Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Americans see 9/11 as most important event of their lives
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Six years after the September 11 attacks on the United States, most Americans view the plane hijackings that killed around 3,000 people as the most significant historical event of their lives, according to a poll released Monday.
Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they see the attacks as the most significant historical even of their lifetimes, with more people on the east coast -- 90 percent -- choosing this view compared to 75 percent on the west coast.
The Zogby International telephone poll surveyed 938 people between September 6 and 9 and has a three-percentage point margin of error.
The poll also showed 61 percent of respondents saying they think of the events at least once a week and 16 percent saying they think of the attacks every day.
A full 91 percent said they believe the United States will be attacked again on US soil.
Sixteen percent said they had personally visited the site of the World Trade Center in New York City to pay tribute to those who died when two passenger jets plunged into the towers and caused them to collapse.
A third jet hijacked by Al-Qaeda militants hit the Pentagon outside Washington, and a fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
AFP
AFP Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070910/ts_alt_afp/usattacksanniversary;_ylt=AhBQQf3PSzDHrqtGZY2HyNCOe8UF
In 9/11 remembrance, a turning to good deeds
NEW YORK - On Sept. 11, Jacob Sundberg of San Antonio has pledged to make eye contact and smile at everyone he meets. Kaitlin Ulrich will bring goody baskets to the police and fire departments in and around Philadelphia. And 100 volunteers from New York – 9/11 firefighters and family members among them – are going to Groesbeck, Texas, to rebuild a house destroyed by a tornado last December.
This is a minute sampling of the hundreds of thousands of people who have pledged to memorialize those killed on 9/11 by doing something good for others.
The heroic acts of all those killed trying to save others that September morning has spawned a growing grass-roots movement. The goal is to ensure that future generations remember not just the horror of the attacks, but also the extraordinary outpouring of humanity during the days, weeks, and months that followed.
"It was the worst possible day imaginable, and in some ways, a remarkable day, too, in the way in which people responded", says David Paine, cofounder of myGoodDeed.org. "We need to rekindle the way we came together in the spirit of 9/11: It would be almost as much a tragedy to lose that lesson".
Sept. 11 has inspired dozens of philanthropic efforts – from groups dedicated to building memorials to foundations designed to improve education in the Middle East. But myGoodDeed has a more universal goal: to turn 9/11 into a day dedicated to doing good – from small, simple things like Lisa Scheive's pledge to help stranded turtles cross the road in Pompano Beach, Fla., to lifesaving efforts, such as John Feal's decision in New York to donate one of his kidneys to help a seriously ill 9/11 worker.
The idea has been endorsed by members of Congress, and at myGoodDeed's urging, President Bush for the first time this year included a call for volunteering in his annual 9/11 proclamation.
After major disasters, Americans have historically tapped a deep reserve of compassion and reached out to others. But in the months and years that follow, those compassionate and civic urges tend to recede. Studies at Harvard's Saguaro Seminar on Civic Engagement in America found that in as few as five months after 9/11, most Americans had gone back to their daily lives and were not more engaged as they said they'd hoped to be. Part of the goal of turning 9/11 into a national day of service is to remind Americans of the inherent joy of giving and to hopefully spur volunteering and charitable acts throughout the year.
"I don't know of any research that's been done on one day of service, but studies have shown that people who do volunteering in high school are more likely to volunteer throughout their lives", says Thomas Sander, executive director of the Saguaro Seminar.
The idea of turning 9/11 into a day of service, charity, and good deeds came from the family and friends of one man: Glenn Winuk, a volunteer fireman and lawyer who worked a block and a half from the World Trade Center. After he helped evacuate his Broadway law offices, he grabbed a medic's bag and ran toward the smoke pouring from the South Tower. That's where his remains were found after the towers fell. Mr. Paine and Glenn's brother Jay had been friends for years. They decided that turning 9/11 into a day of service was best way to memorialize Glenn.
"It completely reflects the way my brother lived his life, and it also specifically reflects how he died", says Mr. Winuk, myGoodDeed.org cofounder. "He laid his life on the line for other people that day".
In 2002, Paine and Winuk sent e-mails to friends and family and suggested they do a good deed, such as donate a day's pay on 9/11. Then the idea evolved, and they founded myGoodDeed.org. In 2004, 100,000 visited their website and pledged to do a good deed on 9/11. This year, those pledging number more than 250,000.
"A lot of people don't know what to do on 9/11," says Paine. "This hits people in their heart and their soul. It connects with something that's fundamental".
Alexandra Marks The Christian Science Monitor writer
The Christian Science Monitor Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070910/ts_csm/adogood_1
Tension surrounds Sept. 11 anniversary
NEW YORK - Once again, the city will pause for four moments of silence to mark the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people. Family members will lay flowers where the twin towers fell, and the names of victims will be read.
But much will be different on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, after tense arguments about where to hold the ceremony, whether a presidential candidate should be allowed to speak and whether it's still fitting to put on such a large-scale commemoration.
Firefighters, first responders and construction workers who helped rescue New Yorkers — and many who later recovered victims' bodies — were chosen this year to read the names of the dead in a small public park instead of the World Trade Center site.
After bitterly objecting that they wanted to pay their respects closest to where their loved ones died, family members will be allowed to descend to the site below street level and lay flowers near where the towers stood.
"It's still like visiting a grave on the person's anniversary of their death", said Rosaleen Tallon, whose firefighter brother, Sean Tallon, died that day.
While the list of 2,750 victims killed in New York is read, Osama bin Laden planned to appear in a new video and read the will of one of the hijackers whose plane flew into the north tower.
Politics has played little role in past ceremonies, when siblings, spouses and children offered heartfelt messages to their lost loved ones.
But the city's firefighters could raise several issues. They are among thousands who say they suffer persistent respiratory problems after inhaling dust from the trade center's collapse. Two firefighters died just last month in a blaze at a skyscraper that had not been torn down since it was damaged on Sept. 11.
And firefighters and several victims' family members are furious that Rudy Giuliani, the city's former mayor, who has spoken every year at the ceremony, is doing so on Tuesday as a Republican presidential candidate.
Giuliani, who has made his performance in the months after the 2001 terrorist attacks the cornerstone of his campaign, said last week that his appearance was not intended to be political.
"I was there when it happened, and I've been there every year since then. If I didn't, it would be extremely unusual. As a personal matter, I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Giuliani said Friday at a campaign stop in Florida. "I will do that for as long as they have a ceremony out there".
A fire union spokesman said no organized demonstration by firefighters was planned.
Another change in this year's ceremony will be the list of victims. That is because the official death toll was increased by one this year after the city ruled a woman's death of lung disease was caused by exposure to toxic trade center dust. The name of that woman, Felicia Dunn-Jones, will be read at the ceremony for the first time.
The anniversary was moved this year because of more intensive construction under way at ground zero, where several cranes overlook a partially built Sept. 11 memorial, transit hub and skyscraper.
Several family members worried that Zuccotti Park, just southeast of ground zero, would be too small to accommodate the thousands of people. City officials said there was actually more space available than at the previous location.
But others have questioned whether the commemoration had become excessive; some New Jersey communities that lost many people in the attacks said their ceremonies were being scaled back.
The city has estimated that fewer people have come to the ceremony each year. One local television station, WABC-TV, initially decided not to air the four-hour-plus ceremony live, opting instead to broadcast regular morning programming, which includes "Live with Regis and Kelly". The station changed its mind once the public complained.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that the ceremony may continue to change over time.
"I think one of the challenges that we as a society have is how do you keep the memory alive and the lesson of something like 9/11 alive going forward for decades", he said. "I've always thought we should try to change the ceremony each year... you're going to have to change to keep it relevant".
In Washington, President Bush will help mark the anniversary with a moment of silence Tuesday morning on the South Lawn of the White House. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates will host a memorial observance for relatives of those who perished in the Sept. 11 attack there.
A ceremony is also scheduled in western Pennsylvania at the site of the crash of hijacked Flight 93. Gov. Ed Rendell will speak.
AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_re_us/sept11_anniversary
MTV Awards flourish despite Britney bomb
LAS VEGAS - As in most train wrecks, it was hard to focus on just one thing as the Britney Spears disaster unfolded. There was just so much that went wrong.
Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears' once-taut belly. At times she just stopped singing altogether, as if even she knew nothing could save her performance.
Designed to drum up excitement for her upcoming album, Spears' kickoff to the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night became another example of how far she has fallen. It would have been understandable if MTV's show had been crushed under the weight of the opening fiasco — yet somehow it rebounded, and even flourished.
The show banked heavily on its own reinvention. After poor reviews and a decline in ratings over the last few years, MTV moved the show to Vegas, shortened it from three hours to two, went to a hostless format and focused more on performances than awards.
Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy and the Foo Fighters hosted separate suite parties where most of the performances took place.
But the performance most people will be talking about was Spears'. And unlike her last VMAs appearance, when she locked lips with Madonna in 2003, this time it will be for all the wrong reasons…
"It definitely could have been a lot better", the hitmaking singer and producer Akon commented afterward. "She seemed nervous... you could tell by the expression on her face. Instead of just blocking everybody out and doing her thing, you could tell she was thinking about it".
After that, though, the changes to the show worked, leading to several exciting performances and some watercooler drama. An off-camera fight between Pamela Anderson exes Kid Rock and Tommy Lee led Jamie Foxx to quip: "Stop all this white-on-white violence".
Timberlake's suite was flooded with revelers, alcohol and eight lingerie-clad stripper types on raised platforms. Before Timberlake accepted the Quadruple Threat of the Year award at his suite, the DJ summoned the partygoers to watch the monitor and go crazy if Timberlake won. He did, they did, and Timberlake said: "I want to challenge MTV to play more videos !" Then he was whisked away by bodyguards and disappeared.
Timberlake was the night's big winner, with four trophies. After accepting the award for Male Artist of the Year, he jabbed at the video issue again: "We don't want to see the Simpsons on reality television". Apparently he's not a fan of either Jessica or Ashlee's MTV shows.
Rihanna won the coveted Video of the Year award, plus Monster Single of the Year for "Umbrella". The Best Group was Fallout Boy, and Gym Class Heroes won Best New Artist.
Beyonce and Shakira won Most Earthshattering Collaboration for "Beautiful Liar". Beyonce's shimmering gold dress barely contained her top; immediately after she picked up her trophy she asked an assistant backstage to help fix her dress, apparently to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.
Other performers appeared on the show's main stage, in front of an industry-only audience seated at tables, like at the Golden Globes. Chris Brown gave one of the evening's most extravagant performances — hopping from table to table in a dance spectacle that channeled Michael Jackson, right down to a brief "Billie Jean" imitation.
Alicia Keys had the evening's most rousing performance, debuting her new song "No One" and then an inspired, choir-backed cover of George Michael's "Freedom".
While performances like Keys' and Spears' were delivered on the main stage, others came in snippets: Akon crooned a bit of his "Smack That" before an award was announced, while the cameras zoomed in on Fall Out Boy and the Foo Fighters mid-performance in their suites, giving viewers the sense that they had happened upon an intimate concert.
Cee-Lo delivered a rocking version of Prince's naughty classic "Darling Nikki" in the smoky Foo Fighters suite (where a beer bong was in operation as Dave Grohl danced, sang Cure songs, played air drums and posed for snapshots); Soulja Boy was showing Kanye West his "Crank That" dance in West's suite.
Though the suites appeared to be chaotic parties, the MTV-cast revelers were carefully organized, strategically placed and encouraged to imbibe for the cameras.
Choreographed or not, Timberlake and Timbaland's suite looked the most exciting — T.I., buffeted by pole dancers, delivered a rousing version of "Big Things Poppin'" while 50 Cent stopped by to perform "Ayo Technology" with Timberlake and Timbaland.
Not to be outdone, T-Pain and West danced high atop Las Vegas in a balcony suite as they celebrated "The Good Life". And Lil Wayne, doing double duty in the Fall Out Boy suite after opening the pre-show with Nicole Scherzinger, was particularly animated.
TV viewers never got full views of those shows, though MTV promised more via its Web site and other "remixed" versions of the show. That might have been the purpose: to whet appetites for repeat viewings by promising glimpses of what they missed during the traditional broadcast.
Unlike in recent years, there was plenty reason to come back for more.
NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
AFP, AP & Reuters Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070910/ap_en_mu/mtv_awards
ADDED (pictures from MTV show in Las Vegas)
Pict. #2 - Britney Spears performs at the MTV Video Music Awards held at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, in Las Vegas.
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Pict. #3 - Beyonce and Rihanna are seen at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, in Las Vegas.
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Pict #4 - Justin Timberlake accepts the award for Triple Threat of the Year at the party suites, during the MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, in Las Vegas.
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Pict. #5 - Rihanna and Fall Out Boy perform at the party suites, during the MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, in Las Vegas.
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Pict. #6 - Timbaland performs at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #7 - Chris Brown performs at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #8 - Tommy Lee is escorted out of the theater at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007. Lee and Kid Rock, both former husbands of model Pamela Anderson, got into a fight while Alicia Keys was performing.
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Pict. #9 - Britney Spears performs at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #10 - Artist Beyonce smiles during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #11 - Artists Rihanna and Chris Brown perform at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #12 - Justin Timberlake (L) receives the VMA award for Male Artist of the Year from rap artist Timbaland at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #13 - Justin Timberlake accepts the VMA award for the category Quadruple Threat at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #14 - Rihanna (R) performs with the band 'Fall Out Boy' at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #15 - Beyonce accepts the VMA award for Most Earth-Shattering Collaboration for the song 'Beautiful Liar', which she recorded with Shakira (not pictured), at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #16 - Singer Rihanna performs 'Umbrella'at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007. Rihanna won the award for Monster Single of the Year for the song.
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Pict. #17 - Singer Nelly Furtado arrives at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #18 - Artist Ludacris arrives for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #19 - Ne-yo arrives at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007.
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Pict. #20 - Musician Kid Rock (C) is escorted out after getting into a fight with Tommy Lee at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas September 9, 2007. Lee and Kid Rock, both former husbands of model Pamela Anderson, got into a fight while Alicia Keys was performing. 'There were no fists, they were just holding each other, grabbing each other', Tom Higginson, singer of the pop band Plain White Ts, told Reuters. 'Security had to break them up'.
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President discriminated again
The CNCD (National Council against Discrimination) is going to open a case against the President of Romania Traian Basescu, who has recently commented: "Here am I meeting a good Armenian at last !"
When getting out of the Military Hospital, Bucharest, the President made this comment, dividing the Armenians in Romania in good and bad. He actually wanted to thank surgeon Mircea Ghemigian by uttering the words mentioned above and then he corrected himself by "I mean a competent Armenian".
The President had already got a warning from the CNCD, because in the very day of the referendum on his suspension he had called journalist Andreea Pana a "filthy gypsy".
This comment in May 19 was made in private, but the one committed last Sunday was public. Presidency spokesman claims "This observation is to be taken as one meant to highlight Mr. Ghemigian's professionalism".
As for deputy Varujan Pambuccian, a representative of Armenian-origin Romanians in the Parliament, he thinks "the President's words aren't even worth commenting on. What is going on is ridiculous". Deputy Aurel Vainer, a leader of the Federation of Jewish Community in Romania, comments in his turn: "Such gross categorization has never done any good". (...)
Marian Ghiteanu
Ziua Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
Bill against government divides PSD in sides
The PSD (Social-Democrat Party) bill against the government in power has opened new war between the Ion Iliescu, honorary president of the party, and Mircea Geoana, president of the PSD. The senator is angry because the latter commented that the controversial party members, those most fond of power, were afraid of the bill to come. Viorel Hrebenciuc on the one hand and Adrian Nastase together with Miron Mitrea on the other hand have joined the confrontation.
The issue at stake between the three was whether the bill against the government was a good idea or not, since the party lacked a clear strategy. Among growing dissatisfaction and reproaches, the PSD members were in endless meetings yesterday, but they proved fruitless anyway. The only certainty is that the bill got postponed for one more week, although it was supposed to reach the Parliament yesterday. The election of a new Patriarch was the latest reason the PSD leaders invoked.
Ion Iliescu was enraged: "I am an honorary president of the party, I haven't been informed about the bill, no one has asked for my opinion. I wasn't invited to attend the reunion in Bran. If you don't need me any more, I can leave". Then he was critical of Mircea Geoana because of what the latter had said in an interview one day before. In his 40-minute relentless speech Ion Iliescu commented that never before had there been a PSD president to make such statements and threat to expel those members against the bill idea. Party sources claim Mircea Geoana replied that by "controversial people" he hadn't meant PSD members.
But Ion Iliescu did even more than criticize the party president behind shut doors. He told journalists: "It is incautious of him to say such things. It is disloyal and it twists the meaning of dialogue.
And Mircea Geoana announced the bill was postponed in order not to coincide with the election of a new Patriarch. (...)
Roxana Andronic
Ziua Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
DNA head at war against Justice minister
The DNA (National Anti-Corruption Department) is claiming that the Romanian Justice minister Tudor Chiuariu has put pressure on prosecutors, whereas the latter Liberal minister has it that the DNA has manipulated the press by twisted statements.
The conflict between the Justice minister and the DNA intensified yesterday, with prosecutors accusing minister Chiuariu of putting pressure on DNA officials. The minister replied the DNA manipulated the press by providing misinterpreting statements excerpted from a document belonging to the CSM (Superior Council of Magistracy).
The dispute between the two institutions went on yesterday with deputy Cozmin Gusa's explanations on his own accusations against minister Chiuariu. DNA mentioned inquiry on the contents of a document released by the Ministry of Justice, adding the institution was working on the preliminary documents concerning the legality of some acquisition by the Romanian Post Office. The minister claimed it was mere speculation, arguing that in the communique from the prosecutors there was incorrect information. (...)
A.G.
Ziua Marti 11 Septembrie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english
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