Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
If You Build It,They Will Come
June 22nd, 2005 12:51 pm
Iraq May Be Prime Place for Training of Militants, C.I.A. Report Concludes
By Douglas Jehl / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 21 - A new classified assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency says Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat.
The assessment, completed last month and circulated among government agencies, was described in recent days by several Congressional and intelligence officials. The officials said it made clear that the war was likely to produce a dangerous legacy by dispersing to other countries Iraqi and foreign combatants more adept and better organized than they were before the conflict.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3087
Skills Refined In the Field
June 22nd, 2005 1:03 pm
Iraqi Rebels Refine Bomb Skills, Pushing Toll of G.I.'s Higher
By David S. Cloud / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 21 - American casualties from bomb attacks in Iraq have reached new heights in the last two months as insurgents have begun to deploy devices that leave armored vehicles increasingly vulnerable, according to military records.
Last month there were about 700 attacks against American forces using so-called improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.'s, the highest number since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to the American military command in Iraq and a senior Pentagon military official. Attacks on Iraqis also reached unprecedented levels, Lt. Gen. John Vines, a senior American ground commander in Iraq, told reporters on Tuesday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3088
World Tribunal on Iraq
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?
June 23 - 27, 2005. Istanbul, Turkey.
Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Storm turns day to night across state
Staff Reports
June 21, 2005 STORM0621
A one-two punch of strong wind and heavy rain socked much of the Twin Cities and central Minnesota Monday -- downing trees, flooding roads, flipping boats and cutting power to thousands of residents from Fergus Falls to the metro area.
Packing winds of up to 70 miles per hour, the system raced across the state starting late Monday morning and weakened several hours later after blowing through the Twin Cities.
At about 2 p.m., the sky was so dark and the winds so strong that takeoffs and landings at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were halted for nearly a half hour.
Wind damage also was reported in south Minneapolis, and several boats were overturned on Lake Calhoun.
No injuries were reported.
By midafternoon, the National Weather Service issued flash-flood warnings in the seven-county metro area as rain fell in some places at an estimated rate of 2 inches per hour.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/127/5466393.html
Locks reopen for recreational boaters
Associated Press
June 21, 2005 LOCKS0621
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reopened its Minneapolis locks and dams to recreational boaters.
The locks and dams were closed on June 14 due to high flows. The flows dropped below the threshold for boating this morning.
Officials warn boaters that the flows are still high and that debris remains in the water.
The locks affected included the upper and lower Saint Anthony Falls locks and dams and Lock and Dam 1, across from the Ford Plant on the Minneapolis side of the river.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5466342.html
St. Louis Park grads: Time for quick quiz
Allie Shah, Star Tribune
June 21, 2005 DEADBEAT0621
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Hey, you, with the nice job and the college diploma!
Yeah, you, the one who graduated from St. Louis Park High in the 1960s, '70s, '80s or early '90s.
Remember that money you borrowed from the school to pay for college and never paid back?
Well, the school wants it back and is looking for you.
Don't worry. You're not the only deadbeat out there. Hundreds of graduates since 1962 received small loans at no interest through a special program created by the late Herb Lefler, a St. Louis Park attorney and former mayor with a soft spot for Park High students.
But with very few of you paying back your loans ranging from $150 to $4,000, the money is all but gone. Today, you all owe a combined $50,000. Whoa!
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5467402.html
A warm bienvenido to new consulate
Tom Horgen, Star Tribune
June 21, 2005 CONSUL0621
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The doors didn't open until 8 a.m., but Tania Fernando wanted to make sure she wasn't left out in the rain when Minnesota's long-awaited Mexican consulate began business Monday on St. Paul's East Side.
Expecting a packed house, Fernando, 18, and her father arrived at 5 a.m.
Before Monday, Mexican immigrants living in Minnesota often drove to Chicago if they needed consular services. At the consulate there, they could request such documents as passports and official IDs.
Fernando and her father, Ramiro, of Burnsville, made that trip earlier this year.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5467411.html
Editorial: Durbin's message/U.S. must end prisoner abuse
June 21, 2005 ED0621
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., set off a firestorm last week when he compared U.S. treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo to practices employed by Nazis, Soviets, Pol Pot and their ilk. His remarks were condemned by the White House, the Pentagon, the Christian Coalition, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Newt Gingrich (who called for his censure by the Senate) and by the entire right side of the talk radio/television/blog world. The heat got so bad that, late in the week, Durbin apologized if his remarks had been "misunderstood." They weren't, and Durbin should not have apologized.
Instead, the senator should have hit back hard, just as the Amnesty International did when its comparison of Guantanamo to the Soviet gulag was attacked. By caving in, Durbin did just what the orchestrated right-wing smear effort required to succeed: It made him the story rather than focusing further attention on the outrageous violations of international law and human rights being perpetrated in Guantanamo and elsewhere in the name of the American people.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5467045.html
Dick Durbin: Question is one of treatment, not location
June 21, 2005 DURBIN0621
From the loud denunciations he provoked, you’d think that Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had called President Bush a Nazi. The assistant minority leader’s speech last week was indeed a strong challenge to the Bush administration, but the context was quickly lost in the uproar over one paragraph. For readers who might like to see what the fuss is about, here’s a substantial portion of Durbin’s text.
Mr. President, there has been a lot of discussion in recent days about whether to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. This debate misses the point. It is not a question of whether detainees are held at Guantanamo Bay or some other location. The question is how we should treat those who have been detained there. Whether we treat them according to the law or not does not depend on their address. It depends on our policy as a nation.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5467069.html
Journalist's reports of atomic aftermath emerge, 60 years later
Louise Story, New York Times
June 20, 2005 NAGA0620
Initial American reports of the devastation caused by the use of an atomic bomb against Nagasaki, Japan, have finally been published, almost 60 years after they were written.
In September 1945, a few weeks after the war ended, George Weller, a correspondent for the Chicago Daily News (now defunct), sneaked into Nagasaki, an industrial city more than 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, ahead of American ground forces. He wrote dozens of articles detailing the effects of the atomic bomb dropped there on Aug. 9.
Although he skirted U.S. authorities to get into Nagasaki, Weller submitted his reports -- the first dated Sept. 6 -- to U.S. military censors, as required. The stories infuriated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who ordered them quashed. For much of his stay in Nagasaki, Weller didnt know the articles were never published.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5465435.html
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