January 31, 2005

Scene at Baghdad polling station is suffused with sense of civic spirit, dispelling suspicion that 24 years of bludgeoning under Saddam Hussein had bred disabling passivity among country's 28 million people; voters walk long distances through streets choked with military checkpoints, and stand for hours in line to cast their ballots; these are same people who crowded polling centers in 2002 to re-elect Hussein in one-candidate referendum by official vote count of 100 percent; after surprise of heavy turnout on Jan 30, there is much that remains to daunt American hopes that Iraqis would come together in new political compact, one that would enable their new national assembly to draft constitution, submit it to referendum, and hold another election late this year for full-term parliament and government; Americans who have remained decisive authority in Iraq emerge from voting with large measure of vindication for having pressed ahead with election despite predictions that enterprise would collapse amid uncontrollable insurgent violence or crippling voter boycott; photos (M)

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses preparations for Super Bowl in Jacksonville (Fla), where limited hotel rooms are prompting nearly 7,000 visitors to stay on one of five cruise ships that will be docked on St Johns River; photo (M)

Profile of artist Jerry Pagane who still practices gold-leaf sign painting in New York City, gold-on-gold brush technique developed by Turks in 1200's; photos (M)

Adelphia Weighs Options As Cable Bids Come Due As bids for Adelphia's cable systems come due, a joint bid from Time Warner and Comcast remains the one to beat. But investors and analysts are warning that Time Warner and Comcast could be overpaying at the $17.5 billion asking price.

Federal Reserve appears poised to continue raising interest rates for most if not all of this year despite latest Commerce Department report showing that economic growth has slowed in recent months; inflation, though still subdued by most measures, is running higher than a year ago, and Fed officials continue to believe that economic growth will probably remain fairly strong this year without stimulation from them; analysts note that cheap money is almost as plentiful now as it was before Fed started process of raising short-term rates six months ago; note that cost of home mortgages and long-term corporate financing has actually declined (M)