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US smugglers use Hurricane for cover
Hurricane Dolly, which has been battering the Mexico-Texas border region, had another, non-weather related effect: providing cover for smugglers.
Police seized $8 million worth of marijuana, which was being moved inland under cover of the storm, at a Texas border patrol.
An official at customs and border protection reported that two other attempts at smuggling were discovered, where illegal immigrants were stopped from continuing in Texas. Hurricane Dolly, which has been battering the Mexico-Texas border region, had another, non-weather related effect: providing cover for... more -
On energy, T. Boone Pickens sees bipartisan fault
When T. Boone Pickens discusses energy policy with Democrats and Republicans this week, neither side may like all that they hear.
With average gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, energy issues have come to dominate the legislative debate this summer and both parties have sought the counsel of the oilman/investment whiz/wind power promoter.
What does Pickens, a geologist before he was a billionaire, think of the debate?
“There’s nothing they are saying that is going to solve the problem,” he told The Hill.
For example, Pickens doesn’t expect much oil to be found off the coasts. That would seem to undercut the Republican push to open the areas to drilling.
“The public thinks, ‘Well, God. If we got 86 billion barrels of oil sitting out there, why don’t we go drill it and produce it and lower the price of gasoline to $2?’ That’s kind of the way it’s been characterized. Which I think is totally misleading,” he said (editor’s note: A transcription of the interview will appear in the Business & Lobbying section of Tuesday’s edition of The Hill).
That should bolster Democratic leaders who are resisting pressure to drill, although Pickens does support conducting seismic studies to get a better handle on potential resources.
What about Democratic efforts to rein in “speculation,” a push that Democrats in both the House and Senate may make this week?
Pickens doesn’t think much of that idea, either.
“It’s a waste of time. Doesn’t have anything to do with it. … Everybody tries to place the blame, and the blame is our own lack of leadership over the past 40 years on energy.”
Pickens’s main mission in Washington this week is to promote the Pickens Plan (www.pickensplan.com.), his effort to use natural gas as a transportation fuel instead of as a source of electricity.
Wind power would replace the natural gas on the grid. And natural gas would replace gasoline, saving the country $700 billion over 10 years that would otherwise go to buy foreign oil, he said.
When T. Boone Pickens discusses energy policy with Democrats and Republicans this week, neither side may like all that they hear. ... more -
Missouri Man Ambushes Authorities; Kills Paramedic
Ryan Hummert, 22, was shot as he got out of a fire truck on Zephyr near Big Bend Blvd. According to officials, Hummert and his fellow firefighters were responding to a vehicle fire. When they arrived on scene, someone began firing shots at them. Hummert was hit.
Firefighters were pinned behind their fire truck for several hours. The gunman also shot two police officers who responded to the scene. One of those officers was treated and released. Hummert was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
(Taken from Fox 2 News- Saint Louis)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.kmov.com/video/topvideo-index.html?nvid=2651...
Check the video in the link for more details. I can say as a resident that this is one of the largest shows of police force in a long time. Possibly ever. The gunman has been presumed dead, reportedly inside the burning house while it was on fire.
When you live in a small town, you never expect something like this to happen. More often than not, however, it seems more and more violence has spilled over to the suburbs of America. I would like to know your opinions on this situation, as well as your opinions on violence in America. Ryan Hummert, 22, was shot as he got out of a fire truck on Zephyr near Big Bend Blvd. According to officials, Hummert and his fellow... more -
The Plan To Get Away From Oil
America is addicted to foreign oil.
It's an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people.
The addiction has worsened for decades and now it's reached a point of crisis.
Click link to read on and join the cause America is addicted to foreign oil. ... more -
The Plan For A Sustainable America
IT'S TIME TO STOP AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO FOREIGN OIL
America is in a hole and it's getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.
Watch this video and see this solution. Then join if you agree
To view full website and join click here http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php IT'S TIME TO STOP AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO FOREIGN OIL ... more -
McCain's broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship
Outside her Bel-Air home, Nancy Reagan stood arm in arm with John McCain and offered a significant -- but less than exuberant -- endorsement.
"Ronnie and I always waited until everything was decided, and then we endorsed," the Republican matriarch said in March. "Well, obviously this is the nominee of the party." They were the only words she would speak during the five-minute photo op. Outside her Bel-Air home, Nancy Reagan stood arm in arm with John McCain and offered a significant -- but less than exuberant -- endor... more -
The White House wins a disturbing legal victory
The Bush administration has been a waging a fierce battle for the power to lock people up indefinitely simply on the president's say-so. It scored a disturbing victory last week when a federal appeals court ruled that it could continue to detain Ali al-Marri, who has been held for more than five years as an enemy combatant. The decision gives the president sweeping power to deprive anyone - citizens as well as noncitizens - of their freedom. The Supreme Court should reverse this terrible ruling.
Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar legally residing in the United States, was initially arrested in his home in Peoria, Illinois, on ordinary criminal charges, then imprisoned by military authorities.
The government, which says he has ties to Al Qaeda, designated him an enemy combatant, even though it never alleged that he was in an army or carried arms on a battlefield. He was held on the basis of extremely thin hearsay evidence.
Last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia, declared that the government could not hold al-Marri, or any other civilian, simply on the president's orders. If it wanted to prosecute him, the court ruled, it could do so in the civilian court system. The Bush administration has been a waging a fierce battle for the power to lock people up indefinitely simply on the president's say-s... more -
Taser death ignites racial tensions
WINNFIELD, La. - At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.
What happened in the 39 minutes in between--during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser device, while reportedly pleading for mercy--is now spawning fears of a political cover-up in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.
Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La. Jena is the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.
No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all. WINNFIELD, La. - At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead. ... more -
Subliminal Message In McCain’s New Ad?
Did you catch it? At the beginning of the ad, the title burns onto a picture of Obama, but the order is striking.
A L Q D C MT RY
al Qaeda Commentary? al Qaeda Cemetary? al Qaeda Documentary? Who knows? But it’s not accidental. In fact, Alex Castellanos is reportedly now working for the McCain campaign. Who is Alex Castellanos?
There is speculation in the blogosphere that Alex Castellanos is behind this video. Who? This guy:
The Republican media consultant Alex Castellanos has been called the father of the modern political attack ad — an appellation he might not offer up himself, though we suspect he’s kinda proud of it. Although Castellanos has served on the GOP media team in every general election since 1988, his most infamous spot ran in the 1990 North Carolina Senate race between Jesse Helms and Harvey Gantt, the former mayor of Charlotte, who also happened to be an African-American. The commercial was called “Hands,” and it showed a white guy sitting at a table, the camera trained on his mitts as he crumpled up a job-rejection notice. “You needed that job and you were the best qualified,” intoned the voice-over. “But they gave it to a minority because of a racial quota.” Ugly? Sure. But it won reelection for Helms. In this year’s Republican race, Castellanos worked on Mitt Romney’s primary bid, but today he sits on what’s known as the McCain Ad Council, a group of A-list Republican admen serving as outside media advisers to the GOP standard-bearer.
Did you catch it? At the beginning of the ad, the title burns onto a picture of Obama, but the order is striking. ... more -
Medical Study Confirms Prisoners in US Custody Were Physically & Mentally Tort...
A new report by the Physicians for Human Rights has, for the first time, found medical evidence corroborating the claims of former prisoners who say they were tortured while in US custody. Teams of medical specialists conducted physical and psychological tests on the former prisoners, including exams intended to assess if they were lying. We speak to Dr. Allen Keller. [includes rush transcript] A new report by the Physicians for Human Rights has, for the first time, found medical evidence corroborating the claims of former pri... more
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Dalai Lama: Bush has lack of understanding of reality
The Dalai Lama, in a lecture in Philadelphia yesterday, told a group of about 2,000,
Things are not black and white. Things are relative. Things are interdependent. When we look at a situation we have to consider all the factors.
Many world disasters, including war, including the Iraq war, are due to lack of this holistic nature (looking at all the factors). Like Saddam Hussein -- ending things for him. Reality is not that simple.
Of course, I have great respect for, in fact, I love President Bush, because he is very frank, very straightforward. His intentions are good, but some of his policy in spite of his sincere motivation and right goal, and some of his method becomes unrealistic because of lack of understanding about reality.
He went on to explain,
"You cannot look in one direction. In order to see reality, (you) have to see in three or four or seven dimensions" and that this applies in the economical field, political field and international relations."
The Philadelphia talk was sponsored by the Mongolian Kalmyk Buddhist order, which his holiness, the Dalai Lama, said was very close, teachings-wise, to Tibetan Buddhism and to the challenge of maintaining its culture, having left its homeland.
The main message the Dalai Lama presented was the idea of aiming for world peace through inner and outer disarmament. He explained that to reach a point where nations would outwardly disarm, people must first inwardly disarm, by becoming compassionate, not just with friends, but with all people, including those perceived as enemies.
About 2000 people attended the event at the Kimmel center. Upon finishing his talk, he was presented with a large birthday cake which was shared with all the attendees-- a Dalai Lama cake. The Dalai Lama, in a lecture in Philadelphia yesterday, told a group of about 2,000, ... more -
You could vote for "None Of The Above" and have it count
Recently I wrote a page on why we should or should not vote at all based on my feelings that 99.9% of politicians are not qualified for the job and how for some time now our government system is actually more to blame than even the politicians. You can read about that here if you'd like:
http://current.com/items/89107141_voting_for_the_lesser...
Surprisingly to me I received a lot of flack for this story and was even accused of being a neo-con and actually supporting John McCain - this could not be further from the truth
However after writing the story I was made aware of an option to vote for "none of the above" and that vote actually counts as a vote, so if the NOTA vote gets the majority then none of the candidates win and there would need to be new candidates chosen to run for their hopeful office.
So... If a majority of people voted for "None of the Above" rather than "voting for the lesser of evils", it might force a situation where Voters would have to find someone competent to lead them. This sounds like a great idea to me and this would prevent candidates from being able to "play the game" and would make them really earn our trust. So... In any state with a binding "None of the Above" ballot option, the list of candidates for each office would be followed by the votable line "None of the Above; For a New Election", or something similar. If the that option gets more votes than any candidate for the office, then no one is elected to the office; instead, a follow-up by-election with new candidates must be held to fill that office, until a candidate wins a plurality of votes among all other candidates including "None of the Above."
Here's a run down of how it would look and also some links to petitions where you can get this into play in your own state and possibly in presidential elections as well where I think it is most needed.
Statement of Principle: All legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent; therefore, the legitimate consent of voters requires they be able to withhold their consent in an election to office.
Statement of Purpose: We are working to enact a Voter Consent law in all 50 states, preferably by adding after the candidate list for each elective office the following permanent line, or otherwise to assist in the enactment of Voter Consent Ballot Options.
Typical Current Ballot:
(Competitive Race) ~OR~ (Noncompetitive Race)
[ ] Candidate A [ ] Candidate A
[ ] Candidate B
Voter Options: Vote for a candidate. If voters do not like any (or the only) candidate for the office, they can either: 1) not vote; or, 2) vote for the least objectionable candidate, the so-called "lesser evil"; or, 3) write-in a name, in jurisdictions allowing it, the so-called "Mickey Mouse option."
Voter Consent Law's Ballot with Binding NOTA Option:
(Competitive Race) ~OR~ (Noncompetitive Race)
[ ] Candidate A [ ] Candidate A
[ ] Candidate B [ ] None of the Above; For a New Election
[ ] None of the Above; For a New Election
Voter Options: Vote for a candidate or "None of the Above; For a New Election". If "None of the Above; For a New Election" receives the most votes, no candidate is elected to that office and a follow-up by-election, with new candidates, is held. Note that even candidates running unopposed must obtain voter consent to be elected.
links to general info and petitions:
http://www.nota.org/writein.htm
http://nota.org/
Since nowhere close to all of US citizens vote I think this NOTA option would give everyone a reason to vote and instead of not voting or writing in Mickey Mouse their vote would actually count.
Currently Nevada is the only state to have a non-binding NOTA option on their ballot
Now what do you think? Recently I wrote a page on why we should or should not vote at all based on my feelings that 99.9% of politicians are not qualified fo... more -
Oil prices tumble in biggest weekly drop ever
NEW YORK - The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high. So is it time to declare the energy bubble popped?
Experts won't go that far just yet.
"It's too early to say we've seen the worst of it," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "We would be Pollyannish if we believe one week represents a trend."
Still, with oil recording yet another drop on Friday, some industry experts who just days ago thought there was more juice left in oil's meteoric run are reconsidering.
"If this is not the bubble's implosion, than it's a reasonable facsimile," analyst and trader Stephen Schork said in his daily market commentary. "Time will tell. Nevertheless, for the time being we no longer care to hold a bullish view."
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 41 cents Friday to settle at $128.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange — well below its trading record of more than $147 a week earlier.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas fell about a penny for the day, to $4.105, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel prices dipped three-tenths of a cent to $4.842 a gallon.
Some analysts said a nationwide average of $4 or even lower could be in the offing — almost unthinkable in a summer when there has seemed to be no relief at the pump — although they cautioned that there is no guarantee prices will stay low.
"We're going to see some relief from that relentless march higher," Kloza said.
Gas may be getting just a bit cheaper, but major changes in how Americans live and drive are already in motion.
Car buyers have been fleeing to more fuel-efficient models. U.S. sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles are down nearly 18 percent this year through June, while sales of small cars are up more than 10 percent.
While slashing production of more-profitable trucks and SUVs, automakers have been scurrying to build their most fuel-efficient models faster.
Toyota Motor Corp., which hasn't been able to keep up with demand for its 46-miles-per-gallon Prius hybrid, said last week it will start producing the Prius in the U.S. and suspend truck and SUV production to meet changing consumer demands.
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. also have announced plans to increase small car production, and GM has said 18 of the 19 vehicles it is launching between now and 2010 are cars or crossovers.
Some brave traders used the week's pullback in oil prices as a chance to buy barrels that suddenly seemed to be on sale. But oil analysts were advising investors to beware.
"Buying here is an opportunity if you are a deep believer in $200 (a barrel), otherwise we think that caution would be better applied," analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland said in a research note.
If oil buyers sense that the slide was overdone, you'll probably notice at the pump quickly.
"If (oil prices) rebound, you're going to see a quick reaction at the gas station, because their profit margins are so stretched," AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said. "They may be very fast bringing prices back up."
In other Nymex trade, heating oil futures fell 5.23 cents to settle at $3.6915 a gallon while gasoline futures edged up 0.73 cent to $3.1709 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 3.3 cents to $10.57 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 88 cents to settle at $130.19 on the ICE Futures Exchange. NEW YORK - The price of oil recorded its biggest weekly drop ever, and a gallon of gas finally pulled back from its record high. So is... more -
Sewage Plant Named After Bush?
Some presidents get high schools named after them, others get highways and bridges. What does George W. Bush get? A sewage plant! Through a brilliant plan hatched in a bar, SF voters may be able to name the Oceanside Water Pollution Plant after our current president, George W., in November.
If the ballot initiative passes, the plant will be named "the George W. Bush Sewage Plant." Regardless of the outcome, however, "supporters plan to commemorate the inaugural with a synchronized flush of hundreds of thousands of San Francisco toilets, an action that would send a flood of water toward the plant."
Some presidents get high schools named after them, others get highways and bridges. What does George W. Bush get? A sewage plant! Th... more -
Volkswagen's First US Assembly Plant Will Be In Chattanooga, Tennessee
VW to build plant in Chattanooga
By: Mike Pare
Volkswagen AG will build its first United States assembly plant in Chattanooga, officials said today.
Europe’s biggest automaker said it will put a nearly $1 billion investment in Chattanooga’s Enterprise South Industrial Park.
The plant is expected to create 2,000 jobs. It is expected to open in 2011.
“The U.S. market is an important part of our volume strategy, and we are now very resolutely accessing that market,” said Martin Winterkorn, chief executive of Volkswagen.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said he is “enormously pleased” by the announcement.
Mr. Bredesen and other officials including Volkswagen of America’s chief executive, were slated to be at Hunter Museum of American Art at 11:30 a.m. for an announcement.
“I believe Volkswagen chose Tennessee because of our shared values, our commitment to innovation and our strong respect for the environment,” he said.
Matt Kisber, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, said he could not be more pleased in the partnership between the state, VW and Chattanooga and Hamilton County government.
Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said he has worked with four different city mayors and other officials with a vision of transforming the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant site.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said VW and Chattanooga have a lot in common.
“Both are serious about environmental sustainability and 21st century manufacturing,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said the community has maintained its focus
Officials at the Wolfsburg-based company said the surging euro has pushed plans for a production facility forward. The 15-nation currency has hit record highs recently against the U.S. dollar, making goods exported from Germany more expensive in the United States.
Volkswagen recently moved its North American headquarters from suburban Detroit to Herndon, Va., outside Washington, to bring it closer to its East Coast customer base.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who landed in Chattanooga early today, said he is “enormously pleased” with the facility coming to Southeast Tennessee.
Erich Merkle, vice president of forecasting auto industry forecaster IRN Inc., said suppliers will build facilities to support the assembly plant.
Chattanooga beat out bids by Alabama and Michigan for the plant.
The announcement came Tuesday from Lower Saxony Minister President Christian Wulff, who sits on the supervisory board of Europe's largest automaker. VW to build plant in Chattanooga By: Mike Pare ... more -
President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.
Nor is it certain that Bush’s amber light would ever turn to green without irrefutable evidence of lethal Iranian hostility. Tehran’s test launches of medium-range ballistic missiles last week were seen in Washington as provocative and poorly judged, but both the Pentagon and the CIA concluded that they did not represent an immediate threat of attack against Israeli or US targets. President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear... more -
As gas prices go up, auto deaths drop
WASHINGTON - High gas prices could turn out to be a lifesaver for some drivers. The authors of a new study say gas prices are causing driving declines that could result in a third fewer auto deaths annually, with the most dramatic drop likely to be among teen drivers.
Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School said they found that for every 10 percent increase in gas prices there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths. For drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent.
Their study looked at fatalities from 1985 to 2006, when gas prices reached about $2.50 a gallon. With gas now averaging more than $4 a gallon, Morrisey said he expects to see much greater drop — about 1,000 deaths a month.
With annual auto deaths typically ranging from about 38,000 to 40,000 a year, a drop of 12,000 deaths would cut the total by nearly a third, Morrisey said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"I think there is some silver lining here in higher gas prices in that we will see a public health gain," Grabowski said. But he cautioned that their estimate of a decline of 1,000 deaths a month could be offset somewhat by the shift under way to smaller, lighter, more fuel-efficient cars and the increase in motorcycle and scooter driving.
Morrisey said the study also found the "same kind of symmetry" between gas prices and auto deaths when prices go down.
"When that happens we drive more, we drive bigger cars, we drive faster and fatalities are higher," he said.
Morrisey and Grabowski found a nearly identical relationship between gas prices and auto deaths in an earlier study that covered 1983 to 2000. The studies used auto deaths tabulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which hasn't yet released figures for 2007.
Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said it makes sense that auto deaths would decline as driving decreases in response to rising gas prices.
"There are a whole bunch of factors that are influenced by higher gasoline prices — teenagers don't have as much money, so you have the most risky drivers driving less; people are switching out of the bigger, older more dangerous vehicles, and people also know if they drive slower they're going to save gasoline," Ditlow said. "So, from a societal viewpoint, higher gasoline prices have a great number of benefits, and one of the most important benefits is fewer traffic fatalities."
But Ditlow said he would be "delighted and amazed" to see deaths drop by a third. He said the declines in driving, while record-setting, still aren't great enough to suggest such a dramatic drop is likely.
The Department of Transportation said last month that Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April, the sixth month in a row that driving was down and a historic turnaround after decades of annual increases in driving.
"We're out there on a limb a little bit," Morrisey acknowledged, "but given that we get such consistent stories across the two time periods (in both studies) with somewhat different methodology, they seem to be pretty robust estimates."
Morrisey and Grabowski presented their findings to a meeting of the American Society of Health Economists in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., last month. The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. WASHINGTON - High gas prices could turn out to be a lifesaver for some drivers. The authors of a new study say gas prices are causing ... more -
Second near collision at JFK prompts changes
WASHINGTON - Two airborne planes — one landing and the other taking off — came within a half-mile of colliding at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday in the second such incident at the airport in a week, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA moved quickly to change takeoff and landing procedures at JFK on perpendicular runways — the kind of runways involved in both incidents.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said a Delta Flight 123 was arriving at the airport Friday when the pilot decided to abort his landing and execute a "go-around" — a routine procedure often used during heavy congestion. That caused the Delta flight to intersect with the flight path of Comair Flight 1520, a regional jet that was taking off on another runway.
The FAA ordered new procedures Friday afternoon to change the way takeoffs and landings on perpendicular runways are sequenced, Brown said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The new procedures are designed to ensure "that aircraft of one runway clear out of the path of the other runway before the second flight comes down on the other runway," Brown said. "We've had two events recently and I think we want to make sure the appropriate safety margins are in place."
Last Saturday, a Cayman Airways flight was landing at JFK when the pilot decided to abort the landing a fly around the airport again as a LAN Chile jet was taking off. Their flight paths crossed, bringing the planes within about 200 feet of each other vertically and a half-mile horizontally. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating that incident.
On Friday, the Delta jet, a Boeing 757, and the Comair plane, a Bombardier CRJ9, came within 600 feet of each other vertically and a half-mile horizontally, the FAA said.
The agency said it was not classifying either incident as a "near collision" because there was no violation of standards for how apart planes can fly, Brown said.
Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin initially said the incident took place a week ago on July 4. However, Laughlin later told The Associated Press that the FAA was correct, and the incident took place on Friday at 1:20 p.m. Comair is a subsidiary of Delta.
"This did happen today," Laughlin said. "This is what we call, and what the FAA classifies, as a 'proximity event.'"
Laughlin said she didn't know how many people were aboard the Delta flight, which came from Shannon, Ireland, but the plane seats 170 passengers.
Dean Iacopelli, a representative for the New York National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the FAA has "terminated that perpendicular simultaneous approach procedure."
Barrett Byrnes, who president of the controllers union at the JFK tower, said controllers have long sought the procedure changes.
"The FAA put out an order to JFK to no longer use that approach. That's exactly what we wanted to happen," Byrnes said. "We've been trying to change that for the last 12, 13 years. It's been an accident waiting to happen."
Friday's incident began when the Delta flight was handed off from the FAA's traffic control center in Westbury, N.Y., to the JFK tower as the plane prepared to land. In the handoff, the Delta pilot apparently wasn't using the communication frequency the flight was assigned to communicate with the JFK tower, Brown said.
The JFK tower and the Delta jet did not establish contact until the flight was 1.5 miles from touching down on the runway, Brown said. The flight was cleared to land by the tower, but the pilot decided to abort the landing, Brown said. WASHINGTON - Two airborne planes — one landing and the other taking off — came within a half-mile of colliding at John F. Kennedy Inte... more -
Obama NASCAR driver sponsor
Apparently aiming for blue-collar white voters he had trouble attracting during the Democratic primary campaign, presidential candidate Barack Obama is reportedly in discussions to sponsor a driver in an upcoming NASCAR race.SportsIllustrated.com's Tom Bowles has the scoop on the first politician's foray into the fastest growing sport in the US.SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR's premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama's campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing's No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.A BAM spokesperson has revealed the team will hold a press conference July 23 in Miami to reveal the partnership, currently a proposed one-race deal with an option to continue. Obama will be at the briefing, which will be tied to the "Get Out The Vote" campaign message he spread throughout the 2008 primary season.An Obama campaign spokeswoman did not immediately return RAW STORY's request for comment. Bowles says one sponsorship option would give Obama supporters a chance to have their names printed on the race car in exchange for donations as little as $100. Such a move would seem to coincide with Obama's populist campaign themes and might encourage more giving from the army of small dollar donors who already have helped the Illinois senator shatter fundraising records. While so-called "NASCAR Dads" were seen as a key demographic four years ago, no campaign has made such a direct foray to communicate with fans in a forum where they are more used to seeing advertisements for alcohol or energy drinks.In 2004, NASCAR drive Kirk Shelmerdine placed his own Bush/Cheney decal on his car, although the ad space was not purchased by the campaign. He was later admonished by the FEC for the display.Should the deal come off with BAM Racing's car No. 49, it would mark the first time a major US presidential candidate has been a primary sponsor on a vehicle in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) series.Ken Schrader would drive the Toyota-powered entry at Pocono in a state thought to be a battleground for US electoral college votes in November's election between Obama and Republican rival John McCain.The team has raced only once since March 30 in Martinsville for lack of sponsorship money and the car must qualify at Pocono on speed. BAM Racing has only six top-10 showings in 167 starts since 2002. Apparently aiming for blue-collar white voters he had trouble attracting during the Democratic primary campaign, presidential candidat... more
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