Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

As G-8 opens, a rift widens - Tensions rise after U.S. decides not to let Russia join WTO; Putin mocks Bush efforts to bring democracy to Iraq" 
 
By JIM RUTENBERG and ANDREW E. KRAMER, New York Times
First published: Sunday, July 16, 2006

STRELNA, Russia -- In the sharpest exchange, Bush said that he had told Putin during a private dinner here Friday night about "my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq -- where there is a free press and free religion -- and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope Russia would do the same thing."

Putin, standing bolt upright in a dark blue suit, responded dryly, "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly" -- a clear dig at the challenges still facing the American-supported government there.

Bush, in a light blue suit and standing more casually than his counterpart, turned to face Putin, smiled and said, almost to himself, "Just wait."

"Megachurches build a Republican base"

By Andrea Hopkins

LANCASTER, Ohio (Reuters) - Sexton believes every word in the Bible, rejects evolution theory, and supports the Iraq war, the Republican Party and Bush -- in part because he is a born-again Christian.

"I trust his opinion because of his beliefs," she said.

And speaking of old "ANTI-LAW AND ORDER" George W. Bush .....

It's George's way .....

Or the highway .....

And there is nothing .....

In between ......

Nothing in between ....

But death ....

And destruction ....

For the poor people

Of IRAQINAMISTAN ...

Who have to go around .....

With false identities .....

So they won't get killed ....

And then they do, anyway .....

Thanks to George W. Bush ....

The AVENGING ANGEL .....

Of DEATH ....

And DESTRUCTION .....

RIGHT OUT OF THE APOCALYPSE ....

FOR THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE ...

WHO ARE EVANGELICALS ....

AND SO ...

BELIEVE ...

EVERY WORD ....

IN THE BIBLE .....

INCLUDING PROPHECY .....

IS TRUE ....

"Iraq civilian toll spikes to almost 6,000"

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

53 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq describes a wave of lawlessness and crime, including assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.

Hundreds of teachers, judges, religious leaders and doctors have been targeted for death, and thousands of people have fled, the report said.

Evidence suggests militants also have begun to target homosexuals, it said.

"While welcoming recent positive steps by the government to promote national reconciliation, the report raises alarm at the growing number of casualties among the civilian population killed or wounded during indiscriminate or targeted attacks by terrorists or insurgents," the U.N. said in a note accompanying the report.

According to the report, 2,669 civilians were killed in May and 3,149 were killed in June.

Those numbers combined two counts: from the Ministry of Health, which records deaths reported by hospitals; and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, which tallies the unidentified bodies it receives.

The report charts a month-by-month increase in the number of civilians killed, from 710 in January to 1,129 in April.

In the first six months of the year, it said 14,338 people had been killed.

The report's figures were higher than some other counts, but even the U.N. said many killings go unreported.

According to an Associated Press tally based on its daily reporting, at least 1,511 civilians were killed, in May and June, with at least an additional 289 police and security forces killed.

The AP tally showed that from January through June 2006, at least 4,191 civilians were killed.

The minimum number of police and security forces casualties in that period was at least 805 killed.

The AP figures do not include insurgents.

It was unclear whether the tally from the Medico-Legal Institute included only those who were killed as a result of violence.

The U.N. report also details the rise in kidnappings, particularly of large groups of people.

On May 17, for example, the report said 15 Tae Kwon Do athletes were kidnapped in western Iraq.

"There is no news regarding their whereabouts," the report said.

Women report that their rights have been rolled back by extremist Muslim groups — both Shiite and Sunni.

While under Saddam Hussein's largely secular regime, women faced few social restrictions, they say they are now barred from going to market alone, wearing pants or driving cars.

The government still has not pursued many allegations of torture and other inhumane treatment in prisons and detention centers, the U.N. said.

[Livyjr]

I've been wondering.....

What happened .....

To all ....

Of the hurricanes .....

That we were supposed to get this year .....

"Tropical storm forms off N. Carolina"

By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press
Last updated: 7:57 p.m., Tuesday, July 18, 2006

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Beryl, the second named storm of 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, formed off the North Carolina coast Tuesday and a tropical storm watch was issued for the eastern part of the state.

A hurricane reconnaissance aircraft reported that the storm's maximum sustained winds were at least 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Beryl was centered about 180 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras and was moving toward the north at about 6 mph.

The storm is expected to make its closest approach to North Carolina on Wednesday and it was forecast to remain a tropical storm, said hurricane specialist Eric Blake.

A slow turn toward the north-northwest or northwest was expected later Tuesday or Wednesday.

The tropical storm watch, indicating tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours, extended along the coast from north of Cape Lookout to south of Currituck Beach Light.

"We are watching the storm very closely."

"With the projected track at this point we're not anticipating problems, but certainly things can change quickly," said Dorothy Toolan, a spokeswoman for Dare County, N.C., which includes the state's northern Outer Banks.

The first named storm of the June-November Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alberto, splashed ashore in Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past North Carolina's Outer Banks.

It was blamed for one drowning.

Experts say the Atlantic Ocean is in the middle of a cycle of increased hurricane activity.

Last year, there were a record 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes, including destructive Katrina.

------

Associated Press Writer Erin Gartner contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.

------

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of nature .....

Here in OUR America .....

"Top Predators Key to Ecosystem Survival, Study Shows"

Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

Top-level predators strike fear in the hearts of the animals they stalk.

But when a deer is being mauled by a wolf, at least it can know that it's giving its life for the greater good.

A new study reveals how ecosystems crumble without the presence of top predators keeping populations of key species from growing too large.

It also provides a cautionary lesson to humans, who often remove top predators from the food chain, setting off an eventual collapse.

The study is detailed in the July 20 issue of the journal Nature.

Food chain Whac-a-Mole

The researchers studied eight natural food webs, each with distinct energy channels, or food chains, leading from the bottom of the web to the top.

For example, the Cantabrian Sea shelf off the coast of Spain has two distinct energy channels.

One starts with the phytoplankton in the water, which are eaten by zooplankton and fish, and so on up to what are called top consumer fish.

The second channel starts with detritus that sinks to the sea floor, where it's consumed by crabs and bottom-dwelling fish, which are consumed by higher-up animals until the food energy reaches top-level consumers.

The top predators play their role by happily munching away at each channel's top consumers, explained study leader Neil Rooney of the University of Guelph in Canada.

"Top predators are kind of like the regulators of the food web—they keep each energy channel in check," Rooney told LiveScience.

"The top predator goes back and forth between the channels like a game of Whac-a-Mole," a popular arcade game in which constantly appearing moles are smacked down with a mallet.

Constant predation of the top consumers prevents a population from growing larger than the system can support.

Boom or bust

Removing a top predator can often alter the gentle balance of an entire ecosystem.

Here's an example of what can happen: When an area floods permanently and creates a series of islands, not all the islands have enough resources to support top predators.

Top consumers are left to gobble up nutrients and experience a reproductive boom.

The boom is felt throughout the system, though, as the booming species out-competes others, potentially driving the lesser species to extinction and reducing biodiversity.

Rooney refers to this type of ecosystem change as a "boom and bust cycle," when one species' population boom ultimately means another will bust.

Bigger booms increased chances of a bust.

"With each bust, the population gets very close to zero, and its difficult getting back," he said.

Your role in all this

Humans often play a role in initiating boom and bust cycles by wiping out the top predator.

For example, after gray wolves were hunted to near extinction in the United States, deer, elk, and other wolf-fearing forest critters had free reign and reproduced willy-nilly, gobbling up the vegetation that other consumers also relied on for food.

Or, more recently, researchers found that when fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean are over fished, jellyfish populations boom.

While jellyfish have few predators, removing the fish frees up an abundance of nutrients for the jellyfish to feast on.

Ecosystems provide us with the food we eat and help produce breathable air and clean water.

But they're generally fragile and operate best when at a stable equilibrium, scientists say.

"These are our life support systems," Rooney said.

"We're relying on them."

"This study points to the importance of top predators and that we need to be careful with how we deal with them."

[Livyjr]

"Top Predators Key to Ecosystem Survival, Study Shows"

Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

Top-level predators strike fear in the hearts of the animals they stalk.

"This study points to the importance of top predators and that we need to be careful with how we deal with them."

And while we are on the subject of predators .....

"Sweeney urged to return money - Democrat-linked groups slam congressman's role in Lake Placid getaway"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

ALBANY -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a pro-Democrat state grass-roots group called on U.S. Rep. John Sweeney on Tuesday to return $30,100 worth of campaign contributions he received from guests at an annual winter weekend getaway in Lake Placid.

The DCCC called the money from lobbyists and others who attended the publicly funded Winter Congressional Challenge Jan. 6-8 "scandal-tainted," noting a state official testified that Sweeney helped draw up the guest list -- a practice deemed inappropriate by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Sweeney has insisted, through an aide, that he had nothing to do with the invitations.

Citizen Action of New York called the cash "questionable."

It asked Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, to sign a "Voters First" pledge supporting public financing for campaigns that don't accept private money, Internet reporting of lobbyist contributions and new restrictions on gifts by lobbyists to members of Congress.

Sweeney's Democratic challenger, Kirsten Gillibrand, has signed the pledge, her campaign said, although she is accepting money from lobbyists -- including her father, Douglas Rutnik.

In a letter to Sweeney, Citizen Action Executive Director Richard Kirsch called the contributions, "a clear violation of the public trust, an erasing of the line between the public's business and your personal political interest."

Melissa Carlson, Sweeney's deputy chief of staff, said the congressman will not return the $30,100.

She said Sweeney's constituents are his top priority, adding:

"The voters of his district can see from his record of accomplishments that he is fighting for their priorities."

Sweeney's campaign spokeswoman, Maureen O'Brien Donovan, slammed the DCCC, calling a recent fundraising video, which included footage of flag-draped coffins of military personnel killed in Iraq, "morally reprehensible."

She also continued, as national Republicans have done, to try to tie DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois congressman, to an ongoing corruption trial of former members of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration.

Emanuel has insisted he has no connection to he Chicago charges.

The stated goal of the Winter Challenge is to show Washington lawmakers Lake Placid's Olympic facilities and stress the need for federal funding.

The Assembly is investigating the role of state authorities in funding the event.

Elizabeth Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

end quotes .....

I am one of "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney's alleged "constituents" .....

And I cannot see ....

Where anything .....

That "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey Johnnie" fights for .....

Which is usually money ....

For his pocket .....

IS ANY KIND ...

OF PRIORITY ....

OF MINE .....

And so .....

"Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney's priorities .....

Don't include me .....

And they never have .....

And so .....

Make that voters minus one .....

And the record will be correct ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject of predators .....

"Sweeney donors under scrutiny - $30,100 came from attendees at winter event now under investigation by committee"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006

ALBANY -- U.S. Rep. John Sweeney has received $30,100 worth of campaign contributions in the current election cycle from guests at an annual winter weekend getaway in Lake Placid that is under investigation by an Assembly committee.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, the donors included at least six lobbyists -- two of whom once worked for the Clifton Park Republican -- as well as U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Eugene Zeltman, former president of the New York Power Authority, which has funded Congressional Winter Challenge weekends in Lake Placid since 2000.

The lobbyists' donations ranged from $1,000 to $4,200.

Some gave multiple times.

A list of the lobbyist's donations is at
http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?page_id=1666

The Winter Challenge has been held by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority with the U.S. Olympic Committee since 1998.

Its stated goal is to show Washington lawmakers Lake Placid's Olympic facilities and stress the need for federal funding.

Asked if there were any connections between the contributions and the donors' attendance at the 2006 weekend Jan. 6-8, Sweeney's Deputy Chief of Staff Melissa Carlson said the congressman "appreciates" contributions, but they "in no way affect his level of support for any measure."

"He is an advocate of the people of the 20th Congressional District."

"... Their priorities are what motivate his decisions in Washington," Carlson said.

State Democratic Party spokesman Blake Zeff criticized Sweeney for refusing to testify at hearings on the Winter Challenge held by Democratic Assembly members Richard Brodsky, of Westchester, and Paul Tonko, of Amsterdam.

"If John Sweeney is so proud of his behavior and these donations why is he refusing to testify under oath about them?" Zeff said.

Last week, Sweeney declined a written invitation to testify from Brodsky, chair of the Assembly Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee.

Brodsky invited him again on Monday, and included a list of questions such as: "Why are lobbyists invited?" and "What activities were engaged in by you and your office with respect to the persons invited and in attendance?"

Sweeney's office declined to comment on Brodsky's second letter.

At a hearing July 11, ORDA President Ted Blazer said Sweeney played a key role in drawing up the Winter Challenge guest list -- a practice deemed inappropriate by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Carlson said Sweeney had nothing to do with the invitations, but ORDA spokesman Sandy Caligiore said Blazer "stands by his testimony."

The Winter Challenge began under Sweeney's predecessor, U.S. Rep. Gerald Solomon.

NYPA provides $40,000 to $55,000 a year to ORDA for the $27,000 event and for unrelated programs to bring underprivileged children to the Olympic facilities.

Elizabeth Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Oh, Eliot, You Sly Devil You, You're JUST So Vain" 
     
With apologies to Carly Simon

Oh, Eliot ....

You foxy devil, you .....   

You walked into the party ....

Like you were walking into the Governor's Chambers ....

In the capital ....

In Albany, New York ....

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye ...

Your scarf it was apricot ....

You had one eye in the mirror ....

On yourself, of course .....

And the other ...

On all the LOBBYISTS in the room ....

And the little bags of money in their hands ....

As you watched yourself gavotte ....

From lobbyist to lobbyist ...

Collecting your due, of course ...

And all the girls dreamed .....

As they do when in the company of powerful politicians like you ....

That they'd be your "partner" .....

They'd be your partner, and....

Oh, Eliot ......

You're just so vain ....

You KNOW this song is about you .....

Oh "Big EL" .....

You're just so vain ....

You're out there hiring people ....

To write pretty songs about you .....

Aren't you?

Aren't you?

And so ....

"Hollywood, unions star as Spitzer donors"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press
First published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

ALBANY -- Actors Ben Affleck and Judd Hirsch, entertainer Barbra Streisand, hair guru Vidal Sassoon and Eagles frontman Don Henley have helped Democrat Eliot Spitzer raise $10.7 million for his governor's campaign in the last six months.

Henley led the California entertainment headliners with a $10,000 contribution.

Affleck, Streisand and Sassoon each gave $1,000 and Hirsch gave $150.

The Featherstonhaugh, Wiley, Clune, Cordo lobbying firm gave $6,000, and Patricia Lynch, a lobbyist and former top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, contributed $99.

More than a dozen unions also contributed, including the Port Authority PBA at $33,900, the Uniformed Firefighters Association at $31,400, and the New York State Troopers PBA with two donations of $16,900 each.

The United Food and Commercial Workers gave $33,900.

R.D. Hubbard, owner of California's Hollywood Park race track, and his wife, Joan, each gave $10,000; the New York Thoroughbred Breeders gave $5,000; and Mary Lou Whitney of Saratoga Springs gave $10,000.

Spitzer also received $4,700 from Friends of Leecia Eve, the one-time lieutenant governor candidate that Spitzer passed over when he chose Senate Minority Leader David Paterson.

Paterson's campaign gave Spitzer $3,046.

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the subject .....

Of all the new ....

And stunning ...

Economic opportunities .....

That we are presented with .....

As a result ....

Of global warming ....

"Floods make season a washout - Business owners around Great Sacandaga Lake lament customers lost due to closed campsite, beaches"

By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, July 20, 2006

NORTHAMPTON -- High water in the Great Sacandaga Lake has meant no camping, no swimming and no customers.

The late June flooding wiped out the start of the tourism season along the lake.

The usual influx of visitors was washed away by the high waters during the peak Fourth of July weekend.

"Complete devastation."

"Crippling."

"I lost 80 percent of my business," said Mark DeMeo, 47, owner of the Campers Last Stop outside the entrance to the Northampton Beach state campground.

"It seems like the season is over," said DeMeo, comparing it to the quiet after the tourists have left.

Fulton County escaped the expansive devastation caused by flooding in neighboring Montgomery County and down Interstate 88 into the Southern Tier in counties such as Broome and Delaware.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation shut down Northampton Beach's 224 campsites and closed the beach.

About 400 reservations from June 30 through Wednesday were canceled or rescheduled due to flooding, said Kim Chupa, a DEC spokeswoman.

Two miles away from the campground, Norman Lamphear, 41, said he would have sold 50 to 60 cords of firewood by now from his home at 691 County Road 152.

The wood is still stacked waiting for customers.

"We usually split wood all summer."

"We won't have to," Lamphear said.

Monica Baldwin, 46, of Schenectady, rescheduled her vacation plans when DEC canceled her reservation.

She intended to spend last week at Northampton Beach.

Instead, Baldwin, her son, Ryan Baldwin, 12, and his friend, David Pepper, 14, spent a day at the campground.

Baldwin relaxed by the lake while the two boys waded in the flooded parking areas catching bullheads.

The beach was closed, eight campsites flooded and the parking lots under water.

Only a handful of people milled around the campground.

"It's the highest I've ever seen."

"I've been coming here since 1990," Baldwin said from her chair a couple of feet from the lake.

Water levels are slowly receding at a rate of a few inches daily.

"We've been dropping three-tenths to four-tenths of a foot each day."

"It depends on that inflow," said Robert S. Foltan, chief engineer for the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District.

Foltan said the lake should reach its usual level by the end of the month, barring further storms.

At Edinburg Marina and Powersports at 140 North Shore Road, business was increasing.

"The Fourth of July weekend was right on the heels of the storm."

"There was certainly a lot less boat traffic," said Joan Campbell, co-owner of the marina.

The season, Campbell said, "Is really just started."

"It definitely got pushed back."

"I don't know if you ever make that up."

Northampton Supervisor Linda Kemper said lakeside residents and businesses are still picking up and cleaning up.

"Debris is still under the water."

"People still have to exercise caution," said Kemper.

"We are very grateful we didn't have the major catastrophes like farther down south."

DEC started taking reservations again Wednesday for Northampton Beach.

The beach will reopen as the water subsides.

In the meantime, Fulton County businesses are making do.

"It could not have come at a worse time."

"We've been encouraging people to do other things," said Wally Hart, president of the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"If they can't get on the lake, there's still plenty of places to camp, and restaurants."

"There are other attractions."

"Don't be afraid to come up."

C. Crowe II can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at kcrowe@timesunion.com.

Finding flood relief

People who need help because of flood damage can call the state Emergency Management Office at (888) 769-7243 and the Federal Emergency Management Office at (800) 621-3362. Callers must provide Social Security number, current and pre-flood address, telephone number, insurance information, total household income, a description of the losses and a bank routing and account number if assistance funds are to be transferred directly into a bank account. FEMA can provide individual grants and loans for housing, repairs and replacement of damaged items like water heaters, electrical service and appliances. Only primary homes, not vacation or second homes, are eligible for assistance. Rental assistance for temporary housing may be available if the home is uninhabitable because of the disaster. The state program can provide grants of up to $5,000 for losses not covered by insurance or federal aid. The state also can provide grants of up to $20,000 to small businesses. The Postal Service recommends that people who have moved because of flood damage file change-of-address forms.

[Livyjr]

BOOM ....BOOM ......BOOM ....BOOM .....

WAR DRUMS BEATING ...

A big fire burning ....

Dick Cheney, with a special gold-plated Abercrombie & Fitch BI-CENTENNIAL EDITION hatchet at only $750, half-naked, dressed only in a designer breech-clout and a special pair of leggings that he got in a Jackson Hole boutique for $3500, mouth drawn back in a rictus, teeth showing like a big Wyoming GRIZ, whirls and capers and cavorts around the fire like an imp released from the bowels of hell itself, gibbering and alternately grunting in some tongue intelligible to only himself, if even that ....

While Donald Rumsfeld, painted up to beat the band in rouge and vermillion and whatever that brown stuff on him is, dressed in the skin of an IRAQINAMI, head still attached, stands up on a stump and shouts exhortations to the assembled crowd .....

WAR ..... WAR .... WAR .... WAR

And here we go again ..

Except this time, since they are using the same script that was used for the IRAQINAM DEBACLE, we are supposed to be saving some money ....

On the front-end load, anyway ....

"Rumsfeld: Iran Regime Sponsors Terrorism"
By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer

MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged America's allies to increase their military spending to prevent the rise of a "global extremist Islamic empire."

"The Iranian regime is today the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," he said in prepared remarks.

Rumsfeld was in Munich to address a defense conference focused on the relationship between America and its European allies.

Rumsfeld said terrorists hope to use Iraq as the "central front" in their war, turning it into a training and recruitment area like they had done in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

He warned "a war has been declared on all of our nations" and said their "futures depend on determination and unity in the face of the terrorist threat."

"We could choose to pretend, as some suggest, that the enemy is not at our doorstep."

"We could choose to believe, as some contend, that the threat is exaggerated."

"But those who would follow such a course must ask: what if they are wrong?"

"What if at this moment, the enemy is counting on being underestimated, counting on being dismissed, and counting on our preoccupation," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said violent extremism is a danger faced as much in Europe as in the United States.

"The struggle ahead promises to be a long war that will cause us all to recalibrate our strategies, perhaps further adjust our institutions, and certainly work closely together," he said.

He said Islamic militants are on the move and have to be checked.

"They seek to take over governments from North Africa to Southeast Asia and to re-establish a caliphate they hope, one day, will include every continent," he said.

"They have designed and distributed a map where national borders are erased and replaced by a global extremist Islamic empire."

Likening the war on terror to the Cold War, Rumsfeld said the battle could be won if nations persevered.

"It may be easier for all of us to use our scarce tax dollars to meet urgent needs we all have at home," Rumsfeld said.

"But unless we invest in our defense and security, our homelands will be at risk."

And as the world .....

Gets set ....

To burn .....

So that Donald Rumsfeld .....

And Dick Cheney .....

Can "defend" .....

Their HOMELAND .....

Wherever in hell that might be .....

"Israel won't rule out full-scale invasion"

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:56 a.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second consecutive day.

Israel, meanwhile, refused to rule out a full-scale invasion.

Israeli warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak Thursday, followed by strikes in the guerrilla's heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes came a wave of bombings Wednesday killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began on July 12.

Russia sharply criticized Israel over its onslaught against Lebanon, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation" and repeating calls for an immediate cease-fire.

At least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon since the Israeli campaign began, according to the security forces control room that collates casualties.

In Israel, 29 people have been killed, including 14 soldiers.

The U.N. has said at least a half million people have been displaced in Lebanon.

In developments on the evacuation of Lebanon, U.S. Marines landed in Beirut Thursday to help Americans onto a Navy ship bound for Cyprus in the second mass U.S exodus from the battle-torn country.

About 40 U.S. Marines arrived at a beach just north of Beirut in a landing craft and picked up 300 Americans who they ferried to the amphibious assault ship USS Nashville just off the coast.

The Nashville is supposed to sail for Cyprus with about 1,000 Americans.

Hundreds of people, some with shirts draped over their heads to protect themselves from the sun, gathered on the beach.

A U.S. Embassy official, speaking through a megaphone, pleaded for patience, reassuring the crowd that all those who registered to be evacuated would be assisted.

"We are frustrated and disappointed, but we are O.K.," said Bob Elazon, an Illinois resident who complained that the U.S. evacuation was badly organized.

Elazon, who left his native Lebanon 34 years ago, was with his 20-year-old daughter, Anna, who was visiting the country for the first time.

His wife departed just before the fighting erupted.

Meanwhile, the first plane carrying U.S. evacuees landed outside Baltimore early Thursday, and eager family members waited to greet the 145 Americans aboard the charter flight from Cyprus.

Some 900 Americans arrived in Cyprus early Thursday aboard a luxury cruise ship -- the first mass U.S. evacuation from Lebanon since the Israeli airstrikes started more than a week ago.

It was among dozens of cruise ships evacuating thousands of foreigners from Lebanon.

Some 8,000 of 25,000 U.S. citizens in Lebanon have asked to leave.

So many people were leaving Lebanon that boats were forced to line up outside Beirut harbor and had to wait before docking in Cyprus.

Israel's series of small ground forays across the border have aimed to push back Hezbollah guerrillas who have continued to fire rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment against them -- raising the question of whether air power alone can suppress them.

Guerrillas fired 25 rockets into Israel on Thursday, which caused no casualties.

But the guerrillas have been fighting back hard on the ground, wounding three Israeli soldiers Thursday, a day after killing two.

An Israeli unit sent in to ambush Hezbollah guerrillas also had a fierce gunbattle Thursday with a cell of militants.

In another clash, just across the border from the Israeli town of Avivim, guerrillas fired a missile at an Israeli tank, seriously wounding one soldier.

Hezbollah said in a statement that its guerrillas destroyed two tanks as they tried to enter the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, across from Avivim.

Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.

But an Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion.

Israel also broadcast warnings into south Lebanon on Wednesday telling civilians to leave the region, a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation.

"There is a possibility -- all our options are open."

"At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Israel dropped leaflets Wednesday night warning the population that any trucks traveling in Lebanese towns south of the Litani River would be suspected of carrying weapons and rockets and could be targeted by its forces.

The Lebanese government is under international pressure to deploy troops in the south to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas -- but even before the fighting many considered it too weak to do so without deeply fracturing the country.

An Italian newspaper quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora on Thursday as making his strongest statement yet against the Shiite militant group.

But Saniora's office quickly said he was misquoted.

The Milan-based Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying in an interview that Hezbollah has created a "state within a state," adding:

"The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah."

"But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

Saniora later issued a statement denying the remarks.

He said he told the paper that the international community must help press Israel from Chebaa Farms, a small border area that Lebanon claims and Hezbollah points to as proof of the continued need for armed resistance.

Saniora told the paper that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons."

"The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms," the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the Italian paper.

On Wednesday, Saniora appealed for a cease-fire, saying his country "has been torn to shreds."

Warplanes pounded areas in the south where Hezbollah operates -- but civilian residential neighborhoods bore the brunt, with dozens of houses destroyed.

Dallal said Israel had hit "1,000 targets in the last eight days -- 20 percent were missile-launching sites and the rest were control and command centers, missiles and so forth."

Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan insisted the Israeli army never targets civilians but has no way of knowing whether civilians are in an area they are striking.

"Civilians might be in the area because Hezbollah is operating from civilian territory," Nehushtan said.

He said that Hezbollah has fired more than 1,100 rockets at civilian areas in Israel since the fighting erupted and that 12 percent -- or about 750,000 people -- of Israel's population currently live in areas that can be targeted by the guerrilla group.

Israel said its airstrikes so far have destroyed about half of Hezbollah's arsenal -- and it has been trying to take out its top leaders.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that aircraft dropped 23 tons of explosives on what the military believed was a bunker used by senior Hezbollah leaders in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Hezbollah said none of its members were hurt in the strike and denied a leadership bunker was in the area, saying a building under construction to be a mosque was hit.

Hezbollah has a headquarters compound in Bourj al-Barajneh that is off limits to the Lebanese police and army, so security officials could not confirm the strike.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told CNN his country would not issue a statement about the attack until it is sure of all the facts.

But he added, "I can assure you that we know exactly what we hit."

"... This was no religious site."

"This was indeed the headquarters of the Hezbollah leadership."

On Thursday, Israeli jets struck houses believed used by Hezbollah officials in the town of Hermel in the western Bekaa Valley, wounding at least three.

Israeli warplanes also attacked and destroyed a five-story residential and commercial building that reportedly once held a Hezbollah office in the Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold, witnesses said.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

Two civilians were killed late Wednesday in strikes on bridges in Lebanon's far north, near Tripoli, the National News Agency said.

Israeli jets also raided a detention center in the town of Khiam in south Lebanon Thursday, witnesses and local TV said.

The notorious Khiam prison, formerly run by Israel's Lebanese militia allies during its occupation of south Lebanon, was entirely destroyed in four bombing runs by Israeli jets, they said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour criticized the growing death toll, saying the indiscriminate shelling of cities and of nearby military sites was invariably resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians.

"International law demands accountability," Arbour said in Geneva.

"The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

International pressure mounted on Israel and the United States to agree to a cease-fire.

The rising death toll and scope of the destruction deepened a rift between the U.S. and Europe.

The Bush administration is giving Israel a tacit green light to take the time it needs to neutralize Hezbollah, but the Europeans fear mounting civilian casualties will play into the hands of militants and weaken Lebanon's democratically elected government.

------

Associated Press reporters Joe Panossian in Beirut and Maria Sanminiatelli in Larnaca, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

Now ...

Here .....

Is .....

Some ....

JUDICIAL COURAGE ....

And INDEPENDENCE .....

RIGHT WHEN WE NEED SOME ......

"Judge refuses to dismiss spying lawsuit"

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:25 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's domestic spying program, rejecting government claims that allowing the case to go forward could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the warrantless eavesdropping has been so widely reported that there appears to be no danger of spilling secrets.

Dozens of lawsuits alleging that telecommunications companies and the government are illegally intercepting Americans' communications without warrants have been filed.

This is the first time a judge has ruled on the government's claim of a "state secrets privilege."

"It might appear that none of the subject matter in this litigation could be considered a secret given that the alleged surveillance programs have been so widely reported in the media," Walker said.

Walker also wrote that he did not see how allowing the lawsuit to continue could threaten national security.

"The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one," Walker said.

"But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

And in declining to dismiss AT&T Inc. from the lawsuit, filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation privacy group, Walker suggested the case had some merit.

"AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal," he wrote.

The Justice Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The lawsuit challenges President Bush's assertion that he can use his wartime powers to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant.

It accuses AT&T of illegally cooperating with the National Security Agency to make communications on AT&T networks available to the spy agency without warrants.

The government intervened in the case, telling Walker that Bush's surveillance program, adopted after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is "a secret of the highest order."

The government argued that divulging any information about any alleged collusion between AT&T and the government to eavesdrop on Americans could subject AT&T employees and facilities to attack and would enable terrorists "to communicate more securely."

The state secrets defense, first recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a McCarthy-era lawsuit, has been increasingly and successfully invoked by federal lawyers seeking to shield the government from court scrutiny.

The high court has upheld the legal tactic as recently as January, when it rejected an appeal from a former covert CIA officer who accused the agency of racial discrimination.

The president confirmed in December that the NSA has been conducting warrantless surveillance of calls and e-mails thought to involve al-Qaida terrorists if at least one of the parties to the communication is outside the United States.

The administration contends the program is legal and necessary, but has been mum on whether purely domestic calls and electronic communications are being monitored, as the lawsuit alleges.

A pending legislative compromise worked out by the White House and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, would allow the president to submit the spy program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a one-time test of its constitutionality.

That legislation, which has not been voted on, would remove the EFF case and others from the federal civil courts.

The EFF asked Walker to rule on whether the president possesses wartime powers to authorize warrantless eavesdropping in the United States.

The EFF alleges that San Antonio-based AT&T, which neither confirms nor denies the allegations, practices "wholesale surveillance" of its customers.

end quotes

"A SECRET OF THE HIGHEST ORDER ....."

IN A PIG'S EYE ....

And so .....

It looks like .....

Another load .....

Of BUSHCO HORSE **** .....

Is getting tossed ....

Into the dumper .....

Where it belongs .....

And so .....

Another victory .....

AGAINST THE TYRANNY .....

Of George W. Bush .....

THE MILITARY DICTATOR .....

Of America .....

AND THE WORLD .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

Well ...

Here is some proof .....

That George W. Bush ...

Is not totally ......

Out of touch .....

With reality .....

That he does know some things, anyway .....

And so .....

"Bush knows many blacks distrust GOP"

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:35 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, addressing the NAACP after skipping its convention for five years, said Thursday he knows racism exists in America and that many black voters distrust his Republican Party.

Bush lamented the GOP's rocky relations with blacks.

He pledged to improve that relationship and work with the NAACP's new leader to achieve common goals.

"I understand that racism still lingers in America," Bush told more than 2,200 people at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's annual gathering.

"It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart."

"And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party."

That line generated boisterous applause and cheers from the audience, which generally gave the president a polite, reserved reception.

"I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historical ties with the African-American community," Bush said.

"For too long, my party wrote off the African-American vote, and many African-Americans wrote off the Republican Party."

Black support for Republicans in elections has hovered around 10 percent for more than a decade.

In 2004, Bush drew 11 percent of the black vote against Democrat John Kerry.

Most of the president's talk generated a smattering of applause.

But many in the convention center stood and clapped when he urged the Senate to renew a landmark civil rights law passed in the 1960s to end racist voting practices, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, in Southern states.

The Senate was passing the bill later Thursday and sending it to the president.

For five years in a row, Bush had declined invitations to address the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the nation.

This year, he said yes, knowing that he would be facing a tough crowd.

According to AP-Ipsos polling conducted in June and July, 86 percent of blacks disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, compared with 56 percent of whites who disapprove.

While the audience was cordial, some NAACP members were disappointed that the president did not mention the war in Iraq.

During Bush's speech, two NAACP members from Louisiana held their hands in the air to display the two-fingered, "V" peace symbol.

Others expressed dismay that Bush did not offer more substantive remarks about issues such as education and the economy.

The unemployment rate for blacks was 9 percent in June -- nearly twice the national jobless rate of 4.6 percent

"There was an amazing gap between the aspirations of his speech and the policy behind it."

"It was so vague," said Barbara Arnwine of the Washington-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

"He doesn't have enough contact with this community," said Arnwine.

The group was set up in 1963, at the request of President Kennedy, to get private lawyers to provide legal services to address racial discrimination.

Bush talked about his No Child Left Behind education program, but did not mention that it has been underfunded, said Madie Robinson of Florence, S.C., a member of the NAACP national board of directors.

"He raised many issues," she said, "but didn't offer solutions."

The administration's relations with the NAACP have been sketchy at best.

The organization's president, Kweisi Mfume, once described Bush's black supporters as "ventriloquists' dummies" and said the president's decision not to speak at the NAACP conventions was an insult.

The chairman, Julian Bond, urged members to oust Bush and condemned the administration's policies on education, the economy and the war in Iraq.

In 2004, then White House press secretary Scott McClellan said NAACP leaders, through their "hostile rhetoric," have shown no interest in working with Bush.

Relations have improved under the leadership of current NAACP president, Bruce Gordon.

Gordon, who introduced Bush at the convention, has met with him three times in the year that he has headed the civil rights group.

That compares with one meeting Bush had with Mfume, Gordon's predecessor.

"Bruce is a polite guy," Bush said.

"I thought what he was going to say, `It's about time you showed up.'"

"And I'm glad I did."

The White House denied that Bush's appearance was a way of atoning for the government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and some black elected officials alleged that indifference to black suffering and racial injustice was to blame for the sluggish reaction to the disaster.

Bush said he and Gordon have had frank talks about the challenges blacks face following the hurricane.

"We found areas where we share common purpose, and we have resolved to work together in practical ways," Bush said.

"I don't expect Bruce to become a Republican -- and neither do you."

"But I do want to work with him, and that's what I'm here to talk to you about."

Toward the end of his remarks, two protesters interrupted the president, shouting inquiries about Vice President Dick Cheney and the situation in the Middle East.

"Stop being a Stepin Fetchit for Dick Cheney!" one shouted in a reference to a black actor known for stereotypical portrayals of black minstrel characters.

Bond approached the microphone, but Bush told him not to bother trying to quell the disturbance.

"Don't worry," Bush told Bond.

"I'm almost done."

"I know you can handle it," Bond replied.

------

Associated Press National Writer Erin Texeira contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

Well ...

Here is some proof .....

That George W. Bush ...

Is not totally ......

Out of touch .....

With reality .....

That he does know some things, anyway .....

And so .....

"Bush knows many blacks distrust GOP" 
 
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
Last updated: 5:35 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

WASHINGTON -- "Stop being a Stepin Fetchit for Dick Cheney!" one shouted in a reference to a black actor known for stereotypical portrayals of black minstrel characters.

And while we're on the subject of Dick Cheney .....

The lengths ....

That some people will go .....

Just to understand .....

What makes Dick tick .....

"2-year Neanderthal genome project launches"

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press
Last updated: 4:16 p.m., Thursday, July 20, 2006

BERLIN -- U.S. and German scientists on Thursday launched a two-year project to decipher the genetic code of the Neanderthal, a feat they hope will help deepen understanding of how modern humans' brains evolved.

Neanderthals were a species that lived in Europe and western Asia from more than 200,000 years ago to about 30,000 years ago.

Scientists from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology are teaming up a company in Connecticut to map the genome, or DNA code.

"The Neanderthal is the closest relative to the modern human, and we believe that by sequencing the Neanderthal we can learn a lot," said Michael Egholm, a vice president at 454 Life Sciences Corp. of Branford, Conn., which will use its high-speed sequencing technology in the project.

There are no firm answers yet about how humans picked up key traits such as walking upright and developing complex language.

Neanderthals are believed to have been relatively sophisticated, but lacking in humans' higher reasoning functions.

The Neanderthal project follows scientists' achievement last year in deciphering the DNA of the chimpanzee, our closest living relative.

That genome map produced a long list of DNA differences between humans and chimps and some hints about which differences might be crucial.

The chimp genome "led to literally too many questions, there were 35 million differences between us and chimpanzees -- that's too much to figure out," Jonathan Rothberg, 454's chairman, said in a telephone interview.

"By having Neanderthal, we'll really be able to home in on the small percentage of differences that gave us higher cognitive abilities," he said.

"Neanderthal is going to open the box."

"It's not going to answer the question, but it's going to tell where to look to understand all of those higher cognitive functions."

Over two years, the scientists aim to reconstruct a draft of the 3 billion building blocks of the Neanderthal genome -- working with fossil samples from several individuals.

They face the complication of working with 40,000-year-old samples, and of filtering out microbial DNA that contaminated them after death.

Only about 5 percent of the DNA in the samples is actually Neanderthal DNA, Egholm estimated, but he and Rothberg said pilot experiments had convinced them that the decoding was feasible.

At the Max Planck Institute, the project also involves Svante Paabo, who nine years ago participated in a pioneering, though smaller-scale, DNA test on a Neanderthal sample.

That study suggested that Neanderthals and humans split from a common ancestor a half-million years ago and backed the theory that Neanderthals were an evolutionary dead end.

The new project will help in understanding how characteristics unique to humans evolved and "will also identify those genetic changes that enabled modern humans to leave Africa and rapidly spread around the world," Paabo said in a statement Thursday.

end quoters

That will be something .....

If these scientists ....

End up proving ....

That Dick Cheney .....

Is a neanderthal .....

That might help to explain ....

Some things ....

About Dick .....

Like his finely-honed killer instincts ....

For example .....

That mark Dick out .....

As a higher-order predator .....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And before you go to sleep tonight .....

Say a short prayer .....

For the poor people .....

Of IRAQINAMISTAN ......

WHO CAN NO LONGER .....

USE ....

THEIR REAL NAMES .....

FOR FEAR OF BEING MURDERED .....

And so ......

If a nation full of people .....

With a bunch of different fake names .....

Is a sign of a DEMOCRACY...

Then George W. Bush ...

Has created one .....

In spades .....

To the max .....

Over there ...

In IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where people have to have fake names ....

And false ID's ......

Simply to survive another hour ....

Let alone a day ....

And so .....

"In Baghdad streets, little sign of rule of law"

Tue Jul 11, 12:51 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Private Uday Abdullah is one of 50,000 Iraqi troops and police sent on to Baghdad's streets last month to make the city safe -- but he does not see the point.

Lounging in the shade to escape the midday heat on Tuesday, the soldier said it is gunmen from rival Shi'ite and Sunni parties with clout in the government who rule the streets.

"We arrest lots of gunmen and they just walk free the next day."

"They're always from the Mehdi Army or the Badr Brigade or the Islamic Party."

"So what's the point of our job?" he said.

Many in Baghdad wonder the same thing as checkpoints set up as part of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's crackdown on violence spawn ever greater traffic jams but have failed to prevent dozens dying in sectarian shootings and bombings this week.

"We do nothing but create huge traffic jams with these checkpoints," Abdullah said.

Pointing to the traffic backed up on Senak Bridge, a major artery over the Tigris river, he said:

"I am standing here."

"But I have no desire to be here."

Raed Abd al-Hafudh Saleem, a lieutenant in Baghdad's traffic department, is equally bemused and cynical.

From his concrete booth in the middle of a busy intersection in upmarket Mansour, he has a clear view of the many vehicles carrying heavily armed men that speed past every day.

"I don't know who these people are."

"I can't stop them because they never hesitate to point their guns at me."

Every morning, when he reports for duty at his little booth, he finds fresh bullet casings littering the road.

"I don't know where they come from."

"Everyone carries a gun in this country, from the bodyguards of officials and members of parliament to private security companies.

"How can I distinguish between all those and the insurgents, and militias?" he said.

He told how bodyguards recently fired into the air to clear the road for a ministerial convoy.

When he remonstrated with them, one man fired a burst from his AK-47 just past his head.

"He said to me: 'Who are you to say this'?"

"'I am the state."'

end quotes

George W. Bush .....

Is like the SECOND COMING, alright .......

The SECOND COMING ....

Of HULAGU KHAN .....

To BAGHDAD .....

And so ......

Expect BARBARIANISM ...

And you won't be disappointed ......

Or let down .....

By all of the violence ...

And chaos ....

That George W. Bush ....

Has unleashed .....

On the poor suffering people .....

Of IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Who can't even use ...

Their real names anymore ...

Thanks to George W. Bush ...

And so ....

And IRAQINAMISTAN .....

Where George W. Bush .....

Does not want .....

To cut and run .....

Until everybody ...

Is dead ....

And so ....

"Sharp rise in Baghdad violence reported"

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

55 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday.

An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric issued his strongest call yet for an end to Shiite-Sunni bloodletting, urging all Iraqis to wake up to the "danger threatening the future of the country" and stand "side-by-side against it."

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said there had been an average of 34 attacks a day involving U.S. and Iraqi forces in and around the capital since Friday — up sharply from the daily average of 24 registered between June 14 and July 13.

"We have not witnessed the reduction in violence one would have hoped for in a perfect world," Caldwell told reporters.

"The only way we're going to be successful in Baghdad is to get the weapons off the streets."

Caldwell said insurgents were streaming into the capital for "an all-out assault against the Baghdad area."

"Clearly the death squad elements, the terrorist elements, know that Baghdad is a must-win for them," he said.

"Whoever wins the Baghdad area, whoever is able to bring peace and security to that area, is going to set the conditions to stabilize this country."

But much of the bloodshed has been carried out by Shiite militias seeking retribution for attacks by Sunnis — including organized insurgents, religious extremists and Sunnis not affiliated with resistance groups but fearful of Shiite gunmen.

The result is a pattern of tit-for-tat vendetta killings which is difficult to stop by military action or political overtures to Sunni insurgent leaders.

With thousands fleeing areas where their sect is in the minority, Iraqis fear Baghdad is being transformed into a Sunni west and a Shiite and Christian east — divided by the Tigris River that flows through the center of the city.

Alarmed by the crisis, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani issued a rare statement, saying the time has come for "all those who value the unity and future of this country" to "exert maximum efforts to stop the bloodletting."

Al-Sistani, a longtime voice of moderation, urged Iraqis against "falling into the trap of sectarian and ethnic strife," which he said will only delay the departure of foreign troops.

"I repeat my call today to all Iraqis of different sects and ethnic groups to be aware of the danger threatening the future of the country and stand side-by-side against it," he said.

Caldwell's comments were among the most frank by a senior American military official about the grave crisis facing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's two-month-old national unity government.

U.S. officials have long pointed to relative peace in many of Iraq's 18 provinces, dismissing the insurgency as a problem limited to Baghdad and sparsely populated Sunni Arab areas to the west and north.

However, Baghdad is the country's major transportation hub, the center of political and economic power, and home to more than 20 percent of the population.

Its religiously and politically mixed population makes it a natural battleground for control of the country.

"Baghdad is a must-win not only for the prime minister, but for al-Qaida in Iraq," Caldwell said.

"Without Baghdad's centralized access to power brokers, Baghdad's large, diverse population, its financial resources, the terrorists elements will lose here in this country."

With the stakes high, al-Maliki last month unveiled a much-heralded security plan for Baghdad, including up to 50,000 police and soldiers on the streets, more checkpoints and raids in neighborhoods where violence is high.

But with surging attacks in the capital — including the kidnappings of Iraqi officials — leading politicians from Shiite and Sunni parties have declared the plan a failure.

The United Nations said this week that about 6,000 civilians were killed in May and June, many of them in sectarian violence.

About 50 people were killed Thursday in attacks nationwide, police said.

They included a U.S. Marine killed in Anbar province and 12 people who died in a car bombing near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Five others were killed by a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk.

The crisis in Baghdad raises questions about the ability of Iraq's U.S.-trained police and army to cope with sectarian violence.

That in turn casts doubt about the U.S. timetable for handing over security responsibility to the Iraqis in all 18 provinces by the end of next year.

Despite the recent bloodshed, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said Iraqis will be in charge of security in eight of the 18 provinces before year's end.

However, he said the fight against insurgents could last for years.

The government said al-Maliki has dismissed an undisclosed number of security officials for failing to respond to a Monday attack in Mahmoudiya in which at least 51 people were killed.

Suspected Sunni gunmen went on a rampage through a market, shooting at shoppers and vendors.

Most of the victims were Shiites.

Nevertheless, Caldwell insisted Iraqi forces were "giving their all to bring security to the Baghdadi citizens."

He said at least 92 Iraqi police and soldiers had been killed and 444 wounded in fighting in the capital since mid-June.
___

Associated Press writers Ryan Lenz, Bassem Mroue, Bushra Juhi and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report from Baghdad.

end quotes

IF .....

It was ...

A perfect world .....

George W. Bush .....

Sure as hell ...

Would not be president ....

Of OUR America .....

And in a perfect world ....

We wouldn't be stuck .....

IN A QUAGMIRE .....

In IRAQINAMISTAN ....

BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T .....

BE RULED ....

BY A FOOL ....

LIKE GEORGE W. BUSH ....

IN A PERFECT WORLD ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And starting out with something completely different in here this morning .....

"Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated"

Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

Thu Jul 20, 2:30 PM ET

At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today.

But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation.

During these few thousand years, prehistoric humans left the congested Nile Valley and established settlements around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.

The ancient climate shift and its effects are detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Science.

When the rains came

Some 12,000 years ago, the only place to live along the eastern Sahara Desert was the Nile Valley.

Being so crowded, prime real estate in the Nile Valley was difficult to come by.

Disputes over land were often settled with the fist, as evidenced by the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba where many of the buried individuals had died a violent death.

But around 10,500 years ago, a sudden burst of monsoon rains over the vast desert transformed the region into habitable land.

This opened the door for humans to move into the area, as evidenced by the researcher's 500 new radiocarbon dates of human and animal remains from more than 150 excavation sites.

"The climate change at 10,500 years ago which turned most of the 3.8 million square mile large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, certainly within less than 500 years," said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.

Frolicking in pools

In the Egyptian Sahara, semi-arid conditions allowed for grasses and shrubs to grow, with some trees sprouting in valleys and near groundwater sources.

The vegetation and small, episodic rain pools enticed animals well adapted to dry conditions, such as giraffes, to enter the area as well.

Humans also frolicked in the rain pools, as depicted in rock art from Southwest Egypt.

In the more southern Sudanese Sahara, lush vegetation, hearty trees, and permanent freshwater lakes persisted over millennia.

There were even large rivers, such as the Wadi Howar, once the largest tributary to the Nile from the Sahara.

"Wildlife included very demanding species such as elephants, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, and more than 30 species of fish up to 2 meters (6 feet) big," Kroepelin told LiveScience.

A timeline of Sahara occupation:

22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.

10,500 to 9,000 years ago: Monsoon rains begin sweeping into the Sahara, transforming the region into a habitable area swiftly settled by Nile Valley dwellers.

9,000 to 7,300 years ago: Continued rains, vegetation growth, and animal migrations lead to well established human settlements, including the introduction of domesticated livestock such as sheep and goats.

7,300 to 5,500 years ago: Retreating monsoonal rains initiate desiccation in the Egyptian Sahara, prompting humans to move to remaining habitable niches in Sudanese Sahara.

The end of the rains and return of desert conditions throughout the Sahara after 5,500 coincides with population return to the Nile Valley and the beginning of pharaonic society.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of when the rains came ....

"Tropical Storm Beryl hits Massachusets"

Associated Press
Last updated: 6:16 a.m., Friday, July 21, 2006

BOSTON -- Tropical Storm Beryl quietly made landfall on Nantucket early Friday, bringing a steady, driving rain to coastal Massachusetts.

Hours later, it moved out to sea, leaving little but a soaking in its path.

The storm's center hit around 3 a.m., said Jack Beven, hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The wind and rain started to pick up just after midnight, said Rocky Fox, owner of the Chicken Box bar there.

But he wasn't scared: "It's the kind that puddles quick," he said.

"To us it's just a big old Nor'easter."

Officials said the region fared well.

The Coast Guard said they hadn't heard of problems, and no power outages were reported.

"It looks like a gray, rainy day," said Nantucket Fire Department Capt. Steve Murphy as he looked out the window.

A tropical storm warning issued from the coast of Massachusetts was discontinued Friday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Areas affected included Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm had maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph, and was about 35 miles northeast of Nantucket.

It was expected to weaken over the next 24 hours and lose tropical characteristics by Saturday morning.

It was moving at about 21 mph and was expected to increase in speed Friday, forecasters said.

The center of Beryl was expected to be near or over Nova Scotia late Friday or early Saturday.

The Coast Guard was monitoring about 50 commercial fishing vessels still on the New England waters near the storm's path late Thursday night, but had no reports of vessels in trouble, said Chief Petty Officer Scott Carr.

A tropical storm watch had been issued for eastern Long Island and parts of Connecticut, but was discontinued early Friday as the storm moved northeast.

Workers at Nantucket Moorings on Thursday were making sure their customers' boats were tied down securely, but they weren't panicking.

"That's all we can do for now -- make sure lines are secure and people know that the storm is approaching," said Leigh Van Hoven, office manager of the company, which rents and sells moorings.

A record 28 named storms and 15 hurricanes, including destructive Katrina, occurred during last year's June-November Atlantic hurricane season.

The first named storm of the 2006 season, Tropical Storm Alberto, swept over Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the coast past the Outer Banks.

It was blamed for one drowning.

------

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

------

Associated Press Writer Michelle Spitzer in Miami contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

And in this day and age .....

Of renewed WARS OF AGGRESSION ....

This following should surprise no one ....

"Israel preparing Lebanon ground offensive"

By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer

21 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon "immediately," preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone.

On Friday the Israeli army said a barrage of Hezbollah-fired rockets aimed at northern Israel fell short of their targets and struck a United Nations observation post in Lebanon.

An army spokesman said it wasn't immediately clear if the United Nations Interim Force post was occupied at the time or if there were casualties.

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Kofi Annan warned of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of even easing the violence.

Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding "an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and snatching of two Israeli soldiers last week.

As the death toll rose to 330 in Lebanon, as well as at least 32 Israelis, Lebanese streamed north into the capital and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels.

Taxi drivers in the south were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut —more than 40 times the usual price.

In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes, residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.

The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose by as much as 500 percent in parts of Lebanon on Thursday as Israel's relentless bombardment destroyed roads, bridges and other supply routes.

The World Food Program said estimates of basic food supplies ranged from one to three months.

On a day that saw U.S. Marines return to Lebanon for the first time in 22 years, the war looked ready to expand dramatically.

Neither side showed any sign of backing down.

Hezbollah refused to release its two Israeli soldiers without a prisoner exchange,

Israel was aiming to create a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence ending in 2000.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up Israeli onslaught, vowing never to release two Israeli soldiers captured by his guerrillas even "if the whole universe comes (against us)."

He said they would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange brokered through indirect negotiations.

He spoke in an interview with the Al-Jazeera news network taped Thursday to show he had survived a heavy airstrike in south Beirut that Israel said targeted a Hezbollah underground leadership bunker.

The guerrillas said the strike only hit a mosque under construction and no one was hurt.

The United States — which has resisted calls to press its ally Israel to halt the fighting — was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region, arriving in Israel on Tuesday or Wednesday after stopping over in Arab nations, Israeli officials said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the schedule was not yet confirmed.

The mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began nine days ago.

Israel has decided air power alone will not be enough to drive Hezbollah back from the Israeli-Lebanon border and that a ground force will be needed to establish a zone that is at least 20 miles deep, senior military officials said Thursday.

That would force Hezbollah behind the Litani River.

Israel wants to send a strong message to all its enemies, especially Iran, that the consequences of attacking the Jewish state will be unbearable.

But mounting civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese could limit the amount of time Israel has to achieve its goals, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora put the death toll at more than 330 — at least 11 of them killed Thursday — with 1,100 wounded.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed, including 17 service members — three of them killed in military operations Thursday and early Friday.

Saniora said more than 55 bridges across the country had been destroyed, and that Israeli forces had targeted ambulances and medical convoys.

"This attack is no longer against Hezbollah, it is an attack against the Lebanese and Lebanon," Saniora told CNN.

The U.N. estimated that about a half-million people have been displaced in Lebanon, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and about 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.

More than 600 relatives of U.N. peacekeepers and other foreigners were evacuated by ship from the southern port city of Tyre, a region south of the Litani that has seen a ferocious pounding by Israeli warplanes and gunboats for days.

Many of the women and children had spent the night on the beach waiting for the ship that arrived Thursday morning and took them to Cyprus.

The exodus of Americans and other foreign nationals stepped up dramatically, with ships lining up off Beirut to take thousands of families waiting at the port out of the war zone.

A group of around 40 U.S. Marines hit the ground in Beirut, helping in the evacuation of hundreds of Americans to a Navy transport vessel, the USS Nashville, offshore — the first U.S. military deployment in Lebanon in 22 years.

More than 2,200 Americans were pulled out Thursday, twice the number a day before.

Israeli forces resumed attacks on Beirut at daybreak on Friday, witnesses said.

One loud explosion was heard in the Lebanese capital.

Al-Arabyia TV said the strike targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold.

Israeli aircraft also targeted the town of Nabi Sheet in the eastern Bekaa valley, witnesses and Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said.

Witnesses said strikes hit the town and overlooking hills, where Hezbollah guerillas have been known to operate.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli strikes Thursday also pounded southern Beirut and the Bekaa valley as well as villages and towns in the Shiite heartland of the south.

Hezbollah, in turn, fired more than 40 rockets into northern Israel.

The clashes about a mile inside the Lebanese side of the border Thursday evening came when an Israeli patrol sweeping for Hezbollah bunkers was ambushed by guerillas, taking casualties.

The fight rapidly expanded, with Israeli helicopters firing missiles at targets on the ground and rescue forces storming in.

The Israeli military said two Israeli soldiers died in the fighting and several guerrillas were killed.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said three Israeli soldiers were killed but did not mention guerrilla casualties.

Two Apache attack helicopters collided in an accident northern Israel near the Lebanon border early Friday, killing one air force officer and injuring three others, two seriously, Israeli officials said.

Al-Jazeera reported that four soldiers were killed in the crash, but did not give a source.

The commander of Israel's air force appointed an inquiry team to determine the cause.

Israel has stepped up its small-scale forays over the border in recent days, seeking Hezbollah positions, rocket stores and bunkers.

Each time it has faced tough resistance from the guerrillas.

In preparation for a more powerful punch deeper into Lebanon, an Israeli military radio station that broadcasts into the south issued what it called "a strict warning" that Israeli forces would "act immediately" to halt Hezbollah rocket fire.

"It will act in word and deed inside the villages of the south against these aggressive terrorist acts."

"Therefore all residents of south Lebanon south of the Litani must leave their areas immediately for their own safety," the message in Arabic on the Al-Mashriq station said.

More than 300,000 people are believed to live south of the Litani — which twice has been the border line for Israeli buffer zones.

In 1978, Israel invaded up to the Litani to drive back Palestinian guerrillas, withdrawing from most of the south months later.

Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in June 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut.

It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani.

That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted for 18 years until 2000, when it withdrew its troops completely from the country.
___

Associated Press reporter Maria Sanminiatelli in Larnaca, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"Cheney raises funds for candidate - Vice president attends event for Republican running for congressional seat" 
 
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 15, 2006

UTICA -- Vice President Dick Cheney urged Republicans on Friday night to make the war on terror their top issue in the 2006 election, speaking at a fundraiser in a contested upstate congressional district.
 
"As we make our case to the voters in an election year, it is vital to keep issues of national security at the top of the agenda," Cheney told more than 300 donors to GOP candidate Ray Meier.

Meier, a state senator running against Democrat Michael Arcuri to replace a seat now held by retiring Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, said national security is not the first issue in the minds of voters he talks to.

"I think the voters in this district are really more interested in issues closer to home," Meier said, citing jobs, gas prices and the economy.

And then .....

There is ....

"GOD'S OWN PARTY" .....

Here in OUR America ......

Which naturally .....

Is also George W. Bush's own party .....

HIM being God's appointed LORD OF THE EARTH .....

For all of us ....

And so .....

With that being the case ....

"GOP confident of fall election - Party's congressional campaign chairman talks up state races"

By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

TROY -- While voters may think the nation and state are headed in the wrong direction, that won't translate into Democratic victories in this year's congressional races, said U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

During a conference call with reporters Thursday, Reynolds called the 20th Congressional District seat held by incumbent U.S. Rep. John Sweeney "the best Republican seat in the state."

That's based both on the Republican enrollment advantage, he said, and the pattern of voter behavior in that district.

As of April 1, there were 84,657 more Republicans than Democrats in the district.

"I know the area, but I also know John Sweeney and I also know Ms. Gillibrand's father," Republican lobbyist Douglas Rutnik, he said.

"It is the best Republican seat in the state."

"It is one that John Sweeney, as an experienced candidate and an experienced political operative, he knows you can't take anything for granted."

Reynolds, R-Clarence, pointed to labor endorsements to say Sweeney has crossover appeal.

As for Gillibrand, he said, "She is working."

"She is a Manhattan-based trial lawyer."

"She has got a long ways to go in this race taking on an incumbent."

"I know Sweeney well."

"You ain't ever going to outwork him."

He said he is also confident Republicans can hang onto the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford.

Republican State Sen. Ray Meier is running against Democrat Michael Arcuri.

Reynolds acknowledged polls on whether the state and nation are heading in the right direction are not good for Republicans, but added that won't affect the outcomes in congressional races.

His advice to candidates this year is to focus on local concerns first, organize well-run campaigns and have enough money to keep the races competitive.

"These are local contests," he said.

"They are pocketbook issues."

"It's not like presidential politics, the Senate or governor."

Tim O'Brien can be reached at 454-5096 or by e-mail at tobrien@timesunion.com.

end quotes

It seems that Dick Cheney is being marginalized here ....

Or his "message" is, anyway .....

BY THE MEMBERS ....

Of his own party ....

Or God's Own Party, anyway .....

Perhaps they really can sense a sinking ship, as it is said ....

Interesting ....

Dick Cheney, the "YADA YADA MAN" .....

Like an aluminum siding salesman .....

In a world ....

Where everyone is using vinyl ......

[Livyjr]

And while the REPUBLICANS are marginalizing the "YADA YADA MAN" .....

What are the DEMOCRATS up to?

Are the REPUBLICANS sliding in a ringer here, I wonder .....

"Ex-paratrooper challenges McNulty - Democrat Thomas Raleigh announces primary run for 21st Congressional District"

By RICK CLEMENSON, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

ALBANY -- A retired Army paratrooper from Niskayuna said supporting American forces at war will be the top priority in his campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty in the first Democratic primary in a decade in the 21st Congressional District.

"As long as we have a pair of boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, that has to be issue number one," but this is not the time to withdraw American troops from those countries, said Thomas Raleigh in announcing his candidacy Thursday at the Italian American Community Center.

He railed against the post-9/11 Congress, proclaiming government has a "breathtaking inability to get their priorities straight."

However, Raleigh provided no specifics on any policy changes he advocates in the war on terror.

Raleigh filed 307 pages of signatures at the state Board of Elections last week.

Thursday, Raleigh announced he would not accept campaign contributions from political action committees or associated corporate sponsors and said he believes $25,000 is enough to unseat McNulty.

"I'm not a professional politician," he said.

"Though I retired from the Army two years ago, I remain a soldier."

McNulty, of Green Island, filed petitions last week for the Democratic, Conservative, Independence and Working Families Party lines.

At the end of June, he reported having $373,377 in his campaign war chest.

McNulty was first elected to Congress in 1988 and easily won re-election two years ago with more than 70 percent of the vote.

The winner of the Sept 12 Democratic primary will face Warren Redlich, a Republican from Guilderland, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against McNulty in 2004.

Raleigh said he would strive to repair America's image abroad, which he said has been tainted in recent years by U.S. foreign policy.

"We've ruptured our alliance with our traditional allies," said Raleigh.

McNulty, who voted in favor of the Iraq war, subsequently called it "a colossal failure."

Rick Clemenson can be reached at 454-5030 or by e-mail at rclemenson@timesunion.com.

end quotes

Mike McNulty ....

Not surprisingly ....

IS a career politician ....

Like "Hey, Jackie Boy, Hey, Johnnie" Sweeney .....

Who has never held any gainful employment .....

Outside of politics .....

That seat that he holds in the United States Congress .....

Was handed to him .....

By his father .....

As a kind of "property" .....

Or a seat in the English Parliament .....

Can Mike McNulty be beaten on just $25,000?

Not likely ....

But what the hey ....

It's only $25,000 that the guy is willing to toss away ....

And it is a free country ....

They say, anyway .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is local politics ....

Up here in the CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York .....

The "GUT", so to speak ....

Where the "lower orders" .....

On the political food chain can be found ....

And so ....

"Reid, Gordon lead in race for cash - They have biggest campaign war chests among six jostling for 108th Assembly seat"

By MARC PARRY, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, July 21, 2006

Candidates Martin Reid and Tim Gordon have the most money in their campaign accounts so far in the crowded 108th Assembly District race, according to newly released financial disclosure reports.

Reid, a Sand Lake Republican backed by the party establishment, closed with a balance of $16,086.

Gordon, a Bethlehem Independence Party member also brawling in the four-way Democratic primary, reported $23,714.

Meanwhile, a mystery surrounds the cash raised by the aborted campaign of Bethlehem Republican Peter Santiago.

Santiago, who on July 11 abandoned what would have been an underdog GOP primary fight against Reid, claimed to have raised $125,000 in a June interview with the Times Union.

It's a sum that state Board of Elections spokesman Lee Daghlian said Santiago would need to report in the filing that was due Monday, whether or not he dropped out of the race.

The board had received nothing from Santiago as of Thursday, Daghlian said.

The former candidate has not returned any of three messages left by the Times Union since last week.

The impending retirement of seven-term Assemblyman Pat Casale, R-Speigletown, leaves a vacuum in the 108th with a half-dozen candidates squabbling over five party lines.

The district includes parts of Rensselaer, Albany, Columbia and Greene counties.

Four candidates are angling to compete in the Democratic primary.

Only one of them is actually enrolled in the Democratic Party, however, and challenges are pending against all of their petitions.

Of those candidates, Averill Park school board member Bill Reinhardt took in $3,414 but ended with a balance of $994.

Reinhardt, enrolled in the Conservative Party, said he expects to spend up to $20,000 of his own money in the primary.

"You can't get party support," he said.

"They're letting us duke it out."

Also duking it out is Keith Hammond, a Rensselaer County legislator and Poestenkill Town Board member looking to run on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.

He recently switched his enrollment back to the Democratic Party after a brief stint as a Conservative, but the change won't take effect until after the election.

Hammond said he hasn't started raising money yet.

Ken Preston of Bethlehem is the only registered Democrat in the race.

He did not report any financial activity.

Preston said he plans to spend "a lot" of his own money on the campaign.

So far, Reid has loaned his campaign $3,958, and Gordon loaned his $15,000.

Parry can be reached at 454-5057 or by e-mail at mparry@timesunion.com.

end quotes

Keith Hammond is another one of those professional politicians that we are stuck with up here .....

In the CORRUPT EMPIRE of New York .....

With its dysfunctional legislature .....

That draws professional politicians to it .....

Like pig swill ....

Draws flies .....

Professional politicians .....

Who have never worked ...

A day in their lives ....

Outside of politics .....

Which is really nothing more ....

Than getting a space .....

For your arm ....

To get into the public till .....

Along with the arms .....

Of all the other career politicians .....

Who feel it is their DUE .....

To be supported .....

By the taxpayers .....

Like expensive lap dogs .....

Who are good for nothing .....

But eating fancy food ....

And making messes .....

That we have to follow after ....

And clean up ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

I heard it on the radio earlier .....

So that when I got here tonight ....

The first thing I did .....

Was to check out Youtube .....

At this following URL .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB_ZAlNibZ4...h=bush%2Cmerkel

And if you click on the URL ......

What you will see ....

Is someone .....

Who looks an awful lot .....

Like George W. Bush .....

POUNCING ....

Like a mountain lion ....

Or something anyway .....

It's hard to say ....

What urges ....

Drive George .....

But anyway ...

It's in the newsclip that comes up at that URL .....

George W. Bush ....

Is pouncing on this East German woman .....

Who is now the boss of Germany .....

And so .....

Who can really ever tell with George ...

Whether he is being playful .....

OR WHAT .....

He sure seems to have surprised the Be-Jaysus out of this Ms. Merkel, alright ......

And it is humerous to watch ....

On the video ....

The look on her face ....

As George pounces on her neck ....

And so .....

Maybe George should do that more often ....

Lighten up things like that .....

Doing pratfalls and such ....

Dick Cheney's Stepin Fetchit, someone called him ....

And hey ...

You just never know ...

If it works for you ....

And let's face it ....

George pouncing on Ms. Merkel is drawing him some publicity, alright ....

Then you just got to go for it .....

And George sure did ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And maybe this following article ....

Will help us understand ....

Our loathing ....

For cheap politicians on the make ....

And so ....

"Fear of Snakes Drove Primate Evolution, Scientist Says"

Ker Than, LiveScience Staff Writer, LiveScience.com

Fri Jul 21, 10:32 AM ET

An evolutionary arms race between early snakes and mammals triggered the development of improved vision and large brains in primates, a radical new theory suggests.

The idea, proposed by Lynne Isbell, an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, suggests that snakes and primates share a long and intimate history, one that forced both groups to evolve new strategies as each attempted to gain the upper hand.

To avoid becoming snake food, early mammals had to develop ways to detect and avoid the reptiles before they could strike.

Some animals evolved better snake sniffers, while others developed immunities to serpent venom when it evolved.

Early primates developed a better eye for color, detail and movement and the ability to see in three dimensions—traits that are important for detecting threats at close range.

Humans are descended from those same primates.

Scientists had previously thought that these traits evolved together as primates used their hands and eyes to grab insects, or pick fruit or to swing through trees, but recent discoveries from neuroscience are casting doubt on these theories.

"Primates went a particular route," Isbell told LiveScience.

"They focused on improving their vision to keep away from snakes."

"Other mammals couldn't do that."

"Primates had the pre-adaptations to go that way."

Harry Greene, an evolutionary biologist and snake expert at Cornell University in New York, says Isbell's new idea is very exciting.

"It strikes me as a very special piece of scholarship and I think it's going to provoke a lot of thought," Greene said.

Isbell's work is detailed in the July issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.

A new weapon

Fossil and DNA evidence suggests that the snakes were already around when the first mammals evolved some 100 million years ago.

The reptiles were thus among the first serious predators mammals faced.

Today, the only other threats faced by primates are raptors, such as eagles and hawks, and large carnivores, such as bears, large cats and wolves, but these animals evolved long after snakes.

Furthermore, these other predators can be safely detected from a distance.

For snakes, the opposite is true.

"If you see them close to you, you still have time to avoid them," Isbell said.

"Primate vision is particularly good at close range."

Early snakes killed their prey using surprise attacks and by suffocating them to death—the method of boa constrictors.

But the improved vision of primates, combined with other snake-coping strategies developed by other animals, forced snakes to evolve a new weapon: venom.

This important milestone in snake evolution occurred about 60 million years ago.

"The snakes had to do something to get better at finding their prey, so that's where venom comes in," Isbell said.

"The snakes upped the ante and then the primates had to respond by developing even better vision."

Once primates developed specialized vision and enlarged brains, these traits became useful for other purposes, such as social interactions in groups.

Seeing in 3D

Isbell's new theory could explain how a number of primate-defining traits evolved.

For example, primates are among the few animals whose eyes face forward (most animals have eyes located on the sides of their heads).

This so-called "orbital convergence" improves depth perception and allows monkeys and apes, including humans, to see in three dimensions.

Primates also have better color vision than most animals and are also unique in relying heavily on vision when reaching and grasping for objects.

One of the most popular ideas for explaining how these traits evolved is called the "visual predation hypothesis."

It proposes that our early ancestors were small, insect eating mammals and that the need to stalk and grab insects at close range was the driving force behind the evolution of improved vision.

Another popular idea, called the "leaping hypothesis," argues that orbital convergence is not only important for 3D vision, but also for breaking through camouflage.

Thus, it would have been useful not only for capturing insects and finding small fruits, but also for aiming at small, hard-to-see branches during mid-leaps through trees.

But there are problems with both hypotheses, Isbell says.

First, there is no solid evidence that early primates were committed insectivores.

It's possible that like many primates today, they were generalists, eating a variety of plant foods, such as leaves, fruit and nectar, as well as insects.

More importantly, recent neuroscience studies do not support the idea that vision evolved alongside the ability to reach and grasp.

Rather, the data suggest that the reaching-and-grasping abilities of primates actually evolved before they learned to leap and before they developed stereoscopic, or 3D, vision.

Agents of evolutionary change

Isbell thinks proto-primates—the early mammals that eventually evolved into primates—were in better position compared to other mammals to evolve specialized vision and enlarged brains because of the foods they ate.

"They were eating foods high in sugar, and glucose is required for metabolizing energy," Isbell said.

"Vision is a part of the brain, and messing with the brain takes a lot of energy so you're going to need a diet that allows you to do that."

Modern primates are among the most frugivorous, or "fruit-loving," of all mammals, and this trend might have started with the proto-primates.

"Today there are primates that focus on leaves and things like that, but the earliest primates may have had a generalized diet that included fruits, nectar, flowers and insects," she said.

Thus, early primates not only had a good incentive for developing better vision, they might have already been eating the high-energy foods needed to do so.

Testing the theory

Isbell says her theory can be tested.

For example, scientists could look at whether primates can visually detect snakes more quickly or more reliably than other mammals.

Scientists could also examine whether there are differences in the snake-detecting abilities of primates from around the world.

"You could see whether there is any difference between Malagasy lemurs, South American primates and the African and Asian primates," Isbell said.

Anthropologists have tended to stress things like hunting to explain the special adaptations of primates, and particularly humans, said Greene, the Cornell snake expert, but scientists are starting to warm to the idea that predators likely played a large role in human evolution as well.

"Getting away from things is a big deal, too," Greene said in a telephone interview.

If snake and primate history are as intimately connected as Isbell suggests, then it might account for other things as well, Greene added.

"Snakes and people have had a long history; it goes back to long before we were people in fact," he said.

"That might sort of explain why we have such extreme attitudes towards snakes, varying from deification to 'ophidiphobia,' or fear of snakes."