Free Internet Press Newsletter - Wednesday June 20 2007 - (813)

Wednesday June 20 2007 edition
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Texans Fear Border Fence Will Sever Routine 2007-06-20 00:24:43 Antonio N. Zavaleta, a vice president and professor of anthropology at the University of Texas branch in Brownsville, saw a slight problem in the route of a border fence that federal officials displayed at a community meeting earlier this month. “Part of our university,” said Dr. Zavaleta, “would be on the Mexican side of the fence.” What about traffic between classes, he wondered. “Would the students need to show a passport?” He was not the only one who was startled. Local leaders throughout South Texas have been voicing puzzlement and alarm at the implications of the barrier, which Congress has authorized the Department of Homeland Security  to construct along 370 miles of the United States-Mexico border, including 153 miles in Texas, by December 2008. Read The Full Story Israel Lets Food And Medicine Enter Gaza To Avoid Crisis 2007-06-20 00:24:18 Israel allowed 12 trucks of food and medical supplies to enter the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Israeli officials and international aid representatives said, in an effort to avert a looming humanitarian crisis now that Hamas is in control. In addition, Israeli ambulances evacuated at least two wounded Palestinians from the Gaza side of the Erez border crossing and took them to a hospital in Ashkelon, on the coast of Israel. The two were wounded Monday in Israeli-Palestinian cross-fire, after Palestinian gunmen allied with Hamas attacked the border terminal. The wounded men had been trapped in a no man’s land between Gaza and Israel, with hundreds of other Palestinians seeking to leave the strip. A Palestinian man was killed in the attack. Read The Full Story New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Leaves GOP 2007-06-19 20:50:39 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday switched his party status from Republican to unaffiliated, a stunning move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race. The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the GOP for his first mayoral run, said the change in voter registration does not mean he is running for president. "Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city," he said in a statement. Despite his coyness about his aspirations, the mayor's decision to switch stokes speculation that he will pursue the White House, challenging the Democratic and Republican nominees with a legitimate and well-financed third-party bid. Read The Full Story Antitrust Complaints Prompt Microsoft Changes To Vista 2007-06-19 20:48:48 Microsoft has agreed to make changes to its Windows Vista operating system in response to a complaint by Google that a feature of Vista is anticompetitive, lawyers involved in the case said Tuesday. The settlement, reached in recent days by state prosecutors, the Justice Department and Microsoft, averted the prospect of litigation over a complaint by Google that Vista had been designed to frustrate computer users who want to use software other than Microsoft’s to search through files on their hard drives. Google had made its complaint confidentially as part of the consent decree proceedings set up to monitor Microsoft for any anticompetitive conduct after it settled a landmark antitrust lawsuit five years ago that had been brought by the states and the Clinton administration. Read The Full Story 9 Firefighters Killed Battling Warehouse Blaze In Charleston, S. Carolina 2007-06-19 12:33:22 Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing its roof and killing nine firefighters inside in a disaster the mayor described Tuesday as "difficult to fathom or quantify". "Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them." Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse, said Riley. One was rescued quickly, and firefighters punched a hole through a wall of the warehouse to reach the other, he said. Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the firefighters' bodies were carried from the warehouse during the night. Read The Full Story Space Station Passes Tests After Repairs To Computers 2007-06-19 12:32:39 Russian computers on the International Space Station passed a crucial test Monday and are back in operation following a weeklong glitch that might have led to the station’s evacuation had it not been fixed. With the space station’s computers working again, the six-man crew of the space shuttle Atlantis packed up and prepared to go home. Also returning to Earth will be Cmdr. Sunita L. Williams, who is concluding a six-month stay on the space station and set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Clayton C. Anderson, who flew up on Atlantis, is remaining at the station as Commander Williams’ replacement. “We have everything working as it’s supposed to,” Philip L. Engelauf, a member of mission operations, said at a news conference Monday evening. “We’re in good shape as we get ready to undock.” Read The Full Story 'Signing Statements' Study Finds Bush Administration Has Ignored Laws 2007-06-19 02:01:03 President Bush has asserted that he is not necessarily bound by the bills he signs into law, and Monday a congressional study found multiple examples in which the administration has not complied with the requirements of the new statutes. Bush has been criticized for his use of "signing statements," in which he invokes presidential authority to challenge provisions of legislation passed by Congress. The president has challenged a federal ban on torture, a request for data on the administration of the USA Patriot Act and numerous other assertions of congressional power. As recently as December, Bush asserted the authority to open U.S. mail without judicial warrants in a signing statement attached to a postal reform bill. For the first time, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office - Congress's investigative arm - tried to ascertain whether the administration has made good on such declarations of presidential power. In appropriations acts for fiscal 2006, GAO investigators found 160 separate provisions that Bush had objected to in signing statements. They then chose 19 to follow. Read The Full Story Military Psychiatric-Care Overhaul Urged 2007-06-19 02:00:23 Top officials in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill said Monday that the federal government must move quickly to revamp the nation's system for identifying and caring for military personnel with the invisible wounds of mental illness. Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center Monday and discussed mental-health issues, including treatment for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on Ward 53, according to an Army spokesman. "We have realized there are shortfalls, and we've been going about fixing it," said Col. Dan Baggio, noting that the Army has conducted four mental-health surveys of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read The Full Story Ambassador Tells Rice Embassy Staff In Baghdad Is Inadequate 2007-06-19 01:59:31 Ryan C. Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, bluntly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a cable dated May 31 that the embassy in Baghdad - the largest and most expensive U.S. embassy - lacks enough well-qualified staff members and that its security rules are too restrictive for Foreign Service officers to do their jobs. "Simply put, we cannot do the nation's most important work if we do not have the Department's best people," Crocker said in the memo. The unclassified cable underscores the State Department's struggle to find its role in the turmoil in Iraq. With a 2007 budget of more than $1 billion and a staff that has expanded to more than 1,000 Americans and 4,000 third-country nationals, the embassy has become the center of a bureaucratic battle between Crocker, who wants to strengthen the staff, and some members of Congress, who are increasingly skeptical about the diplomatic mission's rising costs. "In essence, the issue is whether we are a Department and a Service at war," Crocker wrote. "If we are, we need to organize and prioritize in a way that reflects this, something we have not done thus far." In the memo, Crocker drew upon the recommendations of a management review he requested for the embassy shortly after arriving in Baghdad two months ago. Read The Full Story	Colorado Wildfires Force Evacuations Of 90 Homes 2007-06-20 00:24:31 White and yellow smoke billowed into the western Colorado sky Tuesday as firefighters battled three wildfires likely sparked by lightning that have burned at least 2,000 acres and forced evacuations of 90 homes. One fire was burning in steep terrain dotted with rural subdivisions between New Castle and Glenwood Springs, about 160 miles west of Denver. The blaze had grown to 1,000 acres, or about 1.5 square miles. No structures had burned, but one firefighter suffered a hand injury, said Suzanne Silverthorn, a spokeswoman for fire commanders. Residents of 110 more houses were advised to leave. It was not immediately known how many people had left their homes. Three people had checking to a school being used as an emergency shelter in New Castle. Read The Full Story China Overtakes U.S. As World's Biggest CO2 Emitter 2007-06-19 20:50:56 China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released Tuesday show. The surprising announcement will increase anxiety about China's growing role in driving man-made global warming and will pile pressure onto world politicians to agree a new global agreement on climate change that includes the booming Chinese economy. China's emissions had not been expected to overtake those from the U.S., formerly the world's biggest polluter, for several years, although some reports predicted it could happen as early as next year. According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, soaring demand for coal to generate electricity and a surge in cement production have helped to push China's recorded emissions for 2006 beyond those from the U.S. It says China produced 6,200 million tons of CO2 last year, compared with 5,800 million tons from the U.S.  Britain produced about 600 million tons. Read The Full Story Sens. Kennedy, Whitehouse Ask Justice Dept. I.G. To Investigate RNC Voter Supression Tactics 2007-06-19 20:49:08 Intellpuke: The following article was posted at BradBlog.com on Monday, June 18, 2007. Inquiry into what Justice officials knew about Griffin's vote caging activities when he was named as US Attorney for Arkansas. Senators Kennedy and Whitehouse have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanding a probe by the DoJ's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility into "allegations that the Republican National Committee engaged in 'vote caging' during the 2004 elections." The letter, sent today to Gonzales, also requests an investigation into "whether any Department officials were aware of allegations that Tim Griffin had engaged in caging when he was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and whether appropriate action was taken." Read The Full Story Car Bomb At Shiite Mosque Kills At Least 75; New Operation Targets Insurgents 2007-06-19 12:33:41 U.S. troops backed by helicopters and Bradley Fighting Vehicles launched a major offensive Tuesday to clear the Sunni extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq from its new stronghold in Diyala province north of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement. About 25 miles to the southwest in Baghdad, a truck bomb tore through a Shiite mosque in a commercial district, killing 75 and injuring more than 200, the Associated Press reported. The thunderous explosion at the Khillani mosque came from a vehicle parked in a nearby parking lot, officials told the wire service, and hit worshippers as they were leaving Tuesday's afternoon prayers. It was the first significant attack on a mosque since Sunday, when officials lifted a curfew aimed at preventing retaliatory violence after last week's bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra. Police warned that the toll of dead and injured could rise as bodies are pulled from the debris. Read The Full Story Editorial: Mistreated Casualties 2007-06-19 12:32:56 Intellpuke: The following editorial appears in the Washington Post edition for Tuesday, June 19, 2007. Jeans Cruz, a former Army scout who helped capture Saddam Hussein, lives in a bullet-riddled Bronx housing project, addled by nightmares about Iraq, voices in his head and the smell of dried blood in his nostrils. As Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull recently described his situation, Cruz began cutting his arms and extinguishing cigarettes on his skin after returning home from Iraq. Mental health counselors characterized him as depressed and anxious, and, shortly after he reenlisted in the Army, he was discharged because of a "personality disorder." A Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. But when Mr. Cruz applied for disability benefits, Veterans Affairs refused, claiming, among other things, that he had not proved that he had seen combat in Iraq - this despite his slew of combat awards and high-profile recognition. Now Mr. Cruz is barely supporting his family on a small income, and he is worried that he will lash out at those he loves. There are far too many survivors who, like Jeans Cruz, have been mistreated upon their return. The intensity of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan can leave deep emotional scars. Many soldiers are returning home with mental wounds caused by traumatic head injuries or with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs must care for a large quotient of veterans with disabilities that were uncommon or little understood decades ago. Read The Full Story White House Budget Director Resigns 2007-06-19 12:32:16 White House budget director Rob Portman is resigning and will be replaced by former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle, Bush administration officials said Tuesday. Nussle ran for governor of Iowa last year and was defeated. He has been serving in Iowa as an adviser in former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The changes were to be announced Tuesday by President Bush. Portman, who was a six-term congressman from Cincinnati, Ohio, left his career on Capitol Hill to join the Bush administration two years ago as trade representative and was named budget director a little more than a year ago to replace Josh Bolten when he became White House chief of staff. Read The Full Story Bush Aides' Misuse Of E-Mail Detailed By U.S. House Committee 2007-06-19 02:00:50 White House aides made extensive use of political e-mail accounts for official government business, despite rules requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels, according to new evidence disclosed yesterday by congressional investigators. The Republican National Committee told the investigators that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove  alone sent or received more than 140,000 e-mails between 2002 and 2007, more than half of which involved individuals using official ".gov" e-mail accounts, said a report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The RNC said it still has copies of those e-mails. Former Rove assistant Susan B. Ralston affirmed in a deposition released by the committee that her ex-boss used his political e-mail account "most of the time." The White House previously acknowledged that aides to President Bush improperly used the political e-mail accounts, but the material released Monday details for the first time how frequently they used the accounts and for what purposes. Read The Full Story U.S. Failure To Pay 'Threatens Darfur Peacekeeping' Plan 2007-06-19 02:00:03 A breakthrough agreement to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur risks being undermined by a shortfall of up to $1 billion (£504 million) in U.S. contributions to the costs of global peacekeeping, campaigners said Monday. A U.N. delegation announced on Sunday that Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, had agreed at talks in Khartoum to allow the deployment of a 20,000-strong U.N. and African Union hybrid force by next year. The deal ended months of wrangling and followed a direct threat by President George Bush to impose additional sanctions on the Sudanese government. At least 200,000 people have died in Darfur, in western Sudan, and an estimated 2.5 million have been displaced, since fighting between government-backed militias and rebel forces erupted in 2003. Read The Full Story U.S. Lifts Embargo To Help Abbas 2007-06-19 01:59:14 The United States Monday lifted its embargo on direct aid to the Palestinian government, joining the European Union and other countries in a swift demonstration of support for embattled President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against the anti-Israeli militant group Hamas. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had called Salam Fayyad, the new prime minister named this week by Abbas, to tell him she was ending bans on aid and diplomatic contacts imposed after Hamas' unexpected victory in legislative elections last year. "We want to work with his government and support his efforts to enforce the rule of law and to ensure a better life for the Palestinian people," she told reporters. In Luxembourg, European Union foreign ministers said they also were prepared to end the 15-month embargo on direct financial aid to the Palestinian government. "The signal is that we support 100 percent, politically and financially, Abbas and his transition government," said Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn. Read The Full Story
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