Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1776 After American Patriot Nathan Hale stated how he regretted he had only one life to give …, he was hanged.
1839 Ship Captain Michael Healy, inspiration for Jack London's novel, is born in Georgia.
1862 President Abraham Lincoln issues order #139, the Emancipation Proclamation, which is to become effective January 1, 1863.
1927 Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.
1947 the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
1950 Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.
1950 Dr. Ralph Bunche, Undersecretary of the United Nations, becomes the first Black American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
1964 the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances.
1975 Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed.
1980 the Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq erupted into full-scale war.
1985 rock and country music artists participated in FarmAid, a concert staged in Champaign, Ill., to help the nation's farmers.
Missing in Action
1966 KNOCHEL CHARLES A. LAFAYETTE IN
1968 KUHLMANN CHARLES F. NEW BRITAIN CT REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01 SEPT 95
1968 WRIGHT BUDDY 10/06/68 ESCAPED
Haaretz
Court convicts mastermind of Park Hotel seder bombing
By Zvi Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday convicted a Hamas leader from the West Bank of masterminding two deadly terror attacks including the Pesach 2002 suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya, in which more than 30 people were killed.
Abbas al-Sayed, from Tul Karm, was found guilty of overseeing the Park Hotel attack, that also wounded more than 100 people, as well a suicide bombing attack at a Netanya mall four years ago, in which five people were killed and dozens injured.
Following the Park Hotel attack in 2002 the Israel Defense Forces launched Protective Shield operation and reoccupied all Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=628056
Likud chair contenders meet to finalize details of Monday ballot
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Chairman of the Likud Central Committee MK Tzahi Hanegbi on Thursday afternoon is set to meet with representatives of the three runners for party chairmanship, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Uzi Landau, in order to finalize the procedures for the Monday's vote holding early party primaries.
Sources in the camp opposed to Sharon fear voting irregularities and have requested to place monitors in all voting stations. Furthermore, the camps disagree on the order of speeches and the speakers.
A Dialogue poll conducted for Haaretz indicated that MK Benjamin Netanyahu had a slight lead over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the debate over the Likud primaries date.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627777.html
Survey: 25 percent of Israelis can't afford to host during holidays
By Ruth Sinai
A significant number of Israelis will not host guests in their homes this High Holiday season because they can't afford to, according to a study published Thursday.
The results of this survey, conducted for the Latet nonprofit organization, also reveal that more than 40 percent of respondents are facing a more difficult economic situation than last year and would therefore be unable to host during the holiday dinners.
Officials from the organization said that the survey was a fundamental indication to the deepening poverty in Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/628079.html
Everlasting love
By Shmuel Rosner
WASHINGTON - Five Knesset members were in America two weeks ago: Yuri Stern, Yair Peretz, Eliezer Sandberg, Gilad Erdan and Gila Gamliel - not close friends. They came, they flew south, they met preachers and believers from large Christian congregations, and went back. There were good conversations, they say. It's no surprise - the two sides agree on everything: The disengagement is problematic, the administration must not be allowed to pressure Israel, the Palestinians must be told to dismantle the terror organizations before Israel continues to speak to them. And they also talk about a new initiative: tens of thousands of signatures on a petition to transfer the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. It won't help, it won't harm.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627751.html
Pullout opponents remanded for plan to set cars alight in Tel Aviv
By Zvi Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday ordered that two brothers opposed to the disengagement be remanded in custody until the end of legal procedings against them for a plot to set fire to vehicles on a major highway.
The prosecution states that Elitzur and Harel Lonstein acted out of ideological motivations when they and Avraham Lebkovitch allegedly put forged license plates on two vehicles and tried to set them alight on the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv.
It was only due to a technical hitch that the plan was not carried out and police were able to arrest them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/628073.html
Shin Bet `failed to prevent' Jewish terror
By Amos Harel
Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin said yesterday that he viewed the two Jewish terror attacks carried out during the disengagement period, in which a total of eight Arabs were killed, as a failure on the part of the security service.
On August 4, Eden Natan-Zada, a Jewish soldier who defected from the Israel Defense Forces to protest the disengagement plan, shot dead four Israeli Arabs in the northern town of Shfaram. On August 17, Asher Weisgan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, opened fire on Palestinian coworkers, killing four.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627742.html
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin: Palestinian Authority `barely functioning, cannot control Gaza militants'
By Amos Harel
The Palestinian Authority is "barely functioning," and its ability to enforce its authority on the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip is "slight" if it exists at all, Shin Bet security services head Yuval Diskin said yesterday. Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Diskin also warned Israelis against visiting Sinai during the holidays.
Diskin said Hamas was positioning itself as the PA's equal in the Gaza Strip, and is no longer willing to accept PA orders.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627741.html
Hamas leader says charter is not Koran; group could one day recognize Israel
By Arnon RegularHaaretz Correspondent and Agencies
Hamas may one day amend its charter calling for the destruction of Israel and hold negotiations with the Jewish state, Prof. Mohammed Ghazal, the movement's leader in the Nablus area, said yesterday. "The charter is not the Koran," said Ghazal, who heads the Civil Engineering Department at A-Najah University and has long been seen as a relative moderate.
But another senior leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, said in Gaza that Israel could not be recognized as "the legal owner of any part of Palestine," and that such theoretical debate served nobody….
...Ghazal said it was too early to talk about recognizing Israel "while Israel doesn't recognize me as the victim".
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627737.html
BBC News
Gridlock as masses flee US storm
Residents flee
Heavy traffic and shortages of food and fuel are hampering the mass evacuation of a vast stretch of the US Gulf Coast.
More than one million people are trying to leave before Hurricane Rita, a Category Five storm, makes landfall.
The storm is heading towards Texas with winds of 175mph (280km/h) - more powerful than Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans last month.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4269994.stm
Oil workers flee as Rita advances
A hurricane can have a devastating effect on oil production
Oil companies in the US have begun closing Texas refineries threatened by the onslaught of Hurricane Rita.
The production cuts in Texas, which processes a quarter of US oil, come as the industry is struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina's devastation.
The fear of further damage has boosted oil prices, with US light crude trading at $67.82 a barrel in London, 1.5% up on New York's closing price of $66.80.
London Brent crude was quoted 1.3% higher at $65.57 a barrel.
Hot spot
Hundreds of workers have been evacuated by the energy firms as Hurricane Rita heads towards Texas after pounding Florida and Cuba.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4270404.stm
Basra governor demands UK apology
Petrol bombs were thrown at British armoured vehicles on Monday
The authorities in Basra will not co-operate with British troops until they get an apology for a raid to free two UK soldiers, its governor has said.
Mohammed al-Waili has also demanded compensation for damage caused by the raid on Monday and a "guarantee that it does not happen again".
Britain has defended its action, saying the soldiers were handed to militiamen by rogue elements in the police.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4271234.stm
Kennedy says Blair costing lives
Kennedy speech
Tony Blair's pride and his "blind support" for George Bush are costing lives in Iraq, says Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
Mr Kennedy told the Lib Dem conference in Blackpool the presence of UK troops in Iraq was now part of the problem.
And he claimed the "war on terror" had increased the threat of terrorism.
He also insisted he would lead the Lib Dems into the next election and attacked people who thought they had "better ideas" about leadership.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4269622.stm
Nigeria militia storm oil station
Asari accused the government of being a dictatorship
A militia group from Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region has seized an oil pumping station, in protest at the arrest of its leader.
More than 100 armed men in boats stormed the Idama flow-station, sources close to the Chevron oil company said.
The occupation came after militia leader Mujahid Dokubu-Asari was remanded in custody for two weeks by a judge in the capital, Abuja.
He wants more control of oil resources for the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta.
'Disarmed'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4270582.stm
The Jerusalem Post
Regency wants to disengage evacuees
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Regency Hotel (formerly the Hyatt) in Jerusalem announced Thursday that Gaza evacuees that had been residing there since leaving their homes must vacate the hotel, triggering renewed criticism of the government's solutions to evacuees' housing.
A Regency spokesman said that the hotel couldn't continue to house the evacuees because it needed to provide room for tour groups that had booked in advance for the fall holidays. Evacuees were assured that other hotels in the Jerusalem area would take them in.
Many evacuees, however, are not ready to leave the hotel that they have called home for the past five weeks.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127355598204
Egyptian export ban raises lulav prices
By MATTHEW WAGNER
The price of lulavs may triple this year after Egypt, in an attempt to prevent damage to its date trees, prohibited the export of palm branches, causing a severe shortage.
Consumers will end up paying approximately NIS 75 instead of NIS 25 per branch, said one lulav trader. However, consumers who bought lulavs as part of a closed set at a prearranged price would probably not be affected much. Instead, the rise in lulav prices would be absorbed by the traders, he said.
Lulavs are used during Succot to perform the biblical commandment to "take... branches of palm trees" together with willow branches, a citron and myrtle branches and "rejoice before the Lord your God."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127269284764
King Abdullah meets US rabbis
By NATHAN GUTTMAN
Washington
Jordan's King Abdullah met Wednesday with a group of American rabbis and called for interfaith dialogue and mutual forgiveness and reconciliation.
"We face a common threat: extremist distortion of religion and the wanton acts of violence that derive from there," said King Abdullah, adding, "the only antidote is that we work together in a spirit of mutual cooperation and respect to defeat the common enemy. We must move beyond the language of mere tolerance towards true acceptance".
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127355597789
French Jews seek reparations
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
Some 21,000 French Jews have come forward seeking compensation from their government for the property their families lost due to anti-Jewish policies during World War II.
But to the government-appointed claim-procession commission currently in Israel seeking deserving heirs, it is the individual stories that are most important, such as that of Maurice. Maurice's father was murdered in a concentration camp.
After the war, his mother married a man whose wife and children were also deported from France and killed. Maurice was resentful and found it difficult to accept this "new father," who behaved "aggressively toward him," as he told the commission. He ended up deciding to leave France and move to America.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127269284779
Germany: Schroeder, Merkel seek 'grand coalition'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN
Germany's two biggest parties, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left Social Democrats and conservative challenger Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, will meet for coalition talks on Thursday, a Social Democratic party official said Tuesday.
The two parties have enough seats between them to form a government and put an end to the country's political stalemate. But they would have to overcome differences on policy and principles ranging from taxes and labor regulations to European Union membership for Turkey.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127182726422
continued …
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Satellite is from September 19, 2005. 1130z.
The USA government is not interested in dealing with Global Warming. Under the dictatorship of a Oil Barron Repuglican Party it would destroy 'Their Base' so in accomdating Bush the current scientists want to sell the public on 'construed ideas' that are not proven. They can say anything but I know for a fact 'the research' of any of these system does not exist previous to their manifestation on October 4, 2002.
On Tuesday, September I wrote this to Aaron Brown in my nightly notes:
1037 (PM)
Aaron and commercials
Straight line from eye to trailing clouds shows the border between texas and louisiana. In motion the eye travels on that line.
There is a trailing vapor off the southwest corner of the storm to the Pacific across central america. New fuel source. I thought it would do that.
1041 (PM)
"WHERE I state 'border between texas and louisiana.' I MEAN THAT WAS A PREDICTED LANDFALL ON TUESDAY. I am flyin' tired of the USA skirting the issue of Carbon Dioxide Emission and it's continued abuse.
IF American Propaganda CONTINUES TO 'SELL' THE IDEA THAT THE possiblity does not exist this is a Global Warming dynamics then they are endangering lives and need to be seen as broadcasts creating human rights violations.
September 22, 2005. This was 12 hours earlier than the one below. The alignment along the same longitude is obvious of the Gulf storm, the Great Lakes storm and the Hudson Bay vortex. These are dynamic systems and move so it is difficult sometimes to 'catch' these moments as they occur. But, UNISYS satllites are good for twelve hours and have been very helpful. I thank them for their kindness in allowing access by the public. Peace.
September 22, 2005. The continued alignment from previous satellites is noted. This is a global heating with an impact on the storm in the Gulf. In the Atlantic. In the Pacific. All of them are related. All of them oscillate. These are Global Warming storms which are the eddies off the Arctic Ocean vortex. They are unpredictable and extremely dangerous. There are dynamics within the storms themselves that are brutal which are atypical of 'normal' hurricanes pre-2003. As these Global Warming seasons proceed it will be worse if the CO2 levels don't come down. The North Pacific vortex is NOT normal for this hemisphere. They are prolonged and persistent. They are distribution systems due to the heating under a carbon dioxide blanket.
September 22, 2005. When water vapor resolution is added to this satellite it is noted easily that 'Rita' is an eddy of an Arctic Ocean vortex explaining it's oscillation and continued movement east and north. In other words there is a northeast drag on the storm in the Gulf. Also noted is the increased extreme of 'Phillipe.' NOTED: The continued alignment of the Great Lakes Storm now also moving to the east. NOTED A less obvious but continued alignment of the Hudson Bay vortex.
I am assuming this is legitimate. Unusual for Muslim but in East Jerusalem it is a freedom that teens seem to appreciate. I don't see any men gawking either. Do young ladies like to feel pretty? Sure they do. This was a chance to get beyond the veils to come to an understanding that when it comes right down to it; women are women and share common desires in life. To be pretty, liked and popular. Congratulations. NOTED: Dove of peace in the background.
Morning Papers - continued ...
Michael Moore Today
Bush's Words on Iraq Echo LBJ in 1967
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Bush officials bristle at the suggestion the war in Iraq might look anything like Vietnam. Yet just as today's anti-war protests recall memories of yesteryear, President Bush's own words echo those of President Johnson in 1967, a pivotal year for the U.S. in Vietnam.
"America is committed to the defense of South Vietnam until an honorable peace can be negotiated," Johnson told the Tennessee Legislature on March 15, 1967. Despite the obstacles to victory, the president said, "We shall stay the course."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4189
Peace by Piece
New -- and Old -- Antiwar Protesters Hope to Turn Momentum Into a Movement
By David Montgomery / Washington Post
One after another their trails led them here -- from California, New York, Baltimore -- disparate members of the same movement, drawn by some strong instinct that told them: Now is the time. This is the place.
Folded into a couch at one end of the restaurant is Tom Hayden, silver-goateed eminence of antiwars past, while huddled with colleagues at a long table is Leslie Cagan, doyenne of the peace movement's present. Looking wan and wrung out in yet another corner stands Tia Steele, whose stepson was shot in the throat and killed in Fallujah.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4188
Military anger at delay to Iraq pull-out plan
Defence officials admit that security situation in Basra may get worse
By Richard Norton-Taylor and Edwon MacAskill / Guardian Unlimited
Plans to withdraw substantialnumbers of British troops from Iraq next month have been abandoned after the explosion ofviolence in Basra on Monday night. The decision has dismayed military commanders,who are concerned about growing pressure on their soldiers.
"We are not planning a withdrawal," a seniordefence source said yesterday, referring to a plan to hand over control of twosouthern provinces to the Iraqis.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4185
Port Townsend relief bus in Mississippi
By Steven J. Barry / Port Townsend Leader
Port Townsend relief workers aboard a bus fueled by biodiesel and vegetable oil have made their way to Waveland, Miss., where “it literally looked like Hiroshima,” according to workers recently returned from the area.
Bill Dentzel, who flew back with fellow volunteers Bill Dwier and Tara Dirth on Sunday night, said he saw “a deafening lack of presence of FEMA and the Red Cross” in the area. He said small, community-based organizations in the zone seemed to be providing more immediate relief in the way of food, water and clothing to the impoverished refugees there.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4183
War opponents target military recruiters in high schools
By Mary Beth Marklein / USA Today
High schools are the latest anti-war battleground, with parents, students, educators and activists around the country stepping up campaigns to prevent military recruiters from reaching students.
Many of the efforts focus on a provision in President Bush's 2002 No Child Left Behind law that requires federally funded secondary schools to give military recruiters the same access to students as they do college or job recruiters.
The exceptions: Private schools that have a religious objection to military service don't have to comply. And parents can "opt out" of providing details, including names, addresses and phone numbers, to military recruiters.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4178
Increasing military's role raises questions
Bush disaster-relief plan complicated by law against using active-duty troops for law enforcement, possible overextension of Guard.
By Tom Bowman and Siobhan Gorman / Baltimore Sun
WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to give the military a larger role in disaster relief faces a number of potential obstacles, according to Pentagon officials and military analysts.
Among the hurdles are laws against using active-duty troops for law enforcement, questions about whether the National Guard is overextended because of its responsibilities overseas and decisions about whether to create specialized military units to handle emergencies including natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4171
Protesters try to speak out against war during federal trial
By William Kates / Assoicated Press
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Four anti-war demonstrators told a federal court jury Tuesday that they were upholding a higher law when they spilled human blood at a military recruiting station to protest the war in Iraq.
But despite the defendants' efforts, U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy kept them from turning the proceedings into a trial on the war and Bush administration policy as he repeatedly limited their remarks during opening statements, often telling jurors to ignore the defendants' comments when they strayed from the charges.
"This case is not about the war in Iraq. It is about what happened in Ithaca, New York, in December 2002 and March 2003," McAvoy told the defendants. "To discuss the war and what is happening in Iraq is not permissible. You might not agree with that. I'm sorry. But that's the way it has to be."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4175
A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
By The Associated Press Wed Sep 21, 6:56 PM ET
As of Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005, at least 1,907 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,484 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
(image placeholder)
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated at 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday.
The British military has reported 96 deaths; Italy, 26; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three;
El Salvador, Estonia, Thailand and the Netherlands, two each; and Denmark, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Latvia one death each.
Since May 1, 2003, when
President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 1,768 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,375 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 14,641 U.S. service members have been wounded, according to a Defense Department tally Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths
Saturday, September 24
Massive March, Rally & Festival
Part of the UFPJ Sept. 24-26 D.C. Mobilization.
10:00AM All-Day Peace & Justice Festival Begins, Washington Monument Grounds
11:30AM Rally at Ellipse
12:30PM March steps off
3:00PM "Operation Ceasefire" Concert featuring Cindy Sheehan
Volunteer in D.C. On/Before Sept. 24
View a list of contingents
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3091
See You in D.C.
A message from Cindy Sheehan
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.
(MLK, Jr. Aug. 28, 1963, I Have a Dream speech)
What Bush's Katrina shows once again is that my son died for nothing. If you listen to Bush – and fewer and fewer are, thank goodness -- we are in Iraq in part due to 9/11. All our president has been talking about has been protecting this country since 9/11. That's why people voted for him in the last election. Katrina shows it's all as sham, a fraud, a disaster as large as Katrina itself.
Hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of innocent lives wasted later what have we achieved? Nothing. Casey died for nothing and Bush says others have to die for those that have died already.
Enough, George! What is disgusting is not, as the first lady says, criticism of you, but rather the crimes you've committed against this country and our sons and daughters. Stop hiding behind your twisted idea of God and stop destroying this country.
This week I arrive in Washington DC to begin my Vigil at the White House just like I did in Texas. But this time I'll be joined by Katrina victims as well. In your America we are all victims. The failed bookends of your Presidency are Iraq and Katrina.
It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted: to show the media, Congress, and this inept, corrupt, and criminal administration that we mean business. It is time to get off of our collective behinds to show the people who are running our country into oblivion that we will stand for it no longer. We want our country back and we want our nation's young people back home, safe and sound, on our shores to help protect America. That it is time for a change in our country's "leadership." That we will never go away until our dreams are reality.
We have so-called leaders in our country who are waiting for the correct "politically expedient" time to speak up and out against the occupation of Iraq. It is no sweat for our politicos to wait for the right time, because not one of them has a child in harm's way. I don't care if the politician is a Democrat or a Republican, this is not about politics. Being a strong leader to guide our country out of the quagmire and mistake of Iraq will require people of courage and determination to stand up and say: "I don't care if I win the next election, people are dying in Iraq everyday and families are being decimated." We as the 62% of Americans who want our troops to begin coming home will follow such a leader down the difficult, but oh so rewarding, path of peace with justice.
It is no longer time for the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. It never has been the time for that. Our "now" is so fiercely urgent. Like my daughter, Carly, wrote in the last verse of her "A Nation Rocked to Sleep" poem:
Have you ever heard the sound of a Nation Being Rocked to Sleep?
Our leaders want to keep us numb so the pain won't be too deep,
But if we the people allow them to continue, another mother will weep,
Have you heard the sound of a Nation Being Rocked to Sleep?
Wake up: See you in DC on the 24th.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=506
Boston Globe
Delta plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs
Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, left, speaks with employees at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport in this Sept. 14, 2005 file photo in Atlanta. Delta, the nation's third-largest carrier, said Thursday , Sept. 22, 2005 it will cut up to 9,000 jobs, reduce employee pay and make changes to its network to focus more on international flying as it moves swiftly to restructure its costs in bankruptcy. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
By Harry R. Weber, AP Business Writer September 22, 2005
ATLANTA --Delta Air Lines Inc. said Thursday it will cut up to 9,000 jobs, or 17 percent of the work force at its flagship service, and reduce pay and make changes to its route network to focus more on international flying as it moves swiftly to restructure its costs in bankruptcy.
The changes are part of the nation's third biggest carrier's effort to save an additional $3 billion annually by the end of 2007. That's on top of $5 billion Delta had previously said it wanted to save by the end of 2006.
The company's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, will take a 25 percent pay cut and all other executives will take a 15 percent pay cut.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/09/22/delta_plans_to_cut_up_to_9000_jobs/
7-Eleven recommends rejection of buyout
September 22, 2005
DALLAS --Directors of 7-Eleven Inc., the world's largest convenience-store chain, have recommended that shareholders reject a buyout offer from majority owner Seven-Eleven Japan Co., saying the offer isn't good enough.
The company said Thursday that a special committee of its board found the bid of $32.50 per share is "not in the best interests" of shareholders.
7-Eleven added that its advisers are discussing an increased offer with Seven-Eleven Japan Co. but couldn't promise that it would get a better proposal.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/09/22/7_eleven_recommends_rejection_of_buyout/
Flash point
Has bling lost its shine? Depends where you look.
"This is a whole different look," Hot 97 on-air personality Chubby Chub says of the diamond-studded Jesus medallion he wears around his neck. He also sports gold and diamonds on his earrings, ring, and watch. (Globe Photo / Zara Tzanev)
By Vanessa E. Jones, Globe Staff September 22, 2005
People celebrate their love of hip-hop culture in myriad ways. Some get into the art of free-styling -- rhyming off-the-cuff words over musical beats. Others collect the original vinyl that birthed their favorite hip-hop samples. Then there are those who heartily embrace the style by buying very expensive jewelry.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/fashion/articles/2005/09/22/flash_point/
Spilled nuke waste container was bound for shipyard
September 22, 2005
BUFFALO, N.Y. --A rail car carrying an empty container used to transport spent nuclear fuel tipped over early Thursday when it was struck by another rail car. The container was not damaged and there was no release of radiation, the Department of Energy said.
The accident occurred about 1 a.m. in the CSX railyard in Buffalo. The train was en route to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, from the DOE's Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory where its contents had been unloaded.
Jim Carey, a spokesman for the DOE's Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office, said the container had no visible damage and initial radiation surveys confirmed there was no release of radioactivity, or danger to the public.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/09/22/spilled_nuke_waste_container_was_bound_for_shipyard/
I WONDER IF THIS INCLUDES THE USA?
World Bank optimistic on debt relief
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer September 22, 2005
WASHINGTON --The head of the World Bank said Thursday that good progress was being made to wrap up an agreement that will provide more than $40 billion in debt relief to the world's poorest countries.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said he was encouraged by recent developments but he conceded that it was a challenge to win endorsement from all countries for the agreement struck by the world's seven richest nations at their annual economic summit in July.
The debt relief would forgive about $40 billion in debt owed by the world's poorest countries, many of them in Africa, to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international lending institutions.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/22/us_deficit_reduction_will_not_be_derailed/
THAT'S IT. THIS IS WHAT IRAN IS WAITING FOR. A REASON TO BE EXONERATED FROM ANY SUSPICION. IRAQ HAS EVERYTHING TO GAIN. INTERESTING IRANIAN PRESIDENT.
Iranian president backs Iraqi democracy
Iranian elite Revolutionary Guards commander, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, right, points as he speaks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second right, as Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces, General Hasan Firouzabadi, left, listens, during a parade ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the outset of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. A bodyguard of the President Ahmadinejad stands second left. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
By Nasser Karimi, Associated Press Writer September 22, 2005
TEHRAN, Iran --Iran's president Thursday condemned the U.S. military presence in Iraq, saying it has fueled the insurgency there, but he expressed support for the new Iraqi government's drive toward democracy and stability.
Speaking before a military parade to mark the beginning of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated the standard Iranian warning against anyone who would dare attack.
"Our enemies understand that we are very serious in defending our security," Ahmadinejad said.
He did not name any country, but Iran typically refers to the United States and Israel as enemies.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/22/iranian_president_backs_iraqi_democracy/
A REPUGLICAN WITCH HUNT. HAS THE GOVERNATOR EVER HEARD OF 'SUPERINTENDANT OF SCHOOLS?' HE IS OVER REACHING TO CREATE AN ELECTION ISSUE OUT OF ANY STORY. HE'LL GET CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP.
Schwarzenegger seeks 'bad teacher' stories
By Juliet Williams, Associated Press Writer September 21, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign posted a form on its Web site asking Californians for stories about inferior teachers to support the ballot initiative to lengthen teachers' probationary period.
The form was then removed Wednesday after an Associated Press reporter called to inquire about it.
Posted on the Web site http://www.joinarnold.com/ the form asked: "Have a story about a teacher who just might not be cut out for the job, yet nothing can be done because of tenure? Please tell us. We'd like to share the stories of Californians like you!"
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/09/21/schwarzenegger_seeks_bad_teacher_stories/
DEA cracks down on illegal Rx Web site
By Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press Writer September 21, 2005
WASHINGTON --Drug enforcement agents said they arrested at least 18 people and halted prescription writing by dozens of doctors and a pharmacist in a crackdown Wednesday on illegal sales of medications over the Internet.
Thirteen arrests were made in Texas and five in Florida. The Drug Enforcement Administration suspended the registrations of 20 doctors and 22 Internet pharmacies in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, to stop them from writing or filling prescriptions.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/09/21/dea_cracks_down_on_illegal_rx_web_site/
NASA names new shuttle program manager
September 20, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --NASA's deputy shuttle program manager has moved into the top spot, taking over from an ex-Marine who is now leading the space agency's hurricane recovery effort on the Gulf Coast.
Wayne Hale had been serving as acting program manager following the reassignment of Bill Parsons last week, and was named Tuesday as Parsons' permanent successor.
Hale, a mechanical engineer, has worked at NASA since 1978 and became a flight director 10 years later. He oversaw flight control teams at Mission Control in Houston for 40 shuttle missions, 28 of them for the critical launch and entry phases.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/09/20/nasa_names_new_shuttle_program_manager/
Middle East Times
Sheehan, anti-war demonstrators flock to Washington
September 22, 2005
ANTI-WAR: Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan (C) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 21, urging Congress and President George W. Bush to remove US troops from Iraq. Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq is currently touring the US trying to gain support for the anti-war movement.
(REUTERS)
WASHINGTON -- Anti-war protestors led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, descended on Washington ahead of a demonstration scheduled for Saturday and three weeks after ending a long protest outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch.
Sheehan rose to fame after spending much of August camped outside Bush's ranch trying in vain to meet with the president to demand an explanation why her son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-074009-4303r
Iraqi authorities in Basra turn their back on British
AFP
September 22, 2005
DOWNPLAYING: Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari (L) speaks during a joint news conference as Britain's Defense Secretary John Reid looks on in Central London, on September 21.
(REUTERS)
BASRA, Iraq -- Local authorities in southern Iraq said on Thursday that they would have no dealings with British forces who stormed a Basra jail to release two of their men, even as Baghdad and London sought to downplay the incident.
"All regular meetings between the governorate and British troops have been canceled and we will not allow British soldiers into the governorate building or any other public office in Basra," Nadim Al Jabiri, spokesman for the provincial governor in Basra, said.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-080104-5049r
Pakistan president slammed for rape quote
AFP
September 16, 2005
ISLAMABAD -- Politicians and rights groups condemned President Pervez Musharraf on Friday for saying in a US newspaper that rape has become a "moneymaking concern" with some Pakistanis believing that it was a ticket to settling abroad.
"It was shocking to read that General Musharraf had publicly aired his low opinion of women ...," opposition MP Sherry Rehman said about Musharraf's comments in an interview with the Washington Post this week.
"This is very frivolous way of looking at rape cases in the country," human rights activist Kamila Hyat said.
Musharraf made the comments after being asked about the high-profile case of Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang raped on the orders of a tribal council in 2002 as punishment for her brother's alleged love affair with a woman from another tribe.
Her treatment by the Pakistani government, which tried to bar her from addressing US rights groups about her ordeal, earned the still conservative Islamic country international wrath.
"You must understand the environment in Pakistan," Musharraf told the Washington Post.
"This has become a moneymaking concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped," he said.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-064811-5014r
Afghanistan proud after largely peaceful vote
Danny Kemp
AFP
September 19, 2005
SORTERS: Election workers sort ballot boxes into a store in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 19.
(REUTERS)
KABUL -- Millions of Afghans voted on Sunday for their first parliament in more than 30 years, streaming to polling stations in mosques and schools and defying last-ditch attempts by the Taliban to disrupt the elections.
Nine people were killed as voting got underway, including a French soldier and an Afghan civilian, while rockets were fired on a UN warehouse in Kabul and two would-be suicide bombers were wounded trying to attack a polling center.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-085127-9068r
Afghanistan's women move out of the shadows to vote
Deborah Pasmantier
AFP
September 19, 2005
VOTERS: Pashtun women queue to vote in the country's first parliamentary elections in more then 30 years, in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on September 18.
(REUTERS)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- With a mixture of pride and confusion, women in this stronghold of the Taliban regime that barred them from public life were determined to vote in Sunday's landmark elections.
Crowding women-only voting stations in greater numbers than in the presidential elections in October, the burkah-clad voters stumbled through an unfamiliar process denied to them by decades of war and Taliban rule.
"Could someone help me?" asked Mastora, 50, holding up two complicated, newspaper-sized ballot papers crammed with tiny photographs of hundreds of candidates, a look of desperation on her face.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-041021-6446r
41 percent of Afghan voters were women
September 22, 2005
KABUL -- Women made up 41 percent of the 6 million Afghans who voted in landmark legislative elections at the weekend, around the same as in last year's presidential poll, organizers said on Wednesday.
Sunday's parliamentary and provincial elections have been hailed as a milestone in Afghanistan's progress since the late 2001 overthrow of the Taliban regime, who virtually banned women from public life.
"We project out of total number of votes cast, 41 percent are by females and 59 percent by males," said Sultan Baheen, spokesman of the UN-backed Joint Electoral Management Body.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-023348-7879r
Beauty to the fore at Israeli-Palestinian pageant in East Jerusalem
September 21, 2005
BEAUTIES: Israeli and Palestinian girls participate in the 'Miss Seam Line' beauty pageant in the Israeli neighborhood of Gilo near Jerusalem on September 20. The contest is meant to bring together girls from both sides of the controversial Israeli barriers buffer zone.
(REUTERS)
JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian teenager walked off with the tiara at a groundbreaking Israeli-Palestinian beauty pageant held in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The pageant, with 20 young women and girls taking part, was being held for the second straight year. It is the brainchild of Adi Nadar, a resident of the Jewish settlement of Gilo in annexed East Jerusalem.
The area is frequently the target of automatic arms fire from the neighboring Palestinian town of Beit Jallah in the West Bank.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050921-023055-3177r
Indian pepper spray protection ad withdrawn after protest by women's group
AFP
September 22, 2005
NEW DELHI -- An Indian newspaper advertisement that suggested that parents would be blamed if they failed to buy pepper spray to deter rape attacks on their daughters was withdrawn on Thursday after a women's group protest.
The advertisement in several daily newspapers for Knockout pepper spray asked readers: "Tomorrow if your daughter gets raped who is to be blamed? The rapist or you?" and recommended the spray as a deterrent.
Jagori, a women's group that runs a violence prevention unit, wrote an article in response to the advertisement questioning why women in India should be forced to live in fear of rape.
"When these cases come forward, a lot of instructions are given to women, such as don't go out late," said Sarita Balooni, a counselor at Jagori.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-061718-9100r
Young German Turk admits to shooting his sister in honor killing
September 15, 2005
HONORABLE? A drawing shows three Turkish brothers Mutlu, Alpaslan and Ayhan Surucu (L-R) during their trial in Berlin, on September 14. The three brothers face charges of murder for the 'honor killing' of their sister Hatun Surucu on February 7.
(REUTERS)
BERLIN -- A young Turkish immigrant accused along with his brothers of killing his sister on a Berlin street confessed on Wednesday to the crime that has sparked a debate about Islamic honor killings in Germany.
"I killed my sister. Nobody else in the family helped me," 19-year-old Ayhan Surucu told a packed court in Berlin through his lawyer.
He said that he shot dead his 23-year-old sister Hatun, who fled a forced marriage to live as a single mother, because he disapproved of her lifestyle and her morals, but added that he regretted his actions.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050915-040204-3277r
Journalists group protest expulsion of MET publisher
Richard Engel
Middle East Times
November 10, 2004
CAIRO -- This article was censored from the September 21, 1994 edition of the Middle East Times.
Thomas Cromwell, publisher and editor of the Middle East Times, remains outside of Egypt after being denied entry to the country last month.
"On 22 August, Egyptian police detained Cromwell for three hours upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport before he was informed that he could not re-enter the country," said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement issued last week.
"The officers gave no explanation for their decision and later the same day forced him to leave the country on a flight to Jordan. Cromwell has since written to the Ministry of Information requesting an explanation for the authorities' action, but has received no response," the statement added.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20041110-091038-4989r
Iranian VP at UN nuclear agency
Michael Adler
AFP
September 21, 2005
VP: Iran's Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh answers journalist's questions in Vienna's UN headquarters where an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors meeting is taking place, on September 21.
(REUTERS)
VIENNA -- Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said on Wednesday that Iran had no intention of withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) despite Western threats to crack down on its atomic program.
Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's atomic agency, met in Vienna on Wednesday with Russia, China and nonaligned states that oppose a European drive to send Tehran before the UN Security Council for nuclear fuel work that could be weapons-related.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050921-090351-1449r
Israel to expand security zone into northern Gaza
Jean-Luc Renaudie
AFP
September 16, 2005
JERUSALEM -- Israel is preparing to extend a closed military zone into northern Gaza to bolster security after its historic pullout from the territory, in a move denounced by the Palestinians as continued occupation.
Defense minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered a "security zone" to extend 150 meters (yards) into Palestinian land, following four days of chaos on Gaza's border with Egypt, exacerbating Israeli fears about militant infiltrations.
Thousands of people have crossed the Rafah border, with Egyptian and Palestinian security unable or unwilling to stem the tide, helped by militants who have blown holes through the frontier walls.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-082051-7380r
Analysis: The UN's document
William M. Reilly
UPI UN Correspondent
September 16, 2005
SUMMIT: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (R) meets Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on the second day of the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, on September 15, 2005.
(REUTERS)
UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told delegates to the 2005 World Summit at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday that the world organization was at a fork in the road. Deep divisions among members and underperformance of institutions were creating a divergence, preventing a cohesive march forward against threats.
Still, the United Nations, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, has remained fully engaged in conflict resolution, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, defense of human rights and development around the world, said Annan.
"The clear danger was that states of all kinds might increasingly resort to self-help, leading to a proliferation of ad hoc responses that would be divisive, destabilizing and dangerous," he said, adding that that was why he set up the mechanism that led to adoption of the 35-page document accepted by the assembly on Tuesday evening.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-045300-4785r
Viewpoint: Iraq, a drain on American power
Mirza A. Beg
September 19, 2005
ALABAMA, USA -- The two-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Iraq has been terribly mismanaged. Most Americans were oblivious to it because Iraq is "over there" and the amenities of the average American were not directly affected. The terrible mismanagement in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has opened their eyes to the abject incompetence of the Bush administration.
Finally more and more Americans are asking, why are we in Iraq? The two reasons promoted by Bush were WMDs in Iraq and the complicity of Saddam in the 9/11 attacks. Both have been proven to be not only false, but also contrived. The roster of mismanagement in Iraq is long. Nothing in Iraq has been done right.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-051355-5199r
Los Angeles Times
Feinstein Says She Will Vote 'No' on Roberts
By Maura Reynolds, Times Staff Writer
Sen. Dianne Feinstein said this morning she would vote against confirming John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice, disclosing her opposition only at the last moment as the Senate Judiciary Committee neared its vote on Roberts' nomination.
Explaining her decision, Feinstein, a California Democrat who has at times aligned herself with the party's moderates, said she had been disappointed with answers Roberts had provided during committee hearings. She said he had had the opportunity to distance himself from particularly conservative approaches he had taken to social policy ad legal issues as young aide in the Reagan administration's Justice Department and White House.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092205roberts_lat,0,3332392.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Immigration reform, again
September 22, 2005
IF THE WHITE HOUSE IS finally serious about a comprehensive plan to fix the nation's immigration system, and there are signs that it is, then President Bush needs to get serious about working with Democrats — and standing up to the more unreasonable members of his own party. Immigration reform is still possible this fall, but not without the president's bipartisan leadership.
This isn't the first time Bush has said he is ready to tackle the issue. He spoke about the need for reform in February 2001 and again in January 2004, each time raising expectations that he was prepared to remake the nation's immigration policies into a system that would be "safe, orderly and legal."
So it's reasonable to ask why this time is different. The answer is pleasantly surprising: Members of the House who were invited to the White House last week to hear the administration's proposal found it comprehensive. According to those present at the meeting, which included Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the plan is similar to a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress that has the strong support of both business and immigrant advocacy groups.
The president's proposal calls for better enforcement both on the border and in the workplace. It would also create a guest worker program that would be filled initially with those already working in the country.
The two main immigration bills currently in Congress, one sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and another introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) contain similar provisions.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-immig22sep22,0,3878366,print.story?coll=la-home-oped
For Passengers, Humor, Tears -- Then Cheers
By Jill Leovy, Times Staff Writer
For Matthew Ash, a 24-year-old Gardena resident on a church trip to New York's Catskill Mountains, the first sign of trouble came from an icon of a JetBlue plane.
The plane — on the animated map at his seat — "wasn't going anywhere," he said, "just hanging around in Los Angeles."
A few minutes later, he heard the calm male voice of Flight 292's pilot, Scott Burke, speaking over the plane's intercom: "For those of you who may have noticed we are flying in circles," Ash recalled the pilot saying, "we are currently experiencing difficulties with the front landing gear."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-passenger22sep22,0,1782210.story?coll=la-home-headlines
continued ...
Bush's Words on Iraq Echo LBJ in 1967
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Bush officials bristle at the suggestion the war in Iraq might look anything like Vietnam. Yet just as today's anti-war protests recall memories of yesteryear, President Bush's own words echo those of President Johnson in 1967, a pivotal year for the U.S. in Vietnam.
"America is committed to the defense of South Vietnam until an honorable peace can be negotiated," Johnson told the Tennessee Legislature on March 15, 1967. Despite the obstacles to victory, the president said, "We shall stay the course."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4189
Peace by Piece
New -- and Old -- Antiwar Protesters Hope to Turn Momentum Into a Movement
By David Montgomery / Washington Post
One after another their trails led them here -- from California, New York, Baltimore -- disparate members of the same movement, drawn by some strong instinct that told them: Now is the time. This is the place.
Folded into a couch at one end of the restaurant is Tom Hayden, silver-goateed eminence of antiwars past, while huddled with colleagues at a long table is Leslie Cagan, doyenne of the peace movement's present. Looking wan and wrung out in yet another corner stands Tia Steele, whose stepson was shot in the throat and killed in Fallujah.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4188
Military anger at delay to Iraq pull-out plan
Defence officials admit that security situation in Basra may get worse
By Richard Norton-Taylor and Edwon MacAskill / Guardian Unlimited
Plans to withdraw substantialnumbers of British troops from Iraq next month have been abandoned after the explosion ofviolence in Basra on Monday night. The decision has dismayed military commanders,who are concerned about growing pressure on their soldiers.
"We are not planning a withdrawal," a seniordefence source said yesterday, referring to a plan to hand over control of twosouthern provinces to the Iraqis.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4185
Port Townsend relief bus in Mississippi
By Steven J. Barry / Port Townsend Leader
Port Townsend relief workers aboard a bus fueled by biodiesel and vegetable oil have made their way to Waveland, Miss., where “it literally looked like Hiroshima,” according to workers recently returned from the area.
Bill Dentzel, who flew back with fellow volunteers Bill Dwier and Tara Dirth on Sunday night, said he saw “a deafening lack of presence of FEMA and the Red Cross” in the area. He said small, community-based organizations in the zone seemed to be providing more immediate relief in the way of food, water and clothing to the impoverished refugees there.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4183
War opponents target military recruiters in high schools
By Mary Beth Marklein / USA Today
High schools are the latest anti-war battleground, with parents, students, educators and activists around the country stepping up campaigns to prevent military recruiters from reaching students.
Many of the efforts focus on a provision in President Bush's 2002 No Child Left Behind law that requires federally funded secondary schools to give military recruiters the same access to students as they do college or job recruiters.
The exceptions: Private schools that have a religious objection to military service don't have to comply. And parents can "opt out" of providing details, including names, addresses and phone numbers, to military recruiters.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4178
Increasing military's role raises questions
Bush disaster-relief plan complicated by law against using active-duty troops for law enforcement, possible overextension of Guard.
By Tom Bowman and Siobhan Gorman / Baltimore Sun
WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to give the military a larger role in disaster relief faces a number of potential obstacles, according to Pentagon officials and military analysts.
Among the hurdles are laws against using active-duty troops for law enforcement, questions about whether the National Guard is overextended because of its responsibilities overseas and decisions about whether to create specialized military units to handle emergencies including natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4171
Protesters try to speak out against war during federal trial
By William Kates / Assoicated Press
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Four anti-war demonstrators told a federal court jury Tuesday that they were upholding a higher law when they spilled human blood at a military recruiting station to protest the war in Iraq.
But despite the defendants' efforts, U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy kept them from turning the proceedings into a trial on the war and Bush administration policy as he repeatedly limited their remarks during opening statements, often telling jurors to ignore the defendants' comments when they strayed from the charges.
"This case is not about the war in Iraq. It is about what happened in Ithaca, New York, in December 2002 and March 2003," McAvoy told the defendants. "To discuss the war and what is happening in Iraq is not permissible. You might not agree with that. I'm sorry. But that's the way it has to be."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4175
A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
By The Associated Press Wed Sep 21, 6:56 PM ET
As of Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005, at least 1,907 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,484 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
(image placeholder)
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated at 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday.
The British military has reported 96 deaths; Italy, 26; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three;
El Salvador, Estonia, Thailand and the Netherlands, two each; and Denmark, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Latvia one death each.
Since May 1, 2003, when
President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 1,768 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,375 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 14,641 U.S. service members have been wounded, according to a Defense Department tally Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths
Saturday, September 24
Massive March, Rally & Festival
Part of the UFPJ Sept. 24-26 D.C. Mobilization.
10:00AM All-Day Peace & Justice Festival Begins, Washington Monument Grounds
11:30AM Rally at Ellipse
12:30PM March steps off
3:00PM "Operation Ceasefire" Concert featuring Cindy Sheehan
Volunteer in D.C. On/Before Sept. 24
View a list of contingents
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3091
See You in D.C.
A message from Cindy Sheehan
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.
(MLK, Jr. Aug. 28, 1963, I Have a Dream speech)
What Bush's Katrina shows once again is that my son died for nothing. If you listen to Bush – and fewer and fewer are, thank goodness -- we are in Iraq in part due to 9/11. All our president has been talking about has been protecting this country since 9/11. That's why people voted for him in the last election. Katrina shows it's all as sham, a fraud, a disaster as large as Katrina itself.
Hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of innocent lives wasted later what have we achieved? Nothing. Casey died for nothing and Bush says others have to die for those that have died already.
Enough, George! What is disgusting is not, as the first lady says, criticism of you, but rather the crimes you've committed against this country and our sons and daughters. Stop hiding behind your twisted idea of God and stop destroying this country.
This week I arrive in Washington DC to begin my Vigil at the White House just like I did in Texas. But this time I'll be joined by Katrina victims as well. In your America we are all victims. The failed bookends of your Presidency are Iraq and Katrina.
It is time for all of us to stand up and be counted: to show the media, Congress, and this inept, corrupt, and criminal administration that we mean business. It is time to get off of our collective behinds to show the people who are running our country into oblivion that we will stand for it no longer. We want our country back and we want our nation's young people back home, safe and sound, on our shores to help protect America. That it is time for a change in our country's "leadership." That we will never go away until our dreams are reality.
We have so-called leaders in our country who are waiting for the correct "politically expedient" time to speak up and out against the occupation of Iraq. It is no sweat for our politicos to wait for the right time, because not one of them has a child in harm's way. I don't care if the politician is a Democrat or a Republican, this is not about politics. Being a strong leader to guide our country out of the quagmire and mistake of Iraq will require people of courage and determination to stand up and say: "I don't care if I win the next election, people are dying in Iraq everyday and families are being decimated." We as the 62% of Americans who want our troops to begin coming home will follow such a leader down the difficult, but oh so rewarding, path of peace with justice.
It is no longer time for the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. It never has been the time for that. Our "now" is so fiercely urgent. Like my daughter, Carly, wrote in the last verse of her "A Nation Rocked to Sleep" poem:
Have you ever heard the sound of a Nation Being Rocked to Sleep?
Our leaders want to keep us numb so the pain won't be too deep,
But if we the people allow them to continue, another mother will weep,
Have you heard the sound of a Nation Being Rocked to Sleep?
Wake up: See you in DC on the 24th.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=506
Boston Globe
Delta plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs
Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, left, speaks with employees at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport in this Sept. 14, 2005 file photo in Atlanta. Delta, the nation's third-largest carrier, said Thursday , Sept. 22, 2005 it will cut up to 9,000 jobs, reduce employee pay and make changes to its network to focus more on international flying as it moves swiftly to restructure its costs in bankruptcy. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
By Harry R. Weber, AP Business Writer September 22, 2005
ATLANTA --Delta Air Lines Inc. said Thursday it will cut up to 9,000 jobs, or 17 percent of the work force at its flagship service, and reduce pay and make changes to its route network to focus more on international flying as it moves swiftly to restructure its costs in bankruptcy.
The changes are part of the nation's third biggest carrier's effort to save an additional $3 billion annually by the end of 2007. That's on top of $5 billion Delta had previously said it wanted to save by the end of 2006.
The company's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, will take a 25 percent pay cut and all other executives will take a 15 percent pay cut.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/09/22/delta_plans_to_cut_up_to_9000_jobs/
7-Eleven recommends rejection of buyout
September 22, 2005
DALLAS --Directors of 7-Eleven Inc., the world's largest convenience-store chain, have recommended that shareholders reject a buyout offer from majority owner Seven-Eleven Japan Co., saying the offer isn't good enough.
The company said Thursday that a special committee of its board found the bid of $32.50 per share is "not in the best interests" of shareholders.
7-Eleven added that its advisers are discussing an increased offer with Seven-Eleven Japan Co. but couldn't promise that it would get a better proposal.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/09/22/7_eleven_recommends_rejection_of_buyout/
Flash point
Has bling lost its shine? Depends where you look.
"This is a whole different look," Hot 97 on-air personality Chubby Chub says of the diamond-studded Jesus medallion he wears around his neck. He also sports gold and diamonds on his earrings, ring, and watch. (Globe Photo / Zara Tzanev)
By Vanessa E. Jones, Globe Staff September 22, 2005
People celebrate their love of hip-hop culture in myriad ways. Some get into the art of free-styling -- rhyming off-the-cuff words over musical beats. Others collect the original vinyl that birthed their favorite hip-hop samples. Then there are those who heartily embrace the style by buying very expensive jewelry.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/fashion/articles/2005/09/22/flash_point/
Spilled nuke waste container was bound for shipyard
September 22, 2005
BUFFALO, N.Y. --A rail car carrying an empty container used to transport spent nuclear fuel tipped over early Thursday when it was struck by another rail car. The container was not damaged and there was no release of radiation, the Department of Energy said.
The accident occurred about 1 a.m. in the CSX railyard in Buffalo. The train was en route to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, from the DOE's Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory where its contents had been unloaded.
Jim Carey, a spokesman for the DOE's Pittsburgh Naval Reactors Office, said the container had no visible damage and initial radiation surveys confirmed there was no release of radioactivity, or danger to the public.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/09/22/spilled_nuke_waste_container_was_bound_for_shipyard/
I WONDER IF THIS INCLUDES THE USA?
World Bank optimistic on debt relief
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer September 22, 2005
WASHINGTON --The head of the World Bank said Thursday that good progress was being made to wrap up an agreement that will provide more than $40 billion in debt relief to the world's poorest countries.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said he was encouraged by recent developments but he conceded that it was a challenge to win endorsement from all countries for the agreement struck by the world's seven richest nations at their annual economic summit in July.
The debt relief would forgive about $40 billion in debt owed by the world's poorest countries, many of them in Africa, to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other international lending institutions.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/22/us_deficit_reduction_will_not_be_derailed/
THAT'S IT. THIS IS WHAT IRAN IS WAITING FOR. A REASON TO BE EXONERATED FROM ANY SUSPICION. IRAQ HAS EVERYTHING TO GAIN. INTERESTING IRANIAN PRESIDENT.
Iranian president backs Iraqi democracy
Iranian elite Revolutionary Guards commander, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, right, points as he speaks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second right, as Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces, General Hasan Firouzabadi, left, listens, during a parade ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the outset of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. A bodyguard of the President Ahmadinejad stands second left. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
By Nasser Karimi, Associated Press Writer September 22, 2005
TEHRAN, Iran --Iran's president Thursday condemned the U.S. military presence in Iraq, saying it has fueled the insurgency there, but he expressed support for the new Iraqi government's drive toward democracy and stability.
Speaking before a military parade to mark the beginning of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated the standard Iranian warning against anyone who would dare attack.
"Our enemies understand that we are very serious in defending our security," Ahmadinejad said.
He did not name any country, but Iran typically refers to the United States and Israel as enemies.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/22/iranian_president_backs_iraqi_democracy/
A REPUGLICAN WITCH HUNT. HAS THE GOVERNATOR EVER HEARD OF 'SUPERINTENDANT OF SCHOOLS?' HE IS OVER REACHING TO CREATE AN ELECTION ISSUE OUT OF ANY STORY. HE'LL GET CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP.
Schwarzenegger seeks 'bad teacher' stories
By Juliet Williams, Associated Press Writer September 21, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign posted a form on its Web site asking Californians for stories about inferior teachers to support the ballot initiative to lengthen teachers' probationary period.
The form was then removed Wednesday after an Associated Press reporter called to inquire about it.
Posted on the Web site http://www.joinarnold.com/ the form asked: "Have a story about a teacher who just might not be cut out for the job, yet nothing can be done because of tenure? Please tell us. We'd like to share the stories of Californians like you!"
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/09/21/schwarzenegger_seeks_bad_teacher_stories/
DEA cracks down on illegal Rx Web site
By Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press Writer September 21, 2005
WASHINGTON --Drug enforcement agents said they arrested at least 18 people and halted prescription writing by dozens of doctors and a pharmacist in a crackdown Wednesday on illegal sales of medications over the Internet.
Thirteen arrests were made in Texas and five in Florida. The Drug Enforcement Administration suspended the registrations of 20 doctors and 22 Internet pharmacies in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, to stop them from writing or filling prescriptions.
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2005/09/21/dea_cracks_down_on_illegal_rx_web_site/
NASA names new shuttle program manager
September 20, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --NASA's deputy shuttle program manager has moved into the top spot, taking over from an ex-Marine who is now leading the space agency's hurricane recovery effort on the Gulf Coast.
Wayne Hale had been serving as acting program manager following the reassignment of Bill Parsons last week, and was named Tuesday as Parsons' permanent successor.
Hale, a mechanical engineer, has worked at NASA since 1978 and became a flight director 10 years later. He oversaw flight control teams at Mission Control in Houston for 40 shuttle missions, 28 of them for the critical launch and entry phases.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/09/20/nasa_names_new_shuttle_program_manager/
Middle East Times
Sheehan, anti-war demonstrators flock to Washington
September 22, 2005
ANTI-WAR: Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan (C) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 21, urging Congress and President George W. Bush to remove US troops from Iraq. Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq is currently touring the US trying to gain support for the anti-war movement.
(REUTERS)
WASHINGTON -- Anti-war protestors led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, descended on Washington ahead of a demonstration scheduled for Saturday and three weeks after ending a long protest outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch.
Sheehan rose to fame after spending much of August camped outside Bush's ranch trying in vain to meet with the president to demand an explanation why her son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-074009-4303r
Iraqi authorities in Basra turn their back on British
AFP
September 22, 2005
DOWNPLAYING: Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari (L) speaks during a joint news conference as Britain's Defense Secretary John Reid looks on in Central London, on September 21.
(REUTERS)
BASRA, Iraq -- Local authorities in southern Iraq said on Thursday that they would have no dealings with British forces who stormed a Basra jail to release two of their men, even as Baghdad and London sought to downplay the incident.
"All regular meetings between the governorate and British troops have been canceled and we will not allow British soldiers into the governorate building or any other public office in Basra," Nadim Al Jabiri, spokesman for the provincial governor in Basra, said.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-080104-5049r
Pakistan president slammed for rape quote
AFP
September 16, 2005
ISLAMABAD -- Politicians and rights groups condemned President Pervez Musharraf on Friday for saying in a US newspaper that rape has become a "moneymaking concern" with some Pakistanis believing that it was a ticket to settling abroad.
"It was shocking to read that General Musharraf had publicly aired his low opinion of women ...," opposition MP Sherry Rehman said about Musharraf's comments in an interview with the Washington Post this week.
"This is very frivolous way of looking at rape cases in the country," human rights activist Kamila Hyat said.
Musharraf made the comments after being asked about the high-profile case of Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang raped on the orders of a tribal council in 2002 as punishment for her brother's alleged love affair with a woman from another tribe.
Her treatment by the Pakistani government, which tried to bar her from addressing US rights groups about her ordeal, earned the still conservative Islamic country international wrath.
"You must understand the environment in Pakistan," Musharraf told the Washington Post.
"This has become a moneymaking concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped," he said.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-064811-5014r
Afghanistan proud after largely peaceful vote
Danny Kemp
AFP
September 19, 2005
SORTERS: Election workers sort ballot boxes into a store in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 19.
(REUTERS)
KABUL -- Millions of Afghans voted on Sunday for their first parliament in more than 30 years, streaming to polling stations in mosques and schools and defying last-ditch attempts by the Taliban to disrupt the elections.
Nine people were killed as voting got underway, including a French soldier and an Afghan civilian, while rockets were fired on a UN warehouse in Kabul and two would-be suicide bombers were wounded trying to attack a polling center.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-085127-9068r
Afghanistan's women move out of the shadows to vote
Deborah Pasmantier
AFP
September 19, 2005
VOTERS: Pashtun women queue to vote in the country's first parliamentary elections in more then 30 years, in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on September 18.
(REUTERS)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- With a mixture of pride and confusion, women in this stronghold of the Taliban regime that barred them from public life were determined to vote in Sunday's landmark elections.
Crowding women-only voting stations in greater numbers than in the presidential elections in October, the burkah-clad voters stumbled through an unfamiliar process denied to them by decades of war and Taliban rule.
"Could someone help me?" asked Mastora, 50, holding up two complicated, newspaper-sized ballot papers crammed with tiny photographs of hundreds of candidates, a look of desperation on her face.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-041021-6446r
41 percent of Afghan voters were women
September 22, 2005
KABUL -- Women made up 41 percent of the 6 million Afghans who voted in landmark legislative elections at the weekend, around the same as in last year's presidential poll, organizers said on Wednesday.
Sunday's parliamentary and provincial elections have been hailed as a milestone in Afghanistan's progress since the late 2001 overthrow of the Taliban regime, who virtually banned women from public life.
"We project out of total number of votes cast, 41 percent are by females and 59 percent by males," said Sultan Baheen, spokesman of the UN-backed Joint Electoral Management Body.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-023348-7879r
Beauty to the fore at Israeli-Palestinian pageant in East Jerusalem
September 21, 2005
BEAUTIES: Israeli and Palestinian girls participate in the 'Miss Seam Line' beauty pageant in the Israeli neighborhood of Gilo near Jerusalem on September 20. The contest is meant to bring together girls from both sides of the controversial Israeli barriers buffer zone.
(REUTERS)
JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian teenager walked off with the tiara at a groundbreaking Israeli-Palestinian beauty pageant held in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The pageant, with 20 young women and girls taking part, was being held for the second straight year. It is the brainchild of Adi Nadar, a resident of the Jewish settlement of Gilo in annexed East Jerusalem.
The area is frequently the target of automatic arms fire from the neighboring Palestinian town of Beit Jallah in the West Bank.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050921-023055-3177r
Indian pepper spray protection ad withdrawn after protest by women's group
AFP
September 22, 2005
NEW DELHI -- An Indian newspaper advertisement that suggested that parents would be blamed if they failed to buy pepper spray to deter rape attacks on their daughters was withdrawn on Thursday after a women's group protest.
The advertisement in several daily newspapers for Knockout pepper spray asked readers: "Tomorrow if your daughter gets raped who is to be blamed? The rapist or you?" and recommended the spray as a deterrent.
Jagori, a women's group that runs a violence prevention unit, wrote an article in response to the advertisement questioning why women in India should be forced to live in fear of rape.
"When these cases come forward, a lot of instructions are given to women, such as don't go out late," said Sarita Balooni, a counselor at Jagori.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050922-061718-9100r
Young German Turk admits to shooting his sister in honor killing
September 15, 2005
HONORABLE? A drawing shows three Turkish brothers Mutlu, Alpaslan and Ayhan Surucu (L-R) during their trial in Berlin, on September 14. The three brothers face charges of murder for the 'honor killing' of their sister Hatun Surucu on February 7.
(REUTERS)
BERLIN -- A young Turkish immigrant accused along with his brothers of killing his sister on a Berlin street confessed on Wednesday to the crime that has sparked a debate about Islamic honor killings in Germany.
"I killed my sister. Nobody else in the family helped me," 19-year-old Ayhan Surucu told a packed court in Berlin through his lawyer.
He said that he shot dead his 23-year-old sister Hatun, who fled a forced marriage to live as a single mother, because he disapproved of her lifestyle and her morals, but added that he regretted his actions.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050915-040204-3277r
Journalists group protest expulsion of MET publisher
Richard Engel
Middle East Times
November 10, 2004
CAIRO -- This article was censored from the September 21, 1994 edition of the Middle East Times.
Thomas Cromwell, publisher and editor of the Middle East Times, remains outside of Egypt after being denied entry to the country last month.
"On 22 August, Egyptian police detained Cromwell for three hours upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport before he was informed that he could not re-enter the country," said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement issued last week.
"The officers gave no explanation for their decision and later the same day forced him to leave the country on a flight to Jordan. Cromwell has since written to the Ministry of Information requesting an explanation for the authorities' action, but has received no response," the statement added.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20041110-091038-4989r
Iranian VP at UN nuclear agency
Michael Adler
AFP
September 21, 2005
VP: Iran's Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh answers journalist's questions in Vienna's UN headquarters where an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors meeting is taking place, on September 21.
(REUTERS)
VIENNA -- Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said on Wednesday that Iran had no intention of withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) despite Western threats to crack down on its atomic program.
Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's atomic agency, met in Vienna on Wednesday with Russia, China and nonaligned states that oppose a European drive to send Tehran before the UN Security Council for nuclear fuel work that could be weapons-related.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050921-090351-1449r
Israel to expand security zone into northern Gaza
Jean-Luc Renaudie
AFP
September 16, 2005
JERUSALEM -- Israel is preparing to extend a closed military zone into northern Gaza to bolster security after its historic pullout from the territory, in a move denounced by the Palestinians as continued occupation.
Defense minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered a "security zone" to extend 150 meters (yards) into Palestinian land, following four days of chaos on Gaza's border with Egypt, exacerbating Israeli fears about militant infiltrations.
Thousands of people have crossed the Rafah border, with Egyptian and Palestinian security unable or unwilling to stem the tide, helped by militants who have blown holes through the frontier walls.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-082051-7380r
Analysis: The UN's document
William M. Reilly
UPI UN Correspondent
September 16, 2005
SUMMIT: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (R) meets Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on the second day of the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, on September 15, 2005.
(REUTERS)
UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told delegates to the 2005 World Summit at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday that the world organization was at a fork in the road. Deep divisions among members and underperformance of institutions were creating a divergence, preventing a cohesive march forward against threats.
Still, the United Nations, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, has remained fully engaged in conflict resolution, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, defense of human rights and development around the world, said Annan.
"The clear danger was that states of all kinds might increasingly resort to self-help, leading to a proliferation of ad hoc responses that would be divisive, destabilizing and dangerous," he said, adding that that was why he set up the mechanism that led to adoption of the 35-page document accepted by the assembly on Tuesday evening.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050916-045300-4785r
Viewpoint: Iraq, a drain on American power
Mirza A. Beg
September 19, 2005
ALABAMA, USA -- The two-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Iraq has been terribly mismanaged. Most Americans were oblivious to it because Iraq is "over there" and the amenities of the average American were not directly affected. The terrible mismanagement in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has opened their eyes to the abject incompetence of the Bush administration.
Finally more and more Americans are asking, why are we in Iraq? The two reasons promoted by Bush were WMDs in Iraq and the complicity of Saddam in the 9/11 attacks. Both have been proven to be not only false, but also contrived. The roster of mismanagement in Iraq is long. Nothing in Iraq has been done right.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050919-051355-5199r
Los Angeles Times
Feinstein Says She Will Vote 'No' on Roberts
By Maura Reynolds, Times Staff Writer
Sen. Dianne Feinstein said this morning she would vote against confirming John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice, disclosing her opposition only at the last moment as the Senate Judiciary Committee neared its vote on Roberts' nomination.
Explaining her decision, Feinstein, a California Democrat who has at times aligned herself with the party's moderates, said she had been disappointed with answers Roberts had provided during committee hearings. She said he had had the opportunity to distance himself from particularly conservative approaches he had taken to social policy ad legal issues as young aide in the Reagan administration's Justice Department and White House.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092205roberts_lat,0,3332392.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Immigration reform, again
September 22, 2005
IF THE WHITE HOUSE IS finally serious about a comprehensive plan to fix the nation's immigration system, and there are signs that it is, then President Bush needs to get serious about working with Democrats — and standing up to the more unreasonable members of his own party. Immigration reform is still possible this fall, but not without the president's bipartisan leadership.
This isn't the first time Bush has said he is ready to tackle the issue. He spoke about the need for reform in February 2001 and again in January 2004, each time raising expectations that he was prepared to remake the nation's immigration policies into a system that would be "safe, orderly and legal."
So it's reasonable to ask why this time is different. The answer is pleasantly surprising: Members of the House who were invited to the White House last week to hear the administration's proposal found it comprehensive. According to those present at the meeting, which included Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the plan is similar to a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress that has the strong support of both business and immigrant advocacy groups.
The president's proposal calls for better enforcement both on the border and in the workplace. It would also create a guest worker program that would be filled initially with those already working in the country.
The two main immigration bills currently in Congress, one sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and another introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) contain similar provisions.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-immig22sep22,0,3878366,print.story?coll=la-home-oped
For Passengers, Humor, Tears -- Then Cheers
By Jill Leovy, Times Staff Writer
For Matthew Ash, a 24-year-old Gardena resident on a church trip to New York's Catskill Mountains, the first sign of trouble came from an icon of a JetBlue plane.
The plane — on the animated map at his seat — "wasn't going anywhere," he said, "just hanging around in Los Angeles."
A few minutes later, he heard the calm male voice of Flight 292's pilot, Scott Burke, speaking over the plane's intercom: "For those of you who may have noticed we are flying in circles," Ash recalled the pilot saying, "we are currently experiencing difficulties with the front landing gear."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-passenger22sep22,0,1782210.story?coll=la-home-headlines
continued ...
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