Month: January 2006

When asked for reaction to the news that Ariel Sharon was gravely ill following surgery to correct a major brain hemorrhage, most of the world’s leaders wish the prime minister a quick recovery and complete return to his office as soon as possible. Then, there were the exceptions.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that he hoped Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was dead and wished the same for the rest of the Israeli leaders, the ISNA student news agency reported.

“Today you will all have heard, and I hope that this is final, that the criminal of Sabra and Shatila has rejoined his ancestors,” Ahmadinejad said referring to Sharon’s alleged role in the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps in 1982. “God willing, the others will join him soon,” he added.

And there was this from Hamas:

“The political map will definitely change with the absence of Sharon,” said a spokesman. “But the absence of such a criminal and a militant will be better for the region.”

And from the ‘man on the street’:

Another man said: “I do not care about Sharon. Sick or not, he is a criminal, a war criminal, who massacred many people.” In Rafah in the Gaza Strip, schoolchildren celebrated by handing out cake to passers-by.

 There’s something you won’t see in the US. At least, not today.

US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid flips his lid after the Office of Homeland Security moves Las Vegas down on the list of cities considered potential high-risk targets by terrorists. He’s called for the resignation of Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff. Is Mr. Reid concerned for the people of Las Vegas? It’s tough to know. By making comparisons to other cities, it seems more likely that Harry’s in a tizzy because less money will be funnelled into his home state of Nevada.

“We had more visitors on New Year’s Eve than they had in Times Square and we’re not a high-risk area? For heaven’s sakes,” Reid said.

Las Vegas received $8 million in 2005 through such high-threat funding to purchase a spectrometer to detect chemical agents, special clothing, chemical response vehicles, handheld computers for emergency personnel to communicate, a bomb robot and a bomb armored vehicle, according to the Clark County Office of Emergency Management.

Chertoff defended the scaled-back approach as one that focuses federal grants on those areas most needing to make preparations, with the 35 locations decided by 3.2 billion calculations aimed at determining regions most susceptible to terrorism.

Some have said that Las Vegas isn’t threatened, it’s the ‘Strip’ that is and casino owners are already spending big money to secure it themselves, so a loss of federal funding isn’t going to immediately change anything. Unfortunately for Mr. Reid, this protestation comes off as just another example of his constant denunciation of anything the Bush Administration says or does. While it could be that his intentions are genuine, he’s lost any chance he might have had to look sincere. There is simply no more credibility there.

I’ve already heard from a number of people who have said that if Sharon were to die, Israel would be thrown into political upheaval. The elections, scheduled for March 28, would go on as planned but now it’s results are less than certain. Sharon was expected to easily win the vote.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fought for his life Thursday following seven hours of emergency surgery to stop widespread bleeding in his brain. The massive stroke made it unlikely that he would return to power.

Vice Premier Ehud Olmert was named acting prime minister and convened the Cabinet for a special session, where Sharon’s large chair at the center of the long oval table remained empty. “This is a difficult situation that we are not accustomed to,” Olmert told the somber ministers.

A brain scan after surgery showed that the bleeding had been stopped, and the 77-year-old prime minister was transferred to the intensive care unit, said Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

At a midafternoon briefing, Mor-Yosef said Sharon was in serious but stable condition on a respirator in “deep sedation.” He will remain sedated for another 24 hours at least, Mor-Yosef said.

Sharon’s sudden turn for the worse, at the height of his popularity, stunned Israelis, who had relied on the tough ex-general to steer them through turbulent times. Rabbis called Israelis to flock to synagogues and say special prayers.

Meanwhile, some Israeli news outlets have said that technically, Sharon is already dead.

Reliable sources indicate to Israel Insider that PM Ariel Sharon died at 11 am. Israeli media channels still report his condition is “very grave.” Director of Hadassah Hospital Shlomo Mor-Yosef officially denies “rumors” of death and says Sharon’s condition is “serious but stable.”

Channel 10 reports those closest to Sharon as saying he has suffered “brain damage.” A likely explanation to reconcile the two reports is that Sharon has suffered brain death — the lack of cerebral activity — but that his heart continues beating, while he remains anesthetized and respirated.

I expect official word to come sometime today that the prime minister has expired.

Who dressed Jack Abramoff yesterday?

For three hours family members celebrated the survival of 12 out of 13 coal miners who were trapped after an explosion earlier this week at the Sago Mine. That jubilation turned into an unbelievable nightmare when news came that 12 had been found DEAD, not alive.

• Sole survivor in critical condition
• Initial reports said 12 miners found alive
• Celebrations ended after three hours of false hope
• “Miscommunication” blamed for early reports
• Official: Miners built barricade before dying
• White House Promises Mine Probe
• Coal official: Miners fate known after 20 minutes

12 of 13 W. Va. Miners Confirmed Dead

In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners found were dead _ three hours after they began celebrating news that they were alive.

The devastating new information shocked and angered family members, who had rejoiced with Gov. Joe Manchin hours earlier when a rumor began to spread that 12 miners were alive. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.

How could three hours pass before the real story was revealed? How could authorities let this happen? What a tragedy.

International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a “miscommunication.” The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman.

“That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center,” he said.

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

“There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door,” said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near the church because police were concerned about violence. Witnesses said one man had to be wrestled to the ground when he lunged for mining officials.

Company officials waited to correct the information until they knew more about the rescue, Hatfield said.

“Let’s put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn’t know if there were 12 or one (who were alive),” Hatfield said.

The New York Daily News published the earlier report before correcting their morning edition. Many newspapers didn’t have time to fix the report, and went to press with headlines that shouting the headline that the miners had survived. 

In one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of this type in recent years, television and newspapers carried the tragically wrong news late Tuesday and early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners in West Virginia had been found alive and safe. Hours later they had to reverse course, often blaming the mix-up on “miscommunication.”

CNN Video: A Witness Inside the Church | The Announcement | Communication Breakdown | Anger and Outrage | Survivor in critical condition |

CBS Video: Confusion Over Sole Survivor | Report from Bob Orr |

Related: Miracle turns to grief | Miscommunication Causes Emotional Outcry at Mining Site |

Others: Editor and Publisher | Reuters | Indianapolis Star | Bloomberg | BBC Photo Gallery | The Age | New York Times | AP | The Political Teen |

___________________________________________

12:25 AM PST 01/04/06 – UPDATE – REPORTS OF SURVIVAL ARE RUMOR – 12 COAL MINERS ARE IN FACT, DEAD. ONLY ONE SURVIVES.
___________________________________________

(Earlier)

This is a bona fide miracle. 12 of the 13 trapped coal miners are alive. (VIDEO)

Tonight, there’s joy in the Mountaineer State!

• Miners had been trapped for nearly 40 hours
• Church bells ring as families told the good news
• Loved ones’ distress turns into “pure joy”
• One miner found dead before other 12 discovered

Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive Tuesday night, more than 41 hours after the blast, family members said.

Bells at a church where relatives had been gathering rang out as family members ran out screaming in jubilation.

Relatives were yelling “They’re alive!”

One miner was found dead earlier Tuesday, the mine’s owner, International Coal Group Inc. said.

Neither the company nor the govenor’s office immediately confirmed the news.

There were hugs and tears among the crowd outside the Sago Baptist Church locacted near the mine, about 100 miles northeast of Charleston.

Unreal. After following the story today, it seemed extremely unlikely that anyone would be found alive. Yet tonight, twelve are alive.

About the 13th miner who was found dead earlier today – He’s been identified as Fire Boss Terry Helms, 50, of Newburg, West Virginia. FOX News is saying that Helms could have died when the actual explosion occurred and not after. That hasn’t been confirmed yet. Earlier – Video report confirming death of one of the miners.

— Graphic: The Rescue Effort
— Photos of Celebration

OTHERS: Reuters | NPR (Audio) | MSNBC | VOA | 580 CFRA Canada | WSFA Alabama | Radio New Zealand | ABC News | WESH-TV 2 | News.com.au Australia | KMBC-TV Kansas City | Washington Post | New York Times | BBC | USAToday | KXLY News 4 |

RELATED: Mines safer, but still deadly | Video report – Safety questions raised | Cause of blast remains unknown | Safety a concern for owners of stricken mine |

Ah, those wacky Canadians!

TORONTO (Reuters) – Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said in a study published on Tuesday.

Seventeen homeless adults, all with long and chronic histories of alcohol abuse, were allowed up to 15 glasses of wine or sherry a day — a glass an hour from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. — in the Ottawa-based program, which started in 2002 and is continuing.

After an average of 16 months, the number of times participants got in trouble with the law had fallen 51 percent from the three years before they joined the program, and hospital emergency room visits were down 36 percent.

They didn’t get in trouble because they couldn’t steady themselves long enough to take two steps!

“Once we give a ‘small amount’ of alcohol and stabilize the addiction, we are able to provide health services that lead to a reduction in the unnecessary health services they were getting before,” said Dr. Jeff Turnbull, one of the authors of the report.

“The alcohol gets them in, builds the trust and then we have the opportunity to treat other medical diseases… It’s about improving the quality of life.”

Baiting with alcohol to employ medical experimentation. Priceless.

Three of the 17 participants died during the program, succumbing to alcohol-related illnesses that might have killed them anyway, the study said.

Oh, well, then, that’s OK I guess.

The report showed that participants in the program drank less than they did before signing up, and their sleep, hygiene, nutrition and health levels all improved.

Three hots and a cot – I’d expect them to be clean as a whistle (internally and externally).

The per capita cost of around C$771 ($660) a month was partially offset by monthly savings of C$96 a month in emergency services, C$150 in hospital care and C$201 in police services per person.

Turnbull said some of the people enrolled in the program had stopped drinking altogether, although that was not an option for many of the participants.

“We agree 100 percent that abstinence is the most appropriate route,” he said. “But in this subset of people where abstinence has failed, there is still a need to provide care.”

Uh, yeah – that’s some kind of provided care. Beam me up Scotty. There’s no intelligent life down here.

As an international team continues reviewing hundreds of complaints registered over Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the publication of voting results are now predicted to be more than two weeks out.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq has completed its investigation of almost 2,000 election complaints and will announce the findings Wednesday, commission member Hussein Hindawi told The Associated Press.

But the commission won’t announce final election results until an international team finishes its work, meaning they might not be ready for two weeks, said commission member Safwat Rashid. Officials previously said final results of the Dec. 15 vote would be announced in early January.

This is a far cry from the days when Saddam was elected with a 100% ‘Yes’ vote.

It’s easy to be upset about the delay, but the fact is, the results of this election must be legitimate. It’s important that officials take as long as necessary to be sure that any reported irregularities are investigated thoroughly. Future elections will be held to the same standard, so this process must be executed correctly.

Former DC Mayor Marion Barry was robbed at gunpoint Monday night by grocery carrying youths.

Barry, who wasn’t injured in the Monday night robbery, said he gave the youths a couple of dollars for helping unload groceries from his car and they left. They returned, however, and after Barry let them into his Southeast apartment, they pointed a gun at his head and took his wallet, which contained cash and credit cards, Barry told WRC-TV.

“Obviously, I’m traumatized. To have a pistol cocked in your face is not something you cannot feel emotional about,” Barry said.

Riiiight Barry. Just an innocent old man asking a few well meaning kids to help him with his groceries. Does anyone else really believe this? I can’t wait to hear the “rest of the story”, like who had the crack, who offered to sell it and who was buying. Stuff like that. 

If he runs again, 2008 will be a beautiful year for the Republicans.