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National: Bush continues to back Rumsfeld despite criticisms By JAMES ROSEN - President Bush fueled the burgeoning controversy over Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday, backing the embattled Pentagon chief during a phone call and expressing his "full support and deepest appreciation" in an unusual written endorsement.

Bush's affirmation of Rumsfeld followed days of criticism by a half-dozen retired generals who called for his resignation. They accused him of having ignored top commanders' advice in Iraq, stifled dissent and run a mistake-plagued war.

"Earlier today I spoke with Don Rumsfeld about ongoing military operations in the Global War on Terror," Bush said in the statement. "I reiterated my strong support for his leadership during this historic and challenging time for our Nation."

The bitter dispute over Rumsfeld's performance has increasingly become a surrogate form of the national debate on Iraq, but Bush avoided mentioning the war he launched more than three years ago.

After noting that Rumsfeld has overseen a major post-Cold War transformation of the military, Bush added, "Don and our military commanders have also been tasked to take the fight to the enemy abroad on multiple fronts."

Retired Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq until November, told CNN on Wednesday: "I believe we need a fresh start in the Pentagon. We need a leader who understands team work, a leader who knows how to build teams, a leader that does it without intimidation."

On NBC's "Today" show Friday, Batiste denied that there is a coordinated effort to oust Rumsfeld among top military officers. "I think there's a lot of people now starting to ask questions, and I think that's healthy in a democracy," he said.

Retired Gen. Charles Swannack Jr., who led the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq until 2004, told The New York Times in an article published Wednesday, "I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq." - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

Science: Walrus Calves Stranded by Melting Sea Ice - Scientists have reported an unprecedented number of unaccompanied and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice may be forcing mothers to abandon their pups as the mothers follow the rapidly retreating ice edge north.

Nine lone walrus calves were reported swimming in deep waters far from shore by researchers aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy during a cruise in the Canada Basin in the summer of 2004. Unable to forage for themselves, the calves were likely to drown or starve, the scientists said.

Lone walrus calves far from shore have not been described before, the researchers report in the April issue of Aquatic Mammals. The sightings suggest that increased polar warming may lead to decreases in the walrus population.

"We were on a station for 24 hours, and the calves would be swimming around us crying. We couldn't rescue them," said Carin Ashjian, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a member of the research team.

The researchers found evidence of warmer ocean temperatures that may have rapidly melted seasonal sea ice over the shallow continental shelf where walruses dive to feed on bottom-dwelling animals such as clams and crabs. Walrus need the ice to rest themselves and to leave the pups to rest while the mothers feed. Ice remained over very deep water. - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

Viewpoints Opinions/Letters The Oil in the ground belongs to the people of Alaska, not BP By Samuel Bergeron - Monday AM Alaskans should not be overly concerned as bird migration resumes By Matt Robus - Monday AM Night of High School Music-ians! By Judith Green - Monday AM God Speed, Lisa By Dave Kiffer - Monday AM Aerial pesticide spraying of Long Island By Carrie L. James - Monday AM Re: Drug abuse affects everyone By Catlin Rettke - Monday AM Plug In To Shore Power By Steve Smeltzer - Monday AM Kudos to Sen. Ted Stevens By Rudy McGillvray - Monday AM Open Letter to Sen. Stevens By Mike Jones - Monday AM Abortion- Last resort, or murder? By Catlin Rettke - Monday AM Immediate crisis of rising and high CO2 By Russ George - Monday AM Fancy propaganda ads will not cover the truth By Mike Moyer - Thursday PM Plug into shore power By Carrie James - Thursday PM Legislature in process of limiting personal rights By Carey Crawford - Thursday PM Protect our children By Carrie James - Thursday PM Opposed to the idea of my government deciding By Catlin Rettke - Thursday PM Thanks By Neil Gray - Thursday PM More Viewpoints/ Letters Publish A Letter Political Cartoonists Political Cartoons Ketchikan April 17, 2006, Monday - 5:30 pm - Borough Assembly Meeting - City Council Chambers Agenda - Information Packet April Calendar Arts This Week Today's Forecast Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map City Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Classifieds & Announcements April 2006 Click on the date to read the stories published on that day. S M T W T F S 26 27 28 29 30 31 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31            Front Page Archives

Dave Kiffer: Spring has sprung, rat-a-tat-tat! - Everyone seems to have a different way of determining when spring has arrived in Ketchikan.

For my five-year-old, it is the warmer temps ("Let's play outside!") and the "birdies" on the deck.

For my mother, it is the rising to sunlight of the skunk cabbages leaves and stalks.

For my wife, it is the arrival of the jewelry store owners and their "not from here" clothes and automobiles.

For me, it is the sound of jackhammers on pavement. Yes, it is spring. The Annual Ketchikan Street Break-Up has begun. - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

Preston MacDougall: Chemical Eye on Easter Eggs - Build it and they will come.

It is truly surprising how frequently this bit of mysterious advice actually works. It worked for Ray Kinsella in the movie "Field of Dreams", where, planted with his dreams, a cornfield sprouted fulfillment of one man's passion for baseball.

It worked for me too, only in my case it was "buy it and they will come". And "they" weren't the Chicago Black Sox, or the White Sox - they were much too big, especially the big hurt, Frank Thomas. When I lived in Toronto, I saw that the Blue Jays are smaller than they appear on TV, but even they were much too big.

Amazingly, only Eastern Bluebirds build nests in the wooden box that my family bought several years ago. They do it every year, starting when spring is in the air. Usually I notice that the process has begun again when the iridescent blue wings of the male beat a flight path to its wooden door. It is fascinating to watch the male and female take turns flying in pine straw, grass hay, or other materials held in their beaks. - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

Ann McFeatters: Your tax dollars at work - Please don't read this column unless you are outrageously mellow or have a high tolerance for outrageous behavior by your government.

I have just finished hours (it seemed like weeks) of work on my taxes. Being rightfully afraid of riling the IRS, I erred on the side of caution. Thus, I am shocked and appalled at how far too many of our tax dollars are being spent.

Whether or not you agree with the U.S. military presence in Iraq, it's costing a bundle - way more than we were told to expect. It has cost us $250 billion so far and some economists think the price tag could eventually reach $2 trillion. (That's broaching the size of the entire annual federal budget. The national debt totals about $8 trillion. Remember when defense chief Don Rumsfeld said Iraq would cost us $60 billion tops?) - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

John Hall: Murphy's Law in the Gulf: II - The general supposition here has been that the Iranian "street" never really cared much about having the bomb. Young people in Tehran and Isfahan, after all, don't fall asleep at night to dreams of more enriched uranium anymore than they do here.

Yet, nukes make you popular. The rise of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is directly attributable to his defiance of the United Nations and the international order on nuclear non-proliferation. He ran on this program and he seems to be in the catbird seat because of his boldness.

Once again the world's system of controlling the spread of nuclear weapons is failing, just as it did in the case of India and Pakistan, only this time it is failing with potentially enormous consequences.

There may have been a brief period during the 1990s when it looked like there was a big student movement that was rising up to challenge the "mullahcracy" that was leading Iran to this tragedy. Indeed, a liberalized government for a while seemed to be bringing moderation to Iran. - More...
Monday - April 17, 2006

Marsha Mercer: Immigration debated with eye on the election - Monday a week ago, immigrants demonstrated massively and peacefully across the country against a bill in Congress that would make anyone in the country illegally a felon.

On Tuesday, Republican congressional leaders said the felony provision wouldn't be in the final bill.

So, the protesters won, right?

Not exactly. The immigration issue has more twists and turns than a maze.

While House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee agreed in principle to drop the felony penalty, it likely was already out. - More..
Monday - April 17, 2006