking Republicans on five other committees that will have some say in climate legislation also called the EPA analysis unsatisfactory and said senators should not be expected to vote on a bill "without a full and complete analysis of the likely effects."
The Republicans warned in a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the environment committee chairman, that failure to accommodate GOP senators seeking further studies "would severely damage rather than help" the chances of getting the bipartisan support needed to get a bill through the Senate.
Boxer called the EPA cost study "unprecedented in scope" and said it didn't matter that it was largely based on an analysis of the House-passed climate bill because "our bill is 90 percent the same."
Boxer told reporters late Monday she wants to try to accommodate the Republicans, but insisted she will push ahead with plans to begin voting on amendments to the bill. But when those votes will start was unclear. Boxer said Tuesday would be limited to senators' remarks, and said she will make officials from the EPA available so Republicans can quiz them about their cost study.
"We think this is going the extra mile for our friends on the other side," Boxer told reporters. "We want to move the process forward."
The Democratic bill calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial facilities 20 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by mid-century. Polluters would be given pollution permits that they could trade among themselves to ease the economic effect of the transition from fossil fuels.
Republicans have argued the bill amounts to a huge energy tax because energy, including electricity, from fossil fuels will become more expensive.
Democrats privately called the GOP tactic largely an attempt to delay consideration of climate legislation and said all seven of the committee's Republicans already had made clear that they have no intention of voting for the bill.
While Boxer said she hoped the Republicans would change their minds and participate, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., another committee member, wasn't as kind at a news conference.
"It's almost like schoolchildren over there," said Lautenberg, referring to the GOP boycott.

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. – A soured love affair may have led an ex-convict to gun down four men in the town that inspired the idyllic community of Mayberry on the 1960s TV series "The Andy Griffith Show," police said Monday.
Marcos Chavez Gonzalez, 29, was charged with four counts of murder in the slayings late Sunday outside a television store in Mount Airy, about 100 miles north of Charlotte.
The four were shot with a high-powered assault rifle outside Wood's TV, in the shadow of a water tower that says "Welcome to Mount Airy" and has a picture of Griffith and Opie, his son on the show.
Police do not believe the shootings were random. Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson said officers are investigating several leads, including whether it was a contract killing or repercussions from a love affair gone bad.
"This is Mayberry ... Andy Griffith's house is in spitting distance here," said Michael Wood, one of the owners of Wood's TV.
The town, population 8,700, has built a tourist trade on nostalgia for the show that continues to thrive in syndication.
Watson identified the victims — all residents of the town — as Victor Alfonso Martinez-Jimenez, 22; Javier Manuel Martinez, 21; Juan Manuel Martinez, 26; and Marcos Oviedo Aguliar, 21.
Michelle Oviedo, 21, said her boyfriend and brother were among the dead and the alleged shooter is her mother's boyfriend. She said she was sitting on her porch not far from Wood's TV when she heard the gunshots.
"When I got there, Javier and my brother were already gone," she said. "They were on top of each other."
Jose Armando Hernandez, 46, said through a translator that three of the victims were his nephews. He said his family is "destroyed" over the deaths, which he said stemmed from a problem with a woman.
Gonzalez was arrested without incident at a motel about 50 miles northeast of the town, Henry County, Va., Sheriff Lane Perry said. He was unarmed when he surrendered just before 4 a.m. to officers who had surrounded the motel.
He was extradited from Virginia and was being held in the Surry County jail. Jail workers said it was not clear whether he had an attorney.
Watson said 16 shots were fired but the assault rifle had not been found.
"It was quite a crime scene," he said.
State prison records show Gonzalez was released more than two years ago after serving more than two years on a 2002 conviction for kidnapping a minor and a probation violation.
State records show the felony kidnapping charge required Gonzalez to register as a sex offender. North Carolina's post-release supervision of Gonzalez ended in June 2006 when he returned to prison after failing to stay in contact with a probation officer, Correction Department spokesman Keith Acree said.
Nursing supervisor Sue Coe at Northern Hospital of Surry County confirmed that two people died at the store around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. She said two who were wounded died at the hospital, just across the street from the store.
By Monday, someone had set up a makeshift memorial with flowers. Mourners gathered there and some women lay on the ground crying. Someone christened the memorial with a bottle of Corona beer, which sat half empty next to brightly colored candles with photos of saints on them.

Gary Chilton, an owner of Chilton Insurance Group, which shares the building with Wood's TV, said the crime is an anomaly. Andy Griffith doesn't live there any more, but the town is still quiet.

"I'm not sure it's totally sunk in because it's so unusual. On any given Sunday there is nothing here in this parking lot. There's nothing here at all," he said. "My biggest question is why in this parking lot at all. Why Wood's TV parking lot?"

___

Associated Press writers Emery Dalesio in Raleigh and Mitch Weiss in Charlotte contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama greeted Hamid Karzai's election victory with as much admonishment as praise on Monday, pointedly advising America's partner in war he must make more serious efforts to end corruption in Afghanistan's government and prepare his nation to ultimately defend itself.
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter," Obama said in describing his phone call to the Afghan president. When Karzai offered back assurances, Obama said he told him that "the proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds."
Obama's message of stern solidarity came as he considers sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops into the war zone in Karzai's country.
Karzai won a second term Monday when competitor Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the Nov. 7 runoff, suggesting it would be doomed by fraud just as the first voting in August was. The handling of the first election cost Karzai in international credibility.
Yet the White House put its weight behind the legitimacy of the final outcome after helping to broker a runoff that never happened. Obama called the process "messy" but said Karzai won in accordance with Afghan law. The White House repeatedly said Abdullah had pulled out for his own political and personal reasons.
The collapse of the planned run-off increases pressure on the Obama administration to quickly end its lengthy deliberations about whether to commit more U.S. forces to a worsening war. Obama may announce his revamped war strategy, including a decision on sending more troops, early next week before a planned overseas trip.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that Karzai's win by default is a factor in the coming decision about troops but did not say the timetable for an announcement has changed. The administration continues to say it will happen in the "coming weeks."
In recounting his call to Karzai, Obama spent most of his time saying what he expects from his fellow president: more diligent efforts to end corruption, cooperation in accelerating the training of Afghan security forces, tangible benefits in the lives of the Afghan people.
Those aren't just Obama's standards. He is under pressure to show Congress and the public that the U.S. is dealing with a trustworthy partner, particularly if it is going to send more troops there. Many Americans have grown weary of the war and are questioning its worth.
About 68,000 U.S. troops are already in Afghanistan, where October was the deadliest month for U.S. forces. Several thousands NATO troops from various countries are also committed to a war that has stretched into its ninth year and is focused on combatting insurgents and dismantling al-Qaida terrorists.
Obama said Karzai needs to "take advantage of the international community's interest in his country."
Indeed, the White House made clear that the election gave Karzai legal legitimacy but not necessarily any new boost of credibility.
"Nobody has ever made the accusation that credibility was going to be had simply out of one election," Gibbs said.
Relieved U.S. officials said the outcome accomplished two main objectives that have been part of weeks of strategy discussion in Washington: The results yielded finality to a messy process and came only after Karzai acknowledged the illegitimacy of the original balloting.
Knowledge that Karzai would continue at the helm of the Afghan government changed little in the administration's calculus, at least in terms of pushing for reform and anti-corruption and counter-narcotics efforts, said officials who have been involved in strategy discussions. The U.S. government feels the outcome gives it continued leverage to push for reform in Karzai's political house, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not announced his decision on strategy and troops.
Karzai has led Afghanistan since U.S. forces invaded to oust the Taliban in 2001. He won election in 2004, and his latest victory will give him another five-year mandate.
___

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Matthew Lee contributed to this story.

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has
stood beside President Barack Obama in Hackensack and Holmdel.
He shared a stage with Vice President Joseph Biden in
Philadelphia this summer and again this week in Edison. Even
former President Bill Clinton got called in.

With less than two weeks until the state’s gubernatorial
election, Corzine is counting on the star power of the national
Democratic leadership to attract the 23 percent of Democrats who
said they remain undecided in an Oct. 14 Quinnipiac University
poll. Obama stumped for Corzine yesterday at Fairleigh Dickinson
University in Hackensack.

“He’s one of the best partners I have in the White
House,” Obama said during a 27-minute speech in which he said
Corzine helped craft economic stimulus legislation. “New Jersey
needs to give Jon Corzine four more years.”

Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 720,000 voters
across the most densely populated area in the country, where
residents haven’t elected a Republican to statewide office since
1997. Corzine, 62, is the only U.S. governor seeking re-election
this year, as voters blame him for a variety of fiscal woes.

Until this month, Corzine trailed Republican Christopher
Christie in polls. The governor caught Christie, 47, after
launching ads attacking the Republican’s support for ending
health insurance mandates and his links as a fundraiser for
former President George W. Bush.

Obama Factor

In the spots, Corzine questioned Christie’s driving record
following a 2002 traffic accident in which Christie turned the
wrong way down a one-way street, hit a motorcyclist and wasn’t
issued a ticket; and his ethics for giving a loan to an aide who
worked for him when he was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.

Corzine, former chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., tied with
Christie, each with about 40 percent, in this month’s Quinnipiac
poll, which had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. Two
days before the president’s July 16 visit, the incumbent trailed
Christie, 41 percent to 53 percent, in a poll that had an error
margin of 2.5 percentage points.

Sixty-one percent of voters approved of Obama in that July
poll; among Democrats, the president got a 90 percent rating. In
an August poll, Obama’s approval was 56 percent, while 89
percent of Democrats liked his performance.

“The tactical edge Corzine wants here is mobilization,”
said Peter Woolley, director of Fairleigh Dickinson’s PublicMind
polling center. “The Democratic game plan seems to be simply to
outmuscle the Republicans and convince their strong and broad
base of voters to stick with the party.”

Biden, Clinton

Earlier this week, Biden told a cheering crowd in a
gymnasium at Middlesex County College in Edison that he trusted
Corzine’s views on the economy so much that he had sought out
the governor’s opinion on how to handle the recession.

“It’s great to be here with one of the best partners that
Barack and I have in the country,â€

Clinton, speaking Oct. 20 to South Jersey Democrats at a
ballroom in Collingswood, said Corzine’s re-election was
important for the country and the state. Clinton joined the
first-term governor for a second rally later that day at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick.

Obama rallied 3,500 Democratic voters yesterday, telling
them that Corzine extended unemployment benefits for 600,000
jobless and added more than 100,000 children to health-care
rolls. The campaign distributed tickets to the event.

During his address delivered as the local evening news was
being broadcast, Obama said he wasn’t speaking solely to those
in attendance. Rather, he said, he was aiming his remarks at
“all of those watching out there,â€

‘Motivating Folks’

“Motivating folks to get to the polls and vote is going to
be part of what we have to do,” said Union Assemblyman Joseph
Cryan, head of the Democratic State Committee. “We do that
well, but the president can always help us do it better.”

Adenah Bayoh, 31, who owns an International House of
Pancakes restaurant in Irvington, said she was undecided before
attending the rally. She voted for the governor in 2005. Bayoh,
a Fairleigh Dickinson alumnus who was drawn to the event by
Obama, said she’s behind Corzine now.

“Obama made some great points in that right now, people
everywhere are losing their jobs and the economy is bad,” she
said in an interview. “I’ve always been a Democrat, but I
haven’t been that inspired in this election.”

Overcoming Indifference

Krishna Yalla, 24, said he was indifferent before attending
the rally. Yalla, who’s unemployed after graduating from the
university in May with an economics degree, said the event
energized him.

“For me, it was Obama,” Yalla said as he filed out of the
auditorium. “To have a public endorsement from the president,
who I support, is a huge push.”

Christie released a Web video yesterday ahead of Obama’s
visit titled “Yes We Can,” which features the president
talking about the need for change. “If you want real change,
start by changing governors,” Christie’s campaign said in the
video description.

The Republican candidate was scheduled today to make stops
at a diner in Newton and a retirement community in Hackettstown.
Corzine planned to be in Camden this morning for an event at
Cooper University Hospital, where he spent 18 days after a near-
fatal car crash in 2007. The governor then was headed to
Woodbridge this afternoon to receive a New Jersey State
Policemen’s Benevolent Association endorsement, according to his
campaign schedule.

Last Debate

Both candidates were scheduled to appear along with
independent Chris Daggett in their third and final debate
tonight at 8 p.m. on WBGO Radio. Daggett, a former commissioner
of the state Department of Environmental Protection, received 14
percent of the vote in Quinnipiac’s poll this month, up from 8
percent in July.

Daggett has helped Corzine by taking voters from Christie,
said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and a
political science professor at Rutgers.

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today had Corzine leading
Christie, 39 percent to 36 percent, within an error margin of
4.1 percentage points. Daggett garnered support from 20 percent
in the survey of 583 likely voters, conducted Oct. 15-20.

Campaign Spending

Corzine has spent at least $16.8 million on the race, more
than triple Christie’s $5.4 million, according to campaign
finance data released Oct. 7. Daggett, 59, has spent about $1
million. Christie, who is accepting public matching funds, has
said he expected to be outspent by the governor, who is not
taking taxpayer funds. The Republican is limited under state
public-finance laws to $10.9 million for the campaign.

Corzine spent a total of $100 million on his runs for U.S.
Senate and his first race for governor four years ago.

“You’ve got a lot more Democrats in New Jersey,” said
Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac polling institute in
Hamden, Connecticut. “Are they all going to be swayed by Obama
and Biden? Probably most aren’t. But some are.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Terrence Dopp in Trenton, New Jersey, at
tdopp@bloomberg.net .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
Ambitious U.S. economic engagement with North Korea would help end Pyongyang's isolation and moderate its behavior, aiding efforts to rid that country of nuclear arms, a task force report said on Thursday.

The study by leading U.S. experts on North Korea, released as Washington weighs whether to engage in bilateral talks with Pyongyang, argues that sanctions alone will not denuclearize the North and will tend to strengthen hostile forces there.

"Sanctions alone cannot provide protection from the threat posed now or in the future by North Korea," said the report by the Asia Society and the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

"Instead, economic engagement starts a process that may lead to significant benefits without enhancing the DPRK's military capabilities or making the U.S. or its allies more vulnerable," it said.

A U.S. outreach -- through academic exchanges, development projects, and helping North Korea work with the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank -- could spur better behavior by Pyongyang while helping its impoverished citizens, the task force argues.

With approaches similar to those the Obama administration is attempting with Iran and Myanmar, Pyongyang could be shown incentives that "generate vested interests in continued reform and opening, and in less hostile foreign relations," it said.

The task force acknowledges that North Korea has not shown much interest in economic reform or opening, and that a delicate leadership transition to succeed leader Kim Jong-il means Pyongyang's hardliners appear to be ascendant.

BOLSTER MODERATE FORCES

North Korea held its second nuclear test in May and conducted a series of missile tests, drawing fresh U.N. Security Council sanctions designed to restrict its arms sales and proliferation activities.

But the North also signaled it wanted better relations with Washington, freeing two jailed U.S. journalists in August and signaling that it could return to multilateral region talks but wanted to talk to the United States first.

Washington should be patient and determined and take steps to bolster forces in North Korea that want to engage, while promoting interactions that increase the importance of markets in the North's economy, said the report.

"Military and civilian hardliners in Pyongyang flourish in an international atmosphere of hostility, distrust, and isolation; pragmatists will be unable to advance their agenda without contact with the world outside," it said.

The State Department last week said it had decided to grant a visa to Ri Gun, North Korea's No. 2 official at six-party talks, to attend unofficial meetings in New York and San Diego at which U.S. officials are also expected to appear.

The task force recommended Washington expand official contacts "as widely as possible with North Korea," while also utilizing so-called "track two" unofficial dialogues like the ones Ri will attend later this month.

In addition, academic exchanges with North Korea should be expanded, U.S. aid and development groups should be encouraged to work there, and the United States should end policies aimed at keeping Pyongyang out of the IMF and other international financial institutions, it said.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

TRENTON, N.J. – Six major media outlets who use Election Day polling to gauge the mood and attitudes of the nation on Friday asked a federal judge to stop enforcement of a state court ruling that bans exit polling near voting sites.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by the National Election Pool, a consortium that includes The Associated Press, CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.
A Sept. 30 state Supreme Court decision bars exit polling and all "expressive activity" within 100 feet of polling places.
New Jersey is the only state to keep exit pollsters and journalists from approaching voters within 100 feet of a polling place. The request for a preliminary injunction comes less than three weeks before the state's Nov. 3 gubernatorial election.
The news group argues that exit polling is constitutionally protected. Federal courts have struck down similar attempts in other states.
"We think exit polling is very different from the kinds of activity that anti-electioneering laws like New Jersey's are aimed at, and every court that has given its full attention to that question has agreed with us," said Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for the AP.
Polling experts say the ban means error rates for exit polls will be much higher.
Both the quality and quantity of the information decreases significantly because interviewers are supposed to approach voters in a preset pattern, such as every fourth voter. As the distance from polling places increases, experts say, so does the likelihood that voters get into their car without being approached or blend into a crowd that includes people who didn't vote.
"The public interest will be better served by the prevention of any such chilling effect, which would deprive citizens, political leaders, journalists, and scholars of some or all of the uniquely accurate and detailed information that is provided by exit polling," lawyers for the National Election Pool said in court papers.
In establishing the buffer zone, the New Jersey court said it is a reasonable restriction of free speech because all activity is banned within the 100-foot perimeter. The court noted that political speech is protected by the First Amendment but can be barred near a polling station to protect the right to vote.
"The last 100 feet leading to a polling place belong to the voters on Election Day," the court wrote.
In the case that led to this state court ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey petitioned the attorney general for permission to hand out wallet-size voter-rights card. The state denied the request, saying such an exemption would allow political groups inside the perimeter.
The ACLU appealed and the state Supreme Court denied its request. The court took the extra step of barring all form of "expressive activity," including exit polling.

SYDNEY – Five men were convicted Friday of plotting a terrorist attack by stockpiling bomb-making instructions and purchasing explosive chemicals in Australia's largest terrorist conspiracy.
A jury deliberated for a month before finding the men guilty of conspiring to commit acts in preparation for a terrorist attack. Each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
During the trial, which began in November 2008, prosecutor Richard Maidment told the jury in New South Wales state Supreme Court that the men planned to use explosive devices or firearms to commit "extreme violence" in a bid to force Australia's government to change its policy on Middle East conflicts.
Justice Anthony Whealy restricted the media from publishing the men's names on the Internet.
The men, aged between 25 and 44, were arrested in a series of raids on their homes in 2005. Maidment said during the trial that the raids turned up bomb-making instructions and militant Islamist material — including footage of planes flying into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and images of beheadings. The prosecutor also said the men purchased explosive chemicals and guns between July 2004 and November 2005.
The jury, which viewed more than 3,000 exhibits and heard from more than 300 witnesses, was also told one man participated in a terrorist-run paramilitary training camp in Pakistan, and three others attended similar camps in New South Wales to prepare for an attack.
Lawyers for the men argued there were innocent explanations for the material. Outside court, supporters of some of the men shouted angrily after the verdict.
Whealy had instructed the jury to put aside any prejudices when coming to its verdict, and to remember the Muslim faith was not on trial.
The sentencing hearing was scheduled to begin Dec. 14.

Seeking to hit the reset button on the acrimonious health care debate, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9 and renew his call to pass legislation retooling the health insurance market this year.

Obama is likely to more thoroughly detail his expectations for an overhaul, including what he deems an acceptable fallback to a public insurance plan that would compete against private insurers.

The White House has concluded it doesn't have the votes in the Senate to pass a plan that includes a public insurance option. The administration is considering other options, including a non-profit "co-ops" that would be governed by private boards.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited the president to make the speech next Wednesday evening, as is required under protocol, a congressional aide said. Logistics for the speech are still being worked out.

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also will meet with Obama at the White House on Sept. 8 -- the day Congress returns from its five-week summer recess -- to discuss the fall legislative agenda with Obama, the aide said. Health care is expected to top the list of subjects to be discussed.

Obama's address follows a caucus of House Democrats on Sept. 9 to thrash out how they want to proceed on bringing a health care bill (HR 3200) to the floor in September.

That caucus also will give the lawmakers a chance to compare notes about the meetings they held in their districts durin the recess -- meetings in which many of them encountered fierce opposition from critics of Democratic health care plans.

While Democrats in the House generally say they are still committed to the idea of a health care overhaul, it remains to be seen if support for the public option remains sufficient to include it in the final House version of an overhaul plan.

The House version will be created by merging bills already the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees have already approved.

Lawmakers said Obama needs to take a more hands-on role guiding the health care debate. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told an editorial-board meeting of the Des Moines Register today that the president has to make his case to the American people, because of the fierce opposition that surfaced at town hall meetings during the August recess.

"President Obama has to step up and sort of tell the American people, 'Here's what we need to do. Here's what we should do. Here's what the health plan should encompass, and here's what I think we should fight for,'" said Harkin, who serves on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "I think the longer we delay this, the more misinformation gets out among people. I think we have to wrap this up, hopefully by Christmas time."

The White House has been increasingly critical of Republicans that administration officials contend are not bargaining in good faith over contours of a health plan.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday lashed out at two Republican lawmakers involved in the talks -- Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa -- for criticizing Democratic plans during appearances in their home states.

However, Obama is likely to use the address to enumerate issues on which Democrats and many Republicans agree, including proposed regulations barring health insurers from basing coverage decisions on individuals' health conditions. House Republican Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, who has called on Obama to scrap his health care ideas and start over, said he hoped the president uses his speech to do just that.

"Obviously, we want to hear what the president has to say, but the American people don't want a new speech, they want a new plan. We need to scrap the Democrats' government takeover of health care and start over on a real, bipartisan plan for reform," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

The address will mark the second time Obama will speak to a joint session of Congress this year. The first on Feb. 24, came in lieu of a State of the Union address, and primarily focused on the financial crisis.

Edward Epstein and Bart Jansen contributed to this story.

LONDON – The four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympics are set to find out how they shape up — on paper at least.
The International Olympic Committee will release its evaluation report Wednesday assessing the bids from Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
The report — issued exactly a month before the secret vote in Copenhagen on Oct. 2 — won't grade or rank the candidates, focusing instead on technical criteria such as venues, budgets, transportation plans, accommodation, security and government and public support.
The report, based on visits by the evaluation commission earlier this year, is not expected to offer any dramatic findings or provide any clear-cut winner or losers. However, it should list some potential criticisms or concerns.
Among the issues under scrutiny could be Chicago's financial guarantees. Unlike other bid cities, Chicago's candidacy is not underwritten by the federal government. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has pledged to sign the host contract, requiring the city to take full financial responsibility for the games and the proposed $4.8 billion operating budget.
With IOC members still barred from visiting bid cities in the wake of the Salt Lake City scandal, the report is intended to offer guidance to the 100-plus delegates when they cast their ballots next month.
"It could be very important," said Gerhard Heiberg, an IOC executive board member from Norway. "At this stage there is no front-runner and no one lagging behind. All are on an equal basis. The report will be studied by IOC members perhaps more than before."
Especially decisive could be the appearance of government leaders backing the bids in Copenhagen.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish King Juan Carlos have announced they will attend. Tokyo has invited Crown Prince Naruhito. However, the biggest question is whether President Barack Obama will lobby for Chicago.
The first IOC evaluation report made public was in 1993 during the bid process for the 2000 Olympics, which were awarded to Sydney. Some members have been critical of the reports for merely listing statistics and not making clear which bids are better than others.
"Unless you were a cryptographer of some sort, in the past it's been impossible to find out what the opinion of the commission was as to the suitability of each candidate," senior Canadian member Dick Pound said.
The four candidates, meanwhile, are hoping to make a good impression in the report.
Chicago, seeking to bring the Summer Olympics back to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games, has been promoting its plan for holding compact games on the downtown lakefront.
"As the least well known of the four cities hopefully the full membership will have a better understanding of the type of games Chicago would offer after this report comes out," bid leader Patrick Ryan said.
Tokyo, which held the Olympics in 1964, will have a new prime minister behind the bid after Taro Aso's Liberal Democrats were voted out of office by the Democratic Party over the weekend. The likely next prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has voiced support for the bid.
"We offer the safest, securest, most risk-free and most dependable bid," Tokyo bid leader Dr. Ichiro Kono said. "This is especially critical considering today's uncertain environment."
Madrid, which is bidding for the second straight time after losing to London in the race for the 2012 Games, believes it is well placed.
"We have worked extremely hard on every aspect of our bid and all the hard work have put us in a strong position for the final run to the finishing line," bid leader Mercedes Coghen said.

Rio de Janeiro has made a strong case to take the Olympics to South America for the first time.

"We await this report with a little bit of anxiety but confident as well," bid chief executive Carlos Roberto Osorio said. "We think we have a very strong technical project."

WASHINGTON – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says the focus should be on mourning Sen. Edward Kennedy and that questions surrounding his Senate vacancy can wait.
Interviewed Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," he acknowledged "a lot of interest" in Kennedy's seat. Patrick declined to discuss names and didn't directly answer as to whether he thought former Rep. Joseph Kennedy might be a candidate.
Under existing law, a special election has to happen within 160 days of a vacancy and the governor has no authority to name an interim senator. There has been talk of changing the law and Patrick supports that. With respect to people interested in the vacancy, he called that "very personal decisions." Patrick said, "We've got so much political talent in Massachusetts ... in that family and beyond."

WASHINGTON – The popular Cash for Clunkers program generated nearly 700,000 new car sales during the past month, giving the U.S. auto industry a badly needed jolt of activity during the deepest decline in auto sales in two decades.
The government, releasing final data on the car incentives, said Wednesday that dealers submitted 690,114 sales totaling $2.88 billion, bringing the program to a close under its $3 billion budget. Japanese auto manufacturers led American companies in new car sales through the program, which ended late Monday.
Many dealers are still waiting to be repaid for the Cash for Clunkers incentives they gave car buyers and were allowed to submit paperwork seeking reimbursement until late Tuesday.
Despite the summertime frenzy at dealerships, analysts said the growth in auto sales may be short-lived. Sales in July rose to 11.2 million when converted to an annual rate, the first month in 2009 in which sales had risen above the 10 million level. A drop in consumer confidence late last year sent sales plunging to depths not seen since the early 1980s, prompting lawmakers to create the program.
Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the auto Web site Edmunds.com, said dealers and automakers clearly gained from the big boost in sales. But while the incentives helped consumers, average prices for vehicles went up as buyers less concerned about prices rushed to take advantage of the rebates.
Inventory shortages from the popular program could keep prices high and drive down new vehicle sales. "We have created a sales bubble and now that bubble has burst," Anwyl said.
The Obama administration declared the program a major success, saying Cash for Clunkers provided a needed stimulus to the auto industry and the broader economy.
"Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel-efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers said the program will boost economic growth in the third quarter by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points because of the increased auto sales in July and August. An estimated 42,000 jobs will be created or saved during the second half of the year, the White House said.
The biggest industry beneficiaries were Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which accounted for 41 percent of the new vehicle sales. That outpaced Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, which had a share of nearly 39 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. led the industry with 19.4 percent of new sales, followed by General Motors Co. with 17.6 percent and Ford Motor Co. with 14.4 percent.
The Toyota Corolla was the most popular new vehicle purchased under the program. The Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Ford Focus held the next three top spots. All four are built in the United States.
The program, which began in late July, offered consumers rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 off the price of a new vehicle in return for trading in their older, less fuel-efficient vehicles to be scrapped. The trade-in vehicles needed to get 18 miles per gallon or less.
It proved far more popular than lawmakers originally thought. Congress added another $2 billion to the original $1 billion budget when the first pot of money nearly ran out in a week. The extra money was supposed to last through Labor Day, but the funding only lasted about a month.
Dealers loved the new sales, but they reported major hassles trying to get the government to repay them for the rebates. Many dealers are still waiting to get paid.
Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association, said most dealers appeared to get their paperwork in by the Tuesday night deadline and he was hopeful the pace of repayments would pick up.
The Transportation Department said Wednesday that 2,000 people are processing dealer applications. The program was expected to cost $50 million to administer, but Transportation officials said the administrative costs would exceed that amount. They expressed confidence the extra costs would not push the program's total expenditures beyond $3 billion.
Some consumers may be regretting their clunkers purchases, especially since many buyers traded in paid-off vehicles in return for new cars financed through loans. A survey of 1,000 Cash for Clunkers participants, conducted by CNW Research, an automotive research firm in Oregon, found that 17 percent had doubts about their vehicle purchase after taking on monthly car payments of $275 to $350 per month.
The government said 84 percent of the trade-ins were trucks and 59 percent of the new vehicles were passenger cars. New vehicles bought through Cash for Clunkers had an average fuel-efficiency of 24.9 miles per gallon, compared with an average of 15.8 mpg for trade-ins, a 58 percent improvement.

American companies accounted for all the top-10 traded-in vehicles. The Ford Explorer four-wheel-drive was the most popular, followed by the Ford F-150 Pickup two-wheel-drive, the Jeep Grand Cherokee four-wheel-drive and Ford Explorer two-wheel-drive.

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On the Net:

Cash for Clunkers: http://www.cars.gov/