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September 22, 2011 (San Diego's East County)--ECM World Watch highlights top U.S. and world news stories, published in other media. This week's top headlines include:
U.S.
- House approves spending measure opposed by Senate Democrats; shutdown possible (Washington Post)
- Obama pushes jobs bill on GOP rivals’ turf (Washington Post)
- Perry is focus of attention, attacks at Florida debate (CNN)
- One in four U.S. children living in poverty, study finds (Huffington Post)
- Postal service wants to end overnight delivery (Reuters)
- Troy Davis execution sparks anti-death penalty backlash (Washington Post)
- U.S. official: program aimed at Libyan scientistsSan Diego Union Tribune)
- Reno’s reckless air tragedy (Daily Beast)
World
- Walkout at UN as Ahmadinejad speaks (CNN)
- Solar window is green game changer (Israel21c)
- Global leaders struggle to calm recession fears (Yahoo News)
U.S.
HOUSE APPROVES SPENDING MEASURE OPPOSED BY SENATE DEMOCRATS; SHUTDOWN POSSIBLE
September 22, 2011 (Washington Post) -- Washington lurched toward another potential government shutdown crisis Friday, as the House approved by a 219-203 vote a GOP-authored short-term funding measure designed to keep the government running through Nov. 18 and Democrats in the Senate immediately vowed to reject the bill.“We expect a vote fairly quickly,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday morning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-tries-to-give-house-gop-conservatives-a-lesson-in-spending-fight/2011/09/22/gIQA0XM5oK_story.html?hpid=z1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-tries-to-give-house-gop-conservatives-a-lesson-in-spending-fight/2011/09/22/gIQA0XM5oK_story.html?hpid=z1
OBAMA PUSHES JOBS BILL ON GOP RIVALS' TURF September 22, 2011 (Washington Post) -- The fight between President Obama and his rivals got personal Thursday over the administration’s $447 billion jobs bill, as the president called out the nation’s two most powerful Republicans by name in an appearance on their home turf.
Obama visited the dilapidated Brent Spence Bridge that connects the home states of House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of kentucky..http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-gets-personal-on-jobs-bill-with-sales-pitch-on-republican-rivals-home-turf/2011/09/22/gIQAnVkMoK_story.html
Obama visited the dilapidated Brent Spence Bridge that connects the home states of House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of kentucky..http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-gets-personal-on-jobs-bill-with-sales-pitch-on-republican-rivals-home-turf/2011/09/22/gIQAnVkMoK_story.html
PERRY IS FOCUS OF ATTENTION, ATTACKS AT FLORIDA DEBATE September 23, 2011( CNN) -- The perils of being the Republican frontrunner came into sharp focus for Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday at a debate in Florida, with his rivals aggressively seeking to poke holes in his record and dislodge him from the top of the polls.
Perry repeatedly found himself on his heels as his foes pressed him on issues including Social Security, immigration, border security and his 2007 executive order mandating that middle-school girls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted HPV virus that can cause cervical cancer.http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/22/florida.gop.debate/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Perry repeatedly found himself on his heels as his foes pressed him on issues including Social Security, immigration, border security and his 2007 executive order mandating that middle-school girls be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted HPV virus that can cause cervical cancer.http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/22/florida.gop.debate/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
ONE IN FOUR U.S. CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY, STUDY FINDS
September 22, 2011 (Huffington Post) -- Twenty-five percent of very young children in America are living in poverty, according to an analysis of Census data released Thursday.
The number of children under six living in poverty rose to 5.9 million in 2010 from 5.7 million in 2009, researchers from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire found. The ranks of American children in poverty have swelled by 2.6 million since the recession began.
POSTAL SERVICE WANTS TO END OVERNIGHT DELIVERY
September 15, 2011 (Reuters) -- The Postal Service, struggling to cut costs and conserve cash, said on Thursday it wants to end overnight delivery of letters and postcards and will study about 250 processing sites for possible closure.
The agency, which lost more than $3 billion last quarter, has said it must downsize drastically or will be forced to stop delivering mail by the end of next summer. Overseen by Congress and a regulator, it funds its services with postal-related revenue and does not get any taxpayer dollars.
TROY DAVIS EXECUTION SPARKS ANTI-DEATH PENALTY BACKLASH
September 22, 2011 (Washington Post) -- After the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute stay of execution, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis Wednesday night for the murder of an off-duty police officer, pronouncing him dead at 11:08 p.m. Defiant until the end, Troy Davis was executed Wednesday night for the murder of an off-duty police officer. He convinced hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but not a single court, that he was innocent. Davis had convinced hundreds of thousands of people he was innocent, but no court was willing to overturn his conviction.http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/troy-davis-execution-sparks-anti-death-penalty-backlash-protests/2011/09/22/gIQAQawOoK_story.html
U.S. OFFICIAL: PROGRAM AIMED AT LYBIAN SCIENTISTS September 15, 2011 (San Diego Union Tribune) -- The U.S. is trying to revive a program to prevent Libyan chemical, biological and nuclear scientists from working for terror groups or hostile nations, a State Department official said Thursday.
Hundreds of experts worked in Moammar Gadhafi's weapons of mass destruction programs. After Gadhafi agreed to dismantle those programs in 2003, the U.S. launched an effort to steer Libya's WMD scientists into civilian research projects, including water desalination, oil and gas production and nuclear medicine. The effort was suspended during Libya's civil war.http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/15/us-official-program-aimed-at-libyan-scientists/
RENO'S WRECKLESS AIR TRAGEDY September 16, 2011 (The Daily Beast) -- What was a 74-year-old pilot doing in a souped-up World War II fighter flying in an air race? The tragedy in Reno is a ghastly reminder that the normal rules of public safety are suspended when air shows are involved.
There is a pretense of caution: The course of the race is designed to avoid flying directly over crowds. But the sheer physics make that absurd. An airplane flying at more than 400 mph at low altitude is potentially a bomb. It takes only the slightest hiccup in an engine, structural failure, pilot error, or blackout to create a situation like the one at Reno.http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/16/reno-plane-crash-lack-of-safety-rules-makes-air-shows-deadly.html
WORLD
WALKOUT AT UN AS AHMADINEJAD SPEAKS September 23, 2011 (CNN) -- Delegations from the United States and several European nations walked out of the U.N. General Assembly Thursday during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech, in which he repeatedly condemned the United States and said some countries use the Holocaust as an "excuse to pay ransom... to Zionists."
Delegates from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were among those who walked out. Delegations from Canada and Israel were not present from the beginning.
SOLAR GREEN WINDOW IS GREEN GAME CHANGER August 8, 2011 (Isreal21c) -- The dream of constructing a net zero-energy building has yet to become a reality, but now an Israeli company has come up with an idea that could make it possible.
The innovative product from Pythagoras Solar can be described as a solar window that combines energy efficiency, power generation and transparency.
The world's first transparent photovoltaic glass unit (PVGU) has been designed to be easily integrated into conventional building design and construction processes. This means that existing office blocks can be retrofitted with the new material instead of energy-seeping glass windows - a process that will pay itself back within five years. http://www.israel21c.org/environment/solar-window-is-green-game-changer
GLOBAL LEADERS STRUGGLE TO CALM RECESSION FEARS September 24, 2011 (Yahoo news) -- The world's economic powers struggled on Friday to get on top of a European debt crisis that is threatening to dump the global economy back into recession.
Officials gathered for three days of discussion pledged to push forward to fulfill the goals of a program in which the Group of 20 major economies promised stronger cooperation to jump-start global growth and help Greece avoid a destabilizing default.
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