Doolittle to meet with staff amid speculation on future plans

GOP Rep. John Doolittle of Rocklin, who is under investigation in a federal influence-peddling scandal, is summoning supporters and aides for meetings later this week amid speculation that he may drop his bid for a 10th term.

Doolittle has denied wrongdoing in his ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, but he's been under growing political pressure since an FBI raid on his home in April and a flurry of grand jury subpoenas issued to him and aides.

He has insisted he'll seek re-election but has faced calls from some in his own party to step aside. On Monday Doolittle indicated he would soon disclose his plans.

"I am writing to invite you to a Team Doolittle Briefing. Please join with our key supporters for news about our plans for 2008," Doolittle wrote in an e-mail to supporters that was posted on a political blog in his district.

"You have been an important part of my election efforts, and I want you to get the inside news directly from me and my campaign advisers," the e-mail said. The event is to take place Thursday morning in Roseville, Calif., in Doolittle's district.

Separately, Doolittle organized a staff meeting for Wednesday and invited some former aides, according to one of the people invited. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the event was not public.

Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, said that Doolittle met quarterly with supporters and the events were nothing unusual.

"His current plans are to seek re-election," Rogers said.

"I'm not going to speculate about what's going to happen in the future," he said.

The candidate filing period for California's June 2008 primary runs from Feb. 11 to March 7. Doolittle is facing at least two declared Republican opponents and others are waiting in the wings, including former state Sen. Rico Oller, a Doolittle backer who is making plans to run if Doolittle retires.

House GOP leaders, eager to put the Abramoff scandal behind them, have pointedly declined to encourage Doolittle's re-election plans. Doolittle has a number of ties to the disgraced lobbyist, including interceding on behalf of Abramoff's Indian tribe clients, and Doolittle's wife, Julie, did event-planning work for Abramoff.

Doolittle's connections to Abramoff nearly cost him re-election in 2006 even though his district is among the most heavily Republican in California, and some Republicans believe he could not survive this time around. His fundraising is lagging badly behind that of the likely Democratic candidate, Charlie Brown, who came close to knocking Doolittle off in 2006.

source: http://www.mercurynews.com/news

Preserving our History: Pearl Harbor veterans

Kyle Nappi's mission is to save Private Ryan.

And German Luftwaffe Col. Hermann. As well as Canadian A/Lance-Cpl. Babcock.

So far, he can count about 1,600 soldiers, airmen, sailors, freedom fighters and PoWs, from 20 countries, he's brought safely home.

Kyle, a 17-year-old high school student from the small community of Ostrander, Ohio, is on a worldwide hunt for the autographs and particulars of as many aging veterans as he can find. While other teens are surfing the Internet for music, Kyle ships off e-mails to newspapers and canvasses veteran's groups, hoping they'll bring him one line closer to a fading signature or memory.

He's been doing this -- running up to the aged in shopping malls and combing old records for survivors -- since he was about 12 years old. The search for traces of remarkable, but largely unsung lives began after he watched Pearl Harbor, the blockbuster 2001 movie.

He began to think about the sacrifices made by those who go off to war.

Today, he spends most of his spare time reaching out to the less that two dozen First World War vets left in the world, including Canada's last, John Babcock, who now lives in Spokane, Wash. Babcock shipped the teenager off copies of the first chapter of the autobiography the 107- year-old vet penned for his own family.

Kyle's parents say it took some getting used to -- their son running up to the elderly, clutching bits of paper and a pen, looking for autographs as most kids would hustle to get close to a Hollywood celebrity.

"He's very dedicated -- no matter what he becomes interested in," says his mom, Stacy, a medical receptionist, who helped him get the first autograph. "He saw the movie Twister, and can walk out the door today and tell you just what kind of cloud that is.

"I always thought history was boring in high school ... but he continues to teach us new and interesting things about these veterans."

Kyle doesn't see anything unusual about what he does. He only feels a sense of urgency.

"We're losing these people ... and they're important," he explains. "I can't imagine going through what they have."

Just two years ago, he was able to fly in a B-17 "Flying Fortress," along with a Second World War PoW in a seat nearby. He's laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Va.

Among his feedback from Germany, are U-boat captains, Panzer tank commanders, Luftwaffe aces, conspirators within the Third Reich and some of the last people to see Hitler alive.

Veterans, sensing a way to preserve the past, have sent him old books and medals. One of his teachers once saw a military jacket sadly for sale at a Goodwill store. It included all the ribbons. She bought it for Kyle, knowing he would show it respect.

He uses a fireproof safe to secure his most precious items.

"It's a shame when people, especially my age, have no idea about the events of the past," he says. "When we were watching the Omaha Beach scene on Saving Private Ryan in my social studies class ...one of my classmates asked the teacher if we were fighting the Japanese."

There are the already note-worthy in his collection, which spills out of albums and boxes and the stories he tells. They include Canada's Babcock and a pilot who flew an observation mission over Hiroshima, Japan, for the dropping of the atomic bomb.

But most are men and women who are no longer asked many questions about their histories.

The oldest is 111 and the youngest is now serving in Iraq.

What Kyle really wants for '08 is the signature of Gladys Powers of Abbotsford, B.C. She served with the British forces, and is believed to be the last surviving female veteran of the First World War.

So far, he waits, having reached out but heard nothing back.

"I get letters back from their families ... notes attached ... saying 'Thank you. He hardly ever talks about those times,' " Kyle says.

Twister brought him the mystery of the weather. After watching Titanic, he began investigating shipwrecks. And Pearl Harbor inspired a collection of signatures that's museum ready.

So in the past, he believes he's found his calling in life.

"A history teacher," he says. "I already have a good start."
source: http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2008/01/04/4752058-sun.html

Pearl Harbor Movie

Did you watch Titanic just to see the boat sink, and ignore the sappy love story? Consider taking the same approach to this 2001 drama. Director Michael Bay's re-creation of the 1941 Japanese attack on the Hawaiian military base is some of the most effective war-movie footage since Saving Private Ryan. Just pay no attention to the S.L.S. about two pilots (Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett) in love with the same woman (Kate Beckinsale).
source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/weekend/television