Bush nephew arrested for drunkenness

Jeb Bush's Parenting of "Tough Love" seems to sentence his own children to prison.

Austin, Texas: John Ellis Bush, the youngest son of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was arrested early today and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Bush, 21, nephew of President George Bush, was arrested by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at 2.30am yesterday on a corner of a bar district, said sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade.

Bush was released on $US2,500 ($3,285) bond for resisting arrest and personal recognisance bond for the public intoxication charge.

A spokesman for Jeb Bush said the Florida Governor and his wife Columba are concerned about the incident.

"This is a personal family matter which they are dealing with privately," said spokesman Alia Faraj.

Noelle Bush, the Governor's daughter, was arrested in January 2002 and was accused of trying to pass a fraudulent prescription at a Tallahassee pharmacy to obtain an anti-anxiety drug.

She completed a drug rehabilitation program in August 2003 and a judge dismissed the drug charges against her.

Noelle Bush was sent to jail twice for violating rules during her rehab stint.

She was jailed for three days in July 2002 after being caught with prescription pills and served 10 days a month later after being accused of having a small rock of crack cocaine in her shoe.
AP

Noelle Bush, the Xanax Queen.

The Roosters

Morning Papers - It's Origins

Rooster "Crowing"

"Okeydoke"

History

1810 Charles Remond, first full-time Black lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, is born free in Salem, MA.

1893, hundreds of thousands of settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the "Cherokee Strip."

1919, the American Legion was incorporated by an act of Congress.

1923 First Catholic seminary for Black priests is dedicated in Bay St. Louis, MS.

1925 Riley "B.B." King, is born as a sharecropper and raised on a plantation in Mississippi. He will become the ambassador of American blues with his distinctive melodic guitar sound with his release "The Thrill Is Gone"

1950 Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the leading Black intellectuals of his time, is born in Keyser, WV

1974, President Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft-evaders.

1977, Maria Callas, the American-born prima donna famed for her lyric soprano voice and fiery temperament, died in Paris at age 53.

1982, the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children by Lebanese Christian militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps.

Missing in Action

1965 MERRITT RAYMOND J. PORTLAND OR "02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV (SAN GABRIEL, CA)" ALIVE AND WELL 98
1965 RISNER ROBINSON TULSA OK 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 BUCHANAN HUBERT E. INDIANAPOLIS IN 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1966 ROBERTSON JOHN L. SEATTLE WA NVN TOLD SUBJ DIED IN INTERROG
1967 BAGLEY BOBBY R. CUMMING GA 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV DECEASED 12/05/97
1969 TRAMPSKI DONALD J. CHESTERTON IN
1975 BIAGINI FREDERICK J. " RELEASED, DATE UNKNOWN"

The Jerusalem Post

Hamas asserts power in Gaza
By JPOST STAFF AND AP
On Friday afternoon, thousands of masked Hamas gunmen marched in formation at a large victory rally in this empty Jewish settlement Friday, the Islamic terror organization's latest show of strength since Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Channel Two news reported Friday night that the islamist terror organization had also taken up military-like positions along the Philadelphi Route, as well as a rumor that the greenhouses still standing for Palestinian use were preserved because Hamas had warned civilians not to harm the valuable asset.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837397882


PA lawmakers demand cabinet resigns
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian legislators on Thursday demanded the resignation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, holding it responsible for the ongoing state of anarchy and lawlessness in Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.
The demand came as Palestinian security officials confirmed on Thursday that large amounts of weapons and drugs were being smuggled into the Gaza Strip since Israel completed its withdrawal from the area. "Drug traffickers and arms dealers are exploiting the chaos at the Rafah border crossing to smuggle lethal and harmful items," said one official. "The Palestinians security forces have seized large amounts of drugs over the past few days."
"The situation is very dangerous, especially in the Gaza Strip," said Rouhi Fattouh, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. "We are demanding that the Palestinian Authority put an end to security chaos and start collecting illegal weapons. The Palestinian leadership isn't doing enough to impose law and order."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126750770542


Sharon meets with King Abdullah
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST STAFF
United Nations
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Jordan's King Abdullah II at the UN headquarters on Friday morning, just before the king's summit speech in which he called for "zero tolerance" against extremism and said his Arab kingdom is working to promote moderate Islam across the globe.
According to Army Radio, in the course of the meeting, Sharon told Abdullah that Israel opposed Hamas's candidacy in the upcoming Palestinian Authority elections and that the PA now needed help strengthening its economy and building institutions.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126750771024


IDF nabs Palestinian infiltrator
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
Security forces caught one of two Palestinians who infiltrated Moshav Netiv Ha'asera early Friday morning after searching for five hours. The infiltrator was found unarmed near Kibbutz Karmia, four kilometers away from Netiv Ha'asera. He was handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning. Meanwhile security forces continued searching for the second infiltrator, who they believed might still have been in the area.
Around 7 a.m., soldiers spotted signs of infiltration from northern Gaza in Moshav Netiv Ha'asera, near its hothouse area. Residents were called to remain in their homes as security forces began scouring the area for the infiltrators.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837397258


Beirut blast kills one, wounds 23
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT, Lebanon
A bomb exploded in Beirut residential neighborhood late Friday, killing at least one person and wounding 23, police said, in the latest in a string of blasts in the Lebanese capital.
The blast, which went off just before midnight, caused heavy damage to a street in predominantly Christian east Beirut. Several buildings were damaged and at least two cars were completely destroyed. Wounded people could be seen carried to ambulances that rushed to the scene.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837398458


Take back the holy sites
By MICHAEL FREUND
The scenes from Gaza are as ghastly as they were predictable. Energized by Israel's retreat, thousands of Palestinians wasted little time in descending on abandoned Jewish communities, torching yeshivot and bulldozing synagogues in a frenzy of hate and destruction.
Among those leading the charge was none other than Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who dismissed these places of Jewish prayer and study as "empty structures" and vowed that all such buildings would be destroyed.
Indeed, in the former Jewish community of Netzarim, Palestinian policemen chose not to intervene as rioters assaulted the synagogue, with one Palestinian officer telling a Western journalist: "The people have the right to do what they are doing."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126578007980


The Boston Globe

Off Hanover St., North End comfort food
By Anand Vaishnav, September 15, 2005

Waterfront Cafe
Add your own review
Location: 450 Commercial St., North End / Boston; 617-523-0613
Prices: $4-$14
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Credit Cards: All major credit cards accepted.
Handicap access: Fully accessible.
Strolling through the North End in search of a place to eat can be a daunting experience. After just a few blocks down Hanover Street, the menus begin to blur, and the lines out the doors are intimidating. The neighborhood serves up some of the city's finest cuisine, but sometimes all you want is a freshly made pizza, a pint of beer, and the Sox game on TV.
So keep walking until Hanover Street ends at the waterfront, turn left, and wander into the Waterfront Cafe. The restaurant/bar sits on the edge of the North End, where the city meets the sea, and has won quiet accolades for its simple Italian-American dishes and relaxed atmosphere.

http://www.boston.com/dining/globe_review/1188


Romney stands by mosque comments

By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
BOSTON --Muslim groups and civil libertarians demanded an apology from Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday for his comments about wiretapping mosques and monitoring foreign students. But the governor refused, saying he was only advocating for improved homeland security.
The groups delivered a letter to Romney that said "your desire to wiretap mosques is an affront to the values and principles that make America a great country." The groups include the American Civil Liberties Union and various mosques and Islamic organizations.
After the letter was delivered, spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the governor would not apologize or retract his comments.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/16/romney_stands_by_mosque_comments/


France names Muslim chaplain for prisons
By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
PARIS --France's main Muslim organization has appointed its first national chaplain for prisons, an effort to root out the causes of deadly religious extremism and prevent the spread of Islamic militancy behind bars.
Speaking to reporters Friday for the first time since his hiring last week, Moulay El Hassan El Alaoui -- a Moroccan-born high school math teacher -- said that Muslims make up about half the 56,000 inmates in French jails and that one of his top priorities will be "teaching about how to interpret the Quran."
The government hopes his selection will help improve religious counseling for imprisoned Muslims, though authorities do not keep figures on the religious affiliation of inmates, in accordance with French laws that guarantee state secularism.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/france_names_muslim_chaplain_for_prisons/


Greenland premier calls early elections
September 16, 2005
COPENHAGEN, Denmark --Premier Hans Enoksen called early elections after Greenland's governing coalition collapsed after a scandal over the misuse of public funds forced two cabinet members to quit.
The election of a new 31-member Landsting, Greenland's parliament, will be held Nov. 22, Enoksen said Thursday.
The split between Enoksen's social democratic Siumut party and junior partner Inuit Ataqatigiit stems from a scandal involving the ministers for fisheries and hunting, and for housing and infrastructure.
Both resigned in recent months following allegations they used government funds for personal expenses, including alcohol and dinners. Greenland is a semi-independent Danish territory.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/greenland_premier_calls_early_elections/


Flash flood watch issued as Tropical Storm Ophelia heads north
By Boston.com Staff And Wire Reports September 16, 2005
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for extreme southeast Massachusetts until 6 p.m. tonight, as Tropical Storm Ophelia slowly churns its way up the coast.
Torrential downpours of 2 to 4 inches of rain per hour are expected this afternoon over Cape Cod, the islands and Plymouth County.
The weather service warns that flash flooding is very dangerous, particularly for motorists. Officials there say drivers should be careful not to drive over roadways that are covered with water as water depths may be too great to allow cars to pass.

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/09/16/cape_cod_takes_precautions_as_tropical_storm_ophelia_heads_north/


A MODERN DAY WITCH HUNT - THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD COME TO MASSACHUSETTS EXCLUSIVELY. THEY COULD HOLD THEIR HEARING IN SALEM !!

Vatican bid to find gays in seminary stirs concern
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff September 16, 2005
An effort by the Vatican to look for evidence of homosexuality in Catholic seminaries is alarming gay rights advocates but is pleasing conservatives, who are hoping that Pope Benedict XVI will soon issue a ban on gay men as future priests.
The planned search for homosexuality is part of a Vatican review prompted by the clergy sexual abuse crisis of 229 American seminaries, theology schools, and other institutions that train priests. It is set to begin this month.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/16/vatican_bid_to_find_gays_in_seminary_stirs_concern/


Hurricane cleanup costs worry conservatives
By Richard Cowan September 16, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill are worried about the growing costs of rebuilding the storm-ravaged U.S. Gulf Coast, and want to pay for it by cutting domestic spending on programs like a new prescription drug benefit for the elderly.
"It's not an exaggeration to say that we're on the verge of a meltdown," said John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who has threatened to hold up emergency spending bills to pay for the reconstruction unless offsetting budget cuts are found.
Fiscal conservatives in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are concerned the costs of rebuilding roads, utilities, businesses and homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina will swell an already large U.S. budget deficit.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/16/hurricane_cleanup_costs_worry_conservatives/


Corruption a worry as Katrina aid flows
By Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La. --The sudden flow of billions of dollars in hurricane relief aid into New Orleans has raised fears that some of it is going to be lost to graft and sticky fingers in a state with a long and rich history of corruption.
A group of current and former state officials is calling for more safeguards, more transparency in spending and the appointment of independent analysts to avoid corruption and keep the state out of trouble.
"If we don't do this properly, we're going to see the second looting of areas impacted by this horrible storm," said Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/16/corruption_a_worry_as_katrina_aid_flows/


Katrina Bush Highlights
By The Associated Press September 16, 2005
Summaries of some of the major proposals President Bush has put forward to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina:
The administration will ask Congress for a $2.6 billion package to cover the costs of educating an estimated 372,000 students whose schools were destroyed by Katrina. The administration wants the money to compensate public school districts and private schools that take in evacuated students. The proposal to compensate private schools is certain to re-ignite the "school voucher" battle over providing public money to private schools.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/16/summaries_of_bushs_katrina_proposals/


Ukraine honors journalist slain in 2000
By Natasha Lisova, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine --Ukraine marked the fifth anniversary Friday of the unsolved murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, whose abduction and beheading sparked the biggest scandal of former President Leonid Kuchma's rule.
Journalists, politicians and activists gathered at the forest edge outside the capital where Gongadze's headless body was found in 2000, 50 days after he disappeared.
"People must know the whole truth about the crime. ... Then they will trust the new authorities," said Oleksandr Moroz, lawmaker and leader of the Socialist Party.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/ukraine_remembers_journalists_abduction/


Kashmir enjoying a peaceful summer
By Neelesh Misra and Mujtaba Ali Ahmad, Associated Press Writers September 16, 2005
SRINAGAR, India --Of all the signs the India-Pakistan peace process is producing tangible results, one stands out: Kashmir is running low on chickens.
Chickens are the key ingredient in the traditional Kashmiri wedding feast, and with the region experiencing its most peaceful summer since the start of its Islamic insurgency in 1989, this year's wedding season is among the most festive in years.
Kashmir lies at the heart of the India-Pakistan rivalry -- the neighbors have fought two wars over the predominantly Muslim region, which is split between them but claimed by both.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/09/16/kashmir_enjoying_a_peaceful_summer/


U.S. Marine killed in explosion in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq --A U.S. Marine was killed in an explosion in the volatile western province of al-Anbar, the military said Friday.
The Marine, assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed Thursday in an "indirect fire explosion" in Forward Operating Base Camp Ramadi, Iraq, the military said in a statement. His identity was not released pending notification of next of kin.
The latest death raises to 1,898 the number of U.S. troops killed since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,473 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/16/us_marine_killed_in_explosion_in_iraq/


The Cheney Observer

Rove: Remember That Story?
Submitted by editor on September 15, 2005 - 1:46pm.
By Matthew Wheeland
Source: AlterNet
Over at DailyKos, Congressman John Conyers, who has long been one of the most outspoken voices calling for accountability in the Bush Administration, has new developments in the Rove-Plame scandal.
Starting tomorrow and stretching through next week, 4 House Committees are expected to vote on resolutions addressing the Valerie Plame leak. Specifically, these resolutions demand information from the Bush Administration on the outing of Valerie Plame in apparent retaliation for Ambassador Wilson's truth telling concerning weapons of mass destruction. The Bush Administration refuses to police itself in the midst of criminal and ethical misconduct and it is time for Congress to exercise its duty to oversee the Executive Branch.
Conyers also lists times and websites where you can watch and listen to these discussions, and explains why this is a crucial step:

http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/1021


Will we allow more of the same?
By Deborah E. Gauthier/ News Staff Writer
Thursday, September 15, 2005
George W. Bush has done a lot of damage in the five short years he's been president. A wiser man would recognize his shortcomings and resign, but Bush is not a wise man.
What good would his resignation do at this point, anyway? Next in line for the presidency is Dick Cheney, the man who holds the strings to puppet Bush, a man held in high regard by oilmen and warlords who are making a fortune through Bush/Cheney policies.
And where is our second-in-command? Cheney hasn't said one word about the ongoing disaster on the Gulf Coast. He hasn't made one personal appearance to assure victims of Hurricane Katrina that there is help. He hasn't been seen on CNN defending the federal government's slow response to the hurricane disaster.

http://www.townonline.com/shrewsbury/opinion/view.bg?articleid=322851


Follow the money for the real story
Molly Ivins, Creators Syndicate
Published September 15, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- Here's a good idea: Consumer groups and progressive congressfolks have joined in an effort to stop hundreds of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina from being further harmed by the new bankruptcy law, scheduled to take effect Oct. 17. This law was written of, by and for the consumer credit industry and is particularly onerous for the poor.
The bill was passed with massive support from the Republican leadership in Congress and from a disgusting number of sellout Democrats. While it was being considered in committee earlier this year, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) offered an amendment to protect victims of natural disasters. It was defeated, without debate, on a party-line vote.
Now, Congress has a chance to rethink some of the most punitive parts of the bill. Katrina victims who were planning to file before the new law goes into effect are out of luck--where are they gonna find a lawyer, let alone an open courthouse?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509150092sep15,1,3603154.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed


Senate Democrats to investigate Halliburton
by PageOneQ
United States Senator Byrond Dorgan of North DaKota has announced that the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee will meet to examine the demotion of an emloyee of Halliburon, the large government contracting company formerly headed by ce President Dick Cheney.
In a report released by the Equality Forum, Halliburton was cited as just one of 8% of companies in the Fortune 500 to not have a policy protectting employees from descrimination within the company on the basis of sexual orientation. (PageOneQ: Wendys and Halliburton among small percentage of Fortune 500 companies not protecting gays.

http://pageoneq.com/news/2005/Halliburton_091505.html


Peace activist from Texas may have to pay for his deportation
SYDNEY, Australia -- An American peace activist who was removed from Australia after being labeled a security threat may have to pay more than 11,000 Australian dollars, or $8,435 in U.S. dollars, for his deportation, his lawyer said Friday.
Scott Parkin, of Houston, was removed from Australia on Thursday after he was arrested five days earlier and told his tourist visa had been canceled because he posed a threat to national security.

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3857396


Cashing in on the blame
YOU KNOW THE world is out of whack when it takes resume inflation to finally move Michael Brown out of his job running FEMA.
You'd think letting thousands of people suffer and die over four days without food, water, medicine or airlifts would have prompted President Bush to declare, "Brownie, you're fired." Instead, it wasn't until Time magazine reported that Brown's bio listed him as assistant city manager rather than assistant to the city manager that Brown was given the heave-ho from running Katrina operations on Sept. 9. He resigned from FEMA three days later.

But the world is really strange when the person responsible finally accepts responsibility and that's headline news. "Bush Accepts Blame for Slow Hurricane Response," heralded the Los Angeles Times, and congratulations to the president were all over TV. You'd think he had said he was going to get rid of anyone on whose watch those 34 invalids at St. Rita's Nursing Home died.
Hardly, but Bush has realized that stubborn denial coupled with boyish mannerisms aren't enough when we can see the bodies floating in black water and feel the misery of people who trusted the government to help them.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carlson15sep15,0,3539272.column


Kuwait Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Hands $25 Million Check to Former U.S. Presidents Co-Chairing Katrina Fund
9/15/2005 4:53:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Dr. Fatma Al-Khalifa of the Kuwait Information Office, 202-338-021l ext. 210 or 207 or kio@kuwait-info.org
NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- This morning Kuwait's Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah presented former President George Herbert Walker Bush and former President Bill Clinton a $25 million (US dollars) check for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. The check was the first payment toward fulfilling the State of Kuwait's historic $500 million (USD) pledge toward post-Katrina relief and reconstruction.
This pledge is the largest such gift to date, and today the first part of it was presented by the Prime Minister on behalf of Kuwait's Emir or leader, Shaikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The size and swiftness of Kuwait's pledge caused President Clinton to express "profound appreciation" to Kuwait, saying that the donation testifies to "the depth of relationships" between the two countries.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53444


DeLay's Sick Joke
Leadership: When House Majority Leader Tom DeLay declared "ongoing victory" over spending and suggested there's nothing much left to cut, we thought he was kidding. As it turns out, he wasn't. So the joke's on us.
Perhaps it's a sign of Washington's corrupting influence on someone who seemed like a pretty common-sense guy. But DeLay's comments beggar the imagination.
Does he really think nothing else can be cut from a budget that's exploded in recent years? Does he really believe the GOP, the party in power since 1995, has been a good steward of the public's scarce resources, when you look at 2005 spending and see nearly 14,000 individual pork projects totaling $27.3 billion?

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&issue=20050915


Why the Leak Probe Matters

For all the complexities of the Valerie Plame case, this story is about how easy it was to get into Iraq, and how hard it will be to get out.
By Jonathan Alter

July 25 issue - Like a lot of President Bush's critics, I supported the Iraq war at first. Because of the evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction laid out by Colin Powell, I agreed that we needed to disarm Saddam Hussein. I even think it's possible that 25 years from now, historians will conclude that the Iraq war helped accelerate the modernizing of the Middle East, even if it doesn't fully democratize it.

But if that happens, Bush might not get as much credit as he hopes, and not just because most historians, as Richard Nixon liked to say, are liberals. Bush may look bad because his leadership on Iraq has been a fiasco. He didn't plan for it: the early decisions that allowed the insurgency to get going were breathtakingly incompetent. He didn't pay for it: Bush is the first president in history to cut taxes during a war, this one now costing nearly $1 billion a week. And most important of all, he didn't tell the American people the truth about it: taking a nation to war is the most solemn duty of a president, and he'd better make certain there's no alternative and no doubt about the evidence.

http://www.wnymedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&Itemid=35


Bush Corporate Government Seizes Katrina Opportunity

By Greg Tarpinian
Related Stories: Capitalism
9-15-05, 8:36 am

With people still stranded on rooftops and bodies floating in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration did what it has always done best: it moved with lightning speed to dole out lucrative contracts to private corporations.

The corporate community has always understood that its interests come first in the nation created by the Bush administration. Stock prices for Halliburton and Baker Hughes soared when the levees broke in New Orleans. Helicopters were in the air assessing the damage to oil rigs while people below were drowning in their homes.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1843/1/120/


Editorial: Corporate looters

Shaw Group, Fluor, Bechtel, Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR are flocking like vultures to feast on the $62 billion or more in federal contracts to rebuild the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina. These “no bid” contracts are nothing less than a looting of the public till.

Bush is sweetening the pot by suspending the Davis-Bacon Act for the region. The act requires contractors to pay the prevailing wage for any project funded by the federal government. The savings will flow into the coffers of these huge corporations, all heavy contributors to the Bush-Cheney campaigns and the Republican Party.

Already, KBR has grabbed a $500 million Pentagon contract to clean up damage done to Navy shipyards in Mississippi. Shaw was granted a $100 million to build temporary housing for some of the million homeless victims of Katrina. FEMA refuses to release any details on how these contracts have been negotiated.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7729/1/286


Workers to sample nuclear hot spot

Radioactive site set for excavation after testing
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
September 15, 2005
OAK RIDGE - Workers will take samples from a troublesome hot spot next month in hopes of excavating the radioactive site - smack dab in the middle of Oak Ridge National Laboratory - next summer.

Bechtel Jacobs Co. plans to remove an empty 4,000-gallon waste tank and 200 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil from an area associated with the lab's early nuclear operations. Bechtel Jacobs is the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental manager in Oak Ridge.

Officials said they hope the cleanup will eliminate an environmental hazard that's been under study for more than a decade.

The project is sometimes referred to as Corehole 8. That's a reference to a test well drilled years ago that identified an underground plume of radioactive materials in the groundwater not far from the lab's cafeteria.

An attempt to remove the old tank in 2001 was called off after workers encountered unexpectedly high radiation fields during the digging.

John Owsley, the state's environmental oversight chief in Oak Ridge, said the area contains a number of radioactive elements, including plutonium, americium, curium, uranium, cesium and strontium.

The fact that nuclear waste is in contact with the groundwater in the middle of the ORNL complex is unacceptable, he said.

"The state's position is that the material should be in a geologic repository," Owsley said.

Some of the excavated materials will be transported to New Mexico for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

The underground tank at ORNL was used decades ago to hold nuclear fuel leftover from reactor tests. The fuel mix was drained in the 1980s and put into cans for storage in the adjacent Building 3019-A.

According to a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, "The contaminated soil resulted from leakage from a damaged joint in feed piping to the tank."

During the aborted cleanup effort four years ago, radiation was measured at levels as high as 20 rads per hour, board staffers reported. They said safety controls are being developed for the upcoming sampling program to limit the radioactivity of materials brought to the surface at any one time.

Owsley said DOE, as part of the Federal Facilities Agreement in Oak Ridge, is required to submit plans in January 2006 that will outline the cleanup activities and disposal of nuclear wastes.

"We expect them to begin excavation in May," the state official said. "We've been working on this for quite some time."

Although the location and extent of the contamination is a concern, Owsley said the situation is stable at present.

"The contaminated soil was covered in such a way that it didn't continue to leach into the environment," he said.

Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, said workers plan to sample soils around the tank in early October to better characterize what radioactive isotopes are present and their concentrations.

Those samples will help determine where the excavated wastes will be disposed, Hill said.

The so-called transuranic wastes, long-lived radioactive materials such as plutonium and americium, will be sent to WIPP, a deep-underground waste repository. The radioactive materials categorized as low-level waste will be transported to the nuclear landfill on DOE's Oak Ridge reservation.

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4081489,00.html


Refugee’ vs. ‘evacuee’: Words do hurt
Delores MCCain
The effects of Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster, has the whole world talking. And it appears there is enough blame to go around, particularly when it comes to our U.S. government. In addition to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama becoming victims of this natural disaster, another nightmare began after the hurricane passed out of the gulf coast. People of the gulf states were now being referred to as "refugees," as if they were not American citizens.

http://austinweeklynews.1upsoftware.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=316&TM=46285.03

continued …

August 31, 2005. Sister Mt. 10150 foot summit. The pool is actually the bottom of a melting glacier. As the melting glacier fills the bowl it runs off over the sides of the cliff. One can easily discern the small riverbed in the ice leading to the cliff. Odd set of discriptors of a glacier, "River Bed." 

September 13, 2005. The Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Fog settling in over mountains.

September 5, 2005. The Great Sand Dunes, Colorado.

President Putin blasts USA for attack into Iraq without UN approval - report page down

September 15, 2005.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addressed the United Nations. He was compelling. He is annoyed with the United States to say the least. The United States needs to engage with every other country in the world in Non-Proliferation.

Morning Papers - continued ...

China Daily

Hu calls for a harmonious world at summit
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-09-16 05:59
NEW YORK: Multilateralism, mutually beneficial co-operation and the sprit of inclusiveness should be upheld in realizing common security and prosperity and in building a harmonious world, President Hu Jintao said yesterday.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/16/content_478349.htm


US envoy: Nuke talks still 'in business'
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-16 17:03
BEIJING - The chief U.S. envoy to talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program met Friday with his North Korean counterpart in an effort to break a stalemate. Afterward he declared the negotiations still "in business."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/16/content_478554.htm


China offers revised disarmament proposal
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-16 18:47
The chief U.S. envoy to talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program met Friday with his North Korean counterpart as host China proposed a compromise aimed at ending a stalemate, the Associated Press reported.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/16/content_478565.htm


More commitment for poverty alleviation
China Daily Updated: 2005-09-16 06:00
President Hu Jintao on Wednesday announced China's five-component package to aid less-developed nations at the summit on the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations.
The package, which included tariff-free trade, debt relief, preferential credits as well as medical support and personnel training, is much bigger and more comprehensive than the programmes China had allocated itself for the same purposes.
As a developing country, China, despite declining numbers, still has a large population living in poverty, and it is therefore offering what it can in this regard.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/16/content_478373.htm


China's economic miracle will continue - OECD
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-16 15:49
China's 25-year economic miracle is likely to be sustained for "some time" and its booming economy should grow by 9.0 percent this year and 9.2 percent in 2006, an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report says.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/16/content_478536.htm


Concord Monitor

Family, friends mourn EEE victim
She's first in state to die this year
By JOELLE FARRELL
Monitor staff
September 13. 2005 4:15PM
Kelly Labell, 20, a receptionist at a Stratham Honda dealership, called in sick on Sept. 2, but she ended up coming in anyway to cover for an ill coworker. Her body ached with what she thought was the flu, and her head hurt so much that she cried a little, said Jim Lurvey, the general manager of the dealership, the Honda Barn and Nissan of Stratham.
A week later, Labell was dead. The Newton woman was the first person in the state to die this year from Eastern equine encephalitis, or Triple E, a mosquito-borne illness that kills about a third of the people it infects. Four other people contracted the disease this summer, but all, including a Concord man and a 4-year-old Goffstown boy, recovered.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/REPOSITORY/509130370/1221


Curb appeal? Not exactly
City admits gaffe in Mountain Road work
By ERIC MOSKOWITZ
Monitor staff
September 15. 2005 8:00AM
fter the paving crew departed Mountain Road this summer, the residents on the stretch south of Concord Country Club found that the gravel shoulders had been eliminated, with asphalt curbing left in their place. The curbs cut off passage for the pedestrians and bicyclists who had long relied on the shoulder for safety. They also ran across driveways, prohibited on-street parking and forced residents to step into the roadway to reach their mailboxes, which the city had moved close to the curb. Suffice it to say, people were upset.
But after surprising residents with the project, officials have mended relations with them. A series of front-lawn meetings led to a proposal to remove the curbs and extend the sidewalk on Mountain Road as far as Concord Country Club. The $120,000 plan, endorsed by the city administration, is awaiting approval by the city council.

http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050915/REPOSITORY/509150366/1031


British Authorities Detain Seven Men
By ED JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) -- British authorities detained seven foreigners Thursday for deportation as threats to national security, and the government backed a police proposal to hold terror suspects for up to three months without charge.
Civil rights activists condemned the idea of increasing detentions from the current 14 days, which was in legislation unveiled by Home Secretary Charles Clarke to toughen anti-terrorism laws after the deadly July 7 bombing attacks on London commuters.
If approved by Parliament, the Counter-Terrorism Bill also would outlaw "indirect incitement" of terrorism and "glorifying" violence - provisions aimed at extremist Islamic clerics accused of seducing youths into militant activities.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRITAIN_TERROR_LAWS?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


FBI Experts Testify at Trial in Ireland
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
Associated Press Writer
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Arabic-language plans for a bomb hidden in a baby's milk bottle could produce an explosion strong enough to destroy an airliner, U.S. experts testified Wednesday in the trial of an Algerian man accused of links to al-Qaida.
Abbas Boutrab, 32, was arrested near Belfast in 2003 with 25 computer disks filled with instructions on building compact bombs and other weapons and on smuggling them onto a plane. He denies any terrorism links, insisting he downloaded the material from the Internet out of curiosity.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NIRELAND_AL_QAIDA_SUSPECT?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


World Leaders Sign Nuke Terrorism Treaty
By KIM GAMEL
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- World leaders began signing a global treaty Wednesday making it a crime to possess radioactive material or weapons with the intention of committing a terrorist act or to damage a nuclear facility.
The Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism was the 13th anti-terrorism treaty to be adopted by the U.N. General Assembly but the first since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country sponsored the seven-year effort leading to the treaty's adoption by consensus in April, was the first leader to sign the document Wednesday morning at a desk in a makeshift hall on the sidelines of the U.N. summit.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_NUCLEAR_TERRORISM?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Main Points of Nuclear Terrorism Treaty
Main points of International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism:
-Outlaws possession of radioactive material with the intent of killing or seriously injuring someone or of causing substantial damage property or the environment.
-Makes it illegal to use or damage a nuclear facility with the intent of killing or seriously injuring someone, substantially damaging the environment, or coercing a person, organization or a state to do something.
-Does not cover nuclear attacks committed within a single state by citizens of that nation and no victim is from another country. Also excludes activities of military forces during armed conflict.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_NUCLEAR_TERRORISM_GLANCE?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Ice Cream Shop Terror Suspect Trial Starts
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Yemeni immigrant ice cream shop owner accused of illegally funneling $21.9 million overseas successfully fought to keep prosecutors from introducing evidence allegedly linking him to terrorist groups as his trial began Tuesday.
Abad Elfgeeh, 50, is accused of transmitting money around the world without a license from a dozen bank accounts linked to his Brooklyn storefront. Prosecutors have said his business was used by a Yemeni cleric convicted earlier this year of a scheme to fund al-Qaida and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERROR_WAR_ICE_CREAM_SHOP?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Two Plead Not Guilty to Terrorism Charges
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press Writer
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- Two men pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges alleging they planned terrorist attacks against military facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other targets in the Los Angeles area.
Levar Haley Washington, 25, and Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, were ordered held without bail after their pleas in U.S. District Court.
"In the name of Allah, I plead not guilty," Washington said before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato.
Prosecutors contend the plot was orchestrated by Washington, Patterson and Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, at the behest of Kevin James, an inmate of the California State Prison, Sacramento. James, 29, founded the radical group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERRORISM_PROBE?SITE=NHCON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


International Herald Tribune

Democrats question Roberts on his candor
WASHINGTON Judge John Roberts Jr., the prospective chief justice of the United States, tried Thursday to win over wary Senate Democrats who questioned his candor and the depth of his commitment to minority rights.
Judge Roberts told one of the Democrats, a skeptical Senator Edward Kennedy, at his confirmation hearing that he did indeed believe in affirmative action, as demonstrated in part by his work as a private lawyer to guide minority students through the rigors of law school

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/15/news/scotus.php


Schröder assails his foe's tax proposals
NUREMBERG Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lit into his conservative opponents on Thursday as Germany's national campaign entered its final days, promising to balance the need to continue economic reform with the attention to equality and social justice that is popular among his Social Democrats.
In a wide-ranging stump speech that garnered the heartiest cheers when he promised to keep Germany out of war, Schröder hammered away at a proposal by the conservative Christian Democrats to sweep away deductions in favor of a simplified tax system.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/15/news/schroder.php


Bush Takes Responsibility; Evacuees Claim They Were Shot At
By Kevin Harris
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2005
President Bush will address the nation from Louisiana on Thursday and offer a public already unsatisfied with the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, an updated assessment on recovery efforts in the region, the White House announced yesterday.
The announcement came one day after Mike Brown, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), resigned from his post amid a flurry of accusations from lawmakers and the public who said he and other state and local government officials were to slow in responding to the hurricane.
President Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday that some of the blame should fall on his shoulders. "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at a news conference from the White House. "To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

http://www.thehilltoponline.com/media/paper590/news/2005/09/14/NationWorld/Bush-Takes.Responsibility.Evacuees.Claim.They.Were.Shot.At-984156.shtml


My Rebuttal

"THE PRESIDENCY OF CONS"

Mr. Bush in New Orleans

Time enough has gone by and the natives have complained enough. It is time to set down the 'acceptable' ground rules that fuels "The Party" and not the nation.

A huge spending program in the very place that is so confused whom is on their side they keep voting RED.

Governor Haley Barbour is the worst person to oversee any reconstruction effort of Mississippi as he is a PRACTICED BUBBA who will feed the 'Good Ole Boy' network without caring for the very people who were neglected in the first place.

Senator Obama has proposed an Oversight Committee to INSURE the best outcome for the people and not "The Party." Senator Vitter knows all too well how a corrupt system within a state can cause and enforce poverty and he has already spoken out against it. I applaud both of them to realize the country who cares has to work with the very government that DIDN'T act in the best interest of the people of the Gulf Coast.

Bush is a horrible president. Ophelia is a Global Warming Storm and one of the reasons he is dumping huge amounts of money into the PRIVATE sector is that the oil companies of the Lousiana Gulf needs to rebuild. Little of interest is the people EXCEPT from the selling point of the politics.

The USA is between a rock and a hard place. It has placed in leadership THE MOST EXPLOITIVE government it could have elected on the basis of fear. The fear they feel is nurtured and harvested by Bush on a regular basis. This is one of those times.

The people of the Gulf Coast does not need people who walk all over their polluted Mississippi Mud they need people who will rebuild the wetlands and levees as well as a 'shining' new 'gold plated' city fit for a Neocon King !

"Turning the funds over to state and local governments isn't the answer, either. F.D.R. actually made a point of taking control away from local politicians; then as now, patronage played a big role in local politics."

The Red States are among the most corrupt. This gives a chance for preceding Democrats to come to the forefront to take charge and any program that comes the way of the victims work in their favor. By making the governments 'toe the line' doing what is best for the people of the Gulf Coast including rebuilding the wetlands and levees they will make friends all along the way.

The Democrats have had to find ways of working with Red State Corruption and this is finally their chance to purge these states of it. It is what sends 'shivers' down the spine of the president and his veep and is what caused 'the staging' to 'His Base' yesterday evening. Every Southern Bubba loves the look of a Plantation house !

In developing a new economy for The Gulf Coast realizing the oil industry drilling sunk New Orleans in the first place they can firt contemplate the new 'idea' DC is circulating; what does one do with all that refuse? I can't get it out of my mind that the first plans anyone has for these areas is to first create a foundation for a huge landfill by bulldozing the ruins and filling in atop of all that.

It's a scary thought when one realizes Alabama already has the largest toxic landfills in the country while also realizing Bush has no respect for the environment at all. Literally what could happen here is to turn the Gulf Coast into a huge landfill to benefit the fifty states and providing an income trucking in tons upon tons of refuse only to leach to the Gulf Coast waters.

Realizing this is Bush compliments of every Southern and Bigoted Bubba via Rove anything is possible and probably will be.

The Moscow Times

Putin Calls Terror a Threat to Rights
Combined Reports
Rick Wilking / Reuters
President Vladimir Putin addressing the UN Assembly in New York on Thursday. He said the UN Security Council should focus on counter-terrorism efforts.
(image placeholder)
UNITED NATIONS -- Terrorism is the main threat to human rights and development, and the UN Security Council must be at the center of global efforts to fight it, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday in his address to a United Nations summit.
But governments alone are not enough to counter the threat, Putin said. Religious and civic groups as well as media, cultural and humanitarian organizations must all play a role, he said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/001.html


Russia Today Television Misses Launch Date
By Stephen Boykewich
Staff Writer
Sergey Ponomarev / AP
Yury Novosyolov, left, Margarita Simonyan and Michael Alexander speaking at Russia Today's offices on Thursday.
(image placeholder)
Russia Today, the state-funded English-language satellite television station, missed its planned launch date Thursday, and the station's directors worked to put a positive spin on what was instead the start of a round-the-clock technical rehearsal.
"Today, we're beginning the technical broadcast, but we don't want to give a definite date for the full launch now because of problems we may still encounter," Margarita Simonyan, Russia Today's 25-year-old editor, told reporters during a tour of the station's headquarters at the RIA-Novosti state news agency.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/002.html


Moscow will help Afghanistan whatever the election outcome - parliamentarian
RIA NOVOSTI. September 16, 2005, 8:43 PM
MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will continue its assistance to Afghanistan regardless of the outcome of the September 18 parliamentary election, a member of Russia's upper house of parliament said Friday.
Mikhail Margelov, head of the foreign relations committee in the Federation Council, said the elections would legitimize democratic processes in Afghanistan, but would not bring "absolute stability."
It is unlikely that terrorist groups will stop operating in the country anytime soon, and its highland areas will remain a threat to regional security, Margelov said. This is why "the need for Russian involvement in Afghan internal processes will remain" in the years to come.
Margelov said Russia's objectives included hunting down remnants of the Taliban, preventing drug trafficking, and restoring stability to the country and the surrounding region

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html


Ex-President Yeltsin to have sutures removed Monday
RIA NOVOSTI. September 16, 2005, 8:05 PM
MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - First Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who underwent surgery for a hip fracture last week, will have sutures removed Monday, Valery Zolotov, chief physician at the Kremlin hospital, said Friday.
Yeltsin is expected to be discharged from the hospital early next week.
Zolotov said the former president was in "quite a satisfactory condition" and in "good spirits."
The doctor said Yeltsin was exercising and could walk with the help of crutches several times a day.
Yeltsin broke his hip while on vacation in Italy September 7

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html


Yukos Gets Bankruptcy Notification
By Catherine Belton
Staff Writer
Judit Polner / Bloomberg
Cars lining up for gas in Samara in August 2004. Yukos received a letter from a Gazprom unit declaring it bankrupt.
(image placeholder)
Lawyers for Yukos were scrambling on Thursday to confirm whether a Gazprom subsidiary had filed a bankruptcy suit against the embattled oil major.
Gazprom subsidiary Orenburggeofizika said that Yukos had been declared bankrupt for nonpayment of debts, according to a letter to Yukos dated Sept. 14, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/041.html


Challenging Taboos
The first Russian staging of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" prompts some strong reactions from the audience.
By John Freedman
Published: September 16, 2005
I am of two sharply conflicted minds about Joel Lehtonen's production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues." On one hand it strikes me as one of the lamest pieces of theater I have seen in some time; on the other I was appalled, even indignant, about the reception many afforded it on opening night last week.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/109.html


Field of Dreams
The organizers of a Kremlin-backed exhibition devoted to contemporary Russian sculpture hope to see more such works in Moscow's public places.
By Brian Droitcour
Published: September 16, 2005
Don't let the horses out to graze: There's contemporary art in that there field. For "ArtPole," an exhibition organized by Aidan Gallery, two dozen sculptures have been arranged in a grassy 500-square-meter field belonging to the First Stud Farm, 25 kilometers outside of Moscow along the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Shosse. Kremlin support for the exhibition has given hope to its organizers and sympathizers, who lament the lack of contemporary art in Moscow's public places and want their city to have something like the sculpture-filled fountain in front of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/102.html


Training Girls for Victory
A U.S.-made documentary profiles the dilapidated club that gave rise to Russia's reigning female tennis stars.
By Anna Malpas
Published: September 16, 2005
When Philip Johnston made his documentary "Anna's Army: Behind the Rise of Russian Women's Tennis," he geared it to appeal to viewers in his native United States. But the film, which traces the careers of players such as Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova, has now been picked up by a Russian television channel and will be shown this weekend.
The 51-minute film is due to air on Ren-TV Saturday, the same day that the national team begins playing in the final of the international women's team competition, the Fed Cup. In his documentary, Johnston focuses on the fact that three team members -- Anastasia Myskina, Yelena Dementyeva and Dinara Safina -- trained together with Kournikova as children at the same dilapidated Moscow club, Spartak.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/16/107.html

continued …

September 16, 2005. The reach of "Ophelia" shrouding Jersey City, New Jersey. 

September 16, 2005. Daybreak at Jersey City, New Jersey. 

Morning Papers - continued ...

The Philadelphia Inquirer


More homes in Pa. facing this winter with no heat
Report suggests the new law on shutoffs could leave many households without service.By Jeff GellesInquirer Staff Writer
About 100,000 households in Pennsylvania - 50 percent more than at the same time last year - are likely to lack utility service on Nov. 1, on the eve of a heating season in which consumers will face record oil and natural-gas prices, according to a report by a former member of the state Public Utility Commission.
If past patterns hold, that means more than 20,000 households could still be without heat by mid-December. But if Pennsylvania utilities exercise their new rights under a 2004 law easing limits on cold-weather shutoffs, the number could be much larger and "there could be catastrophic consequences for the Commonwealth," says the report by the former commissioner, Joseph Rhodes Jr.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12657640.htm


Rendell targets tax relief

The governor is expected to call a rare, special session today.By Mario F. Cattabiani, Amy Worden and Angela CouloumbisInquirer Staff Writers
HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell is expected today to call for a special legislative session to find a way to deliver property-tax relief, a problem that has plagued homeowners and confounded politicians for decades.
At a news conference at the Drexel Hill house of an elderly couple, Rendell is expected to push for fixes needed to make his signature property-tax plan, which is tied to slot machine revenue, workable.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12657670.htm


Editorial Flight 93 MemorialThe critics are off base

Conservative blogs have been blistering the memorial design chosen to commemorate Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane courageously diverted from its Washington target to crash in a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Critics have honed in on the crescent shape of one part of the memorial, declaring it a radical Islamic symbol honoring the terrorists instead of the heroes who gave their lives to save the U.S. Capitol or White House.
That's preposterous.
They're obviously overlooking what the Flight 93 families and memorial selection juries saw when they picked Los Angeles architect Paul Murdoch's design over 1,000 others submitted:
The tower with 40 wind chimes, commemorating the whispered cell-phone good-byes;

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/12657697.htm


Michael Moore Today


A Bright Spot in Bush World

Amid the Miserable Failures on the Same PlanetA Message from Cindy Sheehan
It has been one month and one week since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. I can hardly believe it when I think of it myself. So much has happened in that time, and really, so little.
I got to Camp Casey III in Covington, La today, after getting up at 3am to head for the airport. Now it is 3am the next day and we are driving in a car to try and find a hotel to sleep anywhere around Jackson, Miss. I was prepared to be shocked by what I saw in Louisiana, but I guess one can never really fully prepare for such devastation and tragedy. After living in a country your entire life it is so difficult to see such callous indifference on an immense scale. When I reflect on how the mother of the imbecile who is running our country said that the people who are in the Astrodome are happy to be there, it angers me beyond comparison. The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=503


G.O.P. Split Over Big Plans for Storm Spending

By Carl Hulse / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - The drive to pour tens of billions of federal dollars into rebuilding the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast is widening a fissure among Republicans over fiscal policy, with more of them expressing worry about unbridled spending.
On Thursday, before President Bush's speech about his vision of the post-storm recovery, fiscal conservatives from the House and Senate joined budget watchdog groups in demanding that the administration offer ways to offset the money being provided for the region and be more judicious in asking for taxpayer dollars. In his address from New Orleans, besides laying out a sweeping federal role in the recovery, the president emphasized the importance of private entrepreneurship to create jobs "and help break the cycle of poverty."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4117


Deaconess, 73, Jailed for Alleged Looting

By Kevin McGill and John Solomon / Associated Press
KENNER, La. - Merlene Maten undoubtedly stands out in the prison where she has been held since Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never before in trouble with the law, now sleeps among hardened criminals. Her bail is a stiff $50,000.
Her offense?
Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli the day after Katrina struck.
Family and eyewitnesses have a different story. They say Maten is an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat but was wrongly handcuffed by tired, frustrated officers who couldn't catch younger looters at a nearby store.
Not even the deli owner wants her charged.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4112


Dispute over CIA reform leads to departures

By Bill Gertz
WASHINGTON -- A senior official in the CIA's espionage branch will leave earlier than announced because of a dispute with CIA Director Porter J. Goss on reforms within the agency's spying branch, Bush administration officials said yesterday.
Robert Richer, the associate deputy director of operations, the No. 2 official in the CIA's clandestine service, had planned to retire from the agency effective November, according to a recent announcement to agency employees by Mr. Goss.
However, Mr. Richer now will enter the agency's retirement transition program within two weeks, said officials, who declined to be named.
A CIA spokesman refused to comment.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4111


World Leaders Shake Heads as Reforms to Check Nuclear Arms Spread Dumped

Agence France Presse
Kofi Annan has called it a disgrace and Australian Prime Minister John Howard termed it a major disappointment.
After months of wrangling, world leaders were shaking their heads over the dumping of proposed UN reforms to check nuclear weapons proliferation and disarmament.
Despite increasing concerns over illicit nuclear weapon networks and terrorists seeking weapons of mass destruction, negotiators working for months on a reform package to beef up the United Nations failed to agree on how to revamp global non-proliferation rules.
They adopted a watered-down package of reforms to be endorsed by the leaders of the world attending the 60th anniversary meeting of the global body.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4108


At U.N., Bush Links War on Terrorism to Anti-Poverty Efforts

President Tells World Leaders That U.S. Shares 'a Moral Duty' to Combat Root Causes of Resentment, Violence
By Peter Baker and Colum Lynch
UNITED NATIONS -- President Bush, reaching out to an audience he has antagonized in the past, told the assembled leaders of the world Wednesday that the United States shared "a moral duty" to combat not only terrorism but also the poverty, oppression and hopelessness that give rise to it.
Addressing the United Nations, Bush linked his campaign against terrorism to the anti-poverty agenda advanced by other nations, although he shied away from adopting some of the specific commitments sought by allies. He later took the U.S. seat at the Security Council for the first time in his presidency to emphasize his solidarity with other countries in the struggle against terrorism.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4102

New Zealand Herald


New Orleans centre and French Quarter to reopen
16.09.05 1.00pmBy Kieran Murray
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans central business district and the historic French Quarter will reopen over the weekend, nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, mayor Ray Nagin has said. He said business operators in the French Quarter tourist district, the central business district, and from the uptown and Algiers neighbourhoods would be allowed to return on Saturday and Sunday. Residents of those areas would be allowed to return in the following days in a phased process.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345846


Man used stockwhip on boys who ran over his dog
16.09.05 1.00pm
A Whangarei man has been jailed for using a stockwhip to teach two teenage brothers a lesson after they ran over his dog. Frank Kaire, 35, of Kamo, pleaded guilty in Whangarei District Court yesterday to two charges of assault with a weapon after admitting hitting one teen with a whip and narrowly missing the other. He was sentenced to six months' jail. The court was told the brothers, aged 14 and 15, were driving past Kaire's Pipiwai Rd home on November 29 when their vehicle hit Kaire's dog.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10345860


Gaza chaos triggers Palestinian political crisis
16.09.05 1.00pmBy Wafa Amr
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faces a brewing political crisis as he scrambles to quell chaos in Gaza following Israel's withdrawal from the territory. Lawmakers submitted a request for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie and his cabinet, all Abbas appointees, in protest at the failure of security forces to control lawlessness after 38 years of Israeli occupation. Abbas can ill afford further political instability as he struggles to impose order in the Gaza Strip, which is seen as a proving ground for Palestinian aspirations of statehood.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345844


Nigeria leader to sue magazine for libel over FBI raid
16.09.05 1.00pm
ABUJA - Nigeria's vice president has ordered his lawyers to sue a leading news magazine for libel over a story it published about an FBI raid on his house in the United States. Atiku Abubakar accused Newswatch Magazine of publishing "specious and spurious allegations of wrongdoing and malfeasance" against him in its September 12 edition, which carried extensive coverage of the FBI raid. "The vice president ... has instructed his lawyers to, forthwith, institute proceedings against Newswatch Magazine, its publishers and promoters, for substantial damages for severely libellous and defamatory statements," his office said in a statement.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345845

Time Warner, Microsoft in talks on AOL
16.09.05 1.00pmBy Kenneth Li
Time Warner and Microsoft Corp are discussing co-operation between their internet search and advertising networks, a source revealed today. "There have been talks on ways Microsoft and AOL assets can be better leveraged and they've taken place over the normal course of business ...," the source said, calling reports of a joint venture "way overblown." Although talks, which have taken place over several months, could advance, nothing was imminent, the source added.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10345827

Record price for Jag
14.09.05By Alastair Sloane
The XK140 Jaguar SE roadster that recently appeared in Superwheels was sold at a classic car auction in Australia for a record A$105,000 ($115,076). The price was A$30,000 ($32,879) more than auction house Shannons' price guide. The bidding began quietly before two enthusiasts turned it into a spirited contest around the A$90,000 ($98,652) mark, competing with A$1000 ($1096) bids until the hammer fell. A similar bidding war erupted for a 1931 Bentley roadster replica built in Australia on an Austin Sheerline chassis. It sold for A$60,000 ($65,763).

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/9/story.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10345382

Mexico firework blasts lasted two hours
16.09.05 9.15am
A series of explosions ripped through a Mexican fireworks market today, sending a huge column of smoke into the air and scaring residents but a large-scale tragedy was avoided. The blasts, lasting for two hours, reduced the market in the town of Tultepec, west of the capital, to a charred ruin. "It just got bigger and bigger, fireworks, fireworks," sobbed a man on the scene, interviewed on the radio while searching for two missing brothers. Civil protection workers said around 100 people fought sporadic fires.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345836

US and North Korea clash at nuclear talks
16.09.05 12.20pmBy Brian Rhoads and Teruaki Ueno
BEIJING - The United States and North Korea clashed over a Pyongyang demand for light-water nuclear reactors for power generation at six-nation talks designed to end the communist country's atomic arms programmes. On the eve of a fourth day of talks on Friday, Washington said the North's stand was holding up an end to a three-year crisis that would allow aid and security guarantees for the impoverished state if it abandoned all nuclear programmes. "We are at a bit of a stand-off at this point. We have to see how this plays out," chief US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters in Beijing where North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China are meeting.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345853

Darfur peace talks resume
16.09.05 16.20pmBy Estelle Shirbon
ABUJA - Negotiators for Sudan's government and for two Darfur rebel movements have launched a new round of peace talks in Nigeria. However, there are concerns that disunity among rebels could hinder progress. The sixth round of negotiations in a year started with a plenary session at which the top African Union (AU) mediator told the parties they had to make a much greater effort than previously to achieve peace. "While it is true that peace negotiations by their very nature are complicated and time consuming, the inter-Sudanese talks have been extremely difficult and at times seem to have been conducted with complete disregard to the imperatives of the situation on the ground in Darfur," said Baba Gana Kingibe.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345867

Australia, the shaky continent
16.09.05By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - Australians may call New Zealand the Shaky Isles, but an earthquake that rumbled beneath the Northern Territory Outback this week has given new pause for thought. The quake, 4.4 on the Richter scale, was powerful enough to have been felt or heard up to 100km from its epicentre, about 27km southwest of Tennant Creek. The tremor was in fact nothing new. There have been 14 others around the Tennant Creek area this year, and in 1988 three much bigger quakes that, Geoscience Australia duty seismologist David Jepsen said, each released 1000 times more energy than this week's tremor.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345754

Canada's PM blasts Musharraf rape comments
16.09.05 1.20pm
OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has condemned reported remarks by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in which he said many people in Pakistan felt that one way of making money or moving to Canada was to "get yourself raped". Pakistan is under fire for what human rights groups say is rampant violence against women. In one recent high-profile case, a woman who said she had been gang-raped fled to Britain and then sought permission to move to Canada. Martin said he had raised the matter with Musharraf during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations. "I stated unequivocally that comments such as that are not acceptable and that violence against women is also a blight that besmirches all humanity," Martin told a news conference at the United Nations.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345866

Child torturers jailed
16.09.05 9.20am
FLORIDA - A couple were sentenced to 15 years each in prison for torturing and starving five of their seven adopted children, including yanking out their toenails with pliers. John and Linda Dollar pleaded no contest to five counts of aggravated abuse of the children, who were so severely underfed that twin 14-year-old brothers weighed just 16kg and 17kg each - 36kg below normal. The couple also tortured the children with an electric cattle prod and bondage equipment.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345769

Pirates free UN crew with tsunami relief food
16.09.05 6.20am
Somali gunmen who hijacked a UN vessel with a 10-man crew carrying tsunami relief food have released the ship after nearly 11 weeks. Pirates hijacked the Kenyan MV Semlow on June 27 near the Harardheere area on its way to Bosasso port with 850 tonnes of rice donated by Germany and Japan. Negotiators had agreed to send the rice to the capital Mogadishu early on in talks but the pirates pressed more demands.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345771

Bin Laden 'allowed to flee'
16.09.05
KABUL - Osama bin Laden was provided safe passage to Pakistan in 2001 by Afghan commanders paid by al Qaeda and sympathetic to its cause, a senior Afghan has said. Lutfullah Mashal, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, said commanders helped the al Qaeda leader escape Tora Bora as US aircraft and Afghan forces attacked his hideout near the border in late 2001. "The help was provided because of monetary aid availed by al Qaeda and also partly because of ideological issues," Mashal said. "Osama along with other al Qaeda people managed to go to Parachinar [in Pakistan]." He said commanders loyal to Maulvi Yunus Khalis had helped the al Qaeda leader escape. The whereabouts of Khalis, a top mujahideen leader, is unknown.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345758

Mum's milk richer after one year
16.09.05By Anne Harding
NEW YORK - Milk from mothers who have been breastfeeding their infants for more than a year is richer in fat and energy than milk from those who have been breastfeeding for just a few months, a study shows. Dr Dror Mandel of Tel Aviv University in Israel said the study was the first to look at the nutritional value of breast milk after prolonged breastfeeding. "It might be that because the infant is breastfed fewer times a day, the milk is more concentrated," he noted in an email interview.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345723

Breakfast cereal eaters found to weigh less
16.09.05
Women who favour cereal for breakfast tend to weigh less than their peers who opt for other breakfast foods or who skip the meal altogether, according to a new study. Whether cereal directly lends a hand in weight control is unclear, but the study authors speculate that the fibre, vitamins and minerals in many boxed cereals may play a role. Also unknown is why the potential benefit was limited to women. Among men, neither breakfast cereal nor breakfast consumption in general had an impact on weight.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10345741

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