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Obama ad on Palin avoids criticism, her name

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Since Sen. Barack Obama distanced himself from his campaign’s first tough reaction to presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, his team seems to be figuring out the best way to direct its fire.

In the meantime, its ad approach is simple when it comes to the Alaska governor: keep aiming at Sen. John McCain.

Obama’s campaign has begun airing its first ad that includes Palin, but it never criticizes her or even mentions her name.

The 30-second spot, which started airing Saturday on national cable in advance of next week’s GOP convention, keeps up the line of attack ran through the Democratic convention: that a McCain presidency would mean the continuation of the Bush policy approach.

The Obama campaign would not say how extensive the ad buy was.

Well, he’s made his choice, the announcer says in No Change. But, for the rest of us, there’s still no change. McCain doesn’t get it, calling this broken economy ’strong.’ Wants to keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. And votes with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Watch the ad

So, while this may be his running mate … he continues over footage of McCain and a smiling Sarah Palin, which shifts to footage of McCain and Bush. America knows this is John McCain’s agenda. And we can’t afford four more years of the same.

An Obama spokesman had reacted to the announcement that McCain had picked Palin as his running mate Friday with a statement that called her the former mayor of a town of 9,000, with zero foreign policy experience.

Obama, who later complimented Palin in a statement, backed away from the criticism. I think, you know, campaigns start getting these hair triggers, he said. And the statement that Joe [Biden] and I put out reflects our sentiments. Watch more on Sarah Palin

But her experience and connection to McCain is under scrutiny.

McCain first met Palin only six months ago and had just one conversation with the Alaska governor before offering her the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket, the Arizona senator’s campaign said Friday.

The move appears to be a marked departure for McCain, a man with a tendency to surround himself with a close circle of advisers and politicians with whom he has long felt comfortable. Watch analysts weigh in on McCain’s pick

But according to the McCain campaign, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee first met Palin in Washington at a February National Governors Association meeting. He was immediately impressed with the 44-year-old rising GOP star and decided to consider her for the vice presidential slot.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis had several conversations with Palin throughout the vetting process, but McCain himself didn’t speak with the Alaska governor until Sunday, one day after Barack Obama named Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to his ticket. It was then McCain reached Palin by phone, while she was at the Alaska State Fair, to discuss the possibility of joining the ticket.

Palin traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona, on Wednesday evening, when she met with top McCain advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter. On Thursday, Palin traveled to McCain’s Sedona, Arizona, home, where the senator had another conversation with her and formally asked her to be his running mate.

Meanwhile, as news broke Friday that Palin had been selected to join McCain on the Republican ticket, reactions from others believed to have been on his short list trickled in, each speaking more glowingly of the Alaska governor than the last.

A wonderful, terrific, outstanding pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said at the Minnesota State Fair on Friday morning.

Pawlenty was believed to be a longtime front-runner for the vice presidential slot, but Friday morning, he told a local radio station that he wasn’t going to Dayton, Ohio, where McCain was to unveil his pick.

Fellow front-runner and former McCain rival Mitt Romney called Palin’s biography inspiring.

She’s a Washington outsider with a commitment to the conservative principles that will make our nation stronger, the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement. I look forward to campaigning for Sen. McCain, Gov. Palin and Republicans all across the country.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee revealed on his Web site Thursday that the McCain campaign had never asked him for the documents necessary for the vetting process. He praised Palin as a pleasant surprise because of her pro-life record and said she was a reminder to women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat’s ticket, they have a place with Republicans.

Florida governor and prominent surrogate Charlie Crist, who appeared to fall off the Arizona senator’s radar in recent weeks, complimented Palin for her bipartisan work.

found here.

Gulf Coast residents flee deadly Gustav

BELLE CHASE, Louisiana (CNN) — As Hurricane Gustav intensified on its projected path to the Gulf Coast — ravaged in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — residents packed and fled inland.

In Plaquemines Parish, where Katrina roared ashore as a Category 3 storm days after its initial landfall in Florida, Parish President Billy Nungesser called for a mandatory evacuation beginning Saturday at noon (1 p.m. ET).

As soon as it’s safe to come back in, we will reopen the parish, he told CNN on Saturday. We hope they take that warning.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jinal said more than a dozen parishes have declared states of emergency, adding that several coastal parishes began voluntary evacuations Friday and would begin mandatory evacuations on Saturday around noon (1 p.m. ET).

Gustav neared Cuba’s western tip Saturday, packing winds close to 120 mph. The storm could reach the U.S. Gulf coast late Monday or Tuesday, as a Category 3 or strengthen to a Category 4, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricanes are ranked 1-5 in intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A Category 3 hurricane has sustained winds from 111 to 130 mph and is capable of causing extensive damage. A Category 4 has winds of 131 to 155 mph and can cause extreme damage.

The storm called up uneasy memories Friday of the deadly 2005 hurricanes — particularly Katrina , as residents found themselves preparing for Gustav on the exact day Katrina hit three years ago, August 29.

I’ve been throughout the parish the last couple of days, it’s very difficult, Nungesser said.

I had one lady call me up, and said, ‘Mr. Nungesser, I’ve been working in my garden for three weeks, I just got it finished … Please don’t let this happen again.’

Nungesser said the woman lives in a modular home in South Plaquemines. The parish, a peninsula with about 22,500 people, juts out into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River runs down the center.

You have no control but you feel for someone like that, Nungesser said. It’s really taken its toll on the people.

We had some members of staff that we had to let go home just because they lost everything (in Katrina) and don’t know if they can go through this again.

As the storm began to track westward, Jindal said Friday there is a little bit less certainty than there was yesterday of a direct hit to New Orleans or other populated areas in the state. But he urged Louisianans to be prepared for the very real possibility of another strike.

In addition to Plaquemines Parish, St. Charles, St. James, Lafourche, Lower Cameron, Terrabone and St. Mary’s parish residents will begin to leave at noon.

In New Orleans, Mayor C. Ray Nagin urged residents who need assistance evacuating to register with the city’s assisted evacuation plan.

The city estimated that those needing assistance would number about 30,000.

Unlike during Katrina, there will be no shelter of last resort, the city said. In 2005, the city’s Superdome housed some 30,000 New Orleanians who couldn’t, or didn’t, heed the mandatory evacuation order.

The arena — which grew dark, hot and increasingly fetid after the electricity failed and the plumbing was overwhelmed in the storm — became a symbol of the disaster and the much-maligned government response to it.

New Orleans has designated 17 locations for people without transportation to board buses to take them to Union Passenger Terminal, where they will be transported to shelters outside New Orleans. However, instead of waiting at one of the stops, scores of residents went directly to the terminal, leading to some initial confusion.

We’re just being flexible, said Jerry Sneed, of City Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, explaining that the sheriff’s office had ushered the people into lines outside the terminal.

It’s frustrating to see that they don’t listen, but it’s good seeing that they are coming.

The city’s airport will close Sunday at 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET), a spokesman there said.

When Katrina hit three years ago, more than 1,800 people died in five states — 1,577 of them in Louisiana. New Orleans is still recovering.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour announced Friday that Hurricane Katrina victims living in government-issued trailers or mobile homes along his state’s coast would begin evacuating this weekend.

Evacuations will begin Saturday, with notices going out to people living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers or mobile homes, as well as people living in more permanent structures known as Mississippi cottages, he said.

The evacuation will begin in Harrison and Hancock counties on Sunday morning, Barbour said. Evacuation in Jackson County will begin Monday, he said. Those three counties cover Mississippi’s Gulf coast.

About 4,300 families live in FEMA trailers or mobile homes, while some 2,800 live in Mississippi cottages, the governor’s office said.

He said he would urge people living in privately owned mobile homes to evacuate as well.

As we pray for the best, we’re going to prepare for the worst, the governor said. The blessing is, if there is one, it’s a three-day weekend, the storm is a long way off, people have a lot of time.

found here.

Hurricane Gustav intensifies on its path to Cuba

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Gustav’s top winds got up to 115 mph (185 kph) Saturday morning, raising the storm to Category 3 status, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Gustav is expected to pass over the western tip of Cuba later Saturday as it moves into the northwestern Caribbean.

Forecasters warn Gustav could grow to be a Category 4 hurricane as it barrels toward the U.S. Gulf Coast for a landfall late Monday or Tuesday.

Gustav is the second major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.

Hurricanes are ranked 1-5 in intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A Category 3 hurricane has sustained winds from 111 to 130 mph and is capable of causing extensive damage. A Category 4 has winds of 131 to 155 mph and can cause extreme damage.

As of 5 a.m. ET, Gustav was about 255 miles (410 kilometers) east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba.

Fear and uncertainty about Gustav’s position and strength by Monday sent emergency officials and politicians in the United States scrambling to prepare for a possible landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast.

In New Orleans, which has yet to fully recover from Hurricane Katrina, Mayor C. Ray Nagin urged people living in FEMA units to make evacuation plans in case they’re ordered to leave. Watch how New Orleans prepares for Gustav

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Hurricane Katrina victims living in government-issued trailers or mobile homes along his state’s coast will begin evacuating this weekend.

Both Louisiana and Mississippi are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people when it slammed ashore near the state line on August 29, 2005.

The hurricane center’s five-day forecast places a possible landfall anywhere from Galveston, Texas, eastward to Mobile, Alabama. New Orleans is at the center of the projected path. See Gustav’s projected path

New Orleans officials warned residents that they’ll be on their own if they ignore orders from police with bullhorns directing them to evacuate, The Associated Press reported.

Jerry Sneed, the city’s emergency preparedness director, said the Superdome would be locked and there would be no shelter of last resort if residents decided to accept all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones, the AP reported.

Gustav caused little damage on Grand Cayman Friday night, according to an official at the Island’s airport.

Earlier in the day, the storm blasted Jamaica, killing four people as it downed trees and damaged homes, the National Emergency Operations Center there said.

It is total devastation everywhere, the councilor for the Manchioneal division, Alston Hunter, told the Jamaican Gleaner newspaper. Several residents are now crammed into disaster shelters here in east Portland, and the weather continues to make the situation worse.

Even as it moved away from Jamaica, Gustav was dumping rain, possibly 6 to 12 inches of it, on the island, according to the National Hurricane Center. The Cayman Islands and western Cuba were likely to get that much rain as well, with 25 inches possible in some regions.

These rains will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the center said. The forecasters said coastal storm surge flooding of 2 to 5 feet above normal tide levels could happen in the Cayman Islands and 8 to 13 feet above normal levels in western Cuba, near the center of Gustav as it passes.

found here.

Cuban musician guilty of public disorder

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — A Cuban punk rocker known for his raunchy lyrics criticizing Fidel Castro was convicted of public disorder Friday, but freed after a court dismissed a more serious social dangerousness charge that could have sent him to prison for four years.

Following a two-hour trial, the court ordered Gorki Aguila to pay 600 pesos (US$28) and released the 39-year-old singer.

I am very proud of all the people who have supported me, and I feel even more hate for this tyranny, Aguilar told reporters upon his release.

The fine is big money in a country where nearly everyone, Aguila included, works for the state and takes home an average of 408 pesos (US$19.50) per month.

But Aguila would have faced far more severe punishment had he been convicted of social dangerousness, which the government defines as violating communist morality. That charge is often used to detain would-be offenders before they have a chance to commit a crime.

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation took the unusual step of attending the trial — which was open to Aguila’s father and band mates as well as about 10 of his supporters, but closed to reporters.

The prosecution asked for a fine, said Sanchez, whose group is not recognized but largely tolerated by Cuba’s communist government. Fortunately, there will be no more time in prison.

Aguila was arrested Monday as his band, Porno para Ricardo, rehearsed at the modest Havana apartment he shares with his father. The case sparked international outcry but caused little stir on the island, where the band has only a small but devoted following.

Aguila was previously arrested in 2005 on drug charges that he says were fabricated because authorities objected to his music.

Founded 10 years ago, the band — whose name means Porno for Ricardo — is known for ridiculing the communist system, especially Castro, 82 and ailing, and his younger brother Raul, who became president in February. Its songs at one time were broadcast on state radio and TV, but the group was later banned and has resorted to small, occasional concerts in underground venues.

With long and wild curly black hair and healthy stubble, Aguila grinned and waved to supporters as officers loaded him in a police cruiser and drove him home. He will be allowed to pay his fine over time.

Aguila said Cuban authorities want to teach me a lesson every chance they get, but were shocked by the international uproar. There were a lot of repercussions, and they were very afraid.

Sanchez said Friday before the trial that the dangerousness charge usually results in jail time for people who have not committed any crime.

Because of ’social dangerousness,’ thousands and thousands of Cubans are in prison, he said.

Band Guitarist Ciro Diaz said authorities told Aguila’s state-assigned attorney he was arrested for being an anti-social.

His lawyer said he talked to the prosecutors, and that a judge told them this was a political trial, Diaz said outside the courthouse. That this was about an undesirable in the neighborhood who made songs with lyrics against the system, against Fidel and everything else.

Diaz said he and a friend were roughed up and arrested by state agents the previous night after they held up a handwritten sign reading Gorki at an open-air concert by legendary Cuban singer Pablo Milanes. He said they were treated for minor injuries and then interrogated for hours before being released without charge.

Gathered outside the courthouse before the trial were human rights observers from the Canadian and Dutch embassies, as well as an official from the U.S. Interests Section.

found here.

Cuban musician guilty of public disorder

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — A Cuban punk rocker known for his raunchy lyrics criticizing Fidel Castro was convicted of public disorder Friday, but freed after a court dismissed a more serious social dangerousness charge that could have sent him to prison for four years.

Following a two-hour trial, the court ordered Gorki Aguila to pay 600 pesos (US$28) and released the 39-year-old singer.

I am very proud of all the people who have supported me, and I feel even more hate for this tyranny, Aguilar told reporters upon his release.

The fine is big money in a country where nearly everyone, Aguila included, works for the state and takes home an average of 408 pesos (US$19.50) per month.

But Aguila would have faced far more severe punishment had he been convicted of social dangerousness, which the government defines as violating communist morality. That charge is often used to detain would-be offenders before they have a chance to commit a crime.

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation took the unusual step of attending the trial — which was open to Aguila’s father and band mates as well as about 10 of his supporters, but closed to reporters.

The prosecution asked for a fine, said Sanchez, whose group is not recognized but largely tolerated by Cuba’s communist government. Fortunately, there will be no more time in prison.

Aguila was arrested Monday as his band, Porno para Ricardo, rehearsed at the modest Havana apartment he shares with his father. The case sparked international outcry but caused little stir on the island, where the band has only a small but devoted following.

Aguila was previously arrested in 2005 on drug charges that he says were fabricated because authorities objected to his music.

Founded 10 years ago, the band — whose name means Porno for Ricardo — is known for ridiculing the communist system, especially Castro, 82 and ailing, and his younger brother Raul, who became president in February. Its songs at one time were broadcast on state radio and TV, but the group was later banned and has resorted to small, occasional concerts in underground venues.

With long and wild curly black hair and healthy stubble, Aguila grinned and waved to supporters as officers loaded him in a police cruiser and drove him home. He will be allowed to pay his fine over time.

Aguila said Cuban authorities want to teach me a lesson every chance they get, but were shocked by the international uproar. There were a lot of repercussions, and they were very afraid.

Sanchez said Friday before the trial that the dangerousness charge usually results in jail time for people who have not committed any crime.

Because of ’social dangerousness,’ thousands and thousands of Cubans are in prison, he said.

Band Guitarist Ciro Diaz said authorities told Aguila’s state-assigned attorney he was arrested for being an anti-social.

His lawyer said he talked to the prosecutors, and that a judge told them this was a political trial, Diaz said outside the courthouse. That this was about an undesirable in the neighborhood who made songs with lyrics against the system, against Fidel and everything else.

Diaz said he and a friend were roughed up and arrested by state agents the previous night after they held up a handwritten sign reading Gorki at an open-air concert by legendary Cuban singer Pablo Milanes. He said they were treated for minor injuries and then interrogated for hours before being released without charge.

Gathered outside the courthouse before the trial were human rights observers from the Canadian and Dutch embassies, as well as an official from the U.S. Interests Section.

found here.