On September 27, 2005, aship was found ground in China after Typhoon Damry. Just in case anyone is looking for it.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
September 28, 2005.
A rare picture of the 'business end' of a Giant Squid. Admirably the fishing vessel didn't haul it on board. I congratulate them for appreciating the mysteries of the sea. Squid are rather vicious eaters with a very dangerous orafice. The tenticles extend far in front of this animal. It's head can be observed in thie picture. The tenticles would pull it's prey into it's mouth pieces. Fascinating picture.
Caption :: 2301 GMT SEPTEMBER 27, 2005.
An undated handout combination image released September 27, 2005 by the Royal Society shows the first photographs of a live giant squid in its natural environment, taken by Japanese scientists in the Pacific Ocean. Until now the only information about the behaviour of the creatures which measure up to 18 m (59 feet) in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
September 28, 2005.
The Giant Squid is probably interesting estimated at 18 meters, equivalent of approximately 60 feet, is still a junior variety according to some ancient seafaring tales. This was found near Japan when a fishing vessel reeled in their 'catch.'
The thing is that Squid are exploding in waters in that area of the Earth due to increased sea temperatures that accelerates their reproduction cycle leading to earlier maturing of juveniles. I believe in 'math' and 'odds' and I find this a bit alarming that this would show up at all. Considering the fact this was a 'fishing vessel' this Squid was competing for food at upper depth. Normally, Sperm whales swim to incredible depths to feed on the Giant Squid. There is a reason why before now these animals have only been found dead for study by scientists.
Morning Papers - continued
The Australian
Howard reins in media reforms
Steve Lewis, Chief political reporter
September 28, 2005
THE Howard Government will abandon plans to radically reform Australia's media landscape, instead restricting changes to cross-media and foreign ownership laws.
In a setback to the reformist aspirations of Communications Minister Helen Coonan, the Government will dump her big-ticket reform proposal in favour of a narrower set of changes.
Plans to allow free-to-air television stations to offer multiple channels - and the take-up of information services, known as datacasting - have been shelved.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745680%5E601,00.html
ASIO shadowing 800 extremists
Patrick Walters, National security editor
September 28, 2005
AUSTRALIA faces a serious new home-grown terror threat, with ASIO estimating that up to 800 Muslim "extremists" living here could be motivated to carry out a London-style attack.
A year ago, the nation's security agencies revealed they were closely monitoring the activities of 70-80 Australians known to have trained with terrorist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745674%5E601,00.html
43 left dead as typhoon blows out
From correspondents in Hanoi
September 28, 2005
A GREATLY weakened Typhoon Damrey wrought more destruction in its wake Wednesday after killing at least 43 people in a week-long sweep through a vast swathe of East Asia.
Damrey was downgraded into a tropical depression as wind speeds dropped to just 38km/h from a high of around 200km/h, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
The storm earlier killed 16 people in the Philippines, 16 in southern China, eight in Vietnam and three in Thailand, where it caused widespread flooding in the north. Five people have been reported missing there.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16753046%5E1702,00.html
Female bomber kills seven
From correspondents in Tal Afar, Iraq
September 28, 2005
A FEMALE suicide bomber blew herself up outside an army recruitment centre in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar today, killing at least seven and wounding 37.
The recruitment centre, housed in a former US military base, had only opened today after a joint Iraqi-US military operation which US forces said had effectively rid Tal Afar of what they called "terrorists and foreign fighters".
"A suicide bomber blew herself up in front of the recruitment centre. This centre was supposed to be open today for volunteers," Iraqi General Nejam Abdullah said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16751981%5E1702,00.html
New 'dirty bomb' labs
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A NETWORK of anti-terror chemical analysis laboratories will be set up in capital cities amid fears Australia could be targeted by a "dirty bomb".
The laboratories will be built to accelerate Australia's response to any chemical, biological or nuclear terrorist attack.
They will work in conjunction with a new $17.3million research facility in Canberra, which will study ways of detecting and countering terrorist attacks using chemical, biological or radioactive material.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745760%5E601,00.html
Laws may create 'fascist state'
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A PROMINENT Islamic leader yesterday denounced the new counter-terrorism laws, saying sunset clauses could mean the nation remained "a fascist state" until 2016.
Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, warned that the new laws represented a severe erosion of individual freedoms and would create fear and division in society.
"The sunset clauses mean the laws will remain in effect for 10 years, and the review is more likely to increase them rather than moderate them," he said.
"These laws will be unfair and could lead to the creation of a fascist state."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745764%5E601,00.html
Not in our back paddock
Neither the public nor politicians are behind Bob Hawke's proposal to make Australia the world's nuclear waste dump, writes Katharine Murphy
September 28, 2005
TEN years ago, an American research company called Pangea Resources, which was funded by international nuclear industries, developed a top-secret research project identifying possible sites for a high-level nuclear waste dump.
Pangea chose Australia as its favoured option. Australia had all the right elements: the perfect geography to store nuclear waste, stable countryside in remote Western and South Australia and lots of isolated places. It had a strong economy and the required political stability.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16743059%5E28737,00.html
World News
SEPT 11 CONSPIRATORS JAILED
27.9.2005. 09:41:53
The Syrian head of an Al-Qaeda cell based in Spain has been jailed for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US at the end of the biggest trial to date in Europe involving Osama bin Laden's network.
Spain's High Court also jailed 17 other people, including a reporter for the Al-Jazeera television station, for between six and 11 years.
Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, was sentenced to 27 years jail for conspiring to commit murder in the September 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121673®ion=3
CENTRE RIGHT WINS POLAND POLL
26.9.2005. 08:20:32
The leader of Poland's socially conservative Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says he has a mandate to become prime minister after exit polls showed his party finished first in the parliamentary elections.
Mr Kaczynski cited a deal with potential coalition partner Civic Platform, which finished second.
"The agreement was that whoever wins the election has the prime minister post, and then this applies to me as the head of the winning party," Mr Kaczynski said.
Exit polls put the two conservative parties in firm control of the Polish parliament, in the first national vote since the central European country joined the EU last year.
The exit polls give Catholic Law and Justice (PiS) just over 28 percent of votes with the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) running a close second with around 26 percent.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121574®ion=3
LAW COUNCIL URGES COAG CAUTION
27.9.2005. 13:18:14
State and federal leaders meeting in Canberra are being urged not to react too hastily when drawing up new anti-terror laws.
The Law Council of Australia has accused the Premiers of trying to outdo one another when it comes to developing the most stringent laws.
It says today's meeting should look at the existing laws before developing new ones.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121727®ion=7
HAWKE NUCLEAR IDEA DUMPED
27.9.2005. 13:13:09
The environmental group Greenpeace says Australians would never support former Prime Minister Bob Hawke's suggestion Australia become the world's nuclear waste dump.
Mr Hawke says Australia has an environmental responsibility to promote itself as a safe place for the world's nuclear waste and could benefit economically from such a scheme.
But Greenpeace spokesman Ben Pearson says Australians have recently shown they don't even want a dump for nuclear waste produced in Australia.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121724®ion=7
DARFUR FIGHTING ESCALATES
22.9.2005. 11:54:44
RELATED STORIES
- Sudan announces government
Reports of fresh violence in Sudan’s western Darfur province has sparked fears that peace talks between rebels and the Sudanese government could breakdown and leave the region in a lawless mess.
The United States has expressed concern at the possibility that a sixth round of negotiations being hosted in Abuja, Nigeria, could be derailed if attacks continue in violation of a ceasefire.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Roger Winter, a special representative of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, was in Khartoum and would shortly visit Darfur “to deal with this and see if we can help to contain the violence and get the parties to act responsibly.”
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121233®ion=5
UN REPORT BLAMES TOGO FORCES
26.9.2005. 20:07:07
A UN investigation into violence before and during Togo’s April elections has found that between 400 and 500 people died in human rights violations, far more than previously estimated.
The report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said that security forces were largely to blame for the violence that involved torture and inhumane and degrading treatment.
"The principal responsibility for the political violence and the violations of human rights (lay with) the state security apparatus," she said.
Western diplomats had estimated that 100 to 150 were killed while human rights groups put that figure at 800.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121668®ion=5
Charlotte Observer
Naked truth is revealed on showers
Gender differences emerge as adults come clean about habits
JEFF ELDER
Staff Writer
If you happen to be reading this in the shower, ask yourself:
• Am I in here for a luxurious escape from it all or a brisk cleanup?
• Do men and women behave differently in the shower?
• What do Charlotte's bankers and famous Carolinians do in the shower?
Let's pull back the flimsy curtain and take a peek into one of life's most private places.
The shower can be a refreshing splash in summer and a luxurious warm-up in winter. The goofiness of "Porky's" or the terror of "Psycho." But there is one thing the shower is not, according to Dr. Debbie Magids, a New York-based psychologist:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/jeff_elder/12742895.htm
Ivory Coast Oct. elections may be delayed
PARFAIT KOUASSI
Associated Press
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo said Tuesday that planned October elections will not be held because rebels who control the northern half of the West African nation have failed to disarm.
Gbagbo also said the constitution allows him to remain in power after Oct. 30 - a claim rebels dispute - when the vote was to have been held and his mandate would have expired.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757092.htm
Duke brings together 'podcasters' for academic symposium
NATALIE GOTT
Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. - Students at Duke University have listened to foreign language lessons and reviewed lectures using their iPods. In New York, other students put together unofficial audio guides for the Museum of Modern Art and made them available as podcasts.
The projects were among those mentioned Tuesday during a symposium that was expected to bring about 500 educators, journalists, podcasting practitioners and others to Duke to discuss how podcasting is shaping business, law, journalism and college classrooms. Organizers said they believed the two-day event was the first academic podcasting symposium.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757125.htm
America West, US Airways begin flying under one banner
BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. - America West and US Airways finalized their union Tuesday, combining to form the nation's fifth-largest domestic carrier.
"Today we start a new chapter in aviation history," Doug Parker, chief executive of the newly combined company, said in a news release.
Although the airlines can now operate as one carrier, they said passengers should continue to book directly with each airline as they did before the deal closed.
The airlines are still operating separate Web sites and still have two reservation systems. Flight crews, maintenance and safety procedures for each airline will also remain separate for some time.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12754652.htm
New Colorado treasurer questions legality of tobacco settlement
STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press
DENVER - Less than four months after taking office, acting State Treasurer Mark Hillman is making waves by suggesting a 46-state tobacco settlement is illegal, even though it provides Colorado with millions of dollars a year.
Hillman wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal arguing that the settlement, negotiated among state attorneys general and major tobacco companies, was unconstitutional because it set up a system to collect taxes without legislative authority.
"The billions generated by the tobacco settlement conceal the threat that activist attorneys general pose to taxpayers and to checks and balances on political power," Hillman wrote in the column, published last week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756528.htm
N.C. passes cold medicine sales restrictions to combat meth labs
Associated Press
MEDICINE RESTRAINTS: Gov. Mike Easley signed into law a bill that will require cold and allergy tablets and caplets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to be placed behind the pharmacy counter. A buyer will have to show an ID and sign a log as well.
FOLLOWING THE TREND: North Carolina's General Assembly approved the law after similar bills passed in Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee, where the medicines were being "cooked" to create illegal methamphetamine.
OTHER SOURCES: Attorney General Roy Cooper said he believes the law will lead to a marked decline in meth labs and free up law enforcement to go after traffickers who bring in meth from Mexico or other states.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756493.htm
Panel checks bid to kill base-closing plan
LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A House committee rejected an effort Tuesday by a Republican congressman to kill the Pentagon's proposal to close or downsize hundreds of U.S. military bases.
Nevertheless, under the law that authorized base closings, any House lawmaker can force the full House to consider Rep. Ray LaHood's joint resolution to disapprove the plan to restructure the U.S. network of military bases.
Rep. Curt Weldon, the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said he expected the resolution to reach the House floor as early as next week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757065.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Scientists capture giant squid on camera
28.09.05 1.00pm
LONDON - Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean - the giant squid.
Until now the only information about the behaviour of the creatures which measure up to 18 metres in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of squid attacking bait 900 metres below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347690
Grizzly bear recovery opens way to hunting
28.09.05
By David Usborne
NEW YORK - There is good news from Yellowstone National Park: the grizzly bear population, which collapsed precipitously in the latter half of the last century, to the point where it was included on America's Endangered Species Act, has recovered so brilliantly that the Government proposes to take it off the list.
But that is also the bad news. In the eyes of many animal welfare activists, the decision to delist the grizzlies - expected in the next few weeks - is tantamount to abandoning them to another period of dangerous decline just when their future seemed safe.
The success of the effort to rescue the grizzly in Yellowstone has triggered a furious controversy: what should happen next?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347562
South African mining magnate Brett Kebble killed
28.09.05 1.00pm
JOHANNESBURG - Controversial South African mining magnate Brett Kebble was shot and killed while on his way to a dinner engagement on Tuesday, police and a family spokesman said.
"Brett Kebble died on Tuesday evening in Johannesburg after shots were fired at his car," spokesman David Barritt said in a statement.
Mr Kebble, a patron of South African arts, stepped down as chief executive from three interlinked South African mining firms after they ran into financial problems.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347696
London bomb victims compensated
28.09.05 7.20am
Victims injured in London's deadly bomb attacks on July 7 and the families of the dead will start to receive compensation within the next 10 days, an official compensation panel said.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board said it had received 180 applications for funds so far.
Payments of up to £500,000 ($1.34 million) are available to the injured and families of the 52 people killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347623
UN wants US$30 million for Zimbabwe homeless
28.09.05 2.20pm
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations appealed for nearly US$30 million ($44.64m) in humanitarian supplies for the most vulnerable people evicted from urban slums in Zimbabwe, according to a letter circulated on Tuesday.
The appeal was to have been launched in August but President Robert Mugabe initially rejected the funds, smarting from a critical United Nations (UN) report on July 2 that called his government's bulldozing of urban slums a disastrous and unjustified venture that affected 700,000 people.
The new appeal, called "Common Response Plan" was sent to UN ambassadors by Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, and is to provide some assistance to 300,000 people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347702
Solar-power cars set off across Australian outback
26.09.05 1.00pm
SYDNEY - Twenty-two bug-shaped solar cars designed and built by corporations and universities from around the world set out across the vast, inhospitable Australian outback on Sunday in the eighth World Solar Challenge.
Japan's Sky Ace Tiga car, from the Ashiya University in Osaka, led off after qualifying fastest for the 3000km race across the centre of Australia from the tropical north city of Darwin to Adelaide in South Australia.
Ashiya University's Professor Kunio Nakagawa said his team's car, one of the race favourites, was capable of speeds averaging 95 kph.
"The first target is hoping to finish this race with safety and the second target is to get a top-three position," Nakagawa told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347347
Tsunami inspires lifesaving software
27.09.05
By Owen Hembry
If there is ever a bright side to natural catastrophe, it's that someone usually develops technology to try to better prepare for next time.
Auckland-based web technology company Cyberglue took just such inspiration from last year's Asian tsunami, and came up with eAlert - a disaster notification system it hopes will save lives.
Cyberglue co-founder and chief executive Richard Gill says he was horrified while watching television coverage of the tsunami. Unable to sleep, he decided he could come up with an information management system that could ultimately limit the impact of such events.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347386
continued ...
Howard reins in media reforms
Steve Lewis, Chief political reporter
September 28, 2005
THE Howard Government will abandon plans to radically reform Australia's media landscape, instead restricting changes to cross-media and foreign ownership laws.
In a setback to the reformist aspirations of Communications Minister Helen Coonan, the Government will dump her big-ticket reform proposal in favour of a narrower set of changes.
Plans to allow free-to-air television stations to offer multiple channels - and the take-up of information services, known as datacasting - have been shelved.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745680%5E601,00.html
ASIO shadowing 800 extremists
Patrick Walters, National security editor
September 28, 2005
AUSTRALIA faces a serious new home-grown terror threat, with ASIO estimating that up to 800 Muslim "extremists" living here could be motivated to carry out a London-style attack.
A year ago, the nation's security agencies revealed they were closely monitoring the activities of 70-80 Australians known to have trained with terrorist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745674%5E601,00.html
43 left dead as typhoon blows out
From correspondents in Hanoi
September 28, 2005
A GREATLY weakened Typhoon Damrey wrought more destruction in its wake Wednesday after killing at least 43 people in a week-long sweep through a vast swathe of East Asia.
Damrey was downgraded into a tropical depression as wind speeds dropped to just 38km/h from a high of around 200km/h, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
The storm earlier killed 16 people in the Philippines, 16 in southern China, eight in Vietnam and three in Thailand, where it caused widespread flooding in the north. Five people have been reported missing there.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16753046%5E1702,00.html
Female bomber kills seven
From correspondents in Tal Afar, Iraq
September 28, 2005
A FEMALE suicide bomber blew herself up outside an army recruitment centre in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar today, killing at least seven and wounding 37.
The recruitment centre, housed in a former US military base, had only opened today after a joint Iraqi-US military operation which US forces said had effectively rid Tal Afar of what they called "terrorists and foreign fighters".
"A suicide bomber blew herself up in front of the recruitment centre. This centre was supposed to be open today for volunteers," Iraqi General Nejam Abdullah said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16751981%5E1702,00.html
New 'dirty bomb' labs
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A NETWORK of anti-terror chemical analysis laboratories will be set up in capital cities amid fears Australia could be targeted by a "dirty bomb".
The laboratories will be built to accelerate Australia's response to any chemical, biological or nuclear terrorist attack.
They will work in conjunction with a new $17.3million research facility in Canberra, which will study ways of detecting and countering terrorist attacks using chemical, biological or radioactive material.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745760%5E601,00.html
Laws may create 'fascist state'
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A PROMINENT Islamic leader yesterday denounced the new counter-terrorism laws, saying sunset clauses could mean the nation remained "a fascist state" until 2016.
Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, warned that the new laws represented a severe erosion of individual freedoms and would create fear and division in society.
"The sunset clauses mean the laws will remain in effect for 10 years, and the review is more likely to increase them rather than moderate them," he said.
"These laws will be unfair and could lead to the creation of a fascist state."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745764%5E601,00.html
Not in our back paddock
Neither the public nor politicians are behind Bob Hawke's proposal to make Australia the world's nuclear waste dump, writes Katharine Murphy
September 28, 2005
TEN years ago, an American research company called Pangea Resources, which was funded by international nuclear industries, developed a top-secret research project identifying possible sites for a high-level nuclear waste dump.
Pangea chose Australia as its favoured option. Australia had all the right elements: the perfect geography to store nuclear waste, stable countryside in remote Western and South Australia and lots of isolated places. It had a strong economy and the required political stability.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16743059%5E28737,00.html
World News
SEPT 11 CONSPIRATORS JAILED
27.9.2005. 09:41:53
The Syrian head of an Al-Qaeda cell based in Spain has been jailed for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US at the end of the biggest trial to date in Europe involving Osama bin Laden's network.
Spain's High Court also jailed 17 other people, including a reporter for the Al-Jazeera television station, for between six and 11 years.
Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, was sentenced to 27 years jail for conspiring to commit murder in the September 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121673®ion=3
CENTRE RIGHT WINS POLAND POLL
26.9.2005. 08:20:32
The leader of Poland's socially conservative Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says he has a mandate to become prime minister after exit polls showed his party finished first in the parliamentary elections.
Mr Kaczynski cited a deal with potential coalition partner Civic Platform, which finished second.
"The agreement was that whoever wins the election has the prime minister post, and then this applies to me as the head of the winning party," Mr Kaczynski said.
Exit polls put the two conservative parties in firm control of the Polish parliament, in the first national vote since the central European country joined the EU last year.
The exit polls give Catholic Law and Justice (PiS) just over 28 percent of votes with the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) running a close second with around 26 percent.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121574®ion=3
LAW COUNCIL URGES COAG CAUTION
27.9.2005. 13:18:14
State and federal leaders meeting in Canberra are being urged not to react too hastily when drawing up new anti-terror laws.
The Law Council of Australia has accused the Premiers of trying to outdo one another when it comes to developing the most stringent laws.
It says today's meeting should look at the existing laws before developing new ones.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121727®ion=7
HAWKE NUCLEAR IDEA DUMPED
27.9.2005. 13:13:09
The environmental group Greenpeace says Australians would never support former Prime Minister Bob Hawke's suggestion Australia become the world's nuclear waste dump.
Mr Hawke says Australia has an environmental responsibility to promote itself as a safe place for the world's nuclear waste and could benefit economically from such a scheme.
But Greenpeace spokesman Ben Pearson says Australians have recently shown they don't even want a dump for nuclear waste produced in Australia.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121724®ion=7
DARFUR FIGHTING ESCALATES
22.9.2005. 11:54:44
RELATED STORIES
- Sudan announces government
Reports of fresh violence in Sudan’s western Darfur province has sparked fears that peace talks between rebels and the Sudanese government could breakdown and leave the region in a lawless mess.
The United States has expressed concern at the possibility that a sixth round of negotiations being hosted in Abuja, Nigeria, could be derailed if attacks continue in violation of a ceasefire.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Roger Winter, a special representative of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, was in Khartoum and would shortly visit Darfur “to deal with this and see if we can help to contain the violence and get the parties to act responsibly.”
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121233®ion=5
UN REPORT BLAMES TOGO FORCES
26.9.2005. 20:07:07
A UN investigation into violence before and during Togo’s April elections has found that between 400 and 500 people died in human rights violations, far more than previously estimated.
The report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said that security forces were largely to blame for the violence that involved torture and inhumane and degrading treatment.
"The principal responsibility for the political violence and the violations of human rights (lay with) the state security apparatus," she said.
Western diplomats had estimated that 100 to 150 were killed while human rights groups put that figure at 800.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121668®ion=5
Charlotte Observer
Naked truth is revealed on showers
Gender differences emerge as adults come clean about habits
JEFF ELDER
Staff Writer
If you happen to be reading this in the shower, ask yourself:
• Am I in here for a luxurious escape from it all or a brisk cleanup?
• Do men and women behave differently in the shower?
• What do Charlotte's bankers and famous Carolinians do in the shower?
Let's pull back the flimsy curtain and take a peek into one of life's most private places.
The shower can be a refreshing splash in summer and a luxurious warm-up in winter. The goofiness of "Porky's" or the terror of "Psycho." But there is one thing the shower is not, according to Dr. Debbie Magids, a New York-based psychologist:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/jeff_elder/12742895.htm
Ivory Coast Oct. elections may be delayed
PARFAIT KOUASSI
Associated Press
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo said Tuesday that planned October elections will not be held because rebels who control the northern half of the West African nation have failed to disarm.
Gbagbo also said the constitution allows him to remain in power after Oct. 30 - a claim rebels dispute - when the vote was to have been held and his mandate would have expired.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757092.htm
Duke brings together 'podcasters' for academic symposium
NATALIE GOTT
Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. - Students at Duke University have listened to foreign language lessons and reviewed lectures using their iPods. In New York, other students put together unofficial audio guides for the Museum of Modern Art and made them available as podcasts.
The projects were among those mentioned Tuesday during a symposium that was expected to bring about 500 educators, journalists, podcasting practitioners and others to Duke to discuss how podcasting is shaping business, law, journalism and college classrooms. Organizers said they believed the two-day event was the first academic podcasting symposium.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757125.htm
America West, US Airways begin flying under one banner
BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. - America West and US Airways finalized their union Tuesday, combining to form the nation's fifth-largest domestic carrier.
"Today we start a new chapter in aviation history," Doug Parker, chief executive of the newly combined company, said in a news release.
Although the airlines can now operate as one carrier, they said passengers should continue to book directly with each airline as they did before the deal closed.
The airlines are still operating separate Web sites and still have two reservation systems. Flight crews, maintenance and safety procedures for each airline will also remain separate for some time.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12754652.htm
New Colorado treasurer questions legality of tobacco settlement
STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press
DENVER - Less than four months after taking office, acting State Treasurer Mark Hillman is making waves by suggesting a 46-state tobacco settlement is illegal, even though it provides Colorado with millions of dollars a year.
Hillman wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal arguing that the settlement, negotiated among state attorneys general and major tobacco companies, was unconstitutional because it set up a system to collect taxes without legislative authority.
"The billions generated by the tobacco settlement conceal the threat that activist attorneys general pose to taxpayers and to checks and balances on political power," Hillman wrote in the column, published last week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756528.htm
N.C. passes cold medicine sales restrictions to combat meth labs
Associated Press
MEDICINE RESTRAINTS: Gov. Mike Easley signed into law a bill that will require cold and allergy tablets and caplets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to be placed behind the pharmacy counter. A buyer will have to show an ID and sign a log as well.
FOLLOWING THE TREND: North Carolina's General Assembly approved the law after similar bills passed in Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee, where the medicines were being "cooked" to create illegal methamphetamine.
OTHER SOURCES: Attorney General Roy Cooper said he believes the law will lead to a marked decline in meth labs and free up law enforcement to go after traffickers who bring in meth from Mexico or other states.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756493.htm
Panel checks bid to kill base-closing plan
LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A House committee rejected an effort Tuesday by a Republican congressman to kill the Pentagon's proposal to close or downsize hundreds of U.S. military bases.
Nevertheless, under the law that authorized base closings, any House lawmaker can force the full House to consider Rep. Ray LaHood's joint resolution to disapprove the plan to restructure the U.S. network of military bases.
Rep. Curt Weldon, the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said he expected the resolution to reach the House floor as early as next week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757065.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Scientists capture giant squid on camera
28.09.05 1.00pm
LONDON - Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean - the giant squid.
Until now the only information about the behaviour of the creatures which measure up to 18 metres in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of squid attacking bait 900 metres below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347690
Grizzly bear recovery opens way to hunting
28.09.05
By David Usborne
NEW YORK - There is good news from Yellowstone National Park: the grizzly bear population, which collapsed precipitously in the latter half of the last century, to the point where it was included on America's Endangered Species Act, has recovered so brilliantly that the Government proposes to take it off the list.
But that is also the bad news. In the eyes of many animal welfare activists, the decision to delist the grizzlies - expected in the next few weeks - is tantamount to abandoning them to another period of dangerous decline just when their future seemed safe.
The success of the effort to rescue the grizzly in Yellowstone has triggered a furious controversy: what should happen next?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347562
South African mining magnate Brett Kebble killed
28.09.05 1.00pm
JOHANNESBURG - Controversial South African mining magnate Brett Kebble was shot and killed while on his way to a dinner engagement on Tuesday, police and a family spokesman said.
"Brett Kebble died on Tuesday evening in Johannesburg after shots were fired at his car," spokesman David Barritt said in a statement.
Mr Kebble, a patron of South African arts, stepped down as chief executive from three interlinked South African mining firms after they ran into financial problems.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347696
London bomb victims compensated
28.09.05 7.20am
Victims injured in London's deadly bomb attacks on July 7 and the families of the dead will start to receive compensation within the next 10 days, an official compensation panel said.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board said it had received 180 applications for funds so far.
Payments of up to £500,000 ($1.34 million) are available to the injured and families of the 52 people killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347623
UN wants US$30 million for Zimbabwe homeless
28.09.05 2.20pm
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations appealed for nearly US$30 million ($44.64m) in humanitarian supplies for the most vulnerable people evicted from urban slums in Zimbabwe, according to a letter circulated on Tuesday.
The appeal was to have been launched in August but President Robert Mugabe initially rejected the funds, smarting from a critical United Nations (UN) report on July 2 that called his government's bulldozing of urban slums a disastrous and unjustified venture that affected 700,000 people.
The new appeal, called "Common Response Plan" was sent to UN ambassadors by Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, and is to provide some assistance to 300,000 people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347702
Solar-power cars set off across Australian outback
26.09.05 1.00pm
SYDNEY - Twenty-two bug-shaped solar cars designed and built by corporations and universities from around the world set out across the vast, inhospitable Australian outback on Sunday in the eighth World Solar Challenge.
Japan's Sky Ace Tiga car, from the Ashiya University in Osaka, led off after qualifying fastest for the 3000km race across the centre of Australia from the tropical north city of Darwin to Adelaide in South Australia.
Ashiya University's Professor Kunio Nakagawa said his team's car, one of the race favourites, was capable of speeds averaging 95 kph.
"The first target is hoping to finish this race with safety and the second target is to get a top-three position," Nakagawa told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347347
Tsunami inspires lifesaving software
27.09.05
By Owen Hembry
If there is ever a bright side to natural catastrophe, it's that someone usually develops technology to try to better prepare for next time.
Auckland-based web technology company Cyberglue took just such inspiration from last year's Asian tsunami, and came up with eAlert - a disaster notification system it hopes will save lives.
Cyberglue co-founder and chief executive Richard Gill says he was horrified while watching television coverage of the tsunami. Unable to sleep, he decided he could come up with an information management system that could ultimately limit the impact of such events.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347386
continued ...
Morning Papers - concluding
Zoos
Zimbabwe to import endangered tigers
By MICHAEL HARTNACK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe plans to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for the country's national park, a project condemned by wildlife experts as potentially cruel and dangerous.
In an interview published Thursday in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Minister of the Environment Francis Nhema said the tigers were in return for Zimbabwe giving China breeding animals such as zebra, elephants and impala.
"We do not have the tiger in this country and we would like to benefit from the exchange program with China," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=Zimbabwe%20Tigers
Elephant turf at zoo sparking a fight
(image placeholder)
Protesters seek to free the herd, while zoo officials launch a campaign to create a $22 million savanna for the pachyderms.
By Julie Stoiber
Inquirer Staff Writer
Competing visions of what's right for the elephants clashed this week at the Philadelphia Zoo as animal activists stepped up their free-the-herd campaign and administrators pushed a fund-raising drive that they hope will allow them to enlarge the habitat and add more of the majestic mammals.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/12707692.htm
Satellites to monitor panda sex
Persuading pandas to breed can feel like hard work
Scientists in China plan to use satellites to track pandas to learn more about their sexual behaviour.
A Chinese-US project will use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to monitor panda movements in a reserve in remote Shaanxi province.
It is part of an attempt to understand the panda's poor breeding record.
"Tracking them with advanced technology and observing their sex activities might help us find ways to avoid their extinction," an official said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4285694.stm
The Panda a History of Shy Behavior
Prudish pandas turn to Viagra
Rare sight: Mother and cub play in a San Diego zoo
Chinese pandas are being given the anti-impotence drug Viagra, according to the Wen Hui Daily newspaper in Shanghai.
It is hoped that the drug will boost their famously feeble attempts to mate.
Who would want to mate in front of an audience?
Sally Nicholson, WWF, on captive pandas aversion to sex
Poaching and loss of habitat have reduced the worldwide giant panda population to just 1,000 and many warnings of extinction have been made.
Most efforts to breed the animals in captivity have failed, leading to a recent project to clone panda embryos with the intention of artificially implanting them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/711816.stm
County residents have soft spot for manatees, turtles
Alachua County isn't home to manatees and sea turtles, but that doesn't mean people here don't love the threatened creatures - as noted by an award earned by the office of Tax Collector Von Fraser.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently honored tax collectors from six counties for their efforts to encourage customers to purchase special manatee and sea turtle decals.
The decals are offer-ed to vehicle and watercraft owners for $5 when they purchase their registrations. The proceeds go to programs to protect the animals.
Tax collectors can use other fund-raising efforts, such as golf tournaments, for the programs.
Alachua County was the only inland county to be honored.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050926/COLUMNS03/50926006/-1/news
Seneca Park Zoo: good fun for people, animals
By Rachel August
Guest essayist
(September 27, 2005) — Quality of life is a hot topic these days. I believe the Seneca Park Zoo enhances our community's quality of life. People of every income level, age and ethnicity visit our zoo with excitement and enthusiasm. Kids from the Webster YMCA, Clara Barton School 2 and Honeoye Falls Christian School, who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hang out together, share experiences, make connections. They jump back as Yukon the polar bear pushes his immense foot against the glass or laugh as the otters undulate underwater, poking at an ice block of fish. I see it every day, people making connections based on their shared experiences here at the zoo.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050927/OPINION02/509270317/1039/OPINION
New names for the tiger cubs at Seneca Park Zoo
9/26/2005 6:00 PM
(WROC-TV)
The three new tiger cubs at the Seneca Park Zoo now have names thanks to the winners of a naming contest.
There were nearly 1,500 entries. The male tiger is "Ussuri" and the two females are "Anastasia" and "Katya". All these names are of Russian origin, since they are a Russian breed of tiger
The contest winners are Abby Cunningham of Rochester and Don and Susan Meyers from Macedon. All get free zoo memberships for their creativity.
Related Link:
http://www.senecaparkzoo.org/
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=20106&r=l
Ex-Gay Penguin at Central Park Zoo
NEW YORK, NY -- Zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo in New York are scratching their heads after the animal kingdom's most beloved gay couple, the penguins Silo and Roy, has split up. To make the case even more obscure, Silo decided to pull an Anne Heche and hook up with a member of the opposite sex instead.
The couple received worldwide media attention when they hooked up six years ago as the first publicly known same-sex penguin couple. Since then, six other gay penguin couples have emerged at the zoo.
http://www.bgay.com/bnews/news50926_ex_gay_penguin.htm
Ex-Detroit Zoo elephants mix well in new Calif. home
September 26, 2005, 3:59 AM
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) -- Former Detroit Zoo elephants Wanda and Winky are making a good adjustment to their new home at an animal refuge in California, an official there says.
"They've integrated very well with the rest of the elephants," said Pat Derby, founder of the Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary.
Reports say that Wanda spent one night last week sleeping in dewy grass. Winky will swallow her medicine only if it is wrapped in French sourdough bread, while Wanda gets hers in Fig Newtons.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw121776_20050926.htm
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Hattiesburg Zoo Plans to Reopen
Sep 26, 2005, 05:14 PM EDT
The Hattiesburg Zoo plans to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Hub City. Over half of the zoo's trees fell during the storm damaging several exhibits.
None of the exotic animals were hurt, but a small type of animal called a blue duiker escaped from his exhibit. Zoo keepers caught the animal a week later which was on loan from the Kansas City Zoo. The zoo did lose several fish, however, including grass carp, a Koi Japanese carp, and gold fish.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=3900744
Afghanistan zoo's confines slightly friendlier
BY KIM BARKER
Chicago Tribune
KABUL, Afghanistan - (KRT) - The man picked up a rock and threw it at the monkey cage in the zoo. "Stand aside," he yelled, before grabbing four more stones and chucking them at the monkeys.
Nearby, workers set up a new climbing frame on the monkey island and put up higher fences to protect the animals. But visitors crowded into the one spot that had not yet been fenced and tossed rocks and garbage inside.
"Most people do that," said Bahruddin, 21, a fortuneteller who like many Afghans uses only one name. "I throw stones because I want to have fun."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/12744816.htm
Zoo crew to be busy Wednesday
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, September 25, 2005
Volunteers will replace visitors Wednesday at the Dallas Zoo.
The zoo will be closed that day to accommodate about 800 volunteers from Home Depot and Albertson's who will take part in renovation and maintenance projects. They'll restripe the guest parking lot, replace fencing around animal enclosures and clean and landscape zoo grounds.
The zoo will reopen at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Hands On North Texas, a program of the Volunteer Center of North Texas, organized the project.
"The Dallas Zoo is open every day of the year except Christmas," said Rich Buickerood, zoo director. "The decision to close the zoo reflects the significant scope of the project."
Eunaka Kirby
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/southdallas/stories/DN-rail_25met.ART.Central.Edition2.32d5b9f.html
Ring Road, Zoo Projects Approved for Capital of Turkmenistan
Ashgabat, 26 September 2005 (nCa) --- President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has approved the project of ring road for Ashgabat. The project envisages 200 km long road, running around Ashgabat.
At US $ 300000 per km, the cost of the project could be US $ 60 million.
Road building department of Ashgabat municipality would prepare and supervise the project.
Niyazov asked that the ring road should be in harmony with the landscape and natural objects.
The project of national zoo has also been approved. It would cover an area of 40 hectares and the project cost is US $ 26 million. Turkish company BIM Inshaat, Muhendislyk, Memarlyk, tijaret we Sanai would build the zoo. It should be ready for opening to the public by February 2007.
A wheat flour and macaroni factory has been approved for the Turkmenkala town of Mary province.
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1472
At Vadodara zoo, waiting to welcome tiny new members
Express News Service
Vadodara, September 25: This is one delivery which is likely to drive many wild with excitement. At a time when tigers are vanishing from the country and wildlife enthusiasts are crying foul about the dwindling number of the big cats, a tigeress in the Sayajibaug zoo in Vadodara is all set to deliver at least four cubs in the coming two weeks.
The zoo may just be the centre of attention for wildlife experts as Janaki, the to-be mum, gives birth.
Janaki was mated with her neighbouring tiger ‘Gabbar’ last month and the result will not just add to the tiger count of the country but also increase the attraction of the zoo.
The zoo staff are very excited as such an event is happening after a long gap of over 16 years. Janaki did mate last year and was carrying cubs. However, the cubs did not see the light of day.
This loss has made the zoo authorities extra cautious, and this time round they want to ensure that all goes well.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=150258
Lions From New Orleans Center Moved To Henry Doorly Zoo
POSTED: 7:43 pm CDT September 24, 2005
UPDATED: 7:55 pm CDT September 24, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- The newest animals in town are the new pride of the Henry Doorly Zoo.
Four female African lions arrived at the zoo Friday night.
Zoo employees brought up the lions from a New Orleans Animal Research Center hit by Hurricane Katrina.
It took several days to get them, but the animals are now resting comfortably in the cat complex.
Veterinarian Doug Armstrong said the lions are starting to adjust to their new home.
"Two of them have gone outside," said Armstrong. "They're in the outdoor display. And two of them are staying inside. They're still not sure they like it here, but it's been a stressful couple of weeks."
http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/5016715/detail.html
L.A. Zoo Highlights Latino Cultures
Posted by Fernando Roldan on Sep 25, 2005, 22:25
LOS ANGELES — Music, face painting, food and exotic animals were the highlights of this year’s Latino Heritage Celebration, held this past weekend at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Gina Dartt, promotion coordinator for the L.A. Zoo, said this event is in its 10th year of highlighting the importance of Latin America. She explained the event first began as a Mexican celebration of the independence of Mexico. One year later, the zoo changed the event to include all Latino countries.
“I think it’s very festive and it honors all the Latin cultures through music, art and dance, as well as highlighting the animals from Latin America,” Dartt said.
http://www.canyon-news.com/artman/publish/article_3568.php
Zoo panel fears eminent domain talk may doom purchase
By LAURA LAYDEN, lllayden@naplesnews.com
September 24, 2005
A volunteer panel that has guided Collier County's decisions about how to save the Naples Zoo fears the landmark attraction could be lost with talks of the county using eminent domain to seize the property.
Earlier this week, County Commission Chairman Fred Coyle said he wants to look at taking the property because the county has been unable to reach an agreement on a selling price with the landowners, the Fleischmann family. Commissioners are expected to discuss the idea at their meeting Tuesday.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4105409,00.html
Zoos prescribe tranquilizers to anxious animals
Associated Press
Sept. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
TOLEDO, Ohio - A gorilla and a tiger on Valium. A swamp monkey on anti-psychotic medicine.
The Toledo Zoo, like many other zoos around the nation, is increasingly using antidepressants and tranquilizers to manage their animals' behavioral problems.
Sometimes, zookeepers use drugs to calm animals when they are at odds or when they are moved into a new enclosure.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0925OH--ZooDrugs.html
Zoos rethink role as wildlife's keeper
In answering 'the call of the wild,' can we keep monkeys from going extinct in U.S. zoos?
Members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association enter a new era with a new mission statement on conservation.
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
They look like monkeys trying oh-so-hard to be lions.
The lion-tailed macaque, with a corona of light colored fur encircling a monkey-wise face, is just one of many animal species caught in the headlights as the American Zoo and Aquarium Association adopts a new vision of itself.
Last week at the AZA's annual meeting in Chicago, leadership of the organization that acts as standard-bearer for the 211 zoos and aquariums it inspects and accredits - including the Toledo Zoo - announced what it calls a new "brand platform." In essence, it's a new way for the organization to think about itself. Every program and initiative the AZA undertakes will be reviewed in light of this evolving platform.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/NEWS38/509250328
CULTURE VULTURES FLOCKING TO CITY
September 25, 2005 -- Tourists from around the globe flocked in near-record numbers to the city's cultural attractions last year, spending more than $9 billion in the process, according to a report released yesterday.
NYC & Co., the city's official tourism marketing organization, released the report, saying 17.2 million "cultural tourists" — travelers who visit museums, zoos and other cultural sites — visited in 2004.
The number is only 300,000 shy of the record set in 2001, when 17.5 million cultural tourists crowded here. The number was 9 percent higher than recorded in 2003, according to the report.
The report noted cultural visitors accounted for 43 percent of all the city's tourists — and that the segment mirrored the "surprisingly strong revival of the international travel market to the city, as well as the revived domestic market."
These tourists were no penny-pinchers, either, spending $9.1 billion, up from $8.2 billion in 2003.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/54074.
Saint Louis Zoo works with African partners to save endangered zebra
CHERYL WITTENAUER
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS - The Saint Louis Zoo and African partners are trying to save the graceful Grevy's zebra before the white-bellied creature with distinctive, narrow stripes disappears from the planet.
In one of its last places on Earth - northern Kenya - the Grevy's zebra competes with livestock for water and pasture in scrublands. Livestock, the principal means of economy, always wins, said Ian Craig, executive director of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Africa.
He and some of the zoo's other African partners were in St. Louis recently to meet with supporters at a fund-raiser to help save the endangered Grevy's zebra.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/12724984.htm
Funding repairs for zoo unclear
FOTZ contends its policy prevents it from paying
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Friends of the Topeka Zoo shouldn't pay for repair work at the zoo because that would conflict with the group's mission statement, which calls for it to provide support with education, conservation, promotion and fundraising, FOTZ president Vicki Estes said Thursday.
Estes said using FOTZ money for repairs also would conflict with a statement on the IRS document that granted FOTZ nonprofit status in 1964. The statement specifies that the group operate exclusively for educational purposes.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/092305/loc_zoo.shtml
Zoo reopens kissing bear feature despite complaint
Canadian Press
Sept. 23, 2005 03:06 PM
INNISFAIL, Alberta - An Alberta zoo that offers visitors a chance to get their picture taken kissing a bear has reopened the attraction a month after closing it due to complaints from wildlife advocates.
The owners of Discovery Wildlife Park say a survey of zoo visitors convinced them to once again allow a brown bear named Ali Oop to lick people's faces.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, denounced the practice last month as "dangerous and stupid" and said it sent the wrong message about bears.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0923Kissing-Bear-ON.html
Liz Hurley pops into zoo
Sep 23 2005
By Sian Powell
Hollywood glamour arrived at Twycross Zoo in the shape of Elizabeth Hurley.
The Austin Powers star was guest of honour at the opening of a new South American tropical house at the zoo near Nuneaton.
The superstar opened the all-weather attraction yesterday by cutting the red ribbon and unveiling a plaque.
The tropical house, set in the style of an old-fashioned scientist's field hut, is home to sloths, rufous-vented chacalaca, terrapins and jungle creepy crawlies such as Chilean rose spiders, boa constrictors, a rainbow boa and an iguana.
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16166729&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=liz-hurley-pops-into-zoo-name_page.html
Jacksonville Zoo Jaguar Exhibit Awarded
JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Jacksonville Zoo is celebrating a special achievement. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association gave the Zoo an award today for its Jaguar exhibit.
The exhibit titled Range of the Jaguar cost over 14 million dollars. While touring the 4.5 acre scene zoo-goers get a view of the ancient Mayan temple ruins and the animals that now inhabit the area. Jaguars are also spotted roaming amidst the ruins in two large displays.
The AZA presents the Exhibit Award to Zoos showing a dedication to conservation issues. The honor often goes to displays replicating species' natural habitats.
Zoo Officials accepted the award during AZA's 81st Annual Conference held here in Jacksonville this week.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=44553
Zoo Negara on alert for bird flu
PETALING JAYA: Following the outbreak of the avian flu in Indonesia, Zoo Negara has stepped up its monitoring of the animals under its care.
“We will increase our level of alertness and be on the lookout for any sign of the avian flu,” said Malaysian Zoological Society chairman Datuk Ismail Hutson.
“So far, the animals are fine, but we will be closely watching them,” he said in an interview.
Ismail said priority was given to the veterinary section of the zoo to handle this matter.
“Poultry brought in for the animals have always been checked and we will continue to do so,” he added.
Related Stories:
Poultry smugglers will be prosecuted
Sabah on alert for bird flu
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/9/22/nation/12099138&sec=nation
St. Louis Zoo to install 200-ton sculpture
The St. Louis Zoo will formally announce Wednesday a landmark sculpture by world-famous sculptor Albert Paley and a new plaza that will welcome visitors to the Zoo and Forest Park.
The St. Louis Business Journal announced plans for the sculpture and plaza in its Sept. 2 issue.
The Zoo said the sculpture, called Animals Always, would be the second-largest in St. Louis, measuring 130 feet long, 36 feet high and 8 feet deep, and weighing more than 200 tons.
The projects are being funded through $1 million leadership gifts from Thelma Zalk for the sculpture and the Steven F. Schankman Family for the plaza. The sculpture consists of gates originally designed by Paley for the New York Zoo.
Zalk is the daughter of the late Dr. Jacob Probstein. Shankman is head of Contemporary Productions.
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/19/daily42.html?jst=b_ln_hl
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/05/tidbits1.html
Pittsburgh Zoo to track birds using satellite devices
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sixteen barn owls bred in captivity will be released into the wild Tuesday evening complete with satellite tracking devices so preservationists can track where the birds go and how they fare.
The project, run by officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, is part of an effort to re-establish the barn owl species in western Pennsylvania. Eight of the birds, raised at the zoo and aquarium, are scheduled to be released in Fox Chapel; eight other birds are to be released from Moraine State Park.
A pair of owls and their young are kept at a specially built flight on a private property in Fox Chapel. Four other young owls that were born last fall also will be released from the site.
"That gives us a really good chance to find out where they're going," said Mark Browning, animal trainer and head of the Barn Owl release project at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. The project is being partially funded by a grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_376416.html
concluding ...
Zimbabwe to import endangered tigers
By MICHAEL HARTNACK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe plans to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for the country's national park, a project condemned by wildlife experts as potentially cruel and dangerous.
In an interview published Thursday in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Minister of the Environment Francis Nhema said the tigers were in return for Zimbabwe giving China breeding animals such as zebra, elephants and impala.
"We do not have the tiger in this country and we would like to benefit from the exchange program with China," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=Zimbabwe%20Tigers
Elephant turf at zoo sparking a fight
(image placeholder)
Protesters seek to free the herd, while zoo officials launch a campaign to create a $22 million savanna for the pachyderms.
By Julie Stoiber
Inquirer Staff Writer
Competing visions of what's right for the elephants clashed this week at the Philadelphia Zoo as animal activists stepped up their free-the-herd campaign and administrators pushed a fund-raising drive that they hope will allow them to enlarge the habitat and add more of the majestic mammals.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/12707692.htm
Satellites to monitor panda sex
Persuading pandas to breed can feel like hard work
Scientists in China plan to use satellites to track pandas to learn more about their sexual behaviour.
A Chinese-US project will use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to monitor panda movements in a reserve in remote Shaanxi province.
It is part of an attempt to understand the panda's poor breeding record.
"Tracking them with advanced technology and observing their sex activities might help us find ways to avoid their extinction," an official said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4285694.stm
The Panda a History of Shy Behavior
Prudish pandas turn to Viagra
Rare sight: Mother and cub play in a San Diego zoo
Chinese pandas are being given the anti-impotence drug Viagra, according to the Wen Hui Daily newspaper in Shanghai.
It is hoped that the drug will boost their famously feeble attempts to mate.
Who would want to mate in front of an audience?
Sally Nicholson, WWF, on captive pandas aversion to sex
Poaching and loss of habitat have reduced the worldwide giant panda population to just 1,000 and many warnings of extinction have been made.
Most efforts to breed the animals in captivity have failed, leading to a recent project to clone panda embryos with the intention of artificially implanting them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/711816.stm
County residents have soft spot for manatees, turtles
Alachua County isn't home to manatees and sea turtles, but that doesn't mean people here don't love the threatened creatures - as noted by an award earned by the office of Tax Collector Von Fraser.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently honored tax collectors from six counties for their efforts to encourage customers to purchase special manatee and sea turtle decals.
The decals are offer-ed to vehicle and watercraft owners for $5 when they purchase their registrations. The proceeds go to programs to protect the animals.
Tax collectors can use other fund-raising efforts, such as golf tournaments, for the programs.
Alachua County was the only inland county to be honored.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050926/COLUMNS03/50926006/-1/news
Seneca Park Zoo: good fun for people, animals
By Rachel August
Guest essayist
(September 27, 2005) — Quality of life is a hot topic these days. I believe the Seneca Park Zoo enhances our community's quality of life. People of every income level, age and ethnicity visit our zoo with excitement and enthusiasm. Kids from the Webster YMCA, Clara Barton School 2 and Honeoye Falls Christian School, who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hang out together, share experiences, make connections. They jump back as Yukon the polar bear pushes his immense foot against the glass or laugh as the otters undulate underwater, poking at an ice block of fish. I see it every day, people making connections based on their shared experiences here at the zoo.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050927/OPINION02/509270317/1039/OPINION
New names for the tiger cubs at Seneca Park Zoo
9/26/2005 6:00 PM
(WROC-TV)
The three new tiger cubs at the Seneca Park Zoo now have names thanks to the winners of a naming contest.
There were nearly 1,500 entries. The male tiger is "Ussuri" and the two females are "Anastasia" and "Katya". All these names are of Russian origin, since they are a Russian breed of tiger
The contest winners are Abby Cunningham of Rochester and Don and Susan Meyers from Macedon. All get free zoo memberships for their creativity.
Related Link:
http://www.senecaparkzoo.org/
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=20106&r=l
Ex-Gay Penguin at Central Park Zoo
NEW YORK, NY -- Zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo in New York are scratching their heads after the animal kingdom's most beloved gay couple, the penguins Silo and Roy, has split up. To make the case even more obscure, Silo decided to pull an Anne Heche and hook up with a member of the opposite sex instead.
The couple received worldwide media attention when they hooked up six years ago as the first publicly known same-sex penguin couple. Since then, six other gay penguin couples have emerged at the zoo.
http://www.bgay.com/bnews/news50926_ex_gay_penguin.htm
Ex-Detroit Zoo elephants mix well in new Calif. home
September 26, 2005, 3:59 AM
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) -- Former Detroit Zoo elephants Wanda and Winky are making a good adjustment to their new home at an animal refuge in California, an official there says.
"They've integrated very well with the rest of the elephants," said Pat Derby, founder of the Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary.
Reports say that Wanda spent one night last week sleeping in dewy grass. Winky will swallow her medicine only if it is wrapped in French sourdough bread, while Wanda gets hers in Fig Newtons.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw121776_20050926.htm
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Hattiesburg Zoo Plans to Reopen
Sep 26, 2005, 05:14 PM EDT
The Hattiesburg Zoo plans to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Hub City. Over half of the zoo's trees fell during the storm damaging several exhibits.
None of the exotic animals were hurt, but a small type of animal called a blue duiker escaped from his exhibit. Zoo keepers caught the animal a week later which was on loan from the Kansas City Zoo. The zoo did lose several fish, however, including grass carp, a Koi Japanese carp, and gold fish.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=3900744
Afghanistan zoo's confines slightly friendlier
BY KIM BARKER
Chicago Tribune
KABUL, Afghanistan - (KRT) - The man picked up a rock and threw it at the monkey cage in the zoo. "Stand aside," he yelled, before grabbing four more stones and chucking them at the monkeys.
Nearby, workers set up a new climbing frame on the monkey island and put up higher fences to protect the animals. But visitors crowded into the one spot that had not yet been fenced and tossed rocks and garbage inside.
"Most people do that," said Bahruddin, 21, a fortuneteller who like many Afghans uses only one name. "I throw stones because I want to have fun."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/12744816.htm
Zoo crew to be busy Wednesday
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, September 25, 2005
Volunteers will replace visitors Wednesday at the Dallas Zoo.
The zoo will be closed that day to accommodate about 800 volunteers from Home Depot and Albertson's who will take part in renovation and maintenance projects. They'll restripe the guest parking lot, replace fencing around animal enclosures and clean and landscape zoo grounds.
The zoo will reopen at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Hands On North Texas, a program of the Volunteer Center of North Texas, organized the project.
"The Dallas Zoo is open every day of the year except Christmas," said Rich Buickerood, zoo director. "The decision to close the zoo reflects the significant scope of the project."
Eunaka Kirby
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/southdallas/stories/DN-rail_25met.ART.Central.Edition2.32d5b9f.html
Ring Road, Zoo Projects Approved for Capital of Turkmenistan
Ashgabat, 26 September 2005 (nCa) --- President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has approved the project of ring road for Ashgabat. The project envisages 200 km long road, running around Ashgabat.
At US $ 300000 per km, the cost of the project could be US $ 60 million.
Road building department of Ashgabat municipality would prepare and supervise the project.
Niyazov asked that the ring road should be in harmony with the landscape and natural objects.
The project of national zoo has also been approved. It would cover an area of 40 hectares and the project cost is US $ 26 million. Turkish company BIM Inshaat, Muhendislyk, Memarlyk, tijaret we Sanai would build the zoo. It should be ready for opening to the public by February 2007.
A wheat flour and macaroni factory has been approved for the Turkmenkala town of Mary province.
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1472
At Vadodara zoo, waiting to welcome tiny new members
Express News Service
Vadodara, September 25: This is one delivery which is likely to drive many wild with excitement. At a time when tigers are vanishing from the country and wildlife enthusiasts are crying foul about the dwindling number of the big cats, a tigeress in the Sayajibaug zoo in Vadodara is all set to deliver at least four cubs in the coming two weeks.
The zoo may just be the centre of attention for wildlife experts as Janaki, the to-be mum, gives birth.
Janaki was mated with her neighbouring tiger ‘Gabbar’ last month and the result will not just add to the tiger count of the country but also increase the attraction of the zoo.
The zoo staff are very excited as such an event is happening after a long gap of over 16 years. Janaki did mate last year and was carrying cubs. However, the cubs did not see the light of day.
This loss has made the zoo authorities extra cautious, and this time round they want to ensure that all goes well.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=150258
Lions From New Orleans Center Moved To Henry Doorly Zoo
POSTED: 7:43 pm CDT September 24, 2005
UPDATED: 7:55 pm CDT September 24, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- The newest animals in town are the new pride of the Henry Doorly Zoo.
Four female African lions arrived at the zoo Friday night.
Zoo employees brought up the lions from a New Orleans Animal Research Center hit by Hurricane Katrina.
It took several days to get them, but the animals are now resting comfortably in the cat complex.
Veterinarian Doug Armstrong said the lions are starting to adjust to their new home.
"Two of them have gone outside," said Armstrong. "They're in the outdoor display. And two of them are staying inside. They're still not sure they like it here, but it's been a stressful couple of weeks."
http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/5016715/detail.html
L.A. Zoo Highlights Latino Cultures
Posted by Fernando Roldan on Sep 25, 2005, 22:25
LOS ANGELES — Music, face painting, food and exotic animals were the highlights of this year’s Latino Heritage Celebration, held this past weekend at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Gina Dartt, promotion coordinator for the L.A. Zoo, said this event is in its 10th year of highlighting the importance of Latin America. She explained the event first began as a Mexican celebration of the independence of Mexico. One year later, the zoo changed the event to include all Latino countries.
“I think it’s very festive and it honors all the Latin cultures through music, art and dance, as well as highlighting the animals from Latin America,” Dartt said.
http://www.canyon-news.com/artman/publish/article_3568.php
Zoo panel fears eminent domain talk may doom purchase
By LAURA LAYDEN, lllayden@naplesnews.com
September 24, 2005
A volunteer panel that has guided Collier County's decisions about how to save the Naples Zoo fears the landmark attraction could be lost with talks of the county using eminent domain to seize the property.
Earlier this week, County Commission Chairman Fred Coyle said he wants to look at taking the property because the county has been unable to reach an agreement on a selling price with the landowners, the Fleischmann family. Commissioners are expected to discuss the idea at their meeting Tuesday.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4105409,00.html
Zoos prescribe tranquilizers to anxious animals
Associated Press
Sept. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
TOLEDO, Ohio - A gorilla and a tiger on Valium. A swamp monkey on anti-psychotic medicine.
The Toledo Zoo, like many other zoos around the nation, is increasingly using antidepressants and tranquilizers to manage their animals' behavioral problems.
Sometimes, zookeepers use drugs to calm animals when they are at odds or when they are moved into a new enclosure.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0925OH--ZooDrugs.html
Zoos rethink role as wildlife's keeper
In answering 'the call of the wild,' can we keep monkeys from going extinct in U.S. zoos?
Members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association enter a new era with a new mission statement on conservation.
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
They look like monkeys trying oh-so-hard to be lions.
The lion-tailed macaque, with a corona of light colored fur encircling a monkey-wise face, is just one of many animal species caught in the headlights as the American Zoo and Aquarium Association adopts a new vision of itself.
Last week at the AZA's annual meeting in Chicago, leadership of the organization that acts as standard-bearer for the 211 zoos and aquariums it inspects and accredits - including the Toledo Zoo - announced what it calls a new "brand platform." In essence, it's a new way for the organization to think about itself. Every program and initiative the AZA undertakes will be reviewed in light of this evolving platform.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/NEWS38/509250328
CULTURE VULTURES FLOCKING TO CITY
September 25, 2005 -- Tourists from around the globe flocked in near-record numbers to the city's cultural attractions last year, spending more than $9 billion in the process, according to a report released yesterday.
NYC & Co., the city's official tourism marketing organization, released the report, saying 17.2 million "cultural tourists" — travelers who visit museums, zoos and other cultural sites — visited in 2004.
The number is only 300,000 shy of the record set in 2001, when 17.5 million cultural tourists crowded here. The number was 9 percent higher than recorded in 2003, according to the report.
The report noted cultural visitors accounted for 43 percent of all the city's tourists — and that the segment mirrored the "surprisingly strong revival of the international travel market to the city, as well as the revived domestic market."
These tourists were no penny-pinchers, either, spending $9.1 billion, up from $8.2 billion in 2003.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/54074.
Saint Louis Zoo works with African partners to save endangered zebra
CHERYL WITTENAUER
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS - The Saint Louis Zoo and African partners are trying to save the graceful Grevy's zebra before the white-bellied creature with distinctive, narrow stripes disappears from the planet.
In one of its last places on Earth - northern Kenya - the Grevy's zebra competes with livestock for water and pasture in scrublands. Livestock, the principal means of economy, always wins, said Ian Craig, executive director of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Africa.
He and some of the zoo's other African partners were in St. Louis recently to meet with supporters at a fund-raiser to help save the endangered Grevy's zebra.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/12724984.htm
Funding repairs for zoo unclear
FOTZ contends its policy prevents it from paying
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Friends of the Topeka Zoo shouldn't pay for repair work at the zoo because that would conflict with the group's mission statement, which calls for it to provide support with education, conservation, promotion and fundraising, FOTZ president Vicki Estes said Thursday.
Estes said using FOTZ money for repairs also would conflict with a statement on the IRS document that granted FOTZ nonprofit status in 1964. The statement specifies that the group operate exclusively for educational purposes.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/092305/loc_zoo.shtml
Zoo reopens kissing bear feature despite complaint
Canadian Press
Sept. 23, 2005 03:06 PM
INNISFAIL, Alberta - An Alberta zoo that offers visitors a chance to get their picture taken kissing a bear has reopened the attraction a month after closing it due to complaints from wildlife advocates.
The owners of Discovery Wildlife Park say a survey of zoo visitors convinced them to once again allow a brown bear named Ali Oop to lick people's faces.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, denounced the practice last month as "dangerous and stupid" and said it sent the wrong message about bears.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0923Kissing-Bear-ON.html
Liz Hurley pops into zoo
Sep 23 2005
By Sian Powell
Hollywood glamour arrived at Twycross Zoo in the shape of Elizabeth Hurley.
The Austin Powers star was guest of honour at the opening of a new South American tropical house at the zoo near Nuneaton.
The superstar opened the all-weather attraction yesterday by cutting the red ribbon and unveiling a plaque.
The tropical house, set in the style of an old-fashioned scientist's field hut, is home to sloths, rufous-vented chacalaca, terrapins and jungle creepy crawlies such as Chilean rose spiders, boa constrictors, a rainbow boa and an iguana.
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16166729&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=liz-hurley-pops-into-zoo-name_page.html
Jacksonville Zoo Jaguar Exhibit Awarded
JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Jacksonville Zoo is celebrating a special achievement. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association gave the Zoo an award today for its Jaguar exhibit.
The exhibit titled Range of the Jaguar cost over 14 million dollars. While touring the 4.5 acre scene zoo-goers get a view of the ancient Mayan temple ruins and the animals that now inhabit the area. Jaguars are also spotted roaming amidst the ruins in two large displays.
The AZA presents the Exhibit Award to Zoos showing a dedication to conservation issues. The honor often goes to displays replicating species' natural habitats.
Zoo Officials accepted the award during AZA's 81st Annual Conference held here in Jacksonville this week.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=44553
Zoo Negara on alert for bird flu
PETALING JAYA: Following the outbreak of the avian flu in Indonesia, Zoo Negara has stepped up its monitoring of the animals under its care.
“We will increase our level of alertness and be on the lookout for any sign of the avian flu,” said Malaysian Zoological Society chairman Datuk Ismail Hutson.
“So far, the animals are fine, but we will be closely watching them,” he said in an interview.
Ismail said priority was given to the veterinary section of the zoo to handle this matter.
“Poultry brought in for the animals have always been checked and we will continue to do so,” he added.
Related Stories:
Poultry smugglers will be prosecuted
Sabah on alert for bird flu
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/9/22/nation/12099138&sec=nation
St. Louis Zoo to install 200-ton sculpture
The St. Louis Zoo will formally announce Wednesday a landmark sculpture by world-famous sculptor Albert Paley and a new plaza that will welcome visitors to the Zoo and Forest Park.
The St. Louis Business Journal announced plans for the sculpture and plaza in its Sept. 2 issue.
The Zoo said the sculpture, called Animals Always, would be the second-largest in St. Louis, measuring 130 feet long, 36 feet high and 8 feet deep, and weighing more than 200 tons.
The projects are being funded through $1 million leadership gifts from Thelma Zalk for the sculpture and the Steven F. Schankman Family for the plaza. The sculpture consists of gates originally designed by Paley for the New York Zoo.
Zalk is the daughter of the late Dr. Jacob Probstein. Shankman is head of Contemporary Productions.
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/19/daily42.html?jst=b_ln_hl
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/05/tidbits1.html
Pittsburgh Zoo to track birds using satellite devices
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sixteen barn owls bred in captivity will be released into the wild Tuesday evening complete with satellite tracking devices so preservationists can track where the birds go and how they fare.
The project, run by officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, is part of an effort to re-establish the barn owl species in western Pennsylvania. Eight of the birds, raised at the zoo and aquarium, are scheduled to be released in Fox Chapel; eight other birds are to be released from Moraine State Park.
A pair of owls and their young are kept at a specially built flight on a private property in Fox Chapel. Four other young owls that were born last fall also will be released from the site.
"That gives us a really good chance to find out where they're going," said Mark Browning, animal trainer and head of the Barn Owl release project at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. The project is being partially funded by a grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_376416.html
concluding ...
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-23.0°
Updated Wednesday 28 Sep 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
WEDNESDAY...SHOWERS...BREEZY. HIGHS AROUND 51. SOUTHEAST WINDS15 TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 100 PERCENT.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS...BREEZY. LOWS AROUND 49. SOUTHEASTWINDS 15 TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 100 PERCENT.
Currently ...
50 °F / 10 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
48 °F / 9 °C
Humidity:
76%
Dew Point:
43 °F / 6 °C
Wind:
5 mph / 7 km/h from the ESE
Pressure:
29.39 in / 995 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Overcast 3700 ft / 1127 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
Scott Base
Some cloud
-23.0°
Updated Wednesday 28 Sep 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
WEDNESDAY...SHOWERS...BREEZY. HIGHS AROUND 51. SOUTHEAST WINDS15 TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 100 PERCENT.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS...BREEZY. LOWS AROUND 49. SOUTHEASTWINDS 15 TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 100 PERCENT.
Currently ...
50 °F / 10 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
48 °F / 9 °C
Humidity:
76%
Dew Point:
43 °F / 6 °C
Wind:
5 mph / 7 km/h from the ESE
Pressure:
29.39 in / 995 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Overcast 3700 ft / 1127 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite 12 hour loop - "Click On"
September 28, 2005. 0230 z (gmt) Noted as well and not placed on the shelf because of larger dynamics: there is building heat systems south of Haiti and especially over northern South America.
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite 12 hour loop - click here
The two Cat 5 storms in the Western and Northern Hemisphere, namely "Katrina" and "Rita" resolved a lot of the heat in the troposphere. Not that it is concluded for this year but there is an intereting set of dynamics including the return of huge vortices over the northern oceans. Plainly seen is the North Pacific Vortex. The North Atlantic Vortex seems to have moved off Greenland and east with only the 'edge' of rotation noted. Oddly, the 'remainder' of the systems including the trailing edges of these vortices are again moving north to fall in line at higher latitudes near or above the USA and Canada border. Noted a very 'odd' stream of water vapor starting at the left lower corner, across the North American continent to the Arctic Ocean. I believe that is the trailing end of the larger vortex that moved off Greenland. These systems are so large it has gotten difficult to see them in completeness. I don't understand how The National Weather Service can sit back and simply state "This is a ten to twenty year pattern" when it obviously is so destructive including to the icefields that there is no such event since the beginning of the industrial when the Human Induced Carbon Dioxide levels started to rise relentlessly. The USA government is so negligent to the people of this country it literally ignores a gross change in Climate Patterns without investigation or change in policy to reverse the trend. Amazingly stupid.
UNISYS Infrared Satellite 12 hour loop - click here
The dynamics of the Arctic Ocean Vortex has become so overwhelming there is no definition of it across North America.
GOES EAST Loop showing this vortex in motion - "Click On"
This is the latest according to GMT of a huge North Pacific Vortex.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1779 John Adams negotiates Revolutionary War peace terms with Britain
1787 Constitution submitted to the states for ratification
1822 Hiram R. Revels, is born free in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He will become the first African American U.S. Senator, elected from Mississippi.
1825 Railroad transportation is born with 1st track in England
1854 Steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard
1862 The First Louisiana Native Guards, the first African American regiment to receive official recognition, is mustered into the Union army. The Regiment is composed of free African Americans from the New Orleans area.
1867 Louisiana voters endorse the constitutional convention and elect delegates in the first election under The Reconstruction Acts. The vote was 75,000 for the convention and 4,000 against.
1875 Branch Normal College opens in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A segregated unit of the state university, the college is established by Joseph C. Corbin.
1876 Edward Mitchell Bannister wins a bronze medal for his painting "Under the Oaks" at the American Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The award to Bannister will cause controversy among whites who think African Americans incapable of artistic excellence.
1877 John Mercer Langston is named Minister to Haiti.
1894 Aqueduct racetrack opens in NY
1905 1st published blues composition goes on sale, WC Handy Memphis Blues
1919 Democratic National Committee votes to admit women
1928 US recognizes Nationalist Chinese government
1930 White Sox 1st baseman Bud Clancy didn't handle the ball at all in a 9 inning game vs St Louis Browns
1931 Lou Gehrig completes his 6th straight season, playing in every game
1934 Greg Morris is born in Cleveland, Ohio. He will come to Hollywood in the early 1960s to become an actor after some minor stage experience in Seattle. He will have guest roles on such series as "Dr. Kildare," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Twilight Zone" before being cast in "Mission: Impossible." He will be one of the first African American actors to star in a hit series during the 1960s, playing Barney Collier, the quiet, efficient electronics expert on "Mission: Impossible," which ran from 1966 to 1973. In 1979, he will go to Las Vegas to film the television series "Vega$," in which he plays Lt. David Nelson. He will like the city so much he will decide to make it his home. He will join the ancestors after succumbing to cancer there in 1996.
1936 Don Cornelius is born. He will become the creator, producer, and host of the TV show, "Soul Train" in 1970. The show will become the longest running program originally produced for first-run syndication
in the entire history of television. The show’s resounding success will position it as the cornerstone of the Soul Train franchise which includes the annual specials: "Soul Train Music Awards," the "Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards" and the "Soul Train Christmas Starfest."
1937 1st Santa Claus school opens (Albion NY)
1940 Black leaders protest discrimination in US armed forces
1940 African American leaders protest discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces and war industries at a White House meeting with President Roosevelt.
1944 Stephanie Pogue is born in Shelby, North Carolina. She will become an artist and art professor whose works will be collected by New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art and the Studio Museum of Harlem while she will exhibit widely in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America.
1950 Heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles defeats Joe Louis.
1953 Diane Abbott is born in the working-class neighborhood of Paddington in London, England. Her mother (a nurse) and father (a welder) had moved there in 1951 from Jamaica. A graduate of Cambridge University, she will make history on June 11, 1987, becoming the first female of African descent to be a member of the British Parliament. Her outspoken criticism of racism and her commitment to progressive politics will make her a controversial figure in Great Britain's Labour Party.
1954 Public school integration begins in Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland.
1954 School integration begins in Wash DC & Baltimore Md public schools
1959 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev concludes his US visit
1961 Sierre Leone becomes the 100th member of the United Nations.
1962 US sells Israel, Hawk anti-aircraft missiles
1963 At 10:59 AM the census clock, records US population at 190,000,000
1964 Warren Commission released, finding Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
1967 Washington, DC's Anacostia Museum, dedicated to informing the community of the contributions of African Americans to United States social, political and cultural history, opens its doors to the public.
1973 Nolan Ryan strikesout his 383rd batter of the year
1979 Congress' final approval to create Dept of Education
1980 WHOT (Bkln NY pirate radio station) begins on 1620 AM & 92.5 FM
1986 Senate joins House of Reps voting for sweeping tax reforms
1988 Several athletes, among them black Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, are expelled from the Olympic Games for anabolic steroid use. Johnson's gold medal, won in the 100-meter dash,is awarded to African American Carl Lewis, the second-place finisher.
1988 Grand jury evidence shows Tawana Brawley fabricated rape story
1988 Lab tests reportedly show Shroud of Turin not Christ`s burial cloth
1988 Senate votes for major federal tax code changes
1989 Sony purchases Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion cash
1990 A gunman holds 33 people (killing 1) hostage in Berkley Calif
1990 Senate Judiciary committee approves Souter's Supreme Court nomination
1990 Tour de France champion Greg LeMond visits White House
1991 Pres Bush decides to end full-time B-52 bombers alert
Missing in Action
1965 HALL GEORGE R. HAITTIESBURG MS "02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV (ANNAPOLIS, MD)" ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 SPILMAN DYKE A. WILDWOOD NJ
1966 STINE JOSEPH M. EVERETT PA
1968 SMITH WILLIAM A. JR. BATTLE CREEK MI
1969 FISHER DAVID JOHN AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE
1969 HUNTLEY JOHN N. PORTLAND ME
Michael Moore Today
www.michaelmoore.com
Purported al Qaeda Newscast Debuts on Internet
Masked Anchorman Lauds Gaza Pullout, Iraq Attacks, Hurricane Katrina
By Daniel Williams / Washington Post
ROME, Sept. 26 -- An Internet video newscast called the Voice of the Caliphate was broadcast for the first time on Monday, purporting to be a production of al Qaeda and featuring an anchorman who wore a black ski mask and an ammunition belt.
The anchorman, who said the report would appear once a week, presented news about the Gaza Strip and Iraq and expressed happiness about recent hurricanes in the United States. A copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, was placed by his right hand and a rifle affixed to a tripod was pointed at the camera.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4285
Baghdad Neighborhood's Hopes Dimmed by the Trials of War
Some Who Welcomed Americans Now Scorn Them
By Ellen Knickmeyer / Washington Post
BAGHDAD -- In the chaotic, hopeful April of 2003, Baghdad's Karrada district was one of those neighborhoods where residents showered flowers on U.S. forces entering the capital. Revelers threw water on one another and the Americans, exuding joy at the crushing of a dictatorship that had silenced, tortured and killed their people.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4280
TV Show May Help Both Bush, Victims Recover
'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' episode will feature the first lady at a Mississippi shelter.
By Faye Fiore / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Facing criticism that he appeared disengaged from the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina, President Bush has been looking for opportunities to show his concern. But the White House will take the effort a step further today, venturing into untested waters by putting the nation's first lady on reality television.
Laura Bush will travel to storm-damaged Biloxi, Miss., to film a spot on the feel-good, wish-granting hit "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Mrs. Bush sought to be on the program because she shares the "same principles" that the producers hold, her press secretary said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4281
Small, Rural Towns Hit Hardest by Rita
By Michael Graczyk / Associated Press
BEAUMONT, Texas - While much of Texas and Louisiana dodged the worst of Hurricane Rita, the damage to some small, rural towns was virtually complete — and the storm was being blamed for new deaths long after it moved away.
As temperatures climbed well into the 90s and the heat index was near 106 degrees Monday, the damage from the storm was evident in small communities in southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4277
Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions
By Eric Lipton and ROn Nixon / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 - Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4259
Trial of 4 War Protesters Upstate Ends With a Mixed Verdict
By Michelle York / New York Times
BINGHAMTON, N.Y., Sept. 26 - Jurors handed four antiwar activists a mixed verdict on Monday, apparently deciding that pouring human blood on walls, windows and an American flag at a military recruiting station to protest the Iraq war was neither Gandhi-like nor a "slippery slope" to the kind of destruction caused by violent extremists.
After seven hours of deliberations over two days, the jury in Federal District Court found Daniel J. Burns, 45; Clare T. Grady, 46; her sister, Teresa B. Grady, 40; and Peter J. De Mott, 58, guilty of trespassing and damaging government property. Each faces up to 18 months in prison.
They were acquitted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4278
A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
By The Associated Press Mon Sep 26, 8:46 PM ET
As of Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, at least 1,919 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,494 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths
US troop deaths take Afghan toll this year above 50
By David Brunnstrom / Reuters
KABUL - A U.S. soldier and a U.S. Marine have been killed in militant attacks in Afghanistan, bringing American combat deaths in the country this year to 51, the bloodiest period for U.S. forces since the fall of the Taliban.
The casualties in Kandahar and Kunar provinces on Monday took U.S. deaths in Afghanistan in two days to seven. A Chinook military transport helicopter crashed on an anti-militant mission in Zabul province on Sunday, killing its crew of five.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4282
U.S. Weapons, Foreign Flavor
By Leslie Wayne / New York TImes
Before the Iraq war, one of the Pentagon's biggest concerns was that American troops would face unknown biological and chemical threats. But when the order came in to step up production of two-piece protective suits, the Pentagon had to look overseas to get all the parts - even to countries that opposed the war.
The polyester fabric used by American companies to make the suits came from Germany and Austria. Finnish and British manufacturers made the eyelets and washers, while Japan provided the carbon beads in the suit's liner. Critical to the suit's protection was a fabric available only in Germany, one of the war's strongest critics.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4286
Antiwar Rallies Staged in Washington and Other Cities
By Michael Janofsky / The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 - Vast numbers of protesters from around the country poured onto the lawns behind the White House on Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Iraq, pointedly directing their anger at President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
A sea of anti-administration signs and banners flashed back at a long succession of speakers, who sharply rebuked the administration for continuing a war that has cost the lives of nearly 2,000 Americans and many more Iraqis. Many of the speakers also charged Mr. Bush with squandering resources that could have been used to aid people affected by the two hurricanes that slammed into the Gulf Coast.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4246
Veterans, Grieving Families Give Somber Mood to Iraq War Protest
by Sarah Ferguson
September 25th, 2005 8:41 AM
Veteran Tomas Young, 25, was paralyzed by a bullet in Iraq.
Sarah Ferguson
by Jarrett Murphy
Organizers with the dueling anti-war groups United for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER estimated the crowd size for Saturday’s march on Washington, D.C., at 300,000—making it the largest demonstration since start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Capitol police gave a loose estimate of 150,000—still a heap larger than the 4,000 or so who turned out for the Pentagon’s "Freedom Walk" on 9-11.
http://villagevoice.com/news/0539,fergusonmarc,68195,2.html
Haaretz
Hamas releases picture of Nuriel
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS AND JPOST STAFF
Hamas released on Tuesday graphic pictures of Sasson Nuriel taken after his abduction but before he was murdered.
The photograph was published after Hamas terrorists claimed responsibility for kidnapping and killing Nuriel, the 51-year-old Jerusalem man who was found dead Monday.
Hamas announced that it had established new "kidnapping units" whose top priority would be capturing Israelis to be held hostage as leverage in prisoner release negotiations with Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701203801
First Temple-era seal discovered
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A First-Temple period seal has been discovered amidst piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday, in what could prove to be an historic find.
The small - less than 1 cm - seal impression, or bulla, discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay amidst piles of rubble from the Temple Mount would mark the first time that an written artifact was found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period.
The 2,600 year old artifact, with three lines in ancient Hebrew, was discovered amidst piles of rubble discarded by the Islamic Wakf that Barkay and a team of young archaeologists and volunteers are sifting
through on the grounds of a Jerusalem national park.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127787594479
IDF fires 4 artillery shells at Kassam launch site in Gaza
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN AND JPOST STAFF
The IDF fired live artillery shells into the northern Gaza Strip for the first time on Tuesday night, in what the military said was a response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.
For in-depth focus on the post-pullout situation in and around Gaza, check out SPECIAL REPORT: GAZA UPHEAVAL
Security officials said four shells were fired into open ground from which Palestinians had earlier fired rockets into the western Negev town of Sderot.
The rocket, the second fired at Sderot on Tuesday, landed in one of the town's neighborhoods, fortunately causing no injuries or damage.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701199526
Musharraf's missed opportunity
By JUDEA PEARL
The September 17 meeting in New York, at which Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf addressed the Jewish community under the auspices of the American Jewish Congress, was characterized by many observers as "historic."
Indeed, formally speaking, Musharraf's address was unprecedented in that it was it was the first time that a leader of a Muslim nation, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, held a public dialogue with Jewish leaders.
However, the signals radiating from that meeting need to be evaluated on their individual merits, in the context of the opportunities that the meeting opened to Musharraf and the Jewish community.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701207957&p=1006953079865
Ynet News
Gaza evacuees: Where are you now?
Gush Katif evacuees gather near Kissufim crossing to hold rally marking recent evacuation; settlers then march to Kfar Maimon
Anat Barshkovsky
Gush Katif evacuees gathered in the parking lot near the Kissufim crossing Tuesday to say goodbye to Gaza for the last time, one month after Israel's disengagement.
The rally was held several meters from the border crossing, the exact place where settlers would have their ID checked each time they wanted to enter Gush Katif.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148286,00.html
'Peace Now' beats 'Primaries Now'
Likud is dead. Long live the Likud
Why would anyone have expected the Likud Central Committee to support a move for early primaries? The party has been in power for 20 of the 28 years since winning the 1977 election, becoming Israel's perennial governing party
Sharon wins Likud vote / Attila Somfalvi
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon celebrates victory over arch-rivals MKs Benjamin Netanyahu, Uzi Landau; Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Labor) calls PM from London to congratulate him on his victory.
During that time, the party has just about divested itself from any binding ideological platform. Likud governments have pursued economic and social policies of all types and stripes, from wasteful populism to strict capitalism.
Likud governments have sent the IDF to Beirut to trap PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and sent U.S. President Bill Clinton to Gaza to nudge the same Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority.
Likud governments have both passed laws proclaiming "eternal" Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and negotiated secret agreements with Damascus to return 95 percent of that territory.
And lest we forget, Likud governments energetically built settlements in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Sinai, and Likud governments destroyed settlements in Sinai, Gaza and Samaria.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3147981,00.html
Israel requests Security Council seat
Ambassador to the U.N Dani Gillerman submits formal request to the U.N. Security Council for Israel to be included as a member, says, ‘This is a very important moment for Israel, until recently no one thought this would be possible’; even if request accepted, country will have to wait 13 years for Council seat
Yitzhak Benhorin
Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, has submitted a formal request to the U.N. Security Council for Israel to be included as a member.
This marks the first time Israel has submitted its candidacy for a seat in the Security Council, and U.N. sources said reactions to the move have been positive.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148224,00.html
Mubarak: Sharon’s moves thwart peace
Prime minister adopted several negative measures that undermine peace process, Egyptian president says
Ali Waked
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is taking a number of negative steps, which undermine the peace process and hurt the prospects of political negotiations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in interview published in the Egyptian newspaper Roz al-Yusuf Tuesday morning.
The Egyptian president was sworn in for the fifth time Tuesday in a festive ceremony in the parliament. On Wednesday, Mubarak is expected
to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148086,00.html
continued …
"Okeydoke"
History
1779 John Adams negotiates Revolutionary War peace terms with Britain
1787 Constitution submitted to the states for ratification
1822 Hiram R. Revels, is born free in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He will become the first African American U.S. Senator, elected from Mississippi.
1825 Railroad transportation is born with 1st track in England
1854 Steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard
1862 The First Louisiana Native Guards, the first African American regiment to receive official recognition, is mustered into the Union army. The Regiment is composed of free African Americans from the New Orleans area.
1867 Louisiana voters endorse the constitutional convention and elect delegates in the first election under The Reconstruction Acts. The vote was 75,000 for the convention and 4,000 against.
1875 Branch Normal College opens in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A segregated unit of the state university, the college is established by Joseph C. Corbin.
1876 Edward Mitchell Bannister wins a bronze medal for his painting "Under the Oaks" at the American Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The award to Bannister will cause controversy among whites who think African Americans incapable of artistic excellence.
1877 John Mercer Langston is named Minister to Haiti.
1894 Aqueduct racetrack opens in NY
1905 1st published blues composition goes on sale, WC Handy Memphis Blues
1919 Democratic National Committee votes to admit women
1928 US recognizes Nationalist Chinese government
1930 White Sox 1st baseman Bud Clancy didn't handle the ball at all in a 9 inning game vs St Louis Browns
1931 Lou Gehrig completes his 6th straight season, playing in every game
1934 Greg Morris is born in Cleveland, Ohio. He will come to Hollywood in the early 1960s to become an actor after some minor stage experience in Seattle. He will have guest roles on such series as "Dr. Kildare," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Twilight Zone" before being cast in "Mission: Impossible." He will be one of the first African American actors to star in a hit series during the 1960s, playing Barney Collier, the quiet, efficient electronics expert on "Mission: Impossible," which ran from 1966 to 1973. In 1979, he will go to Las Vegas to film the television series "Vega$," in which he plays Lt. David Nelson. He will like the city so much he will decide to make it his home. He will join the ancestors after succumbing to cancer there in 1996.
1936 Don Cornelius is born. He will become the creator, producer, and host of the TV show, "Soul Train" in 1970. The show will become the longest running program originally produced for first-run syndication
in the entire history of television. The show’s resounding success will position it as the cornerstone of the Soul Train franchise which includes the annual specials: "Soul Train Music Awards," the "Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards" and the "Soul Train Christmas Starfest."
1937 1st Santa Claus school opens (Albion NY)
1940 Black leaders protest discrimination in US armed forces
1940 African American leaders protest discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces and war industries at a White House meeting with President Roosevelt.
1944 Stephanie Pogue is born in Shelby, North Carolina. She will become an artist and art professor whose works will be collected by New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art and the Studio Museum of Harlem while she will exhibit widely in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America.
1950 Heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles defeats Joe Louis.
1953 Diane Abbott is born in the working-class neighborhood of Paddington in London, England. Her mother (a nurse) and father (a welder) had moved there in 1951 from Jamaica. A graduate of Cambridge University, she will make history on June 11, 1987, becoming the first female of African descent to be a member of the British Parliament. Her outspoken criticism of racism and her commitment to progressive politics will make her a controversial figure in Great Britain's Labour Party.
1954 Public school integration begins in Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland.
1954 School integration begins in Wash DC & Baltimore Md public schools
1959 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev concludes his US visit
1961 Sierre Leone becomes the 100th member of the United Nations.
1962 US sells Israel, Hawk anti-aircraft missiles
1963 At 10:59 AM the census clock, records US population at 190,000,000
1964 Warren Commission released, finding Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
1967 Washington, DC's Anacostia Museum, dedicated to informing the community of the contributions of African Americans to United States social, political and cultural history, opens its doors to the public.
1973 Nolan Ryan strikesout his 383rd batter of the year
1979 Congress' final approval to create Dept of Education
1980 WHOT (Bkln NY pirate radio station) begins on 1620 AM & 92.5 FM
1986 Senate joins House of Reps voting for sweeping tax reforms
1988 Several athletes, among them black Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, are expelled from the Olympic Games for anabolic steroid use. Johnson's gold medal, won in the 100-meter dash,is awarded to African American Carl Lewis, the second-place finisher.
1988 Grand jury evidence shows Tawana Brawley fabricated rape story
1988 Lab tests reportedly show Shroud of Turin not Christ`s burial cloth
1988 Senate votes for major federal tax code changes
1989 Sony purchases Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion cash
1990 A gunman holds 33 people (killing 1) hostage in Berkley Calif
1990 Senate Judiciary committee approves Souter's Supreme Court nomination
1990 Tour de France champion Greg LeMond visits White House
1991 Pres Bush decides to end full-time B-52 bombers alert
Missing in Action
1965 HALL GEORGE R. HAITTIESBURG MS "02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV (ANNAPOLIS, MD)" ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 SPILMAN DYKE A. WILDWOOD NJ
1966 STINE JOSEPH M. EVERETT PA
1968 SMITH WILLIAM A. JR. BATTLE CREEK MI
1969 FISHER DAVID JOHN AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE
1969 HUNTLEY JOHN N. PORTLAND ME
Michael Moore Today
www.michaelmoore.com
Purported al Qaeda Newscast Debuts on Internet
Masked Anchorman Lauds Gaza Pullout, Iraq Attacks, Hurricane Katrina
By Daniel Williams / Washington Post
ROME, Sept. 26 -- An Internet video newscast called the Voice of the Caliphate was broadcast for the first time on Monday, purporting to be a production of al Qaeda and featuring an anchorman who wore a black ski mask and an ammunition belt.
The anchorman, who said the report would appear once a week, presented news about the Gaza Strip and Iraq and expressed happiness about recent hurricanes in the United States. A copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, was placed by his right hand and a rifle affixed to a tripod was pointed at the camera.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4285
Baghdad Neighborhood's Hopes Dimmed by the Trials of War
Some Who Welcomed Americans Now Scorn Them
By Ellen Knickmeyer / Washington Post
BAGHDAD -- In the chaotic, hopeful April of 2003, Baghdad's Karrada district was one of those neighborhoods where residents showered flowers on U.S. forces entering the capital. Revelers threw water on one another and the Americans, exuding joy at the crushing of a dictatorship that had silenced, tortured and killed their people.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4280
TV Show May Help Both Bush, Victims Recover
'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' episode will feature the first lady at a Mississippi shelter.
By Faye Fiore / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Facing criticism that he appeared disengaged from the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina, President Bush has been looking for opportunities to show his concern. But the White House will take the effort a step further today, venturing into untested waters by putting the nation's first lady on reality television.
Laura Bush will travel to storm-damaged Biloxi, Miss., to film a spot on the feel-good, wish-granting hit "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Mrs. Bush sought to be on the program because she shares the "same principles" that the producers hold, her press secretary said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4281
Small, Rural Towns Hit Hardest by Rita
By Michael Graczyk / Associated Press
BEAUMONT, Texas - While much of Texas and Louisiana dodged the worst of Hurricane Rita, the damage to some small, rural towns was virtually complete — and the storm was being blamed for new deaths long after it moved away.
As temperatures climbed well into the 90s and the heat index was near 106 degrees Monday, the damage from the storm was evident in small communities in southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4277
Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise Questions
By Eric Lipton and ROn Nixon / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 - Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4259
Trial of 4 War Protesters Upstate Ends With a Mixed Verdict
By Michelle York / New York Times
BINGHAMTON, N.Y., Sept. 26 - Jurors handed four antiwar activists a mixed verdict on Monday, apparently deciding that pouring human blood on walls, windows and an American flag at a military recruiting station to protest the Iraq war was neither Gandhi-like nor a "slippery slope" to the kind of destruction caused by violent extremists.
After seven hours of deliberations over two days, the jury in Federal District Court found Daniel J. Burns, 45; Clare T. Grady, 46; her sister, Teresa B. Grady, 40; and Peter J. De Mott, 58, guilty of trespassing and damaging government property. Each faces up to 18 months in prison.
They were acquitted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4278
A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
By The Associated Press Mon Sep 26, 8:46 PM ET
As of Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, at least 1,919 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,494 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths
US troop deaths take Afghan toll this year above 50
By David Brunnstrom / Reuters
KABUL - A U.S. soldier and a U.S. Marine have been killed in militant attacks in Afghanistan, bringing American combat deaths in the country this year to 51, the bloodiest period for U.S. forces since the fall of the Taliban.
The casualties in Kandahar and Kunar provinces on Monday took U.S. deaths in Afghanistan in two days to seven. A Chinook military transport helicopter crashed on an anti-militant mission in Zabul province on Sunday, killing its crew of five.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4282
U.S. Weapons, Foreign Flavor
By Leslie Wayne / New York TImes
Before the Iraq war, one of the Pentagon's biggest concerns was that American troops would face unknown biological and chemical threats. But when the order came in to step up production of two-piece protective suits, the Pentagon had to look overseas to get all the parts - even to countries that opposed the war.
The polyester fabric used by American companies to make the suits came from Germany and Austria. Finnish and British manufacturers made the eyelets and washers, while Japan provided the carbon beads in the suit's liner. Critical to the suit's protection was a fabric available only in Germany, one of the war's strongest critics.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4286
Antiwar Rallies Staged in Washington and Other Cities
By Michael Janofsky / The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 - Vast numbers of protesters from around the country poured onto the lawns behind the White House on Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Iraq, pointedly directing their anger at President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
A sea of anti-administration signs and banners flashed back at a long succession of speakers, who sharply rebuked the administration for continuing a war that has cost the lives of nearly 2,000 Americans and many more Iraqis. Many of the speakers also charged Mr. Bush with squandering resources that could have been used to aid people affected by the two hurricanes that slammed into the Gulf Coast.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4246
Veterans, Grieving Families Give Somber Mood to Iraq War Protest
by Sarah Ferguson
September 25th, 2005 8:41 AM
Veteran Tomas Young, 25, was paralyzed by a bullet in Iraq.
Sarah Ferguson
by Jarrett Murphy
Organizers with the dueling anti-war groups United for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER estimated the crowd size for Saturday’s march on Washington, D.C., at 300,000—making it the largest demonstration since start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Capitol police gave a loose estimate of 150,000—still a heap larger than the 4,000 or so who turned out for the Pentagon’s "Freedom Walk" on 9-11.
http://villagevoice.com/news/0539,fergusonmarc,68195,2.html
Haaretz
Hamas releases picture of Nuriel
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS AND JPOST STAFF
Hamas released on Tuesday graphic pictures of Sasson Nuriel taken after his abduction but before he was murdered.
The photograph was published after Hamas terrorists claimed responsibility for kidnapping and killing Nuriel, the 51-year-old Jerusalem man who was found dead Monday.
Hamas announced that it had established new "kidnapping units" whose top priority would be capturing Israelis to be held hostage as leverage in prisoner release negotiations with Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701203801
First Temple-era seal discovered
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A First-Temple period seal has been discovered amidst piles of rubble from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday, in what could prove to be an historic find.
The small - less than 1 cm - seal impression, or bulla, discovered Tuesday by Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkay amidst piles of rubble from the Temple Mount would mark the first time that an written artifact was found from the Temple Mount dating back to the First Temple period.
The 2,600 year old artifact, with three lines in ancient Hebrew, was discovered amidst piles of rubble discarded by the Islamic Wakf that Barkay and a team of young archaeologists and volunteers are sifting
through on the grounds of a Jerusalem national park.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127787594479
IDF fires 4 artillery shells at Kassam launch site in Gaza
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN AND JPOST STAFF
The IDF fired live artillery shells into the northern Gaza Strip for the first time on Tuesday night, in what the military said was a response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.
For in-depth focus on the post-pullout situation in and around Gaza, check out SPECIAL REPORT: GAZA UPHEAVAL
Security officials said four shells were fired into open ground from which Palestinians had earlier fired rockets into the western Negev town of Sderot.
The rocket, the second fired at Sderot on Tuesday, landed in one of the town's neighborhoods, fortunately causing no injuries or damage.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701199526
Musharraf's missed opportunity
By JUDEA PEARL
The September 17 meeting in New York, at which Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf addressed the Jewish community under the auspices of the American Jewish Congress, was characterized by many observers as "historic."
Indeed, formally speaking, Musharraf's address was unprecedented in that it was it was the first time that a leader of a Muslim nation, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, held a public dialogue with Jewish leaders.
However, the signals radiating from that meeting need to be evaluated on their individual merits, in the context of the opportunities that the meeting opened to Musharraf and the Jewish community.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127701207957&p=1006953079865
Ynet News
Gaza evacuees: Where are you now?
Gush Katif evacuees gather near Kissufim crossing to hold rally marking recent evacuation; settlers then march to Kfar Maimon
Anat Barshkovsky
Gush Katif evacuees gathered in the parking lot near the Kissufim crossing Tuesday to say goodbye to Gaza for the last time, one month after Israel's disengagement.
The rally was held several meters from the border crossing, the exact place where settlers would have their ID checked each time they wanted to enter Gush Katif.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148286,00.html
'Peace Now' beats 'Primaries Now'
Likud is dead. Long live the Likud
Why would anyone have expected the Likud Central Committee to support a move for early primaries? The party has been in power for 20 of the 28 years since winning the 1977 election, becoming Israel's perennial governing party
Sharon wins Likud vote / Attila Somfalvi
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon celebrates victory over arch-rivals MKs Benjamin Netanyahu, Uzi Landau; Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Labor) calls PM from London to congratulate him on his victory.
During that time, the party has just about divested itself from any binding ideological platform. Likud governments have pursued economic and social policies of all types and stripes, from wasteful populism to strict capitalism.
Likud governments have sent the IDF to Beirut to trap PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and sent U.S. President Bill Clinton to Gaza to nudge the same Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority.
Likud governments have both passed laws proclaiming "eternal" Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and negotiated secret agreements with Damascus to return 95 percent of that territory.
And lest we forget, Likud governments energetically built settlements in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Sinai, and Likud governments destroyed settlements in Sinai, Gaza and Samaria.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3147981,00.html
Israel requests Security Council seat
Ambassador to the U.N Dani Gillerman submits formal request to the U.N. Security Council for Israel to be included as a member, says, ‘This is a very important moment for Israel, until recently no one thought this would be possible’; even if request accepted, country will have to wait 13 years for Council seat
Yitzhak Benhorin
Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Dan Gillerman, has submitted a formal request to the U.N. Security Council for Israel to be included as a member.
This marks the first time Israel has submitted its candidacy for a seat in the Security Council, and U.N. sources said reactions to the move have been positive.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148224,00.html
Mubarak: Sharon’s moves thwart peace
Prime minister adopted several negative measures that undermine peace process, Egyptian president says
Ali Waked
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is taking a number of negative steps, which undermine the peace process and hurt the prospects of political negotiations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in interview published in the Egyptian newspaper Roz al-Yusuf Tuesday morning.
The Egyptian president was sworn in for the fifth time Tuesday in a festive ceremony in the parliament. On Wednesday, Mubarak is expected
to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3148086,00.html
continued …
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