Marine expelled over puppy video on YouTube

12 June 2008

By AUDREY McAVOY

The Marine Corps said it was expelling one Marine and disciplining another for their roles in a video showing a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq.

The 17-second video posted on YouTube drew sharp condemnation from animal rights groups when it came to light in March.

The clip shows two Marines joking before one hurls the puppy into a rocky gully. A yelping sound is heard as it flips through the air.

"That's mean. That's mean, Motari," an off-camera Marine is heard telling the Marine who tossed the black and white dog. The off-camera Marine snickered slightly afterward.

Lance Cpl. David Motari, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe Bay, is "being processed for separation" from the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps said in a news release. He also received unspecified "non-judicial punishment."

The Marine Corps didn't say what role Motari played in the clip.

The video was viewed tens of thousands of times before YouTube took it down because of a violation of the site's terms of use. YouTube is owned by Google Inc.

"The actions seen in the Internet video are contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine and will not be tolerated," Marine Corps Base Hawaii said in a news release Wednesday. "The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties with honor and compassion that makes American people proud."

The second Marine, Sgt. Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion, also received unspecified "non-judicial" punishment.

Encarnacion is assigned to the Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

First Lt. Binford Strickland, a Marine Corps Base Hawaii spokesman, said the service may not reveal what roles the two men played in the video because that was part of the investigation. He said releasing such information would violate the Privacy Act.

Strickland declined to provide details about the disciplinary measures taken against the men for the same reason.

Note:
The video was also on LiveLeak, this is where I first saw it and was so horrified.

Furthermore, one political cartoonist conveyed if the marine would murder a puppy, what would he do to an Iraqi child.

Baghdad House Search

U.S. troops from the 101st Airborne Division search a house in a Shia area of Baghdad, on 12 June 2008. On the wall are posters of the Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani from my knowledge, is a resistance leader for a free Iraq from U.S. occupation.

The Hollywood Reporter's 37th Annual Movie Marketing Key Art Awards held

Key Art Advisory Board Chariman Bob Israel (L) looks on as Mariachi band members perform during The Hollywood Reporter's 37th Annual Movie Marketing Key Art Awards held at the Hyatt Century Plaza on 13 June 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Story

Bush's World Views

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 14, 2008

Audio
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week I'm traveling in Europe. In the past few days, I have visited Slovenia, Germany, Italy, and the Vatican. I'm spending this Saturday in France. And I will conclude my trip in the United Kingdom.

In my meetings, I've discussed our shared efforts to advance peace and prosperity around the world. America has strong partners in leaders like Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Nicolas Sarkozy, and Britain's Gordon Brown. And together we're pursuing an agenda that is broad and far-reaching.

America and Europe are cooperating to open new opportunities for trade and investment. We're working to tear down regulatory barriers that hurt our businesses and consumers. We're striving to make this the year that the world completes an ambitious Doha trade agreement -- which will open up new markets for American goods and services, and help alleviate poverty around the world.

America and Europe are cooperating to address the twin challenges of energy security and climate change while keeping our economies strong. We're working to diversify our energy supplies by developing and financing new clean energy technologies. And we're working toward an international agreement that commits every major economy to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.

America and Europe are cooperating to widen the circle of development and prosperity. We're leading the world in providing food aid, improving education for boys and girls, and fighting disease. Through the historic commitments of the United States and other G8 countries, we're working to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa. And to achieve this noble goal, all nations must keep their promises to deliver this urgent aid.

America and Europe are cooperating on our most solemn duty: protecting our citizens. Our nations are applying the tools of intelligence, finance, law enforcement, diplomacy, and -- when necessary -- military power to break up terror networks and deny them safe havens. And to protect against the prospect of ballistic missile attacks emanating from the Middle East, we're developing a shared system of missile defense.

We're also working together to ensure that Iran is not allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. This week, America and our European allies sent a clear and unmistakable message to the regime in Tehran: It must verifiably suspend its enrichment activities -- or face further isolation and additional sanctions. Together, America and Europe are pursuing strong diplomacy with Iran, so that future generations can look back and say that we came together to stop this threat to our people.

In the long run, the most important way we can protect our people is to defeat the terrorists' hateful ideology by spreading the hope of freedom. So America and Europe are working together to advance the vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in security and peace. We're working together to protect the sovereignty of Lebanon's young democracy. And we're working together to strengthen the democratically elected governments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In all of these areas, the United States and Europe have agreed that we must take action -- and that we must go forward together. The level and breadth of the cooperation between America and our European allies today is unprecedented. And together we're making the world a safer and more hopeful place.

Thank you for listening.

END

_________

Commentary

It is becoming a growing concern towards U.S. President George W. Bush’s alcoholism and mental state, in his latest speeches and addresses to the global community.

In his latest photograph’s, his alcoholism is becoming increasingly apparent, as well as a form of psychiatric illness or alcoholism related illness in his approach to the global situation, including also, his overall demeanor.

This is further apparent in the areas of repetition in Bush’s speeches on certain issues and the way he presents them.

Comoros president arrives in Tehran

14 June 2008

Tehran-Comoros President Abdullah Sambi heading a high ranking political and economic delegation arrived in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran's Minister of Cooperatives Mohammad Abbassi officially received the Comoros president and his entourage at Mehrabad International Airport.

A number of Comoros officials including the minister of foreign affairs and minister of agriculture are accompanying President Abdullah Sambi during his Tehran visit.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to accord an official welcome to the Comoros president and his entourage on Sunday at the presidential office.

During his three-day stay in Tehran, the Comoros president is to confer with President Ahmadinejad as well as a number of Iranian officials on issues of mutual interests.

Taxi Please

Two Orthodox Jews hail a taxi driven by a Palestinian outside the Western Wall's complex in east Jerusalem on 10 June 2008.

14 June 2008

by HRM Deborah

The rest of the caption to this photo claimed attacks by Jews on Taxi drivers, as much as last October and even this is in question.

What the photo failed to mentioned, is in the last few months, there has been no reports of any assaults by Jews upon Palestinian taxi drivers.

It was reported, that the relationships between the Jewish people and the Palestinians is improving by the day.

It is felt this is just another case of Anti-Semitism perpetrated against the Jewish people, to instigate a situation that is no longer occurring or was infrequent to begin with.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Orthodox Jews that I have known, would do what was mentioned to the Palestinian taxi drivers, to begin with, for they have always been nice and polite to me.

VIDEO: Palestinian Woman Films Masked Men Attacking Palestinian Farmers

14 June 2008

Hebron-The Jewish human rights group B'Tselem released a video on Friday which it said showed the start of an assault on Palestinian farmers by masked, stick-wielding Israeli settlers.

The footage shows four people with faces swathed in scarves and holding sticks, approaching the farmers near Susya settlement outside Hebron in the West Bank. One strikes a blow before the camera is dropped.

B'Tselem said the woman who was filming ran for help.



By HRM Deborah

There is one problem with this video scenario, the masked people that approached the farmers where not Jewish settler’s, but Mahmoud Abbas terrorists impersonating settlers, to apparently create dissention between the Palestinian people and the Jewish settlers.

While the Palestinian farmer’s where indeed injured, the Jewish settler’s are not guilty for this assault.

Furthermore, it is contended why a video such as this is rare and as for assaults by Jewish settler’s on Palestinians is also becoming more of a thing of the past with less frequency, more isolated.

The Prophet (PBUH)

About Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the fortitude of Islam.

Nasheed by Dawud Wharnsby Ali, from the Album 'A Whisper of Peace.'

The Charlie the Tuna Chain-saw Massacre

Lisa Campbell and her mother, Mel Campbell, look over the pieces of Charlie the Tuna on June 6 behind a fire station in Charleston, Oregon.

13 June 2008

It turns out the fate of Charlie the Tuna of Charleston, Ore., was sorry indeed. The 8-foot Monterey cypress sculpture that used to greet visitors to the coastal fishing town was filleted by two young men who stole it as a prank and then, panicked they would be found out, took chain saws to it.

Not that Charlie would have lasted much longer anyway, the town learned, what with the way bugs and rot had hollowed out his innards.

The statue stood beside the South Slough Bridge into Charleston until Mark Santos and Marvin Terry Jr. swiped it last month.

"We had planned to wait a little while and then leave Charlie in a random place in town where he could be returned unharmed," they said in an apology letter published in The World of Coos Bay.

But someone tipped off sheriff's deputies, who started nosing around. Santos and Terry rushed to their hiding place and tried to move Charlie. But the statue wouldn't fit in their truck.

"We decided to chop him up so we could move him," they said. "This was not pre-planned."

Deputies caught them in the act and charged them with theft and criminal mischief.

Mel Campbell of the merchants association had painted Charlie many times over the years — he was in blue with an orange hat, after the StarKist ads' Charlie.

Santos has paid her a visit, and Campbell is asking for leniency.

"This was just a terrible, dumb, stupid prank that went absolutely wrong," she said.

A wake is planned Saturday at the town's visitors center. The Wild Women of Charleston and the Tuna Guys will offer musical moments. The remains are to be burned and buried at the center.

Mourners are invited to share stories about Charlie, and tuna recipes.

"Sorry Charlie."

The Jewish Response towards Mahmoud Abbas's Peace Truce

Bush Visits Paris

U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during a press conference at the end of their meeting at Villa Madama 12 June 2008, in Rome, Italy.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 13, 2008

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Paris, France

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary General, thank you for your hospitality. It's good to see you again. I remember our days together in the la frontera de Tejas y México, when I was the Governor of Texas and you were one of the leading officials of Mexico. And it's great to see you here in Paris, también su esposa. Madam Secretary, thank you; Ambassadors; World War II veterans, and distinguished guests. Laura and I are having a wonderful trip through Europe, and we are so pleased to be back in Paris. It's been a little more than four years since we were last in Paris together, and a lot has changed. Laura wrote a book. (Laughter.) Our daughter got married. (Laughter.) My dad jumped out of an airplane. (Laughter.) And my hair is a lot grayer. (Laughter.)

What has not changed is the friendship between America and France. Recent history has made clear that no disagreement can diminish the deep ties between our nations. France was America's first friend. And over the centuries, our nations stood united in moments of testing -- from the Marne, to Omaha Beach to the long vigil of the Civil War* [sic]. After September the 11th, 2001, a major French newspaper published a headline my nation will never forget: "Nous sommes tous Americains." America is grateful to the people of France. We're proud to call you friends. And our alliance will stand the test of time.

We gather to commemorate a landmark in the moment of that alliance, and that's the 60th anniversary of the start of the Marshall Plan. In 1948, the United States Congress passed, President Harry Truman signed, legislation to fund this unprecedented effort. Just steps from here at the Chateau de la Muette -- the headquarters for the organization that implemented the Marshall Plan and worked with our allies to promote open economies and strong free market policies across Europe. Through this building flowed "friendly aid" that helped renew the spirit of the continent -- what one magazine called "the D-Day for peace." From this building came money for fuel and vehicles and machinery that helped bring Europe's economies back to life. And in this building were written the first chapters of European unity -- a story of cooperation that eventually resulted in institutions like NATO and the European Union and the organization that carries the spirit of the Marshall Plan into a new century, the OECD.

Marshall Plan was the source of aid and assistance, and it wisely gave Europeans a leading role in reconstruction. By doing so, the Plan conveyed a message of partnership and respect. And by offering help to nations across Europe --including communist nations -- the Plan also had the effect of clarifying the new ideological struggle that was unfolding.

When he announced the Plan, Secretary Marshall made it clear it was "directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger and poverty and desperation and chaos." With these words, he showed that we stood for a future of unity and prosperity and freedom throughout Europe. Yet the leaders in the Kremlin denied the Marshall Plan aid to the suffering people of the Soviet Union and its captive nations. What followed was nearly a half century of repression and fear in the East, until at last freedom arrived. In an ironic final scene, the Soviets did accept some Western assistance after all: As the last Secretary General [sic] sat down to sign the papers ending the Soviet Union, he discovered that his pen was out of ink, so he borrowed one from an American news crew.

In the years since the Cold War ended, Europe has taken inspiring strides toward a continent whole, free, and at peace. Over the past eight years, we have watched nations from the Baltics to the Balkans complete the transition from the Soviet bloc to the European Union. We've seen former members of the Warsaw Pact proudly sign the treaty to join NATO. We witnessed an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, a Rose Revolution in Georgia, a declaration of independence in Kosovo, and the rise of a democratic movement in Belarus. America admires these brave stands for liberty. We look forward to the day when all free people on this continent take their rightful place in the institutions of Europe.

With these changes has come a revitalization between the relationship -- of the relationship between Europe and the United States. Instead of focusing on issues within Europe, we're increasingly looking to matters of global reach. Instead of dwelling on our differences, we're increasingly united in our interests and ideals. On my first trip abroad of my second term as President, I traveled to Brussels and called for "a new era of transatlantic unity." This week, I have seen the outlines of that new era. In leaders like Berlusconi and Brown and Merkel and Sarkozy, I see a commitment to a powerful and purposeful Europe that advances the values of liberty within its borders, and beyond. And when the time comes to welcome the new American President next January, I will be pleased to report to him that the relationship between the United States and Europe is the broadest and most vibrant it has ever been.

We see this broad and vibrant relationship in the expansive agenda for our meetings this week:

America and Europe are cooperating to open new opportunities for trade and investment -- and we're determined to help make this the year the world completes an ambitious Doha Round.

America and Europe are cooperating to address the twin challenges of energy security and climate change while keeping our economies strong. We will continue working to diversify our energy supplies by developing and financing new clean energy technologies. We will continue working toward an international agreement that commits every major economy to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.

America and Europe are cooperating to widen the circle of development and prosperity. We lead the world in providing food aid, improving education for boys and girls, and fighting disease. Through the historic commitments of the United States and other G8 countries, we are working to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa. To achieve this noble goal, all nations must keep their promises to deliver this urgent aid.

America and Europe are cooperating on our most solemn duty of all -- protecting our citizens. From New York and Washington, to London and Madrid, to Copenhagen and Amsterdam, we have seen terrorists and extremists rejoice in the murder of the innocent. So America and Europe are applying the tools of intelligence and finance and law enforcement and diplomacy, and -- when necessary -- military power to break up terror networks and deny them safe havens. To protect the people of Europe from the prospect of ballistic missile attacks emanating from the Middle East, we're developing a shared system of missile defense.

These measures are critical to the success in the fight against terror. Yet as in the Cold War, we must also prevail in a wider struggle -- the battle of ideas. On one side are all who embrace the fundamental tenets of civilization -- the natural right to liberty, freedom of conscience and dissent, and the obligation of the strong to protect the weak. On the other side are men who place no value on life, allow no room for dissent, and use terror to impose their harsh ideology on as many people as possible.

Ultimately, the only way to defeat the advocates of this ideology is to defeat their ideas. So the central aim of our foreign policy is to advance a more hopeful and compelling vision, especially in the broader Middle East, a vision on the ideals of liberty and justice and tolerance and hope. These ideals are the foundation of France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and America's Declaration of Independence. Yet these ideals do not belong to our nations alone. They are universal ideals. And the lesson of history is that by extending these ideals -- it's more than a moral obligation, that by expending these -- extending these ideals is the only practical and realistic way to protect -- to provide our security and to spread the peace.

The rise of free and prosperous societies in the broader Middle East is essential to peace in the 21st century, just as the rise of a free and prosperous Europe was essential to peace in the 20th century. So Europe and America must stand with reformers, democratic leaders, and millions of ordinary people across the Middle East who seek a future of hope and liberty and peace.

In Afghanistan, we must stand with a brave young democracy determined to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban. NATO has accepted an historic mission in Afghanistan. And I applaud the leadership of President Sarkozy, who hosted an international support conference yesterday, and will soon deploy additional forces to Afghanistan. President Sarkozy has said: "What is at stake in that country is the future of our values and that of the Atlantic Alliance." He is right. Our nations must ensure that Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terror.

In Lebanon, we must stand with those struggling to protect their sovereignty and independence. We must counter the dangers posed by Hezbollah terrorists supported by Iran and Syria. Together, we must show the people of Lebanon that they will have the lasting support of the free world.

In the Holy Land, we must stand with Palestinians and Israelis and all others committed to a two-state solution -- a permanent peace based on two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in security and peace. I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, a peace agreement is possible this year.

In Iran and Syria, we must stand with the decent people of those two nations who deserve much better than the life they have today. We must stand -- we must firmly oppose Iran and Syria's support for terror. And for the security of Europe and for the peace of the world, we must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

In Iraq, we must stand with the courageous people who have turned the momentum against al Qaeda and extremists. From Anbar province, to mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad, to the cities of Basra and Mosul, Iraqis of all backgrounds have made it clear they reject extremism and terror. Today, violence in Iraq is down to the lowest point since March of 2004. Civilian deaths are down. Sectarian killings are down. And as security has improved, economic life has been revived. Reconciliation is taking place in communities across that country. And the government in Baghdad is showing strong leadership and progress on the path to a free society. With the terrorists on the run and freedom on the rise, it is in the interests of every nation on this continent to support a stable and democratic Iraq.

Since 2001, the freedom movement has been advancing in the Middle East. Kuwait has had elections in which women were allowed to vote and hold office for the first time. Algeria held its first competitive presidential elections. Citizens have voted in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, in competitive parliamentary elections in Jordan and Morocco and Bahrain, and in a multiparty presidential election in Yemen.

Liberty takes hold in different places in different ways, so we must continue to adapt and find innovative ways to support those movements for freedom. The way to do so is to stand with civil society groups, human rights organizations, dissidents, independent journalists and bloggers, and others on the leading edge of reform. We have taken important steps in this area, such as the Broader Middle East and North America Initiative** [sic] led by the United States, the Forum for Freedom*** [sic] led by the G8, and the Partnership for Democratic Governance led by the OECD.

Spreading the hope of freedom is the calling of our time. And as we look ahead to the great task, we can be guided by four key principles: unity, confidence, vision, and resolve.

We must go forward with unity. Over the course of the Cold War, the transatlantic alliance faced moments of serious tension -- from the Suez Crisis in the 1950s to the basing of missiles in Europe in the 1980s. Yet with the distance of time, we can see these differences for what they were -- fleeting disagreements between friends. We'll have more disagreements in the decades ahead, but we must never allow those disagreements to undermine our shared purposes. Dividing democracies is one of our enemies' goals, and they must not be allowed to succeed.

We must go forward with confidence. Our vision of freedom and peace in the Middle East and beyond is ambitious, and of course there will be voices that will say it will never arrive. And that's natural, and it's not new. There were times when it seemed impossible that there could ever be peace between Britain and France, or France and Germany, or between Germany and Poland. Yet today all those nations are at peace, and war in Europe is virtually unimaginable. Something happened in Europe that defied the skeptics and the pattern of the centuries, and that was the spread of human freedom.

In truth, this is a strange time to doubt the power of liberty. Over the past 30 years, the number of democracies has grown from 45 to more than 120, which is the fastest advance of freedom in history. As some of the world's oldest democracies, we should never be surprised by the appeal of freedom. We should stand against the moral relativism that views all forms of government as equally acceptable. And we should be confident that one day, the same determination and desire that brought freedom to Paris and Berlin and Riga will bring freedom to Gaza, Damascus, and Tehran.

We must go forward with a clear vision. In the Cold War, we laid out a vision of liberty and trusted its power to transform societies. And that transformation took place in ways almost no one could foresee. In the late 1970s, for example, many in the West worried we were losing. And then one October afternoon, there came a sign as bright as the white smoke above the Sistine Chapel. Onto the balcony of St. Peter's stepped the first Polish pope in history, who inspired millions behind the Iron Curtain with his call, "Be not afraid." John Paul's election was followed by the elections of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan -- who helped restore confidence in freedom's power, and pursued a policy of peace through strength. And HishIsoon other remarkable events began unfolding: shipyard workers in Gdansk brought down a government, a jailed playwright in Prague touched off a Velvet Revolution, and citizens of Berlin prayed for the end of a wall and then found the strength to tear it down.

Today's struggle we have again laid out a clear vision of freedom, and it will transform lives in the Middle East and beyond in ways we cannot fully predict. We can see some of the sources of change. Sixty percent of the Middle East population is under 30 years old, and over time these young people -- surfing the Internet, and watching satellite television, and studying abroad -- will demand that their societies fully join the free world. The women's movement in the region is growing, and over time this movement will spark reform, as mothers and daughters make clear that it is costly and unwise to keep half the population from fully contributing to the life of a nation. Middle Eastern immigrants here in Europe are seeing the benefits of freedom, and over time they will insist that the liberty of their adopted homelands also belongs in the lands of their birth. The future of the region is the hands of its people, and those of us who live in free societies must continue to encourage these early stirrings of reform.

Finally, we must go forward with resolve. In the years ahead, there will be periods of difficulty, yet history shows that freedom can endure even the hardest tests. Picture what the future of Europe must have looked like for leaders meeting here in Paris 60 years ago: Moscow had occupied much of Central and Eastern Europe after World War II. Communist parties had threatened governments in Italy and here in France. A severe Soviet threat imperiled Greece and Turkey. A communist coup had toppled the elected government of Czechoslovakia. Stalin ordered a blockade of Berlin.

Yet in America and in free capitals of Europe, we summoned the resolve to prevail. We launched the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift. Then came the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty and the formation of West Germany. Looking back over the decades, we can see that these brave early measures put us on the path to victory in the Cold War.

There are moments today when the situation in places like the Middle East can look as daunting as it did in Europe six decades ago. Yet we can have confidence that liberty once again will prevail. We can have confidence because freedom is the longing of every soul, and it is the direction of history. We can have confidence because men and women in the Middle East and beyond are determined to claim their liberty, just as the people of Europe did in the last century.

Near the end of his life, George Marshall made a final trip to Europe. He came not for a military meeting or a diplomatic summit, but to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. In his address, Marshall offered a bold prediction: "Tyranny inevitably must retire before the tremendous moral strength of the gospel of freedom." Sixty years ago, the faith in liberty helped the gospel of freedom ring out in nations devastated by war. Today, freedom rings out across this continent. And one day, freedom will ring out across the world.

Thank you for having me. God bless.

END

*Cold War

**North Africa Initiative

***Forum for the Future

Commentary

While Bush made numerous references to history, it is apparent that he actually knows little about history, especially political history, but nevertheless, he must be a strong advocate of the old presidential propaganda speeches.

Furthermore, Bush’s tenets on the global issues are narrow minded and laced with numerous falsehoods, which seems to follow his previous ideas of global domination towards furthering his control and views.

Bush’s speeches are also appearing to be taking on the flavor of a previous person in history, prior to World War 2.

As well as a Frenchman, who was a historical figure in the early part of the 19th century and so happened to have met his Waterloo, along with a couple of other infamous notable’s in history.

Gaza Beach Day

13 June 2008

In Gaza City, Palestinians relax and play in the water at the beach, even some youth’s (not pictured)where able to ride there donkey into the sea along the beach; so the donkey also got a refreshing day at the beach.

US: FEMA trailers caused at least 17,000 illnesses among Katrina survivors

9 June 2008

By Naomi Spencer

Approaching three years since the devastation of the US Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, a public health nightmare continues for thousands of survivors who were housed in government-supplied trailers.

Many of the 300,000 residents who were relocated into housing provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have developed serious respiratory problems because of excessive levels of the industrial chemical and known carcinogen formaldehyde, according to a report by Spencer Hsu published May 25 in the Washington Post.

Some of the most seriously affected are infants and children, who have developed chronic asthma and require lifelong medical care. The cancer rates will not be known for at least a decade, according to health experts.

While workplace exposure levels are regulated and the health risks associated with high levels are well known, there are no federal regulations on the level of formaldehyde in building materials. The chemical is emitted from glues and sealants used in construction materials such as particleboard, plywood, paneling, and laminated surfaces common in low-end housing units. Formaldehyde is released at the highest levels during warm weather and from newly constructed units.

The Washington Post noted that tests of many FEMA trailers revealed formaldehyde levels drastically exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) 15-minute workplace exposure limit of 100 parts per billion. This is the limit at which serious adverse health symptoms begin to appear, and California state health regulators estimate long-term exposure at this level raises cancer risk by 50 cases per 100,000.

More than four in five FEMA trailers tested by the environmental group the Sierra Club exceeded this limit in 2006. Sierra Club testers said formaldehyde concentrations were between 10 and 100 times higher in the trailers than in the worst smog conditions in Los Angeles.

The Sierra Club conducted another round of tests in April 2007 and found formaldehyde concentrations of more than 100 parts per billion in fully 96 percent of FEMA trailers. FEMA dismissed these tests and took counter-samples for its own tests from unoccupied trailers that were aired out for days in advance.

Testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found levels exceeding 100 parts per billion in 41 percent of the units it had tested in December and January; the average level was 77 parts per billion, and as high as 590 ppb. The CDC warned that because of the cold weather the results understated levels.

Citing chronic breathing disorders, dozens of deaths, mouth and nasal tumors, and cases of cancer, 17,000 Katrina survivors filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government and 64 manufacturers of the emergency housing units. Many of the plaintiffs in the present case, victims of government negligence on multiple levels, were among those who unsuccessfully filed claims against the federal Army Corps of Engineers over the levee failures that resulted in the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.

In the past month, FEMA has moved to vacate all the remaining trailers. On June 1 the agency sent out deadline notices for the 24,600 residents still living in emergency units without proposing housing alternatives.

The problems with the trailers were long known by the federal government. Residents in the trailer park camps set up throughout Louisiana and Mississippi filed complaints over severe headaches, nosebleeds, and breathing difficulties in the months after they were relocated, but FEMA declined to systematically test the units.

After one resident, a pregnant mother with a young infant, complained repeatedly of conditions in her trailer, FEMA found formaldehyde levels 75 times the NIOSH maximum workplace exposure level. Yet, the agency did not widen its investigation or even issue a public advisory about the problem. In fact, FEMA continued auctioning off thousands of unoccupied emergency trailers on the commercial housing market, and systematically suppressed findings of toxicity in anticipation of litigation.

FEMA ordered the trailers for some $2.7 billion dollars as Katrina approached the Gulf Coast in 2005. At the time, manufacturers were hastily given specifications, which the Post said were spelled out in just 25 lines with little stipulation for safety standards. FEMA bought 54,000 trailers and mobile homes using a single page of specifications for $1.4 billion. According to the paper, the agency paid another billion dollars to produce 76,800 trailers with eight pages of specifications, but again there was no mention of formaldehyde, and very limited safety standards.

Joseph Hagerman, a scientist with the Federation of American Scientists involved in a government project to develop new emergency housing, commented to the paper: “I still can’t believe that we bought a billion dollars’ worth of product with a 25-line spec. There’s not much you can do in 25 lines to protect life safety. There’s over 20,000 parts in these homes.”

Two companies responsible for producing tens of thousands of trailers for FEMA, Fleetwood and Gulf Stream, have insisted they used only “higher-quality, low-emitting wood products.” The Washington Post quoted a letter to congressional investigators from lawyers from Gulf Stream saying the company “mostly met a ‘longstanding policy’ to buy components that comply with mobile home standards, but it acknowledged exceptions” and that Gulf Stream “did not conduct any testing on components or parts.”

Manufacturers of trailer components suggested that unregulated Chinese imports, some of which was said to reek of formaldehyde, were to blame. According to the Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association, the North American market share of Chinese imports ballooned from 4 to 40 percent since 2001 because of the housing construction boom in the US.

Robert Feldman, a spokesperson for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association—the trailer manufacturers’ trade group—absurdly suggested to the Post that formaldehyde levels in the trailers had nothing to do with illness among the evacuee population occupying them, and that more likely aggravators were “mold, Katrina-related chemical spills, smoking or local climate factors.” “There may be a rush to conclude formaldehyde is the issue when in fact the results seem to suggest the answer is a little more complex,” he said.

In a seemingly unwitting acknowledgment of the dangers of prolonged formaldehyde exposure and its ubiquitous presence in mobile home fabrication, a spokeswoman for Fleetwood commented to the paper, “You know, when something hasn’t been a problem, you often don’t suddenly consider that it will be. I don’t believe that anybody expected these people to stay in the trailers as long as people have stayed in them.”

The vague government specifications were for all intents and purposes a blank check for the industry to produce units without regard to human health. There can be little doubt that after receiving government orders, manufacturers sped up production and widened their profit margins by using substandard materials and cutting corners on safety. But in a broader sense, the extremely high percentage of trailers found in tests to have excessive formaldehyde levels suggest that the toxicity in the FEMA units are less an industry exception than a rule.

Manufacturers of trailers are not held to many of the basic safety standards required of home manufacturers because they are classified as vehicles and, as the Post notes, the industry insists that they are not intended to be used for more than a few days at a time, a few times a year. In reality, however, millions of poor families buy or rent trailers around the country because they cannot afford anything safer or more durable.

In one sense, the public health catastrophe now unfolding among the post-Katrina population is a concentrated expression of the plight of the poorest sections of the working class throughout the country, who live in substandard housing, suffer higher exposure to pollutants and toxins in their home and work environments, develop cancer at higher rates, are rebuffed by the courts, refused compensation and medical aid for illnesses, and die younger of preventable ailments. In innumerable instances they are victims of industry and a government incapable and unwilling to regulate it.

As CDC toxicology assistant director Christopher De Rosa commented to the Associated Press May 27, “It’s tragic that when people most need the protection, they are actually going from one disaster to a health disaster that might be considered worse.”

Further Reading:
New Orleans to phase out trailers by August

An Abbas Disapproval

Mahmoud Abbas (L) attends Jumma prayers (Friday prayers) on 13 June 2008 in Ramallah.

While this picture came from Mahmoud Abbas's organization press, what makes this picture more interesting, is the men around Abbas give the impression that even they disapprove of him, at these mock Jumma prayers.

Camel Hit by Car

13 June 2008

Does one sometimes wonder what is like when a camel is hit by a car and lives?

A single camel got hit by car and walks away as though nothing happened, except those human viewing the accident stayed clear of the camel, when the camel rose from the car to leave the scene.

Furthermore, the damage to a vehicle is most often extensive and as well as sometimes the people in the car are severally injured.

Any area that is considered open, one should always be watchful of any animal that may come into the roadway, when possible.

Further Reading:
Getting over the hump : Dr. Michael Van Straten, who is a Jewish veterinarian, who treats Camels in the Negev.

The Two Highways

And shown him the two highways? (Good or Evil roads)

But he would not attempt the uphill road, and what will make you comprehend what the uphill road is?

(It is) to free a slave,
Or the giving of food in a day of hunger,
An orphan near of kin (one should always care for an orphan),
Or to the poor man lying in the dust.

Then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion. These are the people of the right hand.

But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand (those who refuse to do good). On them is fire closed over.

Al-Balad 90: 10-20

Adoption in the United States

13 June 2008

by NZN

Black children in foster care in the United States are less likely to be adopted into a family than children from other races and laws designed to rectify the imbalance are failing, according to a new report.

Following are some facts about adoption in the United States:

- Between 130,000 and 140,000 children are adopted each year. Half of these are adopted by step-parents as new relationships are formed.

- Around 20,000 children are adopted from abroad each year, the majority of whom are adopted transracially.

- Between 50,000 and 60,000 children are adopted from foster care each year, mostly by a parent or parents of the same race.

- Black children are under-represented among children adopted from foster care relative to the number of children waiting in foster care for adoption.

- White children, who make up 58% of children in US society, represent 38% of those in foster care but 45% of those adopted, according to fiscal year 2006 figures.

- Black children make up 15% of total number of children in the United States but represent 32% of those in foster care and 27% of the total number adopted.

- Hispanic children make up 19% of children in society, 20% of those waiting for adoption and 19% of those adopted.

- The two main laws governing the placement of children in transracial adoption are the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996.

United Airlines will also start charging for checked luggage on U.S. flights

12 June 2008

By Micheline Maynard

United Airlines said Thursday that it would begin charging many passengers on Friday to check their first bag, joining American Airlines in assessing a $15 luggage fee for passengers flying on the cheapest tickets.

American announced plans last month to begin the first-bag fee. The charge is set to take effect on tickets purchased on Sunday and beyond.

But United's announcement means that it will actually be first in the domestic industry to assess the fee for many travelers. The airline said it expected about a third of its domestic passengers to be required to pay the $15.

United was also the first airline to charge $25 to check a second bag earlier this year. Many airlines began those fees in May. Other airlines could soon follow.

The new fee is likely to make the fight for already-tight space on planes more fierce, as passengers try to stuff more carry-on luggage into overhead bins.

Milissa DuPage, a United passenger who works for a pharmaceutical company, said Thursday that she would begin carrying on her bag, which she normally checked so that she could avoid the security restriction on liquids.

"I guess I'll just have to get everything under 3 ounces," said DuPage, of Harsens Island, Michigan, who was interviewed in the baggage claim area of Detroit's airport. "Plus then I won't have to sit and wait for it like I am now."

The announcement by United means the nation's two largest airlines will now charge passengers on discounted tickets in coach class to check their bags. Both are exempting premium members of the frequent-flier clubs, as well as passengers on full-fare tickets, those traveling in business or first class, and overseas travelers.

"With record-breaking fuel prices, we must pursue new revenue opportunities, while continuing to offer competitive fares, by tailoring our products and services around what our customers value most and are willing to pay for," United's chief financial officer, John Tague, said in a statement.

United said it was also raising fees for passengers checking three or more bags, for passengers who check heavy bags and items that require special handling.

The new bag fees would affect one out of three travelers in the United States, the airline said, and generate revenue of about $275 million a year. American has not given a revenue estimate, but said it expected the fee would be paid by about 25 percent of its passengers.

Airlines are facing cost pressures from high prices for jet fuel, which are up 91.5 percent compared with 2008, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association.

Many have imposed fare increases, fuel surcharges and other fees in an effort to fend off the increase. However, American's move late last month resulted in heated criticism from passenger advocates, who said it took away a basic component of travel.

United shares were up 27 cents, to $7.49, in afternoon trading.

Hosseini denounces Bush remarks on Iran

12 June 2008

Tehran-Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Thursday that the one-sided and stubborn approach of the US president on Iran's legitimate rights would not make any change in Iran's peaceful nuclear activities.

According to the Information and Press Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hosseini said President George W. Bush cannot make good on its past mistakes by raising false allegations while he approaches the end of his presidency.

Recent unaccountable remarks made by President Bush is continuation of artificial provocative policies adopted by the new conservatives in the US administration who try to make baseless allegations about peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities in a bid to undermine the Iranian nation's will.

The failed policies of the US president would only serve to consolidate the Iranian people's unity and resolve to defend their legitimate rights, he said, urging American officials to observe international regulations and avoid isolation in the world.

Referring to Iran's package of proposals on nuclear issue, he said Iranian officials have proven their good-will and the best way to reach a mutual agreement is to recognize the legitimate rights of the Iranian nation.

Major cleric calls Iraq planned security pact with Washington 'really shameful'

13 June 2008

Tehran-Tehran's substitute Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani called the planned security pact between Baghdad and Washington 'really shameful' and urged the world Muslims to support Iraq culturally and politically.

Addressing thousands of worshipers at Tehran University Campus, Ayatollah Emami Kashani said there are some secret paragraphs in Iraq US planned security pact that gives military power in Iraq to US.

"Based on one of these paragraphs which is very dangerous, US security services would be freely active in Iraq and if they commit a crime in that country, Iraqi judiciary would not be allowed to put them on trial and the Americans should do that," the Ayatollah said.

Addressing the Iraqi nation, Ayatollah Emami Kashani said, "You, the great nation of Iraq, have a big responsibility and you should stand. The great Ayatollah Sistani has announced that he would not let the pact be signed,"

The major cleric said signing such a pact is a disgrace for all Iraqis adding, "If you (Iraqis) accept such a shame and you definitely won't, your children would put you on trial."

The Ayatollah urged all political leaders of Iraq to stand against such a danger and not fear for their lives.

He said the issue is not only limited to Iraq and all Islamic countries and Muslim ulema should support Iraq in this concern.

Referring to (US President) Bush's trip to Europe and his remarks on Iran, the Ayatollah said they strengthen the usurper regime of Israel while the former politicians of the same regime have considered it as a threat to the whole region.

The Borrowers Care

If your borrow something from your neighbor, always treat the item as good or better then the person you borrowed it from and always return the item in a timely manner.

Nevertheless, always show kindness and gratitude when the item is borrowed and returned.- Deborah

Joseph's Tomb in Nablus

13 June 2008

by HRM Deborah

This is one of those situations that has been on my thoughts for sometime, because I have always felt it was an atrocity.

One should never destroy or desecrate a religious site and this goes also for Joseph's Tomb in Nablus.

Without any questions or need for negotiations this religious site should be returned as a sacred site for both Jews, Muslims and Christians, as it was before it was put under attack by Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist organization in 2000 (when it was still under Yasser Arafat's leadership); with them desecrating this site for it to appear to look like a trash dump, I am very saddened to say.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton gave the initial orders for the attack on Joseph’s tomb with the aid of the PLO or Fatah terrorist organization (which is Abbas's terrorist organization), at the time for an undisclosed reason, was reported.

Situations like this always reminds one, that we should never forget to respect not only a person’s religion, places of religious worship or the person themselves and that know one should ever desecrate a religious site for what ever reason.

Obama on Jerusalem

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Wednesday criticised Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama for saying that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel and said he hoped the next U.S. president will be a man of peace.

Olmert Speaks to the Druze Community

Jewish Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gives a speech during a ceremony with the Druze Community in Nebi Shueib, west of Tiberias, on June 12, 2008.

U.S. President Bush to have tea with Queen at Windsor Castle

12 June 2008

LONDON— Buckingham Palace says U.S. President George W. Bush will have afternoon tea with the queen on Sunday as part of his tour of Europe.

A spokesman for Queen Elizabeth II said Wednesday that Bush and his wife will visit her at Windsor castle, west of London. America's ambassador to Britain, Robert Tuttle, will also attend.

Bush's Sunday schedule also will have him meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Solar in the Negev

A worker looks at mirrors that point to the sky at a solar energy development center in Rotem industrial park, June 12, 2008 near the town of Dimona.

The center, in the Negev desert, consists of more than 1,600 full-size glass mirrors.

It is hoped that this technology will change the way utilities generate electricity in the face of widespread concern over a global fuel crisis.

Mirrors point to the sky at a solar energy development center.

Court backs Gitmo detainees

12 June 2008

Video

by James Oliphant

In a body-blow to the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that prisoners held at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions in civilian federal courts.

The administration had argued that the military commission system set up by the Pentagon to try suspected terrorists provided enough to satisfy constitutional requirements. The court Thursday disagreed, introducing an element of uncertainty into what happens next regarding the 270 or so remaining detainees held at Guantanamo.

The 5-4 decision was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was always believed to be the crucial swing vote in the case. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented on behalf of the conservative members of the court, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

"The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times," Kennedy wrote.

The rebuke of the administration was its third loss before the court on issues relating to the detainees, some of whom have been held in the prisons since 2002 without charges, and this time, the court seemed to emphatically say enough was enough. The court first ruled in 2004 that detainees had the right of habeas corpus--the ability to challenge the basis for an extended detention beyond the normal criminal appeals process--by finding that the federal habeas statute granted them those rights.

Congress responded by passing an act that stripped away those statutory rights. The cases decided Thursday reviewed that act and found that Congress' act was invalid for constitutional reasons, saying that Congress can only suspend habeas in incidences of rebellion or invasion.

"The Supreme Court has finally brought an end to one of our nation's most egregious injustices," said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the public interest group that brought suit on behalf of 37 detainees in the case. "It has finally given the men held at Guantánamo the justice that they have long deserved. By granting the writ of habeas corpus, the Supreme Court recognizes a rule of law established hundreds of years ago and essential to American jurisprudence since our nation's founding. This six-year-long nightmare is a lesson in how fragile our constitutional protections truly are in the hands of an overzealous executive."

Said Kathryn Kolbert, president of the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way: "The Supreme Court has rebuked President Bush's vision of the presidency as an office of limitless power, and declared that the president of a free nation cannot simply lock people up and throw away the key like some third-world dictator. This is a stinging blow to the administration's lawless policies and its allies in Congress."

The court also said that the appeals system set up by the congressional act, which gave detainees the right to a limited appeal to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., was an inadequate substitute for habeas corpus rights.

Roberts in dissent embraced the government's argument in the case, saying the detainees had been given "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants."

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Bush disagrees with court's Guantanamo ruling

By DEB RIECHMANN

President Bush on Thursday strongly disagreed with a Supreme Court ruling that clears foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. Bush suggested new legislation may now be needed to keep the American people safe.

"We'll abide by the court's decision," Bush said during a news conference in Rome. "That doesn't mean I have to agree with it." The court's decision was sure to be popular in Europe, where many leaders have called for the closing of Guantanamo.

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court's liberal justices were in the majority.

"It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented," Bush said. "And that dissent was based upon their serious concerns about U.S. national security."

Bush said his administration will study the ruling. "We'll do this with this in mind — to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate so we can safely say to the American people, 'We're doing everything we can to protect you.'"

The president, meeting with allies in a farewell tour of Europe, was reminded again that his time in office is fleeting. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was asked which U.S. president he would like to see next — Sen. John McCain of Arizona or Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

"I suppose I could express my own personal preference for one of the candidates, the Republican candidate," Berlusconi said. "And this is for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming G-8 (meeting) because McCain is a month older than me." McCain is 71.

On soaring oil prices, the president made clear that the United States would send a high-level official to a summit recently announced by Saudi Arabia. The upcoming meeting is designed to gather oil producing countries and consumer nations. Bush made clear he would not be the one attending.

The Saudis are concerned that sustained high oil prices will eventually slacken the world's appetite for oil, affecting them in the long run. Saudi Arabia holds the world's largest oil reserve.

"The prices of gas are high and the American people don't like it and I can understand why they don't like it," Bush said.

"I said it's an interesting idea, I need to get home and study it," Bush said of the oil summit. "We'll send someone high-level here."

Bush's trip, which stretches from Slovenia to Northern Ireland, has largely been dominated by the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. He has also confronted matters of climate change, Mideast peace and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But he made a point to show those watching and listening in the U.S. that he was not overlooking the devastating weather that has hit back home.

In an opening statement at the news conference, Bush said, "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the terrible tornadoes and flooding, especially those who've lost loved ones. We've been inspired by the stories of heroism, neighbors helping neighbors and communities coming together. It's a really tough time for the people in the midwestern part of the United States and they'll have the prayers of the American people."

Bush praised Italy for committing troops to trouble spots around the world, including more than 2,000 Italian troops toward the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Italy, along with Germany, France and Spain, have restricted their troops to less dangerous areas in northern Afghanistan — and that has caused a rift because other NATO members are deployed in the more violent regions of the nation.

Berlusconi said during the news conference that he and Bush had discussed his government's willingness to lift some restrictions, and in fact his government is taking steps to give Italian forces more flexibility that could mean temporary deployments in more volatile areas. Based on assurances from the Italians, Bush stated flatly that he was pleased to learn that "the caveats that have restricted your forces in Afghanistan have been removed."

Unlike other European leaders, such as former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and former French President Jacques Chirac, Berlusconi supported Bush on Iraq from the start. The 71-year-old media mogul defied domestic opposition and dispatched about 3,000 troops to Iraq after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Those troops came home, and Berlusconi, recently elected to his third stint in power since 1994, has pledged not to send any back.

Debt Stress Can Wear On Body, Poll Finds

9 June 2008

WASHINGTON - The stress from deepening debt is becoming a major pain in the neck -- and the back and the head and the stomach -- for millions of Americans.

When people are dealing with mountains of debt, they're much more likely to report health problems, too, according to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll. And not just little stuff; this means ulcers, severe depression, even heart attacks.

Take Edward Driscoll, 38, of Braintree, Mass. He blames debt -- $10,000 worth -- for contributing to his ulcers and his wife Kimberly's panic attacks.

"Just worrying, worrying, worrying, you know, where the next payment of this is going to come from," he says.

Although most people appear to be managing their debts all right, perhaps 10 million to 16 million are "suffering terribly due to their debts, and their health is likely to be negatively impacted," says Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist and AP consultant who analyzed the results of the survey.

Those are people who reported high levels of debt stress and suffered from at least three stress-related illnesses, he says.

That finding is supported by medical research that has linked chronic stress to a wide range of ailments.

And the current tough economic times and rising costs of living seem to be leading to increasing debt stress, 14 percent higher this year than in 2004, according to an index tied to the AP-AOL survey.

Among the people reporting high debt stress in the new poll:

-27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems, compared with 8 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.

-44 percent had migraines or other headaches, compared with 15 percent.

-29 percent suffered severe anxiety, compared with 4 percent.

-23 percent had severe depression, compared with 4 percent.

-6 percent reported heart attacks, double the rate for those with low debt stress.

-More than half, 51 percent, had muscle tension, including pain in the lower back. That compared with 31 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.

People who reported high stress also were much more likely to have trouble concentrating and sleeping and were more prone to getting upset for no good reason.

When their construction business went under four years ago, Pamela Crouch, 61, and her husband, who had retired from General Motors, found themselves struggling under IOUs totaling $30,000.

"We just kind of felt desperate. We just really didn't have enough to live on to pay what we had to pay," recalls Crouch of Eaton, Ind. She remembers having trouble sleeping and concentrating. "We ended up paying a lot of our bills just on the credit card," says Crouch, a medical assistant in a nursing home. "We were stressed and depressed. ... It was really rough."

Their son, a manager of a construction supply company, recently helped them out with their debt problems. "Things are doing much better," she says. "It made a world of difference in how we feel."

It isn't known for certain whether such stress is causing health problems, says Lavrakas, who while at Ohio State University in the late 1990s helped to develop an index to measure the extent to which people are stressed from financial debts.

But medical research suggests that most of the symptoms reported in this poll are indeed typical of chronic stress. The body reacts with a "fight-or-flight" response, releasing adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol.

That helps you react fast in an emergency, but if the body stays in this high gear too long, those chemicals can wreak physical havoc in numerous systems - everything from a rise in blood pressure and heart rate to problems with memory, mood, digestion, even the immune system.

And no, stress doesn't cause stomach ulcers -- most are caused by bacteria - but stress can worsen the pain.

Regardless of the health implications, Americans are taking on more debt as tough economic times -- slowing economic activity, job losses, soaring energy and food prices, slumping home values and record home foreclosures -- strain many people's budgets.

Revolving consumer debt, almost all from credit cards, now totals $957 billion, compared with $800 billion in 2004, according to the Federal Reserve.

Average car loans are up, too, to $27,397, from $24,888 four years ago. Home mortgages total $10.5 trillion, compared with $7.8 trillion in 2004.

If that's not enough to rattle you, consider this. The share of households' after-tax income that goes to serving financial obligations was nearly 20 percent in 2007, up from 18.5 percent in 2004, said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.

No wonder people are feeling stressed. So, why do they let debt spiral out of control?

A significant life crisis like a major health problem or the loss of a job drives many people into debt. Others build up bills "trying to keep up with the Joneses" -- according to Patricia Drentea, associate professor of sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who studies debt and stress.

For the middle class and beyond, it could be a push for a bigger house, an SUV, high-tech TVs, computers and other electronic gadgets, gym memberships, nicer clothes and restaurants. The list goes on and on.

Indeed, the survey found that upwardly mobile, middle-class families were among those who had the most debt stress. Others were women, couples with small children, low-income working families, Democrats and those who graduated high school but haven't taken college courses.

Those least likely to be stressed from debt include men, retirees, empty nesters, college graduates and Republicans.

The AP-AOL Health poll involved telephone interviews with 1,002 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii and was conducted from March 24 to April 3 by Abt SRBI Inc. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Cynthia Roberts, 36, of Tawas City, Mich., is "slowly crawling out of the hole that I've been buried in for four years." At that time, she lost her job as a convenience store manager as she battled health problems. She eventually lost her home to foreclosure.

These days, Roberts, a mother of four, the oldest in the Army, makes a living through a series of odd jobs -- hauling metal to the scrap yard, selling firewood, mowing lawns and cleaning houses. She's now making payments on utility bills and on her car. But not her credit card, where hundreds of dollars in charges are several years old.

At the height of her financial troubles, "I couldn't function," she remembers. "I'm surprised I'm not in a white straitjacket in a nut house. It was that bad. I had to go for counseling because I was freaking out."

Iran, Syria to promote relations

12 June 2008

Paris-Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Wednesday that Iran and Syria would further improve their amicable mutual ties.

Mottaki, who is currently in Paris to attend the Afghan donors' conference, made the statement while addressing a press conference.

Asked whether Syria-Israel talks would be tantamount to separation of Iran and Syria, he said, "Syria-Israel talks are being held with the aim of taking back Golan Heights. The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that Golan Heights are inseparable part of Syria." He added, "As Shaba Farms belong to Lebanon and Palestine to Palestinians, Syria has the right to demand, without any precondition, this part of its territory, which has been occupied by the Zionist regime."

On France's stand regarding Syria, Mottaki said Syria is an important country and Iran welcomes any change in Paris attitude toward Damascus.

He noted that during the past 30 years, the US policy has been aimed at separating regional countries particularly Iran and Syria stressing, "This is a failed policy."
Mottaki said Iran and regional Arab states enjoy common interests and share religious, cultural and geographical commonalties.

Pointing to his recent meeting with his Saudi counterpart Saud al-Faisal, he said Tehran-Riyadh cooperation would lead to establishment of peace, stability and security in the region.

Turkey's demand to join the European Union would not harm Iran, he said, adding, "Iran has positive and growing relations with its neighboring states, particularly Turkey. The two sides have great potentials to bolster economic cooperation."

He said Iran and Turkey are currently implementing joint projects worth dlrs 10 billion in various fields of energy, oil and gas.

Chinese assistant FM due in Iran

12 June 2008

Beijing-China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Jieyi is to visit Iran in the near future, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said here Thursday.

He told reporters that Liu would accompany the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in his two-day visit to Tehran, scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Solana will deliver a package proposed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- China, Russia, France, Britain and the US -- plus Germany (Group 5+1) to Iranian officials.

A message by foreign ministers of the six countries would be also submitted to their Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, the spokesman added.

He expressed hope the sides would increase their diplomatic efforts to find a long-lasting solution to Iran's peaceful nuclear case.

Qin urged all sides to show more flexibility over Iran's nuclear case and strive to resume negotiations on the issue.

Dalai Lama says Tibet talks with China likely

12 June 2008

By ROHAN SULLIVAN

The Dalai Lama said Thursday that talks with China's government on resolving unrest in Tibet might resume next month, and he urged his supporters not to cause trouble when the Olympic torch is in the Himalayan territory.

The exiled Tibetan leader said he supports China's stated desire for a stable and harmonious society, but he also renewed his call for Beijing to grant Tibet meaningful autonomy.

"Stability, unity must come from the heart, not a gun," the Dalai Lama told a news conference in Sydney. "And harmonious society must come from ... trust. Give Tibetans meaningful autonomy; that will satisfy Tibetans."

Representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile met with Chinese officials in early May for informal talks on how to move beyond the unrest in the region, which flared in March into violence that killed at least 22 people.

The clashes fueled anger at China's rule in Tibet, and the Olympic torch relay became a focus of Tibetan pro-independence protests in Paris, London and other cities that threatened to cast a shadow over the Beijing games in August.

The Chinese government blames the Dalai Lama for the unrest, saying it was part of a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of China. The Dalai Lama has denied those charges, saying he wants meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people under China's rule, not independence.

He said plans for a formal round of talks between his envoys and Beijing's had been postponed because of China's disastrous May 12 earthquake, which killed almost 70,000 people.

"This (is) not a pullout, simply this is a postponement," the Dalai Lama said. He said the meeting would take place "maybe next month."

The Dalai Lama also reiterated his call for his supporters not to target the Beijing Olympics or the torch.

"We have fully supported the Olympic Games right from the beginning. The torch is part of that," he said. "Over 1 billion Chinese brothers and sisters feel really proud of that. We must respect that. Therefore, we should not disturb that."

He said he did not think there will be "any trouble" when the torch relay is in Tibet.

The torch, currently threading its way through China, will be used to officially launch the Olympics in Beijing on Aug. 8. The relay is due in Tibet on June 19-21.

China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time. Chinese Communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951.

The March unrest was the most widespread and sustained action against Beijing's rule in decades, focusing attention on accusations that Chinese policies in the region are eroding its traditional Buddhist culture and mainly benefit Chinese who moved there since the occupation.

China says 22 people died in the March violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa, while overseas Tibet supporters say many times that number have been killed in protests and the ensuing security crackdown across Tibetan regions of western China.

The Dalai Lama is in Sydney to deliver a series of meditation lectures.