firststone

Gunman Kills Two U.S. Airmen, Wounds Two at Frankfurt Airport March 3 (Bloomberg) -- A man armed with a handgun fatally shot two American airmen and wounded Fashion Coach Sling Bags two others aboard a bus picking up U.S. military personnel at Frankfurt Airport yesterday, U.S. and German authorities said. A suspect, described as a 21-year-old from Kosovo, was arrested nearby, Andre Sturmeit, a Frankfurt police spokesman, said at a news conference at the airport, Europe’s third- busiest. Police haven’t determined a motive for the attack, he said. In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. will work with German authorities and “will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous act took place.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking to reporters in Berlin, said the government will do “whatever is needed to determine what happened” in the “terrible event.” The attack may have started with an altercation outside the Air Force bus and then moved inside, said Manfred Fuellhardt, a Frankfurt police spokesman. While Fuellhardt said it appeared the gunman was acting alone, Obama said in his remarks that U.S. and German authorities will “ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice.” The vehicle carrying 14 passengers was headed for the U.S. air base in Ramstein, southwest of Frankfurt, Sturmeit said. The security forces team, assigned to RAF Lakenheath air base in England, was on its way to an overseas deployment, according to an Air Force statement. The Air Force is withholding Coach Business Bags the names of the victims until their families are notified. Americans Targeted Spiegel Online, citing unidentified officials familiar with the matter, said the gunman specifically targeted American military personnel and was carrying a large amount of ammunition. Investigators haven’t determined whether the attacker was acting alone or as part of an organized group, Spiegel said. Relatives of the suspect in Kosovo described him as a devout Muslim who was born and raised in Germany and worked at the airport, the Associated Press reported, citing an uncle identified at Rexhep Uka. Frankfurt Airport is operating normally, a spokeswoman for Fraport AG, the airport’s operator, said by telephone. She declined to be identified by name in accordance with the company’s policy. Germany had raised its terrorist threat level in November amid signs that Islamic extremists planned an attack in the country and the discovery of air-freight bombs. The anti- terrorist police presence at airports and train stations was scaled back Feb. 1. Obama said the shooting was “a stark reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our men and women in uniform are making all around the world.” --With assistance from Tony Czuczka Coach Hobos Bags in Berlin, Mike Dorning, Nicholas Johnston, Viola Gienger and Tony Capaccio in Washington and Christian Vits in Frankfurt. Editors: Joe Sobczyk, Leslie Hoffecker

Gadhafi forces go on the offensive In a day of violent reversals, this was the old regime’s ultimate show of bravado: Flag-waving supporters of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi drove through opposition-held towns coach outlet store all the way to the border of Tunisia, where they taunted opponents across the barbed wire and threw boxes of food and drinks over the border to refugees who were fleeing the very violence their forces had unleashed. Their message, delivered more forcefully in bombing attacks and infantry strikes through the night, was that the embattled leader’s troops are no longer penned into an ever-shrinking circle of land around Tripoli, the capital. And the larger message was that the fall of Colonel Gadhafi will be a far lengthier and bloodier affair than anyone had previously thought. Ushering a group of reporters across the border to watch loyalists wave flags and kiss photos of their leader on Wednesday morning, Gadhafi official Ataher Issa, who holds a position in the Economy Ministry but has become a regime spokesman, boasted that Col. Gadhafi’s forces and mercenaries have won back large swathes of the country from activists and revolutionaries, who had seized towns throughout the east and west during a dramatic week of democracy protests and fighting. “We have got everything under control, we have control of the roads and towns now, there are no problems at all moving around or running the country,” he said. Those words marked a certain climax for the Gadhafi forces, who hours before had reclaimed the eastern cities of Brega and Ajdabiya, pushing ever closer to the rebel capital of Benghazi. By the end of Wednesday, fortunes in the country’s east had turned again as the revolutionaries and pro-Gadhafi forces fought a day-long battle with heavy artillery and assault rifles, ending with the opposition forces – a mix of defecting Libyan officers and armed activists – claiming control of the town. But government air strikes continued into the night, and there were widespread reports of heavily armed government troops on the move. The most serious loss for the opposition occurred out of sight of the world’s media in the highly populated west of Libya. There, Gadhafi forces moved the highly armed Khweldi tank and infantry brigade to the town of Sorman and placed an even coach outlet larger brigade to the immediate west of Tripoli, surrounding the opposition-held city of Zawiyah, according to independent monitors and Libyans living in the cities. This appears to leave the democracy forces in western Libya in a desperate and outmanoeuvred position, as they do not generally have access to the heavy-artillery resources of their comrades in the east. Col. Gadhafi used this moment of resurgence to hold a two-hour victory speech before an audience of bused-in Western reporters at a Tripoli hotel. (It replaced the national congress, which was burned down in last week’s demonstrations.) He denied having launched any forces against civilians but concluded by yelling that he would “fight to the last drop of blood,” and that, if the West dared intervene to help the opposition, “thousands and thousands of Libyans would die.” The violence of fighting and the stubborn recalcitrance of the Gadhafi loyalists provoked urgent responses by Western leaders, who spent the day debating the opposition forces’ request for United Nations-led air strikes against Libyan targets. Britain and the United States both said they were considering the creation of a no-fly zone under UN auspices. The press of Libyan troops toward the western border did seem to provoke Tunisian authorities and international organizations to clear the terrible crush of refugees, as many as 10,000 of them, from the no-man’s land between the countries’ borders. The UN High Commission for Refugees erected 1,000 eight-person tents overnight, raising the border refugee camp’s capacity above 15,000 just as the daily flow of escapees began to drop below that number. Britain and France both sent emergency airlift planes to shuttle refugees – almost all of them contract workers benefiting from Libya’s oil-fuelled boom – back to their home countries. Bangladeshis and many sub-Saharan Africans remained stranded. This swift action avoided humiliation by the Gadhafi supporters, who arrived to an empty but litter-filled refugee holding pen. But it was too late to avert a humanitarian catastrophe: The UNHCR announced Wednesday night that a young boy had died of exposure to cold the previous night while his coach purses outlet family waited to be allowed across.

Dad on Westboro: Blood is on court's hands (CBS News) The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a grieving father's pain over jeering protests at his Marine son's funeral must yield to U.S. Constitutional protections for free balance bracelets speech, ending a lawsuit against the church. It was five years ago tomorrow that Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder was killed in a Humvee accident in Iraq. He was 20 years old. Speaking from York, Pa., his father, Albert, spoke about the ruling with CBS News anchor Katie Couric. Katie Couric: Mr. Snyder what was your reaction to today's Supreme Court decision? Albert Snyder: I was kind of shocked. Um, I can't believe that the Supreme Court today has now told us that we have no rights to bury our dead in peace. It's a sad day for our military men and women, their families. It's a sad day for all Americans. My first thought was, what kind of society have we become? Couric: Are you surprised the decision was so overwhelming, with eight out of nine Justices backing the protesters? Snyder: Yes I was Katie. It just, you know, they may be book smart, but they don't have the common sense God gave a goat. You know the Justices and the government will send our children to war and they'll send them back in body bags and then they power balance wholesale can't even give us enough respect to bury them in peace. Couric: The church has protested outside many other funerals. What would you say to other grieving families today? CBS News' Jan Crawford on Alito's dissent Snyder: Well there's not much we can do about it anymore. When the government won't do anything about it, and the courts give us no remedy, then people are going to start taking matters into their own hands. And believe me someone is going to get hurt. And when the blood starts flowing, let it be on the Supreme Court Justices' hands. Couric: Tomorrow I know, Mr. Snyder, is the five-year anniversary of your son's death. This must be a very difficult time for you and your family. Tell us what you are remembering about your son today? Snyder: Just about how good a kid he was, how proud he was to be a soldier, how proud he was of America, and if he could see this, I don't think he'd be very proud of power balance white this country right now. Couric: Thank you very much for speaking with us, Mr. Snyder, we so appreciate it.

Wis. governor outlines budget MADISON, Wis. — Republican Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday outlined a $59.3 billion, two-year budget plan that would cut $749 million in aid to public schools over that period and reduce Coach Purses county and municipal aid by $96 million in 2012. "This is a reform budget. It is about getting Wisconsin working again," Walker said, "and to make that happen, we need a balanced budget that works — and an environment where the private sector can create 250,000 jobs over the next four years." WIS. EMPLOYEES: Public workers earn more PHOTOS: Thousands rally for union rights Walker spoke to a joint session of the Legislature minus the 14 Democratic senators who have left the state to avoid a vote on his plan to end most collective bargaining for public employee unions. Walker alluded to the controversy over union power, saying national attention being paid to the issue is "OK, because freedom thrives each time there is a passionate debate in our society." The governor chided the missing Democrats. "Let us not lose sight of the fact that we were each elected to represent the people of this state by participating in our democratic process," he said. Walker, whose plan to end most collective bargaining for public employee unions has launched massive protests in the Capitol, said his budget includes no tax or fee increases, brings public workers' pension and health insurance contributions in line with the private sector, and would reduce spending from all funds by a total of $4.2 billion in 2012 and 2013. He also said his plan would help erase a projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall. "Wisconsin is broke," he said, "and it's time to start paying our bills today so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorros." Organizational changes, including the elimination of the state Commerce Department and making the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus autonomous, would account for most of the 21,325 state jobs that would be eliminated. The rest would come from the closure of state facilities, program reductions and the end of 735 positions that have been vacant for longer than 12 months. Walker would increase some spending, including $196 million to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to promote job creation and $1.2 billion for critical health services to seniors the disabled and low-income families to replace one-time federal funds. The proposed budget would limit local governments' ability to increase property taxes to compensate for losses in state funding. Lawmakers were clearly split along partisan lines in expressing reaction to the governor's plan. Republicans praised Walker for making a proposal that they characterized as a common-sense. "It's the first budget that we've had in 12 years that is an actual budget without any funny money," state Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, said, and he harkened back to an earlier Republican administration. "We've been living on phony budgeting since the (Gov. Scott) McCallum era and finally we've got a governor who's doing it the right way." "He's giving us an opportunity to do what we said we came here to do: vote on a balanced budget, not raise any taxes, not raid segregated funds anymore," said state Rep. Michelle Litjens, R-Vinland. "It's not going to be an easy budget but it sounds pretty good so far." Democrats, meantime, expressed concern about what they said they felt was a lack of desire to work across party lines. "I'm ... a little concerned about the fact that he said we are going to work together on this when his past actions of the last two weeks shows that he is not willing to work together on things," said state Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton. "The governor continues to talk about tools but he doesn't define what those tools are, and if his tools are removing collective bargaining, I don't think those are ... good tools to be using." "Despite the governor's claims, this budget does little to create family-supporting jobs," said state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, via e-mail. "Instead, this budget goes against the priorities and values of our state. It rewards the wealthy and corporate interests with millions in tax breaks at the expense of our schools, local communities, families and worker's rights." Walker's move to end collective bargaining for most public employee unions, said Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a non-partisan research group, is his way of helping schools and local governments cut costs. "If you're going to really slam local government and you have no choice given the budget math," he said, "then coach purses outlet the only way to deliver them some ... relief on the other side of the ledger" is to give them ways to cut labor costs. Berry said the state must confront its budget problems. "We've been either overcommitting or living on the edge or ostensibly balancing our budgets — but not really — for as long as 15 years under governors of both parties," he said. In a typical year, a Wisconsin budget address is a relatively sleepy event, drawing small numbers of lobbyists, reporters and legislative staffers. Tuesday as Walker prepared to deliver his address, thousands of demonstrators encircled the Capitol, marching with signs that included "Walker is Anti-Union Anti-American," and "If you are not at the table you are probably on the menu." Hundreds more protested inside, their numbers limited because of police access restrictions. But while reduced in numbers, they filled the rotunda with the deafening thump of non-stop drumming Tuesday afternoon. The noise could be heard in every corner of the building, including the governor's office. Outside the building, crowds chanted, "Whose house is this? Our house." Dozens of police and state troopers guarded entrances and hallways and confined demonstrators to the ground floor of the four-story building. With an American flag scarf around his neck, John Berg, 25, of Milwaukee, took a short nap Tuesday afternoon on the marble floor, amid the chaos. Berg has been living in the building continually since Sunday. "It's been rough but we are here to stand up against the bill," he said. "The power of protest is so big. It's putting a lot of light on this bill." Outside, demonstrator Chris Dequaine, a state corrections worker from Green Bay, said he came to Madison to protest for the day because Walker's move to limit collective bargaining powers is wrong. "It has absolutely nothing to do with solving the budget crisis," he said. "Everybody is fed up. He is trying to balance the state budget on the backs of state employees and abolish unions all in the same stroke and people are fed up with it." The governor also proposed: ? Allowing charter schools to be created anywhere in the state and ending a requirement that charter school teachers be licensed by the state. Instead, they would be required only to have bachelor's degrees. ? Repealing direct state funding for advanced placement programs, alcohol and drug-abuse prevention and intervention programs, English instruction for Southeast Asian children and school nursing services. ? Eliminating mandates requiring school districts to schedule at least 180 days of classes annually, employ reading specialists and prepare detailed indoor environmental quality plans. ? Cutting $250 million in state aid to the University of Wisconsin system. ? Expanding the Wisconsin GI tuition and fee reimbursement program to forgive academic fees for 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is longer. ? Reducing state aid to technical college districts by $71.6 million over the biennium. ? Increasing staffing and funding for the state DNA lab to assist criminal investigations and boost resources to investigate online predators who target children. "Each of us has a vision for a better tomorrow in Wisconsin," Walker said. "Even at the height of our differences, we can and must keep our promise to the people of Coach Handbags Wisconsin that they will always come first." Jones also reports for The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. Keen reported from Chicago.

House passes bill to avert government shutdown. What's in it, exactly? The Republican-controlled Coach Business Bags House on Tuesday passed a temporary spending bill that cuts $4 billion out of US appropriations while keeping the government running for another two weeks. This “continuing resolution” legislation is almost certain to pass the Senate: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says he expects his chamber to vote on it within 48 hours. President Obama is likely to sign it, too, even though the White House really would prefer that the kicking-the-can-down-the-road period be lengthened from two weeks to a month. Hurray! Washington has managed to avoid a government shutdown. For the moment. Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul, and 8 others shaking up the new Congress But what’s in this bill, HJ Res 44, exactly? Good question. You can read the text of it here, in case you’re interested. In general, it keeps government spending for most discretionary programs at last year’s level, until March 18, when it turns into a pumpkin. The $4 billion in reductions are not whacked out of spending across the board. They come from eliminating eight programs that Mr. Obama previously had targeted for extinction, saving $1.24 billion, and cutting out some $2.7 billion in earmarks – pet projects inserted into US spending plans by individual lawmakers. The programs that are getting zeroed out include the Smithsonian Legacy Fund, which is losing $30 million. This fund, notes a fact sheet put together by the House Appropriations Committee, was a one-time thing meant to revitalize the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, and it’s not needed anymore. The Department of Education’s "Striving Readers" program is also being eliminated, saving $250 million. Reducing help for kids struggling to read sounds bad, doesn’t it? Yes, but Obama asked for this to go, as it duplicates the $14 billion in Title I reading-assistance cash that the government is already spending. Other programs getting the heave-ho include several other education efforts and a $29 million Coach Leather Hangbags Department of Agriculture broadband direct-loan subsidy program. “This program is duplicative of several other federal programs, and the Agriculture Inspector General has uncovered abuses and inconsistencies in the program as well as a lack of focus on the rural communities it is intended to serve,” says the Appropriations Committee. As for the earmarks, they have a bad name on Capitol Hill these days, given America’s tough fiscal times, and GOP leaders have banned them. So that money probably was going away under any circumstances. Among the earmarks that the continuing resolution eliminates are a $1 million solar-battery project at the Border Patrol, a $4 million Coast Guard bridge-alteration effort, and a $25 million rail-relocation program at the Transportation Department. What happens now? Congress and the White House face doing the whole thing over again in the middle of the month, that’s what. Democrats are not particularly happy about Tuesday's bill passage, because they figure two weeks is not enough time to come to agreement on a broader spending bill. They claim that the deeper cuts Republicans want will lead to thousands of furloughs of federal workers and threaten the nascent economic recovery. But Republicans control the House and are capable of blocking action in the Senate. They say that spending has skyrocketed in recent years and that they’re only trying to return the federal government to prerecession spending levels. “It’s bloated. We want to take it back down to where it’s reasonable, where we can live with it,” said Rep. Harold Rogers (R) of Kentucky, House Appropriations chairman, during floor debate Tuesday. As for the length of time necessary Cheap Crossbody Bags to strike a longer-term deal and avoid a government shutdown, “two weeks is plenty of time,” said Representative Rogers. “Plenty of time in the House, anyway. I know the Senate works more slowly.”

U.S. warns of civil war in Libya unless Gaddafi goes (Reuters) - Libya could descend into civil war unless Muammar Gaddafi quits, the United States said on Tuesday, its demand for his departure intensifying pressure on the longtime coach purses outlet leader after news of Western military preparations. Gaddafi remained defiant, dispatching forces to a western border area amid fears that the most violent Arab revolt may grow bloodier and cause a humanitarian crisis. Tunisian border guards fired into the air on Tuesday to try to control a crowd of people clamoring to cross the frontier and escape the violence. About 70,000 people have passed through the Ras Jdir border post in the past two weeks, and many more of the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in Libya are expected to follow. Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam warned the West against launching any military action to topple Gaddafi, and said the veteran ruler would not step down or go into exile. "Using force against Libya is not acceptable. There's no reason, but if they want...we are ready, we are not afraid," he told Sky television, adding: "We live here, we die here." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told U.S. lawmakers: "Libya could become a peaceful democracy or it could face protracted civil war." She said the Obama administration would look into allegations that Gaddafi personally ordered the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, because of new statements by defecting Libyan officials "making it clear that the order came from the very top." The United States said it was moving ships and planes closer to the oil-producing North African state. The destroyer USS Barry moved through the Suez Canal on Monday and into the Mediterranean. Two amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge, which can carry 2,000 Marines, and the USS Ponce, are in the Red Sea and are expected to go through the canal early on Wednesday. U.S. RULES NOTHING OUT The White House said the ships were being redeployed in preparation for possible humanitarian efforts but stressed it "was not taking any options off the table." "We are looking at a lot of options and contingencies. No decisions have been made on any other actions," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe sounded a note of caution, saying military intervention would not happen without a clear United Nations mandate. British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was unacceptable that "Colonel Gaddafi can be murdering his own people using airplanes and helicopter gunships." General James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing that imposing a no-fly zone would be a "challenging" operation that would mean actual attack. "You would have to remove air defense capability in order to establish a no-fly zone, so no illusions here," he said. "It would be a military operation -- it wouldn't be just telling people not to fly airplanes." Analysts said Western leaders were in no mood to rush into conflict after the troubled, drawn-out involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq. "They will be desperate not to place themselves in that situation, unless not doing so would result in even worse massacres," said Shashank Joshi of London's Royal United Services Institute. Suspicions grew that Gaddafi, a survivor of past coup attempts, did not grasp the scale of the forces against him. "All my people love me," he told the ABC network and the BBC on Monday, dismissing the significance of a rebellion that has ended his control over much of oil-rich eastern Libya. REBELS CLAIM STRENGTH GROWING Rebel fighters claimed the balance of the conflict was swinging their way. "Our strength is growing and Coach Handbags we are getting more weapons. We are attacking checkpoints," said Yousef Shagan, a spokesman in Zawiyah, only 50 km (30 miles) from Tripoli. A rebel army officer in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah said rebel units were becoming more organised. "All the military councils of Free Libya are meeting to form a unified military council to plan an attack on Gaddafi security units, militias and mercenaries," Captain Faris Zwei said. He said there were more than 10,000 volunteers in the city, plus defecting soldiers. Rebels guarding a munitions store said they feared a direct hit by Gaddafi's warplanes could cause destruction for miles around. But Zwei said pilots appeared to be aiming to miss. "We have complete confidence in the Libyan air force not to hit anything that affects their relatives in the east," he said. Despite the widespread collapse of Gaddafi's writ, his forces were fighting back in some regions. A reporter on the Tunisian border saw Libyan troops reassert control at a crossing abandoned on Monday, and residents of Nalut, about 60 km (35 miles) from the border, said they feared pro-Gaddafi forces were planning to recapture the town. Mohamed, a resident of rebel-held Misrata, told Reuters by phone: "Symbols of Gaddafi's regime have been swept away from the city. Only a (pro-Gaddafi) battalion remains at the city's air base but they appear to be willing to negotiate safe exit out of the air base. We are not sure if this is genuine or just a trick to attack the city again." Across the country, tribal leaders, officials, military officers and army units have defected to the rebels. Sanctions will squeeze his access to funds. Tripoli is a clear Gaddafi stronghold, but even in the capital, loyalties are divided. Many on the streets on Tuesday expressed loyalty but a man who described himself as a military pilot said: "One hundred percent of Libyans don't like him." There were queues outside bread shops on Tuesday morning. Some residents said many shops were limiting the number of loaves customers could buy. The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday unanimously suspended Libya's membership of the U.N. Human Rights Council because of violence by Libyan forces against protesters. A U.N. Security Council resolution on Saturday called for a freeze on Gaddafi's assets and a travel ban and refers his crackdown to the International Criminal Court. Libya's National Oil Corporation said output had halved because of the departure of foreign workers. Brent crude prices surged above $116 a barrel as supply disruptions and the potential for more unrest in the Middle East and North Africa kept investors on edge. (Additional reporting by Yvonne Bell and Chris Helgren in Tripoli, Dina Zayed and Caroline Drees in Cairo, Tom Pfeiffer, Alexander Dziadosz and Mohammed Abbas in Benghazi, Yannis Behrakis and Douglas Hamilton; Christian Lowe and Hamid Ould Ahmed Coach Hobos Bags in Algiers, Souhail Karam and Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Rabat and Samia Nakhoul, William Maclean and Alex Lawler in London; writing by Andrew Roche; editing by Angus MacSwan)