FORT COLLINS, Colorado (AP) -- A man believed to have died in a Colorado flood in 1976 has been found living in Oklahoma.
Sixty-three-year-old Darrell Johnson told the Fort Collins Coloradoan for a story Friday that he didn't know he had been counted among the 144 victims of the Big Thompson Canyon flood until a resident called him last year.
Barb Anderson said residents didn't want his name on a memorial plaque without proof he was dead.
Johnson and his family had decided to leave their shabby cabin the morning of the flood after just one night. A few hours later, the resort was washed away.
How Johnson ended up on the victims list remains a mystery.
He now directs funerals in Oklahoma City and acknowledges he was lucky to get the bad cabin.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God Bless America - God Bless Immigrants - God Bless Poor Misguided Souls Too
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 1.800.787.3224 (TTY) Anonymous & Confidential Help 24/7
Italian troops have begun patrolling cities as part of a government campaign to combat crime and boost security.
Some 3,000 soldiers will be deployed over the next week in major cities including Milan, Rome and Naples.
They are patrolling alongside police officers and guarding high-profile tourist sites and embassies, as well as immigrant holding centres.
Critics say the move sends a message that Italy is swamped by crime and that its police are not up to the job.
The deployment is due to last for six months.
The BBC's Mark Duff in Milan says troops made their presence discretely felt from first light, at the city's main railway station and main square, the Pi***a Duomo.
'Public demand'
Those patrolling city centres wore working rather than combat dress, and carried only sidearms - though those guarding embassies and other sensitive sites were more heavily armed.
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said that after six months the government would "make an evaluation to see whether it has worked and should be extended to other cities".
''This is not a militarisation of cities but a clear response to the perceived demand for greater security," he said last week.
Right-wing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi swept to power in April's election on a tough law-and-order platform, promising new measures to curb illegal immigration and combat crime.
But his government has also been accused of whipping up a xenophobic mood against the illegal immigrants it blames for much of the serious street crime in Italian cities.
Ministers say they are simply responding to Italians' fears. A recent study showed that Italians have never before been so worried about their vulnerability to crime.
But shadow interior minister Marco Minniti said: "It's an image-building operation that risks backfiring."
"Soldiers patrolling the centres of cities that are our greatest tourist attractions is not a very nice calling card for Italy at the height of the tourist season," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God Bless America - God Bless Immigrants - God Bless Poor Misguided Souls Too
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 1.800.787.3224 (TTY) Anonymous & Confidential Help 24/7
NEW: One dead as 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes China's Sichuan province
NEW: At least five other people were seriously wounded following the quake
Quake hits hours after Olympic torch relay visits Sichuan's capital
The region is still recovering from a devastating 7.9-magnitude temblor in May Next Article in World »
(CNN) -- A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck China's Sichuan province on Tuesday, killing at least one person and seriously wounding five others, a local emergency official told CNN.
Sichuan province is still recovering from the devastating May 12 earthquake and its aftershocks.
The quake's epicenter was located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north-northwest of Guangyuan, near Sichuan's border with neighboring Gansu province.
The Olympic torch was making its way through parts of Sichuan on Tuesday, three days before the Summer Games get underway in Beijing, some 1,200 kilometers (800 miles) away.
The earthquake occurred just before 6 p.m. local time, a few hours after the relay made its final stop in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu.
The region is still recovering from the after-effects of a devastating 7.9-magnitude temblor in May, which killed almost 70,000 people and left 18,000 missing and 5 million homeless.
The epicenter of the initial quake was about 290 kilometers (180 miles) southwest from Tuesday's temblor.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Councils throughout Britain are to be given controversial powers next year which will include forcing householders to attend 'recycling awareness classes' if they are found to have breached rules on waste collection.
This follows on from today's report in the Daily Mail that wheelie bins are to be fitted with barcodes:
Daily Mail: 'millions of families are to be given barcoded wheelie bins in a computerised system to spy on people's rubbish. It will be used to send automatic £100 fines to people who put out too much refuse or break strict rules on when they leave their bins out. The barcodes, to be brought in by a group of 27 councils, can also be used to enforce pay-as-you-throw taxes. Binmen will carry handheld barcode readers on which they can record details of any rulebreaking by the bin's users.'
In a further move, DEFRA are said to be considering plans to give Binmen limited powers of arrest to enforce strict rules on the amount of waste each household is permitted to leave out.
The moment you capitulate to lawlessness you've lost your civility.
Posts: 8828 | Location: San Diego, or near by. | Registered: 06-08-2007
HUNTSVILLE, Texas "” A Mexican-born condemned prisoner was executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago after a divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Jose Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later, at 9:57 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
Medellin's execution, the fifth this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state, attracted international attention after he raised claims he wasn't allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help following his arrest. State officials say he didn't ask to do so until well after he was convicted of capital murder.
Medellin, 33, was condemned for participating in the 1993 gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. He and five fellow gang members attacked the Houston girls as they were walking home on a June night, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.
Their remains were found four days later. By then, Medellin already had bragged to friends about the killings.
Pena's father, who was among the witnesses, gently tapped the glass that separated him from Medellin as he turned to leave the witness chamber after the execution.
"We feel relieved," Adolfo Pena said after leaving the prison. "Fifteen years is a long time coming."
Several dozen demonstrators, about evenly divided between favoring and opposing capital punishment, stood outside on opposite sides of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.
Medellin's attorneys contended he was denied the protections of the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested to have access to their home country's consular officials.
"Under the circumstances, it's hard to talk about what comes next," lawyer Sandra Babcock said, noting her thoughts were with Medellin's family and the family of his victims. "But now more than ever, it's important to recall this is a case not just about one Mexican national on death row in Texas. It's also about ordinary Americans who count on the protection of the consulate when they travel abroad to strange lands. It's about the reputation of the United States as a nation that adheres to the rule of law."
In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where Medellin was born, a small group of his relatives condemned his execution.
"Only God has the right to take a life," cousin Reyna Armendariz said.
Six of his relatives, including Armendariz, and several activists gathered earlier Tuesday in a working-class neighborhood to await word on Medellin's fate.
A large black bow and a banner that read "No to the death penalty ... may God forgive you," hung from an iron fence in front of the house where Medellin lived until moving to the United States at the age of 3. He grew up in Houston, where he learned English and attended school.
The International Court of Justice said Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death row around the U.S. should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests. Medellin was the first among them to die.
President Bush asked states to review the cases, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court can force Texas to wait.
Gov. Rick Perry, Texas courts and the Texas attorney general's office all said the execution should go forward and that Medellin has had multiple legal reviews. State officials noted Medellin never invoked his consular rights under the Vienna Convention until some four years after he was convicted.
His lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to stop the execution until legislation could be passed to formalize case reviews ordered by the International Court of Justice.
The high court said in its ruling that that possibility was too remote to justify a stay. Justice Stephen Breyer, one of four justices who issued dissenting opinions, wrote that to permit the execution would place the United States "irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises."
Medellin's supporters said either Congress or the Texas Legislature should have been given a chance to pass a law setting up procedures for new hearings. A bill to implement the international court's ruling wasn't introduced in Congress until last month. The Texas Legislature doesn't meet until January.
On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for a reprieve and denied his lawyers permission to file new appeals. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected requests for clemency and a 240-day reprieve.
One of Medellin's fellow gang members, Derrick O'Brien, was executed two years ago. Another, Peter Cantu, described as the ringleader of the group, is on death row. He does not have a death date.
Two others, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes. The sixth person convicted, Medellin's brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and is serving a 40-year prison term.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Haiti, which is suffering from a severe drought, will receive 400,000 euros (about 480,000 US dollars) of aid from the European Commission (EC) for humanitarian relief, reports reaching Havana said Wednesday.
The International Red Cross will also obtain 500,000 euros (about 600,000 dollars) from the EC to cope with damage caused by natural disasters in the Caribbean region.
The money will be delivered through the European Humanitarian Cooperation Office, the EC said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations will be responsible for the coordination of the aid for Haiti, while the Pan-American Disaster Response Unit of the International Red Cross will coordinate assistance for the Caribbean region.
Haitians are in dire need of help in their efforts to cope with a severe drought in recent months, a socio-economic crisis in the country and the aftermath of Hurricane Dennis last week, said the statement.
For the next six months, agricultural producers in southern Haiti will receive seeds and materials from the EC to resume agricultural production in the summer of this year.
The money will also be used for training and equipment supplying to help the country deal with disasters more successfully, the statement said.
As for the rest of the Caribbean, the Red Cross will reinforce coordination to reduce the impact of disasters in vulnerable areas.
Thanks for that story Proud. what a horrible shame of bloodthirst.
This hatitian story is short version. the other article I read said the people were eating mudcakes for food. Hopefully, we will see something different out of the european approach in that country. The US couldnt seem to fix their problems.
Originally posted by 4now: Thanks for that story Proud. what a horrible shame of bloodthirst.
This hatitian story is short version. the other article I read said the people were eating mudcakes for food. Hopefully, we will see something different out of the european approach in that country. The US couldnt seem to fix their problems.
You're welcome, 4Now. I take a very harsh stance on criminals. I don't care if this guy was Mexican, American, or whatever. I think it took 15 years too long for justice to be served to the families of the victims.
Thanks for the article on Haiti. I wasn't aware of the drought situation. I didn't see this in the article (if I'm blind, please forgive - lol), but what is the U.S. doing to help with this situation? Anything at all?
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Originally posted by ProudUSC: [QUOTE]Originally posted by 4now: Thanks for that story Proud. what a horrible shame of bloodthirst.
This hatitian story is short version. the other article I read said the people were eating mudcakes for food. Hopefully, we will see something different out of the european approach in that country. The US couldnt seem to fix their problems.
You're welcome, 4Now. I take a very harsh stance on criminals. I don't care if this guy was Mexican, American, or whatever. I think it took 15 years too long for justice to be served to the families of the victims.
Thanks for the article on Haiti. I wasn't aware of the drought situation. I didn't see this in the article (if I'm blind, please forgive - lol), but what is the U.S. doing to help with this situation? Anything at all?
I dont know Proud, the USA has helped financially with Haiti in the past. The only problem is that the monies never help because it is stolen by corrupt government officials. It is not only haiti that does this, but mexico, columbia and other places that US gives financial help to.
I will be curious as to the Euro approach on this to see if things can get accomplished there now.
I personally would like to see all this financial aid stopped until such time that it can be determined that "good " is coming out of it. otherwise, spend this money in america for the help that is needed here.
Israel is the poster child for receiving aid and accomplishing good with it thru technology, inventions and education. ( I am not talking about the bad things they have used it for in regards to palestinians) I am speaking about the merits accomplished in such a short span of years.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: 4now,
By Margarita Antidze, MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Aug. 8) --
Russia sent forces into Georgia on Friday to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region and Georgia's pro-Western president said the two countries were at war. South Ossetia rebel leader Eduard Kokoity said there were "hundreds of dead civilians" in the main town Tskhinvali, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. 'Fighting a War With Us'Russian Channel 1 / APTanks identified as Russian by a TV news service roll toward Tskhinvali, Georgia, in the breakaway South Ossetian region Friday. The troops arrived to help Russian-backed rebels counter a massive attack by Georgian forces trying to regain control over the area.
A senior Russian military commander said parts of Russia's 58th army were approaching the rebel capital, where fighting raged between Russian-backed separatists and Georgian forces sent in on Friday to seize it. A senior Georgian security official said Russian jets had bombed the Vaziani military airbase outside the Georgian capital Tbilisi, and President Mikheil Saakashvili said 150 Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles had entered South Ossetia from neighboring Russia. "Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory," Saakashvili told CNN, calling on Washington to help. He also said Georgian forces had downed two Russian jets. There was no immediate confirmation Russia had sent bombers. A top Russian military commander said more than 10 Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia had been killed and nearly 30 wounded, Russian news agencies reported. The roar of warplanes and the explosions of heavy shells were deafening more than two miles away from Tskhinvali. Many houses were ablaze. U.S. President George W. Bush discussed the situation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Beijing, where world leaders were attending the opening of the Olympic Games, the White House said, giving no further information. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Georgians of driving people from their homes. "We are receiving reports that a policy of ethnic cleansing was being conducted in villages in South Ossetia , the number of refugees is climbing, the panic is growing, people are trying to save their lives," he said during televised remarks from the ministry. Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of Russian peacekeepers in the territory, earlier told Interfax by telephone from Tskhinvali: "As a result of many hours of shelling from heavy guns, the town is practically destroyed." The crisis, the first to confront Russian President Dmitry Medvedev since he took office in May, looked close to spiraling into full-blown war in a region emerging as a key energy transit route, and where Russia and the West are vying for influence. MOBILISATION Saakashvili told reporters: "This is a clear intrusion on another country's territory. We have Russian tanks on our territory, jets on our territory in broad daylight." He ordered a full-scale mobilization of military reservists. The conflict dented sentiment on Russia's benchmark equity index, which fell more than 4 percent to a 14-month low, while the rouble lost over 1 percent against a basket of 0.45 euros and 0.55 dollars. NATO, the European Union and the United States, a vocal Georgian ally, all urged a halt to the bloodshed. Andrei Chistyakov, a correspondent for Russia's Vesti-24 television station, said at least 15 civilians had been killed in Tskhinvali, where thousands of people took refuge in cellars. "These are the people whose bodies were seen in their yards and in the streets," he said by telephone. Medvedev vowed to defend Russian "compatriots" in South Ossetia , whose separatist administration is supported by Russia, and where most people have been given Russian passports. "We will not allow their deaths to go unpunished," Interfax quoted him as saying. Georgia said its operation, launched after a week of clashes between separatists and Georgian troops in which nearly 20 people were killed, was aimed at ending South Ossetia 's effective independence, won in a 1991-92 war. The majority of the roughly 70,000 people living in South Ossetia are ethnically distinct from Georgians. They say they were forcibly absorbed into Georgia under Soviet rule and now want to exercise their right to self-determination. LEADERS AT OLYMPICS Putin said Georgia had used heavy armor and artillery and attacked Russian peacekeepers. "This is very sad and this will incur a response," he said in Beijing. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said government forces had also fought mercenaries who had entered South Ossetia from Russia. Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said the operation would continue until a "durable peace" had been reached. The Kremlin said Medvedev had summoned his top security advisers to discuss how to restore peace and defend civilians "within the peacekeeping mandate we have." At an emergency session of the United Nations on Thursday night, Russia failed to push through a statement that would have called on both sides to stop fighting immediately. Saakashvili, who wants to take his small Caucasus nation into NATO, has made it a priority to win back control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another rebel region on the Black Sea. The issue has bedeviled Georgia's relations with Russia, which is angered by Tbilisi's moves towards the Western fold and its pursuit of NATO membership
RATS What a great place this was at one time. Always wanted to go there, then that earthquake major damaged it, and now it looks like it will never be the same. At least the writer titled the story correctly INVADES
Russia's Medvedev halts military action in Georgia
MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks that took Russian forces deep into the small Western-allied nation.
Medvedev said on national television that the military had punished Georgia enough for its attack on South Ossetia. Georgia launched an offensive late Thursday to regain control over the separatist Georgian province, which has close ties to Russia.
"The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored," Medvedev said. "The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized."
The Russian president, however, said he ordered the military to defend itself and quell any signs of Georgian resistance.
"If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them," he told his defense minister at a televised Kremlin meeting.
Hours before Medvedev's announcement, Russian forces bombed the town of Gori and launched an offensive in the only part of Abkhazia still under Georgian control, tightening the assault on the beleaguered nation as French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew to Moscow carrying Western demands that Russia pull back.
Medvedev told Sarkozy that Georgia must pull its troops out of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and pledge not to use force again.
Sarkozy, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, said in a televised meeting that Georgia's sovereignty, integrity and security must be protected.
The U.N. and NATO called meetings to deal with a conflict that blew up in South Ossetia and quickly developed into an East-West crisis that raised fears in former Soviet bloc nations of Eastern Europe. Five European presidents were headed to Russia and Georgia to mediate.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili should leave office and that Georgian troops should stay out of South Ossetia permanently.
Moscow will not talk to Saakashvili, Lavrov said; the best thing for Saakashvili to do "would be to step down."
Russian troops who had advanced into Georgia on Monday from South Ossetia, took positions near Gori on the main east-west highway as terrified civilians fled the area, and President Saakashvili said his country had effectively been cut in half.
Russian jets targeted administrative buildings and a street market in the center of Gori on Tuesday, Georgia's security chief Alexander Lomaia said, but there was no immediate information about casualties.
The Russians had also opened a second front in western Georgia on Monday, moving deep into Georgian territory from separatist Abkhazia. They seized a military base in the town of Senaki and occupied police precincts in the town of Zugdidi.
Lomaia said Tuesday that the Russians had left Senaki.
But Russian troops attacked Georgian forces who continued to hold the northern part of Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge, Lomaia said,
Abkhazian officials said their own forces were carrying out the artillery attacks and that Russian forces were not involved in that fighting. At least 9,000 Russian troops and 350 armored vehicles were in Abkhazia, according to a Russian military commander.
Georgia's deputy Interior Minister Eka Sguladze said Tuesday that Russian troops remained at their positions near Zugdidi and Gori.
An AP reporter who visited Zugdidi on Tuesday morning saw several Russian armored vehicles and dozens of troops outside the town's central police station. The mood in the city was calm, people were moving around and many stores that shut previously were open for business Tuesday.
The Russian onslaught, accompanied by relentless Russian air raids on Georgian territory, angered the West, bringing the toughest words yet from U.S. President George W. Bush.
Georgia, which sits on a strategic oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Western markets bypassing Russia, has long been a source of contention between the West and a resurgent Russia, which is seeking to strengthen its role as the dominant energy supplier to the continent.
Saakashvili endorsed an EU plan calling for an immediate cease-fire, in talks Monday with French and Finnish foreign ministers. Sarkozy was to negotiate the plan in Moscow, and the presidents of Poland and the former Soviet states of Ukraine, Lithuania and Estonia were headed to Georgia on Tuesday.
Bush had demanded Monday that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation.
"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said in a televised statement from the White House.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of hypocrisy in a tough statement that reflected both the measure of his anger at the West.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said more than 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. The figures could not be independently confirmed, but refugees said hundreds had been killed.
Both separatist provinces are backed by Russia. Russian officials had given signals that the fighting could pave the way for them to be absorbed into Russia.
Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s.
Well, it appears to be over for now.
The invasion signafies that the Cold War is not over, but just dormant. The move by Russia had more to do than a simple land/ethnic dispute, but more to do with Russia willingness to continue controlling the former Soviet Republics of gaining too much power.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams on Defense of the boston Massacre
WRC-TV updated 9:00 a.m. ET, Tues., Aug. 12, 2008 FREDERICK, Md. - A Frederick County commissioner is renewing his attempt to force schools to keep track of the number of undocumented students they serve.
Commissioner John Thompson said he wants to ask the General Assembly to adopt a state reporting requirement for the Board of Education.
The report would include the number of students in Frederick County public schools who have not produced documentation proving they are lawfully in the United States.
Story continues below ↓ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement
Thompson stresses that school officials would provide only the total number of students and not their names.
Board of Education officials said they will not perform the count unless they are ordered to do so by state or federal officials.
USC and Legal, Honest Immigrant Alike Must Fight Against Those That Deceive and Disrupt A Place Of Desirability! All Are Victims of Fraud, Both USC and Honest Immigrant Alike! The bad can and does make it more difficult for the good! Be careful who you blame!!! kami ay nanonood!!!
Pregnant woman pronounced dead shortly after baby's Caesarean birth
NEW YORK - Horrified bystanders banded together to lift a 5-ton school bus off a pregnant woman pinned underneath, enabling doctors to save her son.
Donnette Sanz, 33, a traffic agent for the city police department, was pronounced dead Thursday, shortly after her baby's birth by an emergency Caesarean section. The 3-pound, 6-ounce boy was in critical condition.
Sanz was walking across a Bronx street around lunchtime Thursday when she was struck by a van that pushed her in front of the bus.
"I ran out of my house to join 10 people trying to lift up the bus," said Cheryl Brown, 47. "At first, we couldn't get it up, so then another 10 people ran over to help, and we got the bus up and the lady out."
The van's driver, Walter Walker, was arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide and driving without a license, police said.
"My brakes went out," said Walker, 72. "The light turned red, and I couldn't stop. ... I tried to miss her."
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Walker had 20 suspensions to his driver's license.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Sanz's husband, Rafael, at nearby St. Barnabas Hospital.
"It's a terrible poignancy that Donnette's son's birthday will now coincide with the day his mother died," Bloomberg said in a statement.
Sanz's sister, Beverly, said the baby was named Sean Michael.
St. Barnabas Hospital spokesman Fred Winters said Friday that the baby, while still in critical condition, "shows some signs of improvement and is basically healthy."
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Visitors asked to leave Fla. Keys ahead of storm Fay strengthens, heads for Cuba; 4 die in Haiti and the Dominican Republic
updated 2 hours, 7 minutes ago
KEY WEST, Fla. - Officials asked visitors to leave the Florida Keys on Sunday ahead of Tropical Storm Fay, which forecasters said could strengthen to a hurricane.
Fay could start pelting parts of the Keys and south Florida as soon as Monday.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said a hurricane watch was in effect for the Florida Keys from south of Ocean Reef to Key West, and along the mainland from Card Sound Bridge west to Bonita Beach.
The sixth storm of the 2008 Atlantic season picked up some momentum early Sunday morning as it headed toward Cuba, and could be a hurricane by the time it reaches the island's center, forecasters said.
Officials planned to start asking visitors to leave starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, and asked tourists who had not yet arrived to postpone their trips.
"We're hate to inconvenience those visitors that had plans to be in the Keys the next few days, but their well-being is our top priority," said Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro, chairman of the Keys tourist development council.
State of emergency Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Saturday because Fay "threatens the state of Florida with a major disaster," he wrote in an executive order.
A tropical storm watch was also in effect for the southeast coast of Florida from Ocean Reef north to Jupiter Inlet, as well as for Lake Okeechobee.
Keys emergency officials often take the precaution of ordering early evacuations when a storm threatens because traffic can back up for miles on the single highway to Florida's mainland.
Besides the threat of damage from high winds, most of the islands sit at sea level and could be flooded by Fay's storm surge. Flooding from the storm on Saturday killed four people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
At 5 a.m. EDT Sunday, Fay's center was located about 445 miles southeast of Key West and moving west-northwest at 13 miles per hour. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with some gusting.
State officials in Tallahassee opened their emergency operations center, said Blair Heusdens, a spokeswoman for the state's Division of Emergency Management.
"We like to have the executive order in place before the storm," Heusdens said. "That way we can have our resources ready."
Tourists unfazed on Saturday Tourists and locals still packed downtown Key West on Saturday, seemingly unfazed by the approaching storm.
Todd Hitchins, 36, of Big Pine Key, about 30 miles east of Key West, said he planned to stock up on water and propane for his grill but wasn't too worried.
"This will be good practice," mused Hitchins, who said he's lived here during much more powerful storms. "But you've got to be prepared, be ready."
Jeff Emmett, operations manager at Fairfield Inn and Suites in Key West, said Saturday afternoon the hotel had no cancellations or early check-outs.
"Business as usual," Emmett said. "Right now, we're just keeping the guests informed."
Chris Celestina, 24, was sitting at the hotel's poolside bar while on vacation with four friends from Pennsylvania.
"We're not really worried," Celestina said as he ordered a drink. "Whatever happens, happens. If we get evacuated, that will definitely put a damper on our plans, but until we have to, we're not moving."
Preparing for the aftermath Some Keys residents were preparing for the aftermath.
Andrew Cardwell, 26, filled up nine 5-gallon gas cans for his employer, Pirate Scooter Rentals, early Saturday afternoon.
"As soon as the storm passes through, people are going to want to rent mopeds," Cardwell said. "We're just getting it while we can."
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Shawn finally gets the gold she deserved! Go SHAWN AND NASTIA!
Finally, gold By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports 6 hours, 9 minutes ago
Latest news from Beijing More From Dan Wetzel Johnson only sees the silver lining Aug 17, 2008 A family gold for Liukin Aug 15, 2008
BEIJING – Shawn Johnson had spent a week smiling her way through the gymnastics hall. No close defeat, no age controversy, no puzzled judges score could stop her. Where human nature said her face should relay some of her internal emotions – disappointment, frustration – she just kept smiling.
Tuesday she beamed after beam.
On her fourth and final chance, Johnson won her gold medal with a nearly flawless routine on balance beam, outpacing teammate Nastia Liukin and China's Cheng Fei.
At the end she unleashed a smile as big as Beijing itself, a glorious conclusion to a competition that never got her down and only taught her more about herself as she came to appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
"I kept saying, ˜finally' a lot," Johnson laughed. "I made it. I finally won a gold medal.
I can't stop smiling. I'm so excited."
The 4-foot-9 powerhouse from Iowa had won over the fans here with her strong performance and profound grace. You can't call an Olympics a disappointment when you win three silvers. Johnson came here for gold, however. She was the favorite, the best in the world. And she kept losing by the slimmest and most frustrating of ways.
There was an age controversy and a teammate's foibles that overshadowed the team competition. She lost to Liukin, who she routinely defeated in the States, in the all-around. She had the floor gold wrapped up only to lose on the very last performance.
Throughout, the belief was that Johnson wasn't receiving her customary high marks because the Olympic judges preferred taller, lankier, more graceful gymnasts to her stocky power. It is the unfair twist of gymnastics. It isn't just how many flips you can do, it's how you look doing them.
Johnson couldn't get taller or leaner, she could only get tougher.
"The first time it did hurt a little," she said. "But I go by, everything happens for a reason and for some reason the judges were giving me scores I'm not used to. But they had a reason.
"It did upset me a little, but I thought about it and I decided, I was at the Olympic Games, I was having the time of my life and I'm winning medals."
What she decided was she wouldn't pout. What did she have to complain about anyway? The truth was she hadn't been perfect. She could be better.
Johnson is unique in high-level gymnastics because of the way she got here. She attends her local public school, Valley High in West Des Moines, while many competitors are home-schooled or part of a government athletic program.
She trains just four hours a day, about half as much as others. She is about as normal as it gets, as typical an American teen as a world-class athlete can be. This is no gymnastics robot.
In the end, that regular world perspective paid off.
She kept looking at her silvers and appreciating what they meant. She began drawing a greater value in coming close than actually finishing it off. The lesson was more valuable than the medal.
"When you do get (silver) you feel different emotions, but I looked back and appreciated that I had a medal," she said. "If it were gold, it might feel differently. I don't know how to explain it. I definitely came to appreciate it. I wouldn't trade my silver medals for anything in the world. Not even gold."
None of which means she didn't want gold. She was so focused on winning the beam she did seven practice routines, an abnormally high number, despite being physically exhausted. On each one she kept making mistakes.
"The more mistakes you make in practice, the more you worry."
She sat down and spent a minute in quiet contemplation. She decided to forget about the gold, the silver, the anything. She wanted to go out and deliver on the final performance of her Olympics. No, this hadn't gone how she expected. No, she wouldn't let that influence her.
"I wanted to do my best routine. I didn't want to leave the Olympics thinking I could do better."
If the judges liked it, they liked it.
"The eighth time was the charm," she smiled.
She received huge hugs from her coaches. "I'm totally, fantastically happy," said Martha Karolyi. "She needed that." She was cheered on by Liukin. "Now we both are Olympic champions." Competitors around the globe came over to congratulate her. The mostly Chinese crowd roared like one of their own had prevailed.
Johnson's smile had won everyone over. And now it was bigger and brighter than ever, golden indeed.
It's one thing being stuck in the FBI namecheck for years, how about being on the terror watch list and not being able to get off it and as a result, loose your job? Crazy!
Name on government watch list threatens pilot's career
Page last updated at 15:27 GMT, Friday, 22 August 2008 16:27 UK
Argentine dog saves abandoned baby
By Daniel Schweimler BBC News, Buenos Aires
La China has become a celebrity in her shanty town (Photo courtesy of Clarin) An eight-year dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies.
The country's media are calling him "the miracle baby".
He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires.
She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish.
Then along came La China, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried him 50m to place him alongside her own puppies.
The dog's owner heard the child crying and found him covered with a rag.
The baby, weighing 4kg (8lb 13oz), had some slight injuries, but no bite marks. The owner called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future.
The frightened mother appeared shortly after her baby was found.
The Argentine media has descended on the shanty town, talking of "the Argentine Romulus and Remus", the founders of Rome, abandoned as babies and rescued by a wolf, nearly 3,000 years ago.
La China, worried about her own puppies, is reported to be petrified by her new found fame, and her owner says he is worried that she is not eating.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Not so sure about it when you consider the bigger picture.
If you were United States (or in charge of its' most important , vital policies and operations), wouldn't you find it the only possible way , to rather err on the side of safety than otherwise? And by safety, if you talk of National Security, you would also have to consider long term foreign policy and domestic consequences not just immediate threats.
She claims that books or DVDs sold by her are non-political, this may very well be true since she can claim it's religious in nature. But what books and DVDs are sold there? What are the political imlications and consequences to US of selling them to public? Are there any books condemning anyone outside of her faith and calling for direct attack and conversion of "unbelievers"? If so (and we must presume that there is a possibility of it being so, based on what we know of religious literature so far), and if she directly profits from the activity of selling them, then wouldn't you, if you were the United States, find it contrary to your interests and even directly against it if ? And if you did, then why wouldn't you want to put this person on your "watch list". And if she has a husband who converted to her religion ,probably after reading those books, wouldn't you by default place him on the list too?
I mean, we are all grown up adults here. Just look at it with cold head. ACLU can say all it wants, but running a State , especially a State as powerful and complex as the United States, takes more than clapping hands and singing good happy songs like children.
It takes actions and some of them will inevitably have consequences that will ruin someones' career or cause some inconveninces, but when you look at bigger picture you always have to compare the cost to benefit and never allow the former outweigh the latter. Or else you have nothing to do with running a State or any large entity.
This is just something that ACLU, among with the rest, will have to live with. It's life, it's real and nothing like an imaginary f.airy tale.
So you'd automatically side with the Government of the day's views on everything then? If you keep following that path, you'll end up with a police state. Do you really want that?
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move - Douglas Adams
Originally posted by Brit4064: It's one thing being stuck in the FBI namecheck for years, how about being on the terror watch list and not being able to get off it and as a result, loose your job? Crazy!
Name on government watch list threatens pilot's career
excellent story. this type of thing happens all too often . Hopefully, this lawsuit will bring some order/reason to who and why someone or group can get place on this so called "watch list"
@E
I too am one to side with reason. Except that there has not been a reason given. The watch list people need WATCHERS!
Iraq is the poster child for this type nonsense. The watcher and watch list people said there were wmd and danger to usa in Ira when, while actually it was a personal agenda and vendetta. Who can you trust, and Who do you trust
Add to del.icio.us
Hopefully, we will see something different out of the european approach in that country. The US couldnt seem to fix their problems.
"Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory," Saakashvili told CNN, calling on Washington to help.
U.S. President George W. Bush discussed the situation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Beijing, where world leaders were attending the opening of the Olympic Games, the White House said, giving no further information.
when, while actually it was a personal agenda and vendetta. Who can you trust, and Who do you trust 
