Former Senator Mike Gravel, the man that would clean up DC

Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel talks with reporters following the Democratic debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, June 3, 2007. (Courtesy Steve Terrell/Santa Fe New Mexican)

Former Senator Gravel definately has a message and I think "Slate" made a good estimation of it in the title that preceded the transcript:

Gravel: Representative Government Is Broken (click here)

Sen. Mike Gravel answers questions in our presidential mashup.

Updated Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, at 11:51 PM ET
The following is an unedited transcript and may contain typos or omissions. Click here for more on the presidential mashup.
Rose: Sen. Gravel, the president has said that he's going to listen carefully to what Gen. Petraeus says and reports to him about the surge and what might be America's commitment in the future. What do you make of what Gen. Petraeus has said?
Gravel: I think it's a tragic charade where obviously one could predict what Petraeus was going to say three years ago on this particular subject. And then you get the president, who is the commander in chief, saying he's going to follow what the dictates or recommendations of Gen. Petraeus, who is making recommendations that the White House wanted. This is a very tragic charade. While human lives are lost because of the inability of this government to have any sense of moral commitment....

I believe the former Senator from Alaska is indeed the one person whom would like to take the country back from the clutches of power while returning it to the people. That is no easy task and while I admire him for his view of the world, I challenge him to find a way to say 'a voice' of the country even if the nomination does not come his way.

As a candidate surrounded by the simple challenge to keep his campaign alive (click here), it would be helpful to have his positions on issues a part of 'ready access.' I admire his use of the internet, but, if lacking for time it is a challenge to find his position on Human Induced Global Warming. After all, the former Senator may be speaking with forked tongue as Alaska is one of the oil producing states with assaults by this adminisration of it's precious wilderness and lucrative fish stocks.

If there is anything true about the Gravel candidacy, it's the fact it's completely obvious he is not a corporate sellout and coming from an oil producing state that to me would be easy to do. I mean what would be better but to have a Democratic candidate with an anti-corruption message from an oil producing state for companies/employees like Halliburton to hang their hat on.

Mike Gravel is an interesting candidate with an important message, he needs to find a way to keep that message alive after 2008.

The USA learned it was vulnerable. The questions are why and who is responsible.

The subject of democracy is not about winning or losing, it is however about how one plays the game.

The focus of the elections thus far by the media is to paint the Republicans as 'the way' to security while making clowns of the Democrats.

The populous of the USA that finds themselves as liberals, independants, unsure and last but not least Democrats deserve all the credit for maintaining their dignity through one of the most troubled times in the USA.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 told the USA it was vulnerable, the wars that ensued were supported by the people of the USA with intent to 'defeat' those that would come to destroy us, as I remind as we went into Afghanistan the president enjoyed a job approval rating of 84% if I remember right.

The 'truth' is that 'trust' was squandered by the current president and vice president and the American populous was turned into a battleground for power. Out of pure fear, the populous of the USA found itself torn to discern the truth based on 'authentic/official' data, but, that data was corrupt by an administration and majority Republican legislature that DECIDED what the truth was rather than living with the actual truth.

To some the USA is a playground whereby all is possible if the power of it's infrastructure is harnessed correctly and controlled.

It's Sunday Night

"Loser" by Beck

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey
Butane in my veins and I'm out to cut the junkie
With the plastic eyeballs, spray-paint the vegetables
Dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose
Kill the headlights and put it in neutral
Stock car flamin' with a loser and the cruise control
Baby's in reno with the vitamin d
Got a couple of couches, sleep on the love-seat
Someone came in sayin' I'm insane to complain
About a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt
Don't believe everything that you breathe
You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve
So shave your face with some mace in the dark
Savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park


Yo. cut it.


Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?


Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?


Forces of evil on a bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with a phony gas chamber
'cuz ones got a weasel and the others got a flag
Ones on the pole, shove the other in a bag
With the rerun shows and the cocaine nose-job
The daytime crap of the folksinger slob
He hung himself with a guitar string
A slab of turkey-neck and its hangin' from a pigeon wing
You can't write if you can't relate
Trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax fallin' on a termite
That's chokin' on the splinters

Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(get crazy with the cheese whiz)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(drive-by body-pierce)
(yo bring it on down)
Soooooooyy....


(I'm a driver, I'm a winner; things are gonna change I can feel it)


Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(I can't believe you)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(schprechen sie deutches, baby)
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
(know what I'm sayin'? )

It's impossible to find a Red, White and Blue Chicken, sorry, Rooster in nature, so this is the next best thing.

Morning Papers - It's Origins

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Alan Greenspan don't cower now. Not that I ever thought he could, but, it gives an entire new meaning to the ad, won't you say?

Greenspan Faults Bush Over Spending (click here)

...And he weighed in briefly but pointedly on the Iraq war: ''I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.''...


No military person, including Gates, or any of those that support them without separating the man from the uniform would ever believe a word of any 'anti-war' statement. Although Alan Greenspan probably never expected to be viewed as 'anti-war' he most definately gave a shot in the arm to the 'idea' of Impeach Bush and Cheney. I'd also like to know what human rights watch organizations are thinking long about now.


By the way:

I

told

you

so !


And told you so and told you so and told you so...additionally, oppose the draft, bring the troops home now, we don't belong in Iraq, we never did...I told you so !


The Bush/Cheney administration has raped this country of it's treasury for the pure unadulterated reason of corporate profits because Dick Cheney has himself all in a wade financially with Halliburton as it's CEO when he recommended no one but himself as Vice Presidential candidate for the 2000 campaign.

I

told

you

so.

That said, the Republicans are 'still' playing politics with the lives and treasure of the USA. Outside the 2008 Republican campaign that demands the American people to continue this insane genocide in Iraq, Gates is campaigning against a Democratic Senator. Perhaps you heard of Jim Webb? He has a proposal before the Senate that would define the length of a 'rotation' when soldiers are sent into battle. Secretary Gates is using the Petraeus report to make the argument that soldiers are slaves to the USA and the Webb Senate admendment should be killed along with every battle fatigued soldier in Iraq.

Gates warns against Webb Iraq plan (click here)

...The proposal, by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), is expected to have widespread support this week in the Senate, although it is unclear if it will reach the 60 vote threshold necessary to overcome a potential filibuster....

If one takes a look through the Senate website of Jim Webb (click here), it is obvious he intends to straighten out every aspect of what has gone "W"rong that caused victimization of the soldiers. This isn't a man interested in an 'anti-war' message, this is a man interested in Pro-Soldier Laws that strengthen the USA military and protects it from exploitation.


SUMMARY: COMMISSION ON WAR CONTRACTING BILL (click here)
(WEBB/McCASKILL ON BEHALF OF FRESHMAN SENATORS)
Introduced July 18, 2007

Title: A bill to provide for the study and investigation of wartime contracts and contracting processes in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Summary: The bill would establish an independent and bipartisan eight-member Commission on Wartime Contracting to study and investigate: (1) federal agency contracting for the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan; (2) federal agency contracting for the logistical support of coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom; and (3) federal agency contracting for the performance of security and intelligence functions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The bill also will expand the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’s (SIGIR’s) area of responsibility beyond Iraq Reconstruction and Relief Funds. In consultation with the Commission, SIGIR will conduct audits of agency contracts to identify potential waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. ...


I don't want to hear how Senator Webb is anti-war or seeking to undermine anyone's military authority, I do want this commission, I do want further investigation into the impetus into the Iraq War and I want a complete investigation to the way this administration turned the USA miltiary and it's Generals into pandering fools to the exploitive path of this president and vice. I want every General that served in this war to understand the brevity of their actions and to make sincere and profound recommendations to Senators and House members that seek to stop such exploitation of their commands to carry on with false agendas for the USA. If they care for their soldiers then they owe it to them !

There is a lot "W"rong with the reasons for this war and it needs to come to an end. Vietnam was one instance of American policy gone "W"rong and Iraq is certainly the same. I don't want to hear how America needs to win this war in some kind of dreamscape to exonerate the Vietnam War and it's end. I want to hear how the USA is ONLY to serve the people of this country in a way that sincerely protects it's national security !

REPEAL THE LAW OF PRE-EMPTION !!!

Here is the latest Republican 'Talking Points, Coaching and PROPAGANDA !!!'

On Fox News Sunday, Wallace failed to challenge Gates' claim that troop withdrawals will be based on "successes" (click here)
Summary: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace did not challenge Defense Secretary Robert Gates' assertion that troop drawdowns "between December [2007]and July [2008]" will be due to "successes" in Iraq. In fact, due to strain on the military, the troop reduction would have been necessary regardless of conditions on the ground....


I find the comments of Martha Raddatz (in the video with the soldier as the initial image) far more healthy than anything Charles Gibson had to say. I find Gibson's commentary 'mind speak' to the real issues of the day. Ms. Raddatz made it completely clear there were politics at play from the beginning by the Bush/Cheney administration regarding the testimony by General Petraeus to the Senate. While the Senate demanded testimony some time ago, they did not expect the Republicans to turn it into a 'dog and pony show' to enhance the 'idea' of prolonged occupation of Iraq.

Ms. Raddatz also makes an excellant distinction between the fact Petraeus might be testifying to changes in his battlefield but it is not the complete picture and the Benchmarks for Iraq have been missed by a wide margin. I appreciate her expertise and candor.


Gates Raises Prospect of More Troop Cuts (click here)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates Says He Hopes U.S. Can Cut Troops to 100,000 by End of 2008
Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Friday of cutting U.S. troop levels in Iraq to 100,000 by the end of next year, well beyond the cuts President Bush has approved.
Stressing that he was expressing a hope, not an administration plan, Gates said it was possible that conditions in Iraq would improve enough to merit much deeper troop cuts than are currently scheduled for 2008.
Asked at a news conference whether he was referring to lowering today's level of about 169,000 U.S. troops to about 100,000 by the end of next year, Gates replied, "That would be the math." He quickly added, however, that because "there is no script" in war, his hoped-for cuts could vanish....


I wish I could say this about all the reporting around the nation and all the reporting at CNN, but, in honesty until this country's media is willing to be the source of truth and not center of 'popular politics' I can only say, today I actually felt relief at the airing of "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. (click here)" He did a remarkably good job today and for two full hours CNN actually started to sound like CNN again. With that said I remain completely skeptical to the focus of the newsiness and truthiness of CNN, but, Blitzer set the stage for 'truth' to become fashionable again and I appreciated that.


It's time to take back America. I hope some of the 'refreshing words' I heard today is the cultural survival of us all. Thank you, Alan Greenspan.

It is probably too early to say for sure, but, it sounds like the Russians might have found the killer of Politkovskaya

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in October 2006.

Western media is always ready to jump on the back of the Russian government when it comes to high profile murders. In all honesty, that is problematic. I never thought the Russian governent ordered the murder of Politkovskaya, just like I don't believe they ordered the pulonium murder in London of Russian Dissendent Alexanader Litvnenko.

This arrest makes sense actually.

Buraev was the former head of Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan region and may have been implicated in Politkovskaya book about Chechnya. Regardless, Chechnya has been at war for a long time. This is another 'ethnic' region with many troubled people and it is easily used by The West as a wedge against the Russian government. I don't recall the number dead in Chechnya but it exceed 100,000 easily. Of course we all remember the tragedy of Beslan as well. It is these rebels that the Russians have tried to defeat for I believe at least ten years. The 'marathon war' seems to be the plague of Russia when considering it's efforts in Afghanistan when defeated by the Mujahedeen with the assistance of the USA.

But that aside, the 'idea' that a government official in Chechnya was being implicated at some level by Politkovskaya makes complete sense. To that end, realizing his fate would be sealed if found to be guilty of a state crime against Russia. With that the case, there would be no alternative but to kill the messanger and in this case it was the lovely lady journalist. I also find it interesting this should come about with the advent of the confirmation of the new Prime Minister. Interesting.

The extrapolation that the Russian government silenced her after so many years of writing in opposition to the Chechen war came from the fact she strongly felt there was something within the government that caused the people's hardship, reinforced the ethnicity and hence the war. It would seem as though she may actually have been absolutely right, but, it wasn't necessarily the Russian central government that was the issue as The West would like to believe but the ethnic government of Chechnya itself.

Anna seems to have been right and investigating a war conducted in the far reaches of the Caucasus Mountains where she was exposed to violence from elements unknown and known was a very dangerous self assignment. I am confident the people of Chechnya miss her terribly and may even feel abandoned due to her loss, although, since Beslan the Russian government has been actively interested in the people and their mental health a good deal more.

I remind, the attacks in Beslan were facilitated by primarily outside interests, the Uzbeks whom have/had a warlord in Afghanistan. The dynamics are interesting but the actual terrorists of Beslan weren't really native to that country and one has to speculate whom backed them and why.

Disruption of peace in a country The West lusts after that would see the Russian government disintegrate further as did the USSR raises many, many questions. Beslan was conducted with very few Chechen rebels involved. The attack was very suspicious and designed to disgust the world because it was innocent children and mothers that were the target. I don't think it was al Qaeda as it primarily enlists Saudis and angry/criminal Sunni Arabs. Beslan was a very odd collection of ethnic terrorists, as if perhaps 'hired.'

Just a thought.

I would imagine the world was so angry at the time, invading Russia would seem a real reasonable answer. No different than Litvinenko. His murder was an outrageous act and demanded attention beyond a normal event. Seemed like only a 'national/state' authority could have carried out such a dynamics.

A country such as the USA needs the cooperation of it's populous to conduct a war successfully. Passion drives war. No different than passion drives love or art on many an occassion. Strong feelings of bonding with an issue that would change the course of lives. Iraq was a passion driven war and The West needs to be cautious to the kind of passion they are demanding of their populous as Iraq was a prime example of how passionate trust laced with lies and a culture of fear actually places the USA and it's allies on the "W"rong path.

Chechen Arrested On Suspicion Of Ordering Politkovskaya Hit (click here)
Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika has alleged Politkovskaya knew the person who ordered her killing
(AFP)
September 15, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Aset Buraeva, the wife of former Chechnya official Shamil Buraev, has told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service her husband has been arrested on suspicion of ordering the October 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Buraeva's comments substantiate a report in today's “Komsomolskaya pravda," which cited unnamed law-enforcement officials as saying Buraev, the former head of Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan region, was arrested in Moscow on September 13.
Moscow's Basmanny District Court sanctioned the arrest the following day, on suspicion of Buraev's suspected involvement in the crime. Details of the arrest could not be independently confirmed.
Sergei Sokolov, the deputy editor of “Novaya gazeta," where Politkovskaya worked at the time of her death, told RFE/RL's Russian Service the media should not play a role in spreading information about possible suspects.
"It's not journalists, but the court, that has to decide if the investigation is on the right track," he said. "Shamil Buraev has been under suspicion for a long time. We've had those suspicions ourselves. I think [the arrest] is a continuation of this strange game, where the investigation is in fact powerless because its secrecy is being violated immediately."
Likely Leak?
Sokolov also said the information was the likely result of a leak from law-enforcement organs, and that the appearance of press reports like the one in “Komsomolskaya pravda" might hamper the investigation....

...until tomorrow...good night.

The Iraqi Benchmarks aren't met. Bush today stated that one more benchmark was met. Lie by fact Iraqi Parliament members are leaving.

My first instinct is to present "It's Saturday Night" tomorrow. I want to move to my other computer, but, I first need to make a few adjustments.

So.

To be able to put it all together I'll do this tomorrow and tonight I'll just review the events taking shape in Iraq and the home front for USA freedom reclamation.

Basically, the Petraeus as I see it was a surrender. I know the general and Bush doesn't see it that way, but, when one joins with sheiks that approved of the killing of Americans to then arm them further so they could eliminate the killers they originally approved of, namely al Qaeda in Iraq, there is something "W"rong with that picture.

I realize the USA military was faced with an unwinable war due to the insistance of Bush and Cheney's oil agenda, but, the fact it manifested a war front UNEXPECTEDLY by any estimation by any USA strategist that would present as a 'forever' war causing widespread devastation to the people of Iraq was more than anyone in the region bargained for. I was astounded at the statement by Pace this week stating, '...there were mistakes in Iraq, but, I still believe it was right to invade that country.'

Where does that come from? The most troubling aspect of a statement like that translates into, "...let's do it again, because the 'mop up' after the 'mess up' wasn't all that terrible, after all.'

I don't think so.

General Petraeus ad nets Giuliani big bucks from donors

Pew Institute poll of demographics of those supporting Giuliani for president.

There is no surprise the Petraeus ad was all about money, right? We are all familiar with the 'tough guy' attitude as a favorite for evangelicals, right? So this survey tracks.



BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Saturday, September 15th 2007, 4:00 AM
Rudy Giuliani shelled out $64,575 for a pro-Gen. David Petraeus ad in The New York Times, but it paid big dividends yesterday - in contributions to his Republican presidential campaign.
Aides to Giuliani, who swiftly e-mailed copies of the ad to supporters as part of a fund-raising push, said they reaped "tens of thousands of dollars" in online donations yesterday alone.
"It will have paid for itself by week's end," said one top adviser, predicting the return would top $64,575 by tomorrow....

Things are getting a little rough for California House Candidates, aren't they? I mean Cindy is a declared candidate.

Anti-war protesters march demanding an end to the war in Iraq, the return of US troops and the impeachment of US President George W. Bush in Washington, DC

Thousands of Anti-War Protesters March in Washington (click here)
By Michael Lipin Washington

15 September 2007
Thousands of anti-war activists rallied in Washington Saturday to demand an end to the Iraq war, the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops and the impeachment of President Bush. At least 5,000 people marched from the White House to Capitol Hill, while hundreds of counter-demonstrators lined the route to show their support for the U.S. troops in Iraq. VOA's Michael Lipin reports....

As a declared candidate she has a right to get her message out in any way she wants to as long as it's a peaceful meeting. You know, right to assemble and all that. It's her right, so like what gives? What's with police showing up to break up a MEETING?



September 15
Anti-War Protest to Be 'Unlike Any Other'
By Nathan BurchfielCNSNews.com Staff WriterSeptember 13, 2007(CNSNews.com) - Organizers of an anti-war protest scheduled for Sept. 15 said Wednesday that the demonstration will be "unlike any other" as activists gather to demand an immediate end to the war.The protest, organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), begins with a rally near the White House, continues with a march to the U.S. Capitol, and concludes with a "die-in" that organizers estimate will involve approximately 1,000 people lying down near the Capitol in a symbolic effort to represent dead U.S. soldiers and dead Iraqis.Brian Becker, ANSWER's national coordinator, told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the demonstration "will be unlike any other anti-war protest in recent years because it will culminate in a massive civil disobedience," referring to the "die-in." He said the volunteers who have signed up online to participate in the demonstration are risking arrest by participating. The group expects "tens of thousands" to protest the war.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200709/CUL20070913a.html



Police break up anti-war meeting in Washington
7 Sep 2007, 0315 hrs IST , AFP

WASHINGTON: Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers said. "The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium" erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, said. "Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them," Becker said. The charge caused a peaceful crowd of some 20 journalists and four or five protestors to scatter in terror, an AFP correspondent at the event in Lafayette Square said. No one appeared to have been hurt. Three people -- Tina Richards, the mother of a marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq; Adam Kokesh, a leader of the Iraq Veterans Against the War group; and lawyer Ian Thompson, who is an organizer for ANSWER in Los Angeles -- were arrested, Becker said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/Police_break_up_anti-war_meeting_in_Washington/articleshow/2345628.cms

continued...

Morning Papers - continued...

Michael Moore Today


http://www.michaelmoore.com/


September 13th, 2007 3:11 am
Week of Antiwar Events To Start With a 'Die-In'
Protesters Advocate Civil Disobedience
By Michelle Boorstein and Allison Klein / Washington Post
A week of events meant to crank up a national demonstration against the war in Iraq is set to begin Saturday, with a 1,000-person "die-in" at the U.S. Capitol led by current and former American troops and accompanied by taps and a mock 21-gun salute.
The die-in will be the culmination of a march and rally. Organizers hope the event will spur people in the antiwar movement to move from protesting to performing acts of civil disobedience that "get in the way of the war machine," said Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, at a news conference yesterday at the National Press Club.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10217



Over 1,000 who still have the luxury of pretending…


I will participatein the massDie-In/FuneralSat, Sept 15in Washington DC

http://answer.pephost.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=4000&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS


at U.S. Capitol


SEPTEMBER 15


Mass March in Washington DC!Gather at 12 noon at the White House
100 transportation centers! Find the closest to you


http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_transportation


To become a volunteer, click here


http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_volunteer


To endorse, click here


http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_endorse


To organize transportation, click here


http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_organize


To order Sept. 15 literature, click here


To sign up for the Sept. 15 die-in, click here

Check out http://www.sept15.org/!


http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_homepage


Join Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Camp Casey Peace Institute, the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, National Council of Arab-Americans, Grassroots America, Hip Hop Caucus, and thousands of others in Washington DC on September 15 for a huge antiwar protest timed to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "Surge" in Iraq.


http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage


September 15th -- March on Washington!
Get your ticket to DC today!

https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Ecommerce?store_id=1861&JServSessionIdr007=17bc51u3a2.app8a


Organize transportation to the September 15th March on Washington!
Filling out this form means that you/your organization are working with other people and groups in your city, school, community, place of worship, union or workplace to bring people to Washington on Saturday, September 15, 2007.

http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_organize


September 13th, 2007 3:42 pm
Local protesters near Washington D.C.
Worn out shoes, but not sprits, organizer says
By William Brand / Oakland Tribune
She's marched across America from the Bay Area, worn out four pairs of sandals, slogging through late summer heat and humidity and the war in Iraq rages as intense as ever.
But 19-year-old Ashley Casale, interviewed on her cell phone this morning as she slogged along Route 50 a few miles north Winchester, VA., with a band of seven other marchers and a growing group of supporters, says she believes the cross-country walk is a significant way of standing up for peace.
"I think all these people walking with us now wanted a way to take action and stand out for peace," she said.


http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10218


SEPTEMBER 15
Mass March in Washington DC!
Gather at 12 noon at the White House
100 transportation centers! Find nearest oneTo sign up for the Sept. 15 die-in, click here
Join Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Camp Casey Peace Institute, the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, National Council of Arab-Americans, Grassroots America, Hip Hop Caucus, and thousands of others in Washington DC on September 15 for a huge antiwar protest timed to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "Surge" in Iraq.
For information on the September 14-21 Days of Action, click here.


http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_homepage


Sunday, September 16


http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8649


Monday, September 17


Counter Recruitment


http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8551


People’s March on Congress

http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8586

September 15 — Mass March in Washington DC!

We want to thank the thousands of people and many organizations that have responded to ANSWER’s May 31 Proposal to the Anti-War Movement. The essence of the proposal is for all the anti-war coalitions and organizations to come together to mobilize the largest single mass march on Washington DC under the demand End the War Now!...

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8515

Calendar of upcoming anti-war events

Tuesday, September 18


Congressional Occupation Day


http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8552


September 14, 2007

Gerald R. Ford Museum


"THE DICK CHENEY, GOP QUAGMIRE TOUR"

Dick Cheney Quagmire Tour Protested in Grand Rapids, MI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9POVP5vaE


Cheney Making Stop in Michigan

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=7062569


U.S. Central Command

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=macdill+air+force+base&ie=UTF8&ll=27.843782,-82.544403&spn=0.083331,0.222473&t=k&z=13&iwloc=addr&om=1



Monday, September 17

Marriott Downtown


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Kansas+City+Marriott+Downtown,+200+W.+12th+St&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=39.342263,-94.523621&spn=0.583073,1.779785&z=10&iwloc=A&iwd=1&cid=39099980,-94585584,11348827273064088834&dtab=0



Cheney will visit Kansas City to raise funds for Sam Graves
Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Kansas City on Monday to help Rep. Sam Graves raise money for his 2008 re-election race.
The event will be at noon at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, 200 W. 12th St. General reception tickets are $250. A photo reception with the vice president is $2,000. Call 816-407-1222 for tickets.
Cheney has visited Kansas City at least two other times to raise money for Graves. The last time, in April 2004, generated $340,000.
Graves is expected to face Democrat Kay Barnes, a former Kansas City mayor.


http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/269674.html


September 27, 2007

Sheldon Adelson Home


Vice President Cheney to Visit Las Vegas
The vice president of the United States will be heading to Las Vegas. Dick Cheney will be in Southern Nevada Sept. 27th to raise money for the republican party.
The event reportedly will be at the home of Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson. Tickets are $250. The ticket price covers dinner and a picture with the vice president.


http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7059477


One Sponsor, Nineteen Cosponsors

H.RES.333 Title: Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (19) Latest Major Action: 5/4/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HE00333:@@@N


Herdt: Militants in tennis shoes
Nurses Association won't bend on health reform
By Timm Herdt / Ventura County Star
John Graham, a hulking man with sad eyes, wearing a shirt only half buttoned, looked the part Tuesday of a man who had not slept well.
"It was not an easy night," he said.
There have been many such nights over the last six years, but Monday had been particularly bad, knowing dawn would deliver the anniversary of the date that painted the sadness in his eyes.
He had been a volunteer emergency medical technician six years earlier, working at a job site in Manhattan near the World Trade Center.


http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10219


September 13th, 2007 4:33 pm
Unionized nurses flex their muscle
Caregivers direct their newfound clout at the political process as well as working conditions.
By Lisa Girion / Los Angeles Times
Nurses aren't just taking orders anymore.
From intensive care wards to the halls of Congress, they're exerting growing influence over hospital practices and patient treatment. With the clout they've gained through unionization, they've raised their incomes and their profession's profile.
Now they're lobbying for a radical change to the country's healthcare system, starting in California.
On Monday, hundreds of members of the California Nurses Assn. marched on the Capitol in Sacramento and pledged to continue to campaign for universal healthcare coverage.


http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10220



9/11: Still Killing - Photos by Allan Tannenbaum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsaPQ_GdrQQ



911 Still Killing

http://www.sohoblues.com/9-11-Still-Killing.html



Ten Facts About Guantanamo

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/side-effects/gitmo/


Contact your House of Representative Member asking them to support HR 676

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/boxscore/index.php?action=print



Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance

http://www.sustainablebiodieselalliance.com/



September 2nd, 2007 2:03 am
Coalition of nuns calls for impeaching Bush and Cheney
Winston-Salem Journal
A progressive group of U.S. nuns has called on Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney because of their roles in the war in Iraq.
“The National Coalition of American Nuns is impelled by conscience to call you to act promptly to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for ... high crimes and misdemeanors,” the group wrote in a letter written on behalf of its board members.
The letter says that impeachment is warranted for their “deceiving the public under the false pretense that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction” and “destroying” the reputation of the United States and the good will of other nations.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10194



H.RES.333
Title: Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (19)
Latest Major Action: 5/4/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HE00333:@@@N



September 2nd, 2007 2:36 am
Protesters want Hinchey to back Cheney impeachment
KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) - Five people who staged a sit-in this week in Congressman Maurice Hinchey's Hudson Valley office - demanding the congressman support an effort to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney - will meet again with Hurley Democrat to push their position.
They were among more than 50 people who met with Hinchey on Tuesday.
The five staged the sit-in at Hinchey's office later for several hours, refusing to leave until granted a further meeting to ask questions and get answers.
Hinchey agreed to the demand, though a spokesman says the date has not yet been set.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10196



Hinchey was for it before he was against it

http://www.michaelmoore.com/



H.RES.635
Title: Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.
Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 12/18/2005) Cosponsors (38)
Latest Major Action: 12/18/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00635:@@@P



August 29th, 2007 4:27 pm
Hinchey catches flack, from the left
Mid-Hudson News Network
Kingston – “I don’t care if you don’t have the votes”, said one of about 75 impeachment supporters, who had both barrels blazing, not at President Bush, or Dick Cheney, but at liberal Democrat Congressman Maurice Hinchey.
Why? Because Hinchey has not actually introduced, or supported, a resolution to impeach the current administration.
The Tuesday afternoon event, which originally was to have been a meeting between Hinchey and about half a dozen activists, in his small third floor office in uptown Kingston, was moved to the community room at the RUPCO building, a block away. Even there, the crowd overflowed onto the sidewalk.
Professor and author Joel Kovel said it is no wonder Congress has a lower rating than even the President.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10182


Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?
Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."
No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
I don't know.

Vote to see results

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/



September 2nd, 2007 2:13 am
More than 1,800 Iraqis killed in August
By Robert H. Reid / Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Civilian deaths rose in August to their second-highest monthly level this year, according to figures compiled Saturday by The Associated Press. That raises questions about whether U.S. strategy is working days before Congress receives landmark reports that will decide the course of the war.
At least 81 American service members also died in Iraq during August — an increase of two over the previous month but well below the year's monthly high of 126 in May. American deaths surpassed the 80 mark during only two months of 2006.
U.S. military officials have insisted that the security plan launched early this year led to a decrease in attacks on civilians and sectarian killings, especially in the Baghdad area, which was the focus of the new strategy.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10195


U.S. military deaths in Iraq at 3,738
By The Associated Press Sun Sep 2, 7:12 PM ET
As of Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007, at least 3,738 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 3,061 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths


Ted Voth Jr.: Candidates should stay put in D.C. to impeach Bush, Cheney
A letter to the editor — 9/01/2007 8:28 am
Dear Editor: It just occurred to me that Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Chris Dodd, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, have pressing business in D.C. All of them need to be censuring and/or impeaching and removing from office the monstrous two-headed President Cheney/Bush, ending Bush's war, and repealing the disgraceful Patriot Act, the disastrous Military Commissions Act, and the unspeakable "wiretap cave-in act" Congress passed before its vacation.
None of them should be out on the campaign trail until they've fulfilled their oaths to uphold, preserve and defend the Constitution of the U.S. -- in this most perilous crisis of our republic, to restore the Constitution.
Frankly, until they do so, all of them are abysmally unworthy to be trusted with the presidency. Frankly, till they carry out their duties to the Constitution, they are complicit in the high crimes and treason of Dick Cheney and George Bush.

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/209825


Congress Approval Rating Matches Historical Low
Just 18% approve of job Congress is doing
by Jeffrey M. Jones
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll finds Congress' approval rating the lowest it has been since Gallup first tracked public opinion of Congress with this measure in 1974. Just 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 76% disapprove, according to the August 13-16, 2007, Gallup Poll.
That 18% job approval rating matches the low recorded in March 1992, when a check-bouncing scandal was one of several scandals besetting Congress, leading many states to pass term limits measures for U.S. representatives (which the Supreme Court later declared unconstitutional). Congress had a similarly low 19% approval rating during the energy crisis in the summer of 1979.

http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=28456



"You can't pretend the system doesn't exist."
-- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

http://www.michaelmoore.com/



With speech, Clinton lays out goals as president
Democratic says she is willing to work for change from within system
By Patrick Healy / New York Times
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York unveiled a new stump speech on Sunday, outlining the “four big goals” she would have as president and saying she was willing to “work within the system” and make “principled compromises” to achieve them.
Praising the leadership styles of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, Mrs. Clinton described herself as a pragmatist and an alliance-builder. Without naming names, she said her strategies would yield more results than those of her two chief rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.
“From my time in the White House and in the Senate, I learned you bring change by working in the system established by the Constitution,” Mrs. Clinton said at an early afternoon rally in Concord, drawing a pointed contrast to the outsider messages of Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards. Referring to the Roosevelts and Johnson, she said, “They got big things done because they knew it wasn’t just about the dream, it’s about the results.”

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10198



Tell Hillary No One is Asking Her to Pretend

Contact Us Online
Please fill out the form below to contact us by email.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/help/contact/



The Michael Moore Health Care Proposal

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/health-care-proposal/



"You're sitting on the 23rd floor of a marble building a thousand miles away and all you're focused on are the numbers and the dollars." -- Dr. Linda Peeno

September 4th, 2007 11:56 am
'Sicko's' Peeno Sees Few Gains in Health Insurance
September 3, 2007 from All Things Considered / NPR
MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I’m Melissa Block.
This summer, Michael Moore’s film “SiCKO” brought one of health care’s most famous whistleblowers back into the spotlight.
Dr. LINDA PEENO: In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would have saved his life and thus caused his death. No person and no group has held me accountable for this because, in fact, what I did was I’ve saved the company a half a million dollars for this.
BLOCK: That’s Linda Peeno, a doctor from Louisville, Kentucky before Congress in 1996. Her testimony came at the height of the national debate over patient’s rights and HMO’s.
NPR’s Julie Rovner recently spent some time with Linda Peeno and has this profile.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10197


Audio

http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/popup.php?id=14142415&type=1&date=03-Sep-2007&au=1&pid=46326362&random=5444632566&guid=000D9AF86CBA06DA574C5CC461626364&uaType=RM&aaType=RM,WM&upf=mac&topicName=Health___Science&subtopicName=Health_Care&prgCode=ATC&hubId=-1&thingId=13979799&ssid=&tableModifier=&mtype=RM



Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
'Vermonter Takes it to Bush Down Under' ...by Dan DeWalt
"President" Bush may not be willing to visit Vermont, but one of Vermont's finest, ex-marine Matt Howard, was in Australia today delivering the message to Bush and the world that we have seen through his lies, calling him and his sycophants out for their criminal Iraq adventure.
The three mile steel barrier that the city erected to keep the Decider from being exposed to the multitudes who disagree with and despise him may have prevented him from hearing the words of Mr. Howard, but listeners to the BBC/WBUR program The World, distributed across the U.S. by Public Radio International were treated to a short but articulate condemnation of the Bush Iraq war policy by Mr. Howard.
It is good and remarkable that we were able to hear this bit of dissension, but it is too bad that we only seem to hear about it when it happens on the other side of the globe.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=909



Captain Mike Across America Michael Moore
Michael Moore has been a ubiquitous presence on talk shows and in YouTube clips this summer, passionately reaffirming the message of his recent documentary, Sicko: America must fix its broken health-care system. It’s hard to remember that for the two years prior, Moore had withdrawn from public life until his re-emergence at last year’s Festival, when he showed the first-ever sneak-preview clips of Sicko. But he was hardly idle in those two years. In addition to Sicko, he was preparing another film – one strategically timed to mobilize voters in anticipation of the 2008 United States presidential election.
Captain Mike Across America takes us back to the 2004 election, when the polling margin between candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry could have tipped either way. Framed like a concert film, it captures Moore’s activities as he set out on a campaign trip almost as rigorous and far-reaching as the candidates’ own. He targeted young people as the demographic that could make the most difference, visiting sixty-two cities in forty-five days, and holding large rallies on college campuses. He dubbed it the Slacker Uprising Tour.

http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?ID=705151529541292



Toronto International Film Festival '07 - Screening Room, movie trailers


http://www.tiff07.ca/mediacentre/screeningroom/


"What can I do?"

Urge your Representative to cosponsor of H.R. 676
Your life may depend on it...


Make Sure Your Rep. Supports H.R. 676
"Which congressional district am I in?"
CLiCK here and enter your address to find out.

Find your members of Congress by clicking on your state on the map to the right or filling out the following form:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/


If there is already a green check next to your Representative's name, don't hesitate to thank them.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/boxscore/index.php?action=print



See the Movie, Know the Issue

http://www.sickotix.com/


Thursday, July 26th, 2007
See the Movie, Start the Revolution ...a letter from Michael Moore
Friends,
I am overwhelmed by the response to "Sicko." And I'm not just talking about all the wonderful, heart-felt letters you've sent me and the stories you've shared with me about the abuse you've suffered from our health care system.
No, I'm talking about how thousands of you are taking matters into your own hands and using the movie to do something. From Seattle to New England, each day I learn of numerous groups holding meetings or dinners after the movie to discuss it and to plot a course for action. A church in Plano, TX took its weekly bible study group to see "Sicko." 70 people crammed into a Wisconsin coffee shop's back room. Groups are plotting over pancakes in Illinois and microbrew in Missouri. E-mail addresses are being exchanged in theater lobbies. A Connecticut group is inviting legislators to see "Sicko" and keeping a tally on their website. Local groups have been buying out theaters to have special screenings for their members. Information tables are set up, literature is distributed, action groups are formed.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=219


Highway Blogger - Freedom of Speech - Use it or Lose it

http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/


The man is compelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKiPg9KKfQw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emichaelmoore%2Ecom%2F


More support!
While this strike is about much more than 9/11 questions, we are very grateful that one of the most reputable organizations on this issue has solidly endorsed the Strike.
On September 11, 2007, 911Truth.org Supports US Rediscovery of the General Strike
Also, someone on Indybay has written An Open Letter to the Business Community encouraging local businesses to participate in the Strike by shutting down on 9/11.

http://www.strike911.org/



On September 11, 2007, 911
Truth.org
Supports US Rediscovery of the General Strike
In solidarity with a growing number of patriotic grassroots groups on both the right and left, 911truth.org proudly announces its support for the revival of populist direct actions to confront governmental behavior we see as increasingly criminal and intransigent. 911truth.org therefore urges all freedom-loving Americans to spend September 11, 2007, rediscovering the compelling democratic history of people's movements and the general strike.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20070901/bs_prweb/prweb550757_1

continued...

Congratulations to the NY Times. They know how to take care of people. Thank you, China.

Zhao Yan, center, is greeted by friends and relatives after he was released from the state security prison in Beijing.

“I would like to thank my family, friends and my employer for their steadfast concern and support,” Mr. Zhao said in a statement released on Saturday morning. He added: “These three years I have missed my family very much, especially my maternal grandmother, who is now more than 100 years old. For that reason, I want some time to reunite with my family.”

He needs to come to the USA and speak to the people that have missed him for so long. A visit here would be very nice.

I predicted $100 by the end of the year. I thought for a while it wasn't going to make it. Hm.

Traders worked in the crude oil options pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday.

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: September 13, 2007
HOUSTON, Sept. 13 — Crude oil closed above $80 a barrel for the first time today, breaking a longstanding psychological barrier just days after oil producers tried to bring prices down by promising to increase output....

Morning Papers - continued...

The Trenton Times

Report: Iraqis losing religious freedom
9/14/2007, 10:21 a.m. EDT
By MATTHEW LEE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Religious freedom has sharply deteriorated in Iraq over the past year because of both the insurgency and violence targeting specific faiths, despite the U.S. military buildup intended to improve security, says a State Department report to be released Friday.
The Annual Report on International Religious Freedom finds that all worshippers are targeted for attacks and the violence is not confined to the well-known rivalry between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
"The ongoing insurgency significantly harmed the ability of all religious believers to practice their faith," says the 22-page executive summary of the report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its official release by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/politics-13/118977844932850.xml&storylist=


Princeton seeks more students, more diversity
9/14/2007, 9:27 a.m. EDT
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
The Associated Press
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — With a $136 million complex of Collegiate Gothic-style stone buildings that feature huge, mahogany-trimmed dorm rooms, an art gallery and a 65-seat theater, Princeton University is preparing for its biggest increase in undergraduate enrollment since it started admitting women.
The university wants to use the added capacity to add more diversity to a campus that's one of the most prestigious places in higher education.
Princeton has ranked in at least a tie for first in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of the best universities for each of the past eight years. It accepts only about 10 percent of the nearly 19,000 students who apply each year.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1189777165293170.xml&storylist=jersey


Trentonian

Nation’s big-time mayors arrive for a taste of Trenton
By Staff Report
TRENTON — Some of the most influential voices in urban America arrive in Trenton today to help Mayor Douglas H. Palmer celebrate the crowning accomplishment of his political career: his rise to the presidency of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
But Palmer’s detractors are determined to rain on his parade. One group that blames him for many ills of the city plans a protest outside the Trenton Marriott at 12:30 p.m., just as more than 30 American mayors will be checking in.
Another group of critics, also spreading their message through anonymous blogs, spent yesterday planting curbside signs urging the public to read its Internet site, called missingmayor.com. A city road crew was spotted yanking out one of the signs.
Now in his 18th year as mayor, Palmer is believed to be serving his last term, which has prompted a variety of mayoral wannabes to put themselves forward as leaders with solutions to Trenton’s many social problems.

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily;jsessionid=cNFGGqnKyTRc1JFvS1rykT7N6fspnCDB28CTsR2jhrHj3nBdcKnp!-547604190?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FHome&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FHome%2FTopStoryList_Story_675819



‘Trenton Speaks’ freely on new Internet site
By Joe D'Aquila
TRENTON — They’ve been called haters, malcontents and Johnny-come-latelies by the objects of their ire, and dismissed as insignificant, disgruntled, and even evil.
But now they’re being called something that really hurts — deleted.
They’re the vitriol-spewing Internet mavens who have for years found a home on a popular New Jersey Web site affiliated with newspapers other than this one, where matters of import to the Capital City were discussed and debated, often with a critical eye cast toward the powers that be.
But that all came crashing to a halt this week when nearly every comment posted on the Web board was deleted from existence nearly as quickly as it was put up — that is, if the message contained anything critical of the city’s administration or
was authored by someone seen as a critic.

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FHome&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FHome%2FTopStoryList_Story_674735



White House: Iraq Lags on Benchmarks
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House told Congress Friday that Iraqi leaders
gained little new ground on key military and political goals, a discouraging assessment a day after President Bush said progress justifies a large continued U.S. military presence there.
The report underscored the difficulty of Bush's argument that a continuing American sacrifice was creating space for Iraqi leaders to make gains on tamping down the sectarian fighting that leaves Iraq persistently fractured and violent.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Bhutto to Return to Pakistan on Oct. 18
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will return to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct. 18 to campaign for office, her party said Friday. The government said she was free to come back but would have to face corruption cases against her.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice president of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said she would land in Karachi and would bring democracy to Pakistan. Supporters, throwing flower petals and lighting firecrackers, chanted: "Long Live Benazir! Prime Minister Benazir!"

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN_POLITICS?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Powerful Aftershocks Terrorize Indonesia
By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
Associated Press Writer
PADANG, Indonesia (AP) -- Powerful earthquakes struck Indonesia for a third day Friday, terrorizing thousands of people who slept outside in fear of tsunami and falling debris. Seismologists warned that the worst may be yet to come.
The massive 8.4-magnitude quake that shook Southeast Asia on Wednesday has been followed by dozens of strong aftershocks that have killed at least 13 people, damaged hundreds of homes and churned up a 10-foot-high tsunami.
On Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey measured one aftershock jolting the area at magnitude 6.4.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INDONESIA_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Gulf Coast Recovering From Humberto
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
HIGH ISLAND, Texas (AP) -- Some residents of Texas and Louisiana fired up generators to cut through the darkness after Hurricane Humberto sneaked up on the Gulf Coast, knocking out power to thousands and flooding streets before fizzling into a tropical depression.
Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years, steadily lost its punch Thursday after sloshing ashore in Texas as a stronger storm than initially expected and then dragging across Louisiana. One death was blamed on the storm.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HURRICANE_HUMBERTO?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Russia: Vote Approves Putin's PM Choice
By STEVE GUTTERMAN
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's lower house of parliament confirmed President Vladimir Putin's choice as prime minister Friday, approving a previously obscure official in a vote whose result was a foregone conclusion. Putin said the new premier, Viktor Zubkov, was among at least five people who could hope to succeed him.
The comment was an indication that the president wants Russians to consider Zubkov as a candidate, but not necessarily the front-runner for his backing in the March presidential vote.
"It's good that one more person has emerged, and that Russian citizens will have a choice," RIA-Novosti quoted Putin as saying.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RUSSIA_GOVERNMENT?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Sep 14, 10:27 AM EDT

Madonna at Kabbalah Conference in Israel
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Madonna joined other devotees of Kabbalah, Judaism's mystical sect, at a Tel Aviv hotel Thursday on the occasion of the Jewish New Year.
The 49-year-old singer, who wore a shiny black zipper jacket and a red hat with a plaid brim, is attending a Kabbalah conference during a private visit to the Holy Land.
She arrived Wednesday night but didn't speak to the media.
Madonna was raised a Roman Catholic but has become a follower of Jewish mysticism in recent years. She plans to visit sites sacred to Kabbalah devotees during her stay.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEOPLE_MADONNA?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Belichick, Patriots Fined
By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Bill Belichick is ready for his close-up.
The Patriots' coach escaped suspension for using a video camera to spy on opposing coaches, with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell deciding instead on Thursday night to fine him $500,000 and dock the team $250,000 and a first-day draft pick next year.
It was the biggest fine ever for a coach and the first time in NFL history a first-round draft pick has been confiscated as a penalty. But Belichick will be on the sideline Sunday night, as planned, when the Patriots play the San Diego Chargers.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBN_NFL_SPYING?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



Merck closes $366 million deal to buy NovaCardia for heart drug

By LINDA A. JOHNSON
TRENTON (AP) - Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. said today it has completed its acquisition of NovaCardia Inc., a tiny drug development company with a promising experimental heart drug, for $366.4 million in stock.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck said the deal is expected to result in a charge of 15 cents per share in its third quarter. That's equal to about $325 million of the purchase price and will be accounted for as costs for in-process research and development.
The buyout price of $366.4 million includes $16.4 million to pay for cash and investments that San Diego-based NovaCardia had on hand.
Merck, the world's No. 7 drugmaker, said it would give more information on its 2007 profit forecast with its third-quarter financial results on Oct. 22.

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FBusiness&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FBusiness%2FHeadlineList_Story_662034


Stocks Pare Losses After Lower Open
By TIM PARADIS AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks pared their losses after opening lower Friday following a government report that August retail sales excluding autos fell sharply.
The report suggested consumers held off spending in the face of turmoil in the financial markets, though perhaps helped cement arguments of those calling for the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark federal funds rate when policymakers meet Tuesday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WALL_STREET?SITE=NJTRT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


At least 5 Atlantic City casinos plan to go smoke-free in light of new law
By WAYNE PARRY
ATLANTIC CITY (AP) - Smokers may soon be out of luck: At least five of Atlantic City's casinos are making gambling areas smoke-free.
The move comes in response to a law passed in February requiring gambling floors to be at least 75 percent smoke-free. The city's 11 casinos must tell the state by Saturday how they plan to comply with the law.
Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which owns four casinos here — Harrah's Atlantic City, the Showboat Casino-Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City — said yesterday it will spend $7 million to open smoking lounges ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet apiece. Tropicana Casino and Resort has a similar plan.
That would leave the gambling floor totally smoke-free; patrons would have to enter one of the lounges in order to light up.

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FBusiness&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FBusiness%2FHeadlineList_Story_666029


The Trentonian's Strange But True Blog

Radar, a Belgian draft horse and reigning Guinness World Record holder as the 'Tallest Living Horse,' at 6ft 6in, and Thumbelina, a miniature sorrel brown mare and the world's 'Smallest Living Horse,' 17.5 inches,

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FBusiness&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FBusiness%2FContentTab_News_658039



Community Options honors Caren Franzini
By Trentonian Online News Team
TRENTON — Community Options honored Caren Franzini, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, as their person of the year for her help in employing individuals with disabilities. The event was held last Friday at the Morven Museum and Garden in Princeton.
The non-profit organization recognized Franzini for her dedication and commitment to non-profit organizations, entrepreneurships and urban development. According to Community Options, Franzini has shared the same
goals as the organization such as employing individuals with disabilities. The organization noted that Franzini was the catalyst that pushed the first domino to create a chain reaction for Community Options innovative programs, specifically The Daily Plan It in Princeton.

http://www.trentonian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRN%2FBusiness&r21.content=%2FTRN%2FBusiness%2FTopStoryList_Story_674306



The Star Ledger

State threatens lawsuit over child health rules
Thursday, September 13, 2007
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO
Star-Ledger Staff
Gov. Jon Corzine threatened yesterday to take legal action against the Bush administration to challenge new rules that would exclude thousands of children from the government-sponsored FamilyCare health insurance program next year.
In a strident letter mailed to the White House, Corzine called the rules "unreasonable" because they would make some children wait a year to apply, and limit enrollment to families from the lowest rungs of poverty.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1189658496216280.xml&coll=1


Rebate checks are in the mail, really
by Tom Hester
Friday September 14, 2007, 10:42 AM

The checks - the much-awaited property tax relief checks, that is - are in the mail.
With Gov. Jon Corzine standing by, the final wave of this year's state Homestead Rebate checks were loaded on to a U.S. postal truck in Ewing today for delivery to 1.1 million nonsenior homeowners.
The average rebate is $966, more than three times the average amount homeowners received last year, $285.
"This benefit represent a dramatic increase in relief, particularly to middle-class families," Corzine told reporters at a Treasury Department check printing center. The governor noted that the average rebate this year for the largest group of non-senior homeowners - the 680,000 with incomes under $100,000 - is approximately $1,000. That amount is more than three times greater than the $316 they received last year.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/rebate_checks_are_in_the_mail.html


NJ student faces charges after Lehigh swimming team drinking party
by Associated Press
Friday September 14, 2007, 10:20 AM
Nineteen members of the Lehigh University swim team were charged with underage drinking after police broke up a party.
Two team members who lived at the home in Bethlehem, Pa. -- 19-year-old Mac S. Tichner of Brookville, N.Y., and Darren Podolak, 20, of Medford -- were charged with corruption of minors, furnishing alcohol to minors and reckless endangerment.
Police heard loud music coming from a house and found kegs, bottles of liquor and a beer pong table when they went inside, authorities said Thursday.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/nj_student_faces_charges_in_le.html


Top Harrah's casino boss in Atlantic City will step down
by Judy DeHaven
Friday September 14, 2007, 10:48 AM
The most senior casino boss of the Harrah's Entertainment network in Atlantic City announced he will step down by the end of the year.
Ken Condon, a 29-year casino veteran who has been president of Bally's - one of four A.C. casinos owned by Harrah's - for eight years, said Thursday he has submitted his resignation. The 52-year-old casino boss, who was born in Orange and started his casino career as a host at Resorts, said he will remain at Bally's to help transition a new top person.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/harrahs_casino_boss_in_atlanti.html


Before the Bell: Consumer confidence tumbles
by Abby Gruen and Sam Ali
Friday September 14, 2007, 8:40 AM

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/before_the_bell_consumer_confi.html



Sydney Morning Herald

Earth's vital signs poor: report
More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before, one of many troubling environmental signs highlighted today in the Worldwatch Institute's annual check of the planet's health.
The Washington-based think tank's "Vital Signs 2007-2008" report points to global patterns ranging from rising meat consumption to Asian economic growth it says are linked to the broader problem of climate change.
"I think climate change is the most urgent challenge we have ever faced," said Erik Assadourian, director of the Vital Signs project.
"You see many trends in climate change, whether we are talking about grain production which is affected by droughts and flooding. Or meat production as livestock production makes up about 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/earths-vital-signs-poor-report/2007/09/14/1189276943121.html


Rate of child deaths more than halved: UN
FOR the first time since record keeping began in 1960, the number of deaths of young children around the world has fallen below 10 million a year, the UN Children's Fund says.
This public health triumph has arisen, UNICEF officials said, partly from campaigns against measles, malaria and bottle-feeding, and partly from improvements in the economies of most of the world outside Africa.
The estimated drop, to 9.7 million deaths of children under five, "is a historic moment", said Ann Veneman, UNICEF's executive director, noting that it shows progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goal in 1990 of cutting the rate of infant mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/rate-of-child-deaths-more-than-halved-un/2007/09/13/1189276898618.html


On Borrowed Time: Australia's Environmental Crisis and What We Must Do About It
Author: Lindenmayer David
Global warming, biodiversity loss, salinity . . . There is no doubt Australia's environmental problems appear huge and overwhelming. Not only is our unique natural heritage under threat, but the consequences for agriculture, tourism and the economy may be catastrophic. Can anything be done to halt the destruction?
The good news is much can be done. In this powerful and passionate book, David Lindenmayer argues that Australia does have the knowledge and resources to tackle our environmental problems. In addition, he outlines creative and impressive solutions we can all be a part of. One of Australia's leading ecologists, Professor Lindenmayer delivers a timely message about the scale and urgency of the crisis we face.

http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/spotlight.cfm?home=penguin&SBN=9780143006961


Plans for giant battery to store wind power unveiled
The British arm of German utility E.ON said on Thursday it was developing a giant battery to store wind and solar power for times of high demand.
The prototype will be the size of four large shipping containers and contain the power of 10 million standard AA batteries - 1MW of electricity for four hours, said E.ON UK.
The battery should be operational by late 2009 and will help solve one of the main problems of wind and solar power, added the power firm, which has around 8.1 million electricity and gas customers.
"Green power is only generated from wind farms when the wind blows, and that might not be when the power's needed by customers," said Bob Taylor, MD of Energy Wholesale and Technology.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/plans-for-giant-battery-to-store-wind-power-unveiled/2007/09/13/1189276889016.html


Forgiving Amish help killer's widow
Jon Hurdle in PhiladelphiaSeptember 14, 2007
AN AMISH community that lost five girls in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting massacre last year has donated money to the widow of the gunman.
The Nickel Mines Accountability Committee, which was set up to handle more than $US4.3 million ($5 million) in donations from around the world after the shootings, said it had given an unspecified "contribution" to Marie Roberts, a mother of three.
Her husband, Charles Carl Roberts, a local milk truck driver who was not Amish, tied up and shot 10 Amish schoolgirls aged six to 14 in their classroom on October 3, killing five of them before turning the gun on himself.
After the shootings, members of the deeply religious Amish community in Lancaster County, about 100 kilometres west of Philadelphia, said they wanted to forgive the gunman.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/forgiving-amish-help-killers-widow/2007/09/13/1189276898631.html


Al-Qaeda releases video of dead US pilot
An al-Qaeda led group in Iraq appealed to Americans today to reject the policies of President George W Bush and issued a video apparently showing the remains of a US pilot killed in a crash last year.
The video posted on the internet by the media arm of the Islamic State in Iraq showed the body of a dead man in a flight suit wearing a parachute harness and lying in an open area.
"O people of America, Iraq has taken many of your soldiers and Bush is the cause of this," said an off-camera insurgent on the video, which also included footage of Iraqi children it said were killed in a US air strike.
The video also showed an Air Force ID card bearing the name of Troy Gilbert, a US pilot whose plane crashed in November 2006. Originally listed as missing, he was declared dead based on human remains found at the site of the crash, according to a US military website.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/alqaeda-releases-video-of-dead-us-pilot/2007/09/14/1189276943875.html


New east-west line may cut congestion
THE NSW Government is to consider an east-west underground railway dubbed the Anzac Line, and a radical plan for a western Sydney fast train.
But the construction of a crucial CBD rail link and second harbour crossing - the former centrepiece of the Government's rail expansion plan - is in doubt.
Transport chiefs, including the heads of RailCorp and State Transit, are expected to be told today that the CBD link - which would have included three new city stations and provide badly needed relief for the congested North Shore Line and City Circle - should be postponed. It was to have been built by 2017.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-sydney-tunnel-proposal/2007/09/13/1189276899575.html


Men linked to Tamil Tigers
THREE Australian men provided the Tamil Tigers with more than $1 million worth of military resources, a court has been told.
Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 33, and Sivarajah Yathavan, 36, of Melbourne, and Arumugan Rajeevan, 41, of Sydney, allegedly used the Melbourne-based Tamil Co-ordinating Committee to raise funds for Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers.
The prosecutor, Mark Dean, SC, told Melbourne Magistrates Court that the men were members of the Australian branch of the Tigers and maintained contact with the group in Sri Lanka.
Mr Dean said $1.9 million was deposited into a bank account owned by Vinayagamoorthy and the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee between 2001 and 2005. He alleged $1.25 million was used to purchase items for the Tigers.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/men-linked-to-tamil-tigers/2007/09/13/1189276898669.html


'Prophet' polygamist denies aiding rape
The rape trial of a US polygamist sect leader has started with prosecutors alleging he ordered a 14-year-old girl to marry and have sex with a cousin despite her protests.
Warren Jeffs, 51, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke from the Mormon Church because of differences over polygamy, denies two charges of acting as an accomplice to rape.
Jeffs, a self-proclaimed prophet whose followers believe he is descended from Jesus, was arrested in August last year outside of Las Vegas after being included on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list.
He could face five years to life in prison if he convicted at the court hearing in Saint George, south of Salt Lake City.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/prophet-polygamist-denies-aiding-rape/2007/09/14/1189276943422.html


Death toll 10 as second quake rocks Sumatra
THE death toll from two huge earthquakes and a series of powerful aftershocks that hit Indonesia's Sumatra island has reached 10 and is likely to rise, with more victims feared trapped in the rubble.
More than 200 people were injured as buildings collapsed in the large provincial Sumatran towns of Padang and Bengkulu.
Indonesia, Australia and other countries in the region feared being hit by tsunami, but the earthquakes and more than 20 large aftershocks off Sumatra did not generate devastating waves, seisomologists said.
The continuing quakes that began on Wednesday night were strong enough to have sparked a tsunami, but the movement of tectonic plates between Asia and Australia apparently pushed water away from populated areas.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/second-quake-rocks-sumatra/2007/09/13/1189276898600.html



FIA fine McLaren $100 million and take away points
Formula One leaders McLaren have been kicked out of the 2007 constructors' title race and fined $US100 million ($119 million) in spying controversy involving Ferrari information.
However, the governing FIA ruled that championship leader Lewis Hamilton and team mate Fernando Alonso could keep their points in the drivers' contest.
"The WMSC (World Motor Sports Council) has stripped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of all constructors points in the 2007 FIA Formula One world championship and the team can score no points for the remainder of the season," the FIA said.
"Furthermore the team will pay a fine equal to $US100 million, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points deduction," it added.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/motorsport/mclaren-penalised-120m/2007/09/14/1189276931610.html



Putin's political ambitions back on march
ANALYSIS
THE appointment of Viktor Zubkov as Russia's new Prime Minister has intensified speculation that Vladimir Putin harbours ambitions of remaining in office beyond next year's presidential election.
Although Mr Zubkov, 65, an economist, is a member of the so-called St Petersburg set, the cabal of former KGB officers and Putin loyalists that has seized control of key levers of power at the Kremlin, no one in Russia - not even those who have heard of him - regards him as a serious contender in the presidential contest.
Mr Zubkov, who previously headed Russia's federal monitoring service, has been a key figure in Mr Putin's fight against the post-Soviet Union oligarchs who took advantage of the Government's weakness to acquire control of some of the country's prized economic assets.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/putins-political-ambitions-back-on-march/2007/09/13/1189276898625.html


Howard's mortal fears exposed
The members of John Howard's cabinet felt a dread sense of foreboding about the forthcoming election when they saw a Newspoll last week showing Labor was 18 percentage points ahead. But Howard's next step took the level of hopefulness among his ministers from low to zero.
Appalled at the Government's standing in the poll, low and ebbing lower, the Prime Minister was gripped by a moment of existential terror. He asked Alexander Downer to canvass sentiment in the cabinet to test his support among the 18 people who run the Government.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/howards-mortal-fears-exposed/2007/09/13/1189276898096.html


Google finds space on NASA airstrip
IN THE annals of perks enjoyed by America's corporate executives, the founders of Google may have set a new standard: an uncrowded, federally managed runway for their private jet only a few minutes' drive from the office.
For $US1.3 million ($1.55 million) a year, Larry Page and Sergey Brin get to park their wide-body Boeing 767-200 - a customised former Qantas jet - as well as two other jets used by top Google executives, on Moffett Field, an airport run by NASA that is generally closed to private aircraft.
It is a perk that is likely to turn other Silicon Valley tycoons green with envy, as no other private jets have landing rights there. But it may not sit well with a community that generally considers itself proud to have Google in its midst.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/google-finds-space-on-nasa-airstrip/2007/09/13/1189276905147.html


Privacy concerns over Google 'candid camera' feature
The Street View feature of Google Maps, with its close-up views of city streets and recognisable shots of people, could violate a Canadian law protecting individual privacy.
Google introduced street-level map views in May, giving web users a series of panoramic, 360-degree images of nine US cities. Some of the random pictures feature people in informal poses who can clearly be identified.
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart wrote to Google in early August asking for more details. She said if the Street View product were expanded to Canada without being amended, it could well violate privacy laws.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/concerns-over-google-candid-camera-feature/2007/09/13/1189276858785.html


Wikipedia cracks two-millionth mark
Wikipedia published its two-millionth article in the English language version of the anyone-can-edit encyclopedia, a symbolic milestone for the world's largest user-generated web publishing site.
Wikipedia, the sixth most visited network of websites worldwide behind commercial operators Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner and eBay, is available in 250 languages. Combined, Wikipedia has published more than eight million articles.
On September 10, an article on "El Hormiguero," a popular Spanish TV show, was created by Wikipedia contributor Zzxc to become the two millionth article in the English Wikipedia. The article is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EltHormiguero/

Since the reference project started in 2001, more than 100,000 registered users have made at least 10 edits each to Wikipedia articles, according to the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit charitable organization that operates Wikipedia.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/wikipedia-cracks-twomillionth-mark/2007/09/13/1189276859147.html


Beijing shows off new airport terminal
Beijing showed off its new multibillion-dollar airport terminal today - a mammoth glass and steel structure with a gracefully sloping roof that the owners said is meant to impress visitors to China's capital for the 2008 Olympics.
Terminal 3 at the Beijing Capital International Airport is a centerpiece project for the Olympics designed to relieve the overloaded airport's other two terminals and accommodate the city's torrid growth for the next seven years, executives with the airport's state-run holding company said at a tour for foreign media.
The terminal, which is scheduled to open for testing in February and full operation in July, is outfitted with a state-of-the-art baggage handling system, a rail terminal to carry passengers into the city and gates and a runway capable of handling Airbus' huge A380 superjumbo.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/beijing-shows-off-new-terminal/2007/09/13/1189276855702.html


Beijing China's most beautiful
Dirty, polluted, congested and razed of many old buildings - but Beijing has still been chosen as China's most beautiful city.
The host to next year's Summer Olympics beat 558 mainland cities as well as former British colony Hong Kong, which came in second in the survey by the China Institute of City Competitiveness, a non-profit organisation.
Southern boomtown Shenzhen came third for "its role as the pioneer of China's opening up and reform policies", while glitzy Shanghai got fourth place "for being the country's financial centre", the official China Daily reported.
Institute chairman Gui Qiangfang said the assessment took into consideration Beijing's design, infrastructure, architecture, culture and natural beauty.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/beijing-voted-chinas-most-beautiful/2007/09/11/1189276685810.html


SPECIAL FEATURE: 2007 Frankfurt motor show
drive.com.au, 10/09/07
The Drive team is in Frankfurt to give you a look at some of the new cars and concept vehicles starring at one of the world's biggest motor shows.
Frankfurt motor show news

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=43303&s_rid=smh:ClassiePuff

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