Here is the Scripps Howard News Service CONSOLIDATED BUDGET for Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. If you have questions or comments, SHNS editors can be reached at 202-408-1484. For all SHNS content and archives, visit our Web site at www.shns.com.

WASHINGTON

IRAQ-PARLIAMENT (Hoffman, SHNS _ Analysis) _ After a labored and bloody year, democracy will fully be born this week in Iraq when voters elect a permanent parliament. Whether it will live is unknown. A Q&A look at the election. 1,000.

IRAQ-PUBLIC (Straub, SHNS) _ WASHN: Public support for the war in Iraq has inched up slightly since President Bush started a campaign to gin up enthusiasm, but most Americans still feel uneasy. 500.

NATIONAL

SENIORGADGETS (Hoffman, SHNS) _ With the first of the baby boomers hitting 60, high-tech gadgets are being developed to help the coming hordes of senior citizens cope with the diminishments of age. 600.

ARNOLD (Freeman, Toronto Globe and Mail) _ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hollywood's most famous Austrian, is paying the price in his homeland for the highly charged decision to allow Stanley "Tookie" Williams to be executed in California. 600.

HEALTH AND SCIENCE

DRUGVALUE (Bowman, SHNS) _ Government health researchers issue their first report card on the effectiveness of drugs and treatments for acid reflux. 750.

INTERNATIONAL

DROPOUTS (Alphonso, Toronto Globe and Mail) _ Ontario plans to become the first province in Canada to deny or suspend the driving privileges of teenagers if they drop out of school before the age of 18. 600.

OPED

COMMENT

DESSERT (Dale McFeatters, SHNS _ Column) _ Just Dessert. One airline is going to start charging a dollar for a soda. Once this search for in-flight revenues starts, there's no stopping it. 600.

HALL (Hall, Media General _ Column) _ WASHN: There is a real "Syriana," far more interesting and dangerous than the movie, playing in the Mideast. 700.

MAY (May, SHNS _ Column) _ More than four years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America's movie moguls seem to have not a clue about who attacked us or why. 750.

TSUNAMI (Tessitore, The Providence Journal _ Comment) _ It is almost a year since a tsunami struck the Asia-Pacific region, and much of the rebuilding work still lies ahead. 900.

ISLAMICEUROPE (Elsworth, The Providence Journal _ Comment) _ The riots that recently spread across France raise the question of why have Muslims have such trouble integrating into European culture. 550.

SCRIPPS HOWARD EDITORIALS

EDCOINS (Dale McFeatters, SHNS) _ Doughty heroines like Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony failed to sell the dollar coin. Maybe dead presidents can. 350.

EDEARS (Dale McFeatters, SHNS) _ Plastic surgeons are putting right a small but nasty legacy of Saddam's regime. 250.

OTHER VIEWS

EDBUSH-CLIMATE (The Providence Journal) _ As long as the United States declines to take the lead, it is unlikely other nations, including new energy hogs China and India, will address greenhouse-gas emissions. 300.

EDMEDICAID (The Providence Journal) _ Florida's pilot program that radically alters the terms of Medicaid is a bad idea. 550.

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

(Available at www.shns.com)

14ECRATINGS (John Rose, Byrd Newspapers) _ President Bush's approval ratings rise from "Grinch" to "Scrooge."

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY

PETWASTE (Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette _ Product Review) _ Entrepreneurs have come up with all sorts of ways to deal with the problem of cleaning up doggy doo, including what's touted as the first power scooper. 900. With photo: SH05L184PETWASTE.

HOLIDAY-ANTACIDS (Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ Eat, drink and be merry, for we have antacids. As Americans indulge in holiday feasts and festivities and cope with the accompanying stresses, their consumption of heartburn remedies hits its peak. 700. (Editors: This is also listed under LIFESTYLE. It moved categories l and f.)

HOLIDAY-CATALOGS (Dedrick, SHNS) _ ForestEthics, a California-based forest conservation advocacy group, helped Santa out this year by compiling a list of catalog companies ranked as naughty or nice based on their environmental practices. 750. With sidebar: CATALOG-LIST. (Editors: This is also listed under LIFESTYLE. It moved categories l and f.)

ONLINE-ADVICE (Craver, Winston-Salem Journal) _ Billed as the world's first virtual financial adviser, Sophie is a computerized image accessible at www.SimpliFi.net. Sophie helps clients establish a financial plan and goals based on a modeling system. 550.

BIZPROF (Freeman, SHNS _ Column) _ Small Business Professor. A Southern hostess turns gracious entertaining into a profitable business. 800. With logo: SH05A037BIZPROF.

MONEYMATTERS (Hanson, SHNS _ Column) _ Money Matters. A Roth IRA is a great tool for saving money for your grandchildren. 700.

MONEYDIGEST (Halpern, TheMoneyShowDigest.com _ Column) _ Leading financial advisers describe their favorite exchange traded funds in China and other Asian countries. With logo: SH04E271MONEYDIGESTLOGO. 600.

TECHTALK (Berman, SHNS _ Column/Product Review) _ Here are a few "gotta have its" that should be under every geek's tree this Christmas. 450.

LIFESTYLE

Editors: On Monday, Dec. 19, Scripps Howard News Service will move stories and art for a spring bridal package. The package will include 13 stories, two sidebars and a budget chart. The stories _ except the chart _ will include one or more photos or other artwork, with several photos included suitable for covers for tabloid special sections. All copy will be moved as category l transmissions. The stories and art also will be available on our Web site: www.shns.com.

HOLIDAY ADVICE

HOLIDAY-ANTACIDS (Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ Eat, drink and be merry, for we have antacids. As Americans indulge in holiday feasts and festivities and cope with the accompanying stresses, their consumption of heartburn remedies hits its peak. 700. (Editors: This is also listed under BUSINESS. It moved categories l and f.)

HOLIDAY-THRIFT (Simons, SHNS) _ Put down those credit cards. If your budget is shot, and your holiday plans are still incomplete, here are some tips for focusing (gasp) not on spending, but on things that really matter. 800.

HOLIDAY-CATALOGS (Dedrick, SHNS) _ ForestEthics, a California-based forest conservation advocacy group, helped Santa this year by compiling a list of catalog companies ranked as naughty or nice based on their environmental practices. 750. With sidebar: CATALOG-LIST. (Editors: This is also listed under BUSINESS. It moved categories l and f.)

BOOKS AND AUTHORS FOR THE SEASON

CORNER-BOOKS (MacPherson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ Children's Corner. Looking for the perfect gift for your kids? A capsule look at the season's best. With photos: SH05L177CORNER, SH05L178CORNER, SH05L179CORNER, SH05L180CORNER, SH05L181CORNER, SH05L182CORNER, SH05L183CORNER.

WINTER-BOOKS (Young, Tacoma News Tribune) _ The first day of winter is a week away, and there are many reasons to celebrate: snow, of course; hot chocolate and building snowmen; an owl flying across a winter moon; the polar bear, the ultimate cold-weather animal _ and snuggling up with a good children's book. 700.

ENTERTAINMENT

WHOSWHO-FANTASY (Heyamoto, Sacramento Bee) _ Who can keep track of all the fantasy-novels-turned-blockbusters flying around these days? Struggling? Here's some help _ a three-way comparison of the box-office-topping "Chronicles of Narnia," "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" movies. 400. With photos: SH05L187WHOSWHOFANTASY, SH05L188WHOSWHOFANTASY, SH05L189WHOSWHOFANTASY.

STARGAZING (Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ If a reputation can be made with one big film, as Rob Marshall's was with his debut, "Chicago," the 2003 Oscar winner, then a reputation can decline quickly, too. But for his second act, Marshall moved as far as possible from the world of Broadway musical comedy. His new feature is "Memoirs of a Geisha," based on Arthur Golden's popular, lush novel of love and servitude. 900. With photos: SH05L185STARGAZING, SH05L186STARGAZING.

FILM

ALL ABOUT KING KONG

JACKSON-KONG (Pickle, SHNS) _ Peter Jackson went ape over "King Kong" the first time he saw the film as a 9-year-old in New Zealand. Now, after remaking the classic, he tells why the big ape helped turn him into a filmmaker. 600.

DIARYDVD-KONG (Pickle, SHNS) _ Fans usually have to wait for a film's DVD release to get the stories behind a movie. With "King Kong," the inside scoop is out now, in its own DVD package. 550.

SPIDERS-KONG (Pickle, SHNS) _ Some of the new "King Kong" will be familiar to fans of the 1933 original, but only because they've heard the spider legend. 150.

WATTS-KONG (Pickle, SHNS) _ While making "King Kong," Naomi Watts quickly learned that you don't go up against a giant gorilla without paying a physical price _ even if it's all pretend violence. 750.

REVIEW-KONG (Pickle, SHNS) _ The new "King Kong" doesn't merely update the original with slick computer-generated effects. The world and the creatures of "King Kong" are breathtaking, but it's the story that makes this film a stunner. 550.

OTHER FILM REVIEWS

USHPIZIN-FILM (Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star) _ "Ushpizin" draws laughs as a sharply designed comedy of manners, but it is also an advancement in the diversity of religious-themed movies. 550.

FAMILYSTONE-FILM (Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star) _ If "The Family Stone" serves some purpose other than to bust your holiday-sweets-stuffed gut with farcical laughter, it's to make you appreciate the fact that no matter how screwed up your own relatives are, they don't compare to the depravity of the Stones. 550.

TELEVISION

OWEN-TV (Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ Embargoed for Saturday release. The original "Once Upon a Mattress" launched the career of one of America's sketch-comedy queens, Carol Burnett, who went on to reprise her role as the endearingly klutzy Princess Winnifred in two TV versions, in 1964 and 1972. Now she takes on another role in the latest revival. 700. (Editors: This subs for the regular Rob Owen column).

GENERATION NEXT

THINLYREAD (Grabow, SHNS _ Column) _ Thinly Read. Lights out. 500.

CONFIDENTIALLY (Young People's Press_ Column) _ Confidentially Yours. What to do when your interests no longer match those of your friends, and how to fit in when you start a new job. 750.

411 (Young People's Press_ Column) _ The 411. Notes on being green, Andrea Lewis, newsmania and more. 500.

TRANSITIONS (Reynolds, SHNS _ Column) _ Transitions. Kids and names. 500.

RELIGION

RELIGION-FAITH (Mattingly, SHNS _ Column) _ On Religion. The December calendar crunch. 700.

FAITH-FAITH (Waters, SHNS _ Column) _ Faith Matters. No matter what you call them, those December holidays have a lot in common. 500.

LIVING

FITNESSGURU (Jones, SHNS _ Column) _ Fitness Guru. Give the gift of fitness for Christmas. 600. (Editors: For use in newspapers and on newspaper Web sites only. This is also listed under SPORTS. It moved categories l and s.)

MEDICAL (Woods, Toledo Blade _ Column) _ Medical Journal. Doctors and faith. 450.

HARDEN (Harden, Columbus Dispatch _ Column) _ A look at a modern-day Jacob Marley who has an eye firmly on the bottom line. 650.

ASKCARLEY (Roney, SHNS) _ Ask Carley. How to solve a shoe dilemma. 200.

SPORTS

BASEBALL:

LINCICOME (Lincicome, SHNS _ Column) _ For this Hall of Fame voter, the careers of Jim Rice and Andre Dawson look awfully good considering they came in the pre-steroid era. But should there be a spot on the ballot for Pete Rose? 800.

RATTO (Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle _ Column) _ Does the strange deal for talented problem-child Milton Bradley mean a shift in philosophy for A's GM Billy Beane? 800.

SMIZIK (Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette _ Column) _ PITTSBURGH: All of Sean Casey's virtues won't help the Pirates if he doesn't improve on his 2005 run production. 800.

NFL:

REUSSE (Reusse, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune _ Column) _ MINNEAPOLIS: The Steelers will be a true test of the Vikings' mettle. 800.

MCGRATH (McGrath, Tacoma News-Tribune) _ The only downside to the sizzling Seahawks? All the success has stripped away any sense of mystery, urgency and, yes, controversy. 800. (Editors: This also moved on the Scripps-McClatchy Western Service wire.)

DONALDSON (Donaldson, The Providence Journal _ Column) _ Coaches' success in black and white. 1,200.

TEXANS (Allen, SHNS _ Column) _ The woeful Texans need a lot more than just hiring Dan Reeves as a consultant. 600.

SMITH (Smith, SHNS _ Column) _ Texans should think twice about taking Reggie Bush. 250.

JAGUARS (Miller, San Francisco Chronicle) _ JACKSONVILLE, Fla.: An attitude adjustment has helped make Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio a winner. 900.

NFLNOTES (Jenkins, Sacramento Bee) _ Record pace creates a dilemma for Colts ... Should the Super Bowl be wrapped around a national holiday? 700.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

FBCSOUHAN (Souhan, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune _ Column) _ New Columbia coach Norries Wilson, the first black coach in Ivy League history, hopes to continue the slow progress minorities have made in reaching top coaching positions in college football. 700.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

HOOPNOTES (Curtis, San Francisco Chronicle) _ Top basketball schools reload quickly. 750.

INDIANA (Englehardt, SHNS) _ INDIANAPOLIS: Hoosiers expecting a boost from the return of 6-foot-9 sophomore forward D. J. White. 550.

TRAMEL (Tramel, The Oklahoman _ Column) _ NORMAN, Okla.: His play in big games makes Taj Gray Oklahoma's go-to guy in the clutch. 660.

NBA:

VOISIN (Voisin, Sacramento Bee _ Column) _ Antsy Pat Riley finds his way back to the sideline. 750.

HOCKEY:

BETTMAN (Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) _ ST. LOUIS: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says Mario Lemieux is being realistic about the prospects of the Penguins leaving Pittsburgh. 300.

HEALTH AND FITNESS

FITNESSGURU (Jones, SHNS _ Column) _ FITNESS GURU. Give the gift of fitness for Christmas. 600. (Editors: For use in newspapers and on newspaper Web sites only. This is also listed under LIFESTYLE. It moved categories l and s.)

SPORTS COLLECTIBLES:

ASKBABE (Waxpak, SHNS _ Column) _ The Babe answers collectibles questions and adds a few notes. 800. With photo: SH05L176ASKBABE.