Ria Novosti
Tajikistan to hold rotating presidency in Eurasec in 2008
DUSHANBE, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Tajikistan will hold a rotating chair in the Eurasian Economic Community (Eurasec) in 2008 and its leader will supervise the work of the organization, the Russian president said Saturday.
"At the meeting of heads of state in a narrow framework we decided to choose Tajikistan and President Emomali Rakhmon to chair Eurasec," President Putin said at the session of the Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasec in Tajikistan.
Earlier the leaders of the regional organization selected Tair Mansurov, a governor of North Kazakhstan Region and a former Kazakh ambassador to Russia, as a new secretary general of Eurasec. He will replace Grigory Rapota, from Belarus, who headed the organization since October 2001.
A document on the budget policy, signed Saturday by the leaders of the organization's member states, said that in 2008 Eurasec is set to focus on the formation of a Customs Union and a single economic and transport space as well as of a common energy market.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071006/82750326.html
Russian silkworms spin first 'space silk' in history
MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Silkworms on board the recent Russian Foton-M bio-satellite flight span the first space silk in history, a Moscow school teacher revealed Tuesday.
As part of the satellite's scientific program, Moscow school students, led by biology teacher Alexander Koloskov, carried out an experiment to study how weightlessness influences the life cycle of silkworms.
Experiments on board the satellite also revealed that worms are able to produce silk in microgravity conditions, but can not pupate, as they pass silk threads around the sticks they are sitting on rather than around their bodies. Disorientation was given as one possible reason for this.
Koloskov said that during the next stage of the research the students will send butterflies into space to study how insects adopt to microgravity.
http://en.rian.ru/science/20071002/82006905.html
Russia to carry out up to 20 space projects by 2015
MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - Under the Federal space program for 2006-2015 Russia plans to conduct over 20 scientific projects, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) head Anatoly Perminov told Thursday
"In particular, we have plans to build special-purpose spacecraft fitted with scientific equipment. The research will focus on fields like astrophysics, and planetary science," he said.
He said that planned flights included to Phobos, the Mars satellite, and to the Moon.
The Roskosmos head also said that the Russian biological satellite Foton-M, which landed on September 27, 2007, conducted over 70 experiments while in space.
"Space and science are mutually dependent and virtually inseparable today," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071004/82436462.html
"Dad of all Bombs" - Russia's new super-weapon. INFOgraphics
Russia tests the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, whose effect is comparable to a nuclear charge. It is more powerful than the U.S. Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), colloquially known as the Mother of All Bombs, a large-yield satellite-guided, air delivered bomb described as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in history.
http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20070928/81566213.html
Asteroid could hit Earth in 2029 - Russian astronomer
MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - An asteroid, discovered in 2004, could pose a threat to Earth in 2029, the director of the Institute of Astronomy said Monday.
Boris Shustov said at an international space forum in Moscow that the Apophis asteroid, which is due to cross earth's orbit in 2029 at a height of 27,000 km (17,000 miles), could under certain conditions hit Earth in 2029.
The explosion could surpass the famous Tunguska explosion of June 30, 1908, which affected a 2,150 square kilometer (830 sq miles) area of Russia felling over 80 million trees in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in Siberia.
The meteoroid's air blast was estimated to be between 10 and 20 megatons in TNT equivalent or 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion caused a shockwave around 5.0 on the Richter scale.
However, the asteroid is not likely to repeat the plot of Hollywood blockbusters, as modern technology would allow the asteroid's orbit to be corrected using small satellites, Shustov said.
http://en.rian.ru/science/20071001/81860323.html
Look at falling stars!
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Tatyana Sinitsyna) - The Earth will cross the Draconid meteor shower within a few days.
The encounter repeats every year in October's first ten days, with intensity varying on a 7-year cycle, which is now at its peak.
Our planet will enter the meteor swarm on October 8, to stay for the next two days among cosmic dust and tiny pebbles. In fact, a majority of meteors are not vagabond giants spelling apocalyptic disasters-each weighs from a tenth to a thousandth fraction of a gram.
Be that as it may, a sight of breathtaking beauty awaits us. Every night in good weather, we people of northern latitudes shall see a slow, reddish star shower near Draco, or the Dragon-a constellation shining above the North Pole.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071005/82637401.html
Iran welcomes foreign investment in nuclear sector
TEHRAN, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Iran would welcome foreign investment in its nuclear industry, but will not abandon its uranium enrichment program, the Islamic Republic's president said Friday.
"We are ready for cooperation and joint investment [in the nuclear sphere], but that has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear fuel cycle," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.
He said Iran's right to pursue nuclear energy programs is non-negotiable.
"We do not intend to discuss our rights in the nuclear energy sphere," he said.
The president said world powers have deliberately politicized Iran's nuclear problem in order to impede its scientific and technological advance.
Ahmadinejad said Thursday no force in the world can halt Iran's nuclear progress.
"Our enemies are in no position to harm the cause of the [Islamic] revolution," he said, adding that "some enemies" are trying to weaken the country's economy with trade and economic sanctions.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071005/82651532.html
From the New York Times
Questions About the India Deal, Finally
Published: October 6, 2007
The Bush administration and the American business community have been hoping for a swift, rubber-stamp approval of their ill-conceived nuclear trade deal with India. Luckily, some members of Congress, and some American allies, are finally asking questions.
Congress was far too uncritical when it gave preliminary approval to the agreement in December. As a next step, Washington must get a change in rules from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the main providers of so-called civilian nuclear technology around the world. All nuclear trade with India has been banned since it refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and tested nuclear weapons.
Now some members of Congress are beginning to raise doubts about the deal. The proposal introduced in the House this week by Howard Berman, a California Democrat, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, would be a sense of the House resolution. But by highlighting bipartisan concerns, it should bolster skeptics in the suppliers’ group who rightfully fear that the agreement could benefit New Delhi’s weapons program as much as its pursuit of nuclear power, while making it even harder to rein in the ambitions of nuclear wannabes, including Iran.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/opinion/06sat2.html?ref=opinion
Pro-West blocs gain advantage in Ukraine elections
(Recasts headline, lead, para 2; adds details, background in paras 4-9)
KIEV, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - The final votes in Ukraine's parliamentary elections were counted on Friday, with pro-West blocs gathering enough votes to form a coalition government.
Following elections on September 30, five blocs made it into the Supreme Rada, with the pro-Russian Party of Regions headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych leading with 34.32%.
Its arch-rival, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc, gained 30.71%, followed by the other Western-leaning bloc, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense bloc, with 14.15%.
Voter turnout was 62.38%.
Since none of the parties can claim a majority 226 seats in the new 450-member parliament, consultations are currently underway to form a coalition.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071005/82686149.html
Opinion & analysis
Is Ukraine more of a democracy than Russia?
MOSCOW. (Yevgeny Kozhokin for RIA Novosti) - Contrary to expectations, the political landscape of post-election Ukraine is not likely to be any smoother.
As soon as the votes are counted, Ukraine will have a hard time forming a government. The ruling coalition will not take shape quickly despite the Orange majority's efforts to unite and put a good face on things.
Given the state of personal relations between Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, and her excessive demands, any alliance they manage to form is bound to be fragile and short-lived and, most probably, will not make Ukraine any more tranquil.
At the same time, there is a good chance that the Orange leaders will fail to strike a deal and that a future government will represent the same powerful economic and political forces as the former coalition did before the Rada's dissolution. Apart from the Party of Regions, the future coalition could include the Communists and the Socialists if they manage to overcome the 3% threshold.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071003/82143222.html
Rescuers find another body in Mi-2 crash in Russia's Far East
KHABAROVSK, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Rescuers in the Russian Far East found Saturday a body of a fourth passenger from a utility helicopter that crashed two days ago into the sea near the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia's Far East.
"The body was discovered on Saturday on the sea shore two kilometers from a village Ustyevoye," local emergencies department said.
The Mi-2 circled the village of Ustyevoye on Thursday and suddenly crashed into the sea about 100 meters (330 feet) off the coast.
The body of the pilot, Yury Khudrivy, was discovered at the scene by two towboats. Three hours later rescuers found the bodies of two passengers who had been washed ashore. The search for others who could have been on board the helicopter is continuing.
Earlier reports said the emergencies service had been alerted by villagers, who heard a rattle as the helicopter fell into the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Mi-2, an 8-passenger helicopter with a flight range
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071006/82755486.html
Pervez Musharraf leads Pakistani presidential election-1
(Adds details, background in paras 3-10)
ISLAMABAD, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Pakistan's current President General Pervez Musharraf leads in the country's presidential election, a spokesman for the Information Ministry said Saturday.
According to unofficial results, Musharraf gained 252 votes of the Senate and National Assembly deputies out of overall 442, the spokesman said.
Musharraf's presidential term ends on November 15. His nomination was filed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
On Tuesday Musharraf nominated Lieutenant General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani the new Army commander, as the current president had pledged earlier to give up his military title if he was reelected.
The opposition parties earlier vowed to boycott the election and promised to resign from parliament and assemblies of all four provinces if Musharraf is reelected.
General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999. After the 2002 parliamentary election, Musharraf retained his presidential and military titles, as well as the right to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20071006/82757178.html
At least 23 dead in Congo crash. Video
At least 23 people are dead after a cargo plane crashed in a busy neighbourhood of Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo.
http://en.rian.ru/video/20071005/82573153.html
Council of Europe displeased with Russia again
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yelena Shesternina) - Russia was criticized again at the Strasbourg session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) this week. Addressing the session, Patriarch Alexy II improved the situation somewhat but could not save the Russian delegation from the attacks of European MPs.
Tensions started building up even before the session opened. PACE refused to discuss the U.S. plans to deploy missile-defense elements on Polish and Czech territory on the grounds that missile defense had nothing to do with human rights and democracy which are the main directions of its activities.
It was clear before the session that the Mikhail Margelov-led Russian delegation would have to explain why Moscow was blocking the reform of the European Court of Human Rights. Russia was the only member of the Council of Europe, which failed to ratify Protocol 14 to the Human Rights Convention.
This protocol determines the gist of the reform. It has changed the procedure of controlling compliance with the convention; it has extended the powers of judges from six to nine years. In addition, it has introduced an additional criterion, which allows the European Court to reject a complaint based on the damage sustained by the applicant. The protocol has also upgraded the procedure for filtering patently unacceptable complaints.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071005/82651141.html
VTB eager to take over Russian Standard
MOSCOW. (Financial analyst Anatoly Gorev for RIA Novosti) - VTB, Russia's second-largest state controlled banking group, is doing its best to buy Russian Standard, a leader of retail banking in Russia.
If Andrei Kostin's bank gets its way, VTB will rocket ahead in retail lending and score a major image-making victory over foreign financial giants.
France's BNP Paribas tried to buy Russian Standard, and in the past few weeks the market was abuzz with rumors that Germany's number one lending institution, Deutsche Bank, is also eyeing it.
So far, the transaction has not progressed past the negotiating stage. The Russian media cite investment bankers as saying, on condition of anonymity, that VTB has already made an offer for a 10% stake in Russian Standard. The bank's owner, Rustam Tariko, has allegedly rejected the offer despite a very good price.
VTB's management has apparently shrugged off Tariko's refusal as an intermediary result. Experts say that the state-controlled bank will not abandon its plan to take over part or all of Russian Standard.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071004/82460614.html
From the Moscow News
Russia Unveils New Superjet Plane
KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR (AFP, MN) - Russia on Wednesday rolled out a new regional passenger jet that it hopes will revive the country's civil aviation industry and rival similar models from Brazil and Canada.
The Superjet 100 is being developed by state-run jetmaker Sukhoi with Western partners at a factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia's Far East, some 8,000 kilometers east of Moscow.
"The first plane of the new Russia is of great importance, a priority project, because the domestic market is not enough for a world economy," First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said at the unveiling ceremony.
With the Superjet 100, Sukhoi hopes to succeed where Soviet-era jetmakers Ilyushin and Tupolev failed: in taking a large share of the world's booming passenger jet market.
The plane, which can fit up to 110 passengers, is due to undergo test flights later this year, and developers hope to be producing up to six planes a month for world markets by 2010.
http://mnweekly.ru/business/20070927/55279272.html
Brides’ Parade in Moscow
http://en.rian.ru/photolents/20071003/82140687_8.html
The Anti-Elite
By appointing new leaders from outside the current group of political elites, Vladimir Putin may be laying the ground for future conflicts.
These appointments are anti-elite per se; they reflect, above all, Putin's deep disappointment in the country's current political elite in general and in its ruling clique in particular. They also reflect his utmost unwillingness not only to consult with this elite on the matter of staff appointments, for example, but even to reckon with it and to display any signs of attention and respect for it.
Appointing these men, and Zubkov in particular, reveals that there is one thing of utmost importance to Putin - that they not be involved in any of the present elite groups. The fact that Zubkov is not known to be part of any presently active cliques or deals is crucial because deep down, Putin really doesn't trust anyone who is part of the competition for contracts and projects. He wants to trust people like Zubkov who seems to be, if not absolutely from outside the system, then at least from the system's periphery.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071004/82344776.html
Afghanistan - between war and truce?
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - Afghanistan may go from a state of war to a process of national reconciliation.
If it does, this will be a dramatic shift - all President Hamid Karzai's previous attempts to talk to the Taliban were immediately cut short by both domestic opposition and the U.S.-led international sponsors of Afghanistan's recovery.
But sentiments seem to have changed. Both the informal international meeting on Afghanistan and the United Nations General Assembly have backed Kabul's plans to negotiate with the Taliban. The United Nations urged President Karzai and other Afghan leaders to promote political dialogue at home with a view to national reconciliation.
Nothing has changed in Afghanistan. But national reconciliation is becoming increasingly attractive. It is abundantly clear that Afghanistan's problems cannot be resolved by force. The Afghans have known this since the Soviet military occupation in the 1980s. They have learnt to resist force with guerilla warfare, whether as Mujahidin or Taliban.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071002/81984034.html
Unmanned aerial vehicles increase in numbers
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov) - On October 11, the Russian government will consider a state defense order for the next three years.
The program covering the period until 2015 is expected to replace 45% of the military inventory in the army and navy. In addition to re-equipping tank, motorized rifle and air landing units, it also plans to build up strategic weapons. The troops will take delivery of over 50 mobile Topol-M missile systems, while the fleet of strategic aviation will grow to 50 Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-95 MS Bear missile carrier aircraft.
But, as military experts note, there is one key area in the development and production of modern weapons that is not funded enough despite vast sums - something like 5 trillion rubles - allocated to be spent on armaments before the middle of the next decade. The reference is to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are today regarded as an essential element of an air force in many leading countries.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071005/82619436.html
SI
Swarm of insects disrupt late innings
Posted: Friday October 5, 2007 8:18PM; Updated: Friday October 5, 2007 11:30PM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- This will forever be known as the Bug Game.
A swarm of insects descended on Jacobs Field in the eighth inning of the Cleveland Indians' 2-1 playoff victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night, leading to a bizarre scene featuring players waving their arms and gloves in an attempt to keep the pesky bugs away.
The teams kept playing into extra innings as millions of bugs nagged players on the field and in the dugouts.
"Every time you tried to focus on something, they're flying in your nose and your hair and your face," said Yankees first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who was batting in the top of the eighth when the swarm invaded.
Ron Harrison, an entomologist who works for Orkin Inc., an Atlanta-based pest control company, said the annoying bugs were a type of midge, an insect related to mosquitoes. While some speculated they were Canadian Soldiers, they were much smaller than that type.
During warm fall weather, midges often breed on the outskirts of lakes.
"My feeling is that there has been some breeding around Lake Erie, and air currents are pushing them onto land in mass numbers," Harrison said.
The insects don't have piercing, sucking mouth parts, he said.
"They aren't really biters -- more of a nuisance," Harrison said.
Just ask the Yankees.
They were on the verge of tying the series when the insects arrived in a scenario only Alfred Hitchcock could imagine.
Asked to play amateur entomologist after the game, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not an expert on what kind of bugs they are. They were small," he said.
The bugs subsided somewhat after the game went into extra innings. Travis Hafner ended it with an RBI single in the 11th inning, leading to a wild celebration by the Indians in the infield.
With the Yankees ahead 1-0, the bugs clearly affected reliever Joba Chamberlain and helped the Indians tie it. Bug spray did little good -- Chamberlain's neck, face and hat were covered with the tiny bugs, and he tried to spit them out of his mouth.
Chamberlain and the rest of the Yankees refused to use the bugs as an excuse.
"There's not much you can do about it," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He was having trouble seeing out there. I'll tell you one thing about the kid he never lost his composure. Unfortunately it was at a bad time."
Almost everyone was affected by the cloud, with players and the umpires trying in vain to brush them away.
"They're flying around in your face it's going to mess with your vision a little bit," Jeter said. "But it was like that for both teams."
Chamberlain was sprayed with insect repellant when he took the mound in the eighth and fans booed as a member of the Yankees staff sprayed him down again in between batters.
"Bugs are bugs," Chamberlain said. "It's something you've got to deal with."
Chamberlain, who was in command when he took over in the seventh, lost control. He walked two, hit a batter and threw a pair of wild pitches -- he had only one wild pitch during the season.
Chamberlain's second wild pitch let Grady Sizemore score the tying run from the third base.
Jeter and second baseman Robinson Cano swatted away the bugs with their hats between pitches. Alex Rodriguez used his glove and hat.
The bugs have plagued Jacobs Field in the past. During one memorable September 2004 game, play was stopped several times to allow players, who complained of swallowing the bugs while running the bases, were sprayed with repellant. The Indians lost to the Angels 6-1.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/specials/playoffs/2007/10/05/yankees.indians.bugs.ap/
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Indians in the Playoffs
Pluto: Scribbles in my playoff notebook
Posted by Terry Pluto October 06, 2007 00:30AM
Categories: Indians in the Playoffs
He had a triple, a single, a couple of walks and a diving catch. He was so hard to keep off bases, they couldn't even retire him on a strikeout. The nation is getting to see the Grady Sizemore that Tribe fans have loved since he came to Cleveland to stay in 2005. In the two divisional playoff games, the Tribe's leadoff man has been on base seven times! He is 3-for-8 with two walks, has been hit by a pitch and made it to first on a passed ball when he struck out. But Sizemore is so much more than numbers. His diving, belly-flop catch of a line drive off the bat of Jorge Posada saved at least a double. Then there was Sizemore roaring to home plate to score on a wild pitch in the eighth inning, sliding under a tag applied by Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Or Sizemore striking out on a high fastball in the 10th, but sprinting to first base as the ball bounced off the glove of Posada. Or Sizemore slashing a hard grounder down the first-base line that should have been a double, but with legs pumping, dirt flying off his spikes -- he legged it into a triple. This was the Grady Sizemore who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated earlier this season, the Sizemore who hustles on every play because he knows that's how the game is meant to be played. He's the Sizemore who turned 25 in August and who is under contract by the Tribe through 2012. Once again, the Indians won the battle of the bullpens. Raffy Perez threw two more scoreless innings. That gives him four in the playoffs. Even more impressive, it's 12-up, 12-down for the 25-year-old lefty who has been immune to pressure since coming to the Tribe from Class AAA Buffalo on May 29.
http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/indians/
The Tenth Man: A fan blog by Chris Jung
Just Say No To Gnatgate
Posted by Chris Jung October 06, 2007 00:29AM
Categories: The Tenth Man: A fan blog by Chris Jung
It figures that on a night when the Indians finally collect that signature win, the sweet victory that seemingly pushes them one step closer to solidifying themselves as one of baseball's best teams, that mother nature would interject and give people the chance to say, "well, Chamberlain just couldn't see very well."
http://blog.cleveland.com/tribetracker/tenthman/
Cleveland, OH weather
82ºF
28ºC
Right Now
M/CLOUDY
Humidity: 57%
Wind: WSW, 6 mph
Barometer: 30.18 inches
Visibility: 10 miles
Cleveland leaders slow to embrace Apple center
Education center would train city students in digital media, but cost is a concern for officials
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Shaheen Samavati
Plain Dealer Reporter
Apple Inc. -- one of the hottest technology companies in the world -- wants to bring a flashy, high-tech education center to downtown Cleveland.
Sound too good to be true?
Some civic leaders think so. While it would offer about 100 Cleveland public high school students a media-rich education, it would cost millions. And Apple wouldn't contribute any cash or equipment, only professional services.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-3/1191660231271830.xml&coll=2
ArcelorMittal burns up State Patrol's contraband guns, drugs
ArcelorMittal burns patrol's contraband
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Mark Puente
Plain Dealer Reporter A heavily armed team of state troopers brought a $6 million package from Columbus to Cleveland early Thursday. Then, they incinerated it in a 3,500-degree furnace.
Troopers escorted 4,000 pounds of marijuana, cocaine and heroin and 59 guns to the ArcelorMittal steel plant along the Cuyahoga River.
The State Highway Patrol burns drugs and guns four times a year at different mills across Ohio. It keeps the contraband in a room in Columbus until criminal cases are resolved and the evidence is no longer needed.
The 40-foot-long room was filled with steel racks containing pallets of drugs seized on the interstates before the last burn. About 40 file cabinets lined the walls, stuffed with evidence from smaller seizures.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1191659722271830.xml&coll=2
Detectives who fatally shot teen can sue State Sen. Shirley Smith for critical letter
Lawmaker faulted killing of teen
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Reginald Fields
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus- Two Cleveland police detectives who fatally shot a 15-year-old boy can pursue their lawsuit against a state lawmaker who they say unfairly ridiculed them in a letter calling the officers "hit men."
State Sen. Shirley Smith, who at the time of the shooting on Sept. 1, 2005, was a member of the Ohio House, was not acting in her official capacity and therefore is not entitled to immunity, the Ohio Court of Claims ruled this week.
That means Detectives Philip Habeeb and John Kraynik can seek civil damages from Smith for the scathing letter she delivered to city leaders just days after Brandon McCloud was killed in his bedroom as the officers executed a search warrant.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1191660420271830.xml&coll=2
Grass-roots coalition seeks equal medical coverage for everyone in Ohio
Grass-roots effort pursues plan through petition drive
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Sarah Jane Tribble
Plain Dealer Reporter
When Joeletta Akemon sifts through her family's medical bills, a tone of hopelessness enters her voice.
Her husband pays about $550 a month for family health insurance through work, but each doctor visit and prescription also has out-of-pocket costs, and the family is falling behind. Bill collectors have begun calling.
"The middle class like me and my husband, we're just struggling," Akemon said. "We still can't go to the doctor when we really need to."
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1191659805271830.xml&coll=2
Portage judge John Plough won't release public record
Saturday, October 06, 2007
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter
A Portage County Municipal judge already under state scrutiny for his courtroom conduct is now refusing to surrender a public record.
The Plain Dealer repeatedly requested the record of John Plough's sentencing of a woman who pleaded guilty to assault and disorderly conduct in late July.
Plough placed Angela Porter on probation then and hired her a month later. She now works as his assignment commissioner and deputy bailiff for $12.75 an hour.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/portage/1191659842271830.xml&coll=2
Find your bag on the carousel?
Airlines' problems with luggage getting worse
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Jonathan Mummolo and Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post
After the crammed parking lot, the amusement park-length check-in lines, security procedures that require all but a striptease, flights that are jampacked, if they're not delayed or canceled -- after all that comes baggage claim, where the maddening odyssey of modern air travel is supposed to end but often just gets worse.
More than 1 million pieces of luggage were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines from May to July, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June and July ranked among the 20 worst months for mishandled baggage in 20 years.
The shoddy service is the crest of five years of steady deterioration in the ability of major airlines to deliver a checked bag. In 2002, some 3.84 reports of mishandled bags were filed per 1,000 passengers. In July, the figure was 7.93.
http://www.cleveland.com/travel/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/other/119131448328890.xml&coll=2
Amber Hill arraignment
Bond is set at $2 million for Amber Hill on charges accusing her of drowning her two young daughters in a bathtub.
David I. Andersen / The Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/news/pdvideo/flash/index.ssf?100307_amberhill_video
This is a tragic event, but, is law enforcement getting carried away in a political posturing to defeat abortion rights? Unless there is 'Depression Screening' for pregnant women there is no way to prevent death of a fetus when the mother dies of her own demise. There just isn't. If women are screened for depression while pregnant, then do they have the right to refuse medication and if they do will they be imprisoned to prevent their deaths and therefore the death of an infant?
Depression does not always equate to death. Only when under a doctor's care and noted to be harmful to self or others will any court 'commit' a woman for treatment in a facility. At what point does treatment for depression (when one can get it) become a prison sentence until the fetal rights of the unborn are satisfied? No one should be allowed to hurt themselves or maim themselves, but, in a country where mental health is placed on the back burner along with good quality health insurance what then becomes the issue in regard to the unborn? Does the unborn have more rights than the mother?
This type of Pro-Life charge is highly questionable in it's rational. If a pregnant woman is murdered while pregnant, it is understandable the DEATH OF THE WOMAN when it comes to sentencing the murderer has to be weighted considering the infant died as well. HOWEVER, the fetus/infant is not an independant life and does not carry it's own rights in regard to court proceedings. This 'charge' against the woman that caused the death of the fetus is absurd and it needs to be resinded. This is a venue of 'Fetus Rights' not recognized under law and is very poor police work. It leads to oppression of women.
Death of fetus whose mother shot herself is ruled a homicide
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Elyria -- Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller ruled the death of Samantha Stoner, a 22-week-old fetus, a homicide on Friday.
"The baby died because it was extremely premature," Miller said.
Samantha had to be delivered by Caesarian section several days after her mother, Deborah Stoner, 36, shot herself Sept. 1 in the abdomen with .380-caliber handgun.
"I have ruled it a homicide because homicide to us means the actions of another person caused the death," Miller said.
Stoner, of Elyria, decided to shoot herself in the abdomen after a fight with her boyfriend, John George, Miller said, citing Elyria police reports.
Stoner was taken to EMH Regional Medical Center and later flown to MetroHealth Medical Center, where the fetus was delivered.
Police do not know what Stoner's intention was by shooting herself, Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said.
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