THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

National Water Quality Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 233rd day of 2012 with 132 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:16 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 73ºF [Feels like 73ºF], winds calm, humidity 55%, pressure 29.90 in and falling, dew point 56ºF, chance of precipitation 30%.

Today in History:
1000--the foundation of the Hungarian state was established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
1583--Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed to Cape Race, Newfoundland to fish for cod and explore the mainland.
1781--Gen. Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Lord Cornwallis.
1794--Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne put down Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket's confederacy near present-day Toledo, Ohio, at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
1804--Lewis & Clark's expedition, the Corps of Discovery, suffered its only death, Sgt Charles Floyd.
1833--Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd Pres.ident of the US, was born in North Bend, Ohio; died 1902 at age 68.
1866--Pres. Andrew Johnson formally declared the US Civil War over.
1882--the first Canadian Pacific train reached Regina, Saskatchewan.
1896--the dial telephone was patented.
1911--a dispatcher in the New York Times office sends the first telegram around the world via commercial service.
1914--German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.
1920--seven men, including legendary all-around athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, met to organize a professional football league, the American Professional Football Conference, at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto Showroom in Canton, Ohio.
1938--Lou Gehrig hit his 23rd career grand slam - a record that still stands (tied by NY Yankee 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez)..
1940--exiled Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico by Stalinist agents.
1953--the Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1955--100s of people were killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
1960--Senegal broke from the Mali federation.
1964--Pres. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act (totaling nearly $1 billion).
1968--the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization drive of Alexander Dubcek’s regime.
1969--all four Beatles were together in the recording studio for the final time as they finished the Abbey Road LP.
1975--Viking 1, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a mission to Mars.
1977--the US launched Voyager 2 spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.
1982--a multinational force including 800 U.S. Marines landed in Beirut to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon and led to 262 U.S. servicemen dead.
1988--in the Nepal-India border region a 6.6 quake killed 721, 6,553 injured and 64,470 buildings damaged in eastern Nepal.
1989--the Menendez brothers murdered their parents.
1991--Estonia seceded from the Soviet Union.
1996--In northern India, a collision and explosion between two trains kills 358 people
1998--retaliating embassy bombings in East Africa, the US launched missile strikes against al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan and a chemical plant in Sudan.
2005--Canada became the fourth country to legalize same sex marriages.
2006--former AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising picture, died at age 94.
2009--the only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya after his release from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

World News Capsules:
1. A day for Canada's fallen in a lesser-known battle.

....The Dieppe raid, the first amphibious attack on German-occupied France by the Allied forces during World War II, remains the most deadly conflict in Canadian history,
2. China defers death penalty for disgraced official's wife.

....Gu Kailai, the wife of Bo Xilai, received a suspended death sentence for the poisoning death of a British business associate. In the Chinese legal system, such a sentence is often commuted to life in prison.
a. Family of murdred Briton silent on China sentencing.
....Relatives of Neil Heywood, the murder victim, remained silent on the sentencing of Gu Kailai, but friends of Mr. Heywood have publicly challenged her defense.
b. Activist Chinese group plans more anti-Japan protests.
....The group that triggered heightened tensions between China and Japan by sailing to a disputed island last Wednesday plans to organize protests around the world on Sept. 18.
3. Tension over aid to Greece could unsettle markets.
....Greeceâ's prime minister, Antonis Samaras, is expected to seek an extension for meeting his country's budgetary and reform commitments, but Germany appears reluctant to grant further concessions..
4. India asks Pakistan to investigate root of panic.

....The conflict in the state of Assam was initially contained there until tensions rippled outward. Some in India blame “elements based in Pakistan” for triggering a panic.
5. Bomb wounds Iraqi Sunni cleric who urged cooperation with Shiites.
....Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie was known for urging extremists within his own sect to work with the Shiite-led government.
6. ]u]7 Israeli youths are arrested in assault on Palestinians[/u].
....Scores of Israeli youths assaulted a group of Palestinians last week, beating one unconscious as hundreds of bystanders watched without intervening, the police said.
7. Myanmar abolishes censorship of private publications.
....The government of Myanmar said on Monday that it would no longer censor private publications, a move that was seen as a major step toward media freedom in the country.
8. Russian authorities seek others in dissident punk band.
....The search for others in the band Pussy Riot indicated that Moscow was unmoved by international criticism of the two-year prison sentences for band members involved in an anti-Putin stunt.
a. Bomber kills 7 officers in Russian republic.
....The victims were attending the funeral of a slain colleague in Ingushetia, a predominately Muslim republic in the volatile North Caucasus.
9. New parliament is cnvened in Somalia.
....It is still considered a caretaker government because the members were not directly elected, and it springs from a Constitution that needs to be ratified by public referendum.
10. Clash of cultures upends Spain's cajas.

....In Spain, the time-honored tradition of the caja as a baronial community institution came into conflict with a modern, euro-based banking economy.
11. Obama warans of military action on Syria over chemical weapons.
....Pres. Obama, in his most direct warning of US intervention in Syria, threatened military action if there was evidence that the government was moving its stocks of chemical weapons.

US News Capsules:
1. Fabled spiritual retreat debates its future.
....Some worry that the Esalen Institute, which helped make things like yoga and organic food part of the mainstream, is losing its relevance and becoming more corporate.
2. In midst of a drought, keeping traffic moving on the Mississippi.

....There are more than a dozen dredging vessels working to make sure that the Big River, shrinking under one of the worst droughts in modern history, stays deep enough
3. In Apple's patent case, tech shifts may follow.
....If Apple prevails in its legal dogfight with Samsung over patents, experts believe its rivals will have a stronger incentive to distinguish their smartphone and tablet products.
4. A media persnality, suffering a blow to his image, ponders a lesson.
....Fareed Zakaria is among writers who have parlayed their journalism into more lucrative work like writing books and public speaking, but a plagiarism scandal could threaten that image.
5. Close to shore, humpbacks are far from safe.
....Researchers tracking whales off Cape Cod are hoping to use their findings to push for changes in fishing and shipping rules
POLITICS:
1. Cautious moves on foreclosures haunting Obama.
....Pres. Obama's response to the housing crisis was deliberately subdued, and some economists believe stronger action could have softened the economic impact.
2. GOP packaging seeks to reveal a warm Romney.
....Mitt Romney's campaign has recruited professionals to manage his appearance at the Republican convention, hoping to overcome his image of being stiff and aloof.
3. Senate candidate provokes ire with 'legitimat rape' comment.
....In an effort to explain his stance on abortion, Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri said women's bodies can somehow block an unwanted pregnancy in instances of "legitimate rape."
4. In Congress's paralysis, a mightier Supreme Court.
....A study has found that Congress has overridden far fewer Supreme Court decisions in recent years, limiting the usual back and forth between the two bodies and giving the court more power.

Sports Headlines of Interest:
Augusta National admits women for first time in club's 80-year history

The home of golf's Masters championship, which has faced increasing criticism because of its all-male membership, invited former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets when the club opens for a new season in October. Both women have accepted. The move likely ends a debate that intensified in 2002 when Martha Burk of the National Council of Women's Organizations urged the club to include women among its members. Former club chairman Hootie Johnson stood his ground, even at the cost of losing Masters television sponsors for two years, when he famously said Augusta National might one day have a woman in a green jacket, "but not at the point of a bayonet."
Payne, who took over as chairman in 2006 when Johnson retired, said in a statement, "These accomplished women share our passion for the game of golf and both are well known and respected by our membership, It will be a proud moment when we present Condoleezza and Darla their green jackets when the club opens this fall. This is a significant and positive time in our club's history and, on behalf of our membership, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome them and all of our new members into the Augusta National family."
The issue of female membership resurfaced again this year after Virginia Rometty was appointed chief executive of IBM, one of the Masters' corporate sponsors. The previous four CEOs of Big Blue had all been Augusta National members, leading to speculation that the club would break at least one tradition – membership for the top executive of IBM or a men-only club.
Welcome, Augusta National, to the 21st century.


Thought for Today
"The first duty of love is to listen."
--[/i]PaulTillich (1886-1965) theologian & philosopher

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[pegasus]

Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Week
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 235th day of 2012 with 130 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:16 p.m., it's fair , temp 77ºF [Feels like 77ºF], winds SSE @ 7 mph, humidity 45%, pressure 30.16 in and falling, dew point 54ºF, chance of precipitation 6
0%.

Today in History:
565--St. Columba reported seeing monster in Loch Ness.
1138--the English defeated the Scots at Cowton Moor. Banners of various saints were carried into battle, which led to its being called the Battle of the Standard
1485--Battle of Bosworth Field: England's King Richard III was killed by the future Henry VII in the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the War of the Roses.
1567--the Duke of Alba, sent to reestablish Spanish authority in the Netherlands, instituted the Council of Troubles (nicknamed the "Council of Blood") at the start of his tyrannical rule.
1642--the English Civil War began between the supporters of Charles I (Royalists or Cavaliers) and of Parliament (Roundheads).
1654--Jacob Barsimson arrived in New Amsterdam, the first known Jewish immigrant to America.
1770--after landing in Australia, Capt. James Cook, claimed it for the British crown.
1776--the British army landed on Long Island.
1798--French troops landed in Kilcummin harbour, County Mayo, Ireland to aid Wolfe Tone's United Irishmen's Irish Rebellion.
1846--the US annexed New Mexico.
1849--first air raid in history. Austria launched pilotless balloons against the Italian city of Venice.
1851--gold fields discovered in Australia.
1851--the schooner America outraced the British schooner Aurora around the Isle of Wight to win a trophy that became known as the America's Cup.
1864--the "Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field" was signed by 12 countries. It also guaranteed the neutrality of members of the Red Cross.
1865--liquid soap was patented by William Sheppard of New York City.
1901--the Cadillac Motor Co. was founded.
1902--Pres. Roosevelt became the first US chief executive to ride in an automobile in public in Hartford, Conn.
1906--in Camden, NJ, Victor Talking Machine Co. started manufacturing the Victrola, known today as a record player.
1910--Korea was annexed by Japan after five years as a protectorate.
1914--World War I: Austria-Hungary declared war on Belgium.
1922--Irish politician and Sinn Fein leader Michael Collins, largely responsible for the 1921 Anglo-Irish treaty, was killed in an ambush.
1926-gold was discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1932--in England, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) started its first experimental television broadcast.
1941 - Nazi troops reached the outskirts of Leningrad to begin a siege that lasted until January 1944.
1942--after a U-boat sunk several Brazilian ships, Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy and two years later sent the "Brazilian Expeditionary Force" to Italy, the only South American country to send combat forces to Europe.
1952--the penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed.
1950--Althea Gibson becomes first African-American player to participate in the US Open tournament.
1956--Pres. Eisenhower was nominated for a 2nd term by the Republican National Convention in San Francisco.
1962--the USS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completed her maiden voyage from Yorktown, Virginia, to Savannah, Georgia.
1968--Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia on the first visit by a pontiff to Latin America.
1969-Hurricane Camille struck the US Gulf Coast killing 255.
1989--the first complete ring around Neptune discovered.
1972--Anti-Vietnam demonstrators disrupt the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Fla. that nominated Pres. Nixonfor a 2nd term.
1973--National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger was named U.S. Secretary of State, replacing William Rogers.
1986--Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of Karen Silkwood $1.38 million, settling a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.
1989--Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers, was shot to death in Oakland, Calif.
1992--Hurricane Andrew pounded the Bahamas.
1992--on the 2nd day of the Ruby Ridge siege in Idaho, an FBI sharpshooter killed Vicki Weaver, the wife of white separatist Randy Weaver.
2003--Alabama's chief justice, Roy Moore, was suspended for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse.
2005--the last Jewish settlers left the Gaza Strip, ending decades of Israel's turbulent occupation.

World News Capsules:
1. In toll of 2,000, new portrait of Afghan War.
....As the war in Afghanistan wears on, an analysis of troop casualties reflects the effect of the 2010 troop surge and points to the growing danger from an ostensible ally.
2. British man who fought for assisted suicide is dead.
....Tony Nicklinson, paralyzed and unable to speak, died six days after the High Court rejected his request for help in ending his own life. He had refused food since the ruling, according to media reports.
a. Nude Harry: the tablods lost their stng

....Another day, another story about Prince Harry. The party-loving grandson of Queen Elizabeth II has been exposed again, this time naked, playing strip billiards flanked by an equally naked girl. But, the UK press is reluctant to report the nude Prince Harry story. Royal watcher Robert Jobson says after the hacking scandal no editor will risk the backlash.
3. Ethiopian leader's death highlights gap between US interests and ideals.
....Meles Zenawi, the late prime minister of Ethiopia, was a critical ally to the United States who nonetheless undermined the American stance that Africa needs strong institutions, not strongmen
4. Saving India's tigers.

....India’s Supreme Court issued an interim ban on tourism inside the country’s game parks on June 24, and the government has been relocating hundreds of villagers to save the endangered wild tigers
5. UN lader will attend Iran summit over US and Israeli objections.
....Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, plans to attend the annual meeting of the 120 countries that are in the nonaligned movement, despite American-led efforts to marginalize Iran/
a. US grants broad sanctions exemption for Iran quake aid.
....The exemption permits American charities to transfer up to $300,000 each to relief and rebuilding efforts, bypassing restrictions on financial transactions that are enforced under the sanctions imposed on Iran.
6. Dispute over islands reflets Japanese fear of China's rise.

....A chain of islands at the center of a territorial dispute has Japanese nationalists pushing their country to boldly counter the explosive growth of China and South Korea.
7. Dozens dead n Kenya clashes.
....About 50 people in a coastal area, most of them women and children, were killed in ethnic clashes that residents said stemmed from a confrontation over land and resources.
8. Murder conviction in South Africa underscores economic inequality.
....The conviction of a farmhand in the death of the white supremacist Eugène Terre’Blanche ended up being a symbol more of deepening inequality than of racial disharmony.
9. Rebels say Syria using fear tactics in Damascus.

....Syrian activists reported a widening campaign by military forces to sow fear in neighborhoods where rebels are strong, and which the government is too weak to fully control.
10. In Vietnam, growing fears of an economic meltdown.

...In Vietnam's major cities, a once-booming property market has come crashing down, adding to an economic slowdown that is being compared to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
11. Cholera epidemic envelops coastal slums in West Africa.

....An exceptional rainy season that flooded sprawling shantytowns has made it one of the worst regional outbreaks of the disease in years.

US News Capsules:
1. Questions surround man's death in patrol car.
....The death of a man in Arkansas while he was handcuffed in the back of a car was ruled a suicide this week amid heavy scrutiny of the police and their procedures.
2. In Google's inner circle, a falling number of women..

....The search giant’s efforts to recruit and promote more women have resulted in more hires, but not in the executive offices.
2. Father's age is linked to risk of autism and schizophrenia
.
....Random genetic mutations in children that become more numerous with advancing paternal age may account for as many as 30% of autism cases, researchers reported/
3. West Nile outbreak shaping up as worst ever in US, authorities say.

....The CDC says that with 41 deaths and more than 1,100 reported cases, this year’s West Nile outbreak will be the worst since the virus was discovered here in 1999.
4. Appeals Court draws boundaries on Alabama's immigration law.
....The appeals court struck down many of the state’s measures that had gone furthest in making the everyday lives of illegal immigrants so difficult.
POLITICS:
1. Ignoring deadline to quit, GOP Senate candidate defies his party leaders.

....Rep. Todd Akin said definitively that he would not step aside. After his comments on rape, fellow Republicans, including Mitt Romney, asked him to drop out of the Missouri Senate race.
a. Missouri controversy may endanger Republican chances in the fall.
....Rep. Akin's remarks on rape have focused attention on the party's agenda on restricting abortion rights, a politically volatile topic for Mitt Romney and other candidates.
2. Patients would pay more if Romney restores Medicare savings, analysts say.
....The $716 billion in reimbursements to hospitals and insurers that Mitt Romney has promised to restore would hasten the program's insolvency, some experts say.
3. When conventions mattered.

....Today's political conventions tend to be scripted affairs. But observers caution against seeing conventions as nonevents. "A reporter who goes to a convention with the notion that these are meaningless -- the days of smoke-filled rooms are over -- is the reporter who is ill-equipped for the job," Gernard Shaw, former CNN anchor, said.
a. Limited convention coverage will leave Ann Romen off air.
....Believing that viewers are tired of politics, the networks will broadcast three hours of convention coverage, less than they showed in 2008.
4. Former GOP hero plays down label.
....Sen. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts, who is locked in a dead heat in the nation’s most expensive Senate race, is distancing himself from the Republican ticket.
5. Skinny-dipping in Israel casts unwanted spotlight on Congressinal travel.
....Reports of a skinny-dipping lawmaker in Israel last year have put unwanted attention on the practice of private groups paying for foreign travel.

Thought for Today
""I have no reason to suppose that he, who would take away my Liberty, would not when he had me in his Power, take away everything else."
--John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher and political theorist.

[pegasus]

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition (UN)

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 236th day of 2012 with 129 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:19 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 79ºF [Feels like 79ºF], winds WSW @ 6 mph, humidity 40%, pressure 30.17 in and falling, dew point 53ºF, 0% chance of precipitation .

Today in History:
79--Mount Vesuvius began erupting, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire
1305--William Wallace ("Braveheart"), Scottish knight and patriot, was taken to Smithfield where he was hanged drawn and quartered for treason against Edward I of England.
1541--French explorer Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
1617--the first one-way streets were established in London.
1628--George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and rumored lover of James I of England, was stabbed by one of his army officers.
1775--Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion
1784--four counties in western North Carolina (later became Tennessee) declared their independence as the state of Franklin.
1797--Emanuel Allen was sold at public auction in Montreal; last slave transaction in Canada
1799--Napoleon leaves Egypt to seize power in France .
1814--Dolley Madison saved Washington's portrait from the British destruction of Wasington, D.C.
1833--Britain abolishes slavery in colonies; 700,000 slaves freed.
1839--Great Britain captured Hong Kong in preparaton for war with Qing China known as the First Opium War.
1864--the Union Navy captured Fort Morgan, Ala., thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
1877--the Texas Rangers arrested notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardins.
1902--Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepared food by advocating the use of standardized measurements in recipes, opened Miss Farmer's School of Cookery in Boston, Mass.
1904--a patent for the tire chain was issued.
1914--in their first confrontation on European soil since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, four divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by Sir John French, struggle with the German 1st Army over the 60-foot-wide Mons Canal in Belgium,
1926--silent-screen idol Rudolph Valentino died of a perforated ulcer at age 31 sending his fans into a hysterical state of mass mourning.
1927--Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.
1939--Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, stunning the world, given their diametrically opposed ideologies.
1944--US Army Air Force B-24 bomber crashed into Freckleton, England demolishing a school and killing 61 including 38 children.
1948--World Council of Churches formed by 147 churches from 44 countries.
1979--Russian ballet star Aleksandr Godunov defected to the United States, the first dancer to defect from the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet.
1985--the wreck of the RMS Titanic was found.
1989--as punishment for betting on baseball, Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose accepted a settlement that included a lifetime ban from the game.
1996--tobacco regulation, recommended by the FDA, was approved by Pres. Clinton.
1999--New York City reported the first cases of West Nile virus.
1999--Berlin once again became the capital of Germany.
2000--Gulf Air Flight 072 (Airbus A-320-212) with 143 passengers and crew crashed in the Persian Gulf on its approach to Bahrain Inationall Airport.
2003--former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester, was strangled by a fellow inmate in a Massachusetts prison.
2005--Israeli forces evicted militant holdouts from two Jewish settlements, completing a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.
2005--Venezuela's vice president reacted angrily to comments by U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson who suggested Presi. Hugo Chavez be assassinated.
2006--Natascha Kampusch, an Austrian teenager who was kidnapped at age 10, escapes from her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil, after more than eight years.
2007--flooding in the upper US Midwest drove 1000s of people from their homes.
2008--Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai blamed US airstrikes for the deaths of 95 civilians.
2009--thousands of people protest against a new law which gives women equal rights in marriage in Bamako, Mali.
2012--Valentino Memorial Service, Hollywood Cathedral Mausoleum, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA. Held annually since 1927 on the anniversar of his death.

World News Capsules:
1. Afghanistan, contradicting NATO, blames foreign spies for insider attacks.
....Afghan officials claimed that foreign intelligence services were behind the wave of killings of Western troops by Afghan forces, a statement directly at odds with NATO's assessment of the crisis.
a. General notes Taliban coercion in some attacks on troops.
....Gen. John R. Allen, the senior commander in Afghanistan, said that up to one-quarter of the attacks by Afghan security forces on Americans could be caused by Taliban infiltration or coercion
2. Bahrain overturns activist's twitter case.
....A judge overturned a conviction against a prominent human rights activist for “inciting” antigovernment protest on social media, but the activist remained jailed while appealing another prison sentence.
3. China forcing repatriation of ethnic refugees from Myanmar.
....Officials in southwest China are pushing ethnic refugees from neighboring Myanmar back into Kachin State, where a renewed civil war has forced 7,000 to 10,000 people to flee to China, according to Human Rights Watch..
a. China besieged by glut of unsold goods.

....The severity of the country’s inventory surplus has been masked by the blocking or adjusting of economic data by the government.
4. Egypt president passes law against media detention.
....In his first use of legislative powers he wrested back from the military this month, Pres. Mohamed Morsi issued a law barring detention for criimes related to the press, an official said.
5. Taking quake relief effort into their own hands.
....After Iran’s official relief organizations were accused of not doing enough for earthquake survivors, young Iranians spontaneously organized their own effort to gather money and goods.
a. US sends aircraft carier back to gulf to face Iran and Syria.
....The US Navy is cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East next week to counter any threat from Iran, according to the official Navy News Service.
6. Developments in Iran and Sinai deepen Israel's worries over Egypt.
....With Egypt's deployment of tanks in the Sinai Peninsula and its president's upcoming trip to Iran, Israeli officials are increasingly worried about what has long been a critical regional relationship.
7. South African panel named to nvestigate mine shooting.

....Pres. Jacob Zuma, facing criticism for the police shooting of striking miners that left 34 dead last week, appointed a panel of judges to investigate the episode.
8. Korean activist, ex-supporter of North, plots his next move
.
....Kim Young-hwan was recently returned to Seoul after being imprisoned in China for running a clandestine network aimed at toppling the North Korean government/
9. Botched restoration of Jesus fresco shocks Spain.

( From left, the original version by Elías Garcia Martínez; painter; a deteriorated version of the fresco; the restored version by Cecilia Giménez)
....A century-old fresco depicting Jesus crowned with thorns has been disfigured after an elderly parishioner took it upon herself to restore the artwork, damaged by moisture.
10. Syrian forces renew raids on Damascus Suburbs.

....Government forces supported by tanks raided a suburb of the Syrian capital on Thursday, killing 15 people, opposition activists said.
11. Vietnamese bank baces run after tycoon's arrest.
....A major Vietnamese bank founded by arrested tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien faced a run on deposits, witnesses said, but the central bank has injected funds into the banking system and assured jittery residents their money is safe.

US News Capsules:
1. After 352-million mile trip, cheers for 23 feet on Mars.
....The NASA rover Curiosity moved forward and back for a test spin, a milestone after its first two and a half weeks on Mars.
2/ Tiny Hawaiian island will see if new owner tilts at windmills.

....Larry Ellison, a technology billionaire, has bought the island for an undisclosed price. What he plans to do with the beautiful-yet-divided place is anyone's guess.
3. Worst year for West Nile is expected, officials say.
....The CDC says that with 41 deaths and more than 1,100 reported cases, this year's West Nile outbreak will be the worst since the virus was discovered here in 1999.
4. Parasailing death in Florida renews a push for regulation.
....The parasailing industry in Florida, and almost everywhere else in the country, is not regulated, leaving most owners to operate at their own discretion.
5. Signs of revival slight, but sure, for home sales.
....Sales of existing homes were up in July, continuing a trend of several months that real estate agents said was good news for the housing market.
6. Changes toe money market funds stall.
....Attempts to make sweeping changes to money-market mutual funds, which played a destabilizing role in the 2008 financial crisis, have been derailed.
7. Buying their way to Twitter fame.
...That person who brags about having 1,000, even 100,000 Twitter followers may not have earned them, but simply bought them on the black market.

POLITICS:
1. In poll, Obama is given trust over Medicare.
....New polls show that Medicare ranks as the third most crucial issue to likely voters in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, and that more respondents trust Pres. Obama to manage it than Mitt Romney.
2. Victory for Akin seen as difficult, but still possible.

....Rep.. Todd Akin is having fund-raising and party problems since the abortion controversy erupted, but some say he could still win his Senate race in Missouri.
3. Romney strategists say they'll stay the course amid focus on abortion.
....Campaign advisers say Mr. Romney’s economic message will still resonate with female voters after the controversy created by Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment subsides.
a. Romney energy plan would expand oil drilling on US land and offshore.
....Mr. Romney’s plan would give states more control over drilling on federal land, promote the nuclear power industry and approve an oil pipeline from Canada.
4. Palin a presence despite absence.

....Sarah Palin electrified the 2008 Republican ticket when she was picked as a running mate, but just four years later her wattage has dimmed. Still, don't count Palin out, experts say..
5. Judge warns of civil war if Obama wins.

....Texas Democrats are calling for the resignation of a Republican elected county judge who warned this week that the nation could descend into civil war if Pres. Obama is re-elected.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
Raped, pregnant and ordeal not over.
In the vast majority of states -- 31 -- men who father through rape are able to assert the same custody and visitation rights to their children that other fathers enjoy. When no law prohibits a rapist from exercising these rights, a woman may feel forced to bargain away her legal rights to a criminal trial in exchange for the rapist dropping the bid to have access to her child. When faced with the choice between a lifetime tethered to her rapist or meaningful legal redress, the answer may be easy, but it is not painless. For the sake of her child, the woman will sacrifice her need to see her once immensely powerful perpetrator humbled by the court.
Opponents argue no woman would ever choose to raise the child she conceived through rape. The only two studies to analyze the choices made by pregnant raped women indicate otherwise -- at least 30% of women who conceive by rape make this choice. Others argue that no rapist would ever seek parental rights. Not only is that otherwise, but it is not surprising that a man who cruelly degrades a woman would also seek to torture her in an even more agonizing way, by seeking access to her child.
Today, it seems we may face a new and unbelievable challenge: convincing legislators that women can conceive when they are raped. Make no mistake, the efforts of women to persuade legislators to pass laws restricting the parental rights of men who father through rape will be directly impacted by Akin's recent comments. Whether these efforts will be helped or hurt, however, depends upon us as a society. Either we will fight ignorance and take steps to legislate for raped women based upon reason and facts, or we will be led by ignorance and continue to make bad laws. Or fail to make good ones.

Thought for Today
"[T]he powers granted by the proposed Constitution are the gift of the people, and may be resumed by them when perverted to their oppression, and every power not granted thereby remains with the people."
--James Madison (1751-1836), 4th US President

[pegasus]

National Park Day / International Bat Night
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 238th day of 2012 with 127 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's fair , temp 81ºF [Feels like 83ºF], winds SSW @ 6 mph, humidity 45%, pressure 30.26 in and falling, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
325--the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical debate held by the early Christian church, concluded with the establishment of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the Arian belief of Christ as inferior to God as heretical.
1537--The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed.
1609-Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
1718--hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some of them settling in present-day New Orleans.
1814--The White House and also the Library of Congress and its 3,000 books were burned down by British troops."
by the British in the War of 1812.
1825--Uruguay declared its independence from Brazil.
1835--the first in a series of six articles announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon appears in the New York Sun newspaper.
1864--the Second Battle of Ream’s Station, Va, Confederate troops secure a vital supply line into Petersburg, when they halt destruction of the Weldon and Petersburg Railroad by Union troops.
1894--Shibasaburo Kitasato discovered the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and published his findings in the British medical journal, The Lancet.
1910--the Yellow Cab Co. was founded by Walden W. Shaw and John D. Hertz.
1912--The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, was founded.
1914--German troops burned the Belgian town of Louvan.
1916--the National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior.
1921--the US signed a peace treaty with Germany.
1939--The Wizard of Oz, which will become one of the best-loved movies in history, opened in theaters around the US.
1944--after more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris was liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
1950--Pres. Truman ordered the US Army to seize control of the railroads to avoid a strike.
1967--Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara conceded that bombing of North Vietnam was less than effective.
1967--a sniper assassinated American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell in Arlington, Va.
1971--the 173rd Airborne Brigade departed Vietnam.
1975--the album "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen was released.
1985--Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets begame the youngest 20-game winner in MLB history.
1991--the Soviet republic of Byelorussia, now known as Belarus, declared independence.
1992--right-wing extremists, egged on by Berlin residents, set fire to a hostel for Vietnamese asylum seekers during a third night of violence against foreigners.
1993--Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York in connection with a number of terrorist activities, including the bombing of the World Trade Center.
1997--the tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.
2001--Crown Prince Haakon of Norway married Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, a former party girl with an out-of-wedlock son, at Oslo Cathedral.
2003--at least 45 people died and more than 61 were injured when two car bombs exploded in a crowded area of Mumbai., India.
2004--a US Army investigation concluded that military intelligence units played a major role in the Abu Ghraib prison abuses in Iraq.
2004--the World Health Organization warned that polio was on the verge of becoming a major epidemic in Africa.
2007--back-to-back explosions thought to be set by terrorists killed at least 44 people and injured more than 50 in Hyderabad, India.
2008--Israel freed 198 Palestinian prisoners to show support for the leadership of the Fatah party governing the West Bank.
2009--Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy, the final Kennedy brother and "liberal lion of the US Senate," died at age 77 at home in Hyannis Port, Mass. of brain cancer.
2009--South Korea's first rocket blasted off into space, but fails to put the STSAT-2A satellite into the planned orbit.

World News Capsules:
1. Ragtag revolts in parts of Afghanistan repel Taliban.
....While distrusting the government, many villagers have also come to loathe the Taliban for their dictatorial cruelty and are fighting back.
a. NATO says Pakistani militant is killed in Afghanistan[u/].
....The death of the Taliban commander is expected to have an impact on the fighting in Bajaur, where the Pakistani Army has been battling the local Taliban since 2008.
2. Labor unrest in Bangladesh's garment industry.

....As workers have demanded higher wages and labor rights, protests and violent clashes with police have become increasingly common
3. Collapse of new bridge underscores worries about China infrastructure.

....Less than a year after it was opened, one of the longest bridges in northern China collapsed on Friday, triggering a storm of criticism from Chinese Internet users.
a. China is said to be bolstering missile capabilities[//u].
....China is developing a new generation of missiles that would give it a greater capability to hit targets in the US and overwhelm any defense system, analysts said this week.
4. French leader hails Greeks' "painful efforts."
....Pres. François Hollande urged Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece to show a willingness go all out to solve the economic crisis, but signaling unhappiness with some austerity measures.
5. Storm leaves several dead in Haiti.

....Tropical Storm Isaac delivered strong winds and rain that caused flooding, mudslides and several deaths, according to preliminary reports, but not the kind of destruction feared.
6. Diplomacy with Iran still is viable, US says.
....The US insisted that diplomatic solutions remained in the Iranian nuclear crisis, despite new evidence that Iran is bolstering its ability to produce a type of uranium used for bomb fuel.
7. 2 US employees wounded in ambush on Mexican road.
....Two Americans were shot and wounded when the US Embassy vehicle they were driving was ambushed by a caravan of cars that included Mexican police..
8. Radical Islamic attacks in a moderate region unnerve the Kremlin.
....The apparent rise of Islamic militancy could have far-ranging effects as the Kremlin looks for ways to promote moderate Islam and quash radical movements at home and abroad
9. Crisis reignites old conflicts in Spain.
....Across the fields of Andalusia, a longstanding social conflict has been reignited by Spain’s economic crisis: farmworkers against landowners.
9. Torrent of Syrian refugees strains aid effort and region.

....Many refugees are housed in schools, which will soon open, and camps that are not prepared for winter.
a. Syrian forces strike again in suburbs of Damascus.
....Syrian troops continued to pound the suburbs of Damascus on Friday, as fighting raged in Aleppo and rebels in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour reported seizing a contested armory.
10. 24 are killed in explosion at refinery in Venezuela.

....Balls of fire rose over the Amuay refinery, one of the largest in the world, in video posted online. At least 53 were wounded in the explosion, blamed on a gas leak.

US News Capsules:
1. Jury awards $1 billion to Apple in Samsung patent case.

....The jury found that Samsung infringed upon a series of Apple patents on mobile devices, in a closely watched court case that could have broad implications for the industry. The smartphone patent wars are unusually complex, and the courts, rather than the patent office, are pushing companies toward a truce. In the end, consumers may be the losers.
2. Gunman dies after killing at Empire State Building in New York City.
....A man fatally shot his former co-worker and was then shot and killed by the police in gunfire that injured nine other people outside the Empire State Building, the police said.
3. A run on bug spray amid fears of West Nile virus.
....With at least 10 deaths, Dallas County is the epicenter of the mosquito-borne illness that has spread throughout Texas and other parts of the country.
4. Cash moves by HSBC in inquiry.
....Federal authorities said the bank was suspected of laundering money for Mexican drug cartels and moving cash for Saudi Arabian banks with ties to terrorists.
5. Employing dietitians pays off for supermarkets.
....As nutrition is becoming more important to customers, the grocery business is finding dietitians indispensable for fending off competition from specialty markets.
5. The best book reviews money can buy.
....The growing business of self-published books has spawned an industry in which hired reviewers produce favorable online reviews.
6. Border cities are burdened with calls for help.

....From San Diego to Brownsville, Tex., requests for assistance have become a drain on the finances and resources of fire departments.
7. Trial to begin for 16 members of Amish group charged in beard-cutting attacks.
....Samuel Mullet Sr., the group’s leader, has been charged along with nine other men and six women of multiple counts including conspiracy, hate crimes, kidnapping and destroying evidence.
8. Early detection for brain injuries.
....Using magnetic sensors that can spot changes in brain waves, researchers are working on a new, relatively inexpensive way to spot injuries and monitor brain diseases.
POLITICS:
1. Capitol dome is imperiled by 1,300 cracks and partisan rift
.
....The Capitol dome needs a comprehensive rehabilitation, but the House has declined to appropriate the $61 million required for repairs.
2. Invitation to cardinal shows GOP's Catholic push.
....The Republicans are sensing an opportunity to cut into the advantage that Pres. Obama had among Catholic voters in 2008.
3. Tax credits shed light on Romney.
....Some experts are looking at a corner of the tax code involving foreign tax credits, and pointing to intriguing clues buried in the returns Mitt Romney has released.
4. For big givers, cash and clout arrive together.
....Lobbyists, corporate executives, trade associations and donors exploit legal loopholes, making each party’s quadrennial conventions a gathering of money and influence unrivaled in politics.
5. Libertarian legion stands ready to accept torch from Paul
.
....After a valedictory rally on Sunday in Tampa, Fla., supporters of Rep. Ron Paul are eager to build on his electoral advances and youth support.

Thought for Today
"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn."
--David Russel (b. 1942) Scottish classical pianist

[pegasus]

Global Forgiveness Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 240th day of 2012 with 125 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:57 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 85ºF [Feels like 84ºF], winds SW @ 10 mph, humidity 40%, pressure 29.99 in and falling, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 60%.

Today in History:
1576--Titian ,(talian Renaissance artist, died in Venice during the Plague of 1575 that swept Italy, Sicily and segments of Northern Europe.
1626---Thirty Years War: a force of Imperialists under Count Tilly heavily defeated a force of Germans and Danes under Christian IV at the Battleof Lutter am Barenberge.
1660--in London, John Milton's books were burned because of the his attacks on King Charles II.
1776--British forces under Gen. William Howe and his brother, Adm. Richard viscount Howe, defeated Gen. Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights in New York.
1789--the Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted by the French National Assembly.
1813--Napoleon with a force of 130,000 defeated a superior allied force of 200,000 Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the battle of Dresden.
1859--Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful US oil well near Titusville, Pa.
1861--Union ships sail into North Carolina's Hatteras Inlet, beginning a two-day operation that secures the area for the Union.
1883--the most powerful (a force of 100 megatons - the Hiroshima bomb was about 20 kilotons) volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred on Krakatoa, a small, uninhabited island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia.
1908--Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th Pres. of the US, was born; died 1973 at age 64.
1912--Tarzan came to life. when Edgar Rice Burroughs published Tarzan of the Apes.
1916--Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary sending troops into the much-disputed province of Transylvania.
1921--J.E. Clair, owner of the Acme Packing Co., bought Green Bay, Wis. a pro football franchise to honor those who packed meat at his processing plant.
1928--the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by 15 nations in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
1938--at a poetry reading by Archibald MacLeish, fellow poet Robert Frost, in a fit of jealousy, set fire to some papers to disrupt the recital.
1939--Hitler served notice on England and France that Germany wanted Danzig and the Polish Corridor.
1939--the German Heinkel He 178 , the worlds first fully jet powered aircraft, had its maiden flight
1941--the anti-fascist, anti-militarism prime minister of Japan, Prince Fumimaro Konoye, requested a summit meeting with Pres. Roosevelt.
1945--US troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government.
1950--BBC transmits the first ever live TV pictures across the channel.
1952--the "Red Scare"—the widespread belief that international communism was operating in the US—came to dominate much of presidential politics.
1953--the movie Roman Holiday, featuring Audrey Hepburn in her first starring role, opened.
1962, the US launched the Mariner 2 space probe, which flew past Venus the following December.
1972--US aircraft conduct heavy raids on Hanoi and the North's major port of Haiphong in Vietnam.
1975--Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia's 3,000-year-old monarchy, died in Addis Ababa almost a year after being overthrown.
1979--Lord Louis Mountbattena war hero, elder statesman and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was killed when Irish Republican Army terrorists detonated a 50-lb. bomb hidden on his fishing vessel.
1991--the Soviet republic of Moldavia declared independence and the European Community recognized Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as independent countries.
1995--Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed an agreement in Cairo to expand Palestinian autonomy from Gaza to the West Bank.
1999--2 Russian cosmonauts and a French astronaut left Mir to return to Earth, leaving the orbiting Russian space station unmanned for the first time in 13 years.
2003--Mars made its closest approach to Earth.
2004--Russian authorities said traces of explosives were found in the wreckage of two airliners that crashed within minutes of each other after takeoff, killing 89 in Moscow.
2006--reports said 100s of tribal chiefs signed a pact supporting reconciliation and an end to sectarian strife in Iraq while bombs and gunfire killed 100 Iraqis over a two-day period.
2007--beleaguered US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation.
2007--NFL quarterback Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons pled guilty in a federal dogfighting case.
2008--Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo.

World News Capsules:
1. Attacks on soldiers and civilians leave dozens dead in Afghanistan.
....In three separate attacks on Sunday and Monday, an Afghan soldier killed two American troops, attackers killed 10 Afghan soldiers at a checkpoint, and the Taliban cut the throats of 17 civilians
2. Sea ice in Arctic measured at record low.

....More of the Arctic than ever before is ice-free, scientists say, and the melting may be causing extremes of weather to the south.
3. To preserve regional tradition, Flanders subsidizes horse breeding.

....In less than a century, Belgian draft horses have gone from being one of the country's most valuable exports to a vanishing breed in their own homeland.
4. France says it would recognize provisional Syrian government.
....The statement by the French president, François Hollande, represented the furthest any Western leader had gone in pressuring Pres. Assad.
5. Hong Kong protesters defy court order to leave.

....An unusual intersection of legal issues, local politics and weather has allowed Occupy Central to defy the authorities longer than similar movements .
6. India's premier jeered in Parliament over coal deals.

....Opposition lawmakers shouted down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he rebutted claims that sweetheart coal deals with power companies had cost the government $34 billion in royalties.
7. [y]Israel arrests 3 settler boys suspected of attack on Palestinians[/y].
....Three Jewish settler boys are suspected of throwing a firebomb earlier this month at a Palestinian vehicle in the West Bank, injuring six people.
8. Myanmar leader reeshuffles his cabinet.
....In a move that could consolidate his power, President Thein Sein put his closest allies in crucial positions and sidelined at least one hard-line minister left over from the days of military rule.
9. Philippine economy set to become Asia's newest bright spot


....Young urban workers in the Philippines are helping to give the country its best prospects in decades, economists say.
10. With opening near, Yale defends Singaore venture.
....As the Yale-National University of Singapore College prepares to open, Yale has received criticism for lending its name to an institution in a country where some freedoms are restricted.
11. Crackdown toll seen as Syrians bury hundreds.

....With more than 200 bodies found over the weekend, the assault in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus has begun to look like one of the deadliest short-term raids of the uprising.

US News Capsules:
1. Storm gains strength moving toward coast.

....Tropical Storm Isaac was expected to gather strength, potentially making landfall as a hurricane somewhere along the Gulf Coast, late on Tuesday or early Wednesday.
2. Before gunfire, hints of 'bad news'.
....James Eagan Holmes left no trail of hate behind him before the shootings in Aurora. But interviews with people who knew or had contact with him before the attack tell a story of a man struggling with a mental illness and losing his footing.
3. Benefits of circumcision are said to outweigh risks.
....The American Academy of Pediatrics has shifted its stance on infant male circumcision, motivated in part by research that says it may protect heterosexual men against HIV.
4. Jimmy Kimmel's move may seal fate of "Nightline".

....The decision to shift "Jimmy Kimmel Live" into the time slot long held by "Nightline" is a hurtful and possibly fatal blow to the program, former members of the news show say.
5. These days, it's back to school, then shopping.
....In an effort to follow trends, students and their families are delaying back-to-school purchases, which could hurt an economy heavily dependent on consumer spending to stay afloat.
6. ARTS: A punk fest, defiant and undefinable.

....The Afro-Punk Festival in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, continues to expand beyond its punk and hard-core roots.
7. Intriguing habitats and careful discussions of climate change
.
....Many zoos are fearful of alienating visitors with tours or wall labels that dwell bleakly on damaged coral reefs, melting ice caps or dying trees.
8. Farmers pray for rain - and change.

....The worst drought in decades is driving American dairy farmers to sell their herds and call it quits. As one farmer puts it: "It's the system that failed us."
9. Abuse victim fights order to pay alimony.

....The California legislature unanimously passed a bill last week that would prohibit victims of spousal abuse from having to pay alimony to their convicted abuser. The bill is a result of one California woman who says she was a victim of spousal abuse and the justice system.
10. Bill Nye slams creationism.

....Famed TV scientist Bill Nye is slamming creationism in a new online video for Big Think titled "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children." "Denial of evolution is unique to the United States," Nye begins in a YouTube video posted on Thursday. The video quickly picked up steam over the weekend and as of Monday morning had been viewed more than 1,100,000 times.
POLITICS:
1. A party of factions gathers, seeking consensus.
....Republican leaders said there was unity in the drive to unseat President Obama, but they expressed concerns about challenges to the establishment.
a. At convention, 2 disruptions: tropical storm and Ron Paul.

....As Tropical Storm Isaac diverted attention from the delayed Republican convention, the Romney campaign was monitoring a potential challenge from restive delegates when it does begin.
b. Paul makes sure his voice is heard in Tampa.
....Denied a speaking slot at the Republican convention, Ron Paul told a gathering of 10,000 of his supporters that his “liberty movement” was alive and well
2. Earnest and efficient, Romney spares the subtlety.
....Mitt Romney’s speeches and rallies are highly polished and hyper-scripted and they tell a story of a man who sees himself as a hero prepared to pull off his biggest rescue yet.
3. Relaxed and loose, Candidate Obama hits his mark.
....In this re-election campaign, the president is a scheduler’s dream, a walking, talking, handshaking, baby-hugging prototype of campaigning efficiency/

Thought for Today
"It's the price of leadership to do the thing you believe has to be done at the time it must be done."
--Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) 36th Pres. of the US.

[pegasus]

Race Your Mouse around the Icons Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 241st day of 2012 with 124 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:17 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 77ºF [Feels like 78ºF], winds SSW @ 7 mph, humidity 58%, pressure 29.96 in and rising, dew point 61ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1189--the Crusaders began the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan.
1521--the Ottoman Turks occupied Belgrade.
1565--St. Augustine, Fla. was founded, the oldest surviving European settlement in the US."
1609--English sea explorer Henry Hudson reached present-day Delaware Bay.
1619--Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor and started the Thirty Years War to eradicate Protestantism.
1640--English Civil War: the Scots under Leslie defeated royalist English forces under Lord Conway at the battle of Newburn near Newcastle.
1774--St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley, the first American-born saint beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, was born in New York City. She founded the first Catholic school and the Sisters of Charity, first female apostolic community in the US.
1789--Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus.
1811--the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley eloped with Harriet Westbrook.
1828--Leo Tolstoy, Russian author considered one of history's greatest novelists (War and Peace[/img], Anna Karenina) was born near Tula, Russia; died 1910 at age 82.
1845--Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue.
1850--Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" received its first performance.
1862--Confederate spy, Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC.
1867--the US occupied Midway Islands in the Pacific.
1879--Cetewayo (or Cetshwayo), last of the great Zulu kings, was captured by the British ending the Zulu wars.
1898--Caleb Bradham renamed his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola".
1907--Jim Casey, 19, borrowed $100 from a friend, Claude Ryan, to start a local delivery service in Seattle, Wash. which they named the American Messenger Company. It became United Parcel Services(UPS).
1908--Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and conservationist, was born; died 1996 at age 87.
1910--Montenegro proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman empire, with Nicholas I as ruler.
1914--Battle of Heligoland Bight: the first major naval battle of World War I occurred between British and German ships in the North Sea, near the northern coast of Germany.
1917--Pres. Wilson was picketed by woman suffragists in front of the White House demanding the right to vote,
1922--the 1st radio commercial aired, on WEAF in New York City.
1922--at Southampton, NY, the Walker Cup, the oldest international team golf match in the US, was held for the first time.
1941--more than 23,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Gestapo in occupied Ukraine.
1944--the last German troops in Marseilles surrendered and Toulon was finally cleared of German troops.
1955--14-year-old Emmett Till, an African American from Chicago, was brutally murdered for flirting with a white woman. His assailants (the woman's husband and brother) beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to a 76 Lb. cotton-gin fan with barbed wire, into the river.
1963--200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
1968--1000s of protesters against the Vietnam War battled police in Chicago while the Democratic Party tore itself to shreds concerning a platform statement on Vietnam.
1981--John W. Hinckley Jr. pleaded innocent to charges of attempting to kill Pres. Reagan.
1988--An unsuccessful coup attempt against Filipino Pres. Corazon Aquino resulted in the deaths of 50 people.
1990--two more bodies (Tracy Paules and Manuel Taboada) were discovered near the campus of the University of Florida, two days after the discovery of three young female students killed and mutilated in two separate locations near the campus.
1996--Democrats nominated Pres. Clinton for a 2nd term at their national convention in Chicago.
1990--the government of Saddam Hussein declared Kuwait to be the 19th province of Iraq, in a move that foreshadowed the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
1995--a mortar shell killed 38 people in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, triggeromg NATO airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs.
1996--Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana, formally divorced after 16 years.
1998--the Pakistani prime minister created a new Islamic order and legal system based on the Koran.
2005--New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered everyone in the city to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Katrina, designated as a Category 5 hurricane.
2006--fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was arrested.
2008--Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a speech at Invesco Field in Denver.
2009--Reading Rainbow, the 3rd longest-running children's show on PBS, ended its 26-year run.
2009--the Los Angeles County coroner ruled that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide caused by acute intoxication from the drug propofol.

World News Capsules:
1. US military disciplines 9 over video and Koran burning.
....Nine American service members were disciplined for the burning of Korans and the posting of a video showing Marines urinating on dead insurgents, events that prompted outrage in Afghanistan.
a. Afghan police chief escapes attack that kills 4 civilians.
....The police chief of Kandahar Province, Gen. Abdul Raziq, survived a powerful suicide car bombing by the Taliban late Monday.
2. Former wife of child killer is released in Belgium.
....The release of Michelle Martin, former wife and accomplice of the convicted child killer Marc Dutroux, infuriated families of victims of crimes that shocked the world 20 years ago
3. Gangs' truce buys El Salvador a tenuous peace[/u]

....A truce between two notoriously violent street gangs endures in El Salvador after five months, but some wonder whether the government has made a deal with the devil.
4. After attacks, Israeli schools confront hate.
....Israeli students are being required to discuss the attempted lynching of a number of Palestinian youths.
a. Court rules Israel is not at fault in American activist's death.
....An Israeli judge ruled on Tuesday that the state bore no responsibility for the death of Rachel Corrie, the young American protester who was run over by a military bulldozer in 2003
5. Grenade attack in Kenya kills police officer as riots rage.

....It was the second day of deadly unrest over the killing of an influential cleric, Sheik Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who has been accused of fund-raising and helping to recruit fighters for a Somali militant group.
6. Mexico detains 12 officers in attack on US embassy vehicle.
....Mexican police officers who wounded two American employees when they shot at a US Embassy vehicle were detained to determine whether they abused their authority.
7. Lawyers seek releasse of Pakistani girl charged with blasphemy.
....An influential Muslim cleric also offered support for the girl, Rimsha Masih, who has been held in a high-security jail since Aug. 16., after being accused of burning a religious textbook used to teach the Koran.
8. Palestine: UN sees bleak outlook for Gaza unless services are improved.
....Gaza may not be “a livable place” by 2020 unless intensive efforts are made to improve infrastructure and services in fields like energy, health, water and sanitation, a United Nations report concluded this week.
9. For Putin, reort says, state perks pile high.
....In a new report, Russian opposition leaders describe the presidential perks enjoyed by Vladimir V. Putin, including palaces, a fleet of jets and droves of luxury cars.
a. Russian activists criticize 8-year drug sentence.
....Supporters say that the charges against Taisiya Osipova were fabricated in retaliation for her work in opposition to Russia’s longtime paramount leader, Vladimir V. Putin/
10. Somalia: Piracy around Horn of Africa has plunged, US says.
....The US Navy credits aggressive patrolling by international forces and increased vigilance by the commercial shipping industry for the decrease.
11. More Syrian efugees flooding into Jordan and Turkey.

....The UN refugee agency said that 10,200 Syrians had crossed into Jordan last week, and Syrian activists reported deadly government airstrikes in Idlib, near Turkey.

US News Capsules:
1. Destroying precious land for gas.
....Natural gas has been sold as clean energy, but the word "clean" is taking on a disturbingly Orwellian tone. Don't be fooled.
2. Hurricane Isaac builds as it churns toward coast

....The tracking forecasts reached a consensus that the storm would land overnight Tuesday somewhere around southeastern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane.
3. Levee needing costly repairs lands Ohio village on endangered list.
.....The Army Corps of Engineers is considering alternatives to expensive repairs, including razing buildings in the village of Zoar, Ohio.
4. Active in cloud, Amazon reshapes computing.
....Amazon is quietly upending the world of business computing through its cloud operations, a vast resource that gives companies heavy computing power without the baseline costs.
5. IBM mainframe evolves to serve the digital world.
....Executives said the company's new line of mainframe computers can tackle any trend in corporate computing, from the cloud to so-called green computing.
6. Aspirin made aid cancer recovery.
....Men treated for prostate cancer who took aspirin regularly for other medical conditions were less likely to die of their cancer than patients who weren't taking aspirin, a new study shows.
7. As genes learn new tricks, animal lifestles evolve.

....Recent studies on how some snakes and other animals detect infrared light provide striking examples of how new lifestyles can evolve when old genes learn new tricks, i.e. bloodsuckers sensory pits help vampire bats find the best place to bite..
8. New Will.i.amsong broadcast from Mars.

...."Reach for the Stars" made its solar system premiere after a 330-million-mile trip, from Earth to Mars and back again.
9. Designers set sail, turning to wind to help power cargo ships
.
....To reduce emissions and conserve expensive fossil fuels, cargo ship designers are turning to the oldest source of power there is: the wind.
10. More than one kind of partner for a supernova.
....Scientists studying a Type 1a supernova found it to be caused by a white dwarf absorbing gas from a nearby red giant.
11. Finding something worthy in every fomd.

....Seeking out paintings at yard sales and thrift shops, an art critic observes, is often worth the effort.
12. Newspapers fighting deal n postage for ad fliers.
....A direct marketer’s agreement with the Postal Service could lure more ads away from newspapers, which earn more than $1 billion a year on advertising inserts.
POLITICS:
1. As storm disrupts plans, GOP takes up tensions.
....Monday was a day of frustration for Republicans as the delay in beginning their convention deprived them of their national stage and brought a fresh airing of intraparty tensions.
a. House Republicans deemed not ready for prime time['u].
....Less than two years ago after leading their party to power, House Republicans are being largely kept out of the spotlight.
2. Business and political experineces pull Romney 2 ways on economy.
....As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney supported a greater government role in the economy, but as a presidential candidate, he has moved closer to the Republican mainstream.
3. Keynoter Christie is a skilled speaker and Tea Party pleaser.
....Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, known for unscripted moments, will give the keynote address to the first Republican convention at which Tea Party insurgents will join establishment party members

Thought for Today
"It's important to give it all you have while you have the chance."
--[/i]Shania Twain (b. 1965) Canadian singer.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Spain: La Tomatina, Buñol - the world's largest food fight
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 242nd day of 2012 with 123 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:18 p.m., it's fair , temp 73ºF [Feels like 72ºF], Sunset 7:54 p.m., winds NNW @ 7 mph, humidity 41%, pressure 30.0. in and falling, dew point 48ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1350--the Hundred Years war: a Spanish fleet under La Carda was defeated by the English of Edward III at the battle of Winchelsea in the English Channel.
1533--Francisco Pizarro's Spanish conquistadors strangle Atahualipa, the 13th and last emperor of the Incas, marking the end of 300 years of Inca civilization.
1632--John Locke, English philosopher who influenced the American Founding Fathers, was born; died 1704 at age 72.
1756--on learning of the Franco-Austrian alliance, Frederick II of Prussia invaded Saxony, heralding the start of the Seven Years War. (French and ndian War in the colonies).
1779--Battle of Chemung or Newtown, NY: Continental forces led by Maj. Gen. John Sullivan and Brig. Gen. James Clinton defeated a combined force of Loyalists and Indians commanded by Capt. Walter Butler and Chief Joseph Brant.
1786--Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, began in response to high debt and tax burdens.
1825--Brazilian independence under Pedro I was recognized by Portugal.
1842--the Treaty of Nanking was signed between the British and Chinese, ending the first Opium War and conceding Hong Kong to Britain..
1862--Union and Confederate armies clashed at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run or Manassus.
1877--Brigham Young, the 2nd president of the Mormon Church, died in Salt Lake City at age 76.
1885--the world's first motorcycle patented by Gottlieb Daimler.
1886--the chef of China's ambassador to the US came up with a new dish in New York City. - chop suey.
1898--the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. was founded.
1907--the Quebec Bridge collapsed during its first construction killing 75 of the 86 construction workers.
1911--Ishi, described as the last surviving Stone Age Indian in the contiguous US, was discovered in California.
1936--John McCain, US (R-Ariz.) was born, turns 76.
1942--the International Red Cross announcesd Japan refused passage of ships carrying food, medicine, and other necessities for American POWs.
1944--US troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as part of the celebration of the French capital liberation.
1945--Pres3 Truman ordered the Secretary of the Navy to seize control of petroleum refineries and transportation companies to counteract strikes by oil workers at the Gulf, Shell, Standard and Union oil companies.
1949--the USSR exploded its first atomic bomb at a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan.
1957--Sen. Strom Thurmond (D-SC) ended the longest filibuster in Senate history of 24 hrs, 18 min. against a civil rights bill.
1958--the Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colo.
1965--astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad landed safely to end the eight-day orbital flight of Gemini 5.
1966--the Beatles performed their last scheduled concert, before disbanding at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
1973--US District Judge John Sirica ordered Pres. Nixon to turn over secret Watergate tapes. .
1991--the Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the USSR, suspended all activities of the Communist Party, bringing an end to the institution.
1994--Israel and the PLO signed an agreement to shift West Bank administration to the Palestinian National Authority.
2000--Pope John Paul II endorsed organ donation and adult stem cell study but condemned human cloning and embryo experiments.
2003--a car bomb explosion killed more than 80 worshippers at the Imam Ali Mosque in the Iraqi Shitte holy city of Najaf.
2004--Vanderlei de Lima, Brazilian marathoner was assaulted at the Athens Olympics when he was in the lead with 4 miles left.
2005--Downgraded to a Category 4 but packing high storm surges and sustained winds of more than 140 miles an hour, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast near New Orleans.
2007--South Korea said the Taliban would release 19 hostages held for 41 days after it promised to pull outits troops by year's end and ban its Christian missionary work in Afghanistan.
2008--Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential running mate.
2008 --a dam break in Nepal sent flood waters from the Kosi River racing across northern India, causing 75 deaths and more than 2 million people to be homeless.

World News Capsules:
1. Karzai is overhauling Afghanistan's top cabinet posts, western officials say.
....Pres. Hamid Karzai has deepened a cabinet shake-up in the most important security and intelligence ministries, Western officials said.
2. Victims' sons in tough fight for redress after China rail crash.

....Two Chinese-American brothers’ odyssey to retrieve their parents’ bodies and gain compensation for the 1st deadly high-speed railroad crash highlighted the workings of an unbending government agency in China.
3. Georgia frees hostages along border with Russia.
....The Georgian authorities said they had engaged in a fierce gun battle to free five Georgian villagers being held by a band of militants who had crossed over the border from the Russian republic of Dagestan.
4. German and Italian leaders at odds over euro plans.
....Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Mario Monti sought to present a united front after meeting Wednesday, but could not hide their divisions.
5. New urgency on airport plans for Great Britain's Cameron.
....Prime Minister David Cameron of Great Britain is facing new challenges to his leadership as the long-simmering issue of expanding Heathrow Airport demands his attention
6. UN leader broaches sensitive topics with Iranian leaders.

....Ban Ki-moon met face-to-face with four members of Iran’s hierarchy to address his concerns about the disputed Iranian nuclear program, the Syria conflict, human rights issues,
7. Village's tribute reignites a debate about Italy's Fascist past.

....The mayor of Affile, Italy, recently dedicated a monument to a general under Mussolini accused of war crimes. The event raised questions about whether Italy has come to terms with its wartime past.
8. Japanese and North Korean officials hold first talks in four years.
....The discussions come amid hopes that the North’s new leader could be trying to reduce tensions with Japan and by extension, the United States.
9. Libya officials seem helpless as Sufi shrines are vandalized.
....The country’s interior minister said he lacked the means to stop well-armed extremists from destroying sacred Sufi sites, adding he was willing to see all shrines destroyed to avoid bloodshed.
10. Americans shot in Mexico were CIA operatives aiding in drug war.
....The two Americans wounded last week when their embassy vehicle was shot up were CIA employees aiding in Mexico’s efforts to fight drug traffickers.
11. Gaza's tunnel economy: UN sees bleak outlook for Gaza unless services are improved.

....Gaza may not be “a livable place” by 2020 unless intensive efforts are made to improve infrastructure and services in fields like energy, health, water and sanitation, a United Nations report concluded this week.
12. Many hands patch together Syria rebels' arsenal.

....Using unconventional means to acquire weapons, Syria’s rebels have managed to put the government to siege, seize territory and drive the conventionally equipped Syrian armed forces back in certain areas of the countryside. A network of tradesmen and businesses have helped to piece together an arsenal to counter the Assad government’s army.

US News Capsules:
1. Isaac loses steam, but brings flooding, power outages.

....Isaac weakens to a tropical storm, but flooding traps people in their homes and on levees, destorys a Mississippi marina, but leaves New Orleans working really, really well.
a. Biloxi surprised by Isaac's rain.
....What this hurricane lacked in wind, it made up for with more water than expected, especially along the 26 miles of Gulf Coast beaches along Mississippi’s southern edge/
2. Sharp cuts in dental coverage for adults on Medicaid.
....Republican- and Democratic-controlled states alike have reduced or largely eliminated dental coverage for adults on Medicaid.
3. Hard-hit cities show a housing rebound.
....The latest housing data showed a year-over-year increase in prices nationally, with a recovery apparent even in places like Miami, Atlanta and Detroit.
4. US sets higher fuel efficiency standards.
....The rules, first proposed last year, would require new cars and trucks to average 54.5 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving by 2025.
5. New York State is investigating energy drink makers.
....New York is looking at whether the makers of energy drinks are misleading consumers about how much caffeine the drinks contain and the health risks they could pose.
6. Italy to Brooklyn, fig by fig.
....Fig trees are abundant in Brooklyn, producing soft, purple fruit that can be eaten by the handful, tossed into salads or threaded onto a skewer.
7. Touring streets, highlighting gutters.

....Tours sponsored by TMZ highlight the tawdry stories of celebrities in Los Angeles.
8. Rare illness has killed 2 lodgers at Yosemite.
....Park officials have told 1,700 people they may have been exposed to a potentially lethal, rodent-borne disease while visiting one of Yosemite’s low-cost lodging areas this summer.
9. Families of Aurora shooting victims ask relief fund to speed assistance.

....In their first public gathering, grieving relatives said they had received scant assistance from a $5 million fund and little explanation as to why.
10. Penn State to give back trophies because of NCAA sanctions.

....Penn State will have to return all of the football trophies they won during a 14-year span as a result of sanctions handed down by the NCAA for school's role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, a school official said on Wednesday. And what will happen to these bowl game trophies - given to the losers?
11. West Nile cases rising; 66 dead
....66 people have died from West Nile virus infections this year, and the number of human cases has grown to 1,590, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the highest case count since the virus was first detected in the US in 1999.
POLITICS:
1. Republican Convention: Platform's sharp turn to right has Conservatives cheering.
....The 1980 Republican platform was considered a triumph for conservatives. But they are even happier this year.
a. As Republicans build ranks of future leaders, Latinos are in demand. .

....Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will have a starring role at the Republican convention in Tampa Thursday night when he introduces Mitt Romney to accept the nomination/
2. Nomination secure, Romney pitch starts.
....Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, took the lead in trying to shape perceptions of her husband, hailing him as a strong and steadfast family man whom Americans could trust to help rebuild the economy.
3. Focus on Ryan extends to his budget plan.
....While Paul D. Ryan was expected to use his acceptance speech to make the case for smaller government, Democrats were busy pointing out how contentious his vision is.
a. Fast rise built with discipline.
....Ryan’s uncanny ability to develop relationships with like-minded conservatives while he worked on Capitol Hill helped lay the groundwork for his ascension to vice-presidential candidate
4. Ron Paul supporters put dent in unity at GOP convention.

....The always-vocal supporters of Ron Paul made one final push to support the Texas congressman's bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination Tuesday, and in the process made their displeasure at the GOP establishment known as official proceedings at the Republican National Convention got underway.
5. Federal court finds Texas voting maps discriminatory.
....A federal court ruled political maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in Texas discriminated against minority voters, but the ruling is unlikely to affect the November elections.
6. California sheriffs oppose bill on illegal immigrants.
....Known as the Trust Act, the bill would bar law enforcement officers from detaining illegal immigrants for deportation if they have not been charged with serious or violent crimes.

Thought for Today
"Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly."
--George Santayana [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás] (1863-1952) Spanish-born philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.

[pegasus]

Black Business Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 244th day of 2012 with 121 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:13 p.m., it's fair , temp 91ºF [Feels like 93ºF], winds WSW @ 12 mph, humidity 32%, pressure 29.96 in and falling, dew point 57ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1422--Henry VI became King of England at the very young age of 9 months.
1535--Pope Paul II deposed & excommunicated King Henry VIII.
1862--Union forces were defeated by the Confederates at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Va.
1864--the Battle of Jonesboro was fought, leading to fall of Atlanta, Ga.
1870--Maria Montessori, Italian physician & educator, was born; died 1952 at age 82.
1886--the largest earthquake ever registered inthe south east US struck Charleston, SC.
1888--Mary Ann Nichols was found in Whitechapel, London, England, the first victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper.
1900--Coca Cola went on sale in Great Britain for the first time.
1907--England, Russia & France formed the Triple Entente alliance.
1928--Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera ("Die Dreigoschenoper") premiered in Berlin, starring Lotte Lenya..
1930--Warren Buttett, billionaire Berkshire Hathaway chairman & CEO, was born; turns 82.
1935--Pres. Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act that prohibited the export of arms made in the US to belligerents.
1939--Hitler signed an order to prepare for the invasion of Poland.
1941--Nazi forces began a siege of Leningrad that lasted nearly two and a half years.
1944--the British 8th Army broke through the Germans' "Gothic Line," a defensive line drawn across northern Italy.
1945--Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan and set up Allied occupation headquarters.
1951--US Supreme Court justic William O. Douglas called for the recognition of the People's Republic of China.
1955--Secretary of State John Foster Dulles supported South Vietnamese Pres. Ngo Dinh Diem's position refusal to hold elections.
1955--William Cobb demonstrated first solar-powered car.
1963--the hot-line communications link between Washington and Moscow went into operation.
1965--Premier Nguyen Cao Ky said that South Vietnam would not negotiate with the Communists without guarantees that North Vietnamese troops would be withdrawn from the South.
1967--the US Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court
1980--the trade union Solidarity was founded in Gdansk, Poland.
1983--Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first African-American astronaut to travel in space when he blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
1985--Richard Ramirez, the notorious Night Stalker serial killer was nearly killed by a mob in East Los Angeles, Cali., after being recognized from a photograph.
1986--hte Admiral Nakhimov, a Soviet passenger ship, collided with a merchant vessel in the Black Sea and both sank, killing 448 people.
1991--Serbia accepted a European Community proposal that included international observers to oversee a cease-fire in Croatia.
1991--Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declared their independence from the Soviet Union.
1992--white separatist Randy Weaver surrendered after an 11-day siege that cost the lives of his wife, teenage son and a US marshal in Idaho.
1993--The Late Show with David Letterman premiered on CBS.
1994--the Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire, ending 25 years of bloodshed in Northern Ireland.
1997--Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris.
2003--a Russian K-159 nuclear-powered submarine was lost in the Barents Sea, killing 9 crew members.
2005--nealy 1,000 Shiite pilgrims died in a stampede and the partial collapse of a bridge over the Tigris River in northern Baghdad.

World News Capsules:
1. Young girl and boy found beheaded in Afghanistan.
....The victims were a 7-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, who residents said was killed by the Taliban because his relatives were members of the local police, but a spokesman for the group denied the charge.
2. Change unlikely from Angola election, but discontent simmers.

....The governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which has been in power for more than three decades, was expected to win the legislative elections on Friday handily.
3. Australia ends search in boat sinking with scores presumed dead.
....Nearly 100 passengers are thought to have died when a boat packed with refugees sank south of Indonesia this week, Australian officials said.
4. China and Germany promise to strengthen ties.
....Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany agreed with Chinese leaders to strengthen ties between the two countries. China also promised to invest more money in a struggling Europe.
a. Chinese dissident in Yahoo case is freed after 10 years.
....Wang Xiaoning had been convicted of state subversion based on evidence provided by the Internet company.
5. Hopes raised, Roma in France still face a date with the bulldozer.

....Foreign Roma hope that Presi. François Hollande will annul an expulsion order, after being led to believe that their lot would improve, but so far his approach has been much like that of his predecessor.
6. Summit meeting in Iran disrupted by rebukes of Syria.
....At a meeting of world leaders in Iran, Pres. Mohamed Morsi of Egypt denounced the repression of the armed uprising in Syria, a close Iranian ally.
a. Iran criticizes Egypt's new leader over Syria comments.
....The move by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came a day after Pres. Morsi of Egypt countered the Iranian stance on Syria and denounced the repression of the armed uprising there.
7. Report on Iran nuclear work puts Israel in a box.

....An International Atomic Energy Agency report detailing Iran’s ramped up nuclear capabilities may force Israel to strike Iran or concede it cannot act on its own, according to experts.
8. Japan and North Korea agree to new talks.
....The two countries ended their first direct talks in four years with an agreement to meet as early as next month, in a sign of the North’s desire to reduce tensions with Japan, and by extension, the US.
9. Earthquake causes damage in Philippines.
....An earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck off the Philippines and a tsunami warning has been issued for the region, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
10. "Pussy Riot" murder a domestic dispute.
....Authorities said a 38-year-old man confessed to a grisly double murder in Kazan, in which two women were found brutally stabbed and with “Free! Pussy Riot” written in blood on a wall nearby.
11. In police shooting of miners, South Africa charges miners
.
....Two weeks after the police fired on workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a platinum mine, killing 34 people, prosecutors are charging the workers themselves.

US News Capsules:
1. For gulf casino, a brief lull in the action.

....The Gulf Coast casinos, vital to the region’s economy, began reopening as the last effects of Hurricane Issac were still blowing outside.
a. Rain from Isaac puts wide area at risk.

....The storm's once fierce winds slowed to 45 mph as it moved out of southern Louisiana and headed north, still bringing heavy rains and flooding.
b. Efforts to relieve dam cntinue in Mississippi.
....If the Percy Quin Dam on Lake Tangipahoa fails, thousands of homes in southeastern Louisiana would be threatened.
2. No charges filed on harsh tactics used by the CIA.
....Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s announcement eliminates the last possibility that any criminal charges will result from brutal interrogations carried out by the CIA.
3. The majority of new jobs pay low wages, study finds.
....The disappearance of midwage, midskill jobs is part of a longer-term trend that some refer to as a hollowing out of the work force.
4. Roberts leaves Good Moring, America for medical treatment[/u].

....Robin Roberts, who will undergo a bone marrow transplant that will leave her hospitalized and homebound for months, began her leave of absence a day early. due to the pending death of her mother.
5. Having to prove you're 'hopeless' to escape college debt.
....To discharge student loans, a bankrupt borrower may have to convince a judge that life will never get better and destitution is certain.
6. What "We are...Penn State" means now.

....A campus struggles to reshape its identity with its rallying cry uniting many students, but for others it's only a shameful reminder of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
POLITICS:
1. Court b;pcls Texas vpter OD ;aw. cotomg racoa; o,[act.
....A federal court stopped Texas from enforcing a strict voter identification law, handing the state its second legal setback this week involving minority voters.
2. REPUBLICAN CONVENTIN: Romney vows to deliver country from economic travails.
....Mitt Romney asked voters to consider whether their lives had improved over the last four years and urged them not to feel guilty about giving up on Pres. Obama.
a. After a gunslinger cuts loose, Romney aides take cover.

....Clint Eastwood’s rambling endorsementin which he laid out what he sees as the good, the bad and the ugly state of American political affairs seemed to leave Mitt Romney’s campaign advisers unsettled and displeased.
b. Republican wmen seek to play down social issues.
....Women at the Convention expressed the feeling that the emphasis needs to be on the economy, and that issues like abortion are too divisive in a close, contentious race.
3. Obama team sharpens attacks on rivals' character.
....The Obama campaign has criticized many of Mitt Romney’s statements as false and is now planning to turn up the volume.

Thought for Today
"The ultimate result of protecting fools from their folly is to fill the planet full of fools."
--[/i]James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) author and diplomat.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Cable TV Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 248th day of 2012 with 117 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7"12 p.m., it's lightly raining , temp 74ºF [Feels like 77ºF], winds SSE @ 6 mph, humidity 91%, pressure 29.80 in and falling, dew point 71ºF, chance of precipitation 80%.

Today in History:
476--Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian who proclaimed himself king of Italy - the final fall of Rome.
1588--Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicster and long-standing favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, died most likely from stomach cancer.
1609--Henry Hudson discovered the island of Manhattan.
1781--Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers
1786--Sir John Fielding, brother of Henry Fielding novelist, and co-founder of the Bow Street Runners, 1st professional police force) died at age 59.
1864--feared Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan was killed during a Union cavalry raid on the town of Greenville, Tenn.
1870--Emp. Napoleon III of France was deposed after being captured at the Battle of Sedan by German troops.1886--Apache chief Geranimo surrendered to US Army troops.
1888--George Eastman registered the trademark "Kodak" and received a patent for his roll film camera.
1907--Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer and pianist, died at age 64 after a long period of illness.
1908--Richard Wright, whose books Native Son and Black Boy exposed the harsh effects of American racism, was born; died 1960 at age 62.
1917--the US expeditionary force in France suffered its first fatalities in World War I.
1918--US troops land at Archangel, in northern Russia as part of an intervention in the Russian civil war.
1945--the Japanese surrendered on Wake Island in the Pacific.
1948--Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated in favor of her daughter Juliana for health reasons.
1951--Pres. Truman made the first transcontinental television broadcast from the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco.
1954--the first passage of the fabled Northwest Passage was completed by icebreakers from the US Navy and Coast Guard.
1957--under orders from the governor of Arkansas, armed National Guardsmen prevented nine African-American students from attending the all-white Central High School in Little Rock.
1969--Radio Hanoi announced the death of Ho Chi Minh.
1971--Alaskan Airlines flight 1866 crashed into a mountain near Juneau on approach for landing killing all 111 on board.
1972--in Munich, Mark Spitz bnecame the first swimmer to win 7 Olympic gold medals.
1991--South African President F.W. de Klerk proposed a new constitution, providomh for universal voting rights and opening the parliament to all races.
1993--Fatah, the PLO's largest and most moderate faction, endorsed an accord with Israel calling for interim Palestinian self-rule.
1996--the Colombian guerilla organization FARC led an attack on a military base in Guaviare, Colombia,.
1999--over 60 people were killed when Chechen terrorists detonated a car bomb near an apartment building in Dagestan, Russia.
2005--New Orleans officials completed evacuation of Hurricane Katrina survivors from the Superdome and convention center -- a total of 42,000 in one day.
2006--Steve Irwin, Australia's internationally renowned Crocodile Hunter TV star, was killed by a stingray barb to the heart while he was filming underwater.
2007--Hurricane Felix made landfall in northern Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 160 mph.
2007--toy maker Mattel Inc. recalled 800,000 lead-tainted, Chinese-made toys worldwide, a third major recall in just over a month,
2008--Sen. John McCain (R=Ariz.) accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minn
2008--China admitted that shoddy construction of school buildings may have contributed to their collapse in the May 12 earthquake that killed 70,000 people, including 10,000 students.

World News Capsules:
1. Bomber kills at least 25 at Afghan funeral.
....Scores were wounded, overwhelming local hospitals in eastern Afghanistan, where the Shinwari tribe has been engaged in internal tribal warfare, as well as conflict with Taliban insurgents.
2. Bahrain court upholds life sentences for activists.
....Twenty opposition figures were convicted of plotting to overthrow the Western-allied government, a decision likely to escalate tensions between Sunni rulers and Shiite-led protesters.
3. A harsh reception for Clinton in China's state media.
....As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to visit China, editorials, articles and comments by Chinese analysts contained unusual bite.
a. Plans for change to schools stirs protest in Hong Kong.
....Controversy has erupted over a new plan by the Hong Kong government that requires schools to teach courses in modern Chinese history. Opponents say the plan amounts to pro-Beijing indoctrination.
b. Cina faces new scandal over crash of a Ferrari.
....Chinese officials said the son of Ling Jihua, a close ally of the departing president, died in a crash in which two women in the Ferrari he was driving were seriously injured and all were in various states of undress.
4. The ivory wars.
....Heavily armed platoons of rangers at Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo wage war against elephant poachers.
a. Elephants dying in epic frenzy as ivory fuels wars and profits
.

....Conservation groups say poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year, more than at any time in the previous two decades, with the ivory trade becoming increasingly militarized
5. To back democracy, US prepares to cut $1 billion from Egypt's debt.
....Nearly 16 months after first pledging to help Egypt’s failing economy, the Obama administration is nearing an agreement with the country’s new government to relieve $1 billion of its debt.
6. Airport delays undermine image of German efficiency.
....Technical and budgetary problems have repeatedly delayed the opening of Belrin's new airport, which was supposed to be a symbol of the city's dominance and a tribute to German unification,
7. In Britain, Cameron reshuffles cabinet.
....The changes produced only one surprise: a promotion for Jeremy Hunt despite his entanglement in a furor over ties between the prime minister’s inner circle and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
a. A redoubt of learning holds firm.

....The Royal Society in Great Britain, the world’s oldest continuous scientific society, is striving to stay relevant in the modern world.
8. Crops in India wilt in a weak monsoon season.
....With the nourishing downpours of the monsoon season down an average of 12 percent across India, farmers are on the brink of disaster
9. In ruined apartments, a symbol of Ireland's fall.
....Residents of Priory Hall, the most notorious of Ireland’s ruined ghost developments, are in legal limbo, barred from living in homes that they still have to pay for.
10. US vehicle is rammed by a bomber in Pakistan.
....There were conflicting reports of American casualties after a suicide bomber crashed into a vehicle belonging to the United States Consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday
11. Fears rising, Spaniards pull out their cash and get out of Spain.
....While the situation in Spain is not as dire as that of Greece, some Spaniards are taking their euros, and sometimes themselves and their families, out of the country.
12. UN says 100,000 refugees fled Syria in August.

....A sudden acceleration of the exodus came after the government of President Bashar al-Assad started using airstrikes against rebel neighborhoods.
a. Syrian children offer glimpse of a future of reprisals.
....If Syrian rebel fighters portray their battle as a struggle for democracy, refugee children at the Zaatari camp in Jordan tell a much uglier story of sectarian revenge against Alawites

US News Capsules:
1. Project aims to harness the power of waves.

....Energy development groups will be watching closely when the first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy device in the nation is launched in October.
2. Stanford scientistss cast doubt on advantages of organic meat and produce.
....Stanford University researchers concluded that meant, fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts.
3. A vast Frank Lloyd Wright archive is moving to New York.
....Thousands of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural drawings, models, photographs and documents are moving to New York, where the collection will reside at Columbia University and the Museum of Modern Art and become more accessible.
4. Farm use of antibiotics defires scrutiny.
....A dearth of information makes it difficult to document the precise relationship between routine antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic-resistant infections in people, scientists say
POLITICS:
1. Democratic Convention: Democrats say US is better off than four years ago.
....The party's message to wavering voters is that Pres. Obama was the right choice in 2008, and that he has the country on its way to a sustainable recovery.
a. Spirit of '08 gone, Democrats renite against GOP threat.
....The party is not as united as it was four years ago, but Democrats are finding common purpose in denying Republicans control of the White House and Congress next year.
2. Ohio unions battle conservative 'Super PACs' for votes.
....Unions’ get-out-the-vote efforts face a daunting challenge: Conservative “super PACs” with unlimited donations have saturated Ohio and other crucial states with anti-Obama ads.
3. How the party platforms differ.
....The Democratic Party platform to be approved Tuesday offers a stark contrast to the Republican one adopted last week, especially on abortion rights, gay marriage and the future of

Thought for Today
"Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government."
--James Madison (1751-1836), 4th Pres. of the US & Father of the US Constitution.

[pegasus]

National Chicken Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 249th day of 2012 with 116 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:31 p.m., it's fair , temp 80ºF [Feels like 81ºF], winds NW @ 5 mph, humidity 46%, pressure 29.86 in and falling, dew point 59ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1548--Catherine Parr (sixth and widowed wife of Henry VIII of England) died five days after giving birth to her only child.
1666--Firefighters in London begin blowing up homes in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of a great fire through the city that more than 100,000 people homeless.
1774--the 1rst session of Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.
1793--the Reign of Terror began in France.
1836--Sam Houston was elected as president of the Republic of Texas.
1847--famous outlaw Jesse James was born in Missouri; shot to death 3 Apr 1882 at age 34.
1863--U.S. ambassador for Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams, warns the British that war could erupt if it allows a pair of powerful ironclad ships, designed to help the Confederates break the Union naval blockade, to set sail.
1877--Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse was fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson, Neb.
1881--high winds flared forest fires in Michigan into an inferno, burning more than 1 million acres with 125 people killed.
1886--the Theatre Royal in Exeter, England had a fire break out backstage when gas lighting ignighted some gauze resulting in 186 deaths.
1882--10,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City.
1905--Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of POrtsmouth, ending their war.
1912--John Milton Cage, the experimental American composer, was born.; died 1992 at age 79.
1914--World War I" the Battle of the Marne begins - more than two million soldiers fought and 100,000 of them were killed or wounded in the 1st major victory for the allies.
1921--silent film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused of the rape and accidental murder of young film actress Virginia Rappe, destroying his career although he was acquitted.
1944--Benelux (an economic union between the three monarchies of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) was founded.
1964--"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals tops the U.S. pop charts ("There is a house in New Orleans that's called the Rising Sun. It's been the ruin of many young men and I, oh lord, am one.") Loved that sone!!
1969--Lt. William Calley was charged in the case of the My Lai, Vietnam massacred of innocent civilians.
1970--US forces launched the last major American operation of the Vietnam War.
1972--six members of the Arab terrorist group known as Black September attacked the Israeli Olympic team at the summer games in Munich; 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, five terrorists and a police officer were killed.
1975--Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, failed in an attempt to shoot Pres. Ford.
1980--the longest underground motorway in the world, Switzerland’s 10+ miles St. Gotthard Auto Tunnel, opened.
1984--the Space Shuttle Discovery landsedafter its maiden mission in space.
1986--PanAm Flight 73 was hijacked while preparing to depart from Karachi International Airport in Pakistan.
1997--at least 172 people were slain in Algeria in three incidents believed linked to the country's upcoming election and to the long civil war.
2005--Katie Couric made her network evening anchor debut to become the first solo female anchor on a major network..
2005--Pres. Bush announced he would nominate US Circuit Judge John Roberts to succeed the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
2005--Mandala Airlines FL 091 crashed after taking off from Polonia International Airport in Indonesia: 148 fatalaties.
2007--Hurricane Felix struck Central America as a category 5 resulting in over 130 deaths and 160,000 people affected.
2007--German security forces arrested three Islamic men reportedly in the act of mixing chemicals for bombing Frankfurt airport and a U.S. military base.

World News Capsules:
i. US will hold part of Afghan prison after handover.

....The US military will continue indefinitely to operate a section of the Parwan detention complex holding foreign combatants, even as the two countries prepare to mark a Sept. 10 handover.
2. Two shot at victory party for separatists in Quebec.

....One man was dead and another was in critical condition after a gunman opened fire during the victory speech by Pauline Marois of Parti Québécois.
3. Key figure in scandal that felled Bo Xilai is charged.
....A once powerful Chongqing police official, Wang Lijun, is accused of defection, abuse of power and corruption, China’s state media reported
a. No movement on key disputes as Clinton meets with Chinese leaders.

....The US and China sparred over the violence in Syria and growing tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
4. Colombia will restart peace process with FARC.
....Pres. Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said that the two sides would soon sit down to a new phase of peace talks.
5. Powerful quake hits Costa Rica; tsunami warning issued.
....A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake rocked Costa Rica on Wednesday, rattling buildings and cutting power in some areas of the capital
6. Europe prepares to investigate Chinese dumping of solar panels.
....The case could lead to steep tariffs on much of China's $20 billion in annual exports of solar products to Europe. China has threatened to retaliate against European wines and industrial materials.
7, 2 injured in steam blast at French nuclear plant.
....A steam release from a chemical reaction at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, France’s oldest, gave two workers slight burns on their hands but did not cause a fire or radiation problem, officials said.
8. British premier reshuffles cabinet, promoting official linked to Murdoch.
....In a bid to reshape his government, Prime Minister David Cameron shook up his cabinet, appointing Jeremy Hunt, who became entangled in the News Corporation scandal, to a top ministerial post.
9. Two hungry nations collide over fishing.

....A fishing war is straining relations between India and Sri Lanka, as Indian fishermen, often poor and desperate, regularly cross international waters and run afoul of the Sri Lankan Navy.
a. India and China agree to resume joint military exercises.
....The defense ministers of India and China agreed Tuesday to resume joint military exercises, which were frozen two years ago, signaling a thaw in relations.
10. Iran supplying Syrian military via Iraqi airspace.

....Iran has resumed shipping military equipment to Syria over Iraqi airspace, showing the limits of American influence in the region after the White House pressed Baghdad to close the corridor.
11. President of Tokyo Electric urges nuclear future.
....Japan would be punished with sky-high energy prices and would see its greenhouse gas emissions surge if it went nuclear-free, said Naomi Hirose, president of the Tokyo Electric Power Co.
12. North Korea may be preparing economic changes.
....South Korean analysts said a meeting of North Korea’s Parliament later this month may officially introduce Kim Jong-un’s program to revitalize his country’s moribund economy

US News Capsules:
1. Prolonged CPR holds benefits, a study finds.
....The findings challenged conventional medical thinking, which holds that prolonged resuscitation for hospital patients that go into cardiac arrest is usually futile.
2. Joe Frazier wins belated embrace as Philadelphia starts a fight.

....A year after Mr. Frazier's death, a movement has taken off to cement the boxer's legacy in his adopted city.
3. Critics say California law hurts effort to add jobs.
....With high unemployment in California, environmentalists and politicians see the need to overhaul the state's landmark environmental law, which can delay even green projects.
a. Nearly 800 firefighters battle blaze in national forest in Southern California.
....With hot, dry conditions continuing, officials said they did not expect to fully contain the fire for at least another week.
4. Banks face suits as states weigh labor losses.
....The scandal over global interest rates has states working to build a case for suing the nation's largest banks.
5. ARTS: Stereotypes in toeshoes.

....Though race-blind casting has been widespread in ballet for decades, clichéd and sometimes offensive views of race remain alive and well across the art form.
6. Motorola introduces first phones of its new Google era.

....After being quiet for nearly a year, Motorola Mobility, recently acquired by Google, is returning to the mobile market with three new smartphones for Verizon customers.
7. Far from 'junk,' DNA dark matter plays crucial rule.
....At least four million gene switches that reside in bits of DNA once thought to be inactive turn out to play critical roles in health, researchers reported,
i. Yosemite visitors from 39 nations warned of hantavirus.

....The CDC says up to 10,000 people are at risk. Six cases of the rodent-borne virus have been reported at Yosemite, including two deaths.
POLITICS:
1. DEMOCRATS: Michelle Obama tops opening night for Democrats.
....Democrats had two simple messages for voters: Mitt Romney does not get it, and Pres. Obama does. The main attraction was Mr. Obama's lead character witness: his wife, Michelle.
a. Obama faces test from voters who drifted away.

....Pres. Obama prepares to make an aggressive pitch at the Democratic convention, hoping to return to the fold voters who supported him in 2008 but now express disappointment.
b. Obama-Clinton: a solid relationship?
[/img]
....Former Pres. Clinton has displayed a tendency to drift off-message. But the Obama campaign says it has "absolute confidence" in tonight's featured DNC speaker.
c. Catholic nun brings her star power to DNC.

....Sister Simone Campbell will get what may be the biggest media platform of her life, when she addresses the Democrats in Charlotte, NC, but the Catholic nun already has plenty of star power.
2. GOP shift moves center far to right.
....A look back at Richard Nixon's stands on big government programs and new regulations underscores how much the political center has moved.
3. Party platforms are poles apart in their view of the nation.
....The Democratic Party platform approved Tuesday offered a stark contrast to the Republican one adopted last week, especially on abortion rights, gay marriage and the future of Medicare and Social Security.
4. Carving a legacy of giving (to his party, too).
....On a recent trip to Africa, Bill Clinton showed how he is bringing his family deeper into the Clinton Foundation, perhaps confronting a future without him.

Sport's Headlines of Interest[/u]:
1. NFL: Giants' seret weapon no longer.
....A year removed from his breakout season, Victor Cruz will be on every opponent's radar.
a. Players, coaches and fans must adjust to replacement refs.

....The NFL knows it is taking a chance using replacements during the officials’ lockout, and coaches and players have no choice but to bite their tongues.
b. From Cowboys, the grinding of teeth.
....The Dallas Cowboys will open their N.F.L. season Wednesday against the Giants, who knocked them out of the playoffs last year and have owned the series lately.
2. MLB: That 10-game lead is down to zero.
....The Yankees' 5-2 loss, their 10th in their last 14 games, knocked them out of sole possession of the division lead for the first time since June 11.
a. A's are hittnig home runs and beating the odds.
....The Athletics, who have not finished above .500 since 2006, started play yesterday with the best record in the majors since the All-Star break, and held one of the two wild-card spots in the American League.
3. US OPEN: A new first for No. 1-ranked Azarenka.
....Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka outlasted Sam Stosur in a third-set tiebreaker on Tuesday and moved on to play Maria Sharapova or Marion Bartoli in the semifinals.
4. NCAAFB: For new cadet, football is a break from plege year.

....As a first-year player on the Army football team in 2011, Larry Dixon quickly learned that being a college running back was easy compared with being a plebe at West Point.

Today's Headlines of Interest:
[bSweet stars hint at building blocks of life][/b][/u]

It's not exactly the kind of sugar you'd want to put in your coffee, but astronomers have found simple sugar molecules called glycolaldehyde around a star similar to our own Sun. Here's the sweet part: Glycolaldehyde is used in the formation of RNA (a genetic material related to DNA). That makes it a building block of life. The molecules were found at a distance from the binary star IRAS 16293-2422 comparable to the distance between Uranus and the Sun. This is the first time that these building-block sugar molecules have been found around such a star.
"If we can show that the same molecules exist around additional Sun-like stars, that would be an indication that they also have been present around the Sun 4.5 billion years ago," lead study author Jes Jørgensen, of the Neils Bohr Institude in Denmark, said in an e-mail. "This is the first evidence that these simple pre-biotic molecules are present around Sun-like stars on scales where planets and comets may be forming."
The glycolaldehyde molecules, aside from being present around a Sun-like star, are also moving towards one of the stars in the binary system. In a release, Cecile Favre of Aarhus University in Denmark and one of the members of the research team, said, "The sugar molecules are not only in the right place to find their way onto a planet, but they are also going in the right direction." Further research could show how life might arise on another planet. Jørgensen is careful to point out, however, that the discovery of glycolaldehyde is a very, very preliminary step in figuring out how organic life as we know it might have begun.
"For us, the main question now is whether we can show through similar kinds of observations that the chemical complexity can be taken even further," he said. Glycolaldehyde molecules could make their way into proto-planetary discs around young stars, leading to the formation of planets or becoming a part of the material comets are made of, Jørgensen said. Either way, they could become part of young planets.
Amazing!!

Thought for Today
"Moral indignation: jealousy with a halo."
--[/i]H. G. Wells (1866-1946) English autor


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 251st day of 2012 with 114 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 6:23 p.m., it's fair, temp 80ºF [Feels like 82ºF], winds SSE @ 6 mph, humidity 54%, pressure 29.87 in and falling, dew point 62ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

Today in History:
1533--Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1558-1603), was born; died 1603 at age 69.
1776--the American submersible craft Turtle tried to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in New York Harbor, the first use of a submarine in warfare.
1813--the US got its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the Army during the War of 1812 and stamped the barrels with "U.S." for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as "Uncle Sam's." The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for the U.S. federal government.
1822--Brazil declared independence from Portugal.
1860--Lady Elgin (steamship) wrecked in Lake Michigan off Chicago, Ill. with a loss of 400 lives.
1864--Civil War: the city of Atlanta, Ga. was evacauated.
1876--Minnesotans nearly wiped out the James-Younger gang who had tried to rob the Northfield, Minn. bank.
1901--the Boxer Rebellion in China ended with a peace agreement between China and other world powers,.
1911--Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested for stealing the Mona Lisa painting.
1921--a flash flood hit San Antonio, Tex., killing 51 people and causing millions of dollars in damages.
1921--the first Miss America Pagent was held in Atlantic City, NJ. with Margaret Gorman winning the crown
1940-- 300 German bombers raid London, in the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing. in a bombing "blitzkrieg" that lasted untill May 1941.
1950--the UN Security Council rejected a Soviet resolution that would condemn the American bombing of North Korea.
1953--Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly won the US Open to become the first women to win the Grand Slam of tennis (all 4 majors in one year).
1965--in the Vietnam War, the US Marines launched Operation Piranha.
1977--Pres. Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos signed a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
1979--the ESPN (Entertainment Sports Programming Network) was launched.
1986--Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Desmond Tutu became the archbishop of Cape Town, and the first black to head the country's Anglican Church.
1992 Black soldiers in South Africa killed 23 people and wounded nearly 200 others when they fired on thousands of African National Congress supporters.
1993--South Africa's ruling National Party agreed to share power with a multiparty council that would be established within two months
1996--actor and hip-hop recording artist Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas, Nev. and died three days later.
1998--Google, Inc. was formally incorporated by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, Calif.
1999--in Athens, Greece, a 5.9 earthquake ruptured a previously unknown fault killing 143, injuring more than 500 and leaving 50,000 homeless.
2004--Hurricane Ivan (category 5) passed directly over Grenada killing 39 people and damaging 90% of the island's buildings.
2007--the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay almost $200 million to 144 people who claimed sexual abuse by clergy.

World News Capsules:
1. US State Department blacklists militant Haqqani Network


....Secretary of State Clinton signed an order designating the network, responsible for some of the deadliest attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, a terrorist organization.
a. Culture clash with Afghans on display at briefing.
....A press briefing by American and Afghan commanders on insider attacks led to complaints, and a wider cultural discussion.
b. Prince Harry in Afghanistan to fly in Apache copters.

....Prince Harry began a four-month combat tour Friday in Afghanistan as a gunner on an Apache attack helicopter.
2. Canada closes embassy in Iran and expels Iranian diplomats.
....Canada has closed its embassy in Iran and will expel all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada within five days, foreign minister John Baird said, denouncing Tehran as the biggest threat to global security. Among other things, Iran "refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide; it is among the world's worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups," Baird said.
3. Earthquakes in China kill dozens.

....A series of earthquakes in southwest China shook two rural provinces populated by some of the country’s poorest people, damaging 20,000 homes and killing 67, an official said.
4. Family life according to the Brotherhood.
....Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is committed to upholding patriarchal and traditional values around a woman's place in society, and many Egyptian women need no convincing
5. Huge step taken by Europe's bank to abate a crisis.
....The European Central Bank took its broadest step yet toward easing the euro zone crisis, throwing its financial clout behind an effort to fend off financial collapse for Spain and Italy.
6. France sends funds to Syrian civic groups in rebel-held areas

....A senior French diplomat said the government was providing funds to five revolutionary councils in rebel-held parts of Syria to help them restore water supplies, sanitation, health services and bakeries.
a. French president must cut deficit, but how?
....François Hollande is facing rising discontent as he prepares to assemble the package of tax increases and spending cuts required to reduce the deficit.
b. Two vehicles seen near site of French killings

....A 7-year-old girl wounded when her parents and a third person were killed in France is in a medically induced coma, says a prosecutor, as police try to trace a motorbike and a 4x4 vehicle.
7. Indian Parliament's "monsoon session" ends in washout.
....Repeated disturbances kept Parliament from passing bills and discussing issues, leading to a debate about whether disruption is a legitimate parliamentary tool.
8. Israeli soldiers kill 3 Palestinians near Gaza security fence

....Israel said that the men were planting a bomb; a Gazan official said the men died after ambulances came under fire and were delayed.
a. Israel to admit 3 of 21 Africans waiting in desert.
....The government is in the midst of putting in place a tough new policy intended to stem the influx of African immigrants and asylum seekers
9. Pakistan may be expelling aid group's foreign staff.
....A senior aid official in Pakistan said the staff members of Save the Children had been given until Sept. 12 to leave the country, suggesting the aid workers had been helping a foreign spy agency operating on Pakistani soil., but hours later the interior minister issued a temporary reprieve.
a. Girl is granted bail in blasphemy case.
....Rimsha Masih has been detained in a high-security prison since mid-August, when Muslim neighbors accused her of burning a textbook used to teach the Koran to children.
10. Putin's latest stunt invites ridicule.

....Satirical remixes of Pres. Vladimir Putin were flowing onto the Internet so quickly after his flight with cranes that it seemed as if they were being produced in some espresso-fueled sweatshop.
a. Putin says missile deal is more likely with Obama.
....Pres. Putin praised Pres/ Obama and said that if he is re-elected, a compromise could be reached on the contentious issue of American plans for a missile defense system in Europe.
b. Putin's ambitions turn to the Far East.
....Pres. Putin is hoping to strengthen ties with the Pacific Rim and pursuing ambitious development in Russia itself.
11. Twin bomb attacks hit Damascus.

....Two bombs went off in Damascus, killing at least five policemen and wounding others in the latest violence in the capital.
a. Assassination highlights rifts facing Syria rebels.
....The killing of a rebel fighter linked to al-Qaeda called new attention to the ideological differences among rebels fighting the government of Pres. Assad.
12. A Venezuelan diplomat's swift rise ends with a murder in Kenya.
....Dwight Sagaray, 35, was second-in-command at the Venezuelan Embassy in Kenya, even briefly heading the mission. He is now stripped of immunity and accused of murdering his boss.

US News Capsules:
1. With Medicaid, long-term care of elderly looms as a rising cost.
....The program is the only safety net for millions of middle-class people whose needs for long-term care, at home or in a nursing home, outlast their resources.
2. New Orleans levees held, and outsiders want in
....Residents outside the ring of levees that protect New Orleans want the federal government to erect walls to protect them, too, especially after Hurricane Isaac caused the river to overflow.
3. DROUGHT: Most US farmland still in drought, even ater storm
....The worst drought in decades is expected to continue choking areas of the Plains and Rockies that did not get soaked by Hurricane Isaac.
a, With their food scarce from drought, more animals try dining in town

....Growing numbers of bears and other animals are descending from mountains and mesas, desperate to eat whatever they can find before winter arrives.
4. Kansas City bishop convicted of shielding pedophile priests
....Bishop Robert W. Finn was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation for failing to report suspected child abuse,
5. Ford expands offerings fo rEurope
....Ford Motor Co. said it would introduce several models to bolster its struggling European division, including the Edge sport utility vehicle and the Mustang sports car.
6. As child allergies rise, so do sales of an antidote

....Mylan, the maker of the epinephrine injector EpiPen, is expanding its marketing efforts in the face of new, competing devices and the surging rates of allergies in children.
7. Arizona immigration law survives ruling
....The authorities will be required to verify the status of people who they suspect are in the country illegally.
8. Woodward book details battles over deficit
....Bob Woodward’s The Price of Politics paints a portrait of dysfunction that began even before Pres. Obama was inaugurated and has only grown worse.
9. Judge rejects new rules on access to prisoners
....A federal court ruled that the Obama administration was overstepping its authority, and violating the separation of powers in regards to restrictions on lawyers’ access to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay,
10. Colorado State to offer credits for online class
....Colorado State University’s Global Campus would give three credits to students who complete one of Udacity’s free “massive open online courses.
POLITICS:
1. Democratic Convention: Obama makes case for 2nd term: "Harder" path to "better Place."

....In accepting the Democratic nomination for a second term, Pres/ Obama conceded the country's difficulties, but argued that it would "take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades."
a. Obama and Democrats point to foreign policy strength.
....President Obama and his allies made the case for him as commander in chief and criticized their rivals’ lack of experience, with Mr. Obama saying Mitt Romney was stuck in a “cold war time warp.”
b. Not by design, another Clinton watches a convention from afar.

....As Democrats gathered in Charlotte, N.. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been doing what she has done throughout Pres. Obama’s term: forswearing partisan politics.
c. Joblessness may undermine Obama convention bump
....For Pres. Obama, the August employment report, which showed fewer new jobs than expected, was a blunt reminder of the forces working against him as his convention closed.
2. Looking past November for a preview of 2016
....The convention has offered an early glimpse of some of the party’s ambitious prospects, including Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles.

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Baltimore's Orioles bash their way back into a tie
....The Orioles slugged six home runs, including three in the eighth inning, to stun the Yankees 10-6 and draw even again atop the American League East.
a. Dodgers and Giants rejuvenate a rivalry
....This weekend at AT&T Park, the Dodgers and Giants meet for the first time since the Dodgers' industry-rattling trade last month, with the Giants holding a four-and-a-half-game lead.
2. NFL: Suspensions for Saints players overturned

....Days before their first games of the season, an appeals panel has overturned the suspensions of four players in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal.

Thought for Today
"Few things are more irritating than when someone who is wrong is also very effective in making his point.”
--Mark Twain (1835-1910) American author.

[pegasus]

Grandparents Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 253rd day of 2012 with 112 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:57 p.m., it's fair , temp 68ºF [Feels like 68ºF], winds variable @ 3 mph, humidity 52%, pressure 29.90 in and falling, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 30%.

Today in History:
1087--William the Conqueror, King of England, Duke of Normandy, died at the Convent of Saint Gervais in Rouen. France.
1513--Battle of Flodden Fields; English of Henry VIII defeated the forces of James IV of Scotland, who was killed, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai.
1543--Mary Stuart, at age nine months, was officially crowned Queen of Scots.
1739--Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupted near Charleston, SC.
1776--Congress renamed the nation "United States of America," replacing the term "United Colonies."
1841--the Great Lakes steamer Erie sunk off Silver Creek NY, killing 300.
1850--California became the 31st state in record time, while New Mexico and Utah became US territories.
1850--the Compromise of 1850 stripped Texas of a third of its claimed territory (now parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming) in return for the federal government assuming $10 million of Texas's pre-annexation debt.
1863--federal trops captured Chattanooga, Tenn.
1867--the Grand Ducky of Luxembourg gained its independence.
1893--Esther Cleveland, the daughter of Pres. Grover Cleveland, was the first child born in the White House (and still is).
1901--Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter, printmaker, draftsman and illustratior, died.
1919--6he infamous Boston Police Strike began and criminals took the opportuinty to loot the city.
1926--NBC (National Broadcasting Co.) was established.
1939--audiences were treated to surprise preview of the blockbuster movie Gone with the Wind.
1942--a Japanese floatplane dropped incendiary bombs on an Oregon state forest in the first and only air attack on the US mainland in the war.
1943--the Allies landed at Salerno and Taranto, Sicily.
1947--1st documented "computer bug" case occurred involving a moth getting trapped between relays in the Harvard University Mark II Computer.
1948--North Korea formally declared its independence from Japan.
1954--a powrful earthquake shook Algeria.
1956--Elvis Presley appeared on national television for the first time, on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1965--Hurricane Betsy (one of the most intense, deadly and costly storms to hit the US) slammed into New Orleans, La.
1966--Pres. Johnson signed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
1971--the notorious Attica (NY) prison riot began with more than 1,000 inmates taking 35 people hostage..
1976--Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Repubic of China, died in Beijing at age 82.
1990--Liberian Pres. Samuel Doe was captured and killed by rebels after visiting West African peacekeeping forces in Monrovia.
1991--Tajikistan declared independence from the Soviet Union.
1993--the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist in peace and security and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared the PLO the representative of the Palestinian people.
1999--more than 90 people died in the bombing of a Moscow apartment building by Chechnyan terrorists.
2003--the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston reached an agreement with sexual abuse victims that could run as high as $85 million.
2004--the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia was bombed killing 9 and wounding over 150 others.
2005--Michael Brown, the embattled director of FEMA, was replaced by U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen.
2008--Pres. Bush said some 8,000 U.S. troops would be returning home from Iraq without replacement, but additional trops would be deployed to Afghanistan.

World News Capsules:
1. Potential for a mining boom splits factions in Afghanistan.
....With a trillion-dollar cache of oil, gold and other resources underground, hopes of self-sufficiency in Afghanistan are tempered by worries about corruption and security.
a. Bomber strikes near NATO offices in Afghanistan
....A bomber blew himself up Saturday morning near Western embassies and the headquarters of NATO forces, killing at least four civilians, Afghan officials said.
2. Hong Kong retreats on 'National Education' plan

....As tens of thousands protested the Beijing-backed “moral and national education” plan as brainwashing and political indoctrination, Hong Kong’s chief executive revoked a 2015 deadline for the project.
a. Construction at forefront of slowdown in China
...As the government released more data showing sputtering growth, developers and builders said they had decelerated construction to the slowest pace possible without setting off default clauses.
b. Death toll rises to 80 after China earthquakes; hundreds injured.

....The death toll from earthquakes that rocked southwest China rose to 80, after the tremors destroyed roads and communication lines, and forced tens of thousands of evacuations, state media reported.
3. India and Pakistan sign visa agreement easing travel
....The agreement, which will make travel easier for businessmen, tourists and others, is seen as a tentative step between the rival countries to normalize their troubled relations.
4. Death sentence for Sunni on day of violence in Iraq

....Tariq al-Hashemi, accused of commanding sectarian death squads, was sentenced hours after a wave of attacks killed more than 50 people across the country.
5. What happens when the two Israels meet
....The expiration of the law exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from serving in the Israeli army places female soldiers in a more uncertain position.
6. Mexico holds suspect in death of US border officer
....The suspect, Jesús Leonel Sánchez Meza, is one of five men charged with killing Brian A. Terry in December 2010 during a shootout in Arizona near the Mexico border.
7. Thousands evacuated after volcano in Nicaragua erupts

....More than 1,500 people have been evacuated after San Cristobal volcano in western Nicaragua erupted, shooting gas and ash 2 1/2 miles into the sky, government officials said.
8. Defying parents, some Pakistani women risk all to marry whom they choose
....Women are increasingly asserting their rights against the traditions of forced marriage and parental authority, challenging one of the most powerful institutions in Pakistani society.
9. Clinton tells Russia that sanctions will soon end
....Speaking at a summit meeting, Secretary of State Clinton did not address legislation in Congress that has so far blocked the move to lift cold-war-era trade sanctions.
a. Russia and Japan in agreement on natural gas deal
....Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled gas monopoly, signed an accord with the government of Japan to continue with plans for construction of a $13 billion natural gas terminal.
10. Syria criticizes France's support for rebels
....Days after the French government said that it would provide assistance directly to Syrian rebels, Syria accused France of undermining the new United Nations envoy.
a. Clashes worsen misery in Syria's biggest cities
....Battles between the Syrian military and rebels burst a main pipe that delivered drinking water to hundreds of thousands of residents of Aleppo, opposition groups said.
11. Turkey's female athletes, like women nationwide, reap rewards
....The success of the runners Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut at the London Games has brought an outpouring of support at home in Turkey.
12. Summer of siege for West Africa as discontent boils into street

....Political evolution on the continent’s western side is often a series of eruptions: order appears to be established, and then the volcano explodes again,

US News Capsules:
1. Dispute over costs delays opening of 9/11 museum.
....Because of a disagreement between Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a museum at ground zero will not open even by next year's anniversary of the attacks.
2. Mow yard, drop off kids, take a drive on Mars

....As one member of the team that operates the remote rover Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory put it, "Last night I drove on Mars, today I mowed the lawn - it's completely surreal."
3. More choices, and more confusion, in quest for healthy eating
....Even as a recent study questions some of the basis for considering organic food superior, the emphasis is shifting toward a more general quest for locally grown and natural.
4. Doubts as Portland weighs fluoride and its civic values
....In Portland, Ore., the largest American city not fluoridating its water, a decision involves questions of personal choice and societal burden.
5. Debt collectors cashing in on student loans
....Last year the Department of Education paid $1.4 billion to collection agencies to hunt down defaulters, a group that includes nearly one in six with a balance.
6. Game maker without a rule book

....Valve, the uncorporate but influential video game company, thinks it may be onto the next big thing in games: wearable computing.
7. Film is dead? Long live movies
....Digital technology is changing movies in such groundbreaking ways that "film" is usually a word of convenience and tradition.
POLITICS:
1. Five crucial factors to watch, just 58 days from the election
....Two months before the election, Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney agree on at least one thing: the collection of states where the race will be decided.
2. In Romney's hands, Pledge of Allegiance is framework for criticism
....At a rally Saturday, Mitt Romney did not just recite the Pledge of Allegiance; he metaphorically wrapped his stump speech in it, using each line of the pledge to attack President Obama.
a. Romney says GOOP made 'mistake'

....Mitt Romney said congressional Republicans were wrong to accept a deal last year that could ultimately result in across-the-board spending cuts, including massive cuts to the military.
3. Obama, stumping in Florida, tries to turn focus to Medicare from jobs
....President Obama’s advisers have indicated that they are eager to re-engage their opponents on their Medicare plan, while the Romney camp would prefer to talk about the economy.

Sports Headlines:
1. US Open: Super Saturday skies: cloudy, partly happy
....Andy Murray defeated Tomas Berdych in four sets, but severe weather conditions caused the day's other two big matches - the second men's semifinal and the women's final - to be postponed.
a. Djokovic dominates Ferrer to set up showdown with Murray

....When their semifinal match was postponed Saturday because of weather, David Ferrer led, 5-2, in the first set. When it resumed Sunday, Novak Djokovic battered Ferrer throughout.
b. Grand finale in grand slam
....After an embarrassing early loss at Wimbledon, Pete Sampras won what proved to be his last tournament 10 years ago, beating Andre Agassi in the United States Open/
2. NFL: Two Jets defensive linemen hope reunion continues at the quarterback
....Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples, defensive linemen who played together in military school, were the Jets’ top draft picks in consecutive years.
a. Players' support of gay marriage alters NFL image
....Two players in the National Football League, Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe, have lent their support for gay marriage, helping alter the league's stigma of having a homophobic culture,
3. MLB: Dodgers hope to be this year's late bloomers
....For Los Angeles’ manager Don Mattingly, the struggling Dodgers can learn from last year’s Cardinals, whose late-season surge resulted in a title for St. Louis.
4. NCAAFB: LSU crushes Washington without having to strain

....Quarterback Zach Mettenberger looked nonchalant behind LSU’s offensive line, helping the Tigers dismantle Washington 41-3 in the team’s 39th consecutive nonconference win.
a. Storm and Syracuse can't stop No. 2 USC
....Despite erratic play from both teams, the Heisman contender Matt Barkley got into a rhythm in the second half and finished with six touchdown passes in the Trojans’ 42-28 victory over the Orange.
b. Gators recover in 2nd half to spoil SEC start for Aggies
....Trailing by 10 points in the first half, the Florida Gators awoke in time to welcome Texas A&M to its new league 20-17, spoiling the Aggies’ season opener before a crowd of 87,114 at Kyle Field/
5. PGA: Mickelson's 64 shouts: Remember, I can play
....Phil Mickelson shot an eight-under-par 64 on Saturday to move into a tie for the lead with Vijay Singh at the BMW Championship.

Thought for Today
"The worst of all deceptions is self-deception."
--Plato (429-347 BC) ancient Greek philosopher

[pegasus]

National Line Dancing Week
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 254th day of 2012 with 111 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:55 p.m., it's fair , temp 66ºF [Feels like 66ºF], winds NNW @ 17 mph, humidity 34%, pressure 30.14 in and falling, dew point 37ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

World News Capsules:
1. Prison transferred to Afghans, but questions remain

....Top American commanders were absent from the ceremony marking the hand-over of Bagram prison to Afghan control, and even agreement on a crucial point of the signed prison deal itself was elusive.
a. Bomber kills 16 in attack on Afghan protest site
....The demonstration in Kunduz had been called by residents of Kanam village, who last week lost 11 men killed by militiamen who had been angered by the village’s alleged support for Taliban insurgents.
b. Records missing on Afghan Army fuel costs
....American investigators say that records covering more than four years may have been shredded.
2. Fighting for Bangladesh labor, and ending up in pauper's grave

....The murder of a labor organizer bore a grim familiarity in a country with a brutal legacy of politically motivated killings.
3. China's presumptive new leader is mysteriously absent
....Speculation intensified over the whereabouts of Xi Jinping, China’s presumptive new president, who has been missing from public view in recent days.
a. Pro-Beijing candidates outmaneuver opponents as Hong Kong votes
....Pro-democracy candidates won strong voter support but came away with fewer seats than expected as pro-Beijing candidates used electoral procedures to their advantage.
b. Construction and real estate hinder China's growth
....Investment in new buildings and other fixed assets, once a mainstay of the nation's economy, grew at the second-lowest pace since 2002.
4. To smuggle more drugs, traffickers go under the sea
....American authorities have discovered models of a new drug-ferrying submarine capable of traveling, unseen from the surface, from Ecuador to Los Angeles.
5. German envoy goes to Greece, leaving lectures behind
....Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has sent Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, a jovial, brass-band-loving Black Forester, to Greece to help mend frayed relations.
a. Europe plan faces threat in Germany
....The work of the European Central Bank could be undone in a stroke by judges in Germany, who have the power to block the country from contributing to the European rescue fund.
6. British police evacuate area around murder victims' home

....The British police evacuated an area around the home of a British-Iraqi family targeted in last week’s killing in the French Alps.
7. Top Iraqi leader calls his death sentence 'unjust'
....Tariq al-Hashimi, a prominent Sunni Muslim who was convicted of murder in a trial conducted in absentia, depicted the court’s finding as “an acquittal, confirming my innocence."
8. Kazakhstan is accused of abusing oil workers
....A Human Rights Watch report, which investigated violence last winter in the western oil town of Zhanaozen, says Kazakhstan and three oil companies repressed workers.
9. North Korea is ready to discuss aid from Seoul
....North Korea said that it was ready to discuss humanitarian aid from the South to alleviate damage caused by flooding and typhoons.
10. 'Forgotten neighborhood' underscores the poverty of an isolated enclave

(Palestinians in a makeshift, rubble-strewn home in Gaza’s Forgotten Neighborhood)
....A UN report cites widespread shortages of food, water, electricity, jobs, hospital beds and classrooms amid an exploding population in an area of Gaza,
11. For Putin, a flight of fancy at a summit meeting's close
....Pres. Putin of Russia hit back at political opponents who mocked his latest stunt: flying a motorized glider to help lead endangered cranes from Siberia south.
a. In Russia, Chinese-run farms solve each side's needs

....The influx of Chinese farm labor in Russia reflects the growing trade and economic ties between the two countries, one rich in land and resources, the other in people.
12. Syria criticizes France for supporting rebels, as fears grow of Islamist infiltration

([/i]A wedding at a refugee camp in Jordan[/size])
....Days after the French government said that it would provide assistance directly to Syrian rebels, Syria accused France of undermining the new United Nations envoy.

US News Capsules:
1. Teacher strike begins in Chicago, amid signs that deal isn't close

....Union leaders for Chicago's public schoolteachers said they would strike Monday morning after negotiations ended late Sunday with no contract agreement
2. [Cancer study points to tighter pairing of drugs and patients/u]
....Research on a common lung cancer could foretell a type of treatment in which drugs - many of which are in the pipeline already - are chosen to match the genetic mutation in each patient.
a. Ovarian cancer screenings are not effective, panel says
....Not only do the tests not lower the death rate from the disease, they also expose women to unnecessary risk, the US Preeventive Services Task Force said.
3. Door to door in the heartland preching healthy living
....With money allocated by the Obama health care law, local governments are creating programs to help curb the incidence of obesity and other diseases and promote healthy lifestyles,
4. How resilient is post-9/11 America?

....Can the US learn resilience without suffering the repeated murderous attacks that have bloodied such nations as Israel and Britain?
5. In one city, signing up for Internet becomes a civic cause.
.....Leaders pushed to sign up poorer, predominantly black neighborhoods of Kansas City, Mo., to qualify for Google’s new Internet service, fearing that otherwise they will lag further behind.
6. More young adults have insurance after health care law, study says
....The share of young adults without health insurance fell by one-sixth in 2011 from the previous year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
7. On campus, an experiment to save local news
....Mercer University is undertaking a $5.6 million project, which partners student work with news organizations in the area, in the hopes of reviving local journalism.
POLITICS:

1. A tight election may be tangled in legal battles
....With federal and state courts handing down decisions on ballot casting and counting, the presidential election may hinge partly on last-minute legal battles by both parties.
2. Romney's tax plan leaves key variables blank
....Mitt Romney has pledged to cut individual income tax rates for everyone, but he has provided few specifics, confounding analysts and leaving himself open to attack from Democrats.
a. Romney, easing, says health law isn't all bad.
....In a rare interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Mitt Romney offered praise for some of Pres. Obama’s policies, and said he would retain some aspects of his health care overhaul.
3. Congress comes back to a face-off with angry farmers

....Lawmakers, fresh off their parties’ conventions, appear to favor action this fall on bills that emphasize their political agendas over actual lawmaking.

Sports Headlines:
1. US Open tennis: Surprising even herself, Williams rallies to title

....4th-ranked Serena Williams defeated No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, after a tense third set in the women's final.
a. With help of schools, trickle of talent could become a flood
....The US is suffering the consequences of leaning on a model that often limits tennis to those who can afford it. The solution would be using the public school system to widen the talent pool.
b. Weather is new, Djokovic is fierce
....When their semifinal match was postponed Saturday because of weather, David Ferrer led, 5-2, in the first set. When it resumed Sunday, Novak Djokovic battered Ferrer throughout.
2. MLB: In capital, protecting a trasured right (arm)

....The Washington Nationals' decision to end the successful season of the young pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who had elbow reconstruction surgery in 2010, has drawn mixed reactions from baseball.
a. With offense on track, Yanks plow through Orioles
....Even as Mark Teixeira was lost again with an aggravated calf strain, the Yankees routed the Orioles to once again push Baltimore a game behind them in the A.L. East.
3. NFL: Jets 38, Bills 28. Any other questions?
....The Jets' demolition of the Bills was not as close as the score indicated, amounting to an emphatic I-told-you-so from Coach Rex Ryan. The Jets controlled the game against the Bills from the start and scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in the victory.
a. Manning forgoes a grace period in Denver

....Bill Polian, the Colt executive who drafted Peyton Manning and now works for ESPN, was surprised that Manning and his teammates seemed to be in sync so soon.
b. With balanced offense and physical defense, 49ers control the Packers 30-22
....With its balanced offense, led by quarterback Alex Smith, and an opportunistic defense, San Francisco contained Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers.
4. NCAAFB: For Savannah State, a 55-0 defeat served its purpose
....Savannah State received payments totaling $860,000, about 17 percent of its athletic budget, for a 55-0 loss to Florida State and an 84-0 loss to Oklahoma State
5. GOLF:Fighting off biggest names, McIlroy again tops the list
....Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland had three birdies on the closing nine en route to a 20-under-par 268 to win the BMW Championship by two strokes over Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood.

Thought for Today
"The seven blunders that human society commits and cause all the violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience,
knowledge without character, commerce without morality,
science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principles."
--[/i]Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian civil rights activist


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

National Guitar Flat-Picking Championships
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 256th day of 2012 with 109 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:07 p.m., it's fair , temp 79ºF [Feels like 79ºF], winds SSW @ 6 mph, humidity 35%, pressure 30.29 in and falling, dew point 49ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
1492--Lorenzo de' Medici, Florentine ruler (1513-9), was born; died 1519 at age 26
1609--English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.
1777--the Continental Congress received news of the patriots defeat at Brandywine.
1845--poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning elope and settle in Italy.
1861--in the Civil War, the First Battle of Lexington, Missouri, began.
1898--Giuseppe Saragat, Italian founder of the Socialist Party of Italian Workers, was born; died 1988 at age 89.
1918--US troops launch the Saint-Mihiel offensive in World War I.
1938--in a speech in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia
1940--Lascaux cave paintings discovered are discovered by four French teenagers who followed their dog into a cavern.
1943--German paratroopers rescued former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held prisoner by his own government
1953--Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island.
1953--Nikita Khrushchev was elected the leader of the USSR.
1954--Lassie made its TV debut on CBS.
1959--Bonanza premiered on NBC.
1974--violence erupted in Boston, Mass. over racial busing.
1974--Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by Ethiopia's military after ruling for 58 years.
1977--Steven Biko, leader of South Africa's "Black Consciousness Movement," died in prison of severe head trauma, triggering an international outcry..
1988--Hurricane Gilbert slammed into Jamaica, killing hundreds of people.
1993--the rebuilt floating bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Bridge, over Lake Washington opened in Seattle, carruomg the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 (the westbound lanes cross the lake on a separate bridge).
2000--Dutch lawmakers gave same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children.
2003--country singer-musician Johnny Cash died at age 71.
2005--FEMA director Michael Brown resigned, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
2006--Pope Benedict XVI quoted from an obscure medieval text that characterized some teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," unleashing a torrent of rage across the Islamic world.
2008--acommuter train engineer ran a red light while text messaging and struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing himself and 24 other people.

World News Capsules:
1. Western and Afghan officials split over Karzai nomination for spy chief
....Pres. Karzai’s pick to lead the Afghan spy agency, Asadullah Khalid, has been accused of torture and drug trafficking, but is also seen as a man with political skills and wide connections..
2. Activists face obstacles in return to disputed islands
....A group of activists who triggered a confrontation between China and Japan by sailing to disputed islands last month said that a return trip was complicated by legal and financial barriers.
a. China accuses Japan of stealing after purchase of group of disputed islands
....The charge comes after Japan bought the islands in the East China Sea for nearly $30 million from private owners.
3. In victory for Merkel, German court backs Euro rescue fund
....Germany’s constitutional court gave Chancellor Angela Merkel a significant victory in her bid to master the debt crisis that has buffeted Europe for years and endangered its common currency.
4. Hungarians stage a fast over rules for voters
....The weeklong fast outside Parliament is the latest protest against the policies of Hungary’s prime minister, who has been accused of undermining the country’s young democracy.
5. Netanyahu's comments cause stir in Israel
....A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Obama administration over Iran, Israelis were sympathetic to Mr. Netanyahu even as they mulled the possible damage to ties with the White House.
6. US suspects Libya attack was planned

....Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed along with three of his staff members in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi. It was the first death of an American envoy abroad in more than two decades.
a. Anger over a film fuels anti-American attacks in Libya
....Protesters upset over an American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the US Consulate in Libya, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo.
b. For veteran envoy, return to Libya was full of hope

....American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, 52, was killed in the attack in Benghazi. He knew the opportunities and travails facing Libya after the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
c. Why Muslims are sensitive on the prophet

....Violence over depictions of the prophet Mohammed speaks to a central tenet of Islam: that the prophet was a man, not God, and that portraying him threatens to lead to worshiping a human instead of Allah.
7. North Korea rejects offer of aid from South Korea
....North Korea also rejected a similar offer from the South last year, calling it too small and dashing hopes of easing relations.
8. More than 300 people die in two Pakistan fires

....At least 300 people were killed when fires engulfed two factories in two major cities, renewing concerns about lax building safety measures and dismal conditions for factory workers in Pakistan.
9. Relief crisis grows as refugees stream out of Syria

....Two million Syrian citizens who desperately need help are not receiving it, according to international officials, and with thousands fleeing daily, the exodus now exceeds a quarter of a million.
10. Car bomb kills 12 in Yemen, but targeted minister escapes harm

....A blast alongside a convoy of vehicles used by Yemen’s defense minister came one day after a top operative for Al Qaeda in the country was killed.

US News Capsules:
1. National schools debate is on displaly in Chicago

....Questions on how teachers should be evaluated have been added to traditional issues of pay, benefits and working conditions as Chicago teachers walk picket lines.
a. Teachers' leader in Chicago strike shows her edge
....In Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, which completed a second day on strike from public schools, Mayor Rahm Emanuel may have met his match.
2. Gay marriage vote rises as test in upstate NY GOP race.
....The re-election bid by State Senator Roy J. McDonald has become a referendum on one issue: his decision to vote to legalize same-sex marriage.
3. Mapping military needs, aided by a big projection.
....Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is asking top military officials to examine what challenges will face American forces in five years and beyond.
4. Apple offers a new iPhone, lighter and more powerful

....The new version also requires a new connector cord — and a new adapter to make it work with existing accessories.
5. Quick start to program offering immigrants a reprieve
....More than 72,000 young immigrants who are in the US illegally have applied for two-year deportation deferrals, and this week the first approvals have been granted.
6. Whistle-blower awarded $104 million by IRS
....Bradley Birkenfeld, who got out of jail last month after serving time for helping Americans dodge taxes, received a lavish bonus for his role in exposing tax schemes at UBS.
7. Stir builds over casting light-skinned actress as Nina Simone


....Protests are greeting the news that the light-skinned actress Zoe Saldana will play the singer Nina Simone.
8. Poverty leveled off last year, even as incomes dropped
....The median household income in 2011 was $50,054, a level last seen in 1996.
9. American Muslim leaders condemn attacks
....American Muslim organizations denounced the violence against American diplomatic outposts in Libya and Egypt.
10. Moody's warns that US may face debt downgrade
....Congressional leaders dug in their heels against any quick deal to resolve a looming fiscal disaster before the election, even as the ratings agency warned of a downgrade if no solution was found by year’s end.
11. Study of US health care system finds both waste and opportunity to improve.
....The Institute of Medicine says the American medical system loses $750 billion annually by squandering 30 cents of every dollar,
a. New medical care networks show savings
....A study indicated a slowing of costs for hospitals and doctors that collaborated to keep a defined group of patients healthier, a model promoted by the federal health care law.
POLITICS:
1. Candidates look to balance need for campaigning with need for money
....Having both declined public money, Pres. Obama and Mitt Romney are committing to ambitious fund-raising schedules that are eating into valuable campaign time.
2. Embracing role as surrogate, Clinton hits campaign trail
....Before a crowd of 2,300, Bill Clinton reprised much of the defense of Pres. Obama’s first term that he delivered at the Democratic National Convention.
2. Democrats outraged with Romney foreign policy attacks
....Mitt Romney's harsh chiding of Pres. Obama's response to attacks in Libya and Egypt spurred a firestorm of backlash from Democrats, who claim the GOP candidate is politicizing a tragedy that killed four, including the US ambassador and three others, in US offices in Benghazi, Libya.

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Putting the wild in the wild-card races

....Eighteen of baseball’s 30 teams have a legitimate chance to win one of the 10 available postseason positions.
a. For Valentine, a ruined season and spoiler's role.
....Stuck in last place in the AL East, the Red Sox and Manager Bobby Valentine could salvage some respect if they can block the Yankees’ road to the playoffs.
b. Osessions surround agents absent from steroids report
....Questions have arisen as to why two prominent agents were not mentioned in the Mitchell report on steroid use in baseball, even when players they represented were implicated.
2. NCAAFB: Notre Dame to join ACC, but not in football
....The ACC said that the Irish would play five football games a year against league opponents and be a full member in all sports except football and hockey.
3. NHL: The union tries legal maneuver in Canada
....As formal negotiations have broken off, the Players’ Association is trying an unusual legal gambit to block team owners from locking out players in Quebec and Alberta,
4. GOLF: Women's golf money leader could end US drought

....This weekend, as the LPGA heads into the year’s final major, the Women’s British Open, Stacy Lewis has the chance to record the finest season by an American woman in nearly two decades.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Questions surround man behind anti-Islam film.

(a burnt vehicle at the US Consulate in Benghazi)
Little is known about the man behind an online film that mocked Islam and went relatively unnoticed until Tuesday, when it sparked Muslim rage and violent protests in Libya and Egypt. In Egypt and Libya, violent mobs targeted U.S. missions and blamed America for the film although it remains unclear whether that attack was solely incited by the film.
The Wall Street Journal identified the filmmaker as Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American real estate developer -- but by Wednesday afternoon, doubt surfaced over whether anyone by that name even exists. The Journal reported that, in its telephone interview with Bacile, he characterized his film called "Innocence of Muslims" as "a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam." "Islam is a cancer," he told the newspaper. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie." An online trailer for the film depicts Islam as a fraudulent religion bent on getting rid of nonbelievers. Cartoonish scenes show Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester, ruthless killer. Other scenes show security forces ordered to do nothing as rampaging Muslims destroy Christian homes, and a donkey anointed the first Muslim animal.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said it doesn't know who Bacle is. "This guy is totally anonymous. At this point no one can confirm he holds Israeli citizenship and even if he did we are not involved," ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. "No Israeli institution, government department or office has any involvement in this. This guy acted on his own behalf."
A consultant, Steve Klein, said he worked with Bacile on the movie and said the filmmaker is now in hiding. "He's very depressed, and he's upset," Klein said. "I talked to him this morning, and he said that he was very concerned for what happened to the ambassador." Klein, however, said it was not the film's fault that protests had turned bloody.Further casting doubt on the filmmaker's identity, The Atlantic quoted Klein as saying Sam Bacile is a pseudonym and "he did not know Bacile's real name."
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood -- the party of its new President Mohamed Morsy -- has called for peaceful protests this Friday to denounce the film. In Afghanistan, the Taliban charged that the movie was made with the permission of the US government, while Pres. Hamid Karzai condemned the film as abhorrent and an act of desecration. In America, a Muslim advocacy group called the movie "trashy" and said its producers did not represent the United States or the Christian faith."We urge that this ignorant attempt to provoke the religious feelings of Muslims in the Arabic-speaking world be ignored and that its extremist producers not be given the cheap publicity they so desperately seek," said the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Oh, Gina, where art thou when we need you. This is a perfect incident fit for a conspiracy theory of which you are so expert.

Thought for Today
""It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end."
--[/i]Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian Renaissance genius.


[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Roald Dahl Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 257th day of 2012 with 108 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:19 p.m., it's fair , temp 78ºF [Feels like 78ºF], winds S @ 8 mph, humidity 46%, pressure 30.33 in and steady, dew point 56ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

Today in History:
122--construction of Hadrian's Wall, a stone and turf wall across present-day northern England, was begun by the Roman Empire.
1189--Richard I (aka the Lionheart), wkswar son of Henry II, was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1242--St Francis of Assisi, Roman Catholic friar and founder of the Order of Friars Minor or Franciscans, had a vision from which he received the stigmata.
1321--Dante Alighieri , Florentine poet ("The Devine Comedy") & politician, died.
1759--7-Years War: (French and Indian War in the colonies): the British under Gen. James Wolfe defeated the Marquis de Montcalm's French forces on the Plains of Abraham. below Quebec, Both generals were fatally wounded but the victory ensured British supremacy in Canada.
1788--the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election and declared New York City the temporary national capital.
1814--Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music to become "The Star-Spangled Banner."
1847--Gen. Winfield Scott stormed the Chapultepec fortress in Mexico.
1851--Walter Reed, pathologist and bacteriologist, was born; died 1902 at age 51.
1860--John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, was born.; died 1948 at age 88.
1862--Union troops discovered the Confederate's Antietam battle plan.
1914--former British diplomat Sir Roger Casement secretly met with Franz von Papen, the German military attaché, to seek Germany’s support in winning independence from British rule for Ireland.
1936--the Cleveland Indians teenage phenom pittcher (age 17), "Rapid" Bob Feller, struck out 17 and allowed 2 hits while beating the Philadelphia A's 5-2.
1940--Italy invaded Egypt during World War II.
1943--Chiang Kai-shek became president of China.
1948--Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.) was elected to the US Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.
1949--the Ladies Professional Golf Association of America was formed in New York City.
1971--the 4-day riot at Attica Prison ended violently as law enforcement officials opened fire, killing 29 inmates and 10 hostages and injuring many more. The prison insurrection was the bloodiest in US history.
1988--Hurricane Gilbert (currently the second most intense hurricane from the Atlantic) spawned more than 29 tornadoes and killed 318 people .
1990--The drama series Law & Order debuted on NBC.
1993--at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.
1996--Hip hop star Tupac Shakur, age 26, died of gunshot wounds from a previous Las Vegas drive-by shooting.
1998--NBC's Frasier won a record fifth consecutive Emmy as TV's best comedy series.
1999--a bomb blamed on Chechen rebels devastated an 8-story apartment building in Moscow, killing at least 124 people.
2000--Chase Manhattan agreed to buy J.P. Morgan for more than $35 billion, creating the 3rd largest financial company in the US.
2001--Secretary of State Colin Powell named Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the terror attacks on the US.
2008--Hurricane Ike finally dissipated after killing 195 people with damages estimated at $32 billion making it the 3rd costliest Atlantic Hurricane.

World News Capsules:
1. Egypt may be bigger concern than Libya for White House
....The tepid response from the Egyptian government to violence at the American Embassy in Cairo gave American officials cause for worry.
2. In victory for Merkel, German court ruling favors European bailout fund
....Germany’s constitutional court gave Chancellor Angela Merkel a significant victory in her bid to master the debt crisis that has buffeted Europe and endangered its common currency.
3. Haiti's quake-damaged national palace being demolished.

....The white French Renaissance palace, which ended up as little more than a symbol of the stalled recovery from the 2010 earthquake, will be ripped apart over the coming months and carted off
4. UN nuclearwatchdog passes resolution on Iran
....The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency criticized Iran for defying demands to curb its uranium enrichment and failing to quell mounting concerns about its suspected research into atomic bombs.
5. Israelis fear fallout from Netanyahu's blunt comments
....A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Obama administration over Iran, Israelis were sympathetic to Mr. Netanyahu even as they mulled the possible damage to ties with the White House.
6. For veteran envoy, return to Libya was full of hope
....J. Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador who was killed on Tuesday, knew the opportunities and travails facing Libya after the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
a. At least 1 arrest made in Libya attack as protests spread

....Anger and outrage over an obscure film spread across Muslim countries today with protests in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Sudan, Tunisia and Morocco.
7. Mexico announces capture of Gulf cartel leader

....Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, known as El Coss, was arrested , the Mexican Navy said in a statement.
8. Middle East dplomats pulled two ways, between protection and accessibility
....An ambassador’s death most likely will only increase efforts to protect American diplomatic personnel from the chaos of the countries where they are posted.
9. Spport for the euro is seen in Dutch election results
....Dutch voters appeared to give Prime Minister Mark Rutte a narrow victory, which will bring a sigh of relief to European allies anxious about rising euro skepticism in the richer countries of the north.
10. More than 300 killed in Pakistani factory fires

....Fires engulfed two factories in two major cities, killing more than 300 and reviving long-running questions about the regulation of the country’s manufacturing sector.
11. Medvedev says rockers have served enough jail time for cathedral performance.

....The Russian prime minister said further incarceration of the three women in the group Pussy Riot would be unproductive.
12. In South Africa, labor unrest in mining deepens
....A platinum producer suspended operations, and tear gas was fired at protesting workers at a gold mine in signs that spreading turmoil is destabilizing a crucial industry.
13. The country beckons Spaniards as jobs in cities grow scarce
....For generations, Spaniards have left their homes in the country to seek jobs in the city, but now many are moving back.
14. Turmoil over contentious video spreads to Yemen and Iran

....Protesters angered by an anti-Islam film tried to storm the American Embassy in Sana, the Yemeni capital, two days after assailants killed the United States ambassador to Libya.

US News Capsules:
1. Fresh hopes for end to Chicago teacher strike by weekend


....Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said she was optimistic that a deal could be reached to end the teachers’ strike in time for children to return to class Monday.
a. As Chicago teachers strike, students are on the loose and at loose ends
....Students could be found in contingency programs at schools, in churches and in day care centers. Some slept late, stayed home alone and wandered neighborhoods.
b. Push to add charter schools hangs over strike
....Mayor Rahm Emanuel's oft-cited goal of expanding charter schools is not officially on the table, but a union official called it "the elephant in the room."
2. McDonald's menu to post calorie data
....The fast-food chain plans to act before a pending federal requirement, and may bring other restaurants with it.
3. Fed pledges action until economy shows gains

....The Federal Reserve said it would expand its holdings of mortgage-backed securities, and potentially undertake other new policies, until unemployment drops sufficiently or inflation rises too fast.
4. Decades later, a vision survives
....A new park on Roosevelt Island is based on a plan four decades old: Louis Kahn's Four Freedoms Park. It opens on Oct. 24 as Kahn's only work in New York City,
5. Judge rules against law on indefinite detention
....The ruling came as the House voted to extend another contested law connected to fighting terrorism, an expansion of warrantless surveillance.
POLITICS:
1. A challenger's criticism is furiously returned.
....From Mitt Romney's perspective, the time was ripe to cast the president as someone who apologizes for America.
2. Obama grows more reliant on big-money contributors
....Pres. Obama's top "bundlers" raised or gave at least $200 million for his re-election bid and the Democratic National Committee through the end of May, close to halve the total.
3. Deal on a farm bill appears unlikely

....If Congress fails to reach a deal, direct payments to farmers would still continue but nearly 40 other programs would not be financed after the end of this month.
4. After mistakenly purging citizens, Florida agrees to let them vote
....In settling a lawsuit, Florida agreed that residents who were removed from voting rolls after mistakenly being classified as noncitizens will be allowed to vote in November.
a. Social networks can affect voter turnout, study says
....A large study of Facebook users found that a “get out the vote” message using pictures of friends got 340,000 additional people to the polls.

Thought for Today
"[H]e that thinks absolute power purifies men's blood, and corrects the baseness of human nature, need read the history of this, or any other age, to be convinced to the contrary."
--John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher & political theorist. (Considered the ideological progenitor of the American Revolution and who, by far, was the most often non-biblical writer quoted by the Founding Fathers .)