Clown Is Running for Mayor of Alameda

I think this guy should run for president...

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- A real clown is running for mayor of Alameda, and even his sister won't vote for him.

Kenneth Kahn, 41, a professional joker known as "Kenny the Clown," admits he's running a long-shot campaign for City Hall's top spot. Kahn has not previously run for an elected position and has never sat on a public board.

"People ask me, 'Do we really want to elect a clown for mayor of the city?'" he said. "I say, 'That's an excellent question.'"

Kahn's mother, Barbara, said her son doesn't have a chance, and Sylvia Kahn, a teacher, said her brother's candidacy is a "mockery of our system."




"I don't think it makes any sense, because, to me, running for mayor is not where you start as far as community involvement goes," she said.

In November, the funnyman who graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, faces incumbent Beverly Johnson and City Councilman Doug deHaan.

All Hail Santana

You know...I always loved the U. Ever since Vinny played there. And now it seems my favorite college stars have landed on my favorite NFL team. Clinton Portis has been a stellar aquisition. But perhaps even better than that was the pick up of Santana Moss from the Jets. What a game breaker. The guy is all of 5'9 185, but has given the Skins two of the all time great finishes in franchise history. On Sunday afternoon, he caught the game winning TD catch in overtime. He broke through double coverage and ran 65 yards for the TD. 4th longest TD catch in overtime in LEAGUE HISTORY. Santana than jumped into the throng of 90,000 Redskin fans that held him in the highest of regards. By the way...that was his 3rd TD of the game.

The Story:

First Impressions:
The Redskins entered into Sunday's game against Jacksonville with a healthy dose of respect for the Jaguars. Players viewed the contest as a proving ground against a good team--certainly a better team than the Houston Texans. The Redskins' secondary gave up big plays in the passing game, but otherwise it was a strong, all-around effort boosted by a revved-up FedExField crowd. And it seems like whenever Santana Moss gets his hands on the ball, something electrifying is about to happen.


Revealing Moment:
It's tempting to choose the overtime coin toss--because with the way both offenses were moving the football in the second half, whoever had the ball first in OT had a great chance to win the game. (The Redskins, of course, won the overtime coin toss.) Instead, we'll go with the screen pass from Mark Brunell to Chris Cooley, who followed great blocking and weaved his way up-field for a 34-yard gain. The play, coming midway through the third quarter, seemed to set the tone for the second half.


Redskins Play of the Game:
Mark Brunell called it an "all-go with four vertical [routes]." He tossed a somewhat risky pass to Santana Moss, who caught the ball high, amid two defenders. He cut inside--and there was nothing but open field ahead. Said Moss: "Next, all I can tell was a blur. I just saw myself running." The 68-yard touchdown pass in overtime gave the Redskins a dramatic 36-30 win over the Jaguars.


Redskins Player of the Game:
Of course it's Moss. He finished with four catches for 138 yards, with three touchdowns. To go along with his 68-yard game-winning score in overtime, he added a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter and a nifty 8-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter in which he dived past two tacklers into the end zone.


Redskins Unsung Hero:
All of a sudden, Rock Cartwright has become a sparkplug on kickoff returns. He returned five kicks for a 30-yard average on Sunday, including a 35-yarder to open the second half and a 46-yarder to help set up a score late in the fourth quarter. Ladell Betts had opened the season as the designated kickoff returner, but Cartwright's 100-yard kickoff return against Dallas on Sept. 17 moved the 5-7, 215-pounder to the top of the depth chart.


What Went Right
-- Mark Brunell proved that his record-breaking performance against the Texans was not a fluke. Playing against his former team for the first time, he was 18-of-30 for 329 yards, with three touchdowns to Santana Moss and one interception.

-- Tight end Chris Cooley and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd began to establish themselves in Al Saunders's offense. Cooley logged four receptions for 70 yards, while Lloyd had three catches for 49 yards.

-- John Hall connected on field goals of 44, 37 and 37 yards in the win. Since missing a 48-yarder in the final moments of the 19-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, Hall has connected on five consecutive field goals.

-- The Redskins' offensive line matched up well against the Jaguars' vaunted defensive front and led the ground game to 152 rushing yards. Clinton Portis had 112 rushing yards on 27 carries, with one touchdown. For the third game this year, the unit did not allow a sack of Mark Brunell.

-- For the Redskins, the game was won in the trenches. The defensive line limited the Jaguars to just 33 rushing yards, while sacking Leftwich four times. Defensive end Demetric Evans is the Redskins' early-season sack leader with two.

-- Khary Campbell led the Redskins' special teams coverage units with three tackles, including a forced fumble and fumble recovery that led to a John Hall field goal.


What Went Wrong
-- The Redskins yielded pass plays of 51, 35, 31 and 23 yards to the Jaguars offense. Byron Leftwich and speedster Maurice Jones-Drew beat a Redskins blitz for a 51-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Wide receiver Reggie Williams proved to be a handful, absorbing punishing hits by Sean Taylor and Kenny Wright on a 21-yard touchdown.

-- Mark Brunell's first pass of the game was intercepted by Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis. Brunell had handed off to Ladell Betts, who wheeled around and tossed the ball back to Brunell. The Jaguars snuffed out the deep pass to Chris Cooley, so Brunell threw to Moss on a shorter route. Brunell did not see Mathis, who stepped in front of the pass for an easy interception.

-- Brandon Lloyd committed a costly turnover in the fourth quarter when he allowed cornerback Brian Williams to poke the ball out of his arms. It led to a game-tying field goal by the Jaguars.

-- The Redskins will need some clarification on the "excessive celebration" rule. Santana Moss and Brandon Lloyd were flagged for the penalty after celebrating Moss's 55-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. It appeared Lloyd lifted Moss high into the air, drawing the flag. The 15 yard penalty was added on the ensuing kickoff.


What's Next:
The NFC East goes head-to-head again. On Sunday, Dallas plays at Philadelphia while the Redskins travel to New York to play the Giants. For the Redskins, memories of last year's 36-0 drubbing to the Giants still linger. While the overtime win over Jacksonville was important to 2-2, this Sunday's game against the Giants could be more important. The Redskins don't want to drop to 0-2 in the NFC East and 0-3 in the conference. Oh...and LaVar Arrington squares off against the Washington Redskins for the first time.


Stats Geek:
Santana Moss is behind his record-setting pace of last season, but not by much. Moss has logged 17 catches for 326 yards, an impressive 19.1 yards-per-catch average, so far. The yardage total projects to 1,304 receiving yards for the season and would be the sixth most in franchise history. Moss logged a franchise record 1,483 receiving yards last season.


Quote:
"We thought that if we went into overtime and got the ball that we were going to score. I don't think anybody on the field had any doubt, and we scored quickly. To tell you the truth, I didn't think they were going to stop us. They were tired and we went down the field and scored on them." -- tight end Chris Cooley


Lasting Impressions:
A memorable win, but how significant? First of all, you'll be watching Santana Moss's 68-yard touchdown catch in Redskins highlights for years to come. It could rival Moss's 70-yard touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys last year. Secondly, speaking of the '05 Cowboys win, it will be interesting to watch if Moss's three-touchdown performance similarly sparks the Redskins to another playoff run.

Recluse My Ass

This is a Brown Fishing Spider holding an egg-sac.

As I was perusing pictures of Greenridge state forest I came across a shot of this creature which has been the subject of debate amongst my camping buddies for 10 years now. Our first encounter with this creature was in 1996 on a log above a creek bed. My friend Bru swore it was a poisoness 'Recluse', and we all hurriedly scattered like little girls. Ok...well maybe it was just me. But anyway...

As a point of interest, I decided to research a little bit on the Recluse. It prefers warmer climates and is normally found in the southern midwest and on the east coast only as far north as Georgia. The chance that we stumbled across one in the mountains of Maryland is highly unlikely.

Copperfield Held Up At Gunpoint...Acts Tough

(This is Copperfield's 'I'm Tough' pose).

APRIL 26--Magician David Copperfield was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night by a quartet of Florida teenagers who were nabbed minutes later by West Palm Beach cops. Copperfield, 49, and two female assistants were returning to their tour bus after a post-show dinner when a car carrying the four teens drove up behind them. According to police reports, Dwayne Riley, 18, and a 17-year-old pal emerged from their vehicle brandishing handguns and announced the 11:15 PM stickup. The magician's assistants, Cathy Daly and Mia Violmut, turned over cash, plane tickets, a passport, and a cellphone. But while one gunman repeatedly told Copperfield (real name: David Kotkin) to "give him his belongings," the entertainer "did not hand over anything," according to a police account. The gunmen escaped in a waiting Malibu, but not before Daly jotted down the Chevy's license plate and called 911. Ten minutes later, police pulled over a car carrying Riley and three 17-year-old boys, whose names police have not released. After they were identified by Copperfield and his associates, the youths were arrested and charged with armed robbery. Riley, pictured below in a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office mug shot, and his underage cohorts are being held without bail.

WHO LOVE'S YA BABY

I LOVE YA TELLY

This show hit the screens at a good time. Left before it was too late to leave fashionably. It just came and went with taste and style. No pomp and circumstance. Just came and told some mystery stories, some crime tales, and then it was done. I wish more television would do this. Kojak's purpose was to entertain. Occasionally to make you think. It rarely downplayed itself or made itself out to be more than it was. Good clean entertainment. Not in my top twenty of favorites, but an old dependable warhorse of a series. I'm surprised it doesn't get seen in syndication more often.

A great quote from the show:

"What kind of fool sets up his own self? A fool like you, sucka."

Telly was always a clothes horse, whether in slick suits or in unbuttoned shirts with gold chains; Kojak was not only the "real" Telly Savalas, but my understanding is that the character was based on Albert Seedman, an NYPD detective who was known for wearing huge gold cufflinks, etc., as well as being quite brilliant at solving crimes. Kojak the series gave us several examples of "life imitates art": cops still refer to the portable rotating light that plugs into the cigarette lighter and mounts on the care by its magnetic base as a "Kojak light"; GM intermediate size cars from the early '70s (Kojak's was a Buick but they all looked pretty much the same) are still called "Kojak cars", and the tactic of entering a dangerous situation with one's pistol in hand, inside one's coat pocket, is known as the "Kojak carry"; Did you ever see Kojak draw his gun? No, because on those rare occasions when he needed it (and when he couldn't just yell "Crocker! Stavros! Saperstein! Rizzo!"), it was ALREADY in his hand!

And speaking of great dialogue, in one great episode with Herb Edelman as a old-time Montenegran soldier/spy and Merlina Mercouri as a spy disguised as a nun, Kojak asks his friend, the blind newsie, if he's seen a nun around. The newsie says, "You mean the PHONY nun?". Kojak says, "How did you know she was a phony nun?", and the newsie says, "Theo, why would YOU be asking about a REAL nun?"

A story about the real Telly Savalas:

Hw used to go to dinner at the old Hong Hing Co. on Mott St., a "greasy-chopstick" where Telly would mercilessly tease the waiter, Joe, about the way he spoke, by saying, "You got some Flied Lice today, Joe? Bling us some of that Flied Lice!" One time he was there, Telly teased Joe about the Flied Lice as usual, but you could tell from Joe's determined expression that something was different. Joe had been practicing his speech and had been waiting for this moment, and, sure enough, when he brought out Telly's food he said, very slowly and deliberately, "Here's your FRRIED RRICE, you GLEEK PLICK!!"

Still Bits Of Mother Earth Undiscovered

Just when humans couldn't destroy anything else completely it seems we've found some more bits to trample to death. I know I seem a bit cynical, but damn, ya'll watch and see what happens. The optomists point of view would dictate that we'll be smart enough to sanction this area off and use the new discoveries to help end all sorts of disease and answer all sorts of scientific dilemmas...but I worry that $ as usual will have the final say...

Still kinda cool to know that there are places in existence that have been untouched by the grip of capitalism and greed...until now...

READ:

Scientists said on Tuesday they had found a "Lost World" in an Indonesian mountain jungle, home to dozens of exotic new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and plants.

"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the U.S., Indonesian, and Australian expedition to part of the cloud-shrouded Foja mountains in the west of New Guinea.

Indigenous peoples living near the Foja range, which rises to 2,200 metres (7,218 ft), said they did not venture into the trackless area of 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles) -- roughly the size of Luxembourg or the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

The team of 25 scientists rode helicopters to boggy clearings in the pristine zone.
"We just scratched the surface," Beehler told Reuters. "Anyone who goes there will come back with a mystery."

The expedition found a new type of honeyeater bird with a bright orange patch on its face, known only to local people and the first new bird species documented on the island in over 60 years. They also found more than 20 new species of frog, four new species of butterfly and plants including five new palms.

And they took the first photographs of "Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise", which appears in 19th century collections but whose home had previously been unknown.
The bird is named after six fine feathers about 4 inches (10 cm) long on the head of the male which can be raised and shaken in courtship displays.

The expedition also took the first photographs of a Golden-fronted bowerbird in front of a bower made of sticks, while he was hanging up blue forest berries to attract females.
It found a rare tree kangaroo, previously unsighted in Indonesia. Beehler said the naturalists reckoned that there was likely to be a new species of kangaroo living higher altitudes.
The scientists visited in the wet season, which limited the numbers of flying insects. "Any expedition visiting in the dry season would probably discover many more butterflies," he said.
Beehler, who works at Conservation International in Washington, said the area was probably the largest pristine tropical forest in Asia. Animals there were unafraid of humans.
"I suspect there are some areas like this in Africa, and am sure that there are similar places in South America," he said.

Around the world, pristine areas are under increasing threat from expanding human settlements and pollution. A U.N. meeting in Brazil in March will seek ways to slow the currently accelerating rate of extinctions.

Beehler said the Indonesian government was doing the right thing by keeping the area off limits to most visitors -- including loggers and mineral prospectors.

The scientists cut two trails about 4 km (2.5 miles) long, leaving vast tracts still to be explored.

BUSH SNUBS HELEN THOMAS (AGAIN)

She is mildly frightening to look upon, but you'd think after growing up with Barbara, Dubya'd be able to take her on.

Thu Jan 26 2006 15:42:32 2006
President Bush today again avoided taking a question from White House doyenne Helen Thomas during his 45-minute press conference, even though he took questions from every reporter around her front-row, center seat."He's a coward," Thomas said afterward. "He's supposed to be this macho guy. He'll take on Osama bin Laden, but he won't take me on."

Thomas, who worked as the UPI White House reporter for 57 years and is now a columnist, raised her hand every time the president was concluding an answer to a reporter's question, but he never called on her. She had a few questions in mind, though. "I wanted to ask about Iraq: 'You said you didn't go in for oil or for Israel or for WMDs. so why did you go in?' " She also had another question at the ready, just in case, this one about the president's contention that a 28-year-old wiretapping law known as FISA is out of date, which prompted him to order the National Security Agency to conduct a secret electronic surveillance program that Democrats contend is illegal. "You keep saying it's a 1978 law, but the Constitution 200 years old. Is that out of date, too?"

Afterward, Thomas sat sullenly in her chair in the White House press work area, huddled in her leopard-print winter coat. But as she left, she made a prediction: "He came on to my turf. I'll bet the next press conference will be in Room 450 of the EEOB," a theater-style room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where she would not be in the front row.

Developing...

SIA: This Girl Is The Shit

As a recenter commentor noted...I've been tapping into my 'homo'
side recently. And maybe that's partially true (although I'd elect to
refer to it as being gay...as in happy...as opposed to suddenly becoming a member of the cock-er spaniel kennel club)...but anyway...Sia is a
vocalist from down under. I've been enjoying the indi-aussie stuff
recently. Her pops was in 'Men At Work' for a bit, but got booted out.
Her voice is silky and haunting. Definitely check her out if you get a
chance.

More about Sia:

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, to use the name her musician parents gave her, already has a staggering track record. If her name itself - pronounced See-ah - isn't familiar to millions, her voice undoubtedly is.

In 2000, the Adelaide born singer scored a bolt from the blue Top 10 hit with her debut single, 'Taken For Granted'. Pairing her unique Australian drawl with the strident strings from Prokofiev's 'Romeo & Juliet', the track was championed by Trevor Nelson and had Sia performing live on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. Her debut album, 'Healing Is Difficult', arrived to similar cries of 'the next big R&B thing'. Then, to cap it all, she added her jazzy slurs to two tracks on Zero 7's 'Simple Things' album and became the unmistakable voice of the year's coolest down-tempo soundtrack. All the pieces for a phenomenal career seemed to be in place.

And then nothing.

"I went a bit mental after that", she explains before letting out a laugh that would stop traffic. "No seriously, I needed therapy and everything." She recovers her composure only long enough to explain that going from hero to zero left her confused and frustrated and that it was a really enjoyable time, those moments of feeling like a 'Coolio'! But sadly they've passed now.
Brandishing both wicked humour and brutal honesty, it's sometimes hard to know exactly when Sia's joking. What is certain is that, with fragile beauty, a collaboration with Beck and swathes of sensual soul-searching, 'Healing Is Difficult's' long overdue, as yet untitled, follow-up rekindles thoughts of an all conquering phenomenon and will surely make her a 'coolio' once again.
From the lilting pianos and claustrophobic beats of 'Breathe Me', to 'Sunday's' enchanting harmonium and breathless chant, it's a mesmerising album, undercut by the hope and despair of a little girl lost. Guilt, and how to deal with it, is the recurring theme, with Sia's vulnerable voice as a beacon guiding through the pain and fear. "I call it easy listening", snorts Sia trying to keep a straight face. "That's what I've been telling everyone." A mix of horror and hilarity dawns on her face. "Do you think it's depressing? It's not too depressing is it? It's meant to be nice easy, music. Songy and lush." Whatever it is, it certainly isn't the album anyone was expecting. The muffled rhythm track and sensual cinematic strings of 'Don't Bring Me Down' are a stratosphere away from 'Taken For Granted's' dogmatic march. The new record would never be mistaken for R&B.

"I hated that", she cringes at the thought of the jazzy beats and soulful grooves of her first album being tagged 'urban'. But that's not why this album's different. "I just wanted to make an album that was more song driven. And I've changed as a person. After the first album I lost it, and this album reflects how I was feeling. The vocals are small and needy, because that's how I felt." She looks momentarily troubled before adding, "Plus, I'd tried to have a pop career and it didn't work, so I thought I'd try something else." More strangulated giggling. "If this doesn't work I'll fuck off back to Australia."

Sia's vocal talents extend all the way back to her earliest memory. But unlike most singers, she isn't exactly the product of her childhood influences. Born in Adelaide, she was raised on the hippiest street in Australia. "Everyone was a musician or worked for Circus Oz." Her parents played in a rockabilly band called The Soda Jerks, and her dad, 'a real nut nut' briefly played guitar in uncle Colin's band Men At Work - yes, they of 'I Come From A Land Down Under' fame - but "they kicked him out for being too in yer face." Early appearances singing Shangri-Las songs aside, Sia's musical leanings didn't get serious until she joined jazz-funk bar band Crisp at 17. "We thought we were really cutting edge," she sniggers with a roll of her eyes. "But we were trying way too hard."

In fact, Sia credits the biggest influence on both her and the new album as touring with Zero 7. "That's when I actually started listening to music," she says with a grimace of embarrassment. "All the other music I'd listened to in my life had been incidental; in clubs, cars, lifts. I only owned two CDs: a Jackson 5 anthology and Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'. While we were on tour, the Zero 7 guys were always talking about artists I'd never heard of, so I bought a Discman and started listening to their James Taylor, Nick Drake, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman and Django Bates CDs. And it all just really blew me away."

The new album's lyrical roots, however, run much deeper. After three years fronting Crisp, Sia packed her bags and headed off with an open ended ticket on a round the World trip. After enjoying colourful times in some unusual places, she agreed to meet up in London with the man she describes as her 'first true love'. A week before she arrived, he was run down and killed by a black cab on Kensington High Street.

"Nearly everything on the first album was about that," she says, her chirpy facade slipping."I was pretty fucked up after Dan died. I couldn't really feel anything. I could intellectualise a lot of stuff; that I had a purpose, that I was loved, but I couldn't actually feel anything. The last album was very deflective. This one's very exposing. I think that's the difference between the two albums, the first was intellectualising, this one is feeling." Catching herself being uncharacteristically serious, she quickly deflects with a half chuckle of, "and I'd quit drinking. That was probably what it was."

'Bully', the track she wrote with Beck has similarly serious roots. "There was this kid at school who I used to be really cruel to, and I've felt bad about it ever since. It got to the point where I was having nightmares about. "The last date of the Zero 7 tour was a festival at the Universal Amphitheatre in LA, and Beck was on the same bill. Next thing he's ringing Zero 7's management asking if I'd like to duet with him." Understandably she said yes, and found herself on stage singing 'You're The One That I Want' from Grease. "I suggested it as a joke; but we changed the major to a minor, made it really slow and turned it into a bit of a country stalker anthem."

The Beck and Zero 7 connections - Sia's already recorded two more tracks to their next album - give the biggest clues to the new record and the giggling Australian's current intentions. "I don't want to be a superstar, doing all that wibbly-wobbly stuff. It's too emotionally stressful; photo shoots always make me want to have plastic surgery. I just wanted to write an album that was me: a small, weird, needy freak. It's a slow burner, but it's honest."

Huge Tunnel Undermines Border

A sophisticated smuggling route complete with lights and ventilation has been unearthed between Mexico and the US. This picture is of the tunnel that was found last year that eventually arrived inside someones home on the U.S. side. The new tunnel, found recently is even larger, deeper, and better built. No pics yet available but here's an excerpt:


MEXICAN officials have discovered the deepest tunnel ever gouged under the US border, equipped with electricity and ventilation and concealing two tonnes of cannabis.
The scale of the tunnel — the 21st discovered in more than four years — stunned authorities, who said that the passageway revealed the lengths to which smugglers would go to evade detection.

The underground smuggling route began near the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, and ended 2,400ft (720m) away in a warehouse in San Diego in the US, Michael Unzueta, special agent in charge of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego, said. It was unclear how long the tunnel had been in operation, he added.

The 60ft-deep (18m) tunnel had a concrete floor, electric lights that ran down one of the hard soil walls and air piped from the surface. An adult could nearly stand in the 5ft-high (1.5m) shaft. “It was like being in a cavern or a cave,” Mr Unzueta said. “It’s just huge, absolutely incredible.”

John Fernandes, the special agent in charge of the San Diego office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said that he suspected that the tunnel was the work of the Arellano-Felix drug-smuggling syndicate in Tijuana, or another drug cartel. He said that tougher enforcement above ground had forced smugglers to dig below.

Mexican investigators found the tunnel entrance on Tuesday inside a warehouse about 150 yards (136.5m) south of the border. A 6 by 10ft shaft equipped with a pulley dropped about 75ft to the entrance. The next day US authorities located the exit on the American side within a warehouse.

Mexican authorities allowed reporters and photographers inside the tunnel on Wednesday. Near the entrance, authorities were seen weighing bales of what appeared to be marijuana. Hundreds of packages wrapped with brown packing tape were stacked up to the ceiling. It was unclear whether the tunnel was designed to sneak people or drugs other than marijuana into the US, Mr Unzueta said.

A TWO STATE SOLUTION OR DISASTER?

JIMMY PONDERS THE HAMAS VICTORY AND GUIDES US THROUGH THE POSSIBILITIES...

JERUSALEM—The mood was disaster-in-progress when the unflappable Jimmy Carter stepped into the room yesterday to share a few quiet moments with the Toronto Star.

The official returns were flowing in, showing a Hamas victory almost beyond anyone's calibration.

The hard fist of political Islam didn't just enter the Palestinian parliament. It is the parliament.

As the numbers sunk in, CNN, BBC, Sky and Fox went into "breaking news" mode, quickly bulking up with pundits uttering obituaries for peace. The greening of Palestinian politics now had consigned the region to another hopeless eternity, it seemed.

At 81, clear eyed and calm, the former U.S. president — who yesterday sanctified the Palestinian election as head of the 950-strong international observer mission — took the earthquake in stride.

With the debate turning to whether the Palestinians' major international benefactors, the European Union and the United States, should allow themselves to maintain contact with a government led by Hamas — a group that has not unequivocally abandoned its founding principle of the destruction of the state of Israel — Carter let us in on a fascinating anecdote he has never spoken of publicly.

Ten years ago, Carter himself sat down with Hamas in an attempt to bridge the gap between PLO chief Yasser Arafat and the then-fledgling militant Islamic group.

As a personal favour to the late Palestinian leader, and in the spirit of the newly minted Oslo Accords, Carter went hunting for Hamas, to lasso them into the political process.

"Arafat asked me if I would contact Hamas and see if they would accept the new government with him as president, and to find out what their demands might be," Carter said.

A series of meetings ensued with various Hamas leaders in the Israeli-occupied territories, and Carter initially found himself confounded by the multi-headed hydra of leadership, Hamas-style. But some of those he spoke to showed interest.

Even 10 years ago, there were indications Hamas might be ready to make the great leap forward into reason and rationality — and perhaps even to accept Israel as its legitimate partner in a future that would become two states living side by side.

Finally, a secret summit was arranged for Cairo involving every voice that mattered to Hamas. And just as Carter was preparing for the flight to Egypt, Hamas called it off.

"They cancelled the meeting. Either they decided no, or they decided I wasn't the right person. But they cancelled," said Carter.

"That's the way it was then. Clearly there was no discernable person who could speak on behalf of Hamas and I'm not sure there is yet."

Carter didn't rule out modern-day disaster in the 17 minutes and 29 seconds he gave the Star yesterday. But he would like everyone to take a deep breath and consider an opposite scenario. To his way of thinking, any notion of peace was already a political fiction long before Hamas came calling. Maybe, just maybe, confronted with the reality of responsibility, Hamas will be the one to awaken it.

"Firstly, nobody knows what will happen now. The Palestinian government just resigned a few minutes ago. I suspect even Hamas doesn't know," said Carter. "My guess is right now (Hamas) are trying to absorb the enormity of their unexpected victory. They are assimilating what has happened.

"So it means everything is in Hamas's hands. And how they'll deal with it is quite interesting to consider. It might be a healthy thing for them to have the responsibility. Ask yourself, `Can Hamas maintain order among their own people?' If so, that will be a notable achievement, and it's something Fatah has not been able or willing to do."

Carter, the broker of peace between Israel and Egypt, has never really let go of this part of the world.

He was here almost exactly a year ago, in the same capacity as chief election monitor, when Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Arafat. On that occasion he stayed up till 4 a.m. reviewing the count. Then, rather than making for bed, he chose to go birding, rounding up his binoculars to catch the dawn on the leafy grounds of Hebrew University, secret service guardsmen in tow. It is unlikely he will be birding today. Carter is off to see Abbas one more time this morning, to survey what's left of the broken pieces of Fatah.

As for the death of peace hopes, Carter offered a steely gaze, and unleashed a laundry list of reasons why the question is ridiculous.

"Remember, we're not interrupting a major, successful, promising peace process. There haven't been any peace talks for the last 3 1/2 years. For almost three years, the elected leader of the Palestinian people (Arafat) was imprisoned in two or three rooms in Ramallah and was not permitted to leave his office," said Carter.

"And then once Mahmoud Abbas was elected a year ago, we thought this would open a fairly immediate opportunity for peace talks. But there haven't been any peace talks. There hasn't been any real effort to strengthen Abbas's international stature, or his economic ability to manage his government's needs or meet his people's needs. There hasn't been any willingness on the part of outside forces to equip his security people with the ability to control violence.

"He's been put into a holding pattern. So we're not interrupting a peace process by this election. And it may be that what I consider to be a stalemate could possibly be invigorated. I won't say reinvigorated because there's no vigour there now."

But if a victorious Hamas is to take the Palestinians forward, a discernable voice must arise. Hamas can no longer be a multi-headed hydra, saying both yes and no to negotiations from its many mouths. A cohesive leadership is essential, and it must say what it really wants. That will require some breathing space as the dust over Ramallah settles, and the newly elected work toward forming a new government. But time is of the essence, insofar as the Palestinian Authority is destitute.

By Carter's reckoning, the Authority will run out of funds to pay its workers — everyone from policemen to schoolteachers, at the end of February.

He's urging Western donors to find a way to work around their objections to Hamas and continue giving, at least until Hamas makes its intentions known. And he's calling on the cash-rich Arab world, now "inundated with oil revenues," to step up with financing to get Palestinians through this crisis.

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, one of Carter's colleagues in the mission to Jerusalem, yesterday framed the situation thus: "The motives for a two-state solution can be said to be even strong in a situation where, after all, what we have asked for — the establishment of democracy in these territories — has occurred.

"The fact that we got democracy functioning should not really be used as an argument for withdrawing our engagement."

Carter professes no insight into whether Hamas is capable of the challenge of leadership. But he's old enough to have seen many in this region make the transition from terror to power with aplomb."Despite the concerns expressed about the character of Hamas, we have to hope for the best. My prayer is the Hamas leaders, now serving in positions of unprecedented authority, will lead the Palestinian people on a peaceful, non-violent path toward a two-state solution."