September 25, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Hundreds of local residents in Yokosuka, located 30 mi/50 km south of Tokyo, staged protests on 25 September 2008 against the arrival to the port city of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington. The locals expressed concern about possible radiation pollution and an increase in crime due to the presence of the carrier’s crew. Meanwhile, approximately 2,000 U.S. military personnel and their families turned out to welcome the new vessel.

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September 24, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

WASHINGTON —  Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.

“If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices,” said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.

Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.

The House is expected to act on the spending bill Wednesday. The Senate is likely to go along with the House.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426764,00.html

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September 19, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has surpassed its goal of resettling 12,000 Iraqi refugees during fiscal year 2008: 12,118 Iraqis have been admitted to the United States as refugees since October 1, 2007; only 1,600 were admitted in fiscal year 2007. 

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1221249274808.shtm

Asylum from what government?  The one our soldiers died to help put in place in Iraq?

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Suspected Al Qaeda militants disguised as security forces launched an explosive assault on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, Wednesday killing 10 Yemeni police and civilians, officials said. The attack involved two car bombs, a spokesman for Yemen’s embassy in Washington said. Six attackers, including a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, were also killed in the attack. There were at least four explosions – including at least one car bomb – and sniper fire, a senior State Department official said. The heavily fortified compound in the capital of Yemen has previously been targeted in attacks. A U.S. official told CNN the attackers initially opened fire outside the embassy’s security gate, then there was the main explosion followed by a secondary explosion. At some point, snipers positioned across the street from the embassy opened fire on Yemeni first responders as they arrived on the scene, the official said. Those killed include six Yemeni policemen and four civilians, he said, noting that the number of wounded is unclear. No U.S. Embassy employees were killed, the official added.

Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/17/yemen.blast/?iref=mpstoryview

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The National Transportation Safety Board said a Metrolink train that slammed head-on into a freight train Friday did not apply its brakes, according to preliminary data from the investigation. Investigators use stand-in engines on Tuesday to study what happened in Friday’s train crash near Los Angeles. The freight train, operated by Union Pacific, did hit its brakes, said a member of the NTSB assigned to the investigation, on Tuesday. She said that the data was collected from recorders aboard each train and physical examinations of the brakes but investigators were seeking additional data from two other damaged recorders. Investigators also found that the train operators had only 4 to 5 seconds to react before impact, she said. The Metrolink was traveling at 42 mph in a 40 mph zone at the time of the collision.

 Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/16/california.train.collision/index.html?eref=rss_us

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

A former manager in the District of Columbia tax office admits she cut more than 200 fraudulent property tax refund checks in a scheme that drained more than 48 million dollars from the city’s treasury over almost two decades. The woman has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and tax evasion. The agreement calls for her to serve from 15 to 18 years in prison and to pay restitution. A federal judge has accepted the plea provisionally, but has not set a sentencing date. Nine other people have pleaded guilty in the tax scam. Source: http://www.kgan.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/3b56768e-www.kgan.com.shtml

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The Federal Reserve Board late Tuesday confirmed it would authorize the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend as much as $85 billion to American International Group Inc., which has unraveled in the face of mounting losses related to insurance on complex financial instruments and credit downgrades that forced the company to raise billions in capital. The New York insurance company is the largest in the world. Bailing out a private company not under its direct purview is an extraordinary and historic move for the Federal Reserve, whose primary roles include setting United States monetary policy and banking supervision and regulation. In a statement, the Federal Reserve said, “The Board determined that, in current circumstances, a disorderly failure of AIG could add to already significant levels of financial market fragility and lead to substantially higher borrowing costs, reduced household wealth and materially weaker economic performance.”

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/09/15/daily22.html

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Air Force still plans to award Boeing Co. or Lockheed Martin Corp. a contract worth billions of dollars this fall to build a group of advanced military communications satellites, the general in charge of Air Force Space Command said on Tuesday. The general told reporters that the future of the Transformational Satellite program for which both companies are bidding was entwined with that of another program, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite program, run by Lockheed.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1642167820080916

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September 18, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) members’ tentative endorsement of several new rules last week and last month may garner the attention of several states as they look to regulate the ongoing energy boom in the American West, the head of the agency said Friday. The acting director of the COGCC said several states may look to Colorado about how to regulate that energy boom after the commission’s initial endorsement of several rules that he said “mark some new approaches on some issues.” The rules he cited would mandate that companies inform the state of which chemicals are being used at a drilling location, encourage operators to use a comprehensive drilling plan, and require companies in three counties in northwest Colorado to use green completion techniques. That is a process that recovers gas that would otherwise be vented or flared during the completion phase of a natural gas well. Colorado’s oil and gas commission has given tentative approval to about 80 rules during five hearings in August and last week. Two more days of hearings will be held on September 22 and 23. That is when commissioners are expected to begin deliberation on wildlife and waste pit rules. Source:

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080915/VALLEYNEWS/109159995/1083&ParentProfile=1074

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September 16, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On 15 September 2008 the U.S. Department of State issued the following updated Travel Warning: “The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to Iran. Dual national Iranian-American citizens may encounter difficulty in departing Iran. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Iran issued January 3, 2008.

“The U.S. government does not have diplomatic or consular relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and therefore cannot provide protection or routine consular services to American citizens in Iran. The Swiss government, acting through its Embassy in Tehran, serves as protecting power for U.S. interests in Iran. Neither U.S. passports nor visas to the United States are issued in Tehran. The Iranian Government does not recognize dual citizenship and generally does not permit the Swiss to provide protective services for U.S. citizens who are also Iranian nationals. U.S. citizens of Iranian origin who are considered by Iran to be Iranian citizens have been detained and harassed by Iranian authorities. Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, as well as persons who encourage Muslims to convert, are subject to arrest and prosecution.”

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