The Early Show

There has been growing international frustration with Myanmar's delays in allowing aid in a week after Cyclone Nargis hit the southeast Asian country, killing thousands and severely affecting some 1.5 million people. While Myanmar says it will allow in aid from "all quarters" it has been reluctant to allow help from foreign organisations with the distribution of the aid. As aid is being mobilised from around the globe many say the junta has focused too much of its attention on a constitutional referendum on Saturday (May 10) instead of shifting its focus to helping cyclone victims. Bogalay was the scene of some of the worst destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis which tore through Myanmar one week ago. At least 10,000 people have been reported dead in Bogalay in the heart of Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, 90 kilometres south-west of Yangon. Almost no aid has reached the town of 50,000 where rice mills have been ripped apart and fishing boats washed away. Some of the first relief workers to reach Bogalay were astounded at the damage. "The situation is really out of control. Too many patients and very little help," said Dr. Saw Simon Tha, a neurosurgeon who runs a charity-funded mobile health clinic. "We have to organise with the high authority to arrange for the food shelter and medicine and sanitation care workers," he told Reuters. So far residents of the town said they had received some small handouts and the risk of epidemic is running high. "The biggest risk is...

Myanmar's military government goes on holiday and hands out televisions to storm survivors. Meanwhile, aid workers are prevented from entering the country. Celia Hatton reports.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says he has been unable to talk to talk to Myanmar's ruling generals directly, but urges them to accept aid to help the nation recover from the catastrophic cyclone. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged Myanmar's generals on Monday (May 9) to accept aid and humanitarian workers to help 1.5 million victims of cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. He said he had so far not been able to contact Myanmar's senior general, Than Shwe, to ask him in person to remove restrictions on aid workers. "I am still trying to talk with them (the generals) as well as with leaders in neighbouring countries," Ban told reporters during a visit to the Carter Center in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the United Nations appealed to its 192 member states to provide $187 million (USD) in aid to the reclusive nation. In his opening address at the launch of the appeal, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes stressed the urgency of getting aid to the stricken victims. "The extent of this human catastrophe is enormous and that the numbers of people in need may well increase further as we come to understand better the situation on the ground. And I repeat that the sooner humanitarians are allowed in, and the less procedural and other obstacles we encounter, the more lives we can help save. "The speed with which we deliver assistance to those in need is becoming more and more critical and the danger of the outbreak of epidemics rises by the hour." Myanmar's UN ambassador then...

The US says Myanmar's government has granted landing permission for two more flights carring aid for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis. But officials say distribution of vital supplies to those facing hunger and disease in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta remains restricted. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Britain will pressure the UN Security Council for action: "We now estimate that two million people face famine or disease as a result of the lack of co-operation by the Burmese authorities. We are doing everything we can to make aid and assistance available. It is now for the Burmese authorities to respond to what everyone is saying all over the world. The eyes of the world are now upon Burma." The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières is one of the few to get aid through, by using the local network of its long-running HIV project. "The problem is, we are all facing restrictions with international staff, so with a few exceptions the government is insisting we run operations with national staff," said spokesman Joe Belliveau. The World Food Programme estimates only 20 percent of the supplies needed are being distributed. The official death toll has been put at almost 30,000 but aid workers fear 1.5 million could die if more help does not come.

More than 100,000 people may have perished in the deadly cyclone that ravaged Burma, a U.S diplomat said Wednesday, adding that the situation is becoming "increasingly horrendous."

"The information that we're receiving indicates that there may well be over 100,000 deaths in the delta area," Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in the capital Rangoon, told reporters.

She said 95 per cent of the buildings were destroyed in the Irrawaddy Delta, and that food and water are in short supply. Crowds of hungry people stormed the few shops that have opened in the region, sparking fist fights, said United Nations World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley.

So far, the official death toll released by the Burmese government is 22,500, with more than 41,000 people missing.

"There is a very real risk of disease outbreaks as long as this continues."

Waiting for visas

The new estimates come as UN officials warn that delays in issuing visas to relief workers are hampering aid efforts and increasing the risk of a major health crisis.

A number of agencies continue to wait to be granted entry visas by the military junta, which has ruled the country since 1962. Aid groups and governments are asking Burma's military rulers, wary of international scrutiny, to relax their tight grip on the country to allow humanitarian help into flood-ravaged areas.

Burma's government authorized the United Nations to send in emergency supplies from Italy on Wednesday. It remained unclear where the UN aircraft, carrying 25 tonnes of aid, would land in Burma, also known as Myanmar, said Elisabeth Byrs, Geneva spokeswoman for UN relief efforts.

But permission was still pending for a UN co-ordination team to accompany the flight, Byrs said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday urged the junta to allow international aid into the country as American officials said planes and aid workers are in a position to help.

"What remains is for the Burmese government to allow the international community to help its people. It should be a simple matter. It is not a matter of politics," Rice told reporters in Washington.

A U.S. air force C-130 has landed in neighbouring Thailand and another was on the way, air force spokeswoman Megan Orton said Wednesday at the Pentagon. A rapid deployment unit designed to be the first people inserted into an operation already works out of Thailand and is on hand as well, she said.

Time is of the essence

Burma has put a minister in charge of providing visas for aid agencies, as supplies continue to trickle in for as many as one million people left homeless by the storm.

Relief workers have warned that time is of the essence for bringing in vital supplies - including food and water-purification tablets - if a worse humanitarian crisis and higher death toll are to be avoided.

Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid, told CBC News that it's taking authorities time to fully contemplate the scale of response that is needed, and that international officials with experience can be a vital resource.

"If we don’t get enough aid to the people who need it, there is a significant risk of a second wave to this disaster in the form of water-borne diseases, and they could take a terrible toll."

Relief teams and aid material are waiting to be brought in from Thailand, Singapore, Italy, France, Sweden, Britain, South Korea, Australia, Israel, U.S., Poland, Japan, according to minutes from a UN relief meeting in Geneva that were obtained by the Associated Press.

Burma has accepted aid from traditional friends China, India and Indonesia.

More than 700 tonnes of food have arrived in Rangoon, Burma's largest city.

"Most urgent need is food and water," said Save the Children head Andrew Kirkwood in Rangoon. "Many people are getting sick. The whole place is under salt water, and there is nothing to drink. They can't use tablets to purify salt water."

Save the Children distributed food, plastic sheeting, cooking utensils and chlorine tablets to 230,000 people in the Rangoon area.

Trucks were sent to the delta on Wednesday, carrying rice, salt, sugar and tarpaulins.

Delta remains submerged

Access to the worst-hit areas, however, remains a major problem for aid workers, who can only reach many of the flooded areas by boat or helicopter, which are in short supply. Much of the Irrawaddy Delta remains submerged.

"Basically the entire lower delta region is under water," Horsey said.

He added that the death toll could rise dramatically and that teams "are talking about bodies floating around in the water.

"It's a huge, huge problem just to get these goods out. [This is] a major, major disaster we're dealing with."

Riots reportedly broke out at shops that opened on the delta on Wednesday.

Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN World Food Program in Bangkok, said his workers reported that people quickly stormed the handful of shops that opened five days after being hit by the cyclone.

"Fist fights are breaking out," he told the Associated Press.

Britain has offered about $9.8 million to help the crisis, and the U.S. offered more than $3 million in aid, while Canada has pledged $2 million.

Global Medic, a Toronto-based organization specializing in water purification systems, is on its way to the region for a two-week mission. The goal is to bring 21 water-purification units and five million water purification tablets to the area, with one tablet able to purify one litre of water.

But the organization is going without having secured the necessary entry visas.

"We didn't want to wait in Canada twiddling our thumbs," Wesley Normington a spokesman for the group, told CBC News. "So basically we're on our way there and we'll find our way in."

With files from the Associated Press

Obama: Keeping America's Promise Janesville, WI February 13, 2008 31초 부터~ It was nearly a century ago that the first tractor rolled off the assembly line at this plant. The achievement didn't just create a product to sell or profits for General Motors. It led to a shared prosperity enjoyed by all of Janesville. Homes and businesses began to sprout up along Milwaukee and Main Streets. Jobs were plentiful, with wages that could raise a family and benefits you could count on. Prosperity hasn't always come easily. The plant shut down for a period during the height of the Depression, and major shifts in production have been required to meet the changing times. Tractors became automobiles. Automobiles became artillery shells. SUVs are becoming hybrids as we speak, and the cost of transition has always been greatest for the workers and their families. But through hard times and good, great challenge and great change, the promise of Janesville has been the promise of America - that our prosperity can and must be the tide that lifts every boat; that we rise or fall as one nation; that our economy is strongest when our middle-class grows and opportunity is spread as widely as possible. And when it's not - when opportunity is uneven or unequal - it is our responsibility to restore balance, and fairness, and keep that promise alive for the next generation. That is the responsibility we face right now, and that is the responsibility I intend to meet as President of the United States. We are not standing on the brink of recession due to forces beyond our control. The fallout from the housing crisis that's cost jobs and wiped out savings was not an inevitable part of the business cycle. It was a failure of leadership and imagination in Washington - the culmination of decades of decisions that were made or put off without regard to the realities of a global economy and the growing inequality it's produced. It's a Washington where George Bush hands out billions in tax cuts year after year to the biggest corporations and the wealthiest few who don't need them and don't ask for them - tax breaks that are mortgaging our children's future on a mountain of debt; tax breaks that could've gone into the pockets of the working families who needed them most. It's a Washington where decades of trade deals like NAFTA and China have been signed with plenty of protections for corporations and their profits, but none for our environment or our workers who've seen factories shut their doors and millions of jobs disappear; workers whose right to organize and unionize has been under assault for the last eight years. It's a Washington where politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton voted for a war in Iraq that should've never been authorized and never been waged - a war that is costing us thousands of precious lives and billions of dollars a week that could've been used to rebuild crumbling schools and bridges; roads and buildings; that could've been invested in job training and child care; in making health care affordable or putting college within reach. And it's a Washington that has thrown open its doors to lobbyists and special interests who've riddled our tax code with loopholes that let corporations avoid paying their taxes while you're paying more. They've been allowed to write an energy policy that's keeping us addicted to oil when there are families choosing between gas and groceries. They've used money and influence to kill health care reform at a time when half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills, and then they've rigged our bankruptcy laws to make it harder to climb out of debt. They don't represent ordinary Americans, they don't fund my campaign, and they won't drown out the voices of working families when I am President. This is what's been happening in Washington at a time when we have greater income disparity in this country than we've seen since the first year of the Great Depression. At a time when some CEOs are making more in a day than the average workers makes in a year. When the typical family income has dropped by $1,000 over the last seven years. When wages are flat, jobs are moving overseas, and we've never paid more for health care, or energy, or college. It's a time when we've never saved less - barely $400 for the average family last year - and never owed more - an average of $8,000 per family. And it's a time when one in eight Americans now lives in abject poverty right here in the richest nation on Earth. At a time like this, it's no wonder that the mortgage crisis was the straw that broke the camel's back. The equity that people own in their homes is often their largest source of savings, and as millions upon millions have seen those savings and their home equity decline or disappear altogether, so have their dreams for a better future. I realize that politicians come before you every election saying that they'll change all this. They lay out big plans and hold events with workers just like this one, because it's popular to do and it's easy to make promises in the heat of a campaign. But how many times have you been disappointed when everyone goes back to Washington and nothing changes? Because the lobbyists just write another check. Or because politicians start worrying about how they'll win the next election instead of why they should. Because they're focused on who's up and who's down instead of who matters - the worker who just lost his pension; the family that just put up the For Sale sign; the young woman who gets three hours of sleep a night because she works the late shift after a full day of college and still can't afford her sister's medicine. These are the Americans who need real change - the kind of change that's about more than switching the party in the White House. They need a change in our politics - a leader who can end the division in Washington so we can stop talking about our challenges and start solving them; who doesn't defend lobbyists as part of the system, but sees them as part of the problem; who will carry your voices and your hopes into the White House every single day for the next four years. And that is the kind of President I want to be. I didn't spend my career in the halls of Washington, I began it in the shadow of a closed steel mill on the South Side of Chicago. We organized churches and community leaders; African-Americans, whites, and Hispanics to lift neighborhoods out of poverty; provide job training to the jobless; and set up after school programs so that kids had a safe place to go while their parents worked. Those are the voices I carried with me to the Illinois state Senate, where I brought Democrats and Republicans together to expand health insurance to 150,000 children and parents; where I led the fight to provide $100 million in tax relief for working families and the working poor. They're the voices I carried with me to Washington, where the first bill I introduced was to make college more affordable; where I fought against a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for families to climb out of debt; and where I passed the most sweeping lobbying reform in a generation - reform that forced lobbyists to tell the American people who they're raising money from and who in Congress they're funneling it to. So when I talk about real change that will make a real difference in the lives of working families - change that will restore balance in our economy and put us on a path to prosperity - it's not just the poll-tested rhetoric of a political campaign. It's the cause of my life. And you can be sure that it will be the cause of my presidency from the very first day I take office. Now we know that we cannot put up walls around our economy. We know that we cannot reverse the tide of technology that's allowed businesses to send jobs wherever there's an internet connection. We know that government cannot solve all our problems, and we don't expect it to. But that doesn't mean we have to accept an America of lost opportunity and diminished dreams. Not when we still have the most productive, highly-educated, best-skilled workers in the world. Not when we still stand on the cutting edge of innovation, and science, and discovery. Not when we have the resources and the will of a decent, generous people who are ready to share in the burdens and benefits of a global economy. I am certain that we can keep America's promise - for this generation and the next. So today, I'm laying out a comprehensive agenda to reclaim our dream and restore our prosperity. It's an agenda that focuses on three broad economic challenges that the next President must address - the current housing crisis; the cost crisis facing the middle-class and those struggling to join it; and the need to create millions of good jobs right here in America- jobs that can't be outsourced and won't disappear. The first challenge is to stem the fallout from the housing crisis and put in place rules of the road to prevent it from happening again. A few weeks ago I offered an economic stimulus package based on a simple principle - we should get immediate relief into the hands of people who need it the most and will spend it the quickest. I proposed sending each working family a $500 tax cut and each senior a $250 supplement to their Social Security check. And if the economy gets worse, we should double those amounts. Neither George Bush nor Hillary Clinton had that kind of immediate, broad-based relief in their original stimulus proposals, but I'm glad that the stimulus package that was recently passed by Congress does. We still need to go further, though, and make unemployment insurance available for a longer period of time and for more Americans who find themselves out of work. We should also provide assistance to state and local governments so that they don't slash critical services like health care or education. For those Americans who are facing the brunt of the housing crisis, I've proposed a fund that would provide direct relief to victims of mortgage fraud. We'd also help those who are facing closure refinance their mortgages so they can stay in their homes. And I'd provide struggling homeowners relief by offering a tax credit to low- and middle-income Americans that would cover ten percent of their mortgage interest payment every year. To make sure that folks aren't tricked into purchasing loans they can't afford, I've proposed tough new penalties for those who commit mortgage fraud, and a Home Score system that would allow consumers to compare various mortgage products so that they can find out whether or not they'll be able to afford the payments ahead of time. The second major economic challenge we have to address is the cost crisis facing the middle-class and the working poor. As the housing crisis spills over into other parts of the economy, we've seen people's entire life savings wiped out in an instant. It's the result of skyrocketing costs, stagnant wages, and disappearing benefits that are pushing more and more Americans towards a debt spiral from which they can't escape. We have to give them a way out by cutting costs, putting more money in their pockets, and rebuilding a safety net that's become badly frayed over the last decades. One of the principles that John Edwards has passionately advanced is that this country should be rewarding work, not wealth. That starts with our tax code, which has been rigged by lobbyists with page after page of loopholes that benefit big corporations and the wealthiest few. For example, we should not be giving tax breaks to corporations that make their profits in some other country with some other workers. Before she started running for President, Senator Clinton actually voted for this loophole. I'll change our tax code so that it's simple, fair, and advances opportunity, not the agenda of some lobbyist. I am the only candidate in this race who's proposed a genuine middle-class tax cut that will provide relief to 95% of working Americans. This is a tax cut -paid for in part by closing corporate loopholes and shutting down tax havens - that will offset the payroll tax that working Americans are already paying, and it'll be worth up to $1000 for a working family. We'll also eliminate income taxes for any retiree making less than $50,000 per year, because our seniors are struggling enough with rising costs, and should be able to retire in dignity and respect. Since the Earned Income Tax Credit lifts nearly 5 million Americans out of poverty each year, I'll double the number of workers who receive it and triple the benefit for minimum wage workers. And I won't wait another ten years to raise the minimum wage - I'll guarantee that it keeps pace with inflation every single year so that it's not just a minimum wage, but a living wage. Because that's the change that working Americans need. My universal health care plan brings down the cost of health care more than any other candidate in this race, and will save the typical family up to $2500 a year on their premiums. Every American would be able to get the same kind of health care that members of Congress get for themselves, and we'd ban insurance companies from denying you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. And the main difference between my plan and Senator Clinton's plan is that she'd require the government to force you to buy health insurance and she said she'd ‘go after' your wages if you don't. Well I believe the reason people don't have health care isn't because no one's forced them to buy it, it's because no one's made it affordable - and that's what we'll do when I am President. If we want to train our workforce for a knowledge economy, it's also time that we brought down the cost of a college education and put it within reach of every American. I know how expense this is. At the beginning of our marriage, Michelle and I were spending more to payoff our college loans than we were on our mortgage. So I'll create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 for tuition and fees every year, a benefit that students will get in exchange for community or national service, which will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university. And I'll also simplify the financial aid application process so that we don't have a million students who aren't applying for aid because it's too difficult. With so many mothers and fathers juggling work and parenting, the next cost we have to bring down is the cost of living in a two-income family. I'll expand the child care tax credit for people earning less than $50,000 a year, and I'll double spending on quality afterschool programs. We'll also expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include more businesses and millions more workers; and we'll change a system that's stacked against working women by requiring every employer to provide seven paid sick days a year, so that you can be home with your child if they're sick. In addition to cutting costs for working families, we also need to help them save more - especially for retirement. That's why we'll require employers to enroll every worker in a direct deposit retirement account that places a small percentage of each paycheck into savings. You can keep this account even if you change jobs, and the federal government will match the savings for lower-income, working families. Finally, we need to help families who find themselves in a debt spiral climb out. Since so many who are struggling to keep up with their mortgages are now shifting their debt to credit cards, we have to make sure that credit cards don't become the next stage in the housing crisis. To make sure that Americans know what they're signing up for, I'll institute a five-star rating system to inform consumers about the level of risk involved in every credit card. And we'll establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights that will ban unilateral changes to a credit card agreement; ban rate changes to debt that's already incurred; and ban interest on late fees. Americans need to pay what they owe, but they should pay what's fair, not what fattens profits for some credit card company. The same principle should apply to our bankruptcy laws. When I first arrived in the Senate, I opposed the credit card industry's bankruptcy bill that made it harder for working families to climb out of debt. Five years earlier, Senator Clinton had supported a nearly identical bill. And during a debate a few weeks back, she said that even though she voted for it, she was glad it didn't pass. Now, I know those kind of antics might make sense in Washington, but they don't make much sense anywhere else, and they certainly don't make sense for working families who are struggling under the weight of their debt. When I'm President, we'll reform our bankruptcy laws so that we give Americans who find themselves in debt a second chance. I'll close the loophole that allows investors with multiple homes to renegotiate their mortgage in bankruptcy court, but not victims of predatory lending. We'll make sure that if you can demonstrate that you went bankrupt because of medical expenses, then you can relieve that debt and get back on your feet. And I'll make sure that CEOs can't dump your pension with one hand while they collect a bonus with the other. That's an outrage, and it's time we had a President who knows it's an outrage. Those are the steps we can take to ease the cost crisis facing working families. But we still need to make sure that families are working. We need to maintain our competitive edge in a global by ensuring that plants like this one stay open for another hundred years, and shuttered factories re-open as new industries that promise new jobs. And we need to put more Americans to work doing jobs that need to be done right here in America. For years, we have stood by while our national infrastructure has crumbled and decayed. In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave it a D, citing problems with our airports, dams, schools, highways, and waterways. One out of three urban bridges were classified as structurally deficient, and we all saw the tragic results of what that could mean in Minnesota last year. Right here in Wisconsin, we know that $500 million of freight will come through this state by 2020, and if we do not have the infrastructure to handle it, we will not get the business. For our economy, our safety, and our workers, we have to rebuild America. I'm proposing a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years. This investment will multiply into almost half a trillion dollars of additional infrastructure spending and generate nearly two million new jobs - many of them in the construction industry that's been hard hit by this housing crisis. The repairs will be determined not by politics, but by what will maximize our safety and homeland security; what will keep our environment clean and our economy strong. And we'll fund this bank by ending this war in Iraq. It's time to stop spending billions of dollars a week trying to put Iraq back together and start spending the money on putting America back together instead. It's also time to look to the future and figure out how to make trade work for American workers. I won't stand here and tell you that we can - or should - stop free trade. We can't stop every job from going overseas. But I also won't stand here and accept an America where we do nothing to help American workers who have lost jobs and opportunities because of these trade agreements. And that's a position of mine that doesn't change based on who I'm talking to or the election I'm running in. You know, in the years after her husband signed NAFTA, Senator Clinton would go around talking about how great it was and how many benefits it would bring. Now that she's running for President, she says we need a time-out on trade. No one knows when this time-out will end. Maybe after the election. I don't know about a time-out, but I do know this - when I am President, I will not sign another trade agreement unless it has protections for our environment and protections for American workers. And I'll pass the Patriot Employer Act that I've been fighting for ever since I ran for the Senate - we will end the tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas, and we will give those breaks to companies who create good jobs with decent wages right here in America. I believe that we can create millions of those jobs around a clean, renewable energy future. A few hours northeast of here is the city of Manitowoc. For over a century, it was the home of Mirro manufacturing - a company that provided thousands of jobs and plenty of business. In 2003, Mirro closed its doors for good after losing thousands of jobs to Mexico. But in the last few years, something extraordinary has happened. Thanks to the leadership of Governor Doyle and Mayor Kevin Crawford, Manitowoc has re-trained its workers and attracted new businesses and new jobs. Orion Energy Systems works with companies to reduce their electricity use and carbon emissions. And Tower Tech is now making wind turbines that are being sold all over the world. Hundreds of people have found new work, and unemployment has been cut in half. This can be America's future. I know that General Motors received some bad news yesterday, and I know how hard your Governor has fought to keep jobs in this plant. But I also know how much progress you've made - how many hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles you're churning out. And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years. The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it's where it will thrive. I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that's the future I'll fight for as your President. My energy plan will invest $150 billion over ten years to establish a green energy sector that will create up to 5 million new jobs over the next two decades - jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. We'll also provide funding to help manufacturers convert to green technology and help workers learn the skills they need for these jobs. We know that all of this must be done in a responsible way, without adding to the already obscene debt that has grown by four trillion dollars under George Bush. We know that we cannot build our future on a credit card issued by the bank of China. And that is why I've paid for every element of this economic agenda - by ending a war that's costing us billions, closing tax loopholes for corporations, putting a price on carbon pollution, and ending George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. In the end, this economic agenda won't just require new money. It will require a new spirit of cooperation and innovation on behalf of the American people. We will have to learn more, and study more, and work harder. We'll be called upon to take part in shared sacrifice and shared prosperity. And we'll have to remind ourselves that we rise and fall as one nation; that a country in which only a few prosper is antithetical to our ideals and our democracy; and that those of us who have benefited greatly from the blessings of this country have a solemn obligation to open the doors of opportunity, not just for our children, but to all of America's children. That is the spirit that's thrived in Janesville from the moment that first tractor came off the assembly line so many years ago. It's the spirit that led my grandmother to her own assembly line during World War II, and my grandfather to march in Patton's Army. When that war ended, they were given the chance to go to college on the GI Bill, to buy a house from the Federal Housing Authority, and to give my mother the chance to go to the best schools and dream as big as the Kansas sky. Even though she was a single mom who didn't have much, it's the same chance she gave me, and why I'm standing here today. It's a promise that's been passed down through the ages; one that each generation of Americans is called to keep - that we can raise our children in a land of boundless opportunity, broad prosperity, and unyielding possibility. That is the promise we must keep in our time, and I look forward to working and fighting to make it real as President of the United States. Thank you.

Argentinian rescue workers fight to save a pilot whale stranded on a beach just outside of Buenos Aires. Rescue workers worked furtively to rescue a beached whale stranded on a beach just outside the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires. The whale was found early on Thursday by a group of tourists on the beach. It was then transported to the Mundo Marino park, where it was assessed by veterinarians and placed in a water tank. The park vets say the fight now is to try and hydrate the animal. Pilot whales often strand themselves in large numbers. When one animal strands, the remainder of the pod usually follows.

More international aid arrived in Yangon on Friday (May 9) after the Myanmar military government earlier turned back a Qatar rescue team. Among the countries that sent the aid, was Ukraine who sent 5.5 tonnes of aid in the form of construction material. From the region, South Korea donated items including wheat and soap while China contributed 60 tonnes of supplies including tents and water purifiers. Singapore sent the second batch of aid that included food and blankets amounting to 3.2 tonnes. The junta earlier said they will accept foreign aid but not foreign aid workers, after a disaster rescue team from Qatar that arrived in Yangon on an aid flight was turned back. "Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information teams from foreign countries at the moment," said a foreign ministry statement carried in the official Myanmar Ahlin newspaper. "But at present Myanmar is giving priority to receiving relief aid and distributing them to the storm-hit regions with its own resources," the statement said. The Qatar plane was one of 12 international relief flights that landed in the former capital on Thursday (May 8), it said. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said on Friday he had cancelled a planned trip to Myanmar this weekend after the junta's announcement that it would not welcome foreign aid workers, just hours after he said he would go. Frustration is mounting over Myanmar's generally feeble response to one of its worst disasters in memory and particularly the delays in giving visas to aid workers and landing rights for relief flights. Western aid experts in Bangkok will have to wait at least four more days to get into Myanmar to help cyclone victims because the Myanmar embassy in the Thai capital has taken a local holiday on Friday.

SOME BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE NORTHEAST HEIGHTS ARE UP IN ARMS OVER A PROPOSED TOPLESS BAR IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD. BUT THE MAN BEHIND THE PLAN SAYS HIS OPPONENTS HAVE IT ALL WRONG. HE DOESN'T WANT TO OPEN A STRIP CLUB AT ALL... HE CALLS IT UPSCALE, VEGAS- STYLE ENTERTAINMENT. ANTOINETTE ANTONIO IS LIVE NEAR SAN MATEO AND MCLEOD WITH OUR TOP STORY. ANTOINETTE? WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT.... BUSINESS OWNERS NEAR THIS OLD AUTO REPAIR SHOP SAY THEY DON'T WANT IT TURNING INTO A NIGHTCLUB, BAR, OR A STRIP JOINT BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL TROUBLE IT COULD BRING. WHAT WAS ONCE THE CAR CRAFTERS AUTO SHOP ... COULD TURN INTO AN ADULT ENTERTAINMENT HOT SPOT. BUT DON'T CALL IT A STRIP CLUB. DEVELOPER GEORGE CATALIOU... SAYS 'ATLANTIS' AS HE PLANS TO CALL IT... WILL BE NOTHING LIKE THIS. HE SAYS HE'S NOT OUT TO COMPETE WITH LOCAL STRIP CLUBS. INSTEAD, HE PLANS TO TURN THE OLD GARAGE INTO UPSCALE ENTERTAIMENT .... WITH COMEDY SHOWS, A HIGH-END RESTAURANT, A NIGHTCLUB, AND MOULIN ROUGE-LIKE BURLESQUE SHOWS. BUT NEARBY BUSINESSES AREN'T LIKING THE IDEA... STRIPPERS OR NOT. THEY SAY PLACE DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH PARKING... AND INEVITABLY, TROUBLE WILL SPILL INTO THEIR PARKING LOTS. when people are drinking they do things they wouldn't do otherwise. they have no respect for property or anything else and it's a problem for us. LARS SEGO IS ONE OF MANY BUSINESS OWNERS WHO SENT EMAILS TO THE STATE AND TO CITY COUNCILORS... EXPRESSING OPPOSITION TO A TOPLESS BAR. HIS OTHER CONCERN IS THE HEALTH CLUB ACROSS THE STREET. HE CAN'T SPEAK FOR THE CLUB.... BUT AS A CUSTOMER, SAYS HE'S CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY. 'I wouldn't want my wife going after work late at night, working out and you got somebody coming out of this place inebriated.' THE DEVELOPER, WHO'S OUT OF CALIFORNIA, SAYS HE HOPES TO OPEN UP WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF GETTING A LIQUOR LICENSE. THAT REQUEST IS STILL PENDING... AND THE STATE PLANS TO HAVE A PUBLIC MEETING ON IT IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. LIVE IN NE ABQ, AA, EWN4. A 76-YEAR-OLD LOS LUNAS MAN IS TAKING ON CITY HALL. THE ISSUE - ARTWORK IN HIS FRONT YARD - ARTWORK THAT LOCAL AUTHORITIES CALL A POLITICAL SIGN. STUART DYSON HAS THE CONTROVERSY FROM LOS LUNAS. OUT Q 'IN LOS LUNAS SDEWN4'' ALBERTO MARTINEZ LIVES UP HERE ON THE HILL BEHIND LOS LUNAS HIGH SCHOOL WHERE FOR YEARS HE'S HAD SCULPTURES AND SIGNS WITH SLOGANS ON DISPLAY - HERE'S THE ONE THAT GOT HIM IN TROUBLE - BILL RICHARDSON 2008.' ALBERTO MARTINEZ IS AN ARTIST - POET - ANTHROPOLOGIST - A KOREAN WAR VETERAN - BORN ON THE JICARILLA APACHE RESERVATION 76 YEARS AGO. THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN HIS FRONT YARD. BUT THE GOVERNOR PUT IT OVER THE LINE. THE VILLAGE SENT MARTINEZ A NOTICE - CALLING THE SIGN POLITICAL - AND WARNING HIM THAT FAILURE TO TAKE IT DOWN COULD RESULT IN HIS ARREST. ' The letter was very insulting and intimidating - my goodness - you can imagine - if you don't correct this by a certain date you're gonna be in deep trouble! Q: Forgive me sir - you don't seem intimidated. A: Ha-ha-ha - well i shouldn't be - I served my country and I feel very proud that I'm able to speak out!' BUT THE VILLAGE OF LUNAS SIGN ORDINANCE BANS POLITICAL SIGNS UNTIL 32 DAYS BEFORE AN ELECTION - AND THEY HAVE TO COME DOWN RIGHT AFTERWARDS. ' Right now for instance the presidential campaign's been going on for what - two years - three years - and if they allow signs all over the community we'd have signs for years you know out there.' THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION SEES A PROBLEM HERE. ' The sign contains political speech and the courts have traditionally given that kind of speech particular kinds of protection - and probably the more important issue there is the speech is occuring on his own home - it's on his own property.'' THE ACLU SAYS IF THE VILLAGE WANTS A LEGAL FIGHT THEY'RE READY - BUT IT MAY NOT COME TO THAT - MARTINEZ HAS NEVER BEEN ACTUALLY CITED - JUST WARNED THAT HE'S IN VIOLATION - THERE'S BEEN NO PENALTY - AT LEAST NOT YET - IN LOS LUNAS STUART DYSON EYEWITNESS NEWS FOUR.' SAN JUAN COUNTY IS STRUGGLING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH MORE THAN 200 OBSOLETE VOTING MACHINES. ROUGHLY 190 OF THEM DON'T COMPLY WITH THE 'HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT' THAT WAS PASSED IN 2002. 30 MORE ARE TOUCH-SCREEN -- BUT NEW MEXICO NOW USES PAPER BALLOTS. THE COUNTY SAYS IT CAN'T JUST SELL THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE STILL PAYING THEM OFF. NOW THEY'RE HOPING THE STATE CAN CHIP IN. 'the state legislature was expected to pass a bill to forgive the debt and pay all counties debt off. In visualize this is a problem state wide.' THE COUNTY DOESN'T KNOW WHERE TO STORE THE MACHINES EITHER. RIGHT NOW THEY'RE SITTING IN THE OLD JAIL... BUT THAT'S GOING TO BE DEMOLISHED IN DECEMBER. ECLIPSE IS FACING A LAWSUIT FROM ONE OF ITS SUPPLIERS. HAMPSON AEROSPACE SAYS THE ALBUQUERQUE JET MAKER IS BEHIND ON ITS PAYMENTS. HAMPSON BUILDS THE TAIL SECTIONS OF THE VERY LIGHT JET. ECLIPSE SAYS IT CAN'T COMMENT ON THE LAWSUIT.. THE COMPANY RECENTLY DENIED IT'S RUNNING SHORT ON MONEY. ECLIPSE DID ANNOUNCE TODAY IT SOLD 12 JETS TO A COMPANY IN DUBAI. A JUDGE SAYS POLICE DID NOTHING WRONG WHEN COLLECTING EVIDENCE AGAINST A WOMAN ACCUSED OF MURDERING A HOUSE-SITTER. KAREN SMALLWOOD'S ATTORNEY ARGUED SANTA FE POLICE DID NOT WAIT FOR SEARCH WARRANTS BEFORE CONFISCATING HER CAR AND OTHER EVIDENCE. POLICE SAY SMALLWOOD SHOT AND KILLED 19-YEAR OLD URSULA DURAN. DURAN'S BODY WAS FOUND IN HER AUNT'S HOME -- WHERE SHE WAS HOUSE-SITTING. SMALLWOOD USED TO BE THE HOUSE- SITTER THERE. POLICE SAY THEY WERE ABLE TO TRACK DOWN SMALLWOOD BECAUSE SHE WAS USING DURAN'S A-T-M CARD. SMALLWOOD WAS A DRIFTER FROM TUCSON ... WHO LIVED IN A STORAGE UNIT WHILE IN SANTA FE. AS IT GETS CLOSER TO DECEMBER -- IT STILL FEELS LIKE OCTOBER OUTSIDE. IT'S WARM. AS EYEWITNESS NEWS 4 METEOROLOGIST TY SHESKY SHOWS YOU -- THIS NOVEMBER COULD GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS. IF YOU THINK THE WEATHER SEEMS A LITTLE WARM FOR NOVEMBER, YOUR INSTINCTS ARE RIGHT ON. EVERY DAY SO FAR THIS MONTH WAS ABOVE NORMAL. IN FACT, WE HAVEN'T HAD A BELOW- AVERAGE DAY SINCE OCTOBER 23RD. MOS : 'Might as well enjoy it while we have it.' THE WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD IN ALBUQUERQUE OCCURRED IN 19- HUNDRED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 51 DEGREES. IF THIS KEEPS UP .. WE COULD BLOW THAT RECORD OUT OF THE PARK. RIGHT NOW OUR AVERAGE IS JUST UNDER 55 DEGREES. THE CULPRIT-- LA NINA. Tim: : 'The La Nina that we have right now has put a lot of cold water over the tropical eastern Pacific and this is clearly having an impact on weather patterns here in New Mexico.'THE WEATHER PATTERN WE'RE IN IS KEEPING LEAVES ON THE TREES LONGER, AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE MORE OFTEN. MOS : 'I love the weather, I just wish it would be a little bit colder.' MOS : 'I hope it gets colder by Thanksgiving, but it's beautiful out here by the bosque to walk.'THOSE LOOKING FOR A COOL-DOWN MAY GET THEIR WISH... BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WITH SOME RAIN AND SNOW MAY GET HERE BY THANKSGIVING. IN FACT, THE COOL- DOWN MAY BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THIS NOVEMBER FROM BEING THE WARMEST EVER. TY SHESKY, EYEWITNESS NEWS 4. ALBUQUERQUE'S ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH FOR NOVEMBER IS 77 DEGREES... SET ON NOVEMBER 6TH, 19-75. THE WIND IS KICKING UP TONIGHT.... AND IT PROMISES TO GET WORSE. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST LARRY RICE IS IN THE PINPOINT 4 STORM CENTER -- LARRY.. TODAY MAYOR MARTIN CHAVEZ SIGNED OFF ON A PLAN TO SAVE THE RUNDOWN BARELAS RAILYARD. THE BUILDING - LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN - HAS BEEN SITTING VACANT FOR FORTY YEARS - AND AT ONE POINT WAS SET TO BE DEMOLISHED. TODAY THE CITY AGREED TO PAY EIGHT-POINT-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE 27-ACRE SITE. THE PLAN IS TO RE-DEVELOP THE BUILDING -- PUTTING IN LOFTS, STORES AND A TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM. 'we hope to preserve the character of the building certainly preserve their historic exterior but look at new uses for the interior of the building'BEFORE THE CITY CAN START ON THE PROJECT... CREWS NEED TO REMOVE LEAD FROM THE AREA....THAT'LL COST HALF A MILLION DOLLARS. A NATIONAL TEAM OF EXPERTS WILL BE HERE IN JANUARY TO ADVISE THE CITY ON THE REDEVELOPMENT. IF A JUDGE ACCEPTS A SANTA FE WOMAN'S PLEA DEAL -- SHE WON'T SERVE ANY MORE THAN 6 YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING THREE PEOPLE. PROSECUTORS AGREED TO GIVE RACHEL RUIZ 6 YEARS FOR HER 'NO CONTEST' PLEA TODAY TO VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CHARGES. RUIZ DROVE HER PICKUP TRUCK 30 FEET INTO THE 'CONCENTRA MEDICAL CLINIC' IN SANTA FE LAST YEAR. THREE PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE WAITING ROOM. POLICE THINK RUIZ HAD A SEIZURE....BUT WASN'T TAKING HER ANTI-SEIZURE MEDICINE. THE JUDGE COULD STILL REJECT THE PLEA DEAL IF SHE THINKS RUIZ DESERVES MORE PRISON TIME. A MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SHOOTING AND KILLING AN ALBUQUERQUE FATHER OUTSIDE THE RESTAURANT WHERE HE WAS READING HIS BIBLE. BRIAN LAWSON WAS A TEENAGER WHEN HE SHOT 49- YEAR-OLD REYNALDO PADILLA AND STOLE HIS TRUCK OUTSIDE MILLY'S ON CANDELARIA BACK IN 2005. PADILLA OFTEN WENT TO MILLY'S TO READ THE BIBLE OR MEET WITH HIS PRAYER GROUP. LAWSON STRUCK A PLEA DEAL TO KNOCK DOWN THE CHARGE TO SECOND-DEGREE MURDER AND 37 YEARS IN PRISON. PADILLA'S FAMILY THINKS LAWSON DID NOT DESERVE ANY KIND OF DEAL.. A-P-D OFFICERS MARCH WITH THEIR GUNS DRAWN THROUGH OLD TOWN TODAY... THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A MAN WITH A VIOLENT PAST WHO RAN AWAY FROM DISTRICT COURT. POLICE SAY 26- YEAR-OLD ELI SCHULTZ WAS IN THE COURTHOUSE TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF AN OUTSTANDING WARRANT. BUT THEY SAY HE BOLTED WHEN HE REALIZED HE WAS ABOUT TO BE ARRESTED. WASHINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL WAS ON LOCKDOWN FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES WHILE OFFICERS SEARCHED FOR SCHULTZ. HE WAS EVENTUALLY FOUND HIDING OUT IN A TRAILER. NO ARRESTS AFTER SOMEONE OPENS FIRE INSIDE A DOWNTOWN ALBUQUERQUE NIGHTCLUB. IT HAPPENED EARLY THIS MORNING AT 'CLUB SEVEN' NEAR CENTRAL AND SIXTH. POLICE SAY SOMEONE SHOT A 20-YEAR-OLD MAN INSIDE THE CLUB DURING A PRIVATE PARTY. THE VICTIM LIVED. THE GENERAL MANAGER TELLS US BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED.. OWNERS ARE CHANGING THEIR POLICY ON WHO CAN RENT OUT THE CLUB. its like this we're going to be very precautious with who we do business with when it comes to who we do promotions with for concerts and special events... we'll probably do background and make sure they have no prior history.. POLICE ARE CHECKING SURVEILLANCE TAPES TO TRY AND IDENTIFY THE SHOOTER. A SANTA FE CITY CREW HITS A GAS LINE -- FORCING SOME EVACUATIONS FOR A FEW HOURS. WORKERS SAY THEY HIT THE TWO - INCH LINE IN THE 'LAS ACEQUIAS' NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE IT WAS INCORRECTLY MARKED ON THEIR MAPS. HAVE A BURNING LEGAL QUESTION? WE HAVE THE LAWYERS WHO CAN HELP YOU OUT FOR FREE. OUR LAWLINE 4 IS OPEN TONIGHT. YOU CAN TALK TO A LAWYER BY CALLING 222-3232 IN ALBUQUERQUE .... OR 1-877-424-3232 OUTSIDE THE CITY. THE HOTLINE IS OPEN UNTIL SEVEN. WE'VE UNCOVERED WORKERS AT A LOCAL CAR RENTAL COMPANY HAVE BEEN TOLD IF THEY RENT TO SOME CUSTOMERS FROM MEXICO -- THEY'LL BE FIRED. WE HAVE COPIES OF THE MEMOS. SEE FOR YOURSELF WHAT'S IN THEM -- TONIGHT AT TEN. BUT FIRST AT SIX ... WE'LL SHOW YOU WHAT NASA IS DOING IN NEW MEXICO THAT COULD CHANGE SPACE TRAVEL-- AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SPACEPORT. AND WE'LL HEAD OUT LIVE TO STEVE STUCKER WHO WILL TELL US WHY A NEW MEXICO PASTOR IS SLEEPING ON TOP OF A CHICK-FIL-A NASA BREAKS GROUND ON A

Nergis kasırgasının vurduğu Myanmar'da ölenlerin en az yüzde 40'ının çocuk olduğu, yüzlercesinin de ailelerini kaybettiği ve travma geçirdiği açıklandı. Askeri cunta, yağmacılara karşı sokağa çıkma yasağı koydu, "vur" emri verdi. "Save the Children" adlı yardım kuruluşunun sözcüsü Dan Collinson, bu kadar fazla çocuğun hayatını kaybetmesinin nedenlerinden birinin nüfus yapısı olduğunu, ülke nüfusunun yüzde 40'ının 18 yaşın altında olduğunu, diğer bir nedenin ise çocukların bu kadar güçlü rüzgarlara dayanacak gücü olmamasından ileri geldiğini belirtti. BM İnsani İşler Koordinasyon Dairesi'nin (OCHA) sözcüsü Elis...