(CNN) -- Have a bad habit you'd like to break? Want to shed a few pounds? Confused about where to begin?Then check out these tips from CNN's New You Revolution. The series follows five people -- Thekla Fischer, Harald Fricker, Sandra Garth, Jonathan Karp and the Rev. Leigh Ann Raynor -- as they attempt to forge paths to healthier and happier lives under the guidance of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's senior medical correspondent.1. Keep a journalKarp, 28, had a nasty nail-biting habit that left his fingers gnarled. To stop, he tried acupuncture and hypnotherapy. Neither worked very well.What did make a difference was the support of his fiancee, exercise and writing in a journal."Every day, just quantifying to make sure I hit that zero," Karp said of recording results his journal. "I've stopped biting, so now I don't even want to start again. So, that's my major motivation."Tip: To help you achieve your goals, keep track of your progress in a journal. This will force you to be honest with yourself while giving you a clear sense of how close you are to your goal.2. Train smarterFricker, 45, enjoys pushing his body to its limits. As a younger man, Fricker competed in triathlons and ultramarathons."I'm addicted to running," he said.But when Fricker became a dad his eating habits changed, as did his exercise routine. So, when Fricker entered the New You Revolution earlier this year, he was 100 pounds overweight.Doctors said his problem was that he ate too much and slept too little. He was told that a lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain and that his regular running routine was not the most effective way for him to train. Fricker needed to mix some weight-training and even walking into his exercise program.Tip: To get better results, try mixing up your workouts. Train smarter, not harder. Aerobic exercises, which push your cardiovascular system, and weight-training, to strengthen muscles and bones, are both important. One should not be done to the exclusion of the other.3. Consult a doctorRaynor, a New You participant, has a serious heart condition -- hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, an excessive thickening of the heart muscle -- and underwent a procedure for this condition last year. But she needed to lose some weight, and exercising would be a big part of that.So after consulting a doctor, Raynor, 50, eased into an exercise routine. Now she works out five or six days a week. The workouts aren't strenuous, and she'd like to do more, but Raynor's heart condition won't let her. Yet the hard work is paying off. After eight weeks in the New You program, she lost 14 pounds."I feel better than I've felt in 20 years, at least," Raynor said.Tip: Be patient when starting an exercise program. And consult a doctor. This is especially important for people with health issues. Your body needs to get used to exercising, or exercising again. Going slow will pay off in the long run.4. Eat betterGarth, 50, a grandmother and former fitness instructor, loves to eat. A typical breakfast used to include cheese, eggs, French toast and bacon. Dinner might include beef tacos, deep-fried.No longer. In an effort to lose some weight, Garth now prepares healthier versions of her favorite foods. She eats egg whites, whole wheat toast, peanut butter and a banana for breakfast. She makes turkey tacos, and doesn't fry them."I think back now at what I used to eat, and I was eating a ton of food," she said.With this new diet, as well as a new exercise program, Garth feels great. She lost 22 pounds by week eight of the New You Revolution.Tip: Instead of dieting, try eating healthier versions, preferably home-cooked, of your favorite foods. They should include whole grains, fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and low-fat meats. It worked for Garth, and it could work for you.5. Get organizedThekla Fischer, 34, wanted to get healthy and get her life in order so she could have a baby. This involved starting an exercise plan, eating better and cutting down on her work schedule, which involved late nights at the law firm.Doctors suggested taking a prenatal vitamin to get enough nutrients to have a healthy baby. An organizational expert wanted Fischer to avoid e-mails and phone calls for the first hour of the day and tackle her various projects one at a time to keep from being overwhelmed."What scares me the most is the time commitment," Fischer said about having a baby.Tip: Plan ahead, weed out unnecessary tasks and focus on one project at a time. Americans are busy and stressed-out. Trying to fit a new exercise plan into a busy life can raise the stress level even higher. Simplify and get organized to achieve the best results.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned whether school districts should have to carry the burden of proof when parents demand better programs for children with special education needs.The court delved into the case of a Maryland family that undertook an administrative challenge to the school district's special education program designed for their son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder."I have never seen a case where a private party coming in and challenging government action does not have the burden of proof," Justice David Souter told the family's lawyer.Arguing for the parents of Brian Schaffer, lawyer William Hurd said federal law sets up "a unique partnership" between parents of the learning disabled and school districts. When there are disagreements, school districts have better access to relevant facts and witnesses and the playing field is tilted against parents.The Individuals With Disabilities Act is silent on whether parents or the schools have the burden of proof in disputes.In baseball, the tie goes to the runner, said Hurd, and "here the tie should go to the child."Under the law, which served 6.7 million students in the 2003-04 school year, Congress provides money to the states to ensure that all children with disabilities have a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and services to meet their needs.Switching its stand from the Clinton years, the solicitor general's office of the Justice Department is siding with school systems, saying the law does not put the burden on schools.Souter indicated he would be more sympathetic to an extreme set of circumstances in which the school district decided to throw the student with special needs "in the pot with everybody else." In the Maryland case, Souter pointed out, the parents have been presented with a proposed program by the school district.Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that disputes under the law are no different from other types of cases in which parties seeking relief have the burden of proof.Scalia looked at the costs of protracted disputes, saying "this is not play money."Hurd urged Scalia to look at the "squandering of human potential" if special ed programs are not appropriately designed.The cost figure for disputes quoted during arguments before the justices was $146.5 million, "a drop in the bucket" compared with the $11.4 billion appropriated for the program, said Hurd.Chief Justice John Roberts is not participating in the case. Four lawyers from his old law firm are representing the school district.The case is Brian Schaffer v. Jerry Weast, Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, 04-698.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BELLE CHASSE, Louisiana (AP) -- Tammy Galjour already has a job, working 12-hour shifts as an X-ray technician at a hospital in this normally tidy suburb just outside New Orleans.These days, when she gets home just after dawn, she's grateful to be exhausted, to fall into bed and sleep away the destruction that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rained down on her town and her state.But Galjour -- like hundreds of other parents across Louisiana -- has been handed a second, unpaid job: She'll be home-schooling her 12-year-old son, at least until classes start again in Plaquemines Parish, where six of nine schools were washed away by the storms."I think it will be a challenge just to get him to sit down and listen to me," Galjour said, juggling four fat textbooks she had just picked up.Across Louisiana, families are turning to home-schooling as officials scramble to reopen shuttered schools. At least 800 families in Plaquemines Parish alone are affected, according to school officials.Nationally, about 1.1 million students are home-schooled, according to the U.S. Department of Education, a movement that's been growing steadily for decades. Usually, though, it's not a decision made under duress, since home-schooling demands patience and commitment from both parents and students."This is a beautiful short-term solution, especially given where we are now," said Stephanie Riegel, a New Orleans resident now relocated to Baton Rouge with twin 9-year-old girls.Louisiana has done its best to encourage parents not to leave the public school system, urging them instead to enroll in schools wherever they've landed, said Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department. The East Baton Rouge Parish district, for example, has taken in more than 2,000 new students since Katrina hit.But other parents have pulled back, some because they eventually hope to send their children back to their local schools. Others simply got fed up with seeing their children in new, unfamiliar and crowded classrooms."At her school in East Baton Rouge, there were four drug busts one day, and the next someone was selling pills," said Michelle Pellegal, gesturing at her 16-year-old daughter, April Kent. "She said, 'I can't go to that school any more."'Like Galjour, Pellegal works in the produce department of a grocery store. She will oversee her daughter's lessons in chemistry and algebra after work, she said, until Plaquemines Parish schools reopen.Some, like Pam Ricouard, followed the state's wishes and enrolled her five children in school in Erath, a rural town in coastal Louisiana, after Katrina only to flee before Rita put the small farming town underwater.Now, she said, she's home-schooling her fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 12th grade children until her local school district reopens."Math'll be hard," she said, sighing. "It's not just addition and subtraction -- it's everything."Even the students seem fed up with the seemingly endless vacation that Katrina and Rita bestowed upon them, stuck as they often are at home in the sticky Louisiana heat."I'm ready to go back and see all my friends," Kent said. "I don't like being at home, all bored."Home-schooling parents can be sent Louisiana's curriculum, which outlines what students need to know at each grade level, Casper said. And help is available from some districts -- in Plaquemines Parish, for example, volunteer teachers are staffing tutoring sessions at a local church five days a week.Learning how to become a home-school parent on the fly will not be easy, said Dianna Van Timmeren, a Baton Rouge mother who home-schools her children and is helping a family of evacuees make the transition."For parents who have never considered it before, there's always the feeling that maybe they can't do it, that they don't have the education," she said. "But it is possible. There's tons of curriculum out there to choose from, and all kinds of help for parents who might feel wobbly about educating their children."Avis Fitte and her sons -- 13-year-old Beau and 12-year-old Evan -- recently worked together on a unit on vocabulary. Fitte asked her sons to figure out the meaning of the word "burden" by looking at its context in a sentence."Not wanting to burden her mother further, Sally rode her bike to soccer practice," Fitte read out.There was a pause, then "to bother?" Beau ventured, earning a proud beam from his mother.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BILOXI, Mississippi (AP) -- The beachfront cottage where Jefferson Davis wrote his memoirs stood for a century and a half in the shade of towering oak trees, but Hurricane Katrina reduced it to rubble in just a few hours.Like nearly all historical homes on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, the cottages at Beauvoir were swept away by Katrina's winds and storm surge."It's a horrifying sight," said Todd Sanders, a coordinator with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. "It's hard for me to put into words."The main house at Beauvoir, built in 1852, survived the storm better than most buildings. A blue tarp covered a hole in the roof, and the house itself has been gutted, but Sanders believes it can be saved.Other famous homes on the coast, with their large columns and wraparound porches, are simply no longer there."Businessmen from New Orleans and upcountry planters always built the finest homes," Sanders said. "They built these estates along the water, (and) now they're gone. Beauvoir, the Longfellow House and a couple of others are the only antebellum houses that remain on the coast."The Longfellow House was built in 1850 and remains largely intact on Beach Boulevard in Pascagoula. The home, which took its name from a local legend that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once stayed there, now towers over the bare foundations where neighboring homes once stood.Homes such as Beauvoir and the Longfellow House can be saved if the restoration process is swift enough to stabilize the structures before they are further deteriorated by the elements, said Mississippi Heritage Trust director David Preziosi.But it will be up to local leaders and property owners whether the homes that were destroyed are rebuilt."We've lost a great deal of our cultural history," Preziosi said. "Even if you rebuild one, you lose an actual piece of history."A dozen miles west of Biloxi, down a tree-lined gravel road in Ocean Springs, the family of late artist Walter Anderson sifted through what's left of two homes built in the 1830s. The artist's son, John Anderson, wiped his brow and said, "There's nothing left."At least 16 buildings were destroyed at the Shearwater artist community made famous by his father's nature works, including Shearwater Pottery's showroom and a vault that housed most of the painter's work."You expect to see something, boards or something. But there's nothing there," he said in a soft voice.Blue tarps covered what was left of the Sullivan House, designed by renowned architects Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Only two of the original four structures remained after the storm, but the wood shell of those -- painted nearly the same hazy blue as the nearby gulf -- has been heavily damaged.An uprooted tree and scattered debris is all that's left on the site of the Dantzler House, which once faced the Gulf of Mexico with wide porches and tall white columns. It was home to a Mardi Gras museum."It sort of erases a part of the past," Preziosi said. "You no longer have that visual history."The Brielmaier House, built in 1895 and home to the Biloxi Visitor's Center, was known for its Victorian woodwork and arched lattices before Hurricane Katrina leveled it.And the Pleasant Reed House, built by a freed slave around 1887, once gave a glimpse into the lives of a black family in early 20th-century Biloxi. Now, nothing remains but the chimney."A lot of the collections in the house were moved before the storm, but the actual house is gone," Preziosi said. "Even if you rebuild one just like it, it's not his house. It's not the one he built."Preziosi said the Pleasant Reed House would likely be rebuilt, but it's hard to know if any other homes would be resurrected. In the meantime, preservationists are wondering how Katrina will change the way the past is viewed."It's making us look at the way we can preserve the history of the coast," Sanders said. "We've lost major character-defining buildings. These were buildings that defined the community."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- At this Buenos Aires hotel, there's more to lodging than a soft bed and a breakfast buffet. Travelers can sleep, eat and dance tango all under one roof.Welcome to the Abasto Plaza Hotel, which bills itself as the only five-star tango theme hotel in Buenos Aires. Here corporate travelers are the main business but tourists from as far as Europe and Asia are also finding a place to kick up their heels and enjoy the ultimate tango experience -- without leaving their home away from home.Guests sleep in rooms decorated with tango motifs, eat in a hotel restaurant with a nightly show by two tango champions and shop for dance shoes in the hotel's tango boutique.Even the concierge is a "tango guest relations" manager whose uniform looks like a black tango dress and whose job it is to set up guests for nightly dance lessons on the hotel mezzanine and arrange tango tour packages downtown.The marketers are intent on capturing a growing group of tourists drawn to Buenos Aires by the moody, melancholic dance that began on the waterfront a century ago and now has admirers the world over.After Argentina's deep economic crisis of 2002, the tango industry is doing its part to help fuel a tourist boom as more than 1 million tourists arrive each year to what is an affordable South American destination in the wake of a searing devaluation.Today tango is also being taken up by young Argentines and infused with elements of hip-hop and other dance styles. Broadway-style reviews and Hollywood films with tango plots keep international interest high and now many tango schools offer inexpensive lessons all around Buenos Aires."They say if you come to Buenos Aires and you haven't danced tango, then you haven't been to Buenos Aires!" said 19-year-old Brazilian tourist Emilene Faria, a hotel guest taking her nightly tango lesson.She giggled as an Argentine tango instructor led her through her paces, proud to pull off the eight basic steps that are the foundation for the tango dance.She and 12 other Brazilians and a sprinkling of European guests partake of the nightly classes on the hotel's marble floor, dancing before a sepia-colored mural of an old Buenos Aires marketplace."Come tango with the World Champions! An unforgettable experience!" reads a poster set up in the hotel lobby beckoning would-be lodgers to step inside for lodging and lessons.Sandra Silva, the tango guest manager, shows off two luxury suites, each with their own oak dance floors for private in-house lessons. Big mirrors and a large-screen TV are positioned nearby to check one's moves against the recorded lessons on DVDs.Pooped after training? There's also the "Tango Cafe" bar in the suites and a whirlpool bath on the balcony, perfect for soaking tired feet while taking in the skyline."Tango really does bring the people in," said Silva. "Just watching someone dance tango makes you want to dance. It's just so sensual, but it also has its technique."Tango dance contestants have frequently stayed at the hotel, including a Japanese couple that won second place in stage tango at the Third World Tango Dancing Championships in July.A large group of Japanese tourists also recently visited, shuttling off to tango shows and dance halls for ballroom tango fiestas called milongas. Visitors can even visit the nearby house of one of tango's late and legendary crooners: Carlos Gardel.Gaspar Godoy and Gisela Galeassi, who won the World Tango Championships two years ago, provide lessons to the hotel guests every weeknight before performing at dinner."There is enormous interest in tango," said Galeassi, adding they've taught visitors from all over, including Americans, Europeans and neighbors from across South America."One, two, three!" Gaspar shouted as some 15 hotel guests stumbled to recorded tango music across the floor.Norwegian Army Capt. Tomas Nordbo and his newlywed, Caroline, laughed as they tried their tango steps. Nordbo said his wife already danced a mean salsa but he thought he'd surprise her with a "tango honeymoon.""I thought we could do something different together and tango is slow enough that it's easy for me to catch up," said Nordbo as he threw his ramrod military bearing into the tango.He seemed to be having so much fun he lost track of his wedding day. "Honey, how many days are we married? Five days? Yeah, five days!" he shouted above the music as they tangoed across the floor.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ARKALYK, Kazakhstan (AP) -- A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying U.S. millionaire scientist Gregory Olsen and a two-man, Russian-American crew hurtled through the Earth's atmosphere and landed early Tuesday in the windswept steppes of Kazakhstan.The bone-jarring descent brought an end to Olsen's space station visit, the third trip by a private citizen to the orbiting laboratory. The Soyuz covered the approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the station to terra firma in just 3 1/2 hours.At 4:19 Moscow time (0019 GMT), the Soyuz fired its engines for about five minutes to slow the capsule as it began moving into the Earth's atmosphere. Less than a half-hour later, somewhere over the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the landing capsule separated from the section used for docking and the section holding the main propulsion engines, which were to burn up in the atmosphere. The parachutes deployed on schedule to further brake the capsule's descent.Ground officials established radio and visual contact with the craft about five minutes before the scheduled landing around dawn Tuesday on the broad, empty steppes of Kazakhstan, where Russia's manned-space facilities are based. Four search planes and 17 helicopters scrambled to meet the spacecraft.Returning U.S. astronaut John Phillips' wife Laura, monitoring the landing at Russian Mission Control at Korolyov outside Moscow, said her husband was launched into space on his birthday and was returning on hers."I guess it's the best present a person could ask for," she said.Olsen, American astronaut William McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev blasted off from the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on October 1 and arrived at the space station two days later. McArthur and Tokarev are to stay aboard for a six-month mission, while Olsen returned with Phillips and Russian Sergei Krikalev, who had been on the space station since April.After landing, the crewmen were to spend two hours undergoing medical checks, then be shuttled by helicopter to a Kazakh staging point and ultimately back to Moscow for further examinations.McArthur and Tokarev are to conduct two spacewalks during their time aboard the station, as well as an array of scientific experiments, medical tests and routine maintenance.Olsen, who spent two years in training and paid US$20 million (euro16 million) for his trip, conducted experiments during his visit, including one to determine how microbes that have built up on the space station are affected by flight, particularly if their rate of mutation has been impacted.In addition, he took videos and photos and "enjoy[ed] being here, floating free in space," he told The Associated Press by e-mail last week. Olsen gives a thumb up while holding a bottle of wine inside a medical tent after landing. A Russian Space Agency official said that Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto was in line to be the world's fourth space tourist, following Olsen, fellow American Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shuttleworth. Alexei Krasnov, the head of manned programs, said in an interview posted on the agency's Web site that the Japanese could face a challenge by another American, whom he did not name."Whoever is better prepared will fly," he said, adding that the next space tourist probably would not travel to the station until autumn 2006.The Soyuz spacecraft and Russia's unmanned Progress cargo ships have been the station's lifeline since the U.S. space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. The shuttle program was suspended for more than two years; the shuttle Discovery flew to the station in July, but problems with its insulation raised doubts about when the next shuttle would go into space.Russia's space program, despite chronic funding problems, has enjoyed the image of reliability in recent years. But that reputation was tarnished over the past week by a pair of failed unmanned missions, including the loss of the estimated euro173 million (US$210 million) CryoSat European satellite due to the failure of a Russian Rokot booster.That dealt a major blow to the European Space Agency, which had hoped to conduct a three-year mapping of polar sea ice and provide more reliable data for the study of global warming.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

JIUQUAN, China (AP) -- Two years after China became only the third nation to launch a human into orbit, a pair of astronauts blasted off Wednesday on a longer, riskier mission after receiving a farewell visit from Premier Wen Jiabao.Wen said the "glorious and sacred mission" would demonstrate China's national confidence and ability.A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 6 capsule and the astronauts blasted off Wednesday from the remote base in China's northwest. In a break with the space agency's typical secrecy, the launch was shown live on Chinese state television.The mission, reportedly due to last up to five days, is a key prestige project for China's communist leaders, who have justified the expense of a manned space program by saying that it will drive economic development. It will be more complicated than the first flight in 2003, which carried one astronaut and lasted just 21 1/2 hours.Minutes after liftoff, mission control announced that the first stage booster had successfully separated from the rocket and that the flight had entered its preset orbit.The official Xinhua News Agency said the two astronauts, or "taikonauts," will take off their 22-pound spacesuits to travel back and forth between the two halves of their vessel -- a re-entry capsule and an orbiter that will stay aloft after they land.Earlier in the day, Xinhua announced the identities of the two taikonauts -- Fei Junlong, 40, and Nie Haishen, 41. Previous reports said 14 former fighter pilots were training for the mission.Images of Fei and Jun in their cockpit as the craft roared toward orbit were broadcast live to hundreds of millions of Chinese television viewers. None of the 2003 space flight was shown live by Chinese television."Feeling pretty good," Fei said in the first broadcast comment from the astronauts.Xinhua said the crew was picked from a field of six finalists. Nie was one of three finalists for the 2003 mission, which made a national hero of Yang Liwei.The two taikonauts will conduct experiments in orbit, Xinhua said without elaborating.China, the third nation to put a man into orbit, insisted ahead of the launch that its aspirations in space were strictly peaceful and that it opposes deploying weapons there. Space officials say they hope to land an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010 and launch a space station."We do not wish to see any form of weapons in outer space, so we reaffirm that our space flight program is an important element of mankind's peaceful utilization of outer space," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.International reporters were barred from the launch base. The handful of Chinese journalists allowed to attend the liftoff were warned they might be ordered to hand over any photos or video -- a possible image-control measure in case of an accident.The Shenzhou -- or Divine Vessel -- capsule is based on Russia's three-seat Soyuz, though with extensive modifications. Spacesuits, life-support systems and other equipment are based on technology purchased from Russia.But space officials say all equipment launched into orbit is Chinese-made.China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s and fired its first satellite into orbit in 1970. It regularly launches satellites for foreign clients aboard its giant Long March boosters.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Eating fish at least once a week is good for the brain, slowing age-related mental decline by the equivalent of three to four years, a study suggests.The research adds to the growing evidence that a fish-rich diet helps keep the mind sharp. Previous studies found that people who ate fish lowered their risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke. Fish such as salmon and tuna that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids also have been shown to prevent heart disease.For the new study, researchers measured how well 3,718 people did on simple tests, such as recalling details of a story. The participants, all Chicago residents 65 and older, took the tests three times over six years. They also filled out a questionnaire about what they ate that included 139 foods."We found that people who ate one fish meal a week had a 10 percent slower annual decline in thinking," said co-author Martha Clare Morris, an epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center. "Those who ate two fish meals a week showed a 13 percent slower annual decline."The study was posted Monday on the Web site of the Archives of Neurology and will appear in the journal's December issue. It was published early online because of its general interest.The researchers looked for, but failed to find, a link between omega-3 fatty acids and protection from brain decline. Previous studies found such a link.Morris said it is possible that something else about eating fish worked to keep people's minds sharp. Or the food questionnaire might have been too broad to allow researchers to estimate omega-3 intakes accurately, said Dr. Pascale Barberger-Gateau, who does similar research at the University of Bordeaux in France but was not involved in the current study.In the questionnaire, "only four seafood items were included, which did not allow this distinction," Barberger-Gateau said in an e-mail.The questionnaire included four broad seafood categories: tuna fish sandwich; fish sticks/fish cakes/fish sandwich; fresh fish as a main dish; and shrimp/lobster/crab.Testing participants' blood for omega-3 fatty acids would have given a more definitive measure, said Dr. William E. Connor of the Clinical Nutrition Department of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. He was not involved in the study.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Ditch the rice cereal and mashed peas, and make way for enchiladas, curry and even -- gasp! -- hot peppers.It's time to discard everything you think you know about feeding babies. It turns out most advice parents get about weaning infants onto solid foods -- even from pediatricians -- is more myth than science.That's right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn't have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won't breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring 'em on."There's a bunch of mythology out there about this," says Dr. David Bergman, a Stanford University pediatrics professor. "There's not much evidence to support any particular way of doing things."Word of that has been slow to reach parents and the stacks of baby books they rely on to navigate this often intimidating period of their children's lives. But that may be changing.As research increasingly suggests a child's first experiences with food shape later eating habits, doctors say battling obesity and improving the American diet may mean debunking the myths and broadening babies' palates.It's easier -- and harder -- than it sounds. Easier because experts say 6-month-olds can eat many of the same things their parents do. Harder because it's tough to find detailed guidance for nervous parents."Parents have lost touch with the notion that these charts are guides, not rules," says Rachel Brandeis, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Babies start with a very clean palate and it's your job to mold it."It's easy to mistake that for a regimented process. Most parents are told to start rice cereal at 6 months, then slowly progress to simple vegetables, mild fruits and finally pasta and meat.Ethnic foods and spices are mostly ignored by the guidelines -- cinnamon and avocados are about as exotic as it gets -- and parents are warned off potential allergens such as nuts and seafood for at least a year.Yet experts say children over 6 months can handle most anything, with a few caveats: Be cautious if you have a family history of allergies; introduce one food at a time and watch for any problems; and make sure the food isn't a choking hazard.Parents elsewhere in the world certainly take a more freewheeling approach, often starting babies on heartier, more flavorful fare -- from meats in African countries to fish and radishes in Japan and artichokes and tomatoes in France.The difference is cultural, not scientific, says Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' nutrition committee who says the American approach suffers from a Western bias that fails to reflect the nation's ethnic diversity.Bhatia says he hopes his group soon will address not only that, but also ways to better educate parents about which rules must be followed and which ones are only suggestions.Rayya Azarbeygui, a 35-year-old Lebanese immigrant living in New York, isn't waiting. After her son was born last year, she decided he should eat the same foods she does -- heavily seasoned Middle Eastern dishes like hummus and baba ghanoush."My pediatrician thinks I'm completely crazy," says Azarbeygui, whose son is now 13 months old. "But you know, he sees my child thriving and so says, 'You know what, children in India eat like that. Why not yours?"'How to introduce healthy children to solid food has rarely been studied. Even the federal government has given it little attention; dietary guidelines apply only to children 2 and older.In a review of the research, Nancy Butte, a pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, found that many strongly held assumptions -- such as the need to offer foods in a particular order or to delay allergenic foods -- have little scientific basis.Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it's the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat -- often one of the last foods American parents introduce -- would be a better choice.Grain cereals might be worst thingDr. David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants."These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels" and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier.Food allergy fears get some of the blame for the bland approach. For decades doctors have said the best way to prevent allergies is to limit infants to bland foods, avoiding seasonings, citrus, nuts and certain seafood.But Butte's review found no evidence that children without family histories of food allergies benefit from this. Others suspect avoiding certain foods or eating bland diets actually could make allergies more likely. Some exposure might be a good thing.And bring on the spices. Science is catching up with the folklore that babies in the womb and those who are breast-fed taste -- and develop a taste for -- whatever Mom eats. So experts say if Mom enjoys loads of oregano, baby might, too.That's been Maru Mondragon's experience. The 40-year-old Mexican indulged on spicy foods while pregnant with her youngest son, 21-month-old Russell, but not while carrying his 3-year-old brother, Christian.Christian has a mild palate while his younger brother snacks on jalapenos and demands hot salsa on everything."If it is really spicy, he cries, but still keeps eating it," says Mondragon, who moved to Denver four years ago.That's the sort of approach Bhatia says more parents should know about. Parents should view this as a chance to encourage children to embrace healthy eating habits and introduce them to their culture and heritage."So you eat a lot of curry," he says, "try junior on a mild curry."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A 9-year-old girl pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter Friday, admitting she fatally stabbed her 11-year-old playmate after a tug-of-war over a rubber ball went sour. The girl, identified by the city only as Shanice K., admitted she stabbed Queen Washington once in the chest at a Memorial Day gathering in Brooklyn, the city said in a statement after the proceeding. Judge Jane Pearl ordered that Shanice remain in a non-secure setting pending sentencing. She also ordered an investigation into the child's background. "We are confident this is an appropriate resolution of this tragic matter," said Assistant Corporation Counsel Suzette Rivera. "The plea takes into account the great harm caused by the respondent and holds her accountable" for the slaying. Shanice was accompanied by her mother and defense attorney Nicole Barnum in Brooklyn Family Court, the city said. Shanice and the victim were described as close friends. The girls' mothers were best friends as well when Queen was invited to Shanice's home for a Memorial Day barbecue. Police said the death occurred when Shanice's mother stepped out of her apartment to borrow something from a neighbor. She returned to find that her daughter had plunged a steak knife into Queen's chest, police said. Queen stumbled into a hallway and collapsed. Police, who could not recall a younger suspect being arrested for a killing in the city, said Shanice confessed shortly after the stabbing. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Saturday that he had not expected President Bush to nominate him to replace the late William Rehnquist as chief justice."I'm not even sure I wanted it, to tell you the truth," Scalia told reporters at a media briefing before a gala dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.Bush, who had in the past mentioned Scalia as one role model for an ideal chief justice, passed on Scalia and nominated John Roberts after Rehnquist's death.Scalia said the time he would have had to devote to administering the court as chief justice would have taken away from his thinking and writing. However, he said, "The honor would have been wonderful."Asked if he knew why he wasn't nominated, Scalia said the reason "is locked in the heart of the president."Scalia was the only justice who did not attend a September 29 White House swearing-in ceremony for Roberts. Scalia said Saturday that he had a commitment that could not be broken.According the Federalist Society Web site, he was leading a two-day seminar on the separation of powers in Avon, Colorado.Questioned about Harriet Miers, Bush's nominee to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Scalia said he had never met her."Never having met her, I have no impression of her," he said.Scalia, who is of Italian-American heritage, was in New York to serve as the grand marshal of Manhattan's Columbus Day Parade on Monday.Scalia was scheduled to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony Sunday to commemorate the explorations of Christopher Columbus. He was among a handful of honored guests of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, an Italian-American group organizing the parade.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Long before his criminal case gets a hearing in a court of law, Rep. Tom DeLay is fighting in the court of public opinion. With his trademark zeal, he assails the prosecutor in one sentence and portrays himself as a victim in the next.And the media -- often distrusted by fellow conservatives -- is his bullhorn."I know when you stand up for what you believe in, this kind of thing is going to happen," DeLay boasted on a Houston radio show. "It's part of the fight. I know Democrats hate me and they hate what I believe in and they hate the amazing things we've been able to accomplish ever since we've been in the majority."Setting aside his own aversion to the media, DeLay has waged a blitz on radio, on TV and in print as he tries to shore up support in his suburban Houston congressional district while assuring fellow Republicans he plans to return to power.Grand juries in Texas have indicted DeLay on charges of conspiracy and money laundering, forcing him to give up the No. 2 post in the House while the charges are pending.Challenging the indictmentsHis lawyers have challenged the indictments in court, raising questions about the law and the prosecutor's motive.But their filings in court -- which formally accuse prosecutor Ronnie Earle of misconduct -- pale in comparison to the verbal barrage DeLay launches every time Earle's name comes up in an interview. DeLay already has made more than 20 radio and TV appearances since the first indictment September 28.Prosecutors accuse DeLay of engaging with colleagues in a conspiracy to launder corporate donations -- that are forbidden by Texas law -- through the Republican National Committee in Washington, sending them back to Texas state candidates.The transactions occurred during the crucial 2002 election, which gave Republicans full control of the Texas Legislature.DeLay argues the prosecutor, a Democrat who over the years has prosecuted members of both parties, is misrepresenting the facts and misapplying the law.Earle answered DeLay's complaints by saying, "They often accuse others of doing what they themselves do." Put on the defensive, Earle has retreated to the secrecy of the grand jury.Confusing to constituentsThe back and forth may be confusing to constituents in the short term.Kathleen Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said DeLay has adopted a standard public relations strategy of proclaiming innocence and shoring up his base."If you are Tom DeLay, you don't want your constituency to believe the indictments," Jamieson said. "You are reassuring them that this is bogus and you are innocent and you are being hunted by people with partisan objectives."She said DeLay is helped in his strategy by the larger presence of conservative talk radio and TV, where listeners are sympathetic. Keeping them from losing faith is critical, she said."Historically, when people on your side decide you need to go, you go," Jamieson said. "At that point, you can't argue you are innocent."DeLay hasn't been known for media openness. He's not one to linger in Capitol hallways to chat with reporters. He isn't a regular on the Sunday news show circuit, although he did appear on "Fox News Sunday" the weekend after the indictment. Washington reporters competed to question DeLay at the weekly briefings he held as House majority leader.Admonished by Ethics CommitteeHis media machine kicked into gear in similar fashion last year after he was admonished by the House Ethics Committee on a complaint brought by former Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas.The ethics committee found DeLay created an appearance of impropriety by meeting with members of an energy company while legislation they were interested in was pending. DeLay also was accused of offering to back the campaign of a lawmaker's son in exchange for his vote for the Medicare bill and using the Federal Aviation Administration to track down Democratic Texas state legislators who had fled to Oklahoma to prevent a quorum on a redistricting bill DeLay supported.DeLay, fellow Republican lawmakers and his supporters claimed victory, saying the committee exonerated him, even though the committee actually admonished DeLay and warned him in a letter to "temper your future actions."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- The big chill that blew through reality TV this summer is starting to look like a deep freeze.Nearly every returning entry in the once white-hot genre is either flat or down among the broadcasters in primetime. Even unscripted's most reliable war horse, CBS' "Survivor," is flagging, down 19 percent in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic in the first three weeks of the year versus either the same period last year or the entire run.Meanwhile, the few new unscripted entries on the schedule, including NBC's "Three Wishes," are finding little traction with viewers. Although no one is prepared to write the genre's obituary any time soon, the downturn reflects the advancing age of many franchises and the shortage of up-and-coming properties to replace them."I think what's happened is we are at a maturing phase for reality programming," said Preston Beckman, executive VP strategic program planning at Fox. "It used to be you could put on any reality show and get a rating. That's not the case anymore.""I've frequently said that fall is a bad time to launch reality programming," Andrea Wong, executive VP alternative programming, specials and late-night at ABC, said via e-mail. "The audience has a real hunger to check out the new dramas and comedies this time of year, so we elected to not launch any new shows."The downturn is a continuation of a trend that seized the summer, when the overwhelming majority of new reality series flopped. Broadcasters then could at least point to ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" as proof the genre still has gas in its tank, but no such exceptions are evident right now.Broadcast's diminished faith in reality for the fall was borne out before the season even started; only two new series -- both from NBC -- were scheduled, six fewer than there were last year. There are 14 total hours of reality TV in the fall, down from 23 in fall 2004.That likely stemmed in part from the tepid reception they met last year, particularly at Fox, which saw a reality-heavy schedule falter. This season, only one reality series is on Fox, "Nanny 911," and it was added only after a scripted series, "Head Cases," was canceled."Fortunately for us, we didn't feel we needed to go overboard like we did last year on short-order unscripted shows," Beckman said. "Nanny 911" is the only reality show currently on Fox's schedule. What few new reality shows are out there are feeling the pain. The most high-profile of the additions, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," has performed well below expectations, averaging 6.5 million total viewers and a 2.3 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic. Its third airing was bumped from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, where any growth prospects were dashed now that it moved from relatively weak competition to ABC juggernaut "Lost."Perhaps even more worrisome to NBC is the continued decline of the original "Apprentice," which has plummeted 41 percent season-to-date in 18-49 in its 9 p.m. Thursday slot. Another returning reality series that launched strong last year, "The Biggest Loser," is down 23 percent by the same measure.Not even mighty ABC is immune from the mass downturn: "Wife Swap" fell 39 percent in 18-49 over its first three weeks, even as it finds itself in a less competitive time slot this season, moving to 8 p.m. Mondays from 10 p.m. Wednesdays, where it held its own against "Law & Order."What the slump means for the well-stocked reserves each broadcaster has for unscripted series is an open question. Veterans like ABC's "The Bachelor" and WB's "Beauty and the Geek" are expected back, and new properties like NBC's "Treasure Hunters" and ABC's "Miracle Makers" will be put to the test."By midseason, I think viewers will be hungry for the return of 'Stars' and 'Bachelor,' " ABC's Wong said. "Both shows, with their romance and glitter, are the perfect antidote to cold, snowy January."Shari Anne Brill, VP and director of programming at Carat USA, feels reality TV is falling into the predicament that befell comedy: Shows that depart from the conventions of the genre, like UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris," will succeed. "With the right idea, something that is a little different from the norm will take hold," Brill said.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Working alongside Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine sympathized over the paparazzi frenzy her co-stars endured.Then MacLaine had her own little drama with celebrity-stalking photographers, who massed outside a Malibu, California, coffee shop where she had stopped with her canine soul mate, her terrier Terry, whom she wrote about in the book "Out on a Leash.""I guess Britney and the dancer didn't show up that day," MacLaine told The Associated Press at September's Toronto International Film Festival, where she was promoting her film "In Her Shoes." "There were the paparazzi, about 30 of them outside."I was so appalled. They were kind of waiting for Terry to walk out and perhaps take a poop or something, because she's famous herself, and what would I do about the poop? And would they make me mad? Because the whole point is, they want to make you mad, and then they get a good picture."Luckily, the actress ran into two stunt men she had worked with on "Cannonball Run II" "or some dumb, stupid picture I made," said the outspoken MacLaine. They gathered a group of men who huddled around and whisked MacLaine and Terry to her car, blocking them from view so the paparazzi never saw her leave.So the photographers "got no poop and they got no me," MacLaine gloated.The 71-year-old MacLaine was a blunt, irreverent, self-deprecating chatterbox as she sat alongside Terry, whom she believes she knew in a past life in ancient Egypt ("I think I didn't get it then, and she's come back to help me get it," MacLaine said of her dog. "The big it.").For all her cosmic thinking and beliefs about reincarnation, MacLaine is a down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is person."I expected her to be a little more airy-fairy, but she's not. She's really grounded. She's a very matter-of-fact person, actually," "In Her Shoes" co-star Toni Collette said. "She's a very strong person, very opinionated, and I really appreciate the fact that there's absolutely no crap with her. What she says is what she means, and it's very refreshing."Busy yearMacLaine is having one of her busiest years ever with three big studio films. After appearing in last summer's "Bewitched," MacLaine co-stars in "In Her Shoes," playing a previously unknown grandma to feuding sisters (Diaz and Collette), whose intercession helps reconcile the siblings.Coming in December is "Rumor Has It," with MacLaine in a variation of the Mrs. Robinson character from "The Graduate," the grandmother of a woman (Aniston) who discovers her family may have been the basis for the novel and 1967 movie adaptation that starred Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.A best-selling author whose books include her spiritual memoir "Out on a Limb," MacLaine said she had been content to continue writing and take on the occasional acting role. Then suddenly, her dance card filled up with this year's rush of films."And I'm developing three more pictures to do after this," MacLaine said. "I don't know what the synchronicity is all about, but it's there."MacLaine gushes over her juicy parts in "In Her Shoes" and "Rumor Has It," and true to cheeky form, dismisses the critically panned "Bewitched," a big-screen update of the television sitcom. Ask about "Bewitched," in which MacLaine played an actress playing Endora, and she says, "Forget it." On "Bewitched," MacLaine was enchanted by the notion of playing witchy mother-in-law Endora, a role originated on the TV series by Agnes Moorhead. Instead, she was cast as an actress who plays Endora in a new TV version of "Bewitched.""I don't want to talk about that movie," said MacLaine, brushing aside "Bewitched" questions. "Forget it. Don't waste your time. It's over, done."For "In Her Shoes," director Curtis Hanson wanted a low-key character, a widowed woman hiding from her own life by playing caretaker for her neighbors at a retirement community. Hanson, a fan of MacLaine's showy persona both on screen and off, said he and the actress spent a long time conferring to make sure she was interested in that approach to the character."I think Shirley took it as a challenge and therefore was excited by it, because I think that's what makes her life exciting," Hanson said. "She doesn't just sit down and do the same things. She's always looking for something, even if it's a fight. She's engaged. You can talk about a wealth of subjects with her, and I think she looked at me as someone who would be engaging, that wasn't just going to say, 'OK, roll. Shirley, do your thing.' "Confidence in 'contained'MacLaine notes she has taken on more restrained roles before, among them the 1960 classic "The Apartment," but concedes this was the first in a while."I'm old enough now to have the confidence to do 'contained,"' MacLaine said. "I've done it, but just not lately. Not in my years of wisdom."As the Mrs. Robinson-like character in "Rumor Has It," MacLaine was back to her old self."I am not the Anne Bancroft interpretation," MacLaine said. "I'm back to doing what I do. Flamboyant, cynical and foul-mouthed, and drinks and smokes and says 'Go (expletive) in your shoes.' Loved it."Growing up in Virginia, MacLaine studied ballet, and she and younger brother Warren Beatty attended a drama school run by their mother.In 1954, MacLaine was in the chorus line and understudy to star Carol Haney in "The Pajama Game" on Broadway when she was called on to fill in for the injured lead actress. Producer Hal Wallis caught the show and brought MacLaine to Hollywood, with the lead in Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy "The Trouble With Harry" her first film role.MacLaine earned her first Oscar nomination with 1958's "Some Came Running" and also was nominated for "The Apartment," "Irma la Douce" and "The Turning Point" before winning for her favorite role, as domineering mother Aurora in 1983's "Terms of Endearment."Among upcoming films she hopes to make are two with screenplays she wrote herself, and MacLaine has been making notes for a new book about wisdom attained through growing older.She has become pragmatic about the business of Hollywood, knowing box-office results are the key to her future films, and bemoans the way modern movies typically present older women as "non-sexual, uncolorful, eccentric.""But what is the perception of women in general on the screen?" MacLaine said. "That's a problem right there, because Hollywood still doesn't know what to do with women. Remember the days of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Myrna Loy and Susan Hayward, and oh, my God, what happened? ..."I've never cared whether a picture makes money or not. Now I care, because it's all about whether they'll finance the next one. And we've got to start making better pictures in Hollywood."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Japan conducted a successful test flight of a supersonic jet in the Australian outback on Monday, taking a step closer to its goal of developing a successor to the Concorde.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the prototype supersonic jet was launched on the back of a rocket from the remote Woomera rocket range in the South Australian desert and completed a 15-minute flight.Japanese developers hope that a new supersonic jet could some day make the trip from Tokyo to New York in just under six hours -- less than half the current time."We were able to conduct a test flight and to gather data as planned. We think we have marked a major step in the development of (supersonic flight) technology," Kimio Sakata, executive director of JAXA, told reporters in Tokyo via audio link from Australia.JAXA hopes that its research will eventually lead to the development of a commercially viable supersonic jet after clearing technological hurdles such as improving fuel efficiency and reducing noise levels, agency officials said.It will "probably take another 15 years" for the project to become commercially-viable, Sakata said.But doubts have been raised about whether the project will ever be commercially viable given that the Concorde, which was retired two years ago, never managed to turn a profit.The new jet would carry 300 passengers, three times as many as the Concorde, and travel at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, roughly the same as the Concorde.The Concorde was developed jointly by Britain and France in the 1960s. In July 2000, a Concorde taking off from Paris crashed, killing 113 people.A previous test in 2002 ended disastrously when the unmanned prototype dived to earth and exploded in the Australian desert.The 2005 flight at Woomera, an abandoned British rocket testing range populated with kangaroos and located in some of Australia's harshest desert, was delayed several days due to bad weather.JAXA's video footage showed the 11.5-meter (38 feet) dart-like model jet riding piggy back on the back of a rocket, and soaring into a clear, blue sky as the rocket booster left behind a trail of thick, grey smoke.The jet climbed to about 20 km (12 miles) above the Earth on the back of the rocket and then detached. It reached around twice the speed of sound and glided back to Earth using parachutes, JAXA officials said.A picture released by JAXA showed that the jet returned to earth intact this time with no obvious signs of damage.Data gained through the test will be used in joint research by Japan and France towards a next-generation supersonic jet following an agreement between the two nations in June, though the test itself is not a result of the agreement.Despite the successful test flight, however, Japan will not immediately embark on joint international development, Sakata said, adding that more work was needed first.No budget projections have yet been made for the entire project, but the costs are considerable.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PRIMM, Nevada (AP) -- An unmanned vehicle has successfully navigated a forbidding 132-mile section of the Mojave Desert. The next stop for the technology may be Afghanistan or Iraq.A souped-up VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through the course in six hours and 53 minutes Sunday, using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting desert and mountain trails.The robotic vehicles had to navigate a course designed to mimic driving conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including winding dirt trails and dry lake beds filled with overhanging brush. Parts of the route forced the robots to zip through three tunnels designed to knock out their GPS signals.The race is part of the military's effort to fulfill a congressional mandate to cut casualties by having a third of the military's ground vehicles unmanned in 20 years.The Stanford team -- which spent $500,000 on the race, some of which was provided by sponsors -- celebrated by popping champagne and pouring it over their mud-covered car called Stanley."This car, to me, is really a piece of history," Stanford computer scientist Sebastian Thrun said Sunday after receiving an oversized check for the $2 million prize, funded by taxpayers. He said he did not know how he would spend the money, but jokingly said he needed to buy cat food.The race, called the Grand Challenge, displayed major technological leaps since last year's inaugural race, when none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish line.In second place was a red Humvee from Carnegie Mellon University called Sandstorm, followed by a customized Hummer called H1ghlander. Coming in fourth was a Ford Escape Hybrid named Kat-5, designed by students in Metairie, Louisiana, who lost about a week of practice and some lost their homes when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.The race began Saturday with a field of 23 autonomous vehicles. Eighteen failed to complete the course because of mechanical failures or sensor problems.It's unclear how the Pentagon plans to harness the technology used in the race for military applications. But Thrun said he wanted to design automated systems to make next-generation cars safer for everyone, not just the military."If it was only for the military, I wouldn't be here today," Thrun said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) -- Hundreds turned out Tuesday to support dismissed Deputy President Jacob Zuma as he made his second court appearance on corruption charges.A new hearing was set for November 12 to give prosecutors time for further investigation and to issue a formal indictment against Zuma.Lawyers for both sides will also use the time to arrange a date to move the case from the Magistrate's to the High Court in this eastern port city, the South African Press Association reported.The case has divided the governing African National Congress and thrown wide open the question of who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki at the helm of Africa's economic powerhouse when he completes his second and final term in 2009.Mbeki dismissed Zuma in June after a judge found there was evidence of a corrupt relationship between him and his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail for bribery and fraud.But Zuma retains his position as ANC deputy president and continues to wield considerable influence among the party rank and file, including its youth wing. Zuma also enjoys the backing of the ANC's trade union and South African Communist Party allies, which mobilized hundreds of supporters to stage an overnight vigil outside the court on the eve of his appearance.Claims of persecutionThe crowd sang freedom songs Tuesday and waved placards saying: "Zuma people's choice" and "Innocent until proven guilty."Addressing his supporters after the hearing, a buoyant Zuma wearing a dark suit likened his trial to the persecution he was subject to as an anti-apartheid fighter."I did not know that I could have such feelings again during this time of our liberation," he told the crowd.Zuma has made a number of high-profile appearances in recent days -- including a lecture tour in California -- to declare his innocence and whip up support. He accuses the courts of treating him unfairly by judging him before giving him a trial.Police, including some with riot shields and bulletproof vests, cordoned off the Magistrate's Court and all other cases were delayed during Zuma's appearance Tuesday. His next appearance will be on a Saturday to avoid similar disruptions.Seating debateThe ousted leader was kept waiting at the door to the packed courtroom while lawyers argued over where he should sit.Defense lawyer Kessie Naidu said he wanted to spare Zuma the "ignominy" of sitting in the accused box, but prosecutor Billy Downer argued he should be treated like all other accused.Magistrate Bilkesh Asmal allowed Zuma to sit with his lawyers.Zuma faces two corruption charges, but prosecutors are investigating additional charges and don't expect the case to go to trial before next year.Shaik was found to have made payments amounting to some 1.2 million rands ($185,000) to Zuma over a number of years to help fund a lavish lifestyle.The judge in that case also concluded Zuma was aware of Shaik's efforts to facilitate a 500,000 rand ($77,000) a year payment to the ex-deputy president from French arms trading company Thint Holdings -- formerly Thomson CSF -- to deflect corruption investigations into a 1999 arms deal with the South African government.Shaik is appealing his conviction.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) -- Kyrgyzstan assured the United States on Tuesday it could keep its air base in the former Soviet Central Asian state, a relief to Washington which is being ejected from nearby Uzbekistan.President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said at a joint news conference with visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the 1,000 troops could stay as long as they were needed to fly supply missions into Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban.The United States won that pledge -- also formalized in a joint statement -- after tough negotiations that needed a one-on-one meeting between Rice and the president to seal the commitment, U.S. officials said.In return, the United States offered to give a clearer accounting of the roughly $50 million it gives to Kyrgyzstan for the base each year, a senior State Department official involved in the talks said.But Bakiyev stopped short of giving U.S. troops the right to stay indefinitely.Kyrgyzstan needs to strike a balance in its relations with the United States and Russia, which views Washington as muscling in on its traditional sphere of influence under the guise of needing to fight in Afghanistan.At stake is sway over a region that is a narcotics crossroads, a vital launching pad against the Taliban, and home to some of the world's largest oil finds in recent decades.The senior official said the base deal could offset the military's loss in UzbekistanThere, President Islam Karimov balked at Washington's criticism of a massacre of protesters by Uzbek troops in May and ejected the U.S. military from its only other air base in the region that supplies its forces in Afghanistan.Despite signing up to a statement with Russia in July in the Kazakh capital that called on U.S. troops to set a date to leave Central Asia, Bakiyev has adopted a more moderate tone at home, emphasizing the need for Afghanistan to be stable."Maybe they (the Russians) won't be happy, but that's not something we can worry about," the senior official said.Rice, a former Soviet specialist who used some Russian in her meetings was on the first leg of a tour that also includes Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.While lower-level Kyrgyz officials have previously said the United States could stay, U.S. diplomats hailed Tuesday's pledge because it came from the president, was made directly to Rice and was backed up in writing.She and Bakiyev sought to allay the concerns of Russia, which also has a base in the poor country."Kyrgyzstan is committed to good and even relations (with) all the states it has cooperated with," Bakiyev said.Rice prodded the new Kyrgyz government, in power after free elections that followed a people's revolt in March, to move towards full democracy.But in a region skeptical of U.S. motives, especially after Washington welcomed people-power revolts in Soviet states in recent years, Rice was careful not to press for swift change for fear of alienating a military ally.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Liberian voters waited in snaking queues at churches, schools and empty, long-shuttered bank buildings, hoping Tuesday's presidential balloting would mark an end to a quarter century of coups, despotic rule and fighting that killed tens of thousands.The heavy turnout -- some voters arrived hours before polling began -- was a sign of the burden of expectation placed on the voting. Vying for the West African nation's top job are 22 candidates -- including former international soccer phenomenon George Weah, Harvard-educated politician Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and two ex-rebel leaders."I'm voting for a better life, a better leader that can bring peace," said Willie Miller. "Years ago, the country was good ... it was beautiful. Now we're bad off, barely able to feed ourselves."Founded by freed American slaves in the mid-1800s, Africa's first republic was once among its richest countries, with vast fields of gems and valuable groves of hardwood trees and rubber plants. It has known little but strife since a first coup in 1980. Years of war ended in 2003 after warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor stepped down amid a rebel invasion of the capital. A transitional government led by Gyude Bryant has ruled the country since.After years of war that killed 200,000 people, hundreds of thousands of refugees still live in relief camps or squat in buildings abandoned by the government. Leaders have offered the people little but venal, corrupt governance for decades.A nascent, postwar calm is guarded by 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers, out in stronger-than-usual force Tuesday on foot and in tanks in the potholed streets of the capital, Monrovia. White U.N. helicopters circled overhead.The voting, though, was peaceful. Many voters sat on benches they brought with them in anticipation of a long wait or huddled under umbrellas to shelter from alternating periods of rain and pounding tropical sunshine. Voting stations were lit by battery-powered lamps.After processing votes for 10 hours, election workers began closing polling stations on schedule at 6 p.m. (1800 GMT), although voters who were queued up before then were permitted to cast their vote. A candidate must gain more than 50 percent of the ballots lodged on Tuesday to avoid a runoff with the runner-up. Results must be posted within 15 days, although a final tally is expected earlier. A second round, if necessary, would be held in early November.The top U.S. official for Africa hailed Tuesday's election. But Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer added: "This is a beginning, not an end point."In a radio address on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the elections the opening of "a new chapter in the history of Liberia."The winner of Tuesday's vote must attract foreign investors, jump-start the economy and knit together a society riven by a conflict typified by the murders and rapes of civilians by crack-smoking fighters clad in wigs and women's ball gowns to frighten foes.Some 100,000 former combatants have been disarmed. Training them with marketable skills and reintegrating them into society as useful members of a thriving economy is perhaps the greatest challenge facing Liberia.Weah confidentWhile no polling data exist, many believe the front-runner in the crowded field is Weah, 39. He was Africa's first-ever FIFA World Footballer of the Year, laurels he won in 1995.Weah's rise from a Monrovia slum to soccer stardom has captivated much of Liberia's youth -- including many demobilized fighters. But his critics say he has neither the education nor the management experience to govern Liberia.Weah was confident of victory on Tuesday."If this is a free and fair election, definitely we will win it. Because the masses are tired," he told reporters.Also drawing large crowds at rallies is Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated, 66-year-old veteran of Liberia's often-deadly politics. With a long history of work as a government minister and with overseas banks and international organizations, Johnson-Sirleaf is hailed by many as an astute administrator.Her detractors say she's part of a political class that has only led to Liberia's ruination and needs to be swept aside. If voted into office, her campaign says she would become Africa's first elected female president.Voters want peaceFor voters, one qualification trumps all others: to ensure peace after years of war begun in 1989 by Taylor, who won intimidation-marred elections in 1997 after a year-earlier peace deal. We need peace so we can have development. Before, Liberia looked good. Now it's a dump, a dustbin. -- James Tokpah, farmer Taylor stepped down in August 2003 and fled Liberia for as fighters in a four-year rebellion besieged his remaining stronghold, Monrovia.Taylor -- accused of war crimes by a U.N.-backed tribunal in neighboring Sierra Leone for his role in that country's brutal civil war -- is now living in exile in Nigeria.Voters ticking off choices for president and other federal-level legislators on a half-yard (half-meter) long ballot said they were voting for a candidate best able to keep the peace -- a calm that would allow economic growth."We need peace so we can have development," said James Tokpah, a 58-year old farmer. "Before, Liberia looked good. Now it's a dump, a dustbin."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army has a master plan for recovering from this year's painful recruiting problems that includes new financial incentives for enlistees, greater use of computers, a new way for recruiters to make their pitch and a proposed finder's fee for soldiers who refer recruits.The plan was assembled after Army recruiting began falling severely short of goals last spring. The Pentagon announced Tuesday that for the year ended Sept. 30 the Army was 6,627 recruits short of its goal of 80,000. It was the Army's first shortfall since 1999 and it largest in 26 years.The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy all exceeded their full-year recruiting goals, the Pentagon said.Opinion surveys indicate that daily reports of soldiers dying in Iraq have dampened young people's interest in joining the military, prompting the Army to try new ways to make the war work in its favor.For example, since July the Army has been offering prospective recruits what it calls "assignment incentive pay." That is $400 a month in extra pay for as many as 36 months if an enlistee agrees to join any of the brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division or 25th Infantry Division scheduled to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.The Army also is encouraging combat veterans who return home on leave from Iraq or Afghanistan to meet with young people in their home towns to talk about their experiences in hopes of snagging extra recruits. The Army has found that re-enlist rates are especially high among units that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.Raymond DuBois, acting undersecretary of the Army, spearheaded the effort to identify new approaches. Some imitate recruiting practices used in the business world, and not all emphasize financial incentives.Parts of this new strategy were put into practice several months ago; others await congressional approval. DuBois says the shifts began paying dividends this summer, when the Army exceeded its recruiting goals monthly from June through September, after missing for four straight months."By virtue of what we have put in place over the last six to eight months, I'm confident the Army will achieve its goal of 80,000 recruits" for the budget year that began Oct. 1, DuBois said in an interview Monday.Some private analysts were skeptical. Michael O'Hanlon, defense specialist at the Brookings Institution, said Monday that if conditions get worse the future of the all-volunteer force could be in jeopardy."Unless the situation in Iraq improves, or unless we drastically enlarge the pool of possible recruits in some way -- for example, lowering academic standards for them, or even considering an extreme option like allowing foreigners to gain U.S. citizenship by serving -- one would have to expect continued tough slogging for the Army," O'Hanlon said.When the Army saw its recruiting efforts fall drastically below expectations -- starting last February and bottoming out in April with only 58 percent of that month's goal achieved -- it embarked on some new approaches.The most important may have been the assignment of extra recruiters. The active-duty Army added nearly 1,300 recruiters during the year, for a total of 6,401 as of Sept. 30, and the Army Reserve added nearly 600, for a total of 1,547 recruiters, according to S. Douglas Smith, a spokesman for Army Recruiting Command.The Army also has asked Congress for permission to raise the maximum enlistment bonus from $20,000 to $40,000.Among the main features of the Army's master plan for reaching its 2006 recruiting goal:Adjust the way recruiters frame their sales pitches to young men and women. Instead of focusing mainly on financial incentives and other tangible benefits of joining the Army, recruiters are now being trained to take what some call the "consultative" approach. That means addressing the individual recruits' personal hopes and fears, rather than using the traditional hard sell.Put more effort into recruiting people who have begun their college careers but not yet earned a degree, on the assumption that some would be interested in taking a hiatus to try military service. Also, target those of high school age who are being home schooled -- a potential market the Army has largely ignored.Make more use of what DuBois calls "lead refinements" -- the use of computer technology to refine recruiters' leads on potential enlistees. Using mathematical formulas based in part on demographics, a recruiter can more easily prioritize his or her high-payoff leads and thus become more productive. Ten of the Army's 41 recruiting battalions now use this technology; the Army wants to double it to 20 or more.Shift more advertising dollars from national to local markets.Offer a $2,500 "finder's fee" to soldiers who refer a recruit who makes it through advanced individual training, a step beyond basic training. This has yet to be authorized by Congress.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- The U.S. government issued a statement of regret Tuesday for the actions of soldiers who took valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews that had been seized on a Nazi "Gold Train" during the chaotic end of World War II.The statement issued by the U.S. Justice Department said that the government "regrets the improper conduct of certain of its military personnel" who took items that had been on the train, which was carrying jewelry, gold, artwork, Oriental rugs, china, cutlery, linens and other items."The United States has concluded that, although the conduct of its personnel was appropriate in most respects, it was contrary to U.S. policy and the standards expected of its soldiers" in some actions, the Justice Department statement said.The apology was required as part of a settlement approved September 26 by a federal judge in Miami between the U.S. government and about 62,000 Hungarian survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. The settlement calls for $25.5 million to be distributed to needy Jews through social service agencies around the world, with the bulk going to those in Israel, Hungary, the United States and Canada.The "Gold Train" was captured by U.S. soldiers from pro-Nazi Hungarian forces in May 1945. A U.S. investigation found in 1999 that some Army soldiers failed to return items initially "requisitioned" from the train and used in postwar offices, such as rugs, cutlery and even typewriters.The investigation also concluded that some property was stolen from a warehouse by soldiers. Although some personnel were caught and prosecuted, little of the property was recovered.The government did hold an auction of remaining items in 1948 to benefit Jewish relief victims after determining that it would be impossible to identify the owners of the Gold Train property and that Hungary's then-communist government would be unlikely to cooperate."The United States expresses its sympathy and solidarity with these victims and hopes that the settlement approved by the district court will provide meaningful assistance to those survivors," the Justice Department statement said.The Bush administration was under bipartisan pressure to settle what was seen as a black mark on the U.S. record in World War II. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, were among 17 senators who urged a resolution in a letter last year.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A retired teacher injured during a videotaped beating by New Orleans police says he feels no anger toward the department."I hold no animosity against anyone. I want to thank the new police chief for his quick action. I really do," 64-year-old Robert Davis said Tuesday.Justice Department officials said Tuesday they will review the results of an FBI investigation to determine whether federal civil rights charges are appropriate. New Orleans Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs is also part of the investigation.Davis is African-American; the three officers allegedly involved in the French Quarter beating last Saturday are white. A second investigation related to the incident was opened by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which said Tuesday it is investigating whether one of its agents manhandled two witnesses to the beating.An Associated Press photographer captured the beating on tape. It shows Davis covered in blood, handcuffed with his arms behind his back. Several times, officers used their feet to prevent him from turning from his stomach onto his back. (Watch raw footage of the beating -- 1:26) Davis was taken from the scene by ambulance about 10 minutes after the beating. "We can expect a short investigation, probably a couple of days," said FBI spokesman Rich Kilo. The FBI said the investigators were sent to assist state and local law enforcement authorities who have already brought state battery charges against the officers. Two FBI agents were actually at the scene as the beating ended, said FBI officials Tuesday.The agents, who were not identified, had just finished a meal when they happened on the beating, FBI headquarters officials said."When they showed up, the individual was cuffed," said FBI spokesman Stephen Kodak, referring to Davis. "They have no idea what happened before they showed up."On Monday, the officers allegedly involved in the beating -- Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith -- pleaded not guilty to the charges of battery and were released on bond. (Full story)A trial has been set for January, and the officers have been suspended without pay.Davis' attorney: Attackers were rotten apples, not racistsDavis was in New Orleans to check on property he owns in the flooded 9th Ward the night of his beating, he told CNN Tuesday. He was walking in the French Quarter when he became concerned about the curfew and asked a police officer about it.Davis said they were interrupted by another police officer walking by."He interrupted our conversation. I told him that was very unprofessional," Davis said. "I proceeded to walk on across the street, at which time he punched me, I guess, and from there I don't remember much other than a lady in the crowd, I guess just a bystander, who kept hollering, 'He didn't do anything'."Joseph Bruno, the attorney for Davis, said his client does not believe the assault was racially motivated. "I know there is a big temptation to go there, but my client firmly believes that is not what is involved here," Bruno said in an interview.Instead, Bruno said, Davis believes he was assaulted by "a couple of rotten apples that need to be dealt with."Davis suffered fractures in his cheek and near his eye. He said Tuesday that his back still hurt and that he might have to have surgery on his eye.Bruno said they would likely file a civil suit, but under the "best" scenario his client could "break even" because of the limited nature of punitive damages under Louisiana law.Davis also faces charges: public intoxication, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court this week and denies he was drunk. (Video: Davis denies drinking - 5:22)"I haven't drank in 25 years," Davis told CNN. "That's the amazing part." Bruno said he would ask for the charges to be dropped. He told CNN his client was not asked to submit to a sobriety test. The other probeIn the customs agency incident under investigation, the two witnesses to the beating incident, Calvin Briles and Mike Monaghan, said they were handcuffed, manhandled and shoved around by a man in a U.S. Customs vest. Both men are relief workers and students at the University of South Florida. Briles described to the Bradenton, Florida Herald how he was thrown against a car with his face pressed against its hood after saying, "I want to tell somebody" about the beating.Both men said they were handcuffed while authorities checked to see if there were outstanding warrants against them. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents helped with crowd control after the beating incident. ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi stressed that there is no allegation linking the customs agent to the beating itself.CNN's Dan Simon, Alina Cho, Terry Frieden, Rod Griola, Chris Strathmann, Jeanne Meserve and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report

(CNN) -- Hitting local shops and markets for mementos of your travels is a good way to curb the temptation to add to that miscellaneous T-shirt and shot glass collection. "Focus on things that are ... unique to the local area, especially hand-crafted type items," advises Ron Krannich, who with his wife, Caryl, is co-author of the "Impact Guides" books on travel shopping. Each culture has its own specialties: from blankets and baskets in Bolivia to silks in Vietnam and Thailand. Kathy Borrus, a retail consultant and author of "The Fearless Shopper: How to Get the Best Deals on the Planet," also looks for things that remind her of the place and its culture. "Just having the name 'Paris' slapped on the Eiffel Tower or something like that, to me, doesn't say anything about the culture," Borrus said. Instead, Borrus looks for locally made textiles, jewelry, ceramics or packaged food items to take back as gifts and souvenirs. Paprika from Hungary, tea from India and mustard from France are all local items that aren't too difficult to carry. Interacting with shopkeepers and craftspeople also gives travelers an opportunity for cultural exchange and immersion, Borrus said. Since shopping etiquette varies all over the world -- for example, bargaining is pervasive in some cultures and rare in others -- she advises travelers to learn a little bit about the country's customs and commerce before arriving. "Getting a little bit of knowledge in advance on the kinds of things that are expected in a particular culture would be one of the most important things you can do," Borrus said. Looking for a dealLocal markets generally have good prices and there usually is room to bargain, Borrus said.Some vendors speak English, but sign language and a calculator can help with negotiations."Usually what you ought to have in mind is the highest amount that you would pay for something, and then ask them what the price is," Borrus said.Krannich advises travelers to find out the asking price and counter with a much lower price, working up in negotiations from your low price rather than down from the vendor's asking price."Go into Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, places even in India; they say $10. You offer them half and then you work up from there," he said."It just depends on the country. But, generally, you cut the price in half or by 60 percent," Krannich said.Borrus is more likely to pay a little bit more when she's bargaining directly with an artist or craftsperson."They can probably use that dollar or 50 cents more than you can, so to bargain with a little bit of compassion is important," she said. If you know you're looking for something that may be available at home, Borrus suggests doing some comparison shopping in advance to make sure that you get a good deal when you purchase abroad.Krannich advises against shopping with a tour guide, because often guides receive commissions from the shops they steer tourists into."Get some information about where the shops are and go on your own," he said.Getting your purchases homeIf you fall in love with something that's too big to carry home, consider having it shipped."Shipping is really not a problem in most places," Krannich said. "It's something that needs to be arranged, and once you figure out how to arrange it, a whole new shopping world opens up to you."In established shops in countries where the infrastructure is good, shipping can be arranged through the store, Borrus said.She recommends purchasing items to be shipped with a credit card so that there will be a record and some recourse in the event of a mishap.Borrus advises travelers to arrange shipping independently if the market or shop is not in the habit of shipping merchandise or the country's infrastructure is suspect. Your hotel may be able to recommend a reliable shipper, she said.Also consider customs regulations as you're making your purchases. At re-entry into the United States, everything acquired outside the country must be declared. In most cases, each traveler has a duty-free personal exemption of $800 worth of merchandise.Be careful with food items. Most fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry products and soft cheeses are prohibited. Visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Web site for more information on how to make sure your purchases make it home.

(CNN) -- In the year since she graduated from law school, Melissa Nunley was starting to build a life for herself in Gulfport, Mississippi. She landed her first job in a small law firm, and bought her very first home, just two blocks from the beach. But Katrina ravaged the home, put an end to the law firm, and put her on the road."I loved the Gulfport area. It was just becoming home to me. And to see it how it is now is very hard," Nunley told CNN.Like so many survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Nunley is hoping to find a new job as a step toward rebuilding her life. Preliminary estimates from the U.S. Department of Labor indicate the hurricanes may have wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Gulf Coast region, primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Congressional Budget Office predicts Katrina alone could cost the United States some 400,000 jobs this fall as the storm's impact ripples throughout the economy.Looking for workSome of the newly unemployed survivors are staying in the region, hoping to re-open their businesses or participate in the rebuilding process. Others are fanning out across the country in search of better opportunities. Many will remain in the cities to which they evacuated.In cities with the most evacuees, such as Houston, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the job search could be difficult, analysts say."The question is how many people are entering the low-skilled markets in these new towns," said Rebecca Blank, dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. "My guess is there is going to be pretty heavy and extended unemployment in the areas with the most evacuees."A fortunate few evacuees were able to remain with their employers, but in new locations."We told associates that they could go to any facility in the country and have a job," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said. "We have associates today who are relocated all the way from the Gulf Coast to Alaska."Roughly 2,400 Wal-Mart employees took the company up on its relocation offer, according to Clark.Finding a helping handMany companies and civic organizations are reaching out to hurricane survivors to help them find new jobs.Regional civic and business organizations have sponsored dozens of Katrina-related job fairs across the country. Some individual companies, such as Station Casinos in Las Vegas, actively sought evacuees, particularly those with experience in casinos in Biloxi and New Orleans."We currently have 400 positions open, ranging from entry level through management," said Station Casinos spokeswoman Lori Nelson. "Knowing that we haven't filled them locally, we started getting the word out to evacuees."Nelson said Station cut the usual three-week hiring process to two hours for evacuees. Station shuttled job-seekers from a community center to their job fair. The company gave evacuees a skills and interests assessment. And Station employment managers conducted final-round interviews. The company extended 84 offers. For Internet-savvy job-seekers, CareerBuilder.com and Monster Worldwide have designed Web pages where employers and survivors can post and search jobs free of charge. The Monster site also includes a section for people who want to work in the reconstruction effort. (CareerBuilder.com is a CNN.com partner.)Many new jobs could result from Gulf Coast reconstruction. Congress and private organizations are expected to spend tens of billions of dollars in the region to help it recover. Tens of thousands of homes and business need to be rebuilt."This is very good for the construction industry. This goes for the whole Gulf Coast, not just New Orleans," Michigan's Blank said.Moving back homeThe reconstruction effort could draw some evacuees back to the region. So could the difficulty of finding a new job in a new city.Deborah Brown, her three children and her husband, Michael, evacuated from Slidell, Louisiana, to Newton, Texas, as Katrina rolled in. She had been working at a Wal-Mart in Slidell and quickly found a new position at a Wal-Mart in Texas."I just thought this is where I'm most comfortable. I'm going to come to Wal-Mart," Brown said.But Michael Brown, a drafting engineer, was not as fortunate. He couldn't find comparable work in Texas, so the whole family decided to move back to Louisiana."It feels wonderful," she says of being back in Slidell. "But nothing looks the same. Everything is trashed, but we're going to rebuild."Other evacuees may not have that option.Nunley, the young attorney, would like move back to Gulfport. But it doesn't seem likely."My house is gone. And my job is gone," Nunley told CNN. "So at this point, there really is nothing to go back to down there."

Posted: 6:21 p.m. ET From Andreas Preuss, CNN Gulf Coast Bureau My assignment: check reports of millions of pounds of rotting chicken at New Orleans Cold Storage. Photojournalist Dominic Swann, "fixer" Captain Richard and I knew we were in for stinky time. And lots of noses would share in our pain.The facility lost power during Hurricane Katrina, and was flooded by 3 to 4 feet of water. It's along the Mississippi River and we drove on top of a levee to get there. We met Cold Storage engineer Jimmy Bienvenu. He's a local guy, born in the 9th Ward, raised in suburban Metairie and has been with the company for 30 years. He says he's "never had a warehouse go under like this."Bienvenu agreed to show us the damage and cleanup. As a precaution, we put vapor rub under our noses, and wiggled on face masks. But we should have donned complete body suits. More on that later.We walked the length of the dock and saw earthmovers loading massive piles of pre-packaged chicken parts into lined dump trucks. They were then taken to a decontamination zone and moved to landfills.I don't want to make you sick, so I won't get too descriptive. But as Dominic told me afterwards "everybody has taken a whiff of bad chicken in the fridge -- imagine that for half an hour". Also, the fridge has been without power for more than a month. As for the flies, I stopped counting at a zillion.Bienvenu took it all in stride. He has other problems. His home in nearby Venetian Isles was "a total loss." When asked if he would rebuild he said "probably so, but build up higher." He even jokingly said the spoiled chicken "would make good crab bait."After leaving the storage facility, we vaguely noticed the lingering smell. Little did we know that it was traveling with us. The first victims: employees at the local newspaper Times Picayune. We wanted to shoot some tape of staff returning to their New Orleans building. While waiting in the lobby, I heard several people say "What's that smell?" I knew it was us, and politely said we would return at a later time.The next victims: colleagues at CNN's Gulf Coast Bureau. Call it retribution, but it was kind of sweet parading the stench around the building. But we were forced back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes.Posted: 9:26 a.m. ET From Andreas Preuss, CNN Gulf Coast Bureau Lt. David Benelli is president of the Police Association of New Orleans. I spoke to him about the police beating caught on tape. He said, "If the police are under stress, so is the citizenry." He said that investigators will "look at video perspective" from many angles and that the officers involved "deserve due process." The lawyer for the victim, Robert Davis, says his client did not provoke police. He also tried to debunk the idea that the policeman on the horse tried to purposely block the camera. Benelli said the horses' movement was a control tactic "to isolate the struggle from the crowd." On a personal note, Benelli said his Algiers home became a post-Katrina police station. Benelli told me that after his shift at the Superdome, he called his wife, who works for the NOPD crime lab, "and she tells me 24 guys are staying at our home."What do you think about the New Orleans police beating? E-mail the Gulf Coast Blog