Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
After Rove's testimony, White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked whether Rove still has the president's confidence. He would say only, "Karl continues to do his duties."
Rove Testifies Again in CIA Leak Probe
By Pete Yost / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Karl Rove testified for the fourth and final time Friday before the grand jury investigating whether his conversations with two reporters led to the leaking of a CIA operative's identity.
The White House aide spent about four and a half hours inside the federal courthouse, and left without commenting to reporters.
His lawyer, Robert Luskin, said Rove was told by prosecutors they likely would not need further testimony or cooperation from him and that they had no yet decided whether Rove should be charged criminally.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4520
Jitters at the White House Over the Leak Inquiry
By Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Karl Rove nosed his Jaguar out of the garage at his home in Northwest Washington in the predawn gloom, starting another day in which he would be dealing with a troubled Supreme Court nomination, posthurricane reconstruction and all the other issues that come across the desk of President Bush's most influential aide.
But Mr. Rove's first challenge on Wednesday morning came before he cleared his driveway: how to get past the five television crews and the three photographers waiting for him. He flashed his blinding high beams into the camera lenses and sped by.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4513
Scandals take toll on Bush’s second term
Troubles distract aides, disrupt president’s agenda
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
A string of scandals involving some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington have converged to disrupt President Bush's agenda, distract aides and allies, and exacerbate political problems for an already weakened administration, according to party strategists and White House advisers.
With Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove returning to a grand jury as early as today, associates said the architect of Bush's presidency has been preoccupied with his legal troubles, a diversion that some say contributed to the troubled handling of Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court. White House officials are privately bracing for the possibility that Rove or other officials could be indicted in the next two weeks.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4517
1965
...a message from Cindy Sheehan
Going to the movies was something Casey and I enjoyed doing together. Casey was a Theater Arts major in college and he went with a critical eye. Since I love sharing my children's passions with them, Casey and I would go to the movie theater often.
We saw two movies the last time he was home at Christmas, 2003 before he was deployed to Iraq . We saw the last movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the live action movie Peter Pan. I still have the ticket stub for that movie in my wallet. We got to the theater a little late, so we had to sit up front with the moms and dads and their small children. I commented to Casey that it looked like we were the only "grown ups" interested in the movie. The small children were cute to watch as they enjoyed the movie and Casey and I got quite a few chuckles from them also.
On Ash Wednesday of 2004, a few days before Casey left for Iraq, his dad and I went to see The Passion of the Christ. That was our Ash Wednesday penance that year. Casey's dad fell asleep during the scourging scene while I sat in my seat and quietly sobbed. I was especially touched by the character that played Jesus' mom who followed her son along while he was being violently tortured and killed by devious men with an evil agenda. Of course, since I became a mom over 26 years ago, I have identified with Mary as she sobbed at the foot of her sons cross and cradled his lifeless body in her arms.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=518
Baghdad Blackout Caused by Sabotage
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Insurgents sabotaged power lines to the capital Friday evening, knocking out electricity across the greater Baghdad area and plunging it into darkness on the eve of the country's key vote on a new constitution.
Mahmoud al-Saaedi, an Electricity Ministry spokesman, said power lines were sabotaged between the northern towns of Kirkuk and Beiji leading to the Baghdad region.
He did not specify how insurgents damaged the lines, but militants in the past have used bombs to hit infrastructure.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4525
The Marines didn't know she was 85
By Robert L. Jamieson Jr. / Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Marines are looking for recruits to join the few and the proud.
This explains the one-page letter that arrived last month in Barbara Mercer's Seattle mailbox.
"Now is the time to put your unique language skills to the test as a member of the United States Marine Corps," wrote Brig. Gen. W.E. Gaskin.
"Your command of the Arabic language will be invaluable. ... We'll push your physical and mental limits beyond anything you've ever known."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4526
Prosecutor Subpoenas DeLay Phone Records
By Suzanne Gamboa / Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas prosecutor on Thursday subpoenaed the phone records for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's home and campaign during the period he is accused of conspiring to launder illegal corporate donations to candidates.
Also subpoenaed by prosecutor Ronnie Earle were records for two phone numbers for DeLay's daughter, Danielle DeLay Ferro, and for a minivan that Earle alleged DeLay bought.
DeLay is facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy in a Texas campaign finance case.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4518
Papers: DeLay Group Used $100K for Races
By Sharon Theimer / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Tom DeLay's political group used nearly $100,000 in corporate and unlimited donations to mail last-minute political appeals praising five congressional candidates despite rules meant to keep such money out of federal races, documents released Thursday show.
The records also detail payments DeLay's group made to Jim Ellis and Warren Robold, two longtime fundraisers indicted in Texas in the same state campaign finance case as DeLay. All three men say they are innocent in that case.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4521
The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal
By Don Van Natta Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford J. Levy / New York Times
In a notebook belonging to Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, amid notations about Iraq and nuclear weapons, appear two small words: "Valerie Flame."
Ms. Miller should have written Valerie Plame. That name is at the core of a federal grand jury investigation that has reached deep into the White House. At issue is whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of Ms. Plame, an undercover C.I.A. operative, to reporters as part of an effort to blunt criticism of the president's justification for the war in Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4540
New Laws May Let Power Plants Pollute More
By John Heilprin / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration proposed new regulations Thursday that could allow the nation's dirtiest power plants to release more air pollutants each year - and possibly undercut lawsuits aimed at forcing companies to comply with the Clean Air Act.
The proposal follows a June federal court ruling that said power plants can throw more pollutants into the air each year when they modernize to operate for longer hours.
It's the latest in a series of attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency to make the nearly 30-year-old Clean Air Act rules for coal-fired power plants more industry-friendly. Some changes were held up by lawsuits from environmentalists and state officials.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4522
Pep Rally Roveless
Rove Cancels Appearance at Fundraiser for Kilgore
By Ian Shapira / Washington Post
If those attending yesterday's annual Republican "Pep Rally Breakfast" in Fairfax County did not pay much mind to the scrum of protesters outside, all they had to do was take a seat and flip open the program to see what all the ruckus was about.
There it was, smack in the middle of the first page: The man scheduled to deliver the keynote address in support of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore would be Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser who is embroiled in the investigation of a leak that revealed the name of a CIA operative. Tickets were hot. The press was barred.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4542
Planet Sees Warmest September on Record
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Worldwide, it was the warmest September on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.
Averaging 1.13 degrees Fahrenheit (0.63 degree Celsius) above normal for the month, it was the warmest September since the beginning of reliable records in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
The second warmest September was in 2003 with an average temperature of 1.02 degrees Fahrenheit (0.57 Celsius) above the mean.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4523
Dr. Rice Cooperated
Rice Reveals She Has “Cooperated” with Prosecutor in Leak Probe
This morning, Secretary of State and former member of the White House Iraq Group, Condoleezza Rice, was asked about her involvement in the CIA leak scandal:
WALLACE: Secretary Rice, a new subject. Were you part of an effort in July of 2003 to discredit Ambassador Joe Wilson, who was a critic of the Bush Iraq policy.
RICE: I am not going to talk about, Chris, as you might imagine, an ongoing investigation. I have, like everybody else, cooperated with prosecutor Fitzgerald and am quite certain that he will make his report. But I don’t think that it’s appropriate to comment about those events.
WALLACE: Now when you say you have cooperated with the prosecutor, does that mean, in fact, that you spoke to investigators or to the grand jury?
RICE: I cooperated in all the ways that I was asked to cooperate.
A couple of revealing bits of information from Rice’s comments:
1) This is the first time Rice has publicly acknowledged that she too has been asked to either speak with prosecutors or appear before the federal grand jury.
2) Rice said she is “quite certain” Fitzgerald will make his report. If Fitzgerald decides not to seek any indictments, he is not required to issue a public report. The fact that Rice expects a report to be made suggests she believes indictments will be coming forth as well.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/16/rice-cooperate/
Northeast Downpours Blamed for 10 Deaths
By Wayne Parry / Associated Press
OAKLAND, N.J. - Rain fell for an eighth straight day around the waterlogged Northeast on Friday, pushing hundreds of people from their homes, closing roadways and leaving train tracks littered with fallen trees.
Tens of thousands of sandbags were handed out in New Hampshire and New Jersey, and flood warnings covered parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
Rainfall totals since Oct. 7 topped a foot or more in spots, and forecasters predicted another 2 to 3 inches of rain in some places by Saturday. At least 10 people have died because of the downpours, and four others remain missing in New Hampshire.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4524
Scandal
'Hidden Scandal' in Miller Story, Charges Former CBS Newsman
By E&P Staff / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK -- Since the posting of The New York Times lengthy article on Judith Miller's involvement in the Plame scandal Saturday night, much Web buzzing has ensued concerning the revelation that she had some sort of special classified status while embedded with troops in Iraq at one point.
The issue came to the fore because Miller, in recounting her grand jury testimony, wrote about how her former classified status figured in her discussions with I. Lewis Libby. She was pressed by the prosecutor on this matter.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4544
For Injured U.S. Troops, 'Financial Friendly Fire'
Flaws in Pay System Lead to Dunning, Credit Trouble
By Donna St. George / Washington Post
His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robert Loria was flown home for a long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he tried to bear up against intense physical pain and reimagine his life's possibilities.
The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate -- downgrading it because he was out of the war zone -- or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack.
But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4515
Troubling
Libby's Letter to Miller Raises 'Troubling' Issues
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- New details about Judith Miller's decision to cooperate in the CIA leak probe are raising questions about whether Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and his defense lawyer tried to steer the New York Times reporter's testimony.
The dispute arose as the newspaper on Sunday detailed three conversations that Miller had with the Cheney aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in the summer of 2003 about Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson and Wilson's wife, covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4545
Army Pressed on Handling of Casualties
By Gretchen Ruethling / New York Times
CHICAGO, Oct. 12 - Gay Eisenhauer learned about the death of her son in Iraq from an Army officer who read the news to her from a piece of paper at her house. Mrs. Eisenhauer and her husband, who live in Pinckneyville, Ill., later picked up their son's body in the cargo bay at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, surrounded by boxes, luggage and airport employees.
"It was a very tough place to meet your son," said Mrs. Eisenhauer, the mother of Pfc. Wyatt Eisenhauer, 26, who was killed by an explosive device in May. She said the Army casualty officer who delivered the news was impersonal. "When we bring them home and we call them heroes, let's treat them like heroes all the way," she said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4514
Prosecutor Weighs Move in CIA Leak Probe
By Pete Yost / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - With the criminal investigation into who leaked the identity of a covert CIA officer apparently nearing an end, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald could seek indictments of top White House aides or quietly close up shop.
The grand jury that heard several hours of testimony Friday from President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, is set to expire Oct. 28. Rove's lawyer said Fitzgerald has "affirmed that he has made no decision concerning charges."
Even if Fitzgerald decides not to prosecute anyone, that may not be the end of the matter: The prosecutor could write a final report detailing his investigation. But unlike past special prosecutors, such as Ken Starr in the Monica Lewinsky affair, who operated under the now-expired independent counsel law, Fitzgerald is not required to produce a public report.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4538
Miller Forgets
My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room
By Judith Miller / New York Times
In July 2003, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador, created a firestorm by publishing an essay in The New York Times that accused the Bush administration of using faulty intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. The administration, he charged, ignored findings of a secret mission he had undertaken for the Central Intelligence Agency - findings, he said, that undermined claims that Iraq was seeking uranium for a nuclear bomb.
It was the first time Mr. Wilson had gone public with his criticisms of the White House. Yet he had already become a focus of significant scrutiny at the highest levels of the Bush administration.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4541
Rove Pressed On Conflicts, Source Says
Questions Said to Focus On Differing Accounts
By Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei / Washington Post
The grand jury investigating the CIA leak case pressed White House senior adviser Karl Rove yesterday to more fully explain his conversations with reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame, including discrepancies between his testimony and the account provided by a key witness in the investigation, according to a source familiar with Rove's account.
Making his fourth appearance before the grand jury, Rove answered a broad range of questions for 4 1/2 hours, including why he did not initially tell federal agents about a July 2003 conversation about Plame with the witness, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, the source said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4537
Step Out of the Car;
"...a very stupid thing to put in a letter..."
Miller's Lawyer Says Aide Faces 'Problem' in CIA Probe
Attorney for Reporter Cites Possibility of Conflicting Testimony
By Walter Pincus and Howard Kurtz / Washington Post
Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has "a problem" in the investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's identity if his testimony conflicts with information given to the grand jury by New York Times reporter Judith Miller, her lawyer said yesterday.
Robert S. Bennett, speaking on the ABC program "This Week" on the day the Times disclosed new information about three conversations Miller had with Libby about the CIA employment of a White House critic's wife, said that "much would depend upon what Mr. Libby said to the grand jury.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4546
Rove Testifies Again in CIA Leak Probe
By Pete Yost / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Karl Rove testified for the fourth and final time Friday before the grand jury investigating whether his conversations with two reporters led to the leaking of a CIA operative's identity.
The White House aide spent about four and a half hours inside the federal courthouse, and left without commenting to reporters.
His lawyer, Robert Luskin, said Rove was told by prosecutors they likely would not need further testimony or cooperation from him and that they had no yet decided whether Rove should be charged criminally.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4520
Scandals take toll on Bush’s second term
Troubles distract aides, disrupt president’s agenda
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
A string of scandals involving some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington have converged to disrupt President Bush's agenda, distract aides and allies, and exacerbate political problems for an already weakened administration, according to party strategists and White House advisers.
With Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove returning to a grand jury as early as today, associates said the architect of Bush's presidency has been preoccupied with his legal troubles, a diversion that some say contributed to the troubled handling of Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court. White House officials are privately bracing for the possibility that Rove or other officials could be indicted in the next two weeks.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4517
Rice Fails to Win Support on Iran Stance
By Anne Gearan / Associated Press
MOSCOW - Condoleezza Rice could not win new support from Russia for hauling Iran before the U.N. Security Council, but the U.S. secretary of state said Saturday that option remains open "at a time of our choosing."
Washington and its European allies are waiting to see if a defiant Iran will return to diplomatic talks over its disputed nuclear program. If not, they say they will invoke the threat of economic penalties or other punishment from the Security Council.
After hastily arranged and unexpectedly lengthy meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Rice said Moscow is trying to push its ally Iran back to the bargaining table.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4539
AP: 3,663 Iraqis Killed in Past 6 Months
Associated Press
Saturday's vote on Iraq's new constitution takes place nearly six months after the country's first elected government took power, and during that period at least 3,663 Iraqis have been killed in war-related violence, according to an Associated Press count.
The current interim government took power on April 28 after long negotiations that followed parliamentary elections in January.
The AP gathered the statistics on Iraqi dead on a daily basis from hospital officials, Iraqi police, the Iraqi military and other government officials.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4536
Your signature can end the war in Iraq
HomeFromIraqNow.org is a national campaign to end the war in Iraq by using binding statewide ballot initiatives around the country to pressure the administration to bring our troops home now.
We are currently placing an initiative on the November 2006 ballot in Massachusetts to prevent the Governor from sending any more National Guard troops to Iraq, and we are actively exploring similar initiatives in other states.
A yes vote on this initiative will not only prevent more National Guard troops from being deployed to Iraq, but will also send a very strong message to our elected leaders that we want them to end the war and bring all of our troops home immediately.
To get this initiative on the ballot in Massachusetts for November 2006, we need your help to collect 100,000 signatures of Massachusetts voters by November 15, 2005.
http://www.homefromiraqnow.org/
You Know They're in Their 'Last Throes' When Their Barber is Caught
Al Qaeda "barber" arrested in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq said on Saturday that they were holding a man suspected of acting as a barber to senior al Qaeda militants and helping them change their appearance to evade capture.
The man, named as Walid Muhammad Farhan Juwar al-Zubaydi -- "aka 'The Barber,"' the U.S. military statement said -- was arrested in Baghdad on September 24, the day before U.S. troops caught up with and killed a militant they described as the most senior al Qaeda leader in the capital, Abu Azzam.
"'The Barber's' duties included altering senior al Qaeda in Iraq members' appearances by dying hair color, altering hairstyles and changing facial hair in their efforts to evade capture," the military said in the statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4531
MORALLY BANKRUPT
It's funny in an non-laughing sort of way that the GOP prides itself on defending both the morals of this great nation and its free market economic system. At this point the two don't make much sense together.
There's the obvious political examples (Republican leaders Bill Frist and Tom DeLay both sidestepping ethical behavior for fiscal gain), but the real damage is being done to the fabric of our American society.
Witness the Bankruptcy "Reform" Bill. As more and more Americans swipe themselves into debt, more and more Americans are swept into bankruptcy. Credit Card companies like debt and dislike bankruptcy, so they bought legislation to make bankruptcy filing more difficult. The new law requires the indebted to enter credit counseling, a service for which the bankrupt must pay money they do not have. Better still, they are paying this money to the credit card companies they are already indebted to:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=517
The Jamaica Observer
More terror in Trinidad
10 hurt in bombing, cops question former coup leader
Compiled from AFP, AP and Sunday Observer reports
Sunday, October 16, 2005
YASIN Abu Bakr, 63, the Islamic leader who led a failed coup in 1990 was being questioned by police Saturday a day after an explosion outside a popular nightclub in Trinidad's capital wounded at least 10 people on Friday, police said.
It was still not clear what caused the explosion, but it followed a series of bombings that have all occurred around the same time of the month.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051015T230000-0500_90513_OBS_MORE_TERROR_IN_TRINIDAD_.asp
Rains displace MoBay families
City streets flooded with water and garbage
BY MARK CUMMINGS Sunday Observer reporter
Sunday, October 16, 2005
MONTEGO BAY, St James - At least two families were left homeless and several residents flooded out of their homes as torrential rains pelted the resort city of Montego Bay early Saturday morning.
Many business operators also were affected as the North Gully overflowed it banks, dumping mud and silt in several business establishments particularly along Union Street and William Street.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051015T230000-0500_90512_OBS_RAINS_DISPLACE_MOBAY_FAMILIES_.asp
Three named to search for oil
Observer Reporter
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Jamaica will soon sign agreements with Australian, Canadian and British outfits for oil and gas exploration off the island's south coast, energy sources say.
Phillip Paulwell, the energy minister, was not available for comment yesterday, but the sources named the three companies with which the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) has all but finalised deals are:
Jamaica's energy minister, Phillip Paulwell (left) and consultant, Chris Matchette-Downs (second left) talk with oil industry officials about the exploration prospects in Jamaica in Cancun, Mexico last year.
. Fender Exploration of Perth, Australia;
. Rainville Ltd of Calgary, Canada;
. Onslow Ltd, a UK explorer.
"It is expected that the deals will be finalised by yearend and that the companies will begin additional geological work shortly," a Sunday Observer source said.
The last serious exploration of oil in Jamaica was two decades ago when the Italian firm Agip and Union Texas of the United States sank wells in the area of the Pedro Cays, which are located about 50 miles off the island's south coast.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20051015T190000-0500_90450_OBS_THREE_NAMED_TO_SEARCH_FOR_OIL.asp
JUTA should watch that GCT
Sunday, October 16, 2005
We have previously warned the government against its importune hike in the rate of general consumption tax (GCT) applicable to the tourism sector, given the signals that were on the horizon at the time when the finance minister, Mr Davies, unveiled his intention in April.
As it has turned out, our concerns were correct.
As was highlighted last week by Mr Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, the owner of the Sandals hotel chain, and chairman of this newspaper, tourist arrivals this year have slipped sharply in recent months, when compared to the same period last year. And the signs are hardly wonderful for the coming winter season.
But hotels and others in the sector are, from this month, faced with GCT at an applicable rate of 8.25 per cent, from the previous 6.25 per cent - a jump of approximately a third.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/html/20051015T230000-0500_90510_OBS_JUTA_SHOULD_WATCH_THAT_GCT_.asp
Golding trapped in the garrison
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, October 16, 2005
"You can deny as much as you can, you can rationalise it as much as you want, Tivoli Gardens represents the mother of all garrisons. The garrison machinery is well-oiled, super-effective and to those in the business of creating and maintaining garrisons it must be the envy of all garrisons." Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, October 7, 2005
"I am not here to sanctify Tivoli Gardens. Are there criminals in Tivoli Gardens, yes there are, but there are criminals everywhere, uptown and downtown, in town and out of town.
… But before we come to that, it has to be admitted that the security forces were outfoxed by the 'army' in Tivoli. There is the possibility that our army chief was stung by the failure of the joint police/army raid to net the three men being sought in connection with the blitzkrieg-like murders of three policemen in May this year.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20051015T220000-0500_90499_OBS_GOLDING_TRAPPED_IN_THE_GARRISON.asp
The Boston Globe
Tropical storm Wilma forms in Caribbean
October 17, 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Wilma formed in the Caribbean Sea on Monday and could move into the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Wilma is the twenty-first named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, making this the equal most active year on record, the NHC said.
The last time so many named storms formed in one season was in 1933.
Oil prices rose over $1 on concern that the storm may yet again batter the U.S. Gulf oil infrastructure. U.S light crude futures were up $1.39 at $64.02 a barrel at 0833 GMT.
The storm was forecast to move toward the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico on Thursday before reaching the Gulf on Friday. The pattern of the storm was likely to be erratic for the next day or two, the NHC said on its website (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/).
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/10/17/tropical_storm_wilma_forms_in_caribbean/
Untreated sewage released into bay
Power outage is blamed; worker critically injured
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff October 17, 2005
About 25 million gallons of untreated sewage emptied into Quincy Bay late Saturday after a transformer accident in South Boston triggered a massive power outage at the Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant.
The plant was operating at full capacity to handle the heavy rainfall throughout the region when it lost its power shortly after 5 p.m. The plant's emergency backup power was quickly activated, but the station took several hours to resume peak operations.
The station had been treating 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater daily, three times its usual rate, for the past several days.
In the meantime, operators were forced to drain polluted water from communities south of Boston into the bay, to avoid overflowing local systems, streets, and cellars. Smaller amounts of sewage and storm water were also emptied into the Charles River and parts of Boston Harbor from several Boston-area overflow stations, though some was treated with chlorine, said Frederick Laskey, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which runs the Deer Island plant.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/17/untreated_sewage_released_into_bay/
N.E. dries off after the storm
Residents go home to survey damage and pick up the pieces after rains
By Michael Levenson and Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff October 17, 2005
Forty-eight hours after a powerful rainstorm pounded Massachusetts and dropped 3 to 5 inches of rain on the region, the skies turned mercifully dry and sometimes even sunny yesterday as people who evacuated their homes returned to pump out their basements, salvage their belongings, and restart their cars.
Seventy-five cities and towns had been inundated by what Governor Mitt Romney called substantial flooding from the storm. The state had spent at least $6.5 million, he said, the minimum threshold needed for Massachusetts to qualify for disaster relief aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/10/17/ne_dries_off_after_the_storm/
New approach reported in stem cell creation
Gains seen without destroying embryos
By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff October 17, 2005
Two teams of Massachusetts researchers announced yesterday that they have made progress creating embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, suggesting that scientists might someday find a technical solution to one of the nation's most highly charged ethical debates.
The experiments are remarkable because they were done primarily to answer ethical criticism, not to investigate major biological questions, marking a new stage in the ongoing debate over stem cell research. They are a measure, scientists said, of the intensity of the frustration researchers now feel with federal restrictions on their work. But they are also a sign of the increasing interest in finding a new, less controversial way to make embryonic stem cells, and perhaps the beginnings of an unusual dialogue between leading stem cell scientists and their critics.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/17/new_approach_reported_in_stem_cell_creation/
1,000 flee N.E. flood waters
Rains force evacuations as Romney declares state of emergency
By Michael Levenson and Beth Daley, Globe Staff October 16, 2005
More than 1,000 Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents evacuated flooded homes yesterday as torrential rains swamped roads, pushed rivers to flood levels, stressed bridges and dams, and sparked fears of more damage as waters continue to rise.
Forcibly and sometimes voluntarily, residents in low-lying areas fled their homes in rubber boats, wooden dinghies, and on foot, escaping roads that had turned into lagoons and living rooms that looked like bathtubs. Officials warned that the storm, which has dumped a foot of rain on the Boston area since Oct. 8, could cause widespread power outages today.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/10/16/1000_flee_ne_flood_waters/
Mass. House eyes tax hike to broaden healthcare
Alcohol, cigarettes are possible targets
By Scott S. Greenberger and Scott Helman, Globe Staff October 16, 2005
Massachusetts House leaders are considering a tax increase on cigarettes or alcohol to pay for a major healthcare expansion, proposing to add 147,000 low-income parents and children to Medicaid and to subsidize private insurance coverage for 200,0000 more people, according to legislative sources.
The House leaders' approach boosts the idea of tax increases in the healthcare debate that is expected to dominate Beacon Hill over the next month or more. The approach relies far more heavily on government-provided Medicaid coverage than alternative proposals outlined earlier by Governor Mitt Romney and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/10/16/mass_house_eyes_tax_hike_to_broaden_healthcare_alcohol_cigarettes_are_possible_targets/
A street of lost dreams, new hopes
New Orleans' future may play out in the stories of 48 people who called one block their home
Gabriel Ocean Clark on Friday cleaned his grandfather's wedding ring, found amid his ruined art studio. (Globe Photo / Erik Jacobs)
By Keith O'Brien, Globe Correspondent October 16, 2005
NEW ORLEANS -- The future of New Orleans may hinge on homes like this one: a cute, little yellow house in the heart of Mid-City.
There is nothing striking about it from the outside. If it stands out to neighbors, it is only because it sold in June for $225,000 -- a sign that this once crumbling neighborhood was coming back.
But now flood-damaged and crawling with mold, the home at 316 South Telemachus St. is a sign of something else. Its occupants -- Thor Young, 30, and Lucia Blacksher, 32 -- are split about whether to return to New Orleans. Blacksher, an attorney, said she wants to return, but her boyfriend, Young, does not. He is in Virginia. She is back in Louisiana. And their two-year relationship is over.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/16/a_street_of_lost_dreams_new_hopes/
Mayor lauded on city's race issues
But top jobs are still mostly white
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff October 16, 2005
Last in a series of occasional articles examining the mayor's performance on major issues during his 12 years in office.
In Boston politics, no issue is more combustible than race, not merely because of the city's turbulent history, but also because race relations are tied to everything from education and crime to delivery of city services and economic opportunity.
So people took notice when, about a year into office, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, known as a cautious politician, drew a bright line around the issue of race, in the very neighborhood where he grew up.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/10/16/mayor_lauded_on_citys_race_issues/
A penchant for teamwork
By Penelope Trunk, Globe Correspondent, 10/16/05
MICHELE McDONALD/GLOBE STAFF
Antonio DeFabritiis and his cousins, who own Enzo & Co., a Newbury Street hair salon, wouldn't think of going it alone. Everything is easier as a team, he says.
A defining trait of Generation Y is the penchant, and talent, for working in teams.
Brothers Enzo Marchio and Johnny Marchio and their cousin Antonio DeFabritiis are equal owners of Enzo & Co., a Newbury Street hair salon, and they are a good example of this team mentality. Unlike entrepreneurs of the past, who were often loners uncomfortable functioning in a larger organization, these three would never think of going it alone.
''Everything is easier if we work as a team,'' DeFabritiis says. ''This is how we were brought up.''
Being part of a team is the best way for today's new workers to get interesting high-level jobs. Even though reams of research show the effectiveness of teams in the workplace, baby boomer management has had a tough time with implementation.
http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/climb/archives/101605.shtml
When the office is as comforting as home
By Eric P. Gustafson, 10/16/05
PIERRE PRATT/ILLUSTRATION FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
For many cube dwellers, the office has become an extension of home, complete with photographs, artwork, caches of food, and oodles of e-mail messages from family and friends.
This is hardly surprising, considering most people spend eight or more hours a day at work - far more time than most spend with family member during the average weekday.
Depending on the leniency of the employer, some cubes and offices look more like a family room, decorated with toys, action figures, and posters.
ADVERTISEMENT
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However, this melding of home and work extends to more than just cube decor.
http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/view_cube/archive/101605.shtml
Workers pour 2005 salary increases down gas tank
By Dan Malachowski, Salary.com
Americans are now paying an average of $2.81 per gallon to fuel the sedans, sports-cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks they depend on everyday to get to work. Commuting to and from work is all of a sudden having a substantial impact on the pocketbooks of the majority of American workers, with no end in sight. This has led the compensation experts at Salary.com to put a salary dollar value on the rising cost of the American commute. The results may surprise you.
Escalating gas prices have left many American workers wondering how they will continue to afford their commute. Eliana Tasca, a Boston sales manager, makes the long commute from Rhode Island to Boston everyday. "I feel like my gas expenses are now taking a noticeable chunk out of my paycheck", notes Tasca. "My commuting costs are starting to feel somewhat like an effective pay cut."
http://bostonworks.boston.com/salary/articles/101305_salary.html
New anti-gun control law set for Alaska
Two 22-caliber handguns are placed on display at a gun shop, Dec. 18, 2001, in Juneau, Alaska. Starting Wednesday Oct. 19, 2005 handgun owners won't need permits to carry concealed weapons in the seven Alaska cities where they're still required. There also will be no more restrictions on keeping a firearm in a vehicle. A new state anti-gun control law that goes into effect will essentially bar municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law. (AP Photo/Seanna O'Sullivan, File)
By Matt Volz, Associated Press Writer October 17, 2005
JUNEAU, Alaska --Starting Wednesday, handgun owners won't need permits to carry concealed weapons in the seven Alaska cities where they're still required. There also will be no more restrictions on keeping a firearm in a vehicle.
A new state anti-gun control law that goes into effect will essentially bar municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law.
The National Rifle Association, which helped Republican state Rep. Mike Chenault write the legislation, says except for the concealed weapon permit requirements, most Alaska city and state gun laws are the same.
What the NRA wants to do is prevent cities from passing more restrictive laws in the future. It calls it state pre-emption, and Alaska will be the 44th state to have such a law on its books.
"We are looking to make it uniform to all 50 states," said NRA spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs. "Without it, it creates an unfair, inconsistent and confusing patchwork of local firearm ordinances."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/17/new_anti_gun_control_law_set_for_alaska/
Casino companies plan to rebuild in Miss.
By Adam Goldman, Associated Press Writer October 17, 2005
BILOXI, Miss. --Putting casinos on ugly barges and sticking them in the water handicapped Mississippi casinos from the start.
The big gambling companies never could construct anything along the Mississippi coast grand enough to rival Las Vegas, Atlantic City or even large reservation casinos. Building on the water was inconvenient and put the buildings at more risk to hurricanes.
But now that Mississippi lawmakers have decided to allow casinos on solid ground, the Gulf Coast tourist industry could be at a watershed moment.
Hurricane Katrina has given casinos a chance to rebuild as megaresorts -- with more entertainment, shopping and dining options -- perhaps turning the Mississippi coast into a national tourist destination.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/17/casino_companies_plan_to_rebuild_in_miss/
THAT IS AN AMAZING CLAIM. USA Coalition bombs with such accuracy they only land on Iraqi militants. Wow. I do believe the words the news media who reports this mess says, "… killed SUSPECTED insurgents…" Yeah, suspected, but never a follow up to find out EXACTLY who was killed including the number of innocent children regardless their parents affiliation.
U.S.: 70 Iraqis killed in airstrikes
An US transport helicopter takes off at sunset from the Green Zone, a heavily guarded area where foreign embassies and Iraq's parliament are based, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday Oct. 16 2005. U.S. military reported Sunday that five American soldiers were killed on voting day by a roadside bomb during combat operations in the western town of Ramadi, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents.The deaths brought to at least 1,975 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
By Thomas Wagner, Associated Press Writer October 17, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq --U.S. helicopters and warplanes bombed two villages near the city of Ramadi, a hotbed of Sunni-Arab insurgents west of Baghdad, killing around 70 Iraqis, the military said Monday. The military said all the dead were militants, though witnesses said at least 39 were civilians.
The violence on Sunday occurred a day after Iraq voted on -- and apparently passed -- a landmark constitution that many Sunnis opposed. On referendum day, a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers iin a vehicle in the Al-Bu Ubaid village on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi.
On Sunday, a group of around two dozen Iraqis gathered around the wreckage of the U.S. vehicle and were hit by the airstrikes by U.S. warplanes, both the military and witnesses said.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/17/us_70_iraqis_killed_in_airstrikes/
Help not reaching remote areas of Pakistan
A woman sits with children inside a tent at a relief camp in Salamabad, about 104 kilometers (65 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005. Torrential rain and snow hampered relief operations in earthquake-hit parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir for the second day Monday as roads to the worst-affected Uri and Tangdhar areas were cut off from the rest of the Himalayan province. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake on Oct. 8 has killed 1361 people in Indian Kashmir. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
By Tini Tran, Associated Press Writer October 17, 2005
BALAKOT, Pakistan --A week after an earthquake ruined every home in the remote mountain village of Ghanool in northwest Pakistan, Malik Khan Zaman realized help was not coming.
He left the collapsed remains of his home -- where he was spending freezing nights with his wife and mother -- and set out down a narrow ribbon of dirt road for supplies. The quake had carved away sections of the steep, zigzagging path, forcing him to edge around sheer drops of more than 50 feet.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/10/17/help_not_reaching_remote_areas_of_pakistan/
Smurfocalypse now
A still from a controversial new commercial created by UNICEF.
By Joshua Glenn October 16, 2005
THE 30-SECOND spot goes like this: All is peaceful in the cartoon village of the Smurfs, till warplanes roar overhead and bombs rain down, setting the little mushroom homes ablaze. Papa Smurf leads the evacuation, but casualties-Brainy? Hefty? Lazy?-litter the ground. Baby Smurf, rattle broken, wails near the lifeless form of Smurfette. Then a message appears, in Flemish: ''Don't let war destroy the children's world."
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/10/16/smurfocalypse_now/
Iran
Bush's Diplomatic Corp fails on most fronts including the vital 'veto' of Russia at the United Nations Security Council. The Russians do not want a repeat of Iraq and that is mostly across the board when it comes to foreign relations with the USA and the rest of the world these days. Also noted here recently were the gross miscalculations of The First Lady and Bush's Arab PR Queen, Karen What's her name, Huges, in their focus on women's issues of the region resulting in their rejection and lack of acceptance on all fronts. What does it take to get the message to the American people that this administration uses an agenda of 'freedom and democracy' as a cover for their Oil Trade issues? There is no forethought in foreign policy except that singular focus. Do I have to say it?
Rice enlists support for Syria, Iran showdowns
Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:54 PM ET
By Saul Hudson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mobilized support among major powers for diplomatic showdowns over the next few weeks with Syria and Iran on a trip that ended on Sunday.
Over three days, Rice held talks with the leaders of France, Russia and Britain -- all holders of vetoes at the U.N. Security Council - on how to make the two U.S. foes meet U.N. security demands.
In a show of diplomacy that reflected the Bush administration's efforts this year to consult partners more, Rice crisscrossed Europe seeking to build a common front against Syria's suspected support for militants in Lebanon and Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Rebuffed by Russia on Iran, she did not win all the support she wanted.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-10-17T005402Z_01_WRI703131_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-SYRIA-USA.xml&archived=False
US, Britain, Iran trade charges over attacks
Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:35 PM ET
By Paul Hughes and Saul Hudson
TEHRAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's president accused Britain on Sunday of being behind deadly weekend bomb attacks in Iran, sharply escalating tension after the United States and Britain charged Iran was involved in insurgent attacks in Iraq.
"We are very suspicious about the role of British forces in perpetrating such terrorist acts," the ISNA student news agency quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying of twin bombings that killed five people in southwest Iran on Saturday.
"Our people are used to these kind of incidents, and our intelligence agents found the footprints of Britain in the same incidents before," Ahmadinejad said during a cabinet meeting.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-10-16T213514Z_01_KWA651780_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN.xml&archived=False
Dead, but not bird flu: Iran; Kuwait bans poultry imports
KUWAIT (Agencies): Kuwait said Saturday that it will ban the imports of all fresh, chilled and frozen poultry products, except those treated at 70 degrees centigrade from Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued the ban as a precautionary measure against the rapidly-spreading bird flu disease which kills millions of birds all over the world every day. European Commission for healthcare and the consumer protection Marcos Kiprianu had urged European Union countries to prepare large quantities of anti-virus to face the bird flu pandemic. The Gulf Sultanate of Oman on Saturday banned the import of all types of live birds and their products from Romania, Turkey and Iran, as part of measures to prevent the spread of avian flu. The ban was announced in a statement by Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Salem bin Hilal bin Ali al-Khalili, the state news agency ONA said.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/kuwait/Viewdet.asp?ID=5349&cat=a
Iran mission to win India’s nuclear nod
PRANAY SHARMA
New Delhi, Oct. 16: To ensure that “friend” India does not vote on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution against Tehran yet again, Iranian ambassador S.Z. Yaghoubi met foreign minister Natwar Singh yesterday.
The crucial meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors — of which India is a member — is due on November 25. It will decide Iran’s fate, and if negotiations fail the issue may be referred to the UN Security Council.
Although more than a month is left for the meeting, the Iranians are not taking any chances this time and have started campaigning among different political sections in India to garner support for the controversial nuclear programme.
A few days ago, Yaghoubi had met CPI leader D. Raja to explain Iran’s stand. The Left parties, particularly the CPI and the CPM, are opposed to India’s perceived shift towards the US-led western bloc at the expense of Iran.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051017/asp/nation/story_5362500.asp
concluding…
