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The Strategy of Tension
NATO’s Hidden Terrorism

http://www.voltairenet.org/article144748.html

"The Economist"’s anger





The headlines in The Economist, London’s City weekly reference, read on December 16th, 2006 : " Don’t mess with Russia ". A photomontage represents President Putin in Al Capone, a gas pump serving as a submachine-gun.

The inside article denounces Vladimir Poutin’s " gangsterism " that modifies the game rules so as to prevent the foreign oil companies from exploiting Sakhalin deposits and uses the country’s natural resources to develop Russia’s power.

Without fear of a self contradiction, The Economist also blames Russia for complying with the free market laws, but in the other situations: Moscow refuses to pursue the communist discounts and wants to charge Georgians and Moldavians, who turned their back on Russia to the benefit of the NATO, the international price for its gas.

The Economist also imputes to the Kremlin Alexander Litvinenko’s murder.

Finally, may we remind our readers that The Economist does not describe the invasion of the Iraqi oil fields as a "gangsterism", but as a " crusade for freedom ".

Military: 4 Soldiers Dead In Attack

Friday, Jan. 26, 2007 By AP/STEVEN R. HURST AND QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

In perhaps the boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare, gunmen speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons abducted four U.S. soldiers last week at the provincial headquarters in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala and then shot them to death.

The U.S. military confirmed a report earlier Friday by The Associated Press that three of the soldiers were dead and one was mortally wounded with a gunshot to the head when they were found in a neighboring province, about 25 miles from the compound where they were captured. A fifth soldier was killed in the initial attack on the compound.

The new account contradicted a U.S. military statement on Jan. 20, the day of the raid on an Iraqi governor's office, that five soldiers were killed "repelling" the attack.

The security breakdown and the dramatic kidnapping and murder of four soldiers leaked out just as President Bush faces stiffening congressional opposition over his plan to flood Baghdad and surrounding regions with 21,500 more American troops. Two of Congress's most vocal war critics, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Murtha , were in the Iraqi capital as the news broke.

In a statement issued late Friday, the military said two of the soldiers were handcuffed together in the back seat of an SUV near the southern Iraqi town of Mahawil. A third dead soldier was on the ground nearby. The fourth soldier died on the way to the hospital.

The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad, was conducted by nine to 12 gunmen posing as an American security team, the military confirmed. The attackers traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles (the type used by U.S. government convoys), had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English, according to two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials. None of the American or Iraqi officials would allow use of their names because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The confirmation came after nearly a week of inquiries. The U.S. military in Baghdad initially did not respond to repeated requests for comment on reports that began emerging from Iraqi government and military officials on the abduction and a major breakdown in security at the Karbala site.

Within hours of the AP report that four of the five dead soldiers had been abducted and found dead or dying about 25 miles east of Karbala, the military issued a long account of what took place.

"The precision of the attack, the equipment used and the possible use of explosives to destroy the military vehicles in the compound suggests that the attack was well rehearsed prior to execution," said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman for Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

"The attackers went straight to where Americans were located in the provincial government facility, bypassing the Iraqi police in the compound," he said. "We are looking at all the evidence to determine who or what was responsible for the breakdown in security at the compound and the perpetration of the assault."

The Karbala raid, as explained by the Iraqi and American officials, began after nightfall on Jan. 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center in Karbala.

Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of black GMC Suburbans was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of the city. The Iraqi soldiers believed it to be American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and the fact that they spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that.

A top Iraqi security official for Karbala province told the AP that the Iraqi guards at the checkpoint radioed ahead to the governor's compound to alert their compatriots that the convoy was on its way.

Iraqi officials said the attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building where the meeting was taking place, and others parking in front.

The attackers threw a grenade and opened fire with automatic rifles as they grabbed two soldiers inside the compound. Then the guerrilla assault team jumped on top of an armored U.S. Humvee and captured two more soldiers, the U.S. military officials said.

In its statement, the U.S. military said one soldier was killed and three were wounded by a "hand grenade thrown into the center's main office which contains the provincial police chief's office on an upper floor."

The attackers captured four soldiers and fled with them and the computer east toward Mahawil in Babil province, crossing the Euphrates River, the U.S. military officials said.

The Iraqi officials said the four were captured alive and shot just before the vehicles were abandoned.

Police, who became suspicious when the convoy of attackers and their American captives did not stop at a roadblock, chased the vehicles and found the bodies, the gear and the abandoned SUVs.

The military statement said: "Two soldiers were found handcuffed together in the back of one of the SUVs. Both had suffered gunshot wounds and were dead. A third soldier was found shot and dead on the ground. Nearby, the fourth soldier was still alive, despite a gunshot wound to the head." The wounded soldier was rushed to the hospital by Iraqi police but died on the way, the military said.

The military also said Iraqi police had found five SUVs, U.S. Army-type combat uniforms, boots, radios and a non-U.S. made rifle at the scene.

Three days after the killings, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they were detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects.

Friday's military statement referred to the attackers as "insurgents," which usually suggests Sunnis. Although Karbala province is predominantly Shi'ite, Babil province is heavily populated by Sunnis in the north, near Baghdad. Babil's central and southern regions are largely Shiite.

A senior Iraqi military official said the sophistication of the attack led him to believe it was the work of Iranian intelligence agents in conjunction with Iraq's Shi'ite Mahdi Army militia, which Iran funds, arms and trains.

The Defense Department has released the names of troops killed Jan. 20 but clearly identified only one as being killed because of the sneak attack.

Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., "died of wounds suffered when his meeting area came under attack by mortar and small arms fire." Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio.

The only other troops killed that day in that region of Iraq were four Army soldiers said to have been "ambushed while conducting dismounted operations" in Karbala.

The four were identified as 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Neb.; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Prairieville, La.; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Homer, N.Y., and Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Ala. All were with the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

FLU-ISH B.B. OUT OF HOSP
Reuters

January 28, 2007 -- LOS ANGELES - B.B. King was released from a Texas hospital yesterday, two days after the 81-year- old blues legend was admitted with flu-like symptoms, a spokeswoman said.


King was hospitalized Thursday with a low-grade fever resulting from the flu. He had been scheduled to perform at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston Thursday and Friday nights. Both shows were canceled.

2008 Candidates: Democrats Barack Obama
by Ken Rudin


February 10, 2007 · At some point soon, we are going to find out whether Barack Obama is a political phenomenon with real staying power, or whether he is a product of hype. He has been in the Senate for just two years and has few legislative accomplishments under his belt; his strength is his speaking style and his ability to connect with his listeners. But that may be enough for Obama, who is the only African-American currently in the Senate (and only the third black senator since Reconstruction).

Three years ago, Obama was in the Illinois state legislature; six years ago, he was crushed in a primary bid for Congress in Chicago against Democratic incumbent Bobby Rush.

Obama was a surprise winner in Illinois' 2004 Democratic primary for Senate. Soon after, he became a national figure with an impressive keynote speech at that year's Democratic convention. A landslide victory in the general election followed.

The story of Barack Obama is not black and white, though his background is. The son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, he has often been described as someone who "transcends" race. That is a major part of his appeal. But race has a strange way of making an appearance in politics, and it is too soon to dismiss it as a factor.

Obama's statement last October, on NBC's Meet the Press, that he was considering running for president, has been credited with the sudden rush of activity of people announcing, or not announcing, their candidacies. His admirers see Obama as being above politics and partisanship, although he has compiled a decidedly liberal record during his two years in the Senate.

When he announced on his Web site the formation of his presidential exploratory committee, Obama said his candidacy was about the "future." One wonders if that was a reference not only to the Republicans but to his (at this point) toughest challenger for the Democratic nomination: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

One way in which Obama differs from Clinton, in the eyes of his supporters, is the sense that he is genuine. While Clinton brings many strengths to the table — including national recognition, a formidable war chest and a voluminous Rolodex — a common complaint is that she is seen as scripted and calculating. No one seems to say that about Obama.

A record as thin as Obama's offers his opponents less to pick at. But a serious examination of his life is no doubt under way. (In his first book, written in 1996, he admitted to cocaine use in his past.) Yet a slim resume need not derail Obama's presidential ambitions. Recall that another Illinoisan sought the presidency with a thin record in public office: Abraham Lincoln.

Obama is probably more cognizant than anyone of how fleeting hype can be. But as he enters the beginning stage of what could be a historic candidacy, the hype is certainly in his favor.

Ultimately, Democratic voters are likely to decide among the top candidates based on their personalities and style. For the most part, all are pretty much in sync on the issues, such as Iraq. But there are subtle differences.

Clinton, for example, voted for the war resolution in 2002, and while she has become a strong critic of the war, she has refused to call her vote a mistake. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, his party's nominee for vice president in 2004, also voted for the war. But Edwards has spent the last year or so apologizing for that vote and criticizing his Democratic opponents (Clinton in particular) for not doing the same.

Unlike those two, Obama has nothing to apologize for in the minds of many antiwar activists, a group that could very well play a pivotal role in determining who wins the Democratic nomination for president. Obama is a strong and consistent opponent of the war in Iraq. While he was not, of course, in the Senate during the vote on the war in 2002, he spoke out against the war at that time while in the Illinois state legislature.

This Week in History
2003: U.S.-LED FORCES INVADE IRAQ

In 2003, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq without the backing of the United Nations. The invasion was based on intelligence which supposedly indicated that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. This intelligence was later found to be inaccurate and no such weapons were ever found. Tens of thousands of Iraqis died during the invasion and subsequent occupation. In 2004 the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, declared the invasion illegal.
Guide for Teachers

French Paper Cleared in Publishing Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad

A French satirical newspaper has been cleared of insulting Muslims by publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The ruling is considered a victory for free speech. Anita Elash has more for VOA from Paris.

A man holds the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, 22 March 2007 in Paris, as he waits before the trial
The case involving the weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo has been closely watched in France, and provoked a national debate over whether the right to free speech takes precedence over religious sensibilities.

Charlie Hebdo was one of several papers around the world that reprinted two caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, first published in Denmark in 2005. One of the cartoons depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. An original third drawing by a French cartoonist showed the Prophet in tears, saying "It is hard to be loved by fools," an apparent reference to Islamic extremists.

The paper's director had risked a six-month prison sentence and a $30,000 fine.

Lawyers for the groups suing the paper for defamation said Charlie Hebdo had gone too far, and had publicly abused a group of people because of their religion.

Charlie Hebdo's director, Philippe Val, acknowledged that the cartoons might have upset some fundamentalist Muslims. But he said democracy involved debate, and religion can be debated in a democracy.

The state prosecutor in the trial argued in favor of the magazine. The judges agreed that Charlie Hebdo had done nothing wrong. They said that, taken by itself, the drawing of Prophet Muhammad with a bomb could have been shocking and hurtful to Muslims, but they said the cartoons were a comment on fundamentalism and that Charlie Hebdo meant no harm.

The conservative Union of French Islamic Organizations said it would appeal the decision.

Other newspapers that have been taken to court for publishing the caricatures have been acquitted.

French pause ahead of first round

Candidates appealed to patriotism in their final campaign bids
France has suspended campaigning for a day of reflection before Sunday's presidential election first round.
After one of the most hard-fought campaigns France has seen, more than one-third of voters remain undecided.

A ban on opinion polls and campaigning is now in force, with voters given a day to consider their options.

The leading candidates are centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy, socialist Segolene Royal, centrist Francois Bayrou and far-right leader Jean-Marie le Pen.

Early voting began in the French overseas territories of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, in the North Atlantic ocean.

The islands are France's smallest overseas territories, with some 5,000 voters.

In mainland France, ballots are due to open at 0800 (0600 GMT) on Sunday, closing 12 hours later.

The second round of voting will take place on 6 May.

Final appeals

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says that in their final rallies the candidates tried to outflank each other in their appeals to patriotism and promises to tackle France's economic problems.

Mr Sarkozy ended his campaign in flamboyant style, our correspondent says, filmed astride a white horse at a bull farm in southern France, in a rugged appeal to the farming vote.

Ms Royal continued her informal style with a Socialist picnic near the city of Poitiers, while Mr Bayrou focused on the crucial working-class vote in the north.

French voters' views

But Sarko and Sego, as the two main candidates have become known, have proven deeply divisive figures, giving Mr Bayrou a broad appeal that has made the outcome impossible to predict, our correspondent says.

New voters

Mr Le Pen came a surprise second in the 2002 election, beating the socialist candidate to reach the run-off second round, where he was defeated by Jacques Chirac.

This time, there are more than one million newly registered voters, the biggest increase in 25 years. Many of them are young people or French citizens living abroad, whose voting intentions are hard to gauge.

Ms Royal has promised to build a "fairer and stronger" France

Europe Diary: A useful vote

Another novelty is the use of electronic voting machines in some districts, criticised by the socialists and some other opposition parties as dangerously unreliable. They will be used by 1.5 million voters.

Ms Royal hopes to become France's first woman president, but left-wing voters are among the most volatile, surveys suggest. She has several rivals on the left who could undermine her support.

Whoever wins, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus, it will mark a change of political generation and perhaps a shift in French international priorities, making this election matter even to those outside France.

This Week in History

1961: CUBA REPELS "BAY OF PIGS" INVASION

In 1961, a force of 1,400 Cuban exiles from the U.S.A. landed at the "Bay of Pigs" in Cuba with the aim of overthrowing Fidel Castro's government. The insurgents landed with American support from the sea and air but were defeated by Cuban forces in just 3 days. More than 100 of the insurgents died in the attack, and 1,189 were taken prisoner. The failed invasion proved an embarrassment for the U.S. government after their involvement was revealed.

Nations meet to protect wildlife
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website


Countries are looking to improve protection for animals and plants
Elephants and the ivory trade come under the spotlight as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) summit opens.

Just prior to the opening, a committee voted that a limited sale of stockpiled ivory from southern Africa to Japan could go ahead.

Some African countries want a 20-year ban on trading ivory.

The two-week meeting in The Hague will also seek protection for the sawfish, cedar, and some corals.

Conservation groups are targeting China's tiger farming business.

The three-yearly Cites meetings set restrictions on trade in species regarded as endangered or threatened.

This year's summit on the 32-year old treaty brings 175 national delegations to The Hague, along with other UN agencies, and conservation and animal welfare organisations.

Opposing visions

Two starkly different approaches to the largely banned ivory trade will be up for discussion.

Kenya and Mali are seeking a total 20-year moratorium, while Botswana and Namibia are seeking increased exports.

Cites has twice before granted southern African countries the right to export ivory from stockpiles to Asia.

Concerns over mechanisms for monitoring the trade had prevented the second sale, approved in 2002, from taking place.

But on the eve of the meeting, a technical committee decided that mechanisms to monitor poaching in Africa were sufficiently effective, and that Japan had established proper safeguards to ensure only the designated ivory was imported. South Africa, Botswana and Namibia will sell 60 tonnes to the Asian nation.

Conservationists believe any extension in legal exports will fuel the already substantial illegal trade.

"Every time Cites even talks about relaxing the ivory ban, poaching goes up," said Peter Pueschel of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw).

A recent report from the wildlife trade monitoring organisation Traffic said there were now 92 seizures of illegal ivory seizures each month.

Fresh from a string of defeats at the International Whaling Commission in Alaska, Japan is trying another route to an expansion of whaling by asking Cites to review restrictions on trading whale meat.

Conservation and animal welfare organisations are also alarmed by China's bid for a relaxation of rules on trading products from tiger farms which have sprung up in recent decades.

"If you open up a legal trade in tiger parts, it opens up a huge demand which can obviously cause problems for the wild populations," observed Dave Eastham, head of wildlife at the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

The list of life-forms for which governments are seeking extra protection is dominated by marine organisms.

The sawfish, hunted for its spectacular rostrum (snout), the porbeagle shark, and the spiny dogfish (whose meat is sold in British fish and chip shops under the name rock salmon) are all being depleted fast.

Red and pink corals, extracted principally in Asia and the Mediterranean and exported mainly to the US for use in necklaces, are also on the target list of conservation-minded governments.

However, there is opposition to listing some of these species, notably from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which feels effective fisheries management would be a better and less bureaucratic option.

On land, protection is being sought for some rosewood and cedar trees. Pau Brazil, whose wood is used in top-of-the-range violin bows, may also gain protection.

One long-term issue likely to divide delegates is a proposal that development and poverty concerns should be taken into account when deciding Cites restrictions.

Doctor felt babies were suffering

The doctor was involved in baby care at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
A doctor who gave a paralysing drug to two terminally ill babies, hastening their deaths, "felt in his heart" the children were suffering.
Consultant neonatologist Michael Munro, 41, injected the two children at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital after they suffered violent body spasms.

A General Medical Council (GMC) panel heard he thought it was "horrendous to witness" for relatives of the children.

Dr Munro denied his conduct was below standard, dishonest or inappropriate.

The inquiry has heard the doctor's administration of drugs in 2005 hastened the deaths of two terminally ill babies and was "tantamount to euthanasia".

The parents were in tears saying things like 'I can't take any more'. I took the decision then to administer Pancuronium

He gave 23 times the normal dose of a muscle relaxant, medical watchdogs were told.

When babies become weak with treatment withdrawal they can struggle to breathe, a condition known as agonal gasping.

Colleagues raised doubts about the treatment and an investigation was launched into the doctor's actions.

Asked on Monday how the parents of baby Y appeared, Dr Munro replied: "They were utterly distraught.

"If you put yourself in their shoes, they have already said their last goodbyes to their baby, then suddenly there are these massive, racking agonal gasps which appeared to build up - they were utterly, utterly distraught.

He said he chose Pancuronium after reading a recent article in a medical journal.

He said the drug appeared ethical and acceptable to be used in this situation and, following discussion with the family, told a nurse to fetch the muscle relaxant.

He said: "While [the nurse] was outside, I explained to the parents that this drug was to be used to ease the suffering but that one of the consequences of its use may be to hasten death.

"They were happy with that."

Questioned about why he failed to record the drug's use in the medical notes, Dr Munro denied he had attempted to hide his actions.

Baby 'distressed'

In the case of baby X, the doctor was again called to certify death and discovered the infant's faint heartbeat. Again the child began agonal gasping.

Dr Munro said: "I tried to explain that this was simply a reflex although I felt in my heart that this baby was distressed."

Following discussion with the child's family, Dr Munro made the decision to administer a dose of Pancuronium and the infant died a short while later.

He again denied his failure to record the use of the drug in notes was an attempt to hide his actions but conceded his note-taking had been inadequate.

Andrew Long, representing the GMC, underlined earlier that neither of the children's parents were unhappy with the doctor's treatment of their babies.

Officials see new urgency to improve USA's bridges
By Rick Hampson, Dennis Cauchon and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY
Against the shock of a mighty span's inexplicable fall — at rush hour, into the nation's greatest river — bridge experts offer this reassurance: The same federally mandated inspections that show one-quarter of U.S. bridges to be "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete" also indicate they're in very little danger of collapsing.
Of course, that's what the same experts would have said about the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis before it crashed down Wednesday.

As rescue crews searched the Mississippi River on Thursday for what could be up to 30 more victims beyond the four confirmed dead, it was clear that the bridge's sudden failure — like a similar one 40 years ago in West Virginia that inspired the inspection system — could put a new focus on the nation's decaying bridges.

ACROSS THE U.S.: Busy bridges that need work

Across the nation Thursday, there was a fresh urgency on improving infrastructure — the roads, bridges, utilities and other basics of modern life that aren't always the most popular spending priorities for governments.

In Minneapolis, there was grief, outrage and questions over whether government officials could have done more to prevent the disaster. "A bridge in the middle of America shouldn't fall into a river," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., whose home is near the span.

The disaster on Minnesota's busiest bridge — which carries 141,000 cars a day — raised hopes of more money for infrastructure in general. The bridge collapse came two weeks after an 83-year-old steam pipe exploded under a street in Midtown Manhattan, sending a geyser of gases and debris hundreds of feet into the air.The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that the USA needs to spend $1.6 trillion over five years to put its infrastructure — which includes some 590,000 bridges — in good condition.

"Unfortunately, it takes a catastrophe to get us busy on some things," said Sam Maggard, head of the Bridge Inspection Program at New Mexico State University.

He was thinking of another rush-hour bridge collapse four decades ago.

On Dec. 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge between Point Pleasant W.Va., and Gallipolis, Ohio, suddenly buckled and collapsed. All but six of the 37 vehicles on the bridge fell into the Ohio River or onto its banks; 46 people were killed.

The disaster led to the creation of the National Bridge Inspection Standards in the early 1970s. Now, a bridge is supposed to be inspected at least every two years.

Other disasters also expanded the store of knowledge about bridge failure:

•The 1987 collapse of a New York State Thruway bridge, in which 10 people died, alerted officials to the problem of scouring on underwater bridge supports. That's when swirling water erodes sediment in which the supports are sunk.

•The fall of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay in 1980, after it was rammed by a ship, focused attention on the threat to bridges from water traffic.

"Sometimes it takes a tragedy to get decision-makers to pay attention," said Andrzej Nowak, who teaches civil engineering at the University of Nebraska. "I think the biggest thing to come of this will be that, as a nation, we'll spend more money replacing and maintaining these older bridges."

A call for spending

Such spending is long overdue, in the view of many who study the issue.

"Let's face it: It's not a popular thing to throw money at maintaining something as dull as a bridge," says Terry Wipf, director for bridges at Iowa State University's Center for Transportation Research and Education.

"Infrastructure is such a geeky, wonky topic that it's difficult to get the attention of the public or elected officials," says Robert Dunphy of the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C.

"You can increase a bridge's life by washing it once a year, but we don't even have the money to do that," says Nowak.

They and other experts agreed that U.S. bridges — inspected regularly and designed for loads far greater than they should ever have to bear — generally are safe.

"I don't take (the Minneapolis disaster) as a warning sign that we have to be scared about driving over bridges," said Tripp Shenton, a University of Delaware civil engineer. "The rate of failure is so small we don't have to be worried."

Excluding those caused by obvious external forces — earthquakes, floods, vessel or vehicle collisions — the collapse of the I-35W bridge marked only the third time since the Silver Bridge disaster that the fall of an American bridge had caused the loss of multiple lives.

The others were the 1983 collapse of the I-95 bridge over the Mianus River in Greenwich, Conn., which killed three, and the 1987 Thruway bridge collapse near Amsterdam, N.Y.

"Everything isn't perfect, we know that, and it's hard to find the right word for what it is," Maggard says. "Reasonably safe? Yeah. Generally safe? Yeah. Not every inspector catches every flaw on every bridge, but at least we've got someone out there looking."

Neglect of aging bridges is less a safety issue than an economic one, Wipf says. "Bridges don't last as long as they should because they're not maintained. We lose money by not investing in our infrastructure."

Generations of decaying bridges

Thousands of the USA's most heavily traveled bridges are 30 to 60 years old. They were built, beginning in the 1950s, as part of the interstate highway system. Others bridges are much older. The George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey and New York City last year observed its 75th birthday, and got a $62 million makeover.

The ill-fated I-35W bridge seems to have been a prime example of the age and neglect that plagues many U.S. spans.

In 1990, the U.S. government rated the bridge as "structurally deficient," citing corrosion in its bearings. The designation means some portions of the bridge need to be scheduled for repair or replacement. Inspectors did not believe the corrosion was a major problem. Inspectors later found cracks and corrosion in the steel around the bridge's joints; those were repaired by the state, which is responsible for maintenance of the bridge.

In a 2005 inspection, the 40-year-old bridge rated 50 on a scale of 100 for structural stability and was classified as "structurally deficient." That "didn't mean that the bridge is unsafe," Transportation Secretary Peters says.

"We thought we had done all we could," Minnesota state bridge engineer Dan Dorgan said near the mangled remains of the span. "Obviously something went terribly wrong."

According to federal data based on a June 2005, inspection, the bridge compared poorly with others:

•Among bridges in the urban interstate system, only about 6% had a structure with a rating as bad or worse than the I-35W span.

•Among all urban highway bridges with six or more lanes, only about 15% were rated as bad or worse.

•Among all kinds of urban highway bridges, only about 6% were described, like the I-35W bridge, as structurally deficient, based on factors such as the condition of its superstructure or clearance over water.

The relatively poor rating doesn't mean the bridge was unsafe because modern spans are designed with large safety margins to reduce the chance of failure, says Shenton, the Delaware engineer.

Designers calculate the strength necessary to carry a deck full of vehicles and add at least 70% more strength to the bridge, he says. "When we actually go out and do field tests of bridges, they are more over designed than we think they are."

Some bridges considered structurally deficient aren't up to the weight standards of today's traffic, says Finn Hubbard, state bridge engineer for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

"The ones that are 50 to 60 years old are the ones we get worried about because trucks were considerably lighter then," he says. Those bridges are posted with weight limits.

Although the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the condition of the nation's infrastructure a "D" grade, bridges got a "C." In the penny-pinching world of infrastructure, says Dunphy of the Urban Land Institute, "bridges are about as good as it gets."

If even low-rated bridges are supposed to be safe, how could Wednesday's disaster have happened?

Shenton says the federally mandated inspections on the bridge should have caught any problems. Visual inspections are far from perfect, however, and small cracks or other problems are easy to miss.

"When you are inspecting a bridge like that, it's a huge structure," he says. "That's a lot of area to cover. You get down in there; there's a lot of dirt and debris and pigeon crap."

Better inspection methods

The U.S. government is pushing more sophisticated inspection techniques. "Today, a typical bridge inspection is like going to a doctor and having him ask how you feel, but not checking your blood pressure or using a stethoscope," Shenton says.

Inspectors can use ultrasound to look inside a bridge or apply a dye that can reveal cracks not visible to the eye. Eventually, many major bridges also will get computerized warning systems that will automatically detect problems, much as they do in cars or the space shuttle.

That costs as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars per bridge, Wipf says.

In 2005 the Federal Highway Administration started a major effort to preserve bridges. The program includes a 20-year research effort to better understand how bridges deteriorate and how to spot the symptoms.

Also, a 10-year national effort to overhaul the design and safety code that engineers use to build bridges will culminate Oct. 31, when the new specifications become mandatory for new federally funded bridges.

The rules — which cover specifics such as beam sizes and concrete strength — won't make bridges look markedly different. They're designed to make new bridges last 75 years (as opposed to 50) and cost less.

Now, "we understand better why bridges fall down," said Kelley Rehm, a structural engineer at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

How to pay for these and other infrastructure improvements? Governments need to tap private investors, says Chris Lawton, a partner in Ernst & Young, a firm that designs such deals. The United Kingdom finances 10% to 15% of its infrastructure needs through private investment, he says. That could mean more toll bridges and roads, or transferring long-term maintenance of a bridge to a private firm, he says.

Maggard, the New Mexico State bridge inspection director, says the problem goes back to the beginning of the interstate highway system.

"We did not realize it would take all the freight off the rails, and put a car in every garage," he says. "We increased the traffic and the weight so much we reduced the life span of our bridges."

U.N. to create largely African force for Darfur

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations said it has received pledges of troops and police for a predominantly African peacekeeping force to help end the four-year conflict in Darfur that has claimed over 200,000 lives, which would meet a key Sudanese demand.
The U.N. Peacekeeping Department and the new Department of Field Support issued a preliminary list of countries that have offered military and police personnel for the 26,000-strong joint African Union-United Nations force. It includes a large number of countries from Africa, several from Asia, one from the Middle East and none from the West.

"We are hitting the target of a predominantly African force, and we're very pleased about that," Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute, acting head of the Department of Field Support, said Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council authorized the "hybrid" force a week ago after months of delay in getting agreement from the Sudanese government. It is the first joint peacekeeping operation by the African Union and the United Nations and will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force now in Darfur no later than Dec. 31.

Lute, a lawyer and retired U.S. army officer who was formerly on the staff of the U.S. National Security Council, said she was very pleased with the number of infantry battalions pledged at an "extraordinary" meeting last week of potential troop and police contributing countries. But she said the hybrid force still needs aviation and ground transport units.

New Yorkers Protest for the Freedom to Use Cameras

Par Malika Worrall (Journaliste) 02/08/2007

(From New York) New York photographers, film-makers and First Amendment activists have been rushing to protect their freedom to use cameras in one of the world's most visually iconic cities. Following a proposal for new film permit rules by the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB), New Yorkers have been staging multimedia protests in an attempt to garner support and make themselves heard before the public comment period expires this Friday.
The proposed rules would require that a permit be obtained for any filming or photography taking place in one location involving two or more people for over thirty minutes, or involving five or more people using a tripod for over ten minutes. Filmmakers and photographers are also required to have liability insurance.
Over the past two weeks, various protests have been staged against the proposed rules, including an e-petition, which by Wednesday had more than 16,000 signatures, as well as a rally in Manhattan's Union Square last Friday, and a series of online video shorts targeted at Julianne Cho, associate commissioner of the MOFTB. Leading the protests is an ad hoc coalition of artists, filmmakers and photographers called Picture New York Without Pictures of New York.
A threat for freelancers?
Working closely with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Picture New York's protests have largely focused on the MOFTB's implicit discrimination against independent filmmakers and photographers who cannot afford the insurance required by the proposed rules. They also think it discriminates against those whose work is often based on a spontaneity and immediacy that would be destroyed by a lengthy permit application process. Many suspect that obtaining a permit might become especially difficult for freelancers.
"I'm a part of independent media, but that's not a credible form of news," said artist-activist photographer Jim Costanzo, at last Friday's rally. "I'm sure Fox can get anything they want, corporate media can, but what about individuals who aren't affiliated with corporate media? Then it becomes an issue of censorship."
For its part, the MOFTB's website points out that it is rare for recreational photographers to stay on one spot for more than half an hour, and states that students and press photographers would barely be affected by the new rules. It also says that it may waive insurance for "eligible" applicants unable to meet the insurance requirement.
But this is little appeasement for the protestors, who see these rules as a violation of the U.S. constitution's First Amendment, which protects the five freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, protest, and the press. The Picture New York coalition has repeatedly stated that the First Amendment is the only permit they should require to use cameras in the city.
First Amendment activists are especially concerned that the proposed rules are part of a series of recent restrictions on freedoms in the city, which include the adoption of new police regulations in January of this year requiring that permits be obtained for public gatherings of more than 49 people.
"The constitution doesn't have an asterisk by the first amendment, it doesn't say RSVP on the statue of Liberty," said Ben Sheperd, an activist who also attended Friday's rally. "These are certain basic freedoms that we have in our democracy, but if we can't exercise them, do they exist?"
A number of photographers and filmmakers claim that they are already being harassed by the police in the streets of New York. "The police routinely stop, search and apparently arrest people who have cameras," said James Wagner, a politics and visual arts blogger and photographer. "The police does it arbitrarily and it ends up being people who don't have much of a voice."
NYC's love affair with pictures
In fact, the proposed rules were the result of a settlement following legal action taken by the NYCLU against the MOFTB regarding the case of an Indian documentary filmmaker, Rakesh Sharma. Mr. Sharma was prevented from filming with a handheld camera in Manhattan because he did not have a permit, despite there being a lack of proper regulation on procedures for dealing with people not holding permits. The MOFTB's intention is to codify these procedures in order to clarify similar situations in the future.
But the NYCLU, along with Picture New York and their supporters, claim that the proposed rules are unacceptable. They are hoping that by the end of the public comment period, this Friday, their multimedia campaign will have convinced the MOFTB to renegotiate the rules in consultation with New York filmmakers and photographers, and thus preserve their freedom to represent the city in pictures. As one speaker put it at the Friday rally, "New York City has a love affair that happens in pictures: pictures that people cherish, that people fall in love with NYC over, would never be possible if these regulations pass."
UPDATE AUG 6, 23:25: The New York Times reports that New York City officials on Friday backed off proposed new rules that could have forced tourists taking snapshots in Times Square and filmmakers capturing that only-in-New-York street scene to obtain permits and one million dollars in liability insurance. In announcing the move, officials at the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting said they would redraft the rules, intended to apply to commercial film and photography productions, to address complaints that they could be too broadly applied. They will then release the revised rules for public comment.

It's now a marathon, with Pa. the big prize

Pennsylvania is the new New Hampshire.
Forget the frenzied cross-country campaign blitzes before Super Tuesday, or even the Ohio-Texas shuttle of the past month. For the next seven weeks, with brief breaks to visit Wyoming and Mississippi, Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will be focusing on one state: Pennsylvania. They will be trekking from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and back again in pursuit of the last big stash of delegates — 158 — that could give one of them a stronger claim to the presidential nomination.

Between now and the April 22 primary, there will be plenty of time for town hall meetings, diner drive-bys, local TV interviews, door-to-door canvassing and other staples of retail politics that late-voting primary states rarely see. The last time Pennsylvania had a competitive primary was 1976, when then-Georgia governor Jimmy Carter defeated Washington Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson and knocked him out of the race.

"People are telling me, 'My cousin's wife's niece wants to meet Sen. Obama,' " says state Democratic Party chairman T.J. Rooney, a Clinton supporter. "Show up at a diner and he just might walk in the door."

Clinton is leading the wave: On Wednesday, she sent daughter Chelsea to campaign at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Soon, the candidates, their staffs, hordes of media and the attention of the political world will envelop the state of 12.4 million people.

What's the difference between capitalism and communism?
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Under capitalism, Man exploits Man. Under communism, it is exactly the opposite.

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

NEW YORK — Statesmanship or gamesmanship?

As he did four weeks ago with his pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Republican John McCain shook up the presidential race Wednesday with an unexpected maneuver.

Announcing that he was suspending his campaign so he could return to Washington and join negotiations on the White House's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, McCain sought to portray himself as a forceful leader on the economy, an issue on which he's been stumbling in the polls.

"I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time," McCain said.

Obama agreed the talks "should not be subject to the usual partisan politics" but questioned McCain's call to postpone their debate scheduled for Friday in Oxford, Miss. "This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess," he said.