Cherokee Sage Woman

Antarctic Air Temps Rising Three Times Faster Than Rest of World...
The Times of London March 31, 2006 at 12:26 AM

Air temperatures above the entire frozen continent of Antarctica have risen three times faster than the rest of the world during the past 30 years.
While it is well established that temperatures are increasing rapidly in the Antarctic Peninsula, the land tongue that protrudes towards South America, the trend has been harder to confirm over the continent as a whole.
Now analysis of weather balloon data by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has shown that not only are the lower reaches of the Antarctic atmosphere warming, but that they are doing so at the fastest rate observed anywhere on Earth.

Bush joining spring breakers in Cancun
/ Associated Press

CANCUN, Mexico - College students looking for fun over spring break are going to have some heavy company in this Mexican resort. President Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada are coming, too, bringing portfolios of problems, gun-toting security agents and traffic-clogging motorcades.

Man Accidentally Divorces Wife in Sleep

By Associated PressPublished March 28, 2006, 3:06 PM CST
NEW DELHI -- Village elders ordered a Muslim man in eastern India to leave his wife after he accidentally divorced her in his sleep, a news report said Tuesday. Aftab Ansari uttered the Urdu word for divorce, "talaq," three times in his sleep, prompting his worried wife to discuss the matter with her friends, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. Under Islamic law, a husband need only say "I divorce you" three times to secure a permanent end to his marriage. Muslim leaders in the couple's village in West Bengal state found out and decreed that Ansari's unconscious utterances constituted a divorce, PTI reported. But 30-year-old Ansari said he had no intention of leaving his wife of 11 years. "I have not given talaq. When I uttered talaq three times I had taken medicines to help me sleep," he was quoted as saying in the report. The religious leaders said that before remarrying, the couple would have to be apart for at least 100 days and that the wife, Sohela, would also have to spend a night with another man and then be divorced by him. PTI reported that the couple has been ostracized because of their refusal to abide by the decision of the village leaders.

http://reference.aol.com/globalwarming/timemagazine?id=20060327120109990001

When I woke up this morning, next to the mate of my soul.. I was reminded that 5 years ago today, I didn't even know he existed. Tomorrow will mark the 5 year annversary of our 1st email. That tremulous little missive that puts your heart, ego & future 'on the line' to either be shot down, or elevated to new heights. We were both members of Match.com.. looking for our perfect partners in the elusive bounds of cyber-space. I had not seen his ad, but he says that he had seen mine & was trying to build up courage to send a note. Telling himself, 'you can't win, if you don't try'.. he emailed me a pithy little note that caught my eye. The next day we found out we shared the same obscure birthdate. Obviously from that point on, it was kismet.

8 days later we had our 1st date. One month later, we were engaged. Two months after our 1st email we were married. Never let it be said that we old farts drag our feets! It's just like that lovely line in 'When Harry Meets Sally'.. "When you know what you want for the rest of your life, you're ready for your life to begin right now!"
And so we did.. and are.. & forever will be.

http://wewillnotbesilenced.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday it would hold a hearing next week on a call by a Democratic lawmaker to censure
President George W. Bush for his domestic spy program.
In a one-sentence notice, the panel said the hearing would be held next Friday by the order of its chairman, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, who has opposed censure.
Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record) of Wisconsin introduced a resolution last week calling for a Senate censure of the president, charging that Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program was illegal. Revelation of the once-secret program has triggered a political uproar.
Feingold, who has attracted little support from fellow Democrats for censure, said unless a hearing was held he would push for a vote by the full Senate on his resolution.
The White House and many Republicans in Congress have denounced Feingold's censure resolution as a political stunt.

=Unless you become more watchful in your States and check this spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will in the end find that the most important powers of Government have been given or bartered away, and the control of your dearest interests have been passed into the hands of these corporations: Andrew Jackson, farewell address, 04 March 1837

="What is the great Amercican sin? Extravagance? Vice? Graft? No; it is a kind of half-humorous, good-natured indifference, a lack of "concentrated indignation" as my English friend calls it, which allows extravagance and vice to flourish. Trace most of our ills to their source, and it is found that they exist by virtue of an easy-going, fatalistic indifference which dislikes to have its comfort disturbed....The most shameless greed, the most sickening industrial atrocities, the most appalling public scandals are exposed, but a half-cynical and wholly indifferent public passes them by with hardly a shrug of the shoulders; and they are lost in the medley of events. This is the great American sin.": Joseph Fort Newman, Atlantic Monthly, October 1922

Bush's "Uncle Bucky" Collected Millions From Sale Of Company That Profited From War...
LA Times

As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war.
A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that William H.T. Bush collected just under $1.9 million in cash plus stock valued at more than $800,000 from the sale of Engineered Support Systems Inc. to DRS Technologies of New Jersey.

Barbara Bush Katrina Donation Earmarked For Son Neil's Software Co....
The Houston Chronicle CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA March 23, 2006 at 01:08 PM

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.
Since then, the Ignite Learning program has been given to eight area schools that took in substantial numbers of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

TAX RETURNS FOR SALE? The IRS is proposing changes in privacy protections that would let commercial tax preparers more easily sell personal financial information from tax returns – or even copies of the entire return itself – to data brokers and marketers.

The first question came from a woman in the audience and her question was: "Thank you for coming to Cleveland, Mr. Prresident and the Cleveland Club. My question is that author and former Nixon administration official, Kevin Phillips ,in his latest book, American Theocracy, discusses what has been called radical Chritianity and it's growing involvement into government and politics. He makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise in terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this? That the war in Iraq and the rise in terrosim are signs of the apocalypse. And, if not, why not?"
President Bush: Um..uh...er...(laughter from audience and Bush)...um..uh... I....the answer is...I haven't really thought of it that way (heh, heh) (crowd laughs). Here's how I think of it. Um...first, I've heard of that by the way. I..uh.. the...uh..I, I guess...um...I'm more of a practical fellow. I vowed after September 11th that I would do everything I could to protect the American people. And...uh...my attitude, of course, was affected by the attacks.
I knew we were at a war. I knew that the enemy obviously had to be sophisticated and lethal to fly hijcacked airplanes...uh...into facilities of people, innocent people doing nothing, just sitting there going to work. I also knew this about this war on terror that...uh..that uh....the farther we got away from September 11th the more likely that people would, you iknow, seek comfort and not think about this global war on terror as a global war on terror. And, that's good, by the way.

Amazon alters search siteAmazon has changed the way its search site handles the term "abortion." This comes after a customer complained about receiving a prompt asking, "Did you mean adoption?" Amazon claims no bias, saying the message was purely a result of technology.

A Moment of Silence Is Not Enough

Monday 20 March 2006
On March 18th Sara Rich, mother of an AWOL US soldier, gave this address at an anti-war rally in Eugene, Oregon.
Hello - I came to you in September praying for peace as I was bound by the fear of my daughter's impending redeployment to Iraq.
WHO SAYS LIGHTNING DOESN'T STRIKE TWICE? We got the date for her redeployment 9 months before her entitled 18 months decompression time. Her commanding officer forced her to sign a waiver of her rights to decompression time between deployments and gave her a date 11 months after she returned from Iraq the first time. Then, a few weeks later, she got her readiness papers - that 6 months after she hopefully returned from Iraq the second time, she was scheduled to go over for yet another year. Making it three deployments to Iraq in less that four years.
All of our hearts were heavy. Three days before her actual redeployment, she was packed and ready to go, she had her car keys in her hand, and she turned to me and said, "I don't think I can do this." I was shocked but knew any type of coercion on my part would not help, so I said, "Are you serious?" She replied, "I just can't do it, Mom." She could not go back there to the misery. She told me that being separated from her family and living and breathing Army for a year at a time in a war zone was a constant source of distress for her. Where nobody cares whether you live or die as long as you do what you are told and they look good afterwards. Nor could she handle another deployment, dealing with the daily hour-to-hour sexual harassment that she endured from 99% of her male officers and fellow soldiers. The isolation and fear of being attacked, harassed, molested and raped was a huge part of her life in Iraq. She was always full of anxiety and stress just keeping herself safe when her commanding officers would show up banging on her door in the middle of the night, intoxicated and wanting to have sex with her. The intimidation and sexual harassment that our female soldiers are enduring is leading to massive stress and in some cases even death for our military women in Iraq. They are not supported but shamed when they bring these to the attention of their superiors.
I TOOK A DEEP BREATH and I told her either way she is my hero and I will support her decision. She decided that she was going to go AWOL and to leave the Army.
That the US is in Iraq for something that is pointless was a common feeling for many of the soldiers she was stationed with. The US is not the world police. Why can't we focus on the multiple crises we have in our own country? The hurricanes that took thousands of lives. Or why not go to Afghanistan, where there are actually terrorists? It is abominable that we are sending our troops over there and paying them a pittance - the average soldier that is married and has a family to support gets about $2,000 a month, and at the same time we are sending contractors from Blackwater over to do the same security jobs and paying them $15,000 a month to be there and risk their lives. This makes no sense, especially to our soldiers.
She kept asking, and now I'm asking you, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? This is an outrage and is just adding to the growing evidence that we are losing thousands of lives and causing permanent injuries to our soldiers, for what? Oil? Money? Why are we not trying to educate the Iraqis, if liberating them is so important.

Paris Hilton hits the language barrier
Frustration at Stavros chatting in Greek? •
March 20, 2006
Is a language barrier getting between Paris Hilton and her sweetie?
The partying heiress’s romance with Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos reportedly is kaput because she’s tired of him speaking in another language.
It all came to a head, according to Life & Style Weekly, during a recent night at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.

“Stavros was with a Greek friend, and Paris was freaking out because she couldn’t understand what they were saying,” an insider told the mag. “She thought they were laughing at her.”

When Paris, 25, looked like she was about to cry, Stavros, 20, didn’t offer any support, which, says the insider, was the final straw: “Paris has never seemed so upset. She really thought that Stavros was the one.”

A day after news reports spread the word of a supposed snub against President Bush, Jessica Simpson tried to get back in the GOP's graces. Simpson, in Washington to promote charity Operation Smile when she declined an invitation to a Republican fund-raising gala, let her manager dad handle damage control. People magazine quoted Joe Simpson: "We are huge fans of him and of his family, his girls. Jessica loves the heck out of him"

CRUISE CONTROL SCARES 'PARK'

March 17, 2006 -- HOLLYWOOD bully Tom Cruise got Comedy Central to cancel Wednesday night's cablecast of a controversial "South Park" episode about Scientology by warning that he'd refuse to promote "Mission Impossible 3," insiders say.
Since Paramount is banking on "MI3" to rake in blockbuster profits this summer, and Paramount is owned by Viacom, which also owns Comedy Central, the tactic worked.
The "South Park" episode, "Trapped in the Closet," pokes fun at Scientology and shows Cruise, John Travolta and R. Kelly (who is not a Scientologist, but has a song called "Trapped in the Closet") literally in a closet.
The episode, which first aired last November, was set to rerun Wednesday night, but was mysteriously pulled at the last minute.
Now, hollywoodinterrupted.com reports Cruise went straight to the top - to execs at Viacom - and warned he'd boycott the promotion for "MI3" unless the "South Park" episode was pulled.
Series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been told not to discuss the matter - to avoid embarrassing Cruise as they did Isaac Hayes last week when Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit his role as the voice of the Chef character.
Hayes claimed he couldn't stand by while "South Park" made fun of religion, but Stone pointed out that Hayes had cashed plenty of checks while the show made fun of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Stone hinted that Hayes was pressed to quit by his minders in the Church of Scientology.



A rep for Comedy Central, asked if Cruise was responsible for the "Closet" episode being yanked, attributed it instead to Hayes' resignation, saying, "In light of the events of earlier this week, we wanted to give Chef an appropriate tribute by airing two episodes he is most known for." But TV insiders weren't buying that explanation.
Now the question is whether Comedy Central will ever again air "Trapped in the Closet" and whether it will be included on the DVD of the show's ninth season.
Cruise has a history of playing hardball. He is allegedly responsible for the missing sex scene his fiancée Katie Homes filmed (before she started dating Tom) in "Thank You for Smoking," which opens today.
And who will ever forget the way Cruise shouted down Matt Lauer on the "Today" show when Lauer argued that some people have been helped by prescription drugs?

JESSICA SIMPSON NIXES W.
Reuters


March 16, 2006 -- LOS ANGELES - Concerned about politicizing her favorite charity, actress Jessica Simpson yesterday turned down an invitation to meet with President Bush - a snub that left Republicans dismayed.
The blond "Dukes of Hazzard" star still plans to visit Washington today to lobby Congress on behalf of Operation Smile, a nonprofit venture offering free plastic surgery for disadvantaged children with facial deformities.
But she declined a request to appear that same evening at the gala fund-raiser of the National Republican Congressional Committee - even after she was offered some private face time with the president.

U.N. Overrules U.S. On Human Rights

UNITED NATIONS, March 15, 2006

(AP) U.N. member states ignored U.S. opposition and overwhelmingly approved a new Human Rights Council on Wednesday, attempting to strengthen the world body's machinery to deal with major human rights offenders. The 191-member General Assembly burst into sustained applause when its president, Jan Eliasson, announced the results of the vote: 170 in favor, 4 against, and 3 abstentions.

Government To Reduce Mad Cow Testing
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2006
.

"This starts to be so small that in our opinion, it approaches a policy of 'Don't look, don't find.'"
Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiativesConsumers Union
(AP) Despite the confirmation of a third case of mad cow disease, the government intends to scale back testing for the brain-wasting disorder blamed for the deaths of more than 150 people in Europe.

Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park' Over 'Bigotry'


NEW YORK (March 13) - Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.
MHayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
"South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."
Last November, "South Park" targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called "Trapped in the Closet." In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.
Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
03/13/06 17:07 EST

BUSH-BASH KID A SITE TO BEHOLD

March 13, 2006 -- A Texas father has refused to pay for his son's college education - unless the 17-year-old switches allegiances and becomes a Republican.
But Dallas high-school junior Teddy Gambordella Jr. has struck back. He's launched a Web site where fellow Bush bashers can rant - in ads that Teddy hopes will pay for college.
Ted Sr., a 57-year-old martial-arts expert, had told Teddy that unless he signs with the GOP, he will not see one red cent.

"I'm serious - he's got to earn his own way," said Ted Sr. "I've been training him for 17 years to be a Republican - and he went crazy at dinner and said he was a now Democrat."
But Ted Jr. is doing fine - his OneMillionReasonsWhy.com has already passed the $1,000 mark.
"I want to get everyone in the world who does not like Bush to take out an ad or link to a Web site and share with the world why they also don't like Bush, until we get the one million reasons to not like Bush - and I get my college paid for," he said.

Tennessee Follows South Dakota, Passes Constitutional Amendment Banning Abortion...
ABC News | March 9, 2006 at 11:25 PM

-- The state Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution so that it doesn't guarantee a woman's right to an abortion.

The 24-9 vote was the first step of many toward officially amending the state constitution. The measure would go before voters if the General Assembly approves it twice over the next two years.

Dubai Company Transferring US Operations To "American Entity"...
Associated Press March 9, 2006 at 01:50 PM

As congressional leaders warned President Bush that both the House and Senate appeared ready to block a Dubai-owned company from taking over operations at some U.S. ports, the company said Thursday that it was prepared to give up its management stake.


It was not immediately clear whether the announcement would be enough to cool widespread sentiment in Congress to pass legislation blocking the deal, which has become an election-year nightmare for Republicans.

One of the many many reasons I chose to move to SE Tennessee was to experience 'seasons' again. Growing up in Oklahoma, some of the seasons were fraught w/ danger i.e., 'Tornado Season'.. and then living in AZ, one grew used to just 2 seasons.. 'warm & hot'. Missouri took me to 'cold & coldest'. And then to lovely FL which has really only one.. 'balmy'.(Ocassionally 'sweaty' may be added to that)
So I was ready to get the full Monty of Mother nature here in the mtns of TN. And she hasn't disappointed.. We were blessed w/ a colorful autumn, a fairly mild winter (breaking us in easy)w/ a couple of pretty snows. And now we anticipate spring. Ma Nature being a bit of a tease.. is just alluding to some 'hot house happenings' later on in the month. But for now, this is what were seeing & it's enough to get the juices flowing. Bring it on Baby! I'm ready..

Bush Orders DHS to Create Center for Faith-Based Aid

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 8, 2006;

President Bush ordered the Department of Homeland Security yesterday to create a center for faith-based and community initiatives within 45 days to eliminate regulatory, contracting and programmatic barriers to providing federal funds to religious groups to deliver social services, the White House announced last night.

Donald Trump: "If Ivanka Weren't My Daughter, Perhaps I'd Be Dating Her"...
Associated Press | March 7, 2006 at 11:24 PM

Donald Trump joked that he would date his 24-year-old daughter, Ivanka - if he weren't her father.

Trump and Ivanka, a vice president of real estate development at the Trump Organization, appeared Monday on ABC's "The View" to promote her five-episode stint as a boardroom adviser on "The Apprentice."

Let’s go Ghandi

March 7 2006

Yesterday my sister Cindy Sheehan was arrested outside of the U.S. mission to the United Nations. A contingent of Women which included Cindy, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, Missy Beattie a GSFP member whose Nephew Chase Comley was killed in Iraq and eight Iraqi women were attempting to deliver the Women Say no to War petition to the U.S. mission. This visit was pre approved by the mission. As the women arrived one of New York’s finest “cited a change of plans from “higher up” and moved in to arrest them. Four of the women, Cindy, Medea, Missy and code pink member Patti Ackerman were handled very roughly during their arrest. The women linked arms when it became apparent they were to be arrested. For this they were physically abused and charged with resisting arrest.

What will it take for the majority of you who don’t support the occupation of Iraq or the Bush regime to rise up? Polls tell us that 59% of you believe the occupation is wrong and we are being lied to by Bush. I do not see 160 million of you out in the streets. Again, what will it take? I will tell you what it took to get me off of my ass. It took my sweet beautiful nephew Casey’s blood spilling in Sadr City Baghdad. It took watching my sister and family suffer a pain I don’t think I can ever explain well enough but know it is a pain I would not even wish on the Bush family. I feel an indefensible guilt because of my apathy. I live daily thinking maybe Casey and 2300 other kids would still be alive if I had been in the streets prior to March 19 2003. Our civil rights are slowly being taken from us.

The Senate voted 89-10 to renew the Patriot Act. It still must pass the house. After hearing of the Dubai port deal and learning of the illegal wire tapping of Peace activists it is very apparent to me that the Patriot Act is used more to curtail the actions of U.S. citizens than to protect us from Terrorists. Patriot Act II will further increase the powers of the Bush regime and further diminish our rights.

So when will you wake up and rise up?

Will it be when you are arrested for trying to deliver a petition to a Government entity that your tax dollar pays?

Will it be when you are arrested for wearing a shirt a government official finds offensive?

Will it be when your e-mails and phone conversations are monitored by the NSA?

Will it be when your Childs brains are blown out in a foreign country?

Tell me please what it will take?

I was having this conversation with a dear friend of mine. Someone on our side. But a person comfortable in life and as yet untouched by the last 5 years. When I asked her to speak out, call her congressman, newspaper, etc. She said to me “who would listen?” my answer to her, no one if you don’t do anything.

I can’t stress enough to you. At some point your life is going to be impacted by this administration of evil and greed. I implore you, I beg you, don’t wait until it is too late. The time is now to take our country back. The time is now to make our elected official do our will.

Non Violent Civil Disobedience is a time tested and proven tool to effect change.

To quote Ghandi:

You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees.
An evil system never deserves such allegiance.
Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.
A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.

We must as Rep. Maxine Waters puts it “put street heat” on congress. It is time for us to as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it “ cast our whole vote”.

You must now be willing to do as much as you can to reclaim our country. Can you make daily phone calls to your Senators and Congressmen? I think you can. Can you get out one hour a week in front of the homes of your Congressional reps demanding they do our will?

I think you can. Will you dig your heals in and stand your ground when they will not listen? I think you should.

It is time to go Ghandi on them……will you?

In Peace,

Dede Miller

Proud Auntie of Casey Sheehan KIA Iraq 04/04/04

Gold Star Families for Peace

www.gsfp.org

Please visit our website for ways to get active

GOP Worried About Losing Control Of House In November...
US News & World Report | Gloria Borger | March 4, 2006 at 10:03 PM

So it has finally come to this: Congressional Republicans, once a compliant bunch, are now openly defiant. In some ways, it's not surprising: The president is a lame duck, leading an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq, and his personal popularity is at an all-time low. After all, members of Congress are most loyal to themselves when it comes to saving their jobs. And Republicans are worried that they could actually lose control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections. "It's not that we feel we now can [criticize the White House]," says one nervous House Republican. "It's that we feel we must." Survival is a basic instinct.

But something else is happening: Republicans are truly miffed at a White House that they consider too secretive, too arrogant, and too interested in extending its own power. When the president threatened to veto legislation to block a Dubai company from operating six American ports, that was too much--even for some conservatives. "I think the administration has looked at the legitimate power of the executive during a time of war and taken it to extremes," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told me. "[It's] to the point that we'd lose constitutional balance. Under their theory, there would be almost no role for the Congress or the courts." Mississippi's Sen. Trent Lott put it more succinctly: "Don't put your fist in my face."

USA TODAY
Fri Mar 3, 7:57 AM ET



Ridiculing the Federal Emergency Management Agency is high art in the Gulf Coast areas where Hurricane Katrina hit last year.

Many parade floats in New Orleans' Mardi Gras were decorated in themes that skewered the relief agency.


George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fisherman's Association, has been selling anti-FEMA T-shirts since last fall, a reflection of his frustration with the federal government's response to the storm that left him homeless and unemployed.


But on Feb. 1, when he handed a shirt to a fellow Katrina victim as he was picking up canned goods at a charity's relief tent, Barisich found himself in trouble with the government.


He was cited by a group of Homeland Security officials for selling a T-shirt on federal property - in this case, near a FEMA center in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Chalmette, La.


Barisich, 49, says he didn't sell the shirt, which said: "Flooded by Katrina! Forgotten by FEMA! What's Next, Mr. Bush?" He says he gave it away.


The government is sticking to its guns. "If we ignored this violation, you could have potentially 20 to 30 people standing out in front of the (FEMA) center, obstructing things," says Dean Boyd, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman. "We've got a duty and a job under the law."

Protests Paralyze Pakistan
Anti-U.S. protests erupted in several Pakistani cities Friday, with crowds burning American flags, chanting "Death to Bush" and scuffling with police shortly before the U.S. president was to arrive for a two-day visit.

PORT-A-GATE: TOP TEN REASONS BUSH BACKS CONTROL OF PORTS BY ARAB-OWNED COMPANY

10. STRICTER LIMITS ON THE IMPORTATION OF PORNOGRAPHY.

9. LONGSHOREMEN ARE SO UGLY THEY’D LOOK BETTER IN A BURKA.

8. WITH THINGS GOING BADLY IN IRAQ, PERHAPS IT IS BETTER TO FIGHT THEM HERE INSTEAD OF OVER THERE.

7. ADDITIONAL REVENUE FROM HIGHER TARIFFS ON DANISH CARTOONS.

6. PRESSURE FROM REVERENDS FALWELL AND ROBERTSON TO IMPORT MORE VIRGINS.

5. NO REAL THREAT FROM TERRORISTS: DICK CHENEY WILL RIDE “SHOTGUN” ON ALL CONTAINER INSPECTIONS.

4. DEAL FOLLOWS BUSH DOCTRINE OF “FOX IN THE CHICKEN COOP”: SEE ENERGY BILL WRITTEN BY ENERGY COMPANIES.

3. WITH GLOBAL WARMING, WORLD IS GOING TO HELL ANYWAY.

2. BUSH FINALLY SUCCEEDS IN BEING A “UNITER, NOT A DIVIDER.”

1. WHOLE ISSUE IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NUTTIN’ — EVERYONE KNOWS PORTS ARE REALLY CONTROLLED BY THE MOB.

Video shows Bush Katrina warning

Video showing President George W Bush being warned on the eve of Hurricane Katrina that the storm could breach New Orleans' flood defences has emerged.
The footage, obtained by the Associated Press, also shows Mr Bush being told of the risk to evacuees in the Superdome.

It appears to contradict Mr Bush's statement four days after Katrina hit, when he said: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

Critics say more could have been done sooner to evacuate the city.