Eeyore's News and View

Makes you wonder, after they call all Jews home last month and now this and all the news surrounding, iran and the other nuclear countries.
Israel stages biggest-ever war drill
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel started its biggest emergency drill in the nation's history Sunday to prepare civilians, soldiers and rescue crews for the possibility of war, the defense force said in a statement.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has expressed skepticism that Iran can be persuaded to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The five-day drill, nicknamed Turning Point 3, comes amid the nation's rising tensions with Iran.
It will be conducted in public facilities, including schools, military bases and government offices. Students, soldiers and other civilians will practice how to gather at protected places during an emergency.
Officials said the drill will include simulated rockets, air raids and other attacks on infrastructure and essential facilities, and use of weapons on civilians.
Everyone is expected to go to a protected place at the sound of sirens, the defense force said, adding that more instructions will be broadcast on a public channel.
"It is of great importance that every civilian, institute and workplace will seriously practice in order to improve our preparedness and national resilience," Maj. Gen. Yair Golan of the Home Front Command said in a news statement.
The move comes amid tension between Israel and Tehran.
The Israeli government considers Iran's nuclear program as the dominant threat facing the country. Israel is publicly supportive of President Barack Obama administration's outreach to the Islamic state.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio last week that he believes "that the chance the dialogue has of stopping Iran's nuclear efforts is very low."
Barak's views are keeping with the majority of his countrymen.
An Israeli poll released this month found that 74 percent believe that the U.S. policy of engagement with Iran will fail and 81 percent think Iran will develop a nuclear weapon capability.
Israel has conducted emergency drills the past two years, but officials said this is the biggest so far.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/31/israel.drill/index.html

Federal judge refuses to dismiss 'Day of Prayer' suit
MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an atheist group that claims the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled this week the case brought by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation can proceed.
A federal law sets the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.
Crabb says the nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics faces a heavy burden in proving the tradition violates the Constitution's provision for separation of church and state. But she says it should have an opportunity to do so.
The Obama administration and National Day of Prayer Task Force had filed motions to dismiss the case.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-05-29-prayer-lawsuit_N.htm

Foreclosures add to hurricane hazards
June 1, 2009 - 9:58am
By TAMARA LUSH Associated Press Writer
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP) - Mike Manikchand points toward his neighbors _ a half-dozen empty, foreclosed-upon homes, sitting on weed-strewn yards _ and he wonders: What will happen if a hurricane slams into southwest Florida this year?
His simple answer: "A lot of these places will get destroyed."
Unoccupied, these homes would be defenseless in a storm; there will be no one to put up shutters, batten down garage doors and otherwise secure homes. But that's not all. Nearby homes and their residents would also be at risk from wind-propelled debris.
Lehigh Acres and other communities at the epicenter of the nation's housing crisis are coming to realize that this year's hurricane season, beginning June 1, represents yet another pitfall. Hurricanes could make hazards of thousands of foreclosed-upon houses, and their diminished value could decrease even more.
"Here's your choice," said Julie Rochman, president of the Tampa-based Institute for Business and Home Safety. "Spend a little bit of time and money to secure the properties to withstand wind and water or not do the right thing and have the homes become damaged and are valued less."
The Associated Press Economic Stress Index _ a month-by-month analysis of foreclosure, bankruptcy and unemployment rates in more than 3,000 U.S. counties _ confirms that some of the areas most likely to be struck by a hurricane are suffering the most in this recession.
In March, there were 281,691 homes in foreclosure in Florida and coastal counties in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Lee County, where Manikchand lives, is among the hardest-hit counties in the country. A 22-year-old pharmacy student, he took advantage of a dismal housing market and bought a foreclosed duplex for $36,000.
In coming months, he and millions of others along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts will dutifully track tropical weather forecasts and stockpile batteries, flashlights and tins of tuna, hoping that hurricanes blow harmlessly out to sea.
But who will secure all the foreclosed homes if a storm does approach? No one really knows.
In some cases, a property management company hired by the bank could do the work. Or it could be a real estate agent, a homeowners' association or even resourceful neighbors who clear debris from yards and board windows. Yet no state laws mandate who prepares buildings before a hurricane; even officials from the Florida Division of Emergency Management say that securing foreclosures isn't a concern.
"It's not an aspect that we really deal with," said John Cherry, the agency's external affairs director. "Our No. 1 concern is life safety."
Quick evacuation will be the priority, not securing vacant homes, if a major storm looms, others say. But shutterless homes can be a major safety hazard in a hurricane. And a region full of destroyed or heavily damaged homes would depress real estate values even further.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters have projected a near normal year for hurricanes. They predicted nine to 14 named tropical storms, including four to seven hurricanes. One to three of the hurricanes are expected to be major.
Randall Webster, director of the Horry County Emergency Management Department in South Carolina, said if a storm does hit, properties in foreclosure could slow recovery if the county can't immediately find the owner, "especially if it were in a neighborhood where others around it were taking care of business and this one gets in rough shape," he said.
The issue of who cares for vacant homes during a time of crisis seems simple: The legal owner is responsible for securing the property. But communities are already struggling to get banks to mow lawns, much less put up hurricane shutters _ if they weren't swiped from the foreclosed home, along with appliances, copper wiring and air conditioners.
If the bank hasn't yet taken the title of a home, the property is in a kind of limbo, and local officials or homeowners associations may have no legal right to trespass and secure it. And many hard-hit counties don't have the money or manpower to do it.
"Simple logistics tells me (the banks) don't have the staff to follow up," said Kenneth Wilkinson, property appraiser for Lee County, which in March had the third-highest foreclosure rate in the United States, after California's Merced County and Nevada's Clark County.
There are some places that are trying to board up windows and batten down garage doors, although largely to stave off crime. Wellington, in Palm Beach County, has gone to court to receive the legal OK to board up homes. And in Cape Coral, city officials have passed an ordinance that requires the owner of a foreclosed home to pay $150 to register the address and provide a contact number for the person who will maintain the property.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson has asked county attorneys to research whether it is legal to board up empty homes.
"If we board them up, we're protecting them," Aaronson said. "Hopefully we will be able to keep some of the value up."
Aaronson contends that the banks don't always maintain the homes and doesn't expect that they will in the days before a storm _ and if the county takes over that responsibility, then he wants the banks to pay.
"We want to use the full power we have as a government to levy the greatest fines that we can to penalize banks for not taking care of the properties," he said.
Horry County's Webster says there might be another way for public officials to take matters into their own hands.
"If it became deemed a public health issue or public safety hazard, the county would have some legal recourse to secure it in terms of making it off limits or safer," said Webster, whose county includes Myrtle Beach and has seen foreclosures rise over the past year.
Some banks say that they have a plan for hurricanes; JP Morgan Chase says it will use property management companies and bank field employees to make sure properties are storm-ready. And if the homes are damaged or destroyed during a storm, said Michael Fusco, a spokesman for JP Morgan Chase, the bank "acts just like a homeowner" and will file an insurance claim.
Debora Blume, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo Bank, said her company hires local real estate agents who have been assigned to market bank-owned properties to secure homes against hurricane damage.
But one real estate agent in the Fort Myers area said the process of putting the maintenance work out to bid and then getting approval from the bank that owns the property might not be workable as a storm bears down.
"During a hurricane, we need to get out of town, not wait for approval for funding to secure a building," said Suzanne Sherer, president of the Realtors Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beaches. "I won't have time to get a bid from a handyman."
In Lee County, metal hurricane shutters cover a few new, unsold homes. Many empty homes have swing sets in the yard, garbage cans strewn in the driveway and loose roof tiles, all of which could become projectiles during a storm.
Sherer said it would be "devastating" if a powerful storm similar to Hurricane Charley, which hit nearby Charlotte County in 2004, struck Lee County.
In Galveston, Texas, where more than 17,000 home were damaged by Hurricane Ike last year, there are still many empty homes _ but not because of foreclosures. The properties were damaged during the storm and owners don't have the money to rebuild.
"These homeowners have the biggest hurdles as far as getting back into their homes," City spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said. "A lot of the homes that were affected were lower income to moderate income families who didn't have a huge insurance policy or a lot of extra cash lying around to make repairs."
Tybee, Ga., mayor Jason Buelterman says officials there haven't considered potential problems with foreclosures during storm season. Their first priority, he said, is assuring the safety of island residents and tourists if a hurricane heads their way. Dealing with foreclosed homes will be an afterthought.
Yet residents throughout the hurricane zone are worried, especially those who live in foreclosure-dotted neighborhoods. Armando Gonzalez, 72, retired from Miami to Lehigh Acres five years ago.
He and his wife moved to a small home a few blocks from the city center, in a quiet yet thriving neighborhood. But in the last two years, his neighbors left, either because of foreclosure or job loss. Now he's the only one on his block; the home next to him has a broken window and the one across the street is only half-built.
When asked what would happen to all the nearby, dilapidated homes if a hurricane hit, Gonzalez shrugged and grinned.
"I can't do anything," he said. "Maybe I'll pray. God will save me."
http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1686402

At least he can keep his pledge about some stuff, it only cost us over 24 grand,
OBAMA KEEPS HIS BIG APPLE PLEDGE
Two martinis, a swank restaurant, a Broadway show -- President Obama really knows how to treat a First Lady.
"I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished," the president said yesterday after touching down at JFK for an intimate night on the town.
PHOTOS: Obama's NYC Date
The first couple left their girls, Sasha and Malia, behind at the White House yesterday afternoon, taking two helicopters and a small Air Force jet to make their way to Manhattan.
The Obamas were dressed to the nines -- Michelle in a sleeveless, black cocktail dress adorned with fringe, a pair of low, strappy heels and a turquoise clutch; and the president in a dark suit and white shirt, no tie.
The first stop was a meal at low-key, but elegant, Greenwich Village restaurant Blue Hill, which boasts farm fresh, locally grown dishes.
The Obamas were tucked into an out-of-the- way corner table where they enjoyed a multi- course feast specially prepared by the chef. They washed down the fine fare with wine, said a fellow diner, who also no ticed Michelle re laxing with a cou ple of martinis.
Photographers were kept blocks away be hind barri cades for the first couple's privacy.
"We left them alone the entire night," said Blue Hill diner Rachael Levit, of Manhattan. "Nobody asked for autographs or took any pictures. They were laughing and talking and seemed like they had a genuinely good time."
But as the Obamas departed, the respectful diners, who had been screened by Secret Service personnel before they could enter the eatery, erupted into a round of applause.
Then it was up to Broadway, where they had tickets at the Belasco Theatre for "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," a play by August Wilson about a man coming to terms with the history of slavery.
"I'm nervous, excited, honored," said Andre Holland, who plays character Jeremy Furlow, before the show. "It's like in Shakespearean times, when the king would come to the show."
Although the play's up for a Best Revival Tony Award, the first couple got the biggest standing ovation of the night as theatergoers applauded and took photos of the dashing duo for 10 minutes before the show began.
The president gallantly guided his wife to their orchestra seats with his hand on the small of her back, while shaking hands with fellow theatergoers and smiling broadly. Due to security screenings, the curtain rose an hour late.
"I couldn't think for the first 10 minutes of the show because the president was sitting right to me," said seatmate Lloyd Lederkramer.
The Obamas weren't the only celebrities in the audience. Actress Meryl Streep sat a few rows ahead of them, and Olympia Dukakis was also on hand.
"I was very honored the president took a date night with his wife and chose to see our play," said leading actor Ernie Hudson. "We were all very honored."
The Obamas sent a note to the cast afterwards saying they loved the play and wished they could go backstage, but couldn't because of security, actor Michael Cummings, 13, said.
Taxpayers footed the bill for the big night on the town, which included a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. Dinner costs and orchestra seat tickets -- at $96.50 apiece -- were paid by the Obamas.
Obama's jet, a Gulfstream 500, served as a more modest Air Force One for the day in place of the customary presidential Boeing 747.
The White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05312009/news/nationalnews/obama_keeps_his_big_apple_pledge_171810.htm