Bush's Climate Change Policy
"Addressing global climate change will require a sustained effort, over many generations. My approach recognizes that sustained economic growth is the solution, not the problem – because a nation that grows its economy is a nation that can afford investments in efficiency, new technologies, and a cleaner environment."
President George W. Bush
Climate Change Policy based on 'Economics Growth.' New technologies, efficient investments. Does that include 'jobs?' It is unclear if that includes jobs because I haven't seen the results of any efficient environmental investments since Bush started his environmental 'finger crossing' four years ago.
If we measure this policy by JOB Growth equating to Economic Growth, it isn't working.
2,931,000 - Number of jobs lost in the private sector since Bush took office.
135,000 - Average number of jobs created monthly under every President since Truman.
(-79,189) - Average number of jobs created monthly under Bush.
2,447,000 - Number of people who have become unemployed since Bush took office.
37 percent - Increase in the unemployment rate since Bush took office.
4.1 percent - Unemployment rate when Bush took office in January 2001.
5.6 percent - Unemployment rate in March 2004.
8,170,000 - Total number of unemployed Americans.
675,000 - Number of Americans experiencing long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) when Bush took office in January 2001.
1,871,000 - Number of Americans suffering long-term unemployment in March 2004.
177 percent - Increase in long-term unemployment under Bush.
11.8 percent - Percentage of consumers who believe jobs are plentiful.
760,000 - Number of workers who have lost their unemployment insurance since December 2002.
I hadn't looked through "The Australian" in awhile. I've been reading a lot from the Sydney Morning Herald. These people are majorly traumatized. Not only that they are witnessing some major degradation of the Ice Continent, including growth of grass this summer in Antarctica. I won't call that a good sign. I think I'll spend some time with the Aussies and the Earth.
The Australian
Ships dumping garbage on the reef
Michelle Wiese Bockmann
January 18, 2005
INTERNATIONAL ships are illegally polluting the Great Barrier Reef by dumping garbage and oily bilge water into the sensitive area, prompting a crackdown by federal authorities.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11971005%255E30417,00.html
Bushfire threat to 500,000 houses
Brendan O'Keefe and Kelly Mills
January 15, 2005
SCIENTISTS believe 500,000 Australian homes are at high risk of being destroyed by fire because of their proximity to the bush.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11944482%255E30417,00.html
Elephants in danger
Daniel Hoare
January 12, 2005
DEFORESTATION and an increase in ivory hunting will follow the Sumatran tsunami in the coming months as a displaced Aceh population searches for new forms of income.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11917104%255E30417,00.html
'US planning strike on Iran'
Roy Eccleston, Washington correspondent
January 18, 2005
THE Bush administration is conducting secret reconnaissance missions in Iran aimed at identifying three dozen targets it suspects are linked to the Islamic state's alleged nuclear, chemical weapons and missile programs, according to the New Yorker magazine.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11972583%255E601,00.html
This is no time for a change of heart
The tsunami could provide a boost for Thai tourism. Vijay Verghese reports from Phuket and Khao Lak
January 15, 2005
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11954512%255E33975,00.html
Babylon's ruins wrecked
AFP
January 17, 2005
LONDON: As the US prepared to hand back the ancient ruins of Babylon to Iraqi authorities at the weekend, a leading British archaeologist claimed US-led troops had "irrevocably contaminated" a site that dates to the dawn of history.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11960627%255E30417,00.html
WMC to investigate bird deaths at uranium mine
Michelle Wiese Bockmann
January 11, 2005
A SOUTH Australian government taskforce will examine a huge spike in the number of birds killed at the Olympic Dam uranium mine, after more than 100 were found dead over four days in late December.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11905865%255E30417,00.html
Earth still shaking, rattling ... ringing
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
January 08, 2005
THE earth is still ringing like a bell, nearly two weeks after the powerful earthquake that launched the killer Boxing Day tsunamis.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11881741%255E30417,00.html
Region's 120 aftershocks
Amanda Hodge
January 11, 2005
THE traumatised Indonesian province of Aceh has suffered 120 significant tremors since the Boxing Day earthquake that triggered the devastating tsunami.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11905313%255E30417,00.html
Fire-threatened catchment a risk to city's water supply
Bernard Lane, Environment writer
January 07, 2005
MELBOURNE'S water supply is under threat from very high levels of bushfire fuel in its forested water catchments.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11873266%255E30417,00.html
Minister warms to climate task
Bernard Lane, Environment writer
January 03, 2005
FEDERAL Environment Minister Ian Campbell has made a resolution to win over sceptics who still dismiss the case for climate change as "crap".
He said he would confront the sceptics with "unassailable stories" of global warming, from the sudden collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf to a 12 per cent decline in Perth's rainfall over 25 years.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11838152%255E30417,00.html
Thaw sees grass take hold in Antarctica
December 27, 2004
GRASS has become established in Antarctica, showing the continent is warming to temperatures unseen for 10,000 years.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11789045%255E30417,00.html
Birds lost from wetlands
Amanda Hodge
January 10, 2005
LESS than two decades ago Peter McLellan needed a horse to muster cattle across the Macquarie Marshes, so deep was the water that spread across the vast floodplain to feed one of the country's most important bird breeding sites.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11897418%255E30417,00.html
Day the Earth was shaken to its core
Science writer Leigh Dayton
December 29, 2004
WHEN it hit, the earthquake that unleashed Sunday's killer waves caused the Earth to wobble on its axis and changed the regional map forever.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11800106%255E30417,00.html
Aftershocks shake stricken islands
December 29, 2004
AN aftershock measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale rattled India's Andaman and Nicobar islands early yesterday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11800592%255E30417,00.html
Murray lake hits record salinity levels
Asa Wahlquist
January 03, 2005
THE long dry has pushed salinity in the major lake at the end of the Murray River to a record high.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11838149%255E30417,00.html
Wildlife saved by a mysterious sixth sense
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
December 31, 2004
WHAT did the animals know?
There are no signs they perished in large numbers when the tsunami slammed through Sri Lanka's Yala National Park on Sunday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11816535%255E30417,00.html
70 of our bird species in grave peril
Greg Roberts
January 08, 2005
THE prospects for more than 70 Australian bird species - almost one in 10 of the nation's total - surviving beyond this century are grim.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11881845%255E30417,00.html
Loved to death
Matthew Denholm
January 06, 2005
PEOPLE love penguins. Maybe it's their little tuxedos or their Charlie Chaplin waddle. Whatever the attraction, it is undeniably strong. So strong that, in one of the world's top penguin-watching sites, people are in danger of loving penguins to death.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11860373%255E30417,00.html
Priceless marine life devastated
Reuters
December 30, 2004
PRECIOUS coral reefs and mangrove areas will have been crushed by the huge waves that have devastated southern Asia - an environmental and economic setback that could take years to reverse.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11808841%255E30417,00.html
70 of our bird species in grave peril
Greg Roberts
January 08, 2005
THE prospects for more than 70 Australian bird species - almost one in 10 of the nation's total - surviving beyond this century are grim.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11881845%255E30417,00.html
Rabbit plague on coast
Amanda Banks
December 30, 2004
A PLAGUE of rabbits is devastating Perth's fragile coastal dunes, destroying plants and rendering years of volunteers' regeneration work a waste.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11808885%255E30417,00.html
Thang Nguyen: Why are the Indonesians so worried?
January 18, 2005
SINCE the earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia on Boxing Day, many countries around the world, led by Australia and the US, have together sent thousands of troops, aid workers and supplies to the province of Aceh, the area most affected, as part of an international relief effort to help victims of one of the world's worst catastrophes.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11969301%255E7583,00.html
Neil Clark: Laughter the best medicine for curbing fascism
January 18, 2005
IN David Lean's classic 1944 film This Happy Breed, husband and wife Frank and Ethel Gibbons pause for a moment to listen to a Blackshirt haranguing the crowd in Hyde Park, London. They glance at each other, smile and then utter the immortal words: "Let's go for a nice cup of tea."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11969297%255E7583,00.html
Haaretz
Abbas orders Gaza security forces to deploy against mortars
By Arnon Regular, Aluf Benn, and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has issued orders for Palestinian security services in Gaza to deploy in the area from which rockets and mortars are being launched at Israeli targets, with a special intervention force of 500-700 officers from the security forces to be formed for the purpose.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/528399.html
Majority of Palestinians now support two-state solution
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
Some 54 percent of the Palestinians support a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 lines, with border corrections and no massive return of refugees, confirming that there has been a change in Palestinian public opinion since the death of Yasser Arafat.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/528457.html
Pines-Paz halts Citizenship Law changes
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz has suspended all legal procedures connected with the amendment to the Citizenship Law in order to reexamine restrictions on Palestinians who wish to get legal status in Israel as the result of family reunification.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/528704.html
The Times of India
Now, a 'Khan-for-Iran' deal
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005 12:00:00 AM ]
WASHINGTON: Pakistan and United States have struck a "Khan-for-Iran" deal. According to well-known investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, Washington has agreed to wink at Pakistan's nuclear transgressions and spare its nuclear proliferator A Q Khan in return for Islamabad's cooperation in neutralizing Iran's nuclear program.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/993242.cms
Godhra carnage was pre-planned, insists SIT officer
PTI
[ TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005 12:01:00 AM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/993246.cms
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
("ON TO 'THE CASPIAN SEA'" - my words, not Mr. Moore's. This is it. This is where the rest of the world draws the line on Bush. Iraq might have it's resolve before elections. Maybe before Inauguration. I think for a President to declare war it's suppose to take an Act of Congress. I guess Georgie has that 'nailed down' huh?)
Bush Won't Rule Out Action Against Iran Over Nukes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Monday he would not rule out military action against Iran if that country was not more forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons program.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=995
(Here we go again. It won't be so easy this time. Iran is not disarmed. Did anyone 'clue' Rumsfeld in about that? There are already existing treaties with the EU and Iran. This is nothing but pure military aggression against a country that has oil, again. With the discovery of espionage in Iraq, I am surprised Iran hasn't moved against the USA in Iraq already. Seriously. That is a major breach in 'trust' and 'good faith' of which Bush is not capable of either.)
Now US ponders attack on Iran; Hardliners in Pentagon ready to neutralise 'nuclear threat' posed by Tehran
By Julian Borger in Washington and Ian Traynor / Guardian
President Bush's second inauguration on Thursday will provide the signal for an intense and urgent debate in Washington over whether or when to extend the "global war on terror" to Iran, according to officials and foreign policy analysts in Washington.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1001
continued later ...
