.
I cover general news for Reuters in Washington, D.C.
Click here to read my latest work. Here are some of the more interesting stories I've written lately:
2005
Scandals cast light on congressional lobbying
As a U.S. lawmaker steps down for taking
bribes and others face a separate corruption probe, the relationship
between money and power in Washington is coming under increased
scrutiny. click here to read more
Abramoff may plead guilty in U.S. lobbying probe
Former U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff is
negotiating a guilty plea with the U.S. government in a corruption
probe, two people familiar with the investigation said on Wednesday, in
a move that could spell trouble for Republican lawmakers. click here to read more
US papers drop columnist who took lobbyist's cash
Two U.S. newspapers said on Monday they
would stop publishing articles by a conservative commentator who was
paid by a criminally indicted lobbyist to write pieces favorable to his
clients. click here to read more
Lawmakers seek to curb lobbying as scandal spreads
Sen. John McCain and several other
lawmakers said on Friday that they would push to tighten lobbying rules
as an influence-peddling scandal centered around former lobbyist Jack
Abramoff continued to spread. click here to read more
Edgy Internet TV helps writers reach mainstream
Michael Jackson could destroy smooth
music forever, and it's up to the members of Toto to stop him. But
first, they must convince fellow adult-contemporary titans Kenny
Loggins and Michael McDonald to bury the hatchet. That's the latest episode of "Yacht Rock,"
a witty Internet TV show that has attracted nearly 150,000 viewers and
given creator J.D. Ryznar a foot in the door in Hollywood. click here to read more
Death penalty debate as US passes 1,000th execution
A double murderer on Friday became the
1,000th prisoner executed in the United States since the reinstatement
of capital punishment, triggering renewed national and global debate
about the death penalty. click here to read more
U.S. death row survivor assails executions
As Kenneth Lee Boyd's death by lethal
injection drew near late on Thursday, a man who spent six years with
him on North Carolina's death row stood outside a Baptist church,
clutching a candle against the biting wind. click here to read more
North Carolina awaits 1,000th modern U.S. execution
Death penalty opponents marched by
candlelight to a North Carolina prison on Thursday as the state
prepared to execute the 1,000th prisoner in the United States since
capital punishment was reinstated nearly 30 years ago. click here to read more
Digital divide a focus at close of Net summit
A U.N. summit this week made progress in
narrowing the technology gap between rich and poor countries,
participants said, despite rich nations' reluctance to contribute to a
development fund pushed by African states. click here to read more
"Digital divide" not so easy to close, Kenyans find
In Kenya, the "digital divide" between rich
and poor countries could be measured not long ago by the amount of time
it took for an e-mail to be sent from one neighbour to another -- via
Europe. click here to read more
Researchers unveil $100 laptop for schoolkids
Researchers unveiled a $100, hand-cranked
laptop computer on Wednesday and said they hoped to place them in the
hands of millions of schoolchildren around the globe. click here to read more
U.S. keeps oversight of Internet domain-name system
The United States will keep control of the
domain-name system that guides Internet traffic under an agreement
reached on Wednesday, resolving a dispute that threatened to fracture
the global computer network. click here to read more
Showdown looms over U.S. Internet control
The United States is headed towards a showdown with much of the rest of the world over control of the Internet. click here to read more
The former No. 2 official at the U.S. Interior Department denied on Wednesday he had sought to block a casino development at the request of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but the agency's former lawyer said the official had repeatedly tried to intervene. click here to read more
Residents return to oil-caked suburb
Some parts of the working-class area remained under water, but life
returned to the devastated New Orleans suburb as residents were allowed
back in to check on their homes for the first time since the killer
storm arrived on Aug. 29. click here to read more
On the bayou, 'no kind of nothing' after Rita
The mud boat skirts down the bayou past trapped dogs,
ruined hunting cabins and capsized shrimp boats, carrying Alcide "Joe"
Boudwin back to his flooded trailer. click here to read more
Louisiana bayou takes double punch from hurricanes
In the heart of Cajun country south of New Orleans, shrimp
boats are now parked in backyards and homes once safely raised on
stilts look like houseboats. click here to read more
Battered New Orleans copes with second wave of flooding
Surging waters from Hurricane Rita poured 8 feet of water
into a New Orleans neighborhood on Saturday and engineers tried to
patch weakened levees that had proven vulnerable for the second time in
a month. click here to read more
Floodwaters surge into New Orleans again
Floodwaters poured into New Orleans again on Friday
as Hurricane Rita inundated several square miles of this
still-devastated city but officials said they expected few deaths since
the affected neighborhoods were largely deserted. click here to read more
Dark skies over New Orleans as Hurricane Rita approaches
Skies darkened over New Orleans and garbage cartwheeled
through empty streets on Thursday as the battered city braced for
gale-force winds and possible flooding for the second time in a month. click here to read more
La. sheriff gets funds after layoff threat
A Louisiana sheriff received badly needed relief money on
Wednesday after warning that a cash shortage would force him to lay off
267 employees in his hurricane-ravaged parish by the end of the day. click here to read more
Katrina highlights Big Easy's violence
After the storm came the carjackers and burglars. Then came
the shootouts and the chemical explosions that shook the restored
Victorian houses in New Orleans' Algiers Point neighborhood. click here
to read more click here to read more
In Lower Ninth Ward, the barbecue pit survives the house
It's the first time Wayne Williams, 43, has returned to his
childhood home in the Lower Ninth Ward. Entire blocks have been reduced
to kindling and the only signs of life are the bony dogs that roam the
ruined landscape. click here to read more
Parts of New Orleans opened to residents
New Orleans residents who fled Hurricane Katrina
streamed back into selected areas but plans to reopen the rest of the
city fell into doubt after President Bush urged caution and a new storm
threatened to enter the Gulf of Mexico. click here to read more
Washington bus convoy returns with one evacuee
Ten buses sent from Washington to help
evacuate victims of Hurricane Katrina returned nearly empty after
volunteers could only find one person willing to come to the U.S.
capital. click here to read more
Hurricane was sign of divine wrath, fundamentalists say
As religious and political leaders
offered prayers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, some Christian
fundamentalists suggested the storm was the work of an angry God bent
on punishing a sinful nation. click here to read more
Budget cuts delayed New Orleans flood control work
Bush administration funding cuts forced
federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and
pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane
Katrina's floodwaters. click here to read more
"Mashups" find potholes and sex offenders
Hundreds of independent Web sites based
on mapping Web software run by Google, Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
have sprung up over the summer, displaying everything from potholes in
New York to taco trucks in Seattle and crime patterns in Chicago. click here to read more
"Feds" recruit at hackers' convention
Attention hackers: Uncle Sam wants you.
As scam artists, organized-crime rings and other miscreants find a home
on the Internet, top federal officials are trolling hacker conferences
to scout talent and talk up the glories of a career on the front lines
of the information wars. click here to read more
Hackers race to expose Cisco flaw
Computer hackers worked through the
weekend to expose a flaw that could allow an attacker to take control
of the Cisco Systems Inc. routers that direct traffic across much of
the Internet. click here to read more
Wireless networks are easy pickings for hackers
Wireless Internet users may not know
that it's easy for outsiders to read their email or scoop up passwords
or other sensitive information. click here to read more
Ringtones make sweet music for music industry
Ringtones, those song snippets
that announce incoming mobile-phone calls, are now making noise at the
top of the pop charts and on the bottom line of multibillion-dollar
businesses. click here to read more
Hackers score big by thinking small
A recent computer security breach
that left 40 million credit cards vulnerable to fraud shows how online
criminals are scoring big by thinking small. click here to read more
Don't bet on Web gambling crackdown, experts say
Online-poker company PartyGaming
has warned investors that the U.S. government could interfere with its
operations, but observers say that's about as likely as drawing four
aces in a game of five-card stud. click here to read more
Not much to do in kids' online domain
There's not much for kids to do in
the "online playground" set up by the U.S. government more than two
years ago. click here to read more
Google's long memory stirs privacy concerns
In an era of increased government
surveillance, privacy watchdogs worry that Google's vast archive of
Internet activity could prove a tempting target for abuse. click here to read more
Porn sites to get their own Internet domain
Sex sites will soon be able to sign
up for Web addresses in the .xxx Internet domain, but a virtual red
light district won't guarantee that people can avoid pornography
online. click here to read more
"Family friendly" editors clean up Hollywood fare
"Family friendly" editing services
sanitize movies of sex, violence and other material that may offend.
That, it turns out, offends plenty of people. click here to read more
Neo-Nazis use computer spam to spread propaganda
"Spam" e-mail, used for years to
sell snake-oil medicine, penny stocks and suspiciously low mortgages,
is now being used to sell neo-Nazi ideology as well. click here to read more
U.S. cities set up their own wireless networks
A number of U.S. cities are
becoming giant wireless "hot spots" where Internet users will be able
to log on from the beach or a bus stop, a trend that is triggering a
fierce backlash from telecom and cable giants. click here
to read more
Business inaction could lead to cybersecurity law
U.S. businesses for years have urged the government
to let them set computer-security standards of their own, but their inability
to do so could now prompt Congress to step in, experts say. Those who worry
that regulation may stifle innovation say the business community may have
already missed an opportunity to prove the government's help is not needed.
click here to read more
Peer-to-peer users share more than stolen songs
College kids looking for free music may have
popularized Internet file-trading software, but the technology is now
used by everyone from penny-pinching phone callers to polar explorers. Even
the recording industry is changing its tune as labels that for years have
waged a legal war against "peer-to-peer" companies are now allowing authorized
uses of the technology. click here to read more
LexisNexis uncovers more consumer data breaches
Data broker LexisNexis said on Tuesday that
identity thieves have stolen information on 310,000 U.S. citizens from
its computer systems, 10 times more than its initial estimate last month.
click here to read more
Homespun "podcasts" explore a universe of topics
As millions of pilgrims streamed into Rome this
past week, Internet listeners accompanied a Dutch priest on an intimate
audio tour to pay one last visit to Pope John Paul II before he was laid
to rest.Father Roderick Vonhogen brought the Catholic Church's ancient
rites to life through a cutting-edge format: the podcast, a radio-style
show that is distributed over the Internet. click
here to read more
On the Chesapeake, new oyster stirs debate
The oysters piled high in Rich Harding's boat are the best
he's seen in years -- plump and healthy, with no signs of the diseases
that have ravaged shellfish beds on the Chesapeake Bay. Oyster hauls like
this could double Harding's income, but these particular bivalves come
with a side dish of controversy. click
here to read more
Top U.S. court weighs Internet file-sharing case
Supreme Court justices questioned on Tuesday
whether the recording industry's attempts to shut down online file-sharing
networks would deter inventors from developing new products like Apple's
iPod music player. But the justices also suggested that peer-to-peer networks
could be held accountable for copyright infringement because they attracted
users by telling them that they could copy music and movies for free.
click here to read more
Online music case outcome rests on VCR technology
When Internet file-sharing services and the
entertainment industry square off in the Supreme Court, the outcome will
likely rest on a nearly obsolete technology -- the videocassette recorder.
click here to read more
Scam artists dial for dollars on Internet phones
Internet phone services have drawn millions
of users looking for rock-bottom rates. Now they're also attracting identity
thieves looking to turn stolen credit cards into cash. click
here to read more
LexisNexis says 32,000 consumer profiles stolen
Data broker LexisNexis on Wednesday said that
identity thieves have gained access to profiles of 32,000 U.S. citizens,
prompting calls for better consumer protections after a rash of similar
break-ins. click here to read more
Online poker a booming global enterprise
The poker craze has moved from the basement
card table to the home computer, as millions of players take part in low-stakes
games or $10,000 tournaments that stretch for hours. click
here to read more
Parody band forced offline by Sony publishers
They combine the classic melodies of the Beatles with the heavy-metal
thunder of Metallica, but the rock band Beatallica certainly isn't music
to Sony Corp.'s ears. click here to read more
Paris Hilton exposed on Web after phone hacked
Racy photos of reality TV star Paris Hilton
again spread across the Internet on Tuesday -- this time accompanied by
celebrity phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other information hacked
from her mobile phone. The heiress to the Hilton
Hotels fortune has now had her star-studded contact list, personal notes
and topless self-portraits from her Sidekick II "smart phone" splattered
all over the Web. click here to read more
Security breach exposes U.S. consumer profiles
Tens of thousands of U.S. consumers face a greater risk of identity
theft after criminals gained access to a database of personal records
compiled by ChoicePoint Inc. click here to
read more
Hacking attacks rarely made public
A security breach that placed consumers at risk for identity theft grabbed
headlines this week but most hacking incidents go unreported
to police or the public, experts say. Afraid of negative publicity, most
companies that suffer intrusions take a tight-lipped approach that leaves
consumers unaware when their identities may be compromised. click
here to read more
Google hacking turns up sensitive material
Hackers have found a handy tool to take control of bank accounts, tap
into corporate computer networks and dig up sensitive government documents.It's
called Google. click here to read more
Hackers, virus writers target mobile phones
Feature-rich "smart phones" are proving to
be nearly as dumb as personal computers when it comes to fending off viruses,
hackers and other security headaches familiar to Internet users. click
here to read more
Grunge-rock pioneer stumps for election reform
Eleven years after the demise of his million-selling rock band Nirvana,
Krist Novoselic is back on the road, but this time he's getting out of
bed before noon. Novoselic's bass guitar anchored one of the most popular
and influential bands of the 1990s, but he now spends his time pushing
for voting reforms that he thinks could change the cynicism many people
feel about U.S. politics. click here to read
more
Internet "phishing" scams getting more devious
Internet "phishing" scams are becoming more
difficult to detect as criminals develop new ways to trick consumers into
revealing passwords, bank account numbers and other sensitive information.
click here to read more
2004
Attack of the killer bugs
While earlier bugs like Melissa and ILoveYou were written by lone operators
looking to spread a sort of online graffitti, many newer viruses appear
to be the handiwork of sophisticated teams of malicious hackers looking
for profits rather than peer approval. click
here to read more
Video games teach more than hand-eye coordination
Video games, often maligned as having little or no redeeming value,
are becoming a way for firefighters, soldiers, currency traders and college
administrators to hone their skills. click
here to read more
Voters report problems with touch-screen systems
Voters calling in to an election-day hotline reported
more than 1,100 problems, from improperly tallied choices to frozen screens
that left their votes in limbo, in what critics said could be a sign that
the machines used by one-third of the population were prone to error.
click here to read more
Futures markets allow president race wagers
As if the U.S. presidential contest wasn't enough like a horse race, Web
users all over the world can now bet on the outcome through online futures
exchanges that treat politics like corn, cocoa or other commodities.
click here to read more
Olympics seen unlikely to sway U.S. earnings
Even before the Olympic torch is lit in Athens, U.S. corporate contestants
are already proclaiming themselves winners and losers in the competition
off the field. But the actual business impact of the Olympic Games is
likely to be less dramatic than a 3 a.m. broadcast of the javelin-toss
semifinals. click here to read more
Labels blacklist song-swap companies, block deals
The recording industry has "blacklisted" Internet
file-sharing services and is preventing other companies like RealNetworks
Inc. from doing business with them, according to music and technology
industry officials. click here to read more
Public records can paint an unflattering picture
On the Internet, where searchable databases offer an abundance of personal
information that, until recently, was tucked away in government storage
rooms. click here to read more
US appeals court upholds Microsoft antitrust deal
A U.S. appeals court upheld the government's antitrust settlement with
Microsoft Corp.
Glickman picked to click as top movie lobbyist
Hollywood cast former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman as its new leading
man in Washington on Thursday, ending years of speculation about who would
replace 82-year-old Jack Valenti as the movie industry's top lobbyist.
click here to read more
Debt-counseling firms ring up telemarketing gripes
Charitable debt-counseling agencies rank among
the most zealous telemarketers, according to government data obtained
by Reuters, but their nonprofit status makes them exempt from new rules
designed to crack down on unwanted calls. click
here to read more
Microsoft wins patent for handheld computer click
Computer users with itchy trigger fingers take note: The next time
you open a software program with two quick clicks on a handheld computer
you may be engaging in a process patented by Microsoft Corp. click
here to read more
Dot-Travel? Dot-Xxx? New Internet Domains Weighed
Star Trek fans shouldn't expect to visit www.yahoo.klingon anytime
soon, but Internet users could soon pull up .mobi sites on their mobile
phones, or set their Web browsers to screen out sexually explicit material
identified by .xxx. click here to read more
Govt Computer Surveillance Rings Alarm Bells
Nine months after Congress shut down a controversial Pentagon computer-surveillance
program, the U.S. government continues to comb private records to sniff
out suspicious activity, according to a congressional report obtained
by Reuters. click here to read more
Alaskans Challenge U.S. Airline Screening System
Four residents of Alaska, where airplanes often serve as the only link
between far-flung towns and villages, plan to sue the U.S. government
over a passenger-screening system that they say violates their privacy.
click here to read more
"FreeBay" sites connect the cheap and the
green
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but
online exchanges offer free lumber, refrigerators and other slightly used
treasures for anybody willing to come haul them away. click
here to read more
Cybersecurity liability increasing, experts say
Though business groups have lobbied successfully against laws focused
on cybersecurity, companies that don't make efforts to secure their networks
could face civil and criminal penalties under an array of existing laws
and court decisions, according to security and legal experts. click
here to read more
Woman challenges Trump 'You're Fired' trademark
The copper-maned mogul might want to tread carefully in the Chicago area,
where potter Susan Brenner says she has emblazoned the phrase on plates,
mugs, birdhouses and other items in her suburban ceramics studio since
1997. click here to read more
Internet 'spyware' emerges as new online threat
Programs that hide in users' computers and secretly monitor their activities
are emerging as the next high-tech plague, experts say. click
here to read more
Speakers to snowboard, iPod owners accesorize
Apple Computer Inc.'s
Internet radio finds its groove
Broadcast radio stations may be evolving into the aural equivalent of
Burger King, offering the same focus-group tested playlists across the
United States, but music fans looking for more flavorful fare can pick
from more than 5,000 options on the Internet, where "Webcasters" offer
everything from Iranian pop to hip-hop subgenres like turntablism. click
here to read more
Electronic voting terminals face Super Tuesday test
Election officials say e-voting machines are easy to use
and allow fewer voting errors, but a growing chorus of activists and computer
experts say many of these systems are prone to the bugs, glitches and
security holes familiar to any computer owner. click
here to read more
U.S. campaigns use voter data to find supporters
Faced with the possibility of another close election,
U.S. political campaigns and advocacy groups are drawing up detailed profiles
of the voters who will determine their success at the polls next fall.
click here to read more
Kazaa could filter copyrighted music, critics say
"Peer to peer" networks like Kazaa could prevent users
from downloading music, movies and other copyrighted material if they
had any desire to do so, media and technology experts said. click
here to read more
New U.S. spam law has little initial
impact, Internet providers say
Offers for herbal Viagra and unbelievably low
mortgage rates continue to clog Americans' e-mail inboxes, despite a new
U.S. law that outlaws many "spam" messages, industry officials said. Online
marketers continue to bombard users with millions of spam items that differ
little in style and volume from those sent before the law took effect
on Jan. 1. click here to read more