Capabilities

Carroll County senior citizens fearful of making even short trips because of possible emergency or security risks may borrow a cellular telephone with 911 capabilities.The phones can be used to summon emergency help, but are not programmed to receive or make other calls, say authorities from the county's Bureau of Aging and state's attorney's office.Phones can be checked out of the state's attorney's office in the courthouse annex, 55 N. Court St.Information: Lynette Brewer of the Bureau of Aging, 410-848-4049, or Gary Cofflin of the state's attorney's office, 410-386-2671.

Carroll County senior citizens fearful of making even short trips because of possible emergency or security risks may borrow a cellular telephone with 911 capabilities.The phones can be used to summon emergency help, but are not programmed to receive or make other calls, say authorities from the county's Bureau of Aging and state's attorney's office.Phones can be checked out of the state's attorney's office in the courthouse annex, 55 N. Court St.Information: Lynette Brewer of the Bureau of Aging, 410-848-4049, or Gary Cofflin of the state's attorney's office, 410-386-2671.

THE UNITED STATES faces 1997 more secure from foreign attack than in recent history. No longer does an array of nuclear weapons, airborne or seaborne, remain targeted on Washington minutes away. No other power can now challenge this country militarily. Those wishing to try are capable of pinpricks.Yet the world environment is not conducive to American comfort. The Middle East peace, seemingly assured two years ago, threatens to unravel as Israel's neighbors try to fathom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intentions.

Until Jackie Robinson, anointed by a deeply religious man, Branch Rickey, was to walk across the hot coals of the infield and into baseball's blazing bastion of all-white segregation, there was a distinct color line that offered a painful message:Blacks need not apply.It was 50 years ago that it happened, Robinson becoming the first of his race to prove that he had the capabilities -- physically and mentally -- to break down the barriers that then confronted all African-Americans. What occurred to him in Montreal was more important than what transpired in Brooklyn, where he ultimately was to earn his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Director James Cameron was in front of the camera, not behind it, posing for publicity shots for his new movie, "True Lies," and his assistants, for a change, were directing him. "Smile," insisted a young woman who worked makeup on his latest action epic. "You have a nice smile.""How would you know?" Mr. Cameron good-naturedly demanded. "You've never seen it.""Every picture of you makes you look so mean," another assistant fretted."The camera doesn't lie," Mr. Cameron said -- and smiled.Mr.

If you're self-employed, you face an unrelenting string of situations and problems that demand decisions. You have no bosses to whom you can go. You may work alone, as well, and have no colleagues with whom you can brainstorm.So what do you do when you don't know what to do? Here are 11 steps to take if you're an entrepreneur with a problem to solve:* Take yourself off the hook. You may have a knot in your stomach if you're facing a problem you don't know how to solve, but tell yourself as often as you need to that it's all right not to know everything -- and that people who do know everything (or think they do)

If the only thing you're getting from your CD player is great-sounding audio, at least two major consumer-electronics companies think you're missing at least half the fun.Philips Electronics and Commodore have introduced interactive compact-disc machines that not only play your favorite audio CDs, but also let you visit a museum, take a photography lesson or play a round of golf -- all without leaving your living room.By tapping vast storage capabilities -- a single disc can hold a 21-volume encyclopedia -- companies are now able to add memory-consuming visual elements, such as animation, graphics and digitized photos.

Their new home is ready. Now, the only question is whether the new-look Orioles have come home to roost or to roast.The heady optimism of spring is all about them. The starting rotation is both new and improved. The starting lineup has some pop and maybe even a little speed. The exhibition season has been one pleasant surprise after another. If only the regular season could go so well, then the team that went from "Why not?" three years ago to "Why bother?" in 1991 might be ready for prime time in October.

The county Office on Aging has limited money available to help disabled individuals in obtaining assisting devices.An assisting device is any piece of equipment used to increase, maintain or improve thefunctional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.Information: 730-7697.

The county public school system is offering "The Chalkboard," an electronic bulletin board system for students and the community.Interested hackers should call 313-6832 and identify themselves as new users.An account number and password will be assigned.The system provides special interest areas (bulletin boards), private electronic mail capabilities and transfer capabilities for computer programs and long documents.Information: 313-6832.

The budget submitted by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has sparked a badly needed debate about America's future defense. Some hail it as prudent, but it's too prudent by half. Savings should not trump security. He claims that his budgetary decisions reflect strategic judgments rather than cost-cutting or political pressures. Yet many of the cuts look suspect. Rather than making hard choices, he would slash programs that are unpopular with the Democratic leadership in Congress. In defense, money should follow strategy.

Gas prices. Gas prices. Gas prices. Is that all you and your friends are talking about? Now you can take it online. Fuelly.com, a Web site launched last month, allows drivers to track their gas mileage and compare the results not only with their friends, but with people worldwide. After three weeks, 5,932 people had joined the site, which is free, to follow the performance of nearly 7,000 vehicles. People all over the country are filling up their Fords, Mazdas, Pontiacs and Jeeps and then logging on to Fuelly to record the amount of gas they pumped into the car, how much it cost and how many miles they drove since their last trip to the gas station.

TEHRAN, Iran - A two-day Iranian show of force through the launching of medium- and long-range test missiles was meant to strike fear in the hearts of the country's rivals. Instead, many officials and experts played down Iranian war games near the Persian Gulf as more propaganda than peril yesterday. News reports emerged indicating that Iran had doctored a photo of the launches, and experts questioned whether the tests revealed any new Iranian capability to strike Israel or other U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East.

The vice president's chief of staff lied, made a false statement and obstructed an investigation. Those acts may have prevented prosecutors from getting to the bottom of the Valerie Plame Wilson case. They strongly suggest that he was attempting to divert the investigation - because there was something to hide, and someone to protect. One of the jurors who convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. yesterday spoke on the courthouse steps after the verdict had been delivered. He described how the jury had been frustrated at having to stand in judgment of Mr. Libby when it was clear that others had also been involved in revealing Ms. Wilson's identity as a CIA agent, in what was plainly an attempt to lash back at her husband, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. The issue was Iraq.

Anyone with Internet access can inspect the gewgaws adorning Jeanne Griffen's refrigerator on the photo-sharing site Flickr.com. There are images of Griffen as a child and at her wedding, a discount coupon, a Nightmare Before Christmas marble magnet and three postcards by illustrator Mister Reusch. Also affixed to the fridge are a note to her husband -- "Shut Door Tight" -- and the couple's work schedules: typical kitchen bricolage. A self-described "average woman," Griffen sends photos often to Flickr and posts stories about cat Lola and husband Phillip on her popular Honey Bunny blog.

China's manufacturing cost advantage, growing research and development efforts and millions of science and engineering graduates are helping Beijing rapidly catch up with the United States' high-tech capabilities - posing not just an educational and economic challenge but also a potential military threat. Let's connect some of the dots: Almost half the states are doing a poor job setting high enough academic standards for science in their public schools, according to a report recently released by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

WASHINGTON - A secret Pentagon plan for the next five years directs the military to focus more of its spending to combat Afghanistan-style threats and weapons of mass destruction and to develop even greater precision-strike capabilities, according to a document reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. The "Defense Planning Guidance" for 2004-2009 puts into action the Pentagon's plan to replace a Cold War-era strategy of being able to fight two major-theater wars at the same time with a more complex approach aimed at dominating air and space on several fronts.

WASHINGTON - The trans-Atlantic partnership has taken a step backward. With a few exceptions, camaraderie following the Sept. 11 attacks has faded, and what was viewed as an opportunity for multilateralism and cooperation has given way to new bickering and tension. The Europeans are openly annoyed with what they perceive as American simplicity and obsession with military might, while the Americans are growing tired of a "toothless" Europe timid in its engagement abroad. The tensions do not come without precedent.

WASHINGTON -- Recoiling from the carnage of the static warfare of 1914-1918, a few French officers, including a young major named de Gaulle, argued that tanks were going to be crucial in the mobile warfare for which Germany was preparing. However, French military leaders were averse to change. Patrician cavalry officers said, "Oil is dirty, dung is not," and one general said tanks would require mechanics, many of whom would be communists. The price of such obduracy was paid in 1940, when the Wehrmacht required just six weeks to roll from the Rhine to the Champs Elysees.

Carroll County senior citizens fearful of making even short trips because of possible emergency or security risks may borrow a cellular telephone with 911 capabilities.The phones can be used to summon emergency help, but are not programmed to receive or make other calls, say authorities from the county's Bureau of Aging and state's attorney's office.Phones can be checked out of the state's attorney's office in the courthouse annex, 55 N. Court St.Information: Lynette Brewer of the Bureau of Aging, 410-848-4049, or Gary Cofflin of the state's attorney's office, 410-386-2671.