Seattle Post Intelligencer

U.N. summit to push climate talks
By CHARLES J. HANLEY
AP SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Yvo De Boer, left, Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and Rajendra K. Pachauri, right, Chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change speak to reporters at U.N. Headquarters in New York Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/David Karp)
UNITED NATIONS -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Gore and the leaders of some 80 nations converge on the U.N. on Monday for a summit on the warming Earth and what to do about it.
The unprecedented meeting comes just days after U.S. scientists reported that melting temperatures this summer shrank the Arctic Ocean's ice cap to a record-low size.
"I expect the meeting on Monday to express a sense of urgency in terms of negotiating progress that needs to be made," said the U.N. climate chief, Yvo de Boer.
President Bush, who has long opposed negotiated limits on the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, will not participate in the day's meetings, but will attend a small dinner Monday evening, a gathering of key players hosted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_UN_Climate_Summit.html?source=mypi



It takes a city to limit greenhouse gases
By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER
If you could give a rip about global warming and the pressure to do environmental good to stop it, the city of Seattle is going to drive you nuts.
Steps for slowing climate change will confront you on the flip side of the No. 12 cheer cards waved by fans at the Seahawks game. They'll nudge you from posters hanging at the local Starbucks when you're grabbing a mocha to go. The friendly librarian might add a fluorescent light bulb to your stack of books to take home.
But if you're pumped up to do what you can to slow global warming -- strategizing the best bus routes and bumping down the thermostat -- you might embrace the city's new Seattle Climate Action Now campaign in all its manifestations.
After the hoopla of vowing that Seattle will cut its greenhouse emissions on par with the Kyoto Protocol -- plus getting 672 U.S. cities to join the effort -- leaders here are trying to kick-start public involvement.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332637_globalwarming22.html



Rising seas likely to flood U.S. history
By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP SCIENCE WRITER
Stanford University biologist Terry Root says that in a hundred years or so rising ocean waters from global warming may kill the last remaining wetlands in Palo Alto, Calif., behind her Sept. 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.
In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased.
Global warming - through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding - is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will happen regardless of any future actions to curb greenhouse gases, several leading scientists say. And it will reshape the nation.
Rising waters will lap at the foundations of old money Wall Street and the new money towers of Silicon Valley. They will swamp the locations of big city airports and major interstate highways.
Storm surges worsened by sea level rise will flood the waterfront getaways of rich politicians - the Bushes' Kennebunkport and John Edwards' place on the Outer Banks. And gone will be many of the beaches in Texas and Florida favored by budget-conscious students on Spring Break.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_Rising_Seas.html?source=mypi




Man dies months after Kansas tornado hit
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBURG, Kan. -- A man who was struck by debris and suffered brain damage when a tornado destroyed this town in May has died, making him the 12th victim of the storm, his family said.
Max M. McColm, 77, of Liberal was staying with his daughter, Beverly Volz, while recovering from shoulder surgery when the tornado hit on May 4.
McColm's grandson, Ross McColm, of Lakewood, Colo., said his grandfather was hit in the head with a large piece of metal. He fell into a coma and was taken to a Wichita hospital. At the end of June, he was moved to a long-term acute care center in Overland Park.
He regained partial consciousness in mid-July and was told his daughter had died, said his son, Matthew McColm, also of Lakewood, Colo. Max McColm died on Wednesday, his family said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Kansas_Tornado.html



Wildfire destroys 6 Wash. state homes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WHITE SALMON, Wash. -- A wildfire pushed by strong winds blowing through a gorge destroyed five homes on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and a sixth closer to the water, authorities said.
Residents of a bluff above where the wind-whipped fire started were told Thursday afternoon to leave their homes, but all but three were allowed to return Friday evening, said Dale Warriner, a spokesman at the fire command center.
"We got a lot of good work done," said Warriner. "We feel they can go back in safely."
The fire had burned about 150 acres and was about 60 percent contained by midday Friday, Warriner said. About 300 firefighters were battling the blaze, aided by four helicopters and three air tankers.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Wildfires.html



Fake parks fun, but how will Seattle pay for the real thing?
Advocates turn patches of urban asphalt into green oases
By JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTER
Friday morning, Tom Reeve unrolled a square of grass sod on the edge of a barren downtown waterfront pier. He added a beach umbrella, a potted hawthorn tree, pink lawn chairs and proceeded to play bocce ball on the temporary lawn.
"Welcome to the park. Here for one day only ... unless we do something," Reeve said to curious passers-by.
Other volunteers erected mobile pint-sized parks in parking spaces near the Seattle Art Museum and Olympic Sculpture Park, part of a nationwide event that's part advocacy, part performance art.
"The point is quite simply to help people imagine more green space in their urban areas and to do it in a way that's sort of eye-catching and fun and non-political," said Karen Macdonald, spokeswoman for Trust for Public Land, the event sponsor.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332713_parks22.html



Iraq: Blackwater guards fired unprovoked
By ROBERT H. REID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Hassan Jabir, 37, is surrounded by family as he recovers from gunshot wounds in a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007. Jabir, a lawyer, says he was in his car in the Mansour neighborhood when guards in a U.S. State Department convoy opened fire, shooting him four times. Iraq's Interior Ministry has expanded its investigation into other incidents allegedly involving Blackwater USA security guards amid the furor following a deadly shooting that claimed at least 11 lives, a spokesman said Saturday.(AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows Blackwater USA guards opened fire against civilians without provocation in an incident last week in which 11 people died, a senior Iraqi official said Saturday. He said the case was referred to the Iraqi judiciary.
Iraq's president, meanwhile, demanded that the Americans release an Iranian arrested this week on suspicion of smuggling weapons to Shiite militias. The demand adds new strains to U.S.-Iraqi relations only days before a meeting between President Bush and Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Iraqi authorities had completed an investigation into the Sept. 16 shooting in Nisoor Square in western Baghdad and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths.
He told The Associated Press that the conclusion was based on witness statements as well as videotape shot by cameras at the nearby headquarters of the national police command. He said eight people were killed at the scene and three of the 15 wounded died in hospitals.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html?source=mypi



Rice, al-Maliki keep distance at meeting
By MATTHEW LEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki kept a polite distance Saturday as they attended a group meeting and avoided discussion of a deadly Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company protecting American diplomats.
The two greeted each other before the meeting, but in a brief exchange of pleasantries, the issue of the shootout didn't come up, deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
With tensions soaring over the Sept. 16 incident, Rice and al-Maliki chose not to speak about it at a United Nations gathering at which they were among senior diplomats and officials from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, weighing future assistance to Iraq.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_US_Iraq.html



Rising tensions as Rice, al-Maliki meet
By MATTHEW LEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Saturday with Iraq's prime minister in their first face-to-face talks since a Baghdad shootout involving guards from a U.S. company protecting American diplomats.
Rice and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were among numerous top diplomats and officials from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, which the United States accuses of destabilizing Iraq, gathering at the United Nations with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to discuss Iraq's future.
Neither spoke to reporters as they entered the room for the meeting, which came as a senior Iraqi official in Baghdad said Iraqi investigators have a videotape that shows employees of Blackwater USA opening fire against civilians without provocation on Sept. 16.
At the same time, Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had expanded its investigation of the shooting to include six other incidents involving Blackwater guards over the past seven months .

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_US_Iraq.html?source=mypi



Iraqi PM: Shootings 'cannot be accepted'
By JOHN DANISZEWSKI AND TAREK EL-TABLAWY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
NEW YORK -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walked a fine line Sunday: confronting his American backers over what he sees as violations of Iraq's sovereignty while stressing that his relations are rock solid with the country on whose support he still relies.
"Success is shared," he said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his deeply intertwined partnership with President Bush and the U.S. government. "God forbid, failure is also shared."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Al_Maliki_Interview.html



Germany: U.S. won't send kidnap suspects
By MATTHIAS ARMBORST
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FRANKFURT, Germany -- U.S. authorities have told Germany that they will not extradite 13 purported CIA agents sought in the alleged kidnapping of a German citizen, an official said Saturday.
A Justice Ministry spokeswoman said the Bush administration told Berlin it would not hand over the group and said the ministry had, as a result, decided against giving Washington Munich prosecutors' formal request for their arrest. She spoke on condition of anonymity as required by the ministry.
The Justice Ministry last month sounded out U.S. authorities' willingness to cooperate with legal proceedings against the suspected agents, sending a legal request that officials call a common first step in dealing with international arrest warrants.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Germany_CIA_Kidnap_Claim.html



Walt Crowley, 1947-2007: Keeper of local history
By MIKE LEWIS
P-I REPORTER
Walt Crowley, a political commentator and former City Council candidate who co-founded one of the nation's finest regional history Web sites, died Friday after complications following a stroke. He was 60.
Crowley, who had battled cancer of the larynx for the past year, had just undergone surgery to remove a small growth linked to the disease's recent recurrence when the stroke occurred late Thursday. Doctors removed life support Friday and he died at about 8:15 p.m. at Virginia Mason Medical Center surrounded by family and friends.
"It's devastating," said Marie McCaffrey, his wife and collaborator on www.historylink.org. "We weren't expecting this."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332802_crowley20.html



Black and white becomes gray in La. town
By TODD LEWAN
AP NATIONAL WRITER
JENA, La. -- It's got all the elements of a Delta blues ballad from the days of Jim Crow: hangman's nooses dangling from a shade tree; a mysterious fire in the night; swift deliberations by a condemning, all-white jury.
And drawn by this story, which evokes the worst of a nightmarish past, they came by the thousands this past week to Jena, La. - to demand justice, to show strength, to beat back the forces of racism as did their parents and grandparents.
But there are many in Jena who say the tale of the "Jena Six" - the black teenagers who were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for attacking a white classmate at Jena High School last December - is not as simple as all that.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_A_Place_Called_Jena.html?source=mypi



Fujimori returns to Peru to face trial
By MONTE HAYES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LIMA, Peru -- Former President Alberto Fujimori was extradited Saturday from Chile to face charges of corruption and sanctioning death-squad killings, a grim homecoming for the strongman who fled Peru seven years ago as his government collapsed in scandal.
Hundreds of supporters were gathered to greet Peru's former leader as his police plane landed in a heavy mist at Las Palmas air force base, across town from Lima's international airport.
Many Peruvians were elated by Fujimori's extradition but others were indignant. He maintains a strong following - a recent poll showed that 23 percent of Peruvians want to see him back in politics - and some worry his return could provoke turmoil in a country emerging from decades of political and economic chaos.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Fujimori.html?source=mypi



Fake veteran gets 5-month sentence
Man claimed to have helped kill civilians in Iraq
By MIKE BARBER
P-I REPORTER
Jesse MacBeth never was an Army Ranger, much less a corporal, never received a Purple Heart for wounds inflicted by a foreign foe, and neither saw nor participated in war crimes with fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, claims for which he became a poster boy for the anti-war movement.
So, there was likely no way the 23-year-old Tacoma man suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the horrors of war and other injuries.
MacBeth was sentenced Friday to five months in jail and three years' probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs claim and an Army discharge record.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332642_fakevet22.html



Shoreline teachers and staff plan for one-day strike
By CRAIG HARRIS
P-I REPORTER
Teachers and support staff in Shoreline School District announced they would stage a one-day strike Thursday because of frustration over class sizes.
A district spokesman said a decision would be made Monday as to whether the suburban Seattle school district, which has more than 9,600 students, would have classes if teachers went on strike.
Craig Degginger, a district spokesman, said Shoreline Schools had not received an official strike notice, but officials were disappointed in the announcement because employees earlier this month ratified a two-year contract.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332816_shorelinestrike23.html



Yellowstone snowmobiles may be reduced
By MATT GOURAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HELENA, Mont. -- Yellowstone National Park officials want to reduce the number of snowmobiles allowed each day in the park as part of its winter management plan, said a congressional aide briefed on the plan.
The park is seeking to impose a daily limit of 540 snowmobiles, down from 720 vehicles, said Matt McKenna, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. McKenna said a park official met with the senator's staff Thursday to discuss the plan.
Park spokesman Al Nash declined comment.
The 540-snowmobile limit will be the agency's new "preferred alternative" in the park's winter management plan to be released Monday, McKenna said. A final decision was expected sometime in November.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Yellowstone_Snowmobiles.html


Bodies of 2 missing hikers found in WA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEAVENWORTH, Wash. -- The Chelan County sheriff's office reports that the bodies of two hikers - a father and 12-year-old son from Spokane - have been found in the Wenatchee National Forest.
The bodies were discovered after two backpacks belonging to 53-year-old Otto Vaclavek and his son, Max, were found on Dragontail Peak, which rises 8,800 feet. The Vaclaveks were expected back earlier this week.
More than 60 searchers and three helicopters combed a rugged wilderness area of Chelan County Saturday. The searchers include the father's co-workers from Spokane Valley-based outdoor outfitter Mountain Gear.
The search began Thursday.
Vaclavek's wife reported her husband and son missing on Wednesday. They left Spokane last Saturday with a three-day supply of food.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Missing_Hikers.html



Iraqi PM: Shootings threaten sovereignty
By JOHN DANISZEWSKI AND TAREK EL-TABLAWY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is photographed during an interview, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, in New York, ahead of his appearance Monday at the U.N. General Assembly. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
NEW YORK -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sunday the shooting deaths of civilians - allegedly at the hands of Blackwater USA guards - and other violence involving the company pose "serious challenges to the sovereignty of Iraq" and cannot be accepted.
"The Iraqi government is responsible for its citizens and it cannot be accepted for a security company to carry out a killing," he told The Associated Press, speaking in his New York hotel suite ahead of his appearance at the U.N. General Assembly.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Al_Maliki_Interview.html?source=mypi



Iran's leader: U.S. wants new opinions
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the American people are eager for different opinions about the world, and he is looking forward to providing them with "correct and clear information," state media reported.
The hardline Iranian leader left Sunday for New York to address the U.N. General Assembly and speak to students and teachers during a forum at Columbia University.
Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops - claims Iran denies.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_US.html?source=mypi



Italians feared kidnapped in Afghanistan
By ALISA TANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two Italian military personnel were believed to have been kidnapped in western Afghanistan, and police Sunday said they were searching for the pair and their two Afghan staff.
At a meeting at the United Nations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told participants he had information about where the Italians were and would pass the information to Italian authorities, said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
In northeastern Afghanistan, meanwhile, NATO helicopters fired on a group of suspected insurgents in response to a rocket attack. Four Afghans died and 12 were wounded, the alliance said, and officials were investigating whether the dead and wounded were Afghan police or civilians targeted mistakenly.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghanistan.html?source=mypi



50 years since Little Rock integration
By ANDREW DEMILLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LITTLE ROCK -- Fifty years after federal troops escorted Terrence Roberts and eight fellow black students into an all-white high school, he says the struggles over race and segregation still are unresolved.
"This country has demonstrated over time that it is not prepared to operate as an integrated society," said Roberts, who is a faculty member at Antioch University's psychology program.
He and the other students known as the Little Rock Nine will help the city observe Central High School's 50th anniversary this week with a series of events culminating with a ceremony featuring former President Bill Clinton.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Integration_Anniversary.html?source=mypi



New photo shows Castro standing, smiling
By WILL WEISSERT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HAVANA -- Cuba published a photo Sunday of a standing, smiling Fidel Castro looking heavier but still gaunt as he met with Angola's president, the first head of state to see the ailing 81-year-old since June.
The picture, which appeared on the front page of Communist Party youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, shows Castro in a track suit, athletic pants and tennis shoes. The Cuban leader appears to have gained weight and wears a warm half-smile as he shakes hands with Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who was in Cuba since Thursday on an official visit.
The image was released two days after Castro gave a surprise hourlong interview on state television, during which he answered rumors about his death that have swirled recently in the United States by saying simply, "well, here I am."
Sunday's photo was the first time Castro has been seen standing in months. He stayed seated during the interview, which aired Friday evening just hours after officials said it was taped.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Cuba_Castro.html?source=mypi



Miami Cubans skeptical of Castro on TV
By JESSICA GRESKO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MIAMI -- Cubans in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood expressed a mixture of skepticism and disappointment Friday at Fidel Castro's first appearance on Cuban television in three months.
Rumors of the Cuban leader's death had reached a fever pitch here last month after the leader's 81st birthday came without any news. Local leaders met to go over their plans for when he does pass away, fueling even more rumors.
Still, when Castro appeared in an interview on Cuban television for the first time since June 5, not everyone was convinced.
"Could be six months ago. Could be one year ago," said Cuban-born Victoria Martinez, 76, of Hollywood, who called the leader's talk "incoherent" while at the Cuban restaurant Versailles.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Cuba_Castro_Miami.html



Rice to outline Mideast peace conference
By MATTHEW LEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.S. is letting its international partners in the push for a Mideast settlement know about details of President Bush's planned peace conference, including countries to be invited.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to outline ideas for the conference to representatives of the diplomatic group known as the Quartet - the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia - at a U.N. meeting late Sunday afternoon, a senior U.S. official said.
In addition to Israel and the Palestinians, those countries expected to be asked to attend the as-yet unscheduled conference in the U.S. are, according to the official: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_UN_Mideast.html?source=mypi



Scientists hopeful despite climate signs
By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP SCIENCE WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Climate scientist Michael Mann runs down the list of bad global warming news: The world is spewing greenhouse gases at a faster rate. Summer Arctic sea ice is at record lows. The ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica are melting quicker than expected.
Is he the doomsayer global warming skeptics have called him?
Mann laughs. This Penn State University professor - and many other climate scientists - are sunny optimists. Hope blooms in the hottest of greenhouses.
Climate scientists say mankind is on the path for soaring temperatures that will melt polar ice sheets, raise seas to dangerous levels, and trigger mass extinctions. But they say the most catastrophic of consequences can and will be avoided.
They have hope. So should you, Mann said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Optimistic_Doomsayers.html



Beaked whales focus of Navy sonar study
By AUDREY MCAVOY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii -- Robin Baird's research team members stare at the horizon for hours, searching for rarely seen beaked whales.
The small, gray marine mammals have been at the center of the dispute over the Navy's use of high intensity sonar ever since several washed ashore with bleeding around their brains and ears during naval exercises in the Bahamas seven years ago.
"They appear to be the most susceptible group of cetaceans to impacts from Navy sonars," said Baird, a marine biologist based in Olympia, Wash., whose team recently spent three weeks off Hawaii's Big Island studying whales.
Training sailors to use sonar is a top priority for the Navy as more nations, including China, have acquired quiet, hard-to-detect submarines. In many cases, the only way the Navy can find these stealthy ships is by using mid-frequency active sonar, firing bursts of sound through the water and listening for an echo off a ship's hull.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Navy_Whales.html



FBI reviewing anti-Jena 6 Web page
By BECKY BOHRER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- The FBI is reviewing a white supremacist Web site that purports to list the addresses of five of the six black teenagers accused of beating a white student in Jena and "essentially called for their lynching," an agency spokeswoman said Saturday.
Sheila Thorne, an agent in the FBI's New Orleans office, said authorities were reviewing whether the site breaks any federal laws. She said the FBI had "gathered intelligence on the matter," but declined to further explain how the agency got involved.
CNN first reported Friday about the Web site, which features a swastika, frequent use of racial slurs, a mailing address in Roanoke, Va., and phone numbers purportedly for some of the teens' families "in case anyone wants to deliver justice." That page is dated Thursday.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Jena_Six.html



Columbine memorial opens
By P. SOLOMON BANDA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LITTLETON, Colo. -- Hundreds of people gathered under blue autumn skies Friday to dedicate an expansive hillside memorial to the Columbine High School massacre victims, after more than eight years of money struggles and occasional disputes.
The placid, stone-walled oval nestled in Clement Park is next to the suburban Denver school where two student gunmen killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves on April 20, 1999, plunging the community into mourning and disbelief.
During the ceremony, 213 doves were released and flew over the park.
Patrick Ireland, who was wounded in the attack, offered words of optimism. He was shot twice in the head and hung out of a library window while the tragedy unfolded, and has since had to relearn how to speak, walk and read.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Columbine_Memorial.html



Del. State students describe tension
By RANDALL CHASE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DOVER, Del. -- Tension between rival groups of friends from New Jersey and Washington, D.C., preceded the late-night shooting at Delaware State University that wounded two people, students said Saturday.
While investigators worked to find the shooter who opened fire early Friday as several students left a campus dining hall, a classmate recalled how the violence had escalated from altercations during the week.
"They've been getting into it, New Jersey people and D.C. people," said James Dillion, 23, of Cleveland.
"Thursday night, they saw each other again and got into it," he said. "Everybody's still astonished about what happened."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Delaware_State_Shooting.html



Emancipation Proclamation draws crowds
By JON GAMBRELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- As she looked at the Emancipation Proclamation, Catherine Jewell-Gill recalled her days of picking cotton in Arkansas as a child and later becoming a teacher and principal.
Jewell-Gill was among more than 2,100 people who filed through the Clinton Library on Saturday to see the three-page document that declared the end to slavery. Jewell-Gill, 72, said having the document in Little Rock during the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High School pulls history together.
"I think it coincides beautifully," she said.
More than 10,000 people are expected to file past the proclamation during its four-day stay in the city, a rare trip outside the National Archive.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Emancipation_Proclamation.html



Pentagon can't find major named in suit
By JOHN MILBURN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Military officials are investigating an Army specialist's allegations that he was harassed for being an atheist but said Saturday they have found no trace of the officer listed as a defendant in the soldier's lawsuit.
Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit this past week against a Maj. Paul Welborne and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The suit, in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleges that Welborne threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his reenlistment for trying to hold a meeting of atheists and non-Christians in Iraq. Hall is in Iraq with the 97th Military Police Battalion out of Fort Riley. He has been in Iraq since 2006, on his second tour.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Military_Religion_Lawsuit.html



Baby cribs recalled after 3 deaths
By ANN SANNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- About 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs have been recalled after three children became entrapped and suffocated. The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Friday, more than two years after a California lawyer says he alerted the federal agency about a 9-month-old who died in a faulty crib.
"Two years and two deaths is not fast enough. It's inexcusable that it took that long," said Charles Kelly, who represents the parents of the 9-month-old. Liam Johns of Citrus Heights, Calif., died in April 2005.
In addition to the Johns baby, 6-month-old Edward Millwood died in November 2006 while in one of the Simplicity cribs. His parents filed suit against the manufacturer on Sept. 4.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Cribs_Recall.html



Alaska ends plan for 'bridge to nowhere'
By STEVE QUINN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
JUNEAU, Alaska -- Some called it a bridge to the future. Others called it the bridge to nowhere.
On Friday, Alaska decided the bridge really was going nowhere, officially abandoning the project in Ketchikan that became a national symbol of federal pork-barrel spending.
While the move closes a chapter that has brought the state reams of ridicule, it also leaves open wounds in a community that fought for decades to get federal help.
"We went through political hot water - tons of it - and not just nationally but internationally," Ketchikan-Gateway Borough Mayor Joe Williams said. "We have nothing to show for it."
The $398 million bridge would have connected Ketchikan, on one island in southeastern Alaska, to its airport on another nearby island.
Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday the project was $329 million short of full funding.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Bridge_to_Nowhere.html



Wildfire destroys 6 Wash. state homes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WHITE SALMON, Wash. -- A wildfire pushed by strong winds blowing through a gorge destroyed five homes on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and a sixth closer to the water, authorities said.
Residents of a bluff above where the wind-whipped fire started were told Thursday afternoon to leave their homes, but all but three were allowed to return Friday evening, said Dale Warriner, a spokesman at the fire command center.
"We got a lot of good work done," said Warriner. "We feel they can go back in safely."
The fire had burned about 150 acres and was about 60 percent contained by midday Friday, Warriner said. About 300 firefighters were battling the blaze, aided by four helicopters and three air tankers.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Wildfires.html



McGreevey ordered to hike spouse support
By JEFFREY GOLD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Former Gov. James E. McGreevey was ordered Friday to more than double the amount of support he pays to his estranged wife.
The nation's first openly gay governor should pay Dina Matos McGreevey $2,500 a month, Superior Court Judge Karen M. Cassidy ruled. Matos McGreevey had been receiving $1,129 a month, but maintained that was insufficient to meet the needs of herself and the couple's 5-year-old daughter.
Cassidy rejected Matos McGreevey's request for $4,000 a month, noting that Matos McGreevey said she needed to spend $2,200 a month on clothing. "It seemed a little high," the judge said.
A lawyer for the former governor, Matthew D. Piermatti, argued that his client's income was decreasing now that he'd entered an Episcopal seminary. They had offered to increase support to $1,691 a month.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Gay_Governor_Divorce.html



State trooper praised at Amish shooting
By MARK SCOLFORO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The first state trooper to breach the Amish school where 10 girls were shot last year got inside by ripping out part of a window frame with his bare hands, helping save the lives of five of them, the state police chief said.
The trooper used a ballistic shield to batter a window at West Nickel Mines Amish School, then pulled out part of the frame, injuring himself, and dove through to find the gunman still alive, Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said Thursday.
Charles C. Roberts IV had just shot 10 young girls. Five of them died.
"At the time, he was reloading. I have no question about what he was going to do, which is finish these kids off that were still alive," Miller told The Associated Press in his first in-depth interview about the shootings since shortly after the Oct. 2 massacre.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Amish_School_Shooting.html



Boy drowns in swollen creek in Minn.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS -- Torrential rains, damaging winds and large hail struck a broad swath of Minnesota on Thursday. One death was linked to the storms.
A 13-year-old boy drowned in Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood Thursday night. Police said he was with three friends who went to play in the swollen stream.
The rushing water swept him over a small concrete dam, Maplewood Police Chief David Thomalla said.
Rescue crews later pulled the boy's body from the water. His name was not immediately released.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport briefly suspended departures because of the storm.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Minnesota_Storms.html



Ohio investment convictions hit 19
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The former investment chief for Ohio's insurance fund for injured workers pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he failed to report gifts including meals and a sports ticket from a firm doing business with the agency.
James McLean, who led the bureau's investment operation from 2003 until he was fired in 2005, pleaded guilty to failing to properly report $500 in gifts, including a Chicago Cubs ticket, a meal at MK Restaurant in Chicago, a private tailgate party and transportation from New York-based investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.
It is the 19th conviction in an investment scandal at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation that rocked state politics, leading directly and indirectly to convictions on ethics violations of former Gov. Bob Taft and his chief of staff.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Investment_Scandal_Plea.html



Fla. man says he was Tasered over Quran
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OCALA, Fla. -- Four police officers are under investigation after a man accused them of using a Taser on him three times when he wouldn't take his hand off a Quran hidden under his shirt, a police spokesman said Friday.
Jeffrey Shields, 49, of Ocala, filed a complaint with the Ocala Police Department alleging an officer used a Taser to force him to hold up his right hand, police spokesman Lou Biondi said.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, Shields said he did not want to raise his right hand from under his shirt because he did not want to drop the Quran, but the officers said they could not tell what he was holding, Biondi said.
"The officers didn't have a clue what he had under there, regardless of what he was saying," he said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Man_Tasered_Quran.html



Conn. gov bans parole for some inmates
By DAVE COLLINS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell banned parole on Friday for all Connecticut inmates serving prison time for violent offenses following a string of crimes police say were committed by parolees.
The parole ban will be in effect until state lawmakers reform its parole process, she said. Critics worried the move would swell the state's already crowded prisons.
"I will not allow public safety to be jeopardized because parolees return to a life of crime," Rell, a Republican, said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_No_Parole.html



Judge rules against Tenn. executions
By ERIK SCHELZIG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A federal judge's ruling this week that Tennessee's lethal injection procedure could cause excruciating pain is yet another blow to the three-drug cocktail used by every state that executes the condemned by injection.
Federal judges reached similar conclusions in Missouri and California last year, and now states have to decide whether to defend the three-drug method, or find a new way to put death row inmates to death by injection.
Death penalty opponents are heartened to see that three federal judges in three very different parts of the country have made similar findings.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Tennessee_Lethal_Injection.html



Ill. congressman won't run for 8th term
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
JOLIET, Ill. -- Republican U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, recently named one of the most corrupt members of Congress by a watchdog group, announced Friday that he will not seek an eighth term.
"I need to give my family the time needed to be a full-time dad and full-time husband," Weller said during a Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "I'm 50 years old; I've given half of my life to public service."
Weller's announcement comes amid a swell of scrutiny. A watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington recently declared him one of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress. He's fighting a subpoena in a former colleague's bribery trial, and he faces criticism that he did not reveal to Congress the extent of Nicaraguan land purchases.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Illinois_Congressman.html



Holocaust survivor's neighbor was Nazi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MESA, Ariz. -- Nathan Gasch and Martin Hartmann lived next door to each other for four years in a quiet retirement community called Leisure World.
You can tell where Gasch had been six decades earlier by the tattooed number on his arm. Gasch could see where Hartmann had been when he walked into his neighbor's house and a picture of him wearing a Nazi hat on the wall.
Gasch, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, saw the picture soon after he first moved in, when Hartmann and his wife invited him to their house in Mesa, east of Phoenix.
"I just walked out of the room," said Gasch, a soft-spoken 84-year-old with a Polish accent.
But he didn't notify authorities.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Nazi_Neighbor.html



Protests over Rumsfeld at Stanford
By TERENCE CHEA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of Stanford University students, faculty and alumni are protesting the conservative Hoover Institution's decision to appoint former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a visiting fellow.
The Stanford-based Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace announced earlier this month that Rumsfeld, who served as President Bush's defense secretary for almost six years, would join a task force that will focus on issues related to "ideology and terror" in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
An online petition contesting the appointment on the grounds that Rumsfeld clashed with the university's core values had more than 2,500 signatures Friday.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Rumsfeld_Stanford.html



Anglican head downplays split over gays
By RACHEL ZOLL
AP RELIGION WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- The archbishop of Canterbury indicated Friday that the Episcopal Church isn't on the brink of losing its place in the world Anglican fellowship, despite the uproar over Episcopal support for gay clergy.
Anglican leaders, called primates, had set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Americans to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for gay couples. Episcopal bishops have dedicated their meeting here to crafting a response.
But after two days of private talks with Episcopal leaders, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, said "there is no ultimatum involved." The goal, he said, is "compromise."
"It's been presented sadly as a set of demands," Williams said in a news conference before he left. "I don't think that what was in the primates' minds. In fact, I'm sure it isn't."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Episcopal_Bishops_Gays.html



Zimbabwe votes in favor of amendment
By ANGUS SHAW
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Lawmakers voted unanimously Thursday in favor of a constitutional amendment that critics say further consolidates ruling party power, but is hailed by the government and opposition as a breakthrough in easing Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.
The amendment would combine presidential and parliament elections next year and increase the number of legislative seats. It still must go before the upper house of parliament and then to President Robert Mugabe.
In a major concession by the government, the amendment scraps the president's power to appoint 30 members of parliament's lawmaking lower house. It also includes provisions for a new independent electoral commission as demanded by the opposition.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Zimbabwe_Constitution.html



Aid workers seek flood help in Africa
By KATY POWNALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
AMURIA DISTRICT, Uganda -- Aid agencies were appealing for millions of dollars Friday to help more than 1 million Africans affected by deadly floods that have swept across the continent.
The United States planned to send $100,000 for Uganda - one of the hardest hit countries - and the European Commission and the Netherlands each announced more than $15 million in aid for flood victims across 17 countries. The floods have killed at least 200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands since the summer in central and eastern Africa.
"If we don't get food people will die in this place," Francis Aruo, 28, told The Associated Press in eastern Uganda, one of the hardest-hit regions of Africa. "All our crops are rotten."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Africa_Floods.html



Darfur aid convoy ambushed, 3 wounded
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EL FASHER, Sudan -- Armed men ambushed an aid convoy in Darfur, wounding three humanitarian workers, the U.N. mission to Sudan said Saturday.
The convoy from U.S.-based World Vision International, which included eight staff members, was attacked some 25 miles south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, on Thursday, the U.N. said.
All three wounded aid workers were Sudanese. Two were shot in the head and one in the arm, World Vision said. Two are in stable condition, and one is serious condition, the group said. It did not provide more information.
The attackers have not been identified but the U.N. statement said Arab tribes have been regularly clashing in the area.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Darfur_Violence.html



20,000 march in Myanmar against junta
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
YANGON, Myanmar -- About 20,000 protesters led by Buddhist monks and nuns on Sunday mounted the largest anti-government protest in Myanmar since a failed 1988 democratic uprising, shouting support for detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
At one point a small crowd of about 400 - about half of them monks - split off from the main demonstration and tried unsuccessfully to approach the home where Suu Kyi is under house arrest. The monks carried a large yellow banner that read: "Love and kindness must win over everything."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Myanmar.html



Vietnam develops taste for luxury goods
By BEN STOCKING
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- In a country whose peasant army once marched on flip-flops cut from old tires, Gucci beach sandals priced at $365 can come as a shock.
But the luxury market is booming in Vietnam, where Ho Chi Minh's communist revolution exalted equality and the common man just a generation ago.
As the country begins to embrace private enterprise, its nouveaux riches are snapping up shoes at Gucci, handbags at Louis Vuitton and watches at Cartier, offering proof of how much the country has changed after decades of war.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Vietnam_Luxury.html



Australian follows path of Khan on horse
By PABLO GORONDI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- He scared off wolves with firecrackers in Mongolia and rescued his dog from hungry miners in Kazakhstan. But after three years on horseback, Tim Cope has retraced the route of Genghis Khan and other Asian nomads who crossed into Europe over the centuries.
The 28-year-old Australian arrived in Hungary on Saturday, ending a 6,200-mile trek through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, southern Russia and Ukraine.
"I'm very happy to be here," Cope said in the Hungarian town of Opusztaszer, surrounded by his traveling companions - his dog and three horses. "Sometimes I didn't think I would ever arrive."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Path_of_Genghis_Khan.html



Risk of fraud high in visa program
By PETE YOST
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Nearly 10,000 foreigners from states sponsoring terrorism have obtained permanent residency in the United States in the past seven years, congressional investigators say.
The State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs did not implement a recommendation to bar aliens from those countries, says the report from Congress' Government Accountability Office.
The GAO focused on the issue after the State Department inspector general pointed to the risk in allowing foreigners from countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism to obtain visas under the special diversity visa program.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Border_Security.html



Fujimori returns to Peru to face trial
By MONTE HAYES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LIMA, Peru -- Former President Alberto Fujimori returned to Peru on Saturday to face charges of corruption and sanctioning death-squad killings, a grim homecoming for the strongman who fled the country seven years ago as his government collapsed in scandal.
The plane carrying the 69-year-old former ruler landed in a heavy mist at Lima's Las Palmas air force base, a day after Chile's Supreme Court authorized his extradition. He was then flown by helicopter to a police base, where he is to be held until a permanent facility is prepared for his detention.
Some 700 supporters who gathered outside the police air terminal across town to greet him were frustated when his plane was diverted to the air base.
"We have come to welcome Fujimori, to tell him that we are with him and will accompany him wherever he goes so that he feels he has the support of his people," his daughter Keiko Fujimori, who was elected to Congress in 2006, told The Associated Press.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Fujimori.html

continued...

Global stage: Schwarzenegger to speak to U.N. on climate change

Photo by Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff

Ventura County, California experienced the driest season on record (click here for multi-media interactive. Thank you.)

September 22, 2007

San Bruno, California

This is all seriously bad news, folks. With rainfall in September reaching record proportions in California, it's safe to say the profound drought that preceded it caused problems during the drought, including crop stress and wildfires and afterward with mudslides. The USA cannot keep doing this, California is the seventh largest economy in the world which includes large scale agricultural operations.

County's rainfall nears record low (click here)
By Kevin Clerici (Contact)

Monday, September 3, 2007

Unless Mother Nature steps in, much of Ventura County is weeks from setting a milestone few are celebrating: driest year on record.
Rainfall records show that from Oct. 1, 2006, to the end of August, only 4.04 inches fell in Simi Valley, the lowest precipitation level since recordkeeping started there in the 1940s.
Ojai, Santa Paula, Camarillo, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Fillmore and Piru are all on pace to set all-time records, according to rainfall totals tracked by the Ventura County Watershed Protection District.
"Records are made to be broken," district hydrologist David Panaro said, "but this is not one we will be throwing a party for."...

GOVERNOR TO SPEAK TO UNITED NATIONS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
By Frank DaviesMercury News Washington Bureau
Article Launched: 09/22/2007 01:36:02 AM PDT
WASHINGTON - From the famous podium in the U.N. General Assembly hall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday lands just the sort of international role he relishes - speaking to about 75 world leaders on the urgency of fighting global warming.
Kicking off a week of high-profile events on climate change, the speech will highlight a glaring contrast: that several big-state governors, including Republicans like Schwarzenegger, are pushing aggressive efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions that go well beyond what President Bush supports.
"This is a big win for the U.N. - they get a little Hollywood popularity, a lot of attention for this issue - and the governor gets to make a subtle dig at Republicans who are not moving on global warming," said Shaun Bowler, a political analyst at the University of California-Riverside....

I described all this and the necessary 'heads up' on September 19, 2007 (click here)

September 19, 2007
2030z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of USA

September 19, 2007

Fort Bragg, California

Photographer states :: WINDY ! WOW ! The wind was so strong as that Alaskan storm front crosses over us and settles into the inland areas, bringing with it thunderstorms complete with lightning. WISH WE GOT SOME OF THAT LIGHTING HERE!

SoCal storm brings car-trapping LA mudslide

September 22, 2007
Los Angeles, California

I thought the sign was interesting, "For Sale by Owner."


September 22, 2007
Los Angeles, California



September 22, 2007
Los Angeles, California
Photographer states :: A mudslide caused by heavy rains came across Forest Lawn Dr. east of Barham blvd. The mud came from the area were a bush fire burn back in March 30th. Several cars are stuck in the mud and there were no injuries in Los Angels Calif, Sept 22,2007. Photo by Gene Blevins/LA DailyNews©

September 22, 2007

Los Angeles, California

Photographer states :: A mudslide caused by heavy rains came across Forest Lawn Dr. east of Barham blvd. The mud came from the area were a bush fire burn back in March 30th. Several cars are stuck in the mud and there were no injuries in Los Angels Calif, Sept 22,2007. Photo by Gene Blevins/LA DailyNews

From ABC Local News :

Associated Press - September 22, 2007 6:04 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A mudslide has trapped up to a dozen cars on a Los Angeles road.
Fire officials say a 100-yard section of a hillside gave way this afternoon after a cloudburst.
Nobody was hurt and motorists aren't in any danger but the cars are stuck while crews work to clear a quarter-mile stretch of Forest Lawn Drive between Hollywood and Glendale. The area is near Griffith Park but NOT the area which was scorched by a wildfire.
The slide struck shortly before 1 p.m. near the entrance to Forest Lawn Cemetery and covered the roadway at least two feet deep in mud. The slide also brought large boulders and tree limbs cascading down from the hillside.
The slide was the worst of several that struck Los Angeles hillsides during a driving rainstorm that arrived late last night. None of them caused any immediate danger to homes or people.
However, there have been several isolated reports of flooded roadways. In Costa Mesa, a woman had to be rescued from the roof of her van after it became trapped by water.
The overnight storm dumped about a half-inch of rain over most areas of Southern California. Scattered showers remain today - and there's occasional heavy rain in some areas. But the National Weather Service predicts only partly cloudy skies this evening.
Copyright 2007

The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Real people. Real lives. Real damage to lives and property. This is no one's idea of acceptable.

September 20, 2007
Woodbury, Minnesota

I hope there was no child or any parent sucked out of the house when the tornado hit.


September 20, 2007
Woodbury, Minnesota.

Look at that tree. Huge, beautiful tree once the pride of a property owner will be painfully assigned to a firewood heap or worse. Disgusting !


September 20, 2007
Woodbury, Minnesota
Besides the damage to the building there is substantial damate to the trees. The tree tops have been torturously ripped off and are noted on the ground.

September 20, 2007

Woodbury, Minnesota

Photographer states :: Damage from the tornado that hit Woodbury on Thursday.

From the Hutchinson Union Leader (Hutchinson, Minnesota)

Storm tears roof off rural Hutchinson home
Submitted by Jorge Sosa on September 21, 2007 - 10:52am. Filed under:
Weather
Severe weather rolled through the Hutchinson area yesterday (Sept 20). Greg Plath of Hutchinson Township was sitting at home, at about 4:45 p.m., watching the news about it.
Then he heard a roar.
“It sounded like a train, like they always say,” Plath recalled.
Just as he got to his front window to look outside, he saw his roof take flight. “We had a six-foot overhang,” supported by brick pillars, he said. The pillars stood solid, but the roof flipped up and over his house, landing in the backyard.
Remarkably, his ceiling remained intact. The house never lost power, but his TV went kaput. The wind took the TV aerial along with the roof. Plath joked that the TV going off was the second sign that something was amiss.
The whole incident occurred in the span of seconds. “It was fast,” he laughed. “Fast and furious, just like the movie.”
Plath never saw a funnel cloud, so he doesn’t know for sure if it was just a straight-line wind that ripped the roof off.
He contacted his insurance agent, who said he’d never seen a storm take a roof, but leave the ceiling intact. The agent helped the Plaths place a tarp over the house and Plath and his wife, Darlene, spent the night there.
“The Sheetrock’s all intact,” he said, “but the ceiling joists are starting to pull out of it.”
As of Friday morning, Plath was still waiting on word about when contractors would be out to fix the home. Ironically, the wind left the chairs on Plath’s deck fairly untouched. A couple had flipped over, but were still sitting on the deck.
The weather reportAccording to the National Weather Service, yesterday’s storm resulted from an unusually strong warm front for late September. The front pushed northward across southern Minnesota early Thursday.
Warm, moist air surged north in its wake. Isolated severe thunderstorms tracked across western Minnesota during the morning. The front grew stronger during the afternoon and severe thunderstorms developed across central Minnesota during the afternoon into the evening.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings beginning in Kandiyohi and Meeker counties late afternoon Thursday, when Doppler radar indicated rotational movement, and spotters observed wall clouds, from which tornadoes are know to form. Subsequent warnings were then extended to eastern Minnesota counties.
Thunderstorm wind damage and 3/4- to 1-inch size hail were reported in Meeker County, beginning at 4:18 p.m. with trees shredded and blown down. No tornadoes were officially reported to the National Weather Service in this area.
— News Specialist Ardis Tobison contributed to this report.
(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)

I don't see "Subtropical Storm Jerry" as ONLY in the Atlantic

September 23, 2007
1530z
UNISYS Infrared Satellite.

I nearly resist to put a 'simple' infrared satellite up on this blog because it can look confusing, but, after a slur to amateur observers by CNN's John Roberts that evidently 'he can watch the color blogs too' it's better to distance from the insult if one is serious about 'the view' where I sit.

I don't see "Jerry" as an autonomous low pressure system. I see that as 'part' of a much larger sytem that is currently 'anti-cyclonic' in the Gulf of Mexico as well. If one looks at the infrared loop it is easily noted the circulation of the low pressure system is supported by equatorial water vapor but encompasses the entire air masse from the Gulf of Mexico to the low pressure known as Jerry. Not that Jerry won't resolve and dissipate and thus separating from the rest of the system, but, to my way of thinking that is simply an oscillation of a much larger air masse that indeeds has dimensions far beyond the current definitions of any weather prediction service.

In fact the "Jerry System" remains in oscillation between the Gulf the Atlantic to attempt to build up a head of steam to actually transfer heat to the ocean rather than the Arctic Circle. Proof that the oceans still have a capacity to accept heat if there was only enough tropospheric water vapor to support such dynamics in a storm severe enough to call a hurricane.

Also noted is the lowest temperatures today...in Montana (click on link)...at 12:35 PM the temperatures are approaching freezing with the lowest temperatures at 41 F currently. That is significant because I stated sometime earlier this summer season that in proof how very dangerous Climate Change is under HUMAN INDUCED Global Warming, that Earth had actually tried to 'recap' itself last winter. The snow fall and human/economic tragedy would substantiate that claim.

I am claiming the same thing this year.

If one notes this is the beginning of the Autumnal Equinox and already with Sol's direct rays now below the Equator we are noting very cold temperatures at this upper latitudes. Why is that noteworthy? Because under HUMAN INDUCED Global Warming; Earth does NOT have natural processes at work and while Earth's physics is working hard to 'rebalance' it's biotic nature, the effects of humans are undermining the planet's ability to rebalance. That means even with natural processes at work, humans will continue to cause gross emissions of carbon dioxide and hence continue to through Earth into an imbalance that endangers all life on Earth. There will come a point when the heat within the troposphere will surmount to levels no life on the surface or underground, due to air quality will be able to tolerate.

I'll be back in a few hours.

Tomorrow is another day...

September 22, 2007

7:31 PM EDT

Southeast USA

Since the tropical depression in the Gulf came inland the offshore heat intensity shifted to the southeast seaboard. Wilmington has been experiencing severe thunderstorms and rainfall. I am currently at a lull and posting this but it may not last considering the radar. Wilmington is just north of the border with South Carolina where the 'big, fluffy' clouds are right now.

It's my rule of thumb that when these storms come through these days, all the electronics are turned off. I had an incident last year whereby an ionic storm came through with strong winds, lots of rain, thunder and lightning; during the storm the wireless router was fried even though it wasn't plugged in. Recently, a friend lost a complete system during a storm. They never listen, you know?

So, tomorrow should prove to be a better day.

Good night, all.

How profound is Republican moronity? Everyone knows who this man is. He is the radical President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He is an extremist that answers to an Ayatollah. Guess what? He is coming to the USA, invited by the professors of Columbia University.

Imagine that. Real dialogue with the Iranian President. I take it he didn't cancel after all. I would expect Columbia not to cancel either and why?

Why?

Because.

What was the one aspect of the tensions in The Middle East that is stated to be lacking in this administration that might very well lead to better tolerances?

What was it?

Do you remember? Does it matter? Does it matter to you?

Diplomatic relations between the USA and Iran is absent in the military presence of the USA's war in neighboring Iraq.

Dialogue.

Why do I get the feeling Columbia has more of feeling of the pulse of the Middle East and what it takes to secure the USA and the Middle East than any moronic Republican in Washington, DC?

Can't imagine why I have that impression of the situation, do you?

Morning Papers - continued...

Sydney Morning Herald

Extra $430m for drought relief
September 17, 2007 - 1:12PM
Prime Minister John Howard has announced an extra $430 million for farmers hurt by continued drought conditions.
"We're announcing a package which will provide an additional $430 million of drought assistance to farmers throughout Australia," Mr Howard told ABC Radio.
AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/extra-430m-for-drought-relief/2007/09/17/1189881402658.html


Government pledges more help for drought-stricken farmers
September 17, 2007 - 7:45AM
The Federal Government has pledged to provide further financial support to drought-stricken farmers, if necessary.
With the drought showing no sign of breaking, Prime Minister John Howard promised that the government would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with rural and regional Australia.
"If more is needed to ensure our regional communities and farms survive this prolonged drought it will be provided," he said in his weekly radio message.
"The drought is continuing to have a devastating impact on much of rural and regional Australia.
"Without urgent spring rain, crops are expected to fail in the coming weeks, placing further strain on an already deeply stressed farm sector."
Mr Howard said the nation's healthy budget position meant the government was in a position to help if required.
AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/government-pledges-more-help-for-droughtstricken-farmers/2007/09/17/1189881379081.html


Schools defy drought
Sarah Price
September 23, 2007
IN 1900, Booligal's only school had 26 students. Today, it has just six, five of whom are cousins.
But the one-teacher schoolhouse in the state's far west endures because the people of Booligal and the State Government are refusing to surrender to the worst drought on record.
"We wouldn't be closing these sorts of schools - and certainly not during drought times," NSW Department of Education Riverina director of schools Colin Parker said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/schools-defy-drought/2007/09/22/1189881838204.html


Costs for disputed desal plant rise $73m
Frank Walker
September 23, 2007
THE cost of building Sydney's controversial desalination plant has blown out by another $73million.
Figures buried deep in a Sydney Water submission to increase water prices reveal the plant's construction cost is higher than the Government claimed.
Premier Morris Iemma said in June the cost of the project was $1.76billion, but Sydney Water's submission last week to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal stated the cost was $1.83billion.
The total cost could go even higher. Sydney Water said the cost of building pipelines to the plant was still uncertain.
Contractors are doing geotechnical and planning work for the pipelines. A cost estimate should be ready next month.
Sydney Water is seeking a 33 per cent increase in residential water bills to cover the cost of building the plant at Kurnell. It would add an extra $130 a year to the average household bill.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/desal-plant-costs-rise-73m/2007/09/22/1189881840119.html


Recycling offsets car emissions - study
Hannah Edwards
September 23, 2007
FOR every bin full of paper and cardboard put out to be recycled each fortnight, households are offsetting 90.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year, a report on recycling trends has found.
It's the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving a car 7200 kilometres, the survey by the Waste Management Association and SITA Environmental Solutions said.
If every household in Australia recycled a full 240-litre wheelie bin of paper each fortnight, they would collectively save more than 18.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually.
And by recycling a wheelie bin of mixed items such as glass, plastic and paper, 3.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would not be produced each year, offsetting the equivalent of the emissions produced by 860,000 cars during the same period.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/recycling-offsets-emissions--study/2007/09/22/1189881842577.html



New York Times hires influential blogger
September 21, 2007 - 4:24PM
The New York Times is launching a blog about the television business that will be written by one of the TV industry's most influential bloggers, highlighting the established media's increasing reliance on less traditional ways of delivering the news.
The Times said that 22-year-old Brian Stelter is lead writer on TV Decoder, http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com, the Times's new blog on the TV industry that launched on Thursday.
The blog will feature other contributors, Stelter said in an interview. He said he aims to personally post five times a day and that his postings would include breaking news.
"I am doing multiple interviews for most of these posts," he said. He said he plans to split his time between blogging and writing stories for the newspaper.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/new-york-times-hires-influential-blogger/2007/09/21/1189881759864.html



Dive team seeks recruits for explosive day at the office
Risk assured ... the team were active during the 1991 Iraq war.
Photo: Jenny Evans
Alex Cauchi
September 23, 2007
IT is one of our most elite fighting forces, handling some of the most dangerous jobs its country has to offer. During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, it performed high-risk naval work, clearing mines in the Persian Gulf.
Now the Australian Navy's clearance diving team is on a recruitment campaign.
Diving Team One is made up of the navy's specialists in explosive ordnance disposal. They hope they can attract interest in their often precarious work.
"We come across dangers every time we go down. Diving to depths of 90metres can never be completely safe," Lieutenant Tor Sorensen said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/navy-seeks-recruits-for-explosive-day-at-the-office/2007/09/22/1189881841747.html



Detained Burma leader greets protesting monks
September 23, 2007
DETAINED Burma democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi stepped out of her home in tears yesterday to greet Buddhist monks marching past the place where she is confined by the military junta, witnesses said.
Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1000 monks to walk past the home where she has been detained for most of the past 18 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she paid her respects to the monks as they marched past, the witnesses said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/detained-burma-leader-greets-protesting-monks/2007/09/22/1189881840250.html



Castro alive and laughing at death
CONVALESCING Cuban leader Fidel Castro has appeared on state television, looking frail but alert and laughing off speculation he was on his death bed after a long absence from public view.
"Well, here I am," said Dr Castro, 81. "Nobody knows when they will die."
The absence of pictures of the veteran revolutionary leader since June 5 had fuelled rumours of his death. "He is dying, he is dead, he will die the day after tomorrow," Dr Castro said, summing up the speculation over his condition.
Dr Castro underwent intestinal surgery on July 27, 2006, and has not been seen in public since. Just after the operation he provisionally handed power to his brother Raul, Cuba's long-time No.2.
Wearing a tracksuit in the red, white and blue colours of Cuba, Dr Castro spoke in a soft, slow voice as he discussed the US economy, global oil prices and the rambling essays he had been writing over the past months.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/castro-alive-and-laughing-at-death/2007/09/22/1189881837487.html



Facebook turns up rabid bat woman
September 23, 2007
CANADIAN health officials have found a new use for the online social network Facebook - to find a woman who needed rabies shots after touching a rabid bat.
A Toronto Public Health spokeswoman said it explored all the traditional methods - the telephone book, Google, the police, even a media appeal - to find the woman who had taken an injured bat to the Toronto Wildlife Centre this month. But no one stepped forward.
Then a colleague sent messages to a number of women on Facebook with names similar to the person they were seeking. Facebook delivered - within an hour - and the woman got her rabies shots.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/facebook-turns-up-rabid-bat-woman/2007/09/22/1189881837493.html>



Bali nine dad's anger at drug-dealing jailer
Eamonn Duff
September 23, 2007
EXCLUSIVE
Death row ... Matthew Norman.
Photo: Glenn Campbell
THE father of Bali nine member Matthew Norman is furious at the Indonesian Government after the security chief of the prison where his son is being held was arrested for running drugs.
Muhammad Sudrajat remained on 24-hour watch yesterday after a suicide attempt following his arrest by Bali police. Extensive undercover surveillance and tip-offs from ex-prisoners, who claimed he had been their drug dealer, led to the arrest.
The high-profile arrest comes as an embarrassment to the Indonesian Government. Despite its zero-tolerance approach to drugs, the police sting has provided evidence that narcotics are widely available within its prisons.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bali-nine-dads-anger-at-jailer/2007/09/22/1189881838195.html


Local market restrained by nervous wait for US news
September 22, 2007
THE Australian sharemarket closed in negative territory amid uncertainty about the health of the American economy, despite the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this week by half a percentage point.
At the close yesterday, the benchmark ASX200 index had lost 35.8 points to 6357.8, while the All Ordinaries had dipped 29.7 points to 6371.2. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 45 points lower at 6408, on a volume of 15,239 contracts.
A CMC Markets dealer, Matthew Lewis, said the market got off to a poor start after a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.
"There is still uncertainty among traders about the overall health of the US economy, particularly the housing market, and this negativity has flowed on to the local market today," Mr Lewis said. "Traders are still on a nervous wait until next week, when key economic data, including US home sales and consumer confidence data, will be released."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/local-market-restrained-by-nervous-wait-for-us-news/2007/09/21/1189881773491.html


Hedge fund chiefs, privateers make the Forbes 400
Adam Satariano
September 22, 2007
HEDGE fund and private equity managers made up more than half the newest members in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, which was again topped by Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates.
Gates, 51, came first for the 14th consecutive year with a net worth of $US59 billion ($69 billion), ahead of the $US52 billion held by his friend, Warren Buffett, 77, the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway.
Steven Cohen, of SAC Capital Advisors, was the richest hedge fund manager with $US6.8 billion, and was ranked 47th.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/hedge-fund-chiefs-privateers-make-the-forbes-400/2007/09/21/1189881773530.html


Never say never. Vigilance on housing debt essential
Annette Sampson
September 22, 2007
There are a couple of phrases that any half-smart investor should have tattooed into their consciousness. Phrases like "This time it's different" and "It could never happen here".
Both have so often been the harbingers of doom that their mere mention should set off warning bells, yet "It could never happen here" is a claim that has been flung about fast and furiously since the US subprime housing loan market went off the rails.
It's true that the aggressive selling of housing loans to people who couldn't afford them - the trend that caused all the problems in the US - was not mirrored in the Australian market. Data provided by the Reserve Bank and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to the recent government inquiry into home lending shows that non-conforming loans made up only 2 per cent of new loans in 2006 as opposed to about 20 per cent in the US.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/never-say-never-vigilance-on-housing-debt-essential/2007/09/21/1189881773548.html



Card debt hits $41bn as banks lift rates
Frank Walker
September 23, 2007
CREDIT card debt has reached record levels with more Australians using cards to meet mortgage payments.
And in the past month, several banks have pushed up card interest rates way beyond official Reserve Bank increases.
Interest rates on some cards went up by as much as one percentage point when the Reserve Bank increased official rates by only 0.25 percentage points.
Australians owe a record $41.02 billion on credit cards. For the first time the average debt on a credit card account has passed $3000.
A near record total of $1.08 billion was borrowed on cash advances in July. A record $16.4 billion purchases were put on credit cards, an average of $1197 per card.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/card-debt-hits-41bn/2007/09/22/1189881838198.html



Gulf states on $US25b buying spree
Will McSheehy and Arif Sharif
September 22, 2007
Diversifying … Borse Dubai now owns almost 20 per cent of Nasdaq, from which it has bought 28 per cent of LSE.
THE Persian Gulf states, flush with cash from burgeoning oil revenues, are buying overseas assets at a record rate and countering a slowdown in takeovers caused by the surge in corporate borrowing costs.
Abu Dhabi agreed on Thursday to pay $US1.35 billion ($1.57 billion) for 7.5 per cent of Carlyle Group, the world's second-biggest private equity firm. Dubai and Qatar took competing stakes in the Nasdaq stockmarket, London Stock Exchange and Nordic bourse OMX. Qatar also won approval to examine the financial records of J Sainsbury, the second-largest UK supermarket chain.
The deals are worth $US25 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The pace of international investments by Gulf states, which earn $US1.2 billion a day from oil exports, is quickening as they seek to diversify. They have already spent a record $US68 billion on overseas acquisitions this year.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/gulf-states-on-us25b-buying-spree/2007/09/21/1189881773488.html



Taking a quick peek
If you have more than four hours' stopover at Narita, Japan's international airport, you have time to visit nearby Narita City.
Destination: Japan
June 25, 2006
Use a stopover to sample traditional Japan in four hours and under $10, writes Michael Challinger.
Japan's not exactly a cheap destination. Flights via Japan, though, can be very good value. There are competitive fares through Tokyo both to Europe and North America. Japan Airlines even offers a bargain fare to Mexico through their hub at Narita.
The question is: can you afford the time and money to see a bit of Japan on the way? Well, if you've got a couple of hours between flights and 10 bucks to spare, the answer is yes.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/06/24/1150845384904.html


Tech tycoons dominate US rich list
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates (left) and right, from top to bottom: Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Dell's Michael Dell.
Photo: AP
Stephen Hutcheon and agencies
September 21, 2007 - 12:48PM
Page 1 of 2 Single page
Bill Gates might still be the richest, but the growing clout of Google is evident in Forbes magazine's latest list of the wealthiest Americans.
According to the magazine, Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row.
Gates' fortune grew by $US6 billion in the past year to $US59 billion, Forbes said.
Gates was one of 34 rich list members - all of them men - who made their money in a technology-related area. Five of them appear in the top ten.
The Microsoft co-founder was recently overtaken as the world's richest man by Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/tech-tycoons-dominate-us-rich-list/2007/09/21/1189881743796.html



Contraceptive dispensing discrepancy is a bitter pill to swallow
Lisa Pryor
September 22, 2007
If you are a woman of child-bearing age, or you ever were, you may have experienced the no-pill panic. As you brush your teeth before bed, you look for your Juliet or Diane or Jasmin contraceptive pills and find nothing.
So you search the bathroom cabinet, the medicine shelf and the bedside table for a spare pack. Nothing. You dig through kitchen drawers, admin folders and piles of paper in search of a repeat prescription. Still nothing.
By this stage your only option, if you don't want to render yourself fertile, is to track down an after-hours doctor, get a new prescription, find a chemist that is still open and take the pill. If you really care about being safe, you can't even wait until the morning. When you take a pill more than 12 hours late, there is no guarantee it will work.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/a-bitter-pill-to-swallow/2007/09/21/1189881774997.html



Ethical dilemmas
September 20, 2007
Exploitative multiplayer worlds don't deserve to be called art, a designer tells Jason Hill.
World of Warcraft
A prominent independent developer labelled modern games such as World of Warcraft "unethical" at a recent Melbourne conference.
Jonathan Blow, creator of upcoming time-bending game Braid, told the Free Play conference at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image that games can be art but he is concerned about what they are really teaching players.
"I believe that games are important to the future of humanity," Mr Blow says. "It sounds like a grand statement but it's obviously true for other forms of art that we're very familiar with. Films and novels have drastically shaped the society that we live in; without them our lives would be very different.
"I don't think games are there yet but if we are good about it we can develop games into a medium that's more relevant to the wide swathe of humanity."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/articles/ethical-dilemmas/2007/09/19/1189881577195.html



Step up to the bar
September 21, 2007 - 12:06PM
Pole dancing is moving out of the clubs and going mainstream. Adam Fulton reports.
World-wide hit ... a dancer competes in China's first national pole dancing competition held earlier this year.
Photo: AP
Hot conditions with frequent steamy patches are forecast for Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Saturday night when it hosts the Miss Pole Dance Australia championship.
Seventeen finalists are to compete after winning rounds around the country and will be judged for their "pole skill, technique and creativity", says Vanessa Brecht, co-owner of Bobbi's Pole Studio, which organises the contest.
"They take it very seriously," she says. "They train and they train and they train."
But wait - aren't seedy strip clubs the exclusive domain of pole dancing?
No longer, Brecht says - the activity has branched out into the suburbs and the mainstream. Classes at Bobbi's Pole Studio in the city and Miranda attract more than 1000 students a week, she says. "We've got grandmothers that come. We've got lawyers, doctors."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/step-up-to-the-bar/2007/09/21/1189881740723.html



Snoop Dogg pleads guilty to weapons charge
September 21, 2007 - 10:52AM
Snoop Dogg pleaded guilty today to one count of felony possession of a dangerous weapon, his lawyer said.
In a plea deal, the 35-year-old rapper was sentenced to 160 hours of community service and three years probation. He was also ordered to make a $US10,000 ($A11,620) charitable donation, attorney Donald Etra said.
"We are very pleased with the outcome," Etra said. "Snoop's goal is to make music, not make court appearances."
Snoop Dogg, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, was arrested September 27, 2006, after the discovery of a collapsible baton in his computer bag at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/snoop-dogg-guilty-on-weapons/2007/09/21/1189881734093.html



Sexperts: Too old, too fast
2007-09-18 00:00:05
Brooke Hemphill looks at the concerns surrounding the sexualisation of young people in advertising and the media.(06:58)

http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Sexperts&rid=31627


Kids to get own channel
September 23, 2007
AUSTRALIAN children will have their own dedicated free-to-air television channel next year, regardless of who wins the federal election.
It is understood that Prime Minister John Howard will formally announce plans to create the new children's channel during the election campaign. Labor has already backed the idea.
The channel would be owned by the ABC and available as a separate digital service known as ABC 3.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan met ABC head Mark Scott last week to hammer out the details.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/kids-to-get-own-channel/2007/09/22/1189881838186.html


'Don't Tase me, bro!' a global sensation
University of Florida student Andrew Meyer is removed from a forum where Senator John Kerrey was speaking in Gainesville, Florida on Monday.
Photo: Jarrett Baker/AP
Asher Moses
September 20, 2007 - 12:40PM
The anguished cries of a student prankster, who was subdued using a Taser stun gun at a political meeting in Florida, has resonated worldwide in a matter of hours.
Two days later, it has now earned a place in the pop culture lexicon alongside Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and the infamous Star Wars Kid.
"Don't Tase me, bro!" was uttered by Andrew Meyer as he was pinned to the floor by police after he disrupted a question and answer session with US Senator John Kerry.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/20/1189881651002.html



Tasered woman: 'Pain was sickening'
2007-09-22 20:39:22
An Ohio woman is subdued by a police officer wielding a stun gun. The woman says she worried about either passing out or dying. The officer's actions are being investigated.(01:04)

http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=31842



Fire destroys historic $40-million Myer building in Hobart
Glenn Cordingley and Julie Tullberg
September 23, 2007
A MASSIVE fire has destroyed the historic $40million Myer building in central Hobart.
All the floors and the roof collapsed after the blaze ripped through the building and spread a blanket of smoke over Hobart yesterday.
Fire crews worked for more than four hours to contain the fire and stop it from spreading to buildings near the corner of Liverpool and Murray streets.
Myer's historic facade, dating to 1836, is on the brink of collapse.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fire-destroys-historic-40million-myer-building-in-hobart/2007/09/22/1189881840007.html



Women priests debate continues
September 23, 2007
THE Sydney Anglican Church will again debate whether women can be ordained as priests at its annual synod, continuing tomorrow.
The ordination of women has been consistently voted against by Sydney Anglican church leaders, but in a last-ditch effort, a motion is expected to be debated asking Archbishop Peter Jensen to "explore ways in which these different views can be creatively lived out in the life and practice of the diocese".
The motion also states: "Synod notes that there is another understanding of scripture held by a small but significant minority within the diocese."
The synod will finish on Tuesday.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/women-priests-debate-continues/2007/09/22/1189881838240.html



Generations declare war on home and work fronts
Kurt Tsagaris, 24, and Daniela De Zotti, 23.
Photo: Jenny Evans
Maxine Frith
September 23, 2007
THE generations are at war, turning on each other over age, money and careers.
The baby boomers and generation X are at loggerheads, but both are frustrated by generation Y, while the builder generation is causing problems of its own, a new report shows.
McCrindle Research has dubbed the escalating conflict between the age sets "generational warfare", concluding that while the generations have never had more to do with each other, the divides between them have never been greater.
In a national report to be released this month the company reveals the three largest age sets - baby boomers, gen X and gen Y - are increasingly resentful of each other's lives and attitudes to work, home and the wider world. While people have become more tolerant of gender, sexual and cultural diversity, ageism is alive and flourishing.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/generations-declare-war-on-home-and-work-fronts/2007/09/22/1189881841606.html



Virgin sued for using teen's photo
The photo of Alison Chang (left) from Justin Ho-Wee Wong's Flickr photo-sharing web page. The photo was used by Virgin Mobile in an advertising campaign.
Photo: Justin Ho-Wee Wong
AdvertisementAdvertisement
September 21, 2007 - 11:09AM
A Texas family has sued Australia's Virgin Mobile phone company, claiming it caused their teenage daughter grief and humiliation by plastering her photo on billboards and website advertisements without consent.
The family of Alison Chang says Virgin Mobile grabbed the picture from Flickr, Yahoo Inc's popular photo-sharing website, and failed to credit the photographer by name.
Chang's photo was part of a Virgin Mobile Australia campaign called "Are You With Us Or What?" It features pictures downloaded from Flickr superimposed with the company's ad slogans.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/21/1189881735928.html


Caged heat
Once more with feeling ... Teddy Tahu Rhodes in rehearsal.
Photo: Marco del Grande
Big issues and big risks define a new opera that asks a lot of its unlikely cast, including an aria - while doing push-ups - from its star.
ENTERING THE OPULENT State Theatre via a laneway strewn with milk crates and skip bins appears to put the cast and crew of the opera Dead Man Walking in the right frame of mind. It's a suitably unceremonious entrance into the grim world being created inside the 1929 picture palace.
"We are making a virtue of poverty and raw energy for the opera," says director Nigel Jamieson, whose most recent production, Honour Bound, was about David Hicks's incarceration at Guantanamo Bay. "The resources are ridiculously small and there are many pressures in building the production from scratch. But Dead Man Walking is about leaps of faith and so, too, is the way we are approaching the piece and reinventing the way opera can be done."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/dead-man-walking/2007/09/20/1189881672433.html



Clooney injured in motorbike crash
September 23, 2007
ACTOR George Clooney and his girlfriend Sarah Larson have been injured in a collision between their motorcycle and a car on a narrow road in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Clooney suffered cuts and a broken rib. Larson broke her foot. They were treated at a medical centre and released, Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said.
"He's doing fine," Mr Rosenfield said.
"He has a broken rib, it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal."
The crash occurred as Clooney and Ms Larson sped up to overtake on the right side of a car that was preparing to make a right turn, said Weehawken police Sergeant Sean Kelly. Both were wearing helmets.
It was not known whether the car's driver, whose identity was not immediately released, used a turn signal. The accident was under investigation.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/george-clooney-cracks-rib-in-motorbike-crash/2007/09/22/1189881834906.html


Beware Madam Lashless
Glenn Close is ideal as the hard-nosed lawyer.
Ruth Ritchie
September 22, 2007
DOES GLENN CLOSE have any eyebrows? Or is it that she is eyelash-challenged? General eye baldness lies at the core of her success. I used to think she was a great actor but now after all these years of sticking out that Punch and Judy chin and squinting and blinking those tiny eyes, all that crazy intensity can be reduced to the fact that she has a face shaped like a Chinese take-away container that cannot be softened with the natural drapery of lashes and brows.
The original and definitive bunny boiler staked her claim on that territory in Fatal Attraction all those years ago and now if she played Alice in The Brady Bunch the audience would fear for Sam the Butcher's life. I can't imagine that Susan Sarandon and Close ever compete for the same roles. Sarandon has eyelashes like Bambi's. Sally Field can wheel out the nutty intensity and the odd expletive at a truly bad Emmy show but she can still apply enough mascara to connect her to the rest of the sisterhood.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/beware-madam-lashless/2007/09/20/1189881672534.html



Football is A Girl's Game?
Ladies, please stay in the kitchen.
That was one suggestion to last week's discussion here on the evolution of women's football in Australia.
It was not a lone voice. Similarly, a few "fan" discussion boards have received comments during the week with similar sentiment, maybe lonely boys trolling for attention.
Female sport it seems - yes, even in Australia - has a long way to go before it earns any respect from a wide audience.
Apparently a lot of this is because watching Australia play Canada in the Women's World Cup is not the same as watching a Premier League match.

http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/matthewhall/archives/2007/09/women_please_st.html



US posse on trail of dangerous fugitive
Donna Walker-Mitchell and Ian Munro
September 23, 2007
US MARSHALS are prepared for a violent showdown if they corner fugitive father Nai Xin Xue, who is a kung fu expert and skilled swordsman.
A 24-strong team of marshals has been assigned to hunt for Xue, who is wanted for abandoning his three-year-old daughter at a Melbourne train station and is suspected of killing his wife.
The head of US Marshals in Los Angeles, Chief Tom Hession, told The Sun-Herald yesterday that New Zealand police had informed his office that Xue was skilled in the use of deadly weapons, such as samurai swords.
Confirming that his officers would be prepared in case of a struggle, he said: "Any type of suspect that's wanted for a crime like this, we automatically assume they could be a danger to us so we take all precautions."
Xue, 54, is wanted in New Zealand for killing his wife, Anan Liu, in Auckland and abandoning his daughter, Qian Xun Xue, in Melbourne last Saturday.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/posse-on-trail-of-dangerous-fugitive/2007/09/22/1189881837469.html


Gas company's bill blunder a $60,000 shock for pensioner
Frightening ... Anita Giabra was on the receiving end.
Photo: Jacky Ghossein
Angela Cuming
September 23, 2007
THE first Anita Giabra knew of her frighteningly large gas bill was when she opened a letter from debt collectors demanding immediate payment of more than $60,000.
Stamped with "final demand", the sternly worded letter from debt recovery agency Impact Financial Services demanded a total of $60,375 owed to gas company AGL.
But it turned out the massive bill was the result of a typographical error.
AGL rang Mrs Giabra when it realised its error and issued an apology.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pensioners-60000-gas-bill-shock/2007/09/22/1189881838225.html

continued...

The latest in "Terry's Laws" Legislation. I donated to MoveOn.Org today, did you? You should. They protect this country better than the Senate.

It's time for all good Americans to come home in every way. The fabric of our nation is growing weak in the face of incompetent leadership.

The more the Democrats pander to Republican "Ideologes" the more they are going to fail the electorate and be turned away if they don't end this war.

The "MoveOn.Org" (proudly click here) ad that has caused Republican's a platform to 'attempt' to Swift Boat the elections of 2008 was a legitimate right of Freedom of Speech. The ad was supposed to shock those that read it to think about what was transpiring in Washington, DC. Was Petraeus under so much pressure from Bush to perform to an artificial standard that he would contort the evidence of the circumstances in Iraq? That is what the ad asked.

Quite frankly he did and as the questioning continued it was completely obvious he did. I don't believe it was premediated, but, I do believe he has been under so much pressure from Bush that he 'taylored' his comments to support the Iraq War. There was a profound statement the general made at the beginning of his comments that mostly went unnoticed and that was the qualifying statement, "I realize the Iraq War isn't necessarily the only focus to the security needs of the USA..." To that reality this ad was more loyal to the security of the USA than anyone whom tried to oppress/suppress it at the Senate or media.

One might ask Senator Jim Webb right now, what good did it do him to stand for oppression of free speech realizing he didn't get a valuable amendment passed to support the well being of the USA military troops and their families? I strongly recommend all Democrats, Senate or House reflect on that reality. The Republicans lost respect in 2006 for their corruption and their cronism. Sidling up to Republicans isn't the way to support the national security of the USA, it's a road to ruin for this country.

The legislation passed in the Senate is a violation of the First Amendment and is a slap in the face to a military that is protect the USA Constitution and not destroy it.

The Iraq War is an illegel and genocidal war, needs to come to an end.


September 21st, 2007 5:51 pm
Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad
By David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.
MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members, has become a powerful force in Democratic politics and the advertisement it paid for, which appeared in The New York Times, has come under sharp attack from Congressional Republicans and others as unpatriotic and impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, both Democratic candidates for president, voted against the resolution, which passed 72 to 25.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10260



U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00344



*** 23 Democrats Condemn First Amendment ***
Max Baucus (D-MT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Robert Casey (D-PA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Jon Tester (D-MT), James Webb (D-VA)

http://www.michaelmoore.com/



September 21st, 2007 1:58 pm
Democrats fail to pass anti-war bill
By Anne Flaherty / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected legislation Friday that would have ordered most U.S. troops home from Iraq in nine months, culminating a losing week for Democrats who failed to push through any anti-war proposal.
The vote, 47-47, fell 13 votes short of the 60 needed to pass.
"We're going to continue to lose lives and squander resources while they (the Iraqis) dawdle," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who sponsored the bill.
Republicans blocked the measure, contending it would have dire consequences for the region and usurp control of the war from seasoned generals. Last week, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, recommended to Congress and President Bush that some 130,000 troops be kept there through next summer — a slight decrease from the more than 160,000 troops there now.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10257



Friday, September 21st, 2007
General Betray-Us and MoveOn.org ... by Cindy Sheehan
I have often been critical of MoveOn.org, basically because I feel, for the most part that they support Democrats to the detriment of democracy. However, MoveOn.org was a big help to me at Camp Casey in August ‘05 and organized the thousands of candlelight vigils that occurred across the country. I will always be grateful to them for that.
I had a policy when my children were younger. I would always try to catch them doing something "right" (sharing, being kind, etc) and I would praise them and give them a treat. In that vein, I have to give my 100% support to MoveOn.org in regards to their right-on ad in the NYT that has become even the object of a Senate denouncement.
It must be hard for MoveOn.org to have 21 Democratic Senators vote to denounce the ad when MoveOn.org has been so supportive of the party. However, I don't think that it's appropriate for the Senate to be voting on newspaper ads, when it is a clear 1st Amendment right of anyone in our representative republic to place such ads, whether one agrees with them or not, and with almost half the Senate Dems voting to denounce MoveOn's freedom of speech and the Dem leadership taking impeachment "off the table" and giving BushCo more latitude to spy on us, I wonder which part of our Constitution the Dems will defile next?

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=923