November 8, 2005. 0531 cst.
There is some significant issues rolling across the area.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite 12 hour loop - "Click On"
November 8, 2005. 0531 cst.
There is some significant issues rolling across the area.
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite 12 hour loop - click here
November 8, 2005. 2330z.
You know, when I say I believe we have a Climate Emergency, I really mean it. I suppose people could start to sleep in their basements or at shelters at night if this is a sustained pattern. This is a high energy system.
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite 12 hour loop - click here
November 8. 2005. 2330 z.
Water Vapor.
Hemisphere Satellite.
This might be a sustainable pattern.
The velocity of the movement of the aire was not this turbulent this early morning about 4AM before sunrise. The hemisphere has had a full day of sun and heating and now we are looking at some very fast moving fronts across the North American continent driven by the North Atlantic Vortex just south of Greenland. It's reach spans the entire hemisphere to the equator.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"
"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Tuesday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2005. There are 53 days left in the year. This is Election Day.
1923, Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt at seizing power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, the "Beer-Hall Putsch."
1933, President Roosevelt created the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than four million unemployed.
1938 Crystal Bird Faucet is elected to become the first Black woman state representative in Pennsylvania.
1942 Operation "Torch" began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa.
1960 Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.
1962 Leroy Johnson becomes first Black to be elected to Georgia legislature since Reconstruction
1965, the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" premiered on NBC.
1966 Edward W. Brooke becomes the first Black elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction. He is a Republican from Massachusetts.
1985 Federal Court Judge Sarokin releases middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter from prison where he is incarcerated for a murder he didn't commit.
Ten years ago: Retired General Colin Powell embraced the Republican Party, but said he would not run for president or any other political office in 1996 because it was "a calling that I do not yet hear."
Five years ago: A statewide recount began in Florida, which emerged as critical in deciding the winner of the 2000 presidential election. Early that day, Vice President Al Gore telephoned Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede, but called back about an hour later to retract his concession.
Waco special counsel John C. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.
One year ago: The U.S. dollar was eliminated from circulation in Cuba.
Jason Bay became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to win the National League Rookie of the Year award, while Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby took the American League honor.
Missing in Action
1965 PARKER RICHARD H. AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN ARMY 1RAR
1967 ADAMS JOHN R. CHICO CA
1967 BRENNEMAN RICHARD C. MISHAWAKA IN 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 96
1967 BAXTER BRUCE R. LOWELL MA "CRASH 5 DEAD/PILOT RECOV-C&C DET, 5TH SFG (ABN)1SF" SFG
1967 EVERT LAWRENCE G. CODY WY DEAD
1967 HINES VAUGHN M. ARCADIA CA
1967 KUSICK JOSEPH G. BRUIN PA CRASH DEAD PILOT RECOV
1967 WEATHERMAN EARL C. ORANGE CA 04/01/68 DIC DURING ESCAPE
1970 CORONA JOEL PHARR TX
The Jerusalem Post
Syrian officials accuse Israel of exploiting int'l pressure
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Syria accused Israel on Tuesday of seeking to exploit intense US-led pressure on Damascus to reject calls for peace talks over the occupied Golan Heights.
"Israeli officials are trying to exploit the wave of political, media and psychological pressure on Syria in order to express in a rude manner their hostile attitudes toward Syria," Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said in a statement carried by SANA, the official news agency.
He was reacting to a statement attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday in which he said that he would not negotiate with Syria on the return of the Israeli-occupied strategic high ground.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367049574&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Syria's 'heretical dissident' blasts his 'stupid' president
By ORLY HALPERN
His parents have brought fame and pride to their country, Syria. His father, Muhammad Shaheen, was a film director and his mother, Mona Wasef, is not only a popular actress across the Middle East, but also a UN goodwill ambassador. But Ammar Abdulhamid, 39, is bringing his country to the headlines for very different reasons.
Most recently, he has called his president "stupid," his country "decrepit" and his people "shit-peddling flies." What's more, he predicts the regime will collapse "by the end of the year" and he has no problem talking about it to an Israeli newspaper.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1130954354297&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel may buy anti-Kassam system
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israel is negotiating for the purchase of a system to defend against Palestinian rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Channel Two TV reported Tuesday.
The Skyshield system, which was developed by US company Lockheed Martin Corp. and a Swiss firm, shoots shrapnel that knocks the target down or off-course, the TV said.
Skyshield has shot down 80 percent of its targets in tests, the TV said.
Israel hopes the system can help protect against homemade Palestinian rockets, which are frequently shot from the Gaza Strip. The rockets are notoriously accurate and rarely cause any damage, but have been fatal in some cases.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367050460&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Mofaz hopes for Rafah checkpoint deal
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND HERB KEINON
EU to have 'active' monitoring role at Rafah
The EU has accepted in principle Israel's demand that the third-party to be stationed at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt have "enforceable authority," Minister Haim Ramon said Tuesday.
Ramon met Tuesday with
EU officials working with Israeli and Palestinian officials trying to define the role of the Rafah monitor team.
One official close to the negotiations said that the parties are likely to "wrap things up" at a meeting Wednesday night between Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, PA Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan and Quartet disengagement envoy James Wolfensohn.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367049827&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Mines to be cleared for new Arab school
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A Jerusalem minefield on the outskirts of the city is being cleared of the hundreds of explosives placed there by the Jordanians four decades ago to make way for a new Arab high school, the city said Tuesday.
The area in question, located at the entrance to the east Jerusalem villages of Sur Bahir and Umm Tuba which lies next to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel on the city's southeastern rim has been off-limits to villagers since the 1967 Six Day War.
Huge yellow signs reading 'Danger Mines!' in Arabic Hebrew and English have lined the fenced-off hilltop.
The city said that it is estimated that as many as 400 mines are buried in the 30 dunam field.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367050514&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Storm clouds ahead
By ISI LEIBLER
On the surface, the relationship between the United States and Israel has never been better.
The Bush Administration is today more understanding of Israel's position than any of its predecessors; the extent of evangelical Christian is unprecedented; and backing for Israel in opinion polls remains solid. Yet having met with a cross section of American Jewish leaders during a recent visit to New York, I fear that there are grounds for serious concern.
The deterioration on the campus continues and the demonization of Israel, frequently accompanied by anti-Semitism, now transcends all other campus political issues. Hostile campaigns are frequently spearheaded by anti-Israeli activists of Jewish origin, and the majority of Jewish students avoid involvement either because they are indifferent, or in many cases simply because they are frightened. Moreover, when these youngsters become older, a substantial proportion of them are unlikely to maintain the same level of support for Israel as their parents.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367042158&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Chicago Tribune
November 08, 2005
Tornado-bearing Supercell Thunderstorms threaten sections of the Midwest and the Chicago metro area Tuesday night
Issued 2PM TUESDAY -- I want to update you on the potentially potent severe weather situation--including the threat of powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes---which appears to be coming together for tonight.
There are never guarantees a given set-up will go on to produce violent weather, strong as it may appear. And, even when it does, such weather is highly selective--damaging often damaging one area and sparing another. We have no skill yet in meteorological science to tell you many hours in advance precisely which communities are at risk. But, the current situation has an ominous look to it and is worth flagging--even if it ends up passing quietly.
http://wgntv.trb.com/news/weather/weblog/wgnweather/
One Dead, 2 Hurt in Tenn. School Shooting
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
Published November 8, 2005, 4:59 PM CST
JACKSBORO, Tenn. -- A student shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at a high school Tuesday, officials said. The student was arrested.
The motive for the shooting at Campbell County High School, 30 miles from Knoxville, was not immediately known, Sheriff Ron McClellan told WVLT-TV.
"We don'a0644t know yet. I have the individual at the hospital," McClellan said. "These men are all fine Christian men, and I am at a loss for words."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-school-shooting,1,3456707.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Gas leak forces evacuation
By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 8, 2005, 2:10 PM CST
Dozens of people who had been evacuated from three Chicago Housing Authority buildings when excavators accidentally hit and ruptured a natural gas main were returning to their units this afternoon after workers capped the leak.
A Water Department crew was digging on the 1500 block of West 13th Street on the city's Near West Side shortly after 11 a.m. when it struck the gas line, authorities said.
A hazardous materials alert was sounded, and firefighters and multiple ambulances were dispatched as a precaution. Gas could be seen spewing out of the hole in the ground, but there was no fire, and no injuries were reported.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051108hazmat,1,3829717.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Chicago Sun Times
Weather today "Gray Area"
ACLU wants reform plan for juvenile center
file:news4
November 8, 2005
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter
Cook County's juvenile detention center has violated so many parts of a court order that a federal judge should appoint someone to draft a mandatory plan for change, the American Civil Liberties Union will argue in a petition to be filed today.
Despite six years of litigation, a 3-year-old agreement in which the county said it would fix problems, multiple management personnel changes and two court-appointed monitors, the ACLU says it has learned through interviews with children held there that the center:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-juvie08.html
Boeing announces 250 layoffs in Wichita
November 8, 2005
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
WICHITA, Kan.-- Boeing Co. said Tuesday it would lay off about 250 workers at its Wichita operations, partly because of program delays caused by the recent machinists strike.
The layoffs include cuts at the Integrated Defense Systems unit-- reductions that Derek McLuckey, general manager of the site, attributed to delays in major programs due to the work stoppage.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/boeing08.html
EPA plans hearing for Peabody plant
November 8, 2005
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
MARISSA-- Peabody Energy Corp. wants to store on previously mined land coal-combustion waste from its planned $2 billion power plant near this southern Illinois town, stoking worries among environmentalists that the waste could seep into local water supplies.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/peabody08.html
The Moscow Times
Western Observers Say Vote Fell Short
By Tim Wall
Staff Writer
David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
Opposition leaders Ali Kerimi, left, Sardar Dzhalaloglu and Isa Gambar speaking at a news conference at the opposition's headquarters in Baku on Monday.
BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Western observers said Monday that Azerbaijan's weekend parliamentary elections fell far short of international standards due to widespread irregularities in voting and vote counting.
A threat of unrest hung over the country as the opposition Azadliq coalition demanded repeat elections for 100 of the 125 seats in the parliament and vowed to hold their largest protest rally yet on Wednesday.
Preliminary official results on Monday gave President Ilham Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party the lead in 62 seats and independents -- many of whom are government loyalists -- the lead in 42, leaving the opposition with just 10.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/001.html
Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office investigates elections
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 10:11 PM
BAKU, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has initiated criminal proceedings on the basis of reports by the Central Election Commission about violations during the November 6 parliamentary elections.
The country's Central Election Commission invalidated ballot counts in two constituencies and 10 polling stations of another constituency Tuesday
UPDATE: Azerbaijan's elections were legitimate - Russian Foreign Ministry
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 10:00 PM
MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Foreign Ministry does not share the opinion of OSCE observers and has said the degree of violations in Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections did not warrant questioning the legitimacy of the elections.
"The elections on the whole were held in accordance with the acting Azerbaijani legislation. There were violations. There are always violations in elections. They were registered by Russian observers as well. However, the scale of the violations does not call for questioning the legitimacy of the election results," a ministry statement said.
"Russia does not share the evaluation of the international mission of election observers, which included representatives from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PACE, the European Parliament, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, that the elections in Azerbaijan did not correspond to a number of obligations of this country within the framework of the OSCE and the Council of Europe," the statement said.
"It is absolutely unclear who decided on the content of the international mission, which had the courage to speak in the name of the OSCE," the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry supports objective and unbiased expert monitoring that does not result in political verdicts, the statement said
Russia to invite heads of major world organizations to G8 summit
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 9:30 PM
LONDON, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia plans to invite the heads of major international organizations to the G8 summit in St. Petersburg and to host two concerts dedicated to the event, a Russian sherpa said Tuesday in the British capital.
Igor Shuvalov said the final agenda for the summit was still being developed.
It is already known that Russia plans to invite the heads of major international organizations, including the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the African Union, as well as the chairman of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Shuvalov also said all ministerial meetings would be held in Moscow except for the meeting of finance ministers, which will be held in St. Petersburg.
During the summit, there will be a full-scale concert held in Moscow on Red Square dedicated to the protection of intellectual property. Another concert will be held in St. Petersburg ahead of the summit
World Bank offers $48 million loan to Azerbaijan
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 9:16 PM
BAKU, November 8 (RIA Novosti, Gerai Dadashev) - The World Bank will offer a $48 million loan to Azerbaijan for a project to introduce an automated management system of energy supply over the course of three years.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yagub Eyubov and World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus Donna Dowsett-Coirolo signed the relevant agreement in Baku Tuesday.
The loan will be secured for 20 years with an eight-year grace period at LIBOR + 0.5%
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kiev Slams Deportation of Observers
The Associated Press
KIEV -- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Monday criticized the deportation of Ukrainian election observers from Azerbaijan and demanded an explanation.
Sixteen Ukrainians who traveled to Azerbaijan to monitor its parliamentary elections were barred from the country and sent home Sunday, the day of the vote. The would-be observers said they were told at the airport in Baku that they were not wanted. Two of those turned away said they had been invited by Isa Gambar, head of the Azeri opposition party Musavat, to observe the election and were traveling unofficially.
Serhiy Taran, one of the Ukrainians who was barred, expressed his concern Monday over suspected violations reported by international observers in Azerbaijan.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/017.html
In Kiev, Communists Rally as Nationalists Cry 'Shame!'
The Associated Press
Efrem Lukatsky / AP
A protester throwing an orange at the president's office on Monday.
KIEV -- Hundreds of Ukrainian Communists commemorated the Bolshevik Revolution on Monday, while nationalists gathered behind police barricades and shouted "Shame!"
The Communists turned Kiev's Independence Square into a sea of red, waving red flags as giant red balloons floated above the crowd. One protester held aloft a painting of Vladimir Lenin, while others -- red ribbons tied around their arms -- joined in singing the workers' anthem, "The Internationale."
The anniversary of the 1917 Revolution is no longer an official holiday in Ukraine. But, "we've been celebrating this day since childhood, and I intend to celebrate it until my death," said Valentyna Chernova, 68.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/013.html
continued …
"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Tuesday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2005. There are 53 days left in the year. This is Election Day.
1923, Adolf Hitler launched his first attempt at seizing power with a failed coup in Munich, Germany, the "Beer-Hall Putsch."
1933, President Roosevelt created the Civil Works Administration, designed to create jobs for more than four million unemployed.
1938 Crystal Bird Faucet is elected to become the first Black woman state representative in Pennsylvania.
1942 Operation "Torch" began during World War II as U.S. and British forces landed in French North Africa.
1960 Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency.
1962 Leroy Johnson becomes first Black to be elected to Georgia legislature since Reconstruction
1965, the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" premiered on NBC.
1966 Edward W. Brooke becomes the first Black elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction. He is a Republican from Massachusetts.
1985 Federal Court Judge Sarokin releases middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter from prison where he is incarcerated for a murder he didn't commit.
Ten years ago: Retired General Colin Powell embraced the Republican Party, but said he would not run for president or any other political office in 1996 because it was "a calling that I do not yet hear."
Five years ago: A statewide recount began in Florida, which emerged as critical in deciding the winner of the 2000 presidential election. Early that day, Vice President Al Gore telephoned Texas Gov. George W. Bush to concede, but called back about an hour later to retract his concession.
Waco special counsel John C. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.
One year ago: The U.S. dollar was eliminated from circulation in Cuba.
Jason Bay became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to win the National League Rookie of the Year award, while Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby took the American League honor.
Missing in Action
1965 PARKER RICHARD H. AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN ARMY 1RAR
1967 ADAMS JOHN R. CHICO CA
1967 BRENNEMAN RICHARD C. MISHAWAKA IN 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 96
1967 BAXTER BRUCE R. LOWELL MA "CRASH 5 DEAD/PILOT RECOV-C&C DET, 5TH SFG (ABN)1SF" SFG
1967 EVERT LAWRENCE G. CODY WY DEAD
1967 HINES VAUGHN M. ARCADIA CA
1967 KUSICK JOSEPH G. BRUIN PA CRASH DEAD PILOT RECOV
1967 WEATHERMAN EARL C. ORANGE CA 04/01/68 DIC DURING ESCAPE
1970 CORONA JOEL PHARR TX
The Jerusalem Post
Syrian officials accuse Israel of exploiting int'l pressure
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Syria accused Israel on Tuesday of seeking to exploit intense US-led pressure on Damascus to reject calls for peace talks over the occupied Golan Heights.
"Israeli officials are trying to exploit the wave of political, media and psychological pressure on Syria in order to express in a rude manner their hostile attitudes toward Syria," Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said in a statement carried by SANA, the official news agency.
He was reacting to a statement attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday in which he said that he would not negotiate with Syria on the return of the Israeli-occupied strategic high ground.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367049574&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Syria's 'heretical dissident' blasts his 'stupid' president
By ORLY HALPERN
His parents have brought fame and pride to their country, Syria. His father, Muhammad Shaheen, was a film director and his mother, Mona Wasef, is not only a popular actress across the Middle East, but also a UN goodwill ambassador. But Ammar Abdulhamid, 39, is bringing his country to the headlines for very different reasons.
Most recently, he has called his president "stupid," his country "decrepit" and his people "shit-peddling flies." What's more, he predicts the regime will collapse "by the end of the year" and he has no problem talking about it to an Israeli newspaper.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1130954354297&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel may buy anti-Kassam system
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israel is negotiating for the purchase of a system to defend against Palestinian rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Channel Two TV reported Tuesday.
The Skyshield system, which was developed by US company Lockheed Martin Corp. and a Swiss firm, shoots shrapnel that knocks the target down or off-course, the TV said.
Skyshield has shot down 80 percent of its targets in tests, the TV said.
Israel hopes the system can help protect against homemade Palestinian rockets, which are frequently shot from the Gaza Strip. The rockets are notoriously accurate and rarely cause any damage, but have been fatal in some cases.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367050460&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Mofaz hopes for Rafah checkpoint deal
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND HERB KEINON
EU to have 'active' monitoring role at Rafah
The EU has accepted in principle Israel's demand that the third-party to be stationed at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt have "enforceable authority," Minister Haim Ramon said Tuesday.
Ramon met Tuesday with
EU officials working with Israeli and Palestinian officials trying to define the role of the Rafah monitor team.
One official close to the negotiations said that the parties are likely to "wrap things up" at a meeting Wednesday night between Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, PA Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan and Quartet disengagement envoy James Wolfensohn.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367049827&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Mines to be cleared for new Arab school
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A Jerusalem minefield on the outskirts of the city is being cleared of the hundreds of explosives placed there by the Jordanians four decades ago to make way for a new Arab high school, the city said Tuesday.
The area in question, located at the entrance to the east Jerusalem villages of Sur Bahir and Umm Tuba which lies next to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel on the city's southeastern rim has been off-limits to villagers since the 1967 Six Day War.
Huge yellow signs reading 'Danger Mines!' in Arabic Hebrew and English have lined the fenced-off hilltop.
The city said that it is estimated that as many as 400 mines are buried in the 30 dunam field.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367050514&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Storm clouds ahead
By ISI LEIBLER
On the surface, the relationship between the United States and Israel has never been better.
The Bush Administration is today more understanding of Israel's position than any of its predecessors; the extent of evangelical Christian is unprecedented; and backing for Israel in opinion polls remains solid. Yet having met with a cross section of American Jewish leaders during a recent visit to New York, I fear that there are grounds for serious concern.
The deterioration on the campus continues and the demonization of Israel, frequently accompanied by anti-Semitism, now transcends all other campus political issues. Hostile campaigns are frequently spearheaded by anti-Israeli activists of Jewish origin, and the majority of Jewish students avoid involvement either because they are indifferent, or in many cases simply because they are frightened. Moreover, when these youngsters become older, a substantial proportion of them are unlikely to maintain the same level of support for Israel as their parents.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131367042158&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Chicago Tribune
November 08, 2005
Tornado-bearing Supercell Thunderstorms threaten sections of the Midwest and the Chicago metro area Tuesday night
Issued 2PM TUESDAY -- I want to update you on the potentially potent severe weather situation--including the threat of powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes---which appears to be coming together for tonight.
There are never guarantees a given set-up will go on to produce violent weather, strong as it may appear. And, even when it does, such weather is highly selective--damaging often damaging one area and sparing another. We have no skill yet in meteorological science to tell you many hours in advance precisely which communities are at risk. But, the current situation has an ominous look to it and is worth flagging--even if it ends up passing quietly.
http://wgntv.trb.com/news/weather/weblog/wgnweather/
One Dead, 2 Hurt in Tenn. School Shooting
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
Published November 8, 2005, 4:59 PM CST
JACKSBORO, Tenn. -- A student shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at a high school Tuesday, officials said. The student was arrested.
The motive for the shooting at Campbell County High School, 30 miles from Knoxville, was not immediately known, Sheriff Ron McClellan told WVLT-TV.
"We don'a0644t know yet. I have the individual at the hospital," McClellan said. "These men are all fine Christian men, and I am at a loss for words."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-school-shooting,1,3456707.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Gas leak forces evacuation
By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 8, 2005, 2:10 PM CST
Dozens of people who had been evacuated from three Chicago Housing Authority buildings when excavators accidentally hit and ruptured a natural gas main were returning to their units this afternoon after workers capped the leak.
A Water Department crew was digging on the 1500 block of West 13th Street on the city's Near West Side shortly after 11 a.m. when it struck the gas line, authorities said.
A hazardous materials alert was sounded, and firefighters and multiple ambulances were dispatched as a precaution. Gas could be seen spewing out of the hole in the ground, but there was no fire, and no injuries were reported.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051108hazmat,1,3829717.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Chicago Sun Times
Weather today "Gray Area"
ACLU wants reform plan for juvenile center
file:news4
November 8, 2005
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter
Cook County's juvenile detention center has violated so many parts of a court order that a federal judge should appoint someone to draft a mandatory plan for change, the American Civil Liberties Union will argue in a petition to be filed today.
Despite six years of litigation, a 3-year-old agreement in which the county said it would fix problems, multiple management personnel changes and two court-appointed monitors, the ACLU says it has learned through interviews with children held there that the center:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-juvie08.html
Boeing announces 250 layoffs in Wichita
November 8, 2005
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
WICHITA, Kan.-- Boeing Co. said Tuesday it would lay off about 250 workers at its Wichita operations, partly because of program delays caused by the recent machinists strike.
The layoffs include cuts at the Integrated Defense Systems unit-- reductions that Derek McLuckey, general manager of the site, attributed to delays in major programs due to the work stoppage.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/boeing08.html
EPA plans hearing for Peabody plant
November 8, 2005
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
MARISSA-- Peabody Energy Corp. wants to store on previously mined land coal-combustion waste from its planned $2 billion power plant near this southern Illinois town, stoking worries among environmentalists that the waste could seep into local water supplies.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/peabody08.html
The Moscow Times
Western Observers Say Vote Fell Short
By Tim Wall
Staff Writer
David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
Opposition leaders Ali Kerimi, left, Sardar Dzhalaloglu and Isa Gambar speaking at a news conference at the opposition's headquarters in Baku on Monday.
BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Western observers said Monday that Azerbaijan's weekend parliamentary elections fell far short of international standards due to widespread irregularities in voting and vote counting.
A threat of unrest hung over the country as the opposition Azadliq coalition demanded repeat elections for 100 of the 125 seats in the parliament and vowed to hold their largest protest rally yet on Wednesday.
Preliminary official results on Monday gave President Ilham Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party the lead in 62 seats and independents -- many of whom are government loyalists -- the lead in 42, leaving the opposition with just 10.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/001.html
Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office investigates elections
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 10:11 PM
BAKU, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has initiated criminal proceedings on the basis of reports by the Central Election Commission about violations during the November 6 parliamentary elections.
The country's Central Election Commission invalidated ballot counts in two constituencies and 10 polling stations of another constituency Tuesday
UPDATE: Azerbaijan's elections were legitimate - Russian Foreign Ministry
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 10:00 PM
MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Foreign Ministry does not share the opinion of OSCE observers and has said the degree of violations in Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections did not warrant questioning the legitimacy of the elections.
"The elections on the whole were held in accordance with the acting Azerbaijani legislation. There were violations. There are always violations in elections. They were registered by Russian observers as well. However, the scale of the violations does not call for questioning the legitimacy of the election results," a ministry statement said.
"Russia does not share the evaluation of the international mission of election observers, which included representatives from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PACE, the European Parliament, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, that the elections in Azerbaijan did not correspond to a number of obligations of this country within the framework of the OSCE and the Council of Europe," the statement said.
"It is absolutely unclear who decided on the content of the international mission, which had the courage to speak in the name of the OSCE," the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry supports objective and unbiased expert monitoring that does not result in political verdicts, the statement said
Russia to invite heads of major world organizations to G8 summit
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 9:30 PM
LONDON, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia plans to invite the heads of major international organizations to the G8 summit in St. Petersburg and to host two concerts dedicated to the event, a Russian sherpa said Tuesday in the British capital.
Igor Shuvalov said the final agenda for the summit was still being developed.
It is already known that Russia plans to invite the heads of major international organizations, including the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the African Union, as well as the chairman of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Shuvalov also said all ministerial meetings would be held in Moscow except for the meeting of finance ministers, which will be held in St. Petersburg.
During the summit, there will be a full-scale concert held in Moscow on Red Square dedicated to the protection of intellectual property. Another concert will be held in St. Petersburg ahead of the summit
World Bank offers $48 million loan to Azerbaijan
RIA NOVOSTI. November 8, 2005, 9:16 PM
BAKU, November 8 (RIA Novosti, Gerai Dadashev) - The World Bank will offer a $48 million loan to Azerbaijan for a project to introduce an automated management system of energy supply over the course of three years.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yagub Eyubov and World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus Donna Dowsett-Coirolo signed the relevant agreement in Baku Tuesday.
The loan will be secured for 20 years with an eight-year grace period at LIBOR + 0.5%
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kiev Slams Deportation of Observers
The Associated Press
KIEV -- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on Monday criticized the deportation of Ukrainian election observers from Azerbaijan and demanded an explanation.
Sixteen Ukrainians who traveled to Azerbaijan to monitor its parliamentary elections were barred from the country and sent home Sunday, the day of the vote. The would-be observers said they were told at the airport in Baku that they were not wanted. Two of those turned away said they had been invited by Isa Gambar, head of the Azeri opposition party Musavat, to observe the election and were traveling unofficially.
Serhiy Taran, one of the Ukrainians who was barred, expressed his concern Monday over suspected violations reported by international observers in Azerbaijan.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/017.html
In Kiev, Communists Rally as Nationalists Cry 'Shame!'
The Associated Press
Efrem Lukatsky / AP
A protester throwing an orange at the president's office on Monday.
KIEV -- Hundreds of Ukrainian Communists commemorated the Bolshevik Revolution on Monday, while nationalists gathered behind police barricades and shouted "Shame!"
The Communists turned Kiev's Independence Square into a sea of red, waving red flags as giant red balloons floated above the crowd. One protester held aloft a painting of Vladimir Lenin, while others -- red ribbons tied around their arms -- joined in singing the workers' anthem, "The Internationale."
The anniversary of the 1917 Revolution is no longer an official holiday in Ukraine. But, "we've been celebrating this day since childhood, and I intend to celebrate it until my death," said Valentyna Chernova, 68.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/08/013.html
continued …
The Folks in Iraq are having a hard time getting their electricity turned on 24 hours a day. I have no idea if they are complaining about billing.
The Folks in Florida aren't even home but the meters continue to run with exposed wires and the like. Evidently, when you leave your home to go to shelter in Florida you better remember to turn the lights out.
Iraqi Government Corruption is Rampant. Question is, is it more corrupt than Bush/Cheney White House?
This is a cartoon from an Iraqi newspaper. Of the corrupt Iraqi government, like Chalibi, paying LITERALLY a visit to the Iraqi 'insurgents.'
OH !!!!!!
More American Money?
Or more al Qaeda money?
Or is it American Money TO al Qaeda forces?
Morning Papers - continued
Miami Herald
FPL is set to raise bills by 16%
FPL is asking regulators to be allowed to charge customers 16 percent more in their monthly electric bills to pay for increased fuel costs caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
By MARC CAPUTO
mcaputo@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE - Get ready to pay about 16 percent more for electricity in South Florida every month.
Florida Power & Light asked state regulators Monday to levy a hefty new fee on each FPL customer to pay for $975 million in higher-than-expected fuel costs in 2005. The request is likely to be approved.
Power officials say the mini-energy crisis sparked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which briefly closed oil and natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, is to blame for the increase. It would be imposed for two years.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13107471.htm
Hurricane Wilma
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/
Wilma death toll reaches 31 across state
Hurricane Wilma is long gone, but across the state deaths attributed to the storm continue to mount.
By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@herald.com
Fifteen days after Hurricane Wilma hit Florida, the death toll continues to rise.
Fatalities attributed to the storm have climbed to at least 31 in seven counties, according to state and local officials.
Miami-Dade leads with 10 deaths, making the storm the deadliest in the county since Hurricane Andrew. And the death toll may grow larger.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108678.htm
Housing still needed for shelter people
Broward County will tackle the post-Wilma housing crunch today by telling state and federal officials what they need to find homes for people who lost theirs,
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD, LESLEY CLARK AND NATALIE P. McNEAL
ebolstad@herald.com
Wanted: vacant apartments, mobile home sites and empty blocks of hotel rooms.
With less than two weeks to find new shelter for more than 500 people still living on cots as well as up to 2,000 more who might need new homes, Broward leaders will meet today with some of the federal officials they say have been sluggish about helping them address the post-Hurricane Wilma housing crunch.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108548.htm
Miami mayor pledges money for Wilma shelters
By MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mvasquez@herald.com
Dealing with hundreds of city residents left temporarily homeless due to Hurricane Wilma, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz on Monday announced the creation of a city housing fund designed to assist those displaced by the storm. How much money the fund will have -- and how exactly it would be spent -- remained fuzzy, as the mayor said some details would have to be worked out in the coming days. The city is still getting a handle on the exact needs of its populace, Diaz said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13112277.htm
HURRICANE WILMA BUILDING DAMAGE
$100M school repairs, 3 years of work likely
Broward school officials have begun tallying the damages, estimating up to $100 million to repair hurricane destruction.
BY AMY DRISCOLL AND HANNAH SAMPSON
adriscoll@herald.com
A total of 69 Broward County schools sustained serious hurricane damage, with total repair costs running as high as $60 million to $100 million and taking two or three years to complete, officials estimated Monday.
As a fuller picture of Hurricane Wilma's toll emerges, school administrators have begun adding up the bills and prioritizing the fix-it list. More than 400 portables have already been repaired, officials said, with more work to come as students return to blue-tarped buildings after the two-week hurricane hiatus.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108534.htm
Crew of cruise ship gave pirates an earful
Details emerged on how the crew of a Miami-based cruise line thwarted Saturday's pirate attack off the Somali coast.
By AMY MARTINEZ
aemartinez@herald.com
As pirates armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades closed in on a luxury cruise liner off Somalia's coast last weekend, crew members fended them off with water hoses and an electronic device that blasts an earsplitting noise.
The device, developed for U.S. warships after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen, unleashed a piercing barrage nearly twice as loud as a smoke detector, while passengers huddled in a dining room away from windows. Capt. Sven Erik Pederson called for full steam ahead, taking the 10,000-ton Seabourn Spirit as fast as it could go. Pederson eventually outran the pirates, who were in small boats, and sought refuge in the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13109002.htm
LATIN AMERICA
Anti-Americanism has become ideology
BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER
www.firmaspress.com
President Bush learned two lessons at the failed Summit of Mar del Plata: the visceral hatred that the ideas inspired by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez have for the United States, and the profound division that afflicts Latin America.
The devastating protest was not surprising, however. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the Left everywhere stopped offering options for governance or serious theories about development and equity and sought refuge in protest.
The enemies of globalization explain their ideas by stoning McDonald's to smithereens. Anticapitalists hurl pies at the president of the International Monetary Fund.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13109020.htm
Alito's clear opinion on notification
BY CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
Pop quiz: Which of the following abortion regulations is more restrictive, more burdensome, more likely to lead more women to forgo abortion?
(a) Requiring a minor to get the informed consent of her parents, or to get a judge to approve the abortion.
(b) Requiring a married woman to sign a form saying that she notified her husband.
Can any reasonable person have any doubt? A minor is intrinsically far more subject to the whims, anger, punishment, economic control and retribution of a parent. And the minor is required to get both parents involved in the process and to get them to agree to the abortion.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13109022.htm
Evansville Courier and Press
Pond drained in search for bodies
By BYRON ROHRIG Courier & Press staff writer 464-7426 or blrohrig@evansville.net
November 8, 2005
Rescue workers Monday began draining a debris-filled retention pond several hundred feet west of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, fearing more dead could be found there after remains of the 18th victim was pulled from the water.
"There's an axle, foundation or a whole trailer down there, because there is a wheel sticking out," said County Highway Superintendent Mike Duckworth.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4221034,00.html
Utility workers work 16-hour shifts to restore power to tornado victims
By BILL MEDLEY, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7519 or medleyb@courierpress.com
November 8, 2005
More than 300 workers and contractors with Vectren and 13 other power companies continued to work 16-hour shifts Tuesday to restore power to about 3,000 people in Warrick County.
Niel Ellerbrook, chairman, president and CEO of Vectren, said damage to the utility company's power system in the path of the storm was unprecedented, and some residents in outlying areas may not see their utility service restored until this weekend.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj/article/0,2578,ECP_19916_4221694,00.html
Boating for a good cause
Tours aboard Natchez raise funds for Katrina victims
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
November 8, 2005
When she heard about Sunday morning's tornado, Evansville resident Debby Josey immediately thought of her childhood in Nebraska's Tornado Alley.
Josey, who boarded the New Orleans steamboat Natchez on Monday with her boyfriend, Alan Tolley of Newburgh, said she saw several tornados with her own eyes as a girl in Nebraska.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4220613,00.html
Colts finally get it right
Manning leads Indianapolis in rout of old nemesis Patriots
By BARRY WILNER AP football writer
November 8, 2005
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts finally scaled their personal Everest. Maybe now, after routing the New England Patriots 40-21 on Monday night, they'll admit this could be a super season.
Manning shrugged off his 0-7 record at Foxborough with an intelligent dissection of the two-time defending champions. Aided by star running back Edgerrin James' 104 yards on 34 carries, and 100-yard receiving games from Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, Manning led the Colts on six lengthy scoring drives and kept them perfect through eight games, the NFL's only undefeated team.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/pro_sports/article/0,1626,ECP_750_4221105,00.html
Evansville Business Journal
They call Evansville home
Tri-State houses many corporate headquarters
By CAROL WERSICH " EBJ staff writer " 464-7542 or wersichc@EBJ.biz
November 8, 2005
Niel Ellerbrook recalls a time in the late 1990s when his former company, Indiana Gas, was planning to merge with Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Co.
Indiana Gas, which served a Central Indiana market, was based in Indianapolis. SIGECO, which served southwest Indiana, was based in Evansville. The merged company, which became Vectren, could have chosen to locate its corporate headquarters in either city, Ellerbrook said, but Evansville was picked.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_magazine/article/0,2578,ECP_20276_4210073,00.html
Evansville is 'mother ship' for motor service
By CAROL WERSICH EBJ staff writer 464-7542 or wersichc@EBJ.biz
November 8, 2005
Many national and global companies headquartered in the Tri-State had modest, quiet beginnings.
Flanders Electric Motor Service, for example, began in 1947 as a tiny motor repair shop located at 1301 E. Missouri St. on Evansville's Northeast Side.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_magazine/article/0,2578,ECP_20276_4210069,00.html
Guidant Sues J&J to Force Acquisition
By THERESA AGOVINO AP Business Writer
November 7, 2005
NEW YORK- Guidant Corp. sued Johnson & Johnson on Monday in an attempt to force it to complete a $25.4 billion acquisition of the medical-device maker, which has been roiled by a series of recalls.
Analysts and lawyers said the suit signals the two sides have failed to renegotiate the acquisition slated to close last week and that it will likely dissolve. Shares of Indianapolis-based Guidant tumbled nearly 5 percent in early trading Monday, before recovering slightly. J&J shares rose.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_ap_business/article/0,2578,ECP_19938_4218688,00.html
Times Picayune
Levee chief defends rejecting N.O. plea
He says his crew was stretched too thin
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Sheila Grissett
East Jefferson bureau
In the hours after Hurricane Katrina breached the 17th Street Canal, flooding swaths of New Orleans and Old Metairie, the president of the East Jefferson Levee Board refused to let his agency help with emergency construction requested by state and federal engineers who were struggling to plug the break.
Levee Board President Pat Bossetta said he had too few people and too little functioning equipment to get that job done while combating flooding elsewhere in East Jefferson.
"At that point, I only had 11 men and two dump trucks left," Bossetta said. "Most of our equipment was broken down or burned out, and the guys were exhausted."
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432561215490.xml
Foti scrutinizing levee failures
Criminal, civil action possible, he says
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Laura Maggi and Bob Marshall
Staff writers
BATON ROUGE -- State Attorney General Charles Foti said Monday that his staff is looking into whether poor construction or design flaws played a part in the collapse of canal floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina and whether criminal or civil action is warranted.
The state Justice Department is reviewing the reports and findings of forensic experts with the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center and others who have been examining the floodwalls to determine why they failed, Foti said.
Foti's office is "still in the information-gathering phase," he said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432360215490.xml
FEMA grant payouts could be weeks away
Hard-hit households might get $26,200
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jan Moller
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Don't hold your breath for that FEMA check.
Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking steps to speed the delivery of financial aid to displaced homeowners, agency officials said Monday it will take up to five weeks to contact the first group of 60,000 households in Louisiana and Mississippi that might be eligible for the maximum $26,200 benefit the government will give to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Households identified by FEMA through satellite imagery as being hardest hit by Katrina, and related flood damage, will be eligible for cash assistance without an in-person visit from a FEMA representative.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1131432425215490.xml
Blanco budget plan leaves legislators cold
Critics says her trims are unfairly selective
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jan Moller
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco's plan to trim more than $500 million from the state budget through cuts and spending freezes got a chilly reception Monday from legislators, some of whom questioned whether certain programs were being unfairly targeted.
But Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc said more cuts might be forthcoming as legislators try to close a $959 million deficit in the state general fund caused by a slowdown in tax collections since hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1131432345215490.xml
Foti scrutinizing levee failures
Criminal, civil action possible, he says
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Laura Maggi and Bob Marshall
Staff writers
BATON ROUGE -- State Attorney General Charles Foti said Monday that his staff is looking into whether poor construction or design flaws played a part in the collapse of canal floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina and whether criminal or civil action is warranted.
The state Justice Department is reviewing the reports and findings of forensic experts with the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center and others who have been examining the floodwalls to determine why they failed, Foti said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432360215490.xml
Yes to budget, no to merit raises
Parish uses reserves to make up shortfall
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jenny Hurwitz
River Parishes bureau
In a nearly unanimous vote, the St. Charles Parish Council voted Monday to approve Parish President Albert Laque's proposed $68 million budget for next year, voting down attempts to include merit raises for parish employees and additional drainage projects.
Council members April Black, Brian Fabre, Clayton "Snookie" Faucheux, Desmond Hilaire, Lance Marino, Barry Minnich, Ganesier "Ram" Ramchandran and Derryl Walls voted in favor of the budget, with Councilman Richard "Dickie" Duhe voting against it at the council's meeting in Hahnville on Monday.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432438215490.xml
Panel approves tax breaks, but bogs down on tax holiday
11/8/2005, 1:14 p.m. CT
By KEVIN McGILL
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A series of tax breaks proposed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to help businesses and manufacturers recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita were easily passed by a House committee on Tuesday.
But the panel bogged down on another Blanco-backed measure, a proposed sales tax holiday for retail purchases, as members argued over whether it goes far enough.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/weather/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1131470045109700.xml&storylist=louisiana
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Chalabi to visit US ahead of Iraqi elections
By Carol Giacomo / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Iraqi politician most associated with the discredited prewar intelligence that has the Bush presidency in turmoil visits Washington this week as he maneuvers for advantage before Iraq's December 15 elections.
Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq's deputy prime minister, is a former U.S. golden boy who for years as an exile helped organize opposition to Saddam Hussein through the Iraqi National Congress, which was funded by the United States.
He was taken into Iraq by the American forces, along with an armed group of supporters, as Washington tried to build a new power structure in the weeks after the 2003 invasion. But he soon fell into disfavor, targeted with allegations that he betrayed U.S. secrets to Iran.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4808
"I think I met with him at the State of the Union: -- George W. Bush, June 2, 2004
President Bush Discusses the Iraqi Interim Government
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON IRAQI INTERIM GOVERNMENT
The Rose Garden
11:30 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today in Baghdad, U.N. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, announced the members of Iraq's new interim government. Consulting with hundreds of Iraqis from a variety of backgrounds, Mr. Brahimi has recommended a team that possesses the talent, commitment and resolve to guide Iraq through the challenges that lie ahead.
On June 30th, this interim government will assume full sovereignty and will oversee all ministries and all functions of the Iraqi state. Those ministries will report to Prime Minister Allawi, who will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Iraq's interim government. Dr. Allawi is a strong leader. He endured exile for decades and survived assassination attempts by Saddam's regime. He was trained as a physician, has worked as a businessman and has always been an Iraqi patriot.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040601-2.html
Sleeping With the Enemy: Chalabi’s Sordid History
“I can’t substantiate [Chalabi’s] claims. He makes new ones every year.”
- Colin Powell, 6/12/03
Today, Ahmed Chalabi arrives in the United States. The Guardian reports:
[Chalabi] is due to meet Ms Rice at the State Department tomorrow, and John Snow, the treasury secretary, today. He is also expected to see Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, and possibly the vice-president, Dick Cheney.
Here’s a short rap sheet on the man who the administration used to provide justification for the Iraq war:
PENTAGON FUNDED CHALABI TO PROVIDE RATIONALE FOR WAR: The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency paid the INC $335,000 a month in the lead-up to the Iraq war to gather intelligence. In all, the Bush White House has given the INC at least $39 million over the past 5 years.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/08/chalabis-sordid-history
Miller was WHIG operative--CONFIRMED!
Submitted by lambert on Wed, 2005-10-19 23:06.
Corrente was right on the money. Yesterday’s conspiracy theory is today’s news. Read on:
We wrote then:
7. I suggest that Times management—Keller, Sulzberger—was embedded in the disinformation campaign run by the White House Iraq Group, that Miller was their operative, and Libby was their handler. Of course, their White House handler wouldn’t have been crass enough to offer them money; the access to power, and the promise of scoops, would have been enough. The scoops were to come from Chalabi. (It doesn’t matter whether the White House still had faith in Chalabi; what matters is that the Times did).
The Daily News reports today (here via The Amazin’ Froomkin:
WASHINGTON - It was called the White House Iraq Group and its job was to make the case that Saddam Hussein had nuclear and biochemical weapons.
http://www.correntewire.com/miller_was_whig_operative_confirmed
Times takes the modified limited hangout route
Submitted by lambert on Sun, 2005-10-16 10:26.
Well! Today, for the first time, America’s Greatest Newspaper (not!) mentions the WHIG. Curiously, the Grey Lady chooses to lose her cherry on this story with Frank Rich behind the green door of Times Select, and not in the news section. Gosh, the news section is where the “Flame”-broiling of what remains of the Time’s reputation for journalism is taking place, isn’t it? It’s almost like they want to build a Chinese wall between Miller and WHIG, isn’t it?
Anyhow, Frank Rich does do a modified limited hangout.And the fact that this is a modified limited hangout shows just how bad things are. But, as in all coverups, watch for what is not said. Do a gap analysis!
http://www.correntewire.com/times_takes_the_modified_limited_hangout_route
THE PLOY
Talk about putting one over on the American people. This one takes the cake, it really does. Did you hear anyone even mention the White House Iraq Group until recently? Did you have a clue about who they were or what they were about? Luckily, Scooter Libby screwed up somehow and got himself indicted, and now we know. Talk about a con job.
It seems that the White House Iraq Group was quite an impressive bunch with an even more impressive job. They had to sell the entire population of the United States a really big dose of snake oil in a very short time. I kid you not. That really was their assignment, and boy did they ever carry it out in style!
http://tvnewslies.org/html/the_white_house_iraq_group.html
Whose Criminal Indictment/Trial Would You Most Like to See?
Selection
Votes
Karl "Turdblossom" Rove - 71% - 49
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - 4% - 3
Tom "The Hammer" DeLay - 14% - 10
Bill "Kitten Killer" Frist - 10% - 7
69 votes total
Poll results are subject to error. Pollhost.com does not pre-screen the content of polls created by Pollhost customers.
http://poll.pollhost.com/VHJ1ZUJsdWVMaWJlcmFsCTExMjg1MzU0MTQJMDAwMDAwCTAwRkZGRglDb21pYytTYW5zK01TCUFzc29ydGVkCTA/
Justices to Rule on a Challenge to U.S. Tribunals
By Linda Greenhouse / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 - The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would decide the validity of the military commissions that President Bush wants to use to bring detainees charged with terrorist offenses to trial.
The case, to be argued in March without the participation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., places the court back at the center of the national debate over the limits of presidential authority in conducting the war on terror. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected the administration's position that the federal courts had no jurisdiction over those held as enemy combatants at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4809
Before Rearming Iraq, He Sold Shoes and Flowers
By Solomon Moore and T. Christian Miller / Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — Ziad Cattan was a Polish Iraqi used-car dealer with no weapons-dealing experience until U.S. authorities turned him into one of the most powerful men in Iraq last year — the chief of procurement for the Defense Ministry, responsible for equipping the fledgling Iraqi army.
As U.S. advisors looked on, Cattan embarked on a massive spending spree, paying hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraqi funds for secret, no-bid contracts, according to interviews with more than a dozen senior American, coalition and Iraqi officials, and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The money flowed, often in bricks of cash, through the hands of middlemen who were friends of Cattan and took a percentage of the proceeds.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4806
Who killed Dale Stoffel?
The above cartoon—published in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mutamar last October—shows an insurgent shaking hands with a civil servant carrying suitcase labeled "Administrative Corruption."
The intersection of these sinister forces has now resulted in an American murder mystery—one that could have far-reaching implications for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and whatever government emerges from the January 30 elections.
The Los Angeles Times reports
An American contractor gunned down last month in Iraq had accused Iraqi Defense Ministry officials of corruption days before his death, according to documents and U.S. officials.
Dale Stoffel, 43, was shot to death Dec. 8 shortly after leaving an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, an attack attributed at the time to Iraqi insurgents. Also killed was a business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49.
http://writingcompany.blogs.com/this_isnt_writing_its_typ/2005/01/who_killed_dale.html
Cheney in the Bunker
By Daniel Klaidman and Michael Isikoff / Newsweek
Nov. 14, 2005 issue - As usual, Dick Cheney insisted on doing business behind closed doors. Last Tuesday, Senate Republicans were winding up their weekly luncheon in the Capitol when the vice president rose to speak. Staffers were quickly ordered out of the room—what Cheney had to say was for senators only. Normally taciturn, Cheney was uncharacteristically impassioned, according to two GOP senators who did not want to be on the record about a private meeting. He was very upset over the Senate's overwhelming passage of an amendment that prohibits inhumane treatment of terrorist detainees. Cheney said the law would tie the president's hands and end up costing "thousands of lives." He dramatized the point, conjuring up a scenario in which a captured Qaeda operative, another Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, refuses to give his interrogators details about an imminent attack. "We have to be able to do what is necessary," the vice president said, according to one of the senators who was present. The lawmakers listened, but they weren't moved to act. Sen. John McCain, who authored the anti-torture amendment, spoke up. "This is killing us around the world," he said. The House, which will likely vote on the measure soon, is also expected to pass it by a large margin.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4790
Senate Votes Again for Ban on Abusing Prisoners
By Eric Schmitt / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 - The Senate restated its support on Friday for banning the abusive treatment of prisoners in American custody, and the measure's Republican sponsor chided the House Republican leadership for delaying a vote on it.
The Senate approved the same provision last month, 90 to 9. On Friday, senators endorsed it again, this time by a unanimous voice vote, and attached it to a revised military spending bill. The White House has threatened to veto the bill if it includes the measure, saying the provision would restrict the president's ability to protect the country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4787
Hagel: Torture Exemption Would Be Mistake
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A leading Republican senator said Sunday that the Bush administration is making "a terrible mistake" in opposing a congressional ban on torture and other inhuman treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008, said many Republican senators support the ban proposed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4793
Afghan Detainee's Leg Was 'Pulpified,' Witness Says
The testimony comes at a hearing for an MP who delivered beatings. The inmate later died.
By Lianne Hart / Los Angeles Times
FT. BLISS, Texas — An Afghan detainee in U.S. custody was so brutalized before his death that his thigh tissue was "pulpified," a forensic pathologist testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing for a military police officer charged in the 2002 assault.
"It was similar to injuries of a person run over by a bus," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, who performed an autopsy on the detainee, identified only as Dilawar.
Rouse's telephone testimony came on the second day of an Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding — to determine whether Army Pfc. Willie V. Brand, 26, should be court-martialed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1931
Four U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombing
By Thomas Wagner / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four U.S. soldiers were killed Monday when a suicide car bomber attacked their checkpoint south of Baghdad, the military said. The soldiers were assigned to the Army's Task Force Baghdad, which is responsible for security in the capital and the surrounding area. But the statement did not specify where the attack occurred.
Names of the soldiers also were withheld pending notification of their families.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4805
Katrina homeless waiting for trailers
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Many Hurricane Katrina evacuees are still waiting for the 125,000 trailers or mobile homes the federal government has promised are on the way.
Only about 19,000 of the trailers and mobile homes have been delivered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the 10 weeks since the hurricane left hundreds of thousands homeless, the Chicago Tribune reports.
It's only one part of the housing plans, which include rental assistance, which 488,000 people have gotten so far.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4803
Roadtrip for Relief
Converge in New Orleans in a Showing of Solidarity! November 20-27 in New Orleans -- organized by Common Ground
Come lend a hand over the week of Thanksgiving until November 27th. That's less than four weeks away!
The folks at Common Ground invite you to join an estimated 300 volunteers from around the continent to converge in New Orleans the week of Thanksgiving. We want to encourage those in attendance to arrive with building & cleaning supplies, donated equipment and, if possible, funds that can apply directly to help rebuild and the 9th Ward.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/covington.php?id=51
continued ...
FPL is set to raise bills by 16%
FPL is asking regulators to be allowed to charge customers 16 percent more in their monthly electric bills to pay for increased fuel costs caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
By MARC CAPUTO
mcaputo@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE - Get ready to pay about 16 percent more for electricity in South Florida every month.
Florida Power & Light asked state regulators Monday to levy a hefty new fee on each FPL customer to pay for $975 million in higher-than-expected fuel costs in 2005. The request is likely to be approved.
Power officials say the mini-energy crisis sparked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which briefly closed oil and natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, is to blame for the increase. It would be imposed for two years.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13107471.htm
Hurricane Wilma
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/
Wilma death toll reaches 31 across state
Hurricane Wilma is long gone, but across the state deaths attributed to the storm continue to mount.
By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@herald.com
Fifteen days after Hurricane Wilma hit Florida, the death toll continues to rise.
Fatalities attributed to the storm have climbed to at least 31 in seven counties, according to state and local officials.
Miami-Dade leads with 10 deaths, making the storm the deadliest in the county since Hurricane Andrew. And the death toll may grow larger.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108678.htm
Housing still needed for shelter people
Broward County will tackle the post-Wilma housing crunch today by telling state and federal officials what they need to find homes for people who lost theirs,
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD, LESLEY CLARK AND NATALIE P. McNEAL
ebolstad@herald.com
Wanted: vacant apartments, mobile home sites and empty blocks of hotel rooms.
With less than two weeks to find new shelter for more than 500 people still living on cots as well as up to 2,000 more who might need new homes, Broward leaders will meet today with some of the federal officials they say have been sluggish about helping them address the post-Hurricane Wilma housing crunch.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108548.htm
Miami mayor pledges money for Wilma shelters
By MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mvasquez@herald.com
Dealing with hundreds of city residents left temporarily homeless due to Hurricane Wilma, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz on Monday announced the creation of a city housing fund designed to assist those displaced by the storm. How much money the fund will have -- and how exactly it would be spent -- remained fuzzy, as the mayor said some details would have to be worked out in the coming days. The city is still getting a handle on the exact needs of its populace, Diaz said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13112277.htm
HURRICANE WILMA BUILDING DAMAGE
$100M school repairs, 3 years of work likely
Broward school officials have begun tallying the damages, estimating up to $100 million to repair hurricane destruction.
BY AMY DRISCOLL AND HANNAH SAMPSON
adriscoll@herald.com
A total of 69 Broward County schools sustained serious hurricane damage, with total repair costs running as high as $60 million to $100 million and taking two or three years to complete, officials estimated Monday.
As a fuller picture of Hurricane Wilma's toll emerges, school administrators have begun adding up the bills and prioritizing the fix-it list. More than 400 portables have already been repaired, officials said, with more work to come as students return to blue-tarped buildings after the two-week hurricane hiatus.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_wilma/13108534.htm
Crew of cruise ship gave pirates an earful
Details emerged on how the crew of a Miami-based cruise line thwarted Saturday's pirate attack off the Somali coast.
By AMY MARTINEZ
aemartinez@herald.com
As pirates armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades closed in on a luxury cruise liner off Somalia's coast last weekend, crew members fended them off with water hoses and an electronic device that blasts an earsplitting noise.
The device, developed for U.S. warships after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen, unleashed a piercing barrage nearly twice as loud as a smoke detector, while passengers huddled in a dining room away from windows. Capt. Sven Erik Pederson called for full steam ahead, taking the 10,000-ton Seabourn Spirit as fast as it could go. Pederson eventually outran the pirates, who were in small boats, and sought refuge in the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13109002.htm
LATIN AMERICA
Anti-Americanism has become ideology
BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER
www.firmaspress.com
President Bush learned two lessons at the failed Summit of Mar del Plata: the visceral hatred that the ideas inspired by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez have for the United States, and the profound division that afflicts Latin America.
The devastating protest was not surprising, however. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the Left everywhere stopped offering options for governance or serious theories about development and equity and sought refuge in protest.
The enemies of globalization explain their ideas by stoning McDonald's to smithereens. Anticapitalists hurl pies at the president of the International Monetary Fund.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13109020.htm
Alito's clear opinion on notification
BY CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
Pop quiz: Which of the following abortion regulations is more restrictive, more burdensome, more likely to lead more women to forgo abortion?
(a) Requiring a minor to get the informed consent of her parents, or to get a judge to approve the abortion.
(b) Requiring a married woman to sign a form saying that she notified her husband.
Can any reasonable person have any doubt? A minor is intrinsically far more subject to the whims, anger, punishment, economic control and retribution of a parent. And the minor is required to get both parents involved in the process and to get them to agree to the abortion.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/13109022.htm
Evansville Courier and Press
Pond drained in search for bodies
By BYRON ROHRIG Courier & Press staff writer 464-7426 or blrohrig@evansville.net
November 8, 2005
Rescue workers Monday began draining a debris-filled retention pond several hundred feet west of Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, fearing more dead could be found there after remains of the 18th victim was pulled from the water.
"There's an axle, foundation or a whole trailer down there, because there is a wheel sticking out," said County Highway Superintendent Mike Duckworth.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4221034,00.html
Utility workers work 16-hour shifts to restore power to tornado victims
By BILL MEDLEY, Courier & Press staff writer 464-7519 or medleyb@courierpress.com
November 8, 2005
More than 300 workers and contractors with Vectren and 13 other power companies continued to work 16-hour shifts Tuesday to restore power to about 3,000 people in Warrick County.
Niel Ellerbrook, chairman, president and CEO of Vectren, said damage to the utility company's power system in the path of the storm was unprecedented, and some residents in outlying areas may not see their utility service restored until this weekend.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj/article/0,2578,ECP_19916_4221694,00.html
Boating for a good cause
Tours aboard Natchez raise funds for Katrina victims
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
November 8, 2005
When she heard about Sunday morning's tornado, Evansville resident Debby Josey immediately thought of her childhood in Nebraska's Tornado Alley.
Josey, who boarded the New Orleans steamboat Natchez on Monday with her boyfriend, Alan Tolley of Newburgh, said she saw several tornados with her own eyes as a girl in Nebraska.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_4220613,00.html
Colts finally get it right
Manning leads Indianapolis in rout of old nemesis Patriots
By BARRY WILNER AP football writer
November 8, 2005
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts finally scaled their personal Everest. Maybe now, after routing the New England Patriots 40-21 on Monday night, they'll admit this could be a super season.
Manning shrugged off his 0-7 record at Foxborough with an intelligent dissection of the two-time defending champions. Aided by star running back Edgerrin James' 104 yards on 34 carries, and 100-yard receiving games from Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, Manning led the Colts on six lengthy scoring drives and kept them perfect through eight games, the NFL's only undefeated team.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/pro_sports/article/0,1626,ECP_750_4221105,00.html
Evansville Business Journal
They call Evansville home
Tri-State houses many corporate headquarters
By CAROL WERSICH " EBJ staff writer " 464-7542 or wersichc@EBJ.biz
November 8, 2005
Niel Ellerbrook recalls a time in the late 1990s when his former company, Indiana Gas, was planning to merge with Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Co.
Indiana Gas, which served a Central Indiana market, was based in Indianapolis. SIGECO, which served southwest Indiana, was based in Evansville. The merged company, which became Vectren, could have chosen to locate its corporate headquarters in either city, Ellerbrook said, but Evansville was picked.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_magazine/article/0,2578,ECP_20276_4210073,00.html
Evansville is 'mother ship' for motor service
By CAROL WERSICH EBJ staff writer 464-7542 or wersichc@EBJ.biz
November 8, 2005
Many national and global companies headquartered in the Tri-State had modest, quiet beginnings.
Flanders Electric Motor Service, for example, began in 1947 as a tiny motor repair shop located at 1301 E. Missouri St. on Evansville's Northeast Side.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_magazine/article/0,2578,ECP_20276_4210069,00.html
Guidant Sues J&J to Force Acquisition
By THERESA AGOVINO AP Business Writer
November 7, 2005
NEW YORK- Guidant Corp. sued Johnson & Johnson on Monday in an attempt to force it to complete a $25.4 billion acquisition of the medical-device maker, which has been roiled by a series of recalls.
Analysts and lawyers said the suit signals the two sides have failed to renegotiate the acquisition slated to close last week and that it will likely dissolve. Shares of Indianapolis-based Guidant tumbled nearly 5 percent in early trading Monday, before recovering slightly. J&J shares rose.
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/ebj_ap_business/article/0,2578,ECP_19938_4218688,00.html
Times Picayune
Levee chief defends rejecting N.O. plea
He says his crew was stretched too thin
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Sheila Grissett
East Jefferson bureau
In the hours after Hurricane Katrina breached the 17th Street Canal, flooding swaths of New Orleans and Old Metairie, the president of the East Jefferson Levee Board refused to let his agency help with emergency construction requested by state and federal engineers who were struggling to plug the break.
Levee Board President Pat Bossetta said he had too few people and too little functioning equipment to get that job done while combating flooding elsewhere in East Jefferson.
"At that point, I only had 11 men and two dump trucks left," Bossetta said. "Most of our equipment was broken down or burned out, and the guys were exhausted."
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432561215490.xml
Foti scrutinizing levee failures
Criminal, civil action possible, he says
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Laura Maggi and Bob Marshall
Staff writers
BATON ROUGE -- State Attorney General Charles Foti said Monday that his staff is looking into whether poor construction or design flaws played a part in the collapse of canal floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina and whether criminal or civil action is warranted.
The state Justice Department is reviewing the reports and findings of forensic experts with the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center and others who have been examining the floodwalls to determine why they failed, Foti said.
Foti's office is "still in the information-gathering phase," he said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432360215490.xml
FEMA grant payouts could be weeks away
Hard-hit households might get $26,200
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jan Moller
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Don't hold your breath for that FEMA check.
Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking steps to speed the delivery of financial aid to displaced homeowners, agency officials said Monday it will take up to five weeks to contact the first group of 60,000 households in Louisiana and Mississippi that might be eligible for the maximum $26,200 benefit the government will give to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Households identified by FEMA through satellite imagery as being hardest hit by Katrina, and related flood damage, will be eligible for cash assistance without an in-person visit from a FEMA representative.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1131432425215490.xml
Blanco budget plan leaves legislators cold
Critics says her trims are unfairly selective
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jan Moller
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco's plan to trim more than $500 million from the state budget through cuts and spending freezes got a chilly reception Monday from legislators, some of whom questioned whether certain programs were being unfairly targeted.
But Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc said more cuts might be forthcoming as legislators try to close a $959 million deficit in the state general fund caused by a slowdown in tax collections since hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1131432345215490.xml
Foti scrutinizing levee failures
Criminal, civil action possible, he says
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Laura Maggi and Bob Marshall
Staff writers
BATON ROUGE -- State Attorney General Charles Foti said Monday that his staff is looking into whether poor construction or design flaws played a part in the collapse of canal floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina and whether criminal or civil action is warranted.
The state Justice Department is reviewing the reports and findings of forensic experts with the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center and others who have been examining the floodwalls to determine why they failed, Foti said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432360215490.xml
Yes to budget, no to merit raises
Parish uses reserves to make up shortfall
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By Jenny Hurwitz
River Parishes bureau
In a nearly unanimous vote, the St. Charles Parish Council voted Monday to approve Parish President Albert Laque's proposed $68 million budget for next year, voting down attempts to include merit raises for parish employees and additional drainage projects.
Council members April Black, Brian Fabre, Clayton "Snookie" Faucheux, Desmond Hilaire, Lance Marino, Barry Minnich, Ganesier "Ram" Ramchandran and Derryl Walls voted in favor of the budget, with Councilman Richard "Dickie" Duhe voting against it at the council's meeting in Hahnville on Monday.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1131432438215490.xml
Panel approves tax breaks, but bogs down on tax holiday
11/8/2005, 1:14 p.m. CT
By KEVIN McGILL
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A series of tax breaks proposed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to help businesses and manufacturers recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita were easily passed by a House committee on Tuesday.
But the panel bogged down on another Blanco-backed measure, a proposed sales tax holiday for retail purchases, as members argued over whether it goes far enough.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/weather/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1131470045109700.xml&storylist=louisiana
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Chalabi to visit US ahead of Iraqi elections
By Carol Giacomo / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Iraqi politician most associated with the discredited prewar intelligence that has the Bush presidency in turmoil visits Washington this week as he maneuvers for advantage before Iraq's December 15 elections.
Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq's deputy prime minister, is a former U.S. golden boy who for years as an exile helped organize opposition to Saddam Hussein through the Iraqi National Congress, which was funded by the United States.
He was taken into Iraq by the American forces, along with an armed group of supporters, as Washington tried to build a new power structure in the weeks after the 2003 invasion. But he soon fell into disfavor, targeted with allegations that he betrayed U.S. secrets to Iran.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4808
"I think I met with him at the State of the Union: -- George W. Bush, June 2, 2004
President Bush Discusses the Iraqi Interim Government
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON IRAQI INTERIM GOVERNMENT
The Rose Garden
11:30 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today in Baghdad, U.N. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, announced the members of Iraq's new interim government. Consulting with hundreds of Iraqis from a variety of backgrounds, Mr. Brahimi has recommended a team that possesses the talent, commitment and resolve to guide Iraq through the challenges that lie ahead.
On June 30th, this interim government will assume full sovereignty and will oversee all ministries and all functions of the Iraqi state. Those ministries will report to Prime Minister Allawi, who will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of Iraq's interim government. Dr. Allawi is a strong leader. He endured exile for decades and survived assassination attempts by Saddam's regime. He was trained as a physician, has worked as a businessman and has always been an Iraqi patriot.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040601-2.html
Sleeping With the Enemy: Chalabi’s Sordid History
“I can’t substantiate [Chalabi’s] claims. He makes new ones every year.”
- Colin Powell, 6/12/03
Today, Ahmed Chalabi arrives in the United States. The Guardian reports:
[Chalabi] is due to meet Ms Rice at the State Department tomorrow, and John Snow, the treasury secretary, today. He is also expected to see Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, and possibly the vice-president, Dick Cheney.
Here’s a short rap sheet on the man who the administration used to provide justification for the Iraq war:
PENTAGON FUNDED CHALABI TO PROVIDE RATIONALE FOR WAR: The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency paid the INC $335,000 a month in the lead-up to the Iraq war to gather intelligence. In all, the Bush White House has given the INC at least $39 million over the past 5 years.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/08/chalabis-sordid-history
Miller was WHIG operative--CONFIRMED!
Submitted by lambert on Wed, 2005-10-19 23:06.
Corrente was right on the money. Yesterday’s conspiracy theory is today’s news. Read on:
We wrote then:
7. I suggest that Times management—Keller, Sulzberger—was embedded in the disinformation campaign run by the White House Iraq Group, that Miller was their operative, and Libby was their handler. Of course, their White House handler wouldn’t have been crass enough to offer them money; the access to power, and the promise of scoops, would have been enough. The scoops were to come from Chalabi. (It doesn’t matter whether the White House still had faith in Chalabi; what matters is that the Times did).
The Daily News reports today (here via The Amazin’ Froomkin:
WASHINGTON - It was called the White House Iraq Group and its job was to make the case that Saddam Hussein had nuclear and biochemical weapons.
http://www.correntewire.com/miller_was_whig_operative_confirmed
Times takes the modified limited hangout route
Submitted by lambert on Sun, 2005-10-16 10:26.
Well! Today, for the first time, America’s Greatest Newspaper (not!) mentions the WHIG. Curiously, the Grey Lady chooses to lose her cherry on this story with Frank Rich behind the green door of Times Select, and not in the news section. Gosh, the news section is where the “Flame”-broiling of what remains of the Time’s reputation for journalism is taking place, isn’t it? It’s almost like they want to build a Chinese wall between Miller and WHIG, isn’t it?
Anyhow, Frank Rich does do a modified limited hangout.And the fact that this is a modified limited hangout shows just how bad things are. But, as in all coverups, watch for what is not said. Do a gap analysis!
http://www.correntewire.com/times_takes_the_modified_limited_hangout_route
THE PLOY
Talk about putting one over on the American people. This one takes the cake, it really does. Did you hear anyone even mention the White House Iraq Group until recently? Did you have a clue about who they were or what they were about? Luckily, Scooter Libby screwed up somehow and got himself indicted, and now we know. Talk about a con job.
It seems that the White House Iraq Group was quite an impressive bunch with an even more impressive job. They had to sell the entire population of the United States a really big dose of snake oil in a very short time. I kid you not. That really was their assignment, and boy did they ever carry it out in style!
http://tvnewslies.org/html/the_white_house_iraq_group.html
Whose Criminal Indictment/Trial Would You Most Like to See?
Selection
Votes
Karl "Turdblossom" Rove - 71% - 49
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - 4% - 3
Tom "The Hammer" DeLay - 14% - 10
Bill "Kitten Killer" Frist - 10% - 7
69 votes total
Poll results are subject to error. Pollhost.com does not pre-screen the content of polls created by Pollhost customers.
http://poll.pollhost.com/VHJ1ZUJsdWVMaWJlcmFsCTExMjg1MzU0MTQJMDAwMDAwCTAwRkZGRglDb21pYytTYW5zK01TCUFzc29ydGVkCTA/
Justices to Rule on a Challenge to U.S. Tribunals
By Linda Greenhouse / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 - The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would decide the validity of the military commissions that President Bush wants to use to bring detainees charged with terrorist offenses to trial.
The case, to be argued in March without the participation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., places the court back at the center of the national debate over the limits of presidential authority in conducting the war on terror. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected the administration's position that the federal courts had no jurisdiction over those held as enemy combatants at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4809
Before Rearming Iraq, He Sold Shoes and Flowers
By Solomon Moore and T. Christian Miller / Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — Ziad Cattan was a Polish Iraqi used-car dealer with no weapons-dealing experience until U.S. authorities turned him into one of the most powerful men in Iraq last year — the chief of procurement for the Defense Ministry, responsible for equipping the fledgling Iraqi army.
As U.S. advisors looked on, Cattan embarked on a massive spending spree, paying hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraqi funds for secret, no-bid contracts, according to interviews with more than a dozen senior American, coalition and Iraqi officials, and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The money flowed, often in bricks of cash, through the hands of middlemen who were friends of Cattan and took a percentage of the proceeds.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4806
Who killed Dale Stoffel?
The above cartoon—published in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mutamar last October—shows an insurgent shaking hands with a civil servant carrying suitcase labeled "Administrative Corruption."
The intersection of these sinister forces has now resulted in an American murder mystery—one that could have far-reaching implications for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and whatever government emerges from the January 30 elections.
The Los Angeles Times reports
An American contractor gunned down last month in Iraq had accused Iraqi Defense Ministry officials of corruption days before his death, according to documents and U.S. officials.
Dale Stoffel, 43, was shot to death Dec. 8 shortly after leaving an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, an attack attributed at the time to Iraqi insurgents. Also killed was a business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49.
http://writingcompany.blogs.com/this_isnt_writing_its_typ/2005/01/who_killed_dale.html
Cheney in the Bunker
By Daniel Klaidman and Michael Isikoff / Newsweek
Nov. 14, 2005 issue - As usual, Dick Cheney insisted on doing business behind closed doors. Last Tuesday, Senate Republicans were winding up their weekly luncheon in the Capitol when the vice president rose to speak. Staffers were quickly ordered out of the room—what Cheney had to say was for senators only. Normally taciturn, Cheney was uncharacteristically impassioned, according to two GOP senators who did not want to be on the record about a private meeting. He was very upset over the Senate's overwhelming passage of an amendment that prohibits inhumane treatment of terrorist detainees. Cheney said the law would tie the president's hands and end up costing "thousands of lives." He dramatized the point, conjuring up a scenario in which a captured Qaeda operative, another Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, refuses to give his interrogators details about an imminent attack. "We have to be able to do what is necessary," the vice president said, according to one of the senators who was present. The lawmakers listened, but they weren't moved to act. Sen. John McCain, who authored the anti-torture amendment, spoke up. "This is killing us around the world," he said. The House, which will likely vote on the measure soon, is also expected to pass it by a large margin.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4790
Senate Votes Again for Ban on Abusing Prisoners
By Eric Schmitt / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 - The Senate restated its support on Friday for banning the abusive treatment of prisoners in American custody, and the measure's Republican sponsor chided the House Republican leadership for delaying a vote on it.
The Senate approved the same provision last month, 90 to 9. On Friday, senators endorsed it again, this time by a unanimous voice vote, and attached it to a revised military spending bill. The White House has threatened to veto the bill if it includes the measure, saying the provision would restrict the president's ability to protect the country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4787
Hagel: Torture Exemption Would Be Mistake
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A leading Republican senator said Sunday that the Bush administration is making "a terrible mistake" in opposing a congressional ban on torture and other inhuman treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008, said many Republican senators support the ban proposed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4793
Afghan Detainee's Leg Was 'Pulpified,' Witness Says
The testimony comes at a hearing for an MP who delivered beatings. The inmate later died.
By Lianne Hart / Los Angeles Times
FT. BLISS, Texas — An Afghan detainee in U.S. custody was so brutalized before his death that his thigh tissue was "pulpified," a forensic pathologist testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing for a military police officer charged in the 2002 assault.
"It was similar to injuries of a person run over by a bus," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, who performed an autopsy on the detainee, identified only as Dilawar.
Rouse's telephone testimony came on the second day of an Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding — to determine whether Army Pfc. Willie V. Brand, 26, should be court-martialed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1931
Four U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombing
By Thomas Wagner / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four U.S. soldiers were killed Monday when a suicide car bomber attacked their checkpoint south of Baghdad, the military said. The soldiers were assigned to the Army's Task Force Baghdad, which is responsible for security in the capital and the surrounding area. But the statement did not specify where the attack occurred.
Names of the soldiers also were withheld pending notification of their families.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4805
Katrina homeless waiting for trailers
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Many Hurricane Katrina evacuees are still waiting for the 125,000 trailers or mobile homes the federal government has promised are on the way.
Only about 19,000 of the trailers and mobile homes have been delivered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the 10 weeks since the hurricane left hundreds of thousands homeless, the Chicago Tribune reports.
It's only one part of the housing plans, which include rental assistance, which 488,000 people have gotten so far.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4803
Roadtrip for Relief
Converge in New Orleans in a Showing of Solidarity! November 20-27 in New Orleans -- organized by Common Ground
Come lend a hand over the week of Thanksgiving until November 27th. That's less than four weeks away!
The folks at Common Ground invite you to join an estimated 300 volunteers from around the continent to converge in New Orleans the week of Thanksgiving. We want to encourage those in attendance to arrive with building & cleaning supplies, donated equipment and, if possible, funds that can apply directly to help rebuild and the 9th Ward.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/covington.php?id=51
continued ...
November 6, 2005,
Evansville, Indiana.
This is a roof of a silo that was hit by the tornado. The tragedy would be far worse if it's path didn't include empty farmland instead of residential areas. This time of year the farmland was fallow. There might be a crop planted for next spring but it shouldn't start to sprout until spring. The damage to the economy of the farms could have been significant if it were during another season as well.
November 8, 2005.
Israel.
This is typical.
Israel cannot begin another construction site without running into antiquities. This time was no different.
Caption :: This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2005 and released by the Israeli Antiquities Authority shows a mosaic with writing in ancient Greek with references to Christ, on the floor of what is believed to be the oldest church in Israel that was recently discovered in the grounds inside the Megiddo prison, near the biblical site of Armageddon, in central Israel and reported by Israel's Channel 2 TV Saturday Nov. 5, 2005. The ruins are believed to date back 1,700 years, and include references to Jesus and images of fish, the report said. Archaeological experts quoted in the story said it was the largest church ever discovered in the holy land, and could perhaps turn out to be the oldest church in the world. (AP Photo/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Morning Papers - continued
The Boston Globe
Endangered condors soar over Grand Canyon
By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer June 13, 2005
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. --The South Rim of the Grand Canyon has long been a favorite of human visitors gawking at the stunning views and taking advantage of the manmade services. As it turns out, the South Rim also is a favorite of endangered California condors -- for many of the same reasons. The large birds often gather to watch people, socialize with one another and drink from a leaky water pipe.
On some days, as many as 25 to 30 condors soar over the canyon area -- more birds than were in existence a generation ago when officials decided to capture and breed them.
The birds, which have dull orange featherless heads with a stubby beak and dark body feathers, were reintroduced in the wild in Arizona starting in 1996. What began with the release of six birds 50 miles north of here has led to a flock of 53, including some of the first wild-born condors since the early 1980s.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/06/13/endangered_condors_soar_over_grand_canyon/
High court backs workers in pay dispute
By Gina Holland, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to change into protective clothing and safety gear and walk to their work stations.
The issue was one of two that justices settled in a pair of unanimous decisions, the first rulings under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts in the new fall term. Roberts did not write either one.
In a defeat for business, the court said that employers must pay wages for the donning of "integral" gear and the time it takes workers to then walk to the production area.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/high_court_backs_workers_in_pay_dispute/
Northwest seeks temporary pay cuts for some
November 8, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS --Northwest Airlines Corp. is asking a judge to temporarily authorize 19 percent pay cuts for its customer service agents and other ground workers.
The cuts would save the Eagan-based carrier about $114 million a year, but company officials said they would only be in effect for a few months until management and the ground workers union negotiate a long-term concessionary agreement, the Star Tribune reported Tuesday. Northwest sought bankruptcy protection in September.
Leaders of the pilots and flight attendants union already agreed to deep interim pay cuts that would reduce Northwest's costs by $332 million a year.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/08/northwest_seeks_temporary_pay_cuts_for_some/
Jury acquits union leaders on mob charges
November 8, 2005
NEW YORK --Two executives of the International Longshoremen's Association and a reputed mobster who went missing mid-trial were acquitted Tuesday of charges that they helped the Mafia keep its grip on the New York waterfront.
Supporters gasped and burst into tears as a federal jury in Brooklyn found union officials Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey not guilty of extortion and fraud charges.
The jury also acquitted Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese crime family associate who had been accused of wire and mail fraud.
But the victory may turn out to be empty for Ricci, who vanished in the middle of the trial and is suspected to have been slain by the mob.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/08/jury_acquits_union_leaders_on_mob_charges/
Union wants base pay of $40,000; Vt. short of that
November 8, 2005
BURLINGTON, Vt. --Vermont has a long way to go if it wants to meet the new goal of the National Education Association: annual base pay for starting teachers of $40,000 nationwide.
The teachers' union argues that improving base pay is the key to attracting top college graduates into the classroom, and that base pay as low as $28,000 in some Vermont schools has hampered recruitment.
"I think the data is there that indicates that persistently low teacher pay continues to be a factor in the challenge of recruiting and retaining the kinds of teachers people say they want and we know we need in public school classrooms," said Angelo Dorta, president of the Vermont-NEA, the state chapter of the National Education Association.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/11/08/union_wants_base_pay_of_40000_vt_short_of_that/
UVM faculty, administration far apart in contract talks
November 8, 2005
BURLINGTON, Vt. --Fourteen hours of negotiations and mediation produced no resolution Monday as University of Vermont faculty and administrators negotiated over a new contract.
The marathon session ended at 11 p.m. with the two sides still differing over salaries, health insurance coverage and retirement issues.
Contract talks started in January but were halted when both sides declared an impasse Aug. 25. A mediator was called in, and Monday was expected to be the last mediation session. But another session was set for Dec. 6.
Tom Gustafson, UVM's vice president for student and campus life, said negotiators had "made quite a bit of progress, but there are issues that still need quite a bit more work and analysis."
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/08/uvm_faculty_administration_far_apart_in_contract_talks/
Senators say Alito respects Roe decision
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, right, speaks with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., left, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 in Brownback's Capitol Hill office in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
By Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said the court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision deserves "great respect" but did not commit to upholding it in the future, senators said Tuesday.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said Alito told him the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights "was precedent on which people, a lot of people, relied, and had been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect."
Lieberman called that "encouraging," but also said the federal judge had not assured him that he would not overturn Roe.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/senators_say_alito_respects_roe_decision/
Soccer star, Ivy Leaguer run in Liberia
Soccer star and presidential candidate George Weah from the Congress for Democratic Change 'CDC' party votes on the outskirts of the city of Monrovia, Liberia on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005. Weah vying to become Liberia's first postwar president vowed to work for peace as he voted Tuesday in a presidential runoff that many hope will herald a new era after a quarter century of coups and conflict. (AP Photo)
By Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
MONROVIA, Liberia --A soccer star vying to become Liberia's first postwar president vowed to work for peace as he voted Tuesday in a runoff election that many hope will herald a new era after a quarter century of coups and conflict. His Ivy League-educated opponent expressed confidence she would win.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/11/08/soccer_star_ivy_leaguer_run_in_liberia/
Defense lawyer in Saddam trial killed
An Iraqi man looks at the burnt shell of a police car which was attacked near the town of Daquq, 25 miles south of Kirkuk, November 8, 2005. (A REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed)
By Lutfi Abu Oun and Waleed Ibrahim November 8, 2005
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a second defense lawyer acting in Saddam Hussein's trial on Tuesday, renewing questions over whether the former president can get a fair trial amid Iraq's daily violence.
Another defense lawyer was slightly wounded in the attack on their car in Baghdad, police and defense team sources said.
The shooting followed the murder of another defense lawyer who was shot the day after the televised start of proceedings on October 19.
It stoked controversy about whether the high-profile trial for crimes against humanity should be delayed or moved abroad.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/08/saddam_trial_defense_lawyer_killed/
US used white phosphorus on Iraqi civilians-report
By Phil Stewart November 8, 2005
ROME (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq have used incendiary white phosphorus against civilians and a firebomb similar to napalm against military targets, Italian state-run broadcaster RAI reported on Tuesday.
A RAI documentary showed images of bodies recovered after a November 2004 offensive by U.S. troops on the town of Falluja, which it said proved the use of white phosphorus against men, women and children who were burned to the bone.
"I do know that white phosphorus was used," said Jeff Englehart in the RAI documentary, which identified him as a former soldier in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq.
The U.S. military says white phosphorus is a conventional weapon and says it does not use any chemical arms.
"Burned bodies. Burned children and burned women," said Englehart, who RAI said had taken part in the Falluja offensive. "White phosphorus kills indiscriminately."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/11/08/us_used_white_phosphorus_on_iraqi_civilians_report/
This was precious. It's okay for Bush to continue to kill in Iraq. Force does not have to mean killing. Force can mean sanctions against the Sunnis to stop their opposition to the federal government. Iraq is regional anyway. They would have to stop travel between Sunni areas and the rest of Iraq shutting down access to trade and supplies. They haven't tried everything. All this administration knows is guns, munitions and the NRA.
This article doesn't speak to the fact the USA has the option of leaving as well.
U.N. extends mandate for force in Iraq
November 8, 2005
UNITED NATIONS --The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the mandate of the nearly 180,000-strong multinational force in Iraq for a year, a move the United States called a significant signal of international commitment to Iraq's political transition.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Denmark, Japan and Romania, was adopted in response to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for the U.S.-led force to remain in the country.
The current mandate authorizing the presence of the force expires on Dec. 31, about two weeks after parliamentary elections in Iraq -- the end point of the political process as defined by the Security Council.
The resolution extends the force's mandate until Dec. 31, 2006, with a review after eight months. Under its terms, the council will "terminate this mandate earlier if requested by the government of Iraq."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/08/un_extends_mandate_for_force_in_iraq/
Pentagon issues new rules on detainees
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --Thrown on the defensive by prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon has issued a broad new directive mandating that detainees be treated humanely and has banned the use of dogs to intimidate or harass suspects.
The directive, provided by the Defense Department, pulls together for the first time all of its existing policies and memos covering the interrogation of detainees taken in the war against terrorism. It comes as Congress is considering a ban on the inhumane treatment of U.S. prisoners and Democrats have launched a long-shot effort to create a commission to investigate abuse.
While the policy maps out broad requirements for humane treatment and for reporting any violations, it is just the first step in the development of a new Army manual that would more precisely detail which interrogation techniques are acceptable and which are not.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/pentagon_detainees_must_be_treated_well/
Top Rwanda genocide suspect surrenders to tribunal
November 8, 2005
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A suspected leader of Rwanda's 1994 genocide surrendered on Tuesday to the international court trying the architects of the slaughter, the tribunal said.
Callixte Kalimanzira, 52, faces three charges including genocide. He is accused of inciting fellow ethnic Hutus to kill ethnic Tutsis, including women, children and the elderly.
"The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) took custody of Kalimanzira who surrendered to Tanzanian authorities today in Arusha," a statement by the Tanzanian-based court said.
Kalimanzira, a former assistant minister in the central African nation's government, is also charged with handing out weapons and personally overseeing the murder of Tutsis.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/11/08/top_rwanda_genocide_suspect_surrenders_to_tribunal/
To banish anxiety, Greenwich resident cleans highway onramps
By Michael Dinan, Greenwich Time November 8, 2005
GREENWICH, Conn. --The sun was setting on an Interstate 95 onramp in central Greenwich.
Elayne Kantor surveyed the scene, scoffed, hoisted a plastic garbage bag -- already half-full -- and marched right past the sign warning that pedestrian traffic is prohibited. She reached down with a surgical glove-covered hand and grabbed a clump of damp candy wrappers, cigarette butts, plastic coffee cup lids and plastic foam sandwich boxes.
"I drive past here every day on my way to work and it was just getting disgusting," Kantor said as accelerating truck and passenger-car drivers stared at her -- a 59-year-old woman in nice shoes rummaging through roadside muck and brush. "I've been thinking about it for a while and then I just said, 'I have to do this.' "
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/08/to_banish_anxiety_greenwich_resident_cleans_highway_onramps/
High school student club promotes nutrition
By Christiana Sciaudone, The Advocate Of Stamford November 8, 2005
STAMFORD, Conn. --Obesity in America is a result of misconception.
So says Benj Ferri, founder of the Go Healthy Early Club at Westhill High School. Ferri said there is a "cultural, conceptual dichotomy" between "what's good for you and what tastes good."
People have preconceived ideas of what tastes good, and don't give healthy foods a chance, Ferri said.
"This country has a really big problem," he said.
Last year, he and fellow seniors Mike Alcan and J.R. Reyes took action. They got help from Jean McCormick, a nurse practitioner at the School-Based Health Center at Westhill, which is part of the nonprofit HealthCare Connection.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/08/high_school_student_club_promotes_nutrition/
Turnout steady in off-year-election
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
AUGUSTA, Maine --Turnout was steady at polls across Maine on Tuesday as voters decided whether to repeal or keep on the books the state's law to bar discrimination against gays. Supporters as well as opponents of the gay rights law said a heavy turnout would benefit them.
Turnout for off-year balloting was steady in communities such as Portland, Augusta and Lisbon. State election officials predicted a strong turnout for a year in which no major statewide offices were being filled.
Besides the gay rights question, voters were deciding on five state borrowing questions totaling $83 million, and a constitutional amendment on whether to allow special tax treatment of waterfront land to help preserve Maine's fishing industry.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/08/turnout_steady_in_off_year_election/
High school evacuated after mercury spill
November 8, 2005
SPARKS, Nev. --Students spilled mercury in a classroom laboratory Monday, forcing the evacuation of 2,400 high schoolers, officials said.
A hazardous material crew decontaminated nine students who may have been exposed to the toxic substance at Reed High School.
The school will remain closed at least until Wednesday while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleans up the site.
"We are going to investigate to find out how widespread it is, see how many kids might be affected," EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said from regional headquarters in San Francisco.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/11/08/high_school_evacuated_after_mercury_spill/
Japan to cull 170,000 more chickens
November 8, 2005
TOKYO --Japan will cull 170,000 more chickens after a bird flu virus from the H5 family was detected at farm north of Tokyo, a news report said Tuesday.
The Agricultural Ministry said Monday that chickens at the farm tested positive for antibodies for the virus, though no viruses had been found. But local authorities corrected that announcement Tuesday, saying the virus had been detected in two chicken pens at the farm in Ibaraki prefecture (state), about 64 miles north of Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Officials said the chickens probably had the H5N2 strain of the virus, which is less virulent than the H5N1 strain that has ravaged Southeast Asia since 2003 and killed at least 63 people there.
The 170,000 chickens in the two pens will be culled nevertheless, NHK said.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2005/11/08/japan_to_cull_170000_more_chickens/
SARS was much worse than this. Sympathy to the families effected by these losses.
Human deaths from bird flu, by country
By The Associated Press November 7, 2005
A look a human deaths from bird flu, by country, according to the World Health Organization: There have been 63 deaths worldwide since late 2003, the U.N. agency says.
--Vietnam: 41 deaths
--Thailand: 13 deaths
--Indonesia: 5 deaths
--Cambodia: 4 deaths
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/11/07/human_deaths_from_bird_flu_by_country/
Winking at genocide
November 8, 2005
A RECENT letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed by 109 members of Congress from both parties castigated the Bush administration for ''engaging in a policy of appeasement" toward the government of Sudan, which both Congress and former secretary of state Colin Powell have denounced as a perpetrator of genocide in the nation's Darfur region. The policy being carried out by Rice and her deputies may be more accurately described as indulgence of the Khartoum regime rather than appeasement, but, whatever the label, the failure to stop the suffering in Darfur is indefensible.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/11/08/winking_at_genocide/
Early warning on AIDS
November 8, 2005
EACH YEAR, 40,000 Americans become infected with the virus that causes AIDS, joining the more than 1 million Americans who are HIV-positive. About 25 percent of all the infected do not know they are carrying the disease, which means they get no treatment and may well transmit it to their sex partners. Young gay males who have become infected are especially unlikely to be aware they are. The best hope of reducing the frequency of new infections depends on getting more HIV-positive people to know their status and to change their sexual behavior.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/11/08/early_warning_on_aids/
Archaeologists unveil ancient church site
This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2005 and released by the Israeli Antiquities Authority shows a mosaic with writing in ancient Greek with references to Christ, on the floor of what is believed to be the oldest church in Israel that was recently discovered in the grounds inside the Megiddo prison, near the biblical site of Armageddon, in central Israel and reported by Israel's Channel 2 TV Saturday Nov. 5, 2005. The ruins are believed to date back 1,700 years, and include references to Jesus and images of fish, the report said. Archaeological experts quoted in the story said it was the largest church ever discovered in the holy land, and could perhaps turn out to be the oldest church in the world. (AP Photo/Israel Antiquities Authority)
By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press Writer November 7, 2005
MEGIDDO PRISON, Israel --Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land's oldest church.
The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/07/archaeologists_unveil_ancient_church_site/
Boston's Jewish Renaissance
Fifteen years after a study on the rise of interfaith marriages had Jewish leaders bemoaning their religion's slow death, Judaism is thriving in Boston. What's more surprising is who's leading the revival.
Boston's oldest synagogue, the Vilna Shul on Beacon Hill, now serves as a cultural center and an informal place to experience Judaism. David Gerzof, 30, standing at the rear during a service, helps organize events at the shul. (Globe Staff Photo / Essdras M. Suarez)
By Doug Most November 6, 2005
There are ghosts in here. You can feel them in the peeling walls, the dirty floor tiles, the wooden pews, and the 100-year-old mahogany ark that holds the Torah scrolls. And if you close your eyes, you can see them. It's a Friday night in, say, 1925. Men walk to this synagogue dressed in gray suits, crisp white shirts, and neatly knotted ties. As they step through the arched front doors, they remove their handsome black fedoras to reveal their yarmulkes. In the Orthodox tradition, women enter separately through a side door. They are dressed plainly, in long skirts and prim blouses. Upstairs, where symbols of Judaism are painted on the walls of the sanctuary and a Star of David dangles from a chandelier, the men sit in the first set of pews while the women sit in their own section. "Shalom," says the rabbi from the elbow of the L-shaped room, and moonlight shines through the skylights as the service begins.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/11/06/bostons_jewish_renaissance/
Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed
By Steve Weizman, Associated Press Writer June 13, 2005
JERUSALEM --Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds 2,000 years old, hoping its ancient DNA could reveal medicinal qualities to benefit future generations, one of the scientists leading the project said Sunday.
Sarah Sallon, of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, said she and her colleagues used seeds found in archaeological excavations at Masada, the desert mountain fortress where ancient Jewish rebels chose suicide over capture by Roman legions in A.D. 73. She said they were the oldest seeds ever brought back to life.
"A lotus seed was germinated (in China) after 1,200 years, but nothing has been germinated coming from this far back
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/06/13/date_palm_grown_from_2000_year_old_seed/
New Zealand Herald
Penguin evolution shaped by climate change
09.11.05
By Steve Connor
A colony of penguins that has bred at the same site in Antarctica for thousands of years has provided New Zealand scientists with a rare insight into how a change in the climate can speed up the course of evolution.
Researchers analysed ancient fragments of DNA from the remains of penguins that have been buried at the site for up to 6000 years and compared them to the DNA of living members of the same colony.
The comparison has offered a snapshot of small-scale evolutionary changes to the genetic sequence of the DNA that have occurred without any obvious changes to the appearance or behaviour of the birds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354227
Australian terrorism fears intensify
09.11.05
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - The arrest of a radical Muslim cleric on terrorism charges yesterday and the planned deportation of another have heightened fears of deadly homegrown fundamentalist cells prepared to wage war on Australia.
Melbourne cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakir, who has publicly supported Osama bin Laden, was yesterday accused of being the spiritual leader of an alleged terror group planning attacks on Sydney and Melbourne.
On Monday a court refused to quash a deportation order against Iranian-born Sheik Mansour Lehaei, identified by intelligence officials as a threat to national security.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354287
Bailey's clothes auctioned while she's on holiday
09.11.05
By Claire Trevett
As if things weren't bad enough for the jilted Mother of the Nation, she returned from holiday this week to find staff in the TVNZ building wearing her clothes.
While Judy Bailey was overseas on leave, it seems TVNZ held an in-house auction of the news presenter's wardrobe. But some of the garments were Bailey's own clothes - and definitely not for sale.
TVNZ spokeswoman Avon Adams said it was a mistake.
"What they tend to do is auction off the old clothes ... The tragedy is unfortunately Judy Bailey had some of her own personal garments in with the TVNZ wardrobe and they were inadvertently sold as well.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354332
Gun scare at school
09.11.05 5.00am
The discovery of a pile of empty .22 calibre shell casings sparked an armed police callout to an Albany primary school yesterday.
Pupils told a Pinehurst School staff member they had seen a gun-toting person in camouflage but she dismissed the information until discovering the pile of used shells in the school grounds.
Armed police were dispatched and after an hour the mystery was solved.
A 12-year-old boy, who had collected the shells from a relative's farm, had decided to empty his pockets in the middle of the school while playing with his toy gun.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354319
4-year-old dies in shoot out
09.11.05 5.20am
A 4-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet and three men were shot dead in a shoot-out between police and an armed gang in Papua New Guinea.
Police were called after up to 12 armed after police stormed the house of a building firm manager in the mountain town of Mt Hagen.
Police said three gang members died in the shootout, and a boy was hit in the head by a stray bullet in a neighbouring house.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354278
Tax cuts out of frame for 3 years
09.11.05
By Audrey Young
The Labour-led Government has ruled out "significant" tax cuts in the next three years in its blueprint issued at the state opening of Parliament yesterday.
The so-called speech from the throne by Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright - written by the Government - emphasised the aim to lift productivity by producing more per worker and reiterated the plan to review corporate taxation.
But it gave no hint that National's close shave with victory in the election on its campaign of substantial tax cuts had softened Labour's stance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354328
Wage inflation jump fuels rate-rise fears
09.11.05
By Brian Fallow
Wage rises accelerated in the September quarter, making another interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank a near certainty.
And the unions have vowed to continue their campaign for pay rises of 5 per cent or more.
The bank's preferred measure of underlying wage inflation, the private sector labour cost index, rose 0.8 per cent in the quarter, pushing the annual increase to 2.8 per cent from 2.5 per cent in June and March.
When the public sector was added, the overall quarterly increase was 1 per cent and the annual rise 3 per cent, Statistics New Zealand said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10354263
Canada sale keeps firm healthy
08.11.05
By Simon Hendery
Auckland medical software company Intrahealth Systems expects to reap more than C$10 million ($12 million) from a deal to provide advanced patient management technology to a large Canadian health authority.
Intrahealth says its contract with Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia - signed last week - is also an important foothold in its quest to win more lucrative North American business.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354049
French youths riot again despite curfew threat
09.11.05
By Tom Heneghan
PARIS - Ignoring the government's threat of a curfew, youths rioted for a 12th successive night yesterday in France, torching more than 800 vehicles around the country and injuring four police, said the Interior Ministry
The nightly protests against racism and unemployment dropped markedly in the greater Paris region, where violence had escalated to the point of shooting at police, but continued unabated in other parts of France, a ministry statement showed.
The renewed violence followed a warning by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin that he would take a firm line against lawbreakers, including reinforcements for police and curfews not seen here since the Algerian war of 1954-1962.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354289
Stolen UK mobiles resold in 46 countries
09.11.05
By Jason Bennetto
Mobile phones stolen in Britain are being resold in more than 40 countries in a trade worth millions, a police investigation has discovered.
A study of more than 1000 mobiles stolen in Britain revealed they ended up in at least 46 different countries, including Iraq, Peru, Australia, Dubai, China and Jamaica.
Gangs use a network of second-hand shops and criminals to collect tens of thousands of mobiles stolen in street muggings and house break-ins, which are then taken abroad and sold.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354285
US charges five Guantanamo detainees
09.11.05
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON - Five foreign terrorism suspects at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been charged with war crimes and will face military trials, bringing to nine the number charged at Guantanamo to date, the Pentagon announced on Monday.
Two of the five "enemy combatants" facing charges are from Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said. The other three are from Algeria, Ethiopia and Canada. Nearly 500 detainees are being held at the Navy prison in Cuba.
The charges were announced just hours after the Supreme Court said it would decide whether President George W. Bush has the power to create military tribunals to put Guantanamo prisoners on trial for war crimes, an important test of the administration's policy in the war on terrorism.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354290
Hamburgers cause asthma, NZ research says
08.11.05 1.00pm
By Kent Atkinson
Eating hamburgers more than once a week nearly doubles the risk of asthma attacks and wheezing in children, according to research carried out on 1300 New Zealand school pupils.
Other takeaway food and fizzy drinks also increase the chances of getting asthma, doctors found.
Youngsters who eat at least one hamburger a week are 75 per cent more likely to have asthma and almost 100 per cent more likely to suffer wheezing problems, according a study published yesterday in the international scientific journal Allergy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354170
UK heart charity tries to shock kids off junk food
07.11.05 3.20pm
LONDON - A British heart charity launched a poster campaign today to shock children away from eating cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and hot dogs.
The British Heart Foundation has hired billboards around Britain to show burger and hot dog buns filled with gristle, bones and connective tissue.
The gory images are obscured by a "censored" stamp, but can be peeled back to reveal the true ingredients on the charity's website.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354007
Goat-milk babies experience same growth as cow-milk
08.11.05
Babies fed goat-milk formula have the same growth rate as babies fed cow-milk formula, a New Zealand study has revealed.
The study was carried out by Dr Cameron Grant, Associate Professor of Paediatrics at Auckland University, and paediatrician at Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital.
"Our study shows that in healthy non-allergic children, goat-milk formula is a suitable alternative to cow-milk formula.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354082
Health warning issued for Rotorua Lake
08.11.05 11.00am
Another health warning has been issued for a Rotorua lake and more are expected to follow.
Water testing at Gisborne Point and Hinehopu at the eastern end of Lake Rotoiti has revealed a significant bloom of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria.
Acting medical officer of health Dr Paul Martiquet said Environment Bay of Plenty's water sampling tests confirmed the blooms in those two areas.
"It's just a seasonal thing ... this is not uncommon for this time of year," Mr Martiquet said.
People are being asked not to use the lake for recreational purposes and to avoid skin contact with the water.
They have also been warned against drinking water from the lake.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354155
Hasta la vista, Arnold Schwarzenegger
09.11.05
LOS ANGELES - It was only a year ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the big-screen action hero turned Governor of California, was the politician who could do no wrong.
...Schwarzenegger has turned against a number of interest groups - especially school parents - who brought him to power in the first place. Bipartisanship was shot after he dismissed Democrats as "girly men". The open expressions of anger began when he told underpaid, overworked nurses he wanted to "kick their butts".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354283
Iran accuses US of spy flights
09.11.05
NEW YORK - Iran has found the wreckage of two United States unmanned spy planes on its territory in recent months, Tehran said, accusing Washington of violating its sovereignty through illegal overflights.
Iran "strongly protests against such unlawful acts and emphasises the necessity to observe the principles of international law concerning the sanctity of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states," its Foreign Ministry said.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment to the protest, which came in letters to the US Government written months ago but made public at the United Nations only yesterday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354284
Bird flu kills Vietnamese man, tests show
08.11.05 3.20pm
HANOI - Test results showed bird flu killed a 35-year-old Vietnamese man, the first victim of a new outbreak of the virus in poultry in the Southeast Asian country, state media said.
"This is the first death since the start of this year's epidemic season," Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan was quoted as saying of the man who died late last month in Hanoi.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354203
Bird flu could cost global economy $800b
08.11.05 1.00pm
GENEVA - A flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to US$800 billion (NZ$1177 billion), the World Bank said, as China asked for international help to double check whether bird flu had killed a 12-year-old girl.
The World Bank set out the possible financial cost at a three-day meeting in Geneva at which hundreds of experts are drawing up a strategy to prevent bird flu from developing into a pandemic in which millions could die.
"Normally it takes six months to design a programme of this kind. We have three days," the senior UN coordinator for avian and human influenza, David Nabarro, said at the talks, stressing the need to boost surveillance and reporting.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza is known to have killed 63 people in four Asian countries and led to the culling of 150 million birds worldwide. It has recently spread to eastern Europe and is expected to move into the Middle East and Africa.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354179
continued ...
Endangered condors soar over Grand Canyon
By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press Writer June 13, 2005
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. --The South Rim of the Grand Canyon has long been a favorite of human visitors gawking at the stunning views and taking advantage of the manmade services. As it turns out, the South Rim also is a favorite of endangered California condors -- for many of the same reasons. The large birds often gather to watch people, socialize with one another and drink from a leaky water pipe.
On some days, as many as 25 to 30 condors soar over the canyon area -- more birds than were in existence a generation ago when officials decided to capture and breed them.
The birds, which have dull orange featherless heads with a stubby beak and dark body feathers, were reintroduced in the wild in Arizona starting in 1996. What began with the release of six birds 50 miles north of here has led to a flock of 53, including some of the first wild-born condors since the early 1980s.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/06/13/endangered_condors_soar_over_grand_canyon/
High court backs workers in pay dispute
By Gina Holland, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to change into protective clothing and safety gear and walk to their work stations.
The issue was one of two that justices settled in a pair of unanimous decisions, the first rulings under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts in the new fall term. Roberts did not write either one.
In a defeat for business, the court said that employers must pay wages for the donning of "integral" gear and the time it takes workers to then walk to the production area.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/high_court_backs_workers_in_pay_dispute/
Northwest seeks temporary pay cuts for some
November 8, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS --Northwest Airlines Corp. is asking a judge to temporarily authorize 19 percent pay cuts for its customer service agents and other ground workers.
The cuts would save the Eagan-based carrier about $114 million a year, but company officials said they would only be in effect for a few months until management and the ground workers union negotiate a long-term concessionary agreement, the Star Tribune reported Tuesday. Northwest sought bankruptcy protection in September.
Leaders of the pilots and flight attendants union already agreed to deep interim pay cuts that would reduce Northwest's costs by $332 million a year.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/08/northwest_seeks_temporary_pay_cuts_for_some/
Jury acquits union leaders on mob charges
November 8, 2005
NEW YORK --Two executives of the International Longshoremen's Association and a reputed mobster who went missing mid-trial were acquitted Tuesday of charges that they helped the Mafia keep its grip on the New York waterfront.
Supporters gasped and burst into tears as a federal jury in Brooklyn found union officials Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey not guilty of extortion and fraud charges.
The jury also acquitted Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese crime family associate who had been accused of wire and mail fraud.
But the victory may turn out to be empty for Ricci, who vanished in the middle of the trial and is suspected to have been slain by the mob.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/11/08/jury_acquits_union_leaders_on_mob_charges/
Union wants base pay of $40,000; Vt. short of that
November 8, 2005
BURLINGTON, Vt. --Vermont has a long way to go if it wants to meet the new goal of the National Education Association: annual base pay for starting teachers of $40,000 nationwide.
The teachers' union argues that improving base pay is the key to attracting top college graduates into the classroom, and that base pay as low as $28,000 in some Vermont schools has hampered recruitment.
"I think the data is there that indicates that persistently low teacher pay continues to be a factor in the challenge of recruiting and retaining the kinds of teachers people say they want and we know we need in public school classrooms," said Angelo Dorta, president of the Vermont-NEA, the state chapter of the National Education Association.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/11/08/union_wants_base_pay_of_40000_vt_short_of_that/
UVM faculty, administration far apart in contract talks
November 8, 2005
BURLINGTON, Vt. --Fourteen hours of negotiations and mediation produced no resolution Monday as University of Vermont faculty and administrators negotiated over a new contract.
The marathon session ended at 11 p.m. with the two sides still differing over salaries, health insurance coverage and retirement issues.
Contract talks started in January but were halted when both sides declared an impasse Aug. 25. A mediator was called in, and Monday was expected to be the last mediation session. But another session was set for Dec. 6.
Tom Gustafson, UVM's vice president for student and campus life, said negotiators had "made quite a bit of progress, but there are issues that still need quite a bit more work and analysis."
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/08/uvm_faculty_administration_far_apart_in_contract_talks/
Senators say Alito respects Roe decision
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, right, speaks with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., left, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 in Brownback's Capitol Hill office in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
By Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said the court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision deserves "great respect" but did not commit to upholding it in the future, senators said Tuesday.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said Alito told him the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights "was precedent on which people, a lot of people, relied, and had been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect."
Lieberman called that "encouraging," but also said the federal judge had not assured him that he would not overturn Roe.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/senators_say_alito_respects_roe_decision/
Soccer star, Ivy Leaguer run in Liberia
Soccer star and presidential candidate George Weah from the Congress for Democratic Change 'CDC' party votes on the outskirts of the city of Monrovia, Liberia on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005. Weah vying to become Liberia's first postwar president vowed to work for peace as he voted Tuesday in a presidential runoff that many hope will herald a new era after a quarter century of coups and conflict. (AP Photo)
By Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
MONROVIA, Liberia --A soccer star vying to become Liberia's first postwar president vowed to work for peace as he voted Tuesday in a runoff election that many hope will herald a new era after a quarter century of coups and conflict. His Ivy League-educated opponent expressed confidence she would win.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/11/08/soccer_star_ivy_leaguer_run_in_liberia/
Defense lawyer in Saddam trial killed
An Iraqi man looks at the burnt shell of a police car which was attacked near the town of Daquq, 25 miles south of Kirkuk, November 8, 2005. (A REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed)
By Lutfi Abu Oun and Waleed Ibrahim November 8, 2005
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a second defense lawyer acting in Saddam Hussein's trial on Tuesday, renewing questions over whether the former president can get a fair trial amid Iraq's daily violence.
Another defense lawyer was slightly wounded in the attack on their car in Baghdad, police and defense team sources said.
The shooting followed the murder of another defense lawyer who was shot the day after the televised start of proceedings on October 19.
It stoked controversy about whether the high-profile trial for crimes against humanity should be delayed or moved abroad.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/08/saddam_trial_defense_lawyer_killed/
US used white phosphorus on Iraqi civilians-report
By Phil Stewart November 8, 2005
ROME (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq have used incendiary white phosphorus against civilians and a firebomb similar to napalm against military targets, Italian state-run broadcaster RAI reported on Tuesday.
A RAI documentary showed images of bodies recovered after a November 2004 offensive by U.S. troops on the town of Falluja, which it said proved the use of white phosphorus against men, women and children who were burned to the bone.
"I do know that white phosphorus was used," said Jeff Englehart in the RAI documentary, which identified him as a former soldier in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq.
The U.S. military says white phosphorus is a conventional weapon and says it does not use any chemical arms.
"Burned bodies. Burned children and burned women," said Englehart, who RAI said had taken part in the Falluja offensive. "White phosphorus kills indiscriminately."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/11/08/us_used_white_phosphorus_on_iraqi_civilians_report/
This was precious. It's okay for Bush to continue to kill in Iraq. Force does not have to mean killing. Force can mean sanctions against the Sunnis to stop their opposition to the federal government. Iraq is regional anyway. They would have to stop travel between Sunni areas and the rest of Iraq shutting down access to trade and supplies. They haven't tried everything. All this administration knows is guns, munitions and the NRA.
This article doesn't speak to the fact the USA has the option of leaving as well.
U.N. extends mandate for force in Iraq
November 8, 2005
UNITED NATIONS --The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the mandate of the nearly 180,000-strong multinational force in Iraq for a year, a move the United States called a significant signal of international commitment to Iraq's political transition.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Denmark, Japan and Romania, was adopted in response to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for the U.S.-led force to remain in the country.
The current mandate authorizing the presence of the force expires on Dec. 31, about two weeks after parliamentary elections in Iraq -- the end point of the political process as defined by the Security Council.
The resolution extends the force's mandate until Dec. 31, 2006, with a review after eight months. Under its terms, the council will "terminate this mandate earlier if requested by the government of Iraq."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/11/08/un_extends_mandate_for_force_in_iraq/
Pentagon issues new rules on detainees
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
WASHINGTON --Thrown on the defensive by prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon has issued a broad new directive mandating that detainees be treated humanely and has banned the use of dogs to intimidate or harass suspects.
The directive, provided by the Defense Department, pulls together for the first time all of its existing policies and memos covering the interrogation of detainees taken in the war against terrorism. It comes as Congress is considering a ban on the inhumane treatment of U.S. prisoners and Democrats have launched a long-shot effort to create a commission to investigate abuse.
While the policy maps out broad requirements for humane treatment and for reporting any violations, it is just the first step in the development of a new Army manual that would more precisely detail which interrogation techniques are acceptable and which are not.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/08/pentagon_detainees_must_be_treated_well/
Top Rwanda genocide suspect surrenders to tribunal
November 8, 2005
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A suspected leader of Rwanda's 1994 genocide surrendered on Tuesday to the international court trying the architects of the slaughter, the tribunal said.
Callixte Kalimanzira, 52, faces three charges including genocide. He is accused of inciting fellow ethnic Hutus to kill ethnic Tutsis, including women, children and the elderly.
"The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) took custody of Kalimanzira who surrendered to Tanzanian authorities today in Arusha," a statement by the Tanzanian-based court said.
Kalimanzira, a former assistant minister in the central African nation's government, is also charged with handing out weapons and personally overseeing the murder of Tutsis.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2005/11/08/top_rwanda_genocide_suspect_surrenders_to_tribunal/
To banish anxiety, Greenwich resident cleans highway onramps
By Michael Dinan, Greenwich Time November 8, 2005
GREENWICH, Conn. --The sun was setting on an Interstate 95 onramp in central Greenwich.
Elayne Kantor surveyed the scene, scoffed, hoisted a plastic garbage bag -- already half-full -- and marched right past the sign warning that pedestrian traffic is prohibited. She reached down with a surgical glove-covered hand and grabbed a clump of damp candy wrappers, cigarette butts, plastic coffee cup lids and plastic foam sandwich boxes.
"I drive past here every day on my way to work and it was just getting disgusting," Kantor said as accelerating truck and passenger-car drivers stared at her -- a 59-year-old woman in nice shoes rummaging through roadside muck and brush. "I've been thinking about it for a while and then I just said, 'I have to do this.' "
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/08/to_banish_anxiety_greenwich_resident_cleans_highway_onramps/
High school student club promotes nutrition
By Christiana Sciaudone, The Advocate Of Stamford November 8, 2005
STAMFORD, Conn. --Obesity in America is a result of misconception.
So says Benj Ferri, founder of the Go Healthy Early Club at Westhill High School. Ferri said there is a "cultural, conceptual dichotomy" between "what's good for you and what tastes good."
People have preconceived ideas of what tastes good, and don't give healthy foods a chance, Ferri said.
"This country has a really big problem," he said.
Last year, he and fellow seniors Mike Alcan and J.R. Reyes took action. They got help from Jean McCormick, a nurse practitioner at the School-Based Health Center at Westhill, which is part of the nonprofit HealthCare Connection.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/08/high_school_student_club_promotes_nutrition/
Turnout steady in off-year-election
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press Writer November 8, 2005
AUGUSTA, Maine --Turnout was steady at polls across Maine on Tuesday as voters decided whether to repeal or keep on the books the state's law to bar discrimination against gays. Supporters as well as opponents of the gay rights law said a heavy turnout would benefit them.
Turnout for off-year balloting was steady in communities such as Portland, Augusta and Lisbon. State election officials predicted a strong turnout for a year in which no major statewide offices were being filled.
Besides the gay rights question, voters were deciding on five state borrowing questions totaling $83 million, and a constitutional amendment on whether to allow special tax treatment of waterfront land to help preserve Maine's fishing industry.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/08/turnout_steady_in_off_year_election/
High school evacuated after mercury spill
November 8, 2005
SPARKS, Nev. --Students spilled mercury in a classroom laboratory Monday, forcing the evacuation of 2,400 high schoolers, officials said.
A hazardous material crew decontaminated nine students who may have been exposed to the toxic substance at Reed High School.
The school will remain closed at least until Wednesday while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleans up the site.
"We are going to investigate to find out how widespread it is, see how many kids might be affected," EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said from regional headquarters in San Francisco.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/11/08/high_school_evacuated_after_mercury_spill/
Japan to cull 170,000 more chickens
November 8, 2005
TOKYO --Japan will cull 170,000 more chickens after a bird flu virus from the H5 family was detected at farm north of Tokyo, a news report said Tuesday.
The Agricultural Ministry said Monday that chickens at the farm tested positive for antibodies for the virus, though no viruses had been found. But local authorities corrected that announcement Tuesday, saying the virus had been detected in two chicken pens at the farm in Ibaraki prefecture (state), about 64 miles north of Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Officials said the chickens probably had the H5N2 strain of the virus, which is less virulent than the H5N1 strain that has ravaged Southeast Asia since 2003 and killed at least 63 people there.
The 170,000 chickens in the two pens will be culled nevertheless, NHK said.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2005/11/08/japan_to_cull_170000_more_chickens/
SARS was much worse than this. Sympathy to the families effected by these losses.
Human deaths from bird flu, by country
By The Associated Press November 7, 2005
A look a human deaths from bird flu, by country, according to the World Health Organization: There have been 63 deaths worldwide since late 2003, the U.N. agency says.
--Vietnam: 41 deaths
--Thailand: 13 deaths
--Indonesia: 5 deaths
--Cambodia: 4 deaths
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/11/07/human_deaths_from_bird_flu_by_country/
Winking at genocide
November 8, 2005
A RECENT letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed by 109 members of Congress from both parties castigated the Bush administration for ''engaging in a policy of appeasement" toward the government of Sudan, which both Congress and former secretary of state Colin Powell have denounced as a perpetrator of genocide in the nation's Darfur region. The policy being carried out by Rice and her deputies may be more accurately described as indulgence of the Khartoum regime rather than appeasement, but, whatever the label, the failure to stop the suffering in Darfur is indefensible.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/11/08/winking_at_genocide/
Early warning on AIDS
November 8, 2005
EACH YEAR, 40,000 Americans become infected with the virus that causes AIDS, joining the more than 1 million Americans who are HIV-positive. About 25 percent of all the infected do not know they are carrying the disease, which means they get no treatment and may well transmit it to their sex partners. Young gay males who have become infected are especially unlikely to be aware they are. The best hope of reducing the frequency of new infections depends on getting more HIV-positive people to know their status and to change their sexual behavior.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/11/08/early_warning_on_aids/
Archaeologists unveil ancient church site
This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2005 and released by the Israeli Antiquities Authority shows a mosaic with writing in ancient Greek with references to Christ, on the floor of what is believed to be the oldest church in Israel that was recently discovered in the grounds inside the Megiddo prison, near the biblical site of Armageddon, in central Israel and reported by Israel's Channel 2 TV Saturday Nov. 5, 2005. The ruins are believed to date back 1,700 years, and include references to Jesus and images of fish, the report said. Archaeological experts quoted in the story said it was the largest church ever discovered in the holy land, and could perhaps turn out to be the oldest church in the world. (AP Photo/Israel Antiquities Authority)
By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press Writer November 7, 2005
MEGIDDO PRISON, Israel --Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists said Sunday may be the Holy Land's oldest church.
The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/07/archaeologists_unveil_ancient_church_site/
Boston's Jewish Renaissance
Fifteen years after a study on the rise of interfaith marriages had Jewish leaders bemoaning their religion's slow death, Judaism is thriving in Boston. What's more surprising is who's leading the revival.
Boston's oldest synagogue, the Vilna Shul on Beacon Hill, now serves as a cultural center and an informal place to experience Judaism. David Gerzof, 30, standing at the rear during a service, helps organize events at the shul. (Globe Staff Photo / Essdras M. Suarez)
By Doug Most November 6, 2005
There are ghosts in here. You can feel them in the peeling walls, the dirty floor tiles, the wooden pews, and the 100-year-old mahogany ark that holds the Torah scrolls. And if you close your eyes, you can see them. It's a Friday night in, say, 1925. Men walk to this synagogue dressed in gray suits, crisp white shirts, and neatly knotted ties. As they step through the arched front doors, they remove their handsome black fedoras to reveal their yarmulkes. In the Orthodox tradition, women enter separately through a side door. They are dressed plainly, in long skirts and prim blouses. Upstairs, where symbols of Judaism are painted on the walls of the sanctuary and a Star of David dangles from a chandelier, the men sit in the first set of pews while the women sit in their own section. "Shalom," says the rabbi from the elbow of the L-shaped room, and moonlight shines through the skylights as the service begins.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/11/06/bostons_jewish_renaissance/
Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed
By Steve Weizman, Associated Press Writer June 13, 2005
JERUSALEM --Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds 2,000 years old, hoping its ancient DNA could reveal medicinal qualities to benefit future generations, one of the scientists leading the project said Sunday.
Sarah Sallon, of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, said she and her colleagues used seeds found in archaeological excavations at Masada, the desert mountain fortress where ancient Jewish rebels chose suicide over capture by Roman legions in A.D. 73. She said they were the oldest seeds ever brought back to life.
"A lotus seed was germinated (in China) after 1,200 years, but nothing has been germinated coming from this far back
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/06/13/date_palm_grown_from_2000_year_old_seed/
New Zealand Herald
Penguin evolution shaped by climate change
09.11.05
By Steve Connor
A colony of penguins that has bred at the same site in Antarctica for thousands of years has provided New Zealand scientists with a rare insight into how a change in the climate can speed up the course of evolution.
Researchers analysed ancient fragments of DNA from the remains of penguins that have been buried at the site for up to 6000 years and compared them to the DNA of living members of the same colony.
The comparison has offered a snapshot of small-scale evolutionary changes to the genetic sequence of the DNA that have occurred without any obvious changes to the appearance or behaviour of the birds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354227
Australian terrorism fears intensify
09.11.05
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - The arrest of a radical Muslim cleric on terrorism charges yesterday and the planned deportation of another have heightened fears of deadly homegrown fundamentalist cells prepared to wage war on Australia.
Melbourne cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakir, who has publicly supported Osama bin Laden, was yesterday accused of being the spiritual leader of an alleged terror group planning attacks on Sydney and Melbourne.
On Monday a court refused to quash a deportation order against Iranian-born Sheik Mansour Lehaei, identified by intelligence officials as a threat to national security.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354287
Bailey's clothes auctioned while she's on holiday
09.11.05
By Claire Trevett
As if things weren't bad enough for the jilted Mother of the Nation, she returned from holiday this week to find staff in the TVNZ building wearing her clothes.
While Judy Bailey was overseas on leave, it seems TVNZ held an in-house auction of the news presenter's wardrobe. But some of the garments were Bailey's own clothes - and definitely not for sale.
TVNZ spokeswoman Avon Adams said it was a mistake.
"What they tend to do is auction off the old clothes ... The tragedy is unfortunately Judy Bailey had some of her own personal garments in with the TVNZ wardrobe and they were inadvertently sold as well.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354332
Gun scare at school
09.11.05 5.00am
The discovery of a pile of empty .22 calibre shell casings sparked an armed police callout to an Albany primary school yesterday.
Pupils told a Pinehurst School staff member they had seen a gun-toting person in camouflage but she dismissed the information until discovering the pile of used shells in the school grounds.
Armed police were dispatched and after an hour the mystery was solved.
A 12-year-old boy, who had collected the shells from a relative's farm, had decided to empty his pockets in the middle of the school while playing with his toy gun.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354319
4-year-old dies in shoot out
09.11.05 5.20am
A 4-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet and three men were shot dead in a shoot-out between police and an armed gang in Papua New Guinea.
Police were called after up to 12 armed after police stormed the house of a building firm manager in the mountain town of Mt Hagen.
Police said three gang members died in the shootout, and a boy was hit in the head by a stray bullet in a neighbouring house.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354278
Tax cuts out of frame for 3 years
09.11.05
By Audrey Young
The Labour-led Government has ruled out "significant" tax cuts in the next three years in its blueprint issued at the state opening of Parliament yesterday.
The so-called speech from the throne by Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright - written by the Government - emphasised the aim to lift productivity by producing more per worker and reiterated the plan to review corporate taxation.
But it gave no hint that National's close shave with victory in the election on its campaign of substantial tax cuts had softened Labour's stance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354328
Wage inflation jump fuels rate-rise fears
09.11.05
By Brian Fallow
Wage rises accelerated in the September quarter, making another interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank a near certainty.
And the unions have vowed to continue their campaign for pay rises of 5 per cent or more.
The bank's preferred measure of underlying wage inflation, the private sector labour cost index, rose 0.8 per cent in the quarter, pushing the annual increase to 2.8 per cent from 2.5 per cent in June and March.
When the public sector was added, the overall quarterly increase was 1 per cent and the annual rise 3 per cent, Statistics New Zealand said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10354263
Canada sale keeps firm healthy
08.11.05
By Simon Hendery
Auckland medical software company Intrahealth Systems expects to reap more than C$10 million ($12 million) from a deal to provide advanced patient management technology to a large Canadian health authority.
Intrahealth says its contract with Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia - signed last week - is also an important foothold in its quest to win more lucrative North American business.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354049
French youths riot again despite curfew threat
09.11.05
By Tom Heneghan
PARIS - Ignoring the government's threat of a curfew, youths rioted for a 12th successive night yesterday in France, torching more than 800 vehicles around the country and injuring four police, said the Interior Ministry
The nightly protests against racism and unemployment dropped markedly in the greater Paris region, where violence had escalated to the point of shooting at police, but continued unabated in other parts of France, a ministry statement showed.
The renewed violence followed a warning by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin that he would take a firm line against lawbreakers, including reinforcements for police and curfews not seen here since the Algerian war of 1954-1962.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354289
Stolen UK mobiles resold in 46 countries
09.11.05
By Jason Bennetto
Mobile phones stolen in Britain are being resold in more than 40 countries in a trade worth millions, a police investigation has discovered.
A study of more than 1000 mobiles stolen in Britain revealed they ended up in at least 46 different countries, including Iraq, Peru, Australia, Dubai, China and Jamaica.
Gangs use a network of second-hand shops and criminals to collect tens of thousands of mobiles stolen in street muggings and house break-ins, which are then taken abroad and sold.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354285
US charges five Guantanamo detainees
09.11.05
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON - Five foreign terrorism suspects at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been charged with war crimes and will face military trials, bringing to nine the number charged at Guantanamo to date, the Pentagon announced on Monday.
Two of the five "enemy combatants" facing charges are from Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said. The other three are from Algeria, Ethiopia and Canada. Nearly 500 detainees are being held at the Navy prison in Cuba.
The charges were announced just hours after the Supreme Court said it would decide whether President George W. Bush has the power to create military tribunals to put Guantanamo prisoners on trial for war crimes, an important test of the administration's policy in the war on terrorism.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354290
Hamburgers cause asthma, NZ research says
08.11.05 1.00pm
By Kent Atkinson
Eating hamburgers more than once a week nearly doubles the risk of asthma attacks and wheezing in children, according to research carried out on 1300 New Zealand school pupils.
Other takeaway food and fizzy drinks also increase the chances of getting asthma, doctors found.
Youngsters who eat at least one hamburger a week are 75 per cent more likely to have asthma and almost 100 per cent more likely to suffer wheezing problems, according a study published yesterday in the international scientific journal Allergy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354170
UK heart charity tries to shock kids off junk food
07.11.05 3.20pm
LONDON - A British heart charity launched a poster campaign today to shock children away from eating cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and hot dogs.
The British Heart Foundation has hired billboards around Britain to show burger and hot dog buns filled with gristle, bones and connective tissue.
The gory images are obscured by a "censored" stamp, but can be peeled back to reveal the true ingredients on the charity's website.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354007
Goat-milk babies experience same growth as cow-milk
08.11.05
Babies fed goat-milk formula have the same growth rate as babies fed cow-milk formula, a New Zealand study has revealed.
The study was carried out by Dr Cameron Grant, Associate Professor of Paediatrics at Auckland University, and paediatrician at Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital.
"Our study shows that in healthy non-allergic children, goat-milk formula is a suitable alternative to cow-milk formula.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354082
Health warning issued for Rotorua Lake
08.11.05 11.00am
Another health warning has been issued for a Rotorua lake and more are expected to follow.
Water testing at Gisborne Point and Hinehopu at the eastern end of Lake Rotoiti has revealed a significant bloom of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria.
Acting medical officer of health Dr Paul Martiquet said Environment Bay of Plenty's water sampling tests confirmed the blooms in those two areas.
"It's just a seasonal thing ... this is not uncommon for this time of year," Mr Martiquet said.
People are being asked not to use the lake for recreational purposes and to avoid skin contact with the water.
They have also been warned against drinking water from the lake.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10354155
Hasta la vista, Arnold Schwarzenegger
09.11.05
LOS ANGELES - It was only a year ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the big-screen action hero turned Governor of California, was the politician who could do no wrong.
...Schwarzenegger has turned against a number of interest groups - especially school parents - who brought him to power in the first place. Bipartisanship was shot after he dismissed Democrats as "girly men". The open expressions of anger began when he told underpaid, overworked nurses he wanted to "kick their butts".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354283
Iran accuses US of spy flights
09.11.05
NEW YORK - Iran has found the wreckage of two United States unmanned spy planes on its territory in recent months, Tehran said, accusing Washington of violating its sovereignty through illegal overflights.
Iran "strongly protests against such unlawful acts and emphasises the necessity to observe the principles of international law concerning the sanctity of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states," its Foreign Ministry said.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment to the protest, which came in letters to the US Government written months ago but made public at the United Nations only yesterday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354284
Bird flu kills Vietnamese man, tests show
08.11.05 3.20pm
HANOI - Test results showed bird flu killed a 35-year-old Vietnamese man, the first victim of a new outbreak of the virus in poultry in the Southeast Asian country, state media said.
"This is the first death since the start of this year's epidemic season," Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan was quoted as saying of the man who died late last month in Hanoi.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354203
Bird flu could cost global economy $800b
08.11.05 1.00pm
GENEVA - A flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to US$800 billion (NZ$1177 billion), the World Bank said, as China asked for international help to double check whether bird flu had killed a 12-year-old girl.
The World Bank set out the possible financial cost at a three-day meeting in Geneva at which hundreds of experts are drawing up a strategy to prevent bird flu from developing into a pandemic in which millions could die.
"Normally it takes six months to design a programme of this kind. We have three days," the senior UN coordinator for avian and human influenza, David Nabarro, said at the talks, stressing the need to boost surveillance and reporting.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza is known to have killed 63 people in four Asian countries and led to the culling of 150 million birds worldwide. It has recently spread to eastern Europe and is expected to move into the Middle East and Africa.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354179
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