Forum - Gas price rise

Although oil prices have dropped today by $2.50 the price is still expected to go up.

AP
Gas prices rise further above $3.50, while oil nears $120
Tuesday April 22, 10:45 pm ET
By John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Gas prices push further above $3.50 a gallon, while oil nears $120 on weaker dollar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gas and oil prices pushed further into record high territory Tuesday, with retail gas reaching a national average of $3.51 for the first time and crude nearing $120 as the dollar fell to a new low against the euro.
At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose 0.8 cent Tuesday to $3.511, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices for diesel -- used to transport most food, industrial and commercial goods -- also rose overnight to a new record of $4.204 a gallon.

Gas prices are nearly 66 cents higher than last year, when they peaked at a then-record of $3.23 in late May, and have prompted many analysts to raise their estimates of where gas is going to go.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility that we could get to $4," said Antoine Halff, an analyst at Newedge USA LLC.

Other analysts are less certain. Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service, thinks gas prices will rise only another 10 cents to 20 cents nationally. That would mean they would peak near $4.15 a gallon in California, where prices are typically highest, and around $3.50 in New Jersey, where they're typically lowest.

Gas prices are rising for many reasons, including oil's record run. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to a new trading record of $119.90 before retreating to settle up $1.89 at a record $119.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract expired after the Nymex closed, which contributed to its spike higher as investors scrambled to square bets. June crude futures, which now become the focus of trading, rose $1.44 to settle at $118.07 a barrel, nearly $2 shy of the $120 level.

On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers attempted to escalate scrutiny of oil and gas companies.

"People deserve a more scrupulous cop on the beat in these markets," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., who along with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., called for the Justice Department to investigate possible market manipulation.

Meantime, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., praised the Bush administration's proposal to increase the average fuel economy for new cars and trucks to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015.

Soaring gasoline prices show "that we have to move much more aggressively toward improving fuel efficiency and help bring relief to American consumers," she said in a statement.

Many investors see commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar. Also, a weaker greenback makes oil cheaper for investors overseas.

The dollar fell Tuesday after the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes dropped in March while the median home price declined, raising prospects that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further this year to try to shore up the ailing economy. Fed interest rate cuts tend to further weaken the dollar.

Oil also rose on concerns about supply constraints overseas. A Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint venture declared what's known as force majeure on April and May oil delivery contracts from a 400,000-barrel-a-day Nigerian oil field due to a pipeline attack last week. The move protects the company from litigation if it fails to deliver on contractual obligations to buyers.

In Mexico, oil production slipped 7.8 percent in the first quarter to 2.91 million barrels a day as output at the country's oil fields waned, state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos said. In Scotland, workers at Ineos PLC's 196,000 barrel-a-day Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant threatened to strike over changes to an employee pension plan.

While gas prices are following oil futures higher, they're also rising because supplies are falling. Refiners are in the process of switching over from making winter grade gasoline to the more-expensive, less-polluting, form of the fuel they're required to sell in summer. That's pushing supplies down as producers try to sell off all of their winter gas.

Gasoline supplies are also being hurt by low profit margins. Refiners have to buy the crude they turn into fuel, but falling demand for gasoline has hurt their ability to raise gas prices as much as they would like. While the average profit margin on gasoline hovers above $10, analysts say margins have gone negative in some parts of the country in recent weeks. In those cases, refiners were actually losing money on every gallon of gas they made. Many refiners have reacting by producing less gas.

"Very high crude prices can constrain gasoline supplies as it hurts the margins," Halff said.

In other Nymex trading Tuesday, May gasoline futures rose 3.73 cents to settle at $3.0164 a gallon after earlier rising to a trading record of $3.025, while May heating oil futures rose 0.55 cent to settle at $3.3169 a gallon after earlier rising to their own trading record of $3.35. May natural gas futures fell 12.6 cents to settle at $10.607 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, June Brent crude rose $1.52 to settle at $115.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest and Gillian Wong in Singapore contributed to this report.

Although there seems to be a shortage of rice, world wide, the US govt is starting to push the potato as a replacement.

Sam's Club, Costco limit rice purchases as prices rise By MARCUS KABEL, AP Business Writer
Thu Apr 24, 1:26 AM ET



The two biggest U.S. warehouse retail chains are limiting how much rice customers can buy because of what Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., called on Wednesday "recent supply and demand trends."

The broader chain of Wal-Mart stores has no plans to limit food purchases, however.

The move comes as U.S. rice futures hit a record high amid global food inflation, although one rice expert said the warehouse chains may be reacting less to any shortages than to stockpiling by restaurants and small stores.

Sam's Club followed Seattle-based Costco Wholesale Corp., which put limits in at least some stores on bulk rice purchases.

Sam's Club declined to say if this is first time it has restricted sales of bulk foods. The limits affect 20-pound bags, not retail-sized portions. Costco President and CEO Jim Sinegal declined to discuss the issue Wednesday with an AP reporter.

Sam's Club said it will limit customers to four bags at a time of imported jasmine, basmati and long grain white rice.

The warehouse chain caters heavily to small businesses, including restaurants. Sam's Club spokeswoman Kristy Reed said she could not comment on whether the problem was caused by short supplies or by customers stocking up in anticipation of higher prices.

USA Rice Federation spokesman David Coia said there is no rice shortage in the United States.

"It's possible that small restaurants and bodega-type neighborhood stores may be purchasing rice in larger quantities than they do typically to avoid higher prices," Coia said about the warehouse chain restrictions.

A smaller chain, Natick, Mass.-based BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., said it is not imposing limits for now.

"At the present time, BJ's Wholesale Club is not limiting the amount of rice purchases made by our members, but, due to the current market situation, that could change at any time," spokeswoman Sharyn Frankel said in a statement.

In New York's Chinatown, shop owners said that they haven't seen people stocking up amid fears of rice shortages.

At Bangkok Center Grocery, one of the main suppliers of Thai food products in New York City, manager Tom Pongsopon said the price of a 25-pound bag of Jasmine rice at his Chinatown store has gone up from $15 to $20 in a matter of months.

People continue to buy rice, but the supply is OK at this point.

"We have enough for now, but I'm not sure about the future," Pongsopon said.

The Sam's Club restriction is effective immediately at all locations where quantity restrictions are allowed by law. It does not apply to other staples such as flour or oil.

"We are working with our suppliers to address this matter to ensure we are in stock, and we are asking for our Members' cooperation and patience," Reed said in a statement.

Sam's Club has 593 stores compared with 2,523 Wal-Mart Supercenters that combine a full grocery section with general merchandise.

Costco has 534 warehouses worldwide, most of them in the United States.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said Wal-Mart stores have no plans for restrictions similar to those at Sam's Club.

"We are not seeing any signs of concern in the supply chain that would cause us to limit the sales of any items," Galberth said.

U.S. rice futures soared to an all-time high Wednesday as investors bet that surging world demand will continue to pressure already dwindling stockpiles. Rice for the most actively traded July contract jumped 62 cents to $24.82 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to a record $24.85.

Relentless demand from developing countries and poor crop yields have pushed rice prices up 70 percent so far this year, raising concerns of severe shortages of the staple food consumed by almost half the world's population.

The steep increases have followed similar jumps in the price of wheat, corn and soybeans that have added to Americans' growing grocery bill and led to violent food riots in poor countries including Haiti, Senegal and Pakistan.

Most of the rice eaten in the world is consumed within 60 miles of where it was grown, said Nathan Childs, an economist and rice expert with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Traditionally very little of it was traded in the world market.

But as populations crossed borders, the taste for specialty rices such as the Indian basmati, or Thai jasmine rice, which grow only in their areas of origin, spread.

U.S. production of long grain and medium grain rice is strong, and the global crop is larger than ever, Childs said. But with some of the principal exporters of the higher-priced rices, such as India and Vietnam, shunning foreign sales to control prices at home and the cost of food generally going up, the price of rice has been climbing to new heights.

What adds to the price spike — and the run on specialty products like basmati — is that rice consumers tend to be very loyal. The market is highly segmented by type of rice and quality, and buyers will generally not take a substitute, Childs said.

"California's had a pretty good crop, but basmati and jasmine consumers have a history of not switching," he said. "They could always have bought cheaper Calrose. But they don't."

___

Associated Press writers Stevenson Jacobs and Verena Dobnik in New York, Juliana Barbassa in San Francisco, Dan Catchpole in Seattle and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston contributed to this report.

AT&T Yahoo!Mail
At&T / Yahoo! Tech Welcome, phhaynes@sbcgloba...
[Sign Out, My Account]Tech Home | Help
Yahoo! Tech HelpAT&T Yahoo! Help

Site Navigation
HomeTech Categories
Camcorders
Car Tech
Cell Phones
Desktops
Digital Cameras
Games & Gear
HDTV & Televisions
Home Audio & Speakers
Home Video
Laptops
Monitors
MP3 Players
PDAs
Printers
Scanners
Software
Storage
Upgrades
Wi-Fi & Networking
Blogs
Tech Shows
My Tech
News
Security
Dory Devlin Gina Hughes Christopher Null Ben Patterson Robin Raskin Becky Worley Today In Tech > Warners to go "day-and-date" with movie downloads
Ben Patterson: The Gadget Hound
Blog Bio Email Email Alerts
Spam turning 30 this month; no gifts, please
Thu May 1, 2008 12:33PM EDT
See Comments (5)

Buzz up!on Yahoo!The date: May 3, 1978. The culprit: Gary Thuerk, a marketer for the old Digital Equipment Corporation. His crime: Sending a sales e-mail to 393 users on Arpanet (then a U.S. government computer network and the predecessor of today's Internet). Little did Thuerk know that he'd just become the world's first spammer.

That first piece of junk e-mail (which wasn't called "spam" until about 15 years later) has been memorialized over at Brad Templeton's Web site (Templeton is a Net pioneer, the creator of the legendary rec.humor.funny Usenet group, and chairman of the Eletronic Frontier Foundation), along with a thread of outraged replies.

So, without further ado, here you go—the world's first spam (presented in its original all-caps format):

Mail-from: DEC-MARLBORO rcvd at 3-May-78 0955-PDT
Date: 1 May 1978 1233-EDT
From: THUERK at DEC-MARLBORO
Subject: ADRIAN@SRI-KL

DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM. THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS MONTH. THE LOCATIONS WILL BE:

TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1978 - 2 PM
HYATT HOUSE (NEAR THE L.A. AIRPORT)
LOS ANGELES, CA

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978 - 2 PM
DUNFEY'S ROYAL COACH
SAN MATEO, CA
(4 MILES SOUTH OF S.F. AIRPORT AT BAYSHORE, RT 101 AND RT 92)

A 2020 WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO VIEW. ALSO TERMINALS ON-LINE TO OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 SYSTEMS THROUGH THE ARPANET. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE NEAREST DEC OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXCITING DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY.

Thuerk's message was first greeted by a stern reprimand from one Major Raymond Czahor, chief administrator of Arpanet, followed by a long discussion thread as Arpanet users—many of whom were wary of censorship on their messaging network—mulled the impact of this first piece of junk e-mail:

"I don't see any place for advertising on the ARPAnet," user Mark Crispin wrote at the time. "Certainly not the bulk advertising of that DEC message. From the address list, it seems clear to me that the people it was sent to were the Californians listed in the last ARPAnet directory. This was a clear and flagrant abuse of the directory! I am not sure as to how far this should be carried though."

For the record, the pioneering spammer told the Wall Street Journal that his ground-breaking e-mail worked, drawing scores of leads and about $12 million in tech sales. Thuerk says he never spammed again, and he reportedly does promos for spam-fighting companies, but he's not spending any time blaming himself for the current spam epidemic. "If the airline loses your luggage do you blame the Wright brothers?" he told the Journal. I'm not sure I get the logic there, but...whatever.

Check out New Scientist Tech for an exhaustive story summarizing the history of spam and the top techniques used by spammers, including "botnets," "zombie" computers, and "word salad"—the odd literary excerpts that spammers use to fool junk mail filters.

You can also click here for our latest news and tips on beating back the flood of spam.

In the meantime...happy birthday, spam. You're looking younger every day. Sorry in advance for skipping the party.

Related:
Reaction to the DEC Spam of 1978 [Brad Templeton's blog]
Happy spamiversary! Spam reaches 30 [New Scientist Tech]

Consumer spending up mainly because of sharp price increases By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Thu May 1, 5:56 PM ET



Don't be fooled by a larger-than-expected increase in consumer spending. People aren't buying more — they're just paying more for what they buy.

That is raising doubts about whether the 130 million stimulus payments the government began sending out this week will be enough to lift consumers' sagging spirits.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending was up 0.4 percent, double the increase economists had forecast. However, once inflation was removed, spending edged up a much slower 0.1 percent.

The March reading was the fourth straight lackluster performance and did nothing to alleviate worries that consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity, remains under severe strains, reflecting an economy beset by multiple problems.

Rising food costs, soaring energy prices and falling employment have pushed consumer confidence to its lowest levels in five years. Incomes in March rose a weak 0.3, but after removing inflation, after-tax incomes were flat.

The Bush administration is counting on its $168 billion stimulus program to give the economy enough of a lift to keep the country from slipping into a full-blown recession, but private economists are worried the boost could well be fleeting.

"Consumers are facing bad news on all fronts," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight. "Any burst of spending based on the stimulus payments is likely to prove short-lived."

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said economic growth could still turn negative this quarter even with the rebates. He cited a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll that found only 19 percent of people plan to spend their rebates, with others surveyed preferring instead to use the $600 to $1,200 checks for the typical family to pay off bills or boost savings.

Guatieri said he expected the rebate checks to be a "moderate tonic," but he cautioned that once the rebates are spent, growth could turn negative later this year.

On Wall Street, investors brushed aside weak economic reports to focus instead on a rebound in the dollar's value against other currencies and falling oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 189.87 points to close at 13,010.00, the first close above 13,000 since Jan. 3.

The government reported Wednesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, eked out a 0.6 percent growth in the first three months of this year, weak but still in positive territory. Much of the drag in the first quarter came from a tiny 1 percent growth in consumer spending, the weakest increase since the economy was last in recession in 2001.

Some analysts are worried that the GDP could turn negative this quarter if there is a significant cutback on production by businesses trying to work off excess inventories and if consumers grow more glum in the face of continued increases in unemployment.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims jumped by a bigger-than-expected 35,000 last week to total 380,000 with the number of people receiving benefit checks rising to 3.02 million, the first time that figure has surpassed 3 million in four years.

The department will release the unemployment figure for April on Friday. Economists expect it will show the jobless rate rising to 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in March, with the economy shedding jobs for a fourth straight month.

In other signs of economic stress, the Commerce Department said Thursday that construction spending fell 1.1 percent in March with housing activity plunging by a record 4.6 percent, indicating builders are still cutting back sharply in the face of the worst slump in housing in more than two decades.

A closely watched gauge of manufacturing activity from the Institute of Supply Management activity posted a reading of 48.6 for April, indicating manufacturing remained in recession territory. Analysts said that without strength in export sales coming from the weaker dollar, the decline in manufacturing would be much worse.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate for the seventh time in the past eight months, although the quarter-point move may prove to be the last rate cut because of Fed worries about rising inflation pressures.

On the inflation front, a price gauge tied to consumer spending rose by 0.3 percent in March, triple the 0.1 percent rise in February. Much of that jump reflected higher food and energy costs. Core inflation, which excludes those categories, rose by 0.2 percent in March and is up 2.1 percent over the past 12 months, higher than the Fed's 1 percent to 2 percent comfort zone.

(This version SUBS 4th graf pvs, Rising food ... , to CORRECT TO employment, sted unemployment.) )

Bush calls for approval of $770 million in food aid By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 32 minutes ago



President Bush urged Congress Thursday to approve $770 million to help alleviate dramatically escalating food prices that threaten widespread hunger and increasing social unrest around the world.

In a surprise midafternoon appearance at the White House, Bush announced he is asking lawmakers to approve the additional funds for global food aid and development programs. The money — to be directed primarily at needy African nations — is being included in a broader $70 billion Iraq war funding measure for 2009 that the White House sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday.

"In some of the world's poorest nations, rising prices can mean the difference between getting a daily meal and going without food," Bush said. "The American people are generous people and they're a compassionate people. We believe in the timeless truth `to whom much is given, much is expected.'"

The new money comes on top of $200 million Bush ordered released two weeks ago for emergency food aid. It also is in addition to a pending $350 million request for emergengy food aid funds. Because the new funds are part of a 2009 budget, they wouldn't be available for distribution until the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, even if they are approved sooner.

Even so, Bush called it "just the beginning" of the U.S. effort to help. He said the United States would spend a total of $5 billion this year and next on food aid and related programs.

"America's in the lead, we'll stay in the lead and we expect others to participate along with us," he said.

The new funds are aimed at meeting immediate needs with direct shipments of food aid, and the White House said they would allow for millions more people to get help. Emergency aid accounts for $620 million of the request, said Steve McMillin, deputy director of the president's Office of Management and Budget.

The funds also have long-term aims, with $150 million aimed at boosting U.S. programs to help farmers in developing countries increase productivity and make cash purchases of local crops, so communities are less in need of emergency help in the first place.

The issue has become more urgent recently because of food shortages and rising prices that, combined with high gas costs and rising home foreclosures, are putting a huge squeeze on families at home and abroad. What has been termed the first global food crisis since World War II has resulted in cries for help from United Nations officials and raised questions about how Bush will respond.

Some have blamed the food crisis in part on Bush-backed policies that push food-based biofuels such as ethanol as alternative energy sources. Bush says diverting corn and soybeans into fuel is still a smart approach, though he favors increasing funding for research into eventually using wood chips or switchgrass rather than food crops.

Bush's top economic adviser, Edward Lazear, said ethanol made from corn is responsible for just 2-3 percent of the overall increase in global food prices, which are 43 percent up this year over last year.

Bush's announcement drew praise from several quarters.

"Millions of people around the world may be saved from starvation if we can quickly move forward with the president's request," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Global aid is not only the right thing to do; it's the smart and safe thing to do. I commend the president for his leadership."

The United States is the world's largest provider of food aid, delivering more than $2.1 billion to 78 developing countries last year.

Here's a new plan to cut the cost of the war which should be shoulder by the Iraqi Government.


Senate panel votes to block money for Iraq reconstruction By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 1, 6:20 PM ET



A Senate panel has agreed unanimously to block the Defense Department from funding Iraq reconstruction projects worth more than $2 million and to begin to force Baghdad to cover the costs of training and equipping its security forces.

The provision, included in a 2009 defense policy bill approved this week by the Senate Armed Services Committee, comes as Democrats draft a similar provision within separate legislation that would cover this year's war spending.

The efforts are part of the latest push on Capitol Hill to get Iraq to spend more of its own money and spare U.S. taxpayers. Democrats and many Republicans say it is unfair that Iraq is looking at pulling in as much as $70 billion in oil revenues this year while Americans grapple with soaring fuel prices at the pump.

"We want to send a very powerful message to the Iraqis and to the administration as to the cost of this war and the absurdity that a country which is exporting 2 million barrels a day of oil, for which we are paying when it gets to the pump now $3.50 a gallon" is not fully paying to rebuild itself, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

The White House said Thursday that for American troops to be withdrawn eventually from Iraq, money must be spent to help rebuild the country and train Iraqi troops.

"I think it's important that the Iraqis actually are spending a lot more on their reconstruction than maybe is commonly understood out there," said White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto. "In their most recent budget, they'll outspend the United States 10 to 1 on reconstruction. ... We are pretty much out of the business of very large reconstruction projects in Iraq."

Fratto did not say whether the administration would threaten to veto the legislation. Lawmakers involved in drafting the bill said it was unlikely, particularly because of the bipartisan support it attracted.

"They didn't reject it," said Sen. Ben Nelson of closed-door negotiations this week with the National Security Council. Nelson, D-Neb., sponsored the provision along with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

The defense policy bill, which will be considered by the full Senate later this month, would only affect Defense Department spending in 2009, which is estimated at $612.5 billion. It is unclear how much of that money could potentially be used for reconstruction and therefore might be affected by the proposed restriction.

Levin said an attempt will be made on the Senate floor to expand to the State Department the prohibition on using taxpayer money for major Iraqi reconstruction. The State Department handles most of the large rebuilding efforts.

"The intention here is to stop the funding of infrastructure by whatever department," he said.

The defense authorization legislation specifically supports smaller rebuilding projects, but would require the administration to work with Baghdad to obligate its own money first. It also says the U.S. must initiate negotiations with Iraq on a broader agreement to share the costs of combat operations in Iraq.

Instead of flatly prohibiting aid to the Iraqi security forces, the bill says the U.S. "shall take actions to ensure that Iraqi funds are used" to cover those costs, including the salaries of the forces and any payments to Sunnis who are part of the Awakening Movement.

Overall, the defense policy bill would authorize $542.5 billion in annual defense spending, as well as $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Besides the reconstruction provision, the authorization bill would ban all private security contractors from working in "highly hazardous public areas where the risks are uncertain and could reasonably be expected to require deadly force," according to a committee summary.

Levin said the Defense Department already imposes such a rule on its contractors, but the State Department "was the problem." He said he did not know how many contractors the new law would affect if enacted, but said he thought the number would be fairly small.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, said Thursday that this year's war spending bill will likely include a provision restricting U.S. money on Iraq reconstruction as well. He said he is recommending that the bill include $170 billion for combat operations — money that would cover the war until the next administration takes over in January. His proposal also would ban permanent bases in Iraq, set limits on aggressive interrogations and require that service members sent to Iraq be fully trained and equipped, he said.

Congressional officials said the administration this week pushed the Senate Armed Services Committee to let the president waive any restrictions on reconstruction funds if he determined it was necessary to protect national security. Despite support for the idea by the committee's No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, Collins and the panel's Democrats said allowing such waivers would have made the legislation too soft.

Warner told reporters Thursday that he supports the authorization bill as it is written, which sends a "loud message" that "the American people expect no less than an increased sharing of the responsibilities and the financial burdens."

With all the in-fighting of the Democratic Party it's like the 1968 National Convention being replayed.

Heated campaign souring Democrats on rival candidates By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer
Tue Apr 29, 1:29 PM ET



Loyal Democrat Richard Somer says if Hillary Rodham Clinton gets his party's presidential nomination, he just may sit it out this Election Day.

A Barack Obama supporter, Somer says he has been repulsed by her use of "slimy insinuations" in the campaign. He especially disliked her attacking the Illinois senator for his relationship with William Ayers, a former Weather Underground radical with provocative views.

"She's better than that," said Somer, 72, a retired professor from Clinton, N.Y. He said he expects the Democrats to carry New York anyway, so he might not vote "as a protest to Mrs. Clinton."

Somer is not the only Democrat whose views of his party's rival candidate have soured.

Party members increasingly dislike the contender they are not supporting in the bruising nomination fight, an Associated Press-Yahoo News survey and exit polls of voters show. That is raising questions about how faithful some will be by the November general election.

In the AP-Yahoo poll — which has tracked the same 2,000 people since November — Obama supporters with negative views of the New York senator have grown from 35 percent in November to 44 percent this month, including one-quarter with very unfavorable feelings.

Those Obama backers who don't like Clinton say they would vote for Republican candidate John McCain over her by a two-to-one margin, with many undecided.

As for Clinton supporters, those with unfavorable views of Obama have grown from 26 percent to 42 percent during this same period — including a doubling to 20 percent of those with very negative opinions.

The Clinton backers with unfavorable views of Obama say they would vote for McCain over him by nearly three-to-one, though many haven't made up their minds.

"I'd be hard pressed" to vote for Obama, said April Glenn, 66, a Clinton supporter from Philadelphia, who said his handling of the controversy over the anti-American preachings of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made her doubt his leadership skills. "I don't think he's capable."

Clinton backers who have taken a dislike to Obama have a sharply lower regard for his honesty and ethics than they did last fall, the poll shows. Obama supporters whose view of Clinton has dimmed see her as far less compassionate and refreshing than they did then.

The feelings seem especially widespread among the candidates' strongest supporters:

_About half of Obama's white backers with college degrees have negative views of Clinton. Fewer black Obama supporters dislike Clinton but their numbers have grown faster, more than doubling during the period to 33 percent.

_Among Clinton's supporters, Obama is disliked by nearly half the whites who have not gone beyond high school, a near doubling since November. Four in 10 white women backing her have unfavorable views of Obama.

Intensified passions during contentious intraparty fights are nothing new, and voters often return to the fold by the time the general election rolls around and people focus on partisan and issue differences.

"These are snapshots of today," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., a member of his party's congressional leadership who has not committed to Clinton or Obama. By autumn, he said, "the party will come together."

Yet with the battle between the two contenders threatening to stretch into June or beyond, some Democrats are wondering whether the party will have time to regain the loyalty of those whose candidate failed to win the party's nomination.

"If we can bring this to a conclusion by mid-June or something, I think that healing can take place," Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who has been pressing party leaders to settle on a nominee quickly, said in an interview. "If it goes till late August, then it's a real problem."

Others express concern but argue that the divisions are not nearly as intense as when the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago was split over the Vietnam War; when Ronald Reagan unsuccessfully fought President Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976; or when Sen. Edward Kennedy lost a bitter duel with President Carter to be the 1980 Democratic nominee. In each case, those parties' nominees lost the general election.

"It is not the same kind of rancor or bitterness" as those years, said Democratic pollster Peter Hart.

If by July 4 the Obama and Clinton campaigns are still maneuvering for advantage at the party's August convention, it will be harder to unify party voters and "Democrats will have done grievous harm to themselves," he said.

Obama and Clinton campaign officials express little concern their fight will leave Democratic voters disaffected come November.

"When the family squabble is over, the family will come back together," said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher.

Current Democratic divisions are "par for the course" at this stage of a campaign," said Clinton strategist Geoffrey Garin.

"I know a lot of party leaders are concerned about this. But the Democratic rank and file doesn't seem to be," Garin said, citing polls showing people want the nomination race to continue.

Exit polls of voters in this year's Democratic primaries tell a similar tale of hard feelings:

_In Pennsylvania's primary last week, which Clinton won, 68 percent of Obama voters said they would back Clinton against McCain. Just 54 percent of her supporters said they would vote for Obama against the Republican — including less than half her white voters who have not finished college.

_In the 16 states that held primaries on Super Tuesday Feb. 5, a combined 47 percent of Clinton voters said they would be satisfied only if she won the nomination. That figure has grown to 53 percent in the nine states with primaries since then — including 58 percent who said so in Pennsylvania.

_In Pennsylvania, while Clinton voters overall would vote heavily for Obama over McCain, her supporters who expressed displeasure should Obama win the nomination were evenly split in a contest between Obama and the Arizona Republican senator.

_Obama voters have also grown more surly, though more modestly. On Super Tuesday, 44 percent of his supporters said they would only settle for him as nominee — a number that has risen to 49 percent in states voting since that day.

"The whole Democratic primary has gotten almost dirty. Everybody takes a shot at everybody else, and everybody's shots are not necessarily the whole truth," said David Bogart, 25, a caretaker from Clermont, Fla.

Exit polls also show key voting blocs' negative feelings about their candidate's rival have grown, though it is less intense on Obama's side.

On Super Tuesday, about half of Clinton's white supporters with less than college degrees said they would be satisfied only if she won the nomination. In voting since then, six in 10 have said so — including 68 percent in Pennsylvania last week.

On the other hand, 46 percent of Obama's black supporters on Super Tuesday said he was the only candidate they wanted to win. That number has edged up to 49 percent since that Feb. 5 voting — including 55 percent in Pennsylvania.

The findings from the AP-Yahoo News poll are from interviews with 863 Democrats on a panel of adults questioned in November, December, January and April. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it free.

The exit poll is based on in-person interviews with more than 36,000 voters in 28 states that have held primaries this year in which both candidates actively competed. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1 percentage point, larger for some subgroups.

___

AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

If you have ever seen the movie "Blackhawk Down" you're familiar with Somalia. The one fact deleted from the movie is that President Clinto denied the Army of the use of Armor Support (tanks) which led to the deaths of US soliders and Somali civilians. Here's the latest take.

Back to Story - Help
US missile strike kills reputed al-Qaida leader in Somalia By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 1, 6:22 PM ET



U.S. missiles destroyed the house of the man identified by the U.S. military as the top al-Qaida commander in Somalia, killing him and 10 others Thursday in a pre-dawn attack that analysts warned could torpedo peace talks.

The killing of Aden Hashi Ayro comes amid escalating fighting and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation.

Islamic fighters have staged a series of attacks on towns in the months leading up to the U.N.-sponsored talks, scheduled to start May 10. The insurgents typically hold the towns for a few hours, free people from jails, then withdraw with captured weapons.

Somali government officials have said Ayro, who was believed to be in his 30s, trained in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and headed al-Qaida's cell in Somalia.

Few Somalis had heard of him before 2005, when Ayro desecrated a colonial Italian cemetery in Mogadishu, throwing hundreds of exhumed corpses into the sea. He then built a mosque on the site and began training fighters there — many of whom would be eager to take his place.

An International Crisis Group report linked Ayro to the murders of four foreign aid workers, a British journalist and Somali peace activist Abdulqadir Yahya.

The U.N.-backed talks, which are slated to be more inclusive than previous rounds, offered a slim hope of bringing together the disparate groups in the armed opposition, including some Islamists.

Thursday's attack has damaged the negotiations, said Rashid Abdi, an analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"However much the Americans claim the war on terror is one thing and the peace process is another thing, it's not that clear-cut," Abdi said. "This will definitely have political repercussions."

Capt. Jamie Graybeal, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, confirmed there was a U.S. airstrike early Thursday in the vicinity of the central Somali town of Dusamareeb. Another U.S. military spokesman, Bob Prucha, said the attack was against a "known al-Qaida target and militia leader in Somalia." Both declined to provide further details.

Another U.S. defense official, who sought anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed the strike targeted Ayro.

The U.S. missiles left a smoldering hole where Ayro's home had stood in Dusamareeb.

"The bodies were beyond recognition, some of them cut into pieces, and those wounded have been severely burned," resident Nur Farah told The Associated Press.

Local elder Ahmed Mumin Jama said the house was "totally destroyed," as were other houses nearby. Of the 11 dead, five bodies were retrieved from Ayro's house, he said, while the rest came from surrounding homes. Four people were being treated for wounds.

Sheik Muqtar Robow, a spokesman for the al-Shabab militia that Ayro led, called Ayro a martyr for the Islamist cause and vowed to carry out retaliatory attacks.

"Our brother martyr Aden Hashi, has received what he was looking for — death for the sake of Allah at the hands of the United States," he told The Associated Press.

He said another senior al-Shabab leader, Sheik Muhidin Mohamud Omar, also was killed in the attack.

Repeated attempts to reach Somali government officials during the day were unsuccessful.

The United States has repeatedly accused Islamist Somalis of harboring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida, which it also blames for the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The U.S. has backed Somali warlords promising to fight the insurgents, including some accused of human rights abuses. But the strategy has deepened anti-American sentiment.

Ayro's al-Shabab is the armed wing of the Council of Islamic Courts movement that aims to impose Islamic law. It launches daily attacks on the shaky, U.N.-backed Somali government and its Ethiopian allies.

Neighboring Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia in December 2006 that drove the courts movement members from the capital and parts of southern Somalia. But al-Shabab continues to wage an Iraq-style insurgency; the State Department considers it a terrorist organization.

Iise Ali Geedi of Somali University in Mogadishu said the killings will fuel suspicions the United States is using the talks as a fig leaf.

Abdi said the killings may not greatly impair the insurgency, because Ayro had taken a lesser role in the fighting after being wounded in a U.S. airstrike in January 2007.

"The fact that he was killed in his house in his hometown shows he was not actively engaged in the struggle," Abdi said, although it was impossible to say to what extent Ayro was involved in strategy and planning.

In any event, analysts said, the insurgency has recently become more decentralized. Several different leaders with different agendas support the insurgency, so the death of one or two al-Shabab commanders may not have a significant impact.

There are many different and shifting alliances in the insurgency. There is a faction, however, that is made up of warlords, politicians and businessmen that is willing to take part in the peace talks. The faction's primary concern is the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia.

But there are more extreme elements of the insurgency, especially among the al-Shabab militia, that has a more radical agenda and oppose the talks.

In the past year, the U.S. military has attacked several suspected extremists in Somalia — most recently in March, when the U.S. Navy fired at least one missile into a southern Somali town. The attack targeted Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan suspected in the 1998 embassy attacks.

U.S. warships pounded Somalia's remote coastal northeast in June 2007, targeting Islamic militants hours after a gunbattle with Somali government forces that left eight insurgents dead.

Somalia has been without an effective government for nearly 20 years. The United States sent troops in 1993 to back a massive U.N. relief operation for thousands of civilians left starving by the fighting.

But the U.S. attacked the home of a warlord, killing scores of civilians including women and children. Somali militiamen retaliated, bringing down two Black Hawk helicopters and killing 18 U.S. servicemen whose bodies were dragged through the streets. U.S. troops withdrew after that.

In the past year, fighting between insurgents and Ethiopian and government troops has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes.

___

Associated Press writers Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya, and Jennifer N. Kay in Miami contributed to this report.

Too much news at the same time, Paul!

Please be more patient. This forum space is not a prime time!
:)