April 7th Lost Lake tribune Part one
North Korea Tests a Missiles That Falls Near Hokkaido
North Korea, rejecting international criticism, launched a rocket late Saturday night in what could be a step toward putting a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. and beyond.
President Obama called the launch — which defied Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect it was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology — a move that threatens the security of nations "near and far."
According to U.S. defense officials, "nothing went into orbit" and any space launch of a satellite was therefore unsuccessful. The officials also said two stages of the missile fell into the Pacific.
"Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan," North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Northern Command said.
NORAD and NORTHCOM "assessed the space launch vehicle as not a threat to North America or Hawaii and took no action in response to this launch."
Liftoff took place at 10:30 p.m. ET from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea. The multistage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes, but no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.
Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and is orbiting, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
South Korea's presidential office said Sunday North Korea's satellite did not reach orbit as the communist nation claims.
The move was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed Pyongyang in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a launch they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
The U.N. Security Council approved an emergency session for Sunday afternoon in New York, following a request from Japan that came just minutes after the launch.
"North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint and further isolated itself from the community of nations," Obama said in Prague, urging Pyongyang to honor the U.N. resolutions and to refrain from further "provocative" actions.
China, Pyongyang's biggest source of economic aid and diplomatic support, urged all sides to maintain calm and exercise restraint. It offered to play a "constructive role," though some fear it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.
North Korea says the launch of the "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was a peaceful bid to develop its space program.
But the U.S., and others suspect the launch was a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology — a worrying step toward mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.
They contend it violates a U.N. Security Council resolution barring the regime from ballistic missile activity, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear program and halt long-range missile tests.
State Department spokesman Fred Lash called the launch a clear violation of Resolution 1718, adopted five days after North Korea carried out a nuclear weapons test in 2006. The U.S. will "take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity," he said in Washington after the launch.
"We look on this as a provocative act," Lash said.
"Even if a satellite was launched, we see this as a ballistic missile test and we think this matter should be taken to the United Nations Security Council," Japan's Cheif Cabinet member Kawamura said.
The first stage of the rocket dropped about 175 miles off the western coast of Akita into the waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula. The second stage was aimed for the Pacific at a spot about 790 miles off Japan's northeastern coast, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said in Tokyo.
Japan had threatened to shoot down any debris from the rocket if the launch went wrong, and positioned batteries of interceptor missiles on its coast and radar-equipped ships off its northern seas to monitor the liftoff.
Information Gained from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512583,00.html
New York State Immigrant Murders
13 and Takes Own Life
BINGHAMTON — The community center was filled with people from countries as far off as Kazakhstan, all working to become more a part of their new home — learning English, taking a class to gain U.S. citizenship. The gunman may have walked a similar path to become an American decades ago.
He parked his car against the back door, stormed through the front and shot two receptionists, apparently without saying a word. Then he fired on a citizenship class while terrified people, their only escape route blocked, scrambled into a boiler room and a storage room and prayed he wouldn’t follow.
“I heard the shots, every shot. I heard no screams, just silence, shooting,” said Zhanar Tokhtabayeva, a 30-year-old Kazakh who was in an English class when her teacher screamed for everyone to go to the storage room. “I heard shooting, very long time, and I was thinking, when will this stop? I was thinking that my life was finished.”
The man killed 13 people — all but one of them in the classroom — before apparently killing himself, Friday morning at the American Civic Association building in Binghamton. Four people were critically wounded.
One of the receptionists survived; shot in the abdomen, she played dead before crawling under a desk and calling 911. Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said she stayed on the phone for 90 minutes, “feeding us information constantly,” despite her serious wound.“She’s a hero in her own right,” he said.
Investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the massacre, which was at least the fifth deadly mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month alone. Police said they arrived within two minutes at the American Civic Association, an organization that helps immigrants settle in this country. The murderer was believed believed to be a Vietnamese immigrant.The man believed to have carried out the attack was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office, a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck, authorities said. Police found two handguns — a 9 mm and a .45-caliber — as well as a hunting knife. Thirty-seven people in all made it out of the building, including 26 who hid in the boiler room in the basement for three hours. Meanwhile police methodically searched the building and tried to determine whether the murderer was still alive and whether he was holding any hostages, Zikuski said. Those in the basement stayed in contact with police by cell phone, Zikuski said. Others hid in closets and under desks. Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers. They then spent two hours searching the building. At one point, police led a number of men out of the building in plastic handcuffs while they tried to sort out the victims from the killer or killers. Most of the people brought out couldn’t speak English, the chief said. Alex Galkin, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, said he was taking English classes when he heard a shot and quickly went to the basement with about 20 other people.
Counselors tended to relatives of victims at a Catholic Charities office.
Governor David Paterson said the massacre was probably “the worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of this city.” Noting mass killings in Alabama and Oakland, Calif., last month, he said: “When are we going to be able to curb the kind of violence that is so fraught and so rapid that we can’t even keep track of the incidents?” The community center was holding class “for those who want to become citizens of the United States of America, who wanted to be part of the American Dream, and so tragically may have had that hope thwarted today,” the governor said. “But there still is an American dream, and all of us who are Americans will try to heal this very, very deep wound in the city of Binghamton.”
On April 4th, police identified the mureder as 42 year old Jiverly Wong.
He obtained permits for two pistols in 1996 or 1997. These were the pistols used in the shooting, police said. Wong last worked at Shop-Vac, but was terminated when the plant closed in November, police said. Information Gained from http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressconnects.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D2009304030002&h=6626d21f69537ec342aec595ef0210db
The MN Senate Cuts K-12 Spending by Three Per Cent-
The Minnesota Senate, in a dramatic turnaround from recent budget years, voted today to slash K-12 education spending by $453 million, or slightly over 3 percent of the budget over the next two years.
Originally, the Senate's goal was to slash school spending by $972 million, or 7 percent of the $13.8 billion total K-12 budget in 2010 and 2011. But hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds have started to flow into schools, and Senate policy makers subtracted that amount from their proposed cuts.
The cuts would be across-the-board reductions in the basic education funding all school districts get.
"I think it's fair and responsible given the difficult economic times we're facing," said Chuck Wiger, the North St. Paul DFLer who is deputy chairman of the joint Senate education policy and finance committee. "Most people realize this approach is the more responsible way to deal with the budget. Do I like making cuts? No. "
Asked when the last time the DFL-controlled Senate cut education spending, Wiger replied: "It's maybe been a generation."
The DFL vote was, in fact, mixed. Out of a vote total of 37 for and 29 against the bill, 10 DFLers voted against it.
Tom Dooher, president of the Education Minnesota teachers union, has warned that the Senate cuts would result in thousands of teacher layoffs across the state.
"It really compounds what we're already seeing with cuts already proposed for the next school year," Dooher said. "It's going to make it more difficult for students who need it the most, because there are going to be fewer academic programs, and classes are going to be too large for optimal learning..."
Most districts have been making their budget plans anticipating a funding freeze from the state. Even with that freeze, many have been anticipating major teacher and program reductions over the next two years. Information gained from http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/42603322.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs
Vt. Legislature says OK to imposing system
that deprives children of mom and dad.
Washington DC officials signal they also support the same
Tuesday, April 07, 2009, 2:15 PM (MST)
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Legislature Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of legislation that fabricates same-sex “marriage” in the state, which was the first state to implement “civil unions” in 2000. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say that the legislation is a textbook rebuttal of the argument that “civil unions” are a satisfactory compromise to protect marriage.
“Politicians should never impose a system that intentionally deprives a child of a mother and father. The state should do everything necessary to ensure that children aren’t denied their most important birthright: a mom and a dad,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “This move also demonstrates without question that ‘civil unions’ are never acceptable middle ground. Instead, they are the groundwork used to pave the way toward what you see today. Other states should not be naïve,” Nimocks added.
ADF attorneys say the decision of Washington, D.C., officials to recognize same-sex “marriages” from other jurisdictions is not only legally problematic, but also indicates a troubling willingness on the part of D.C. officials to join Vermont legislators in promoting a system that will intentionally promote homes where children will not have the benefit of a mother and father.“All non-partisan research and plain common sense tells us that children need a mom and dad. When children are denied a mom and a dad, it leads to far more drug use, early sexual activity, criminal activity, mental depression, suicide, and problems in school,” said Nimocks. “The issue is bigger than a ‘personal relationship.’ How can we justify hurting an untold number of children for the possible emotional benefit of a very small number of adults?”
According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, same-sex couples represent only 0.6 percent of the total population of Vermont and 1.2 percent of the total population of the District of Columbia.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family. http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4902
Iowa Supreme Court rules to redefine marriage High court strikes down Iowa Defense of Marriage Act;
ADF attorneys filed friend-of-the-court
brief on behalf of state legislators
Friday, April 03, 2009, 7:58 AM (MST)
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court struck down the state’s Defense of Marriage Act in a ruling Friday that declared it to be in conflict with the state constitution. ADF attorneys represent Iowa state legislators who filed a friend-of-the court brief with the high court in defense of the act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman--the same definition that has existed for the entire history of the state.
“The Iowa marriage law was simple, settled, and overwhelmingly supported by Iowans. There was simply no legitimate reason for the court to redefine marriage,” said long-time Iowa attorney and ADF Senior Legal Counsel Douglas Napier. “The court stepped outside of its proper role of interpreting the law and has instead overruled the will of the people and created new law. Marriage as one man and one woman has been the law in Iowa for 170 years.
The Defense of Marriage Act was nearly unanimously supported by the legislature when it was passed. It was supported by the governor and a majority of Iowans.”“Now it’s time for the Iowa Legislature to allow the people to vote on marriage as one man and one woman by placing a marriage amendment on the ballot. Let Iowans be heard. The legal definition of marriage should be in their hands, not the hands of unelected judges,” Napier added.
Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit Varnum v. Brien in December 2005 against Polk County Clerk Timothy Brien on behalf of six same-sex couples demanding marriage licenses and arguing that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
In April 2007, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of several state legislators in support of the act. After the lower court ruled the act unconstitutional, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Iowa Supreme Court on behalf of five state legislators who called into question the trial judge’s decision in August 2007 to reject the state’s expert testimony in defense of the act. The court heard oral arguments in December 2008.
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