quote:

Originally posted by davdah:
I'm confused. If women rank first and men rank third, what ranks second? A mixture between the two? LOL...

thats easy! out of balance riding mowers rank second! LOLOLOL! . DARN!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
Gobble Gobble.. Google Google


T-Mobile to sell Google phone for $179 on Oct. 22


NEW YORK — The first cellphone running Google's mobile software looks something like Apple's iPhone and has a large touch screen, but it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.

Google made its debut as a cellphone software provider today at an event where Bellevue-based wireless carrier T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 phone for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.

The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.

In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.

The data plan for the phone will cost $25 a month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S. wireless carriers.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google's founders, made a surprise appearance at the launch event. "It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," Brin said.

He said he'd written an application for Android already: When a user throws the phone into the air, the program records how long it takes until it lands, using the phone's built-in motion sensor. Brin acknowledged that the wisdom of including such a program with an expensive phone is dubious.

"We did not include that one by default," he said.

Page said the mobile phone industry, which sells 1 billion units a year worldwide, was a tremendous opportunity for Google.

Google is giving away Android, the software that underlies the G1, for free, and opening the operating system to third-party developers who can create their own programs. Google hopes that in turn, mobile phones will provide even more ways for people to interact with the company's advertising network

4now i am sure will have the first one! .
how many you got now???? LOL.

Spain bribes immigrants who agree to leave and NOT come back for 3 years !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7568887.stm

Spain's radical plan for migrants

By Steve Kingstone
BBC News, Madrid


On the northern outskirts of Madrid, the Tres Cantos railway station is getting a makeover.


For many working on the railway, this represents their last job
Under a fierce midday sun, immigrant labourers from North Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe shift huge concrete slabs into place on the platform, and scatter fresh layers of shingle between the rails and sleepers.

This back-breaking work pays €1,200 (£950) per month, and everyone is making the most of it.

With the construction industry in dire trouble, their Spanish boss has no other projects in the pipeline, and the entire workforce will be laid off when this job ends.

So, any takers for the government's new offer to unemployed immigrants?

If they volunteer to go back to their home countries and not return to Spain for three years, foreigners will qualify for lump-sum benefit payments, typically worth around €18,000 (£14,200).

The scheme applies to the citizens of 19 non-EU countries which share social security agreements with Spain.

"If someone offered me that cash now I'd go," says Patrick, from Equatorial Guinea. "Back home, it would go further; I could invest it," he adds.

Guillermo, from the Dominican Republic, warns that: "if the economy carries on like this, we'll all have to leave". But given a choice, he would rather stay. "I now consider myself Spanish," he grins.

Unemployment benefits

In the space of barely a decade, Spain's immigrant population has leapt by an astonishing 800%, and cheap immigrant labour was a vital factor in the construction-led economic boom.


What we're trying to do is link immigration to the labour market

Celestino Corbacho
Minister for work and immigration

As long as there was work to go round, Spain mostly avoided the kind of immigration-related tensions witnessed in other European countries.

Today, however, with an EU-high unemployment rate of 10.7%, the picture looks very different.

"Immigrants were seen by everyone as helping," explains Pedro Schwarz, an economist.

"They took jobs in construction - boosting growth and keeping wages down. But today, with the jobless total rising, some Spanish-born citizens are complaining that the new immigrants are beginning to hog the unemployment benefits."

For the time being, the 2.1 million foreigners registered for Spanish social security are net contributors to the system - paying in more than they receive.

But, over the past 12 months, the number of immigrants claiming unemployment benefit has surged by 81%, to 178,230 in July 2008.

"What we're trying to do is link immigration to the labour market," says Celestino Corbacho, Spain's minister for work and immigration.

"The forecasts say it'll take two or three years for the economy to recover, so we think it's good to offer people possibilities.

"If someone is entitled to $15,000 (£8,000), that's going to create more opportunities in their home country than here in Spain."

"Thank you and goodbye"

Under the new scheme, scheduled for launch in September, participating immigrants would receive two years worth of up-front unemployment benefits - 40% when they volunteer for the scheme in Spain, the rest on arrival back in their country of origin.

To qualify, they would have to surrender their Spanish work and residence papers for the duration of the deal.
Immigrant families are integrated here - they don't want to start all over again

Ecuadorian immigrant, Leonardo Ramirez
The government insists this is merely a common sense response to Spain's undeniable economic problems, but immigrant welfare groups view the policy with suspicion.

"I feel that we've been used," complains Washington Tobar of the Hispano-Ecuadorean Foundation in Madrid.

"When they needed cheap labour, the doors opened. And now they don't need us, they just say 'thank you and goodbye' - and expect us to go back to our own countries."

In a modest apartment in Madrid's La Latina district, 42-year-old Leonardo Ramirez prepares lunch for his two children.

A marketing graduate in his native Ecuador, he paid his way here through construction, until the work dried up a year ago.

Now renting out a spare room to help pay his mortgage, Leonardo is one of 100,000 unemployed foreigners whom the government hopes immediately to tempt with its offer. But he is far from keen.

"Even $20,000 or $30,000 isn't that much money, in terms of capital to invest back home," he explains.

"They are people who'll have to buy a house, and children's schooling is expensive. Also, immigrant families are integrated here - they don't want to start all over again."

Avoiding conflict

Outside, on Leonardo's housing estate, immigrant children play football, while Latino pop blares out from several apartments.


Spain, thanks to immigration, is a very different country from a decade ago



This new Spain is unrecognisable from the country of 10 years ago, and the government is controversially trying to turn back the clock.

But Mr Corbacho denies that Spain is ungrateful for the contribution made by immigrants, or that foreigners are being made scapegoats for the country's economic woes.

"Immigration is not a problem, it's a phenomenon," says Mr Corbacho.

"And phenomena are never neutral - they change a lot of things and create new challenges. Our challenge is to manage this phenomenon, so that our diverse, multicultural society avoids conflict in the future," he says.

It is a radical approach to immigration from a socialist government which appeared to run shy of the issue in the lead-up to its election victory in March.

Now, the politicians hope - quite literally - to make the problem go away. And other EU governments, facing similar challenges, will be closely monitoring the Spanish scheme's progress.

By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials say the U.S. has provided Israel with an advanced radar system that will give early warning in case of an Iranian missile attack.
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The officials say the new radar was flown into Israel last week along with some 120 American crewmen and has been set up at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert.

The system can pick up a ballistic missile shortly after launch. That will cut the response time of Israel's Arrow system, designed to intercept incoming missiles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the radar's arrival has not been officially made public. It was first reported in Defense News.

The Israeli military said Sunday it has "various forms" of cooperation with the U.S. military but that "as a rule we do not detail the content" of the ties.

Reckless Illinois Driver who Caused Auto Accident is Convicted of Reckless Homicide

A woman who was driving an estimated 70 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone and weaving in and out of traffic has been convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a 9-year-old boy.

According to The News-Gazette, Melissa K. Darr, 42, of Gifford, Ill., was darting in and out of traffic on U.S. 136 headed toward Interstate 57 on May 25, 2007. Darr testified that she had argued with her husband the night before and that her husband had taken their 4-year-old son. While she was driving, her husband told her she would not be getting their son back.

Darr got onto the I-57 ramp which limits speed to 35 miles per hour because of a tight curve. Her SUV blew a tire then went through the grass and up on the highway.

Raymundo Vazquez Sr. of Chicago was driving his van southbound. He testified that Darr’s SUV hit the back of his van, causing him to a hit a guardrail. His 9-year-old son, Raymundo Vazquez Jr. was thrown from the van and died of head and chest injuries.

Two state troopers testified that, in their opinion, the vehicles did not touch because there was no paint transfer.

But that didn’t matter, Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Kanis told the jury.

“She’s flying on that ramp. It was inevitable. She couldn’t hold the curve. If she didn’t hit him, he was avoiding her.”

It only took the Champaign County jury 90 minutes to convict Darr of reckless homicide. Her sentencing is set for Oct. 23. Darr faces a maximum of five years in prison.

In this case, it didn’t matter if Darr intended to hurt or kill someone. All that mattered was that she meant to drive recklessly.

If you have been hurt in a motor vehicle accident resulting from the negligence of another or a loved one has been hurt or killed in such an accident, please contact our attorneys for legal assistance as soon as possible.

The lawyers of The Lowe Law Firm are experienced in helping people who have been hurt as a result of the negligence of another. We will seek compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages, pain and suffering, disability and other damages. We also represent family members in wrongful death cases

Sunday 28th September

US north-east on hurricane alert
Map

A rare hurricane watch has been issued for the US state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

Tropical Storm Kyle strengthened to hurricane force off the US east coast with winds of 75mph (120km/h), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

It is the first hurricane watch issued for Maine in 17 years, the US National Weather Service reported.

It is projected to make landfall near the Maine-New Brunswick border late Sunday or early Monday, the NHC said.

The alert comes on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Juan, which killed two people and caused millions of dollars of damage in Canada's Atlantic provinces.

Kyle is the 11th named storm of the season, which has already brought extensive damage and hundreds of deaths in Caribbean nations.

SAGINAW, Mich. - With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw. Joanne Smith, 30, recently was the top bidder for the home during an auction on eBay, The Saginaw News reported. Her bid was one of eight for the home.

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"I am going to try and sell it," she told the newspaper. "I don't have any plans to move to Saginaw."

Smith said she hasn't seen the property or visited Saginaw, which has been hard-hit by economic troubles in recent years.

There's a notice on the door of the home saying a foreclosure hearing is pending, the newspaper said. She must pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs.

The Saginaw News said it could not reach the seller, Southern Investments LLC, for comment.

I saw that house - it's amazing what you can find on ebay! LOL!

Google whips out $4.4 trillion clean-energy plan

San Francisco Business Times - by Steven E.F. Brown

Google.org, the philanthropic unit of search giant Google Inc., publicized a $4.4 trillion plan to wean the United States off fossil fuels by 2030.


Giant Google’s curiosity, which seems as boundless as the Internet its algorithms search, extends into nearly every area of human endeavor. Though it makes most of its money from advertising it is interested in nearly every subject, and presented this proposal as a straw-man, meant to stimulate policy debate.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), based in Mountain View, calls in the proposal for a 38-percent cut in oil used for vehicle fuel. “Technologies and know-how to accomplish this are either available today or are under development,” the proposal, by Jeffery Greenblatt, says.

It also urges greater use of nuclear, solar, wind and geothermal sources of power.

According to Google, the plan would cost about $4.4 trillion but over 22 years would save a net of about $1 trillion while creating new jobs.

The details of the plan call for:


Improved electrical energy efficiency, which will counteract growth in demand and also the expected demand from plug-in electric cars.
Replacing all electrical power generation that uses coal and oil for fuel. About half of electrical generation from natural gas would also be replaced, all with renewable sources like wind — both on and offshore — solar and geothermal.
Raising standard car fuel efficiency from 31 mpg to 45 mpg.
Increasing use of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars.
Replacing cars in business fleets faster.

To achieve these goals, Greenblatt says, the country will have to improve electrical transmission capacity and invest in research to make renewable energy cheap and ubiquitous. Mileage standards for cars will have to be raised, and infrastructure like charging stations for electric vehicles will have to be encouraged and built.

Google’s proposal assumes that electricity demand can be kept flat at the 2008 level, rather than growing by a quarter by 2030. The proposal claims “ample proof” that this is possible, citing research studies and the experience of states, plus a McKinsey & Co. report — Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost, published last December.


All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Source

GOOD OLE' GOOGLE!

Russia's Jerusalem land claim worries Israelis

By TIA GOLDENBERG, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 7, 6:59 AM ET

The Russians are coming to downtown Jerusalem, reclaiming ownership of a landmark with the approval of the Israeli government, just as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits Moscow to try to iron out serious policy differences between the two countries.

After years of contacts, Olmert's Cabinet agreed Sunday to hand over the small tract known as Sergei's Courtyard. The area, which once accommodated Russian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, now houses offices of Israel's Agriculture Ministry and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

The property includes a lush garden and the massive buildings around it — a turret-like structure at the intersection of two downtown streets and the sand-colored fortress-like wings leading from it.

The timing of the gesture is clear. After years of relatively smooth relations, serious problems have cropped up between Israel and Russia. One concerned Russia's summer invasion of Georgia, which has become a close ally of Israel in recent years. More importantly, Israel is concerned about Russia's role in helping, or not stopping, the nuclear program of Israel's archenemy, Iran.

Olmert hopes to talk through those issues during his two-day trip to Moscow. He was scheduled to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday before returning to Israel.

Not everyone is happy about Israel's Jerusalem goodwill gesture. Hardline groups bridle at any transfer of control in Jerusalem, because they oppose Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts that would require sharing the city.

Israel TV described the transfer as "Russian autonomy in downtown Jerusalem." The Cabinet decision says no major changes can be made at the site without approval of both governments.

The official transfer may be delayed because of an appeal filed by the nationalistic Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, which said the deal is a "breach of Israeli sovereignty."

Nachi Eyal, the group's director, warned the deal could set a precedent for other land claims.

A Russian official denied accusations it seeks greater influence in the Middle East through the acquisition of Sergei's Courtyard, calling its desire to own the place a matter of historical significance.

"This has nothing to do with what is being called imperial ambitions because it's not a military base or something that can serve those purposes," said Alexei Skosyrev, a political counselor at the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv. He said the building will be used as a Russian cultural center to "promote bilateral relations" between the two countries.

The site, named for Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, a son of Czar Alexander II, was built in 1890 and is part of the larger Russian Compound, most of which Israel purchased 45 years ago. It paid in oranges because it lacked hard currency.

Negotiations over the site began in the 1990s. In 2005, after years of lagging progress on the deal, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised former Russian President Vladimir Putin the land would be returned.


Source

I guess they don't believe in freedom of speach in Kenya.

Kenya deports US author of anti-Obama book

TOM ODULA and ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY

Originally published 02:15 p.m., October 7, 2008, updated 01:58 p.m., October 7, 2008

NAIROBI, KENYA (AP) - The American author of a controversial book accusing Barack Obama of seething with "black rage" and of being unfit for the U.S. presidency was kicked out of Kenya on Tuesday.

The deportation of Jerome Corsi came just hours before he was to launch his book in a country where the U.S. Democratic candidate for president is wildly popular.

Corsi, who wrote "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," was detained at immigration headquarters in Nairobi for not having a work permit before being ordered to leave Kenya, said Joseph Mumira, head of criminal investigations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Corsi was scheduled to leave on an evening flight to London, Mumira said. Airport officials would not allow journalists access to Corsi at the airport and a message left on his mobile phone was not returned.

A spokesman for Obama said the campaign had no comment on the deportation.

Obama's Kenyan uncle, Said Obama, said he was unaware of Corsi's detention and had no comment. A government spokesman did not return calls for comment.

In the past, the Obama campaign has called Corsi a bigot peddling rehashed lies to hurt Obama in the U.S. presidential race against Republican Sen. John McCain. The best-selling book, released earlier in the United States, collects false rumors and distortions to portray Obama as a secret radical who cannot be trusted.

Obama's late father, whom he barely knew, was a Kenyan economist and the candidate is considered by many here as a "son of the soil." Obama's last trip to Kenya, in 2006, drew thousands of Kenyans who thronged every stop of his tour.

Ahead of the Nov. 4 election in the U.S., minibuses here are emblazoned with Obama's picture and vendors sell T-shirts bearing his image.

But Obama was born in Hawaii, where he spent most of his childhood raised by his mother, a white American from Kansas.

Corsi's book claims the Illinois senator is a dangerous, radical candidate for president and includes innuendoes and false rumors _ that he was raised a Muslim and attended a radical black church.

Obama is a Christian who attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, and his campaign picks apart the book's claims on the Web site FightTheSmears.com.

The campaign's rebuttal is titled "Unfit For Publication," a play on the book Corsi co-authored against 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military service called "Unfit For Command."

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9 Percent of Frederick Detainees Are Suspected Illegal Immigrants

POSTED: 11:52 am EDT October 7, 2008
UPDATED: 12:26 pm EDT October 7, 2008


FREDERICK, Md. -- Suspected illegal immigrants accounted for almost one in every 10 people detained by authorities in Frederick County in the past six months, the Frederick News-Post reported.

The statistics indicate the success of his agency's partnership with federal officials to enforce immigration policies, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said.

Frederick County is the only Maryland jurisdiction participating in a program which trains local officers to check the immigration status of those they arrest. The county joined the program in February.

Nine percent of those processed at the county jail during the six months ending Sept. 26 were suspected of being illegal immigrants, Jenkins said. Fifty-one percent were arrested by Frederick police, mostly in downtown Frederick or along the section of U.S. Route 40 known as the Golden Mile, Jenkins said.

AP

Stocks, oil, gold tank on growing recession fears

Friday October 24, 11:09 am ET

By Patrick Rizzo and Ellen Simon, Associated Press Writers

Stock market rout spreads around the world as recession worries turn to dismay


NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock markets around the world plummeted Friday and oil prices plunged to their lowest in more than a year. Even gold, the traditional safe haven in times of panic, fell sharply.

The common denominator was growing fears that governments, central banks and finance ministers seem powerless to stop the deepening of a global recession that will slam corporate earnings and lead to deep job losses around the world.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 330 points in morning trading. Before the open of New York trading, Dow futures had dropped 550 points, triggering a temporary trading halt in stock futures contracts in an effort to slow the decline. If the Dow drops 1,100 points before 2 p.m. the New York Stock Exchange would be forced to use "circuit breakers" that could lead to temporarily shutting the market, something it hasn't done since 1997.

"This is beyond volatile: It is chaotic," Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics wrote in note to clients. "This is the kind of day when the central banks step into the market with an 'unexpected' interest rate move to calm things down."

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is monitoring the markets and staying in close touch with market participants, a spokeswoman said.

Oil fell sharply and traded near $63 a barrel amid weakening global demand for crude -- despite a decision by the OPEC cartel to cut production quotas by 1.5 million barrels a day from next month.

The dollar plunged below 93 yen, a 13-year low. Gold fell as low as $681 an ounce, its lowest since January last year.

It was already a black Friday overseas. Japan's Nikkei stock average dropped 9.6 percent. Germany's benchmark DAX index plunged as much as 10.8 percent, France's CAC40 slid 10 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 shed 8.7 percent.

"We are getting used to wild swings in the markets, but today's moves verge on the bizarre," said Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics.

The only good news was the 5.5 percent increase in September existing home sales. Median home prices, however, dropped to $191,600, down 9 percent from a year ago.

The U.K.'s third quarter gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent, with the steepest decrease in 18 years putting the country on the brink of recession. Shares of Japan's Sony sank more than 14 percent when it slashed its earnings forecast for the fiscal year. In Germany, Daimler's stock dropped 11.4 percent in morning trading; it reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue guidance.

Emerging market economies and currencies are coming under extreme pressure. Investors are pulling money out of countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia on fears vulnerable countries will not only be hit hard by the financial crisis but may also default on debt.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 8.3 percent and markets in India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were also down sharply.

Brazilian stocks slumped for the fourth straight day, with the Ibovespa index down 3.9 percent in midday trading. Mexico's benchmark index was down 6 percent.

"Periods of panic punctuated by occasional calm appears to be the manner of things for now," said Daragh Maher, a strategist at Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank in London.

Investors around the world seemingly have become more convinced the global economy is on the brink of a long and painful recession, if it's not already in one.

Over the past few weeks, governments have taken unprecedented steps to thaw frozen credit markets and avert the downturn. But while there are signs that credit markets are beginning to thaw -- rates banks charge each other for short-term loans have been falling in recent days -- the outlook from companies reporting earnings are almost universally cautious about their prospects going forward.

That means companies will be reluctant to buy new equipment or hire new workers. U.S. unemployment claims, already well into recession territory, are rising even faster than expected. Economists warn the worst is yet to come.

On Thursday, the government said new applications for unemployment insurance rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000, above analysts' estimates of 470,000. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of recession.

Goldman Sachs, Chrysler and Xerox all announced they were cutting workers by the thousands, adding to the woes of an economy beset by tighter credit and wobbly banks. Chrysler said it would cut about 5,000 salaried workers, one quarter of the company's 18,500-person white collar work force.

PNC Financial Services said it is acquiring National City bank for $5.8 billion and planned to receive $7.7 billion in capital from the federal government as part of its $700 billion financial rescue plan.

The White House, in unusually stark language, acknowledged Thursday the economy is going through what spokeswoman Dana Perino called a "rough ride."

"We expect our GDP (gross domestic product) number next week not to be a good one and the next quarter to be tough as well," Perino said.

The Commerce Department will release its first estimate of third-quarter economic performance Oct. 30, and Wall Street analysts project it will show the economy contracted by 0.5 percent, according to Thomson/IFR.

Many economists expect the decline to continue into the current quarter and the first three months of 2009, if not longer. The classic definition of a recession is at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, testifying before a House committee, said he could not see "how we can avoid a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment."

The apparently universal gloomy outlook was feeding the selling.

The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 33.29, or 3.6 percent, to 874.82. Sam Stovall, S&P's chief investment strategist, put a 700 target on the index, saying S&P's equity analysts expect operating results for the 500 large companies to decline 10 percent in 2008.

Associated Press writers Stevenson Jacobs in New York, Louis Watt and Carlo Piovano in London and Martin Crutsinger, Christopher S. Rugaber and Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this report.

Source

When will this end?

WASHINGTON – Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that threatened to end the 40-year career of Alaska's political patriarch in disgrace.

The verdict, coming barely a week before Election Day, increased Stevens' difficulty in winning what already was a difficult race against Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Stevens, 84, was convicted of all the felony charges he faced of lying about free home renovations and other gifts from a wealthy oil contractor. Jurors began deliberating last week.

The senator showed no emotion as the jury foreman said "guilty" seven times. After the verdicts, Stevens sat in his chair and stared at the ceiling as attorney Brendan Sullivan put his arm around him.

Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced, but under federal guidelines he is likely to receive much less prison time, if any. The judge originally scheduled sentencing for Jan. 26 but then changed his mind and did not immediately set a date.

The monthlong trial revealed that employees for VECO Corp., an oil services company, transformed Stevens' modest mountain cabin into a modern, two-story home with wraparound porches, a sauna and a wine cellar.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens said he had no idea he was getting freebies. He said he paid $160,000 for the project and believed that covered everything.

He had asked for an unusually speedy trial, hoping he'd be exonerated in time to return to Alaska and win re-election. He kept his campaign going and gave no indication that he had a contingency plan in case of conviction.

Despite being a convicted felon, he is not required to drop out of the race or resign from the Senate. If he wins re-election, he can continue to hold his seat because there is no rule barring felons from serving in Congress. The Senate could vote to expel him on a two-thirds vote.

"Put this down: That will never happen — ever, OK?" Stevens said in the weeks leading up to his trial. "I am not stepping down. I'm going to run through, and I'm going to win this election."

Democrats have invested heavily in the race, running television advertisements starring fictional FBI agents and featuring excerpts from wiretaps.

Stevens' conviction hinged on the testimony of Bill Allen, the senator's longtime drinking and fishing buddy. Allen, the founder of VECO, testified that he never billed his friend for the work on the house and that Stevens knew he was getting a special deal.

Stevens spent three days on the witness stand, vehemently denying that allegation. He said his wife, Catherine, paid every bill they received.

Living in Washington, thousands of miles away, made it impossible to monitor the project every day, he said. Stevens relied on Allen to oversee the renovations, he said, and his friend deceived him by not forwarding all the bills.

Stevens is a legendary figure in Alaska, where he has wielded political influence since before statehood. His knack for steering billions of dollars in federal money to his home state has drawn praise from his constituents and consternation from budget hawks.

There was no immediate word on Stevens' campaign plans. His spokesman, Aaron Saunders, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on whether Stevens would stay in the race.

In Alaska, the Democratic Party issued a statement calling for Stevens to resign immediately. "He knew what he was doing was wrong," the party said. "But he did it anyway and lied to Alaskans about it."

Stevens is the fifth senator convicted of criminal charges. The last previous one was Republican David Durenberger of Minnesota, who was indicted in 1993 on charges of conspiring to make fraudulent claims for Senate reimbursement of $3,825 in lodging expenses. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine.

The jurors left the court without comment.

Said U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan: "The jurors have unanimously told me that no one has any desire to speak to any member of the media. They have asked to go home and they are en route home."

The jurors had been shuttled to and from the proceedings each day by court officials.