Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1871, The great Chicago fire is put out; it has destroyed nearly a third of central Chicago.
1886, The first tuxedo is worn at a dinner club in New York.
1899, Issac R. Johnson patents a bicycle frame.
1913, The Panama Canal, an American-built waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is completed with the explosion of the Gamboa Dike.
1917, Thelonious Sphere Monk, one of the creators of bebop or modern jazz composed music with irregular rhythms and jarring harmonies, is born in Rocky Mount, NC.
1927, “Porgy”, a play written by DuBose and Heyward, opens on Broadway featuring an all Black cast.
1930, Blind Lemon Jefferson, a country blues singer, dies in Chicago, IL.
1935, “Porgy and Bess”, a folk opera based on the play “Porgy”, opens on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre with music by Ira and George Gershwin.
1946, Dancer, singer, and actor Ben Vereen is born in Miami, FL
1973, After pleading no contest to tax evasion, Spiro Agnew becomes the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace.
Missing in Action
1965 DODD JOE L. 10/25/65 ESCAPED
1966 CONFER MICHAEL STEELE MC COOK NE ACFT EXPLODE NO TRACE PILOT
1968 HANDRAHAN EUGENE A. ST PAUL MN
1968 HERREID ROBERT D. AURORA IL
1969 MAXWELL CALVIN W. EDDY NM
1969 WEISNER FRANKLIN L. FORT BENNING GA
1970 GRAZIOSI FRANCIS G. ROCHESTER NY
1972 CLEARY PETER M. COLCHESTER CT
1972 LEONOR LEONARDO C. ASTORIA NY
October 9, 2005
1966 TANNER CHARLES N. COVINGTON TN 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV " ""NELS"" ALIVE AND WELL 98"
1966 TERRY ROSS R. LAKE JACKSON FL 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1967 CLEMENTS JAMES A. QUEEN CITY TX 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV RIP 27 MARCH 97
1969 DRIVER DALLAS A. STEPHENS CITY VA
1969 GARBETT JIMMY R. LAKE CITY FL
1969 MOORE RAYMOND G. CINCINNATI OH
1969 SUYDAM JAMES L. PHILLIPSBURG NJ
1969 TURNER JAMES H. COLUMBUS OH
October 8, 2005
1963 DENTON MANUEL R. KERRVILLE TX ACFT CRASH AFT AIR COLLISION
1963 RITCHEY LUTHER E. JR. MANSFIELD OH ACFT CRASH AFT AIR COLLISION
1963 WADSWORTH DEAN AMICK CLARENDON TX ACFT BROKE UP CRASH EXPLODED REMAINS IDENTIFIED O4/16/99
1966 FELDHAUS JOHN ANTHONY LAWRENCEBURG TN
1966 WOMACK SAMMIE N. FARMVILLE VA 02/23/67 RELEASED ALIVE IN 98
1967 GUERRA RAUL A. LOS ANGELES CA CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS
1967 PINEAU ROLAND R. BERKLEY MI CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS
1967 ROGGOW NORMAN L. AURELIA IA CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS
1967 WOLFE DONALD F. HARDIN MT CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS
1967 ZISSU ANDREW G. NEW YORK NY CRASH SITE CONFIRMED NO RECOV POSS
1969 ALTIZER ALBERT H. SQUIRE WV
1969 WATKINS ROBERT J. JR. FORT MEADE MD
1970 OTT WILLIAM A. LIVERMORE CA
1970 SHAY DONALD E. JR. LINTHICUM HEIGHTS MD
The Times Picayune
New Orleans cops charged in taped beating
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three New Orleans police officers are facing battery charges after investigators reviewed a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer assaulting an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the arrest on tape.
The assaults come as the department — long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption — struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breaking/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_localbreakingnews/archives/2005_10.html
FEMA isn't hiring La. companies, workers
Out-of-state firms get most of business
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Less than a week after Hurricane Katrina swept through southeast Louisiana, a federal government purchasing agent came calling at Brian Bent's RV dealership in Metairie with a promising business proposal.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was planning to house thousands of evacuees temporarily in travel trailers and the agency wanted to throw some of the business to local dealers.
Bent said he arranged to acquire 500 RVs and followed up with an e-mail to FEMA. As instructed, he wrote "LA vendor" in the subject line. He got no response. Then he called. And called. More than a month after Katrina, Bent said he still hasn't heard anything from the agency. In the meantime, FEMA has contracted for more than $700 million in travel trailers - with more than 99 percent of the business going to companies outside Louisiana.
Federal officials from President Bush on down have talked about the importance of hiring contractors in the hurricane disaster region to help boost an economy that was decimated by the storm. But, in large part, it hasn't happened. Instead, lucrative contracts for services readily available in Louisiana have gone to out-of-state firms with little or no competitive bidding involved.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_10_10.html
Buggies return to Quarter chomping at bit to recover
Drivers find business is slow, but gratifying
By Coleman Warner
Staff writer
Telltale signs of Hurricane Katrina's recent visit were hard to miss in the Vieux Carre early Saturday afternoon. National Guard soldiers gathered near the Mint and workers on ladders tacked tarp sheets to a few roofs. The always-open Café du Monde was shuttered. Damaged awnings hung over sidewalks at crazy angles.
But the Quarter continued to recover. The rotting-garbage stench had faded and people tapped on laptop computers outside an espresso bar along Decatur Street. Doors of art shops were open wide, a young girl performed on her violin and, at Jackson Square's edge, an artist tried to interest a couple of state troopers - one from Louisiana, another from New York - in his oil-on-canvas pieces.
Then, a few yards away, came a familiar refrain: A buggy driver cajoling passers-by, offering a ride and breezy history lesson.
"Hey guys, want to go?"
"No, we're just walking."
"Have a great day!"
Business is a long far from good, but the mule buggies are on the streets. Their return prompted Quarter veterans to step onto second-floor balconies or out of their shops and applaud. A postcard symbol is back.
"It perks up your spirits to see the mules out there," said Dennis Gemelli, 56, one of a handful of drivers for Royal Carriages who returned to his buggy seat at midday Friday. "It's obviously been slow ... but it's gratifying. It's mainly relief workers, getting a historical perspective on the city they're helping to rebuild."
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_10_10.html
Jefferson schools on normal schedules
The Jefferson Parish public school system is reminding
parents and students that schools will operate under
their normal schedules Monday, despite an earlier plan
to start classes an hour earlier.
The plan, which called for the school day to begin an
hour earlier, was approved by the School Board on
Sept. 29 but scrapped last week by Superintendent
Diane Roussel. She said several board members noted a
strong public backlash to the revised school calendar,
under which high schools would have faced the earliest
start time at about 6:15 a.m. Because of the outcry,
Roussel and board members have backed off the plan.
The calendar was designed to make up for 24 days of
lost instructional time in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.
Roussel said her staff is drafting several alternative
calendars, which the board will likely discuss at its
Thursday meeting. The meeting is set for noon in the
Jefferson Parish Council chambers, 200 Derbigny St.,
in Gretna.
(image placeholder)
RTA extends transit routes
Six more transit lines - three on the east bank of Orleans Parish, and three in Algiers - return to service, the Regional Transit Authority said today.
Four bus lines - 5-Marigny-Bywater, 27-Louisiana, 32-Leonidas, and 101-Algiers Loop - began operation this morning. Two other lines - 103-Pace Boulevard and 106-Aurora Express - run Monday through Friday only, beginning Monday.
There a number of route changes from pre-Katrina service patterns:
* 5-Marigny-Bywater will use its pre-Katrina route from the end of the line on Poland Avenue as far in as Elysian Fields Avenue. However, above Elysian Fields, its route will be that of the still-suspended 55-Elysian Fields bus, running along Decatur Street in both directions through the French Quarter, and ending at Canal and Tchoupitoulas Streets.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_10_09.html
Buenos Aires Herald
‘Hot potato’ reaction to Chávez reactor
Venezuela’s request for a medium-strength reactor has been passed from one government office to another "like a hot potato," one diplomat was quoted as saying by the Clarín newspaper.
Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm PDVSA made the proposal in a meeting with Argentine officials in Buenos Aires in late August, saying it wanted to develop alternative energy sources in its Orinoco oil region, the newspaper said.
Officials were not immediately available to confirm the report on the request by Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and a key energy supplier to the United States.
Despite President Néstor Kirchner’s close ties to Chávez, officials in his government are divided over the wisdom of selling nuclear technology to the firebrand Venezuelan, who Washington sees as a destabilizing force in the region, Clarín reported, citing unnamed Foreign Ministry sources.
Some officials are thought to fear that Chávez, a self-proclaimed revolutionary socialist, secretly aims to develop nuclear arms while others simply prefer not to irk Washington. Talks between the two countries are still in the preliminary stages.
Chávez announced last May his intentions to use nuclear power, saying his government could start talks with Iran as well as Argentina and Brazil.
Chávez’ anti-US rhetoric and alliance with Communist Cuba’s Fidel Castro has long riled Washington. His government also backed Iran, branded part of the "axis of evil" by US President George W. Bush, in its dispute with the US and Europe over its nuclear programme.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/the_world/note.jsp?idContent=213749&hideIntro=true
Digging for survivors
Death toll in worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history could hit 38,000.
Relief workers have yet to reach many remote villages and officials said the final death toll was likely to climb far above the 19,400 already known to have died in Pakistan.
Politicians in the worst-affected areas, Pakistan-held Kashmir and North West Frontier Province, said they expected a far higher tally — as many as 38,000.
Across the border in Indian-held Kashmir almost 700 people are known to have been killed.
It is the worst natural disaster in Pakistan and the strongest in South Asia for a century.
With Pakistan’s resources stretched beyond their limits, President Pervez Musharraf appealed for foreign aid to supply tents, blankets, transport helicopters and medicines.
"We’re trying to cope with these difficulties, there should not be any blame game," Musharraf said on state-run television, wearing his army fatigues.
Rescue teams and aid pledges poured into Pakistan from around the world.
"We are rushing against the clock here," said a spokeswoman for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The US sent eight helicopters from a military base in Afghanistan, and teams from Turkey, China, Britain and Germany were on the ground. Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among others dispatching help.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/the_world/note.jsp?idContent=213744&hideIntro=true
The Cheney Observer
THE TRUTH of Iraq is very hard to come by. But, once in a Blue Moon someone slips in an interview and I hate to do this to Wolf because his boss is going to be really, really angry but the truth is important. I didn't address this right away because I expected CNN to act honorably and bring the subject up without provocation. That didn't happen.
This is an interview between Wolf Blitzer and the Iraqi National Security Adviser, Mowaffak Al-Rubaie that took place on Sunday. This is directly from the transcript.
EXILES AND THE INNOCENT
We'll take a quick break. When we come back, we'll speak with Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, about what's going on only days before that referendum on the Iraqi constitution. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to "LATE EDITION." Iraq faces another critical test next Saturday when the country holds a referendum on its draft constitution. The deadly insurgent attacks are overshadowing the push for political progress.
Just a short while ago I spoke with Dr. Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, thanks very much for joining us from Baghdad.
Next Saturday, the referendum for the Iraqi constitution goes before the Iraqi people. In your mind, is it possible this referendum will be rejected?
MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, theoretically it's possible to be rejected, but I think, I hope and I pray that the Iraqi people will say yes, yes, loud and clear for this constitution. Because it is a huge step toward building a new Iraq, and this is a milestone. We have to go through it. Otherwise, if the people of Iraq say no, God forbid, then it will delay the whole political process for another year or so.
BLITZER: As you know, as you know, many Sunnis.
AL-RUBAIE: So we need (inaudible).
BLITZER: Excuse me for interrupting, Dr. Al-Rubaie.
As you know, many Sunnis are objecting to it. If in three of the provinces there's a two-thirds majority against the constitution, then it's defeated. You were saying that you don't think that will happen, but it's theoretically possible. What will be the consequences of such a vote?
AL-RUBAIE: Number one, I don't think the overwhelming majority of the Sunni people, the ordinary people, in the three provinces in the west of the country -- I believe they are with the concept or the basic concept of this constitution.
Number two, those who are, if you like, the vocal people who are in opposition to the constitution, and they would like the Sunni voters to say no, I think they are not true representatives of the Sunnis.
So a lot of -- quite few political leaders, figures, political parties, groups, NGOs in the Sunni triangle are going to say yes next Saturday for our constitution.
Now, if it is turned down, the only thing that it will happen that probably the insurgents and the terrorists will consider it as a victory for them, because they managed to disrupt the political process. They would have managed to prevent people from going to ballot boxes and cast their vote and say yes to the constitution.
So it's going to be a victory to the Iraqi people next Saturday, when we will have a clear majority of yes votes to this constitution.
BLITZER: There was a letter that was reported, from the -- a number two in Al Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to the Al Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Among other things, al-Zawahiri said: "Iraq has become the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."
Do you believe this letter to be authentic?
AL-RUBAIE: I believe these people are the dark forces, the anti- Iraqi forces. They would not like the democracy in Iraq, and they are frightened of democracy in Iraq.
They want to bring us to Iraq a Taliban-style regime, like the one which used to be in Afghanistan, and the Iraqi people will not have this. And neither Zarqawi nor Zawahiri nor bin Laden will have any influence on our Iraqi citizen, which has determined -- and they are really determined to go to the ballot boxes and say yes or no. I would like them to say a big yes, clear yes to the constitution.
BLITZER: Do you believe that letter was authentic?
AL-RUBAIE: I haven't looked into Zawahiri's message very carefully, but this is the rhetoric they use, this is the language I expect them to use. And I believe they wanted to take on the civilized world on Iraqi soil, and this is at the expense of the Iraqi people, by the way.
And we in the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people, this is a historic moment for us, a historic challenge. And we will be up to the challenge of these people, of the terrorists and insurgents.
And we are so determined to proceed with our political process, and to move on to the next step, which is the general election in December this year.
BLITZER: As you know, it's been widely reported that the source of the intelligence information for the New York City transit terror threat came from someplace in Iraq.
What can you tell us about this threat? How credible, based on the information you have, was this threat to the New York subway system? AL-RUBAIE: Well, I'm sorry, I can't go into details of the intelligence and the passing of the information and how do we deal with that intelligence information. I wouldn't like to indulge myself in a public, sort of, discussion on this.
BLITZER: Well, without getting into any details, though, can you just tell us if you believe that the threat was credible, specific?
AL-RUBAIE: I think these people have -- see, terrorism has no boundaries, has no -- it doesn't have any nationality. It doesn't have any religion. It does not have any -- they don't respect -- this is beyond borders. We're talking about terrorism beyond borders.
This is a global war on terror. And it happens that Iraq is the front line of this war on terror, the global war on terror. And they can cross the borders to Europe, to America, to the Arab world.
And that's why our message to our neighbors -- we say to them and we keep on saying to them, especially Syria and Saudi, that they should do more of stopping these from crossing the borders to Iraq.
And Syria, in particular, should do more to stop these people because otherwise they get to Iraq, they get strength and they go back to Syria. Because if we force them and if we apply pressure on them here, they will go back to Syria, they will go back to Jordan, they will go back to Saudi Arabia or even Europe and America to do their evil work.
BLITZER: So does that mean that the threat, in your opinion, to New York City was credible?
AL-RUBAIE: Well, it may well be credible, Wolf, because, as I said, terrorism has no boundaries.
BLITZER: The insurgency seems to be getting more deadly, more lethal, more destructive. I'll put some numbers up on the screen.
This year, September 2005, there are 2,500 insurgent attacks. In March of 2005, only a few months earlier, there were 1,500. As far as IEDs, improvised explosive devices, in September of this year, there were 1,000. In September of last year there were 750 incidents.
Is this insurgency getting worse?
AL-RUBAIE: No, I don't think agree with that, Wolf. I'll tell you what: The number of attacks, if you like, are probably superficially -- if you look at it from a face value of it, probably it's going up. But the quality and the type of the operation in the attacks is getting less.
And we are getting much more effective in our counterterrorism. Our Iraqi security forces are getting bigger in size, more qualified, more serious and better equipped, as well. We are getting much more focused on the targets.
And also, we have the coordination between our intelligence agencies, the three intelligence agencies. We have a very good coordination system now in place for the flow of the intelligence and for the conversion of the intelligence into actionable intelligence.
And the percentage of those operations or those attacks on our security forces we're managing to abort more and more. We used to fail probably a quarter of it. Now, it's two-thirds of these attacks are not effective at all. One-third of these attacks they are applying on us is effective.
And the number of casualties also is getting lower and reduced because, if you see it from the, sort of, superficial look at it, you will see the civilian casualties are getting bigger, but not the Iraqi security forces or the multinational forces; that we're getting much better protected from these terrorist attacks.
And the number of casualties also is getting lower and reduced because, if you see it from the, sort of, superficial look at it, you will see the civilian casualties are getting bigger, but not the Iraqi security forces or the multinational forces; that we're getting much better protected from these terrorist attacks.
BLITZER: We are almost out of time, Dr. Al-Rubaie, so a quick question on Saddam Hussein. I thought his trial was supposed to begin this month. Will it begin this month?
AL-RUBAIE: Absolutely. We will have Saddam Hussein still scheduled to appear in the box on the 19th of October after the referendum.
And this is part of the psychological healing of this nation. This nation has been severely traumatized for 35 years. And part of the healing process and part of the national reconciliation and part of the national dialogue we need to see Saddam Hussein in the box and ask him about the crimes he has, and he has to answer these crimes he has committed in the last 35 years.
BLITZER: Mowaffak Al-Rubaie. Thanks very much for joining us from Baghdad. Appreciate it.
AL-RUBAIE: Thank you very much, Wolf, for having me.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0510/09/le.01.html
This 'slip' by Mr. al-Rubaie shows a strategy by the USA military to protect whatever exists of the Iraqi National Security Forces. In other words, they are all abandoning ship to work at the local level, PERHAPS,l to protect their neighborhoods. But, at the Iraqi National Level they have been cut down left and right, if one recalls 50 soldiers, newly trained returning from Jordan about six months or so ago were slaughtered because they has no weapons to protect themselves or an escort to protect them. They were all gunned down on the road home to Baghdad. Over the past months there has been many attacks on the Iraqi Military so the number of unites in Iraq has been reduced to one through natural attrition as the soldiers left the service. This paragraph speaks to the fact the people in service to the National Iraqi Military are getting better at protecting themselves. He proudly reports that neither the Iraqi National Forces or Multinational Forces are experiencing casualties. That's good, but, that ain't all of it.
THAT isn't what really bothers me. What bothers me is that Mr. al-Rubaie reports there is a rising trend in civilian deaths. You follow this? The military is protecting itself but not the people of the hamlets of Iraq. The people are left STILL to protect themselves. Their militias are vital to their protection where they exist. Where they don't the people are sitting ducks and why bombers can get into mosques.
The only thing the USA military is doing is running 'raids' on neighborhoods where opposition forces are known to be. Well, after the New York City Subway fiasco we all know that is nothing to brag about.
The Opposition forces are winning this war. They are so virulent in Iraq that the USA Coalition and the Iraq Security Forces are only able to take care of themselves. Just the other day there were attacks into the Green Zone. When a military is stalemated like this and can't protect the people they are supposed to protect then it's over. The USA military has entered into a very precarious position in that there is a Shi'ite majority in the National Level in Iraq. When they perform sweeps through the streets of Iraq they are targeting Sunnis. The British are targeting Bathists. They are conducting ethnic cleansing in protection of the Shi'ites and Kurds who OBEY the precepts of government constructed by Bush/Blair.
I hope this makes an impression in that no matter what the USA military, Bush or Cheney say they are propagandizing their ideologies and NOT the truth or the reality of the citizens of Iraq. We need to leave. We are doing NO GOOD there. We are not even protecting the citizens there.
What I expected from CNN was not a cover up but a further investigation into that statement. As you will notice as soon as Mr. al-Rubaie said that statement a voice came over Wolf's earpiece and he was required to change the subject. Now that I have written this CNN will back track and attempt to cover their tracks as well as Mr. al-Rubaie's tracks. That is why I don't believe them all the time either. When I watch CNN it's with the knowledge of what I learned on the net and reading to know if they are doing a good job or not.
This is an incident from October 9, 2005 to validate the statement above by Mr. al-Rubaie and the noted increase in deaths of civilians.
Insurgents kill at least 12 Iraqis
By THOMAS WAGNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
In an undated picture made available by the US Army on Sunday Oct. 9, 2005, US soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne along with an Iraqi Army soldier escort a suspected terrorist through Al Hakliniya, Iraq. The soldiers of the 504th PIR together with Iraqi Army soldiers removed dozens of insurgents from the city during the first few days of Operation River Gate. (AP Photo/ Sgt. Ryan S. Scranton, US Army)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents using suicide car bombs, roadside bombs and drive-by shootings killed at least 12 Iraqis on Monday, most of them soldiers, in attacks launched five days before Iraq's important constitutional referendum, police said.
Five mortar shells also were fired at a hotel in the southern city of Hillah where a U.S. regional embassy office is based, with one round hitting the building and leaving a large hole in a wall, police said. No casualties were reported.
The latest attacks came as Shiite and Kurdish officials continued to negotiate with Sunni Arab leaders over last-minute additions to the constitution, trying to win Sunni support ahead of next weekend's referendum. U.S. officials were acting as mediators.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iraq
CIA Leak: Karl Rove and the Case of the Missing E-mail
Newsweek
Oct. 17, 2005 issue - The White House's handling of a potentially crucial e-mail sent by senior aide Karl Rove two years ago set off a chain of events that has led special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to summon Rove for a fourth grand jury appearance this week. His return has created heightened concern among White House officials and their allies that Fitzgerald may be preparing to bring indictments when a federal grand jury that has been investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity expires at the end of October. Robert Luskin, Rove's lawyer, tells NEWSWEEK that, in his last conversations with Fitzgerald, the prosecutor assured Luskin "he has not made any decisions."
But lawyers close to the case, who asked not to be identified because it's ongoing, say Fitzgerald appears to be focusing in part on discrepancies in testimony between Rove and Time reporter Matt Cooper about their conversation of July 11, 2003. In Cooper's account, Rove told him the wife of White House critic Joseph Wilson worked at the "agency" on WMD issues and was responsible for sending Wilson on a trip to Niger to check out claims that Iraq was trying to buy uranium. But Rove did not disclose this conversation to the FBI when he was first interviewed by agents in the fall of 2003—nor did he mention it during his first grand jury appearance, says one of the lawyers familiar with Rove's account. (He did not tell President George W. Bush about it either, assuring him that fall only that he was not part of any "scheme" to discredit Wilson by outing his wife, the lawyer says.) But after he testified, Luskin discovered an e-mail Rove had sent that same day—July 11—alerting deputy national-security adviser Stephen Hadley that he had just talked to Cooper, the lawyer says. In the e-mail, Rove said Cooper pushed him on whether the president was being hurt by the Niger controversy. "I didn't take the bait," Rove wrote Hadley, adding that he warned Cooper not to get "far out in front on this." After reviewing the e-mail, Rove then returned to the grand jury last year and reported the Cooper conversation. He testified that the talk was initially about "welfare reform"—a topic mentioned in the e-mail—and that Cooper then changed the subject. Cooper has written that he doesn't recall a discussion of welfare reform.
Why didn't the Rove e-mail surface earlier? The lawyer says it's because an electronic search conducted by the White House missed it because the right "search words" weren't used. (The White House and Fitzgerald both declined to comment.) But the e-mail isn't the only belatedly discovered document in the case. Fitzgerald has also summoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller back for questioning this week: a notebook was discovered in the paper's Washington bureau, reflecting a late June 2003 conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, about Wilson and his trip to Africa, says one of the lawyers. The notebook may also be significant because Wilson's identity was not yet public. A lawyer for the Times declined to comment.
—Michael Isikoff
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.
(image placeholder)
© 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9630676/site/newsweek/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9630676/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098/
Wednesday, January 1, 2003
Phillips defends Saudi donation
By Meg Murphy
Staff Writer
Phillips Academy is defending its decision to take $500,000 from a Saudi Arabian prince for scholarships -- money former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani refused to accept last year for disaster relief following the terrorist attacks.
Critics of Saudi Arabia say the school shouldn't have taken the money -- donated in former President George H.W. Bush's name -- because it is "tainted." They call the donation a public relations move by a kingdom that was home to 15 of the 19 terrorists who attacked New York and Washington Sept. 11, 2001.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated the money in June, and the academy was happy to accept it, said Sharon A. Britton, director of communications at the academy.
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20030101/FP_003.htm
The articles are a little dated but they illustrate the struggle of people in countries where oil drilling rights were issued without regard to civilian rights.
Bush's Oil buddies are murdering Nigerians.
I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS ANY REASON TO DOUBT THE NIGERIAN REFERRED TO AS MILITANTS ARE JUSTIFIED !!
Chevron paid agents who destroyed villages
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/12285441.htm [...]
COMPANY DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR NIGERIAN DEATHS OR INJURIES, SAYING IT PAID ONLY FOR GENERAL SECURITY SERVICES
By Elise Ackerman
Mercury News
The bodies of the dead Nigerian villagers had not yet grown cold when the Nigerian navy captain presented Chevron with a bill: 15,000 naira, or $165 for responding to ``attacks from Opia village against security agents.''
Within 24 hours Chevron paid up. It would be years before the San Ramon-based energy company would acknowledge the role it played in the destruction of Opia and another small village called Ikenyan in Nigeria's oil-rich delta in January 1999.
The receipt for the January 4 army raid, which left four villagers dead and nearly 70 missing and presumed dead, came to light only this summer as part of a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the victims in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It is being reported first on MercuryNews.com. The receipt also is among documents obtained by the Mercury News.
U.S. firm shuts second oil platform in Nigeria
Chevron takes precautions amid militia threats
Friday, September 23, 2005; Posted: 12:00 p.m. EDT (16:00 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/09/23/nigeria.oil.reut/
Ethnic militia leader Moujahid Dokubo-Asari waits for a court hearing in Lagos on Thursday.
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) --Ethnic militants cut deeper into Nigerian oil supply on Friday when U.S.-based Chevron shut a second production platform as a safety precaution after an armed group stormed a nearby facility.
The militants have threatened to blow up oil platforms and pipelines across the world's eighth largest exporter after their leader was arrested on Tuesday, and Western oil companies have withdrawn dozens of workers from vulnerable areas.
Chevron shut the 20,000 barrel-per-day Robertkiri platform on Friday, bringing the total impact of the crisis to 28,400 barrels a day, or 1 percent of Nigeria's output.
Colombia probe fails to clear BP contractor. By Robert Corzine. Wednesday, March 18, 1998
One of British Petroleum's main security contractors in Colombia could face further investigation, after a year-long inquiry failed to clear Defence System Limited (DSL) of the UK of possibly overstepping its role in the country.
However, the investigation found little evidence to support other allegations, such as that BP handed over photographs of participants in local demonstrations to the security services.
A recently completed report from the public prosecutor's office said it was still unclear whether former members of Britain's Special Air Service Regiment - employed by DSL's Colombian subsidiary - had trained members of Colombia's national police in "lethal" operations.
The report said: "To date, this office does not have clear or complete judgment basis to discard or confirm the serious charges of involvement in training national police members. . . and what this means in a situation as serious as the one currently faced by the country." The prosecutor's concern stems from whether former SAS members instructed the police in full counter-insurgency techniques, or whether such training was confined to defensive tactics to protect BP's well sites.
BP requested the prosecutor's report after numerous allegations against its Colombian operations. These included complicity in the murder of local activists opposed to BP's operations in Casanare, where leftwing guerrilla groups have repeatedly attacked the company's Cusiana and Cupiagua oil fields. BP has invested about $2bn in Colombia.
The violence in the oil region has been compounded by the emergence of paramilitary groups - some linked to large landowners - which have targeted small-scale farmers and others allegedly sympathetic to guerrillas. But the report said it was "far-fetched" to believe BP was "secretly sponsoring these forms of violence against peasants and workers".
Although the prosecutor's office concluded there were no preliminary grounds on which to charge BP with criminal offences, it said the investigation could be reopened. BP said it was not clear whether the prosecutor's concern over some aspects of DSL reflected questions about the substance of operations, or whether it resulted from lack of co-operation by Colombian police and DSL staff.
http://www.flyingfish.org.uk/articles/rushdie/98-03-18ft.htm
Oil: A Bird's Eye View Of Rita's Fury
A Helicopter Ride Reveals Partly Flooded Refineries, Smashed Ships, And Blocked Waterways. The Industry's Recovery Will Take A Great Deal Of Time
From Platts Oilgram News
Seeing is believing. The Coast Guard invited Platts on a reconnaissance helicopter this week to observe the damage from Hurricane Rita, which came onshore Sept. 24 as a Category 3 hurricane near the Texas/Louisiana border.
From this four-hour flight, two stark realities emerged: The recovery of energy and shipping infrastructure from Beaumont/Port Arthur to southeastern Louisiana will take a great deal of time, and the Houston/Galveston area dodged a bullet.
The flight left U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston at Ellington Field and headed east from the Houston area to the Port of Beaumont. Along the way, the damage to trees and houses seemed to increase as we got closer to Rita's actual path last weekend. Even in Galveston Bay, a warehouse at a container-ship dock suffered some roof damage due to Rita.
PRIVATE VESSELS SMASHED. The visible damage to electricity transmission lines also worsened as the helicopter continued east, a sign that bringing power back to these affected regions will take some time, slowing the recovery process for oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area.
The overflight for the Port of Beaumont began near the town's center, where Rita damaged the roofs of houses and larger buildings downtown. Shipyard buildings for smaller vessels were torn open, with little but smashed wood left of these privately owned ships.
The 12.5-million-barrel Sunoco (SUN) storage terminal in nearby Nederland, Tex., appeared flooded at most of the tanks.When asked for a comment, a Sunoco spokesman referenced the company's Sept. 26 statement as the most recent update.
STORAGE UNITS FLOODED. Sunoco said then that power was out at its Nederland terminal and it did not know when operations would resume. The company also reported that all storage tanks and dock facilities were found intact in initial assessments, but 10 tanks "suffered some structural damage with varying impacts on capacity." The Nederland terminal lies on the Sabine-Neches waterway between Beaumont and Port Arthur.
The Coast Guard helicopter then flew several times around ExxonMobil's (XOM) 348,500-barrel-per-day Beaumont refinery, where Rita's storm surge and heavy rains flooded much of the refinery grounds and nearby storage units. The refinery flared black smoke from several towers, and other refinery infrastructure appeared downed by the storm.
UNREADY FOR POWER. ExxonMobil reported on Sept. 27 that it was performing assessments at the Beaumont refinery, with priorities including the restoration of water and electricity to run the facilities. "We expect these assessments to be completed later this week, at which time we will have a better understanding of the startup schedule," ExxonMobil said.
Entergy (ETR) noted on Sept. 28 that it will take another day before it can restore power to ExxonMobil's Beaumont refinery. Of the seven refineries knocked off line by Rita in Entergy's territory, only one is ready to accept power again, according to an Entergy spokeswoman.
As the helicopter headed down the Sabine Pass waterway to nearby Port Arthur, Rita's impact on the crucial waterway looked evident. Several barges sank along the Sabine Pass, and barges as well as other watercraft were forced onshore by Rita's winds. The Sabine and Neches river waterways have reopened, but with restrictions.
OBSTRUCTED WATERWAY. From an aerial view, Total's (TOT) 240,000-barrel-per-day Port Arthur refinery was flaring black smoke and inundated with some flooding. There did not appear to be any major structural damage to the refinery, but the storm had downed power lines in the immediate area.
Total said on Sept. 26 that the refinery would remain down for an "extended period of time" but did not specify the damage sustained and declared force majeure on product deliveries.
The flight then headed east along the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway [GICW] to Orange, Tex., near the Texas-Louisiana border. Several portions of the GICW remain closed in Texas and Louisiana due to obstructions. In between Port Arthur and Orange, a downed power line straddled the GICW.
"NUCLEAR WAR" ZONE. Rita's impact on the Port of Orange looked far more severe than that witnessed in Beaumont/Port Arthur. Rita's winds had gutted structures along the port, with barges and ships embanked along the shore.
Southeastern Louisiana appeared to bear the full force of Rita. In the small town of Holly Beach, La., the storm had ripped from their foundations homes along the shore, with no debris remaining. The town was gone. As one of the Coast Guard crew members commented, "It looks like a nuclear war happened here."
The trip ended in Cameron, La., a small town on the Calcasieu River waterway that connects the coast to Lake Charles, La. Rita's eye reportedly passed over Cameron, and the damage left behind indicated such a path. Some storage tanks along the Calcasieu River were crushed, and others lay in the river. The storm had destroyed docks along the Calcasieu and immersed cars and trucks in the river.
RIPPED FROM FOUNDATIONS. The Coast Guard reopened the Calcasieu River north of Cameron on Sept. 26, but the waterway from the coastline to Cameron remained closed due to lack of navigational aids and construction.
The town itself was still flooded severely, with few structures remaining except for the water tower. Homes and businesses had moved off their foundations and splintered into rubble.
The Coast Guard flight then turned west for the 50-minute trip back to Ellington Field. With the afternoon waning, the inside of the helicopter still felt the day's heat.
NEAR MISS. It will take considerable time for the oil and petrochemical hubs of Beaumont/Port Arthur and Orange to return to normal operations. Flooding and a lack of power prevent personnel from returning. Shipping obstructions -- not to mention smaller obstructions such as trees on roads and highways in this area of Texas -- will need to be cleared for vessel traffic to commence.
A bird's-eye view of the destruction Rita left behind in Louisiana is even more sobering. If Rita had continued on its originally forecasted path to hit near the Houston/Galveston area, the damage to critical Houston energy infrastructure would likely have devastated U.S. energy supplies.
http://www.ksat.com/money/5049148/detail.html
continued ...
