KATHMANDU, Nepal -- When this nation's capital is cut off from electricity, survival becomes a surreal mix of medieval streets lit by candles, people stimulated as if in a Pavlov experiment, and concern that climate change and poverty may doom Kathmandu.

If it's Monday, and you are living in Kathmandu's trendy, tourist-packed Thamel neighborhood, take your hot shower and go online before 9 a.m., because this prosperous section of town will not get electricity again until 1 p.m.

Also plan for a blacked-out dinner on Monday evenings, when Thamel's electric supply stops again from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The next day, stagger your electric needs differently, because on Tuesdays, Thamel's supply stops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Kathmandu's electric "load shedding" schedule changes daily, while rotating throughout the city, making it impossible to do the same things at the same time each day, even in the same neighborhood.

COLUMBUS, OHIO 11:00AM -- Free Press reporters returned on Tuesday to the site of long lines and hours-long voting delays in the 2004 election and found low voter turnout, short waits and no major voting problems as Ohio's 2008 primary voting began on March 4th.

There were no reports of voter challenges of likely Barack Obama voters by apparent Hillary Clinton supporters. Ohio's primary is open, meaning people can cross party lines to pick a presidential nominee in any party.

At a dozen African-American majority precincts on the east side of Columbus, no more than 12 percent of the voters already cast ballots by Election Day, according to surveys by reporters. Typically, the lines were short, with the longest taking 15 minutes to vote. Compared to 2004 and 2006, there appeared to be twice as many voting machines and voters also were able to vote on a paper ballot if requested.

The apparently slow start of inner-city voting also was reported in Cleveland, where election protection staffers for People for the American Way reported a similar early turnout. The weather was rough across Ohio,

I seemed to have peed on my suit jacket, just now, in the restroom here at the Cleveland University's Wolstein Center, location of the last Democratic debate in the 2008 presidential primary cycle. I am on Location, I have traveled through Icy Hell to bring you this top-notch Reporting; I have seen the Beast up close, and it let me keep my beer.

Oh God....where am I? Why am I here? And why do I always begin these missives in the restroom, with detailed accounts of the heroic struggles of my urinary tract? These are legitimate questions, and by God, you deserve some answers. I am sorely addled, but let me try to sort this out, for my own sake if for no other reason.

Please call the Free Press if you experience or observe problems at the polling booth or irregularities in voting activities on primary election day in Ohio!
614-224-1082
614-224-8771
Attorneys and "video the vote" volunteers will be on hand to answer questions, take affidavits, take action, or videotape the situation.
Watch this site for up-to-the-minute primary election day reports!

As many as two million Floridians were blacked out yesterday by a series of grid malfunctions that forced shut two old atomic reactors south of Miami and renewed nightmares of a radioactive catastrophe. The chain of events should serve as yet another serious warning to those who would build still more atomic reactors in Florida and elsewhere.

The wide-ranging blackout apparently started with an accidental trip at a substation. That sabotage has been ruled out may not be all that reassuring. Countless homes and businesses were affected from the Florida Keys to as far away as Tampa, Gainesville and Daytona Beach. Frightened Floridians were trapped in elevators or abandoned offices by making their way down dark, sweltering stairwells. In Miami-Dade alone, at least forty traffic accidents piled up as signals went dark.

This blackout’s reach was limited by steps taken since a 2003 reactor-related grid failure in Ohio led to a massive blackout that left 50 million people without power.