Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/11829
6A – Daily News – Friday, June 11, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING As oil spill rages on, Louisiana leaders want drilling to resume NEW ORLEANS (AP) — At the same time they are venting their fury on BP over the Gulf of Mexico spill and its calamitous environmental effects, Louisiana politicians are rushing to the defense of the oil-and-gas industry and pleading with Washington to bring back offshore drilling — now. As angry as they are over the disaster, state officials warn that the Obama administration’s temporary ban on drilling in the Gulf has sent Louisiana’s most lucra- tive industry into a death spiral. They contend that drilling is safe overall and that the moratorium is a knee-jerk reaction, akin to grounding every airplane in America because of a single crash. They worry, too, that the moratorium comes at a time when another major Louisiana industry — fishing — has been brought to a standstill by the mess in the Gulf. ‘‘For God’s sake, don’t finish us off with a morato- rium,’’ Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said this week. Meanwhile, a government task force of scientists said that before BP cut and capped the blown-out well at the bottom of the sea a week ago, it was spewing 2.1 million gallons of oil per day — or twice as much as the government’s previous worst-case estimate. Senate rejects move to stop Obama’s EPAfrom limiting greenhouse gases WASHINGTON (AP) — In a boost for the president on global warming, the Senate on Thursday rejected a challenge to Obama administration rules aimed at cut- ting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other big polluters. The defeated resolution would have denied the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency the authority to move ahead with the rules, crafted under the federal Clean Air Act. With President Barack Obama’s broader clean energy legislation struggling to gain a foothold in the Senate, the vote took on greater significance as a signal of where lawmakers stand on dealing with climate change. ‘‘If ever there was a vote to find out whose side you are on, this is it,’’ said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Com- mittee. The vote was 53-47 to stop the Senate from moving forward on the Republican-led effort to restrain the EPA. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., predicted the vote would ‘‘increase momentum to adopt comprehensive energy and climate legislation this year.’’ Potentially hundreds of remains at Arlington National Cemetery misidentified or misplaced WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army investigation has found that potentially hundreds of remains at Arlington National Cemetery have been misidentified or mis- placed, in a scandal marring the reputation of the nation’s pre-eminent burial ground for its honored dead since the Civil War. Army Secretary John McHugh announced Thursday that the cemetery’s two civilian leaders would be forced to step aside, and he appointed a new chief to conduct a more thorough investigation to examine the graves and sort out the mix-up. ‘‘I deeply apologize to the families of the honored fallen resting in that hallowed ground who may now question the care afforded to their loved ones,’’ McHugh told a Pentagon news conference. Arlington National Cemetery is considered among the nation’s most hallowed burial sites, with more than 300,000 people buried there with military honors. An average of 30 funerals are conducted there every day. Among those buried at the cemetery are troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well service members from past conflicts dating back to the Civil War. McCain takes hit from primary opponent PHOENIX (AP) — A now-disbarred Florida lawyer who admitted to orchestrating a huge Ponzi scheme gave more than $180,000 to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, contributions that McCain’s Senate rival is now making an issue in their competitive primary. Scott Rothstein was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison after he confessed to running a $1.2 bil- lion fraud using faked legal settlements. Rothstein also was a key contributor and fundraiser who bundled more than $500,000 in campaign contri- butions for McCain’s 2008 race, according to the cam- paign finance watchdog Center for Responsive Politics. The exact amount he raised from others is unknown, but Rothstein boasted to the Wall Street Journal in 2008 that he raised as much as $1.1 million for McCain. The campaign of former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging McCain in Arizona’s Aug. 24 Republican primary, demanded that the four-term sen- ator account for and donate all of the money connected to Rothstein. GOP: Kagan’s bench memos to Justice Marshall show political approach to law WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senior Republican senators criticized Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan Thursday for memos she wrote as a young law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, saying the papers suggest she lets politics dictate her legal decisions. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jeff Sessions of Alaba- ma said the writings show that Kagan was highly opin- ionated and wanted to use the law to achieve specific policy results, rather than deciding legal questions on their merits. ‘‘It indicates a developing lawyer who has a political bent to their legal work — pretty significantly so,’’ said Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Commit- tee that will hold Kagan’s confirmation hearings. The memos, Sessions added, ‘‘show that her back- ground is heavily in political advocacy ... more than the meat-and-potatoes discipline of serious legal work.’’ The two senators cited notes Kagan wrote to Mar- shall in which she argued that the Supreme Court shouldn’t take certain cases based on her fear that they would give its conservative majority the chance to scale back abortion and criminal rights, among others. Pope strongly defends priestly celibacy in vigil VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended celibacy for priests as a sign of faith in an increasingly secular world during a rally Thurs- day that drew some 15,000 priests from around the world to Rome. Benedict didn’t directly mention the clerical abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church for months, but he referred to what he called ‘‘secondary scandals’’ that showed ‘‘our own insufficiencies and sins.’’ LOSE WEIGHT Nutrition & Energy Digestive Cleansing Weight Control POUNDS INCHES& Healthy, real results! LOSE 30-day product, return refund guarantee. Ask for. 888-564-2079 herbal-nutrition.net/ starhomebusiness starhomebusiness@att.net The Back Packs ARE HERE! The Back Packs ARE HERE! Look for them at local businesses Benedict’s comments came during an evening vigil service in St. Peter’s Square to mark the end of the Vat- ican’s year of the priest — a year that has been marred by revelations of hundreds of new cases of clerical abuse, cover-up and Vatican inaction to stop it. There had been speculation that Benedict might again refer to the scandal, following his recent com- ments en route to Portugal during which he acknowl- edged that it was born of the ‘‘sin within the church’’ and not from outside elements. Previously, Vatican officials, Vatican publications and cardinals had blamed the scandal on the media, the Masons and anti- Catholic lobbies, among others. But Benedict didn’t directly address it Thursday night. He is due to celebrate a final Mass on Friday before the rally comes to a close. Girl lost at sea during solo sail around the world LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 16-year-old Southern California girl attempting a solo sail around the world was feared in trouble Thursday in the frigid, heaving southern Indian Ocean after her emergency beacons began signaling and communication was lost. Abby Sunderland’s family was talking with U.S. and international governments about organizing a search of the remote ocean between southern Africa and Aus- tralia, family spokesman Christian Pinkston said. Conditions can quickly become perilous for any sailor exposed to the elements in that part of the world. ‘‘We’ve got to get a plane out there quick,’’ said Pinkston, adding that the teen’s family in Thousand Oaks was asking for prayers for her safety. ‘‘They are exhausting every resource to try to mobi- lize an air rescue including discussions with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and various international rescue organizations,’’ he said. The clos- est land is France’s Reunion Island, east of Madagas- car, though the exact distance wasn’t clear. Americans rebuilding wealth, slowly, unevenly WASHINGTON (AP) — The rebuilding of Ameri- cans’ wealth is proceeding in steps rather than strides. Households’ net worth rose last quarter — the fourth straight quarterly gain. Yet tumbling stock prices have reduced their wealth since then. Some economists say Americans’ net worth may now be down slightly for the year. That helps explain why many say it will 2012 or 2013, at best, before Americans’ wealth will return to its pre-recession levels. Net worth — the value of assets like homes, bank accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards — rose 2.1 percent last quarter, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. It now amounts to $54.6 trillion. In the midst of the recession, household net worth sank as low as $48.3 trillion. It’s since risen 13 percent. Yet even counting last quarter’s gain, net worth would have to rise 21 percent more to regain its pre-recession peak of $65.9 trillion. Trapped Conn. man tried cutting off his own arm HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Jonathan Metz had been trapped for two days in his basement with his left arm stuck in a broken furnace. Smelling rotting flesh, he decided that amputation was his only hope. So the 31-year-old fashioned a tourniquet near his shoulder and began cutting. He made it almost all the way through, but wasn’t able to free himself. He was rescued Wednesday after three days in his West Hartford basement when worried friends called police, and firefighters cut the furnace apart. Doctors gave the account of Metz’s harrowing expe- rience at a news conference Thursday. They said the attempted self-amputation probably saved his life, pre- venting the infection in his gangrenous arm from spreading to the rest of his body. ‘‘There was a little bit of fat that remained and he was in and out of consciousness,’’ said Dr. Scott Ellner, Metz’ surgeon at Hartford’s Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. ‘‘It sounds like maybe there was a nerve there that prevented him from completing the amputation.’’ Police say Washington man breaks into bank to sleep ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) — Police in Ellens- burg, Wash., said a man looking for a place to sleep broke into the basement of a bank, and — yes — he had been drinking. Surveillance video shows the man breaking a basement window about 3 a.m. Saturday and leaving before 8 a.m. Police tracked down the 21-year-old by Tuesday and arrested him at his home for investigation of second- degree burglary and malicious mischief. Capt. 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