IRA statement 'in the next 48 hours'
Governments await reply to call by Adams
By Noel McAdam
27 July 2005
The IRA's potentially historic statement over its future appeared to be imminent today, with the eventual restoration of power sharing devolution at stake.
The long-anticipated statement - which could set out the Provisionals' intentions to carry out a series of actions - is expected in the next 48 hours.
But no early definitive response from the DUP seemed on the cards. Serious political negotiations on an Assembly and Executive could still be as far away as next year.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654245
IRA on the brink of ending paramilitary activity and decommissioning its arsenal
By David McKittrick
27 July 2005
In a potentially historic move in the Irish peace process, the IRA is on the point of announcing an end to paramilitary activity and the decommissioning of all of its weaponry.
The British and Irish governments hope the announcement, now believed to be imminent, will be strong and unambiguous enough to inject a burst of new momentum into the stalled peace process.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654179
We'll still search for IRA's €200m, McDowell pledges
By Sam Smyth
27 July 2005
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell has pledged that the Republic's government will continue to seek the €200m-plus which he says the IRA has stashed away - even if the organisation signs up to abandoning paramilitary violence and ending criminality.
Dismissing rumours of a secret deal that would draw a line under past IRA crimes, Mr McDowell said the Government was legally obliged to continue the search for the Provisionals' treasury.
"They have £20m from the Northern Bank robbery and about €200m stashed away," he said.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654181
Sinn Fein now calling the tune before IRA
27 July 2005
Even one of his fiercest critics is saying Gerry Adams has left the IRA leadership. Political correspondent Chris Thornton asks if this means the IRA doesn't matter much anymore?
SINCE he was the man who spent much of the past year naming Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Kerry North TD Martin Ferris as members of the IRA's Army Council, there is a certain significance in Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell now saying those three men have left the IRA leadership.
Mind you, Mr McDowell was not speaking in terms of the Road to Damascus when he talked about whether gatherings of IRA and Sinn Fein leaders remain homogenous affairs. "I don't think that by itself amounts to a severance between the two organisations," he said in Belfast yesterday. "It's an acknowledgement, in my view, that there was a very structured link between them in the past."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654258
Detectives launch searches in bid to catch GAA killers
Murder hunt spreads over three counties
By Jonathan McCambridge
27 July 2005
Detectives investigating the murder of GAA official Sean Brown today launched a series of searches across the province in a new bid to catch the killers.
It is understood that more than 20 searches were taking place in counties Antrim, Armagh and Tyrone as part of a major PSNI Crime Operations investigation.
Father-of-six Sean Brown (61), was abducted as he locked-up the Wolfe Tone Gaelic Athletic Club on May 12, 1997.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654247
Blair to help in hunt for Lisa's body
Family is overjoyed at the Prime Minister's pledge
By Debra Douglas
27 July 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair has vowed to do everything he can to help with the search for Lisa Dorrian's body.
Responding to a request from North Down MP Lady Hermon to have the remit of a special forensic expert being brought in to investigate the cases of the "Disappeared" extended to include Lisa, Mr Blair said he would look into the issue and see what could be done to help.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654172
The secrets of 58 Curtis House
Police find bomb-making equipment in a north London flat which last Thursday's suicide bombers returned to after their failed attacks. A car used by one of them is found nearby.
By Cahal Milmo and Jason Bennetto
27 July 2005
Members of the terror cell that staged the failed suicide attack on London six days ago may have returned to their suspected bomb factory within hours of the assaults.
Detectives were investigating a witness report that three men returned a day after the 21 July attacks to 58 Curtis House, the north London flat where it is thought the bombings were planned and weapons prepared.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654193
The secrets of 58 Curtis House
Police find bomb-making equipment in a north London flat which last Thursday's suicide bombers returned to after their failed attacks. A car used by one of them is found nearby.
By Cahal Milmo and Jason Bennetto
27 July 2005
Members of the terror cell that staged the failed suicide attack on London six days ago may have returned to their suspected bomb factory within hours of the assaults.
Detectives were investigating a witness report that three men returned a day after the 21 July attacks to 58 Curtis House, the north London flat where it is thought the bombings were planned and weapons prepared.
Yesterday, officers discovered chemicals in a nearby lock-up garage,
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654193
Police 'have had 250 suicide-bomb scares since 7 July'
By Nigel Morris and Barrie Clement
27 July 2005
Police have dealt with 250 suicide bomb scares since the 7 July atrocities and have come close to opening fire seven times, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has said.
Sir Ian Blair acknowledged that the death of the Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, killed last week by undercover police, had been a "dreadful mistake".
But he said it should not divert his officers from the "main issue" of combating terrorism.
Asked whether he could guarantee that a similar tragic accident would not happen again, he told Channel 4 News yesterday: "I can't in any absolute sense, but I know there have been 250 incidents since the 7 July where we considered whether we were being confronted by suicide bombers."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654184
Iraq war increased the threat of attacks, says Major
By Andrew Grice
26 July 2005
The war in Iraq has heightened the threat of terrorist attacks in Britain, the former Prime Minister Sir John Major has claimed.
His intervention is a setback to Tony Blair's attempt to play down any link between the London bombings and the Iraq conflict. Sir John told BBC Radio 4 yesterday: "I think what has happened is not that the Iraq war and other policies created that threat, I think it was there and growing, though it was not in full bloom.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654112
Still only one way to stop a suicide bomber
Gail Walker
26 July 2005
At a stroke, the clinical killing of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station has dealt a massive blow to the credibility of the Metropolitan Police. A blow from which it may never recover.
Before the killing, ordinary people had accepted, albeit reluctantly, that police may have had to take extraordinary measures in urgently tracking down the suspects who had tried to blow themselves and others up the day before.
They were still out there and still, presumably, intent on achieving their murderous ambition.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/story.jsp?story=654145
Ulster superbug death rates soar
Race against clock to find cure
By Nigel Gould
27 July 2005
A vaccine is being tested against a superbug that is causing more concern in Northern Ireland than the feared MRSA, it emerged last night.
Latest statistics show that Ulster death rates of Clostridium Difficile have nearly trebled in just three years.
And the incidences of C. Difficile, mostly found in hospitals, have doubled here since 2000 - with the bug being directly blamed for 37 deaths last year.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654198
10,000 'Viagra' tablets seized
By Nigel Gould
27 July 2005
A major haul of nearly 10,000 Viagra-type drugs has been seized in north Belfast.
The 'Vigora' tablets, which have a street value of around £50,000, were seized as part of a joint operation between Medicine Enforcement Officers from the Department of Health and the PSNI.
This is the first time these tablets, manufactured in India, have been found in Northern Ireland.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=654267
The Boston Globe
Negotiators reach pact on a broad energy bill
Overhaul aimed at spurring output
By Rick Klein and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff July 27, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Congressional negotiators reached agreement yesterday on a sweeping overhaul of the nation's energy policies, with a sprawling package of tax breaks, subsidies, and regulation changes designed to spur production of oil, gasoline, and other energy sources.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/27/negotiators_reach_pact_on_a_broad_energy_bill/
Drug test biased against blacks, 7 ex-officers allege
By Diane E. Lewis, Globe Staff July 27, 2005
Seven former Boston police officers, all African-Americans who were fired after testing positive for cocaine in drug tests using samples of their hair, sued the police department yesterday, alleging the screening technique is biased against African-Americans.
Rheba Rutkowski, an attorney at Bingham McCutchen who represents the former officers, said scientific literature indicates that the texture of African-American hair as well as the hair products they use could skew the results of a hair test. She also said hair tests are easier to pass if an employee has light hair, and that stray molecules can bind to African-American hair, altering the results.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/07/27/drug_test_biased_against_blacks_7_ex_officers_allege/
Channeling his energies
Venezuelans riveted by president's TV show
By Indira A. R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff July 27, 2005
MATURIN, Venezuela -- Love him or hate him, Venezuelans are obsessed with their president. And never more so than on Sundays, when the voluble leftist-populist holds forth in a live, unscripted television marathon that's part folk sermon, part revolutionary diatribe, part homespun entertainment -- and wholly Hugo Chavez.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/07/27/channeling_his_energies/
Healey, prochoice GOP women distance selves on abortion issue
By and Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff July 27, 2005
They were called Women for Romney, and as the 2002 race for governor reached its peak, Romney's campaign asked them to send out postcards urging their friends to the polls.
''Mitt has always supported a women's right to choose," the campaign postcard read. ''Mitt inherits a proud legacy from his mother, who championed a woman's right to choose when she ran for US Senate in 1970 in Michigan before Roe v. Wade when abortion was a crime not a choice."
Yesterday, some of the Women for Romney volunteers were furious with Romney's declaration that he is ''prolife" and that he disapproved of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal nationwide. He announced his stance Monday as he vetoed a bill that would expand access to emergency contraception.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/27/healey_prochoice_gop_women_distance_selves_on_abortion_issue/
More US children being sickened by pesticides in schools, report says
By Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press July 27, 2005
CHICAGO -- Pesticide use in or near US schools sickened more than 2,500 children and school employees over a five-year period, and though most illnesses were mild, their numbers have increased, a nationwide report found.
Sources include chemicals to kill insects and weeds on school grounds, disinfectants, and farming pesticides that drift over nearby schools, according to the report by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and their colleagues.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/07/27/more_us_children_being_sickened_by_pesticides_in_schools_report_says/
2 countries won't halt US flight operations
July 27, 2005
DUSHANBE -- Two Central Asian countries pledged yesterday to allow the United States to keep flight operations in their countries that are crucial to the ongoing US military effort in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held separate meetings with leaders in Kyrgyzstan, who promised continued base facilities in the country, and in Tajikistan, which permits flyover, fueling, and emergency operations. The public assurances marked an official turnaround by the countries, both of which on July 5 joined Russia, China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan in recommending a deadline for the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops. The United States has used the bases and air access rights since the 2001 war in Afghanistan. (Washington Post)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/07/27/2_countries_wont_halt_us_flight_operations/
As aid lags, N. Koreans go hungry
UN says program has little food left
By Alexa Olesen, Associated Press July 27, 2005
BEIJING -- North Korea's government and international aid agencies are running short of food, forcing hungry people to scavenge for acorns, grass, and seaweed, the UN food agency said yesterday as talks on the North's nuclear program began in China's capital.
The United States has promised to send 50,000 metric tons of cereals to help feed millions of malnourished North Koreans, but that aid is not expected to arrive for three months, said Gerald Bourke, a Beijing-based spokesman for the World Food Program.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/07/27/as_aid_lags_n_koreans_go_hungry/
Paleoclimate or paleopolitics?
By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist July 27, 2005
HOUSE ENERGY and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton is so obstinate about global warming that he is harassing top scientists. Those scientists, who include Raymond Bradley of the University of Massachusetts, helped the United Nations global panel on climate change and the National Science Foundation conclude that the world has heated up dramatically in the last few decades compared with the several hundred years before.
Study after study has replicated the findings that human activity is the cause. Americans, with our exponentially disproportionate consumption of fossil fuels and our resulting belch of pollution, bear prime responsibility for it.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/27/paleoclimate_or_paleopolitics/
Arab News
Scotland Yard Finds Terrorist Bomb Factory in London
Mushtak Parker, Arab News
LONDON, 27 July 2005 — In another day of fast developments, Scotland Yard yesterday said they believed they had found the bomb factory where the five devices, which failed to explode in last Thursday’s second wave of attacks on the London transport system, were made.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=67561&d=27&m=7&y=2005
More Terrorists Arrested
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News
JEDDAH, 27 July 2005 — Security forces yesterday arrested four terror suspects in Madinah. No casualties were reported in the early morning operation that took place in the southwest of the holy city, said Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.
The new arrests came a day after Saudi security forces captured Muhammad ibn Saeed Al-Siyam Al-Amri and two of his associates in Madinah and another terror suspect in Riyadh.
A 20-year-old Saudi girl helped police locate Al-Amri, No. 10 on a government list of 36 wanted terrorists. The girl, Nahed, saw Al-Amri enter a residential building, Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper reported. The girl told her relatives and neighbors who notified police who then arrested the suspect. Teams from the police and Special Forces surrounded the building in Al-Kurdi neighborhood in Madinah before moving in to arrest him.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=67557&d=27&m=7&y=2005
Washington’s Logic Emboldens Terrorism
Ramzy Baroud, Aljazeera.net English.
Since the onset of the Bush administration’s ill-defined mission and subsequent long, long war on terror, the American people, and even the whole world, has fallen victim to an utterly flawed, yet barely contested voice of reason. Despite the Vietnam-like debacle in Iraq, in which the Bush administration has willfully immersed the nation, fallacious logic continues to be infused, with the same enthusiasm and doubtlessly with the same grievous outcome.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=67552&d=27&m=7&y=2005
The Tennessean
The weather in Nashville, Tennessee (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Current Conditions
76°F
Thunderstorms
Real Feel:
83F (28C)
Rel. Humidity:
84%
Wind: NNW at 5 mph (8 km/h)
Sunrise: 5:51 AM Sunset: 7:56 PM
Last Updated: 07/27/05 15:37:58 EST
http://tennessean.gannettonline.com/weather/detail/BNA-detail.html?city=Nashville&state=TN&zipcode=37203
LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS. This is entrapment and probably carried out by order of the Bush White House or more likely Senator Frist himself. It is easy to engage opposition candidates in scandal if it's 'set up' right. These people in office now are as underhanded as they come.
Lois DeBerry defends taking $200 cash from undercover FBI agent
Associated Press
MEMPHIS -- Rep. Lois DeBerry, the second-ranking member of the Tennessee House, says she took $200 cash from a representative of a fake company at the heart of the government's Tennessee Waltz corruption investigation.
The money, which was used for gambling at a Mississippi casino, came from an FBI agent posing as a representative of E-Cycle Management, a bogus company that was supposedly seeking favorable legislation in Nashville.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/NEWS0201/50727004
Teen death rate higher in state than in nation
Study finds Tennessee near bottom in well-being of kids
By CLAUDETTE RILEY
Staff Writer
It's tougher to be a child in Tennessee than almost anywhere else in the country, a report released today shows.
Tennessee wallows near the bottom nationally when it comes to babies born underweight, children who live in poverty and the number of infants, children and teens who die young. The state also has a higher-than-average number of children who grow up in single-parent homes and spend their teen years not working or attending school.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/NEWS04/507270402/1001
State studies ways to track, stop troubled teachers
Jobs could be at risk if allegations unreported
By CLAUDETTE RILEY
Staff Writer
Tennessee school directors could lose their jobs if they fail to report teachers who are let go or resign amid serious allegations of wrongdoing.
The State Board of Education is expected to consider that penalty and other tough steps next month to step up efforts to get rid of troubled educators. The state wants to track why teachers are let go and keep them from moving unchecked from one school system to another.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/NEWS04/507270420/1001
No need to start from scratch on ethics reform
They face a daunting task — helping state government restore public trust.
At their first meeting last week, the members of the citizen ethics panel appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen seemed painfully aware of the importance of the work. Bredesen has asked the 12-member panel to report back to him by the end of September with its recommendations on how the state can improve ethics laws and policies. Some members have expressed concern about whether they can finish the job at hand in the prescribed time.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/OPINION01/507270405/1008/OPINION
An energy bill scapegoat
MTBE doesn't belong in the nation's water or in the nation's energy bill.
Senate efforts to sever liability protection for the oil industry over the use of the gasoline additive MTBE from the House energy bill appear to have succeeded. House and Senate conferees have agreed to drop a House provision that would have protected the oil industry from lawsuits over pollution.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/OPINION01/507270406/1008/OPINION
The Bangkok Post
Rangoon gives up Asean chair
Philippines prepared to take over the role
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Nyan Win: 2005 will be a critical year
Vientiane _ Burma yesterday finally gave up its right to take up the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next year, saving the regional body from Western boycotts of its meetings.
Rangoon needs to focus on constitution drafting and the election process, a statement said.
However, critics said Asean could not afford to ignore the Burma issue and must push for real political change in the military-ruled country and for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, which was not mentioned in Asean's statement.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/27Jul2005_news01.php
NRC says southerners must be assured justice
PRADIT RUANGDIT
The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has echoed calls for the government to form a special national body to deliver justice in criminal cases related to the southern insurgency, stressing the urgency of winning southerners' trust by guaranteeing them fair legal treatment.
NRC chairman Anand Panyarachun has put together a package of short-term, concrete measures to ease the spiralling violence in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala within the framework of the recently-promulgated emergency decree, said Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/27Jul2005_news02.php
Information Act seen full of loopholes
Law researchers call for major changes
KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI
The Official Information Act contains many loopholes that allow government agencies to cover up damaging information on environmental and health hazards to avoid responsibility and protect businesses, environmental and law researchers said yesterday.
When it came to serious incidents, such as the bird flu outbreak and toxic chemical leakages, relevant agencies often bypassed the law and concealed information that should have been disseminated to the public for safety reasons, Pantyp Ramasoota, a professor at Mahidol University's Asean Institute for Health Development, told a seminar on environmental governance and public participation organised by the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) yesterday.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/27Jul2005_news03.php
Imports swell trade deficit
June exports up but by less than in May
WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI
Imports increased to a one-month record of $11.15 billion last month, pushing the trade deficit for June to $1.88 billion, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by the Customs Department.
Imports rose by 37.2% from June of 2004, slightly less than the 38.1% year-on-year reported in May. Exports for June grew 11.7% to $9.27 billion, a slowdown from the 14.5% year-on-year growth recorded in May.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/27Jul2005_biz65.php
Aquarium expects 1.5m visitors in first year
BAMRUNG AMNATCHAROENRIT
Kavipol Supatravanij, general manager for marketing and sales of Siam Ocean World Co, shows off an illustration of the new attraction at a presentation yesterday. — KOSOL NAKACHOL
The one-billion-baht Siam Ocean World will open as planned in early November and is expected to be a major tourist draw at the Siam Paragon luxury shopping centre in central Bangkok.
Operated by Siam Ocean World Co, a subsidiary of Oceanis Australia Group, the world's biggest aquarium operator based in Melbourne, the venture hopes to attract 1.5 million visitors, 20% of them foreign tourists, in its first year of operation.
Kavipol Supatravanij, general manager for marketing and sales of Siam Ocean World, said he was undeterred by the prospect of consumers cutting spending, saying the world-class aquarium would be warmly welcomed as a place for tourism and recreation as well as education.
The company expects to break even within three years. In early stage, it has 50 million baht to spend on marketing.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/27Jul2005_biz66.php
The Lincoln Journal of West Virginia
Is Warner being harassed out of a job?
Warner's 'political appointment' coming to an end
By RON GREGORY
Sports Editor
CHARLESTON — United States Attorney Kasey Warner recently said that his position "is a political appointment and funny things happen in politics."
The "funny thing" that prompted Warner's comment was a report that the Southern District United States Attorney is on his way out. While Warner would not confirm the rumor last week, he stopped far short of denying it.
In fact, a Justice Department source confirmed to this newspaper that Warner is in the last days of his tenure as U.S. Attorney. "He will likely be out by the end of the month (July)," said the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He has a very short window (in which to resign)."
The source, and others cited by other media outlets in the state, said Warner was offered a different job by the Justice Department last December. Now, they say, the U.S. Attorney was told to resign within the "next few days." Apparently, any offer of another position is no longer available, the source said.
Speculation immediately centered on why Warner is leaving and who his successor may be.
A number of possibilities have been listed as reasons for Warner's departure. Some speculate that Justice Department officials are unhappy with Warner's handling of alleged vote-buying in Southern West Virginia. To date, several individuals — all Democrats — have been charged with various crimes.
http://www.lincolnjournal.com/
Board, state continue to spar as supreme court prepares to consider Casey appeal
By RON GREGORY
Sports Editor
CHARLESTON — While Lincoln County's elected school board and state department of education representatives who run the local system continue to spar over meeting dates and procedures, motions and responses are still being filed in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
On July 5, attorneys for Dr. David Stewart, former state superintendent of schools, the West Virginia State Board of Education and William Grizzell, state-appointed superintendent of Lincoln County Schools, filed a response to the petition for appeal filed by former United States Attorney Mike Carey. Carey filed an appeal request in a case where several Lincoln Countians opposed to forced high school consolidation sued Stewart, the state board and Grizzell.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charles King summarily dismissed the suit, originally filed by former Hamlin attorney Betty Gregory. Since Gregory is no longer in private practice, Carey is handling the appeal. Carey, who filed a separate lawsuit against consolidation that was also also dismissed, is now appealing the decision in the Gregory case. Carey appealed the decision that went against his lawsuit, but the Supreme Court declined to hear it on a 3-2 vote.
http://www.lincolnjournal.com/
Controversy in Charleston brings back memories
By LEE ARNOLD
An article in one of the Charleston newspapers last week really took me back in time.
It was an incident that happened five or six years ago in Columbus, Ohio.
It was just before Kid Rock would break out and become a superstar in the rock world, and he was playing the Newport Music Hall on High Street in Columbus, not far from the Ohio State University campus.
It was the third time I had seen Kid Rock perform. I saw him twice before at clubs in Huntington in the year before. The Newport was in fact the largest venue I had seen him play at the time.
I went to the show with several people, one of them a girl I was seeing at the time.
Rather than suffocate on the floor of the venue for the entire show, we watched the opening acts, one of which was Staind I think, from the balcony which ran down both sides of the venue.
As the last opening act played, the tension in the room was building.
While he was not yet known by everybody, Kid Rock's reputation of putting on a good show preceded him, and I'm sure many of the people there were like me and had seen the show before.
But as the clock ticked and we were debating on when to go downstairs, things started getting weird.
A girl on the opposite balcony had been teasing the crowd below with sensual dances.
Finally, at the urging of several hundred screaming guys, she pulled out a move that has since been made famous by a video company that buys hours and hours of commercial time on late night television. She lifted her shirt and exposed herself.
I was as thrilled as everyone else. A woman was exposing herself in a public place and I didn't have to keep feeding her dollars to get her to keep doing it.
She started a chain reaction.
Soon other girls started doing the same thing.
It was one of the darndest things I had ever seen.
It was like watching fireworks on the fourth of July. The fireworks were everywhere, and the oohs and aahs followed every exposure.
"Let's stay up here for a while longer," I told my girlfriend.
She didn't complain. In fact, she was quite excited by the idea.
I think she was enjoying the show as much as I was.
http://www.lincolnjournal.com/poisonpen720.shtml
The weather in Charleston, West Virginia (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Thunderstorm Haze
80°F
(27°C)
Rest Of Today...Showers and thunderstorms likely this afternoon. Not as warm. Humid with highs in the upper 80s. Temperature falling into the upper 70s this afternoon. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Tonight...Showers and thunderstorms likely in the evening...Then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the upper 60s. West winds around 5 mph in the evening...Becoming light and variable. Chance of rain 60 percent.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/WVZ013.php?warnzone=wvz013&warncounty=wvc043
The Greenbriar Messenger of Greenbriar Valley, West Virginia
Lewisburg revenue stream
getting shallow
By David Cottrill
"How are we going to fund the services people keep asking for," queried Council Member Wade McClure at Tuesday’s Council meeting, "along with the initiatives recommended by the city’s Comprehensive Plan?" McClure, chairman of the city’s finance committee, reported that the committee had reviewed 11 potential revenue enhancement sources and discarded all but four.
Among revenue options eschewed as impractical were annexations, a payroll tax on folk who work in the city, storm water service fees, impact fees on new development, and a one percent increase in the state’s six percent sales tax (no mechanism in place to collect and disburse it).
The committee asked Mayor John Manchester to explore, with the assistance of city employees, the practicalities of four sources that appear more promising. Among these is the option to double the hotel/motel tax within the city. Manchester estimated that this would produce an additional $150,000, half of which would go to the CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) to promote tourism. The city’s half would have to be used for arts and recreation.
http://www.mountainmessenger.com/
Year-round Fool
By David Cottrill
Holy Holbrook!
Quickly, send the children from the room! They mustn’t hear this! Tom Holbrook says that this columnist is a … a … a … socialist! He says, "To cure the ills of the less fortunate, Dave wants to take what you and I have and redistribute it. Socialism is not the type of government the American people want."
You know, I once heard Rush Limbaugh use that exact line. These two stalwarts of the right, I think, are talking about taxation. Heavens, no one likes to pay taxes. I certainly don’t. Of course, you can’t have civilization without taxation: education, security, roads, bridges, safe food, water, drugs, etc.
What these gents oppose, I sense, is safety net programs for the unfortunate. "To promote the general welfare" does not, for them, mean — well — welfare, you know, helping the down-and-out achieve a measure of security and dignity.
I pay taxes too, boys, lots of taxes. Frankly, I’d rather that money help "widows and orphans" than find its way into the pockets of the fat cats who own this administration. If that makes me a socialist, oh well.
http://www.mountainmessenger.com/oped.html
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