Sept.-Oct. 2005

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"Most newspaper article events happen anywhere from days, to months, to years before they reach publication. Consequently, most newspaper articles on this timeline are preceeded by the date of the newspaper in which they appear." [E.M.] *Color Code

September 2005
2005 - Astronomic Configuration - September 1st, 2005: "Sun [8 Virgo], Moon [8 Leo], Mercury [23 Leo], Venus [17 Libra], Mars [17 Taurus], Jupiter [18 Libra], Saturn [5 Leo], Uranus [8 Pisces R], Neptune [15 Aquarius R], Pluto [21 Sagittarius R], Chiron [28 Capricorn R]."
2005 - Active Sun - September 2005: "[....] This remarkable 'spot [sunspot 798] has produced nine X-flares since Sept. 7th including a record-setting X17-monster. All by itself, sunspot 798 has made Sept. 2005 the most active month on the sun since March 1991. [....]"
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/14/05]
2005 - Deadly Stampede / Iraq - September 1st, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber, thousands of Shiite pilgrims broke into a stampede on a bridge during a religious procession Wednesday [08/31/05], crushing one another or plunging 30 feet into the muddy Tigris River. About 800 died, most of them women and children, officials said. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - On The Road / Cindy Sheehan - September 1st, 2005: "CRAWFORD, Texas - After a 26-day vigil that ignited the anti-war movement, Cindy Sheehan left the encampment near President George W. Bush's ranch Wednesday and took her protest on the road. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Japanese Levies? / U.S. Steel - September 1st, 2005: "Japan will slap 15 percent levies on U.S. steel starting Sept 1 in retaliation for American duties imposed on Japanese products, a trade ministry official said today [08/01/05]. The tariffs could run to a maximum of 5.7 billion yen, or $51 million, said trade ministry official Etsuo Sato. Japan has demanded the repeal of duties imposed by the United States on Japanese steel products under the so-called Byrd amendment, an anti-dumping law ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization. Japan imports secondary steel products, such as ball bearings, from the United States and other countries." [Based on: News Services, 08/01/05]
2005 - "Ruined City" / New Orleans - September 1st, 2005: "NEW ORLEANS - With thousands feared drowned in what could be America's deadliest natural disaster in a century, New Orleans' leaders all but surrendered the streets to floodwater Wednesday [08/31/05] and began turning out the lights on the ruined city - perhaps for months. Looting spiraled so out of control that mayor Ray Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and focus on the brazen packs of thieves who have turned increasingly hostile. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Warmest September on Record - "Worldwide, it was the warmest September on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday [10/14/05]. Averaging 1.13 degrees Fahrenheit (0.63 degree Celcius) above normal for the month, it was the warmest September since the beginning of reliable records in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, p. A23, S.L.P.D., 10/15/05]
2005 - Stalled Peace Process / Sri Lanka - September 1st, 2005: "Tamil Tiger rebels on Wednesday [08/31/05] rejected a government offer to hold crucial talks inside Sri Lanka, officials said. The refusal deals a blow to efforts to revive the island's stalled peace process. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Freddie Mac Profits Fall / U.S.A. - September 1st, 2005: "Freddie Mac, the second-largest source of money for U.S. home loans, said profit fell 60 percent in the first half of the year as the value of financial contracts used to protect against swings in interest rates declined. Net income was $1.64 billion, or $2.22 a share, compared with $4.07 billion, or $5.74 a share, during the same period last year, the government-chartered company said in a statement. The current, or fair, market value of the government-chartered company's assets minus liabilities increased by $1.1 billion. [....] Freddie Mac's portfolio of mortgages and mortgage securities grew 1.9 percent this year through July, to $660 billion. The company's portfolio in 2004 grew at the slowest pace in at least five years. [....]" [Based on: Bloomberg News article, p. C3, S.L.P.D., 09/01/05]
2005 - Lawsuit Dismissed / U.S. Drugmakers - September 1st, 2005: "A judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co. and seven other drugmakers of collouding to block U.S. consumers from importing cheaper drugs from Canada. U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen ruled in Minneapolis that buying drugs in Canada for use in the United States is illegal, so an effort to stop it can't be a violation of federal antitrust law." [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/01/05]
2005 - Approved / Fluarix Flu Vaccine, U.S.A. - September 1st, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Mindful of last year's flu vaccine shortage, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new shot on Wednesday [08/31/05] in an attempt to ensure adequate supplies during the upcoming flu season. [....] The FDA approved the vaccine Fluarix for people 18 and older. The shots are made in Germany by a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline and have been available in other countries for years. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Small Earthquakes / Southeast California - September 1st, 2005: "Dozens of small earthquakes up to magnitude 4.5 shook the desert of southeast California on Wednesday [08/31/05]. The most significant temblor occurred at 3:50 p.m. and was centered seven miles southwest of Niland in Imperial County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Numerous smaller tremors occurred throughout the day. Authorities said there were no reports of damage." [News Services]
*Trivia: "There appear to have been no fewer than 72 small earthquakes in Southern California from 08/31/05 to 09/02/05. See link." [Based on: Etznab Mathers]
[http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html]
*Trivia: "A coronal mass ejection swept past Earth this morning [09/02/05], but its weak impact did not spark widespread geomagnetic activity."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/02/05]
2005 - City in Anarchy? / New Orleans - September 2nd, 2005: "NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday [09/01/05] as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out, cops turned in their badges and the governor declared war on looters who have made the city a menacing landscape of disorder and fear. [....] The chaos worsened despite the promise of 1,400 National Guard soldiers a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President George W. Bush called the biggest in U.S. history. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
*Trivia: "[....] Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations, called the response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'a national disgrace.' 'FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control,' Ebbert said. 'We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans.' [....]" [Based on: The Orlando Sentinel]
2005 - Briton Kidnapped / Afghanistan - September 2nd, 2005: "KABUL, Afghanistan - Gunmen kidnapped a British engineer and his interpreter after attacking their convoy in western Afghanistan and killing three policemen guarding them, officials said Thursday [09/01/05]. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Tourists Stranded / New Orleans - September 2nd, 2005: "A group of tourists stranded in New Orleans hired 10 buses to rescue them only to learn that government officials had commandeered their buses to evacuate others. [....] On Wednesday [08/31/05], the handful of managers left at the hotel told guests they had booked 10 buses for $25,000 to evacuate them and those from another hotel. Each passenger paid $45. The guests waited until 9:30 p.m. when a manager told them the buses had been confiscated by the military." [Based on: Staff & News Services article, p. A8, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/02/05]
2005 - Boeing Machinists Strike / U.S.A. - September 2nd, 2005: "SEATTLE - Boeing Co. Machinsts voted Thursaday [09/01/05] to strike as union members overwhelmingly rejected a three-year contract proposal their leaders had deemed 'insulting.' Union members voted 86 percent in favor of a strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. local time today [09/02/05]. Under union rules, the contract would have been automatically ratified - and workers would have stayed on the job - unless two-thirds of the union members voted to strike. The strike will affect about 18,400 Machinists who assemble Boeing's commercial airplanes and some key components in the Seattle area, Gresham, Ore., and Wichita, Kan. Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for the Seattle-based Machinists union, said contract provisions offered to Wichita employees were 'equally insulting' to workers in the Pacific Northwest. [....] The union last went on strike in 1995, when workers walked out for 69 days. [....] The union also was critical of increases in health care costs and a proposal to eliminate retiree medical benefits for workers hired after July 2006, with the exception of laid-off workers who are recalled." [Based on: A.P.]
*Trivia: "The head of Boeing Co's commercial-airplane operation says the company and Machinists union were $1 billion apart when more than 18,000 workers hit the picket lines on Sept. 2, according to a memo to Boeing executives. [....]" [Based on: A.P., 09/10/05]
2005 - Video Release / Ayman al-Zawahri? - September 2nd, 2005: "CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, claimed responsibility for the July 7 London bombings in a video aired Thursday [09/01/05] on the Al-Jazeera television network. The video included a farwell statement by a man identified as one of the four suicide attackers. [....] Speaking with a heavy Yorkshire accent, the bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan, said he was inspired by bin Laden, al-Zawahri and the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi. 'Until you will stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people, we will not stop this fight,' said Khan. He was wearing a red-and-white checked keffiyeh and a dark jacket. 'We are at war, and I am a soldier and now you too will taste the reality of this situation.' [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Preliminary Charges / Pro-Syrian Generals - September 2nd, 2005: "Lebanese prosecutors filed preliminary criminal charges Thursday [09/01/05] against four pro-Syrian generals in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. [Based on: News Services article, p. A14, S.L.P.D.]
2005 - Super Typhoon Nabi / Western Pacific Ocean - September 2nd, 2005: "Super Typhoon Nabi was a Category 3 typhoon in the western Pacific ... on September 2, 2005 at 11:55 a.m. Tokyo time. It had sustained winds of around 200 kilometers an hour (160 miles per hour) and is located roughly 1000 kilometers (600 miles) from Saipan and Okinawa at that time. It was predicted to gather strength in coming days and make landfall at the southern end of the Korean peninsula early on September 7. However, the range of possible storm tracks as of September 2 takes in possibilities ranging from Shanghai on Asian mainland to Kyoto on the southern end of the Japanese Islands. [....]."
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13103]
2005 - Human Remains Spread Mad Cow Disease? - September 2nd, 2005: "LONDON - A new theory proposes that mad cow disease may have come from feeding British cattle with meal contaminated by human remains infected with a variation of the disease. The hypothesis was outlined this week in The Lancet medical journal. [....]." [Based on: A.P. article, p. A13, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/02/05]
*Further Reading:
2005 - U.S. Import Quotas / China Clothing & Textiles - September 2nd, 2005: "The Bush administration said Thursday [09/01/05] that it was reimposing import quotas on two kinds of Chinese clothing and textiles, intensifying trade tension between the nations in advance of a White House visit next week by China's president. [....] The action was taken hours after U.S. and Chinese negotiators broke off trade talks in Beijing. [Based on: wire reports, S.L.P.D., p. B2, 09/02/05]
2005 - Mild Geomagnetic Storm - September 3rd, 2005: "A high-speed solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and this could cause a mild geomagnetic storm. Sky waychers in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia should be alert for auroras."
[http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/03/05]
2005 - Status / Hubble Space Telescope - September 3rd, 2005: "In a gambit calculated to add eight months to the life of the Hubble Space telescope, scientists this week shut down one of the telescope's gyroscopes. [....]" [Based on: Article, S.L.P.D., p. 27, 09/03/05]
2005 - National Guard Relief / New Orleans - September 3rd, 2005: "Stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina wait for help from National Guard soldiers Friday [09/02/05] near the Superdome in New Orleans. Thousands of troops poured into the city to help with security and delivery of food and water." [Based on: A.P. picture article, p. 5, S.L.P.D., 09/03/05]
2005 - Died / U.S. Chief Justice, William H. Rehnquist - September 3rd, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, died Saturday evening (Sept. 3, 2005) of cancer, ending a 33-year Supreme Court career. [....]" [Based on: A.P., 09/04/05]
*Trivia: "The death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist leaves the court's oldest member, 85-year-old liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, temporarily in charge. [....]" [Based on: A.P., 09/05/05]
2005 - Pension Dispute Settlement / US Airways Group Inc. - September 3rd, 2005: "US Airways Group Inc., seeking to exit bankruptcy and merge with America West Holdings Corp., won court approval to pay a U.S. pension agency $23.5 million to resolve claims against the airline. [....] The settlement resolves more than $13 billion in claims by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. against Arlington, Va.-based US Airways." [Based on: Business page article, S.L.P.D., p. B4, 09/03/05]
2005 - Insurgent Attacks / Iraq - September 4th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents killed 19 members of Iraqi security forces Saturday [09/03/05] in clashes around Baqouba, while U.S. and Iraqi forces intensified an offensive in a rebel-infested city that the Americans subdued last year - only to have the Iraqis lose control. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Hospitalized / Jacques Chirac - September 4th, 2005: "PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac has been hospitalized after suffering a blood vessel problem in an eye, the prime minister said Saturday [09/03/05]. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
*Trivia: "President Jacques Chirac emerged from the hospital Friday [09/09/05], declaring himself in fine shape. But he walked with a slight hesitation and said nothing about the illness that kept him there for a week. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Hostage Deaths / Afghanistan - September 4th, 2005: "A kidnapped British engineer was found dead Saturday [09/03/05] and two bodies discovered in Afghanistan's southern desert were identified as missing Japanese tourists. Troops raiding a Taliban hideout in the mountains found the body of a Briton believed to be David Addison, Britain's Foreign Office said Saturday. The bodies of the two Japanese were found Thursday [09/01/05] in the desert. They had been missing since Aug. 8, when they entered Afghanistan from Pakistan." [Based on: News Services article, p. A16, S.L.P.D., 09/04/05]
2005 - Trivia / Boeing Machinists Strike - September 10th, 2005: "The head of Boeing Co's commercial-airplane operation says the company and Machinists union were $1 billion apart when more than 18,000 workers hit the picket lines on Sept. 2, according to a memo to Boeing executives. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Resignations / Morgan Stanley Board - September 10th, 2005: "Morgan Stanley Inc. on Friday [09/09/05] said directors Charles F. Knight, former head of Emerson, and John E. Jacob, an Anheuser-Busch executive, have stepped down from the board. No reason was given for the resignations." [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. A30, 09/10/05]
2005 - Strong Earthquake / Celebes Sea - September 4th, 2005: "A strong earthquake occurred at 23:58:33 (UTC) on Sunday, September 4, 2005. The magnitude 6.0 event has been located in the CELEBES SEA. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 428 km (266 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: preliminary earthquake reports @ http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscpbe.htm]
2005 - Stretched Thin? / U.S. National Guard - September 4th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Katrina is sparking a vigorous debate about whether the National Guard is hampered in helping because of its large-scale deployment in Iraq. [....]" [Based on: Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau]
2005 - Settlement Talks / Boeing Co., U.S.A. - September 10th, 2005: "The Justice Department and Boeing Co. are negotiating a settlement in which the company could be required to pay up to $500 million but would avoid prosecution in two federal investigations, said people familiar with the details. The settlement would resolve allegations that Boeing improperly acquired thousands of pages of Lockheed Martin Corp's proprietary documents dealing with rocketry programs, and illegally recruited a senior Air Force official while she still had oversight of billions of dollars in Boeing contracts. [....]" [Based on: The Wall Street Journal]
2005 - Fatality / Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari - September 4th, 2005: "[....] Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari, a 31-year-old Saudi, was killed Sunday [09/04/05] in Dammam, a security official said. A police officer also was killed Sunday. Al-Samari was on a list [# 3] of 36 most-wanted terrorists sought in relation to multiple attacks launched in this kingdom since May 2003. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A5, S.L.P.D., 09/06/05]
2005 - Witholding Information? / U.S. Government - September 4th, 2005: "The government is witholding more information than ever from the public and expanding ways of shrouding data. Last year, federal agencies spent a record $148 creating and storing new secrets for each $1 spent declassifying old secrets, a coalition of watchdog groups reported Staurday [09/03/05]. That's a $28 jump from 2003 when $120 was spent to keep secrets for every $1 spent revealing them. In the late 1990s, the ratio was $15-$17 a year to $1, according to the secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A7, S.L.P.D., 09/04/05]
2005 - Hurricane Maria / Southeast of Bermuda - September 4th, 2005: "[....] Late Sunday afternoon [09/04/05], Hurricane Maria had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. It was centered 530 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving north-northwest at 14 mph. The storm was expected to turn to the north later Sunday or early today [09/05/05]. [....]" [Based on: News Services, 09/05/05]
2005 - Volcanic Activity / Soufriere Volcano, Montserrat - September 4th-5th, 2005: "The Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat produced a faint but steady plume of ash on September 4-5, 2005. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13109]
2005 - Trivia / Embryonic Stem Cells - September 5th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Human embryonic stem cells, valued by researchers because of their potential to help rejuvenate ailing organs, do not remain as ageless and perpetually unblemished as scientists once thought, according to a new research report. Like ordinary cells, stem cells accumulate significant numbers of mutations over time, including several that could cause them to become tumors. The findings were reported by an international team of scientists Sunday [09/04/05]. [....]" [Based on: The Washington Post article, p. A3, S.L.P.D., 09/05/05]
2005 - Security Concerns / Afghanistan - September 5th, 2005: "KABUL, Afghanistan - The United nations has encouraged some nonessential staff to leave Afghanistan amid security concerns ahead of elections Sept. 18, and the government warned aid workers Sunday [09/04/05] that they are likely targets after a string of assaults on foreigners. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Who do you blame for an act of God?" - September 5th, 2005: "Within weeks of the Asian tsunami on December 26, 2004, scores of writers broached the subject of theodicy. Theodicy, if you didn't know, is the branch of theology which tries to explain how a good God can allow evil to persist. [....] What I find fascinating is how so many people desperately want the culprit to be someone or something other than God or 'Mother Nature.' A slew of partisans have already declared that George W. Bush is responsible for this disaster because of his policies on global warming and the Kyoto Treaty. Cindy Sheehan, with the sort of desperation that comes at the end of 15 minutes of fame, declared Bush was 'heading to Louisiana to see the devestation that his environmental policies and his killing policies have caused.' Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blamed Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour for the devestation. 'Now we are all learning what it's like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged,' he said. [....] Environmentalists need their own book of Job. Because as it stands right now, Mother Nature's ways are not mysterious to them, but, instead, entirely contingent on the output of fossil fuels. Ironically enough, all of their hopes lie in George W. Bush. Which sounds just a bit like their version of Satan worship." [Based on: Commentary Page article by Jonah Goldberg (Entitled: Who do you blame for an act of God?), p. B7, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/05/05] - [Paragraph indents removed to save space - E.M.]
2005 - Strong Earthquake / Pacific-Antarctic Ridge - September 5th, 2005: "A strong earthquake occurred at 07:37:30 (UTC) on Monday, September 5, 2005. The magnitude 6.2 event has been located near the PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: preliminary earthquake reports @ http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscqa7.htm]
2005 - State & Federal Control / New Orleans - September 5th, 2005: "NEW ORLEANS - On the seventh day, the mayor of New Orleans said he would surrender control of his shattered, nearly abandoned city to federal and state officials, and authorities issued dire predictions of the human cost of Hurricane Katrina. [....]" [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers]
*Trivia: "In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming 'Tribes' and dividing up the labor. [....]" [Based on: A.P., 09/05/05]
2005 - Trivia / Sunspot 798? - September 6th, 2005: "There's an active region hiding just behind the sun's eastern limb. It's probably sunspot 798, which sparked strong auroras in August and, just yesterday, hurled a new coronal mass ejection into space.... The latest explosion was not Earth-directed, but future explosions could be as the sunspot turns to face Earth later this week."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/06/05]
*Trivia: "[....] This remarkable 'spot [sunspot 798] has produced nine X-flares since Sept. 7th including a record-setting X17-monster. All by itself, sunspot 798 has made Sept. 2005 the most active month on the sun since March 1991. [....]"
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/14/05]
2005 - Status / U.N. Summit - September 6th, 2005: "With next week's U.N. summit looming, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the world's nations Monday [09/05/05] that they have just a few days to salvage 'a once in a generation opportunity' to fight poverty and overhaul the United Nations. He said in a British Broadcasting Corp. interview it was 'unfortunate' that the United States waited until just last month to propose hundreds of amendments to a final document for world leaders to consider adopting. Annan said it opened 'the floodgates' to other amendments and changed the dynamics of the negotiations. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Status / New Orleans Zoo - September 6th, 2005: "Audubon Zoo General Curator Dan Maloney has not left his post since before Hurricane Katrina struck. He and about a dozen other workers have been clearing trees and feeding and watering the 1,500 animals living on 58 acres in New Orleans. [....] 'We stayed because the animals can't leave,' Maloney said. He said two small animals died in the storm and that some waterfowl are missing. 'And one aligator,' he said, 'but I think it's just in another lagoon.' " [Based on: News Services]
2005 - New Research? / Folic Acid - September 6th, 2005: "STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Folic acid and Vitamin B pills do not ward off heart attacks or strokes and may even be harmful when combined, new research suggests. Studies showing that the vitamins lower levels of a substance in the blood suspected of playing a role in the development of heart disease have prompted hundreds of thousands of heart patients in the developed world to take them. However, the first large study of the question found that although the supplements dramatically lowered the levels of homocysteine, they offered no heart protection. The study was presented Monday [09/05/05] at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. 'The message is clear here: Don't take folate or B-6 in the hope that it will stop you having a heart attack or stroke. If there was a real major effect, they would have seen it,' said Dr. Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation. He was not connected with the study. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article (Entitled: Folic acid, vitamin B don't protect heart, say researchers), p. A4, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/06/05]
2005 - Airline Disaster / Indonesia - September 6th, 2005: "[....] An airline official said 16 people managed to survive Indonesia's deadliest airline disaster. At least 147, many of them on the ground, were killed in Monday's [09/05/05] crash. Bound for Jakarta, the Mandala Airlines plane shook violently just seconds after takeoff, veered to the left and slammed into a busy residential neighborhood in overcast weather 500 yards from the Medan airport. The Boeing 737-200 shoved aside cars and motorcycles before plowing into a row of houses. Witnesses said some people were on fire as they fled the scene. [....] Investigators were trying to determine what caused the crash, Indonesia's second air disaster in nine months and the sixth worldwide since Aug. 1. Authorities considered foul play unlikely but were examining the possibility of human error or technical failure, said airline managing director Asril Tanjung. [....] Survivors said the plane started shaking when it reached an altitude of about 300 feet before tilting sharply and smashing to the ground at 9:40 a.m. Some described a loud bang while the plane was still in flight, followed by a ball of fire. 'It happened very fast, no one even had time to panic,' Rohadi Kamsah Sitepu, 35, said from his hospital bed. 'There was an explosion outside the plane followed by huge flames inside the cabin. Then we crashed. [....].' [....]" [Based on: A.P. article by Irwan Firdaus, p. A2, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/06/05]
2005 - "Power Failure" / Columbia - September 6th, 2005: "Suspected rebels dynamited four energy pylons Monday [09/05/05], leaving more than 2.3 million people in southwestern Columbia without electricity. [....] The FARC and a smaller guerrilla group have been fighting the Columbian government for four decades. They often blow up energy towers, bridges, oil pipelines and other infrastructure, aiming to wreak havoc on the economy." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Relief Effort / Hurricane Katrina - September 6th, 2005: "More active-duty troops are joining the Hurricane Katrina relief effort than originally planned. [....] The total for active-duty ground forces would be about 8,500 up from the 7,200 announced Saturday [09/03/05]." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Strong Earthquake / Taiwan Region - September 6th, 2005: "A strong earthquake occurred at 01:16:04 (UTC) on Tuesday, September 6, 2005. The magnitude 6.1 event has been located in the TAIWAN REGION. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 46 km (28 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: preliminary earthquake reports @ http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscrab.htm]
2005 - Levee Breach Plugged / New Orleans - September 6th, 2005: "NEW ORLEANS - A week after Hurricane Katrina, engineers plugged the levee break that swamped much of the city, and floodwaters began to recede. But along with the good news came the mayor's direst prediction of the death toll yet: As many as 10,000 dead. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Status / Hurricane Maria, Atlantic Ocean - September 6th, 2005: "[....] At this time [09/06/05], the hurricane had sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour; 90 knots). [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13114]
2005 - Super Typhoon Nabi / South End of Japan - September 6th, 2005: "Typhoon Nabi was a Category 2 typhoon in the western Pacific ... on September 6, 2005 at 11:05 a.m. Tokyo time. It had sustained winds of around 160 kilometers an hour (100 miles per hour), and it was heading north across the southern end of Japan. [....] The Japanese government had ordered evacuations for more than 100,000 people in the southern islands, according to reports from BBC News. Flights, road traffic, and ferry services were disrupted, and hundreds of thousands of people and businesses lost power. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13105]
*Trivia: "Typoon Nabi, once a powerful super typhoon, made landfall on Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu with sustained winds reported at 126 kilometers per hour (78 miles per hour). Nabi, which means 'butterfly' in Korean, continued on over the southwestern tip of Honshu, triggering mudslides and flooding along the way, before heading out into the Sea of Japan. The storm left 17 dead and 9 missing in Japan, many as a result of mudslides. Four people were also reported missing in Korea."
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13119]
2005 - Insurgent Attacks / Interior Ministry, Iraq - September 6th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents launched a daylight assault Monday [09/05/05] against the Interior Ministry in Baghdad, killing two policemen in a surge of attacks by al-Qaida's arm in Iraq. Thunderous explosions and volleys of heavy gunfire rattled the downtown area soon after sunrise Monday as about four carloads of insurgents staged a lightning raid on the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for police and paramilitary units nationwide. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Returing Home [From Iraq] / Louisana National Guard - September 6th, 2005: "Most of the 2,800 Louisana National Guard soldiers who are returning home early from their Iraq mission intend to join in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, their commander said Monday [09/05/05]. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - No Official U.S. Response / Offer to Help America, Fidel Castro - September 6th, 2005: "Fidel Castro repeated an offer to send 1,100 Cuban doctors to America to help Hurricane Katrina victims. So far, there has been no official U.S. response to Cuba's earlier two offers." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Waited to Act? / FEMA - September 7th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The government's disaster chief [Michael Brown] waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss [Mike Chertoff] to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region - and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Settlement / U.S. Bancorp - September 7th, 2005: "U.S. Bancorp will pay a $500,000 fine to settle Securities and Exchange Commission claims that it traded $7 billion of foreign currencies with mutual funds it advised, violating federal laws that prohibit trading with affiliates. The Minneapolis-based bank also agreed to a cease-and-desist order and will make changes to strengthen its compliance program, the SEC said Tuesday [09/06/05]. The bank settled the matter Friday [09/02/05] without admitting or denying the SEC's claims." [Based on: S.L.P.D. article, p. C2, 09/07/05]
2005 - Trivia / Deep Impact Comet - September 7th, 2005: "The comet targeted by a NASA probe on July 4 turns out to be a 'snowy dirtball,' made mostly of dust, according to the first detailed results from the Deep Impact comet-hunting mission. Mixed in the dust is a soup of potentially life-spawning organic compounds, wrapped within a ball of fluff with less consistency than a snowbank, scientists reported Tuesday [09/06/05]. [....] The new data was published in this week's issue of Science." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Status / Mt. St. Helens Volcano - September 7th, 2005: "Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continued during 7-13 September, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. There were no significant changes in seismicity or deformation during the report period. Dry conditions and rockfalls continued to stir ash within the crater, and a persistent gas-and-vapor plume rose from the lava dome. As has happened in the past, large rockfalls from the dome generated conspicuous ash plumes that occasionally rose above the crater rim and drifted downwind. Camera images showed continued slumping of the central part of the dome and westward motion of the presently active area. St Helens remained at Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2); aviation color code Orange. [....]"
[Based on: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#sthelens] - [09/19/05]
2005 - Major [X17-Class] Solar Flare - September 7th, 2005: "On Sept. 7th at 1740 UT (1:40 p.m. EDT), Earth-orbiting satellites detected a major X17-class solar flare coming from the sun's eastern limb.... The blast caused a complete blackout of HF radio transmissions on the daylit side of Earth.
The source of the flare was returning sunspot 798 ... which sparked strong auroras in late August. Two weeks of quiet followed those storms while the sunspot transited the farside of the sun - but now it's back, and it's turning toward our planet again. Explosions later this week and next could produce more radio blackouts and some lovely September auroras."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/08/05]
2005 - Hurricane Nate / Atlantic Ocean - September 7th, 2005: "Hurricane Nate is shown here [see link] as observed by NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite on September 7, 2005, at 10:13 UTC (6:13 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). At this time, the hurricane had sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour; 60 knots). These winds did not make Nate strong enough to be classified as a hurricane, but the storm crossed the threshold to hurricane status only a few hours later. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13117]
2005 - Status / Same-Sex Unions, California - September 7th, 2005: "The California Legislature has become the first legislative body in the country to approve same-sex marriages. Gay-rights advocates overcame two earlier defeats in the assembly. The 41-35 on Tuesday vote sends the bill to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose office had no comment on the bill when it cleared the Senate last week. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Status / Colima Volcano, Mexico - September 7th, 2005: "During 7-12 September, several small explosions occurred at Colima. Due to the threat of lahars forming on the volcano's flanks, Universidad de Colima advised avoiding the ravines of La Lumbre, San Antonio, Monte Grande (in Colima state), and La Arena (in Jalisco state).
"Background. The Colima volcanic complex is the most prominent volcanic center of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt. It consists of two southward-younging volcanoes, Nevado de Colima (the 4,320 m high point of the complex) on the N and the historically active Volcán de Colima on the S. Volcán de Colima (also known as Volcán Fuego) is a youthful stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera, breached to the S, that has been the source of large debris avalanches. Major slope failures have occurred repeatedly from both the Nevado and Colima cones, and have produced a thick apron of debris-avalanche deposits on three sides of the complex. Frequent historical eruptions date back to the 16th century. Occasional major explosive eruptions (most recently in 1913) have destroyed the summit and left a deep, steep-sided crater that was slowly refilled and then overtopped by lava dome growth. [....]"
[Based on: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#colima] - [09/19/05]
2005 - New Activity / Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska - September 7th, 2005: "On 7 September, AVO raised the Concern Color Code at Veniaminof from Green to Yellow after several minor bursts of ash occurred at the volcano during the afternoon. Ash bursts continued to occur through at least 9 September, with ash rising less than 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. The ash was confined to the caldera. AVO reported that there were no indications that more vigorous activity was imminent or even likely. They expected that steam-and-ash emissions similar to those observed on 7 September might continue intermittently and could pose a hazard to people and low-flying aircraft in the vicinity of the active cone. [....]"
[Based on: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#veniamin] - [09/19/05]
2005 - Investigation? / U.S. Emergency Management - September 7th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Stung by criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush promised Tuesday [09/06/05] to investigate his own administration's emergency management. He then readied a request for tens of billions of dollars in more relief and cleanup money. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post]
*Trivia: "President George W. Bush thinks he's found just the right person to run the investigation into what went wrong with the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina - himself. [....] This is the same administration, backed by the same Congress, that has poured $200 billion into Iraq in the last 30 months, but couldn't get troops, helicopters and equipment to New Orleans. A brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, which boasts that it can deploy anywhere in the world in 18 hours, took five days to get to New Orleans. The 256th Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana National Guard would have been closer, but it's in Iraq. [....]" [Based on: Editorial Page article (Entitled: Hurricane Katrina - Troubled Waters), p. B6, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/07/05] - [Bold-faced type & underline emphasis by E.M.]
*Trivia: "Republican leaders halted congressional investigations into the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday [09/07/05] and announced a new joint Senate-House of Representatives inquiry that won't convene for weeks and will deliver its conclusion in February [2006]. [....] Wednesday's developments: *President George W. Bush asked for nearly $52 billion in additional relief. *His budget director said that even more will be needed within weeks. *Some lawmakers estimated that the total cost will reach $200 billion [Gee, where have I heard that number before?]. [....]" [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers article, p. A11, S.L.P.D., 09/08/05] - [Bold-faced type, underline & Brackets emphasis by E.M.]
2005 - Construction Approved / Ariel Settlement, West Bank - September 7th, 2005: "JERUSALEM - Israel has approved construction of 117 houses in the Ariel settlement in the heart of the West Bank, the government said Tuesday [09/06/05]. The action signals that Israel will not relinquish the sprawling community that Palestinians complain would cut up their future state. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Can Escape Accountability? / U.S. Government-Run Utilities - September 7th, 2005: "Government-run utilities that overcharged California during the state's energy crisis will not have to pay refunds, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday [09/06/05]. The ruling is a blow to California. The state is seeking up to $9 billion in refunds from all the utilities it accused of overcharging for power. 'This ruling does not mean that these entities did not rip us off,' said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. 'What it means is they can escape accountability for their actions.' The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lacked authority over the government-run utilities. Those include the Oregon-based Bonneville Power Administration, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and several others." [Based on: News Services article (Entitled: Utilities need not pay refunds, court rules), p. A3, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/07/05]
2005 - Trivia / Inhaled Insulin - September 8th, 2005: "A government advisory panel is set to consider the first insulin [called Exubera by its manufacturer] that can be inhaled rather than injected, a novel approach to keeping diabetics' blood sugar under control without needles. [....] The insulin is being developed by Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis and Nektar Therapeutics. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - U.S. Hostage Rescued / Iraq - September 8th, 2005: "The U.S. military, acting on a tip, raided an isolated farmhouse outside the capital Wednesday [09/07/05] and rescued an American businessman held hostage for 10 months. [....] The businessman, Roy Hallums, 57, was 'in good condition and is receiving medical care,' a military statement said after U.S. forces freed him and an unidentified Iraqi from the farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Hurricane / Ophelia, Florida Coast - September 8th, 2005: "Tropical Storm Ophelia gathered strength and size off the Atlantic Coast of Florida for several days. During this time, it brought winds and rain over a growing area including the Florida coast, though the storm’s center remained offshore. By September 8, it briefly reached hurricane strength, though this status lasted only a few hours before the storm lost some intensity and was again classified as a tropical storm. It is unusual for a storm system to build just offshore in this fashion, especially as having rain bands over land tends to break up the storm formation. It is also unusual to have so many storms in such a short time: the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season looks likely to go into the record books as the most active season on record yet. Ophelia is the earliest 'O' named storm since the storm naming system was devised. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13123]
2005 - "New Look" / St. Louis Post-Dispatch - September 8th, 2005: "Today's [09/08/05] issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch began to illustrate its new look. " [E.M.]
2005 - Limits on Testing for Pesticides? / U.S.A. - September 8th, 2005: "The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday [09/07/05] proposed banning pesticide testing on pregnant women and children. The move followed criticism that the government's reliance on human pesticide tests has irresponsibily endangered vulnerable people. [....] The agency aims to implement the ban by Jan 29." [Based on: News Services article, p. A4, S.L.P.D., 09/08/05]
2005 - Fuel Bill Increase / U.S. Trucking Industry - September 8th, 2005: "The trucking industry's fuel bill will surge 37 percent to $85 billion this year, the American Trucking Associations said Wednesday [09/07/05], blaming Hurricane Katrina and a newly released fuel-price forecast. [....]" [Based on: article, P. B2, S.L.P.D., 09/08/05]
2005 - Easing Prevention Rules? / Mad Cow Disease, U.S.A. - September 8th, 2005: "The government is easing rules intended to prevent the spread of mad cow disease among people, allowing part of a cow's small intestine to be used as casing for some sausages. [....] The rules still prohibit use of the lower end section of the small intestine, called the distal ileum. Studies have shown the distal ileum can contain the infectious protein that causes mad cow disease." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Aurora Alert - September 9th, 2005: "Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hurled into space by the solar explosions of Sept. 7th-9th could strike glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field during the next 48-to-72 hours. Sky watchers in Canada, Alaska and other northern places should be alert for auroras."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/09/05]
2005 - Fined / Sandy Berger - September 9th, 2005: "Former national security adviser Sandy Berger was fined $50,000 Thursday [09/08/05] for taking classified documents from the National Archives. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson handed down the punishment in federal court, stiffening the $10,000 fine recommended by government lawyers. Under the deal, Berger avoids prison time, but he must surrender access to classified government materials for three years. The judge also sentenced Berger to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service. As President Bill Clinton's national security adviser, Berger was once entrusted with the nation's most sensitive secrets." [Based on: News Services article, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A3, 09/09/05]
2005 - Solar Activity / Very High - September 9th, 2005: "Solar activity is very high. Earth-orbiting satelites have detected five X-class solar flares this week, including one X17 monster. NOAA forecasters say there's a 50% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/09/05]
2005 - Suspected Militant Arrests / Iraq - September 9th, 2005: "A joint U.S. Iraqi force punched deep Thursday [09/08/05] into Tal Afar, a key insurgent staging ground near the Syrian border. The Iraqi army said it arrested 200 suspected militants in the sweep - three-fourths of them foreign fighters. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Encephalitis Outbreak / India - September 9th, 2005: "The death toll from an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in northern India has reached 594. Officials said Thursday [09/08/05] that 53 more people had died overnight. Authorities are struggling to find money for pesticides that could stop the spread of the mosquito-borne disease. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Time to move on, Mr. President - September 9th, 2005:

Seriously, Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you anymore. There's no more money to spend. You used up all of that. You can't start another war because you also used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor people.
Yeah, listen to your mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit card's maxed out and no one is speaking to you: Mission accomplished! Now it's time to do what you've always done best: Lose interest and walk away. Like you did with your military service. And the oil company. And the baseball team. It's time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or spaceman?!
Now, I know what you're saying. You're saying that there's so many other things that you, as president, could involve yourself in ... Please don't. I know, I know, there's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela, and eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.
But, sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm surprised you haven't given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man.
Herbert Hoover was a (terrible) president, but even he never conceded an entire metropolis to rising water and snakes.
On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans ... Maybe you're just not lucky!
I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side. So, yes, God does speak to you, and what he's saying is, "Take a hint."

[Based on: article (From "Real Time with Bill Maher," HBO, September 9, 2005.), p. C13, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/22/05]
2005 - U.S. Disaster Aid / From Mexico - September 9th, 2005: "A Mexican army convoy of nearly 200 people crossed the border into the United States on Thursday [09/08/05] to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The convoy was the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Displaced Workers / Hurricane Katrina - September 9th, 2005: "An estimated 10,000 workers who lost their jobs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina filed for unemployment benefits last week, the first wave of what probably will be hundreds of thousands of displaced workers seeking aid. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Underway / S2-Class Radiation Storm - September 9th, 2005: "An S2-class radiation storm is underway. In other words, solar protons are streaming past Earth. These particles were accelerated to nearly light speed by the recent explosions at sunspot 798. The storm does not reach down to Earth's surface; it mainly affects satellites and spacecraft."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/09/05]
*Trivia: "Satellites and robotic spacecraft are experiencing some minor problems. For example, the white specks in the coronagraph image (above) [See link for 09/10/05 - at bottom] from the SOHO spacecraft are caused by protons striking the craft's digital camera, partially blinding the instrument. One place you wouldn't want to be during the storm: walking around on the Moon!"
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/10/05]
2005 - New Activity / Ebeko Volcano, Russia - September 9th, 2005: "On 9 September, KVERT raised the Concern Color Code at Ebeko from Green to Yellow due to an increase in activity at the volcano. Fumarolic activity increased at the Ebeko's crater, with gas temperatures of 480 degrees C.
"Background. The flat-topped summit of the central cone of Ebeko volcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands, occupies the northern end of Paramushir Island. Three summit craters located along a SSW-NNE line form Ebeko volcano proper, at the northern end of a complex of five volcanic cones. The eastern part of the southern crater of Ebeko contains strong solfataras and a large boiling spring. The central crater of Ebeko is filled by a lake about 20 m deep whose shores are lined with steaming solfataras; the northern crater lies across a narrow, low barrier from the central crater and contains a small, cold crescentic lake. Historical activity, recorded since the late-18th century, has been restricted to small-to-moderate explosive eruptions from the summit craters. Intense fumarolic activity occurs in the summit craters of Ebeko, on the outer flanks of the cone, and in lateral explosion craters. [....]"
[Based on: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#ebeko] - [09/19/05]
2005 - Russian Cargo Ship / Intl. Space Station - September 9th, 2005: "A Russian cargo ship [Progress M-54] blasted off Thursday [09/08/05] from the steppes of Kazakhstan carrying supplies for the international space station. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Major Earthquake / Papua New Guinea - September 9th, 2005: "A major earthquake occurred at 07:26:44 (UTC) on Friday, September 9, 2005. The magnitude 7.7 event has been located in the NEW IRELAND REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 91 km (57 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: Preliminary earthquake report @: http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscuah.htm]
2005 - Strong Earthquake / San Juan, Argentina - September 9th, 2005: "A strong earthquake occurred at 11:26:03 (UTC) on Friday, September 9, 2005. The magnitude 6.0 event has been located in SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 86 km (54 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: Preliminary earthquake report @: http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uscuam.htm]
2005 - Indicted / Texas Political Group [TRMPAC] - September 9th, 2005: "A Texas grand jury has indicted a political organization formed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. The group is called Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee, or TRMPAC. It stands accused of taking illegal corporate money. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Solar Activity Update - September 10th, 2005: "Solar activity is very high. Earth-orbiting satelites have detected six X-class solar flares since Sept. 7th, including one X17-class monster-flare. NOAA forecasters say there's a 75% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/10/05]
2005 - "Thinking the Hurt Away" - September 10th, 2005:

When it comes to pain control, a dose of positive thinking goes a long way, according to researchers who have found that many of the same brain areas that respond to severe pain also respond to mere expectations of pain. This commonality provides a neural route for the mind to quell pain and could explain the pain-fighting power of placebos, the scientists say.
"Pain emerges from the interaction between signals coming from an injured body region and cognitive information unique to each individual, such as expectations about what that pain will feel like," says neuroscientist Robert C. Coghill of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. He and his coworkers report their results in the Sept. 6 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For their study, Coghill and his colleagues recruited 10 volunteers, ages 24 to 46, and fitted each with a device that delivered heat pulses to the lower right leg. [....]
As the magnitude of expected pain increased, brain regions associated with learning, memory, emotion, and tactile sensation became more active. Areas of neural activation measured while volunteers actually experienced pain largely corresponded to areas activated by the expectation. [....]
The new report "underscores the biological fact that pain is not merely a passive response to tissue damage or potential tissue damage," remarks neuroscientist Donald D. Price of the University of Florida's College of dentistry in Gainesville. "Its magnitude is partly determined by ongoing expectations." [....]

[Based on: Science News (09/10/05, Vol. 168. No. 11) article by B. Bower, pp. 164 - 165]
2005 - Indefinite Detention? / Jose Padilla - September 10th, 2005: "In a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday [09/09/05] that the government can continue to hold indefinitely an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive 'dirty bomb.' A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to reverse a judge's order that the government either charge or free Jose Padilla. He has been held for more than three ears. [....]" [Based on: Ap. article, p. A25, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/10/05] - [Note: the word "ears" (a typo?) should probably read "years". - E.M.]
2005 - Guilty Plea / "Fingered" Chili Case - September 10th, 2005: "A Nevada couple pleaded guilty Friday [09/09/05] of all charges related to putting a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili in a scheme to extort money from the fast food restaurant chain. Anna Ayalas, 39, and Jaime Placencia, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false claim and attempted grand theft in a scheme that the Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. claimed cost it $2.5 million in lost sales because of bad publicity. [....]." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Nuclear Waste Storage / Utah Indian Reservation? - September 10th, 2005: "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday [09/09/05] approved a private company's plan to build a nuclear waste storage site on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah. The action moves the proposal a crucial step closer to fruition. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman immediately pledged to challenge the decision in the courts, and state officials promised to fight the facility using all possible options. The state contends the project would be too dangerous. Private Fuel Storage, a group of utilities, wants to store 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel at the site about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City." [Based on: News Services article, p. A25, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/09/05]
2005 - Status / Prison Hunger Strike, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - September 10th, 2005: "The U.S. military is tube-feeding more than a dozen of the 89 terrorism suspects on hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, a spokesman said Friday [09/09/05]. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Removed From Hurricane Katrina Relief / Michael Brown - September 10th, 2005: "A beleaguered Michael Brown said Friday [09/09/05] that he doesn't know why he was removed from his onsite command of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, but he does know the first thing he'll do when he returns to Washington. [....] Appearing at a news conference in Baton Rouge, La., with Brown at his side, Chertoff announced that he was sending the FEMA director back to Washington just in case another storm hits the country. He put Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen in charge. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Typhoon Khanun / China - September 11th, 2005: "Typhoon Khanun was poised about to make landfall on the coast of mainland China when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image [see link] at 11:20 a.m. local time, on September 11, 2005. At the time of this MODIS observation, Khanun had sustained winds of 210 kilometers per hour (130 miles per hour).
As Khanun moved in towards China, outflowing wind patterns from the storm pushed away polluted air ahead of it. In the MODIS image, this shows up as clear views immediately outside the cloud bands, while smog piles up just beyond the storm’s influence. Khanun is the 15th typhoon to hit China in 2005. The storm is believed to be responsible for 14 reported deaths, mostly from mudslides caused by the heavy rains brought in with the storm system. The land is already saturated from other recent typhoons, so the risk of mudslide events has been unusually high. Nearly one million people were evacuated from coastal areas in the typhoon’s path, including some residents of Shanghai. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13128]
2005 - U.S. & Iraqi Troops / Tel Afar, Iraq - September 11th, 2005: "More than 5,000 Iraqi army and paramilitary troops backed by U.S. soldiers entered Tel Afar on Saturday [09/10/05]. The soldiers searched house to house in the insurgent stronghold and battered down stone walls in the narrow, winding streets of the old city. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Assassination Attempt / Iraqi defense Minister - September 11th, 2005: "Afghan government soldiers, said to be angry over a pay dispute, tried to assassinate the defense minister at the capital's airport Saturday [09/10/05], officials reported. Nine Afghan soldiers were arrested in the attempt to shoot Defense Minister Rahim Wardak, said ministry spokesman Gen. Mohamed Saher Azimi. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Banned From Poultry / Antibiotic Baytril - September 12th, 2005: "The Food and Drug Administration is banning the use of the antibiotic Baytril in poultry because of concerns the drug could lead to antibiotic-resistant infections in people. The agency's commissioner, Lester M. Crawford, on Thursday [07/28/05] ordered that approval for use of the drug be withdrawn effective Sept. 12. Baytril, known generically as enrofloxacin, is in the same family as the popular drug Cipro, which is used in humans." [Based on: News Services article, p. A9, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 07/29/05]
2005 - Israeli Pullout Complete / Gaza Strip - September 12th, 2005: "The last of the Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip began driving out in large convoys early today [09/11/05], and flag-waving Palestinian police took over the abandoned positions as Israel wrapped up its pullout from the coastal territory after 38 years of occupation. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi / Japan - September 12th, 2005: "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi scored a crushing victory Sunday in snap legeslative elections. The win gives powerful momentum to his campaign to slim down his nation's bureaucracy. [....]" [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers]
2005 - Intense Glow? / Mt. Saint Helens Volcano - September 12th, 2005: "Observers at Mount Saint Helens reported seeing an intense glow and vertical column over the volcano last night [09/11/05]. [....]"
[Based on: http://www.kirotv.com/mountsthelens/index.html] - [09/12/05]
[See: Mt. Saint Helens Volcano Cam @: http://www.kirotv.com/sponsor/3770913/detail.html]
2005 - Terrorist Targets / Los Angeles & Australia? - September 12th, 2005: "A tape delivered to ABC News in Pakistan features a masked man making terrorist threats against Los Angeles and Australia. ABC News reported that the man is believed to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American from California purported to be an al-Qaida member and wanted by the FBI. The CIA said Sunday [09/11/05] it was aware of the report but had no immediate comment about the tape's authenticity. The tape was aired on ABC's 'Good Morning America' on Sunday [9/11/05]. 'Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint and compassion,' the man says during the 11-minute tape." [Based on: News Services article, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/12/05]
2005 - Status / Sunspot 798 - September 13th, 2005: "Giant sunspot 798 is slowly decaying, but it still poses a threat for strong flares. Indeed it has just unleashed an X1-class flare on Sept. 13th at 1925 UT. This makes eight X-flares since Sept. 7th when the active region produced a record-setting X17-class monster."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/13/05]
2005 - Elections Trivia / Norway - September 13th, 2005: "Norway was poised for a power shift after the left-leaning opposition won a majority of seats in parliament with pledges to spend more on welfare, official election results showed early today [09/13/05]. With more than 96 percent of votes counted, a three-party coalition led by the Labor Party had grabbed 88 seats in the 169-seat assembly, enough to oust the center-right government. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik had campaigned on promises of tax cuts. Labor leader Jens Stoltenberg campaigned on a pledge to spend more of the nation's oil money on welfare. He said the opposition Red-Green alliance would start talks on forming a coalition majority government." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Settlement / Larry Ellison - September 13th, 2005: "Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison has agreed to donate $100 million to charities to settle a lawsuit revolving around a $900 million gain he made by selling some of his company stock after the dot-com bust. In agreeing to settle, Ellison isn't admitting to any wrongdoing." [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/13/05]
*Trivia: "Oracle Corp. is buying hobbled Siebel Systems Inc. for about $5.85 billion, eliminating another competitor in its effort to grab market share from business-applications software leader SAP AG. [....] The deal accelerates efforts by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison to overtake SAP as the world's largest maker of business applications software, which automates a wide range of administrative tasks. [....]" [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/13/05]
2005 - Power Outage / California - September 13th, 2005: "A power outage, set off when a cable was accidentally cut, darkened large sections of downtown Los Angeles and many parts of the San Fernando Valley for a couple of hours Monday [09/12/05], authorities said. The blackout came amid reports of al-Qaida threats against the city and a day after the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, setting off jitters citywide. Television stations broadcast dramatic images of towering flames and refineries. The fiery images turned out to be the routine burn-off of gas at the refineries as a precaution after some lost power. Two million customers were affected before most power was restored about 2 p.m. During the blackout, elevators stalled, traffic lights either went out or burned steadily green, and teachers tried to soothe worried schoolchildren. [....]" [Based on: article by Sharon Bernstein, Los Angeles Times]
2005 - Near Extinction? / Congo Hippos - September 13th, 2005: "Only 887 hippos are left in Congo, once home to the world's largest population of the water-loving mammal, an international environmental group warned Monday [09/12/05]. The group said hippos could soon be extinct in the African country. Hippos are being killed by government soldiers, local militia and poachers, the World Wildlife Fund said. The meat is sold as food while the teeth end up as part of the illegal ivory trade. The latest aerial survey puts the hippopotamus population in northwestern Congo's Virunga National Park down to under 1,000 animals, compared with 29,000 in 1974." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Palestinian Freedom / Gaza Strip - September 13th, 2005: "[....] Gaza's Palestinians got their first taste of freedom after Israeli troops left the coastal strip Monday [09/12/05]. They took full possession of the territory for the first time after hundreds of years of subjugation by the Ottoman Empire, the British, the Egyptians and finally the Israelis. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - 16-Gigabit Chip / Samsung Electronics Co. - September 13th, 2005: "Samsung Electronics Co. introduced a 16-gigabit NAND flash memory chip on Monday [09/13/05] that could let makers of portable electronic devices pack more data into less failure-prone gadgets. The development means more mobile devices can use flash memory rather than hard drives, which can fail if dropped suddenly. Flash memory also is lighter and more energy-efficient." [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/13/05]
2005 - Resignation / U.S. FEMA Chief, Michael Brown - September 13th, 2005: "Michael Brown quit Monday [09/12/05] as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The White House moved quickly to replace him, installing a top agency official with three decades of firefighting experience as acting director. [....] President George W. Bush named R. David Paulison, a former chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, as acting FEMA director. [....]" [Based on: Cox News Service]
2005 - Insurgent Attacks / Iraq - September 14th, 2005: "At least 73 people were killed and 162 wounded early today [09/14/05] when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a group of construction workers in north Baghdad, police said. [....] Also today, north of Baghdad, gunmen wearing military uniforms surrounded a village and executed 17 men, police said. [....] Elsewhere, U.S. forces widened their operations against insurgents in northern Iraq on Tuesday [09/13/05], launching an attack on the Euphrates River stronghold of Haditha only days after evicting militants from Tal Afar. Residents also reported American airstrikes in the same region near Qaim. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Fined / Keith Luechtefeld - September 14th, 2005: "A former executive of Aurora Foods Inc. has agreed to pay a Securities and Exchange Commission fine related to allegations that he had a role in fraudulent financial reports while employed by the former Maryland Heights [Mo.]-based food maker. Keith Luechtefeld, once division controller of Aurora Foods, will pay a civil penalty of $62,500 as well as interest of $1,306. He agreed to the fine without admitting or denying wrongdoing. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/14/05]
2005 - Beginning / "World" Summit - September 14th, 2005: "A world summit once hailed as the best chance ever at giving the United Nations a stronger, more unified voice begins today [09/14/05] with a splash of cold water - a reform document approved at the last moment that is far weaker than officials from the United States and other member governments had hoped. [....]" [Based on: article by Jon Sawyer, Washington Bureau Chief]
2005 - Kidnapped / Claudia Melchers - September 14th, 2005: "Armed men broke into an upscale home and kidnapped the daughter [Claudia Melchers] of a millionaire whose fortune came from selling chemicals, police said Tuesday [09/13/05]. Her children were left unharmed. [....] Melchers runs a catering company. She is the daughter of Hans Melchers, who owns Melchemie Holland BV. The firm supplied chemicals to Iraq in the 1980s. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A8, S.L.P.D., 09/14/05]
*Trivia: "Kidnappers released a Dutch multimillionaire's daughter [Claudia Melchers] unharmed, but it was unclear whether any ransom was paid, police said Thursday [09/15/05]. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A12, S.L.P.D., 09/16/05]
2005 - Trivia / Charter Communications Inc. - September 14th, 2005: "Charter Communications Inc. of Town and Country [Mo.] has postponed a day of reckoning until at least 2008 by exchanging $6.83 billion of its bonds for new securities with longer maturities. [....] Aryeh Bourkoff, an analyst with UBS Securities AG in New York, and the exchange will reduce Charter's debt by $708 million and lessen the chance that it will file bankruptcy. The exchange also trims interest expense by $60 million a year. Charter still has $1.5 billion of bank debt maturing in 2008 and 2009." [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/14/05]
2005 - Second-Quarter Profit / Best Buy Co. - September 14th, 2005: "Best Buy Co. said second-quarter profit rose 25 percent on sales of digital music players and flat-panel televisions. But the company's shares fell the most in almost three years after its quarterly forecast fell below analysts' estimates. [....]" [Based on: Bloomberg News]
2005 - Broken Truce? / Ulster Volunteer Force - September 14th, 2005: "A major outlawed Protestant group in Northern Ireland [Ulster Volunteer Force] had abandoned its 11-year-old truce and is an enemy of the peace once again, Britain declared Wednesday. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
*Trivia: "[....] Police say members of two major outlawed groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defense Association, were behind the gun and grenade attacks. Both anti-Catholic gangs are supposed to be observing a 1994 truce in support of Northern Ireland's peace accord." [Based on: News Services article, 09/15/05]
2005 - Destroyed / Al-Qaida Hide-Out, Pakistan - September 14th, 2005: "Pakistan said Tuesday [09/13/05] that an operation involving helicopter gunships and thousands of troops destroyed a major al-Qaida hide-out. The raid also led to the arrests of 21 suspected militants in the remote northwestern region near Afghanistan. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Trivia / Recovery Operations, Mississippi & Louisiana - September 14th, 2005: "The Pentagon is preparing to pull back some active-duty forces it sent to Mississippi and Louisiana soon after Hurricane Katrina. [....] Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday [09/13/05] about 45,800 National Guard troops and about 22,400 active duty personnel are taking part in recovery operations in Mississippi and Louisiana, plus about 1,900 Reserves." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - "Racing Toward Earth" / Coronal Mass Ejection - September 14th, 2005: "A coronal mass ejection (CME) is racing toward Earth and it could spark a severe geomagnetic storm when it arrives - perhaps tonight (Sept. 14th and 15th). People everywhere should be alert for auroras. [....] The CME ... was hurled into space on Sept. 13th by an X1-class explosion at sunspot 798. This remarkable 'spot has produced nine X-flares since Sept. 7th including a record-setting X17-monster. All by itself, sunspot 798 has made Sept. 2005 the most active month on the sun since March 1991. [....] If this incoming CME does hit Earth's magnetic field as hard as forecasters expect, auroras could appear in places where they are seldom seen: California, Arizona, Texas and elsewhere."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/14/05]
*Trivia: "[....] On March 24, 1991 a significant CME traveling at 5 times the speed of the solar wind struck the magnetosphere. The data from space probe Ulysses suggested the boundary was within 4 RE of the Earth's center, and that the impact also created a second shock wave inside the cavity, spreading throughout the magnetosphere.
"The research spacecraft CRRES, operated by the US Air Force was at that instant deep inside the radiation belt, at a distance of 2.55 RE. The first thing CRRES saw was a torrent of highly energetic protons and electrons. The protons had energies above 20 Mev, twenty million electron volts, some 20,000 times the energy of the average proton in the solar wind. The passage of the shock also left Earth with a new long-lived belt of high-energy protons [....]. [Based on: article @: http://presys.com/~ekklesia/cme.htm]
*Trivia: "Picture this: a coffee bean the size of Neptune. That's what hyperactive sunspot 798 looked like on Sept. 14th when Jerome Grenier of Paris, France, took its picture [see link]: [....] The bright gash splitting this sunspot down the middle is called a 'light bridge.' The bridge, explains solar physicist David Hathaway, separates positive and negative magnetic polarities in the spot. It's a sign of explosiveness, because opposite polarities bumping together can spark solar flares. Sunspot 798 has unleashed nine X-class flares since Sept. 7th. "
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/16/05]
2005 - Solar Minimum??? - September 15th, 2005: "With so much activity on the sun, solar minimum is looking strangely like Solar Max. Get the full story from Science@NASA. [....] High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. A fast solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, causing mild geomagnetic storms. This comes in the wake of a CME that swept past Earth this morning. At first the CME did little to spark auroras, but a storm has since developed, raising hopes for a display tonight in Alaska and Canada. [....] The source of the CME was sunspot 798. That giant 'spot is still facing Earth and crackling with solar flares. More CMEs and auroras are possible in the days ahead."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/15/05]
2005 - Blogger Trivia / Google Inc. - September 15th, 2005: "A new Google Inc. search engine sifts through the Internet's millions of frequently updated personal journals, a long-anticipated development expected to help propel 'blogging' into the cultural mainstream. The tool, which was released Wednesday [09/14/05], focuses exclusively on the material in Web logs, or 'blogs.' [....] The appearance of the new Google tool, which catalogs the latest blog postings by looking at the Web feeds they generate, also makes it more likely that two other tech powerhouses and fierce rivals, Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., will develop a similar feature. [....] No one knows for certain just how big the so-called 'blogospherte' has become. Technorati, the niche's top search engine so far, says it indexes 17.1 million sites spanning about 1.5 billion links. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Steep Fuel Prices / Nigeria - September 15th, 2005: "Police watched from open-backed trucks Wednesday [09/14/05] as thousands of Nigerians marched in a peaceful protest of steep increases in fuel prices in Africa's largest oil producer. The rally ended with demonstrators presenting their grievances in a petition to the Lagos governor. The government ordered price increases last month of up to 40 percent on fuels such as gas and diesel to try to bring the subsidized prices closer in line with international norms." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Hurricane Ophelia / North Carolina - September 15th, 2005: "Hurricane Ophelia, North Carolinia's least welcome guest, refused again to leave Thursday [09/15/05], lashing the Outer Banks with rain and wind as coastal residents elsewhere returned home to damaged homes and businesses. The system was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday night [09/15/05] when its sustained wind dropped to 70 mph. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, 09/16/05]
2005 - Bankruptcy? / Delta & Northwest Airlines - September 15th, 2005: "Delta and Northwest airlines flew into bankruptcy court Wednesday [09/14/05]. Both say they will keep flying and honor tickets. More cost-cutting and worker concessions are ahead." [Based on: p. A1, S.L.P.D., 09/15/05]
*Trivia: "Delta Air Lines Inc. which filed for bankruptcy last month [September 2005], won court permission to skip its $160 million October pension plan contribution over the objections of retired pilots. The airline asked permission to miss the contribution to preserve cash. The Delta Pilots' Pension Preservation Organization asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York to force a payment of at least $31.4 million to ensure that the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. doesn't terminate the airline's retirement plans." [Based on: Business Page article, p. E2, S.L.P.D., 10/18/05]
2005 - Unconstitutional? / One Nation "Under God" - September 15th, 2005: "A federal judge declared the reciting of the pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday [09/14/05], a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments. The case was brought by the same man [Michael Newdow] whose previous battle against the words 'under God' was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation 'under God' violates schoolchildren's right to be 'free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.' [....] 'All it has to do is put the pledge as it was before, and say that we are one nation, indivisible, instead of dividing us on religious basis,' Newdow said. "Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, 'We are one nation that denies God exists,' " Newdow said. "I think that everybody would not be sitting here saying, 'Oh what harm is that.' They'd be furious. And that's exactly what goes on against atheists. And it shouldn't." [....] The Becket Fund, a religious rights group that is a party to the case, said it would immediately appeal the case to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court does not change its precedent, the group said it would go to the Supreme Court." [Based on: A.P. article, p. A2, S.L.P.D., 09/15/05]
2005 - Identified Long Before 2001? / Mohamed Atta - September 15th, 2005: "Former members of the Sept. 11 commission on Wednesday [09/14/05] dismissed assertions that a Pentagon intelligence unit identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta as a member of al-Qaida long before the 2001 attacks. The commission's former chairman, Thomas Kean, said there was no evidence anyone in the government knew about Atta before Sept. 11, 2001. Two military officers, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, claimed a classified military intelligence unit, known as 'Able Danger,' identified Atta before the attacks. Schaffer has said three hijackers were identified, too. [....] Pentagon officials said this month that they could find no documents to back up the claims. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., has said that members of 'Able danger' identified Atta and three other hijackers in 1999 as potential members of a terrorist cell in New York City. Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the unit's recommendation that the information be turned over to the FBI in 2000. Weldon's spokesman, John Tomaszewski, said no commisioners have met with anyone from Able Danger 'yet they choose to speak with some form of certainty without firsthand knowledge.' " [Based on: A.P. article, p. A4, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/15/05]
2005 - Relocation? / Colorado River [Utah] Radioactive Waste - September 15th, 2005: "Almost 12 million tons of radioactive waste will be moved from the banks of the Colorado River, the source of drinking water for more than 25 million people. across the West, the government said Wednesday [09/14/05]. The 94-foot-high pile of uranium mining waste is near Moab, Utah, and 750 feet from the river. The Energy Department now will work on the specifics of moving the waste to a site at Crescent Junction, more than 30 miles northwest." [Based on: News Services article, p. A5, S.L.P.D., 09/15/05]
2005 - Trivia / Gaza Border - September 16th, 2005: "Palestinians blasted holes in an Israeli-built wall and overwhelmed Egyptian troops on the Gaza border to flow by the hundreds into Egypt on Thursday [09/15/05]. Israeli and Palestinian leaders expressed fears that militants and al-Qaida terrorists will infiltrate Gaza and Israel through the border, which has been open since Israeli troops withdrew from the Palestinian territory. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Guilty Plea / Peter M. Shaw - September 16th, 2005: "Peter M. Shaw, president of the failed Capital Title Co., pleaded guilty Thursday [09/15/05] to carrying out a $3 million fraud scheme by taking money from accounts reserved for real estate transactions. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. B1, 09/16/05]
2005 - Eruption / Colima Volcano, Mexico - September 16th, 2005: "The Volcano of Fire in western Mexico blasted ash and gas three miles high Friday [09/16/05], with an explosion that was heard in villages 10 miles from the crater, officials said. No injuries were reported. Ash from the eruption fell on towns to the northwest, the Jalisco state civil defense agency said. The 12,533-foot volcano on the border of Jalisco and Colima states - 420 miles west of Mexico City - is among the country's most active and most dangerous." [Based on: News Services article, p. A29, S.L.P.D., 09/17/05]
2005 - Indicted / Former Marsh & McLennan Executives - September 16th, 2005: "Eight former executives at Marsh & McLennan Cos. were charged with felonies in indictments unsealed in Albany, N.Y., Thursday [09/15/05] in New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer's investigation of bid rigging and price fixing in the insurance industry. The eight denied the allegations. [....]" [Based on: Business page article, p. B2, S.L.P.D., 09/16/05]
2005 - Revelation / Documents Destroyed, Mohamed Atta, Etc. - September 16th, 2005: "A Pentagon employee was ordered to destroy documents that identified Mohamed Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks, a congressman said Thursday [09/15/05]. The employee is prepared to testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was expected to name the person who ordered him to destroy the large volume of documents, said Rep. Curt Weldon, R.-Pa. Weldon would not name the employee, citing confidentiality matters. Weldon has said that Atta, the mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and three other hijackers were identified in 1999 by a classified military intelligence unit that determined they could be members of an al-Qaida cell." [Based on: News Services article, p. A3, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/16/05]
2005 - Waves of Katrina Suits? - September 17th, 2005: "[....] Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, lawyers from the region are deciding whom to sue over the catastrophe - or rather, whom to sue first. [....]" [Based on: Los Angeles Times]
2005 - Google Considers AOL Bid - September 17th, 2005: "Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, might consider making a bid for America Online to keep the company from switching to Microsoft Corp.'s search technology. America Online, the world's biggest Internet-access provider, might replace Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's search engine with a product from Microsoft, a person familiar with the matter said." [Based on: article, p. A31, S.L.P.D., 09/17/05]
2005 - Aneurysm Surgery / Dick Cheney - September 17th, 2005: "Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo an elective surgery next weekend to treat an aneurysm in an artery behind the right knee. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Bomb Blast / Beirut Lebanon - September 17th, 2005: "A powerful bomb exploded in a Christian neighborhood of eastern Beirut late Friday [09/16/05], killing at least one person and wounding 23, officials said. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Suicide Bomber / Shiite Mosque, Iraq - September 17th, 2005: "Iraq endured a third consecutive day of sectarian killings Friday [09/16/05]. In the town of Tuz Khormato, a suicide car bombing at a Shiite mosque killed at least 12 worshippers as they left Friday prayers. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Emerging From Bankruptcy? / US Airways - September 17th, 2005: "US Airways on Friday [09/16/05] received approval to emerge from bankruptcy Court protection, clearing the way for the nation's seventh-largest airline to merge with America West Holdings Corp.. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Damage Bill Trivia / Hurricane Katrina - September 17th, 2005: "[....] The bill to the government for Katrina - $62 billion so far with untold billions to come - will be added directly to the $7.9 trillion national debt. President George W. Bush said Friday [09/16/05], 'We're going to have to make sure we cut unnecessary spending.' " [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Settlements Status / A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. - September 17th, 2005: "Over the last two months, A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. has been ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in penalties to nine agrieved investors. The unrelated cases were settled in an arbitration process devised by the NASD, the private agency that regulates stockbrokers. In general, the investors said actions taken by A.G. Edwards brokers cost them money. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
2005 - Car Bomb / Iraq - September 18th, 2005: "Insurgents drove into a crowded public marketplace on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday [09/17/05], got out of their car and triggered a bomb inside, killing at least 30 people, according to reports from the Interior Ministry. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]
2005 - Status / Sunspot 798 - September 18th, 2005: "Hyperactive sunspot 798, which unleashed nine X-class solar flares this month, including a colossal X17-flare, is breaking up. But it might not go away quietly. NOAA forecasters say there's a robust 30% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours. Two days from now, sunspot 798 will rotate around the sun's western limb, disappearing from view, and the chance of Earth-directed flares from the active region will drop to zero."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/18/05]
2005 - Hurricane Kenneth / Pacific Ocean - September 18th, 2005: "Hurricane Kenneth is just one of a series of tropical storms which have formed in the middle of September off the coast of Baja California. At the time of this image [see link], it was bracketed by Hurricane Jova to the west and Tropical Storm Max to the east. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of Kenneth at 3:25 p.m. local time. Kenneth had sustained wind speeds of 210 kilometers per hour (130 miles per hour) and a well organized spiral structure which is quite apparent in this satellite image. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13144] - [09/20/05]
2005 - Hurricane Philippe / Atlantic Ocean - September 18th, 2005: "A tropical depression formed off the Brazilian coast on September 17, 2005. Once it was organized enough to have winds of over 62 kilometers per hour (39 miles per hour), it was classified as a tropical storm and given the name Philippe, becoming the 16th named storm system of the 2005 hurricane season. It continued to gather strength in the next few hours, becoming a category 1 hurricane just 24 hours later, while tropical storm Rita grabbed the title of the latest storm of the season. Adding Philippe and Rita to the roster of storms in 2005, the year has already become one most active Atlantic hurricane seasons since records were started in 1851. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13140]
2005 - Commuter Train Derailment / Chicago - September 18th, 2005: "A commuter train derailed Saturday [09/17/05] on Chicago's South Side, killing at least two people and injuring more than 80, some of them critically. [....] The tracks were on a raised embankment next to a street, but none of the cars fell onto the street. [....] After the accident, there was a 30-foot gap between two of the cars, one of which had severe damage at the front end. The other cars remained upright but had left the tracks. [....] It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the cars to derail. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article by Mike Colias, p. A2, S.L.P.D., 09/18/05]
*Trivia: "A commuter train was going almost 60 mph over the speed limit just before it derailed ... the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday [09/18/05]. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, 09/19/05]
2005 - Hunger Strike Status / Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - September 18th, 2005: "A hunger strike at the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has unsettled senior commanders there and produced the most serious challenge yet to the military's effort to manage the detention of hundreds of terrorism suspects, lawyers and officials say. As many as 200 prisoners - more than a third of the camp - have refused food in recent weeks to protest conditions and prolonged confinement without trial, according to the accounts of lawyers who represent them. While military officials put the number of those participating at 105, they acknowledge that 20 of them, whose health and survival are being threatened, are being kept at the camp's hospital and fed through nasal tubes and sometimes given fluids intravenously." [Based on: News Services article, p. A13, S.L.P.D., 09/18/05]
2005 - Trivia / U.S. Airlines - September 19th, 2005: "Despite shedding billions of dollars in labor and pension costs since 2000, U.S. airlines will need to cut billions more before the end of the decade to make money and remain competitive. Even then, there's no guarantee these airlines will become stable, profitable operators. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
2005 - Election Trivia / Germany - September 19th, 2005: "Conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party won the most votes in German elections Sunday [09/19/05] but fell short of a clear mandate to govern, according to official results. Chancellor Gerhard Schroder staged a dramatic comeback and proclaimed that he should head the next government. [....] With 298 of 299 districts declaring, the results showed Merkel's party, the Christian Democrats, leading with 35.2 percent of the vote compared with 34.3 percent for Schroder's Social Democrats. Voting in the final district, Dresden, was delayed until Oct. 2 because of the death of a candidate. But the outcome was not expected to affect the final result. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, p. A8, S.L.P.D., 09/19/05]
2005 - Trivia / Iraq Constitution - September 19th, 2005: "Iraq's National Assembly gave final approval Sunday [09/19/05] to the nation's new constitution, and the United Nations began printing 5 million copies of it immediately for voters to study before they vote on it in a referendum Oct. 15. [....]" [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers]
2005 - Sealed Off / Egypt-Gaza Border - September 19th, 2005: "Hundreds of Palestinian troops sealed off Gaza's border with Egypt on Sunday [09/18/05], ending a weeklong free-for-all along the frontier that angered Israeli officials and undermined Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to bring Gaza under control. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Tropical Storm Rita / Bahamas - September 19th, 2005: "Thousands of tourists jammed the highways Sunday [09/18/05] after they were told to evacuate the lower Florida Keys because tropical Storm Rita developed over the Bahamas and moved toward the vulnerable, lowlying chain. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Trivia / Gold & Silver Prices, U.S.A. - September 19th, 2005: "[....] In 1979, almost overnight gold and silver prices soared as the Hunt brothers heavily invested. The result was people everywhere poring through drawyers and closets to sell coins, silverware, jewelry or virtually anything else at prices exceeding $50 an ounce for silver and $850 an ounce for gold. As with any other fad, it didn't last. In less than a year, prices plunged. After that, precious metals fell out of favor for many years. Since 2000, silver has climbed from $4 an ounce to more than $7. Gold increased from $280 to upward of $440. And platinum has more than doubled from around $400 an ounce to more than $900 last week [Sept. 2005]. [....]" [Based on: article by Peter Rexford, p. D3, S.L.P.D., 09/19/05]
2005 - Thunder & Lightning / St. Louis, Mo. - September 19th, 2005: "Several lines of severe thunderstorms passing through the area Monday night [09/19/05] brought strong, damaging wind and an intense downpour. An impressive lightning show marked the approaching storms, which knocked down tree limbs and power lines, leaving tens of thousands in the dark. [....]" [Based on: Metro Section article, p. C1, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Women Candidate / Madhawi Al-Hassoun, Saudi Arabia - September 19th, 2005: "Businesswoman Madhawi Al-Hassoun has signed up as the first women in Saudi Arabia to run in an election. [....]" [Based on: News services article, S.L.P.D., p. A7, 09/19/05]
2005 - Pledge to Drop Nuclear Weapons Development? / North Korea - September 19th, 2005: "North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in a unanimous agreement today at six-party arms talks. The agreement was the first-ever joint statement after more than two years of negotiations. [....] The North and the United States also pledged to mutually respect each other's sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence in the agreement. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A7, S.L.P.D., 09/19/05]
*Trivia: "[....] Casting doubt on a disarmament agreement reached a day earlier during international talks, North Korea insisted Tuesday [09/20/05] it would not dismantle its nuclear weapons program until the United States gave it civilian nuclear reactors. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - British Attack / Iraqi Jail - September 20th, 2005: "British armored vehicles broke down the walls of the central jail in this southern city [Basra?] Monday [09/19/05] and freed two British soldiers, purportedly undercover commandos arrested for shooting two Iraqi policemen, witnesses said. But London said the two men were released as a result of negotiations. [....] The arrests of the two British soldiers Monday appeared to have been the first real and public test of how far that sovereignty extends. There have been no known incidents of Iraqi authorities arresting U.S. soldiers operating in the Iraqi heartland. [....] 'A British force of more than 10 tanks backed by helicopters attacked the central jail and destroyed it. This is an irresponsible act,' al-Waili said, adding that the British force had spirited the prisoners away to an unknown location. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, p. A5, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Arrested / David H. Safavian - September 20th, 2005: "The top federal procurement official resigned Friday [09/16/05] and was arrested Monday [09/19/05]. He was accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. The complaint alleges that David H. Safavian, 38, a White House procurement official, made repeated false statements to government investigators about a golf trip with Abramoff to Scotland in 2002. [....] Until his resignation, Safavian was the top administrator at the federal procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget. He set purchasing policy for the entire government. [....] Abramoff's allegedly improper dealings with Indian tribes - which netted him and an associate at least $82 million in fees - brought the federal investigation. But investigators have found that his documents and emails contain a trove of information about his efforts to seek favors for clients from members of Congress and senior bureaucrats. Safavian is a former lobbying partner of anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist and previously worked with Abramoff at another firm. Both he and Abramoff have represented gambling clients and Indian tribes with gambling interests." [Based on: Washington Post article, p. A2, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Schizophrenia Drugs Trivia / U.S.A. - September 20th, 2005: "The nation's leading schizophrenia drug doesn't work much better than an older, far cheaper medicine, says a major government study. It found no clear winner in comparing treatments for the devastating mental illness. The biggest surprise: A generic drug from the 1950s called perphenazine proved as effective as all but one of a class of newer treatments called atypical antipsychotics. [....] Perphenazine can cost no more than $50 a month, compared with more than $600 for Zyprexa, depending on the dose. Publication of the results in this week's New England Journal of Medicine may help doctors work through the trade-offs in picking which medicine to try for the 3.2 million Americans with schizophrenia." [Based on: News Services article, p. A3, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Typhoon Saola / Marianas Islands - September 20th, 2005: "Typhoon Saola formed north of the Marianas Islands on September 20, 2005. It gradually built up power and became a well organized typhoon with a strong spiral pattern and distinct central eye over the next two days. [....]"
[Based on: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13156]
2005 - Propane Gas Explosion / Cincinnati, Ohio - September 20th, 2005: "Leaking propane gas exploded [09/18/05] and sent flames 300 feet into the air at a pipeline terminal facility outside Cincinnati, killing one person, authorities said. [....]" [Based on: News Services article, p. A3, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Waiting to Unload / Shipping Barges, Louisiana - September 20th, 2005: "Hundreds of Mississippi River barges are backed up and waiting to unload grain at hurricane-damaged terminals in Louisiana, causing a shipping shortage that has doubled equipment rental prices and raised export costs. About 500 barges are waiting to unload, twice the normal number, said Dan Martin, sales chief of No. I river carrier Ingram Barge Co. About 60 percent of U.S. grain exports float down the Mississippi." [Based on: Business page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Prison Sentence / Dennis Kozlowski & Mark Swartz - September 20th, 2005: "A state judge on Monday [09/19/05] sentenced former Tyco International executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison for looting their company of millions of dollars. The money went for lavish parties, luxurious homes and extravagances such as the $6,000 shower curtain that hung in Kozlowski's $31 million apartment on Fifth Avenue. In a case that came to symbolize an era of corporate greed, New York Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus also ordered Kozlowski and Swartz to pay nearly $240 million in fines and restitution. Kozlowski and Swartz immediately were taken into custody and led from the packed courtroom in handcuffs as family members of both men sobbed. In June, a jury found former Tyco Chief Executive Kozlowski, 58, and former Chief Financial Officer Swartz, 45, guilty of criminal counts of grand larceny, conspiracy, securities fraud and eight of nine counts of falsifying business records. Obus on Monday imposed the same prison sentence on both men. He ordered Kozlowski to pay a fine of $70 million and Swartz to pay a fine of $35 million. He ordered both men to pay a combined $134.4 million in restitution of illegal bonuses back to Tyco. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post article, p. C1, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - Al-Qaida Claim of Responsibility / July 7th London Bombings - September 20th, 2005: "Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a statement broadcast Monday [09/19/05] that his terrorist network carried out the July 7 London bombings. It marks the group's first direct claim of responsibility for the attacks that killed 52 people. [....] 'The blessed London attack was one which al-Qaida was honored to launch against the British Crusader's arrogance and against the American Crusader aggression on the Islamic nation for 100 years.' al-Zawahri said in the tape aired on Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV." [Based on: News Services article, p. A7, S.L.P.D., 09/20/05]
2005 - "Pornified" / U.S.A. - September 21st, 2005: "In her new book [Pornified, How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, And Our Families], journalist Pamela Paul sets out to scare readers about the effects of pornography on American society, and she succeeds mightily. Her weapon of choice is statistics. For instance:
* The adult film industry produces 11,000 films a year.
* Americans rent more than 800 million pornographic videos and DVDs each year, which accounts for about one in five of all rented movies.
* In California alone, pornographic materials bring in $9 billion to $14 billion a year.
* Some 260 million pages of pornography are available on the Internet.
* Pornographic sites are visited three times more often than Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search combined. [....] Pornography also is changing relationships. Paul reports that older men lie about their 'hobby,' spending hours 'catching up on work' on home computers. Many younger men watch porn on their office computers all day. [....]" [Based on: Everyday Page article by Patricia Corrigan, p. E3, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/21/05]
2005 - Guilty Plea / David Radler - September 21st, 2005: "Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher David Radler pleaded guilty of taking part in a scheme to siphon away $32 million from the newspaper's parent, Hollinger International Inc., for himself and others. [....] No sentencing date was scheduled. If Radler continues to cooperate, prosecutors will recommend 29 months in prison and a fine of $250,000." [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Hurricane Rita / Category 5 - September 21st, 2005: "Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled toward the Gulf Coast as a 165-mph Category 5 monster Wednesday [09/21/05]. More than 1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana were sent packing on orders from authorities who learned a bitter lesson from Katrina. [....]" [Based on: A.P. article, 09/22/05]
2005 - AIG Losses / Huricane Katrina - September 21st, 2005: "American International Group, one of the world's largest insurers, said Tuesday [09/20/05] that it expects $1.1 billion in after-tax losses for the third quarter, mainly because of claims from Hurricane Katrina. [....] Risk-assessment firms have estimated that Katrina could result in insurance claims of $40 billion to $60 billion." [Based on: Business Page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/21/05]
2005 - Strong Earthquake / Kuril Islands - September 21st, 2005: "A strong earthquake occurred at 02:25:07 (UTC) on Wednesday, September 21, 2005. The magnitude 6.2 event has been located in the KURIL ISLANDS. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"
[Based on: Preliminary Earthquake Report @: http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdfb1.htm]
2005 - Settlement / GlaxoSmithKline PLC - September 21st, 2005: "GlaxoSmithKline PLC will pay $150 million to settle claims it overcharged the government for two anti-nausea drugs, and prosecutors say they're looking into 150 cases of drug price fraud. Glaxo inflated the price of Zofran and Kytril for the Medicare and Medicade programs, which reimburse health care providers based on the manufacturers' prices, the government said." [Based on: Business Page article, p. C2, S.L.P.D., 09/21/05]
2005 - Death Toll Trivia / Hurricane Katrina - September 21st, 2005: "The receding floodwater allowed search crews to reach more of the city's devestated neighborhoods, causing the death toll in Louisiana to jump by 90 to 736 as of Monday [09/19/05]. The toll across the Gulf Coast was 973. [....]" [Based on: News Services article]
2005 - Severe Thunderstorm / Central Minnesota - September 21st, 2005: "A severe thunderstorm with high wind and hail pushed across central Minnesota, knocking out power Wednesday evening [09/21/05] to thousands around the Twin Cities and crunching trees over a wide area. The storm included straight line wind gusting to 67 mph in Monticello and 68 mph in the Crystal area, said Karen Trammell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. 'There are huge reports of wind damage all across the northern and eastern part of the Twin Cities,' Trammell said. There were unverified reports of tornado touchdowns in Atwater and Brooklyn Park. Funnel clouds were reported throughout the Minniapolis-St. Paul area. Xcel Energy said tens of thousands were without power in the region." [Based on: News Services article, p. A3, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/22/05] - [Note: Paragraph indents removed to save space - E.M.]
2005 - Increase / U.S. Federal Funds Interest Rate - September 21st, 2005: "The Federal Reserve on Tuesday [09/20/05] boosted a key interest rate and signaled that more rate increases were likely even as the country recovers from Hurricane Katrina. The action pushed the Fed's target for the federal funds rate - the interest that banks charge each other - to 3.75 percent. That's the highest level since the summer of 2001. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Death Toll Trivia / U.S. Service Personnel, Iraq - September 21st, 2005: "U.S. officials reportede Tuesday [09/20/05] that 12 more Americans were killied in Iraq. Eight of them were members of the armed forces, raising to 1,907 the number of U.S. service personnel who have died in the country since the invasion. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
2005 - Fatal Helicopter Crash / Mexico - September 22nd, 2005: "A helicopter carrying the Cabinet minister in charge of Mexico's federal police, his deputy and seven others crashed in cloud-shrouded mountains outside Mexico City on Wednesday [09/21/05], killing everyone on board, President Vincent Fox said. [....]" [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Time to move on, Mr. President - September 22nd, 2005:

Seriously, Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you anymore. There's no more money to spend. You used up all of that. You can't start another war because you also used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor people.
Yeah, listen to your mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit card's maxed out and no one is speaking to you: Mission accomplished! Now it's time to do what you've always done best: Lose interest and walk away. Like you did with your military service. And the oil company. And the baseball team. It's time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or spaceman?!
Now, I know what you're saying. You're saying that there's so many other things that you, as president, could involve yourself in ... Please don't. I know, I know, there's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela, and eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.
But, sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm surprised you haven't given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man.
Herbert Hoover was a (terrible) president, but even he never conceded an entire metropolis to rising water and snakes.
On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans ... Maybe you're just not lucky!
I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side. So, yes, God does speak to you, and what he's saying is, "Take a hint."

[Based on: article (From "Real Time with Bill Maher," HBO, September 9, 2005.), p. C13, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/22/05]
2005 - Hurricane Trivia / Atlantic Ocean - September 22nd, 2005: "[....] The yearly average for named storms in the Atlantic is 10. This year, there have been 17. With more than two months until the end of hurricane season, named storms could exceed 21, setting a record. After Hurricanes Vince and Wilma - the last names on this year's list - Greek letters will be used for any storms, starting with Alpha." [Based on: News Services article, p. A7, S.L.P.D., 09/22/05]
*Trivia: "[....] Since 1928, only 28 Category 5 hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic Ocean and, of those, only eight have struck land, three of them in the United States. Those three were an unnamed strom that hit the Florida Keys in 1935; Camille, which hit Mississippi in 1969; and Andrew, which struck southern Florida in 1992." [Based on: News Services article, p. A7, S.L.P.D., 09/22/05]
2005 - Prison Time / James R. Gibson - September 22nd, 2005: "James R. Gibson found out Wednesday [09/21/05] that winning an appeal in court is not necessarily a good thing. A federal judge sentenced the former investment manager - convicted in a multi-million-dollar fraud - to 40 years in prison. That's almost double Gibson's original sentence of 22 years, which was thrown out last year on appeal. [....] His sentence outstrips those ordered in some national-profile cases, like the eight years that Tyco International executive Dennis Kozlowski is expected to serve, and the 25-year term for former WorldCom Inc. chairman Bernard Ebbers. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
2005 - Cindy Sheehan / Washington D.C. - September 22nd, 2005: "In protest speeches outside the White House and Capitol, antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan pledged Wednesday [09/21/05] to 'force change to happen.' [....] She is expected to participate Saturday [09/24/05] in a rally against the Iraq war that organizers hope could draw tens of thousands of people." [Based on: News Services]
2005 - Atumnal Equinox / Northern Hemisphere - September 22nd, 2005: "Today is the autumnal equinox, the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere. The sun is crossing the celestial equator, and day and night are of almost equal length. That's why we call it an equinox, which in Latin means 'equal night.' Today is an equinox in the southern hemisphere, too, but there it marks the beginning of spring. Wherever you are, enjoy the change of seasons."
[Based on: http://spaceweather.com/] - [09/22/05]
2005 - Settlement / Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. - September 22nd, 2005: "Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle civil charges that its system allowed brokers to improperly execute more than 18,000 fund trades after the close of trading. Legg Mason, based in Baltimore, settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission without admitting or denying wrongdoing." [Based on: Business Page article, p. B2, S.L.P.D., 09/22/05]
2005 - Faulty Landing Gear / JetBlue Airliner, Los Angeles - September 22nd, 2005: "A JetBlue airliner with faulty landing gear touched down safely Wednesday [09/21/05] at Los Angeles International Airport after circling the region for three hours with its front wheels turned sideways, unable to be retracted into the plane. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]
*Trivia: "There have been at least seven cases in which t