Fair Proxy Web

Collector wonders if state can take on legacy

COVENTRY, Vermont (AP) — Fred Webster fears that when he dies his 1,500-piece collection of antique farm equipment will die with him — that it will be parceled up and auctioned off.

So he is asking the state to help him preserve it.

When I go, what’s going to happen? the 86-year-old says of his old tractors, carriages, sleighs, wheels and saws. Then the buildings will start to fall in.

Webster, a former vocational agriculture instructor, started collecting artifacts of rural life when he retired 21 years ago. His aim was to show how machinery had evolved, a phenomenon he witnessed growing up on the family farm where he still lives today.

I wanted something to do when I retired, he said. So I started collecting, he said.

Did he ever.

His collection, which is housed in 80,000 square feet of old barns and ramshackle buildings on his property, includes an 1896 single horse power machine, a horse-drawn hearse and hordes of old maple taps.

His son helped him record more than 300 hours of video documentation about the artifacts, so he could pass what he knows.

Still nimble at 86, he ambles around the vast collection, stepping over and around the equipment, across rickety barn floors and planks and up and down stairs.

He points to a carriage he used to take to school and a sleigh he said his father used for courting. Nearby on the upper floor of the vast barn are stacks of wooden wheels and 60 old-fashioned washing machines.

Last spring, heavy snow toppled a roof covering his prized single horse power drag saw. The 1896 device, now covered in plastic, is powered by a horse running on a treadmill.

The collection draws attention — sometimes from unlikely people.

When the rock band Phish played its farewell concert at a nearby farm in 2004, the organizers turned to Webster for props. He liked talking to the artists and hearing their ideas and was happy to oblige.

They saw my horse power drag saw and they said, ‘Oh, boy. We can use that to saw watermelons.’ Saw watermelons with a drag saw? I said, ‘You guys are out of your mind.’

They ended up renting 10 vehicle-type artifacts from Webster to show the agricultural heritage of the area, he said. The drag saw did in fact cut watermelons, powered by people operating the treadmill.

They treated us really, really good, he said. It was a tremendous event — the best thing that ever happened to the future of Coventry.

Webster hasn’t sought publicity but now he’s hoping that the state will find a way to preserve his treasures. He doesn’t want to pass them on to his children because he fears it’s too much of a burden; he’d prefer to have the pieces stay on his land, anyway.

He called state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, who contacted state officials who eventually put him in touch with Sylvia Jensen, a land-use planner for the state Agency of Agriculture.

Personality-wise, he’s an incredible resource and individual, said Jensen. His life story is one of hardship and humor. He sees the glass half full all the time.

She envisions a learning center with exhibits and demonstrations and possibly carriage rides throughout the summer. She believes some combination of grants, state aid and private donations could help Webster achieve his dream.

She’s contacting historical societies, the Vermont Trust for Historic Preservation, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and the Vermont Land Trust in hopes of drumming up interest.

Have I created a monster which I’m begging to help me preserve or am I just a nuisance to people? Webster said. It’s a big question.
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Three boys, 8 and 9, charged with raping 11-year-old girl

MARIETTA, Georgia (CNN) — Three boys, ages 8 and 9, were charged Monday with raping an 11-year-old girl last week, court officials and police said.

Never in my 20-plus years of law enforcement have I conceived of something like this, Police Chief Michael Wilkie of Acworth, Georgia, told CNN.

Clad in blue jumpsuits, the boys appeared in court in Cobb County, north of Atlanta, on Monday afternoon and were ordered to remain in custody until a further hearing. Family members were in court for their appearance, which was closed to reporters.

Wilkie said the girl told investigators she was raped Thursday evening. She was examined by doctors after her family reported the allegation late Saturday, and investigators questioned her extensively on Sunday, he said.

The father of one of the boys told The Associated Press that no force was used against the girl, and said the allegations have been leveled because the accuser didn’t want to get in trouble with her parents. Watch chief describe parents’ reactions to charges against their sons

But Wilkie said children that young cannot legally consent to sex, so we have to go with the charges we have.

He told the AP one of the boys was accused of threatening to hit the girl with a rock before the alleged assault.

He also said the investigation is far from over, and investigators are looking into claims that after the alleged attack, the girl talked about it with her friends at a slumber party, the AP reported.

The investigators who are following up on this have had a lot specialized training of forensic interviews with children, Wilkie told CNN. We’ve sent them to a number of courses for this, and so we’re confident that we’ve done that part of the investigation as best as we can. We think her story at this point is credible and that’s why we went forward with the warrants.

He said investigators have lined up counseling for the girl, and we’ll follow up on this and hope that it comes to as best a resolution at the end as we can.

The girl’s mother told WGCL-TV in Atlanta, They do need to be taught a lesson because if they do it to her, they could do it to somebody else. And who knows when they become teenagers what they can do to other girls.

Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head told reporters the current rape charges against the boys would be replaced with juvenile charges, since they are too young to be prosecuted on felony charges. Under Georgia law, juvenile defendants must be at least 13 before a case can be transferred to the adult system.

The juvenile charges could bring up to five years probation and time in a state youth home if the boys are ruled delinquent.

Juvenile Court Judge A. Gregory Poole imposed a gag order on participants in the case, limiting further explanation, Head said.
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CNN Student News Transcript: November 20, 2007

(CNN Student News) — November 20, 2007

Quick Guide

Waiting For Aid - Learn about relief efforts in Bangladesh following a deadly cyclone.

Thanksgiving Travel - Listen to some tips for flying and driving this Thanksgiving holiday.

Talking Turkey - Check out our tribute to the famous fowl featured for Thanksgiving.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: You’ve found your way to CNN Student News. It’s our last show before Thanksgiving, and we’re happy to have you with us for it. Hi, everyone. I’m Monica Lloyd.

ID Me

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! You’ll have to look to Southern Asia to find me. I border the Bay of Bengal between India and Myanmar. I got my independence in 1971 from what was then called West Pakistan. Bangladesh, a country of 150 million, is actually smaller than the state of Iowa!

First Up: Waiting For Aid

LLOYD: And that country is trying to recover from one of the worst natural disasters in years. Last Thursday, parts of Bangladesh were pounded by a deadly cyclone. That’s what hurricanes are called in that part of the world. More than 3,000 people were killed by the storm, and officials are concerned that number might keep going up. But as Cal Perry tells us, right now, relief efforts are the priority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAL PERRY, CNN REPORTER: Speeding across the biggest delta in the world, a race against time for aid agencies. With each day that passes, the situation grows more dire for people in rural southern Bangladesh. In areas so remote they’re only reachable by boat, a massive recovery and aid effort being mobilized. The aid comes ashore; just the necessities for simple survival.

ROD SNIDER, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Plastic bucket, pots, pans.

PERRY: Some never even got word of the storm, like Taslima. In the best of times, feeding her children, literally a daily hand-to-mouth existence. She and the children, aging from three to 16, fled for their lives.

TASLIMA: Somebody came and told us to flee our home. Part of the house had already been destroyed. We ran for cover.

PERRY: Rod Snider, an emergency response advisor for Save the Children, is used to handling massive disasters. He’s been doing it for 15 years all over the world. He knows exactly what to look for: surveying the damage and setting up a distribution center, bringing calm to a chaotic situation, and of course, paying special attention to the children, who were in trouble even before the storm breached this low-lying farmland. What’s your immediate concern for the children?

SNIDER: The immediate concern is, one, are they protected, are they with their family and are they healthy? Right, so that’s what we’re looking for. And, like I was saying earlier to you, malnutrition is a big concern in this area.

PERRY: So much needs to be done, and quickly. Beyond the immediate need for basic supplies and rebuilding, the coming weeks and months could bring more disaster to a people that have already endured so much.

SNIDER: There’s stagnant water, and it’s right against the house here. And so this can present all kinds of problems with malaria. This is where dirty water gets into; kids will come and play in it and then they will get sick.

PERRY: As Sheemarani arrives with her young baby Anamika, the aid workers tell us she’s stunted, suffering from malnutrition and small for her age. We ask if she’s been sick. Not yet, the mother answers. And it’s that not yet that concerns aid workers the most. The rice harvest destroyed for the year, and the potential for disease only grows greater by the day. Cal Perry, CNN, Patkahi, southern Bangladesh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Impact Your World

LLOYD: This cyclone happened halfway around the world, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take part in the relief efforts. Go to CNN.com/Impact to find out how.

Promo

LLOYD: Do humans need to feel happy? And if so, what makes them happy? In the CNN Classroom Edition: Happiness And Your Health, Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the connection between the two, and asks where happiness comes from and where people can get it. The program airs on CNN next Monday, and you can find the free curriculum guide at CNNStudentNews.com.

simpliFLYing

LLOYD: Thanksgiving is still a couple days away, but travel conditions around the holiday are already bad. Weather caused delays yesterday in Atlanta, Chicago and New York. You can’t do anything about nature putting your flight in a holding pattern, but the Transportation Security Administration has a couple suggestions on how you can help keep things moving at the airport. Jeanne Meserve has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN REPORTER: Travel is expected to be very heavy this holiday weekend. The security lines could be long, so the Transportation Security Administration is putting out some pointers in the form of a public service announcement that’s being posted on their Web site and elsewhere. One of the principal recommendations is that you pack your carry-on luggage in layers: put in some clothes, and then place your electronics side-by-side on top of that instead of jumbling them all together. That’ll make it easier for the screening personnel to take a look inside. The TSA says it should save you time.

ELLEN HOWE, TSA SPOKESWOMAN: It takes three minutes to do a bag check, if they have to dive into somebody’s bag. So, what we’re asking the public to do is partner with us and think about how they can help us help you get through security faster.

MESERVE: The TSA is also recommending that you have your identification and your ticket out when you go through the security line, and they also say remember those rules about liquids. You have to bring things on in containers that are three ounces or less. Put them in a one-quart bag; one of these per person. Take them out of your bags; put them in the bin at the security checkpoint. If you do all these things, the hope is it’ll shorten those lines at security. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Gas Prices Up

LLOYD: Instead of braving the airports, a lot of people are hitting the road to get to their Thanksgiving destinations. Drivers might avoid long lines at the ticket counter, but they still have to fill up their tanks, and that could take a toll on their wallets. Alina Cho looks at the rising price of gas around this holiday weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALINA CHO, CNN REPORTER: If you’re one of the 31 million Americans who will drive to your destination for the Thanksgiving holiday, get out your wallet. The Lundberg Survey says the average price of a gallon of gas is now $3.09. That’s close to the all-time high set back in May. It’s 86 cents higher than last year and 13 cents higher than two weeks ago.

MAN ON THE STREET: Definitely concerned. I don’t drive that often, but when I do, it makes a big impact on the budget.

MAN ON THE STREET: Not that concerned, personally. I don’t pay for gas money; it’s mom’s credit card. But it’s something that you got to think about every day.

CHO: The nation’s cheapest and most expensive gas are both out West. If you’re looking to save a couple of pennies, head to Tucson, Arizona, where the average price is $2.91. San Francisco has the highest gas prices. A gallon will cost you $3.48 there. And unfortunately, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. The people over at Lundberg say don’t be surprised if we break another record soon, with the price of oil steadily climbing toward $100 a barrel. Those that watch this very closely say we could easily see $4.00 a gallon by the spring. Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

LLOYD: On Thursday, a lot of us will stuff ourselves with stuffing, pad our plates with potatoes and cram our craws with cranberries. But the true star of Thanksgiving is, of course, the turkey. So in honor of the holiday, Carl Azuz pays tribute to this palatable poultry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Every year at Thanksgiving, the president pardons one special turkey that gets to live out the rest of its life in peace. This ain’t it. It’s a crucial part of tradition, one that says Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without turkey! And maybe a nap. Tryptophan, an essential amino acid in turkey that functions as a precursor to seratonin, a substance that helps regulate sleep.

And if your feasting leads to sleeping, you might dream of smoked turkey, stuffed turkey, roasted turkey, fried turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey dogs, turkey legs, turkey bacon, turkey jerky. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s on the table and you’re not a vegetarian. But, get this, there’s actually no proof that turkeys were part of the first Thanksgiving harvest feast back in 1621!

What was on the table? Probably venison or goose; they were more readily available. That wouldn’t have mattered much to folks like Ben Franklin. The Founding Father was a huge fan of turkeys. He once went so far as to call the bald eagle, our national symbol, a bird of bad moral character, adding that the turkey was more respectable. We couldn’t reach any eagles for comment, and the turkeys we had were cooked.

But there’s no denying a connection between turkeys and freedom. Take for example this brash birdbrain, who exercised his freedom to stop traffic without giving up his freedom to run away. These audacious adventurers were seeking freedom on the railways, hoping to catch the first train out of Jersey before Thanksgiving. And this costumed creature is free to roam about a house as a pet without having to worry about the oven.

PHYLLIS GERSCH, TURKEY OWNER: He’s like a little dog with wings.

AZUZ: Not to mention strong, birdlike features. But besides the oven, what’s a turkey’s biggest fear? Behold: The turkey eating competition, where gorgers guiltlessly gobble all the turkey they can. It’s definitely not for the birds; they’ll all tell you it’s a pretty fowl idea. This is Carl Azuz, wishing all of you pilgrims and turkeys a Happy Thanksgiving!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Goodbye

LLOYD: And that turkey talk is where we take flight. Remember, we’ll be off for the rest of the week, so we’ll see you on Monday. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I’m Monica Lloyd. E-mail to a friend

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Saudi lawyer in rape victim plea

(CNN) — A Saudi Arabian human rights attorney is asking the government to allow him to represent a woman who was gang-raped — and then sentenced to prison for speaking out about the case.

The attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, had his license revoked last week by a judge for speaking to the Saudi-controlled media about the case, al-Lahim told CNN.

The judge more than doubled the sentence against al-Lahim’s 19-year-old client because she spoke to the media about the case, a court source told Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.

The woman — who was initially sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes — had her sentenced increased to 200 lashes and was ordered to serve six months in prison under Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic law.

We were shocked, al-Lahim said of the increased sentence.

CNN has been unable to reach Saudi government officials for comment on this report, despite repeated requests.

Al-Lahim had petitioned the court to sentence the attackers to the death penalty, but instead the court agreed to increase their jail sentences, which had been two to three years, to two to nine years, al-Lahim said.

The case has sparked outrage among human rights groups.

Barring the lawyer from representing the victim in court is almost equivalent to the rape crime itself, said Fawzeyah al-Oyouni, founding member of the newly formed Saudi Association for the Defense of Women’s Rights.

This is not just about the girl, it’s about every woman in Saudi Arabia, she said. We’re fearing for our lives and the lives of our sisters and our daughters and every Saudi woman out there. We’re afraid of going out in the streets.

Human Rights Watch said it has called on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to immediely void the verdict and drop all charges against the rape victim and to order the court to end its harassment of her lawyer.

The woman, who is married, and an unrelated man were abducted and she was raped by a group of seven men more than a year ago, the lawyer said. The male victim was also given an increased sentence of 200 lashes and six months in prison, al-Lahim said.

The man and woman were attacked after they met so she could retrieve an old photograph of herself from him, according to al-Lahim. Citing phone records from the police investigation, al-Lahim said the man was trying to blackmail his client. He noted the photo she was trying to retrieve was harmless and did not show his client in any compromising position.

Al-Lahim said the man tried to blame his client for insisting on meeting him that day. It is illegal for a woman to meet with an unrelated male under Saudi’s Islamic law.

Al-Lahim has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Justice next month, where he faces a possible three-year suspension and disbarment, according to Human Rights Watch.

He told CNN he has appealed to the Ministry of Justice to reinstate his law license and plans to meet with Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh.

Currently she doesn’t have a lawyer, and I feel they’re doing this to isolate her and deprive her from her basic rights, he said. We will not accept this judgment and I’ll do my best to continue representing her because justice needs to take place.

He said the handling of the case is a direct contradiction of judicial reforms announced by the Saudi king earlier this month.

The Ministry of Justice needs to have a very clear standing regarding this case because I consider this decision to be judiciary mutiny against the reform that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz started and against Saudi women who are being victimized because of such decisions, he said.

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic law or sharia is not written and, therefore, subject to a wide array of interpretations. Human Rights Watch points out that a judge in Jeddah threw out a lawyer simply because he was a member of the Ismaili faith, a branch of Shia Islam.

Under Saudi law, women are subject to numerous restrictions, including a strict dress code, a prohibition against driving and a requirement that they get a man’s permission to travel or have surgery. Women are also not allowed to testify in court unless it is about a private matter that was not observed by a man, and they are not allowed to vote.

The Saudi government recently has taken some steps toward bettering the situation of women in the kingdom, including the establishment earlier this year of special courts to handle domestic abuse cases, adoption of a new labor law that addresses working women’s rights and creation of a human rights commission.

Christoph Wilcke of Human Rights Watch praised the female rape victim and her attorney for speaking out about the case, which he said may be indicative of many injustices that we still don’t know about.

It’s not only one court, it is the Saudi government that is fully behind punishing a woman who’s been raped (and) punishing the lawyer who’s trying to help her and doing that both because they’ve spoken to the media, Wilcke told CNN. And if they hadn’t spoken to the media, we wouldn’t know about it.

Shying away from criticism of key ally, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the case and the punishment surprising and astonishing.

While this is a judicial procedure — part of a judicial procedure — overseas in courts outside of our country, still while it is very difficult to offer any detailed comment about this situation, I think most people would be quite astonished by the situation, McCormack said.

I can’t get involved in specific court cases in Saudi Arabia dealing with its own citizens. But most people here would be quite surprised to learn of the circumstances and then the punishment meted out, he said.
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FDA to consider salt content of processed foods

WASHINGTON (AP) — Think cooking the perfect Thanksgiving dinner is stressful? Something else is far more likely to raise your blood pressure: salt hidden in all those goodies.

Don’t blame the chef. Much of that salt was hidden from him or her, too.

Americans eat nearly two teaspoons of salt daily, more than double what they need for good health — and it’s not because of the table salt-shaker. Three-fourths of that sodium comes inside common processed foods like stuffing mix, gravy, and yes, pumpkin pie.

Even raw turkey, which is naturally low in sodium, sometimes is injected with salt water before it reaches the store, a lot more salt than a home cook might sprinkle on. You have to read the brand’s fine print to tell.

Now public health specialists are pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to require food makers to cut the sodium. In a hearing set for next week, they will call the government intervention crucial to fighting heart disease.

There’s just a growing scientific consensus that current levels of salt in the diet are one of the biggest health threats to the public, says Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that filed the FDA petition triggering the meeting.

This is truly urgent, adds Dr. Stephen Havas of the American Medical Association. We need to act.

The AMA says cutting in half the sodium in processed and restaurant foods within 10 years could wind up saving 150,000 lives annually.

The grocery industry knows there’s a problem: Food makers and CSPI put aside their differences for an unprecedented, closed-door meeting on how to reduce sodium last month. And the salt content of many foods has inched down in recent decades.

But manufacturers argue they don’t have tasty ways to make deeper cuts in salt, and fear consumer backlash if they slash it.

There’s a tremendous need for investment by government and industry to come up with salt alternatives, says Robert Earl of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. There are just very few that exist that work and perform well in foods.

That’s an excuse, argues Havas. Scientific studies show people get accustomed to eating less salt in mere months, and then usually find their old foods too salty.

One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and almost 1 billion people worldwide. Hypertension in turn is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. And while being overweight and inactive raises blood pressure, too much salt is a big culprit as well.

Government guidelines set 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day as the safe upper limit. We don’t need that much: The Institute of Medicine says just 1,500 mg a day, a little less for older adults, is enough to regulate the body’s fluid balance, the mineral’s job.

Yet the average American consumes between 3,300 and 4,000 mg of sodium a day.

Thanksgiving dinner alone can easily reach those limits: Stuffing can harbor up to 600 mg of sodium a serving, plus 300 for gravy. If you bought the salt-added turkey, plan on 490 mg. A biscuit can mean 350, although a dinner roll might have half that. Pumpkin pie doesn’t seem salty, but one popular brand has 300 mg a slice.

Cooking from scratch can slash those numbers — homemade cornbread for stuffing, for example, has little salt — and there are even reduced-sodium broths to make gravy.

But many processed foods don’t need all their salt.

We could fairly easily take 18 to 20 percent out of food without consumers knowing, says Patty Packard, nutrition manager at giant ConAgra Foods.

ConAgra has started doing that, beginning with kid-popular brands. Chef Boyardee, for instance, went from an average of 1,100 mg of sodium per serving in 2003 to 900 mg today. Over four years, ConAgra estimates it has removed 2.8 million pounds of salt from a list of products — kids brands, Banquet, Marie Callender’s _ without consumer complaint, possibly because it hasn’t publicized the change.

We know consumer perception is, if it’s lower in sodium it doesn’t taste good, Packard says. If you told people … they’re going, ‘Oooh, what’d you do to my Chef Boyardee?’

Technology also can help. Better ways to freeze vegetables brought the sodium level of frozen peas down from almost 500 in the 1960s to less than 100 today — unless you buy them with high-salt butter sauce.

But other foods have gotten saltier. For example, between 2004 and 2007, average sodium in sliced cheese rose 35 percent, and frozen pizza saw a 23 percent jump, CSPI found.

It’s not just a U.S. issue. Britain has a major government campaign under way to reduce salt consumption by one-third by 2010. In catchy TV ads, a shopper shouts, Full of it! as she tosses aside high-sodium foods, and a mound of salt crushes a grocery cart. Next year, Britain begins checking if manufacturers are meeting new reduced-sodium targets for different types of food.

Finland places a high-salt label on foods that are, and has seen sodium intake decrease by 40 percent in three decades — along with a big drop in strokes. The World Health Organization this year called for worldwide sodium reduction in processed foods, plus consumer education on cutting the salt.

Here, the FDA won’t say how quickly it will decide whether to intervene or let industry gradually cut the salt on its own.

Regulation is one option, but it may not be the best one, says FDA food-additive chief Dr. Laura Tarantino. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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