Futures suggest higher stock market open By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Stock futures bounded higher Wednesday on speculation that the Federal Reserve will move to mitigate a growing credit crunch by cutting interest rates.
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Wall Street ended mixed Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials giving up some 30 points while both the Nasdaq composite and Standard & Poor's 500 finished slightly higher. Investors weighed statements from government officials and policymakers over if and when the Fed will move to cut interest rates.
While that debate continues, investors got some boost on speculation that takeovers might begin to ramp up since corporate valuations are lower. Mergers and acquisitions, especially by private equity firms, have been one of the market's biggest drivers this year.
Online brokerages TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and E-Trade Financial Corp. are said to have been in discussions about a possible deal for weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, the report said they are not close to a deal.
Meanwhile, Nymex Holdings Inc. Chairman Richard Schaeffer said Tuesday the commodities exchange owner has held preliminary discussions about a potential combination, but there is no guarantee of a deal.
Dubai World, a holding company for the Persian Gulf state, is looking to acquire a 9.5 percent stake in MGM Mirage, and a 50 percent ownership in the company's CityCenter development project, according to the Journal. The casino and resort company is controlled by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian.
Dow Jones industrials futures expiring in September rose 93, or 0.43 percent, to 13,210, while S&P 500 futures rose 9.10, or 0.63 percent, to 1,459.80. Nasdaq 100 index futures added 6.25, or 0.33 percent, to 1,926.00.
No economic data is scheduled to be released during the session. But the Commerce Department releases its monthly measure of durable goods orders on Thursday. A report is due Friday on new home sales and prices.
Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. reported before the opening bell that third-quarter profit tumbled, hurt by hefty writedowns and higher-than-expected cancellations amid a housing downturn and credit quality concerns. Robert Toll, the company's chairman and chief executive, said the company continues "to wrestle with the interrelated challenges of softer demand and excess housing supply in most markets."
Oil prices rose 24 cents to $69.81 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices have fallen as it appeared there was no major damage to oil rigs as Hurricane Dean pushed through Mexico.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.87 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.63 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.27 percent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.70 point to 15,900.64 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 2.8 percent to 22,346.88.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Futures suggest higher stock market open By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
Amy Winehouse scraps North American tour 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Amy Winehouse scraps North American tour 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Amy Winehouse has put her North American tour on hold, raising more concerns about her health. "Due to the rigors involved in touring, Amy Winehouse has been advised to postpone her upcoming September U.S. and Canadian tour dates," the British singer's publicist, Tracy Miller, said in a statement Tuesday.
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"Amy's European and U.K. tour dates in October and November remain in place. Plans are being made to reschedule her U.S. tour for early 2008. Until then, Amy has been ordered to rest and is working with medical professionals to address her health."
Last week, it was announced that the 23-year-old was canceling all her August performances due to "severe exhaustion." While British tabloids have claimed the retro-soul singer has been in rehab due to drug abuse, her spokeswoman has denied such claims.
Winehouse made her U.S. debut this year with the acclaimed album "Back to Black," but her celebrity has been fueled by her tabloid image as much as her talent. She's spoken openly about her past battles with drugs and her penchant for alcohol and marijuana, and her hit single "Rehab" is an autobiographical tale of her resistance to being pushed to go to rehab: "They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no."
Winehouse was scheduled to appear at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 9 in Las Vegas, but it is unclear if she will be on hand for the event.
___
On the Net:
http://www.amywinehouse.com
Amy Winehouse scraps North American tour 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Amy Winehouse scraps North American tour 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Amy Winehouse has put her North American tour on hold, raising more concerns about her health. "Due to the rigors involved in touring, Amy Winehouse has been advised to postpone her upcoming September U.S. and Canadian tour dates," the British singer's publicist, Tracy Miller, said in a statement Tuesday.
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"Amy's European and U.K. tour dates in October and November remain in place. Plans are being made to reschedule her U.S. tour for early 2008. Until then, Amy has been ordered to rest and is working with medical professionals to address her health."
Last week, it was announced that the 23-year-old was canceling all her August performances due to "severe exhaustion." While British tabloids have claimed the retro-soul singer has been in rehab due to drug abuse, her spokeswoman has denied such claims.
Winehouse made her U.S. debut this year with the acclaimed album "Back to Black," but her celebrity has been fueled by her tabloid image as much as her talent. She's spoken openly about her past battles with drugs and her penchant for alcohol and marijuana, and her hit single "Rehab" is an autobiographical tale of her resistance to being pushed to go to rehab: "They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no."
Winehouse was scheduled to appear at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 9 in Las Vegas, but it is unclear if she will be on hand for the event.
___
On the Net:
http://www.amywinehouse.com
YouTube videos to have 'overlay' ads By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
YouTube videos to have 'overlay' ads By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
1 hour, 27 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Video advertising is coming to YouTube, but it won't be the type common at sites elsewhere. Starting Wednesday, the popular video-sharing site plans to feature semitransparent "overlay" ads at the bottom of selected video clips.
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The ad disappears after about 10 seconds if the viewer does nothing; the featured clip automatically pauses if the viewer clicks on the overlay to launch the full pitch.
YouTube said it was trying to avoid pre-rolls that precede the main feature at sites like Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, which partners with The Associated Press on a video news service.
Shiva Rajaraman, product manager for YouTube, said internal tests show more than 70 percent of people give up when they see a pre-roll. By contrast, less than 10 percent decide to close an overlay, which they can exit by clicking on an "X" in a corner.
The overlay format also gives advertisers more flexibility, he said, because they aren't constrained to keeping a video ad at 15 or 30 seconds to avoid defection. Because a viewer chooses to watch, a video ad can run much longer — clicking on one pre-launch overlay launched a 2-minute trailer for "The Simpsons Movie."
YouTube, which Google Inc. bought last year for $1.76 billion, is still trying to justify its hefty sales price. Despite its huge audience, YouTube generated about $15 million in revenue last year, based on figures provided in Google's annual report.
The site already has been showing display ads, but video ads look to be far more lucrative, particularly as they attract brand-name advertisers already used to buying video spots on television.
Initial video advertisers on YouTube include Warner Music Group Corp., News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox and Time Warner Inc.'s New Line Cinema. They will accompany video clips from selected partners, including Warner Music, the band Killswitch Engage and dozens of heavy video contributors accepted into a user-partner program.
Marketers can target their ads by user demographics, location, time of day or genre, such as music videos or sports. They won't be able to buy ads by keywords, though, the way Google allows merchants to purchase text ads triggered by a user's search terms.
And unlike Google's pay-per-click search ads, advertisers will be charged by eyeball — $20 per thousand viewers — regardless of whether the user clicks on the overlay.
Revenues will be split with the video owner, although officials won't say how. The video owner can decline all ads or selected ones, such as those from competitors.
Despite differences with Google's keyword ads, which generate the bulk of the company's revenues, officials said the two share a common goal of being nonintrusive.
"Ads need to provide value to the user community," said Eileen Naughton, Google's director of media platforms. "We've proved over and over again on Google that ads are really useful information when users raise their hands and engage with them."
NASA weighs risk of shuttle launches By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
NASA weighs risk of shuttle launches By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
1 hour, 24 minutes ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A 3 1/2-inch-long gouge in Endeavour's belly did not endanger astronauts in the shuttle's safe landing, but NASA is looking ahead to three more launches at risk for the same kind of damage.
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Endeavour touched down Tuesday for an early homecoming prompted by a hurricane — ending a nearly two-week orbital drama that centered on the gouge.
The gouge in Endeavour, carrying Christa McAuliffe's backup for the doomed Challenger flight in 1986, helped keep NASA officials acutely aware of past shuttle disasters.
Back before Columbia flew its last mission four years ago, NASA knew it had a foam problem with its fuel tanks but never imagined a piece of the airy insulation could severely wound a space shuttle.
Columbia shattered during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere, just five days before engineers were to propose possible repairs.
This time, NASA knew it had a foam problem with brackets on its fuel tanks but never imagined a stray piece would ricochet off the tank and smash into the shuttle.
Retired Navy Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., who headed the 2003 Columbia investigation, was reluctant to comment this week on the troublesome brackets, which support the fuel feed line on the tank. He said he didn't have enough information.
But he observed: "You have to assume things are going to happen and you have to mitigate the consequences, that's what our report was all about."
Endeavour's gash, although deep, was too small for scorching atmospheric gases to penetrate and cause serious damage, mission managers said during the flight. It was also on the belly, a more benign area than the nose or wings, which are subjected to much higher heat. The platesize hole that brought down Columbia pierced the left wing.
Commander Scott Kelly said he was "a little bit underwhelmed" when he saw the gouge for himself after touchdown. "We knew how big it was conceptually. We were told the dimensions. But to see it, it looked rather small," he told reporters.
Officials who checked out Endeavour on the runway said there was no apparent charring to the exposed felt fabric, the last barrier before the aluminum frame.
But now NASA finds itself playing catch-up. It's analyzing a variety of temporary bracket solutions, which may or may not be in place before the next space station construction mission in late October.
Making the brackets with titanium, which would require far less foam insulation than the aluminum version, is the permanent solution ordered after the problem first cropped up last summer.
But that won't happen until next spring. By then, NASA will be just two years from retiring its three remaining space shuttles after wrapping up a demanding schedule for finishing construction of the international space station.
Engineers are considering several short-term options: shaving some foam from the brackets or possibly applying an oil to the foam to reduce condensation and ice buildup.
Because the bracket problem has intensified for the launches since Columbia, engineers theorize it might be due to the one-hour earlier start of fueling — a new rule intended to provide more time for ice checks. That extra hour that the super-cold fuel is in the tank could be allowing more undetected ice to form, which then can cause the neighboring foam to pop off.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said after Endeavour's landing that he will need to be satisfied that any change "is necessary and, in fact, beneficial" before ordering modifications. The last thing the space agency wants to do is to change something and make it worse.
NASA still doesn't know whether the debris that smacked Endeavour was foam, ice or a combination of both. Whatever it was, it broke off the bracket, fell nearly 25 feet onto a strut lower on the external fuel tank, then shot into Endeavour's belly.
Each fuel tank is covered with 4,000 pounds of foam and each bracket has only ounces of foam on it, NASA's space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said. "We've really taken this huge complex problem ... and we've really shrunk it down to just very, very few areas, essentially ounce-size pieces of foam that we need to go work with."
A NASA veteran who now chairs the mission management team, John Shannon, is quick to point out that once the problem was discovered, the difference in the way the Columbia and Endeavour flights were handled was "night and day."
Columbia's damage was not seriously addressed by mission managers and worried engineers did not speak up.
Endeavour's much smaller damage was analyzed for a full week using every resource available. A group of engineers went against the tide and argued it would be better to fix the gouge than return with it unmended — because of concerns about damage to the returning shuttle. By that time, the experts had ruled out risks to the crew.
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
Midwest, Plains flooding deaths reach 22 By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer
Midwest, Plains flooding deaths reach 22 By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago
CAREY, Ohio - At the end of a long block of flooded homes, Mike Watkins used a generator to try to pump 4 feet of water out of his mother's basement. But he was clearly in a losing battle.
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In front of his house, kids rode bikes through the knee-deep water and residents took pictures of their water-logged neighborhood as more water poured in from the overflowing Spring Run Creek at the center of the village.
"At least the kids are having fun," Watkins said.
The residents of Carey are the latest victims of storms that have buffeted the Midwest and Plains since the weekend, leaving roads flooded, schools canceled and sending rescuers out on boats.
The death toll from two storm systems — one in the Upper Midwest and the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin in Texas and Oklahoma — reached 22 on Tuesday when searchers found the body of a man tangled in a tree near Lewiston, Minn.
In Wisconsin and Minnesota, thousands of homes were damaged. A preliminary survey by the American Red Cross in Minnesota identified about 4,200 affected homes, including 256 complete losses, 338 with major damage and 475 that are still inaccessible, said Kris Eide, the state's director of homeland security and emergency management.
Flooding remained a problem Wednesday in parts of Ohio. While the forecast called for only scattered showers, several rivers were still rising and not expected to crest before Wednesday afternoon.
Record flooding was predicted near Findlay in northwest Ohio, where the Blanchard River was close to 7 feet above flood stage Wednesday morning and likely to rise more, the National Weather Service said.
In northern Iowa, widespread flooding continued as thunderstorms dumped more heavy rain across the already water-logged region Wednesday. Strong wind damaged buildings, and some roads and homes were underwater.
President Bush said the government would move quickly to process requests for help from Minnesota so that residents could count on a "flood of help" to come down. He spoke before heading to a Republican fundraiser in the state.
About 100 flood victims met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in a sometimes contentious meeting Monday during which he cautioned against expecting miracles, especially because many flood victims don't have insurance.
"We need to know what's going to go on so we can start making plans," Jeff Strain, of Stockton, said Tuesday, standing beside muddied boxes of Christmas decorations, a bike and other household goods piled on his driveway. "As far as government, I haven't heard anything."
Preliminary damage reports in Wisconsin topped $38 million Tuesday and were expected to keep rising. Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in five counties and began the process for requesting federal disaster assistance.
Another 1 to 2 inches of rain fell in isolated areas of Wisconsin Tuesday night and early Wednesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Welvaert. A flash flood watch remained in effect for Wednesday morning.
"With the amount of saturated soils and the rivers as full as they are, that could cause some issues," said weather service meteorologist Mike Fowle.
Wednesday's forecast in Ohio called for only scattered showers with rainfall of less than an inch, but the Blanchard, Auglaize and Ottawa rivers were already well past flood stage Tuesday and were expected to crest by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
At the village of Gays Mills, about 60 miles southeast of La Crosse, Wis., about half of the village was accessible Tuesday, and the growl of sump pumps filled the air as residents made their way back in.
Jennifer Schlegel, 39, stood outside what was left of the home she shared with her husband, daughter, son and mother. Her backyard was still a brown lake. Her deck was gone, ripped away by the current, and every room of the house was coated with mud.
Schlegel said she didn't get flood insurance because she had full home coverage and the mortgage was paid. "You're thinking it's not going to happen," said Schlegel, her jeans and T-shirt streaked with mud.
In Oklahoma, which recorded a gust of 82 mph and rainfall of 11 inches, about 300 homes and businesses were damaged in the Kingfisher area and in Caddo County in southwestern Oklahoma, officials said.
Numerous flood warnings were to remain in effect through Wednesday and Thursday, and Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency in 24 counties.
According to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2007 is so far the fourth-wettest on record in the state, with an average rainfall total of 31.96 inches, 8.42 inches above normal.
Bush: History to prove Iraq war worth it By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
Bush: History to prove Iraq war worth it By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 43 minutes ago
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - President Bush wants a nation running short on patience with the Iraq war to take a long view, comparing it to U.S. involvements in Asia that lost popular backing but eventually proved their worth and led to lasting peace.
"The ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said in advance excerpts of a Wednesday speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"The defense strategy that refused to hand the South Koreans over to a totalitarian neighbor helped raise up an Asian Tiger that is a model for developing countries across the world, including the Middle East," Bush said.
Bush often uses historical comparisons in urging patience on Iraq, but White House aides hope a specific focus on Asia will get skeptics to rethink their positions on Iraq and get beyond the daily, violent setbacks there.
Bush even cites Vietnam as a cautionary tale for those urging troop withdrawals today.
"Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left," Bush said. "Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields.'"
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., quickly dismissed Bush's position.
"President Bush's attempt to compare the war in Iraq to past military conflicts in East Asia ignores the fundamental difference between the two," he said. "Our nation was misled by the Bush administration in an effort to gain support for the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, leading to one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our history."
Bush's speech at the VFW is the first in a planned two-punch combo.
After comparing the current war against extremists with the militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam in Wednesday's speech, he plans to discuss the war in Iraq in the context of its implications for the broader Middle East in a speech next Tuesday at the annual American Legion convention in Reno, Nev.
In the aftermath of Japan's surrender, many thought it was naive to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy, Bush will tell the VFW conventioneers. He said critics also complained when America intervened to save South Korea from communist invasion. And in Vietnam, Bush said, people argued that the real problem was the U.S. presence there, "and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end."
"The advance of freedom in these lands should give us confidence that the hard work we are doing in the Middle East can have the same results we have seen in Asia — if we show the same perseverance and sense of purpose," Bush said.
The president's address at the convention was preceded by a two-day parade of presidential hopefuls and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who addressed the group Monday.
Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, are to report to Congress before Sept. 15 about the impact of the troop buildup that Bush ordered in January. Their report will provide the basis for Bush's decisions about the way forward in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Bush has notably tempered his view of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
When they met in Jordan last November, the president called al-Maliki "the right guy for Iraq." Now, he continually prods al-Maliki to do more to forge political reconciliation before the temporary military buildup ends.
"I think there's a certain level of frustration with the leadership in general, inability to work — come together to get, for example, an oil revenue law passed or provincial elections," Bush said in Canada on Tuesday.
Crocker echoed Bush's frustration with the lack of action by al-Maliki's government.
"Progress on national level issues has been extremely disappointing and frustrating to all concerned — to us, to Iraqis, to the Iraqi leadership itself," Crocker said.
AP Interview: Mine boss defends efforts By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer
AP Interview: Mine boss defends efforts By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
HUNTINGTON, Utah - Coal mine boss Bob Murray said Wednesday he is hurt by critics who say he ran an unsafe mine and wasn't doing enough to find six missing miners trapped deep underground. He also said he emotionally "came apart" after a second cave-in killed three rescuers.
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"I didn't desert anybody," Murray told The Associated Press in the middle-of-the-night phone call. "I've been living on this mountain every day, living in a little trailer."
Murray, 67, described the scene of the second collapse that killed the three rescue workers and injured six others last Thursday.
He said he rushed into the mine in his street clothes and began digging out the men, buried under 5 feet of coal, with his bare hands. "I never hesitated to go in there. I was the first man in and the last man out," he said.
Murray, who has been a target of families' anger over the suspended search for the missing miners, said he later dropped out of a debriefing with federal officials and began wandering around the mine yard in the moonlight, reliving the collapse. He said he broke down.
"I came apart," he said. "I was under a doctor's care for a couple days."
Murray spoke bitterly of the United Mine Workers of America, which has called him greedy and callous for planning to resume mining at other parts of 5,000-acre Crandall Canyon.
"They're twisting it all around to discredit me and my company," he said during the 12-minute phone call.
After the first collapse on Aug. 6, Murray became the public face of the rescue effort, saying repeatedly that the men could have survived and he would bring them home, alive or dead. But he retreated from that view after the deaths of the rescue workers. He re-emerged Monday to announce that the trapped miners would likely remain entombed in the Crandall Canyon mine.
A narrow hole being drilled in the side of the mountain holds perhaps the last, best chance of locating the men. If, as expected, searchers fail to find any sign of life, the rescue effort might be called off.
If so, the miners' family members, who have clung to the hope the men might be found alive, will finally start "to grieve and to heal," said Sonny J. Olsen, an attorney acting as spokesman for the families.
"I've witnessed these families and they're strong people," he said Tuesday. "These are very hardy people, and tragedy is not new to the mining industry. These families know what can happen in these mines. I don't know that it makes it any easier."
A drill crew working on the fifth hole expected to break through early Wednesday. Searchers plan to bang on a drill bit and wait for a response, take air readings, and lower a microphone and camera. Officials said they expect the results to be the same as the four previous tries: no signs of life.
With the trapped miners all but left for dead 1,500 feet deep inside the crumbling mountain, critics are saying the mine was a disaster waiting to happen and pointing fingers at Murray Energy Corp. and the federal government as the agents of the tragedy.
Families and friends vented their frustration at the mine's owner and questioned whether it was too dangerous to be working there.
At a funeral Tuesday for one of the rescue workers who died, a friend of one of the trapped miners confronted Murray and accused him of skimping on the rescue efforts. He then handed Murray a dollar bill.
"This is just to help you out so you don't kill him," the man said.
Murray's head snapped back as if slapped. When the man wouldn't take back the bill, Murray threw the money on the ground. "I'll tell you what, son, you need to find out about the Lord," Murray said.
It was an emotional exchange with an owner who had insisted since the collapse that the rescue of the miners was his top priority. And it revealed more than just the frustration of people in this mining community in central Utah's coal belt, where most still speak in whispers when criticizing the officials whose businesses pay their bills.
Miners' advocates accuse the Mine Safety and Health Administration of being too accommodating to the industry at the expense of safety. They also say MSHA was too quick to approve the mining plan at Crandall Canyon despite concerns that it was too dangerous for mining to continue when Murray bought it a year ago.
"No one took the time to see that it was a recipe for disaster," Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said Tuesday of the nonunion mine.
In question is the decision to allow Crandall Canyon's operators to mine between two sections that had already been excavated using a mining technique that causes the roof to collapse.
In that middle section, the mine was cut like a city block, leaving pillars of coal holding up the mountain above. MSHA approved a plan allowing the operators to pull out the pillars, a practice called "retreat mining," which causes deliberate, controlled roof cave-ins.
Experts think any investigation will focus on why MSHA agreed to that plan.
Those conditions are so unstable, some companies will leave behind the last of the coal rather than risk lives trying to pull additional pillars, experts have said.
In addition to the questions about structure, experts say that the operators and MSHA should have been aware that deep mines such as Crandall Canyon are prone to "bumps" — an unpredictable and dangerous phenomenon that happens when settling layers of earth bear down on the walls of a coal mine. The force can cause pillars to fail, turning chunks of coal into deadly missiles.
The Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped the men is believed to have been caused by a mountain bump. Since then, there have been several other bumps, including one last week that killed the rescue workers, injured six others and led MSHA to call off efforts to dig underground to the six trapped miners.
In March, a bump on the northern wall of the mine caused so much damage, operators abandoned it in favor of mining on the southern wall. MSHA approved the request to conduct retreat mining there in June.
The United Mine Workers on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the mine, the collapse and the rescue efforts. Gov. Jon Huntsman wants MSHA to immediately inspect two Murray Energy mines in neighboring Carbon County.
Since his brother Kerry Allred went missing in the Crandall Canyon mine, Steve Allred said he has received a slew of phone calls from people who said mine conditions were unsafe.
"They tell me that they knew people that was very, very concerned about the conditions in that mine, the bounces, everything," he said.
Allred said his brother had expressed some concern, but added: "There is concern no matter which mine you are in."
He said miners have to shut out those thoughts to work underground. "If you don't, you're not going to survive as a miner," Allred said.
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Associated Press writers Jennifer Talhelm in Washington, D.C., and Chelsea J. Carter, Jennifer Dobner and Jessica Gresko in Huntington contributed to this report.
Iraqi PM lashes out at U.S. critics By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
Iraqi PM lashes out at U.S. critics By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago
DAMASCUS, Syria - Iraq's prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country "can find friends elsewhere."
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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the U.S. presidential campaign for the recent tough words about his government, from President Bush and from other U.S. politicians.
Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders' inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki.
"Clearly, the Iraqi government's got to do more," Bush said. "I think there's a certain level of frustration with the leadership in general, inability to work — come together to get, for example, an oil revenue law passed or provincial elections."
Al-Maliki, on a trip to Syria, reacted harshly when asked about the recent comments from U.S. officials.
"No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people," he said at a news conference in Damascus at the end of the three-day visit to Syria.
"Those who make such statements are bothered by our visit to Syria. We will pay no attention. We care for our people and our constitution and can find friends elsewhere," al-Maliki said.
Without naming any American official, al-Maliki said some of the criticism of him and his government had been "discourteous."
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Monday that al-Maliki, a Shiite, should be ousted and replaced with a less sectarian leader.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said he was disappointed and frustrated by the lack of political progress by al-Maliki's government. Crocker said the Iraqis themselves and Iraqi leaders were also frustrated.
The harsh exchanges erupted just a few weeks before Crocker and the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, are to report to Congress on military and political progress in Iraq.
The two are expected to point to some signs of military progress in Iraq. But the political situation in Iraq remains fractured, with wide distrust between Shiite and Sunni factions and no progress by al-Maliki's government on key issues.
Bush's statement on Tuesday was a marked change in tone from his endorsement of al-Maliki in November 2006 at a meeting in Jordan as "the right guy for Iraq."
In recent months, Bush has continually prodded al-Maliki to do more to forge political reconciliation before the temporary U.S. military buildup ends. But his statements Tuesday were the sharpest he has made about whether the Iraqi prime minister will survive.
"The fundamental question is, Will the government respond to the demands of the people?" Bush said. "And, if the government doesn't demand — or respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians."
Al-Maliki has faced numerous defections from his ruling coalition in recent months. Nevertheless, it is unclear that any group has the political pull to push him aside and put in place a new government.
Ousting al-Maliki would require a majority vote in the 275-member Iraqi parliament. As long as the Kurdish parties and the main Shiite bloc stand beside al-Maliki, his opponents lack the votes to do that.
Any change in leadership also would also greatly complicate U.S. military efforts to stablize the country, especially if the change resulted in the government falling and negotiations to create a new government. The process of forming al-Maliki's government took months of wrangling as the Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias gathered strength and influence.
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Associated Press Writer Robert H. Reid contributed to this report.
Democrat split on Iraq may hurt '08 chances: analysts By David Alexander
Democrat split on Iraq may hurt '08 chances: analysts By David Alexander
14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Failure to end the Iraq war has so divided Democrats it could jeopardize their chances of consolidating power in U.S. elections in November 2008, analysts said.
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Nearly a year since the party parlayed discontent over the unpopular war into a majority in Congress, liberal Democrats, prodded by influential Internet bloggers, are pressing harder than ever for action to bring U.S. troops home.
Centrists, concerned about alienating conservative voters in swing districts, are wary of moving too precipitously, the analysts say.
The bottom line for Democrats was that they won a majority by picking up seats in marginal or nominally Republican districts, said Ethan Siegal, an analyst for The Washington Exchange, which monitors Congress for institutional investors.
"If the Democrats want to keep control of the House in the 2008 elections, they can't force those members to take certain Iraq votes, he said.
Democratic divisions may grow after Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, reports to Congress in September on the results of President George W. Bush's policy of building up troops as a way to stabilize Iraq.
Even a positive report is unlikely to sway the anti-war liberal Democrats, but it will make it difficult for centrist Democrats from more conservative districts to support pulling out troops, the analysts said.
Democrats who had hesitated to vote for timetables and various withdrawal schemes "are going to be even more hesitant now," Siegal said.
"It will be the Democratic left, which is probably immune to any news of success in Iraq, against the middle-of-the-road America," said Matthew Woessner, a political expert at Pennsylvania State University.
NIGHTMARE SCENARIO
"A nightmare scenario for any party is when the pressure, the sum total of the pressures from their constituency groups, are out of step with mainstream America. That's a prescription for electoral disaster," he added.
And liberal Democrats, who felt marginalized by President Bill Clinton and his centrist supporters in the 1990s, don't seem inclined to let up. They have gained substantial influence in the party over the past decade with a well-organized network of bloggers, fund-raisers and activists linked through the Internet.
Successful bloggers, like Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, regularly use the Internet to debate ideas, editorialize and criticize Democrats who compromise liberal principles. Fund-raising sites like ActBlue.com have collected tens of millions of dollars for Democratic candidates.
"The explosion of the success of the left-wing blogosphere has placed the Democrats under even more pressure from their left," Woessner said.
Democrats know they can tap into online activists for resources, money and time.
But the electoral map limits how far the party can move to the left if Democrats hope to retain power in Congress and build their majority, Siegal said.
"The Democrats can't control the House and the Senate unless they elect centrists also," he said. "And they can't elect their centrists by having a totally liberal agenda."
The success of liberal Democrats in prodding the party to the left has begun to draw expressions of concern from centrists.
"Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats to victory in the 1990s no longer matters," former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, the head of centrist Democratic Leadership Council, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley wrote in The Washington Post.
