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]]> http://enewsreference.wordpress.com/?p=135 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:40:49 +0000 eNews Reference http://enewsreference.wordpress.com/?p=135

Obama mixes holiday and politics in Montana - Reuters

The Early Word- Pie in the Big Sky- - New York Times, United States

Today on the presidential campaign trail - The Associated Press

Barack Obama now wears his patriotism on his lapel - Los Angeles Times, CA

In Montana, Obama Tries to Rally Support on Iraq - New York Times, United States

In Montana on the Fourth, a Barometer of Obama's Chances - Washington Post, United States

Obama’s Independence Day - FoxNews

Obama Enjoying the Red and Blue of Montana - ABC News

Obama and family spend Fourth of July in Montana - The Associated Press

We have some interesting things in store for the week.

1. Family... Not only do my inlaws live in Mobile, but seems like their whole side of the family is going to be in for the 4th.

2. Church... My father in law is pastoring a nice church in White Fork House (I think this is the name of the community). Since most of his congregation seems to be chillin at the beach over the holiday, I get to do what I do best and play a little music this weekend and be a fill-in musician.

3. Shrimpin?... I guess that is how you would spell it....I've heard Shrampin, Schrimphin, Shirmppin, and Shrimp fisssin. But regardless, going shrimpin should be fun for this indian that can't swim.

4. Beach... We got to go to a little beach today, just for lunch and drive around a bit, but this sometimes this week, we are going to make a day of hanging out at the beach. I should be able to darken my albino pigment just a bit and actually look native for a day or two.

5. U.S.S. Alabama.... As a kid growing up, my family used to go to Big Cypress, Florida every Christmas. This was an unforgetable adventure. I got to ride in air boats, go gator hunting, see canals with gators.... was a fun time. The only part I didn't like was the 3 day drive..... Yes 3 days. Remember back in the day the speed limit was 55 mphs and my family didn't like driving through out the day. The only highlight of the trip was in Mobile, AL, there was this big boat and a tunnel. So while I'm here we are going to tour the U.S.S Alabama. Should be fun

I plan to take some pictures and I might upload them later, but hopefully I won't forget my camera like I did today.

Overall fun official 1st day of vacation.......

OH yeah..... One thing I think I want to try is throwing this net into the water. I saw people doing this today. Not sure if this is shrimpin or not, but regardless, it looks fun.

Hey B'ham area friends,

You're invited to come along on a guided tour of Rural Studio this Friday, July 11th. We'll be leaving bright and early at 7:15 a.m. from the Disciples' Fellowship abbey (2970 Lorna Rd). We'll return around 5 p.m. Bring $10 for gas money and a picnic lunch.

Auburn University's Rural Studio in western Alabama draws architectural students into the design and construction of homes and public spaces in some of the poorest counties in the United States. They're creating beautiful and economical structures that are unique in the world — and that nurture sustainability of the natural world as of human dignity.

--Speaking of Faith on Rural Studio

Drop a line if you'll be joining us!

The Rural Studio model for architecture has so many parallels with Christian community, and the vision was born of the late Samuel "Sambo" Mockbee, a man of radical faith. Rural Studio is incarnational, as students who are working on projects actually live within the community that they are hoping to bless. It is relational, as students are commissioned to get to know families and the surrounding community in order to better see and meet needs. It is missional, as students seek to transform the world around them by going out, discerning needs, and bringing a bit of heaven to earth. It is social, as students seek to offer a bit of decency for those who had no other way out. It is redemptive, as RS recycles and reuses materials, putting new use to old things without consuming more than necessary.  And RS is holisitic, as it seeks to bless not just individuals but communities, and seeks not just to build structures but physically bless lives.

this site tells the story well.

SOF podcast is here.

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!

New posts:

Officials, activists blast plan to bring more chemical weapons to Anniston

By Dan Whisenhunt
Staff Writer

07-03-2008

Local leaders and activists on Wednesday blasted an idea floated by the Pentagon that could see chemical weapons trucked across state lines into Anniston and other incinerator sites for destruction.

Most elected officials contacted said they would oppose shipping chemical weapons from other states to Anniston.

"Not if I have anything to do with it they won't," Gov. Bob Riley said in an e-mail. "I know what (the Pentagon and Congress) promised the people of Calhoun County."

The idea of transporting the weapons is decades old and has always been unpopular, observers said. But, with the increased focus on terrorism since 2001, the idea of moving truckloads of dangerous chemicals around the country raises not only safety but also security concerns.

"While chemical demilitarization in Anniston, Alabama has been extremely successful, I believe the transportation risks of moving these weapons across state lines outweigh the benefits," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said in a statement. "We cannot sacrifice safety and security for expediency."

The Pentagon raised the specter of transporting these weapons in a semi-annual report released to Congress in June on the progress of destroying the U.S. chemical stockpile.

In 1997, the U.S. signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, a treaty which called for the destruction of all stockpiles by 2007, a date that was moved to 2012.

The plans called for destroying these weapons at the sites where they were stored. In most places, that meant constructing incinerators like the one at the Anniston Army Depot.

Some communities fought that plan and insisted on neutralization, which does not require a furnace. Two of those sites — in Colorado and Kentucky — still haven't begun disposing of their weapons.

The Pentagon says those sites likely will not be able to destroy their stockpiles by the 2012 deadline or by an extended 2017 deadline.

Department of Defense spokesman Chris Isleib said 90 percent of the stockpile will be destroyed by 2012. But he said "unforeseen emergent costs" made it impossible to safely destroy all weapons by that deadline.

Congress moved the goal post back to 2017 for total destruction of the stockpile, but Isleib said "delays … may require more time than that."

The remaining 10 percent are at Bluegrass Army Depot in Kentucky and Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. Those facilities, which are still under construction, will neutralize weapons instead of burning them. Kathy DeWeese, spokeswoman for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program overseeing the two sites, said those stockpiles won't be destroyed until 2020 in Colorado and 2023 in Kentucky.

Greg Mahall, spokesman for the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency which oversees Anniston's incinerator, stressed the decision on transporting weapons is for Congress to make.

Isleib said transporting these weapons would help the United States meet the 2017 goal but said the option has "significant challenges." Congress would have to change the law to allow transportation of these weapons. It would also require changing federal and state environmental requirements and modifying hazardous waste permits at incinerator sites.

Alabama Department of Environmental Management spokesman Scott Hughes said the incinerator would have to request changes to permits that allow for the destruction of weapons here. The public also would get a chance to comment on those changes.

Comments from public officials and activists Wednesday were almost unanimously against the idea.

"Back in 2005, (Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks) said it would happen only over his cold, dead body, and to this day, he remains adamantly opposed to this absurd, unrealistic idea," Rogers' office said in a statement.

Craig Williams, director of the nonprofit Chemical Weapons Working Group in Kentucky, called investigating the idea a waste of taxpayer money.

"I think there's a better chance that I'll wake up with a full head of hair in the morning," Williams said.

Anniston Mayor Chip Howell said "shock" was his first reaction to the report and said he would oppose any attempt to truck more weapons into the Model City. Calhoun County Commissioner Robert Downing said he wasn't surprised by the report because he always suspected the Army would try to important chemical weapons into Calhoun County after building the $2 billion incinerator.

He said he would do "everything within my power" to keep the weapons off the county's doorstep.

Calhoun County Commission Chairman Eli Henderson has supported sending waste from the neutralization process to Anniston for treatment, but wasn't completely on board with sending all weapons to Anniston. He said wouldn't be opposed to sending mustard agent to Anniston because, "There are things more dangerous than that going up and down the road."

Glen Browder, who held Rogers' seat in Congress from 1989 to 1997, said he thinks the Pentagon mentioned transportation in the report to cover its bases.

"They state options knowing full well that those options are not serious or realistic so they need to put them on record," Browder said. "So whenever they don't meet the timelines, they have it clearly laid out that they touched base, laid out the current time lines and were turned down."

David Christian and Rufus Kinney, two local activists who opposed the incinerator, were not shocked by the report. Christian said the Pentagon will continue to pressure states to accept weapons at their sites.

"Anniston will be the biggest toxic dumping ground in the eastern United States if this happens," Kinney said. "But I don't think it will happen."

The Anniston incinerator began destroying weapons in 2003. It has eliminated the local stockpile of weapons filled with sarin nerve agent, and is currently working on destruction of weapons armed with another nerve agent, VX. Weapons containing mustard blister agent remain to be processed.

Mike Abrams, spokesman for the incinerator, says the facility is on track to finish destroying all weapons by 2012.

Abrams declined to say what shipping more weapons would do to Anniston's timeline.

Travel Writers needed in SE US and Caribbean. Expenses, stipend. Contact Modern-Day Adventurer’s Guide offices in NYC @ (email address).

I don't know why, but that little ad appeals to me. Maybe it's just cause I'm wanting a change so bad right now. Old Gray Chicago and me are not getting along any more. And the South is an area that's always piqued my interest. The closest I ever came was Texas. I'd love to experience that flood of culture, hear people saying "ya'll" with those twangy voices; I'd love to hear a southern gal whisper sweet nothings in my ear while we slurp watermelon on the 4th of July. Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Asheville, Biloxi, Gatlinburg, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans...God! New Orleans! I think I'm going to apply for that job. I want to be an adventure writer. I want to move to...Alabama. Or South Carolina, or maybe even Florida. That's it. I'm moving, whether I get the job or not, I'm going south. Soon.

"He didn't mention sex specifically, but it was inferred," Christian said.

Oh, right. That.

This particular member of Lipscomb's Finest was already on probation for a 2007 misdemeanor conviction. Yes, in Lipscomb you can be both a criminal and a policeman. Actually, it seems kind of expected.

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!

The Fastest Way to Learn Portuguese!

THAIS VERDU

Brazilian Portuguese Trainer

thais.verdu@gmail.com

Private Portuguese Lessons:

* Affordable

* Fast and Effective

* Dynamic

* For Business, travel

* All Ages and Levels

* Online Classes also Available

* Business, travel or Specific Purposes

* Free Demo Class

Phone: (949)326.8723

Fax: (888)203.0258

Email: thais.verdu@gmail.com

Website: www.vipclasses.com

Teacher: Thais Verdu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese Language from Centro Universitario Ibero Americano, Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a specialist in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Her methodology is focused on conversation and leads the students to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.

Call or e-mail me today. This is a wonderful time to start expanding your language skills and learn more about Brazil!