Hello All,
Well, there were several picks for today. Here are the best. They range from the new Navy Ship, using Steel from the former Twin Towers, to news of a pet chihuahua suriviving a paragliding accident where he and his owner ended up in a tree. I hope you enjoy. :) See you tomorrow!
Top 5:
1. Navy Ship with Steel from World Trade Center Ruins is Christened USS New York (Fox News)
2. No. 2 Colombian rebel killed, government says (CNN)
3. UN Provides Vaccines To Yellow Fever Victims (Scoop News)
4. Special Delivery Makes Dad's Seventh Birthday (The Columbus Dispatch)
5. Women Parliamentarians Increasing World Over (Times of India)
Honorable Mentions:
1. Tiger Gets Root Canal (WMBD)
2. Italy's first woman 'boss of bosses' shakes up business world (Sydney Morning Herald)
3. Paragliding Chihuahua Survives Crash in Australia (Sydney Morning Herald)
4. Ohio Women Turn 104 Just 3 Days Apart (San Fransisco Chronicle)
Top 5:
1. Navy Ship with Steel from World Trade Center Ruins is Christened USS New York
Saturday, March 01, 2008
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334332,00.html
AVONDALE, La. — Thousands of people, including families of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, gathered Saturday for an at-times chilling and rallying service to christen a Navy ship built with twisted steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center.
The hulking grey USS New York, which abruptly rose from the horizon, bore a seal on the bow bearing 7.5 tons of steel from the site. The shield included two gray bars to symoblize the Twin Towers; a banner over that declared "Never Forget.""
May God bless this ship and all who sail on her," ship sponsor, Dotty England, said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.Story after story of lives lost, and touched, by the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens."
To New York, we say thank you for lending your sacred seal, your name," U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said. More importantly was that New York lent its spirit, he said.Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said ship names provide a legacy, and for their crews, serve as a source of strength and inspiration.When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. It was named the New York at the request of former New York Gov. George Pataki. The steel from the World Trade Center site is in the part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way."
It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It can carry about 360 sailors and 700 Marines who can be brought ashore via landing craft and helicopter. Its prospective commanding officer is Commander F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned next year, said England's wife, Dotty England, before the christening.Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said Sept. 11th was a turning point in the nation, and will never be forgotten because remnants of the disaster are part of the ship."
If the USS New York has to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, PCO Jones and his crew ... have my full support," he said to a standing ovation."May God bless this ship and all who sail on her," ship sponsor, Dotty England, said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.
Story after story of lives lost, and touched, by the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens."
To New York, we say thank you for lending your sacred seal, your name," U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said. More importantly was that New York lent its spirit, he said.Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said ship names provide a legacy, and for their crews, serve as a source of strength and inspiration.
When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. It was named the New York at the request of former New York Gov. George Pataki. The steel from the World Trade Center site is in the part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way.
"It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It can carry about 360 sailors and 700 Marines who can be brought ashore via landing craft and helicopter. Its prospective commanding officer is Commander F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned next year, said England's wife, Dotty England, before the christening.
Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said Sept. 11th was a turning point in the nation, and will never be forgotten because remnants of the disaster are part of the ship."
If the USS New York has to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, PCO Jones and his crew ... have my full support," he said to a standing ovation.
2. No. 2 Colombian Rebel Killed, Government Says
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/01/colombia.rebel/index.html
Saturday, March 01, 2008
(CNN) -- Colombian forces on Saturday killed the second in command of the country's main rebel group, a strike the government said was the most significant yet.
Luis Edgar Devia Silva, known as Raul Reyes, pictured in 1999, was a top leader of the rebel group FARC.
1 of 2 Luis Edgar Devia Silva, known as Raul Reyes, died in a joint operation conducted by Colombian national police and military forces, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters. The fighting took place just across the Ecuadorean border, he said.
Reyes was among 17 killed, Santos said. Also among the dead was Guillermo Enrique Torres, called Julian Conrado, who Santos said was a key ideologist for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The bodies of the two were in the hands of Colombian authorities, Santos said.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to inform him about the situation, Santos said.
Colombian air forces attacked a FARC camp from the Colombian side of the border, Santos said, adding that Colombia did not violate Ecuadorean airspace.
Bearded and with glasses, Reyes looked like a university professor who was dwarfed by his ever-present rifle, according to The Associated Press.
Don't MissFreed lawmakers arrive in Venezuela Millions march against rebels Conrado composed revolutionary songs that were played at rebel parties and distributed in videos, AP reported.
There was no immediate reaction from FARC to the death of Reyes, AP reported.
The U.S. State Department had offered a bounty of $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Reyes, according to AP, as well as the other six members of FARC's ruling secretariat.
The Marxist rebel group has been trying for some 40 years to overthrow the Colombian government.
On Wednesday, FARC released four former Colombian lawmakers who were among the estimated 750 hostages the group has held in the jungles of Colombia.
FARC has justified hostage-taking as a legitimate military tactic in a long-running and complex civil war that also has involved right-wing paramilitaries, government forces and drug traffickers. E-mail to a friend
CNN en Espanol's Maria Callejas contributed to this report.
3. UN Provides Vaccines To Yellow Fever Victims
Friday, 29 February 2008, 4:54 pmPress Release: United Nations http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00432.htm
UN Provides Vaccines To Help In Paraguayan Fight Against Yellow Fever Outbreak
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has organized the supply of two million doses of yellow fever vaccine to Paraguay as health authorities in the South American country battle a deadly outbreak of the viral disease.
The vaccine doses were obtained from the WHO’s International Coordinating Group on Provision of Vaccines, the agency said in an update released today. Brazil has sent 850,000 doses and Peru has dispatched 144,000, adding to the 300,000 that Paraguay already has on reserve.
More than one million people who live in or travel to the areas affected by the outbreak – which are largely the rural areas of the departments of San Pedro and Central, north and east of Asunción, the capital – have already been vaccinated, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Widespread spraying is also taking place to try to control the spread of yellow fever, which is transmitted by mosquitoes.
So far, 16 cases have been confirmed and another 15 are being investigated. Three people have died, all in San Lorenzo municipality, which lies in Central department close to Asunción. It follows a similar outbreak late last year and early this year in three states in neighbouring Brazil. In that outbreak, 13 people died.
Yellow fever derives its name from the jaundice that affects some sufferers, who tend to experience fever, muscle pain, headaches, loss of appetite, vomiting and/or nausea. While most patients recover, the disease can be deadly and the number of infected people has risen in recent years, despite the availability of an effective vaccine.
ends
4. Special Delivery Makes Dad's Seventh Birthday
Saturday, March 1, 2008 3:06 AM By Holly Zachariah
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/01/BABYLEAP.ART_ART_03-01-08_A1_KH9GMUQ.html?sid=101
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH NEAL C. LAURON
Josh Eskey got quite a birthday present, a son, Jayce Dylan, to share leap day with.To his parents, Jayce Dylan Eskey is a little, brown-haired bundle of goodness. To the rest of the world, he is a statistical anomaly.
Jayce is a Leapling, you see, born on Feb. 29. His Daddy is a Leapling, too.
And no, they didn't plan it this way. Really. They swear.
"Uh, not exactly," Jenn Eskey said, less than two hours after delivering Jayce at 2:15 p.m. yesterday at Riverside Methodist Hospital.
Jenn wasn't due until March 29 but had been on bed rest at the hospital for more than two weeks. So when a doctor told her they were about to induce labor, the actual date wasn't even on her radar screen.
"I'm a stomach sleeper," she said. "The only thing I was thinking about was how I would finally get a good night's sleep."
Josh Eskey, on the other hand, was ecstatic. To him, being a leap day baby is the coolest thing ever. Except for birthday-date computer glitches that made it difficult to register to vote and get a driver's license, he's had fun with it. He hopes his son will, too.
"It's always been a riot. I love all my birthdays, but today tops them all," Josh said. "He is the best birthday present ever, I can tell you that."
The Eskey clan now numbers six, and lives in New Marshfield in Athens County. Jenn is a 27-year-old probation officer, Josh a 28-year-old salesman. Jayce will join Tyler, 6, Jadyn, 2 and Emma, 1, at home.
As for the anomaly? Only 0.06 percent of the world's population, roughly 4 million people, are Leaplings. The Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies claims 5,865 active members.
Odds are 1-in-1,461 that a baby will be born on leap day. No statistician could be found yesterday to give reliable odds on the chances of both baby and daddy sharing the date. Still, let's just call it rare.
But wait, there's more.
Josh's stepgrandmother was born on leap day. So was a third cousin. And his brother's sister-in-law is a Leapling, too.
Chances are they'll be at Jayce's first birthday party. It will be in four years.
5. Women Parliamentarians Increasing World Over
UN1 Mar 2008, 1100 hrs IST,AP
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Top_Headlines/Women_parliamentarians_increasing_world_over_UN/articleshow/2828754.cms
UNITED NATIONS: The number of women serving in parliaments around the world crept up to a new record this year - but women aren't even half way to achieving equality with men in national legislative bodies, the Inter-Parliamentary Union has said in its annual report card. IPU Secretary-General Anders Johnsson told a news conference that on January one, 17.7 per cent of the legislators in parliaments were women, up from 16.3 per cent at the end of 2005 and 15.7 per cent in December 2004. "It is progress, but if you ask me it is very slow progress," Johnsson said on Saturday. "If you try to look beyond, down the road to see when do we reach gender equality in parliament, it is still very, very far off into the distant future, unfortunately." At the current rate, he said, "we will not achieve parity in parliament before 2050." The 1995 UN women's conference in Beijing set a target of having a minimum of 30 per cent women lawmakers in all parliaments. According to the IPU, there are just 20 countries where women hold over 30 per cent of the seats in the lower house or single legislative chamber, the same number as at the end of 2005. Four of those countries have reached 40 per cent or more. Rwanda remains at the top of the list with 48.8 per cent women members followed by Sweden with 47 per cent, Finland with 41.5 per cent and Argentina with 40 per cent, the IPU said. Half the countries above 30 per cent are from the developing world including Costa Rica, Cuba, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Tiger Gets Root Canal
Reported by: Iris Pérez - WMBD/WYZZ
Friday, Feb 29, 2008 @05:06pm CST
http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=6547
WMBD/WYZZ-TV—BLOOMINGTON--Bloomington's Miller Park Zoo used their new medical facility for the first time today. The zoo's only sumatran tiger got a visit from dentists today, and it wasn't just for a cleaning either.
Seventeen-year-old Besar came to the zoo with a broken kanine, and dentists decided it was time to take care of the problem.
Besar is considered a rare animal.
Miller Park Zookeeper Wendy Klessig said, “Besar's getting older, tiger's and lions and bigger cats generally live into their early twenties so he's having some older age issues.”
Zookeepers knew Besar had some tooth trouble, and while he never showed any signs of pain, vets took a close look in that massive mouth.
Klessig said, “Wild animals are very good at masking any pain or any illness because in the wild they act ill, they're going to be attacked.”
Zoo Superintendent John Tobias said, “The keepers noticed there was something that didn't look right, and we were able to get him to open his mouth.”
That’s when they found only an infection, and decided it was time for Basar to get a root canal.
Basar's teeth are much larger than yours, the surgery is expected to last up to three hours, but don't worry, zookeepers say he won't be in much pain while he recovers.
Tobias he'll be in no more pain than you or i from the dentist and they'll give him any antibiotics or drugs to combat infection.
While tigers do have a wild streak.
Klessig said, “Bessar's not the most friendliest of tigers, um he's not that keen on even me and i feed him five days a week.”
Zookeepers say he is an important member of the zoo family.
Klessig said, “He's a wonderful ambassador to those that are left in the wild, there aren't many tigers left so it's good that people can come to miller park zoo and see one in person.”
Basar wasn't the only animal that went under the knife at the zoo. Their Malayan sun bear also got a root canal this afternoon.
2. Italy's First Woman 'Boss of Bosses' Shakes up Business World
March 1, 2008 - 11:42PM
http://news.smh.com.au/italys-first-woman-boss-of-bosses-shakes-up-business-world/20080301-1w5m.html
Emma Marcegaglia's election as the head of the national employers' association Confindustria is a major first in Italy's male-dominated business world."It's proof that the world of Italian business is not so macho!" said Ivan Lo Bello, president of the Sicily employers association.
"Everyone is looking at this novelty with great interest."Marcegaglia, 42, who will succeed Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, was elected with 95 percent of a vote by captains of industry on Tuesday and will be installed on March 13."It's the biggest show of support ever recorded in the history of elections for the Confindustria presidency," the association said.
It took a century for a woman to achieve the feat.Women make up hardly more than five percent of the board members of Italy's listed companies and only nine percent of high-level management positions, according to a study by Milan's Bocconi University."
The feminine presidency is a very positive sign for the country," Lo Bello told AFP. "She should encourage a major presence of women in leadership roles in businesses."
At the University of Milan, labour law professor Pietro Ichino said: "It's an important development, a message to businesses and to the entire country. Not only because Emma Marcegaglia is a woman but because with her personality she can play a decisive role in paving the way for reforming the conservative system of Italian employment.
"Bocconi University professor Cristina Bombelli said: "The number of women in leadership positions in Italy is among the lowest in Europe. The problem is that in our country, merit has no importance. Also, the professional ambiance is often aggressive and causes women to flee the business world."
But it takes more than that to scare away Marcegaglia, a pretty woman with long chestnut hair known as the "Steel Lady" -- both for her tenacity and because she is the managing director of her family's steel processing company, Gruppo Marcegaglia.
Married with a young daughter, Marcegaglia hails from Mantua in northern Italy. She earned an MBA at New York University and went to work aged 23 for Gruppo Marcegaglia, where she is now in charge of administration and finances alongside her brother Antonio. The company, which had a turnover of 4.2 billion euros (6.4 billion US dollars) last year, is Italy's 10th largest industrial group.
Known for her polite manner, Marcegaglia is a familiar face at Confindustria. She became the first woman to head the federation's Young Businesspeople section in 1996 and is currently vice president for energy and political, industrial and environmental coordination." She is very determined and has a great analytical capacity while knowing how to remain modest and attentive to others," her secretary of 17 years Patrizia Longhini told AFP."And she never lets up. For her, giving her utmost is essential."
3. Paragliding Chihuahua Survives Crash in Australia
March 1, 2008 - 12:56PM
http://news.smh.com.au/paragliding-chihuahua-survives-crash-in-australia/20080301-1w2i.html
A chihuahua that went paragliding in Australia strapped to its owner's chest survived when the pair crashed into a tree shortly after taking off, police said Saturday.
Victoria state police said a 42-year-old man set off early Friday evening for what they described as "a routine flight" with his pet dog.
The man and his intrepid canine got into difficulties and crashed into a tree, where they became entangled 35 metres (115 foot) up.
Police found the pair after the man called them from his mobile phone, and they were safely retrieved from the tree after being stuck up there for almost five hours.
Police said the man received abrasions in the crash. The chihuahua was believed to be unharmed.
4. Ohio Women Turn 104 Just 3 Days Apart
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/02/29/national/a134302S26.DTL
Friday, February 29, 2008(02-29) 18:21 PST Middletown, Ohio (AP) --
Birthday candles may be in short supply in Middletown, where two, unrelated women have turned 104 just three days apart. Marjorie Hunt celebrated her big birthday Monday in the southwest Ohio city, at the retirement community where she lives.
At another, Hazel Carter marked her 104th birthday on Thursday.
Carter once taught in a one-room schoolhouse, served in the Army during World War II and worked as an executive secretary for more than 40 years before retiring way back when she was 65.
Hunt is a reverse snowbird. She had lived in Florida for 30 years before coming back to Ohio.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment