"I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," said Mike, who saw a Craigslist ad last week looking for workers for a road maintenance project in Monroe.
He said he inquired and was e-mailed back with instructions to meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He also was told to wear certain work clothing.
"Yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask… and, if possible, a blue shirt," he said.
Mike showed up along with about a dozen other men dressed like him, but there was no contractor and no road work to be done. He thought they had been stood up until he heard about the bank robbery and the suspect who wore the same attire.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Bank Robber Uses Craigslist To Hire Unsuspecting Accomplices
A man robbed an armored car outside a Monroe, Washington bank and used a dozen unwitting accomplices to act as decoys during his getaway. He hired the accomplices on Craigslist and instructed them to wear very specific clothing. From King5.com:
The Truth About Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin's credentials as a "reformer" are nothing but spin. She has sided with Big Oil, lobbied to increase pork spending and abused her public power to carry out personal vendettas.
Here's a guide to separating myth from fact compiled by RollingStone.
***
THE MYTH: "She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay. And made a profit!" — John McCain, at a campaign stop in Wisconsin
THE FACTS: No one bought the jet online. It was eventually sold through an aircraft broker — at a loss to taxpayers of nearly $600,000.
***
THE MYTH: "I told the Congress 'Thanks, but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere." — Sarah Palin, convention speech
THE FACTS: Supported the infamous pork project in her 2006 run for governor, even after Congress had killed the bridge; derided its opponents as "spinmeisters." Reversed her stance a year later — but kept the money, doling out the $223 million in federal funds to other pork projects throughout the state.
***
THE MYTH: "We ... championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress." — Sarah Palin, convention speech
THE FACTS: As mayor, employed a lobbyist who also worked for Jack Abramoff to secure $27 million in pork spending for Wasilla — more than $4,000 per resident. In her two years as governor, requested $453 million in earmarks. Alaska ranks first in the nation for pork, raking in seven times the national average.
***
THE MYTH: "I found ... someone who stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money." — John McCain, introducing Palin
THE FACTS: Signature accomplishment as mayor: building a $15 million hockey arena that plunged the city into debt. Broke ground on the project without finalizing the city's purchase of the land; the resulting fiasco cost Wasilla $1.3 million — roughly $200 per resident.
***
THE MYTH: "Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems — as if we didn't know that already." — Sarah Palin, convention speech
THE FACTS: "I beg to disagree with any candidate who would say we can't drill our way out of our problem." — Sarah Palin, July 2008
***
THE MYTH: "We began a nearly $40 billion natural-gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence." — Sarah Palin, convention speech
THE FACTS: With federal approval years away, not a single section of the pipeline has been laid. State could end up paying the pipeline's contractor $500 million — even if it never breaks ground on the project.
***
THE MYTH: "She's from a small town with small-town values." — Fred Thompson, convention speech
THE FACTS: Wasilla and the surrounding valley recently named the meth capital of Alaska, with 42 meth labs busted in a single year.
***
THE MYTH: Palin has "taken on the political establishment in the largest state of the union." — Fred Thompson, convention speech
THE FACTS: Served until 2005 as director of fundraising group associated with indicted senator Ted Stevens.
***
THE MYTH: "She's fought oil companies." — John McCain, introducing Palin
THE FACTS: Collected $13,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas lobbyists, including Exxon, BP, Shell and Chevron. BP was a sponsor of her inaugural ball.
***
THE MYTH: "She's been to Kuwait. She's been over there. She has been with her troops. The National Guard that she commands, who have been over there and had the experience." — John McCain, highlighting Palin's national-security credentials
THE FACTS: Never had a passport before 2007, when she made a brief photo-op trip to visit troops in Germany and Kuwait. Has never been to Iraq, and has not met a single foreign head of state.
***
THE MYTH: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending." — Sarah Palin, convention speech
THE FACTS: As governor, sought travel reimbursement for 312 nights she spent in her own home.
Read the entire article here.
Gas shortage: Week 3
Tired of waiting in long lines or simply running out of gas, angry drivers in the Southeast are lashing out at politicians, demanding that their leaders do more to get fuel flowing to the region.
"We have a gas crisis!" one frustrated motorist recently e-mailed to Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory,(or as he is known around here ‘McSorry’) a repugican running for governor. "Do you exist?'"'
Elected leaders, especially in Georgia and North Carolina, where gas supplies remain low three weeks after Hurricane Ike, are wrestling with judgment calls about how much government should do to respond.
Should they declare an emergency and restrict gas purchases, or let the markets take their course? Should they simply urge conservation or work the phones to try to persuade gasoline distributors to release more of their supplies? And will their actions create more havoc than help?
Whatever the result, somebody is going to be unhappy.
"The government should be more involved," Hamere Gosseye said Wednesday while pumping $4.29-per-gallon regular unleaded gasoline at a BP station in Atlanta. Gosseye, who ran out of gas earlier this week while hunting for fuel, complains the state of Georgia should have prepared people for the possible shortage as Ike was approaching.
Politicians have generally taken a cautious approach with the gas shortage, avoiding harsh remedies such as rations. While some people say that looks like inaction, leaders say it has helped quell panic that might make the situation worse.
But if voters don't agree with that approach, consequences could be steep for some of the officials in communities where the gas crisis has hit hardest. In North Carolina, McCrory's response has been magnified because he is the repugican nominee for governor, and the crisis hit with just a little more than a month to go before Election Day.
McCrory got criticism from Democrats for keeping his campaign schedule while cars lined up for gasoline - then canceling events Monday in part to deal with the shortage.
McCrory defended his actions, which have included urging conservation and keeping in close contact with federal energy regulators about supplies - but avoiding mandatory limits on gas purchases.
"My experience is don't overreact and don't underreact," McCrory said in an interview. "I feel that we have set the right tone."
McCrory's campaign pulled his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, into the fray by pointing out that she urged listeners on a Charlotte radio program a day before Ike hit the U.S. coast to "get our gas tanks as full as they'll let us do it." When pressed by the interviewer, her campaign said she clarified that she was only referring to people who were almost out of gas.
Officials say supplies are gradually improving in western North Carolina and Atlanta, where a key pipeline linking to the Gulf Coast has slowly replenished supplies as refineries come back online. Leaders also point out they did take steps to mitigate the shortage - but many remedies were designed to prevent chaos.
When new supplies reached Charlotte's terminal late last week, some oil companies held back on some supplies to distributors for fear they would run out before the next shipment arrived. The office of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley found more gas at terminals on the coast of the Carolinas and Virginia and agreed to help empty distributors get matched up with the supplies.
In Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue made it easier for gas to be delivered by temporarily allowing suppliers without a state motor fuel license to sell gas.
Still, Perdue has taken heat from critics for not enforcing all aspects of Georgia's gas crisis plan, under which he could limit drivers to filling up their tanks every other day and set minimum and maximum limits.
"It would be nice if they had a limit," said Jenny Vanairsdale, 24, of Atlanta, as she filled up her Ford Focus hatchback. "Huge SUVs are getting full tanks and still driving to work every day."
Perdue's office worried that drastic restrictions would spark an even greater panic. "We've resisted doing anything that would make it worse," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said.
Perdue, Easley and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear also issued orders so that their respective states' anti-gouging law could be enforced. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is facing re-election next month, sent out subpoenas to gas stations reportedly charging as much as $7.32 a gallon.
Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, where gasoline supplies have returned to normal, knew that his job had been cut out for him. But Bredesen, who like Perdue isn't facing re-election, said a priority was to keep drivers calm.
"I know people are mad, believe me. I've been around the lines and I've seen people, and we've certainly had plenty of calls at the office," Bredesen said last week. "But this is one where I'm just trying to be reasonable and not add to the problem by pounding my fist or pointing to some place that isn't the problem."
It's not clear if there will be lasting fallout for leaders who don't face election this November.
John Duffield, an energy policy expert at Georgia State University, believes consumers won't hold it against elected officials like Georgia's Perdue if they can't find an immediate solution.
"My impression is that they're not blaming him," Duffield said. "They understand that it's a much larger problem."
Study traces AIDS virus origin to 100 years ago
The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests. Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.
Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930. AIDS wasn't recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States.
The new result is "not a monumental shift, but it means the virus was circulating under our radar even longer than we knew," says Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, an author of the new work.
The results appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Researchers note that the newly calculated dates fall during the rise of cities in Africa, and they suggest urban development may have promoted HIV's initial establishment and early spread.
Scientists say HIV descended from a chimpanzee virus that jumped to humans in Africa, probably when people butchered chimps. Many individuals were probably infected that way, but so few other people caught the virus that it failed to get a lasting foothold, researchers say.
But the growth of African cities may have changed that by putting lots of people close together and promoting prostitution, Worobey suggested. "Cities are kind of ideal for a virus like HIV," providing more chances for infected people to pass the virus to others, he said.
Perhaps a person infected with the AIDS virus in a rural area went to what is now Kinshasa, Congo, "and now you've got the spark arriving in the tinderbox," Worobey said.
Key to the new work was the discovery of an HIV sample that had been taken from a woman in Kinshasa in 1960. It was only the second such sample to be found from before 1976; the other was from 1959, also from Kinshasa.
Researchers took advantage of the fact that HIV mutates rapidly. So two strains from a common ancestor quickly become less and less alike in their genetic material over time. That allows scientists to "run the clock backward" by calculating how long it would take for various strains to become as different as they are observed to be. That would indicate when they both sprang from their most recent common ancestor.
The new work used genetic data from the two old HIV samples plus more than 100 modern samples to create a family tree going back to these samples' last common ancestor. Researchers got various answers under various approaches for when that ancestor virus appeared, but the 1884-to-1924 bracket is probably the most reliable, Worobey said.
The new work is "clearly an improvement" over the previous estimate of around 1930, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. His institute helped pay for the work.
Fauci described the advance as "a fine-tuning."
Experts say it's no surprise that HIV circulated in humans for about 70 years before being recognized. An infection usually takes years to produce obvious symptoms, a lag that can mask the role of the virus, and it would have infected relatively few Africans early in its spread, they said.
4.2 million new 'green' jobs possible
A major shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to produce 4.2 million new environmentally friendly "green" jobs over the next three decades, according to a study commissioned by the nation's mayors.
The study to be released Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says that about 750,000 people work today in what can be considered green jobs from scientists and engineers researching alternative fuels to makers of wind turbines and more energy-efficient products.
But that's less than one half of 1 percent of total employment. By 2038, another 4.2 million green jobs are expected to be added, accounting for 10 percent of new job growth over the next 30 years, according to the report by Global Insight, Inc.
"It could be the fastest growing segment of the United States economy over the next several decades and dramatically increase its share of total employment," said the report.
However, the study cautioned such job growth won't be realized without an aggressive shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.
For example, it assumes by 2038 alternative energy will account for 40 percent of electricity production with half of that coming from wind and solar; widespread retrofitting of buildings to achieve a 35 percent reduction in electricity use; and 30 percent of motor fuels coming from ethanol or biodiesel.
Alternative energy such as wind, geothermal, biomass and solar, currently accounts for less than 3 percent of electricity generation and nonfossil sources such as ethanol and biodiesel about 5 percent of all motor fuels, the report notes.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the conference's president, said the report makes "a very compelling economic argument for investing in the green economy and that we're going to get a huge return for it."
"These are things we have to do," said Diaz in a telephone interview, adding that "Washington needs to get on the train."
Both presidential candidates have cited the jobs potential if the country embraces alternative energy and efficiency.
Democratic nominee Barack Obama predicts investments in a "clean energy economy" over the next 10 years "will help the private sector create 5 million new green jobs" - a more ambitious projection than outlined by the study provided the mayors.
repugican John McPain's energy blueprint makes no specific job growth forecast but declares development of green jobs and green technology "vital to our economic future."
The report, being presented at a mayor's conference in Miami, predicts the biggest job gain will be from the increased use of alternative transportation fuels, with 1.5 million additional jobs, followed by the renewable power generating sector with 1.2 million new jobs. Another 81,000 additional jobs will be generated by industries related to making homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient, the study said.
And it predicted an additional 1.4 million green jobs related to engineering, research, consulting and legal work.
"We're trying to show the size of the green jobs economy" assuming policy shifts toward less dependence on fossil fuels, said Jim Diffley of Global Insight.
Mars lander finds minerals suggesting past water
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft has discovered evidence of past water at its Martian landing site and spotted falling snow for the first time, scientists reported Monday.
Soil experiments revealed the presence of two minerals known to be formed in liquid water. Scientists identified the minerals as calcium carbonate, found in limestone and chalk, and sheet silicate.
But exactly how that happened remains a mystery.
"It's really kind of all up in the air," said William Boynton, a mission scientist at the University of Arizona at Tucson.
A laser aboard the Phoenix recently detected snow falling from clouds more than two miles above its home in the northern arctic plains. The snow disappeared before reaching the ground.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains in May on a three-month mission to study whether the environment could be friendly to microbial life. One of its biggest discoveries so far is confirming the presence of ice on the planet.
Scientists long suspected frozen water was buried in the northern plains based on measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. The lander also found that the soil was slightly alkaline and contained important nutrients and minerals.
Scientists think there could have been standing water at the site in the past or the ice could have melted and interacted with the minerals.
"Is this a habitable zone on Mars? I think we're approaching that hypothesis," said chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We understand, though, that Mars has many surprises for us and we have not finished our investigation."
Mars today is frigid and dry with no sign of water on the surface, but researchers believe the planet once was warmer and wetter.
NASA extended the three-month mission through the end of the year if Phoenix can survive that long. With summer waning, less sunlight is reaching the spacecraft's solar panels.
Phoenix will be out of touch with ground controllers briefly in November when the sun is between Earth and Mars, blocking communications.
Scientists are racing to use the remaining four of Phoenix's eight tiny test ovens before the lander dies. The ovens are designed to sniff for traces of organic, or carbon-based compounds, that are considered the building blocks of life. Experiments so far has failed to turn up definitive evidence of organics.
The $420 million project is led by the University of Arizona and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The lander was built by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Russia's last czar declared victim of repression
The last czar and his family were victims of political repression, Russia's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, formally restoring the Romanov name and furthering a Kremlin effort to encourage patriotism by celebrating the country's czarist past.
Nicholas II, his wife and five children were shot to death by a Bolshevik firing squad in 1918, a year after the revolution that led to the creation of the Soviet Union.
For years, their descendants have sought rehabilitation in the courts claiming the executions were political repression. The argument was repeatedly denied until Wednesday when the country's highest court issued the final word, siding with the family.
According to critics, earlier rulings reflected Vladimir Putin's reluctance to condemn the Soviet government's crimes, in part to justify his own retreat from democracy.
But in recent years, Putin and his successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, have evoked the majesty of the czarist era in Kremlin ceremonies. And they have given a place of prominence to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has canonized Nicholas II and his family.
At the same time, Putin, now prime minister, and Medvedev also have continued to glorify the Soviet Union's achievements and celebrate the symbols of its power.
Oleg Orlov, a member of the human rights group Memorial, said the aim was to give Russians pride in their country by emphasizing the positive aspects of their history while glossing over the bad.
"In Russia, the tendency has been to say ... the czar was a good guy, Lenin was a good guy, Stalin was a good guy, the Bolsheviks weren't that bad," Orlov said.
"The authorities are always right," he said. "What they're telling people now is 'we have a great history and therefore we have a great country.'"
Wednesday's decision to "rehabilitate" the slain Romanovs won't change the minds of many Russians today. While Russian Orthodox believers share the church's veneration of the family as saints, die-hard communists see them as criminals and millions of other Russians place them somewhere in between.
But it is a step in the direction of condemnation of the Bolsheviks who killed the family and, by extension, of the entire Soviet era. And it is likely to put the Romanov family in a more positive light for coming generations of Russians.
Nikolai Romanov, a distant relative of the last czar, said the whole rehabilitation process was ridiculous.
"It's as if you suddenly thought that it was necessary to rehabilitate St. Peter or St. Paul because the Romans had judged them and sentenced them to death," he said on NTV television.
The ruling is also unlikely to have major legal ramifications, at least in the short to medium term, because there is no significant move to restore Russia's monarchy or compensate the imperial family for its losses.
There has been no material compensation for others who have been formally rehabilitated, most of them victims of Stalin-era repressionist.
Some historians had speculated that the Russian government was reluctant to reclassify the czar's killing out of fear that descendants would claim state property, such as the State Hermitage Museum, as compensation. The museum is housed in what used to be the Winter Palace.
Prosecutors, lower courts and even the Supreme Court had rejected all appeals to rehabilitate the family. In its ruling in November, the Supreme Court said they were not eligible for rehabilitation because their execution had been a crime. In reversing that decision Wednesday, the Supreme Court's presidium recognized their "unfounded repression."
German Lukyanov, a lawyer for the Romanov family, said the decision was based on law and said no politics were involved.
"In the end this will help the country, this will help Russia understand its history, help the world to see that Russia observed its own laws, help Russia in its development to become a civilized country," he said.
Orlov agreed that it was "a proper legal decision," but said the real decision was made at the political level. "In the Kremlin? I don't know," he said.
The czar abdicated in 1917 as revolutionary fervor swept Russia. Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their son and four daughters were shot on July 17, 1918, in a basement room of a merchant's house where they were held in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.
The remains of Nicholas II and Alexandra and three of their daughters were unearthed in 1991 and reburied in the imperial resting place in St. Petersburg.
Nicholas' heir, Alexei, and the other daughter, Grand Duchess Maria, remained missing for decades until bone shards were unearthed in 2007 in a forest outside Yekaterinburg, not far from the place where the rest of the family's mutilated remains had been scattered.
Officials said earlier this year that DNA testing had confirmed the shards belonged to Alexei and Maria.
The Russian Orthodox Church made all seven of them saints in 2000.
Aircraft design inspired by pterodactyl
This pterodactyl's head crest is inspiring a novel aircraft design with a vertical fin on its head.Texas Tech University paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee and aerospace engineer Richard Lind of the University of Florida, are working on designs for small autonomous aircraft that use a head rudder to steer.
From Discovery.com:
The pterosaur's head crest is like having the tail at the front of the plane, Lind said. As the animal turned its head, it could execute drastic, sharp turns, making it incredibly agile.
"It's really good for turn radius and tracking prey while it flies," he said...
"...The military is interested in having aircraft that can fly down into cities between buildings, avoiding wires and stuff like that," (University of Maryland aerospace engineer Sean) Humbert said. "This is a good design if you want to do crazy acrobatic maneuvers."
World can use force against the pirates
Foreign powers can use force if necessary to free a hijacked cargo ship loaded with battle tanks and heavy ammunition, Somalia's foreign ministry declared Wednesday - increasing pressure on the Somali pirates who have demanded a $20 million ransom.
Last week's hijacking of the Ukrainian ship MV Faina - carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, rifles, and heavy weapons that U.S. defense officials say included rocket launchers - was the highest profile act of piracy this year in the dangerous waters off Somalia.
Mohamed Jama Ali, the ministry's acting permanent director, said his country granted its permission to use force on the condition that foreign powers coordinate their actions with Somali government officials beforehand.
"The international community has permission to fight with the pirates," Ali said on Wednesday.
Ali also reported that negotiations were taking place by telephone Wednesday between the ship's Ukrainian owners and the pirates, and said no other parties were involved.
Ukrainian news agencies say the ship's operator is Tomex Team, based in the Black Sea port of Odessa.
The U.S. Navy says it wants to keep large arms cache on the Faina out of the hands of militants linked to al-Qaida in impoverished Somalia, a key battleground in the war on terrorism. The militants who have been waging an insurgency against the shaky, U.N.-backed Somali transitional government since late 2006. More than 9,000 people have been killed in the Iraq-style insurgency.
To that end, it has surrounded the Faina, anchored off the central Somali town of Hobyo, with half a dozen ships, including USS guided missile destroyer USS Howard, which has sophisticated weapons and monitoring equipment.
A spokesman for the U.S. 5th fleet in Manama, Bahrain, the control point for the USS Howard, said Wednesday "while our ships remain on station in the area, we are not participating in negotiations between the pirates and the ship owners."
The U.S. warships are not allowing the pirates to take any weapons off the seized ship but have allowed them to resupply with food and water for the Faina's crew members. The ship had 21 crew, mostly Ukrainians, when it was hijacked Sept. 25 but the captain has reportedly died.
American military officials and diplomats say the weapons are destined for southern Sudan, but Kenyan officials insist the weapons are bound for their country.
Moscow also has dispatched a warship to the scene, saying it must protect the lives of the Russians aboard the captive vessel, even though there are only a few Russians among the crew.
The Russian guided missile frigate Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, is not expected to reach the Somali coast for several days. However, the state-owned Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, quoting a high-level Navy official, says the frigate is carrying marines and special forces commandos.
Russia has used force in the past to end several hostage situations - sometimes disastrously, as in the 2004 storming of a school in Beslan, which resulted in 333 deaths, nearly half of them children.
"We will be happy to work with them once they arrive, it's partly their crew and their cargo aboard," Lt. Stephanie Murdock, a 5th Fleet spokeswoman, said from Bahrain.
Murdock said the Navy had not had any contact with the Russians yet, but indicated that "will change once they arrive here."
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on any possible military operations but said the U.S. was continuing to monitor the situation and remains concerned that the cargo not fall into the wrong hands.
In June, an unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution gave foreign nations' ships permission to enter Somalia's territorial waters to stop "piracy and armed robbery at sea" if their actions were taken in cooperation with Mogadishu's government.
However, Ali said he was giving new permission Wednesday to act on land or sea.
In the past, the U.S. military has launched air strikes in Somalia and has secretly sent special forces into Somalia to go after militants linked to al-Qaida.
Whitman would not give details of any new or existing agreement the United States has with the Somali government.
"(The U.S.) works closely with its partners in the region to identify, locate, capture and if necessary kill terrorists where they operate, plan their operations or seek save harbor," he said.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the pirates denied reports of a shootout on the ship or disagreements between the pirates, saying they were celebrating the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
"We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating (Eid al-Fitr)," spokesman Sugule Ali told the AP by satellite telephone. "We didn't dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shootout."
On Wednesday, his phone rang and rang but no one picked it up.
U.S. officials say 40-50 pirates are involved in Faina hijacking, but only about 30 are on the ship itself.
Piracy is a lucrative criminal racket in the region, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year. There have been 24 reported attacks in Somalia this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, north of Somalia. But recently pirates have been targeting Indian Ocean waters off eastern Somalia.
International warships patrol the area and have created a special security corridor under a U.S.-led initiative, but attacks have not abated.
US 'casino' mentality blamed for planet's meltdown
Astounded by the U.S. government's failure to resolve the financial crisis threatening the foundations of the global free market, people all over the planet are pointing fingers of blame at America.
National leaders and ordinary people say the U.S. must quickly fix the financial crisis it created before the rest of the world's hard-won economic gains are lost.
"The managers of big business took huge risks out of greed," said President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, whose economy is highly dependent on U.S. trade. "What happens in the United States will affect the entire world and, above all, small countries like ours."
In Europe, where some blame a phenomenon of "casino capitalism" that has become deeply ingrained from New York to London to Moscow, there is more of a sense of shared responsibility. But Europeans also blame the U.S. government for letting things get out of hand.
"It all started from there," said Daniela Cirni, 36, a clerk working for the Rome city government. "The Italian banks and insurance companies ask you to give so many guarantees ... In the United States, as my friends living there have been telling me, you have just to come up with an idea, like if you want to do something or to start a new business."
"It is absurd, but you could say that the "American dream" is the "American damage."
Amid harsh criticism is a growing consensus that stricter financial regulation is needed to prevent unfettered capitalism from destroying economies around the globe - and that America alone can no longer be allowed to determine the rules.
Mezat Oyena, a native of southwestern Turkey who owns a barbershop in Berlin's central Mitte neighborhood, blames the crisis for a dropoff in his business.
"A financial crisis in America, we all feel that," he said. "America makes this big problem and won't fix it even as it's getting worse. From now on they will need to divide the load, American can't be the only one at the top of the system any more."
Leaders of developing nations that kept spending tight and opened their economies in response to American demands are warning of other consequences - a loss of U.S. influence globally and the likelihood that the world's poor will suffer the most from greed by the biggest players in global finance.
"They spent the last three decades saying we needed to do our chores. They didn't," a grim-faced Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday.
Even staunch U.S. allies like Colombian President Alvaro Uribe blasted the world's most powerful country for egging on uncontrolled financial speculation that he compared to a wild horse with no reins.
"The whole world has financed the United States, and I believe that they have a reciprocal debt with the planet," he said.
It's harder for European leaders to point the finger directly at the United States since many of their financiers participated in the recklessness. London was home to the division of failed insurer AIG that racked up huge losses on credit-default swaps, and many reputable European banks disregarded risk to load up on higher yielding subprime assets.
But the House's rejection Monday of the U.S. bank bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson provoked a sharper tone and warnings that America must act. Though global markets on Tuesday recovered some of the ground they lost in a worldwide slide the day before, politicians from Europe to South America insisted the risk of a further plunge remains high.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on U.S. lawmakers to pass a package this week, saying it was the "precondition for creating new confidence on the markets - and that is of incredibly great significance."
In an unusually blunt statement from the 27-country European Union, EU Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said: "The United States must take its responsibility in this situation, must show statesmanship for the sake of their own country, and for the sake of the world."
The crisis also has strengthened voices in France and Germany calling for EU regulations to eliminate highly deregulated financial markets, despite objections from Britain, which along with the U.S. is considered by some to practice a freer form of "Anglo-Saxon" capitalism.
"This crisis underlines the excesses and uncertainties of a casino capitalism that has only one logic - lining your pockets," said German lawmaker Martin Schulz, chairman of the Socialists in the EU assembly. "It also shows the bankruptcy of 'law of the jungle' capitalism that no longer invests in companies and job creation, but instead makes money out of money in a totally uncontrolled way."
The U.S. government's failure to apply rules that might have prevented the crisis is seen as a betrayal in many developing countries that faced intense U.S. pressures to liberalize their economies. In some developing nations, state enterprises were privatized, currencies were allowed to float against the U.S. dollar and painful measures were taken to bring down debts.
These advances are at risk now that credit is drying up. Countries with commodities-based economies are particularly vulnerable since more industrialized nations could reduce their demand for everything from soy to iron ore.
"It doesn't seem fair to me that those of us who endured so much hunger in the 20th century, who began to improve in the 21st century, should have to suffer due to the international financial system," Silva said. "There are going to be a lot of people going hungry in the world."
Just before meeting with Silva on Tuesday, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said he believes a new economic order is in store for the planet.
"What's to blame? Imperialism, the United States, the irresponsibility of the United States government," said the self-avowed socialist and frequent U.S. critic. "From this crisis, a new world has to emerge, and it's a multi-polar world."
China's influence in the outcome of all this could be profound because it is a huge investor in U.S. debt. It is already calling for strict new international regulatory systems to apply to globalized financial markets.
Liu Mingkang, chairman of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission, said Saturday before a week-long bank holiday in China that debt in the United States and elsewhere has risen to dangerous and indefensible levels.
The rest of the world is taking notice. Many newspapers made references Tuesday to China's increasing importance in global finance. In Algeria, a large cartoon on the front page of the newspaper El-Watan showed Uncle Sam at prayer: "Save us!" he says, kneeling before a portrait of China's Mao Zedong.
In London, Jane Ayerson, a 20-year-old Irish exchange student, said Europeans share the blame.
"The problem started with America, but banks here have been greedy, too," she said.
Biker rules at beach challenged
Lawsuit asks that new Myrtle Beach laws on helmets and noise be declared invalid.
Two motorcycle owners are challenging Myrtle Beach's new laws meant to curtail biker rallies.
Their lawsuit, filed in Horry County Court, alleges that city officials violated state law by requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets and cut muffler noise. They want the court to declare the laws invalid and unenforceable.
William and Carol O'Day claim in their lawsuit that mandating all motorcyclists to wear helmets and protective eyewear conflicts with state law, which requires that only those younger than 21 wear them.
The suit also claims that specifying that mufflers be no louder than 87 decibels while idling exceeds state law, which says, more generally, that mufflers must prevent excessive noise and annoying smoke.
The rules were among 15 passed last week by City Council which – after the death earlier this year of a college student shot over a parking space – decided to try to minimize the rallies after years of complaints about noise, congestion, and reportedly lewd behavior.
The anti-noise rule for mufflers took effect immediately, in time for the fall rally set for Wednesday through Sunday known as The Pilgrimage. It normally attracts about 60,000 people, compared with the hundreds of thousands for each of the two May rallies.
Five from the area
Kannapolis
An A.L. Brown High School student was charged Monday with various drug and weapons counts after police found a gun, a knife, alcohol and marijuana in the student's car on campus, authorities said.
Police said Kenneth Eugene McDaniel III, 17, of Hunter Ridge Lane in Kannapolis, was charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana; possession of a firearm on school property; possession of a weapon on school property; underage possession of an alcoholic beverage; possession of a stolen firearm; and maintaining a vehicle to store, sell or use controlled substances.
McDaniel has been suspended from school. Under state law, he faces an automatic 365-day suspension for bringing a gun onto school grounds.
A.L. Brown Principal Debra Morris also has recommended that McDaniel be expelled from the system, school officials said. Morris sent a letter to all parents informing them about the incident. She said the school is committed to providing a safe environment at A.L. Brown.
The gun found inside the student's car was not loaded, Kannapolis school officials said. They said there was no evidence McDaniel intended to use the weapons at school, and no evidence he had been selling marijuana on school property.
UNCC urging TB tests for 45 people
A UNC Charlotte student has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and now health officials are encouraging more than 45 people who may have come in contact with the person to get skin tests.
The university said in a news release that there was minimal risk of exposure to students. Health officials have contacted the 45 people at risk of infection. Authorities encouraged them to come to the student health center for testing.
The university has established an information line for people who have questions or want information about potential risks. The number is 704-687-3838, and a health professional will be answering questions today and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Mecklenburg Briefs
Charlotte
The fall gardening season gets a boost Friday at Central Piedmont Community College, with a sale at the school's Cato Campus, 8120 Grier Road, Charlotte. It runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Information: 704-330-4831 and http://www1.cpcc.edu/horticulture.
Also, the UNCC Botanical Garden Fall Plant Sale will be held from 9a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at McMillan Greenhouse on the UNCC Campus, 9201 University City Blvd. Information: 704-687-2870 or http://gardens.uncc.edu.
Other upcoming sales include Winghaven next week and the Mecklenburg County Cooperative Extension Center. For a full schedule, see Saturday's Home& Garden section.
Regional Briefs
Burke County
A man was rescued Tuesday morning from a creek bed where he had fallen Monday afternoon while hiking with his dogs. Burke County authorities say Jay Mills suffered a rib injury and hypothermia after spending much of Monday night and early Tuesday in a ravine in the Upper Creek area of Burke County.
A Burke County rescue team was airlifted into the ravine with the help of an Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter. Mills was taken to an Asheville hospital, but authorities say his injuries are not life-threatening.
Cleveland County
Boiling Springs
Author Thomas Lynch, consultant for the HBO series “Six Feet Under,” will discuss death, grief and life issues Oct. 23 and 24 at Gardner-Webb University.
Lynch a funeral director in Milford, Mich., is the author of “The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade” and “Bodies in Motion.”
He will present a free public reading of his essays at Gardner-Webb's Blanton Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23. Registration is required. After the reading, he will be at a reception and book signing from 8:45 until 9:30 p.m. There is a $10 fee.
The following day, Gardner-Webb will host Lynch for continuing education and writing workshops.
'Alternative Nobels' go to journalist, activists
A U.S. journalist, a Swiss-born doctor and activists from India and Somalia were named on Wednesday as this year's winners of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel."
The recipients will share a 2 million kronor (US$290,000) cash award to be split in four parts. Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull founded the awards in 1980 to recognize work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
American reporter Amy Goodman, founder and host of the syndicated radio and television program "Democracy Now!", was honored for "truly independent political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by mainstream media," the organizers said.
The program works to provide listeners with independent reports from around the world to portray the effects of U.S. foreign policy, featuring accounts from artists, activists, academics and analysts.
Goodman, born in 1957, was also one of about 800 demonstrators and journalists arrested during protests at a Republican National Convention in the U.S. in mid-September.
The jury also honored the founder of medica mondiale, gynecologist Monika Hauser, for her work to help sexually abused women in world crisis zones.
Swiss-born Hauser holds an Italian passport and lives and works in Germany, they said.
Somali lawmaker Asha Hagi was honored for her efforts to promote peace in her homeland by "continuing to lead at great personal risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation process," the organizers said.
Hagi is also chairwoman of Save Somali Women and Children, which helps women get involved in politics.
The last part of the prize was shared by Indian couple Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan for their efforts to promote social justice through their nonprofit organization Land for the Tillers' Freedom.
The group works to raise the social status of India's Dalit caste, also known as the "untouchables," and by helping redistribute land to poor, landless families.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on Dec. 8, two days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.
Should have been horsewhipped
A Mets fan accused of badgering the team's baseball-headed mascot has pleaded guilty to harassment.
Authorities say Christien Hansen harassed the mascot at a game in May, refused to leave Shea Stadium and took a swing at a security guard.
They say the 32-year-old spit in the guard's face and pushed kids out of his way.
Hansen had no comment after he was ordered to pay a $500 fine and released.
He should have been horsewhipped - pushing kids out of his way, indeed!
Authorities say Christien Hansen harassed the mascot at a game in May, refused to leave Shea Stadium and took a swing at a security guard.
They say the 32-year-old spit in the guard's face and pushed kids out of his way.
Hansen had no comment after he was ordered to pay a $500 fine and released.
*****
He should have been horsewhipped - pushing kids out of his way, indeed!
Huh, oh
Here's one that will shock the wing-nuts:
If the election was today and voters voted according to how the current polls indicate they would; Obama would have 387 votes in the Electoral college.
It only takes 270 to win.
And, Obama's poll numbers are rising.
While the other guy's poll numbers are tanking.
If the election was today and voters voted according to how the current polls indicate they would; Obama would have 387 votes in the Electoral college.
It only takes 270 to win.
And, Obama's poll numbers are rising.
While the other guy's poll numbers are tanking.
She can't even say what newspaper she reads
She can't even say what newspaper she reads?!
There are those that say Sarah Palin is a "nitwit" ... That is going too far ... she's not even a "nit" much less a "nitwit" - she isn't that smart!
Carolina Naturally is read in ...
Discriminating readers in 124 different countries read Carolina Naturally!
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Sioux Falls - Cockeysville - New Iberia - Browns Mills - Scotsbluff - Fuquay Varina - Round Rock - Temecula - Garden Grove
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