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From CBC.ca

U.S security czar to step down
Last Updated Tue, 30 Nov 2004 14:54:26 EST

WASHINGTON - Tom Ridge has announced he is stepping down as secretary of U.S. homeland security.

His resignation follows similar moves by a number of senior members of the Bush administration. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman have confirmed that they will be stepping down.


* FROM NOV. 15, 2004: U.S. secretary of state stepping down



The 59-year-old Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania, was named homeland security adviser in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Homeland Security Department was created in 2002 by merging 180,000 employees from 22 federal agencies with the aim of better co-ordinating government resources to further prevent attacks.

Ridge became the department's first secretary in January 2003.

The department was known for implementing a colour-coded security advisory system. Warnings – severe, high, elevated, guarded and low – were issued to the public based on the perceived risk of a terrorist attack.

Ridge presided over six national "orange alerts" (high risk) out of concern that an attack may have been coming.

Some criticized the effectiveness of the warnings, accusing Ridge of using them in the months leading up to the election to boost support for Bush. Ridge denied the accusations, saying, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security.

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From NY Times

President of N.A.A.C.P. Is Stepping Down
By MARIA NEWMAN

he president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, said today that he was stepping down as head of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group.

Mr. Mfume, 56, a former congressman from Baltimore who became the N.A.A.C.P.'s president in 1996, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"I just need a break," he said at a televised news conference in Baltimore. "I need a vacation. I'm just not going to do anything for a while."

The group's legal counsel, Dennis Hayes, will serve as interim president while the organization conducts a national search for replacement for Mr. Mfume, who is to depart on Jan. 1.

Mr. Mfume took over the organization at a time when it was saddled with a $3.2 million debt. He brought fiscal stability by running the operation with a corporate style of management and laying off some staff to save money.

"For the last nine years, I've had what I believe is both the honor and the privilege to help revive and to help restore this great organization," Mr. Mfume said at the news conference.

"In my heart of hearts, I know the job has been done, and I step aside willingly," he said.

Mr. Mfume's resignation comes at a time when the N.A.A.C.P. is facing a review by the Internal Revenue Service that its executives say is politically motivated because of the group's chilly relationship with President Bush.

Mr. Bush declined to speak at the last four N.A.A.C.P. annual conventions. White House officials said the president had scheduling conflicts this year when the group was meeting in Philadelphia. But they also cited "hostile political comments" about Mr. Bush from N.A.A.C.P. leaders in recent years as the main reason he decided not to attend.

In a letter dated Oct. 8, the I.R.S. told the association it was reviewing its tax-exempt status, citing a speech given by its chairman, Julian Bond, at its Philadelphia convention.

In the letter, the I.R.S. said it had received information that Mr. Bond conveyed "statements in opposition of George W. Bush for the office of presidency" and specifically that he had "condemned the administration policies of George W. Bush in education, the economy and the war in Iraq."

The letter reminded the association that tax-exempt organizations are legally barred from supporting or opposing any candidate for elective office.

Mr. Bond's speech on July 11 included a long section that sharply criticized the Republican Party, Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their positions on an array of issues important to black Americans.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Mr. Bond defended his remarks, saying they focused on policy, not politics.

"This is an attempt to silence the N.A.A.C.P. on the very eve of a presidential election," he said. "We are best known for registering and turning out large numbers of African-American voters. Clearly, someone in the I.R.S. doesn't want that to happen."