Discovery passes launch debris review for July liftoff
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: May 31, 2006
After a "spirited" two-day review, NASA managers today concluded the agency has reduced the threat of catastrophic damage from external tank foam and other debris to an acceptable level, a major milestone on the road to clearing the Discovery for launch July 1 on the second post-Columbia shuttle mission.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060531tankdvr/
Iraq veteran sues Moore over scene in 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 02 June 2006
A US military veteran who lost both his arms in the war in Iraq is suing the film-maker Michael Moore for $85m (£46m), claiming that the director incorrectly portrayed him as being against the war in the controversial film Fahrenheit 9/11.
Peter Damon, a National Guardsman from Massachusetts, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment, and personal humiliation". The former sergeant says that Moore did not seek his permission to include television footage of him in the 2004 movie.
Mr Damon, 33, lost both his arms when a tyre on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were working on it. Another serviceman was killed in the same incident. The National Guardsman was subsequently interviewed for an NBC's Nightline programme about a new painkiller that the military was testing on wounded veterans.
Moore's film condemned the Bush administration for going to war and sought to draw links between President George Bush's family and senior Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden. Mr Damon is shown lying on a gurney with his wounds bandaged. He is heard saying that he feels likes he is being "crushed in a vice. But [the painkillers] do a lot to help it. And they take a lot of the edge off of it." The clip follows a segment which shows a congressman, Jim McDermott, speaking about the Bush administration and saying: "You know, they say they're not leaving any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind."
Mr Damon was yesterday not available for comment but in papers filed at the Suffolk County Court, Massachusetts, and obtained by the Associated Press, the former serviceman says that the positioning of the clip makes it sound like he agrees with Mr McDermott's comments and appears to "voice a complaint about the war effort".
Mr Damon's lawsuit says he "agrees with and supports the President and the United States' war effort, and he was not left behind". He says he had surgery and physical therapy, learned to use prosthetics and live independently, and had also been built a specially designed house. Mr Damon said he had been supported by "the President, the United States and his family, friends, acquaintances and community".
Mr Damon's lawyer, Dennis Lynch, said: "It's upsetting to him because he's lived his life supportive of his government, he's been a patriot, he's been a soldier, and he's now being portrayed in a movie that is the antithesis of all of that."
It is not clear why Mr Damon has waited until now to sue. Neither Moore nor Miramax Films has yet commented on the lawsuit.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article623426.ece
BBC launches 24-hour news in US
George Alagiah will present a new bulletin aimed at US audiences
The BBC's global news channel, BBC World, has launched in the US, aiming to capture audiences hungry for international news.
The channel, which already broadcasts to 270 million homes worldwide, can now be seen by cable viewers in New York.
The BBC says it hopes to strike deals with cable and satellite providers elsewhere in the US soon.
A new breakfast programme aimed at American audiences will be launched in July, presented by George Alagiah.
"What we're not setting out to do is carve a niche that reflects America back to the Americans," said Alagiah.
"What we're trying to do is reflect the world back to Americans."
The show, which will be based in London, will also be carried on the cable channel BBC America.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5040886.stm
First lady proposes worldwide HIV testing day
Fri Jun 2, 2006 10:04am ET
Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints
[-] Text [+]
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States plans to propose a global annual HIV Testing Day modeled on a U.S. campaign encouraging at-risk individuals to determine if they have the AIDS virus, first lady Laura Bush said on Friday.
Despite gains in preventing and treating HIV infection, "life-saving treatment never reaches people who don't know they're infected," Bush told a U.N. conference on HIV/AIDS. "So another challenge is making sure more people know their HIV status.
The three-day U.N. conference, due to end later on Friday, was convened to plot global strategy for battling the pandemic over the coming decade.
"Here in the United States, June 27 is recognized as National HIV Testing Day," Bush told the meeting. "The United States will soon propose the designation of an International HIV Testing Day. I urge all member states to join us in support of this initiative."
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-06-02T140348Z_01_N0265968_RTRUKOC_0_US-AIDS-UN-USA.xml
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: May 31, 2006
After a "spirited" two-day review, NASA managers today concluded the agency has reduced the threat of catastrophic damage from external tank foam and other debris to an acceptable level, a major milestone on the road to clearing the Discovery for launch July 1 on the second post-Columbia shuttle mission.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060531tankdvr/
Iraq veteran sues Moore over scene in 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 02 June 2006
A US military veteran who lost both his arms in the war in Iraq is suing the film-maker Michael Moore for $85m (£46m), claiming that the director incorrectly portrayed him as being against the war in the controversial film Fahrenheit 9/11.
Peter Damon, a National Guardsman from Massachusetts, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for "loss of reputation, emotional distress, embarrassment, and personal humiliation". The former sergeant says that Moore did not seek his permission to include television footage of him in the 2004 movie.
Mr Damon, 33, lost both his arms when a tyre on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were working on it. Another serviceman was killed in the same incident. The National Guardsman was subsequently interviewed for an NBC's Nightline programme about a new painkiller that the military was testing on wounded veterans.
Moore's film condemned the Bush administration for going to war and sought to draw links between President George Bush's family and senior Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden. Mr Damon is shown lying on a gurney with his wounds bandaged. He is heard saying that he feels likes he is being "crushed in a vice. But [the painkillers] do a lot to help it. And they take a lot of the edge off of it." The clip follows a segment which shows a congressman, Jim McDermott, speaking about the Bush administration and saying: "You know, they say they're not leaving any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind."
Mr Damon was yesterday not available for comment but in papers filed at the Suffolk County Court, Massachusetts, and obtained by the Associated Press, the former serviceman says that the positioning of the clip makes it sound like he agrees with Mr McDermott's comments and appears to "voice a complaint about the war effort".
Mr Damon's lawsuit says he "agrees with and supports the President and the United States' war effort, and he was not left behind". He says he had surgery and physical therapy, learned to use prosthetics and live independently, and had also been built a specially designed house. Mr Damon said he had been supported by "the President, the United States and his family, friends, acquaintances and community".
Mr Damon's lawyer, Dennis Lynch, said: "It's upsetting to him because he's lived his life supportive of his government, he's been a patriot, he's been a soldier, and he's now being portrayed in a movie that is the antithesis of all of that."
It is not clear why Mr Damon has waited until now to sue. Neither Moore nor Miramax Films has yet commented on the lawsuit.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article623426.ece
BBC launches 24-hour news in US
George Alagiah will present a new bulletin aimed at US audiences
The BBC's global news channel, BBC World, has launched in the US, aiming to capture audiences hungry for international news.
The channel, which already broadcasts to 270 million homes worldwide, can now be seen by cable viewers in New York.
The BBC says it hopes to strike deals with cable and satellite providers elsewhere in the US soon.
A new breakfast programme aimed at American audiences will be launched in July, presented by George Alagiah.
"What we're not setting out to do is carve a niche that reflects America back to the Americans," said Alagiah.
"What we're trying to do is reflect the world back to Americans."
The show, which will be based in London, will also be carried on the cable channel BBC America.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5040886.stm
First lady proposes worldwide HIV testing day
Fri Jun 2, 2006 10:04am ET
Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints
[-] Text [+]
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States plans to propose a global annual HIV Testing Day modeled on a U.S. campaign encouraging at-risk individuals to determine if they have the AIDS virus, first lady Laura Bush said on Friday.
Despite gains in preventing and treating HIV infection, "life-saving treatment never reaches people who don't know they're infected," Bush told a U.N. conference on HIV/AIDS. "So another challenge is making sure more people know their HIV status.
The three-day U.N. conference, due to end later on Friday, was convened to plot global strategy for battling the pandemic over the coming decade.
"Here in the United States, June 27 is recognized as National HIV Testing Day," Bush told the meeting. "The United States will soon propose the designation of an International HIV Testing Day. I urge all member states to join us in support of this initiative."
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-06-02T140348Z_01_N0265968_RTRUKOC_0_US-AIDS-UN-USA.xml
Comments