White House: Five Nascar drivers decline President Obama's invitation

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Many people would jump at the chance to be honored by the President of the United States at the White House, regardless of their political views. But that might not be the case for a handful of NASCAR drivers.

On Wednesday, President Obama will honor NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and the other 11 Chase drivers from last year in a white house ceremony. But about half of the 2010 playoff contenders will not be there.

According to NASCAR, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart will not be attending the White House visit.  They say it's due to "schedule conflicts."

But many are speculating that their motives are political in nature.

Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth will all attend.

California: Fire threatens homes, closes interstate

(Reuters) - A brush fire burning in a mountain pass outside Los Angeles on Friday forced authorities to evacuate a foothill community and shut down a major interstate linking Southern California and Las Vegas.

The blaze broke out in a median strip of Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass and quickly spread to scrub brush on both sides of the highway, threatening homes in the community of Oak Hills, authorities said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said residents of Oak Hill were under a mandatory evacuation order as crews battled the flames.

Water-dropping aircraft were also being called in to fight the fire, which broke out at about 12:30 p.m. local time and had charred more than 500 acres by mid-afternoon.

Bachman said it was not immediately clear how many homes or people were evacuated in Oak Hill. She said homes in the area sit on large tracts of land.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Television images showed the blaze burning near Interstate 15, a major north-south route between Southern California and Las Vegas, and closing in on nearby homes as thick black smoke poured into the air.

A spokesman for the California Department of Transportation said both sides of Interstate 15 were shut down as firefighters battled the blaze.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

For more information visit: 

http://bof.fire.ca.gov/incidents/

Honor fellow World War II survivors while they're still alive

Article by: AUDREY McAVOY , Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - A Marine who fought in the Battle of Okinawa urged Americans on Friday to honor those who served in World War II now, while veterans from that conflict are still alive.

E. Bruce Heilman, speaking at a ceremony marking the 66th year since the end of the war, noted fewer than 2 million of the 16 million men and women who served in the war are alive. They are dying at a rate of 30,000 per month, he said.

Some 20 World War II veterans boarded the now decommissioned battleship, the Missouri — the same battleship where Japanese signed surrender documents formally ending the war — to participate in this year's ceremony in Pearl Harbor.

Heilman, who is a spokesman for the Greatest Generations Foundation, predicted not many would be able to come back in a decade's time.

"Most of those remaining, including those in the front row, will have passed on, so that few, if any, will be present for the ceremony of the 76th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. Those of us still here will be of age 95 to 101," Heilman said. "Therefore the importance of remembering now the sacrifices and acts of heroism representative of their service cannot be overstated."

Heilman, who is now the chancellor of the University of Richmond, joined the Marines at age 17. He was sent to Okinawa, where one of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought from April to June 1945, and served during the postwar occupation of Japan.

Some 300 people — including active duty sailors, Marines, airmen and soldiers — joined the veterans at the ceremony aboard the Missouri's teak deck.

The USS Missouri was anchored in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Army Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu came aboard to sign the documents. Several Allied leaders, including Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Adm. Chester Nimitz, were also present at the time.

The vessel, the last battleship ever built by the United States, is now a museum called the Battleship Missouri Memorial. It has been moored in Pearl Harbor for the past decade, overlooking the spot where the USS Arizona sank during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Venus Williams pulls out of U.S. Open due to autoimmune disease

By Chris Chase
Minutes before she was due to play her second-round match at the U.S. Open, Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament due to an autoimmune disease with which she was recently diagnosed.

"I'm really disappointed to have to withdraw from this year's U.S. Open," Williams said in a statement. "I have recently been diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease which is an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain."

The website for the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation says as many as 4 million Americans live with the disease. Over 90 percent are women. The disease attacks the body's moisture glands with white blood cells and causes various symptoms ranging from dry mouth to debilitating fatigure.

This recent diagnosis is the latest in a long line of health problems for the 31-year-old tennis star. She's only played four tournaments in 2011 due to an abdominal injury suffered at the Australian Open and a viral illness that prevented her from playing any warm-up tournament prior to the U.S. Open.

Venus was set to play Wimbledon semifinalist Sabine Lisicki in the second round. Given her lack of court time and the power of the big-hitting German, the elder Williams would have been a decided underdog in the match. She looked good in her opening match two days ago and it's not like the seven-time Grand Slam champion isn't familiar with making surprise runs deep into majors.

Last year, Venus was a few points away from playing in the final at the Open but couldn't hold off eventual champion Kim Clijsters. In both 2005 and 2007 she emerged from prolonged slumps to win a title at Wimbledon.

No timetable was given for Venus' return to tennis.

 by joeclarke

September 24, 2001 The Hartford Courant headline read: CHORUS OF PRAYER IN NEW YORK - THOUSANDS CONVERGE ON YANKEE STADIUM FOR AN EMOTIONAL INTERFAITH SERVICE; TERROR IN AMERICA: SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Just two weeks after the deadly attack on the Twin Towers, as I remember, there were people of all faiths and political stripe praying, crying, remembering, and trying to disremember the most devastating attack by an enemy on the shores of the continental United States.

The prayerful patriotism soon wore off shortly after President Bush invaded Iraq. W Bush became the liberal media's chief enemy - over and above the insatiable Islamic terrorists - and even more so after it was discovered that then President Bush could not only not stop Hurricane Katrina, he also was powerless in forcing the inhabitants of New Orleans to evacuate, antediluvian.

Now we have Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other east coasters facing another monstrous Hurricane Irene, and they better get it right or they will be so viciously attacked by the mainstream media for ill-preparedness as Bush was. No, they won't. Bloomberg could mess it up royal, yet he will not suffer the wrath of cable or network news folk, especially not Bloomberg News Inc.

Michael Bloomberg has unfortunately announced that, "There will be no prayer" at the 9/11 Memorial scheduled in New York on September 11. You see, Mike Bloomberg is quite wealthy, not that there is anything wrong with that, but typically it is harder with such wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. But, why should that matter when you have the Keys to The City of New York and more money than you know what to do with - but not more than God.

Bloomberg, like many raised in the traditionally conservative Jewish tradition, became uber wealthy, and then, very lib. He is a fine business and city manager, although a bit on the authoritarian side. He is pro abortion, pro gay marriage, and anti gun. Bloomberg is sort of an Anti- Perry in many ways. He has been very charitable with the billions he has made over the years (one of the few people to make huge profits during the 2008 collapse) and worked his way up from parking lot attendance, which financed his college education. He has some conservative attributes, and he believes in himself, so much, that he engineered the legislation that permitted him to run for an unprecedented (unlawful) third term as mayor of New York.

So, has Bloomberg gained the world and lost his soul? I am not to judge, for Bloomberg has reluctantly confessed in very general terms as being sort of associated with Reform Judaism which believes the Old Testament and Torah are pretty much irrelevant. I would think that Bloomberg does have a religious edge over George Soros who has been quoted as saying he is god, as well as the world's richest atheist, Warren Buffet. "If you do not believe Moses, then you will not believe Me." Paraphrased.

It doesn't matter what Michael Bloomberg has been, but will he come to a place where he realizes that he, as well we, as a group, should not be ashamed to identify ourselves as people in need of the mighty arm of the Lord in times of trouble?

As Hurricane Irene bears down on New York City, maybe Mayor Mike and other Eastern Seaboard Intellectuals will reconsider their proud disassociation from God, and allow for some sort of recognition of the Most High this coming September 11.

Gaddafi: "Let there be a long fight and let Libya be engulfed in flames."

Muammar Gaddafi has in a new audio message accused international forces of seeking to occupy Libya for its oil and other resources.

In a message broadcast on a Syria-based pro-Gaddafi channel on Thursday, the deposed Libyan leader said the country's tribes will not be controlled by international forces and warned them to be ready for guerrilla war.

He also called on NATO and the UN to stop intervention in Libya, saying about 2,000 tribes were against it. The international community has forced Libya into a civil war, he said.

"Imperialism is hated by Libyan people, who can accept it? All people will fight against imperialism," he said.

Gaddafi called on NATO to end air strikes.

In another message broadcast earlier during the day, he urged his supporters to keep up their resistance to the uprising in Libya that has forced him into hiding, the Syria-based Al-Rai television channel said.

He asked his supporters to continue what he called "struggle against foreign aggression" and said those against him were divided, he was quoted as saying in a message.

He vowed again not to surrender, saying he would carry on fighting, the pro-Gaddafi television channel said.

"Even if you cannot hear my voice, continue the resistance," Gaddafi said.

"We will not surrender. We are not women and we are going to keep on fighting," the message said.

Gaddafi called on his supporters to set Libya alight, vowed that his backers would not give up, he said in the message.

"Let there be a long fight and let Libya be engulfed in flames." He said the "balance of power is now leveled as all tribes are now armed".

The pro-Gaddafi station carried written extracts from a message from the fallen leader, saying it would be broadcast later.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, said:  "It is hard to see what it exactly is he [Gaddafi] thinks he can achieve unless Colonel Gaddafi doesn't understand that it really is the end game being played out here now and that the rest of the country almost no longer cares about him anymore."

Gaddafi's location

Gaddafi was speaking on the 42nd anniversary of the military coup that toppled King Idris and brought him to power in 1969 when he was a 27-year-old army captain.

There have been conflicting reports about Gaddafi's location since his Tripoli compound was overrun on August 23.

A senior military commander of the Libyan interim leadership said Gaddafi was in a desert town outside Tripoli, along with his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, planning a fight-back.

All three fugitives are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage

Abdel Majid Mlegta, co-ordinator of the Tripoli military operations room, told the Reuters news agency "someone we trust" had said Gaddafi had fled to Bani Walid, 150km southeast of the capital.

He said Ali al-Ahwal, Gaddafi's coordinator for tribes, was also in Bani Walid, a stronghold of the powerful Warfalla tribe, Libya's biggest tribe among a population of six million, but many say their loyalty is divided.

"We are capable of ending the crisis but military action is out of the question right now," Mlegta said.

"We cannot attack this tribe because many of our brigades in Benghazi and Zintan are from Bani Walid. The sons of Bani Walid hold the key."

An Algerian newspaper said Gaddafi was in the border town of Ghadamis and had tried to call Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to appeal for refuge.

Bouteflika would not take the call, even though Algeria gave sanctuary to Gaddafi's wife and three of his children when they crossed the border on Monday.

Bankrupt solar company with fed backing has cozy ties to Obama admin

By C.J. Ciaramella - The Daily Caller
A solar energy company that intends to file for bankruptcy received $535 million in backing from the federal government and has a cozy history with Democrats and the Obama administration, campaign finance records show.

Shareholders and executives of Solyndra, a green energy company producing solar panels, fundraised for and donated to the Obama administration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama backer who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president’s election campaign, is one of Solyndra’s primary investors. Kaiser himself donated $53,500 to Obama’s 2008 election campaign, split between the DSCC and Obama For America. Kaiser also made several visits to the White House and appeared at some White House events next to Obama officials.

Campaign finance records show Kaiser and Solyndra executives and board members donated $87,050 total to Obama’s election campaign.

And now, just two years after securing a half-billion-dollar federal loan, Solyndra has said that it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In a statement, Solyndra wrote “global economic and solar industry market conditions” forced it to close its Fremont, Calif., factory and lay off 1,100 employees.

“Regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,” Solyndra president and CEO Brian Harrison said. “Raising incremental capital in this environment was not possible. This was an unexpected outcome and is most unfortunate.”

Obama cited the company as a model of success for his highly touted green-energy industry initiative. In fact, the Obama administration fast-tracked the solar startup’s $535 million loan application to the Department of Energy — a move later criticized by the Government Accountability Office.

Solyndra and the administration originally projected the loan would help Solyndra create 4,000 jobs.

During a visit to the Solyndra facility in 2010, Obama said the factory is “a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world.”

“Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations,” Obama proclaimed then. “This new factory is the result of those loans.”

According to a Washington Post report, Solyndra communications director David Miller called the White House to ask that a factory tour be added to Obama’s itinerary during a trip to California.

Campaign finance records show Solyndra shareholders and executives did their fair share of greasing palms.

Ben Bierman, executive vice president of operations and engineering for Solyndra, donated $5,500 to Obama’s election campaign. Karen Alter, senior vice president of marketing, donated $23,000 in 2008.

According to information collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, Solyndra board members have donated at least $27,400 to Democratic campaigns and affiliates.

Since 1998, Solyndra board member James F. Gibbons has contributed $13,500 on his own. Board member Winston Fu has contributed $4,550 since 2008. Since 1991, board member Thomas Baruch has contributed $7,150. And board member Steven R. Mitchell donated $2,300 to Obama in 2007.

Solyndra also spent $550,000 lobbying Congress in 2010. Between 2008 and 2011, the company spent more than $1 million lobbying for bills including the “American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009″ and the “Solar Manufacturing Jobs Creation Act.”

Despite Solyndra’s recent bankruptcy announcement, the Department of Energy and the White House insist the investment was not in vain.

“The project that we supported succeeded,” a spokesman for the Department of Energy told The New York Times. “The facility was producing the product it said it would produce, and consumers were buying the product,” he said. “The company struggled because the market has changed dramatically.”

“While we are disappointed by this particular outcome, we continue to believe the clean-energy jobs race is one that America can, must and will win,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said today in an emailed statement.