attacks in Mumbai

MUMBAI, India - Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish center, killing at least 101 people and holding Westerners hostage in coordinated attacks on India's commercial center that were blamed on Muslim militants. Dozens of people were still trapped or held captive Thursday.

Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and dozens of people were believed held hostage or trapped inside the besieged buildings. Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry, said 101 people were killed and 314 injured.

George Bush, shoe salesman

The shoe hurled at President George W. Bush has sent sales soaring at the Turkish maker as orders pour in from Iraq, the US and Iran.

The brown, thick-soled “Model 271” may soon be renamed “The Bush Shoe” or “Bye-Bye Bush,” said Ramazan Baydan, who owns the Istanbul-based producer Baydan Ayakkabicilik San. & Tic.

“We’ve been selling these shoes for years but, thanks to Bush, orders are flying in like crazy,” he said in a telephone interview. “We’ve even hired an agency to look at television advertising.”

[12/19/08, posted 1/16/09]

Bush ducks shoe

President George W. Bush ducked a pair of shoes hurled at his head — one shoe after the other — in the middle of a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Both shoes narrowly missed their target and thumped loudly against the wall behind the leaders.

"Don't worry about it," the president said as the room erupted into chaos.

Iraqi reporters started shouting what Bush later explained were apologies for the incident.

[posted 1/7/09]

Obama and McCain discuss football

The bitter general election campaign behind them, President-elect Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain met Monday to discuss ways to work together in the future.

The two former rivals met in Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago. Obama said before the meeting that he and McCain planned "a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country, and also to offer thanks to Sen. McCain for the outstanding service he's already rendered."

Obama and McCain sat together for a brief picture-taking moment with reporters, along with Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend. Obama and McCain were heard briefly discussing football, and Obama cracked that "the national press is tame compared to the Chicago press."

When asked if he planned to help the Obama administration, McCain replied, "Obviously."

Hawaii to charge up cars?

By 2012, Hawaii is poised to become a national leader in electric car use under an ambitious plan announced yesterday by Gov. Linda Lingle.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Better Place has proposed a $1 billion plan to be funded through private investments that would include up to 100,000 charging stations around Hawaii and possible state incentives for thousands of electric car buyers to be rolled out in the next several years.

It is the first statewide project of its kind, and follows a similar outlay announced last month in San Francisco.

* * *

[5/13/09] Better Place of Palo Alto, Calif., the company with an ambitious $1 billion plan to launch a mass-market electric vehicle system in Hawaii, is feeling optimistic these days.

Besides the passage of key bills by the state Legislature and the governor's support, Better Place unveiled yesterday its first demonstration model of an electric car charging spot and battery-swapping station, in Yokohama, Japan.

"I'm excited about what this means for Hawaii," said Pete Cooper, of Better Place Hawaii. "This technology moves us closer to realizing the environmental and economic benefits of electrical vehicles : clean transportation using our state's natural, renewable sources of energy instead of imported fossil fuels."

As envisioned, Hawaii would be home to at least 3,000 electric cars in 2010 and 50,400 in 2015. By then the isles also would be outfitted with a network of up to 100,000 charging stations powered by renewable energy sources.

The issues

PARADE has boiled down the candidates' stands on various key issues from their many speeches, debates, and position papers. Note that when we say a candidate "would" do something, it reflects a promise, not a guarantee.

Obama selects national security team

President-elect Barack Obama called for “a new dawn of American leadership” on Monday as he formally introduced his national security team, led by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state.

“We will strengthen our capacity to defeat our enemies and support our friends,” Mr. Obama said in Chicago. “We will renew old alliances and forge new and enduring partnerships.”

The new president said he was sticking to his goal of removing American combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, which he called “the right time frame,” and that this would be accomplished with safety for the troops and security for the Iraqi people.

He introduced his team one by one, starting with Senator Clinton, his former bitter rival for the Democratic presidential nomination; then Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who will stay on, at least for a time, in the new administration; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, to be national security adviser; Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona to be secretary of homeland security: Susan E. Rice to be ambassador to the United Nations, and Eric H. Holder Jr. to be attorney general.

Karzai demands U.S. stop killing civilians

President Hamid Karzai has made an immediate demand of President-elect Barack Obama to prevent civilian casualties.

Kandahar province villager Abdul Jalil says he was hosting a wedding party for his niece when Taliban militants fighting U.S. forces took cover near his home. Jalil says 37 people were killed when U.S. warplanes later bombed the wedding party.

No Afghan officials could immediately confirm the number of casualties, which happened in a remote and dangerous part of Kandahar province. But Karzai referred to the incident at a news conference Wednesday held to congratulate Obama on his U.S. presidential election victory.

Karzai said he hopes the election will "bring peace to Afghanistan, life to Afghanistan and prosperity to the Afghan people and the rest of the world." He applauded America for its "courage" in electing Obama.

But he also used the occasion to immediately press Obama to find a way to prevent civilians casualties in operations by foreign forces. He then said airstrikes had caused deaths in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

"Our demand is that there will be no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. We cannot win the fight against terrorism with airstrikes," Karzai said. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States - to put an end to civilian casualties."

The U.S. military says it is investigating the reports but a spokesman said "if innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences."

The alleged airstrikes come only three months after the Afghan government found that a U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan. A U.S. report said 33 civilians died in that attack.

new cars being warehoused

Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier. Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country. But these are not ordinary times.

For now, the port itself is the destination. Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars worth tens of millions of dollars are being warehoused on increasingly crowded port property.

[via chucks_angels]

Obama's challenge

Obama will soon face the problem of beginning to disappoint people all over the world, a problem built into his job.

... his Achilles' heel, as it was for Bush and for many presidents, will be foreign policy. He has made what appear to be three guarantees. First, he will withdraw from Iraq. Second, he will focus on Afghanistan. Third, he will oppose Russian expansionism. To deliver on the first promise, he must deal with the Iranians. To deliver on the second, he must deal with the Taliban. To deliver on the third, he must deal with the Europeans.

[2/18/09 -- see also The New President and the Global Landscape]

Barack Obama elected President of the United States of America

Barack Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, shattered more than 200 years of history Tuesday night by winning election as the first African-American president of the United States.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there," Obama said in Chicago, Illinois.

Obama said he was looking forward to working with Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin "to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead."

McCain on Tuesday urged all Americans to join him in congratulating Sen. Barack Obama on his projected victory in the presidential election.

"I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face," McCain said before his supporters in Phoenix, Arizona.

McCain called Obama to congratulate him, Obama's campaign said.

Obama thanked McCain for his graciousness and said he had waged a tough race.

President Bush also called Obama to congratulate him.

Bush told Obama he was about to begin one of the great journeys of his life, and invited him to visit the White House as soon as it could be arranged, according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

With his projected win, Obama will become the nation's 44th president and its first African-American leader.

How many don't pay income taxes?

I've seen a number of figures of the percentage of Americans who don't pay income taxes. Like in the mid-40s say the Republicans.

Googling brought this article from The Tax Foundation

During 2006, Tax Foundation economists estimate that roughly 43.4 million tax returns, representing 91 million individuals, will face a zero or negative tax liability. That's out of a total of 136 million federal tax returns that will be filed. Adding to this figure the 15 million households and individuals who file no tax return at all, roughly 121 million Americans—or 41 percent of the U.S. population—will be completely outside the federal income tax system in 2006.1 This total includes those who pay no tax, and those who pay some tax upfront and are later refunded the full amount of the tax paid or more.

And this article from Wikipedia

According to a 2007 report by the Statistics of Income division of the Internal Revenue Service,[5] in 2006 the Internal Revenue Service received 134,372,678 individual income tax returns, of which 90,593,081 (67.42%) showed that they paid or owed federal income tax for 2005. That is, 32.58% of those Americans who filed income tax returns did not owe any federal income tax at all for 2005.

However, the federal income tax is only one of several taxes Americans pay. Other taxes, like excise taxes, sales taxes, and especially the payroll tax (a.k.a. FICA), are regressive — that is, the poor pay them at a higher rate relative to their income than do the non-poor. Just because somebody does not pay any federal income tax does not mean that they are part of a “non-taxpaying class,” or even that they pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than someone who does pay federal income tax.

Who are these lucky duckies? They are the beneficiaries of tax policies that have expanded the personal exemption and standard deduction and targeted certain voter groups by introducing a welter of tax credits for things like child care and education. When these escape hatches are figured against income, the result is either a zero liability or a liability that represents a tiny percentage of income.

* * *

Didn't realize that there were so many "poor" people in this country. So the Republican solution is to give more money to the rich corporations so they can create more jobs resulting in less poor people. This is trickle-down economics. The question is whether the corporations will actually create more jobs or keep the money and become more rich. Probably both.

The alternative is to continue these "handouts" to the economically challenged which the conservatives say would reduce the incentive to work harder to get out of their situation.

FactCheck's Whoppers of 2008

The last five weeks have brought so many ads we feel like we're drinking from a fire hose – and we'll bet you're pretty saturated, too.

Since our first "Whoppers of 2008" piece, we've seen some of the same themes repeated. McCain's campaign doesn't tire of distorting Obama's tax plan, it seems, and in the process has whipped up at least 15 minutes of fame for sudden star Joe the Plumber. Obama continues trying to pull seniors into his camp by making deceptive claims about what McCain would do to Social Security, and he has new distortions about his opponent's plans for Medicare.

And there are some fresh deceptions gobbling up airtime, including false depictions of McCain's position on stem cell research, Obama's connections to former Weatherman Bill Ayers and the community group ACORN, and both candidates' health care plans. Then there's a new parlor game, pin-the-blame-on-the-candidate for the financial crisis that has gripped the country.

For more on these and other mendacities and misrepresentations we've found recently, please read on

Rashid Khalidi

The Republican's new weapon against Obama is Rashid Khalidi.

John McCain's presidential campaign Tuesday accused the Los Angeles Times of "intentionally suppressing" a videotape it obtained of a 2003 banquet where then-state Sen. Barack Obama spoke of his friendship with Rashid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian scholar and activist.

The Times first reported on the videotape in an April 2008 story about Obama's ties with Palestinians and Jews as he navigated the politics of Chicago. The report included a detailed description of the tape, but the newspaper did not make the video public.

Hannity and Colmes on Fox is trumping that they now have their hands on the tape (well, more Hannity). While Keith Olbermann is smirking that McCain gave Khalidi 400 Gs in the past.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., did a live interview with Radio Mambi in Miami this morning in which he went after Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for his connections to a “PLO spokesman.”

McCain was referring to Rashid Khalidi, who, five years ago, Obama toasted at a going-away party before Khalidi headed off to New York City to become a professor at Columbia University.

In April, the Los Angeles Times’s Peter Wallsten wrote about the toast, saying a “special tribute came from Khalidi's friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi's wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking.

But McCain has his own connection to Khalidi.

In 1993, McCain became chairman of the International Republican Institute. He still chairs that respected organization.

That same year, Khalidi helped found the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, self-described as “an independent academic research and policy analysis institution” created to meet “the need for active Palestinian scholarship on issues related to Palestine.” (Its archived Web site is HERE.)

Khalidi was on the board of trustees through 1999.

According to tax returns, the McCain-chaired IRI funded the organization Khalidi founded and served on to the tune of $448,873 in 1998.

mayoral race

[9/25/08] It's disappointing that someone representing the Sierra Club would actually stoop to politically motivated hatchet jobs like the one authored by Randy Ching in yesterday's Star-Bulletin. His mean-spirited attack on Mayor Mufi Hannemann was riddled with distortions from beginning to end, and was a gross mischaracterization of the mayor's impressive environmental record.
-- A.J. Halagao is campaign coordinator for Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann's re-election campaign.

[9/24/08] Oahu's sustainability can't withstand another four years of Mayor Mufi Hannemann. On nearly every key environmental concern - energy, recycling, land protection, clean water, safe streets - Hannemann's policies have been devastating.
-- Randy Ching is chairman of the Sierra Club, Oahu Group

killing civilians?

[10/19/08] Iraqis protested the deaths of at least seven people during an American raid and airstrike on Friday in the northern town where Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003.

Americans say the raid succeeded in killing its target, a senior operative of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, also known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, who had been suspected of involvement in bombing attacks along the Tigris River Valley.

But Iraqi officials said the strike had used excessive force in killing eight members of one family, who the officials said were innocent. They accused the Americans of shooting down men and women from the air as they fled. The Americans said seven people had been killed.

[10/6/08] On Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity praised Gov. Sarah Palin for citing Sen. Barack Obama's remark that more coalition forces are needed in Afghanistan "so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." Hannity did not note that Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently offered Afghans "sincere condolences and personal regrets for the recent loss of innocent life as a result of coalition airstrikes" and that news outlets have repeatedly reported that U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan have resulted in civilian casualties.

[10/2/08] During a discussion of Afghanistan in the vice presidential debate at Washington University, Palin slammed Obama for saying all our troops are “doing in Afghanistan is air raiding villages and killing civilians."

... If the charge seemed oddly and painfully familiar it's because it has been levied at Obama - and subsequently dismissed - several times before during this election season.

[8/14/08] before about 800 people in Nashua, Obama made a comment likely to further the spats he was warned about.

Asked whether he would move U.S. troops out of Iraq to better fight terrorism elsewhere, he brought up Afghanistan and said, "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there."

The campaign heats up

[10/13] ABC's Imtiyaz Delawala and Ron Claiborne report: Gov. Sarah Palin significantly ratcheted down the rhetoric in her Sunday evening at an outdoor rally in Rush Run Park in St. Clairsville, OH. Unlike rallies earlier in the week that at times whipped up the crowd to a frenzied state, she made no mention of Sen. Barack Obama’s connection to former anti-war radical William Ayers, and used nearly-apologetic language when making criticisms of the Democratic presidential nominee.

* * *

Later Saturday, Lewis issued a statement saying a careful review of his remarks "would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace."

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," Lewis said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

* * *

In a statement, Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton writes that, while Obama does not agree with the comparison of McCain's campaign to those of segregation advocate George Wallace, he does believe that Rep. John Lewis is justified in his condemnation of "the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night," as well as Palin's assertion that the candidate "pals around with terrorists."

Here's the full statement: “Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies. But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’ As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead,” said Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton.

* * *

McCain has written about Lewis, praising his actions in Selma, Alabama, during the civil rights movement. The Republican nominee even said during a summer faith forum that Lewis was one of three men he would turn to for counsel as president.

But the Arizona senator blasted Lewis' remarks, and called on Obama to repudiate them.

"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale," he said in a Saturday afternoon statement released by his campaign.

"The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama's record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign. I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.

"I call on Sen. Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America."

* * *

Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights-era icon, invoked segregationist Gov. George Wallace of Alabama in accusing John McCain and Sarah Palin of fanning the flames of hatred at Republican campaign events.

"What I am seeing reminds me of too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement released to FOX News. "Senator McCain and Governor Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," Lewis added. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

* * *

During each of his rallies, Obama thanked his GOP rival for toning down the heated rhetoric that has been coming from both the McCain campaign and its supporters.

“I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other,” Obama said, adding, “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again - and I expect all of my supporters to understand this – Senator McCain has served this country with honor. He deserves our thanks for that. Every veteran deserves our thanks.”

* * *

WITH his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.

McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting “pitbull in lipstick”, against Senator Barack Obama. Cries of “terrorist” and “kill him” have accompanied the tirades by the governor of Alaska against the Democratic nominee at Republican rallies.

Mark Salter, McCain’s long-serving chief of staff, is understood to have told campaign insiders that he would prefer his boss, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, to suffer an “honourable defeat” rather than conduct a campaign that would be out of character – and likely to lose him the election.

McCain believes the attacks have spun out of control. At a rally in Lakeville, Minnesota, the Arizona senator became visibly angry when he was booed for calling Obama “a decent person”. He took the microphone from an elderly woman who said she disliked Obama because he was “Arab”, saying, “No ma’am, no ma’am”.

When another questioner demanded that he tell the truth about Obama, he said: “I want everybody to be respectful and let’s be sure we are.”

* * *

A allegation by Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that Barack Obama has ties with terrorists is "offensive," an Obama spokesman says.

Palin, governor of Alaska and running mate of Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain, Saturday accused Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois and McCain's Democratic opponent, of associating "with terrorists who targeted our own country."

It was an apparent reference to Obama's dealings with University of Illinois at Chicago Professor William Ayers, who in 1969 co-founded the militant anti-Vietnam War group Weather Underground.

Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan told CNN Palin's comments were "offensive" and "not surprising" given the McCain campaign's statement that "they would be launching Swift Boat-like attacks in hopes of deflecting attention from the nation's economic ills."

CNN said its own investigation of Obama's links to Ayers found they were confined to the two men working together on a non-profit group to raise funds for a Chicago school improvement project and a charitable foundation, adding there was nothing to suggest anything inappropriate.

"What's clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy," Sevugan told CNN.

* * *

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in Colorado, accused Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists."

Palin claimed Obama is close to Bill Ayers, a leader in the 1970s radical Weatherman group who is now a college teacher and activist in Chicago, The Denver Post reported. She said a campaign aide had suggested that "the gloves are off, the heels are on."

The Alaska governor met with Blue Star Mothers at a diner before her appearance at a breakfast fundraiser at Centennial Airport. The group brings together mothers of military service members.

At the fundraiser, Palin said she and Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, view the United States as "a force for good in the world."

"Our opponent, though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," she said.

Ayers and Obama live in the same Chicago neighborhood and served together on a non-profit group's board for several years.

Bill O'Reilly on Obama

Like him or not, you have to give Barack Obama credit for waging a smart, focused campaign. Destroying the Clinton machine was a major achievement and so was putting together a successful convention in Denver. Obama is now firmly a part of U.S. history, no matter what happens in the presidential election.

The problem some Americans continue to have with the Senator is that he is long on charisma but short on detail. This frightens some voters. Who the heck is this guy, anyway?

* * *

On the other hand, I happened to tune in to FNC yesterday and caught O'Reilly with Barney Frank. Pretty sad (though some may find it funny).

The New President and the Global Landscape

We have no wish to advise you how to vote. That's your decision. What we want to do is try to describe what the world will look like to the new president and consider how each candidate is likely to respond to the world.

[I assume he'll get to the new president's likely responses in a follow-up article.]

The Debates 2008

Presidential Debate 3: FactCheck, SNL

Presidential Debate 2: FactCheck, SNL (who won?)

VP Debate: FactCheck, SNL, (Sarah and Hillary, Sarah and Katie, on SNL)

Presidential Debate 1: FactCheck, SNL

Iraqi pullout?

The United States is moving towards ending its military control of Iraq by agreeing to withdraw combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns by next June and from the rest of Iraq by 2011, according to Iraqi and American negotiators.

The withdrawal of US troops to bases outside the cities, towns and villages would make the Iraqi government, whose security forces number half a million men, the predominant military power in Iraq for the first time since the US-led invasion of 2003.

mayoral debate

The three leading candidates for Honolulu mayor last night traded sharp questions and personal attacks while engaging in a contentious debate on issues ranging from the proposed commuter rail project to public safety and the fiscal condition of the city during difficult economic times.

In their only scheduled debate before the Sept. 20 primary election, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and University of Hawai'i engineering professor Panos Prevedouros met onstage at the Hawai'i Theatre before more than 250 supporters and others.

Hurricane Gustav

[8/30] Spooked by predictions that Hurricane Gustav could grow into a Category 5 monster, an estimated 1 million people fled the Gulf Coast Saturday — even before the official order came for New Orleans residents to get out of the way of a storm taking dead aim at Louisiana.

Mayor Ray Nagin gave the mandatory order late Saturday, but all day residents took to buses, trains, planes and cars — clogging roadways leading away from New Orleans, still reeling three years after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and killed about 1,600 across the region.

The evacuation of New Orleans becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday along the vulnerable west bank of the Mississippi River, and at noon on the east bank. Nagin called Gustav the "mother of all storms" and told residents to "get out of town. This is not the one to play with."

"This is the real deal, this is not a test," Nagin said as he issued the order, warning residents that staying would be "one of the biggest mistakes you could make in your life." He emphasized that the city will not offer emergency services to anyone who chooses to stay behind.

[9/2] Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Gustav, now downgraded to a depression over western Louisiana, spared New Orleans the devastation wrought three years ago by Katrina, while Tropical Storm Hanna hit the Bahamas on a course for the Carolinas.

Gustav lashed Louisiana and Mississippi as a hurricane, toppling trees, tearing off roofs and leaving half of New Orleans without power. The city's flood defenses were intact and the death toll may have been kept to single figures, officials said. Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and killed 1,800 people.

McCain chooses Elaine?

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain on Friday announced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate, calling her "the running mate who can best help me shake up Washington."

Who's next, Kramer?

CVS to buy Longs

CVS Caremark Corp., the second-biggest U.S. drugstore chain, said it would buy Longs Drug Stores Corp. for $2.9 billion, including debt, to expand its reach in the western U.S.

Longs Drug investors will receive $71.50 a share, the companies said today in a statement. That's 32 percent more than Longs Drug closed at in New York trading before the announcement.

CVS Chief Financial Officer David Rickard said in a 2006 interview that the drugstore chain wanted to expand its presence on the West Coast and was open to doing so through acquisitions. Longs Drug has 521 locations in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona.

* * *

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Longs Drugs Stores Corp. has developed a loyal following in Hawaii, with a history here dating back 54 years.

Longs reportedly open-ed its first store on Hotel and Bishop Streets in 1954, and was a hit with customers from the start.

George W. Bush sewage plant

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A measure seeking to commemorate President Bush's years in office by slapping his name on a San Francisco sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot.

The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

Supporters say the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq.

Local Republicans say the plan stinks and they will oppose it.

no WMDs welcome

PARIS (AP) - Forty-three nations, including Israel and Arab states, have agreed to work for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction in launching an unprecedented Union for the Mediterranean aimed at securing peace across the restive region.

In a final declaration, the nations represented at the summit - including Israel, Syria, the Palestinian Territories and countries across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa - agreed to "pursue a mutually and effectively verifiable Middle East Zone free of weapons of mass destruction."

The statement said that includes nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery systems, and said the countries will "consider practical steps to prevent the proliferation" of such weapons.

It was unclear, however, how the signatories - who included Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad - would enforce the pledge.

My Friend John McCain

It’s hard to believe it’s been 37 years since, as a POW in North Vietnam, I was moved from a fairly “easy” satellite POW camp to one of the cavernous cell bays of the medieval-like Hoa Lo prison in downtown Hanoi with 26 other “bad attitudes.”

“Because you have bad attitude you will go to a place more harsh,” the “V” snarled. ("V" was our generic slang term for the Communist interrogators.)

There, at what became known as the Hanoi Hilton, in cell bay No. 7, I first met Lt. Comdr. John McCain.

- by Jerry Coffee, Midweek, July 9, 2008

At the G8 Summit

After yesterday’s session of the G8 summit, today, the leaders of the group of eight met with the leaders of eight other emerging economies, namely India, China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, South Korea and Indonesia. These sixteen countries together account for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change has dominated the discussions at this year’s G8 summit in Japan. Yesterday, the leaders of the Group of Eight countries had decided to half the global emissions by 2050. However, in today’s discussions, only Indonesia, Australia and South Korea have supported the G8’s vision. All developing countries argued hard that it was developed countries who sacrificed nature during their growth and industrialization and now they should bear the brunt of taking on the expenses of curbing carbon emissions.

However no consensus could be achieved on the proposed target of carbon emissions, and leaders ‘safely stuck to their target’ of 50% less by 2050.

These countries have agreed to cut their greenhouse emissions but they avoided setting specific targets for the same. Chinese President Hu Jintao said that China being a developing country was on the path of industrialization and improving people’s welfare. United States is already opposed to committing to firm targets without assurances that big emerging economies will act too. Experts are doubtful that any substantial steps to fight global warming will be taken unless the new U.S. president assumes office in January 2009.

Obama = Carter?

I am writing in regards to Jade Moon’s column on Barack Obama. I don’t know why she is so big on him. Being a former newscaster and having lived through the Jimmy Carter presidency, I grew up in the ‘70s, just a she did, and wanted “change” from the old Nixon/Ford administration. I had just turned 19 in 1976 and jumped on the bandwagon of “change” and decided that I, along with all the other young, naïve people, were going to make a difference. We did, and got Carter elected.

Once he did, I realized that all of his policies led to a rapid rate of inflation, much higher gas prices and sky-high interest rates. I got my first car loan in 1978 and paid a 12.5 percent interest rate. All of his tax increases on the “rich” caused prices to get so high that the $200 he saved me through “tax breaks” cost me an extra $500 or more per year in inflation. Some change! An increase on capital gains taxes, raising taxes on big business and environmental restriction costs were passed on to regular people like me, people these changes were supposed to help!

Mr. Obama wants to implement these same laws and restrictions that have already failed in the past! How naïve can one be to think these policies would work now. I was a staunch and loyal Democrat for most of my life, and the Democrats have failed me. I refuse to make the same mistake twice!

As far as race or gender are concerned, and Jade Moon wants a “first,” why not nominate and elect Condoleezza Rice? She is highly intelligent, an expert on foreign policy, speaks numerous languages and actually knows something about the economy - qualities that Barack Obama seems to be lacking. I truly believe she would make a great president.

I think Jade Moon is seeing things through rose-colored glasses. Electing Obama will not only be a mistake, it will be one we have made before.

Mark Katayama
Honolulu

curbside recycling coming islandwide

[11/17/08] The blue bins are for aluminum cans; glass bottles and jars (without lids or tops); plastic containers marked with the 1 and 2 number code in a triangle; newspapers, minus magazines and glossy inserts; and corrugated cardboard only.

According to the opala.org Web site, materials in the blue bins are shipped to remanufacturing facilities, while yard waste placed in the green bins is composted locally.

"Low-grade" plastics and papers, such as plastic bags, Styrofoam containers, telephone books and cereal boxes can be tossed into the gray regular refuse cart to be burned at the city's HPOWER plant.

The city says those products "provide greater benefit to the island in local energy production than shipping to distant markets to be made into new products."

Tin or steel food cans should be tossed into the regular trash, not the recycling bin, because those metals are pulled out by magnets at HPOWER, then sold by the city to a metal recycler.

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The city will roll out its curbside recycling program to the rest of Oahu by giving each homeowner one refuse and one recycling pickup each week without the option to pay for additional trash service.

The city Department of Environmental Services announced Tuesday that it selected the pickup method in Hawaii Kai, where the curbside recycling program is being done on an experimental basis.

"Definitely, we're going forward," said Marcus Owens, spokesman for the Environmental Services Department. He said the program will expand in September when the bins for 39,000 East Oahu homes are rolled out. The entire island will be converted by May 2010.

Rush Hour worst in Honolulu

Cities like Los Angeles and Chicago would top any list of the nation's worst traffic areas, including a study released yesterday by a provider of national traffic trends. But Honolulu?

"If you happen to be driving on a Thursday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on its main highways, you're no longer in the Aloha State," according to the report compiled by INRIX. "You're in the worst place and worst hour of any single roadway in the U.S., taking 88 percent more time to get where you're going than if there were no congestion."

INRIX, a privately held Seattle-based corporation, yesterday released its National Traffic Scorecard, and ranked Honolulu as having the worst drive-time travel time in the nation.

Oil rises

Crude oil rocketed more than $10 a barrel Friday to a record high of $138.54, snuffing out motorists' hopes that gasoline prices might ease soon.

"It's like every time I look at the prices, they have jumped another 10 cents a gallon," groused James Freedner, 57, of Sun Valley. "I just don't know when this is going to stop."

The biggest one-day surge ever in crude prices was fueled by a mix of factors, including a gloomy U.S. job report and interest-rate fears that drove down the dollar, unease in the oil-rich Middle East and a prediction by a major brokerage firm that crude could hit $150 a barrel by July 4.

"Never before seen, unprecedented, amazing, epic, all those fit to describe today's [trading] session for crude oil and refined products," Denton Cinquegrana of the Oil Price Information Service wrote in a report to clients late Friday.

The $10.75-a-barrel jump at the New York Mercantile Exchange followed Thursday's increase of $5.49 and is expected to flow through quickly to the gas pump.

China Earthquake

Associated Press updated 6:27 p.m. HT, Mon., May. 12, 2008

CHENGDU, China - A powerful earthquake toppled buildings, schools and chemical plants Monday in central China, killing about 10,000 people and trapping untold numbers in mounds of concrete, steel and earth in the country's worst quake in three decades.

Myanmar Cyclone

May 7, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that up to 100,000 people may have died in the devastating cyclone.


AP (updated 3:54 a.m. HT, Sun., May. 18, 2008)

YANGON, Myanmar - A senior U.N. envoy arrived in Myanmar on Sunday to urge its military junta to accept more international aid for cyclone survivors, amid mounting fears of starvation, especially among children.

About 78,000 people are confirmed dead and 56,000 missing in the cyclone, according to the government. Aid agencies, however, say the death toll alone could be 128,000.

A glimmer of hope was raised Sunday when British Foreign Office Minister for Asia Lord Malloch-Brown said Myanmar may accept a compromise to use Asian intermediaries to open up to foreign help, including allowing Western ships to deliver aid to the country, which is also known as Burma.

Aloha Airlines shuts down

Aloha Airlines, which has been operating since before Hawaii became a state, abruptly announced yesterday it is shutting down passenger service after today.

The 61-year-old carrier, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just 10 days earlier -- its second such filing in a little more than three years -- said it ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for its passenger business.

David Banmiller, president and chief executive of Aloha, accused Mesa Air Group's go! of pushing Aloha over the edge.

"Unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business," said Banmiller, referring to a below-cost interisland airfare war that go! triggered when it entered the Hawaii market in June 2006.

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Aloha ‘oe

Castro resigns

HAVANA - Fidel Castro, ailing and 81, announced Tuesday he was resigning as Cuba’s president, ending a half-century of autocratic rule which made him a communist icon and a relentless opponent of U.S. policy around the globe.

The end of Castro’s rule — the longest in the world for a head of government — frees his 76-year-old brother Raul Castro to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel fell ill in July 2006.

President Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition, though he doubts that would come about under the rule of another Castro.

Bhutto assassinated

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack. Ms Bhutto - the first woman PM in an Islamic state - was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb. At least 20 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.

President Pervez Musharraf has urged people to remain calm but angry protests have gripped some cities, with at least 11 deaths reported. Security forces have been placed on a state of "red alert" nationwide.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. Analysts believe Islamist militants to be the most likely group behind it.

Ms Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), had served as prime minister from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996, and had been campaigning ahead of elections due on 8 January.

It was the second suicide attack against her in recent months and came amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials.