"Okeydoke"
Born…
1800, John Brown, abolitionist
1883, José Ortega y Gasset, writer and philosopher
1860, Sir James Barrie, dramatist and novelist
1949, Billy Joel, singer and songwriter
1502, Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1671, Irish adventurer Thomas Blood, known as Colonel Blood, is caught after stealing the crown jewels from the Tower of London; he is ultimately pardoned by King Charles II.
In 1754, a cartoon in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colony; the caption read, "Join or die."
In 1913, the 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the election of U.S. senators by popular vote rather than selection by state legislatures, was ratified.
In 1926, Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly over the North Pole.
In 1945, U.S. officials announced that a midnight entertainment curfew was lifted.
In 1960, the Food and Drug Administration approved a pill as safe for birth control use.
In 1961, Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned television programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Nixon.
In 1980, 35 motorists were killed when a Liberian freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,400-foot section to collapse.
Missing in Action
1965 KARDELL DAVID A. SONOMA CA NO PARA/BEEPER " REMAINS RETURNED 7/31/89, ID 11/08/89"
1965 WISTRAND ROBERT C. NEW YORK NY CRASH NO PARA BEEPER SEARCH NEG
1966 DEXTER BENNIE L. BEND OR CAPTURE WITNESSED JEEP FOUND
1967 TODD ROBERT JACY NORTH EASTON MA
1968 LEOPOLD STEPHEN R. OKLAHOMA CITY OK 03/05/73 RELEASED BY PRG INJURED ALIVE IN 98
1968 VAN ARTSDALEN CLIFFORD V. PLUMSTEADVILLE PA
1970 HAIGHT STEPHEN H. CAZENOVIA NY
1972 REEDER WILLIAM S. LAKE ARROWHEAD CA 03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98
MY HEADLINE TODAY
Russia does not have to have a democracy and neither does any other country. Human Rights violations are a crime in this world.
The Ukraine is an example of how Democracies are established.
The world's focus needs to be on struggles by people in a country to achiever higher levels of participation in their government.
The NAME of that process can take many forms including Socialism. If Russian sovereignty is threatened by a chaotic democratic process whereby potential exploitation of the people of Russia will ensue then it's leadership has an obligation to protect the populous of that country.
George Walker Bush is using 'the word' Democracy to victimize countries like Russia for the purpose of creating a 'character' as unsavory and "War Bait." Where there is oil in Bush's priority is a ruthless determination including war at any cost in the FALSE NAME of Democracy. Democracy in definition of Bush's vernacular is void of definition of human rights and safety as exhibited by Iraq and is better defined by CAPITALISM.
President Putin has been a Gentleman-Diplomat beyond any reason in most of the scenarios he has hosted including a recent visit to the Middle East. He has literally said in a news conference yesterday he accepts the difference between the USA and Russia and recognizes the ability to conduct international affairs with respect for that difference.
Bush on the other hand is intolerant of those differences and seeks to exploit them while reeking havoc with DEMOCRATIC principles in the USA that is currently undermining our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In actuality, the tight control of Russia by President Putin is understandable and reasonable when one considers the greatest strength of terrorists (As there is not such thing as 'terror' as an enemy. Terror is a descriptor and not a noun. Terror alone cannot attack World Trade Towers.) is the use of a country's infrastructure against itself. President Putin has literally taken control of the Russian infrastructure which is grossly different than that of the USA. The USA has a democracy aged by over 225 years whereas the Russian government change is far younger than that with destabilizing influence in their oligarches. President Putin is correct and Bush is completely wrong to compare apples to oranges. Bush's ONLY intention is war without any plans what-so-ever of peace.
I continue to wish the best for Russia and an outcome for it's representative government that will protect it from further issues as occurred in Beslan before the new initiations of national security as exhibited by recent changes by the Russian government. President Putin does have a Dumas to answer to and seek support from. Russia is not a dictatorship. Not even close.
The Los Angeles Times
High-Speed Train Plan May Move Forward
Vegas-to-border leg may get funding. But it's still a long way from there to its Anaheim goal.
By Dan Weikel, Times Staff Writer
A partnership of government and industry in southern Nevada plans to spend $1.3 billion to build the nation's first super-fast train.
Where do they want to put it after more than two decades of effort? From Las Vegas to Primm, a three-hotel sideshow on the Nevada-California border. It's best known for an outlet mall, the giant Desperado roller coaster and a bullet-riddled 1934 Ford that carried the infamous Bonnie and Clyde to their deaths.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-maglev9may09,1,5462507.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Bush, Putin Set Aside Feuds at Talks in Russia
Leaders focus on areas of agreement, such as backing Israel's Gaza pullout. Rapport is on display as they ready to mark victory over Nazis.
By Peter Wallsten and David Holley, Times Staff Writers
MOSCOW — After months of feuding, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin met Sunday and emphasized harmony and personal chemistry, a reflection of common policy goals as they prepared to mark the 60th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis.
The focus on good feelings underscored the belief of both governments that their recent bickering might be a distraction from far more pressing matters such as the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bushputin9may09,0,1990627.story?coll=la-home-headlines
AND WHAT ABOUT THE PRODUCTS OF THAT DRILLING? Do I want to be exposed to the OIL and ultimately GASOLINE laced with nuclear exposure? This is again the complete disregard to the public this administration carries with it all the time. This is the VIOXX of drilling opportunity. The USA is quickly becoming a society that cares little about itself due to economic hard times and is wiling to trade income of any kind for longevity of life bringing along with it danger to us all when we never consented to it. This is Bush's idea of profit behind deregulation. Even Regan wasn't that stupid.
Drilling Near Nuclear Blast Cavity Called Risky Business
Residue of '69 Colorado test is best left alone, say many in the area who benefit from oil and gas.
BATTLEMENT MESA, Colo. — On a bright fall afternoon 36 years ago, the Atomic Energy Commission and a Texas oil company detonated a 40-kiloton nuclear device inside an 8,000-foot shaft on a high meadow, an effort to crack into a bounty of natural gas trapped in a dense subterranean rock formation.
Here on Colorado's energy-rich Western Slope, the nuclear experiment yielded mixed results. A rich lode of gas was indeed shaken out of its rock casing, but the gas that rushed to the surface was too radioactive to be commercially useful.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blast9may09,0,3712937.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Bills Seek State Tax Breaks for a Select Few
Wealthy taxpayers push narrowly targeted changes in law that can save them millions.
By Evan Halper, Times Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO — A Wall Street tycoon accused in the 1980s of cheating thousands of investors out of their savings in one of the biggest financial scandals in history now says the state of California cheated him.
So he has launched a campaign to change the state tax code — retroactive to 1992 — in hopes of getting $5 million back.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-taxcode9may09,0,7911472.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Moscow Times
Victory Day Promises Pride and Pomp
By Simon Saradzhyan and Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writers
Igor Tabakov / MT
Two war veterans who will participate in the Victory Day parade on Red Square raising a toast Thursday at a city-sponsored event at Yekaterininsky Park.
After the lavish May 9 celebrations are over and police barriers in central Moscow come down, President Vladimir Putin may be left with nothing more tangible than a sense of pride in having hosted dozens of the world's leaders.
While big on ceremony, the Victory Day celebrations will offer little of substance for Russia, as the key meeting of the occasion -- between Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush -- is not expected to produce any new agreements or policy breakthroughs. By comparison, the European Union-Russia summit on Tuesday could well see the signing of a roadmap agreement to advance economic, educational and security cooperation between Moscow and the 25-member bloc.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/002.html
Residents Advised to Stay at Home
By Francesca Mereu
Staff Writer
With official Victory Day celebrations off-limits for all but invited guests, police are advising those who decide to remain in Moscow over the long holiday weekend to stay at home.
Still, people who do not mind huge traffic delays, frequent document checks and other unprecedented security measures will have the opportunity to attend numerous concerts, firework displays and other entertainment in parks away from the city center.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/001.html
Uncensored Memories
In a searing new book, Soviet veterans challenge the official mythology of World War II.
By Kevin O'Flynn
Published: May 6, 2005
It was in the 1980s when the first letters arrived at the Izvestia office, bubbling up from the openness that had just started under perestroika, as the country began to re-examine its past.
The letters came from soldiers who felt betrayed by their country when they were left to fight without weapons at the start of the war, from relatives who were stigmatized for decades because their sons were labeled "missing in action," from prisoners scorned and punished for having been in concentration camps.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/101.html
Internet Helps Bring the War Home
By Stephen Boykewich
Staff Writer
With the city center facing a virtual lockdown for Victory Day celebrations, most people will not get near the memorials that are bringing world leaders to town. But some of the more ambitious World War II memorial projects are not only open to all, they can be visited at home -- thanks to the Internet.
First among the online projects in terms of scale and sophistication is a web site called "The Victors: Soldiers of the Great War" (www.pobediteli.ru), which has a searchable database of all living Russian veterans of World War II -- 1,009,600 by the site's current count -- and a multimedia history of the war from the Soviet point of view that puts some Hollywood films to shame.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/015.html
THE MEDIA will unilaterally criticise Putin for this type of tactic but Bush has The Patriot Act doing basically the same thing to American citizens with the exception of oil barrons who support his campaigns.
The Moscow Times no different from The New York Times will USE a context to ridicule to an end they choose but Bush is no savior for their cause. Bush in the USA panders to oil barrons where Putin seeks sovereignty over Russian assets by limiting them and jailing them where they won't pay taxes. This article as well as the NY Times USE of this issue chronically ignores, for convenience of finding local saviors, the fact Bush is worse than Putin could ever be by invoking The Patriot Act and prosecutor buddies like Gonzalez.
Sterile Journalism is the "Nero Fiddle" of journalism whereby arguements are made that should be for sake of lack of credible validity in modern day leadership.
If journalism wants to make example of invasion of privacy and/or abuse of power by government then do so but don't look for lame examples in other leadership. In the year 2005 it certainly does not exist in the government of The Bush Regime.
Khodorkovsky a Cloud Putin Can't Scare Away
Even as the Air Force prepares to prevent the clouds from raining on the Victory Day parade, there is one cloud that is likely to hang conspicuously over the head of President Vladimir Putin.
While the president plays host to world leaders on Monday, his country's most high-profile prisoner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, will be awaiting a verdict a week later in a case seen as a turning point toward greater Kremlin dominance over political and economic
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/010.html
Violence in Iraq Rages On Unabated
Reuters
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents killed at least 24 people in a wave of ambushes and bomb blasts in Baghdad on Thursday, the latest attacks in a surge of violence that has overshadowed the formation of a new Cabinet for Iraq.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at an army recruitment center at a former airfield in western Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15.
Gunmen also ambushed a police convoy, shooting dead 10 policemen and then setting their vehicles ablaze, police said. And a car bomb was detonated as the deputy interior minister's convoy drove past, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding six people, police said. The official was unhurt.
Over the past week guerrillas have stepped up their campaign of violence, defying predictions that the insurgency would crumble following Jan. 30 parliamentary elections and the formation of a new Cabinet.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/253.html
Bush Will Raise Baltic Occupation
The Associated Press
VILNIUS, Lithuania -- U.S. President George W. Bush said he would remind President Vladimir Putin about the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states when they met in Moscow for the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
In excerpts of an interview that was broadcast Thursday, Bush told Lithuanian state television that he would stress to Putin that the end of the war did not bring freedom for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/018.html
UN Urges Action on Afghan Slayings
Reuters
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United Nations urged Afghanistan on Thursday to spare no effort in the hunt for the killers of three women who were raped, strangled and dumped with a note warning women not to work for aid groups.
Aid workers in Afghanistan have been targeted by Taliban rebels, especially in the insurgency-plagued south and east of the country, but the three Afghan women were found this week in the northern province of Baghlan, where Taliban are not active.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/251.html
A Whole Lot of Fluffiness
Поперёк себя шире: wider than he is tall (said of an obese person)
Although today almost all the world's top models -- those tall, leggy beauties without an ounce of cellulite -- are Russians, historically in Russia, plump was beautiful and healthy. In fact, the verb поправиться can mean either "to become well" after an illness, or "to gain weight." There are dozens of verbs and adjectives in Russian for gaining weight and being overweight, and, bless their food-loving, indulgent souls, Russians use many of them in a positive sense.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/007.html
Gas Pipelines Need Investors: Sharonov
Russia should end Gazprom's monopoly on natural gas shipments and allow private investors to help finance new pipelines, which would increase supplies and lower prices, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said in an interview published Thursday.
"The problem is that Gazprom owns the pipelines," Sharonov said in Rossiiskaya Gazeta. "Gazprom doesn't need to develop the pipelines because it's not interested in the gas transport business and there is enough capacity for shipping its own gas."
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/042.html
Fish Out of Water
There's no bridging the divide between Westerners and Central Asians in Rob Ferguson's memoir of his crusade to save the shrinking Aral Sea.
By Kim Iskyan
Published: May 6, 2005
If you've spent much time in the former Soviet Union -- particularly as an aid worker in Central Asia -- you'll likely recognize elements of your own experience in Rob Ferguson's tale of his travails as a developmental consultant in Central Asia, in "The Devil and the Disappearing Sea."
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/106.html
Caucasus Legend
The exploits of the 19th-century warrior Shamil have already gained mythical status. A new encyclopedia tries to distinguish fact from fiction.
By Nabi Abdullaev
Published: May 6, 2005
A folk hero in the North Caucasus for more than 150 years, the rebel leader Imam Shamil is admired equally by anti-Russian insurgents and those seeking integration with Russia. The Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev is said to take pride in bearing his name, while President Vladimir Putin has publicly cited Shamil's appeal for the people of the Caucasus to live in peace with Russia.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/102.html
Global Eye
Ring Them Bells
By Chris Floyd
Published: May 6, 2005
An occupational hazard of dissidence in the Age of Bush is the unavoidable necessity of belaboring the obvious. Again and again, you must ring the same bell; over and over, you must repeat the same blatant fact: that George W. Bush and his minions are lying hypocrites with blood on their hands.
But what can you do? Each week -- each day -- brings fresh confirmation of this damning truth. And until the American people redeem their lost national honor by rising up in their millions -- taking to the streets with the patriotic cry, "These murderous jackals no longer represent us!" -- the Bush crimes will go on, and must be documented. So grab the bell-rope: Here we go again.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/05/06/120.html
The Washington Times
U.S. Officers In Iraq Put Priority on Extremists
Hussein Loyalists Not Seen as Greatest Threat
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 9, 2005; A01
BAGHDAD, May 8 -- Senior U.S. commanders say their view of the Iraqi insurgency has begun to shift, with higher priority being given to combating foreign fighters and Iraqi jihadists.
This shift comes in response to the recent upsurge in suicide attacks and other developments that indicate a more prominent role in the insurgency by these radical groups, the commanders say.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800838_pf.html
Bush, Putin Put Sniping Aside for VE Day
By JENNIFER LOVEN
The Associated Press
Monday, May 9, 2005; 5:13 AM
MOSCOW -- It was awkward theater for President Bush, given a seat of honor Monday in a reviewing stand next to Lenin's tomb to watch goose-stepping soldiers and flags adorned with the Soviet hammer-and-sickle that recalled days of communist might.
Russia's 60th anniversary celebration of its World War II victory with other Allied forces over Nazi Germany offered only a one-sided, rosy picture of the U.S.S.R.'s war legacy, and has been accompanied by increased nostalgia for the Soviet Union's wartime tyrant, Josef Stalin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/09/AR2005050900053_pf.html
Increasingly Embattled, DeLay Scales Back Usual Power Plays
By John F. Harris and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 9, 2005; A01
In the euphemism favored on Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is "not staff driven." Translation: He is used to doing what he wants.
It happens all the time, DeLay friends and advisers say. An aide will suggest that the leader soften his tone, or back off just a bit from some inflammatory position. As often as not, the Texas Republican will respond with a snort, suggesting that the adviser is more worried about how a decision will play inside the Beltway than how it will be perceived -- if it is noticed at all -- by the rest of the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800835_pf.html
GE Ecomagination
http://www.ge.com/ecomagination/
http://www.ge.com/en/
World Press Freedom Day
http://www.ge.com/stories/en/20353.html?category=Product_Business
Volcano Experts Seek Emergency Alert System
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 9, 2005; A07
Imagine living in a country where three volcanoes are erupting at the same time, two others could blow in the very near future and 169 others are capable of awakening -- including scores deemed worthy of constant monitoring.
Imagine living in a place where, in the past 25 years alone, communities have been wiped out by lava flows; eruptions have flattened huge expanses of land and killed people miles away; and avalanches of volcanic debris have swept people to their deaths.
If you live in America, you live in such a country.
The United States is among the most volcano-rich nations on Earth -- home to 45 eruptions and 15 cases of notable unrest at 33 volcanoes since 1980. But while a handful of hazardous mountains are relatively well-laden with monitoring equipment, many dozing giants are beyond scientists' electronic eyes and ears, posing a significant threat to thousands of people, according to the first comprehensive assessment of U.S. volcano risks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800635_pf.html
Along Potomac, an Ecological Mystery Surfaces
Md., River Groups Try To Determine Origins of Abundant Plastic Barrels
By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 9, 2005; B01
Olmsted Island, a forested median that splits the Potomac River upstream from the District, is a spot where the fast-moving current coughs up debris as it crashes through Great Falls.
For those interested in one of the river's oddest ecological mysteries, it is a great place to find clues.
"There are six right here," said Mac Thornton, a kayaker who paddled out to the island in Montgomery County one recent afternoon. He swiveled to count more, pointing his finger at each new sighting. "Seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, so far."
Thornton was counting barrels: waist-high plastic drums in shades of blue, black and white. They were jumbled at his feet and hidden in the woods behind him-- obvious aliens in the landscape.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800760_pf.html
The Pessivist
AIDS Activist Larry Kramer, Hoarse From Speaking Truth to Power
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 9, 2005; C01
Who will be the next Larry Kramer?
The man himself -- AIDS activist, writer, provocateur -- doesn't know. Right now, Kramer is fighting all this noise: the cell phones going off, the cash register ringing, the 2-year-old who keeps crying whenever she drops her pink pacifier. Then there's the front door that won't shut, people trickling in and out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800988_pf.html
Aid to Christian School In Alaska Spurs Lawsuit
By Brian Faler
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, May 9, 2005; A21
There are those who complain that Congress does not care about the concerns of the little guy. But those people do not attend Alaska Christian College.
The school, founded five years ago and affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church, has 37 students. It is not accredited and does not grant degrees. It offers, instead, certificates in biblical studies at the end of a student's first year and certificates in biblical and general studies to those who complete a second. Over the past two years, Congress has given the school more than $1 million.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800780_pf.html
Roadless Rules
Monday, May 9, 2005; Page A22
ON ITS OWN, the Bush administration's rationale for radically amending the "roadless rule" sounds reasonable. The rule, a Clinton administration regulation designed to prevent logging, mineral extraction or road construction of any kind within some 56.5 million acres of pristine national forestland, has been contested by several states and has been overturned by two federal judges. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who is responsible for the Forest Service, says he wants to eliminate the one-size-fits-all federal rule in favor of a "state by state process." Mr. Rey says that this would give governors more say in how the rule is applied and therefore reduce the amount of "ill will" that the rule created.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800731.html
N.C. Church Kicks Out Members Who Do Not Support Bush
Associated Press
Sunday, May 8, 2005; A12
WAYNESVILLE, N.C., May 7 -- Some in Pastor Chan Chandler's flock wish he had a little less zeal for the GOP.
Members of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church say Chandler led an effort to kick out congregants who did not support President Bush. Nine members were voted out at a Monday church meeting in this mountain town about 120 miles west of Charlotte. Forty others in the 400-member congregation resigned in protest.
"He's the kind of pastor who says 'Do it my way or get out,' " said Selma Morris, the former church treasurer. "He's real negative all the time."
Chandler told WLOS-TV in Asheville on Friday that the actions were not politically motivated, but on Saturday he refused to comment, citing the advice of his attorney.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050700972_pf.html
Filibuster Fray Lifts Profile of Minister
Scarborough Has Network and Allies
By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 8, 2005; A01
In his home town of Pearland, Tex., Baptist minister Rick Scarborough was tireless in promoting his conservative Christian way of thinking.
He attacked high school sex education courses, experimental medical treatments and transsexuals trying to change their gender identification. He recruited like-minded candidates to run for the local school board and city council. He crisscrossed the country to protest the ousting of Roy S. Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, for installing a Ten Commandments tablet at his courthouse. And Scarborough created a network of "Patriot Pastors" to lead evangelicals to the polls in 2004.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050701266_pf.html
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