Saturday Night will appear Sunday Morning
Have a good evening
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Don't shoot yourself in the foot. Speaker Pelosi is your best friend.
Allow me to convince you.
Above is a link to a New York Times Editorial that spells out some interesting aspects of the proposal to withdraw troops by 2008.
We all know that George Walker Bush, Richard Cheney, Colin Powell, Condi Rice and the rest of the mess that lines the halls of the Senate and House called Republicans entered an illegal war.
Without a doubt, the loss of American lives in this travesty is outrageous and should never be rewarded. My apologies to Cindy Sheehan and every Gold Star Family that finds themselves with that status unwillingly and in grossly unpatriotic status due to the illegality of the Iraq War. No one feels worse than I do about the circumstances their valiant young people died under. I promise you that.
Now.
The 'benchmarks' set by the Democratic majority by vote alone was actually in response to the priorities set by Bush as Commander and Chief of our armed forces. They reflect every objective of this failed and corrupt president. It will be no time before the benchmarks will prevail and the soldiers will be home.
The one 'absolute' benchmark failure is the demand for the succes of Iraq's Unity without the 'partitioning' of ethnic provinces in the Iraqi Constitution. When the violence continued in Iraq, the Unity Government included in it's constitution, a constitution Bush encouraged voting for, an amendment. That amendment includes provincial authority of three ethnic areas of Iraq. It is correct and appropriate. It also sets up the wealth of the Iraqi treasury to be divided into portions to reflect the populations of each provincial authority.
I am not saying this is an attempt by the Democrats to sabotage the war initiative by Bush. Not at all. They aren't that clever. But, in blind obedience to the directives of the Commander and Chief in seeking 'an end' to the USA involvement to the war in Iraq, the Democrats have attempted to include all the directive Bush states needs to be achieved. The primary difference is that the Democratic Benchmarks DEMAND performance by the Iraqi government otherwise the troops leave. Bush sees an open ended war that never ends even though the 'status' of the war is grossly illegal.
The point is, the 'benchmarks' are an attempt to say to the Iraqi government to get their act together no matter what form it takes. If the Iraqi people want three autonomous provinces under the 'umbrella' of a Unity Government then they have it, but, that excludes our military from a presence there. Basically, the benchmarks end the neverending war of Iraq. The benchmarks will survive the 'negotiations' with the Senate Bill and will ultimately prevail in relieving this country of it's lack of national security, an escalation in terrorist networks globally and stop the confrontation of Iran.
I sincerely believe every word written here. I have a wish. That wish is to empower the Gold Star Families adversely effected by this president. Organize as a political entity and start to build constituency and expertise for your own candidates. The future of the security of the USA counts on it and it will insure a voice that will permanently resonate over generations. I realize there are Iraq War Veterans that have run for office and that is all fine and good, but, the civilian perspective in the way of candidates need empowerment as well.
Good Luck.
The Anti-War Movement feels betrayed. I can understand that, but, they need to look beyond the moneies appropriated.
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"We thought we were going to get a change when they came into power."
Charges Dropped Against Protesters
WCAX-TV
Burlington, Vermont - The Chittenden County prosecutor's office has dropped charges against six protestors arrested Wednesday for trespassing at Congressman Peter Welch's Burlington office.
They were part of a group of about 30 anti war activists who occupied the entrance to the office to pressure Welch to vote against funding for the Iraq war. Welch is against the war, but remains undecided how he will vote on the funding bill.
But prosecutors said the incident did not rise to the point of criminal prosecution.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9465
Anti-war protesters arrested at Pelosi’s office
By Chris Good / The Hill
Four members of the anti-war group Code Pink were arrested outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday afternoon, following an announcement that they would seek to take over the office.
The group’s members had planned to hold a symbolic “Pin the war on the Donkey” demonstration at Pelosi’s office to show their frustration with the Democratic leadership’s inaction on ending the war in Iraq.
However, Capitol Police prevented the taping of a drawn donkey to the wall.
Code Pink members were crying outside Pelosi’s office. When asked why, Rae Abileah, 24, said she was crying out of “outrage that this is all we can get from the Democrats,” referring to the Iraq supplemental funding bill, scheduled for a vote Friday.
“We’re just heartbroken that Nancy Pelosi has decided to keep funding George Bush’s war, and now the war belongs to the Democrats as well as the Republicans,” said Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin. “We thought we were going to get a change when they came into power.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9462
Key Democrat Pressured to Cut War Funding
By Aaron Glantz / IPS
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 21 - Peace activists entered their 10th day camped outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home Wednesday, the latest in an almost daily barrage of demonstrations, vigils and local government votes designed to convince Pelosi to refuse President George W. Bush's 100-billion-dollar war funding request.
The speaker says she will support the request with conditions.
Pelosi originally voted against the war four years ago and says she wants it to end. But that rhetoric is not enough for liberal San Franciscans, including elected officials like City Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who spoke at a rally in front of her office Monday.
"I did not and will not accept the excuses of even the most pragmatic, prudent, or progressive sounding representative in Congress in explaining to us that this war abroad is such a quagmire that there is no reason no we can pull out," Mirkarimi told a crowd of hundreds.
"They should be unelected," he said. "They should be taken out of office."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9461
Police tell anti-war protesters to take down 'Camp Pelosi'
By Michael Cabanatuan / San Francisco Chronicle
(03-22) 21:32 PDT -- Anti-war protesters in their 11th day of a round-the-clock vigil in front of Rep. Nancy Pelosi's Pacific Heights home were ordered by San Francisco police Thursday night to remove protest signs, banners and canopies that adorned what they called Camp Pelosi.
But protesters vowed to stay put until today's House vote on funding the war in Iraq.
"We'll still sit here overnight and tomorrow until the vote,'' said Cynthia Papermaster, a member of Code Pink: Women for Peace, which organized the sit-in.
Since March 10, demonstrators numbering from four to 30 have occupied the street corner in front of Pelosi's house, urging her to fight against continued funding of the war. As the protest has continued, the number of signs, displays and tents making up Camp Pelosi have increased.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9464
Contact Us
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100
http://www.speaker.gov/contact/
CODEPINK and Voices for Creative Nonviolence is organizing the Occupation Project, a campaign aimed at the offices of Representatives and Senators who won't stop funding the war. The campaign began the first week of February, 2007, when Bush introduced the new Supplemental Spending Bill. The Occupation Project encourages ongoing visits, sit-ins, and of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to put the pressure on our elected officials to support our troops and stop funding war!
http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?list=type&type=192
dontbuybushswar.org-Hillary Clinton Interruption 3/20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX_bEMftEd8
Students Host Peace Demonstration On OCU Campus
KSBI-TV
Oklahoma City -- The fourth anniversary of the United States' presence in Iraq is a hot topic in our country. A group of Oklahoma City University students aren't happy with how the government is handling the situation. Those students are doing something on campus that hasn't been done since the Vietnam War. They organized a protest.
They have signs in hand and a message in mind. OCU student and organizer Michael Slack told the group of protesters, "Mr Bush, we are tired of your politics and we are tired of your war."
Slack and other organizers put together the demonstration with a goal in mind.
"We want to communicate to our state senators and our state representatives that we are dissatisfied with the way that our administration is being run and the direction this war is going," says Slack.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9466
Fallen trooper didn't believe in war
Dreamed of military glory as kid growing up on D-M air base
By Carol Ann Alaimo / Arizona Daily Star
As a kid growing up on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Christopher Brevard dreamed of military glory. As an adult, he spent the last months of his life fighting a war he didn't believe in.
In e-mails to his family, the Army paratrooper, a father of two who considered himself a patriot, talked about what he saw as the futility of military operations in Iraq. He worried about the chronic exhaustion of the soldiers he led and felt U.S. troops were dying overseas for no good reason.
"He said, 'Mom, I would lay my life down in a heartbeat fighting for America. But if I lose my life over here, I will not feel like I died for my country," said the soldier's mother, Michele Brevard, 51.
On Friday, she received word that her 31-year-old son had been felled by a homemade bomb in Baghdad.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9458
Slain paratrooper treasured his daughters
Associated Press
WASILLA, Alaska -- A Fort Richardson paratrooper killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq treasured his two young daughters.
"His children were his life," Amber Brevard said Monday, shortly after the Army announced the death of her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Brevard, 31.
He was killed by a roadside bomb Friday in Baghdad. Gov. Sarah Palin ordered state flags be lowered to half staff next week in his honor.
Amber Brevard, 35, said her husband was a fun-loving man, an avid outdoorsman and an expert handyman who rebuilt two VW Beetles.
She described her husband as a daredevil who loved motorcycles, skydiving, four-wheeling and snowmobiling.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9463
'Six Days in Times Square' ...by Joan Wile
Granny Peace Brigade Holds Read-In of Names of War Dead
Joan Wile is the Founder-Director of Grandmothers Against the War and proud Granny Peace Brigade Jailbird Times Square 18
At dawn, Sunday, March 11, the Granny Peace Brigade and many supporters began reading the names of those killed in Iraq – the Americans, the journalists, the Iraqis and the other coalition forces -- in an historic event called the "Endless War Memorial." They did so from sunrise to sunset through the entire week as a lead-up to the fourth anniverary of the war, ending on Friday evening in a hail of rain, sleet and snow with wind blowing fiercely, a setting worthy of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."
Along the way, celebrities read, Iraq war veterans read, grieving Gold Star families read, and at times passers-by did so, also. Among the many notables who participated in the read-in were Oscar winner Susan Sarandon. She and Kathleen Chalfant, currently starring in “Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell,” read together, Susan reading the English-language names and Kathleen those in Arabic. Other actors currently performing on Broadway who read names of the dead were Liev Schreiber, the much-acclaimed star of “Talk Radio,” Mary Louise Wilson, star of “Grey Gardens” and Jefferson Mays, co-starring in “Journey's End.” It seemed particularly appropriate to have Mr. Mays read the names, given the nature of the wonderful play he acts in, which shows the true cost of war among soldiers in the trenches during World War I. Also reading were leading actors from former Broadway productions – the great Ruby Dee, the magnetic and brilliant Vinie Burrows.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=845
Mich. Congressman's Office Vandalized
Vandals Litter Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers' Office With Anti-War Sentiments
(AP) Vandals upset over the Iraq war defaced U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers' office overnight, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The unknown individuals splattered red paint on the Lansing building and put up a sign saying the Republican has "blood" on his hands. They also spray painted the sidewalk with the words "no more deaths," glued shut the front door of the building and destroyed security cameras, said Andy Keiser, Rogers' chief of staff.
Sheriff's deputies were providing extra security at the Brighton home where Rogers lives with his wife and two children, Keiser said.
"The aggressive destruction of federal property and vandalism was a callous attempt to intimidate Congressman Rogers and his staff," he said in a statement. "We all are entitled to our own opinion on the situation in Iraq, but we are not entitled to destruction of taxpayer property and intimidation of federal officials."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9454
Anti War March At Congressman Vern Ehlers House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySmkp2DNFyE
'Camp Casey Easter 2007' ...by Cindy Sheehan
From: Casey's Mom
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 6:43 PM
To: [Undisclosed Recipients]
Subject: 7.67 deaths per day for August.
Dear Friends
We can relax now. From the war zone of Crawford, Texas, George said that we families of loved ones that have been killed in Iraq can: "rest assured that your loved ones died for a noble cause."
I am going to be in Dallas this weekend for the VFP convention, and I don't care how far Crawford is from Dallas, I am going to that expletive deleted ranch. I will not leave until he explains to me exactly what the noble cause is. I hope some VFP's will join me in the crusade to Crawford. If they don't, I know my sister will, and we will go alone if we have to.
It has to stop. The time is now. I mean it.
Peace soon,
Cindy Sheehan
This is the email that I sent to a group of about 300 people the day that 14 Marines from a reserve unit in Ohio were killed. I was upset. I was heartbroken. I was frustrated, but most of all, I was angry!
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=836
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"We thought we were going to get a change when they came into power."
Charges Dropped Against Protesters
WCAX-TV
Burlington, Vermont - The Chittenden County prosecutor's office has dropped charges against six protestors arrested Wednesday for trespassing at Congressman Peter Welch's Burlington office.
They were part of a group of about 30 anti war activists who occupied the entrance to the office to pressure Welch to vote against funding for the Iraq war. Welch is against the war, but remains undecided how he will vote on the funding bill.
But prosecutors said the incident did not rise to the point of criminal prosecution.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9465
Anti-war protesters arrested at Pelosi’s office
By Chris Good / The Hill
Four members of the anti-war group Code Pink were arrested outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday afternoon, following an announcement that they would seek to take over the office.
The group’s members had planned to hold a symbolic “Pin the war on the Donkey” demonstration at Pelosi’s office to show their frustration with the Democratic leadership’s inaction on ending the war in Iraq.
However, Capitol Police prevented the taping of a drawn donkey to the wall.
Code Pink members were crying outside Pelosi’s office. When asked why, Rae Abileah, 24, said she was crying out of “outrage that this is all we can get from the Democrats,” referring to the Iraq supplemental funding bill, scheduled for a vote Friday.
“We’re just heartbroken that Nancy Pelosi has decided to keep funding George Bush’s war, and now the war belongs to the Democrats as well as the Republicans,” said Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin. “We thought we were going to get a change when they came into power.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9462
Key Democrat Pressured to Cut War Funding
By Aaron Glantz / IPS
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 21 - Peace activists entered their 10th day camped outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home Wednesday, the latest in an almost daily barrage of demonstrations, vigils and local government votes designed to convince Pelosi to refuse President George W. Bush's 100-billion-dollar war funding request.
The speaker says she will support the request with conditions.
Pelosi originally voted against the war four years ago and says she wants it to end. But that rhetoric is not enough for liberal San Franciscans, including elected officials like City Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who spoke at a rally in front of her office Monday.
"I did not and will not accept the excuses of even the most pragmatic, prudent, or progressive sounding representative in Congress in explaining to us that this war abroad is such a quagmire that there is no reason no we can pull out," Mirkarimi told a crowd of hundreds.
"They should be unelected," he said. "They should be taken out of office."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9461
Police tell anti-war protesters to take down 'Camp Pelosi'
By Michael Cabanatuan / San Francisco Chronicle
(03-22) 21:32 PDT -- Anti-war protesters in their 11th day of a round-the-clock vigil in front of Rep. Nancy Pelosi's Pacific Heights home were ordered by San Francisco police Thursday night to remove protest signs, banners and canopies that adorned what they called Camp Pelosi.
But protesters vowed to stay put until today's House vote on funding the war in Iraq.
"We'll still sit here overnight and tomorrow until the vote,'' said Cynthia Papermaster, a member of Code Pink: Women for Peace, which organized the sit-in.
Since March 10, demonstrators numbering from four to 30 have occupied the street corner in front of Pelosi's house, urging her to fight against continued funding of the war. As the protest has continued, the number of signs, displays and tents making up Camp Pelosi have increased.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9464
Contact Us
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100
http://www.speaker.gov/contact/
CODEPINK and Voices for Creative Nonviolence is organizing the Occupation Project, a campaign aimed at the offices of Representatives and Senators who won't stop funding the war. The campaign began the first week of February, 2007, when Bush introduced the new Supplemental Spending Bill. The Occupation Project encourages ongoing visits, sit-ins, and of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to put the pressure on our elected officials to support our troops and stop funding war!
http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?list=type&type=192
dontbuybushswar.org-Hillary Clinton Interruption 3/20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX_bEMftEd8
Students Host Peace Demonstration On OCU Campus
KSBI-TV
Oklahoma City -- The fourth anniversary of the United States' presence in Iraq is a hot topic in our country. A group of Oklahoma City University students aren't happy with how the government is handling the situation. Those students are doing something on campus that hasn't been done since the Vietnam War. They organized a protest.
They have signs in hand and a message in mind. OCU student and organizer Michael Slack told the group of protesters, "Mr Bush, we are tired of your politics and we are tired of your war."
Slack and other organizers put together the demonstration with a goal in mind.
"We want to communicate to our state senators and our state representatives that we are dissatisfied with the way that our administration is being run and the direction this war is going," says Slack.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9466
Fallen trooper didn't believe in war
Dreamed of military glory as kid growing up on D-M air base
By Carol Ann Alaimo / Arizona Daily Star
As a kid growing up on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Christopher Brevard dreamed of military glory. As an adult, he spent the last months of his life fighting a war he didn't believe in.
In e-mails to his family, the Army paratrooper, a father of two who considered himself a patriot, talked about what he saw as the futility of military operations in Iraq. He worried about the chronic exhaustion of the soldiers he led and felt U.S. troops were dying overseas for no good reason.
"He said, 'Mom, I would lay my life down in a heartbeat fighting for America. But if I lose my life over here, I will not feel like I died for my country," said the soldier's mother, Michele Brevard, 51.
On Friday, she received word that her 31-year-old son had been felled by a homemade bomb in Baghdad.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9458
Slain paratrooper treasured his daughters
Associated Press
WASILLA, Alaska -- A Fort Richardson paratrooper killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq treasured his two young daughters.
"His children were his life," Amber Brevard said Monday, shortly after the Army announced the death of her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Brevard, 31.
He was killed by a roadside bomb Friday in Baghdad. Gov. Sarah Palin ordered state flags be lowered to half staff next week in his honor.
Amber Brevard, 35, said her husband was a fun-loving man, an avid outdoorsman and an expert handyman who rebuilt two VW Beetles.
She described her husband as a daredevil who loved motorcycles, skydiving, four-wheeling and snowmobiling.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9463
'Six Days in Times Square' ...by Joan Wile
Granny Peace Brigade Holds Read-In of Names of War Dead
Joan Wile is the Founder-Director of Grandmothers Against the War and proud Granny Peace Brigade Jailbird Times Square 18
At dawn, Sunday, March 11, the Granny Peace Brigade and many supporters began reading the names of those killed in Iraq – the Americans, the journalists, the Iraqis and the other coalition forces -- in an historic event called the "Endless War Memorial." They did so from sunrise to sunset through the entire week as a lead-up to the fourth anniverary of the war, ending on Friday evening in a hail of rain, sleet and snow with wind blowing fiercely, a setting worthy of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."
Along the way, celebrities read, Iraq war veterans read, grieving Gold Star families read, and at times passers-by did so, also. Among the many notables who participated in the read-in were Oscar winner Susan Sarandon. She and Kathleen Chalfant, currently starring in “Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell,” read together, Susan reading the English-language names and Kathleen those in Arabic. Other actors currently performing on Broadway who read names of the dead were Liev Schreiber, the much-acclaimed star of “Talk Radio,” Mary Louise Wilson, star of “Grey Gardens” and Jefferson Mays, co-starring in “Journey's End.” It seemed particularly appropriate to have Mr. Mays read the names, given the nature of the wonderful play he acts in, which shows the true cost of war among soldiers in the trenches during World War I. Also reading were leading actors from former Broadway productions – the great Ruby Dee, the magnetic and brilliant Vinie Burrows.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=845
Mich. Congressman's Office Vandalized
Vandals Litter Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers' Office With Anti-War Sentiments
(AP) Vandals upset over the Iraq war defaced U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers' office overnight, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The unknown individuals splattered red paint on the Lansing building and put up a sign saying the Republican has "blood" on his hands. They also spray painted the sidewalk with the words "no more deaths," glued shut the front door of the building and destroyed security cameras, said Andy Keiser, Rogers' chief of staff.
Sheriff's deputies were providing extra security at the Brighton home where Rogers lives with his wife and two children, Keiser said.
"The aggressive destruction of federal property and vandalism was a callous attempt to intimidate Congressman Rogers and his staff," he said in a statement. "We all are entitled to our own opinion on the situation in Iraq, but we are not entitled to destruction of taxpayer property and intimidation of federal officials."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9454
Anti War March At Congressman Vern Ehlers House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySmkp2DNFyE
'Camp Casey Easter 2007' ...by Cindy Sheehan
From: Casey's Mom
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 6:43 PM
To: [Undisclosed Recipients]
Subject: 7.67 deaths per day for August.
Dear Friends
We can relax now. From the war zone of Crawford, Texas, George said that we families of loved ones that have been killed in Iraq can: "rest assured that your loved ones died for a noble cause."
I am going to be in Dallas this weekend for the VFP convention, and I don't care how far Crawford is from Dallas, I am going to that expletive deleted ranch. I will not leave until he explains to me exactly what the noble cause is. I hope some VFP's will join me in the crusade to Crawford. If they don't, I know my sister will, and we will go alone if we have to.
It has to stop. The time is now. I mean it.
Peace soon,
Cindy Sheehan
This is the email that I sent to a group of about 300 people the day that 14 Marines from a reserve unit in Ohio were killed. I was upset. I was heartbroken. I was frustrated, but most of all, I was angry!
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=836
An incredible tree that is part of "White Band Day" in Somalia
We cannot have sound economies, sustainable societies, and healthy people without a healthy planet. Uncontrolled and rampant use of natural resources such as forests, land, water, and fisheries-often by the powerful few-have caused alarming changes in our natural world in recent decades. For example, human activities are causing losses in biodiversity at a rate 50 to 100 times faster than would otherwise be expected.
Energy is one of the areas that shows most clearly the gaps between the global rich and the global poor, and the social and economic inequities that result. One billion of the world's poorest people do not have access to regular energy supplies, forcing them to clear trees for firewood or burn heavy-polluting fuels like kerosene that harm human health. Meanwhile, high and often wasteful energy consumption by rich countries has caused spiking greenhouse gas emissions.
According to experts, these gases are causing human-induced climate change on an unprecedented scale. Climate change is causing rising sea levels that threaten coastal areas and even entire countries-like island nations in the Pacific. The poorest people in the world are the most vulnerable and often the most exposed to the unstable weather and violent storms likely to be more frequent with continued alteration of the Earth's climate.
Morning Papers - continued ...
The Chicago Tribune
Iranian military says detained British sailors "confessed" to entering its waters
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 8:46 AM CDT
TEHRAN, Iran -- The Iranian military questioned 15 detained British soldiers Saturday and said they confessed to illegally entering the country's territorial waters as Iran accused Britain of "blatant aggression."
Britain has demanded the return of the sailors and denied they had strayed into Iranian waters while searching for smugglers off Iraq's coast.
The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines were brought to Tehran for questioning, and a a top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said they "confessed to illegal entry into Iran's waters."
"The said personnel are being interrogated and have confessed to aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters," Afshar was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA and the semiofficial ISNA news agency. He did not say what would now be done with the sailors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070324british-iran-story,1,3407074.story?coll=chi-news-hed
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE is showcasing the Democratic Candidates for the 2008 Presidential elections. Every candidate have unique characteristics and experiences that make them all eminently qualified to be president. The choice is simple but crucial to the outcome for our country as we continue to recover from so many years of exploitation of the American 'will' and it's people. I find Senator Obama a very interesting candidate for president. His open manner and international prowess is hugely welcome in all venues. A mother that dared love a Black man at a time when interracial marriages in the USA failed more often than succeeded. It speaks to the commitment of moral values he was exposed to as he grew into his rights as a USA citizen. Very intriguing man. Interesting family. Quite a guy.
The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth
Shaped by different worlds, an outsider found ways to fit in
By Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker
Tribune correspondents
Published March 25, 2007
HONOLULU -- The life stories, when the presidential candidate tells them, have a common theme: the quest to belong.
A boy wants to find his place in a family where he is visibly different: chubby where others are thin, dark where others are light.
A youth living in a distant land searches and finds new friends, a new language and a heartbreaking lesson about his identity in the pages of an American magazine.
A young black man struggles for acceptance at an institution of privilege, where he finds himself growing so angry and disillusioned at the world around him that he turns to alcohol and drugs.
These have been the stories told about the first two character-shaping decades of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's life, a story line largely shaped by his own best-selling memoirs, political speeches and interviews.
But the reality of Obama's narrative is not that simple.
More than 40 interviews with former classmates, teachers, friends and neighbors in his childhood homes of Hawaii and Indonesia, as well as a review of public records, show the arc of Obama's personal journey took him to places and situations far removed from the experience of most Americans.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-youth-story,1,4006113.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
New files: Gonzales approved firings
Durbin seeks to stop U.S. attorney nominee
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- New documents sent by the Justice Department to Congress on Friday night cast doubt on earlier assertions by Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that he was not deeply involved in plans to fire U.S. attorneys.
The records show that Gonzales approved plans to fire the prosecutors at an hourlong meeting Nov. 27, less than two weeks before the dismissal of seven of the prosecutors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703240091mar24,1,5001378.story?coll=chi-news-hed
2nd police attack alleged
Bar video reportedly shows beating of 4
By David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 25, 2007
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that six off-duty Chicago cops were caught on a downtown bar's video camera beating four businessmen, the second such incident in recent months, law enforcement sources said.
In the Dec. 15 beating at the Jefferson Tap and Grille, one alleged victim required reconstructive surgery on his face and another suffered four broken ribs, said Sally Saltzberg, a lawyer for the men.
Other bar patrons called 911. But when patrol officers responded, the off-duty officers involved allegedly spoke to them and the patrol officers left without intervening, sources said.
Security cameras inside and outside the bar recorded most of the beating, said Saltzberg, who said she has not seen the tape herself.
Law enforcement sources have described the content of the video to the Tribune.
The probe began with a complaint to the Office of Professional Standards. The Cook County state's attorney's office is considering criminal charges against the officers, sources said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070325jefferson-story,1,3891028.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Suicide Truck Bomb Kills 18 in Baghdad
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 6:29 AM CDT
BAGHDAD -- A suicide truck bomber struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area in Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 18 people, police said, as insurgents apparently step up their campaign against fellow Sunnis seen as collaborating with the U.S. and the Iraqi government.
The blast, which could be heard across the city and sent up a plume of black smoke over the skyline, came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was seriously wounded in a suicide bombing during prayers at his home in Baghdad. Nine other people were killed, including al-Zubaie's brother and an aide.
Al-Zubaie was in stable condition and moved out of the intensive care unit Saturday morning, but he remained under anaesthesia at a U.S.-run hospital in the heavily guarded Green Zone, Sunni lawmaker Dhafer al-Ani said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-iraq,1,7982944.story?coll=chi-news-hed
House: End war in '08
Bush vows veto of spending bill, accuses Democrats of politics
By Aamer Madhani and Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- By a narrow margin reflecting deep divisions over the Iraq war, the House voted Friday to set a September 2008 deadline for withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq, confronting President Bush with his most serious challenge over the conflict and setting the president and Democratic leadership on a collision course over war powers.
Soon after the bill passed 218-212, Bush reiterated his threat to veto the legislation, which is tied to a $124 billion spending bill that includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush accused the Democrats of jeopardizing American troops in the field in an attempt "to score political points" against the administration.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703240103mar24,1,2183324.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bush: Will veto war deadline
Posted by Mark Silva at 1:20 pm, updated 2:25 pm CDT
President Bush, pledging to veto the bill that the House approved today attaching a deadline for troop withdrawals from Iraq to war-spending, accused the Democrats of jeopardizing American troops in the field in an attempt “to score political points’’ against the administration.
“Today, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its resposbility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to bringing our troops the resources necessary to do their job,’’ the president said at the White House. “Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq.’’
The House was sharply divided: 218-212, with the vote split mainly along party lines, on a $124-billion war-spending bill padded with domestic spending as well. It requires combat operations in Iraq to cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats, calling it time to heed the mandate of the electoral mandate that handed them control of Congress in November, have handed the president the sharpest rebuke to date for his Iraq war policy.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/03/bush_will_veto_.html
Field rations failing soldiers
Amid reports of weight loss, troops to try meal that has more calories
By Aamer Madhani
Tribune national correspondent
Published March 25, 2007
NATICK, Mass. -- When Lt. Dave Moore visited infantry units in the remote, rugged mountains of Afghanistan late last year, the Navy medical officer was surprised to hear from many soldiers and Marines that they had lost significant weight.
After conducting more than 150 interviews with medics, officers and troops on the ground, Moore concluded that the portable rations called "Meals, Ready-to-Eat"--long derided by troops, but valued by the Pentagon for their indestructibility--were not doing the job, causing the soldiers to shed pounds that they very much needed.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070325mre-story,1,2119239.story?coll=chi-news-hed
This doesn't sound like 'bribery' in the face of the fact our soldiers food supply is limited and potentially tainted as is the nation's. It sounds like a necessary step taken by the Democrats. The Republicans need to stop their funding cuts. Let's hope the grain stores in Baghdad don’t get looted along with Cheney's oil.
War bill also has funding for spinach, peanuts
It includes billions in pet-project sweeteners that Republicans call bribery.
By Joel Havemann
Times Staff Writer
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON — The war spending bill passed by the House on Friday is officially called the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act. But Republicans would say that it could also be called the Spinach Growers, Peanut Storage and Dairy Farmers Rescue Act.
President Bush asked for $103 billion for expenses related to fighting the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. He got that and more: not only a series of deadlines for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but also $21 billion in additional spending, much of it unrelated to war.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-warpork24mar24,1,5504189.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Tillman's death mishandled, Pentagon says
Army officials misled the public after the football star died in a 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan, a report concludes.
By Julian E. Barnes
Times Staff Writer
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON — A new Pentagon report found that nine officers, including a three-star general, mishandled the investigation into the "friendly fire" death in Afghanistan of Pat Tillman, the pro-football player turned Army Ranger, a senior defense official said Friday night.
The report will not mete out specific punishments to the officers, who include four generals in all. But the Army will begin its own review of what action should be taken.
"We are going to move quickly," an Army official said. "We found out mistakes were made. We've already made fixes. We are going to make more."
The investigative report by the Department of Defense Inspector General revealed few new details of the events leading to the accidental killing of Tillman by other U.S. soldiers. Instead, it investigated why it took the Army so long to reveal that Tillman was killed by friendly fire.
The two officials interviewed by The Times spoke on the condition their names not be revealed because the report has not yet been released.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-tillman24mar24,1,200353.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Mom Donates Laptops to Wounded Soldiers
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 4:12 AM CDT
WASHINGTON -- Laura Brown, a mother with a son who fought in the Iraq war, is trying to improve conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center -- one laptop computer at a time.
The 50-year-old from Cody, Wyo., was chatting on the Internet with the mother of a wounded soldier two years ago when the mother mentioned she had to print out her son's e-mails and take them to him at Walter Reed because there weren't enough laptop computers to go around.
Brown, whose own son had recently returned safely from the war, thought the solution to that problem seemed incredibly easy.
"It just kind of hit me," she said. "If one person needed one, then there's others. ... I mean, my son had e-mail in Iraq. I was really stunned."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-walter-reed-laptops,1,7195658.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Transgender Fla. City Manager Loses Job
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 6:05 AM CDT
LARGO, Fla. -- City commissioners early Saturday finalized the firing of a city manager who is seeking a sex-change operation, despite pleas from dozens of impassioned supporters to save his job.
After a six-hour hearing, the commissioners decided to fire 48-year-old Steve Stanton after his announcement that he planned a new life as a woman. The move came after the commission voted 5-2 last month to suspend him with pay.
Commissioners contended Stanton was being fired because they lost confidence in him, not because he wants to be a woman.
"I think we're pretty well convinced," Commissioner Gay Gentry said. "You have to believe us, you have to trust us, it is not about transgenderism."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-official-sex-change,1,978877.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Chicago firefighters mourn loss of 'one of our own'
Tribune staff report
Published March 23, 2007, 5:13 PM CDT
A second-generation Chicago firefighter killed in a traffic crash while responding to an emergency call this morning was being remembered as a dedicated family man whose service with the department was a "labor of love."
The accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at 59th and Wells Streets, and involved fire Truck No. 51 and an Alltown school bus.
March 23, 2007
William Grant, 44, was part of a crew of four firefighters on the truck, which had its lights and sirens activated en route to a report of a fire in the 5600 block of South May Street that turned out to be a false alarm. Grant was pinned inside the truck and killed when it flipped onto its side.
The other firefighters and the bus driver suffered non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070223firetruck-crash,1,4611886.story?coll=chi-news-hed
350 pounds of marijuana found by cops in garage
Published March 24, 2007
CICERO -- Police discovered more than 350 pounds of marijuana in a Cicero garage Friday morning, town officials said.
Three officers found the drugs after answering a call regarding a fight near the garage in the 3100 block of South 55th Court.
No one was at the scene when police arrived, but officers searched the garage after noticing the door was open. Police found dozens of bricklike packages wrapped in plastic on a carpet and six laundry bags of packaged marijuana, said Cicero spokesman Dan Proft.
The home adjacent to the garage is vacant and being rehabbed, Proft said. Police said no one has been charged. The drugs are estimated to have a street value of $1.2 million, police officials said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0703240110mar24,1,1396664.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Zell's bid for Tribune said to be favored
The Chicago real estate mogul's $8-billion offer makes him the leading suitor for the parent of The Times, says a person familiar with the talks.
By James Rainey, Michael A. Hiltzik and Thomas S. Mulligan
Times Staff Writers
Published March 24, 2007
Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell has become the leading suitor for Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA Channel 5, with an $8-billion bid for a company buffeted by new-media challengers, a person familiar with the talks said.
Investment bankers are working to strike a deal, but many details remain to be ironed out. The company may not be able to meet its self-imposed deadline to conclude deliberations by the end of the month, the person said.
Another person following the bidding closely said that Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad planned as early as this weekend to present a counteroffer for the company. Tribune did not accept their previous proposal, which called for paying stockholders a $27-a-share dividend.
It's possible that Chicago-based Tribune will take yet another route: adopting a plan to reorganize the company without an outside investor and pay shareholders a large dividend.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-tribune24mar24,0,914058.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Vonage denied Verizon patents
Millions may face phone disruptions
By Jon Van
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007, 9:35 PM CDT
Vonage, the pioneering Internet telephone service, suffered a major setback Friday as a judge said he will sign a permanent injunction restraining the company from using technology needed to connect many of its customers.
While Vonage Holdings Corp. said it will continue fighting the patent dispute with Verizon Communications Inc., the judicial decision sent the upstart phone company's stock to an all-time low of $3, down $1.05, or 26 percent.
In a case reminiscent of the patent woes that dogged BlackBerry users last year, Friday's action raises the possibility that millions of customers who use Vonage's service could face phone disruptions. Vonage vowed that won't happen.
"We are confident Vonage customers will not experience service interruptions or other changes as a result of this litigation," said Mike Snyder, Vonage's chief executive, in a statement issued by the company. "Our fight is far from over."
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton, based in Alexandria, Va., said he will issue a permanent injunction sought by Verizon that would prevent the use of the disputed technology. The judge said he will sign the order in two weeks and set a hearing for April 6 to determine if the order will be delayed while Vonage pursues its appeal in a higher court.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323vonage-story,0,3575803.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Home sales plunge a puzzle
By Mary Umberger
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007, 10:01 PM CDT
Chicago-area home sales in the first two months of the year declined 12.1 percent from 2006, confounding analysts who were looking for the first small signs of a spring bounce but instead saw a market continuing to struggle.
The fall in Chicago seemed even more painful given that the national housing picture this year is showing some signs of life.
The results for Chicago added up to the slowest February performance since 2001, which was generally considered to mark the beginning of the housing boom.
Chicago is not performing according to expectations, said economist David Stiff, of Fiserv CSW, a housing-market analyst in Cambridge, Mass.
"It's not a market that got caught up in the bubble, and it didn't have affordability issues. I suppose buyers have gotten caught up in the general psychology and are sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what happens," added Stiff, whose company studies home-sales data in regional markets.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323homes-sat,0,6162661.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Delta, American boost domestic fares
By Mary Schlangenstein
Bloomberg News
Published March 23, 2007, 5:13 PM CDT
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, and Delta Air Lines Inc. raised fares $5 each way on most U.S. flights to meet higher jet-fuel prices.
Delta initiated the increase last night, and American matched it today. It's the fourth time this year that U.S. airlines have tried to impose a widespread fare boost. Previous efforts were pulled back when competitors refused to go along.
AMR and other U.S. carriers have said first-quarter results will be been hurt by higher fuel costs, winter storms that snarled travel, and slower revenue growth. The carriers include JetBlue Airways Corp., US Airways Group Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc. and Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc.
The $5 increase has ``a slightly greater than 50 percent probability of success,'' given the revenue pressure on the industry, Jamie Baker, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst, said in a report today.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323airfares-story,0,3360883.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Scale it back, Governor
Published March 23, 2007
Imagine the kerfuffle in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inner sanctum when Wednesday's Peoria Journal Star landed like a depth charge.
There was Blagojevich's lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, opposing the gross receipts tax plan upon which the governor's massive new spending proposals rest. Quinn was in Peoria on other business when a reporter asked him about Blagojevich's tax scheme. "I don't think it's a good way to go," Quinn said. "I'm not a fan of it at all. We need to have decent health care, ... but there is more than one way to get to heaven."
That made Quinn one of three Democratic state officeholders to distance themselves from Democrat Blagojevich's plan. In a letter the Tribune printed Sunday, Comptroller Dan Hynes made a compelling case that the governor wants to initiate too much new spending without first fixing the current dysfunction in the state's finances. In a meeting with the Tribune editorial board on Tuesday, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias suggested that Blagojevich's proposed tax haul would drive low-margin companies out of the state or out of business.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0703230301mar23,1,2559158.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
BUY (LESS) targets cause-related marketing
By Nara Schoenberg
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007
The (RED) campaign, in which models and celebrities pitch Gap gear and Motorola phones to raise money for African AIDS victims, has had a tough couple of weeks, thanks in part to a San Francisco-based Web site called buylesscrap.org.
Launched on the last day of February, the site presents the satirical BUY(LESS) campaign, in which nude models promote the Crap store under slogans such as "(RED)ICU(LESS)" and "MEANING(LESS)."
"Join us in rejecting the ti(red) notion that shopping is a reasonable response to human suffering," says the Web site, which offers links to more than 30 charities, including (RED)'s beneficiary, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0703220486mar23,1,901282.story?coll=chi-entertainmentfront-hed
Iranian military says detained British sailors "confessed" to entering its waters
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 8:46 AM CDT
TEHRAN, Iran -- The Iranian military questioned 15 detained British soldiers Saturday and said they confessed to illegally entering the country's territorial waters as Iran accused Britain of "blatant aggression."
Britain has demanded the return of the sailors and denied they had strayed into Iranian waters while searching for smugglers off Iraq's coast.
The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines were brought to Tehran for questioning, and a a top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said they "confessed to illegal entry into Iran's waters."
"The said personnel are being interrogated and have confessed to aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters," Afshar was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA and the semiofficial ISNA news agency. He did not say what would now be done with the sailors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070324british-iran-story,1,3407074.story?coll=chi-news-hed
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE is showcasing the Democratic Candidates for the 2008 Presidential elections. Every candidate have unique characteristics and experiences that make them all eminently qualified to be president. The choice is simple but crucial to the outcome for our country as we continue to recover from so many years of exploitation of the American 'will' and it's people. I find Senator Obama a very interesting candidate for president. His open manner and international prowess is hugely welcome in all venues. A mother that dared love a Black man at a time when interracial marriages in the USA failed more often than succeeded. It speaks to the commitment of moral values he was exposed to as he grew into his rights as a USA citizen. Very intriguing man. Interesting family. Quite a guy.
The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth
Shaped by different worlds, an outsider found ways to fit in
By Kirsten Scharnberg and Kim Barker
Tribune correspondents
Published March 25, 2007
HONOLULU -- The life stories, when the presidential candidate tells them, have a common theme: the quest to belong.
A boy wants to find his place in a family where he is visibly different: chubby where others are thin, dark where others are light.
A youth living in a distant land searches and finds new friends, a new language and a heartbreaking lesson about his identity in the pages of an American magazine.
A young black man struggles for acceptance at an institution of privilege, where he finds himself growing so angry and disillusioned at the world around him that he turns to alcohol and drugs.
These have been the stories told about the first two character-shaping decades of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's life, a story line largely shaped by his own best-selling memoirs, political speeches and interviews.
But the reality of Obama's narrative is not that simple.
More than 40 interviews with former classmates, teachers, friends and neighbors in his childhood homes of Hawaii and Indonesia, as well as a review of public records, show the arc of Obama's personal journey took him to places and situations far removed from the experience of most Americans.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-youth-story,1,4006113.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
New files: Gonzales approved firings
Durbin seeks to stop U.S. attorney nominee
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- New documents sent by the Justice Department to Congress on Friday night cast doubt on earlier assertions by Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that he was not deeply involved in plans to fire U.S. attorneys.
The records show that Gonzales approved plans to fire the prosecutors at an hourlong meeting Nov. 27, less than two weeks before the dismissal of seven of the prosecutors.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703240091mar24,1,5001378.story?coll=chi-news-hed
2nd police attack alleged
Bar video reportedly shows beating of 4
By David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 25, 2007
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that six off-duty Chicago cops were caught on a downtown bar's video camera beating four businessmen, the second such incident in recent months, law enforcement sources said.
In the Dec. 15 beating at the Jefferson Tap and Grille, one alleged victim required reconstructive surgery on his face and another suffered four broken ribs, said Sally Saltzberg, a lawyer for the men.
Other bar patrons called 911. But when patrol officers responded, the off-duty officers involved allegedly spoke to them and the patrol officers left without intervening, sources said.
Security cameras inside and outside the bar recorded most of the beating, said Saltzberg, who said she has not seen the tape herself.
Law enforcement sources have described the content of the video to the Tribune.
The probe began with a complaint to the Office of Professional Standards. The Cook County state's attorney's office is considering criminal charges against the officers, sources said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070325jefferson-story,1,3891028.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Suicide Truck Bomb Kills 18 in Baghdad
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 6:29 AM CDT
BAGHDAD -- A suicide truck bomber struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area in Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 18 people, police said, as insurgents apparently step up their campaign against fellow Sunnis seen as collaborating with the U.S. and the Iraqi government.
The blast, which could be heard across the city and sent up a plume of black smoke over the skyline, came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was seriously wounded in a suicide bombing during prayers at his home in Baghdad. Nine other people were killed, including al-Zubaie's brother and an aide.
Al-Zubaie was in stable condition and moved out of the intensive care unit Saturday morning, but he remained under anaesthesia at a U.S.-run hospital in the heavily guarded Green Zone, Sunni lawmaker Dhafer al-Ani said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-iraq,1,7982944.story?coll=chi-news-hed
House: End war in '08
Bush vows veto of spending bill, accuses Democrats of politics
By Aamer Madhani and Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- By a narrow margin reflecting deep divisions over the Iraq war, the House voted Friday to set a September 2008 deadline for withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq, confronting President Bush with his most serious challenge over the conflict and setting the president and Democratic leadership on a collision course over war powers.
Soon after the bill passed 218-212, Bush reiterated his threat to veto the legislation, which is tied to a $124 billion spending bill that includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush accused the Democrats of jeopardizing American troops in the field in an attempt "to score political points" against the administration.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703240103mar24,1,2183324.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bush: Will veto war deadline
Posted by Mark Silva at 1:20 pm, updated 2:25 pm CDT
President Bush, pledging to veto the bill that the House approved today attaching a deadline for troop withdrawals from Iraq to war-spending, accused the Democrats of jeopardizing American troops in the field in an attempt “to score political points’’ against the administration.
“Today, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its resposbility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to bringing our troops the resources necessary to do their job,’’ the president said at the White House. “Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq.’’
The House was sharply divided: 218-212, with the vote split mainly along party lines, on a $124-billion war-spending bill padded with domestic spending as well. It requires combat operations in Iraq to cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats, calling it time to heed the mandate of the electoral mandate that handed them control of Congress in November, have handed the president the sharpest rebuke to date for his Iraq war policy.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/03/bush_will_veto_.html
Field rations failing soldiers
Amid reports of weight loss, troops to try meal that has more calories
By Aamer Madhani
Tribune national correspondent
Published March 25, 2007
NATICK, Mass. -- When Lt. Dave Moore visited infantry units in the remote, rugged mountains of Afghanistan late last year, the Navy medical officer was surprised to hear from many soldiers and Marines that they had lost significant weight.
After conducting more than 150 interviews with medics, officers and troops on the ground, Moore concluded that the portable rations called "Meals, Ready-to-Eat"--long derided by troops, but valued by the Pentagon for their indestructibility--were not doing the job, causing the soldiers to shed pounds that they very much needed.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070325mre-story,1,2119239.story?coll=chi-news-hed
This doesn't sound like 'bribery' in the face of the fact our soldiers food supply is limited and potentially tainted as is the nation's. It sounds like a necessary step taken by the Democrats. The Republicans need to stop their funding cuts. Let's hope the grain stores in Baghdad don’t get looted along with Cheney's oil.
War bill also has funding for spinach, peanuts
It includes billions in pet-project sweeteners that Republicans call bribery.
By Joel Havemann
Times Staff Writer
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON — The war spending bill passed by the House on Friday is officially called the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act. But Republicans would say that it could also be called the Spinach Growers, Peanut Storage and Dairy Farmers Rescue Act.
President Bush asked for $103 billion for expenses related to fighting the war on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. He got that and more: not only a series of deadlines for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but also $21 billion in additional spending, much of it unrelated to war.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-warpork24mar24,1,5504189.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Tillman's death mishandled, Pentagon says
Army officials misled the public after the football star died in a 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan, a report concludes.
By Julian E. Barnes
Times Staff Writer
Published March 24, 2007
WASHINGTON — A new Pentagon report found that nine officers, including a three-star general, mishandled the investigation into the "friendly fire" death in Afghanistan of Pat Tillman, the pro-football player turned Army Ranger, a senior defense official said Friday night.
The report will not mete out specific punishments to the officers, who include four generals in all. But the Army will begin its own review of what action should be taken.
"We are going to move quickly," an Army official said. "We found out mistakes were made. We've already made fixes. We are going to make more."
The investigative report by the Department of Defense Inspector General revealed few new details of the events leading to the accidental killing of Tillman by other U.S. soldiers. Instead, it investigated why it took the Army so long to reveal that Tillman was killed by friendly fire.
The two officials interviewed by The Times spoke on the condition their names not be revealed because the report has not yet been released.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-tillman24mar24,1,200353.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Mom Donates Laptops to Wounded Soldiers
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 4:12 AM CDT
WASHINGTON -- Laura Brown, a mother with a son who fought in the Iraq war, is trying to improve conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center -- one laptop computer at a time.
The 50-year-old from Cody, Wyo., was chatting on the Internet with the mother of a wounded soldier two years ago when the mother mentioned she had to print out her son's e-mails and take them to him at Walter Reed because there weren't enough laptop computers to go around.
Brown, whose own son had recently returned safely from the war, thought the solution to that problem seemed incredibly easy.
"It just kind of hit me," she said. "If one person needed one, then there's others. ... I mean, my son had e-mail in Iraq. I was really stunned."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-walter-reed-laptops,1,7195658.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Transgender Fla. City Manager Loses Job
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer
Published March 24, 2007, 6:05 AM CDT
LARGO, Fla. -- City commissioners early Saturday finalized the firing of a city manager who is seeking a sex-change operation, despite pleas from dozens of impassioned supporters to save his job.
After a six-hour hearing, the commissioners decided to fire 48-year-old Steve Stanton after his announcement that he planned a new life as a woman. The move came after the commission voted 5-2 last month to suspend him with pay.
Commissioners contended Stanton was being fired because they lost confidence in him, not because he wants to be a woman.
"I think we're pretty well convinced," Commissioner Gay Gentry said. "You have to believe us, you have to trust us, it is not about transgenderism."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-official-sex-change,1,978877.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Chicago firefighters mourn loss of 'one of our own'
Tribune staff report
Published March 23, 2007, 5:13 PM CDT
A second-generation Chicago firefighter killed in a traffic crash while responding to an emergency call this morning was being remembered as a dedicated family man whose service with the department was a "labor of love."
The accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at 59th and Wells Streets, and involved fire Truck No. 51 and an Alltown school bus.
March 23, 2007
William Grant, 44, was part of a crew of four firefighters on the truck, which had its lights and sirens activated en route to a report of a fire in the 5600 block of South May Street that turned out to be a false alarm. Grant was pinned inside the truck and killed when it flipped onto its side.
The other firefighters and the bus driver suffered non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070223firetruck-crash,1,4611886.story?coll=chi-news-hed
350 pounds of marijuana found by cops in garage
Published March 24, 2007
CICERO -- Police discovered more than 350 pounds of marijuana in a Cicero garage Friday morning, town officials said.
Three officers found the drugs after answering a call regarding a fight near the garage in the 3100 block of South 55th Court.
No one was at the scene when police arrived, but officers searched the garage after noticing the door was open. Police found dozens of bricklike packages wrapped in plastic on a carpet and six laundry bags of packaged marijuana, said Cicero spokesman Dan Proft.
The home adjacent to the garage is vacant and being rehabbed, Proft said. Police said no one has been charged. The drugs are estimated to have a street value of $1.2 million, police officials said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0703240110mar24,1,1396664.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Zell's bid for Tribune said to be favored
The Chicago real estate mogul's $8-billion offer makes him the leading suitor for the parent of The Times, says a person familiar with the talks.
By James Rainey, Michael A. Hiltzik and Thomas S. Mulligan
Times Staff Writers
Published March 24, 2007
Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell has become the leading suitor for Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA Channel 5, with an $8-billion bid for a company buffeted by new-media challengers, a person familiar with the talks said.
Investment bankers are working to strike a deal, but many details remain to be ironed out. The company may not be able to meet its self-imposed deadline to conclude deliberations by the end of the month, the person said.
Another person following the bidding closely said that Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad planned as early as this weekend to present a counteroffer for the company. Tribune did not accept their previous proposal, which called for paying stockholders a $27-a-share dividend.
It's possible that Chicago-based Tribune will take yet another route: adopting a plan to reorganize the company without an outside investor and pay shareholders a large dividend.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-tribune24mar24,0,914058.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Vonage denied Verizon patents
Millions may face phone disruptions
By Jon Van
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007, 9:35 PM CDT
Vonage, the pioneering Internet telephone service, suffered a major setback Friday as a judge said he will sign a permanent injunction restraining the company from using technology needed to connect many of its customers.
While Vonage Holdings Corp. said it will continue fighting the patent dispute with Verizon Communications Inc., the judicial decision sent the upstart phone company's stock to an all-time low of $3, down $1.05, or 26 percent.
In a case reminiscent of the patent woes that dogged BlackBerry users last year, Friday's action raises the possibility that millions of customers who use Vonage's service could face phone disruptions. Vonage vowed that won't happen.
"We are confident Vonage customers will not experience service interruptions or other changes as a result of this litigation," said Mike Snyder, Vonage's chief executive, in a statement issued by the company. "Our fight is far from over."
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton, based in Alexandria, Va., said he will issue a permanent injunction sought by Verizon that would prevent the use of the disputed technology. The judge said he will sign the order in two weeks and set a hearing for April 6 to determine if the order will be delayed while Vonage pursues its appeal in a higher court.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323vonage-story,0,3575803.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Home sales plunge a puzzle
By Mary Umberger
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007, 10:01 PM CDT
Chicago-area home sales in the first two months of the year declined 12.1 percent from 2006, confounding analysts who were looking for the first small signs of a spring bounce but instead saw a market continuing to struggle.
The fall in Chicago seemed even more painful given that the national housing picture this year is showing some signs of life.
The results for Chicago added up to the slowest February performance since 2001, which was generally considered to mark the beginning of the housing boom.
Chicago is not performing according to expectations, said economist David Stiff, of Fiserv CSW, a housing-market analyst in Cambridge, Mass.
"It's not a market that got caught up in the bubble, and it didn't have affordability issues. I suppose buyers have gotten caught up in the general psychology and are sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what happens," added Stiff, whose company studies home-sales data in regional markets.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323homes-sat,0,6162661.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Delta, American boost domestic fares
By Mary Schlangenstein
Bloomberg News
Published March 23, 2007, 5:13 PM CDT
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, and Delta Air Lines Inc. raised fares $5 each way on most U.S. flights to meet higher jet-fuel prices.
Delta initiated the increase last night, and American matched it today. It's the fourth time this year that U.S. airlines have tried to impose a widespread fare boost. Previous efforts were pulled back when competitors refused to go along.
AMR and other U.S. carriers have said first-quarter results will be been hurt by higher fuel costs, winter storms that snarled travel, and slower revenue growth. The carriers include JetBlue Airways Corp., US Airways Group Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc. and Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc.
The $5 increase has ``a slightly greater than 50 percent probability of success,'' given the revenue pressure on the industry, Jamie Baker, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst, said in a report today.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070323airfares-story,0,3360883.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed
Scale it back, Governor
Published March 23, 2007
Imagine the kerfuffle in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inner sanctum when Wednesday's Peoria Journal Star landed like a depth charge.
There was Blagojevich's lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, opposing the gross receipts tax plan upon which the governor's massive new spending proposals rest. Quinn was in Peoria on other business when a reporter asked him about Blagojevich's tax scheme. "I don't think it's a good way to go," Quinn said. "I'm not a fan of it at all. We need to have decent health care, ... but there is more than one way to get to heaven."
That made Quinn one of three Democratic state officeholders to distance themselves from Democrat Blagojevich's plan. In a letter the Tribune printed Sunday, Comptroller Dan Hynes made a compelling case that the governor wants to initiate too much new spending without first fixing the current dysfunction in the state's finances. In a meeting with the Tribune editorial board on Tuesday, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias suggested that Blagojevich's proposed tax haul would drive low-margin companies out of the state or out of business.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0703230301mar23,1,2559158.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
BUY (LESS) targets cause-related marketing
By Nara Schoenberg
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 23, 2007
The (RED) campaign, in which models and celebrities pitch Gap gear and Motorola phones to raise money for African AIDS victims, has had a tough couple of weeks, thanks in part to a San Francisco-based Web site called buylesscrap.org.
Launched on the last day of February, the site presents the satirical BUY(LESS) campaign, in which nude models promote the Crap store under slogans such as "(RED)ICU(LESS)" and "MEANING(LESS)."
"Join us in rejecting the ti(red) notion that shopping is a reasonable response to human suffering," says the Web site, which offers links to more than 30 charities, including (RED)'s beneficiary, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0703220486mar23,1,901282.story?coll=chi-entertainmentfront-hed
Hard to believe the Gore outreach was as necessary as this. Americans are still ignorant to the issues of Human Induced Global Warming
FREE seminars on global warming
When seven area residents learned that there was something they could do to help battle global warming, they moved quickly.
To Nashville, that is, for training sessions with none other than former Vice President Al Gore, who is considered the harbinger of global warming.
Gore has set up training sessions to teach regular folks how to be global messengers and present a version of the Oscar-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
The training sessions began in September and will continue for a year until 1,000 are trained.
The global messengers paid their own way to the training session and promised when they return to their homes to make 10 presentations over the next year. The presentations can be a half long, an hour or even longer depending on what is requested of them
And it’s free.
They’re presentations are directed toward everyone, and they hope speak to businesses, schools, churches, clubs, and anyone who wants to know more about the issue.
To contact the local global messengers to schedule a presentation:
Mary English of Prairie Village, maryenglish4402@hotmail.com, 816-448-3352 or cell, 913-579-8484.
English said even as an adolescent when climate change was beginning to make headlines, she had felt it was a real problem. However, last summer the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” articulated the immediacy of the problem. After reading about Al Gore’s training program, she sent a letter to Gore, which led to her invitation to attend a session in December.
“We are at the crossroads of the biggest moral decision of our day,” English said. “What role will our country take to combat this issue over the next five years? It’s up to us.”
Thomas Hess of Pleasant Hill, tlhess41@earthlink.com, 816-380-3757 or cell 816-914-2696.
After watching “An Inconvenient Truth” with his daughter, Hess was so moved he decided to become a global messenger and made the trek to Nashville to be trained personally by Gore.
“Thomas is an outstanding example of the millions of Americans who have been energized by the call to action on the climate crisis,” said Gore. “We are so pleased that he has made a serious commitment to this challenge by coming to Nashville to become part of this unprecedented grassroots effort.
“Thomas will be spending the next year making presentations in and around Pleasant Hill, Harrisonville, Lee’s Summit and Kansas City, discussing how individuals and businesses, schools, and other organizations can be a major part of the solution to the growing crisis of global warming,” Gore said.
Fred Klafta of Kingswood, kingsvfred@aol.com, 816-597-9429 or cell 816-678-6289.
Klafta is in his 26th year of teaching science in the classroom and in the field. Currently he teaches Junior/Senior Environmental Science at Van Horn High School. He also has planned, designed and supervised the building of a passive solar home.
Klafta is a former certified backcountry leader and EMT, guiding mostly junior and high school students in the Montana, New England and California regions of the U.S. He is a former Youth Conservation Corps leader in the Illinois, Massachusetts and California programs. He considers himself a guide for teaching citizen environmental advocacy to students and regional communities around the Kansas City area.
Penny Mahon, Prairie Village, pennymah@kckcc.edu, 913-234-0840.
Mahon said she has been an environmentalist all of her adult life, and has become increasingly concerned about the climate crisis. When she heard about The Climate Project, she immediately believed it would be an incredible opportunity, allowing her to participate and to help increase awareness and urgency of solving the crisis.
“I am doing this for my children because of my concern for their future and the world they will live in, as well as in memory of my wonderful parents,” Mahon said. “I am looking forward to making presentations about the climate crisis in my home state of Kansas and in and around the Kansas City area.”
Kristin Riott, Prairie Village, kristinwr@kc.rr.com, 913-384-5156 or cell 913-530-7617.
Riott came to Kansas City to work for Hallmark Cards, spending twenty years in business and creative writing. In 2000, she and her family moved to Hong Kong for her husband’s career. The dramatic increase in pollution, they witnessed in just two years in Asia, ignited Kristin’s commitment to environmental issues. She is a member of the Prairie Village Environmental Committee, True Blue Women’s Environmental Committee, Think Twice, a women’s activist group, and local gardening organizations. She attended Gore’s Climate Project in January.
Ruth Siress, Overland Park, rhssvc@everestkc.net, 913-451-4758 or cell 816-392-0790.
Siress’s work spans the public and private educational field. She has developed leadership and communication based programs in North America, South Africa and New Zealand. Over the years, her concern for the safety and balance of the earth has intensified.
“The training provided by Al Gore and The Climate Project positions us at the grassroots to take bold action,” Siress said.
She and her colleague, Leigh Smith, use the on-going scientific research and the teaching tools provided by the training to deliver a message they hope will compel people toward global responsibility.
Leigh Smith, Leawood, leighsmith2000@earthlink.net, 913-649-1066.
Smith is committed to inspiring as many people as possible to take action and help solve the climate crisis. When speaking with a group, she gives an overview of the science of Global Warming, answers questions, and then moves directly into actionable solutions.
“As a public speaker and trainer, I’ve worked with thousands of people all around the country,” Smith said. “Most of us love this beautiful planet and want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy it too.”
Smith said she was compelled to deliver the urgent message of climate change after seeing Gore’s documentary.
Carmen-Venus Baerga, carmenvenus@sbcglobal.net, 816-807-6807. Baerga got involved in the project after watching Gore’s documentary. She said she became more aware of the impact of people’s activities the planet. Her ability to possibly help and contribute to the solution was appealing.
“I truly believe that people can contribute to a better quality of life for themselves and for others when they are well informed and have the tools to make wise and healthy decisions,” Baerga said.
Baerga hopes to be able to inform the Spanish communities about global warming because “we all share a worldwide commonality. There are practical and immediate actions we can all take for individual and collective well being.”
Pictured from left are: Thomas Hess, Mary English, Penny Mahon, Ruth Siress, Kristin Riott, Leigh Smith, Fred Klafta, not pictured Carmen-Venus Baerga.
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