THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

National Rose Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 160th day of 2012 with 205 days left in the year.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Oil boom brings wealth and waste to North Dakota

Oil drilling has sparked a frenzied prosperity in this formerly quiet corner of western North Dakota in recent years, bringing an infusion of jobs and reviving moribund local businesses.But Jeff Keller, a natural resource manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, has seen a more ominous effect of the boom, too: Oil companies are spilling and dumping drilling waste onto the region's land and into its waterways with increasing regularity.
Hydraulic fracturing — the controversial process behind the spread of natural gas drilling — is enabling oil companies to reach previously inaccessible reserves in North Dakota, triggering a turnaround not only in the state's fortunes, but also in domestic energy production. North Dakota now ranks second behind only Texas in oil output nationwide.
The downside is waste — lots of it. Companies produce millions of gallons of salty, chemical-infused wastewater, known as brine, as part of drilling and fracking each well. Drillers are supposed to inject this material thousands of feet underground into disposal wells, but some of it isn't making it that far. Oil companies in North Dakota reported more than 1,000 accidental releases of oil, drilling wastewater or other fluids in 2011, about as many as in the previous two years combined. Many more illicit releases went unreported, state regulators acknowledge, when companies dumped truckloads of toxic fluid along the road or drained waste pits illegally. Releases of brine, which is often laced with carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals, have wiped out aquatic life in streams and wetlands and sterilized farmland. The effects on land can last for years, or even decades.
Kris Roberts, who responds to spills for the Health Department, which protects state waters, acknowledged that the state does not have the manpower to prevent or respond to illegal dumping." It's happening often enough that we see it as a significant problem," he said. "What's the solution? Catching them. What's the problem? Catching them."
Why am I not surprised at the oil spills, dumping of waster products illegally, etc. by rillers. After teh BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, nothing that they do surprise me in their ongoing search for profits. The natural gas drillers have been trying for over a year to get permission to drill in my area, but so far have been held at bay. It's too bad that they weren't hindered from drilling in North Dakota until they proved that they were responsible citizens. But their lack of civic responsibility has gone on for years and shows no signs of changing.

ENTERTAINMENT: Click and Clack retiring from "Car Talk", but revamped shows will still air.

After 25 years, Click and Clack are putting "Car Talk" in park. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of the nationally broadcast radio show "Car Talk," announced Friday that as of October, they won't make any more new shows. While the hosts won't be as involved, NPR will continue to air a program that combines old material and a few updates from the Magliozzis. In a statement from NPR, Ray Magliozzi, 63, jokes, "My brother has always been 'work-averse,' Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him!" "It's brutal," Tom Magliozzi, 74, was quoted as saying.
The show will celebrate its 25th anniversary on NPR stations before the brothers retire. The brothers actually have been doing the show for 35 years, with 10 of those in Boston before hooking up with NPR. They will continue to write "Dear Tom & Ray," their twice-weekly car-advice column.
If you aren't familiar with their show, on the next Saturday morning around 10 a.m. find your closest NPR radio statio and listen to them. Advice on solving listenes' car problems with a strong leavening of humor.

Sport Headlines of Interest:

I'll Have Another pulled from Triple Crown bid and retired.

I'll Have Another's bid for the first Triple Crown in 34 years ended shockingly in the barn and not on the racetrack when the colt was scratched the day before the Belmont Stakes and retired with a swollen tendon. "It's been an incredible ride, an incredible run," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "It's a bummer. It's not tragic, but it's a huge disappointment."
I'll Have Another, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes with stirring stretch drives, was the 4-5 favorite to win the Belmont and become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since 1978. Instead, he becomes the 12th horse since Affirmed, the last Triple champion, to win the first two legs but not the Belmont. The scratch marks the first time since Bold Venture in 1936 that the Derby and Preakness winner didn't run in the Belmont. Burgoo King skipped the race in 1932.
"Could he run and compete? Yes. Would it be in his best interest? No," O'Neill said. He said the swollen left front tendon was the beginning of tendinitis, which could have taken six months to treat, and so the popular horse was retired.
O'Neill said he conferred with owner J. Paul Reddam and they contacted Dr. Jim Hunt, who examined the horse. Reddam confirmed that, saying: "We're all a bit shocked, but we have to do what's best for the horse. And if he can't compete at the top level, he's done enough."
Larry Bramlage, Belmont's on-call veterinarian, called it a "slow-healing injury" for this horse, it would probably take a year to recover. He added that a tendon in a race horse is "more highly evolved" than anything in a human. "It's an early injury," Bramlage said. "If you went on and had he raced, the danger would have been a bowed tendon, meaning a significant number of fibers injured."
And so there will be no Triple Crow winner this year. I'm beginning to believe that there will never again be a horse capable of winning these three races that are run between the first Saturday in May and the first Saturday in July. When the Triple Crown races were first run, it was the normal racing plan for 3-year-olds at that time. That no longer is the case. They no longer ae trained fro running races that close together. There has been discussion concerning changing the time between the Triple Crown races. But then would it still be the Triple Crown?

Thought for Today
"I don't excercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor."
--Joan Rivers, comedienne (b. 1933)

[pegasus]

National Hot Dog Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 207th day of 2012 with 158 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 81ºF [Feels like 83ºF], winds SSW @ 12 mph, humidity 76%, pressure 29.68 in and falling, dew point 68ºF, chance of precipitation 60%.

Today in History:
1775--Benjamin Franklin became America's first postmaster general.
1788--New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1856--George Bernard Shaw, Anglo-Irish playwright, was born; died 1950 at age 94.
1875--Carl (Gustav) Jung , one of the founders of analytic psychology, was born; died 1961 at age 86.
1882--the Richard Wagner opera Parsifal premiered in Bayreuth, Germany.
1894--Aldous Huxley, British philosopher, satirist and author, was born; died 1963 at age 69.
1908--U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1943--British rock icon Mick Japper was born.
1945--Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labor Party.
1947--Pres. Truman signed the National Security Act, which established the National Military Establishment (later renamed the Department of Defense).
1948--Pres. Truman signed executive orders prohibiting discrimination in the US armed forces and federal employment.
1952--Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1952--Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33.
1952--King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.
1953---Fidel Castro began his revolution with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba.
1956--Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.
1964--Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.
1971--Apollo 15 was launched on the US fourth manned mission to the moon.
1990--Pres. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2000--a federal judge approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims.
2002--the Republican-led House voted, 295-132, to create an enormous Homeland Security Department in the biggest government reorganization in decades.
2006--a jury in Houston found Andrea Yates not guilty by reason of insanity in the drowning of her children in a bathtub in the second trial she faced on the charges.

World News Capsules:
1. China charges wife of ousted party leader in Briton's death.

....Gu Kailai, the wife of the disgraced political leader Bo Xilai, has been indicted for intentional homicide, in a crime that has triggered China’s most serious political crisis in decades.
a. In meetings, US presses Beijing on rights.
....The department released its diagnosis after an annual meeting in which the US discussed human rights concerns with China.
2. On gay marriage, Europe strains to square 27 interests.
[imghttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/07/26/world/marriage/marriage-sfSpan-v2.jpg][/img]
....Europe prides itself on its open borders, but many gay couples leave their rights behind when they cross them because of the continent's lingering differences on family law.
a. 'Pay-for-Delay' drug case moves forward.
....The European Commission said smaller companies agreed to keep generics temporarily off the market in exchange for money from makers like Lundbeck..
3. London cheers Olympic torch as opening ceremony nears.

....The torch is being carried past London's historic landmarks -- Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral and Big Ben -- hours ahead of the opening ceremony.
4. Twitter comment costs Greek athlete spot in Olympics.
...A triple jump athlete was removed from Greece’s Olympic team for posting a comment on Twitter that was disparaging of African immigrants in Greece.
4. 9u]Wave of violent repression plagues capital of Mali[/u].
....Journalists and soldiers who oppose the military junta are reported to have been victims of abuse and intimidation
5. That mystery women in North Korea? Turnsout she's the 1st Lady.
....The appearance of Kim Jong-un's wife is a sign that he is breaking from the style of his father, who was known for marrying beautiful performers but never introduced them to his people.
6. From Russian health official, food criticism with a dash of politics.
....Gennady Onishenko seized on a public complaint about McDonald’s saying that burgers “are not a sensible dietary choice for the population of Moscow and Russia.
7. Residents of Aleppo fleeing as opposing forces take positions.

....Government forces maintained their shelling of key Syrian cities on Thursday, with Aleppo in particular bracing for an anticipated showdown.
a. Syrian refugees find safety,with restrictions, in Jordan.
....Jordan has received praise for accepting Syrian refugees, but the evidence of the government’s uneasy relationship with the exiles is not hard to come by.

US News Capsules:
1. More weather extremes leave parts of US grid buckling.

....From highways to power plants, the concrete, steel and engineering that undergird the nation's infrastructure are being dangerously taxed by heat, drought and storms.
a. Severe drought seen as driving cost of food up.
....The Agriculture Department said the cost of beef would increase the most, up to 5%, because of the weather and rising prices for animal feed.
2. Retailers' idea: think smaaller in urban push.
....With little room to expand in the suburbs, retailers like Office Depot, Wal-Mart and Target have aimed their expansion plans at cities, overhauling store sizes, packages and signs.
3. Medicaid expansion may lower death rates, study says.
....The study reflects an effort to sidestep difficulty in gauging the health effects of covering more people, and comes as states consider expanding Medicaid under the health care law.
4. Weill calls for splitting up big banks.
....Sanford I. Weill, a former Citigroup chief, helped to dismantle the Glass-Steagall regulation that separated commercial banking from investment banking. Now he says banks should be broken up.
5. Chick-fil-A thrust back into spotlight on gay rights.
....An executive’s statements have reignited opposition to, as well as support for, a chain that gives millions of dollars to groups fighting same-sex marriage.
6 Amtrak plans for upgrades in bid to push faster system.
....A $151 billion expansion plan includes a major revamping of Union Station in Washington, along with makeovers for Amtrak hubs in New York and Boston.
7. How to make peace with a monster.

....They're members of a grim fraternity: People who narrowly missed being killed by a mass murderer. Their advice for those who survived the theater shooting: Don't be quick to forgive.
POLITICS:

1. Eye on election, Senate passes tax cut measure, rejects GOP version.
....The Senate narrowly approved legislation to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class but to let them lapse on more affluent households.
2. G.O.P. edge as dynamics shift in House races.
....With no partisan surge this year, the overall dynamic favors Republicans, who look poised to maintain their hold on the House.
3. Negative ads hit at identity to shape race.
....Two candidates who can have trouble connecting with voters on a personal level are trying to define each other as detached from mainstream American life.


Today's Headlines of Interest:
Millionaire medalists: Will London 2012 remain true to Olympic spirit?

Amid the glorification of multi-millionaires competing in sports including basketball, tennis and soccer, the sea of corporate sponsorship and fortress-style security -- has the Olympic spirit been forgotten? What would previous Olympians make of today’s event? Would the Ancient Greeks -- who staged the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C. -- give their blessing or call down the wrath of Zeus? And what would the founder of the modern Games, French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, make of the demise of the amateur ethos?
The founder of the modern games, Pierre de Coubertin, probably would be appalled by today's commerciliaztion of the Olympics and the professionalism of the athletes, but not the ancient Greeks. They were the original professional athletes and used success in the games to propel themselves to greater wealth. Armand D’Angour, a fellow and tutor in classics at Jesus College, Oxford University, explained that athletes were sponsored by their cities and spent years in training. “And of course if they won, they were feted, celebrated and odes were written for them – an expensive business. They would be fed at public expense for the remainder of their lives. There was a lot of money in it,” he added. The amateur ideal or so-called “Corinthian spirit” was “a bit of an invention really,” D’Angour said. Other modern inventions include the Olympic flame – “that’s nothing to do with Ancient Greece, it comes from the idea of the eternal flame in Rome” – and the Olympic rings, he added.
In other words, the ancient Greek Olympian would feel right at home in today's games.

Thought for Today
"One brave deed makes no hero."
—[/i]John Greenleaf Whittier, poet and essayist (1807-1892).
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[pegasus]

National Baked Bean Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 208th day of 2012 with 157 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:01 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 75ºF [Feels like 76ºF], winds calm, humidity 65%, pressure 29.88 in and rising, dew point 63ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.

Today in History:
1694--the Bank of England received a royal charter as a commercial institution.
1776--Silas Deane writes Congress of sucess in negotiations with the French government for military supplies and give the colonies credit up to one million French lires.
1789--the US Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, the forerunner of the State Department.
1794--Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, was overthrown and arrested by the Natio--al Convention. (and executed on the 28th).
1861--Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac.
1866--Cyrus W. Field finished laying out the first successful underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.
1909--during the first official test of the US Army's first airplane, Orville Wright flew himself and a passenger, Lt. Frank Lahm, above Fort Myer, Va., for one hour and 12 minutes.
1921--at the University of Toronto, Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully isolate insulin.
1922--Norman Lear, 90-year-old Emmy-winning TV producer ("All in the Family"), was born.
1940--Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon "A Wild Hare."
1942--the First Battle of El Alamein in Egypt ended in a draw as Allied forces stalled the progress of Axis invaders. (The Allies went on to win a clear victory over the Axis in the Second Battle of El Alamein later that year.)
1948--Peggy Fleming, Iktnouc gikd nedak0wubbubg figure skater, was born.
1949--the first jet airplane makes its test flight.
1953-- the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agreed to an armistice, bringing the Korean War to an end.
1964--the Pentagon annouced that 5,000 more troops were to be sent to Vietnam.
1967--in the wake of urban rioting, Pres. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence.
1974--the US House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend Pres. Nixon's impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a "course of conduct" designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.
1981--Adam John Walsh, age six, is abducted from a mall in Hollywood, Florida, and later found murdered. His father, John Walsh, became a leading victims' rights activist and host of the long-running television show America's Most Wanted.
1990--the last Citren 2CV rolled off the line in Portugal.
1995--the Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C
1996--a pipi bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Part in Atlanta, Ga., killing one and injuring more than 100.
2002--a Ukrainian fighter jet crashed during an air show in Lviv, killing 77 people.
2003--Lance Armstrong won a record-tying fifth straight Tour de France title.
2005--Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who'd plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
2007--the US House sent Pres. Bush legislation to intensify anti-terror efforts in the U.S., carrying out major recommendations of the independent 9/11 Commission.
2007--former Qwest Communications chief Joe Nacchio was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally selling $52 million in stock while not telling investors that his telecommunications company faced serious financial risks.
2007--two Phoenix news helicopters collided and crashed while covering a police chase on live television, killing four people on board.
2011--Vitaly Davydov, a Russian space official, said that once the mammoth International Space Station was no longer needed, it would be sent into the Pacific Ocean, probably in 2015.

World News Capsules:
1. An epic downpour wipes away a capital's sheen.

....A rainstorm, the heaviest to hit Beijing in decades, has prompted tough questions about the management of the city after flooding left at least 77 people dead.
a. In charage for wife of Chinese ex-leader, sign of an old tactic.
....In formally accusing her in a poisoning death, the government put Gu Kailai in a well-worn Chinese framework: the conniving vixen whose greed derailed her husband's career.
2. Assurances on Euro by Central Bank Chief in London lift stocks.
....Markets and the euro rose after Mario Draghi told a conference that the central bank was prepared to "do whatever it takes to preserve" the currency
3. 15 Iraqi officials quite in protest over Qaeda threat.
....In Baquba, the neighborhood officials, or mukhtars, complained that the government was unable to protect them and their families from Al Qaeda infiltrators.
4. Once told he'd never walk again, Irish gymnast is now Olympian.

....Kieran Behan has overcome a botched leg operation and a brain injury that kept him from doing even the simplest things, like sitting or eating, to compete in three Olympic events.
5. In Singapore, vitriol against Chinese.

....Tensions over immigration bedevil many nations, but what makes the clash here particularly striking is that most of Singapore’s population was already ethnic Chinese.
6. Spain's coal miners feel the pain of budget slashes.
....Nowhere is the campaign to cut state subsidies felt as keenly as in places like Ciñera, in the coal-mining north, whose very survival is bound to government support.
7. Syrian helicopters fire on Aleppo as army prepares for possible assault.
....A member of the Syrian Parliament defected and crossed into Turkey, according to opposition figures and a Turkish official.
a. Two journalists freed by Syrian rebels after weeklong ordeal.
....Dutch freelance photographer Jeroen Oerlemans and British photographer John Cantlie, both captured by Islamic extremists on July 19, were rescued by mainstream rebel fighters.
8. Uganda taking team to Little League World Series.
....Africa will be represented at the Little League World Series for the first time, after travel issues kept Uganda out in 2011.
9. Cocaine's flow is unchecked in Venezuela.

....Venezuela's government has trumpeted one major blow after another against drug traffickers, but a visit to its remote western plains shows that its claims are greatly overstated,

US News Capsules:
1. Army's plans to relocate gear offer roadmap to future roles.

....The new stores would be designed for smaller-scale conflict, training missions and humanitarian assistance, to name a few, reflecting the changing nature of the mission after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
2. Hospitals worry over cut in fund for uninsured.
....The Affordable Care Act will trim government aid that facilities use in part to cover treatment for illegal immigrants.
3. Storms threaten ozone layer over US, study says.
....The risk of damage may increase as the climate warms and storms grow more intense and more frequent, the study said.
4. Rise is seen in cyberattacks targeting US infrastructures.
....Gen. Keith B. Alexander of the National Security Agency said that the nation was not fully prepared for the attacks on electricity grids, water supplies and other targets.
5. For big drug companies, a headache looms.
....Going against a decade of rulings, a federal appeals court said payments aimed at holding back generics were anticompetitive, setting up possible review by the Supreme Court.
6. Proponents of arms trade treaty urge final approval.
....A number of United Nations members are still balking at the idea of regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade business, and the Obama administration has said it may need more time to study it.
7. Updating vacation bible school from its rote roots.

....A Houston evangelical pastor has revamped a summer tradition for the 21st century, combining Christian rock, humorous skits, Broadway-style musicals.
8. How eBay defied convention and turned itself around.

....The Internet company’s surprise earnings report was the result of technological innovation, a management overhaul and an embrace of new opportunities.
POLITICS:
1. Strip clubs in Tampa are ready to cash in on GOP convention
.
....Preparing for the biggest party Tampa has ever held, the city and its businesses are primping and polishing for the August arrival of tens of thousands of visitors.
2. Major bill delayed, House works on short-trm farm measure.
....After delaying action on a sweeping agriculture measure, lawmakers are seeking a way to aid farmers devastated by the drought.
3. Deficits for 2012 and beyond will be lower, White House says.
....Though revenues have fallen, federal spending has reduced as well, leading to a projected deficit of $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2012 rather than $1.3 trillion, the midyear budget report says
4. Once a rebel, McCain now walks the party line.
....Sen. John McCain of Arizona appears to have entered Version 3 of his long and multipronged career in the upper chamber — partisan warrior and party stalwart.
5. Head Start fears impact of potential budget cuts.
....Supporters of Head Start say the cuts would put more children at a disadvantage, but critics say the cuts would help rein in an overpriced program whose benefits have not been proven.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Cleanup continues following storms

Strong thunderstorms and a reported tornado resulted in a great deal of damage in the Elmira area late Thursday afternoon. There were reports of trees and power lines down, and people trapped in buildings and cars after the storm went through. The Chemung Co. Emergency Management Office is reporting a tornado touched down, but there has been no confirmation from the National Weather Service. A State of Emergency has been declared for the City of Elmira, where cleanup continues across the region. Power lines and trees were toppled and hospitals were placed on disaster alert in the city of Elmira. A state of emergency and curfew are in effect, with only emergency vehicles allowed on the streets while fallen trees and power lines are cleared. Fire companies from Dundee, Watkins Glen, Montour, Bath Hammondsport and Savona have all sent crews to the Elmi,ra area.
The afternoon storms knocked power out for more than 200.000 customers in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The storms also moved through Corning. Utility crews from across Western New York were called down to those areas to help restore power. In Genesee County, lightning struck a tree and broke it into several pieces. The homeowner in Batavia says it happened during the first round of storms early Friday morning and that parts of the tree were found up to 40 feet away. No one was injured.


Thought for Today
"There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience."
--Hartley Shawcross (1902-2003), prosecutor at Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal.

[pegasus]

Rain Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 211th day of 2012 with 154 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:16 p.m., it's fair , temp 80ºF [Feels like 80ºF], winds variable @ 5 mph, humidity 40%, pressure 30.07 in and falling, dew point 54ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1030--the patron saint of Norway, King Olaf II, was killed in battle.
1588--in the Battle of Gravelines, the English under Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada.
1778--French Vice-Admiral Count d'Estaing established contact with the Continental Army, waiting for his help to retake Rhode Island.
1862--Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, was captured.
1883--Benito Mussolini, Italian prime minister and Hitler's ally during W.W. II, was born; died 1945 at age 61.
1900--Italian King Humbert I was assassinated by an anarchist and was succeeded by his son, Victor Emmanuel III.
1909--General Motors bought Cadillac.
1914--transcontinental telephone service began with the first phone conversation between New York and San Francisco.
1921--Adolf Hitler became the leader ("fuehrer") of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi).
1945--the Japanese sank the USS Indianapolis.
1948--Britain's King George VI opened the Olympic Games in London, the first games snce Berlin in 1936.
1958--the US Congress established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to coordinate America's activities in space.
1965--the 101st Airborne Division arrived in Veitnam.
1967--an accidental rocket launch caused a fire that swept the supercarrier, USS Forrestal, in the Gulf of Tonkin, killing 134 servicemen..
1967--The Doors scored their first #1 hit with "Light My Fire."
1975--Pres. Ford became the 1st US president to visit the site of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland.
1976--the serial killer Son of Same began terrorizing New York.
1981--Britain’s Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
1985--the space shuttle Challenger began an 8-day mission that got off to a shaky start — the spacecraft achieved a safe orbit even though one of its main engines shut down prematurely.
1993--the Israeli Supreme Court acquitted retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk of being Nazi death camp guard "Ivan the Terrible" and threw out his death sentence.
1996--Carl Lewis won his forth consecutive gold medal for the long jump at age 35.
1999--a day trader opened fire in two Atlanta brokerage offices, killing nine people and wounding 13 before shooting himself to death; he had earlier killed his wife and two children.
2002--in Afghanistan, a man identified by authorities as a would-be suicide bomber with more than a half-ton of explosives in his car was stopped by a chance traffic accident just 300 yards from the U.S. Embassy
2002--an Amtrak train derailed outside Washington, D.C., injuring more than 100 people.
2008--US Army scientist Bruce Ivins commited suicide as prosecutors prepared to indict him in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
2011--Norway began burying the dead, a week after an anti-Muslim extremist killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage.

World News Capsules:
1. Retiring envoy to Afghanistan exhorts US to heed its past.
....Ryan C. Crocker, the diplomat most linked to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, says policy makers must learn from those wars as they consider military options for current crises
2. Waste project is abandoned following protests in China.
....Angry demonstrators entered a government office in the port city of Qidong to protest a waste discharge plant that they said would pollute the water supply.
3. Egypt's Islamists tread lightly, but skeptics squirm.
....Pres. Mohamed Morsi has made no apologies for his Islamism, but he seems to be going out of his way to allay fears that the Muslim Brotherhood would radically change Egypt.
4. As tensions in India turn deadly, some say officials ignored warning signs.
....Though the violence in the eastern Indian state of Assam has been building for years, state officials say they were caught unaware, while others claim that the government was deliberately negligent.
6. Spain's jobless rely on family, a frail crutch.

....As the effects of years of recession pile up in the country, more and more Spanish families are leaning hard on their elderly relatives. But it has not been easy for any of the generations.
7. Syrian military intensifies assault on rebels in Aleppo.
....It was not clear whether Saturday's attack was a limited foray by government troops or the beginning of a broader campaign.
8. Fighters replace tourists crossing over from Syria to an idyllic Turkish town.
....Antakya, a picturesque border town, has attracted Syrian fighters and foreign jihadists seeking refuge and medical care, as Syria's civil war becomes Turkey's national security headache.
8. Health team fights Ebola outbreak that has killed 14 in Uganda.
....The strain of the virus, which in recent years has killed at a rate often above 70 percent of those infected, has been identified as Ebola Sudan/
10. Nuns weigh response to scathing Vatican rebuke.
....American nuns meeting in St. Louis next week will decide whether to cooperate with three bishops assigned to supervise the overhaul of their organization.

US News Capsules:
1. Doctor shortage likely to worsen with health law.
....Even as the new health care law expands insurance coverage, another problem faces many areas of the country: a lack of physicians, particularly primary care ones.
2. In Maine, more lobsters than they know what to do with.
....The overabundance, attributed to warm weather and good conservation techniques, has led to fishermen receiving the lowest prices in 40 years.
3. Giant stocks are walking tall again.
....The megacap stocks - those of the very largest American companies - have vastly outperformed the overall market over the last 18 months.
4. They're clever and carnivorous.
....in New YOrk City, the American Museum of Natural History exhibition "Spiders Alive!" looks at the wonders of the 43,000 spider species.
4. Drillers in Utah have a friend in a US land agency.
....An obscure branch of the Bureau of Land Management wields great influence on local land-use decisions in the state, usually to the benefit of the energy industry.
POLITICS:
1. Obama's team taking gamble going negative.
....The opportunities and the risks are greater for Pres. Obama, who seeks to shape perceptions of Mitt Romney just as more voters are starting to tune in to the race.

[ Thought for Today
"Man must rise above the Earth — to the top of the atmosphere and beyond — for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives."
—Socrates (469 B.C.-399 B.C.), Greek philosopher

[pegasus]

Read an Almanac Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 213th day of 2012 with 152 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:37 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 82ºF [Feels like 84ºF], winds SSW @ 12 mph, humidity 56%, pressure 29.88 in and falling, dew point 65ºF, chance of precipitation 30%.

Today in History:
1559--St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, died in Rome. The Society of Jesus played an important role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism.
1703--Daniel Defoe was put in the pillory as punishment for seditious libel, brought about by the publication of a politically satirical pamphlet.
1715--a hurricane sunk 10 Spanish treasure ships off the east coast of Florida and the treasure would not be recovered until 250 years later.
1777--the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, became a major general without pay with the Continental Army.
1875--Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the US (succeeded Pres. Lincoln), died at age 66 of a stroke while visitng his daughter in Carter Station, Tennessee.
1914--the New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I and didn't reopen until December..
1917--the 3rd Battle of Ypres began in France.
1919--Primo Levi, the Italian writer and chemist whose work was influenced by his captivity at Auschwitz, was born; died 1987 at age 67.
1941--Herman Goering, writing under instructions from Hitler, ordered SS Geneal Reihard Heydrich to prepare for the "Final Solution of the Jewish question."
1945--Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, surrendered to US authorities in Austria.
1957--the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America, went into operation.
1964--Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe, transmitted the 1st close-up photos from the moon.
1971--Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
1972--Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that he had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
1977--the "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y
1981--a seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.
1991--Pres. Bush and Soviet Pres. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
1992--the former Soviet republic of Georgia was admitted to the United Nations as its 179th member.
1992--Thai Airways Flight 311, an Airbus A310, crashed while approaching Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal; all 113 people aboard died.
1995--Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal..
2002--a bomb exploded inside a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing 9, including 5 Americans.
2002--Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego, the first Indian saint in the Americas, in a Mexico City ceremony.
2007--the US Army censured retired three-star Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" after the 2004 friendly-fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman.
2007 --the UN Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.
2008--scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.
2009--three American tourists were arrested by Iran on suspicion of espionage during what their families have said was a simple hiking trip along the Iraq-Iran border.
2011--ending a perilous stalemate, Pres. Obama and congressional leaders announced a historic agreement on emergency legislation to avert the nation's first-ever financial default.
2011--Syrian security forces launched a ferocious assault on defiant cities and towns, killing at least 70 people and possibly many more.

World News Capsules:
1. After bus bombing, Bulgaria's ties with Israel are at risk.
....Bulgaria's reluctance to pin blame for the attack, which killed five Israelis, on Hezbollah and Iran is jeopardizing its strong ties with both Israel and the Arab countries of the Middle East.
2. In Cairo, Panetta declares support for Egypt's new president
.
....Leon E. Panetta, the US defense secretary, says Pres. Mohamed Morsi is “his own man,” the most positive endorsement so far from a member of the Obama administration.
3. 2nd outage in India in two days cuts power to more than 600 mmillion people.

....Hundreds of miners trapped as three networks collapse; subway services and more than 300 trains halted.
4. Courts rebuke Iran's president with sentences and ally's firing.
....An embezzlement case’s result and a confidant’s dismissal are seen as a rebuke to Pres. Ahmadinejad in his final year in office.
a. Deal struck to tighten sanctions against Iran.

....House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Monday night on a new round of sanctions against Iran, cracking down on energy, shipping and insurance sectors. and targeting Iran's oil as well as banks in China and Iraq,
5. Militant group poses risk to US-Pakistan relations.
....As the Haqqani militant network grows bolder in attacking US troops in Afghanistan, it jeopardizes the relationship between the US and Pakistan, where the militants hide.
6. Peru overtakes Colombia as top cocaine producer.

....Peru has again become the top producer of pure cocaine in the world, outpacing Colombia, where output fell by an estimated 25% in a year, according to a White House report.
7. Russian prosecutors charge protest movement leadr.
....Embezzlement charges against Aleksei Navalny are the Kremlin’s most direct measure to date against a leader of the Russian protest movement that erupted in December.
8, Syrian and rebel forces claim gais in nation's largest city.
....The battle in Syria's largest city could signify a decisive moment in the 17-month-old conflict, proving the government's resilience or exposing its fragility.
a. Rebels in Aleppo claim to seize important police stations.

....The two police stations in Aleppo that rebels claimed to have seized have become increasingly valuable military locations, analysts and activists said.
8. Escaping Syria to a Turkish barren plain of sweat and grit.

....The Ceylanpinar camp, home to more than 12,000 Syrians who fled their country’s civil war, is in the Turkish equivalent of Siberia, a dusty, rocky plain in southeastern Turkey
9. UK Teen held after Olympian gets Twitter death threat.

....A British teenager was arrested on suspicion of making "malicious" remarks, after a profanity-strewn death threat to U.K. Olympic medal hopeful Tom Daley appeared on Twitter after Daley came fourth in the men's synchronized 10-meter dive.

US News Capsules:
1. Bedbugs among fastest-growing consumer woes.
....Penny auctions, gold buying-companies and misleading solicitations for home improvement work disguised as 'free' energy audits were among the newest complaints to consumer protection agencies within the past year, according to a new survey.
2. Evidence mounts that home prices hit bottom last winter.

....A closely watched survey, the S&P/Case Shiller composite index, showed today that single-family home prices in the nation's biggest metro areas pushed higher for the fourth consecutive month.
3. Not so fun: Docs warn of rise in Zumba injuries.

....Zumba may be a great way to "party yourself into shape," but according to a number of doctors, the wildly popular dance-fitness program may also be a good way to party yourself into pain. "I'm seeing a number of injuries," says Dr. Orly Avitzur, a neurologist and Consumer Reports medical adviser who recently wrote that she's seen an uptick in Zumba-related injuries, which can range from ankle sprains, shin splints, heel spurs and plantar fasciitis to hip bursitis, muscle strains and knee problems requiring surgery.
4. Social media are giving a voice to taste buds.
....Some companies are leaning on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare for advice on what products to bring to market.
5. Caustic crusader at center of FDA scandal.
....Dr. Robert C. Smith's scorched-earth approach so unnerved his superiors, they began a wide-ranging surveillance operation.
6. Insurance rebates seen as selling point for health law.
....The law requires insurers to give out annual rebates by Aug. 1, if less than 80 percent of the premium dollars they collect go toward medical care.
7. A drop-in looking for sigs of company.
....A NASA rover, Curiosity, is ready for a delicate descent to Mars next week, and then a deeper search for evidence of life.
8. Murder trial tests leeway for giving the dead a say.
....The admissibility of statements by two of Drew Peterson’s wives, one now buried and the other missing, is in dispute in an Illinois case highlighting the intricacy of hearsay laws,
POLITICS:
1. Romney trip marred by unforced errors.
....Overseas trip ends with a spat between the campaign and the press as stumbles overshadow successes.
2. Democrats to back gay marriage at convention.
....The Democratic Party is set to include a pro-gay-marriage plank in their party convention platform and was included in the first step in the platform drafting process.
3. Battle of spending cuts moves to campaign trail.
....The fight in Congress over extending tax cuts grows more political, lowering the possibility of a resolution and increasing the risk of a stalemate-driven economic setback.

Olympic Headlines of Interest:
1. Queen's granddaughter rides to a silver medal in the team equestrian event.

Zara Phillips is a former World and European champion and only the third rider in the history of the sport to hold both titles at once. She and her old champion Toytown carried the Olympic flame down Cheltenham racecourse before the Games. Her mother, Princess Anne, was European champion back in 1971 and her father, Mark Phillips, won team gold at the 1972 Olympics and team silver in 1988 in Seoul. And She has not had a moment spare, even to celebrate her first wedding anniversary on Monday with husband and former England rugby captain Mike Tindall.
2, Vincent Hancock perfect in skeet final

.....The US shooter (and US Army sergeant) became the first to win two gold medals in the men's skeet shooting event, as he successfully defended his Olympic crown to take the top spot at the London games held at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
3. Women's gymnastics team go gold.

....The Americans lived up to their considerable hype and then some Tuesday, routing Russia and everybody else on their way to their first Olympic title since 1996. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points ahead of Russia, and they were so far ahead their last event, floor exercise, was more like a coronation. This team is the strongest, top to bottom, the USA has ever had, and the rest of the world never stood a chance. After the U.S. opened with a barrage of booming vaults, everyone else was playing for silver.
4. Phelps wins record-tying 18th medal.

....Michael Phelps' silver medal in the men's 200-meter butterfly is his 18th overall, tying the Olympic record. He'll get a chance for 19 tonight as part of the U.S. 4 x 200 freestyle relay team.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Chinese Olympic success raising suspicions of doping
When Chinese swimmers started blowing rivals out of the water, whispers quickly followed. Is China cheating the sport again, as it did in the 1990s, when drug-fueled, muscle-bound swimmers emerged from nowhere to beat the world? Alain Bernard, the 2008 Olympic freestyle champion from France, was among those who wondered. "I'm for clean sport, without doping, and I truly hope the authorities in charge of this are doing their job in good conscience and really well," he said. "Unfortunately, I want to say that there is no smoke without fire. But today there is no proof to show that any Chinese has tested positive in this competition."
Unlike the 1990s, however, there are plausible explanations this time for why China is the swimming phenomenon of the 2012 Games. For example, 16-year-old Ye Shiwen's astounding world record in the 400 medley, when she swam the last 50 meters faster than American Ryan Lochte did in winning the equivalent men's race, isn't solely attributable to her large hands and feet. It also is at least partly because China, which has grown to become the world's second-largest economy, now throws big checks at some of swimming's sharpest minds. China has turned to foreign trainers to get their coaching programs, expertise and methods, not only to hone its swimming stars but to make them more rounded and relaxed, too. The idea is that happy swimmers are fast swimmers.
Ye has trained in Australia with two well-recognized coaches, Ken Wood and Denis Cotterell. Wood has had a contract with the Chinese Swimming Association since 2008, and 15 of China's swimmers in London, plus five of its relay swimmers, have trained at his academy north of Brisbane, rotating through in groups for a couple of months at a time, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "China is putting a lot of money into its program and I am only too happy to work with them," Wood said. "The whole Chinese philosophy is that they want to be the best they can."
Ye, asked by the AP about the suspicions, gave what sounded like a stock answer. "We resolutely don't use and are resolutely opposed to doping," she said. Wu Peng, who trains in Ann Arbor, Mich., and, at 25, is older than Ye, was more forthcoming. "In the 1990s, the reputation of Chinese swimming wasn't good. There were a lot of doping problems. But it really is very different now. A lot of attention is paid to training. And despite breaking the world record, Ye Shiwen didn't come out of nowhere. Her results have steadily been improving," he said. "So I think it is down to training, not other methods."

Thought for Today
"Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless."
—Milton Friedman (1912-2006), US economist.

Today's flower: Ask Alma pink bearded iris

[pegasus]

National Golf Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 216th day of 2012 with 149 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 79ºF [Feels like 80ºF], winds SW @ 5 mph, humidity 58%, pressure 30.03 in and steady, dew point 63ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1492,--Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.
1778--La Scala opera house opened in Milan, Italy, with a performance of Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
1797--Lord Jeffrey Amherst, who twice refused the position of commander of British forces against the rebelling American patriots, died at his estate, called Montreal, in England.
1807--former Vice Pres. Aaron Burr went on trial before a federal court in Richmond, Va., charged with treason.
1846--the Donner party encountered its first delay.
1900--Ernie Pyle, the famous World War II war correspondent, was born.' died 1945 at age 44.
1914--Germany and France declare war on each other.
1916--Sir Roger David Casement, an Irish-born diplomat who in 1911 was knighted by King George V, was executed for his role in Ireland's Easter Rising.
1921--baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the "Black Sox" scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
1923--Vice Pres. Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th US presidentafter the death of Pres. Harding.
1936--Jesse Owens won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.
1943--Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice.
1948--former Communist Whitaker Chambers accused former State Department officialAlger Hiss of being a Communist spy.
1949--The National Basketball Association (NBA) was organized as a merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League..
1958--the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole.
1972--the US Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1975-- a chartered Boeing 707 jetliner crashed in the Atlas Mountains near Agadir, in southern Morocco, kiling all 188 people aboard.
1977--the James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, was released to theaters.
1981--US air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from Pres. Reagan that they would be fired.
1996--"The Macarena" began its reign atop the US pop charts.
2007--Iraqis welcomed home their soccer team, which had won the Asian Cup.
2011 --frmer Egyptian Pres. Mubarak denied all charges against him as he went on trial for alleged corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters who'd helped drive him from power..
2011--the Muscular Dystrophy Association announced that Jerry Lewis was no longer its national chairman and would not be appearing on the Labor Day telethon.

World News Capsules:
1. Murder trial of disgraced Chinese politician's wife to begin next week.
....Gu Kailai, who is married to the deposed leader Bo Xilai, is accused of poisoning a British businessman.
a. Shame and indignation in China as its Olympians come under fire.
....After a pair of badminton players were disqualified and a 16-year-old’s record swim victory was questioned, Chinese media pointed the blame in several directions.
2. New Egyptian cabinet includes many holdovers.
....Prime Minister Hesham Qandil drew heavily from the ranks of creaking state institutions to form his government, lowering expectations of sweeping change..
3. After warnings of an Olympic crush, businesses suffer in a deserted London.
....Fears of the Gridlock Games have transformed into complaints about the Ghost Town Olympics as some tourists skip London, bowing to official warnings of stifling overcrowding.
4. Reclaiming the forests and the right to feel safe.

....The people of Cherán, Mexico, who say they have long been terrorized by an armed group of illegal loggers, rose up and took the law into their own hands.
5. North Korean leader calls for greater prosperity.

....A major policy guideline is the latest statement or speech in which Kim Jong-un has sounded more focused on the North Korean economy than on the military.
6. Russia pulls the plug on drunken paratroopers' swimming pool of choice.
....To prevent drownings, Russian cities drained public fountains on the soldiers’ national holiday.
b. Mixed Russian feelings on jailed punk rock band.
....Pres. Putin told reporters that while there was “nothing good” about the band members’ demonstration, “nonetheless, I do not think that they should be judged severely for this."
a. Ex-KGB banker and Putin critic plans to sell his Russia-based assets.
....Aleksandr Y. Lebedev, who for years has gotten away with tweaking the Russian president in public, said police and regulatory checks on his businesses had become so intense that he was giving up.
7. 3 men arrestd in Spain are suspected of having links to al-Qaida.
.....Spanish officials announced the arrest of three suspects who were believed to have been planning attacks in Spain and elsewhere
8. As conflict continues, Assad's arms under strain.
....Many of the Syrian government's most powerful weapons are looking less potent and in some cases like a liability for the military of President Bashar al-Assad.
a. Resigning as envoy to Syria, Annan casts wide blame].
....After months of failure to achieve a basic cease-fire in Syria, Kofi Annan cited government intransigence, rebel militancy and lack of support from a split United Nations Security Council.
b. Syrian fighting intensifies in battle for Aleppo.
....An apparent execution by rebel fighters of pro-government militiamen drew criticism amid claims of new massacres by government forces.
c. New fighting reported in Syria, including deadly assault on Palestinian camp.

....The new fighting was reported as diplomatic recriminations intensified over the resignation of Kofi Annan, the special peace envoy.

US News Capsules:
1. Errant trades reveal a risk few expected.
....By rushing to get a software trading program online, Knight Capital lost millions of dollars and created havoc on stock exchanges this week.
2. Fury reveals deep rifts near 'Happiest place on earth.'.
....Anger over two fatal police shootings in Anaheim, Calif., the home of Disneyland, has led to the eruption of longstanding race and class tensions.
3. A river newly wild and seriously muddy.

....As a river in Washington State returns to its original state because of a dam removal project, fish again swim upstream — but tons of sediment are heading downstream.
4. A fast-food loyalty rooted in southern identity.
....For many Southerners, whether to go to Chick-fil-A is not as simple as choosing sides in a cultural war, and they feel protective of a brand rooted in their region’s tradition..
5. Amtrak losing millions each year on food sales.
....Required since 1981 to break even, Amtrak’s food service never has, instead racking up huge losses, largely because of lack of oversight, waste and employee theft, according to government auditors.
6. Pace of hiring rose in July, but jobless rate picked up.

....The American economy added 163,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said, a jump up from June’s figure of 64,000. But the unemployment rate inched up to 8.3%.
POLITICS:
1. Pile of bills left behind as Congress goes to campaign.
....A last-minute House attempt at relief for drought-stricken farmers was one of a series of measures that fell victim to partisan fighting, and infighting, in recent weeks.
2. Cybersecurity bill is blocked in US Senate by GOP filibuster

he bill would have established optional standards for the computer systems that oversee critical infrastructure.
3. In tight Iowa race, Romney struggles to excite GOP base

....The lack of enthusiasm may affect turnout in a state that is considered up for grabs.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Drought dries up stretch of Platte River, slows barges on lower Mississippi.

It's not just on land where drought is taking a toll: a 100-mile stretch of the Platte River has dried up, while barges along the lower Mississippi are having to carry less cargo in order to navigate shallower water. The Mississippi impact is one that goes far beyond the immediate area: About 60 percent of the nation's grain, 22 percent of its oil and gas, and 20 percent of the nation's coal goes down the river. Lighter barges mean longer waits for those products.
The Army Corps of Engineers is tasked with dredging parts of the river where barges ground, and business is booming. "We're dredging around the clock," Bob Anderson, a spokesman for the Corps' Mississippi Valley District, said. The situation is the opposite from last year when flooding saw the Mississippi crest at nearly 48 feet above the baseline near Memphis, Tenn. Lately the river has been six to seven feet below the baseline -- 12 feet below normal for this time of year. It could drop another 2.5 feet by August, National Weather Service meteorologist Marlene Mickelson told Reuters, calling that a "worst-case scenario."
For the barges, every inch of water counts. Barges must unload 17 tons of cargo for every one-inch loss of water and 204 tons for every one-foot loss of draft, Tom Allegretti, president of the American Waterways Operators, said in a recent statement. Draft is the distance between a ship's waterline and the lowest point of its keel. "When you consider that a typical tow on the upper Mississippi or Ohio Rivers has 15 barges, a one-foot loss of draft will decrease the capacity of that tow by 3,000 tons," Allegretti said. "The tows on the lower Mississippi River are larger, consisting of 30-45 barges, resulting in decreased capacity of over 9,000 tons." It would take 130 semi trucks or 570 rail cars to haul the freight unloaded by one large barge under those conditions.
Locals are doing everything in their power to manage -- and that means barges are loading less, the Coast Guard is constantly resetting buoy lines that help navigate, and the Corps is dredging. River conditions were even worse during the 1988 drought, when a 100-mile stretch south of Memphis was closed. At one point, more than 700 barges were backed up on the river near Greenville, Miss. Lessons learned then prompted changes in how the Army Corps of Engineers maintains the river and, as a result, have lessened the impact of this year's drought. Those changes include new dikes and other structures that direct water in key areas
On the Platte River, meanwhile, sand, plants and tire tracks are now the dominant features along a stretch near near Columbus, Neb. Someone with a dry sense of humor even put up a cactus in the middle of the river, TheOmahaChannel.com reported. "This is the worst I've ever seen it, and I've been on the river since I was a pup," Dan Kneifel, who runs Geno's Bait and Tackle Shop, told TheOmahaChannel.com. The river is essentially dry from Columbus to Kearney, about 100 miles away. "You may find a little trickle in some stretches of that, but nothing to support fish," Daryl Bauer, a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission staffer, told the Lincoln Journal-Star.


Thought for Today
"Who will stand guard to the guards themselves?"
--Juvenal [Decimus Junius Juvenalis] (c.55-c.128 AD) Roman satirical poet

Today's flower: Banshee black bearded iris

[pegasus]

Friendship Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 218th day of 2012 with 147 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 8:53 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 77ºF [Feels like 79ºF], winds S @ 12 mph, humidity 74%, pressure 31.01 in and steady, dew point 68ºF, chance of precipitation 70%.

Today in History:
1779-- Lt Col. James DeLancey’s New York Loyalists and Patriot William Hull’s Connecticut Brigade battle for the Bronx in New York City.
1858--the 1st transatlantic telegraph cable was completed.
1861---Pres. Lincoln i,posed the first federal income tax.
1864--Union forces scored a victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay.
1884--the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.
1914--the world's first electric traffic signal wasinstalled in Cleveland, Ohio.
1914--the German assault on Liege began first battle of World War I.
1924--the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" by Harold Gray made its debut.
1930--Neil Armstrong, astronaut, turns 82.
1948--an earthquake caused dealy landslides in Ecuador.
1957--American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark, made its network TV debut on ABC.
1962--Marilyn Monroe wass found dead of a drug overdose at her home.
1963--the US, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in Moscow banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater.
1969--the U.S. space probe Mariner 7 flew by Mars, sending back photographs and scientific data.
1974--the UC Congress cut military aid to South Vietnam.
1976--the NBA merged with the ABA.
1981--Pres. Reagan fired 11,369 striking air traffic controllers.
1998--Marie Noe, age 70, was arrested at her Philadelphia home and charged in the smothering deaths of eight of her children, who died between 1949 and 1968.
2002--Divers recovered the rusty gun turret of the US Monitor turret after 140 years underwater.
2009--Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term as Iran's president.
2010--the US Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as the Supreme Court's 112th justice and the fourth woman in its history.
2011 --tandard & Poor's lowered the United States' AAA credit rating by one notch to AA-plus.

World News Capsules:
1. Two top Afghan security ministers face dismissal.
....Lawmakers explained a move that would cast out the heads of the army and national police in the middle of a war as part of a fight against crippling corruption and cronyism.
2. Leaders' torture in the '70s stirs ghosts in Brazil.

....A Brazilian truth commission is gathering details on decades-old torture cases, including that of Pres. Dilma Rousseff
3. 2,000 arrested in China in counterfeit drug crackdown.
....Authorities detained nearly 2,000 people as part of a nationwide crackdown on the sale of fake or counterfeit drugs and health care products, according to a report Sunday from Xinhua, the official news agency.
4. Israel bars foreign envoys from West Bank meeting.
....Delegations from five countries were denied permission to use Israeli border crossings because their governments do not recognize the state of Israel.
5. He may be leader of Peru, but to outspoken kin, he's just a disappointment.
....Pres. Ollanta Humala tries to sidestep the negative attention, but the criticism by his own kin mirrors a growing dissatisfaction by the public.
6. Intensified Syrian fighting reported in battles for Damascus and Aleppo.
....Explosions and heavy fighting rocked Syria's two largest cities on Saturday, witnesses and activists said, as the Syrian government and rebel fighters struggled to gain an advantage in the country's bloody, 17-month-old conflict.
a. 48 captives are Iran'thugs,' say rebels in Syria.

....As fighting continued throughout Syria, the rebels insisted that their hostages were members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, not religious pilgrims.
7. As Syria war roils, unrest among sects hits Turkey.
....With Syria’s war devolving into a bloody sectarian showdown, tensions have increased across the border between Turkey’s Alawite minority and its Sunni Muslim majority.

US News Capsules:
1. Lucrative gambling pits tribe against tribe.
....Plans for two tribal casinos are drawing fierce opposition from nearby tribes with casinos that they say will be hurt by the newcomers.
2. A Spanish hat factory thrives on orders from a finicky Brooklyn.
....A hat factory in Seville has found an unlikely source of revenue amid the economic downturn - the Hasidic community in Brooklyn.
3. If the name gets in the way, change it.
....Changing the company's name can make a big difference, whether to ease confusion, rebuild a brand or flee a negative. connotation.
4. State department and Pentagon plan for post-Assad Syria
.
....The agencies have created cells to look at potential problems in the wake of Pres. Bashar al-Assad’s fall, hoping to avert the types of mistakes made after the invasion of Iraq.
5. US officials brace for huge task of operating health exchanges.
....The insurance marketplaces are a centerpiece of Pres. Obama’s health care law, but federal officials never expected to have to run them themselves.
6. Networks struggle to appeal to Hispanics.

....Shows meant to reach out to Hispanic viewers often rely on boilerplate characters that fall flat.
POLITICS:
1. Record spending by Obama's camp shrinks coffers.
....Pres. Obama has spent more campaign cash more quickly than any incumbent in recent history, about $400 million from the beginning of last year to June 30 this year.
2. Copyikng Obama's '08 strategy, Romney takes to the ground in Colorado.
....Mitt Romney’s fate in Colorado may depend on whether his campaign can build a ground-level presence like the one that helped carry President Obama four years ago,

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Gunman kills 6 in Wisconsin Sikh temple befoe dying in shootout.

In what police called an act of domestic terrorism, a gunman opened fire in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., south of Milwaukee, killing six people and wounding at least three others, including a police officer, before being shot to death. "We're treating this as a domestic terrorist-type incident," Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said at a late afternoon press conference. He did not elaborate. It was not immediately clear why local police were classifying the shooting as domestic terrorism.
Federal law enforcement officials said the suspect had no obvious connection to domestic terror or white supremacist groups and apparently was not on any list of suspected terrorists. The suspect was in his early 40s, and while he had an arrest record, it was for minor offenses, one federal official said.
Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt, acting as public information officer at the scene, said the shooting took place shortly before Sunday services were to begin. A police officer responding to multiple 911 calls came upon a gunman outside the temple and was shot multiple times, Wentlandt said. The gunman shot at another officer, who returned fire, striking and killing the him, Edwards said. The wounded officer was taken to a hospital where he was undergoing surgery and was expected so survive.
A law enforcement official said the gunman was dressed in tactical gear and armed with a single handgun. His name was not released but police say they have a tentative ID and were preparing to search what they believed to be his home. A temple committee member, Ven Boba Ri, told the Journal-Sentinel that people inside the temple described the shooter as a white male in his 30s. "We have no idea," he said of the motive. "It's pretty much a hate crime. It's not an insider." Ri told the Journal-Sentinel the gunman walked up to a priest who was standing outside the temple and shot him. Then he went inside and started shooting.
Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs don't practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say. Sikhism is a monotheistic faith that was founded in South Asia more than 500 years ago. It has roughly 27 million followers worldwide. Observant Sikhs do not cut their hair; male followers often cover their heads with turbans -- which are considered sacred -- and refrain from shaving their beards. They are neither Muslim nor Hindu. There are roughly 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to estimates. The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin was founded in October 1997 with 20 to 25 families, according to its website. It currently has 350 to 400 people in its congregation and has grown rapidly, the group says. The congregation started in rental facilities in Milwaukee and established formerly established in a building in 1999. It later bought 13 acres in Oak Creek and broke ground on the current temple in 2006.

Thought for Today
"There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience."
--Hartley Shawcross (1902-2003), prosecutor at Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal

[pegasus]

Hiroshima Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 219th day of 2012 with 146 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 70ºF [Feels like 70ºF], winds W @ 6 mph, humidity 57%, pressure 30.12 in and falling, dew point 54ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1777--Gen. Nicholas Herkimer was killed at the Battle of Oriskany. but British and Indian forces were halted on their way to Saratoga.
1787--the first draft of the US Constitution was debated in Philadelphia, Pa.
1825--Upper Peru became the autonomous republic of Bolivia.
1862--the C.S.S. Arkansas, a Confederate ironclad, was blown up by her crew after suffering mechanical problems during a battle with the U.S.S. Essex near Baton Rouge, La.
1890--Hall of fame pitcher Cy Young made his major league debut with the Cleveland Spiders of the National League.
1890--The first execution by electric chair occurred in Auburn State Prision in New York.
1914--Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia, and Serbia declared war against Germany at the outbreak of war,
1915--Allied forces commanded by Sir Frederick Stopford landed at Suvla Bay, on the Aegean Sea, to launch a fresh attack against Turkish and German forces on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
1926--Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English channel, arriving in Kingsdown, England, from France in 14½ hours..
1930--New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Force Crater went missing after leaving a Manhattan restaurant; his disappearance remains a mystery to this day.
1942--Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands became the first reigning queen to address a joint session of Congress.
1945--an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the world's first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima.
1965--Pres. Johnson signed the Voting Rigths Act.
1971--the 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the first US Army troops deployed to Vietnam, stood down for withdrawal from the country.
1991--Peugeot said au revoir to U.S. car market.
1997--a Korean Air Boeing 747 crashed in Guam, killing 228 people sue to an inexperienced crew and poor air-traffic policies on the island.
2002--Pres. Bush signed legislation restoring to US presidents broad authority in negotiating trade pacts.
2007--the Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah collapsed, trapping six coal miners. (All six miners died, along with three rescuers.)
2007--Baron Elie Robert de Rothschild, who helped France's Rothschild winemaking and banking dynasty recover from the ravages of World War II, died near Scharnitz, Austriaat age 90.
2008--the government declared that Army scientist Bruce Ivins was solely responsible for the anthrax attacks that killed five in 2001.
2009--Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice .
2011--insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the elite Navy commando unit that had slain Osama bin Laden; seven Afghan commandos also died.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan president moves to reassure allies after security ministers are dismissed.
.... Pres. Hamid Karzai said he respected Parliament’s decision to fire two senior security officials, but it was not clear how quickly he would replace them.
2. Chinese leaders gather ahead of transition, reports indicate.
....For months, party elders and current senior officials have been negotiating quietly in Beijing to fill the seats of the party’s top governing bodies, the 25-member Politburo and its elite Standing Committee
3. Gunmen kill 15 and steal vehicle in attack on Egypt base.

....After the attack on an Egyptian army barracks in the northern Sinai peninsula, near the country's border with Israel, the militants seized armored vehicles and tried to infiltrate Israel, according to officials
a. Israeli defense chief says Egypt attack a 'wake-up call'.
....The Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, said that a terrorist attack that killed 15 Egyptian soldiers underscored a growing danger at the border between the two nations.
4. Optimism in Greece after talks with lenders.
....Creditors wrapped up a review of the country’s progress in meeting the terms of its second bailout and said they would return in September for a final assessment
5. Saying Mali 'is our country,' militias train to oust Islamists.

....Fledgling citizen militias have taken on the task of standing up to an array of Islamist fighters bent on enforcing a hard-edged brand of Shariah law in Mali, but the eager recruits have almost no weapons, little military instruction, and not much more than the hard ground to sleep on.
6. Syria premier defects to anti-Assad oppositin, spokesman says.

....Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab has defected to the opposition seeking to overthrow Pres. Assad, a spokesman for Hijab said, marking one of the most high-profile desertions from the Damascus government.

US News Capsules:
1. NASA's most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet.

(Artist rendereing of Curiosity on Mars)
....The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.
2. Wisconsin gunman identified as US Army veteran.

....Officials said the gunman, shot and killed by the police, was Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran who, a rights watchdog said, had white supremacist ties and led a neo-Nazi punk band.
a. Sikhs reel after 'senseless' attack: We're not Taliban.
....Sikhs around the country mourned the loss of their fellow believers, saying they are misunderstood minority. "We are pretty sure that this is a hate crime because there is so much ignorance and people mistake us either being Taliban, or being part of Bin Laden’s network, or al-Qaida because of our turbans and beards," Rajwa Singh of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Rockville, Md., said.
3. To increase learning time, some schools add days to academic year.
....Increasing time in school is one of the best ways to narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor students, education advocates say.
4. As Libor fault-finding grows, it is now every bank for itself.
....The investigation into the manipulation of the Libor benchmark interest rate has led banks to seek to implicate their rivals, according to government and bank officials.
5. NBC's coverage in London is becoming a rating success with a shot at a profit.
....NBC said viewership for the London Games was so much higher than expectations that the network predicted it would turn a small profit overall.
POLITICS:
1. Fearing an impasse in Congress, industry cuts spending.
....Executives at a wide range of companies fear paralysis in Washington will force hundreds of billions in tax increases and budget cuts in January, leading them to cancel new investments and put off new hires.
2. In Kansas, Conservatives vilify fellow Republicans.
....Kansas politics have been tilting more to the right for at least the last two decades, and now that shift is prompting a bitter clash within the state’s Republican Party.
3. Outside cash in Missouri race could be a national model.
....The campaign against Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, fueled by tax-exempt groups backing Republican candidates, may be a precursor to such efforts on a broader scale.
4. Team Romney once again outraises Team Obama.

....The full picture on fundraising comparisons won't be clear until Aug. 20, when the July numbers are due at the FEC

Olympic Headlines of Interest:
Quiet highlights.

(Silver medal race walk winner Erick Barrondo of Guatemala )
Amid the sensational wins of the first half of the London Olympics, there are some less-celebrated but no less impressive victories that you might have missed.
1. GUATEMALA won its very first Olympic medal in history, when Erick Barrando won silver in the 20 km race walk. The country first participated in the Games in 1952.
2. ITALY overtook France to claim the highest number of fencing medals overall in Olympics history. Italy's fencing medal count now stands at 121 to the 115 held by France, which failed to take home a fencing medal for the first time since 1960. With her six gold medals, Italy's Valentina Vezzali also made Olympic history by becoming the most decorated female fencer.
3. Other fencers also made Olympic history for their national teams, including Reuben Limbardo Gascon, who won VENEZUELA's first fencing gold—and the country's first gold medal since 1968. Silver medalist Bartosz Piasecki won NORWAY's first fencing medal.
4. SOUTH KOREA's fencer, Shin A Lam, picked herself up to win silver in the team event, after she sat on the piste in tears earlier in the week after losing the women's epee semifinal over a disputed final hit.
5. NORTH KOREA has won four medals in weightlifting—three of them gold. Om Yun Choi and Kim Un Guk triumphed in the men's 56 kg and 62 kg events, the first time the nation has won an Olympic medal for men's weightlifting since 1992. Rim Jong Sim followed a few days later with a victory in the women's 69 kg event.
6. HONG KONG cyclist Wai Sze Lee won a bronze in women's keirin, the first medal awarded in the London Olympics to Hong Kong. It was also the third Olympics medal ever won by the special administrative region of China, which has independently competed in the summer Olympics since 1952.
7. BELARUS won its first gold medal in tennis, triumphing in the mixed doubles event, which returned to the Olympics after an 88-year absence.
8. Women's boxing made its debut in the London Olympics, bringing 36 female boxers from 23 nations across three weight divisions to the ring. In the 75 kg division, NIGERIA's Edith Ogoke defeated 2012 world championship silver medalist Elena Vystropova, making her one to watch in Monday's quarterfinals.

Thought for Today
"[T]he burden of government is not measured by how much it taxes, but by how much it spends."
--Milton Friedman (1912-2006) Nobel Prize-winning economist ,advisor to Pres. Reagan and "ultimate guru of the free-market system."

Today's flower: Blueberry filly iris

[pegasus]

Professional Speakers Day

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 220th day of 2012 with 145 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:03 p.m., it's fair , temp 82ºF [Feels like 82ºF], winds W @ 9 mph, humidity 31%, pressure 29.99 in and falling, dew point 48ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1782--Gen. George Washington created the Purple Heart medal, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.
1882--the famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence.
1903--Louis S. B. Leakey, Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist, was born; died 1972 at age 69.
1912--former Pres. Teddy Roosevelt was nominated as the Bull Moose/Progressive Party candidate for president.
1927--the already opened Peace Bridge connecting Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, was officially dedicated.
1942--US forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific.
1947--Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, completes a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, near Tahiti.
1959--the US launched the Explorer 6 satellite, which sent back images of Earth.
1964--the US Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving Pres. Johnson nearly unlimited powers to oppose "communist aggression" in Southeast Asia.
1971--Apollo 15 returned to Earth after a manned mission to the moon.
1974--French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.
1990--Pres. Bush ordered Operation Desert Storm to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia against a possible invasion by Iraq.
1998--US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, killing 224 peope, including 12 Americans, and wounded some 4,500.
2000--Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore chose Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, making him the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket.
2002--major league baseball players and owners agreed on the sport's first tests for steroids.
2005--after three days, the Russian Priz AS-28 mini-submarine, with seven crew members, was rescued from deep in the Pacific Ocean.
2008--Georgia shelled the capital of breakaway republic South Ossetia. (Russia responded by occupying much of Georgia in a five-day war.)
2011--four adults and three children were killed by a gunman in Copley Township, Ohio; the shooter died in a gunfight with police.

World News Capsules:
1. 8 civilians killed in bombing near Kabul.
....A suspected insurgent who had been arrested and released by Afghan authorities detonated a bomb outside Kabul, killing at least eight people in a packed bus, the Afghan police said.
2. Sinai attack tests new Egyptian president's relationship with Israel.
....The attack, which left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead, brought several early signs of cooperation and coordination between the governments.
3. As Greece rounds up migrants, official says 'Invasion' imperils national stability.
....Of the 6,000 detained, authorities said 1,400 did not have proper documentation, leading the minister of public order to say that Greece was suffering an “unprecedented invasion.
4. Cracks in Great Britain's governing coalition as House of Lords overhaul falls apart.
....The proposed changes would have nearly cut in half the size of the upper chamber, from 826 to 450 members, and made 80 % of the body elective by 2025..
5. Where streets are thronged with strays baring fangs.

....Free-roaming dogs in India, many of which are rabid, number in the tens of millions and bite millions of people annually, including vast numbers of children
6. Regulator says British bank helped Iran hide deals.
....Standard Chartered, motivated by the millions of dollars it reaped in fees, schemed with the Iranian government to launder $250 billion, New York's banking regulator said.
a. Iran warns US on fate of hostges in Syria.
....The Iranian government said it would hold the United States responsible for the fate of a group of Iranians held by Syrian rebels following an artillery attack that reportedly killed three of them.
7. Japan utility shows recordings of nuclear crisis.
....The split-screen videos show executives from the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, huddled around a conference table, trying to grasp or organize the situation.
8. Gunman kill 16 in Cental Nigeria church attack.
....Gunmen fired on worshippers at a church in Nigeria's central Kogi state during a Monday evening service, police said.
9. 1000s flee Manila flooding: desperate residents trapped on roofs.

....Rescue workers on Tuesday raced to pluck people from their roofs and out of fast-flowing water as the worst flooding in two years submerged a third of the Philippines’ overpopulated capital
10. Russian booster rocket fails to deliver satellite.
....The malfunction is a particularly glaring failure of Russia’s space program, coming just hours after NASA landed a research probe on Mars.
11. Prime minister's defction in the dark jolts Syrians.
....The defection of Syria's prime minister, Riyad Farid Hijab, planned furtively for weeks, spurred jubilation in the opposition but seemed unlikely to end the war.
a. Fighting grows more intense in Syria's largest city.
....1000s of frightened refugees poured out of the embattled Syrian metropolis of Aleppo as the military’s fighter jets stepped up bombing raids.
b. Lugar urges US and Russia to rid Syria of chemical weapons.
....Sen. Lugar (R-Ind.) is in Moscow to press for an extension of a program to safeguard and dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons in the former Soviet Union.
12. Tibetan monk dies in Western China blaze, reports say.
....At least 45 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since February 2009, according to an estimate by Radio Free Asia,

US News Capsules:
1. Hospital chain inquiry cited unnecessary cardiac work.
....HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, uncovered evidence of unnecessary - even dangerous - cardiac treatments at some of its medical centers in Florida.
2. Wisconsin killer fed and was fueled by hate-driven music.

....Wade M. Page, who the authorities said killed six people at a Sikh temple, was a white supremacist who performed in a racist rock band.
3. After safe landing, the rover Curiosity sends images from Mars.
....The rover ushers in a new era of exploration that could turn up evidence that the Red Planet once had the ingredients for life.
4. Life term for gunman after guilty plea in Tucson killings.
....Jared L. Loughner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to carrying out a shooting rampage that left six people dead and Gabrielle Giffords wounded. In exchange, the government has agreed not to seek the death penalty.
5. Close-knit mosque community shaken by fire in Joplin, Mo.

....Members of the worship house of the Islamic Society of Joplin, Missouri, destroyed by a suspicious fire in a month, are sad and shaken, but resolute in their plans to stay in the area, a spokeswoman said. Earlier in the month, the Islamic center was the site of an attempted arson.
6. Disabled students almost twice as likely to be suspended, analysis finds.
....The highest rates are among black children with disabilities, which can include learning difficulties.
POLITICS:
1. Reid puts GOP in a bind over Romney's takes.

....Republican sources say they're in a Catch-22 situation on how to reply to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's claims that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney went 10 years without paying taxes.

Olympic Headlines of Interest:
1. In the pole vault, consistency through tough conditions.
....Jennifer Suhr won the pole vault with a jump of 4.75 meters, or 15 feet 7 inches with the wind affecting many vaulters.
2. Raisman's Olympic moment

Afterlosing a bronze medal in the all-around to a tie-breaker, Aly Raisman finally got her Olympic moment winning a gold medal in the floor exercises and a bronze on the balance beam.
3. Windsurfing's last stance.

....Windsurfers took to the sea today for what could be the last time in an Olympic Games if the International Sailing Federation gets its way. In May 2012 the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) decided that windsurfing -- which made its Olympic debut in 1984 -- would not be included in the Rio 2016 Olympics. So the windsurfing body International RS:X Class Association decided to increase the pressure on the ISAF by taking it to court.

Thought for Today
"Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor."
—Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) English historian.

[pegasus]

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 222nd day of 2012 with 143 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's fair , temp 83ºF [Feels like 84ºF], winds calm, humidity 54%, pressure 29.91 in and falling, dew point 66ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.

Today in History:
378--in one of the most decisive battles in history, a large Roman aimy under Valens, the Roman emperor of the East, was defeated by the mounted barbarian Visigoths at the Battle of Adrianople.
1593--Izaak Walton, English biographer and author of The Compleat Angler, was born; died 1683 at age 90.
1842--the US and Canada resolved a border dispute by signing the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
1854--Henry David Thoreau published Walden, which described his life near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.
1862--Confederate Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson scored a narrow victory over Union forces under Gen. John Pope at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.
1877--having refused government demands that they move to a reservation, a small band of Nez Perce Indians clash with the U.S. Army near the Big Hole River in Montana.
1896--Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist famous for his studies of cognitive development in children, was born; died 1980 at age 84
1902--Britain's Edward VII was crowned king following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
1936--American Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal )100-meter relay) at the Berlin Olympics, thereby discrediting the Nazi theory of Aryan superiority.
1942--Britain arrested Indian nationalist agitator Mohandas K. Gandhi; releasing him in 1944.
1944--258 African-American sailors based at Port Chicago, Calif., refused to load a munitions ship following an explosion on another ship that killed 320 men, many of them black. (Fifty of the sailors were convicted of mutiny, fined and imprisoned.)
1945--the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people.
1969--members of Charles Manson's cult killed five people in the Beverly Hills, Calif., home of movie director Roman Polanski, incuding his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate.
1974--Pres. Nixon and his family left the White House as his resignation took effect. Vice Pres. Gerald R. Ford became the nation's 38th chief executive.
1976--Hurricane Belle struck the Eastern seaboard from North Carolina to Vermont.
1985--Arthur Walker, a retired U.S. Navy officer. was found guilty of spying, passing secrets to his brother who then gave them to the Soviets.
1988--Wayne Gretzky was traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.
1995--Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead died at age 53.
1997, Haitian immigrant Abner Louima was brutalized in a Brooklyn, N.Y., stationhouse by officer Justin Volpe, who raped him with a broken broomstick. (Volpe was later sentenced to 30 years in prison.)
2001--Pres. Bush approved federal funding for eisting lines of embryonic stem cells.
2002--Oscar-winning actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston, 78, revealed that doctors had told him he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
2004--Terry Nichols was sentenced to 161 consecutive life sentences for the Oklahoma City bombing.
2007--China banned exports by two toy manufacturers whose products were subject to major recalls in the United States.
2010--a JetBlue flight attendant quit his job via hisplane's escape slide.
2010--former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 86, the longest serving Republican in the US Senate, was killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska.
2011--polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced in San Angelo, Texas, to life in prison for sexually assaulting one of his child brides, and received the maximum 20-year punishment for a separate child sex conviction.

World News Capsules:
1. Fatal attack shows plan to unsettle Afghanistan.
....The attack, in which two bombers detonated suicide vests as soldiers were patrolling near the provincial council’s office, occurred just a few days after the Taliban made a show of force in Kunar Province
2. Trial of Chinese ex-official's wife begins and ends.

....After only seven hours, officials said that Gu Kailai, the wife of the deposed political leader Bo Xilai, and an accomplice had all but confessed to poisoning a British businessman.
a. Growth flagging in China, government data show.
....Key areas are expanding far less than expected compared with the same period a year ago, although inflation has decreased dramatically.
3. For victim in Sikh temple shooting, a life of separation.

....A stunned family that had lived for so long without its father and husband is now preparing to travel to Wisconsin to collect Ranjit Singh's body.
4. Plots are tied to shadow war of Israel and Iran.
....Analysts say the shadow war has more in common with the cloak-and-dagger maneuverings of the CIA and the KGB during the cold war than the publicity-hungry terrorism campaign of Al Qaeda.
5. New Pakistani premier faces contempt notice on corruption inquiry.
....Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a contempt-of-court notice against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, signaling a rerun of judicial proceedings that saw his predecessor ousted from office in June.
6. Punk ban's Moscow trial offers platform for orthodox protesters.

....Religious groups in Moscow burned a poster of the punk band whose members are on trial for performing an anti-Putin song at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior,
7. Rebels pull back as Syrian military continues moving in on Aleppo.

....Rebel forces in Syria's largest city said that government forces had launched a ground assault, forcing them to pull back from parts of a key neighborhood. Meanwhile, Pres. Assad appointed a new prime minister, Wael Nader al-Halqi, to replace Riyad Farid Hijab, who defected to Jordan this week.
8. After 40 years, US to clean up Agent Orange in Vietnam.

....Luu Thi Thu's son's birth defects are linked to his father's exposure to Agent Orange at a former American base in Da Nang, Vietnam. Now, a four-year, $43 million US program is being welcomed in Vietnam, but many people say the effort is too little and too late.

US News Capsules:
1. With rates low, banks increase mortgaage rofit.
....Bundling mortgages and selling them to investors is helping banks make big profits even as they charge lower interest rates. Am I wrong but isn't this how we got into the economic mess we're in now?
2. The sound of hate.
....Law enforcement and anti-racist activists should pay close attention to the neo-Nazi music scene as a motivating force for hate crime.
3. $1 million each year for all, as long as tribe's luck holds.

....A growing movement to legalize Internet gambling and give states the power to regulate and tax online gambling even on reservations is driving anxiety even among one of the richest tribes, the Shakopee,
4. What cornfields show, data now confirm: July set mark as US's hottest month.

....The average temperature in the lower 48 states last month was 77.6 degrees, breaking a record set in July 1936.
5. In laundering case, a lax banking law obscured money flow.
...In so-called U-turn transactions before 2008, global banks like Standard Chartered could provide scant information on transfers that passed in and out of the US.
6. Google goes back to the drawing board for Nexus Q.
....The setback from the Nexus Q reveals deeper challenges for Google as it tries to move into two new areas: hardware and social technology.
7. Soaring ointment prices are a dermatologic mystery.

....Generic creams routinely prescribed by doctors have been undergoing rapid price increases, an example of the murky and often illogical world of drug pricing.
8. OLYMPICS: The US bounces back, and over.
....Aries Merritt won the 110-meter hurdles, Brittney Reese won the long jump, and Allyson Felix won the 200 meters as all three overcame disappointments from 2008.
a. And the Olympic gold for whining goes to...
....Any moment not shrouded in gold, silver or bronze has the potential to draw complaints, insults and general disgruntlement from fans and the news media.
POLITICS:
1. Politicians, protesters, police: Charlotte braces.
....With thousands of protesters of all stripes preparing to invade the city for the Democratic National Convention, Charlotte and the Secret Service announced the perimeters of the security zone.
2. A candidate whose ads are never off the air.
....Linda Lingle, the Republican nominee for Senate in Hawaii, has turned a cable channel into a 24-hour advertisement for her campaign.
3. Romney faces pressure from right to put Ryan on ticket.
....Conservative media outlets are pushing Mitt Romney to erase doubts about his agenda by choosing Representative Paul D. Ryan as his running mate.
4. Young in GOP erase the lines on social issues.
....Many of the youngest leaders of the Republican Party are embracing views on some social issues that are at odds with traditional conservative ideology.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
"We're with you, sisters": Nuns amazed by outpouring of support.

More than 900 Roman Catholic nuns gathering in St. Louis, Mo., this week to discuss the future of their relationship with the Vatican were surprised to be greeted by supporters with a simple message on their signs: "We're with you, sisters." "It's utterly amazing to all of us, really," Sister Annmarie Sanders, director of communications for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, said. "They're having vigils every night," she added. "We've received... I think it's almost 1,500 letters that have been collected so they can distribute them to our members -- all letters of support." This week, the nuns will pray together and discuss a range of options for the future, from accepting the Vatican's mandate to starting a new organization independent of the church's control.
This spring, after a three-year investigation, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog issued a report questioning the organization's loyalty to some Church teachings, including the nuns' lack of outspokenness on issues such as gay marriage, abortion and contraception. Another concern voiced by the Vatican relates to conferences organized by the nuns featuring "a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." On April 18, the Vatican appointed Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle to oversee the nuns' organization and reform its programs to adhere more closely to "the teachings and discipline of the church."
The Leadership Conference, which represents about 80% of the 57,000 nuns in the US, is holding its yearly national assembly this week following scathing criticism from the Vatican of the nuns' alleged lack of fidelity to Catholic teachings. Their supporters say they were shocked by the crackdown. The Nun Justice Project, a grassroots coalition of Catholic organizations, started the day after the Vatican released its mandate as a petition created on Change.org. "The goal was to have 57,000 signers on the petition -- one name for every sister in the U.S. -- and we surpassed that," spokesperson Erin Saiz Hanna said. The group delivered the petition to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The coalition also asked American Catholics to redirect their annual Peter's Pence contributions from the Vatican to their local communities of women religious. "We were able to redirect $100,000 from that Peter's Pence," Hanna said. "People were able to choose the community that they wanted to redirect their funds to."
Jim FitzGerald, executive director of the Catholic organization Call To Action, which is also part of the Nun Justice Project, said there is a growing disconnect between the Vatican and the nuns. "It's really two different world views," he said. "It's the Vatican, that is very concerned with how Catholics follow rules and you have the perspective from the women religious and how they live out the gospel values...We are a faith where we believe that with God all things are possible," FitzGerald added, "and I would like to think that those who are seeing the incredible support around the country for the sisters would be moved by that support and be a little more reflective about their actions."

Thought for Today
"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."
--Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist

[pegasus]

International Left-Handers Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 226th day of 2012 with 139 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:06 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 75ºF [Feels like 75ºF], winds calm, humidity 51%, pressure 30.02 in and falling, dew point 56ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1521--Spanish forces under Hernándo Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire.
1624--King Louis XIII of France appointed Cardinal Richelieu his first minister.
1704--the Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English-led forces under John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, over French and Bavarian soldiers.
1781--Patriot forces led by Col. William Harden and Brig. Gen. Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion lure the British into an ambush at Parker's Ferry, 30 miles northwest of Charleston, SC as 3,000 French soldiers set sail to aid the patriots.
1792--French revolutionaries imprisoned the royal family.
1846--the American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles, Calif.
1878--the firxt victim of the Memphis, Tenn. yellow fever epidemic died.
1910--Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died in London at age 90.
1934--the satirical comic strip "Li'l Abner," created by Al Capp, made its debut
1942--Walt Disney's animated feature Bambi had its U.S. premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
1948--U.S. and British planes airlift a record amount of supplies into sections of the city under American and British control, signaling they would not give in to the Soviet blockade.
1960--the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1.
1961--East Germany sealed off the border between Berlin's eastern and western sectors and began building a wall that would stand for the next 28 years.
1981--Pres. Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA), a historic package of tax and budget reductions.
1982--the movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, debuted.
1989--searchers in Ethiopia found the wreckage of a plane carrying Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.) and 14 other people.
2002--amid rising floodwaters, tens of thousands of people in the Czech Republic fled their historic capital, Prague, for higher ground.
2003--Libya agreed to set up a $2.7 billion fund for families of 270 people killed in the 1988 Locherbie Pan Am bombing.
2007--a bridge under construction in the ancient Chinese city of Fenghuang collapsed, killing 64 people.
2011--seven people were killed when a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair during a powerful storm just before a concert was to begin.

World News Capsules:
1. Argentina's new literary tradition: Pensions for aging writers.

....Buenos Aires now provides pensions to about 80 writers (pictured writer Bernardo Kleiner, 84), and as other countries trim social programs, Argentina is considering expanding the literary benefit nationwide.
2. Australian premier backs plan to accept more refugees.
....Prime Minister Julia Gillard endorsed a set of immigration reforms that would increase the number of refugees the country accepts by nearly 50%.
3. Hollywood eager to feed China's appetite for 3-D.
....American technologies, including 3-D and large format films, are delivering content to Chinese moviegoers who are increasingly focused on authenticity and a high-quality experience that cannot be pirated.
4. In upheaval for Egypt, Morsi forces out military chiefs.
....Pres. Mohamed Morsi ousted his powerful defense minister, the army chief of staff and several senior generals, seeming for the moment to reclaim power the military had seized.
a. The leaders of the Egyptian military coucil.

....Egypt’s ruling military council is made of up 23 senior officers. Six of them dominate the decision making in the council
5. 200 rescued in Iran after quakes; death toll rises to 300.
....Relief workers saved more than 200 people from the rubble of dozens of villages that were destroyed after two earthquakes struck Saturday
6. Norway panel on massacre finds litany of government failures.
....Norwegian authorities could have prevented or disrupted the bomb and gun attacks by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people last year, according to an independent inquest.
7. Korea policing the net. Twist? It's South Korea.

....As one of the world's most wired societies, South Korea has embraced the Web, but a recent crackdown on Internet freedom has drawn accusations of censorship.
8. Syrian jets pound rebel positions as opposition presses for no-fly zone.

....Pres. Assad's forces fired on areas in and around Aleppo and the authorities reported two bomb attacks in Damascus.
9. Ugandan copters, en route to battle Shabab, disappear over Kenya.
....At least two Ugandan military helicopters, key assets in a push against militants in Somalia, “lost communication” somewhere in Kenyan airspace and may have crashed, officials said.
10. Vatican judge indicts Pope's butler in leak case.

....Paolo Gabriele, the butler, is charged with aggravated theft and accused of taking and then leaking documents from the pope’s private apartment that raised allegations of corruption at the Vatican.

US News Capsules:
1. Problems riddle moves to collect credit card debt.
....Judges said that big lenders are using inaccurate or incomplete records to go after consumers, including some who have already paid their debts.
2. Study links healthier weight in children with strict laws on school snacks.
....The study, conducted over three years in 40 states, is likely to stoke the debate over government efforts to reduce obesity rates.
3. Woman becomes first openly gay general.
....Brig. Gen. Tammy S. Smith acknowledged her homosexuality by having her wife pin her star to her uniform.
4. NBC banks on Olympics as springboard for new shows.
....In spite of the millions watching the Games on any given night, history suggests that exposure during the Olympics does not necessarily drive viewers to new shows.
5. Museum defends antiquities collecting.

....With acquisitions of two antiquities, the Cleveland Museum of Art comes out firmly in support of collecting in a landscape reshaped by international disputes.
POLITICS:
1. Conservative star's small-town roots.

....After Paul D. Ryan's father died when he was 16, he began developing a self-reliance and political philosophy, family and friends say, that has led to a defining role as a vice-presidential candidate.
a. Both sides focus on the Republican ticket's new face.
....Mitt Romney sought to capitalize on conservative enthusiasm for his vice-presidential choice without having to defend all of Representative Paul D. Ryan’s positions
2. Enduring drought, farmers draw the line at Congress.

....With lawmakers at home for a recess, constituents are venting their anger over delays in enacting a new five-year farm bill.
3. Casino mogul's frontman in China is focus of inquiries.
....Questions over a casino company’s payments to its Chinese representative highlight how often politics and profits are intertwined for Sheldon Adelson, the company’s founder and a major Republican donor,

Thought for Today
"There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves."
—Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author .

Today's flower: Delirium iris

[pegasus]

National Catfish Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 228th day of 2012 with 137 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5;16 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 76ºF [Feels like 76ºF], winds N @ 5 mph, humidity 48%, pressure 29.93 in and falling, dew point 60ºF, chance of precipitation 20%. Sumset @ 8:09 p.m.

Today in History:
1057--the Battle of Lumphanan: King Macbeth of Scotland was slain by Malcolm Canmore, whose father, King Duncan I, was murdered by Macbeth 17 years earlier.
1483--the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.
1769--Napoleon Bonaparte, French general, 1st Consul and Emperor of France, was born on the island of Corsica; died 1821 at age 41 in exile.
1771--Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, poet, historian and biographer, was born; died 1832 at age 61.
1780--Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and his irregular cavalry routed loyalists at Port's Ferry, SC.
1914--the Panama Canal was opened to traffic.
1935--humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska.
1939--The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1945--in a radio address, Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II.
1947--India and Pakistan won their independence after 200 years from Great Britain.
1948--the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed.
1960--the Republic of the Congo became independent of France.
1964--Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev declared that he was ready to begin disarmament talks with the West.
1968--Vietnam: Heavy fightnig erupts in and around the DMZ.
1969--the Woodstock Music Festival opened on a farm in a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel in the Catskill Mountains.
1971--Pres. Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.
1979--the movie Apocalypse Now was released to theaters.
1983--Hurricane Alicia pounded the Texas coast.
1998--a car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people and injured 370; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility.
2001--astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside our own - two planets orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.
2002--Pres. Bush, using Mount Rushmore as a backdrop, pressed Congress to give him a flexible, fast-moving homeland security department.
2006--Israel began withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon.
2007--former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he'd officiated.
2007--a magnitude-8 earthquake in Peru's southern desert killed some 540 people.
2011--a relentless barrage of bombings in Iraq killed 63 people, striking 17 cities from northern Sunni areas to the southern Shiite heartland.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan attacks kill dozens in the deadliest day for civilians
.
....Bombings and shootings took the lives of at least 43 Afghans on Tuesday. The assaults came as people were thronging shops to prepare for the Muslim holiday that ends the month of Ramadan
2. Australian court strikes down tobacco challenge.
....Images of ulcers, cancerous lungs and gangrenous limbs will cover three-quarters of the front of all cigarette packages sold in Australia, and brand logos will be banned, under a landmark decision by the High Court.
3. French leader promises order after youths riot in a northern city.
....Clashes in the northern French city of Amiens could represent a challenge to Pres. François Hollande in a time of joblessness and flat economic growth.
a, In Peugeot's troubles, a test of contradictory campaign promises for Hollande.

....Vows to spur economic growth and shrink a budget deficit clash as an iconic company prepares to lay off 8,000 workers and shut a major factory,
4. British employment defies weak economy.
....The jobless rate fell to 8.0 % in the second quarter from 8.1% in the first, as businesses stepped up hiring for the Olympic Games.
a. British bank in $340 million settlement for laundering.
....New York's top banking regulator had accused Standard Chartered of laundering $250 billion for Iranian clients and lying about it to authorities.
c. UK's Prince Philip admitted to hospital.

....Britain's Prince Philip, the 91-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland Wednesday after the recurrence of a bladder infection, Buckingham Palace said.
5. Despite alarm by US, Europe lets Hezbollah operate openly.

....Washington and Jerusalem insist Hezbollah is a resurgent terrorist group with Iranian backing, but the European Union treats it as a Lebanese social and political movement.
6. Importing the AK-47, Russia's top gun.
....As Russia’s military has cut back Kalashnikov purchases, American enthusiasts have started buying civilian versions of weapons manufactured by the same factory.
7. Casino plan runs into opposition in Spain.
....The legal troubles of the American casino mogul Sheldon G. Adelson in the US and Macau are fueling opposition to his plans to build a casino and resort in Madrid or Barcelona.
8. Grandmas grow gold in Swaziland.

....Many of the marijuana-farming grandmothers of Swaziland, who supply South Africa's drug market, started growing to support the offspring their children left behind when they died.
9. Syria conflict spills into Lebanon with rash of kidnappings.

.....The kidnapping of more than 20 Syrians in Lebanon, in revenge for a rebel abduction in Damascus, spread fear in Beirut that such kidnappings were just the beginning.
a. Syrian conflict imperils historical treasures.

....Fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital, threatens to damage irreparably the stunning architectural and cultural legacy left by 5,000 years of civilizations.

US News Capsules:
1, Hassles of air travel push passengers to Amtrak.

....Passengers weary of the security and delays of airports are flocking to trains, which now dominate commercial travel in the Boston-Washington corridor.
2. Mine plan puts two Kentucky fixtures on collision course.
....A plan to develop a coal mine around a Girl Scout camp has exposed shifting alliances between environmental and business interests.
3. Sect pastor is convicted of assisting in abduction.
....Kenneth L. Miller was charged with abetting international kidnapping in a case involving same-sex unions and conservative Christian opposition to homosexuality.
4. A giant hospital chain is blazing a profit trail.
....Under private equity ownership, HCA made an aggressive push for more revenue that sometimes led to conflicts with doctors and nurses over patient care.
5. Nine straight days of 110 or more: that's hot, even for Phoenix.

....Temperatures in Phoenix have reached at least 100 degrees for 31 consecutive days, stretching even the most elastic tolerance levels of residents there used to scorching summers.
6. Illegal immigrants line up by 1000s for deportation deferrals
.

....The initiative allows deportations to be deferred for up to two years for as many as 1.7 million people and grants work permits to illegal immigrants who arrived in the US as children.
7. US vow to speed aid to Iran earthquake victims.
....American sanctions make charitable giving to Iran slow and complicated, but the Obama administration has promised to speed applications for donations to help victims of recent earthquakes
8. ARTS: A park's starring role in a yearly ritual.

....The joy of Shakespeare in the Park at the Delaacorte Theater is a summer ritual that can be connected to milestones in a New Yorker's life
POLITICS:
1. Utility's role in convention tests Obama.
....Efforts to free the Democratic convention from business and lobbyist support have prompted charges of hypocrisy from Republicans and grumbling among some Democrats.
2. Two-way jabs on Medicare recast races for Congress.
....A fight over the health care program for older Americans is intensifying in House and Senate races after Rep. Paul D. Ryan's selection as Mitt Romney's running mate

Today's Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Royal perfection: King Felix tosses perfect game.

....King Felix now has a crowning achievement. Felix Hernandez pitched the Seattle Mariners' first perfect game and the 23rd in baseball history, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in a brilliant 1-0 victory.
2. MLB: Melky Cabrera suspended for 50 games for positive testosterone test.

....Melky Cabrera has been suspended 50 games for a positive testosterone test, knocking out of the rest of the season and presumably the first five postseason games. Cabrera was hitting .346 and the Giants’ offensive MVP for most of the season. Now … he’s gone. And it hurts not just the Giants: Cabrera will be a free agent after the season is over, and now his free agent money drive is all gone.
3. TENNIS: Nadal pulls out of US Open, citing sore knee.

....Spaniard Rafael Nadal and third-ranked plalyer withdrew from the U.S. Open, due to the tendinitis that has kept him out of action since his stunning loss at Wimbledon in late June. The injury already forced him out of the London Olympics, where he was supposed to defend his title and carry Spain's flag in the opening ceremony.
4. OLYMPICS: Father of Saudi athlete says daughter called names for competing in Games.

....The father of Wojdan Shaherkani, a 16-year-old on Saudi Arabia's Olympic team ,said his daughter has been called names by people in her home country for competing at the London Games."... After the competition, I returned home, I read on Twitter that somebody said bad words about my daughter. Three people on Twitter accused her of being a 'prostitute.'"

Thought for Today
"Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it."
—George Carlin (1937-2008) comedian.

[pegasus]

National Relaxation Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 229th day of 2012 with 136 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:17 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 73ºF [Feels like 74ºF], winds variable @ 3 mph, humidity 76%, pressure 29.98 in and falling, dew point 61ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

Today in History:
1777--American forces won the Revolutionary War Battle of Bennington (Vt.).
1780--American Gen. Horatio Gates suffered a humiliating defeat at Camden, SC.
1812--American Gen. William Hull surrendered Fort Detroit and his army to the British without a fight.
1841--Pres. Tyler was burned in effigy outside the White House.
1861--Pres. Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states in rebellion.
1896--George Carmack spotted gold nuggets in a creek bed in Canada's Yukon Territory.
1920--Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was struck in the temple by a ball pitched by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees and died 12 hours later.
1954--Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc.
1956--Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1962--The Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr.
1964--Gen. Nguyen Khanh, elected president by the Military Council, ousted Duong Van Minh as South Vietnamese chief of state and installed a new constitution, which the U.S. Embassy had helped to draft.
1967--Pres. Johnson's broad intrepretation of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was challenged by Sen. William Fulbright (D-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
1972--the Moroccan king survived an attack by his own air force.
1977--Elvis Presley, 42, died at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee of a heart attack, likely brought on by addiction to prescription barbiturates.
1987--A plane crash due to pilot error at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Michigan killsed156 people with a four-year-old girl the sole survivor.
1987--1000s of people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the "harmonic convergence," which believers called the start of a new, purer Age of Aquarius.
1991--Pope John Paul II began the first-ever papal visit to Hungary
2002--terrorist mastermind Abu Nidal was found shot to death in Baghdad, Iraq.
2007--Jose Padilla, a US citizen held for 3-1/2 years as an enemy combatant, was convicted in Miami of helping Islamic extremists and plotting overseas attacks.
2007--a cave-in killed three rescuers in the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah; the search for six trapped miners was later abandoned.
2008--Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly by a 100th of a second for his 7th gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 record.
2010--China eclipsed Japan as the world's second biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth.

World News Capsules:
1. [Bahrain jails activist for 3 7ears over protests/u].
....Activist Nabeel Rajab was already serving three months in jail over a tweet criticizing the prime minister. Today’s verdict is likely to undermine a U.S. call for dialogue to defuse political tension.
2. China urges Japan to release protesterscaught on disputed island.

....The 14 Chinese, who include journalists, planted Chinese flags on one of a group of islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan,
3. Ecuador to let AJulian ssange stay in its embassy.

....The government of Ecuador is letting Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, to remain indefinitely in its embassy in London as he seeks asylum.
4. Egypt's Islamist leader accused of stifling media.
....Facing strident criticism, Pres. Mohamed Morsi’s government has suspended a satellite television channel, confiscated copies of a newspaper and censored columnists in a state newspaper
5. Iran group may remain on US terror list
....The Mujahedeen Khalq, also known as M.E.K., has been lobbying to be removed from the State Department’s terrorist list, but its refusal to leave a camp in Iraq has caused concern.
6. At least 39 killed in wave of attacks in Iraq.
....A series of bombings and shootings wounded more than 100 people across Iraq, just as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan drew to a close.
7. Pakistani Air Force base with Nuclear ties is attacked..
....Suspected Islamist militants attacked a major Pakistani air force base with links to the country's nuclear program in the early hours of Thursday, sparking an exchange of fire that lasted several hours.
8. South Africa police fire on striking miners.

....At least a dozen men were killed at Lonmin’s Marikana mine after riot police opened fire on the protesting miners armed with machetes and sticks.
9. UN observer mission to Syria to end.

....The United Nations Security Council agreed to keep a much smaller liaison office in the country

US News Capsules:
1. Tapping into the land, and dividing its people.
....Elders of the Blackfeet in Montana have decided to utilize their land's resources to transform a reservation scarred by poverty, but many in the group see the land as sacred.
2. Pennsylvania judge keeps voter ID law intact onits way to higher court.
....An appeal to the state Supreme Court was planned after opponents of a requirement for photo identification were denied an injunction.
3. Risk builds as junk bonds boom.
....Demand for high-yield corporate debt is insatiable, even as analysts warn that the market has become overheated and is ripe for a fall.
4. Downtown comes uptown.

....Madison Avenue, a barometer of New York City's retail health, is filling once-empty storefronts with businesses that are bringing younger customers to the street.
5. 'Mirror Fasts' help take the focus off yourself.

....Some people in search of serenity are trying to abstain from looking at their reflections for a day, a week, a month or even a year.
6. 2 deputies killed and 2 wounded in Louisiana shootings.
....The two shootings were separate but related in what the authorities described as an “ambush” in a rural town northwest of New Orleans.
7. Job losses persist for the less-educated.
....A disparity in employment based on education that had been growing since the 1980s accelerated in the recession and the recovery.
8. Scorched earth all around, but house survives.

....More than 800 firefighters from around Washington state converged on the Taylor Bridge wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes, just one of the blazes being fought across parched western states.
9. Housing crisis prompts novel idea: Use eminent domain to seize mortgages.
....Local governments would then offer loan relief options for the millions of homeowners who are still under water.
POLITICS:
1. Few voters truly up for grabs, research suggests.
....Nationally, the share of voters who could decide the election is probably between just 3% and 5%, polling experts say/
2. Choice of Paul Ryan shifts the focus from economy to ideology.

....For both contenders in the presidential race, winning over the small group of undecided voters seems less important than appealing to the base

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Families question Scientology-inked drug rehab afer recent deaths.

Famous Scientologists like Tom Cruise and John Travolta have touted the value of Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. "We are the authorities on getting people off drugs," Tom Cruise said in a video about Scientology released online. But the parents of one young person who died while in treatment by Narconon’s flagship facility have called Narconon “inhumane,” and others whose children died on the premises of Narconon caution anyone from sending their children there.
Narconon's method of rehabilitation is unorthodox. Patients are called "students" and they study a series of eight books like school workbooks based on the writings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Narconon's unconventional methods include spending up to five hours a day in a sauna for 30 straight days and taking up to 5,000 milligrams of the vitamin Niacin daily. It is similar to Scientology's regimen called a "purification run-down," designed to free the body of toxins in order to achieve spiritual gains. And BTW, it costs $30,000 per patient and the treatment usually takes three to six months to complete.
Narconon says it runs 62 treatment centers around the world, including 19 in the United States, and says it has helped thousands of people get off and stay off of drugs. But their facilities have been running into trouble. Four "students" at Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma have died in three-and-a-half years.
Kaysie Werninck, 27, left her Florida home to check into Narconon Arrowhead in 2009, but just a few weeks after her 28th birthday, Kaysie succumbed to a respiratory infection in a Tulsa hospital. Her mother, Connie Werninck, said Narconon staff did not give Kaysie the right medication. Werninck said she arranged for a helicopter to take Kaysie to a Tulsa hospital 100 miles away. She said Kaysie's infection had taken over her body and she died within an hour of arriving at the hospital. Werninck and her husband, Keith, sued Narconon. The organization settled for an undisclosed amount without admitting wrongdoing. "I want to get the word out so no one sends their child there," she said.
Gabriel Graves was the 32-year-old father of two young girls when he was found dead in his bed at Narconon Arrowhead. His mother, Shirley Anne Gilliam, said she felt misled by Narconon. "I felt like they were leading me to believe he overdosed and I was devastated," she said. Her son's autopsy report shows only trace amounts of morphine in his system and the cause of death remains a mystery.
Gilliam said her son told her Narconon Arrowhead was anything but drug free-- a place where drugs were used by some to barter for sex. "He said that it was one of the easiest places he's ever been to get drugs if you want them. He said there were drugs offered for exchange of physical favors," she said. A former client and a former employee told similar stories. Narconon Arrowhead has strongly denied the allegations. Gilliam also said her son told her that he felt Narconon was trying to convert him to Scientology. "He said that's their whole thing, trying to get us to be Scientologists. That's what they do," Gilliam said.
Also in April, 21-year-old Hillary Holten died in her room at Narconon Arrowhead. Her family has retained Tulsa lawyer, Mike Atkinson, to investigate the facts surrounding Hillary's unexplained death.
Colin Henderson, a former student at Narconon Arrowhead, organized a protest near the facility after Hillary's death. He said he left after two weeks because he was denied his blood pressure medication. He also said he felt the Narconon program was too restrictive. "I came to Narconon to get off drugs, not to have Narconon attempt to rewire my brain in order to reform to their way of thought. I will never allow anyone to attempt to control my mind. I think for myself,” he said.
In April, the regional government in Quebec, Canada shut down Narconon’s largest facility in North America, Narconon Trois Rivieres, because it failed to meet new health and safety laws.
Narconon and the Church of Scientology say they disagreed with the Quebec decision to allow only the medical model of detoxification and notes that Narconon facilities continue to operate elsewhere in Canada. Marc Lacour, director of the regional health agency, said there was no medical supervision at the facility, and as such it “posed a risk” to patients. Oklahoma law enforcement and health department authorities have launched investigations into the facility.
Susan Foster, director of policy research at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, says she has not seen any science that supports a "sweat it out" approach. She is not a medical doctor, but says extensive research shows a combination of pharmaceutical drugs and behavioral therapy is the safest and most effective way to get people off of drugs. Foster says the number of deaths at the Narconon Arrowhead facility is alarming. "You're supposed to go there to recover, not to die," she said.

Thought for Today
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British statesman

[pegasus]

Eid-al-Fitr (end of Ramadan at sunset)
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 231st day of 2012 with 134 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:37 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 71ºF [Feels like 71ºF], winds W @ 7 mph, humidity 42%, pressure 29.99 in and falling, dew point 47ºF, chance of precipitation 10%. Sunset at 8:05 pm

Today in History:
293 BC--the oldest known Roman temple to Venus was founded.
1201--the city of Riga, today capital of Latvia, was founded.
1227--the Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan died in camp during a campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia, possibly succumbing to injuries incurred during a fall from a horse in the previous year.
1572--the French Huguenot King Henry IV of Navarre married Marguerite de Valois in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.
1587--Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, N.C
1590--John White, the governor of the Roanoke Island colony, returned from England to find the Roanoke Colony deserted.
1775--the Spanish established a presidio (fort) that became Tucson, Ariz.
1795--Pres. Washington signed the Jay (or "Jay's") Treaty with Great Britain.
1846--US forces led by Gen. Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe, NM.
1864--the Petersburg (Va.) Campaign-Battle of Weldon Railroad began (lasted 3 days).
1868--French astronomer Pierre Jules Csar Janssen discovered helium in the solar spectrum during and eclipse.
1894--the Bureau of Immigration was established by the US Congress.
1909--Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki presented Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which Pres. Taft decided to plant near the Potomac River.
1914--Pres. Wilson issued his Proclamation of Neutrality, aimed at keeping the United States out of the European war.
1917--the Italians launched the 11th Battle of the Isonzo.
1920--1he 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified.
1937--the Toyota Motor Company was founded.
1927-Rosalynn Carter, Former first lady as wife of Pres. Jimmy Carter, turns 85.
1931--in the worst disaster of the 20th century, the Yangtze River in China peaked during a horrible flood that killed 3.7 million people directly and indirectly over the next several months.
1934--Roberto Clemente, Hall of Famer and one of major league baseball's top outfielders was born' died 1972 at age 28 when his plane disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico.
1937--the first FM radio construction permit was issued in Boston, MA.
1937--Robert Redford, Academy Award-winning actor, director, producer, environmental activist and founder in 1978 of the world-fammous Sundance Film Festival, turns 75
1941--Hitler ordered that the systematic murder of the mentally ill and handicapped be brought to an end because of protests within Germany.
1958--Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was published.
1963--James Meredith became the first African American graduate of the University of Mississippi.
1966--the first pictures of earth taken from moon orbit were sent back to the US
1983--Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 22 dead and causing more than a billion dollars in damage.
1969--the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, NY, concluded with a mid-morning set by newcomer Jimi Hendrix
1971--Australia and New Zealand decided to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
1991--Soviet hard-liners launched a coup aimed at toppling Pres. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in the Crimea.
1997--Virginia Military Institute admitted a female student for the first time in its 158-year history.
2005-a judge in Wichita, Kan., sentenced BTK serial killer Dennis Rader to 10 consecutive life terms.
2008--Pervez Musharraf resigned as the president of Pakistan amid efforts by opposition lawmakers to seek his impeachment.

World News Capsules:
1. Iranian currency traders find a haven in Afghanistan.
....Though officials say they cannot put a precise figure on the trading of rials for dollars, they see it as a potential challenge to the sanctions, and one that the United States helped create.
2. [Flamboyant crime figure now may face Chinese justice over role in scandal/u].
....Wang Lijun, who told American diplomats of his suspicions that Gu Kailai murdered a British business associate, is now accused of being as much a criminal as those he persecuted.
3. In India, many flee fearing ethnic violence.

....Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured migrants that they were safe as 1000s fled big cities, fearing a backlash from violence against Muslims in Assam. 'What is at stake is the unity and integrity of our country,' country's prime minister says .
a. Panic seizes India as a region's strife radiates.
....What began as a vicious if obscure fight over land and power between Muslims and an indigenous tribe in a remote state has set off panic among northeastern migrants across India.
4. Iran's president calls Israel 'an insult to humankind.'
....Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fanned the flames of confrontation with Israel on the annual Iranian holiday that calls for the Palestinian reclamation of Jerusalem from Israel’s control.
5. North Korea leader visits troops near disputed sea border.
....The report of Kim Jong-un’s visit comes a few days before the United States and South Korea begin joint military exercises.
6. Anti-Putin stunt earns punk band two years in jail.
....Three women who staged a protest against Vladimir V. Putin, Russia's president, in a cathedral and became a cause célèbre of artists around the world were convicted of hooliganism.
7. South African official defends police killing of 34.

....South Africa’s police commissioner described a desperate struggle by the police to contain a machete-wielding crowd of angry miners in a strike at a platinum mine.
8. Syrian rebels forces advance close to airport at Aleppo.
....The insurgents' seizure of areas near the airport comes as the UN and the Arab League announce that Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran diplomat, will succeed Kofi Annan as the envoy to Syria.
a. As the last UN observers leave Syria, more bodies are found near the capital.

....A bitter struggle for control of Syria continues, both in the streets and in the effort to win over public opinion outside of the country.
9. At least 14 die in militant raid at Yemeni office.
....Militants suspected of being with Al Qaeda attacked a Yemeni intelligence headquarters, killing 14 people in a bold strike in the country’s main southern city of Aden, officials said.

US News Capsules:
1. Many New York City teachers denied tenure in policy shift.
....The education reform movement, slow economies and federal grant competitions have led lawmakers to tighten the requirements for earning and keeping tenure.
2. A college lifts a hurdle for illegal immigrants.
....Metropolitan State University of Denver's new policy extended a special tuition rate to illegal immigrants is raising hopes and anger.
3. ART: Putting a good face on street art, to upgrade Atlanta
.
....In Atlanta, a city with one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates, a project called Living Walls commissions artists to spruce up recession-hit neighborhoods.
4. Caterpillar workers ratify deal they dislike.
....The showdown was a test case in American labor relations, partly because Caterpillar was driving such a hard bargain when its business was thriving.
5. The sun hasn't set on the drive-in.

....Though far from their 1950s golden era, some drive-in theaters are going strong. Movie lovers are drawn by the low-cost tickets and an outdoor liveliness that multiplexes can’t match
6. Lawyers of Big Tobacco lawsuits take aim at food industry
.
....More than a dozen lawyers who took on Big Tobacco have filed 25 cases against industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani.
7. Horses fall victim to hard times and dry times on the range.

....Thousands of the nation’s horses are being left to fend for themselves on the dried ranges of the West and Southwest, abandoned by people who can no longer afford to feed them.
8. Salmonella outbreak in 20 states kills 2 and sickens 141.
....Cantaloupes from a farm in southwestern Indiana appear to be the source of the infections, state and federal authorities say.
9. Abortin cases against clinic in Kansas are dropped by prosecutors.
....The first criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood ended with prosecutors dropping all charges against a local affiliate.
10. 4 men, 3 women arrested in shsooting of Louisiana sheriff's deputies.

....Five of those arrested are now in jail, while the two others remain hospitalized for treatment of gunshot wounds, Louisiana State Police spokesman Melissa Matey said Friday.
POLITICS:
1. Obama lags on judicial picks, limiting his mark on courts.
....With relatively few lower-court appointments, Pres. Obama has made less of an ideological imprint on the judiciary than liberals hoped and conservatives feared.
2. In defending medicare plan, Ryan speaks of his time as caregiver.
....In Florida, a battleground state, Paul Ryan sought to counter Pres. Obama’s charge that Republicans would “end Medicare as we know it” by moving to a voucher program that would cost retirees more.

Sports's Headlines of Interest:
1. MLB: Jeter hits home run, savoring a milestone.

....Derek Jeter hit his 250th home run, one of five solo shots that the Yankees hit against the Red Sox, to become the 4th MLB player to hit 250 home runs, steal 300 bases and get over,000 hits.
a. Of the Boston Red Sox' many problems, injuries have hurt the most.
....While much of the blame for the Red Sox' disappointing season has been directed at Bobby Valentine, injuries and bad games have plagued the team all season.
2. Horse Racing: Horse given painkiller breaks down at New Mexico racetrack.
....The horse, which recently tested positive for a powerful painkiller, died at a New Mexico racetrack after winning a trial heat for one of the world's richest horse races.
3. NHL: A seeming edge, until the Winter Classic nears.
....It appears about 90 percent certain that a lockout will postpone the start of the N.H.L. season, so the next question is how long that postponement will last..
4. GOLF: Youth golf thrives, but not in high school.

....High school golf has become irrelevant on the recruiting trail for college coaches, who are flocking to junior tournaments to identify the best young talent.
a. Yet-to-be details of Olympic golf.
....Golf will return to the Summer Games in 2016, with unknown men’s and women’s fields, on a course that does not exist




Thought for Today
"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."
--e e cummings (1894 - 1962) poet.

[pegasus]

World Humanitarian Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 232nd day of 2012 with 133 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:36 p.m., it's fair , temp 70ºF [Feels like 70ºF], winds SSE @ 5 mph, humidity 51%, pressure 29.99 in and falling, dew point 51ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1099--Crusaders beat Saracens in Battle of Ascalon
1561--18-year-old Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland, after spending 13 years in France, and was proclaimed queen.
1692--in Salem, Mass., five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, were executed for witchcraft.
1745--Prince Charles Edward Stuart landed in Glenfinnan, Scotland, from a French warship and marched on London - the start of the Second Jacobite Rebellion known as ""the 45".
1779--the American rebels raided Paulus Hook, N.J.
1785--Seth Thomas, clock manufacturer who pioneered mass production, was born; died 1859 at age 73.
1812--the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the frigate's sides, Its against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.
1818--Capt James Biddle took possession of Oregon Territory for US.
1856--the process of processing condensed milk was patented by Gail Borden.
1862--deciding that the Fort Ridgely garrison was too strong, the Dakota (Sioux) in Minnesota moved on to New Ulm, killing all settlers along the way.
1895--John Wesley Hardin, one of the bloodiest killers of the Old West, was killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
1909--the first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Louis Schwitzer the first winner at the racetrack.
1919--Pres. Wilson appeared personally before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to argue in favor of its ratification of the Versailles Treaty ending World War I,
1919--Afghanistan gained independence from Britain
1929--the comedy Amos 'n' Andy starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll made its network radio debut on NBC.
1934--a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler as Fuhrer.
1942-- an Allied force of 7,000 men launched a large raid against German positions at the French seaport of Dieppe with about 50% casualties.
1946--Bill Clinton, former president, turns 66
1953--the Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the US, overthrew the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq and reinstated the Shah of Iran.
1955--Hurricane Diane killed 200 and was the first $1 billion in damages storm.
1958--NAACP Youth Council began sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters.
1960--a tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage.
1960--Sputnik 5 carried 2 dogs, 3 mice into orbit (later recovered alive),.
1964--The Beatles kicked off their first US tour at San Francisco's Cow Palace.
1970--the US and Cambodia signed a military aid pact.
1978--the 1st transatlantic balloon crossing in history finished in Paris.
1981--two Libyan SU-22s were shot down by two U.S. Navy F-14 fighters from the USSNimitz in the Gulf of Sidra.
1987-iIn the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan killed sixteen people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide in Hungerford.
1988--Iran-Iraq began a cease-fire in their 8-year-old war
1991--Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, is stabbed to death by an angry mob in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, NY, rioting continuing against Jews for four days.
1994--Pres. Clinton halted the nation's three-decade open-door policy for Cuban refugees.
2002--a Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying troops was hit by a Chechen missile outside of Grozny, killing 118 soldiers.
2003--a car-bomb attack on UN headquarters in Iraq killed the agency's top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.
2003--a Hamas suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem killed 23 Israelis, 7 of them children.
2004-the Internet search engine Google went public.
2005--a Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable for the death of a man who'd taken the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.
2005--a series of strong storms lashed Southern Ontario spawning several tornadoes as well as ceating extreme flash flooding within the city of Toronto and its surrounding communities.
2010--the last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after the US-led invasion began.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghan attacks on allied troops prompt NATO to shift policy

....The military's efforts to stop "insider attacks" is an indication of how destabilizing the deaths of coalition troops at the hands of Afghan forces have become.
a. Taliban fighters killed in airstrike.
....The coalition strike killed more than 20 insurgents at a public execution in northeastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said.
2. Do Argentines need therapy? Pull up a couch.
....The number of practicing psychologists in Argentina has been surging, making the country a world leader, at least when it comes to people's broad willingness to bare their souls.
3. Chinese take to streets as dispute with Japan escalates.

....Protesters filled the streets in nearly a dozen Chinese cities in response to Japan’s detention and deportation of activists from Hong Kong, Macau and China who had landed on a disputed island.
4. Support grows in Germany for vote on giving up power to European bloc.
....Political leaders increasingly support allowing Germans to have a direct say in whether to give up more power to European Union institutions.
a. Germans talk tough on Greece.
....A top official from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat party said that the country’s Parliament was in no mood to grant Greece further concessions.
5. in Great Britain, Assange casts self as whistlel-blower persecuted by US.
....Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, took to the balcony of Ecuador’s embassy in London on Sunday to condemn the United States government/
6. US says Iraqis are helping Iran to skirt sanctions.
....Financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations in Iraq have given Iran a crucial flow of dollars as sanctions over its nuclear work squeeze its economy, officials and experts said.
7. Parts of Darfur see stability, but others are seething.
....Nearly a decade after war first arrived, Sudan's vast desert region of Darfur is a land of mixed signals.
8. Assad shown at prayer in Camascus mosque.

....Pres. Bashar al-Assad’s appearance seemed to be an attempt at normalcy during Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday after Ramadan, but it renewed doubts about the strength and confidence of the Syrian government.

US News Capsules:
1. Los Angeles puts a new park at its heart.
....Grand Park, one of the largest new parcels of open space in a sprawling city, is the focus of all sorts of visions for a downtown whose sidewalks once rolled up by nightfall.
2. New wave of deft robots is changing industry.

....Robots far more adept than those now commonly used by automakers and other industries are replacing workers in both manufacturing and distribution.
3. Secret E-scores chart consumers' buying power.
....Buying-power scores, compiled from huge amounts of data, measure your potential value as a customer. But you’ll probably never learn your total.
4. Nyad's latest swim: "No stopping her now."

....Diana Nyad is making good progress in her latest attempt to swim to Florida from Cuba, her crew said
5. GM recalls SUVs for fire hazarad.
....General Motors is recalling nearly 250,000 sport utility vehicles (2006 and 2007 Chevy Trailblzers, BMC Envoys, Buick Raniers, SAAB 9-7x, Isuzu Ascnders) because of an electrical problem that can cause fires caused when fluid may enter the driver's door module, causing corrosion that can lead to a short-circuit.
6. One killed, six injured in massive Indiana pileup.

....Six people were injured and one person died in a pileup involving more than a dozen vehicles along I-65 in Jasper County, Indiana, state police said.
POLITICS:
1. The courtship before Romney elevated Ryan.
....A congenial meeting in 2007 led to closer collaboration, especially in the last 18 months, as the Republican Party shifted more to the right.
2. Both campaigns seize role of medicare defender.
....Paul Ryan spoke of his care for a relative with Alzheimer’s, seeking to counter Presi. Obama’s charge that Republicans would “end Medicare as we know it.”

Thought for Today
"To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up."
--Ogden Nash (1902-1971) humorous poet.