Free Internet Press Newsletter - Monday September 25 2006 - (813)

Monday September 25 2006 edition
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Millions Of U.S. Seniors Enter Medicare Limbo 2006-09-25 00:22:36 Millions of older Americans are confronting a temporary break in their Medicare drug coverage this month that will require them to pay the full cost of their prescriptions or face the painful prospect of going without. This is the "doughnut hole" in the new Medicare drug benefit that began in January, and advocates for seniors say there is nothing sweet about it. Some seniors knew nothing of the coverage gap until they were hit with a bigger drug bill, say advocates. "Virtually everyone who calls to say they've been denied coverage, they're shocked," said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit that helps seniors navigate Medicare. "Trying to explain that this is the way the program was created by Congress angers folks who think it makes no sense. Many people feel blindsided." Read The Full Story British Defense Ministry Covered Up Hunt For UFOs 2006-09-25 00:16:07 Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) went to extraordinary lengths to cover up its true involvement in investigating UFOs, according to secret documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act. The files show that officials attempted to expunge information from documents released to the Public Records Office under the "30-year rule" that would have revealed the extent of the MoD's interest in UFO sightings. In particular, the ministry wanted to cover up the operation of a secret unit dedicated to UFO investigations within the Defense Intelligence Staff. UFO conspiracy theorists have likened the unit, called DI55, to a sort of "Men in Black" agency for defending the Earth against invasion but the released documents show this is far from the truth. One 1995 memo from DI55 to the MoD's public "UFO desk" said: "I have several books at home that describe our supposed role of 'defender of the Earth against the alien menace' - it is light years from the truth!" The files were made public following FOI requests by David Clarke, a lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University and his colleague Andy Roberts. Read The Full Story Attack Of The Laptop Battery! 2006-09-24 23:44:28   I'm sure everyone has seen the warnings "only use genuine [insert manufactuer] parts" on various equipment.  There have also been various news stories about cell phone and laptop batteries catching fire and/or exploding.    Normally, we read these stories and think to ourselves "ya, but it'd never happen to me."   On September 22nd, 2006 the laptop belonging to Alan Cox exploded.   Alan Cox is a well known and respected person in the Linux community.  To some of us, this brings the matter much closer to home.  Read The Full Story Officials Wary Of Electronic Voting Machines 2! 006-09-24 13:06:19 A growing number of state and local officials are getting cold feet about electronic voting technology, and many are making last-minute efforts to limit or reverse the rollout of new machines in the November elections. Less than two months before voters head to the polls, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., of Maryland, this week became the most recent official to raise concerns publicly. Ehrlich, a Republican, said he lacked confidence in the state's new $106 million electronic voting system and suggested a return to paper ballots. Dozens of states have adopted electronic voting technology to comply with federal legislation in 2002 intended to phase out old-fashioned lever and punch-card machines after the "hanging chads" confusion of the 2000 presidential election. Read The Full Story Analysis: Anger At U.S. Policies More Strident At The U.N. 2006-09-24 00:34:17 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad grabbed headlines last week by blasting U.S. policies from the dais of the U.N. General Assembly. But while their words were harsh, in many ways they merely expressed in bolder terms what a number of other world leaders and foreign diplomats believe. Anti-Americanism never really left the United Nations, but this year's gathering of world leaders demonstrated an unusually strident disrespect for the United States. The United States is perceived as weakened by a draining war in Iraq, while many of its adversaries feel emboldened with newfound oil wealth. Resentment of American power has also been exacerbated by the United States' close association with Israel during the recent war in Lebanon and even the administration's campaign for greater democracy throughout the Middle East. A theme running through a number of the speeches delivered here is that democracy cannot be imposed through force. "Our peoples have a keen interest in the achievement of a larger measure of democracy, human rights and political reform," said Ahmed Aboul Gheit, foreign minister of Egypt, which receives more than $2 billion in annual aid from the United States. "However, we now see that some seek to impose these concepts by military force. They proceed from the assumption that their principles, values and culture are superior and thus worthy of being imposed on others." Read The Full Story 5 More E. Coli Cases Blamed On Spinach 2006-09-24 00:33:12 The outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach was blamed for another five cases of illness Saturday, raising the number of people sickened to 171, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The number of states affected held steady at 25. So far, 92 people have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases - a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland - but those cases are still being investigated. For more than a week, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended people not eat fresh, raw spinach. State and federal investigators since have traced the contaminated spinach back to three counties in California's Salinas Valley, and already farm inspections there are turning up possible problems. Read The Full Story Spy Chiefs To Probe Claim That Bin Laden Is Dead 2006-09-24 00:31:40 Intrigue Saturday night surrounded a leaked French intelligence report that Osama bin Laden had died of typhoid. The news spread rapidly around the globe, prompting a flurry of investigations by officials in Paris, Washington, London and Islamabad. The report surfaced in a regional French newspaper which had obtained the leaked report claiming Saudi Arabian sources were "convinced" the terror chief had been killed in August. It prompted a flurry of official statements. After a remarkable day of rumor and counter-rumor, it appears the answer is that no one really knows. French President Jacques Chirac told reporters bin Laden's death "... has not been confirmed in any way whatsoever." While a U.S. intelligence official said: "It's quite possible there was some talk of this, but in terms of being able to confirm this, that I can't do." Read The Full Story	5 Years Later, FBI Is Casting Wider Net In Anthrax Attacks 2006-09-25 00:17:13 Five years after the anthrax attacks that killed five people, the FBI is now convinced that the lethal powder sent to the Senate was far less sophisticated than originally believed, widening the pool of possible suspects in a frustratingly slow investigation. The finding, which resulted from countless scientific tests at numerous laboratories, appears to undermine the widely held belief that the attack was carried out by a government scientist or someone with access to a U.S. biodefense lab. What was initially described as a near-military-grade biological weapon was ultimately found to have had a more ordinary pedigree, containing no additives and no signs of special processing to make the anthrax bacteria more deadly, law enforcement officials confirmed. In addition, the strain of anthrax used in the attacks has turned out to be more common than was initially believed, said the officials. Read The Full Story Some Israelis Talk Reinstating West Bank Settlements 2006-09-25 00:15:37 The movement to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which only a few months ago appeared to be a divided, waning political force, is experiencing a revival after a summer of war that caused many Israelis to question the wisdom of abandoning more territory. Little more than a year ago, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew all Jewish settlers and Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. After Sharon's debilitating stroke in January, his deputy, Ehud Olmert, won national elections in March on a promise to evacuate dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to uproot the smaller, unauthorized communities known as outposts in a bid to define Israel's final borders. After a month-long war in southern Lebanon and as sporadic fighting continues in Gaza, a highly unpopular Olmert has put his West Bank withdrawal plan on hold. His government has stepped up construction in the large settlement blocs, including areas the Bush administration has warned Israel against developing, and the West Bank settlement population of a quarter-million people is growing. Read The Full Story Dry Winds Stoke California Wildfires 2006-09-24 13:06:43 Helicopters lifted off as winds calmed Sunday, ferrying water and transporting firefighters to battle a three-week-old wildfire that has scorched more than 200 square miles of the Los Padres National Forest. Hot, dry Santa Ana winds appeared to be picking up by late morning but were still somewhat tamer than in recent days, reducing the risk of the blaze spreading and allowing more firefighters to go to work. ''This activity today is going to depend a lot on the wind,'' said firefighter John Nunez, 24. The forecast called for winds of 15 mph with gusts of up to 40 mph. Read The Full Story U.S. Intelligence Analysts: Iraq War Is Hurting U.S. Terror Fight 2006-09-24 00:34:42 The war in Iraq has become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its allies can reduce the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded. A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April cites the "centrality" of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the insurgency that has followed, as the leading inspiration for new Islamic extremist networks and cells that are united by little more than an anti-Western agenda. It concludes that, rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, the situation in Iraq has worsened the U.S. position, according to officials familiar with the classified document. "It's a very candid assessment," one intelligence official said Saturday of the estimate, the first formal examination of global terrorist trends written by the National Intelligence Council since the March 2003 invasion. "It's stating the obvious." Read The Full Story Mental Disorders Plague Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans 2006-09-24 00:33:48 More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders - a tenfold increase in the last 18 months, according to an agency study. The dramatic jump in cases - coming as more troops face multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan - has triggered concern among some veterans groups that the agency may not be able to meet the demand. They say veterans have had to deal with long waits for doctor appointments, staffing shortages and lack of equipment at medical centers run by the Veterans Affairs Department. Contributing to the higher levels of stress are the long and often repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, troops also face unpredictable daily attacks and roadside bombings as they battle the stubborn insurgency. Veterans and Defense Department officials said the increase in soldiers complaining of stress or mental disorder symptoms also may suggest that efforts to reduce the stigma of such problems are working and that commanders and medical personnel are more adept at recognizing symptoms. Read The Full Story 3 Children Found Dead In Fetus Theft Case 2006-09-24 00:32:08 Three young children were found dead Saturday, hours after a woman was charged with killing their pregnant mother and her fetus in a grisly attack in which her womb was cut open, said authorities. The two boys, ages 7 and 2, and their 1-year-old sister were found in an apartment in the East St. Louis, Illiniois,  public housing complex where their mother lived, said Illinois State Police Capt. Craig Koehler. The children were last seen on Monday with family friend Tiffany Hall, 24, now charged with first-degree murder in the death of their mother. Hall is also charged with intentional homicide of an unborn child, said St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida. Koehler declined to say whether Hall was suspected in the children's deaths. Autopsies would be performed on Sunday, he said. Read The Full Story Blair Wades In To Russian Oil Crisis 2006-09-24 00:30:28 British Prime Minister Tony Blair has made clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin his deep concern over threats to strip Shell of its license to operate the $20 billion Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project off the east coast of Russia. It has also emerged that Gazprom, the giant Russian state-controlled energy group, is in negotiations to buy into the neighboring Sakhalin-1 project, led by Exxon of the U.S. Russian authorities have warned that Exxon, too, may face revocation of its license on this project, due to cost increases. The development could spark a serious deterioration in relations between Washington and the Kremlin. Last week Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources suspended environmental permits allowing Shell and its partners - Mitsui and Mitsubishi of Japan - to operate the project, which is 80 per cent complete, and which has already secured contracts for a large proportion of the gas it is expected to produce. (Editor: As reported at that time here at Free Internet Press. The article can be found in the archives.) Sakhalin-2 has reserves totalling 4.5 billion barrels. Downing Street, along with the British Foreign Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, have made it clear they are not satisfied with the Russian government's explanation for the suspension. Read The Full Story
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