We don’t belong in Iraq.
We never did.
Bring the troops home.
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Senate Defies Bush
Votes 90-9 to restore integrity
Senate Supports Interrogation Limits
90-9 Vote on the Treatment of Detainees Is a Bipartisan Rebuff of the White House
By Charles Babington and Shailagh Murray / Washington Post
The Senate defied the White House yesterday and voted to set new limits on interrogating detainees in Iraq and elsewhere, underscoring Congress's growing concerns about reports of abuse of suspected terrorists and others in military custody.
Forty-six Republicans joined 43 Democrats and one independent in voting to define and limit interrogation techniques that U.S. troops may use against terrorism suspects, the latest sign that alarm over treatment of prisoners in the Middle East and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is widespread in both parties. The White House had fought to prevent the restrictions, with Vice President Cheney visiting key Republicans in July and a spokesman yesterday repeating President Bush's threat to veto the larger bill that the language is now attached to -- a $440 billion military spending measure.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4424
Air Force Sued Over Religious Intolerance
By Tim Korte / Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A New Mexico man sued the Air Force on Thursday, claiming Air Force Academy senior officers and cadets illegally imposed Christianity on others at the school.
The suit was filed in federal court by Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate and outspoken critic of the school's handling of religion.
Over the past decade or more, the suit claims, academy leaders have fostered an environment of religious intolerance at the Colorado school, in violation of the First Amendment.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4428
Conservatives Confront Bush Aides
Anger Over Nomination of Miers Boils Over During Private Meetings
By Peter Baker and Dan Balz / Washington Post
The conservative uprising against President Bush escalated yesterday as Republican activists angry over his nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court confronted the president's envoys during a pair of tense closed-door meetings.
A day after Bush publicly beseeched skeptical supporters to trust his judgment on Miers, a succession of prominent conservative leaders told his representatives that they did not. Over the course of several hours of sometimes testy exchanges, the dissenters complained that Miers was an unknown quantity with a thin résumé and that her selection -- Bush called her "the best person I could find" -- was a betrayal of years of struggle to move the court to the right.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4426
Indictments in Plame Case Could Come Any Time
By E&P Staff / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK -- Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? Whatever way you look at it, it seems clear to many in Washington right now that indictments in the Valerie Plame affair will likely be announced soon, possibly on Thursday.
Note to editors and reporters: As the aspens turn, don't stray too far from your desks, cells or Blackberries.
Rumors surged all day Wednesday, though reports of 22 indictments did seem a bit farfetched. But late Wednesday, Reuters suggested that indeed the end--or beginning--was near, "within days," and added one major clue: Karl Rove's lawyer, who has always stated that his client was not a target in the probe, now refused to comment on that one way or the other.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4425
Dems Fight Efforts to Cut Food Stamps
By Libby Quaid / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Democrats are fighting attempts to make cuts in food stamps and conservation programs at a time when people are coping with hurricanes and drought.
"Right now the difference between life and death for many Americans is the food stamp program," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. "We should not, we cannot, cut the very nutritional programs that are literally saving lives."
A Republican plan to cut agriculture spending by $3 billion had been scheduled for a vote Thursday in the Senate Agriculture Committee, but the panel's chairman, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., put off the vote indefinitely late Wednesday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4427
Photo Tour of the Gulf Coast
From Jason
I have been touring the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the past few days and I simply cannot believe what I have seen.
The entire coast of Mississippi is flattened. I know that everyone has heard this on the news but until you see it for yourself it doesn't really make sense. Hopefully the pictures I took will give you some idea but let me tell you the no picture does this justice.
It looks like the apocalypse. It looks like a bomb went off and it covered 200 miles of land. It looks like this is a region that will be affected by this disaster not just for a year or two or three but possibly forever. One thing that it doesn't look like is America.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/covington.php?id=45
War-Hawk Republicans and Anti-War Democrats: What's the Difference?
A message from Cindy Sheehan
The past week in DC found me in many offices of our elected officials: Senators, Congresspersons, pro-war, "anti-war," Democrat, Republican. With a few notable exceptions, all our employees toed party lines.
Thanks to those who met with me, because, except for Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-Ca), I was not their constituent. And I believe the Republicans who met with me, whether they knew it or not, were breaking with their leader on this, since he was too cowardly to meet with me.
The War Hawks I met with made my skin crawl. They so obviously are supporting a war that is not in our nation's best interest, nor is it making us more secure. I heard from Sens. Dole (R-NC) and McCain (R-AZ), and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) about 9/11 and "fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over there." That made me sick. George Bush and his lying band of imperialist greed mongers exploited 9/11 and our national terror of other terrorist attacks to invade a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on our country. Now, in the aftermath of those lies, tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians are dead and almost 2000 of our brave young men and women. What makes the Iraqi babies and families less precious than ours? The crime that these people committed was being born at the wrong place at the wrong time. George took his war OF terror to their doorsteps. I even asked Sen. Dole when she thought the occupation would be able to end and she was incredulous that I would even think of Iraq as an occupation, she sees it as a liberation. I really wanted to know how many of them do we have to kill before she considered that they were liberated.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=512
I Always Loved Horses as a Kid
P-FORTY-SEVEN NAMED HORSE OF THE MONTH
Posted by Harnesslink Admin 09:01 AM 04-Oct-2005 NZST
Mark Maynard, Kelly O’Donnell and Ed Mullinax’s P-Forty-Seven, whose tremendous performance in the $569,032 Little Brown Jug will be long remembered, has been named September’s Horse of the Month by the United States Trotting Association.
The three-year-old pacing colt by The Panderosa, out of the Artsplace mare Cohiba Mary, won all four of his starts during the month of September.
For the season, P-Forty-Seven has eight wins in 16 trips to the post, with earnings of $547,330. Trained by co-owner Kelly O’Donnell, he was driven in each of his September triumphs by Dave Palone.
P-Forty-Seven opened up his month on September 3 in the $100,000 Pennsylvania Sires Stakes Final at Pocono Downs.
http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=29843
Millstone officials plan for better horse trail network
Public hearing on proposed ordinance scheduled for Oct. 19
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
Millstone
MILLSTONE — Those with plans to subdivide property in town may soon have to dedicate some of that land to horse rider use.
The Township Committee voted unanimously during its Sept. 21 meeting to introduce an ordinance that promotes further development of the bridle/horse trail network that runs throughout Millstone.
“The proposed ordinance provides for trails that exist to be preserved when development comes in, and for trails that have gaps to be completed if development occurs,” Mayor Elias Abilheira said.
http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/1006/Front_Page/009.html
HORSE STABBED IN SICK ATTACK
Published in News & Star on Thursday, October 6th 2005
A racehorse has been stabbed in a sickening attack at a stable just outside Carlisle.
Three-year-old Declan was found in agony by owner Ian McMath at his premises at Thornedge, Cumwhinton late this morning.
The horse, which is worth around £10,000, had been stabbed in the shoulder with either a screwdriver, a knife or a pair of scissors.
The wound was so deep that the vet called to the scene was able to push his little finger right into the gash.
If the stab wound has damaged muscles or tendons, Declan’s career could hang in the balance.
http://www.cumbria-online.co.uk/viewarticle.asp?id=288901
Horses In Training Sale concludes
6 Oct 2005
Magic Millions
A number of new records were established during Wednesday's second and final session of the Magic Millions Horses in Training Sale on the Gold Coast.
A record sale aggregate and equal record all time price were both achieved as the second session wound up late Wednesday.
All up some 220 horses were sold at the auction at the improving clearance rate of over 67 per cent and average price of over $30,000. All up over $6.6 million was traded on the horses - most of which were untried two-year-olds. Last year the sale grossed just over $4.7 million.
http://www.thoroughbrednews.co.nz/australia/Default.asp?id=20384&page_no=0&trainer_id=0&stud_id=0
Pair of horses shot in southern Oregon, owners blame hunters
WINSTON, Ore. - Douglas County Sheriff's deputies are investigating the weekend shooting of a pair of horses in Winston.
The owners of the animals are blaming hunters.
The sheriff's office says a painted pony was shot twice in the side and has died. The second horse, a painted mare named Laddie, was shot one time in its rear flank.
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=80167
Stable Fire Kills Dozens Of Horses
ATF Investigating Cause Of Fire
POSTED: 10:35 am CDT October 5, 2005
UPDATED: 6:11 am CDT October 6, 2005
KANE COUNTY, Ill. -- More than 30 horses were killed in a stable fire in an unincorporated area of Kane County near Elburn Tuesday night.
The fire stated at about 5:30 p.m. at a stable at 1 N. Francis Rd., according to Thomas Ahern, special agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the ruins were still smoldering Wednesday morning.
According to preliminary reports, 32 recreational horses were killed in the fire.
Fire investigators for the ATF were on the scene about an hour after the fire started and additional ATF resources were to be allocated Wednesday in order to help local investigators determine what caused the fire, Ahern said.
http://www.nbc5.com/news/5060303/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65192
Horses get some brain-power
05/10/2005 21:35 - (SA)
Sydney - An Australian state government on Wednesday said it would investigate allegations that a forensic laboratory worker stole parts from human brains so they could be injected into racehorses to make them run faster.
The worker at a pathology lab in the northern city of Brisbane reportedly stole pituitary glands, found at the base of the brain, because the hormones they contain govern growth stimulation and could stimulate horses.
The claims, made by the worker's colleagues, appeared in a report in the Courier-Mail daily newspaper.
But Queensland state health minister Stephen Robertson said health department officials were "totally unaware of the allegations".
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1811595,00.html
Debate grows on horse-meat trade
BY MARY JACOBY
The Wall Street Journal
TOURCOING, France - Christian Dhalluin, a butcher in this rural French hamlet near the Belgian border, dropped some ground meat into a bowl and mixed it with a spicy mayonnaise sauce to make his specialty: American horse meat tartare.
''I love America,'' said Dhalluin. ``The horse meat from the U.S. is the best in the world.''
Some Americans would be distressed to hear that. A vocal anti-slaughter movement argues that horses have a special place in American culture and history and should not be killed for food. Activists have spurred an energetic but uphill effort in Congress to shut down the last three horse slaughterhouses in the United States. All are Belgian-owned and supply butchers around the world.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12788200.htm
Horse racing: Lost in the Fog isn't, wins 10th race in row
By Debbie Arrington -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, October 2, 2005
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C7
SAN MATEO - Rolling off the Bay, Lost in the Fog made it 10 wins in a row as the unbeaten sprinter validated his ticket to the Breeders' Cup with an impressive 7 3/4-length victory in Saturday's $100,000 Bay Meadows Speed Handicap.
Next stop: New York's Belmont Park and the World Thoroughbred Championships on Oct. 29.
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As expected, Lost in the Fog with Russell Baze aboard broke on top and led every step of the six-furlong stakes, coasting home in 1:08.05. Halo Cat finished second with Jeffries Bay third.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13657351p-14500151c.html
Horse racing on table
By KIM SKORNOGOSKI
Tribune Staff Writer
TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO BY MONICA FOUTS
County commissioners are expected to decide next week whether to continue offering horse racing at the ExpoPark facility in Great Falls for the 2006 season.
Related news from the Web
Cascade County commissioners are expected to decide next week to support one more season of horse racing at the fairgrounds.
But horse-racing supporters say 2006 may be the last year for the sport in Montana if the state Board of Horse Racing decides to end the five annual regional meets, and establish a 30-day "super meet" in 2007, presumably in Billings.
"Thirty days isn't the answer," said Ray "Topper" Tracy, editor of The Racing Journal based in Stevensville. "You're going to kill off racing. You need a circuit. You need places like county fairs that draws people there to see racing. If you don't have a circuit it's going to die."
Horse racing lost $69,000 during its 10-day run this year in Great Falls, according to figures released last week by Bill Ogg, Montana ExpoPark manager.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051004/NEWS01/510040301/1002
New York tourist arrested for punching police horses
Tampa, Florida – Thanks to a new Florida law that took effect this weekend, a New York tourist is facing jail time after he reportedly punched two horses from Tampa Police's mounted patrol.
Officials say Sean Curlin smacked the animals on their hind quarters early Sunday morning in Ybor City.
Under the new law, Curlin is more likely to pay a stiffer fine and serve jail time if he's convicted of harming a police animal.
From the Tampa Police Arrest report:
On the listed date and time, I was riding my police horse Mr. Bill westbound in the 1600 block of 7th ave.
We were following Mounted Officer Kochom on police horse Red.
We were responding to back up foot officers involved in a fight.
As Red rode past the defendant he reached out and smacked Red on the left hindquarters causing Red to flinch.
As I passed the defendant, he reached out and smacked Mr. Bill on the left hindquarters.
I turned Mr. Bill around and took the defendant into custody.
He was handcuffed by Officer Sigler.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=19559
'Madonna uses horses as fashion accessories'
Sunday September 4 2005 13:46 IST
ANI
LONDON: Social critic and author Camille Paglia has said that Madonna got injured while riding a horse last month because she uses horses as fashion accessories.
Paglia said that she had predicted the accident after seeing the pop singer's Vogue magazine covershoot, in which she was posing on a horse holding its reins awkwardly and incorrectly.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE420050904032435&Page=4&Title=Features+-+People+%26+Lifestyle&Topic=0
Man pleads guilty to abusing horses
By Corey G. Johnson The Daily Reflector
Saturday, September 03, 2005
A Tarboro man pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty in connection with the May seizure of five Clydesdale horses he owned and boarded in Pitt County.
As part of his agreement, Thomas Leonard Zelaney, 56, of 1100 Albemarle Ave. agreed to surrender the horses to the U.S. Equine Rescue League and to undergo horse care classes.
He was also was told not to own any horses for a period of five years.
http://www.reflector.com/local/content/news/stories/2005/09/03/20050903GDRhorses.html
Record catalogue for Gold Coast Horses In Training Sale
5 Sep 2005
Magic Millions
Magic Millions has announced that they have been forced to expand the October Gold Coast Horses in Training Sale to three days such was the demand by vendors.
A record 417 horses - the majority two-year-olds - make up the catalogue.
Inspections will kick off for the sale on October 2 prior to the first session of breeze ups on the following day from 1pm.
The second session of breeze ups will be staged from 11am on the Gold Coast Racecourse prior to the first offerings of the sale at the Magic Millions Sales Complex at 5pm that day (Tuesday, October 4).
http://www.thoroughbrednews.co.nz/australia/Default.asp?id=19823&page_no=0&trainer_id=0&stud_id=0
Birdsville races drawing stronger field, mayor says
The mayor of Birdsville in Queensland's south-west says the town's annual races are getting stronger every year.
Organisers say about 4,500 people braved a weekend dust storm to attend the Birdsville Races.
The Jeff Dixon-trained racehorse Monee Lane finished ahead of the field to win the Birdsville Cup and $25,000 prize money.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1452998.htm
Butterfield: Horses
(United States- West Palm Beach) Deborah Butterfield: Horses, features twelve evocative sculptures of horses in bronze, steel, and mixed media by the internationally acclaimed Montana sculptor. On view at the Norton Museum of Art from September 17 through December 11, 2005, most of the pieces are from Deborah Butterfield’s personal collection and have rarely been seen by the public.
An enormously popular and significant American sculptor, Deborah Butterfield first gained wide notice at the 1979 Whitney Biennial. Horses have been the single, sustained focus of Butterfield’s work for over 30 years. Her early work, fragile creations of mud, sticks, straw, and found metal, evoke horses either standing or resting on the ground. Since the mid-1980s she has been creating medium and full-size horses from driftwood branches, casting the finished sculpture in bronze. The intricate casting process involving twenty people takes two to three months for a large horse. A true lover of horses, Butterfield is an accomplished dressage rider. She owns twelve horses and rides daily when at home in Montana.
http://www.nonstarvingartists.com/News/ImagedNewsItem.2005-09-04.0118.html
More to horses than racing
BY KAREN CHAPMAN
IF YOU'VE always loved horses and wanted to work with them but have no idea how to go about it then the National Horse Show could be the place for you.
As Selangor Turf Club general manager Kaka Singh Dhaliwal says, people tend to associate horses with racing only.
Participants in the combined driving competition.
“We want people to know that when we talk about horses, it isn’t just about racing as the equine industry provides many jobs such as farriers, jockeys, coaches, trainers, equine dentists and veterinarians (see centrespread).
“These professionals will be there at the horse show and anyone interested in venturing into these fields will be able to approach and speak to them,” he says.
http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2005/9/4/education/11928096
Animal groups trying to halt roundup of horses on forest land
Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 3, 2005 12:00 AM
A trio of animal-conservation groups is trying to stop the roundup of several hundred horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, claiming forest officials risk sending wild horses to slaughter.
The groups on Friday asked Forest Supervisor Elaine Zieroth to consider capturing only branded horses and letting the unbranded horses continue to run in the eastern Arizona forests.
At issue is how many of the horses are wild, which would entitle them to protection under federal law.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0903horses03.html
Once Home To Horses
A West Hartford Family's Summer Paradise In The Green Mountain State
September 2, 2005
Story By ANNE FARROW, Photos By TOM BROWN The Hartford Courant
Dried mud is coming loose from 9-year-old Rose's water shoes in large clumps, but Maura Walsh-O'Brien doesn't seem to notice her daughter's tracks, or if she does notice, she doesn't mind.
The boot tray in the front hall of her family's summer home in Weston, Vt., is filled with sandals and footgear all bearing evidence of days of hiking, inner tubing in the West River and playing outdoors.
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Besides, the O'Briens' saltbox is a former horse barn perhaps a century old, and its connection to rural outdoor life is long. There is no way you'd know that this house in Vermont's Green Mountains was once home to horses, so thorough has its transformation been to a cozy, four-bedroom, year-round dwelling. Maura and her husband, A.J., Rose and 12-year-old Andrew live in West Hartford for most of the year, but since buying this house last December, they've made the 2¼-hour trip north as often as they can.
http://www.courant.com/features/home/hc-homevacvt0902.artsep02,0,1989345.story?track=mostemailedlink
The City of New Orleans
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=1
The New York Times
The current state of rock of Earth only indicates the state of disruptions over millions of years. There are places in this country where rock of known origin far away shows up. It is because the origin rock 'oozed' for long distances while it was still molten. We think of rock as solid. It was not always so. Where rock 'should be cracked' for the stress it was under causing folding. That would not be so if they were hot enough to mold rather than fold. This is a sad attempt to find meaning outside that of sound science but all kinds of cults are allowed to exist in the USA. The belief of science as it exists today does not preclude anyone from a belief in God either. That is if we are to discover our world with clear and open minds and not closed to accepted scientific methods and theory that have proved themselves the truth for centuries. The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians were among the earnest of scientists. They never gave up their gods either.
Seeing Creation and Evolution in Grand Canyon
By JODI WILGOREN
Published: October 6, 2005
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. - Tom Vail, who has been leading rafting trips down the Colorado River here for 23 years, corralled his charges under a rocky outcrop at Carbon Creek and pointed out the remarkable 90-degree folds in the cliff overhead.
Tom Vail, the Canyon Ministries group leader, pointed to a layer of rock during a tour in the Grand Canyon.
Geologists date this sandstone to 550 million years ago and explain the folding as a result of pressure from shifting faults underneath. But to Mr. Vail, the folds suggest the Grand Canyon was carved 4,500 years ago by the great global flood described in Genesis as God's punishment for humanity's sin.
"You see any cracks in that?" he asked. "Instead of bending like that, it should have cracked." The material "had to be soft" to bend, Mr. Vail said, imagining its formation in the flood. When somebody suggested that pressure over time could create plasticity in the rocks, Mr. Vail said, "That's just a theory."
"It's all theory, right?" asked Jack Aiken, 63, an Assemblies of God minister in Alaska who has a master's degree in geology. "Except what's in the Good Book."
For Mr. Vail and 29 guests on his Canyon Ministries trip, this was vacation as religious pilgrimage, an expedition in search of evidence that God created the earth in six days 6,000 years ago, just as Scripture says.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/science/sciencespecial2/06canyon.html?hp
Go, Mayor Nagin. This is the chance New Orleans needs to have their local contractors take over refurbishment of the city they are most familiar with. I encourage the City of New Orleans to assist any of their business firms in completing a successful bid process to secure the contracts that will benefit the city's treasury and work force first.
Storm Contracts to Be Rebid, FEMA Chief Says
By DAVID STOUT
Published: October 6, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 - The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said today that millions of dollars worth of federal hurricane-relief contracts that were awarded with little or no competition will be rebid to minimize waste and abuse.
Acting FEMA director R. David Paulison testified at a hearing today on Capitol Hill.
"I've never been a fan of no-bid contracts," R. David Paulison, FEMA's acting director, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, one of a half-dozen Senate and House panels holding hearings today on hurricane-recovery issues.
An underlying theme that emerged from the sessions was a sense of alarm over the overall cost of the recovery, acknowledged to be in the many billions of dollars, and how much of that the federal government must pay.
"We can't dilly-dally on Capitol Hill as people in the region face real-world decisions on whether to relocate or not," Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said at another session, that of the Senate Finance Committee, which he heads. "American taxpayers are compassionate, but rightly expect their hard-earned tax dollars to be spent wisely."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/politics/06cnd-costs.html?hp
Sure they can no longer co-mingle funds designated for the families memorial. I bet they are upset. Too bad.
Lower Manhattan Board Members Rebuke Pataki
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: October 6, 2005
In an extraordinary rebuke to Gov. George E. Pataki, members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Board took turns today deploring the governor's unilateral decision last week to evict the International Freedom Center from the memorial area of ground zero while the matter was still pending before the board.
Led by the chairman, John C. Whitehead, board members also said the sudden truncation of a long planning process could jeopardize their future effectiveness in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center.
"In all candor," Mr. Whitehead said as he opened the monthly meeting, "I must report that most of our board, including its chairman, were quite distressed that a process which we had established two years ago with full public approval was not allowed to work its way through to conclusion."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/nyregion/06cnd-rebuild.html?hp&ex=1128657600&en=cafa8301c8e6c4a4&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Eminent Domain Revisited: A Minnesota Case
Bordner Aerials
Richfield, Minn., in 2003 after the $160 million Best Buy headquarters was completed.
By TERRY PRISTIN
Published: October 5, 2005
RICHFIELD, Minn. - Few recent Supreme Court opinions have aroused as much public outrage as Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., the June ruling that reaffirmed the use of eminent domain to promote economic developments
The same area in 1999, before the construction of the Best Buy headquarters.
Critics on both the left and the right politically have said that the Kelo decision potentially endangers every home and business. Bills to limit condemnation powers have been introduced in 31 states, according to the Institute for Justice, a property rights group.
Had such a statute been in place in 2000 in Minnesota, however, a single auto dealer might have been able to block Best Buy, the fast-growing national electronics retailer, from building a $160 million corporate headquarters in Richfield, a suburb of 34,000 people that borders Minneapolis. The 1.6-million-square-foot campus, made up of four buildings shaped like ships, was completed in 2003 and currently houses 4,500 employees. City officials say it has given a big boost to an aging community that had been steadily losing population since the 1970's.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/realestate/05domain.html
Attacks Kill at Least 15 in Iraq as Violent Surge Continues
By ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: October 6, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 6 - A man wearing an explosive belt got onto a bus near Iraq's police academy in Baghdad today and blew himself up, killing 10 passengers and wounding 11, witnesses and Iraqi officials said.
The blast shattered the red minibus, killing almost everyone on board and sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky near the academy building and the national Oil Ministry. The victims included police recruits, but also a woman and some children, said Capt. Muhammad Ali, a police officer who arrived at the scene shortly afterward.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/international/middleeast/06cnd_Iraq.html
As Illegal Workers Hit Suburbs, Politicians Scramble to Respond
By PAUL VITELLO
Published: October 6, 2005
Suburban politicians once had to master a small but demanding catalog of local issues. Taxes, garbage, crime and schools were always the big ones. But recently a volatile new issue has been showing up on the local meet-the-candidate circuit, and it is pretty much the opposite of the familiar and the local. It is illegal immigration.
Though municipal officials have no statutory control over immigration, a rising population of illegal immigrants in suburban communities - from Farmingville, N.Y., to Danbury, Conn.; Herndon, Va., to suburban South Salt Lake City, Utah - has prompted some of those officials to attack the problem with the limited means at their disposal. In the process, they have won and lost political support; grappled with issues beyond their usual bailiwicks; and, whether intentionally or not, begun incorporating immigration into the calculus of local politics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/nyregion/06immigrate.html
Boat That Sank May Have Been Overloaded, Test Suggests
By AL BAKER and SEWELL CHAN
Published: October 6, 2005
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y., Oct. 5 - A test conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday suggested that the Ethan Allen, the tour boat that fatally capsized on Sunday, could not safely carry anywhere near the 48 passengers for which it had been certified by New York State.
The results of the test, which were conducted on a nearly identical companion vessel, were the strongest evidence so far that the 38-foot Ethan Allen may have been overloaded when it overturned, plunging 47 elderly passengers into Lake George. Twenty of those passengers, tourists from Michigan and Ohio ranging in age from 68 to 89, drowned in one of the worst boating accidents in the state's recent history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/nyregion/06devels.html
Pall of Racism Remains Over Neighborhood Repaired After Arson
By GARY GATELY
Published: October 6, 2005
INDIAN HEAD, Md. - Even now, more than nine months later, 3-year-old Autumn Potts will not sleep in her bedroom. She is afraid somebody will come during the night and burn down her house.
Autumn Potts, 3, with her mother, Terri Rookard, and her brother, Antoine Rookard, 15, in their home in the Hunters Brooke subdivision.
On Dec. 6, flames lighted up the night sky, and smoldering chunks of wood flew through the air as Autumn and her family sped in cars up Cabinwood Court in Hunters Brooke, an expensive new subdivision 25 miles south of Washington in Charles County, Md. That night, 10 houses were destroyed and 16 others were heavily damaged at a cost of $10 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/national/06arson.html
Justices Explore U.S. Authority Over States on Assisted Suicide
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: October 6, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 - The question of assisted suicide reached the Supreme Court for the second time in eight years on Wednesday, although the profound issues of professional ethics and personal autonomy that have animated the national debate largely remained outside the courtroom.
Instead, lawyers for the federal government and for Oregon, the only state to have authorized physician-assisted suicide, argued over a single question: whether John Ashcroft acted within his authority as attorney general when he decided in 2001 that doctors would lose their federal prescription privileges if they followed the Oregon law's procedures and prescribed lethal doses of lawful medications for terminally ill patients who wanted to end their own lives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/politics/politicsspecial1/06scotus.html
The New Zealand Herald
Speedway back after noise deal reached
06.10.05 6.30pm
Speedway racing will be back at Auckland's Western Springs this summer after the promoter and residents reached agreement over noise limits.
The season had been in danger of being axed after a residents' group won an Environment Court order for Spring Promotions Ltd to comply with a maximum noise level of 85 decibels.
Spring Promotions appealed to the High Court, arguing that speedway, which dates back 75 years at the venue, had never been able to race at below that limit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10348976
Even a box beats sharing bed with baby
07.10.05
By Martin Johnston
Parents should put babies to sleep in a supermarket banana box rather than risk smothering them by taking them into their bed, says Auckland coroner Murray Jamieson.
He spoke out yesterday against the practice of sharing beds with a baby, saying it is linked to a high number of deaths.
Dr Jamieson said that of the 29 Auckland infant deaths reported to the coroner this year, eight - more than a quarter - had been in "co-sleeping circumstances. I argue that some could be prevented by baby sleeping in their own bed".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349074
Country dentists rare as hen's teeth
07.10.05
By Rebecca Walsh
Another New Zealand town is about to lose its regular dentist as the shortage in rural areas gets worse.
Taumarunui will soon have only one part-time dentist and residents will have to travel for up to an hour for urgent treatment.
The New Zealand Dental Association says expensive student fees and the large number of non-New Zealand born students enrolled in the dentistry programme are to blame for what has become a growing trend.
Taumarunui dentist Barry Thomson, who has practised in the area since 1974, is due to retire officially today and has been unable to sell his practice. That leaves Garry Van Den Borst, who works every second week in Wellington, to serve a population of about 12,000 people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349065
Murder of outspoken MP sends shock waves round Samoa
07.10.05
By Angela Gregory and Cherelle Jackson
An outspoken member of the main Samoan opposition party has been murdered in Auckland.
Su'a Atonio, 54, an MP from Aleipata village in Upolu, was stabbed in the chest late on Wednesday night at a Manurewa house.
A 47-year-old Pakuranga man accused of his murder appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday and has been remanded in custody to reappear next week. He has interim name suppression.
Police have said the victim and the alleged killer knew each other and have described the murder as domestic-related.
Su'a was on a private visit to New Zealand.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349064
Pesticide threatens beef sales
07.10.05
By Liam Dann
A Northland farmer who treated his cattle with a crop pesticide has put New Zealand's $400 million beef trade with Taiwan and South Korea at risk.
Details of New Zealand beef contaminated with the pesticide endosulfan made the television news headlines in Taiwan on Wednesday, generating the worst kind of publicity for exporters to the food safety sensitive market.
Endosulfan is a chlorine-based pesticide that can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and convulsions if consumed in high volumes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349060
Warnings step up for Bali
07.10.05
The Government has again stepped up its travel warning for Bali, telling tourists more bombings cannot be ruled out.
The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry's official advisory updated this week includes a fresh section on Bali.
"If your presence in Bali is essential extreme caution should be exercised," the warning says.
A triple bombing at the Indonesia resort island killed 22 people and injured more than 100 at the weekend, almost three years since terrorists bombed Kuta beach and killed 202 people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349059
HIV case sparks moral debate
07.10.05
By Helen Tunnah
A landmark court case that found a man who used a condom did not have to tell a sexual partner he was HIV positive has raised questions about moral obligations.
Legal and public health commentators said yesterday that Lower Hutt man Justin Dalley probably should have told a woman he met over the internet that he was HIV-positive before they had sex.
But they agreed with Judge Susan Thomas' decision that he was not legally obliged to.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349037
Hunting lobby wants moose protected
07.10.05
Hunting lobbyists say DNA confirmation of the existence in Fiordland National Park of hairs from a moose means the species should be given special protection.
This is despite there having been no confirmed sighting of one in New Zealand since 1952.
The New Zealand Conservation Authority and the Government would be petitioned to make moose exempt from extermination provisions in the National Parks Act, said Game and Forest Foundation executive director Garry Ottmann.
The act requires that all introduced species shall be exterminated, but the foundation is pinning its hopes on the Conservation Authority, which has the power to make exemptions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349036
Invader threat to oyster farms
07.10.05
New Zealand's mussel and oyster industry is being threatened by the arrival of a Korean pest known as the sea squirt.
The clubbed tunicate styela clava was discovered in Lyttelton harbour by Biosecurity New Zealand.
It was also found recently in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour by a British marine scientist.
The sea squirt can grow up to 16cm long. It is a prolific breeder, spawning every 24 hours.
While Korea is its homeland, it is spread throughout the world, including parts of Australia, Biosecurity NZ said yesterday.
It was most likely to have arrived in New Zealand on the hull of a boat.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349031
Coconut oil revs diesel engines
07.10.05
By Angela Gregory
Two Auckland University engineering students are hoping research showing the effectiveness of running diesel motors on coconut oil can be put to use in their home countries of Samoa and Fiji.
Dominic Schwalger and Penaia Rogoimuri, who are both in the final year of a Bachelor of Engineering in mechanics, have shown that coconut oil can run an engine as efficiently as diesel if properly tuned for the fuel.
The pair, both on scholarships from their home Governments, are also confident that coconut oil is a more environmentally friendly fuel after they analysed performance and exhaust emissions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349029
NZ women to join breast cancer drug experiment
07.10.05
Five New Zealand women with recurring breast cancer are to be injected with an experimental drug, then have breast tissue removed so the effects of the drug on their tumours can be assessed.
Provectus Pharmaceuticals announced yesterday in Knoxville, Tennessee, that it would begin recruiting patients as experimental subjects.
It had obtained clearance for the phase 1 clinical trial of PV-10 - which it plans to market as Provecta - to evaluate the drug's safety and efficacy.
"PV-10 will be injected into one or more tumours in each subject, and the local response to this single injection observed for a period of one to three weeks," it said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349028
NZ women to join breast cancer drug experiment
07.10.05
Five New Zealand women with recurring breast cancer are to be injected with an experimental drug, then have breast tissue removed so the effects of the drug on their tumours can be assessed.
Provectus Pharmaceuticals announced yesterday in Knoxville, Tennessee, that it would begin recruiting patients as experimental subjects.
It had obtained clearance for the phase 1 clinical trial of PV-10 - which it plans to market as Provecta - to evaluate the drug's safety and efficacy.
"PV-10 will be injected into one or more tumours in each subject, and the local response to this single injection observed for a period of one to three weeks," it said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10349028
Car-theft website a hit in Auckland, not elsewhere
07.10.05
An internet website aimed at rewarding members of the public who report car thefts has been successful in Auckland but struggles in the rest of the country.
Spotter.co.nz director Frank de Jong said yesterday he was pleased with the number of stolen cars recovered since the website was launched in May this year.
"We have recovered over 70 vehicles, and the value of those cars in total is approximately $550,000."
Three-quarters of the recovered vehicles were from the Auckland area.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10348991
Indonesian army to join hunt for Bali bombers
07.10.05
By Tomi Soetjipto
KUTA BEACH, Indonesia - Indonesia's military will join a nationwide hunt for those behind the suicide bombings in Bali, a senior officer said, as police confirmed three more Australians were among the dead.
Hundreds of thousands of police have already been mobilised to track down the masterminds of the attacks on three packed restaurants on the resort island. The three young bombers killed themselves and 19 others, and 146 were wounded.
The prime targets in the manhunt are Malaysian Islamic militants, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10349010
Jakarta confirms two suspected bird flu cases
07.10.05
JAKARTA - Indonesian health officials said yesterday that two young men, including one who died a week ago, had proved positive for the bird flu virus in local tests.
I Nyoman Kandun, head of disease control at the health ministry, said specimens had been sent to a Hong Kong laboratory recognised by the World Health Organisation for further testing. Results should be available in the next few days.
Indonesian health officials suspect bird flu in six deaths since July in the world's fourth-most-populous nation, while the Hong Kong laboratory has confirmed four.
"The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) showed positive for both (men)," said Kandun.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10349006
Thai hotels fear room shortage for tsunami memorials
07.10.05
BANGKOK - The Thai government has invited 13,000 people, including Australians, to an all expenses-paid tsunami commemoration, but the country's hoteliers aren't sure they'll have enough rooms available.
A set of memorial services are to be held in tsunami-hit areas, including the resort island of Phuket, on December 26 -- the first anniversary of the disaster.
Those invited from many countries include injured survivors as well as relatives of the dead.
The timing coincides with the peak season for Thai tourism, which has tried hard to rebuild and bounce back since the tsunami.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10349012
'Doris Day' boss dies in loyalist feud
06.10.05
By David McKittrick
BELFAST - One of Belfast's most senior and most flamboyant loyalist paramilitary figures has been shot dead as part of an apparent internal feud.
Jim Gray, until recently the east Belfast brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association, the largest loyalist group in Northern Ireland, was shot twice in the chest by men who burst into his mother's home.
He had answered a knock at the door of the house in Clarawood estate, a loyalist area.
Gray, 47, had been released on bail on September 15 after spending months in prison on charges of money-laundering and possession of the proceeds of crime.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10348864
WHO sees 'global epidemic' of chronic disease
06.10.05
GENEVA - Developing countries can tackle a "global epidemic" of chronic disease by adopting cheap measures that have helped cut heart disease deaths in some rich nations by up to 70 percent, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
In a report published yesterday, the WHO said nearly half of all deaths from heart disease, cancer, respiratory infections, strokes and diabetes -- to which about 35 million people will succumb this year -- were preventable.
The report, "Preventing Chronic Diseases -- a Vital Investment", said developing countries, where most such deaths occur, must copy Western nations by discouraging tobacco use and curbing salt, sugar and saturated fats in food.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10348858
Beware of people in Florida, say anti-gun campaigners
06.10.05
NEW YORK - A prominent anti-gun group in the United States is telling tourists on their way to Florida that they face an increased risk of being shot and killed there if they dare argue with the locals, thoroughly alarming some visitors and infuriating state officials, including Governor Jeb Bush.
The group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has been placing advertisements in newspapers around the United States and distributing leaflets at Miami Airport that carry the headline: "An Important Notice to Florida Visitors". It includes a picture of Florida drawn like a handgun and offers advice on how to stay safe. "Do not argue unnecessarily with local people. If someone appears to be angry with you, maintain to the best of your ability a positive attitude, and do not shout or make threatening gestures."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10348848
Dengue fever spike in Malaysia
06.10.05 5.20am
More than 1000 possible cases of dengue fever were reported last week, the Malaysian Health Ministry said, as it recorded a spike this year in the number of people seeking tests for the disease.
Since the beginning of the year, 74 Malaysians have died from dengue, a mosquito-borne disease.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10348871
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