Rescue Crews Wait for Ike to Pass to Find Victims

13 September 2008

By JUAN A. LOZANO and CHRIS DUNCAN

Howling ashore with 110 mph winds, Hurricane Ike ravaged the Texas coast Saturday, flooding thousands of homes and businesses, shattering windows in Houston's skyscrapers and knocking out power to millions of people.

With roads still unpassable, it was unclear how many may have perished, and authorities mobilized for a huge search-and-rescue operation to reach the more than 100,000 people who ignored warnings that attempting to ride the storm out could bring "certain death." Crews were waiting for the storm to pass to make rescues.

"The unfortunate truth is we're going to have to go in ... and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We'll probably do the largest search-and-rescue operation that's ever been conducted in the state of Texas," said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.

The storm's first fatality was a woman in a neighborhood north of Houston who was killed when a tree fell on her home as she slept, authorities said.

With the winds still blowing and rain still falling in sheets, authorities in some places could not venture outside to get a full look at the damage, but they were encouraged that the storm surge topped out at only 13.5 feet — far lower than the catastrophic 20-to-25-foot wall of water forecasters had feared.

Ike passed over Houston before dawn, blowing out windows in the state's tallest building, the 75-story Chase Tower. Behind splintered shards, desks were exposed to the pounding morning rains, metal blinds hung in a twisted heap from some windows, and smoky black glass covered the streets below.

Documents, marked "highly confidential," were strewn across nearly empty streets.

Glass and other debris litter streets in downtown Houston after Hurricane Ike passed through Saturday, 13 September 2008.

"It sounded like ice or something hitting the window but really it was glass," said Santa Montelongo, 53, who took refuge inside her office at a nearby building. "We could see it fly by. It got really spooky."

Yellow police tape cordoned off the street leading to Chase Tower. Black glass enshrouded red brick sidewalks. Trees were blown from their roots onto the streets. A street light lay near one curb, a smashed computer and pink insulation near another.

Shortly before noon, Houston police cars prowled downtown, ordering citizens off the streets over bullhorns: "Please clear the area! Go home!" Chunks of glass were still plunging from Chase Tower, threatening to injure nearby gawkers.

The storm, nearly as big as Texas itself, blasted a 500-mile stretch of coastline in Louisiana and Texas. It breached levees, flooded roads and led more than 1 million people to evacuate and seek shelter inland.

"Every storm's unique, but this one certainly will be remembered for its size," said Benton McGee, supervisory hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey's storm surge center in Ruston, La.

Of greatest concern were the more than 100,000 people in coastal counties who ignored mandatory evacuation orders, including thousands of residents of Galveston, the low-lying barrier island where Ike crashed ashore at 3:10 a.m. EDT.

South of Galveston, authorities said 67-year-old Ray Wilkinson was the only residents who didn't evacuate from Surfside Beach, population 800. He was drunk and waving when authorities reached him on Saturday morning.

"He kinda drank his way through the night," Mayor Larry Davison said.

Some homes were destroyed, but the storm was not as bad for Surfside Beach as Davison had feared. "But it's pretty bad," he said. "It'll take six months to clean it up."

Farther up the coast, much of Bridge City and downtown Orange were under up to 8 feet of water and rescue teams in dump trucks were plowing through in an effort to reach families trapped on roofs and inside attics.

"We've got to try and do something," said Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux.

In Louisiana, Ike's storm surge inundated thousands of homes and businesses. In Plaquemines Parish, near New Orleans, a sheriff's spokesman said levees were overtopped and floodwaters were higher than either hurricane Katrina or Rita.

"The storm surge we're experiencing, on both sides of the Mississippi River, is higher than anything we've seen before," Marie said.

Officials in Houston and along the coast reported receiving thousands of distress calls overnight but they were unable to respond because of the dangerous hurricane conditions. Emergency responders were fanning out Saturday morning from the Reliant Center in Houston to take stock of the damage and rescue any holdouts who needed help.

Matt Wells, left, and his brother, Mark, clear debris from Highway 146 as they try to cross a causeway with their truck after Hurricane Ike passed through Clear Lake Shores, Texas, on 13 September 2008.

"This is a democracy," said Mark Miner, a spokesman for Perry. "Local officials who can order evacuations put out very strong messages. Gov. Perry put out a very strong warning. But you can't force people to leave their homes. They made a decision to ride out the storm. Our prayers are with them."

Ike landed near the nation's biggest complex of refineries and petrochemical plants. Fears of shortages pushed wholesale gasoline prices to around $4.85 a gallon, up from $3 earlier in the week, and at least eight refineries were shut down. But it was too soon to know how they fared.

Fires burned untended across Galveston and Houston. Brennan's, a landmark downtown Houston restaurant, was destroyed by flames when firefighters were thwarted by high winds. Fire officials said a restaurant worker and his young daughter were taken to a hospital in critical condition with burns over 70 percent of their bodies.

Mindful of the deadly chaos that ensued in 2005 when the nation's fourth-largest city emptied out ahead of Hurricane Rita, Houston officials evacuated only the lowest-lying areas and told some 2 million others to "hunker down" and ride out the storm at home. Ike was the first hurricane since Alicia in 1983 to land a direct hit on Houston.

"From the beginning, we knew this was going to be a big storm, a frightening situation," said County Judge Ed Emmett, who urged residents to stay inside, even if they think the storm has passed. "Those of us who were around 25 years ago when Alicia came through, we know what it's like to listen to those winds and that rain. But from where we now stand, as the storm goes through and clears our area, we are going to see our community at its very best."

As Ike moved north later Saturday morning, the storm dropped to a Category 1 hurricane with winds of around 80 mph. At 11 a.m. EDT, the center was about 20 miles north-northeast of Huntsville, Texas, and moving north at 16 mph. It was expected to turn toward Arkansas later in the day and become a tropical storm.

More than 3 million customers lost power in southeast Texas, and some 140,000 more in Louisiana. That's in addition to the 60,000 still without power from Labor Day's Hurricane Gustav. Suppliers warned it could be weeks before all service was restored.

But there was good news: A stranded freighter with 22 men aboard made it through the brunt of the storm safely, and a tugboat was on the way to save them. And an evacuee from Calhoun County gave birth to a baby girl in the restroom of a shelter with the aid of an expert in geriatric psychiatry who delivered his first baby in two decades.

Update:
Ike wears itself out beating up on Texas
Crews fan out in Texas to search for Ike victims
(At least 3 million people are without power; storm blamed for 2 deaths)



Texas resident: 'We will rebuild'
Many Texas residents are learning that their homes have been completely destroyed.

Bush’s 9/11 Radio Address for 2008

13 September 2008

U.S. President George W. Bush’s radio address will not be published today, because it is an insult to the martyr’s of 9/11, to those across the globe that has been subjected to war’s and murder by the very man that spoke insults to those innocent dead and the global devastation that has made countless tears and sorrow upon ever person or family that has been subject to these horror’s.

It is also with great sorrow, of those who will yet die by the bloody hand’s of the very man of this radio address, may Allah (God) help the global population to be safe in the future; from such a murderous rampage.

It is also a great hope that the horrible crime’s that mankind has had to face for at least the last eight years, that everyone will find love again for one another and not the divide that we see today.

Nevertheless, this latest radio address was just words with the absence of feeling, on Bush’s part. Which I guess is a little hard for me personally to understand, for I have been helping people in some manner since I was two years-old and actually am learning these days; that I can get frustrated, when I wish to help and sometimes my hands are tied.

Iran refutes US for illegal action against Iran's shipping lines

13 September 2008

New York-Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Friday strongly condemned the US for illegal action against the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, saying that it targeted the welfare of the Iranian nation.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Iranian mission denounced the unwarranted move by the United States on September 10, 2008 in labeling baseless allegations and taking illegal unilateral measures against the IRISL, to exert pressure on thousands of ordinary shareholders of the company.

"The said illegal and unjustifiable measures that are taken under false pretexts, yet again put on display the unilateralist approach of the United States, and constitute another example of US contempt for international law, and are indeed doomed to fail because of their hegemonic, illegitimate and illegal nature," the statement added.

The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects the baseless allegations made by the US against the IRISL, and strongly condemns the said US invalid unilateral measures, it added.

The statement further noted that the IRISL has been operating under the rules and regulations of international law pertaining to the carriage of goods by sea, and as such, has never engaged in illicit activities including "proliferation activities", since there are such activities in Iran.

As stressed, time and again, by the officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency and as reflected in the agency's numerous reports, the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran is purely peaceful and there is no single evidence or indication to the contrary, it said.

"Given the US has failed to provide any evidence with regard to the so-called "proliferation concerns" in Iran, nor has it presented any substantiation to its allegations against IRISL, these unlawful unilateral measures only add to the absurdity of such blind US policies and practices."

Equally unwarranted are the attempts by the United States to justify such illegal actions by its false and perverted interpretation of the Security Council resolution is, it never prescribes such measures, the statement said.

"It is abundantly clear that these measures are intended to target the welfare of the Iranian nation, and to exert undue pressure on thousands of ordinary shareholders of this company," it said.

Therefore, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its right to seek compensation for the damages that may be incurred to its citizens as a result of such unfounded accusations and unlawful unilateral measures.

The statement said that history should have taught a lesson to the advocates of unilateralism and hegemony, that no amount of pressure, intimidation and unlawful measures will be able to break the resolve of a great nation that is determined to defend its rights.

Palestine Security Beefed-Up for Ramadan

A Palestinian woman stops next to a shop selling national flags on her way to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City to attend the second Ramadan Friday prayer, on 12 September 2008.

The Jews have beefed up its police deployments in Jerusalem as thousands of Muslim faithful attended the prayers at Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest shrine.

The reason for the tightened security is the hit-and-run latest’s Canaanite terrorists attack’s; such as burning down an empty building, to the stabbing attack on a 9-year-old Jewish boy.

Which is greatly hoped the child will recover fully and these attacks are throttled for everyone’s safety, as well as it is appreciated, that not just the military; but the Jewish police are trying to keep people safe.

Furthermore, as to the latest U.S. media propaganda campaign insulting all Palestinians, it should be known that deaf ears have followed this latest campaign; for the good of everyone involved.

Nevertheless, it has been further reported, that global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas’s latest jet setting expedition in Europe, is showing more of a man with the back flap of his red long johns hanging open; in a very cold winter wind.

Bush’s New Wave of Internet Terrorism

12 September 2008

Since day before yesterday evening, if people are having a troublesome time doing anything over the internet, especially due to extreme slowness or poor loading, too about stopping all together; it is due to another case of U.S. President George W. Bush’s new wave of internet terrorism, it was reported.

It is hoped, that something would be done to stop this latest wave of Bush terrorist attacks on innocent people across the globe.

Update:

As to those moderately able to assess the internet, it has been reported that numerous repairs are being done to repair the damage done by Bush’s terrorism of the global net. This particular terrorism has not just devastated just people across the globe; but from my understanding, every economic, media or any organization that uses the internet. Otherwise, if one uses the net, you got hit.

As repairs are underway, it may take a little time before the net is its old self again; so just try and be patient. Apparently, there is people working very hard trying to make everything right again, from my understanding.

Gustav Swells Unemployment

25,000 workers so far file for state benefits

12 September 2008

by Ed Anderson

BATON ROUGE - More than 25,000 workers who have become unemployed since Hurricane Gustav have filed for unemployment benefits, 10 times more than the average weekly rate, state labor officials said Thursday.

Tim Barfield, executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said that as of noon Thursday, 25,026 people have filed unemployment claims since Gustav's landfall last week. More claims are expected, he said, but he could not venture a guess of how many or the amount of benefits to be paid.

"There are a significant number of claims still out there," Barfield said.

By comparison, there were about 350,000 claims filed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Barfield also said benefits paid to those who qualified before Gustav will be paid by Friday. A loss of power by the department's main office for more than a week caused benefits to be delayed, some as many as 10 days. Barfield said he expects $8.3 million to be paid to almost 30,000 recipients by Friday.

"This will catch us up," he said. "We did not anticipate being out of power as long as we have been."

Barfield said not all of the 25,000 applicants after Gustav will qualify.

To file an application for benefits, a jobless worker can go online at www.laworks.net or call one of two toll-free numbers: 1.800.957.1605 or 1.866.259.6345.

The maximum benefit is $258 a week for 26 weeks. "It is difficult to estimate what that payout will be," Barfield said.

He said the deadline for most unemployed workers affected by Gustav to file is Oct. 6.

There are about 25,000 people who draw unemployment benefits each week, Barfield said.

He said more than 230 contract and full-time employees have been hired to field calls or answer complaints. For problems or non-claim questions, the agency has a third toll free-number, 1.866.783.5567.

On another Gustav-related matter, state National Guard officials said activities at the food distribution centers are starting to wind down. On Thursday, Gov. Bobby Jindal said 15 centers were still open, handing out provisions like ready-to-eat meals, ice, bottled water and tarps. Jindal said the number of centers peaked at 50.

Denise Everhart, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that as of Thursday, the agency has supplied 444,225 tarps, 920,000 pounds of ice, 16.9 million bottles of water and 8.74 million ready-to-eat meals.

Jindal had complained earlier that FEMA was slow in supplying the meals and tarps at the centers but has improved.

Note:
While I do not know about other area’s of Louisiana, but in the New Orleans and vicinity you will find much sadness as well as human suffering; even with the mild fear of some of the sudden storms and wind that many hope is not a forerunner to more extreme weather conditions.

In some of the low lying area’s that was flooded during Hurricane Gustav, is not just flooding again, but other’s are threatened with flooding due to Hurricane Ike.

Traffic lines Interstate 45 leaving Houston as Hurricane Ike approaches the Texas Gulf Coast Thursday, 11 September 2008, in The Woodlands, Texas.

It is a great hope that those cities in Texas, fair better then what occurred from not just Hurricane Gustav and Ike; but Katrina and Rita.

Furthermore, in some of the hurricane hit area’s, gas stations for fear of a gasoline shortage due to the hurricane’s, has stated selling gasoline at $4.63 per gallon; which is gouging, the already crippling market.

Chavez Expelled U.S. Ambassador

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during a meeting in Caracas, on 11 September 2008.

12 September 2008


Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has expelled the U.S. ambassador due to alleged allocations of unacceptable treatment by Washington.

Chavez said Washington was behind an alleged plot by retired military officers to kill him and said it had plans to bomb him from planes marked as Venezuelan.

It has been further assessed that other types of aggressions has been aimed at not just Chavez, but Venezuela.

Chavez told his own ambassador to the United States to come home before he was thrown out.

The U.S. State Department said it had not been officially notified of the expulsion. Which is not surprising when it is a ‘they do not wish to do so,’ so say this scenario; especially since more then Venezuela has requested the explosion of U.S. ambassador’s, but Embassy closures.

Update:
Venezuelan leader orders U.S. ambassador out
(Chavez gives envoy 72 hours to leave)

Iran, guardian of regional countries' security - Ahmad Khatami

12 September 2008

Tehran-Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran Ahmad Khatami said here Friday Islamic Iran is powerful brother and guardian of regional countries.

Addressing thousands of Tehrani worshipers at central campus of Tehran University, Khatami added in his second sermon, "I advise the heads of Arab countries to be Iran's friends, and regard Iran as their strong brother, rather than remaining in love with the United States." The interim Friday prayer leader said, "Iran considers the security of the region as its own security and wants the region to be safe and secure."

He all the same emphasized that the three islands are Iranian and they will remain Iranian for good, stressing, "The Iranian nation will not let an inch of the Islamic country to remain in the hands of the aliens."

The Friday preacher of Tehran referred to the fate of the ousted Shah of Iran and the executed Iraqi dictator Saddam, arguing, "Saddam invaded Iran after receiving the green light from the White House, but notice the final result of his love for America that was a most wretched death."

Khatami added, "The Shah of Iran, too, served America greatly and was the gendarm of the region, but you witnessed the dark days he experienced at the end. He was humiliated to an extent that even the United States did not permit him to enter the US soil to receive medical treatment, fearing the uproar of the Islamic Ummah." Still addressing the Arab leaders, the provisional Friday prayer leader of Tehran said, "You have tested this nation. This nation resisted for eight years, not permitting the enemy to keep an inch of its soil."

Khatami also referred to the US-Iraq security pact plan, reiterating, "A while ago a humiliating pact was proposed to the Iraqi government for ratification, but thanks to awareness and alertness of the Iraqi religious sources, the Iraqi Government, and people, and intellectuals the plot was foiled."

The Friday preacher of Tehran emphasized, "Yet, the Americans are after ratification of another less severe, shorter term agreement." Addressing the Iraqi nation, he said, "Signing any pact with the United States, whether it would be a long- or short-term pact, would have no fruit, but humiliation of the Iraqi nation." Referring to the Supreme Leader's remarks in his recent meeting with the state officials, he said, "Some people assume we have no difference of understanding with the oppressor powers. That is while the latter would be pleased merely with the annihilation of the Islamic system, while we wish there would be no hegemony, no oppressor tendency, and no colonialist power."

This week's Friday prayer leader of Tehran reiterated, "The matter is the confrontation between two powers, namely power of faith and the power of capitalism, and at this scene resistance is the last word, while losing patience and getting tired is a poison in this path." Khatami emphasized, "The Global oppression intends to make our people tired. There was even a time when they kept on threatening us of military attacks."

Referring to the West's imposed economic sanctions against Iran, he said, "Many people are hopeful due to these economic pressures and express delight at the EU and the UN Security Council over the imposing of the sanctions."

Pointing out that both the people and the officials are suffering from high inflation in Iran, he reiterated, "We cannot ignore the effect of outside pressure, the sanctions, and the international inflation over the inflation rate in Iran. These are facts that the world confirms their existence."

He considered a part of the inflation to be the result of the Western powers' intrigues, arguing, "They create problems for Iran resorting to phony pretexts."

This week's Friday preacher of Tehran reiterated, "The government and the Parliament are concerned about finding measures to lower the inflation level and work in that respect day and night, to find a way out of this bothering phenomenon."

Khatami asked both the Government and the Parliament to take extreme care in surveying the plans and bills that they will neither be leading to increasing the inflation rate, nor disturbing production.

Referring to the government's economic evolution plan, he said, "This plan is approved by the entire true insiders of the system." He emphasized, "The Supreme Leader's guidelines regarding this plan were aimed at refraining from extremist moves and full harmony between the Government and the Parliament in its implementation, so that the plan could be implemented successfully."

Note:
There is one section of this speech that I did omit for two reason’s, one that it may be questioned or debated within certain elements of Islam and two, the people mentioned while it is unfounded, should not be disrespected for view’s that appeared not only more during the war when certain people mentioned where in a form of slavery; but also should be more catered towards the U.S.

By omitting the segment, was not intended to be disrespectful to anyone, but to the contrary.

Furthermore, I heard some people in the U.S. referring from my understanding mistakably that Iran wishes to destroy the Jewish people and attack the U.S., I will be one that would disagree with these remark’s; because what I understand of Iran, that it is the opposite of the blatant remarks made from these other sources and contend these remarks mistakenly by these people, are again from the ramped media propaganda campaign within the U.S.

Army Suicide Rate Could Top Nation's this Year

9 September 2008

WASHINGTON -The rate of suicides among-active duty soldiers is on pace to surpass both last year's numbers and the rate of suicide in the general U.S. population for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to U.S. Army officials.

As of August, 62 Army soldiers have committed suicide, and 31 cases of possible suicide remain under investigation, according to Army statistics. Last year, the Army recorded 115 suicides among its ranks, which was also higher than the previous year.

Army officials said that if the trend continues this year, it will pass the nation's suicide rate of 19.5 people per 100,000, a 2005 figure considered the most recent by the government.

The rise can be attributed to the increased pace of combat operations, the number of deployments and financial and family troubles connected with deployments, Army officials said.

"Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families," Secretary of the Army Pete Geren said. "This stress on the force is validated by recent studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression."

The statistics were released Tuesday at a news conference announcing the completion of a study by mental health experts who the Veterans Administration asked to review its suicide prevention work and track numbers.

On Tuesday, the VA also announced findings from a study showing that suicides hit an all-time high in 2006 among younger U.S. military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The numbers show record levels for men, but the statistics are lower for women.

According to the VA, about 46 of 100,000 males between the ages of 18 and 29 utilizing VA services committed suicide in 2006, compared with about 27 the year before.

For female veterans in the same age group, about three in 100,000 killed themselves in 2006, compared with about eight per 100,000 in 2005.

The suicide rate for males is also higher than for the general United States population in 2005. The number for the general population is about 20 people per 100,000, according to the VA numbers. Numbers were not available for the 2006 general male population suicides.

Veterans Secretary James Peake said the department would try to reduce the number of suicides by using recommendations by the mental health expert panel.

"The report of this blue-ribbon panel, and other efforts under way, will ensure VA mobilizes its full resources to care for our most vulnerable veterans," Peake said in a statement.

Among veterans who left the military in 2001, 141 killed themselves between 2002 and 2005, according to VA statistics in the report. In 2006, 113 more veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars committed suicide.

The Veterans Administration has said the rise in suicides can be directly connected to the increase in veterans coming from both wars since 2001.

Representatives from the Department of Defense, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health made the following recommendations:

• Design a study that will identify suicide risk among veterans of different conflicts, ages, genders, military branches and other factors.

• Improve the VA's screening for suicide among veterans with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

• Foster a better understanding of suitable medications for depression, PTSD and suicidal behavior.

Bush on the 9/11 Anniversary 2008

On the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist acts, events big and small are planned nationwide to remember the more than 2,751 people who were killed in the Twin Towers attacks, not including Pennsylvania and the Pentagon.

While 11 September 2001 is still so fresh in some people’s minds and this just doesn’t include the Americans, but people throughout the globe; of such a heinous perpetrated act upon any countries soil. But what makes it more of a heinous situation is because this terrorist act was actually home grown.

It has become common knowledge, among many in the global community that the mastermind behind 9/11 was none other then U.S. President George W. Bush and as for Al-Qaeda, the leader in the background for this group; is Bush.

Just like another terrorist organization in my country of Palestine, under global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas with his organization of collaborates and they take order’s from Bush.

If Bush plans to preside over any of the memorial event’s today it makes for a man without a conscience to do so, for the sake of not just the American people, but the other’s who died because of 9/11 and the outcome across the globe of terrorist attacks through Bush, to war, occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, other terrorist attacks on American soil, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Internet terrorism to name a few.

Nevertheless, it is hoped that one day the wounds will heal and the reminder that the Islamic nations or people where never guilty, but are so very saddened by these event's, also; because Muslims across the globe are still shedding tears.

Iran, major neighbor to Iraq: UN envoy

11 September 2008

Tehran-The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Staffan de Mistura said here Wednesday that Iran is a very important neighboring country to Iraq.

De Mistura paid a visit to Tehran on September 9-10 and held talks with senior Iranian officials on promotion of regional cooperation and dialogue with Iraq by encompassing the views of neighboring countries.

Speaking to reporters, he assessed as "constructive" his talks with Iranian officials and said that Iran has close cooperation with Iraq.

He added that Iraq's neighboring countries play significant part in supporting the country's security, stability and national sovereignty.

He said that Iranian officials have called on Iraq to pull out of the UN Chapter VII, adding the UN Security Council would discuss the issue soon.

The UN envoy said that projects which are currently underway in Iraq by Iran would further bolster Tehran-Baghdad relations.

He added that exchange of visits between Iranian and Iraqi officials indicate strong ties between the two countries.

Praising Tehran-Baghdad constructive energy cooperation, the UN envoy said Iran has made investment in that sector in Iraq.

While in Tehran, the UN representative held talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and a number of other senior officials.

Pakistani Muslims step on Bush Killer Poster

Pakistani Muslims step on a poster of U.S. President George W. Bush during a protest in Multan, on 10 September 2008.

At least 21 people including women and children were killed, on 8 September in a missile strike by suspected U.S. drones on a Pakistan tribal town near the Afghan border.

In other Bush news, U.S. President George W. Bush also had one of his usual puppet Meeting get together’s with Iraqi President Talabani, yesterday. Which was more equated with Iraqi President Talabani giving Bush a pat on the back speech without looking Bush in the eyes, until the very last words of his speech.

Furthermore, both Talabani and Bush looked like they bought there suits and ties from the same tailor.

Further Reading:
Former official: Bush OK'd US raids in Pakistan
NBC: Bush OK'd secret raids inside Pakistan
Pakistan could end cooperation in war on terror

Abbas, Bush Terrorism Kidnapping and Threatening Palestinians

Global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas along with his stooge terrorist organization is up to there same old tired tricks of kidnapping Palestinians and threatening the lives of the Palestine government.

While Abbas has apparently intensified measures a bit this time, it is well known he will once again not succeed; for good always prevails over evil or criminal measures.

Allah always sees to this, in behalf of His love for humanity.

Instead of using his energy on terrorism, is a question when Abbas’s will pack his suitcase and leave Palestine to never return and take his criminal organization with him?

Furthermore, it was reported that these current kidnapping and threatening harm of Palestinians was initiated with aide of a phone call by U.S. President George W. Bush, which is not surprising; for this has occurred too many times.

The Care of Family and Orphans

By HRM Deborah

Something that has always been appreciated by me that is within Islam and that is the care of family and orphans.

Islam does not have the adage of what the United States coins as “deadbeat parents,” that due to divorce or absent by what ever means from the household; that a person is still responsible for the care of wife and children no matter where they may be.

It is also important to understand, that the care of an orphan is equally important and this is where Islamic law differs from laws in the United States for example, in that if one finds an orphan child in Islam; that they take the child into there home and raise them as part of there family with the love and care as any other member of the family and not by the strict laws found in the United States.

As for me, numerous times if I had been in Palestine especially during the war, knowing me; my home would had many orphan children to shower with love along with my own.

Even with my situation in the U.S., I have helped raise and love many children over time and have loss count because of the numerous children I helped care and raise so they would be less like “Latchkey” children and have a more normal life. To this day, if I meet one of these children from my younger days, they still tend to call me, "Mother."

Furthermore, the parent’s of these children where very happy that I was apart of there lives, also.

Nevertheless, I am also the type of person when I have been out of the home, to watch over children with the hope; less would be found on milk carton’s and on posters as missing or dead.

To with permission also from the parent’s, to help what appears as a troubled or withdrawn child to have a brighter happier life.

Even in our modern times with Islamophobia so rampant, I think back of how many American parent’s had practically begged for me to come and care for there children; so they would have a better life in the parents minds, to also what was said to me many times; that the parent’s knew in there hearts they would have happier children, that would learn how to be good people as adults.

Measles cases on increase in United States

9 September 2008

By JULIE DEARDORFF

Measles cases in the United States are rising, and parents who reject vaccination are shouldering much of the blame. Nearly half of the 131 cases so far this year involved unvaccinated children, including 25 home-schooled kids in Illinois.

Health officials worry that as vaccination rates decline, herd immunity is lost, increasing the chance of a mass disease outbreak. Some pediatricians, mean-while, are frustrated that they have to spend so much time convincing parents that vaccines such as the measles, mumps and rubella shot are safe.

Questioning in itself is not a bad thing, especially since the Internet has ignited an information explosion, some of it inaccurate. It does, however, reflect a larger crisis of confidence in public health officials and policy, which has developed partly because so many new, seemingly unnecessary vac-cines have been added to the schedule and because no one can explain what causes, how to prevent or how to treat the new childhood disorders: asthma, allergies, attention deficit disorder and autism.

The number of vaccines children receive has tripled since the early 1980s. In 1982, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recom-mended 23 doses of 7 vaccines for children up to age 6.

Today’s typical 6-year-old has had 48 doses of 12 vaccines. (Toss in the flu shot, which may or may not be effective, and it boosts the number to 69 doses of 16 vaccines by age 18.) Immunization against diseases that were once a childhood rite of passage and that conferred lifelong immunity, such as chick-enpox, is now required for public school in many states, including Illinois. And the Hepatitis B vaccine is routinely given to babies the day after they’re born, even though the illness is contracted through blood transfusions and sexual activity. Parents wonder: “Why can’t the Hep B vaccine wait?”

But what really prompted questions was the 1997 decision by the Food and Drug Administration to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal from most vaccines as a precaution, due to concerns about the “theoretical potential for neurotoxicity” and the growing number of vaccines containing thimerosal on the immunization schedule.

Though no evidence of harm has been shown, a mental link to thimerosal was made, a scarlet letter on vaccines that re-mains to this day.

Several recent developments have sparked other questions about vaccines:

Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former head of the National Institutes of Health, told CBS News that she thinks “public health officials have been too quick to dismiss the (autism-vaccine) hypothesis as irrational.”

In March, government health officials conceded that childhood vaccines aggra-vated a rare, underlying cellular disorder in 9-year-old Hannah Poling that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms.

America might be over-vaccinating its kids and health officials might want to re-evaluate and adjust the immunization sched-ule, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. But not because of health concerns; the vaccines might just be unnecessary and waste a lot of money.

A study in the journal Pediatrics found that 33 percent of pediatricians would strongly recommend the rotavirus vaccine if it were up to the doctor’s discretion. But if it becomes an “official” recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics, that number goes up to 50 percent.

Last year, a week after CDC announced that the influenza vaccine was effective against only 40 percent of the season’s flu viruses, it recommended that all children over 6 months get a flu shot.
Vaccination, considered to be one of medi-cine’s greatest achievements, is a personal decision that is often forced on people for the greater good. Parents who question vaccines are simply seeking information and advocat-ing for their children.

We have the right to question everything that goes into our children’s bodies, whether it’s food, herbs, over-the-counter medications or prescription drugs. Vaccines, which like any medical procedure carry both benefits and risks, should not be an exception.

Muslim African immigrants attack three Jewish teens in Paris

10 September 2008

By HRM Deborah

It doesn’t matter the religion or what society in the world, there is good and bad people; otherwise, there would be no crime or other unacceptable issue’s occurring in the world.

Case in point, is the recent attack of three Jewish teens by a group of Muslim African immigrants in Paris on Saturday evening, which it should be known that not just anti-Semitism, but any form of racism is unacceptable in Islam as well as one would think in any religious body and it has always been a firm belief that anyone has the right to walk down any sidewalk and feel safe.

Since there is a reoccurring problem on this particular street or area in Paris and this is just a suggestion, because I have no authority to dictate crime policy in France; but rather just suggest that police should be stationed in this area until the problem ceases to keep the French Jewish citizens in the area safe, especially traveling to and from the Synagogue and Chabad school, until these types of crimes would hopefully cease.

While I am appalled over this latest incident especially since the youth’s had to be hospitalized with such injuries, it is hoped they will recover and everything be good for them once more.

No place in the world, regardless of where it is should practice racism or religious persecution in any form nor should these types of attitudes be a means to show the animal nature of mankind to commit such heinous crimes upon anyone.

What has always made it hard for me to write about such issue’s as this, is because I have always believed that people should love and respect each other to the fullness of the sanctity of life no matter what there religion maybe or who they are; for we all should care about each other then do such sorrowful thing as this and I for one understand about things of this nature being an age old survivor of such treatment.

Furthermore, anyone that commits such crimes as this should be held to the full extent of the law with also the hope to stop these sorts of crimes.

President calls for unity among three branches of government

10 September 2008

Tehran-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the three branches of government to preserve their unity and solidarity in order to attain the goals of the Islamic Revolution.

President made the remark in a meeting with the Supreme Leader of Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday afternoon.

President Ahmadinejad referred to administration of justice, expert work, planning, renovation, utilization of the country's youths, abidance by law, patience, trusting people and serving nation as most prominent characteristics of the 9th government.

On performance of his government, the president said in the past three years the time needed for implementing national projects has reduced by two and a half years.

Volume of transactions at stock exchange has registered an 80 percent increase in the past three years, he said.

Unemployment in the Iranian year of 1384 stood at 11.06 percent and in early 1387 it dropped to 9.06 percent, he said.

Budget for cultural affairs has tripled and that for post educational studies has increased 2.5 folds, said the president.

Research budget has doubled which demonstrates a remarkable breakthrough in the country's scientific activities, pointed out the president.

In the past 36 months, the government has made 43 visits to the country's provinces, he said.

On the government's economic reform plan, he said the government and Majlis are determined to fully and precisely implement the plan while avoiding haste.

Iran's active foreign policy has provided exceptional chances for the Iranian nation as well as other nations around the globe, he said.

The Iranian government has met with some 90 heads of states inside and outside the country in the past three years, he said.

Pious and committed Iranian officials are determined to safeguard the values of the Islamic Revolution and will spare no efforts to this end said the president, adding that they will never give up even one iota from their principles in dealing with global arrogance.

Powerful Quake Jolts Southern Iran

10 September 2008

Tehran-A powerful earthquake measuring six on the Richter scale jolted the vicinity of Khamir port near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Wednesday.

The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University, registered the quake at 15:30 hours local time (11:00 GMT).

The quake spread panic among people who took to the street in search of shelter.

There is no report of any casualty or damage to property caused by the quake.

Iran is often shaken by quakes of varying magnitudes as it sits on some of the world's most active seismic fault lines.

Two Jewish Soldiers Injured with Acid at Checkpoint

Palestinians cross the Hawara checkpoint near the city of Nablus, on 10 September 2008.

Two Jewish soldiers were injured today when a Canaanite woman attacked them with acid at the Hawara checkpoint.

This particular attack while it is sometimes classified as an assault in this instance because acid was used and the harm it could very well have caused can also be called attempted murder, as well as an act of terrorism by the Canaanite woman, towards the two Jewish soldiers.

On a different note, it is hoped the two soldiers will recover without to many problems.

'Snowfall' shocks Kenyan village

3 September 2008

Kenya-Residents of a village in central Kenya were shocked to see a blanket of hail resembling snow covering their land.

"I have not seen such a thing ever since I was born," said one resident of Nyahururu.

"Where shall we graze our cattle now? We do not know when this thing will melt," said another.

The Meteorological Department dismissed claims that the area had experienced snowfall, saying it was just hail which did not melt because of cold weather.

There is snow in Kenya - but only on the summit of the nearby Mount Kenya.

The storm caused widespread damage to food crops, grazing fields and greenhouses at a nearby flower farm.

The hail covered 100 acres (40ha) of land and was at least four inches deep, privately-owned NTV station reported.


'Looks like stone'

"You can see this is heavy, it's not powdery the way you'd expect snow to be," said Samuel Mwangi, the assistant director for weather forecasting at the Meteorological Department. "Nyahururu is cooler so when the hail falls, it will tend to linger for hours on the ground," he said.

James Kariuki, a local journalist, said at least 50 acres (20ha) of maize and 10 greenhouses at a flower farm were damaged by the storm.

Many of the villagers said they had never witnessed such an occurrence.

"This is not even rain, it is something that just fell suddenly. Even if you try digging into it, you will not find any water, it just looks like stone," one villager said.

Mr Mwangi said that parts of western Kenya frequently experience hail storms, but there the stones melt instantly due to high temperatures.

Mottaki advises US to listen to Iran's guidelines on Iraq

9 September 2008

Tehran-Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that the Americans should accept realities in Iraq and listen to Iran's guidelines on respecting the Iraqi people and their will.

According to the Information and Press Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mottaki made the remarks in a meeting with the Special Representative of UN Secretary General for Iraq Staffan de Mistura in Tehran on Tuesday.

Before the new US administration is compelled to act on the realities in Iraq, it is advisable for the current US administration to do this, Mottaki said.

On developments in Iraq, Mottaki said, "We welcome the active role of the UN in this respect and hope the body to play a much more active role on restoring Iraq's security as well as sovereignty." Most of Iran's offers which were proposed at Istanbul conference have been carried out, he said.

Iran welcomes any move in support of the Iraqi government and people, he said.

UN should play its proper role in dealing with current developments in Iraq, he said adding that the UN should not remain indifferent to removing Iraq from chapter seven of UN charter.

UN should not merely watch current developments in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said adding, "Unfortunately, we observe that many years after the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq, insecurity in both countries is on rise."

Iran has always backed Iraq's democratic government and believes that continued presence of outside forces is the root cause of insecurity in the war-shattered country, Mottaki said.

The UN envoy, for his part, said, "We have always backed Iran's role in Iraq since it spares no effort to support the Iraqi people and government."

UN is now closely following up Iraq's developments and is to play a much more active role to this end, he said.

Iraq's neighbors play significant role in restoring security and stability in Iraq, he said.

On the upcoming visit of Iraqi president to Tehran, he said the visit would be very crucial for expansion of mutual relations between the two countries as well as future development in Iraq and the entire region.

UN special envoy to Iraq, arrived in Tehran on Monday night and is to confer with a number of high ranking officials during his stay in the country.

Note:
It should be also known that Global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas’s terrorist organization, is also under chapter seven of UN charter and agreeably so.

Furthermore, HRM Deborah of Palestine in behalf of the true Arab Palestinian people and the Jewish Palestinian people, wish to give my gratitude to the United Nations for their kindness towards us.

Shahroudi: West uses human rights as a stick against Muslim states

9 September 2008

Tehran-Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi said here Tuesday that the West has turned Human Rights into a stick to encounter Muslim states.

Ayatollah Shahroudi told Nigerian Ambassador to Tehran Al Haji Abubakar Cika that Muslim countries and the Third World states should close their ranks and get united.

"The only way to get rid of colonialism and global arrogance is unity and solidarity among states and vigilance vis-a-vis the deceitful ploys of the global arrogance to dominate the oppressed nations," Shahroudi said.

He said that through unity among the oppressed states and cooperation among Muslims, the interests of nations can be guaranteed.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Shahroudi said the so-called advocates of human rights and freedom have committed numerous crimes under false slogans and today too the crimes are being committed in new forms.

He said Iran is ready to expand judicial cooperation with Nigeria.

The Nigerian diplomat said for his part that his country is ready to utilize Iran's judicial experience.

He said the meeting of Muslim states judiciary heads, held in Iran last year, was a valuable step towards bolstering judicial cooperation among Muslim states.

Abbas’s Terrorist Organization Charged with Burglary

Global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas (L) speaks to reporters after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on 6 September 2008, in Cairo.

By HRM Deborah

Global terrorist, Interpol fugitive Mahmoud Abbas seems to be feeling cocky again as to order member’s of his terrorist organization to commit criminal action within the country once more; this time it is breaking and entering of a Palestine government building with the intent to commit burglary.

Charges are being filed against the perpetrators of said crime and they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

As to other issues concerning Abbas’s terrorist organization, it is further initiated that since they are the oldest illegals and non-citizen’s within any country, it is a wonder when they will remove themselves from Palestine and relieve the crime problem within the country.

Furthermore, the Palestine Legal Government and the Queen, does have every right to oust any illegal non-citizen from Palestine.

For outcast’s the Canaanites where over 9, 000 years ago when the where forced out of what became known as the country of Turkey and apparently this is there wish once more; to wonder the countryside as beggars an thieves.

For Palestinians the Canaanites have never been nor are they now, but just criminal outcasts from Turkey trying to steal, rape and murder in a country not there own.

Nevertheless, terrorist Abbas’s and the whole of the Canaanite illegal terrorist population are no longer welcome in Palestine; under any means and this is nonnegotiable.

As for threatening to attempted harm of the Queen of Palestine, I have gotten used to it after over 50 years of this type of treatment and it has become like an old worn shirt.

John McCain's suicide attempt and his resulting PTSD

(Warning: Due to Explicit Profanity Language.)

By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
December 23, 2007

Presidential candidate John McCain's recently released Christmas ad depicting him as a tortured POW survivor underscores a reoccurring theme McCain's handlers have, for decades, carefully intertwined deep into his public persona and political campaigns.

McCain says because he survived 5½ years of brutal torture, while a prisoner of the communist Vietnamese, he is better qualified to be president of the United States than any other candidate. McCain claims his POW sufferings included three years in solitary confinement where he was tortured so badly that he "broke," causing him to attempt suicide.

What McCain's promoters have carefully edited out of their McCain-for-president equation is his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Department of Defense psychiatrists have evaluated McCain for PTSD several times, the results of which remain locked by privacy laws.

PTSD can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which physical harm occurred or was threatened. U.S. government studies have concluded that former POWs "may remain embroiled in a harsh psychological battle with themselves for decades after returning home."

An outcome of PTSD is a subtle web of personal problems including difficulty in controlling intense emotions such as anger and an inability to function well under stress.

Psychologist Patricia B. Sutker of the New Orleans Veterans Administration Medical Center and her colleagues reported in a 1991 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry that as many as nine of 10 surviving U.S. servicemen taken captive during the Korean War may suffer from PTSD and other mental disorders more than 35 years after their release.

In a follow-up study, VA experts concluded that POWs suffer "a much greater risk of developing PTSD than combat veterans."

Robert Timberg, in his book, The Nightingale's Song, wrote that POW McCain "suffered terribly in North Vietnamese camps."

Timberg wrote that in July 1968, McCain was taken to a room in which the North Vietnamese POW camp commander, whom the prisoners had nicknamed "Slopehead," was waiting with 10 guards and an interrogator nicked named "The Prick."

The guards, according to Timberg, charged into McCain, beating and kicking him until he "lay on the floor, bloody, arms and legs throbbing, ribs cracked, several teeth broken off at the gumline." The Vietnamese wanted McCain to confess to being a war criminal.

It was then and there that McCain, Timberg noted, was introduced for the first time to the "torture ropes." He wrote that McCain was tortured for several days before he broke and signed a confession that he was a war criminal. After signing the confession, McCain was so distraught that he attempted suicide but was stopped when a guard burst into the room.

Over the years, countless numbers of columnist/pundits have nearly drowned in their own drool suggesting McCain's POW experience greatly qualifies him to be president.

Washington Post columnist George Will once wrote that because McCain was such an "obstinate" POW hero resister, he was kept "in solitary confinement most of that time ... Every day for two years, one of his guards ordered him to bow, and then knocked him down."

Another columnist/pundit wrote, "McCain is a war hero ... He was tossed into the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' prison camp, where he was hung by his fractured arms for hours at a time."

In the last two weeks before Christmas 2007, McCain is riding high on a new round of high-profile endorsements.

The New Hampshire Union Leader endorsed McCain on Dec. 16. Then former Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), gave his blessings followed by "back-to-back-to-back endorsements from three other major newspapers, The Des Moines Register, The Boston Globe and The Portsmouth Herald."

The New Hampshire Union Leader wrote, "Sen. McCain is much more than just a war hero who chose to endure years of abuse at the hands of a sadistic enemy rather than abandon his comrades."

The Des Moines Register wrote. "In an era of instant celebrity, we sometimes forget the real heroes in our midst. The defining chapter of McCain's life came 40 years ago as a naval aviator, when he was shot down over Vietnam. The crash broke both arms and a leg. When first seeing him, a fellow prisoner recalls thinking he wouldn't live the night. He was beaten and kept in solitary confinement, held five years. Sen. McCain is much more than just a war hero who chose to endure years of abuse at the hands of a sadistic enemy rather than abandon his comrades."

The Portsmouth Herald wrote, "As a former prisoner of war who was denied medical care and beaten by the North Vietnamese, McCain understands at the deepest level that torturing helpless prisoners who may or may not have some information ..."

Unfortunately for McCain, the baggage that accompanies understanding "the deepest level" of torture and especially "attempted suicide" is the psychological trauma known as PTSD.

During McCain's 1999 presidential campaign, he carefully controlled the release of some "redacted medical records" in what appeared to be an effort to counter discussions of whether McCain's legendary "short fuse" temperament makes him unfit to serve as president and commander in chief of the military. His campaign did not allow any pages to be photocopied and selectively picked news organizations to examine the records.

The 1999 campaign released a statement by Dr. Michael M. Ambrose, director of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies, that said: ''Senator McCain has never been diagnosed with or treated at the center for a psychological or psychiatric disorder. He has been subject to an extensive battery of psychological tests and following his last examination in 1993, we judged him to be in good physical and mental health.''

The doctors said McCain explained that while in solitary confinement he created for himself a fantasy world in which he lived. The doctors said McCain always heard the guards coming with his food, but "was often so much in his private world, that he strongly resented their coming around and bringing him back to reality by intruding. He was enjoying his fantasies so much."

Members of the two major POW/MIA family organizations know the "real" John McCain and they despise him. They have experienced firsthand his cruel, angry temperament.

In 1996, McCain encountered a group of POW/MIA family members outside a Senate hearing room. The family members were some of the same who worked tirelessly during the Vietnam War to make sure Hanoi released all U.S. POWs - including POW McCain.

McCain immediately began quarreling with the POW/MIA family members, who were eager to question him on the issue of what happened to their loved ones.

Instead showing courtesy and appropriate compassion by answering their questions, the Arizona senator pushed through the group, shoving them out of his way, nearly toppling the wheelchair of POW/MIA mother Jane Duke Gaylor. Her son, Charles Duke, a civilian worker in Vietnam, is among 2,300 American POWs and MIAs still unaccounted for by the communists.

The POW/MIA families, shocked at McCain's overly aggressive behavior toward Mrs. Gaylor, registered complaints with senate officials.

In an earlier incident involving families of servicemen still MIA, McCain got so angry that he went ballistic.

McCain was advised (Nov. 11, 1992) that Dolores Apodaca Alfond, chairwoman of the National Alliance of POW/MIA Families (her pilot brother Capt. Victor J. Apodaca is missing in action in North Vietnam), was offering testimony critical of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. He rushed into the hearing room to confront her.

Award winning journalist Sydney Schanberg described the scene. "His face [McCain] angry and his voice very loud, he accused her of making 'allegations ... that are patently and totally false and deceptive.'

"Making a fist, he shook his index finger at her and said she had insulted an emissary to Vietnam sent by President Bush. He said she had insulted other MIA families with her remarks. And then he said, through clenched teeth: 'And I am sick and tired of you insulting mine and other people's [patriotism] who happen to have different views than yours.'

"By this time, tears were running down Alfond's cheeks. She reached into her handbag for a handkerchief. She tried to speak: 'The family members have been waiting for years -- years! And now you're shutting down.' He kept interrupting her. She tried to say, through tears, that she had issued no insults. He kept talking over her words. He said she was accusing him and others of 'some conspiracy without proof, and some cover-up.' She said she was merely seeking 'some answers. That is what I am asking.' He ripped into her for using the word 'fiasco.' She replied: 'The fiasco was the people that stepped out and said we have written the end, the final chapter to Vietnam.' 'No one said that,' he shouted. 'No one said what you are saying they said, Ms. Alfond.' And then, his face flaming pink, he stalked out of the room, to shouts of disfavor from members of the audience."

POW families were even more angered when they saw McCain actually bonding with his former torturers during and after the 1992 Senate Select Committee hearings on POW/MIA Affairs. Psychologist have identified behavior in which a prisoner emotionally bonds with an abuser as the Stockholm Syndrome.

The first display of bonding occurred when Col. Bui Tin, a former senior colonel in the North Vietnamese Army who had actually interrogated McCain and other U.S. prisoners, testified before the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.

During a break in the hearing, McCain moved to where Col. Bui Tin was seated. Instead of grabbing Bui Tin by the neck and demanding his arrest for war crimes against U.S. POWs, McCain reached out and warmly hugged his former interrogator as if he were a long lost brother. Never mind that at least 55 American POW were murdered by interrogators and guards while in North Vietnamese prisoner of war camps.

In a 1992 visit to Hanoi, McCain warmly greeted Vietnam Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, who had been a ranking Communist Party member of the secret Viet Cong National Liberation Front Central Committee during the Vietnam War.

As a senior Central Committee member, Kiet was responsible for helping formulate Viet Cong policy, which included ordering American POWs to be punished by execution.

On orders issued by Kiet's Viet Cong Central Committee, three U.S POWs, Special Forces Capt. "Rocky" Versace, Special Forces Sgt. Kenneth Mills Roraback and Army Sgt. Harold Bennett were publicly executed by the Viet Cong on Sunday, Sept. 26, 1965

On a Nov. 13, 1996 trip to Hanoi, McCain posed for a picture embracing Mai Van On, one of the Vietnamese who pulled McCain from Hanoi's Truc Bach Lake, where McCain parachuted in 1967 after his bomber was shot down. McCain has said many times that after being pulled from the lake, his Vietnamese rescuers brutally beat him and stabbed him with a bayonet.

Early in 2007, columnist Sidney Blumenthal, who once served as a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, questioned if McCain's "volatile temper" might derail his bid to be President.

Blumenthal wrote that the senator's temper sometimes surfaces in the form of obscenities: "McCain's political colleagues, however, know another side of the action hero -- a volatile man with a hair-trigger temper, who shouted at Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor to 'shut up,' called his fellow Republican senators 'shithead,' 'f******* jerk,' 'a**hole,' and joked in 1998 at a Republican fundraiser about the teenage daughter of President Clinton, 'Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.'"

Regardless of all the obvious signs pointing to McCain's PTSD, the one outstanding fact is that McCain, by his own admission, broke under the stress of captivity and tried to kill himself.

National columnists and pundits have, so far, given McCain a "free pass" on the attempted suicide. Would the other presidential candidates be treated with the same indifference if they had an attempted suicide in their biographies?

New Orleanians Concerned About Hurricane Ike After Gustav

New Orleans Mayor Nagin had issued a mandatory evacuation order and warned that anyone deciding to stay behind would be making "the biggest mistake of their lives." Many feared Hurricane Gustav would be another 2005 Hurricane Katrina, that killed over 18,000 people.

Many New Orleanians are very concerned about Hurricane Ike hitting landfall in New Orleans area since it has been such a short time since Hurricane Gustav and the wounds from Gustav are far too fresh especially from my understanding in Houma, Louisiana.

It is hoped that Hurricane Ike doesn’t land in the New Orleans area, but I thought to help at least ease some minds for now to include a projection map concerning the current projection of the probable path of Hurricane Ike.

From what I see at this time, it looks like Hurricane Ike may be giving New Orleans wind and rain; as for full landfall it looks like Hurricane Ike is heading West more, towards Texas.

But the possibility of the Houma area being hit again is a better chance, it is sad to say; since they are still having such a difficult time since Hurricane Gustav.

At this time from my understanding, Hurricane Ike hit Cuba as a Category 1 Hurricane and is said to now be 340 miles SE of Havana, Cuba, and moving westward at 14 mph.

Update:
The latest meteorologist report seems to have Hurricane Ike bypassing Louisiana all together and more slated towards just Texas, with the major towns that maybe hit as Galveston and Houston.

If New Orleans area receives anything from Ike, it will probably be some rain and wind.

Palestine, crucial issue of Muslim World: Larijani

8 September 2008

Tehran-Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said Sunday evening that the issue of Palestine is the crucial issue of the Muslim World.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Secretary-General of the Islamic Parliamentary Union Mahmoud Urul Gilich.

The Iranian speaker expressed Iran's concern over the existing problems in several Muslim states.

Larijani expressed the hope that the parliamentary union of the Islamic states would be successful in fulfilling its commitments in line with establishment of unity and solidarity among all Muslim nations throughout the globe.

He voiced the Majlis readiness to help the union strengthen convergence among the Islamic countries.

Larijani also underlined the need for expressing greater support for the Palestinian nation.

Gilich, for his part, appreciated the Iranian parliament's support for his union since its establishment and called for its continued support.

The Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union is an affiliate to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

U.S. unemployment rate hits a five-year high

Jobless rate rose to 6.1 percent in August; employers cut 84,000 jobs

5 September 2008

WASHINGTON - The nation’s unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, dramatic proof of the mounting damage a deeply troubled economy is inflicting on workers and businesses alike.

The Labor Department’s report, released Friday, showed the increasing toll the housing, credit and financial crises are taking on the economy.

The report rattled Wall Street again. The Dow Jones industrial average was down nearly 100 points in morning trading. All the major stock indexes tumbled into bear territory Thursday as investors lost hope of a late-year recovery. With the employment situation deteriorating, there’s growing worry that consumers will recoil, throwing the economy into a tailspin later this year or early next year.

The jobless rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, from 5.7 percent in July. And, employers cut payrolls for the eighth month in a row. Job losses in June and July turned out to be much deeper. The economy lost a whopping 100,000 jobs in June and another 60,000 in July, according to revised figures. Previously, the government reported job losses at 51,000 in each of those months.

So far this year, job losses totaled 605,000.

The latest snapshot was worse than economists were forecasting. They were predicting payrolls would drop by around 75,000 in August and the jobless rate to tick up a notch, to 5.8 percent. The grim news comes as the race for the White House kicks into high gear. The economy’s troubles are Americans’ top worry.

“With the unemployment rate over 6 percent, it is a clear warning sign that this economy is continuing to soften faster than we thought. It is a real concern,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. “Businesses have decided to hunker down. They are not hiring, and they are paring workers where they can. That is making things pretty tough out there.”

Wachovia Corp., Ford Motor Co., Tyson Foods Inc. and Alcoa Inc. were among the companies announcing job cuts in August. GMAC Financial Services this week said it would lay off 5,000 workers.

Job losses in August were widespread, the government report showed.

Factories cut 61,000 jobs, with housing-related manufacturers and automakers among the hardest hit. Construction firms eliminated 8,000 jobs, retailers axed 20,000 slots, professional and business services slashed 53,000 positions and leisure and hospitality got rid of 4,000. Those losses swamped employment gains in the government, education and health.

Job losses at all private employers — not including government — came to 101,000 in August.

The government said workers age 25 and older accounted for all the increase in unemployment in August.

All told, the number of unemployed rose to 9.4 million in August, compared with 7.1 million a year ago. Economists predict more job losses ahead, pushing the jobless rate to 7 percent by the fall, according to some projections.

Workers saw wage gains in August, however.

Average hourly earning rose to $18.14 in August, a 0.4 percent increase from July. Economists were forecasting a 0.3 percent gain. Over the past year, wages have grown 3.6 percent, but paychecks aren’t stretching as far because of high food and energy prices.

Caught between dueling concerns of slow growth and inflation, the Fed is expected to leave a key interest rate alone at 2 percent when it meets next on Sept. 16 and probably through the rest of this year. Concerned about inflation, the Fed at its last two meetings didn’t budge the rate. Before that, though, the Fed had aggressively cut rates to shore up the economy.

With the Fed on the sidelines, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has called for a second round of government stimulus, while his GOP rival John McCain has favored free-trade and other business measures to spur the economy. Both candidates seized on the job figures Friday to take swipes at each other.

Welcome to Palestine with Family and Friends

“It is always nice to be with family and friends, for one thing; they are priceless.”-HRM Deborah

Jewish Prime Minister Ehud Olmert greets immigrants from the United States during a ceremony to welcome new Jewish immigrants upon their arrival at Ben Gurion airport, on 8 September 2008, near Tel Aviv.

Olmert welcomed some 250 Jews from United States that arrived in Palestine today.
Jewish Palestinians wait for the arrival of relatives and friends who are emigrating during a ceremony to welcome new Jewish immigrants from the United States upon their arrival at Ben Gurion International airport.