Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History …
1586 Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe
1588 Spanish Armada sails to overthrow England's Queen Elizabeth I
1851 Total solar eclipse captured on a daguerreotype photograph
1862 Confederate forces defeated at More's Hill, Mo
1866 Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in US
1868 14th Amendment ratified, citizenship to exslaves
1882 The opera "Parsifal" is produced (Bayreuth)
1883 Shocks triggered by the volcano Epomeo (Isle of Ischia, Italy)
destroyed 1,200 houses at Casamicciola killing 2,000
1896 City of Miami incorporated
1898 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of the Retired Colourman"(BG)
1900 Hamburger created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut
1914 Austria-Hungary attacks Serbia-WW I begins
1914 Foxtrot 1st danced at New Amsterdam Roof Garden (NYC, by Harry Fox)
1915 10,000 blacks march on 5th Ave (NYC) protesting lynchings
1931 Congress makes "The Star-Spangled Banner" our 2nd national anthem
1932 Pres Hoover evicts bonus marchers from their encampment
1933 1st singing telegram delivered (to Rudy Vallee), NYC
1935 G Neujmin discovers asteroid #1386 Storeria
1938 K Reinmuth discovers asteroid #1485 Isa
1942 Nazis liquidate 10,000 Jews in Minsk Russia
1943 Italian Facist dictator Benito Mussolini resigns
1943 Pres FDR announces end of coffee rationing in US
1945 US Army bomber crashes into 79th floor of Empire State Bldg, 14 die
1945 US Senate ratifies UN charter 89-2
1959 Hawaii's 1st US election sends 1st Asian-Americans to Congress
1962 Mariner I launched to Mars falls into Atlantic Ocean
1964 Ranger 7 launched toward the Moon; sent back 4308 TV pictures
1967 Pirate Radio Station 390 (Radio Invicta) (England) closes down
1973 Skylab 3's astronauts (Bean, Garriott & Lousma) launched
1977 Roy Wilkins turn over NAACP leadership to Benjamin L Hooks
1978 600,000 attend Watkins Glen Summer Jam in NY
1978 Perth Observatory discovers asteroid #3188 & #3422
1978 Price of gold tops $200-an-oz level for 1st time
1980 Fernando Bela£nde Terry becomes president of Peru
1986 NASA releases transcript from doomed Challenger, pilot Michael Smith
could be heard saying, "Uh-oh!" as spacecraft disintegrated
1987 Angel Cordero Jr becomes the 4th jockey to win 6,000 races
1988 Israeli diplomats arrive in Moscow for 1st visit in 21 years
1988 Jordan cancels $1.3 billion development plan in West Bank
1988 Winnie Mandella's home in Soweto, South Africa destroyed by arson
1990 Blackout hits Chicago
1991 Expo's Dennis Martinez pitches baseball's 15th perfect game (Dodgers)
1991 Miguel Indurain of Spain wins the Tour de France bicycle race
2061 31st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
Missing in Action
1966 MC SWAIN GEORGE P. MONTROSE CA 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
International Herald Tribune
Cricket: Games in Zimbabwe divide New Zealand
New Zealand's cricketers will begin their tour of Zimbabwe next week in little doubt of the disapproval felt by the bulk of their compatriots.
Their departure to a weeklong training camp in Namibia - they will not enter Zimbabwe until Aug. 4 and the first of the two five-day test matches does not start until Aug. 7 - was accompanied by a vote in New Zealand's Parliament that condemned the tour, 110 to 10.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/27/sports/CRICKET.php
The Jerusalem Post
PM wraps up 'very successful' French visit with call for aliya
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon concluded his Paris visited by meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returns to Israel Friday following a four-day visit to Paris that he termed very successful.
Sharon wrapped up the visit on Thursday by meeting French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy at his Paris hotel and with French Jewish leaders at the Paris International Convention Center.
The prime minister raised the ire of the French government last year by connecting anti-Semitism in France to his standard call for Diaspora Jews to make aliya. Sharon made sure to separate the two issues this time, but he did not mince words in repeatedly calling upon the audience to move to Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122518931272
Karadi: Protests won't wear us down
With settler leaders planning the largest-ever anti-disengagement march set to begin next Tuesday in Sderot, Police Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi convened the top police brass on Thursday to discuss how police would thwart the activist's plans to infiltrate Gush Katif.
During the evening meeting, Karadi and his officers refrained from making concrete decisions concerning the police's operational plan due to conflicting intelligence reports they had received on the Sderot plans.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122448673715
Reporters on the Job: Pullout training
Jerusalem Post military correspondent reports from the fields of Re'em base tent city outside the Gaza Strip
Embedded with the Caracal Battalion: Playing mind games
By Arieh O'Sullivan, Jerusalem Post military correspondent
Posted: July 28, 2005
The Re'em base is a mammoth tent city outside the Gaza Strip with endless rows of canvas, screens and, yes, mud. For all the army's planning and checks, a burst water main has turned large swaths of the desert field into sticky mud flows.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122518929581
J'lem Summit heads to Seoul
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Reaching out to Christian supporters of Israel in Asia, a group of conservative Israeli thinkers and two parliamentarians from the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus are traveling to South Korea next month for the second annual Jerusalem Summit Asia to shore up support for Israel against the increasingly global forces of Islamic fundamentalism.
The two day pro-Israel conference, which will be hosted by the President of South Korea and the Mayor of Seoul as well as the largest Christian Church in Asia, is expected to attract more than 2,000 people from over ten east Asian countries.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122448676791
IRA: We will abandon 'armed campaign'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON
British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the IRA's announcement ending its armed campaign as a step of "unparalleled magnitude" and said the disposal of IRA weapons must take place as soon as possible.
"This may be the day when finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," said Blair in a live televised statement at his Downing Street office.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1122518928997
The Cheney Observer
Cheney's lecture
July 26, 2005
In "The Jukebox Queen of Malta" (a World War II novel by New Englander Nicholas M. Rinaldi), Maltese women attacked downed German airmen with pitchforks. The British, who were defending the Mediterranean island from a possible invasion, intervened to save the enemy airmen's lives.
It wasn't that the British had sympathy for the Germans who were, after all, bombing Malta almost every day. Rather, they feared that should any Germans be killed in this fashion, their own airmen would be risk a similar fate at the hands of civilians if they were forced to parachute over hostile territory.
And that's a principle the American people should keep in mind as they think about the way our government treats its prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detention facilities. For if our side is believed to abuse its prisoners, or to deliberately ignore the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, then we should not be surprised if our enemies feel justified in behaving in a similar fashion. Our misdeeds put our own troops at risk.
Yet the Bush administration does not seem concerned about this principle. It has launched an effort to block legislation that is supported by key Republican senators, legislation that would forbid the American military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees. The senators also propose banning the hiding of prisoners from the Red Cross and from using interrogation methods that are not authorized by a new Army field manual.
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050726/NEWS/507260337/1021
The IMMORAL Tactics of the Right Wing
Cavuto Disses a "Liberal" Guest for the Third Time This Week
In March of this year, Paul O'Neill, President Bush's former Treasury Secretary and a man who told the truth about what it was like to work inside the Bush White House, was a guest on Your World w/Neil Cavuto. O'Neill was invited on, ostensibly, to talk about his plan to fix Social Security. Only problem was, Cavuto interrupted O'Neill no less than 24 times so he wasn't able to say much. Through his endless interruptions, Cavuto clearly communicated his dislike for O'Neill and his lack of interest in what he had to say.
Today (July 27, 2005), one of Cavuto's guests was a civil rights lawyer named Michael Gross. Gross was on to talk about the false sense of security created by putting cameras and police officers on every corner, in every mall, and on every bus and train. While Cavuto wondered "What's the big deal?" and argued that we haven't had another attack since 9/11, Gross tried to communicate that we must get to the reasons behind bombings. He said we must "understand the problem" because if we don't, the bombers will win because they will "have created totalitarianism."
Cavuto interrupted Gross 16 times.
Comment: "Fighting terror" by bombing, by profiling, by searches and seizures, by surveillance, and by the Patriot Act is discussed and encouraged day in and day out and day in and day out on Fox News. Voices such as Gross' are effectively missing. Apparently the definition of "fair and balanced" on Fox is to invite guests with opposing points of view to appear on screen, period. Having the body there is all that seems to matter because when a guest is interrupted 16 times (conservatives aren't treated like that), the Fox anchor talks more than the guest (mouthing administration propaganda) and the alternative point is effectively silenced.
Cavuto has used three different tactics this week to discredit "liberal" guests. Here and here are the other two.
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/07/27/cavuto_disses_a_liberal_guest_for_the_third_time_this_week.php
Today (July 25, 2005), at the end of Your World w/Neil Cavuto, Cavuto read six emails about Kalb's Saturday appearance. Here they are:
Please give Marvin a happy pill. What a sour, dull person! If I wanted to hear a liberal monotone, I would listen to NPR.
In Marvin Kalb you were able to find a gust who knows less about economics and business than Bob Beckel.
It is good that you're fair and balanced, but that doesn't mean you should be fair and stupid.
Having a well respected, very intelligent, articulate liberal like Marvin Kalb adds to the depth of your show and demonstrates the fair and balanced advertising slogan.
We enjoyed Marvin Kalb's inaugural appearance on Cavuto on Business. However, did you pick out his shirt and tie?
Your constant interruption of your guests makes you the rudest, most arrogant person to your guests on the entire network. Your inclusion of Marvin Kalb about made me throw my shoe at my TV. If I was CEO of Fox News, you would be fired in a New York minute.
Comment: As I've said before, Fox is a well oiled machine. No "liberal" voice goes unanswered. Fox doesn't want its viewers to ponder anything a "liberal" says so it discredits "liberals" either during interviews, or afterward. Still, viewers like those above, continue to think that featuring the occasional, albeit discredited "liberal," means Fox News is "fair and balanced."
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/07/25/marvin_kalb_read_this.php
Cavuto moved on again: "Senator, let me ask, delving you, if you don't mind into politics a little bit. Ah, I remember when you, in the earlier Iowa caucus, ah, decided to back Senator Kerry. Howard Dean of course was pretty, or, backing Howard Dean and Senator Kerry was upset. What is the relationship with you and Senator Kerry now? I know a lot of water has crossed under that bridge."
Harkin said his relationship with Kerry, "is excellent. Always has been. Always will be. I have a great deal of friendship and respect for Senator Kerry. I gave him a full heads up when I ah, at that time endorsed Howard Dean. He knew about it. We maintained contact through the whole process."
Comment: Fox News portrays Howard Dean as a full-fledged lunatic. John Kerry is still a flip flopping, French girlie man. As soon as Cavuto reminded his viewers that Tom Harkin endorsed Howard Dean, and as soon as Harkin said he has a "great deal of friendship and respect" for Kerry, his credibility went out the window. He became one of them. Cavuto managed to link Harkin to two of Fox's most hated Democrats, and anything Harkin said before, or after, was forgotten.
Democrats, liberals and progressives may appear on Fox, but Fox discredits them one way or another. Until Democrats educate themselves about how to appear on Fox News, this will continue to happen.
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/07/26/fox_trashes_another_clueless_democrat_fox_technique_963.php
Abortions soar as careers come first
By Alexandra Frean
Rising rate among under-14s disappoints health officials
THE abortion rate hit a record high last year, according to government figures published yesterday that also show a sharp rise in terminations to girls aged under 14.
In 2004 the abortion rate rose by 2.1 per cent to 17.8 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, the highest recorded, according to the Department of Health. This resulted in 185,415 women resident in England and Wales having an abortion, compared with 181,600 in 2003.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1710854,00.html
Shell fined £900,000 over platform deaths
By Chris Hardy
SHELL UK has been fined £900,000 following a “substantial catalogue of failures” which led to the death of two workers on a gas and oil production platform, north east of Lerwick.
Invergowrie man Keith Moncrieff (45) and 22-year-old Sean McCue, from Levenmouth, were overcome by a massive gas escape when they were sent down into the utility leg of the Brent Bravo platform to check a temporary patch on a leaking pipe.
The failure to replace the temporary repair allied to a series of circumstances nobody at Shell had foreseen would be connected, were at the heart of yesterday’s case at Stonehaven Sheriff Court when the company accepted that it had failed to ensure the safety of the two men.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2005/04/28/newsstory7068463t0.asp
19 July 2005 - Brent Bravo Decision Not to Hold Fatal Inquiry Overturned
The decision, by the Crown Counsel, not to hold a fatal inquiry into the deaths of two oil rig workers at the Shell Brent Bravo platform, namely Mr. Keith Moncrieff and Mr. Sean McCue, has been overturned by Scotland's Lord Advocate Mr. Colin Boyd and welcomed by both families of the deceased.
On September 11 2003, Mr McCue and Mr Moncrieff had been carrying out their duties within a utility leg of the platform, checking a temporary repair patch on a safety-critical pipeline within, when gas escaped and overcame the two men.
Shell admitted a series of health and safety breaches and was found to be in breach of health and safety regulations. A fine of £900,000 was imposed upon the company.
A statement from the Crown Office said:
"Crown counsel's original decision took into account the significant inquiry that had already been made in the course of investigations leading to the successful prosecution of the employer at Stonehaven Sheriff Court in March 2005.
"While fully understanding that approach, the Lord Advocate has concluded, on a personal consideration of the case, that it is in the wider public interest for a fatal accident inquiry to be held."
Article by Alexandra Johnston
http://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/NA/July_2005_News_Archive/190705Brent_Bravo_Decision_Not_to_Hold_Fatal_Inquiry_Overturned.htm
WPS Media Monitoring Agency
www.wps.ru
May 29, 2002
POLITICAL FORECASTS [press review]
The results of the summit and the fate of Russian democracy:
George Bush's preferences and expectations
According to a poll done by the National Public Opinion Research Center, on the eve of the presidential summit in Moscow most respondents (39%) expected the summits would have no substantial results at all. Slightly fewer respondents, 36%, hoped that the summit would be useful for Russia. Eight percent of respondents were convinced of this. And 17% of respondents were unsure. According to the [Vek] weekly, which published the results of the poll, the opinions of analysts showed very similar divisions.
Before the summit, [Profil] magazine decided to find out what regional leaders thought about Russia-US relations. The topic turned out to be very sensitive. Answering the question, "What would you talk to President George Bush about?" President of the Bashkortostan Republic Murtaza Rakhimov said, "At such a meeting I think I would say: Mr. President, do not try to rule the whole world and stop considering the whole planet as a zone of US interests. That will lead to no good, neither for the US nor for humanity as a whole." Chelyabinsk Governor Petr Sumin responded, "How should this be understood? Since September 11, Russia has supported the United Stated in fighting international terrorism, both morally and politically. You should appreciate it. However, as soon as we have a problem and the US might support us, it turns out that Russia 'does not have a market economy' and should be 'running errands' for the US." Governor of the Ulyanovsk region Vladimir Shamanov said, "Half-measures are not enough to stop terrorism.... It is a great mistake to underestimate the role and position of Russia in these terms. Moreover, it is becoming dangerous for both the US and its European allies.... Russia is full with Gorbachev's and Yeltsin's friendship with American and European leaders. That only deteriorated the situation. We live in a world of mutual compromises but not of unlimited concessions."
http://www.cdi.org/russia/208-12.cfm
Saudi Nuclear Intentions and the IAEA Small Quantities Protocol
Saudi Arabia’s recent signing of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Small Quantities Protocol on June 16, 2005, raises larger issues of possible nuclear ambitions on the Arabian Peninsula. With the cooling off of relations between Riyadh and Washington, and the resultant retreat of U.S. security assurances to the region, it would seem a logical conclusion for the Saudi government to begin to look for other means of self-preservation, especially when faced with two regional nuclear powers: Israel with a rumored 200-plus weapons, and Iran with a nascent program purportedly in development.
The controversy centers on Saudi Arabia’s request to the IAEA to sign the Small Quantities protocol in May, after an internal IAEA document came to light calling for a change in the status of the Protocol over concerns it may pose a proliferation risk. The Protocol allows states considered to be of low risk to opt out of more intensive inspection regimes in return for a declaration of their nuclear activities. In addition, the Protocol allows for the possession of up to 10 tons of natural uranium or 20 tons of depleted uranium, and 2.2 pounds of plutonium without reporting. While it does not appear that Saudi Arabia aspires to develop a domestic weapons grade uranium or plutonium-processing ability, 10 tons of natural uranium is still enough by most standards to produce between one and four nuclear devices (depending on their design). In theory, the Protocol is supposed to allow the IAEA to focus its efforts on other nations viewed as being of higher proliferation risk. Despite strong concerns of IAEA board members, the European Union, the United States and Australia that the Protocol may provide a loophole for would-be proliferators, the IAEA approved Saudi Arabia’s request to join the 75 other nations that are already Protocol signatories. Consequently, Saudi Arabia is exempt from normal UN inspections, effectively ceasing nuclear monitoring there, in exchange for a declaration tantamount to a self-policing agreement.
http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=3050&from_page=../index.cfm
Ledger Enquirer
Man killed weeks after wedding
Couple met when stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.
BY MELANIE BENNETT
Staff Writer
Just a few weeks after her wedding, Sgt. Nova Reeves is making plans to bury her husband.
She's also trying to figure out why two friends -- one who lived just down the street -- would want to shoot Haywood Anthony Royal in the head, then burn his car and body in the back of a school playground, as police have charged.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/12240301.htm
Officials say fire was intentional
Caused $100,000 in damage; no one was injured
BY JOEL GROSTEPHAN
Staff Writer
Arson is to blame in a fire that caused $100,000 in damage to three Baker Plaza Drive apartments early Wednesday, Columbus fire officials said.
"I was asleep. The guy in 102-B, Terry, woke me up," said Bernice Hall, whose apartment at E.J. Knight Gardens, 3811 Baker Plaza Drive, was not damaged. Her apartment is attached to the three that were damaged.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/12239956.htm
Wachovia announces commitment to black community partnerships
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Wachovia Corp., which last month apologized for slave ownership by two predecessor banks, said Thursday it will contribute more than $10 million over five years to community partnerships aimed at benefiting black Americans.
The Charlotte-based bank said its partnerships will focus on preserving and promoting black history and culture and improving economic and educational opportunities for blacks.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/12247984.htm
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Army Mechanic Acquitted of Desertion
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press Writer
FORT STEWART, Ga. — An Army mechanic who refused to go to Iraq while he sought conscientious objector status was acquitted of desertion Thursday but found guilty of a lesser charge and sentenced to 15 months behind bars.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, also was given a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to private on the charge of missing movement. If he had been found guilty of desertion, he could have faced five years in prison.
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/US_Presidential_Cabinet/Objecting_Soldier.html
Tests Show Hair Not From Ala. Missing Teen
ORANJESTAD, Aruba — Strands of hair found in Aruba did not come from missing U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said Thursday.
The hair, which was found attached to duct tape on July 17, was subjected to genetic testing at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, and the results showed they did not come from the 18-year-old who has been missing for two months, said spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/Latin_America_And_Caribbean/Aruba_Missing_Teen.html
EPA delays report showing drop in fuel efficiency
NEW YORK TIMES
Published on: 07/28/05
DETROIT — With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the Environmental Protection Agency made an 11th-hour decision on Tuesday to delay the planned release of an annual report on fuel economy.
But a copy of the report, embargoed for publication Wednesday, was sent to The New York Times by a member of the EPA communications staff just minutes before the decision was made to delay it. The contents of the report show that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980s.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/0705/28fuel.html
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