A topic discussion tomorrow.
Until then...thank you for your interest.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Sydney Morning Herald
High price of petrol OK with some
Trade between Iran and Turkey will exceed $US8billion ($9.3billion) by the end of the year following rising oil and gas prices, it was announced yesterday.
The mounting prices contributed to the increase and resulted in a trade deficit of $US5.5billion for Turkey, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said.
Iran-Turkey trade rose from $US1.3billion in 2002 to $6.7billion in 2006. Mr Tuzmen said he hoped the figure would reach $10billion next year.
Iran and Turkey trade $2billion of non-oil commodities each year.
Iran's Commerce Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi said he hoped the ground would be paved for the expansion of co-operation between private sectors of the neighbouring countries.
Iran and Turkey signed an agreement yesterday after the three-day Joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting in Ankara.
Earlier, Iran announced it and Russia had increased mutual trade more than 100percent in the past year.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made the announcement in a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow.
http://business.smh.com.au/high-price-of-petrol-ok-with-some/20071216-1hb7.html
US rattled by signs of surging inflation
December 16, 2007 - 12:35AM
Wall Street took a beating yesterday as a report showing resurgent consumer inflation heightened fears that the Federal Reserve would turn its focus away from efforts to stimulate a faltering US economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 135.46 points to 13,335.46 at the closing bell in a volatile session.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 32.35 points to 2636.14 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index retreated 20.48 points to a preliminary close of 1467.93.
Ahead of the opening, a report showed US consumer prices surged 0.8 per cent in November, bringing the year-over-year inflation rate to 4.3 per cent.
The report fuelled fears that the central bank, which has been cutting interest rates to stave off an economic downturn, would turn its focus more towards inflation.
http://business.smh.com.au/us-rattled-by-signs-of-surging-inflation/20071216-1hb8.html
Google to launch new Wiki whacker
December 16, 2007
Google is building its own version of communally-constructed online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The internet search powerhouse is inviting people to test a free service dubbed "knol", to indicate a unit of knowledge, vice-president of engineering Udi Manber said in a posting on Google's website on Friday.
"Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it," Mr Manber wrote.
Millions of people possess knowledge they would like to share and "there are billions of people who can benefit from it", he said.
While Wikipedia lets visitors make changes to its pages, trusting that people with accurate information will correct errors, Google is inviting people to write their own articles.
Pictures of authors will be displayed on their knol web pages, a sample provided by Google reveals.
"Books have authors' names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors ... the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors' names highlighted," Mr Manber wrote.
Google hopes knols will be written on all conceivable topics and says it has no plans to edit or endorse content. Editorial responsibility will rest with authors, whose reputations will be at stake, Mr Manber said.
Knols on the same subjects will "compete" for the attention of visitors, who will be able to give feedback.
Knol authors will have the option of letting Google post ads on their pages and sharing in the revenues.
Luring Wikipedia users to its own community-created online encyclopedia promises to be another rich vein of income for the search giant.
Wikipedia is consistently ranked among the top 10 websites by research firms Hitwise and comScore.
http://business.smh.com.au/google-to-launch-new-wiki-whacker/20071216-1hb6.html
US inflation hottest in two years
December 15, 2007 - 7:12AM
US consumer prices rose have risen the most in more than two years in November as energy costs surged and a host of other prices marched higher, damping prospects of further interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
At the same time, production at the nation's mines, factories and utilities rose a stronger-than-expected 0.3 per cent last month, suggesting the economy may have a bit more steam than many analysts had thought.
The Labor Department said on Friday that the consumer price index jumped 0.8 per cent in November, the biggest gain since September 2005, as energy costs leaped 5.7 per cent.
Even stripping out fast-rising food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI rose a relatively steep 0.3 per cent, the largest increase since January and ahead of the 0.2 per cent rise expected on Wall Street.
"It puts the Fed in a little bit of a bind and people have to question how aggressive the Fed can be in cutting rates if inflation is rearing its ugly head," said Firas Askari, head currency trader at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.
http://news.smh.com.au/us-inflation-hottest-in-two-years/20071215-1h8f.html
Australian dollar closes weaker
December 14, 2007 - 5:46PM
The Australian dollar closed weaker today as the local currency struggled to regain ground lost during the overnight session.
At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8778/83, down from yesterday's close of 0.8820/25.
During the day, the Australian dollar traded between a low of $US0.8757 and a high of 0.8791.
The Australian dollar opened the day weaker, falling back below 88 US cents in overnight trade as the US dollar strengthened on the back of some better than expected economic data.
Figures released overnight showed US retail sales rose 1.2 per cent in November - double market expectations.
http://news.smh.com.au/australian-dollar-closes-weaker/20071214-1h0j.html
Fashioning technology
Rachel Wells
December 9, 2007
Suits that power your iPod; shorts that chill your beer; and dresses that can be programmed to fit perfectly: Rachel Wells explores the brave new world of haute technology.
If you thought Maxwell Smart's shoe phone was a hoot, you ain't seen nothing yet. Exciting progress in the booming, intelligent clothing and textiles industry means mobile-phone shirts (just speak into the collar) and socks that mend themselves could soon be a reality. Meanwhile, iPod-playing suits and clothes that change size and shape to fit the wearer are already here. Such garments are set to become part of our daily wardrobes as advances in smart fabrics mean our clothes will do more than just preserve our modesty, protect us from the elements, or, for some of us, make a fashion statement.
In recent years, smart clothing has progressed significantly from wearable computers - where devices such as MP3 players or mobile phones are seamlessly integrated into clothing - to "intelligent" fabrics and clothes that can conduct electricity, change shape and even colour.
"The world is your oyster when it comes to the sorts of things you can do with clothing and technology. You're only limited by your imagination, really," says Dr Adam Best, a research scientist at the CSIRO division of energy technology, who has developed a shirt that produces electricity simply by being moved, such as when the wearer is walking.
The power shirts - or flexible, integrated-energy devices - are basically wearable batteries that charge whenever the person moves. While they are being developed for military purposes - for energy supply for soldiers in the field - Best says they could be used to power mobile phones, portable music players and other small electrical devices. "The technology basically enables you to get rid of the battery as we know it and will open up a whole new world for designers to put things in places that have merely been the realm of science fiction, so to speak," he says. "So, for example, you could quite easily build a device into your shirt, where your shirt literally becomes a mobile phone or iPod."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/fashion/fashioning-technology/2007/12/06/1196812927346.html
Venezuela steps back in time
December 11, 2007
Advertisement
CARACAS: The President, Hugo Chavez, does not usually do things by halves but he has made an exception: he has put Venezuela's clocks back half an hour.
By presidential decree on Sunday the country stepped back in time 30 minutes in a one-off adjustment to its relationship with Greenwich Mean Time. It would put Venezuelans biologically more in tune with the sun, Mr Chavez explained.
"It's about the metabolic effect, where the human brain is conditioned by sunlight."
The adjustment was widely seen as a quixotic initiative of a leader who seems to want to change everything.
"Loco," Atonio Machado, a newspaper seller in Caracas, said. "Mad. I don't see it doing much harm. But what's the point?"
Much the same was said when Mr Chavez ordered the horse on the national flag to face left instead of right to reflect his socialist orientation. He also renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela after the independence hero Simon Bolivar.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/venezuela-steps-back-in-time/2007/12/10/1197135374675.html
continued...
The original plans included the extension of gas pipeline to India Now India is on the outside looking in.
The Gulf News
India pakistan gas pipe line
Editorial: At Odds
9 December 2007
There is much that does not make sense about the destruction of the CIA videotapes of the interrogation of at least two Al-Qaeda suspects in the year after the 9/11 attacks. For a start, the agency originally insisted the tapes did not exist. Now it has admitted that this was a lie but has gone on to say the recordings have been destroyed. The record was made, says the CIA, to ensure that the new harsher interrogation methods authorized by the Bush White House were within “legal limits.” Why then was crucial evidence that this was the case subsequently destroyed? Unless of course the pictures showed that the techniques used to extract information from the suspects were indeed beyond the “legal limits.”
The other excuse advanced by the CIA that the videotapes were destroyed in 2005 to protect the identities of CIA operatives is clearly also odd. If the spy agency had been faced with a demand for the release of these recordings, it would have been the work of only a few hours to disguise the features of the interrogators by electronically doctoring their faces while still showing what actually went on during the examinations. What appears far more likely is that the tapes were destroyed since they represented damning evidence of abuse and torture against identifiable CIA agents. In particular it is reported that the pictures showed at least one suspect being subjected to “waterboarding,” a torture in which a prisoner is almost drowned.
During the 2006 trial of Zacarias Moussaoui who was picked up a month before 9/11 and convicted of being one of the plotters, his defense team sought access to any videotapes of terror suspect interrogations. It was then that the CIA denied that such tapes existed. This would seem to have been an obstruction of justice. If the agency then destroyed the tapes in case they were forced by the courts to hand them over, the crime is compounded. In 2005 Moussaoui’s lawyers were trying to build their client’s defense. That this seems to be the moment when the tapes were trashed may be no coincidence. The tapes themselves are not, however, the real issue which is that President Bush in moving to protect the American people from terror assault was prepared to authorize behavior that flies in the face of all the freedoms and values that Americans supposedly hold dear. Time and again in this administration’s baleful seven years of blunder, the White House has been prepared to order illegal and immoral treatment of prisoners.
There will of course always be a few individual sadists in any country who will mistreat suspects. Nonetheless, the depravities of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and the extraordinary CIA rendition campaign and the torture of those it believed to be terrorists, could not have occurred so extensively without active encouragement from the highest levels in Washington. Angry Democrats are focusing wrongly on the cover up of the videotapes. But perhaps they cannot bring themselves to accept the horrific truth that men have been brutalized and tortured in the name of America.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104446&d=9&m=12&y=2007
Israeli Minister Slams US Report on Iran
Mohammed Mar’i, Arab News
RAMALLAH, West Bank, 16 December 2007 — Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter yesterday criticized the United States over its recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran’s nuclear program saying that “American misconception concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons, which is liable to lead to a regional Yom Kippur (the October 1973 War) where Israel will be among the countries that are threatened.”
Dichter bemoaned what he views as Israel’s inability to impress upon Washington just how imminent the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons is. “The softened intelligence report proves that Israel failed to provide the Americans with the whole picture concerning the Iranian nuclear threat,” the Israeli Radio cited him saying.
He said the report does not reflect the severity of the Iranian threat and urged Israel and other countries to supply the US with new information and intelligence assessments. “We have to hope that the US will know to correct this. Israel and other states must help in any way including providing intelligence material so as to fix this miscalculation.”
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=104701&d=16&m=12&y=2007
Palestinians Must Get Out of Mental Imprisonment
Ray Hanania, Arab News
JERUSALEM, 9 December 2007 — Palestinians I meet always point to the Israeli occupation as the main stumbling block preventing them from achieving independence and driving their oppressive lives. But I think far more obstacles exist that Palestinians are afraid to acknowledge, most that begin right in their own back yards.
Maybe because I was raised in America where tyranny is far more subtle and less violent than the real threats and physical dangers facing people in the Arab and Muslim Worlds. Or, maybe it is also because I am a realist, a state of mind that apparently continues to elude Palestinian society. Palestinians live in the past. Even when they emigrate to the Western countries, they may live physically in their adopted homelands, but they remain mentally imprisoned in “the balad. “The heaviest chains of this self-oppression may in fact be something Palestinians call “normalization.”
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104445&d=9&m=12&y=2007
Western Families Face Eviction
Roger Harrison, Arab News
JEDDAH, 9 December 2007 — Western families are being told to leave their compound accommodation in Jeddah at very short notice. Some families have been given no notice period whatever; others have as little as two weeks to arrange new accommodation and there is no recourse to appeal.
The landlords usually refuse to give any reason to the tenant for the move. However, one informed source said that the reason for the evictions is that the law requires compounds housing Western families to be guarded by personnel of the armed forces, often the elite National Guard.
Compound owners are then required to finance the guards — either directly or indirectly — and they do not wish to bear this expense for only a few families.
One of the subjects of an eviction notice said that on Nov. 28 he was handed a notice to quit immediately and asked to sign it. “I refused,” he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=104431&d=9&m=12&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Father Declines to Receive Son’s Body
Arab News
JIZAN, 9 December 2007 — A father has refused to take custody of the body of his son, who died in a prison mosque last Tuesday while serving time for a Qat-related offense, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday.
Ahmed Al-Sufiani said he would only take custody of the body of his son, Ali Ahmed Ali, once the cause of his death was independently ascertained. Ali’s body currently lies unclaimed at Jizan General Hospital.
“My son left home seven months ago searching for a job. I lost contact with him and looked for him everywhere but couldn’t find him. I thought he had found a job and settled down somewhere. Last week we were notified that he had died at Jizan Jail,” said Al-Sufiani.
“I went to the morgue and formally identified the body. However, I refused to take it. My son looked like he went through a lot of suffering. He became thin. I want to know how he died and the circumstances surrounding his arrest, conviction and sentencing,” he said, adding that Ali was of good character and never used drugs.
Maj. Maadi Al-Bugmi, head of Jizan Jail, said, “Last Tuesday, the prisoner went to the mosque along with other prisoners to pray and read the Qur’an. He fell unconscious and was taken to the prison’s hospital. Doctors say he died of a heart attack.”
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=104440&d=9&m=12&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Saudi OFW, Two Seafarers Win 2007 Model OFW Family Awards
Gloria Esguerra Melencio, Arab News
MANILA, 8 December 2007 — A widow from the southern Philippines, who had worked for a sheikh in Saudi Arabia, and two seafarers won the prestigious Model OFW Family of the Year Award (MOFYA) for 2007.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=10§ion=0&article=104413&d=9&m=12&y=2007
Engineers’ Role in Development Highlighted
Arab News
JEDDAH, 7 December 2007 — The Engineers Welfare Forum Jeddah (EWFJ), formed in August this year, held its first meeting here on Wednesday night.
President of the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) Aftab Islam Agha, who was the chief guest, spoke about the contribution of engineers in the promotion of education and development of railways, roads, highways and telecom.
He said the Iran-Pakistan pipeline project would boost Pakistan’s industrial production and reduce the country’s reliance on oil import.
Agha designated EWFJ as the Jeddah chapter of IEP with Abdul Aleem Khan as its in charge. He urged engineers to register with the EWJF and praised the role of Pakistani engineers in mega construction projects in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=10§ion=0&article=104381&d=9&m=12&y=2007
Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline: the Baloch wildcard
For both energy hungry India and its swiftly growing neighbor, Pakistan, the need for natural gas is more pressing than ever. Pakistan has one of the world’s fastest growing populations and its demand for gas will expand significantly over the next two decades. India’s gas demand will almost double by 2015 and due to the decline of its reserves it will be forced to import increasing amounts of gas. As the world’s second largest gas reserve, Iran is the most geographically convenient supplier of gas to both countries.
India considered three transport routes for gas from Iran: shipping it through the Arabian Sea on board tankers in the form of LNG, sending it through a deep sea pipeline, or alternatively transporting it on land via a 1700-mile pipeline from Iran’s South Pars field to India. The latter option means 475 miles of the pipeline will pass through Balochistan in southern Pakistan.
http://www.iags.org/n0115042.htm
Securing India's Future in the New Millennium
By Brahma Chellaney
http://books.google.com/books?id=2OqMPdJd-lUC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=%22iran+pakistan%22+pipeline+project&source=web&ots=eKK4av8s5i&sig=JrLaTeKnj7BrKWZ1XSbov3rA5NM
Iran, Pakistan dump India on pipeline
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Even as New Delhi grapples with domestic leftwing opposition to the India-United States civilian nuclear deal, Iran and Pakistan have finalized their section of a US$7.5 billion gas pipeline that Washington opposes.
India, Pakistan and Iran are the original partners of the 2,700-kilometer IPI "peace" pipeline that they wanted to complete by 2012 to transfer Iranian natural gas from its South Pars field to India via Pakistan. But, it is apparent now that New Delhi has
been dumped, for the time being at least.
Last week, Iran's deputy minister in charge of the pipeline, Hojatollah Ganimifard, was quoted by the Iranian Oil Ministry's news service Shana as saying, "The content of the peace pipeline contract has been finalized and all the points prepared by the two sides' legal experts have been re-read and agreed by the two sides [Iran and Pakistan]." He said the two sides would ink the contract in December "without a third partner".
And this week, Mokhtar Ahmad, advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, was quoted as saying, "As we expected, the text of the peace pipeline has been made ready for the signing by the two states' heads." Pakistan said that any excess gas that would have been destined for India could be transferred to China.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IK15Df02.html
Iran, Pakistan close to finalise gas pipeline project: India’s stand unclear
By NI Wire
Oct 30: Pakistan and Iran have reflected their commitment to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project as they move forward today to give the deal a final touch. On Sunday, Iranian Oil Minister's Special Envoy for the pipeline talks Hojjatollah Ghanimifard said final touches to the contract would be given this week.
Irrespective of the fact whether India remains in or out of the project, Pakistan is of the opinion that the deal is the need of Pakistan and it stands committed to it.
This is to be mentioned that the project was negotiated by all the three countries but subsequent to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal India has not shown any interest in the project and did not participate in the rounds of talks going on between Pakistan and Iran on the project despite invitation from Tehran and Pakistan for holding talks on the same.
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/1296
Iran Is No Threat and That’s Official
Linda Heard, sierra12th@yahoo.co.uk
“They stole our threat” goes a headline in the Israeli daily Haaretz. The author is, of course, referring to the recently published US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) composed by 16 American intelligence agencies. It counters US and Israeli assertions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. There’s been no such program since 2003, it states.
For those of us in the neighborhood, this is good news but the powers that be in Washington and Tel Aviv are seething. With plans to squeeze the Iranian leadership with further UN sanctions and a military option on the table, this was not what either country wanted to hear.
George W. Bush says the report doesn’t change anything. On the contrary, he says, it shows that Tehran was working toward the manufacture of nuclear weapons in the past and could reconstitute the program again.
When challenged by reporters over his “World War III” speech, he said nobody told him that Iran didn’t have a current weapons program. This assertion has gone down like a lead brick with skeptical administration’s critics.
Investigate reporter Seymour Hersh says it has been an open secret in Washington since last year. In any event, whatever remnants of credibility Bush still possessed after the Iraq fiasco have been shot.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he is determined to work with the nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to prove that Iran is developing nukes. If that’s so, he’s got a difficult task ahead because head of the IAE Mohammed El-Baradei has consistently discounted such claims and been vilified by the US State Department for his stance.
The hawkish US Vice President Dick Cheney is accused of trying to bury the intelligence estimate but he encountered opposition from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who either wanted to put a brake on the warmongers or feared inopportune leaks. Moreover, US law mandates that intelligence estimates must be put before Congress. Whatever the real reason it’s been published there is no doubt it has undercut the Bush administration’s military option rationale as well as its efforts to persuade Russia and China to sign up to further anti-Iranian sanctions.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104500&d=11&m=12&y=2007
US Wrong About Iran’s Strategic Priorities
Gwynne Dyer, Arab News
For four years the Bush administration told us that Iran must be subject to sanctions, and maybe to military attack, because it was secretly working on nuclear weapons. Suddenly, last week, the US intelligence agencies tell President Bush that for the past four years Iran has not been working on nuclear weapons. So he announces that unless Iran abandons its civil nuclear power program it must be subject to sanctions and maybe to military attack anyway, because “what’s to say they couldn’t start another covert nuclear weapons program?”
Even the 16 US intelligence agencies (16!) that produce the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) didn’t expect to shake Bush’s determination to go after Iran. That’s why they insisted that the new NIE be declassified and published so quickly. It was a pre-emptive strike against the White House, to make it more difficult politically for Bush to press ahead despite the evidence.
Like the US armed forces, the intelligence services are in a state of near-mutiny as they watch President Bush drag the country toward another unnecessary and unwinnable war. But how come the same intelligence agencies were telling us two years ago with “high confidence” that Iran was developing nuclear weapons?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104501&d=11&m=12&y=2007&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
Rise in Nonoil Exports a Positive Step
Dr. John Sfakianakis
RIYADH, 11 December 2007 — Robust oil prices gave a record boost in oil revenues for Saudi Arabia in 2007. Oil revenues stood at a historical high of SR754.4 billion ($201.1 billion). In regional terms the size of the Kingdom’s oil revenues are staggering. The Kingdom’s oil revenues for 2007 were more than 118 percent of the UAE’s GDP in 2006 and four times bigger than the size of Qatar’s GDP. However, nonoil exports rose close to 25 percent, which is a positive step and indicative of the efforts to diversify away from simply producing oil.
In fact, nonoil exports in 2007 represented a 12.4 percent out of total exports whereas in 2006 in was a bit more than 10 percent. This is a slow but important advancement.
Although the budget surplus fell by 62.8 percent over 2006 it is still at a comfortable rate. Simply, the surplus fell because spending increased, in line with our expectations. Spending in 2006 increased above the projected level by 16.5 percent, which was above 13 percent increase in spending in 2006.
The state is spending more money in the various projects in the holy places, subsidies, higher university admissions and scholarship and these account for more budgetary spending. We estimate that the recently announced rice subsidy is estimated to cost around SR1.2 billion and the milk powder is another SR1.3 billion.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=104521&d=11&m=12&y=2007
Education Gets the Major Slice
P.K. Abdul Ghafour & Khalil Hanware, Arab News
JEDDAH, 11 December 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday unveiled Saudi Arabia’s largest budget in history, earmarking expenditures at SR410 billion ($109.33 billion) and revenues at SR450 billion ($120 billion). It has allocated a record SR105 billion for education and training.
“This is the largest budget for the Kingdom and larger than last year’s budget by SR30 billion,” the king told a budget session of the Council of Ministers. “We have given instructions that the country’s revenues must be utilized to achieve sustained development in all sectors,” he added.
King Abdullah said more than a quarter of the new budget has been set aside for human resource development including higher education, and technical and vocational training.
“The budget will also boost scientific research and technological development,” the king said referring to financial allocations made for new research centers at universities.
Special allocations have also been made to train teachers, develop academic curricula and improve education atmosphere, with SR39 billion set aside for building schools, universities and training centers and institutes.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=104518&d=11&m=12&y=2007
Archbishop’s Views on US Policy Merit Attention
Sir Cyril Townsend, Arab News
At the end of November, the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Dr. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury for the last five years, delivered a scathing attack on the Bush administration’s foreign policy.
In an interview with Emel, a Muslim magazine, he said:
“It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalizing it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did — in India for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together — Iraq, for example.”
Adding to his controversial remarks he went on to condemn Israel’s Wall. He described Western modernity as “eating away at the soul”. He wanted the Muslim world to acknowledge that its “present political solutions aren’t always very impressive”; I suspect many millions of Muslims would agree.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104698&d=16&m=12&y=2007
Editorial: Bali Road Map
16 December 2007
The world now has another Road Map. It must be hoped that the “Bali Road Map” to agreement on limiting climate change fares better than the Middle East Road Map on bringing peace and justice to the Palestinians.
The common destructive denominator to both road maps is Washington, which has successfully blocked real progress on both issues. But Friday night in Bali, when it was faced with the anger of virtually every other UN Climate Change Conference delegation in a full plenary session, Washington finally backed down. The Americans had been insisting on firm commitments on carbon emission control from the developing countries before they themselves would enter into a process that would at last bind the United States to similar undertakings. Until the very last minute, it looked as if Washington was going to stay out of any final Bali agreement, which would have produced another Kyoto-type half-deal that achieved little except more rhetoric and hot air. And hot air is what the climate deal campaigners are seeking to control.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=104697&d=16&m=12&y=2007
continued...
Atlanta is STILL not focused on their problem but only blaming.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Buford Dam under construction in the 1950s.
Buford Dam under construction in the 1950s.
NOTHING !!!!
The Tallapoosa River in Haralson County. Georgia is dry. There is a severe drought. Even if Atlanta built dams on every river in the area, if they go dry due to drought the dams won't have done the city any good and they would still be looking at a drought today ANYWAY.
The State of Georgia needs to get out of it's own way and build desalination plants. The drought is not going to end and even in theory if it was going to end, it would be a decade before the rivers and any manmade lakes due to dams would fill again and ONLY with steady doses of healthy rainfall.
They need to get out of their own way !!!!
Record drought continues in the South
Most of Alabama and Georgia, the Tennessee Valley, and now North Carolina are experiencing "exceptional" drought conditions in the record-breaking drought that has plagued the South throughout the second half of 2007.
Rainfall in Alabama is more than 30 inches below normal for the year. Here in East Tennessee, we are about 18 inches below normal. (Although we are getting some welcome relief from a severe storm system blowing through as I type this.)
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, "Many locations in the Southeast are on pace to have the all-time driest year on record, with many stations having histories back to the 1880 time period." Also, "Of the 628 water systems being tracked, 173 have mandatory water conservation measures in place, while 162 have voluntary restrictions in place." You can read their full report and review the latest map here.
More "water wars" controversy erupted earlier this week, when the chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission suggested running a pipeline from the Tennessee River to Atlanta, where water supplies are running dangerously low. According to the Huntsville Times, there was even talk of a deal involving cooperation on a light rail line between Chattanooga and Atlanta in exchange for a water pipeline.
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2007/12/record-drought-continues-in-south.asp
Atlanta Journal Consitution
Georgia's water crisis: How did we get here?
Cycle of plan, fail and repeat has left region high and dry
By MATT KEMPNER
Published on: 12/16/07
No one has ever been fishing in the West Georgia Regional Reservoir that officials first planned in the 1980s to help quench the region's thirst.
That's because despite millions of dollars set aside by three Georgia governors, the state never built the reservoir. It never inundated thousands of acres of woods and pastures along the now drought-stricken Tallapoosa River in Haralson County, just a few miles from the Alabama line.
Nor did the state build the rest of the network of at least a dozen regional reservoirs that were supposed to drought-proof North Georgia. Nor did officials erect a proposed dam on the Chattahoochee River six miles downstream of Lake Lanier to pool more drinking water for metro Atlanta. Nor did they win approval to lock in dibs for more drinking water from Lanier.
Despite ample warnings and dire predictions over the last four decades, metro Atlanta has continued to grow even as it repeatedly failed to guarantee it would have enough water to satisfy its long term needs.
Every drought — including the current one — reminds officials how risky the area's water future is.
Abandoned by wavering political attention, shortchanged on money, hamstrung by environmental concerns and stymied by focus on a tri-state water war, potential solutions have died or gone uncompleted.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/12/15/missed_1216.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Winter weather blowing in
By JEFFRY SCOTT
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/15/07
Mother nature, who bathed metro Atlanta in spring-like temperatures last Sunday (high of 76, low of 57), will get her capricious revenge tommorrow with a windy high in the 40s and a Sunday overnight dip into the low 30s.
"Last week, we were 20 degrees above normal temperature," said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Griesinger Saturday. "This Sunday it will be 10 degrees below normal. It's going to feel like December — for a change."
In the mountains of North Georgia flurries are predicted Sunday night but no accumulations are expected. There, around Blue Ridge and Blairsville, the temperatures will be in the low 20s.
In this chilly news there is a blessing: rain. Metro Atlanta may get as much as one inch over the next 24 hours before skies clear in the late afternoon and early evening Sunday.
The metro area will cling to a vestige of its ersatz Spring through the middle of Saturday, with temperatures in the mid-60s, but those will steadily drop.
In the mountains the high Sunday expected to be in the mid-30s around midnight with temperatures dipping through the rest of the day. "It's going to be a goofy forecast up there," said Griesinger.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/12/15/weather_1215.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Nuke plants may be pricier than expected
Some estimates are 2-3 times higher than a few years ago
By MARGARET NEWKIRK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/15/07
On Monday, Georgia Power asked state regulators for more time to submit cost estimates for two new nuclear units.
And on Thursday, a Florida utility may have explained why.
• More Business news
Florida Power & Light is planning to build the same kind of Westinghouse reactor units that Georgia Power is, and the Florida utility said Thursday that its two reactors are likely to cost between $12 billion and $18 billion.
That's two to three times more expensive than figures bandied around the industry just a couple of years ago, when power companies began talking about building new nuclear reactors for the first time in decades.
To date, Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Co., have scrupulously avoided putting a price tag on Georgia Power's proposed nuclear expansion, saying such estimates were premature.
"We have not given out numbers because we have been working with our vendor to try to get the best price for nuclear," Georgia Power spokesman John Sell said.
Other industry players, though, have ventured guesses.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/stories/2007/12/15/nuke_1215.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Macon Telegraph
Plane plot suspect escapes in Pakistan
By ZARAR KHAN - Associated Press Writer
Anjum Naveed
Pakistani police officer escorts to Rashid Rauf, right, a British suspec tin an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners,to a court appearance on Dec. 22, 2006 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Rauf escaped from police custody Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, after appearing before a judge at a court in the capital, Islamabad, said Khalid Pervez, a city police official. Two policemen were being questioned about how Rauf had gotten away.
A British suspect in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners escaped from police custody in Pakistan on Saturday, officials said. Rashid Rauf fled after appearing before a judge at a court in the capital, Islamabad, said Khalid Pervez, a city police official.
Police teams were driving around the area in search of Rauf, who Pervez said had managed to open his handcuffs and evade two police guards who were taking him back to jail in the nearby city of Rawalpindi.
"We do not know how he escaped. But we do know he has escaped and the two policemen have been taken into custody for negligence," Pervez told The Associated Press.
http://www.macon.com/world//story/213887.html
Pakistani leader ends state of emergency
By PAUL ALEXANDER - Associated Press Writer
President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old state of emergency Saturday, telling a skeptical nation the crackdown was to save Pakistan from a conspiracy rather than ensure his own political survival.
But Musharraf also made clear he would keep a tight lid on dissent, entrenching limits he imposed under the emergency including strict curbs on press freedom and the replacement of independent-minded judges with jurists friendlier to the U.S.-backed leader. Opponents have said the changes set the stage for national elections next month to be rigged, and have threatened to hold mass demonstrations.
http://www.macon.com/world//story/213603.html
Video
http://video.ap.org/v/Legacy.aspx?f=GAMAT&g=f9c0db44-7307-4b04-ac66-4102ef1aeb11&p=ENAPworld_ENAPworld&t=s201&rf=http%3a%2f%2fwww.macon.com%2f&fg=tool&partner=en-ap
Gadhafi arrives in Spain
By MANU FERNANDEZ - Associated Press Writer
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi began his first official trip to Spain Saturday with a private visit to a luxury country resort hotel after arriving from France where he sealed business deals worth billions of dollars.
Gadhafi, who was long a vocal champion of armed struggle and a sponsor of state terrorism, is keen to restore normal relations with European countries after renouncing terrorism and nuclear weapons.
The Libyan leader and an entourage numbering at least 200 arrived at Seville airport from France aboard three aircraft and sped away in dozens of cars to the secluded Hacienda La Boticaria hotel, 11 miles southeast of Seville.
During his four-day visit to Spain, Gadhafi is expected to meet Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, King Juan Carlos and former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar among other senior officials.
Speaking to journalists, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos noted Spain's important economic interests in Libya, especially in the energy sector.
Gadhafi's visit to France last week set off angry protests. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy defended it, saying it was France's duty to encourage states that move toward international respectability.
http://www.macon.com/world//story/214163.html
Unemployment claims up statewide; down in Macon, WR
By Linda S. Morris - lmorris@macontel.com
The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that 48,150 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in November, up 16 percent from October.
In Macon, claims were down by 252, or 18.7 percent, from 1,347 to 1,095, according to a news release. Claims also were down in Warner Robins 48 percent, from 639 to 332.
The statewide increase is primarily due to seasonal layoffs in the manufacturing industries, the release stated.
The number of initial claims filed in November is up 1.4 percent from November of 2006, when 47,487 were filed, according to the release.
Georgia labor market data is not seasonally adjusted and is available at www.dol.state.ga.us.
http://www.macon.com/102/story/212682.html
Oprah was a great visitor, but got it wrong about Macon being a "small town"
A bunch of you have asked my impressions of the recent Oprah Winfrey visit to Macon.
My first reaction was Oprah was the most gracious celebrity to visit our city in the almost 30 years I have lived here.
She didn't ride into our fair city with tinted windows. She was not a recluse. She got out and circulated. She let folks touch and tug on her sleeves.
And she ate her way through Macon.
Oops! Sorry. I forgot. This is not The National Enquirer.
I now have a better understanding of her enormous appeal. She adores her fans as much as they adore her.
The recognition and exposure generated by her three-day stay - and the buzz that has been sustained by it - is going to benefit our city for months and years to come.
Of the two TV shows, I enjoyed the second show considerably more than the first. It was quite a thrill to hear her talk so favorably about Macon. It was neat to watch her walk where we walk, dine where we dine, shop where we shop and brush elbows with our friends and neighbors.
http://www.macon.com/194/story/208535.html
The 'Otis Redding affect'
Long before there were 24-hour news channels, cable and the Internet, most radio and TV stations received news through a teletype system.
These machines were pretty big, about the size of a small refrigerator only taller. They clunked along and shook as they spit out reams and reams of newsprint, most of it thrown away, carrying news from all over the world.
The machines were equipped with a bell that alerted stations if there was something coming across that was really important. In all the years that I was in radio, I only heard that something-very-very-very-important-is-happening bell once, when D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Northwest airliner from Portland, Ore., headed up Interstate 5 to Seattle, a short 174-mile flight.
Old D.B. wasn't making a political statement, he wanted $200,000, and if he didn't get it and four parachutes, he would make everyone go boom with a bomb in his briefcase. One of the great mysteries is what happened to him after he jumped. Cooper and all the money were never found.
In any case, the teletype machine that day went bananas. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. The number of dings indicated how important the news was, so I can only Imagine what the teletype machines all over the world, particularly here in Macon, were doing 40 years ago yesterday, when word started to spread that a plane carrying Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays had crashed. All on board died with the exception of Ben Cauley, the trumpet player.
http://www.macon.com/151/story/209189.html
Archaeologist: Ga. artifacts may point to de Soto's trail
By RUSS BYNUM - Associated Press Writer
Related Content
http://www.fernbank.edu/museum
The rusty, diamond-shaped iron blade, its sharp point jutting from the dirt where it was discovered, could be a centuries old clue that sheds surprising new light on the obscure path taken by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto.
For archaeologist Dennis Blanton it has erased most doubts that the patch of ground in southeast Georgia was visited more than 460 years ago by some group of Spanish explorers - if not de Soto himself.
"It's pretty much case-closed," says Blanton, standing in a clearing among planted pines where his archaeologists have dug about 18 inches into the dirt in an area the size of a small house. "If you had to deduce the most plausible source, it would be de Soto."
But it also presents a mystery: The site is 90 miles from where most experts agree that de Soto traveled.
And it highlights the challenge of deducing the route taken by de Soto - an explorer who left few traces of his journey.
http://www.macon.com/220/story/213765.html
US military deaths in Iraq at 3,892
The Associated Press
Related Content
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/
As of Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, at least 3,892 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,168 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST.
The British military has reported 173 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
---
The latest deaths reported by the military:
- A soldier was killed Friday by small arms fire in Nineva province.
http://www.macon.com/world//story/214164.html
continued...
Morning Papers - continued...
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Thank you, Robert Wexler
Information on
Representative Robert Wexler
of Congressional District number 19 of Florida
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=FL19&site=ctc&address=&city=&state=FL&zipcode=&plusfour=
Impeachment
"That, for the first time, will show that the Democratic majority is here and that, in fact, we have the courage of our convictions -- and that, in fact, we listen to the people who sent us there in the first place."
-- U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler
"...it is the obligation -- not discretionary -- but it is the obligation of this congress to investigate and that's what I and some of my colleagues are beginning to call for!" -- Rep. Robert Wexl...
December 11th, 2007 12:40 pm
Wexler urges hearings on Cheney trial
By George Bennett / Palm Beach Post
What do higher fuel-efficiency standards, expanded children's health care and improved relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have in common?
According to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, those are just a few of the benefits America can reap if Congress holds hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Wexler, who represents an ultra-Democratic Palm Beach-Broward district, recently took an e-mail poll of about 3,000 constituents and found 61 percent in favor of impeaching Cheney and removing him from office. Wexler insists he hasn't prejudged the matter but wants hearings to probe whether Cheney manipulated intelligence to bamboozle the U.S. into war with Iraq, which Wexler voted to authorize in 2002.
At last week's Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee meeting, Wexler took issue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's declaration that impeachment should be "off the table." And Wexler disputed the notion that impeachment hearings would be a distraction, asserting instead that they would help the Democrats' domestic agenda and lift America's status abroad.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10552
Congressman Calls for Dick Cheney Impeachment Hearings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wncBOEmOYeE
"Of course the Constitution provides the president the powers of the pardon." -- White House
December 11th, 2007 2:15 pm
Libby Drops His Appeal in Leak Case
By Philip Shenon / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, announced Monday that he was dropping the appeal of his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case.
The move comes five months after President Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence imposed on Mr. Libby, who was found guilty of lying to investigators and a federal grand jury about the circumstances of the leak of the identity of Valerie Wilson, a formerly covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Libby’s lawyer, Theodore V. Wells Jr., said in a statement that “we remain convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence” but that “after five years of government service and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”
The decision means that unless Mr. Libby receives a White House pardon, a prospect that Mr. Bush has declined to rule out, he remains a convicted criminal whose term of probation will last until 2009. He has already paid a $250,000 fine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10553
Mike on Capitol Hill, June 20th, 2007
'SiCKO' voted best documentary
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
December 10th, 2007 8:43 am
D.C. Critics choose 'Country'
'Men' named best picture, Clooney takes actor
Variety
On Sunday, the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Assn. announced its selection of "No Country for Old Men" as best film of 2007.
The Miramax/Paramount Vantage film won four awards including director for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, acting ensemble and supporting actor for Javier Bardem.
George Clooney took the actor prize for his portrayal of an ethically challenged lawyer in Warner Bros.' "Michael Clayton," while Julie Christie was garnered the actress prize for her turn as an Alzheimer's patient in Lionsgate's "Away From Her."
Amy Ryan walked away with supporting actress kudos for "Gone Baby Gone" and Ellen Page was awarded breakthrough performance for her portrayal of a pregnant teen in "Juno."
The writing awards went to Aaron Sorkin for his adaptation of "Charlie Wilson's War" and Diablo Cody for her original screenplay for "Juno."
Miramax's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" was named best foreign film; Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille" was named best animated feature; and Michael Moore's "Sicko" from the Weinstein Co. was voted best documentary feature.
Paramount's "Sweeney Todd" was honored for art direction.
The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Assn. is comprised of 39 D.C.-based film critics from television, radio, print and the Internet.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=10549
New York critics vote 'SiCKO' best documentary, too
December 10th, 2007 8:44 am
New York online critics go for 'Blood'
NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The New York Film Critics Online group awarded five of its prizes to Paul Thomas Anderson's oil epic "There Will Be Blood."
"There Will Be Blood" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" shared the honor for best picture of 2007, while "Blood" star Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor and "Away From Her" star Julie Christie earned the prize for best actress.
"Blood" also earned Anderson the honor for best director and garnered the awards for best cinematography and best music/score.
Javier Bardem won the prize for best supporting actor for his work in "No Country for Old Men," while Cate Blanchett earned the equivalent actress honor for her performance in "I'm Not There."
Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola grabbed the award for best screenplay for "The Darjeeling Limited."
"The Lives of Others" and "Persepolis" tied as best foreign picture, Michael Moore's "Sicko" was named best documentary and "Persepolis" won the award for best animated feature.
The cast of "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" was also recognized for best ensemble performance.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=10550
December 10th, 2007 2:13 pm
'07 deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq
By Amit R. Paley / Washington Post
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military announced Tuesday that five soldiers and a sailor had been killed a day earlier, making 2007 the deadliest year for U.S. troops since the start of the war in Iraq.
The record death toll of at least 853 U.S. military personnel killed this year underscores the high cost of the U.S. troop increase, launched in February, which has begun to drive down the sectarian violence that once gripped much of the country.
"The strategy was to interject our soldiers between the Iraqi citizens and the terrorists, insurgents and militias," said Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant, chief of plans for U.S. forces in Baghdad. "A regrettable consequence of that is your casualties go up."
But the grim milestone belied a much more optimistic trend: Troop casualties have declined sharply since early summer. In October, the death toll for U.S. troops fell to 39, its lowest level since March 2006, according to The Associated Press, which tracks military fatalities more rapidly than the Pentagon makes its numbers public.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10551
"[Torture] was a policy decision that was made at the White House..." -- former CIA interrogator
December 12th, 2007 2:42 am
US intel chief faces grilling amid torture claims
By Roland Lloyd Parry / AFP
WASHINGTON - The CIA chief was grilled by US lawmakers Tuesday over the destruction of interrogation videos, as the White House insisted that the United States does not practice torture.
Michael Hayden was being questioned behind closed doors by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee about his revelation last week that tapes made in 2002 were destroyed in 2005, when Congress was investigating allegations that terror suspects were tortured.
"I'm very delighted to come on down and lay out the facts as we know them," Hayden said before the encounter. A similar hearing was to follow Wednesday before members of the lower House of Representatives.
Pressed by reporters at the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino refused to comment on what methods are allowed to interrogate terror suspects, insisting however that the United States does not practice torture.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10554
December 13th, 2007 2:31 pm
Nurses' Ad Takes Cheney To Heart, Sort Of
Advocacy Group Says, Without Government-Sponsored Health Care, V.P. Would Be Dead
(CBS) "If he were anyone else, he'd probably be dead by now."
So begins a health care union's newspaper advertisement which ran in Iowa Monday, pointedly referring to Vice President Dick Cheney as a beneficiary of government-sponsored health care unavailable to most other Americans.
The California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, based in Oakland, hope the ad will bring attention to the issue of health care reform.
The ad depicts a patient, Cheney, whose history and prognosis - "four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, angioplasty, an implanted defibrillator" - might disqualify him when applying for health coverage if he did not happen to be a member of the Executive Branch or Congress.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10557
H.R.676
Title: To provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 1/24/2007) Cosponsors (87)
Latest Major Action: 2/2/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00676:@@@N
"Which congressional district am I in?"
CLiCK here and enter your address to find out.
If there is already a green check next to your Representative's name, don't hesitate to thank them.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/boxscore/index.php?action=print
Thank you !
Information on
Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
of Congressional District number 2 of Georgia
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=GA02&site=ctc&address=&city=&state=GA&zipcode=&plusfour=
See 'SiCKO' for Free:
Our Regular Monthly Meeting: December 13, 2007 Thursday at 7:00 PM
This meeting will be at Grace Church in Salem, 385 Essex St, Salem MA
Topics:
We will be showing Sicko, Michael Moore's movie on health care. Refreshments will be served. Admission will be free, but donations will be appreciated (and suggested).
Please invite friends and neighbors. We are eager to grow the group as there are so many serious issues that require discussion and action.
After the successful showing in Beverly, we also decided we'd like to have at least one and possibly two more evenings showing the Moyer's program on impeachment and to have discussions afterward, with suggestions for action. We are discussing have them near Newburyport, and in either Salem or Swampscott. We cannot wait for this administration to leave office and not have held the Vice-president and President accountable for their criminal conduct. We discussed having the impeachment programs in other parts of the District (Phyllis suggested Newburyport). The previous evening was in Beverly; perhaps Swampscott or Lynn would be a good second location. Any suggestions for venue?
http://www.northshoreprogressives.org/
Around Your Town
Published on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Around Your Town serves to inform readers of nonprofit events happening in our communities that are open to the public. Please send items to svhnews@transedge.com, or send by regular mail to: Around Your Town, Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review, 102 Fab Ave., Sierra Vista AZ 85635. Or fax items to 459-0120, attn. Around Your Town. Items should include time, date, location, organization’s name, purpose or description of event, and a phone number or e-mail address and person to contact. Please try to submit your item two weeks in advance of the event. Regular club meetings will be posted on Tuesday in our Living section. For questions or comments, please call 515-4614. Items will not be accepted by phone.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/doc475f81902c574615495617.txt
Join Congresman Wexler's Call for Cheney's Impeachment
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/
One, Two, Three,
What are We Fighting For?!?
December 14th, 2007 7:29 pm
Soldier father is in box daughters open at school
Associated Press
ELKTON, Ky. -- All Mariah Wilder said she wanted for Christmas was her daddy.
Sgt. Matthew Wilder had been deployed to Iraq, but found out he would be home in southern Kentucky for the holidays while going to aviation school.
His wife, Desire', got administrators at North Todd Elementary School in Elkton to call an assembly Thursday at which a letter from Matthew Wilder was read as his daughters stood in front of big box. It was his present to them.
When Mariah and Destiny pulled the paper off the box with the big red bow on top, out stepped Wilder in his battle dress uniform to hugs and cries of "Daddy."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10558
Wish Cheney a Merry Christmas
Contacting the White House [En Español]
Mailing Address
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
E-Mail
Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website.
Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov
Communications With Other Federal Government Agencies
If you have a question about a particular government benefit, program or service, contact USA.gov.
USA.gov is the official U.S. gateway to all government information and is a catalyst for a growing electronic government.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Free "SiCKO
AZgreyhounds will have an adoption day on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Ramsey Canyon Feed and Pet on Highway 92 and Glenn Road. Contact Dave at 378-1763, or visit azgreyhounds.com.
The Southeast Arizona Democrat Club will meet Saturday, from 3:15 to 5:45 p.m., in the Mona Bishop Room of the Sierra Vista Public Library. The club will screen “Sicko,” a film by Michael Moore that examines the American health care system. Everyone is welcome. Call Janice Wheeler, 458-5452, or Phil Micheau, at 459-8728.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post & Ladies Auxiliary 9972 will hold its annual children’s Christmas Party on Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m., at the post, 549 Veterans Drive. All children, from infants to 12 years old, are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided, and a surprise guest is expected at about 2 p.m.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/doc475f81902c574615495617.txt
December 15th, 2007 1:25 pm
House Judiciary Trio Calls for Impeach Cheney Hearings
By John Nichols / The Nation
Three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee have called for the immediate opening of impeachment hearings for Vice President Richard Cheney.
Democrats Robert Wexler of Florida, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on Friday distributed a statement, "A Case for Hearings," that declares, "The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens."
In particular, the Judiciary Committee members cite the recent revelation by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent as part of a White House campaign to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson. On the basis of McClellan's statements, Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin say, "it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice." The three House members argue that, "Congress should call Mr. McClellan to testify about what he described as being asked to ‘unknowingly [pass] along false information.'"
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10560
December 15th, 2007 1:38 pm
Grijalva backs Kucinich's plan to impeach Cheney
By Daniel Scarpinato / Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON, AZ -- U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva is the latest Democrat to endorse Dennis Kucinich's "Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney."
Energized by his move, a local group of activists seeking to drum up support for an impeachment is now looking to pressure neighboring Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to join the effort.
Grijalva, a co-sponsor, said the impeachment bill has a "limited chance" at best of gaining the support it needs. But he signed on because of what he sees as major abuses by the Bush- Cheney administration.
"At least for me personally, it's more of a statement than anything else," said Grijalva, who represents Southwestern Arizona. "There has got to be some accountability."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10561
December 15th, 2007 1:44 pm
Steady stream of White House staff departures continues
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush is losing two more key aides as his presidency winds toward its end, with his chief speechwriter and lobbyist both announcing today that they are leaving.
The departures of speechwriter William McGurn and legislative affairs director Candida Wolff were disclosed at the daily senior staff meeting that starts almost every day at the White House, deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel said. The White House expects to make their replacements known by the end of the day, he said.
The last high-level departure from Bush’s team came just two weeks ago, when his top economic adviser announced he would be leaving. National Economic Council director Al Hubbard is being replaced by his deputy, Keith Hennessey.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10562
December 15th, 2007 1:48 pm
Bush: Use of Steroids Has 'Sullied' Baseball
By Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post
President Bush said yesterday that steroids have "sullied" baseball but cautioned fans not to jump to conclusions about individual players identified as abusers in the report this week from a commission headed by former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell.
Speaking for the first time about the new report, Bush said he was troubled by the allegations of steroid use and urged owners and players to take the report seriously.
"My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. "I understand the impact that professional athletes can have on our nation's youth. And I just urge . . . those in the public spotlight, particularly athletes, to understand that when they violate their bodies, they're sending a terrible signal to America's young."
As a former owner of the Texas Rangers and a big baseball fan, Bush has appeared especially troubled by the report, which identified 91 current and former players, including some of the biggest names in the sport, as possible steroid abusers.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10563
continued...
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Thank you, Robert Wexler
Information on
Representative Robert Wexler
of Congressional District number 19 of Florida
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=FL19&site=ctc&address=&city=&state=FL&zipcode=&plusfour=
Impeachment
"That, for the first time, will show that the Democratic majority is here and that, in fact, we have the courage of our convictions -- and that, in fact, we listen to the people who sent us there in the first place."
-- U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler
"...it is the obligation -- not discretionary -- but it is the obligation of this congress to investigate and that's what I and some of my colleagues are beginning to call for!" -- Rep. Robert Wexl...
December 11th, 2007 12:40 pm
Wexler urges hearings on Cheney trial
By George Bennett / Palm Beach Post
What do higher fuel-efficiency standards, expanded children's health care and improved relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have in common?
According to U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, those are just a few of the benefits America can reap if Congress holds hearings on the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Wexler, who represents an ultra-Democratic Palm Beach-Broward district, recently took an e-mail poll of about 3,000 constituents and found 61 percent in favor of impeaching Cheney and removing him from office. Wexler insists he hasn't prejudged the matter but wants hearings to probe whether Cheney manipulated intelligence to bamboozle the U.S. into war with Iraq, which Wexler voted to authorize in 2002.
At last week's Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee meeting, Wexler took issue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's declaration that impeachment should be "off the table." And Wexler disputed the notion that impeachment hearings would be a distraction, asserting instead that they would help the Democrats' domestic agenda and lift America's status abroad.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10552
Congressman Calls for Dick Cheney Impeachment Hearings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wncBOEmOYeE
"Of course the Constitution provides the president the powers of the pardon." -- White House
December 11th, 2007 2:15 pm
Libby Drops His Appeal in Leak Case
By Philip Shenon / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, announced Monday that he was dropping the appeal of his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case.
The move comes five months after President Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence imposed on Mr. Libby, who was found guilty of lying to investigators and a federal grand jury about the circumstances of the leak of the identity of Valerie Wilson, a formerly covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Libby’s lawyer, Theodore V. Wells Jr., said in a statement that “we remain convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence” but that “after five years of government service and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”
The decision means that unless Mr. Libby receives a White House pardon, a prospect that Mr. Bush has declined to rule out, he remains a convicted criminal whose term of probation will last until 2009. He has already paid a $250,000 fine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10553
Mike on Capitol Hill, June 20th, 2007
'SiCKO' voted best documentary
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
December 10th, 2007 8:43 am
D.C. Critics choose 'Country'
'Men' named best picture, Clooney takes actor
Variety
On Sunday, the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Assn. announced its selection of "No Country for Old Men" as best film of 2007.
The Miramax/Paramount Vantage film won four awards including director for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, acting ensemble and supporting actor for Javier Bardem.
George Clooney took the actor prize for his portrayal of an ethically challenged lawyer in Warner Bros.' "Michael Clayton," while Julie Christie was garnered the actress prize for her turn as an Alzheimer's patient in Lionsgate's "Away From Her."
Amy Ryan walked away with supporting actress kudos for "Gone Baby Gone" and Ellen Page was awarded breakthrough performance for her portrayal of a pregnant teen in "Juno."
The writing awards went to Aaron Sorkin for his adaptation of "Charlie Wilson's War" and Diablo Cody for her original screenplay for "Juno."
Miramax's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" was named best foreign film; Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille" was named best animated feature; and Michael Moore's "Sicko" from the Weinstein Co. was voted best documentary feature.
Paramount's "Sweeney Todd" was honored for art direction.
The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Assn. is comprised of 39 D.C.-based film critics from television, radio, print and the Internet.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=10549
New York critics vote 'SiCKO' best documentary, too
December 10th, 2007 8:44 am
New York online critics go for 'Blood'
NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The New York Film Critics Online group awarded five of its prizes to Paul Thomas Anderson's oil epic "There Will Be Blood."
"There Will Be Blood" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" shared the honor for best picture of 2007, while "Blood" star Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor and "Away From Her" star Julie Christie earned the prize for best actress.
"Blood" also earned Anderson the honor for best director and garnered the awards for best cinematography and best music/score.
Javier Bardem won the prize for best supporting actor for his work in "No Country for Old Men," while Cate Blanchett earned the equivalent actress honor for her performance in "I'm Not There."
Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola grabbed the award for best screenplay for "The Darjeeling Limited."
"The Lives of Others" and "Persepolis" tied as best foreign picture, Michael Moore's "Sicko" was named best documentary and "Persepolis" won the award for best animated feature.
The cast of "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" was also recognized for best ensemble performance.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=10550
December 10th, 2007 2:13 pm
'07 deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq
By Amit R. Paley / Washington Post
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military announced Tuesday that five soldiers and a sailor had been killed a day earlier, making 2007 the deadliest year for U.S. troops since the start of the war in Iraq.
The record death toll of at least 853 U.S. military personnel killed this year underscores the high cost of the U.S. troop increase, launched in February, which has begun to drive down the sectarian violence that once gripped much of the country.
"The strategy was to interject our soldiers between the Iraqi citizens and the terrorists, insurgents and militias," said Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant, chief of plans for U.S. forces in Baghdad. "A regrettable consequence of that is your casualties go up."
But the grim milestone belied a much more optimistic trend: Troop casualties have declined sharply since early summer. In October, the death toll for U.S. troops fell to 39, its lowest level since March 2006, according to The Associated Press, which tracks military fatalities more rapidly than the Pentagon makes its numbers public.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10551
"[Torture] was a policy decision that was made at the White House..." -- former CIA interrogator
December 12th, 2007 2:42 am
US intel chief faces grilling amid torture claims
By Roland Lloyd Parry / AFP
WASHINGTON - The CIA chief was grilled by US lawmakers Tuesday over the destruction of interrogation videos, as the White House insisted that the United States does not practice torture.
Michael Hayden was being questioned behind closed doors by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee about his revelation last week that tapes made in 2002 were destroyed in 2005, when Congress was investigating allegations that terror suspects were tortured.
"I'm very delighted to come on down and lay out the facts as we know them," Hayden said before the encounter. A similar hearing was to follow Wednesday before members of the lower House of Representatives.
Pressed by reporters at the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino refused to comment on what methods are allowed to interrogate terror suspects, insisting however that the United States does not practice torture.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10554
December 13th, 2007 2:31 pm
Nurses' Ad Takes Cheney To Heart, Sort Of
Advocacy Group Says, Without Government-Sponsored Health Care, V.P. Would Be Dead
(CBS) "If he were anyone else, he'd probably be dead by now."
So begins a health care union's newspaper advertisement which ran in Iowa Monday, pointedly referring to Vice President Dick Cheney as a beneficiary of government-sponsored health care unavailable to most other Americans.
The California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, based in Oakland, hope the ad will bring attention to the issue of health care reform.
The ad depicts a patient, Cheney, whose history and prognosis - "four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, angioplasty, an implanted defibrillator" - might disqualify him when applying for health coverage if he did not happen to be a member of the Executive Branch or Congress.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10557
H.R.676
Title: To provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 1/24/2007) Cosponsors (87)
Latest Major Action: 2/2/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00676:@@@N
"Which congressional district am I in?"
CLiCK here and enter your address to find out.
If there is already a green check next to your Representative's name, don't hesitate to thank them.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/boxscore/index.php?action=print
Thank you !
Information on
Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
of Congressional District number 2 of Georgia
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=GA02&site=ctc&address=&city=&state=GA&zipcode=&plusfour=
See 'SiCKO' for Free:
Our Regular Monthly Meeting: December 13, 2007 Thursday at 7:00 PM
This meeting will be at Grace Church in Salem, 385 Essex St, Salem MA
Topics:
We will be showing Sicko, Michael Moore's movie on health care. Refreshments will be served. Admission will be free, but donations will be appreciated (and suggested).
Please invite friends and neighbors. We are eager to grow the group as there are so many serious issues that require discussion and action.
After the successful showing in Beverly, we also decided we'd like to have at least one and possibly two more evenings showing the Moyer's program on impeachment and to have discussions afterward, with suggestions for action. We are discussing have them near Newburyport, and in either Salem or Swampscott. We cannot wait for this administration to leave office and not have held the Vice-president and President accountable for their criminal conduct. We discussed having the impeachment programs in other parts of the District (Phyllis suggested Newburyport). The previous evening was in Beverly; perhaps Swampscott or Lynn would be a good second location. Any suggestions for venue?
http://www.northshoreprogressives.org/
Around Your Town
Published on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Around Your Town serves to inform readers of nonprofit events happening in our communities that are open to the public. Please send items to svhnews@transedge.com, or send by regular mail to: Around Your Town, Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review, 102 Fab Ave., Sierra Vista AZ 85635. Or fax items to 459-0120, attn. Around Your Town. Items should include time, date, location, organization’s name, purpose or description of event, and a phone number or e-mail address and person to contact. Please try to submit your item two weeks in advance of the event. Regular club meetings will be posted on Tuesday in our Living section. For questions or comments, please call 515-4614. Items will not be accepted by phone.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/doc475f81902c574615495617.txt
Join Congresman Wexler's Call for Cheney's Impeachment
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/
One, Two, Three,
What are We Fighting For?!?
December 14th, 2007 7:29 pm
Soldier father is in box daughters open at school
Associated Press
ELKTON, Ky. -- All Mariah Wilder said she wanted for Christmas was her daddy.
Sgt. Matthew Wilder had been deployed to Iraq, but found out he would be home in southern Kentucky for the holidays while going to aviation school.
His wife, Desire', got administrators at North Todd Elementary School in Elkton to call an assembly Thursday at which a letter from Matthew Wilder was read as his daughters stood in front of big box. It was his present to them.
When Mariah and Destiny pulled the paper off the box with the big red bow on top, out stepped Wilder in his battle dress uniform to hugs and cries of "Daddy."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10558
Wish Cheney a Merry Christmas
Contacting the White House [En Español]
Mailing Address
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website.
Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov
Communications With Other Federal Government Agencies
If you have a question about a particular government benefit, program or service, contact USA.gov.
USA.gov is the official U.S. gateway to all government information and is a catalyst for a growing electronic government.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Free "SiCKO
AZgreyhounds will have an adoption day on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Ramsey Canyon Feed and Pet on Highway 92 and Glenn Road. Contact Dave at 378-1763, or visit azgreyhounds.com.
The Southeast Arizona Democrat Club will meet Saturday, from 3:15 to 5:45 p.m., in the Mona Bishop Room of the Sierra Vista Public Library. The club will screen “Sicko,” a film by Michael Moore that examines the American health care system. Everyone is welcome. Call Janice Wheeler, 458-5452, or Phil Micheau, at 459-8728.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post & Ladies Auxiliary 9972 will hold its annual children’s Christmas Party on Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m., at the post, 549 Veterans Drive. All children, from infants to 12 years old, are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided, and a surprise guest is expected at about 2 p.m.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/doc475f81902c574615495617.txt
December 15th, 2007 1:25 pm
House Judiciary Trio Calls for Impeach Cheney Hearings
By John Nichols / The Nation
Three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee have called for the immediate opening of impeachment hearings for Vice President Richard Cheney.
Democrats Robert Wexler of Florida, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on Friday distributed a statement, "A Case for Hearings," that declares, "The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens."
In particular, the Judiciary Committee members cite the recent revelation by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent as part of a White House campaign to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson. On the basis of McClellan's statements, Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin say, "it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice." The three House members argue that, "Congress should call Mr. McClellan to testify about what he described as being asked to ‘unknowingly [pass] along false information.'"
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10560
December 15th, 2007 1:38 pm
Grijalva backs Kucinich's plan to impeach Cheney
By Daniel Scarpinato / Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON, AZ -- U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva is the latest Democrat to endorse Dennis Kucinich's "Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney."
Energized by his move, a local group of activists seeking to drum up support for an impeachment is now looking to pressure neighboring Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to join the effort.
Grijalva, a co-sponsor, said the impeachment bill has a "limited chance" at best of gaining the support it needs. But he signed on because of what he sees as major abuses by the Bush- Cheney administration.
"At least for me personally, it's more of a statement than anything else," said Grijalva, who represents Southwestern Arizona. "There has got to be some accountability."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10561
December 15th, 2007 1:44 pm
Steady stream of White House staff departures continues
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush is losing two more key aides as his presidency winds toward its end, with his chief speechwriter and lobbyist both announcing today that they are leaving.
The departures of speechwriter William McGurn and legislative affairs director Candida Wolff were disclosed at the daily senior staff meeting that starts almost every day at the White House, deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel said. The White House expects to make their replacements known by the end of the day, he said.
The last high-level departure from Bush’s team came just two weeks ago, when his top economic adviser announced he would be leaving. National Economic Council director Al Hubbard is being replaced by his deputy, Keith Hennessey.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10562
December 15th, 2007 1:48 pm
Bush: Use of Steroids Has 'Sullied' Baseball
By Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post
President Bush said yesterday that steroids have "sullied" baseball but cautioned fans not to jump to conclusions about individual players identified as abusers in the report this week from a commission headed by former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell.
Speaking for the first time about the new report, Bush said he was troubled by the allegations of steroid use and urged owners and players to take the report seriously.
"My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. "I understand the impact that professional athletes can have on our nation's youth. And I just urge . . . those in the public spotlight, particularly athletes, to understand that when they violate their bodies, they're sending a terrible signal to America's young."
As a former owner of the Texas Rangers and a big baseball fan, Bush has appeared especially troubled by the report, which identified 91 current and former players, including some of the biggest names in the sport, as possible steroid abusers.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10563
continued...
Oklahoma governor seeks disaster declaration
December 11, 2007
Ridgeway, Colorado
Photographer states :: Due to a very slick road this bus was unable to maintain traction and stay on the road
Roger W. Bowen: An inconvenient truth: We need Gore as president
By BDN Staff
Saturday, December 15, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
In his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, former Vice President Al Gore warned the United States and China that they will be held accountable "before history" if they fail to be leaders in fighting global warming.
Well said, Al, but future historians will be just as likely to hold you accountable about your own abdication of responsibility if you do not enter the 2008 presidential race.
Future historians will of course emphasize that Gore actually won the popular vote in the presidential election in 2000 but because of an anachronistic Electoral College and a politically partisan U.S. Supreme Court, was denied the presidency. They will also write glowingly about Gore’s early and strong stance against the Iraq war. And, of course, in noting his Nobel Peace Prize, they will extol his activism in alerting the global community, and Americans particularly, about the impending environmental collapse due to climate change and global warming.
But the same historians can also be expected to criticize Gore the environmentalist because he opted out of the presidential race at precisely the time when the world most needed an American president who possessed the gravitas, vision and skill to reassert American leadership in solving what is arguably the most monumental problem confronting the planet….
Gore gets green kudos for home renovation
Solar and geothermal power used in 80-year-old mansion
Al and Tipper Gore bought this home in Nashville, Tenn., in 2002 for $2.3 million. They spent an undisclosed amount to lower their use of fossil fuels for electricity and heat in the home.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly.
The former vice president has installed solar panels, a rainwater-collection system and geothermal heating. He also replaced all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs.
"Short of tearing it down and staring anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher," said Kim Shinn of the U.S. Green Building Council, which gave the house its second-highest rating for sustainable design....
Al and Tipper Gore bought this home in Nashville, Tenn., in 2002 for $2.3 million. They spent an undisclosed amount to lower their use of fossil fuels for electricity and heat in the home.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly.
The former vice president has installed solar panels, a rainwater-collection system and geothermal heating. He also replaced all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs.
"Short of tearing it down and staring anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher," said Kim Shinn of the U.S. Green Building Council, which gave the house its second-highest rating for sustainable design....
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