February was "Heart Month" at Niagra Falls. There were celebrations by lighting the falls with Red/Dark Pink Lights.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Sweetheart Falls
February was "Heart Month" at Niagra Falls. There were celebrations by lighting the falls with Red/Dark Pink Lights.
Morning Papers - continued ...
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"We are fully prepared."
Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina
By Margaret Ebrahim and John Solomon / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."
The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6052
Katrina: The Warnings Bush Received
Watch as President Bush is briefed on the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, in this video obtained exclusively by The Associated Press. Hear what aides told him just before the storm hit the Gulf Coast.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content//video/2006/03/01/VI2006030101864.html
Refugees Check Out of FEMA Hotels, Protest
By Paul J. Weber / Associated Press
BEAUMONT, Texas - Donna Francis pressed a pile of FEMA paperwork and phone numbers to her chest as the minutes slipped away in the lobby of the Best Value Inn.
"Hopefully I can go pull a rabbit out of my hat," said Francis, a victim of Hurricane Rita, as she waited to make a plea to her Federal Emergency Management Agency caseworker an hour before six months of government-paid hotel rooms ended.
The single mother was among hurricane refugees in nearly 3,000 hotel rooms nationwide Wednesday who were confronted with a choice they had long dreaded: either remain in their hotel and pay the bill with their own money or other federal assistance, or check out and find a new place to live.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6057
Jeb Bush Asked to Explain Cruise Ship Deal
WASHINGTON (AP) - A top House Democrat released e-mails Tuesday detailing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's role in pushing a $236 million federal contract for Carnival Cruise Lines to house Hurricane Katrina victims.
In a letter, Rep. Henry Waxman of California called on Bush to explain his role in the award of the "lucrative contract," which was given to the Florida-based company without a full competitive bid process. The e-mails Waxman released were provided to Congress by Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6053
Lives still decimated (video)
http://www.nola.com/abc26/video/?/abc26/video/content.ssf/301paul
The Rallies are in Full Swing. Get involved !
Code Pink
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/signUp.jsp?key=924&t=WSNTW.dwt
http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=693
http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?list=type&type=100
Four influential Latino peace activists will lead a 241 mile quest for peace!
Citizens for Pablo
Main Contacts:
Pablo Paredes (619) 857-4947
pablopare@gmail.com
Victor Paredes (917) 864-9179
vicparedes@msn.com
On March 12, 2006 Fernando Suarez del Solar, Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia and Aidan Delgado will lead a coalition of the willing across a 241 mile quest for peace that aims at raising Latino voice of opposition to the War in Iraq. The March will run from Tijuana, Mexico all the way to The Mission district of San Francisco making strategic, symbolic and ceremonial stops along the way. The 241 mile march is inspired by Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March protesting British imperialism and will serve as a loud cry for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5919
On March 12, 2006 Fernando Suarez del Solar, Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia and Aidan Delgado will lead a coalition of the willing across a 241 mile quest for peace that aims at raising Latino voice of opposition to the War in Iraq. The March will run from Tijuana, Mexico all the way to The Mission district of San Francisco making strategic, symbolic and ceremonial stops along the way. The 241 mile march is inspired by Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March protesting British imperialism and will serve as a loud cry for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.
http://www.swiftsmartveterans.com/
A Common Cause
By Cindy Sheehan and Sam Bostaph
Three years ago, President George Bush ordered United States military forces to invade and occupy Iraq. Since that invasion, which was unconstitutional, illegal by all international standards, and immoral by any just war theologies, the world has watched as the Bush administration has directed the killing of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, civilians and insurgents at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. It has watched as over 2300 U.S. troops have been killed to date and almost 18,000 more wounded or maimed for life. It has watched the Bush administration kidnap, imprison and torture hundreds of foreign nationals, as well as American citizens, without either trial or conviction. It has watched as Bush administration lackeys have transported prisoners to secret prisons and then delivered them to torturers in less-developed countries. For three years, it has heard George Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Condi Rice move from one lie to another to justify each of these actions.
Just recently, Americans learned that these war criminals also have been secretly spying domestically in clear violation of federal law. On Monday February 6, 2006, the Attorney General of the United States of America appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to defend the "terrorist surveillance program" that President George W. Bush ordered into existence in 2001. Both in a prepared statement and in his testimony before the committee, Alberto R. Gonzales defended the National Security Agency's warrantless, domestic wiretapping program as "lawful, reasonable and essential."
Gonzales claimed that domestic spying is an essential tool in the overall "War on Terror." He gave as the legal basis for this NSA program his opinion that Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the President of the United States the authority and "inherent power" to do anything he thinks necessary to protect Americans. He also said that many federal government lawyers agree with him on the question of presidential power. And, besides, he added, Congress even authorized the President to respond with military force to the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks with its "Authorization for Use of Military Force" of September 18, 2001—and he characterized this domestic "spying" as a "military action." He denied that the President was in any way constrained by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress had passed in 1978.
Attorney General Gonzales was not testifying under oath and he refused to answer any specific questions about the spying program or to give any examples of instances where the program provided protection for Americans. We are all just supposed to take his word for the content and effectiveness of Bush's domestic spying program. We are all to take the word of a member of this criminal administration that what they are doing is completely legal and for our own good.
In an opinion editorial in the February 13, 2006, Wall Street Journal, University of Chicago Distinguished Service Professor of Law Richard A. Epstein presented the reason why George Bush has clearly exceeded his constitutional powers in ignoring the FISA. It is that nothing in Congress's authorization of the use of military force in 2001 allows President Bush to ignore the FISA it had previously passed. Congress sets policy in matters of war and peace, the president executes it. It's just that simple. Epstein adds that only Congress can declare war; only Congress can fund war; and, only Congress can "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces." We would add one more important fact— Congress has not declared war! Bush declared it when he invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq in clear violation of the Constitution he swore to uphold. We also would like to remind the Attorney General of the United States that the "War on Terror" is a catchphrase containing an amorphous and invented opponent. Just look at the phrase: "War on Terror." What can be worse than terror? We must have a war against it. We are allowing our leaders to wage war on a word. A concept. But real people are being destroyed by their expedient tail-wagging-dog phrase.
This is a time when people from all colors of the political spectrum must unite against this lawless administration. The recent escalation in fighting among Shi'ite and Sunni factions, and their joint call for an end to the U.S. occupation, shows clearly that the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq serves no interest of the American people. All Americans must demand that George Bush stop his war in Iraq and bring our troops home now. All of us must demand that he stop using the war he started to justify his continuing lawless campaign against whomever he decides to call an enemy. The discovery of this latest spying program makes it clear that he has been using his foreign wars to justify a domestic one — he has been attacking us!
It is clear that the Bush administration seeks nothing less than to use the wars they started in order destroy the rule of law in this country and replace it with the rule of an undistinguished former cheerleader. After all, in terms of being governed, there are only two alternatives: either we are to be ruled by law or we are to be ruled by someone else. To be ruled by law means that every one of us has a solid foundation in law for planning his or her personal future and achieving personal goals. That was the original purpose of the U.S. Constitution — to give us that legal foundation. To be ruled by someone else is to be a slave.
And there are people in this country who are willing to accept the role of obedient servant to a state that is out of control and dangerously corrupt. During the week of February 12, a former employee of the Justice Department told attendees at the annual meetings of the Conservative Political Action Conference that the rule of law must be abandoned in order for George Bush to protect us from al Qaeda. The response was not boos and cries of "For shame, for shame;" it was a standing ovation! The boos were reserved for former congressman Bob Barr when he responded that the first loyalty of all Americans is to our Constitution. In reporting on the CPAC goings on, Paul Craig Roberts aptly labeled this audience response as a signal that American Conservatism is transforming into "brownshirtism." We agree.
Even more do we agree with one another that the ideological differences that exist between Cindy and Sam must be set aside in the interest of a united front against this obscene war. If she had to do so, Cindy would describe herself as a progressive humanist who wants the militarism of America and the world to be replaced with kinder, more gentler foreign and domestic policies. She passionately believes that the vast amounts of our tax dollars that are being dumped into war and wasted by the "War" Department every year need to be returned to our communities to build a culture of plenty and peace.
If he had to do so, Sam would describe himself as a political and economic libertarian who wants a government that is limited solely to the protection of our human rights. This would eliminate almost all departments and agencies of the federal, state and local governments as they exist now. Like Cindy, he wants an end to militarism, the return of all U.S. military forces to the continental U.S. and the closure of all foreign bases.
But, Cindy and Sam are "we" in this struggle against the fascist, warlike society that America has become — particularly under the Bush regime — and "we" want a lot of company.
Whatever your political identification, please join us at Easter for a protest at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, from the 10th of April to the 16th. There, "we" will be joined by Katrina evacuees who are still unbelievably and unconscionably ensconced in the Astrodome and who will be invited to stay on our leased land next to the Secret Service check point of the Bush faux-ranch on Prairie Chapel Road until their homes are rebuilt in the Gulf States and they can return. The displaced Katrina victims care nothing about partisan politics or demented pork barrel peddling and cronyism; they just want to go home. "We" will be joined in Crawford by Progressive Democratic Congressional candidates from all over the country, who are running for office against pro-war Democrats and Republicans. "We" will again be joined by old hippies, grandmas and grandpas and young activists; and we will be joined by Iraqi war veterans, as well as fresh faced students who look like they just walked off the pages of a Gap catalog onto the Texas prairie.
"We," the authors of this article, have formed an unlikely friendship and partnership for peace. Our last collaborative piece, "The Human Cost of War," appeared in diverse online journals from Marxist sites to Libertarian ones. Those journals may be in deep philosophical opposition on other questions, but on this one they are as anti-war as we are. "We" the people of America need to reach deep inside ourselves and pull out the essential goodness that connects all of humanity together. Then, we can honor our differences, while uniting in opposition to the exploitation and ruination of our American way of life by the Bush crime family and its cronies. However, o ur biggest enemy is the citizens of this country's general ennui and complacency in the face of BushCo's blatant and bloody affronts to humanity.
"We" the people of America need to form a true coalition of peace if we are to reclaim our humanity and our inalienable birthrights.
Everyone is welcome. Everyone is needed.
Cindy Sheehan is the proud mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was 24 when he was KIA in Sadr City, Iraq on 04/04/04. She is also the author of Not One More Mother's Child available at www.koabooks.com. Cindy is the founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace www.GSFP.org Cindy is above all the very proud mother of Carly, Andy, and Janey Sheehan who hold down the fort in California.
Sam Bostaph, Ph.D., is Pofessor of Economics and Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Dallas. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on topics in intellectual history, economic theory and economic theory. A former Marine, who later served as a U.S. Army intelligence staff officer during the Vietnam War era, he is the proud father of Katie and Megan Bostaph and prays that they may never go to war themselves.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=606
WAR VETS AND STORM SURVIVORS PLAN EPIC MARCH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
C/o VFP * 216 South Meramec Ave. * St. Louis, MO * 63105 *
www.vetgulfmarch.org
WAR VETS AND STORM SURVIVORS PLAN EPIC MARCH
February 13, 2006 – Veterans For Peace, the turbulent new Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Gold Star Families for Peace – all national organizations demanding a US withdrawal from Iraq – will march with hurricane survivors, beginning March 14, 2006, from the historic Stone Street Baptist Church in Mobile for five days, through three states down coastal Highway 90, and arrive in New Orleans on March 19, the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. They are demanding not only an end to the Iraq war, but a large increase in resources to the Gulf Coast, with those resources being placed under “democratic control by the actual survivors, along with an unconditional ‘right of return’.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5881
Veterans For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Gold Star Families for Peace, at the call of the Mobile Veterans For Peace Chapter #130, will conduct a march between Mobile, AL, and New Orleans, LA, from March 14-19, 2006 -- the third anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
http://www.vetgulfmarch.org/
3rd Anniversary of Iraq War
A Call for a Week of Local Action: March 15-22, 2006
March 19th will mark the third anniversary of a war that never should have happened -- a war based on lies that continues to devastate the lives of thousands, both in Iraq and the United States.
United for Peace and Justice joins our partners in the global antiwar movement in calling for a massive outpouring of opposition to the war in Iraq. We are urging opponents of the war to organize a wide array of events in their hometowns for the entire week surrounding this anniversary.
Find a 3rd Anniversary event in your area:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=96
Events
Events listed are not necessarily endorsed or organized by UFPJ.
http://unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?caltype=39&lcountry=&state=&search=Search
Storm the White House
Multi-Day Event, Beginning March 15, come when you can and stay as long as you can - we are taking over the White House until they leave.
Wednesday, March 15th 2006 12:00 AM
Washington, DC USA
TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE BY STORM - Stop Genocide, Torture and Occupation
U.N. SOS - We need your help to end the reign of international criminals.
It is our duty and the duty of the United Nations to rescue the people of the world from the U.S. dictators. Murder for occupation and theft of land is illegal. Murder of journalists is criminal. Remove the traitors who have stolen the U.S. budget and used it to commit international crimes against humanity.
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?calid=15790
March 18 & 19 - International Days of Action Against the War
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/home.html
MARCH 18 - 19 COORDINATED ACTIONS
AGAINST POVERTY, RACISM AND WAR - BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW
Organizing Centers and Local Activities Listing
The Troops Out Now Coalition Headquarters is at:
39 West 14th Street, #206, NY, NY, 10011
212-633-6646
Email:info@troopsoutnow.org
March 18 Mass March/Convergence at Times Square Recruiting Center, NYC
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/m18orgcents.html
Flyers and Literature
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/literature.html
An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq (Page down to read in English. Thank you.)
Four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams were taken this past Saturday, November 26, in Baghdad, Iraq. They are not spies, nor do they work in the service of any government. They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are people of faith, but they are not missionaries. They have deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination.
C.P.T. first came to Iraq in October 2002 to oppose the US invasion, and it has remained in the country throughout the occupation in solidarity with the Iraqi people. The group has been invaluable in alerting the world to many of the horrors facing Iraqis detained in US-run prisons and detention centers. C.P.T. was among the first to document the torture occurring at the Abu Ghraib prison, long before the story broke in the mainstream press. Its members have spent countless hours interviewing Iraqis about abuse and torture suffered at the hands of US forces and have disseminated this information internationally.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt
Evictions May Foreshadow Iraq Civil War
By Bushra Juhi / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The sectarian cleansing that drove 68-year-old Abbas al-Saiedi from his home may be as alarming a sign of a country on the brink of civil war as the killings that have swept Iraq in the past week.
Masked gunmen carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic rifles kicked down the gate at his house, fired into the air and told the Shiite he had 48 hours to get his family out of the predominantly Sunni neighborhood in west Baghdad.
Al-Saiedi's story, a tale of fear and desperation told to The Associated Press on Wednesday, represents a growing phenomenon of religious cleansing in which members of each Muslim sect are driving the others from neighborhoods where they have long lived side by side.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6059
Mr Blair, you sent my son to die in a war based on lies
Occupation has achieved nothing positive. It is time to bring our troops home and let the Iraqi people decide their own future
By Pauline Hickey / Guardian
Dear Prime Minister,
Ref: Sgt Christian Ian Hickey of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, who became 97th fatality of the Iraq conflict
As a parent yourself, you will be aware that the most precious thing we have in our lives is our children. Until four months ago, I had been blessed with two grown-up sons. I still cannot get used to speaking about one of my sons in the past tense. My youngest son Christian, 30, was a member of the armed forces; he was an exceptional character, full of fun, with great sense of humour and was a generous, caring person who brought the best in people. He was an excellent soldier, who had progressed rapidly through the ranks, and became full sergeant at the age of 29. I enclose summary from the Coldstreams' website (Shinycapstar.com) to show I am not biased as his mother.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6062
Lawmaker: Port deal never probed for terror ties
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A review of a United Arab Emirates-owned company's plan to take over a portion of operations at key U.S. ports never looked into whether the company had ties to al Qaeda or other terrorists, a key Republican lawmaker told CNN on Wednesday.
Rep. Peter King of New York, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said officials from the Homeland Security and Treasury departments told him weeks ago that their 30-day review of the deal did not look into the question of links between DP World and al Qaeda.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6056
Seven Arrested At White House Protest Against Iraq War
By Mike Ferner / Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Washington – Holding a banner that read, “GOD FORGIVE AMERICA,” seven peace activists were arrested yesterday in front of the White House, in a civil disobedience protest against the war in Iraq.
Arrested by U.S. Park Police were Brian Terrell, Ed Bloomer, and Elton Davis, all from Catholic Worker communities in the Des Moines, Iowa area, David Goodner, University of Iowa student, Eileen Hansen, a Catholic Worker from the Winona, Minnesota, Jeff Leys, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (VCNV), and Bernie Meyer, a retired social services worker from Olympia, Washington.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6054
The Star News of Wilmington
No wetlands, no punishment
Brunswick County wetlands can be destroyed, official maps can be falsified, documents can be forged, federal officials can be lied to, but not without offending the majesty of federal law and arousing the righteous wrath of U.S. Chief District Court Judge Louise Flanagan.
Appointed to her lifetime post by President George W. Bush, she sentenced a lying, forging, map-falsifying destroyer of 10 acres of Brunswick County wetlands to … three years of probation.
Flanagan also told Michael Todd Ball of Loganville, Ga., that he couldn’t do any more work related to wetlands maps or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
That’ll show him.
That’ll set an example for anybody else who’s tempted to falsify maps, forge documents, lie to federal officials and destroy another piece of Southeastern North Carolina.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/EDITORIAL/60301031/-1/FRONTPAGE
Norwegian Town Offers Moose Adoptions
A small Norwegian town was quickly running out of moose Thursday after offering to name each animal after its sponsor in a research project.
"We have four or five left, but they are going fast," said Helge Sines, head of forestry for Vegaarshei township in southern Norway.
Township wildlife officials wanted to put radio tracking collars on 25 moose, so they could study their movements for two years. But the project was too expensive, at more than 400,000 kroner ($60,000).
So they enlisted the moose themselves to do a little fundraising.
For a 5,000 kroner ($740) donation, the team will name a moose for a sponsoring company, organization or individual.
"It doesn't cover the amount per animal, but without the goodwill of these sponsors, we wouldn't have been able to go ahead," Sines told The Associated Press.
So far, the sponsors have been companies, leaving the moose with names like Telenor, the Norwegian telecommunications group, and Interoptikk Brillehjoernet, an opticians' chain.
"We never intended to go out and promote this but the sponsorship project was mentioned in one line, one subordinate clause, on the town's home page (Wednesday), and things took off," Sines said.
"We sold five moose this morning alone," he said.
As part of the deal, moose sponsors can track their namesake on the Internet, although personal meetings are not on the agenda.
"We leave the moose in peace," said Sines. "We do not take people to visit the moose. We don't want to do anything to stress them."
The project intends to track moose movements, summer and winter pastures, grazing preferences, estimated death rates, and research methods of reducing the risk of collisions between moose and trains or motor vehicles.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/API/603020721
2-Year-Old Horse Sold for Record $16M
In this photo provided by Equi-Photo, the gavel goes down on a world record sale for a 2-year-old thoroughbred after the winning bid of $16 million by agent Demi O'Byrne for Coolmore Stud on a colt by Forestry at the Fasig Tipton 2-year-old in training sale held at Calder Racecourse in Miami, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. (AP Photo/Equi-Photo, Bill Denver)
A 2-year-old colt who has yet to run a race drew a world record sale price of $16 million at auction.
Demi O'Byrne, an agent, was the bidder and purchased the colt for a team headed by John Magnier and Michael Tabor of the Ireland-based Coolmore Stud at the Fasig-Tipton sale at Calder Race Course.
Tuesday's sale broke the record of $13.1 million paid in the mid-1980s for Seattle Dancer, a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. The previous record for a 2-year-old was $5.2 million for a son of Tale of the Cat, who was sold at this sale last year.
"You don't expect to sell a $16 million horse," said Boyd Browning, chief operating officer for Fasig-Tipton of Lexington, Kentucky. "I don't know if it will happen again in my lifetime."
O'Byrne and John Ferguson, who represents Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, pushed the bidding into record territory.
"The two major buyers in the world got hooked up in an emotional bidding situation, and sometimes logic doesn't prevail," Browning said. "An auction bid is not always a rational decision, but sometimes an emotional decision. Both people involved in the auction want to own the best horses in the world."
The colt's sale price last year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select auction now looks like the bargain of a lifetime. Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo of Florida bought the yearling for $425,000 for the purpose of reselling him, a practice known as pinhooking.
The colt, the second foal out of Magical Masquerade by Forestry, was bred in Florida by Satish Sanan's Padua Stables. An impressive workout on Feb. 19 left potential buyers excited, prompting speculation that the colt might set a sale record. The colt ran an eighth of a mile in under 10 seconds - 12 seconds is considered average.
"There were very high expectations," Browning said. "He's a beautiful horse, and he withstood the scrutiny of all the major buyers all week long."
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/APS/603020705
TURNING AROUND 'FAILING' SCHOOLS
Schools refusing to be left behind
LELAND Getting Lincoln Elementary School over the hump of the No Child Left Behind Act is as personal for Helen Davis as it is professional.
In her first year as Lincoln’s principal, Davis is also a proud alumnus, both reasons to shake off three years of not making “adequate yearly progress” under the federal act.
The school has tripled parent volunteers, increased teacher training, and offered after-school tutoring. It now begins each day with intense reading groups among other steps.
But the biggest impact on whether schools like Lincoln, Blair Elementary in New Hanover and Cape Fear Middle in Pender escape No Child’s shadow may be a pending decision that could turn scores of “failing” schools into successes.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/NEWS/60301041/1004/frontpage
Cap planned for peak’s climbersMount McKinley limit planned
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - North America’s tallest mountain is getting crowded – too crowded for safety.Starting next year, the National Park Service will cap the number of climbers allowed on Alaska’s Mount McKinley at 1,500 a year – not too many more than the record 1,340 alpinists who attempted to scale the 20,320-foot mountain last year.McKinley, known locally as Denali or "the High One," is required climbing for many of the world’s most serious mountaineers, who attempt to reach the summit of the highest peak on each of the seven continents. About half the climbers who attempt McKinley come from other countries, according to the park service.It’s too late to restrict this year’s climbing crowd."Whatever shows up this year, we will have to deal with. We are not prepared to turn back anybody this year," park ranger Daryl Miller said Friday.The goal is safety and protecting the mountain, said Kris Fister, spokeswoman for Denali National Park and Preserve. She said all but a handful of climbers are on the mountain during a brief two-month period in May and June, and about 95 percent choose the West Buttress route to reach the top."You’ve got a lot of people homing in on one area of the mountain for a short period of time," Fister said.Since 1903, McKinley has been attempted by 30,049 climbers, and a little more than half have reached the summit. Ninety-five climbers have died trying, including a record 11 in 1992. Two brothers from Ohio died last year."It is amazing how the mountain just has gotten busier," Miller said.The mountain also is popular because it’s easy to get to compared to some others in the world – just a two-hour car ride from Anchorage and a 45-minute flight from Talkeetna to base camp at 7,200 feet.Climbers typically spend 14 to 18 days on the mountain, Miller said.The large number of climbers spending so much time on Denali creates another big problem: human waste."There is just a certain amount you can deal with," Miller said.Normally, you would never see the pit toilet, dug 14 feet deep into the Kahiltna Glacier at the base camp, because it is "devoured by the glacier," Miller said.That wasn’t the case last year. For the first time, the pit toilet was visible in an August flyover of the glacier, Miller said."It melted away all the way down to 14 feet where we dug, and it was sitting on top of the ice," he said. "Now, we are concerned we may have to haul human waste off at 7,200 feet."
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/NEWS/202270306&SearchID=73237252397613
The Times of India
Bush gets a red carpet welcome
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435418.cms
N-deal between US, Pak not possible at this juncture'
Don't take the word of anyone on this. Read the agreement. Thank you.
Full text of India-US joint statement
NEW DELHI: Following is the text of the India-US joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush on Thursday:
President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday expressed satisfaction with the great progress the United States and India have made in advancing our strategic partnership to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.
Both our countries are linked by a deep commitment to freedom and democracy; a celebration of national diversity, human creativity and innovation; a quest to expand prosperity and economic opportunity worldwide; and a desire to increase mutual security against the common threats posed by intolerance, terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The successful transformation of the US-India relationship will have a decisive and positive influence on the future international system as it evolves in this new century...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435484.cms
India, US clinch 'historic' civilian nuclear deal
NEW DELHI: After hard bargaining on the nuclear deal with the US, India on Thursday agreed that 14 of its civilian nuclear reactors will be open to international safeguards while fast breeder programme will not be subject to outside inspection.
High level official sources said after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush that India has made it clear that classification of nuclear reactors to be built in the future will be its sole decision and there would be no debate on it.
Details of the separation plan as also the assurances given by the US under the deal will be outlined by the Prime Minister in Parliament soon, the sources said.
They said the separation of India's 22 nuclear reactors will be undertaken in a phased manner and completed by 2014.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435793.cms
Nuke deal: Angry Left warns UPA govt
NEW DELHI: An angry Left on Thursday warned the Congress-led UPA government that it would not hesitate to act against the Manmohan Singh dispensation if they succumbed to US pressure while clinching the nuclear deal.
"We were telling the government again and again that the nuclear deal proposal was an American method of pressure tactics on countries like India. Nothing, but a method for continous blackmailing," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters at an anti-Bush rally here.
Bardhan said that Left parties "know what to do" if the government succumbs to US pressure on the nuclear deal. "It is obvious that they have to face consequences."
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat reserved his comments on the issue saying that his party would demand "full details" about the deal.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435976.cms
India-US N-deal a rocket: Former NSA
NEW DELHI: The nuclear cooperation deal that India and the US have agreed to is a qualitative leap forward from that envisaged by the previous government but its contours are still unclear, former national security adviser (NSA) Brajesh Mishra said on Thursday.
At the same time, the visit of US President George Bush has been a "success", Mishra, who was the NSA during the six years (1998-2004) that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister, said. Mishra was also Vajpayee's principal secretary.
"What we had agreed on between the US and India was called the NSSP (Next Steps in Strategic Partnership) which was more of a glide path rather than the kind of rocket which has now come out," he said.
Asked about the difference between the two, Mishra said: "Well, the glide path for the NSSP was a gradual affair over a number of phases and at the end of it, it was not very clear if we will get the nuclear technology from the United States, whereas in this deal, everything has been put together and it is something like a rocket.
"I don't think they (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government) understood in July of last year when they signed the joint statement that it involved such detailed and complicated negotiations," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436012.cms
Pak to seek US cooperation in nuclear energy
ISLAMABAD: Terming a US-India deal on civilian nuclear energy cooperation as an "important relaxation" of proliferation guidelines, Pakistan on Thursday said it would push for a similar pact.
"The agreement represents an important relaxation by the 44-member NSG of the group's existing guidelines on transfer of civilian nuclear technology to a state which has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT)", foreign ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said.
She said Pakistan would also seek similar cooperation with the US, adding that the issue would be raised during talks with Bush, who is expected here late on Friday on a two-day official visit.
"We will talk about this subject with the US president," Aslam said, adding, "we hope the international community will cooperate with fossil fuel deficient Pakistan, which has a fully safeguarded nuclear power generation programme".
"We will accept all appropriate safeguards for nuclear power generation," the spokesperson said. Both Pakistan and India, which conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, have not yet signed the NPT.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435774.cms
Iran to consult EU troika before IAEA meeting
MOSCOW/VIENNA: Iran will hold talks in Vienna on Friday with the European troika - Britain, Germany and France - before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivers a report on Tehran's nuclear programme next week.
Tehran intended to confirm at the meeting that it "wants to find a reasonable way of settling the situation", said Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani, who was in Moscow on Thursday to discuss a compromise proposal to jointly enrich uranium in Russia for use in Iran's nuclear power programme.
The plan is seen as a last chance for Iran to avoid referral to the UN and possible economic sanctions for nuclear activities that the West fears are being used to secretly develop weapons.
In Vienna, IAEA general director Mohamed ElBaradei said he welcomed the Iranian move to talk with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436052.cms
Goodbye Ganguly as India cricket selectors vote for youth
India's selectors turned the page on Saurav Ganguly's international career on Thursday when they banked on youth for the first test against England, with an eye on next year's World Cup and beyond.
The panel dropped the former captain and focussed on up-and-coming batsmen and bowlers for the home series which starts on March 1 in Nagpur.
India's formidable middle-order led by Sachin Tendulkar had remained untouched for a decade and the removal of Ganguly, seen as the weakest link, could trigger wide-reaching change.
The left-handed batsman, with 5,221 runs in 88 tests and a record 21 victories as India captain, had been under pressure due to poor batting form and fitness.
http://o3.indiatimes.com/cricketnews
South Asia needs to be vigilant on avian flu: WHO
NEW DELHI: Warning South Asian countries of the "devastating" nature of avian influenza, top officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday advised care to prevent the spread of the disease.
"If the virus undergoes mutation, it could be the start of an avian influenza pandemic," warned Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO's regional director for Southeast Asia.
"This would have a devastating impact on the health of millions of people around the globe, with catastrophic implications on global economies.
"And the worst affected would be the developing countries where the health infrastructure was either not ready or strong enough to tackle the situation," said a statement quoting Samlee.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436023.cms
Guest Control: Security throws life out of gear
If Manmohan Singh and his staff were to ensconce themselves in a plush hotel in Washington DC and bring the city to a standstill whenever they stepped out, what would be the reaction of ordinary Americans? You bet they wouldn't be amused.
But chances are that neither George Bush whose security arrangements are far more elaborate than those provided for Singh or any other head of government nor his hosts will spare much thought for the inconvenience caused to thousands of ordinary citizens.
Bush's schedule has been drawn up in such a way so as to cause maximum nuisance. He is scheduled to visit Rajghat at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, bang in the middle of rush hour.
He is thoughtfully showing up at Purana Qila in the evening so that people returning from work are likely to get stuck in endless traffic snarls. Then there are the students who are sitting for their board exams.
(If you feel strongly about this, please write in with your comments or suggestions )
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1434389.cms
GM to use Halol plant for roll-out of Spark
NEW DELHI: P Chidambaram's efforts to chauffeur higher investments in the small car industry has paid off. The world's largest car maker General Motors India has decided to step on gas with plans to roll out its entry-level hatchback Chevy Spark — which will make the car maker eligible get the 8% excise benefit announced in Budget 2006-07.
The firm has decided to use its existing India facility in Halol (Gujarat) for start-up production of Spark. This would help the car maker advance Spark's India debut to end-2006, sources close to the development told ToI.
The firm had earlier planned to set up a greenfield facility in another state to produce Spark and a host of other models. Sources said though negotiations are still underway to finalise the site for its second car plant in India, GM has decided to use the Halol facility for starting local production of Spark
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436147.cms
continued ...
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"We are fully prepared."
Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina
By Margaret Ebrahim and John Solomon / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."
The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6052
Katrina: The Warnings Bush Received
Watch as President Bush is briefed on the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, in this video obtained exclusively by The Associated Press. Hear what aides told him just before the storm hit the Gulf Coast.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content//video/2006/03/01/VI2006030101864.html
Refugees Check Out of FEMA Hotels, Protest
By Paul J. Weber / Associated Press
BEAUMONT, Texas - Donna Francis pressed a pile of FEMA paperwork and phone numbers to her chest as the minutes slipped away in the lobby of the Best Value Inn.
"Hopefully I can go pull a rabbit out of my hat," said Francis, a victim of Hurricane Rita, as she waited to make a plea to her Federal Emergency Management Agency caseworker an hour before six months of government-paid hotel rooms ended.
The single mother was among hurricane refugees in nearly 3,000 hotel rooms nationwide Wednesday who were confronted with a choice they had long dreaded: either remain in their hotel and pay the bill with their own money or other federal assistance, or check out and find a new place to live.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6057
Jeb Bush Asked to Explain Cruise Ship Deal
WASHINGTON (AP) - A top House Democrat released e-mails Tuesday detailing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's role in pushing a $236 million federal contract for Carnival Cruise Lines to house Hurricane Katrina victims.
In a letter, Rep. Henry Waxman of California called on Bush to explain his role in the award of the "lucrative contract," which was given to the Florida-based company without a full competitive bid process. The e-mails Waxman released were provided to Congress by Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6053
Lives still decimated (video)
http://www.nola.com/abc26/video/?/abc26/video/content.ssf/301paul
The Rallies are in Full Swing. Get involved !
Code Pink
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/signUp.jsp?key=924&t=WSNTW.dwt
http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=693
http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?list=type&type=100
Four influential Latino peace activists will lead a 241 mile quest for peace!
Citizens for Pablo
Main Contacts:
Pablo Paredes (619) 857-4947
pablopare@gmail.com
Victor Paredes (917) 864-9179
vicparedes@msn.com
On March 12, 2006 Fernando Suarez del Solar, Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia and Aidan Delgado will lead a coalition of the willing across a 241 mile quest for peace that aims at raising Latino voice of opposition to the War in Iraq. The March will run from Tijuana, Mexico all the way to The Mission district of San Francisco making strategic, symbolic and ceremonial stops along the way. The 241 mile march is inspired by Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March protesting British imperialism and will serve as a loud cry for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5919
On March 12, 2006 Fernando Suarez del Solar, Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia and Aidan Delgado will lead a coalition of the willing across a 241 mile quest for peace that aims at raising Latino voice of opposition to the War in Iraq. The March will run from Tijuana, Mexico all the way to The Mission district of San Francisco making strategic, symbolic and ceremonial stops along the way. The 241 mile march is inspired by Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March protesting British imperialism and will serve as a loud cry for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.
http://www.swiftsmartveterans.com/
A Common Cause
By Cindy Sheehan and Sam Bostaph
Three years ago, President George Bush ordered United States military forces to invade and occupy Iraq. Since that invasion, which was unconstitutional, illegal by all international standards, and immoral by any just war theologies, the world has watched as the Bush administration has directed the killing of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, civilians and insurgents at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. It has watched as over 2300 U.S. troops have been killed to date and almost 18,000 more wounded or maimed for life. It has watched the Bush administration kidnap, imprison and torture hundreds of foreign nationals, as well as American citizens, without either trial or conviction. It has watched as Bush administration lackeys have transported prisoners to secret prisons and then delivered them to torturers in less-developed countries. For three years, it has heard George Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Condi Rice move from one lie to another to justify each of these actions.
Just recently, Americans learned that these war criminals also have been secretly spying domestically in clear violation of federal law. On Monday February 6, 2006, the Attorney General of the United States of America appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to defend the "terrorist surveillance program" that President George W. Bush ordered into existence in 2001. Both in a prepared statement and in his testimony before the committee, Alberto R. Gonzales defended the National Security Agency's warrantless, domestic wiretapping program as "lawful, reasonable and essential."
Gonzales claimed that domestic spying is an essential tool in the overall "War on Terror." He gave as the legal basis for this NSA program his opinion that Article II of the Constitution of the United States gives the President of the United States the authority and "inherent power" to do anything he thinks necessary to protect Americans. He also said that many federal government lawyers agree with him on the question of presidential power. And, besides, he added, Congress even authorized the President to respond with military force to the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks with its "Authorization for Use of Military Force" of September 18, 2001—and he characterized this domestic "spying" as a "military action." He denied that the President was in any way constrained by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress had passed in 1978.
Attorney General Gonzales was not testifying under oath and he refused to answer any specific questions about the spying program or to give any examples of instances where the program provided protection for Americans. We are all just supposed to take his word for the content and effectiveness of Bush's domestic spying program. We are all to take the word of a member of this criminal administration that what they are doing is completely legal and for our own good.
In an opinion editorial in the February 13, 2006, Wall Street Journal, University of Chicago Distinguished Service Professor of Law Richard A. Epstein presented the reason why George Bush has clearly exceeded his constitutional powers in ignoring the FISA. It is that nothing in Congress's authorization of the use of military force in 2001 allows President Bush to ignore the FISA it had previously passed. Congress sets policy in matters of war and peace, the president executes it. It's just that simple. Epstein adds that only Congress can declare war; only Congress can fund war; and, only Congress can "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces." We would add one more important fact— Congress has not declared war! Bush declared it when he invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq in clear violation of the Constitution he swore to uphold. We also would like to remind the Attorney General of the United States that the "War on Terror" is a catchphrase containing an amorphous and invented opponent. Just look at the phrase: "War on Terror." What can be worse than terror? We must have a war against it. We are allowing our leaders to wage war on a word. A concept. But real people are being destroyed by their expedient tail-wagging-dog phrase.
This is a time when people from all colors of the political spectrum must unite against this lawless administration. The recent escalation in fighting among Shi'ite and Sunni factions, and their joint call for an end to the U.S. occupation, shows clearly that the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq serves no interest of the American people. All Americans must demand that George Bush stop his war in Iraq and bring our troops home now. All of us must demand that he stop using the war he started to justify his continuing lawless campaign against whomever he decides to call an enemy. The discovery of this latest spying program makes it clear that he has been using his foreign wars to justify a domestic one — he has been attacking us!
It is clear that the Bush administration seeks nothing less than to use the wars they started in order destroy the rule of law in this country and replace it with the rule of an undistinguished former cheerleader. After all, in terms of being governed, there are only two alternatives: either we are to be ruled by law or we are to be ruled by someone else. To be ruled by law means that every one of us has a solid foundation in law for planning his or her personal future and achieving personal goals. That was the original purpose of the U.S. Constitution — to give us that legal foundation. To be ruled by someone else is to be a slave.
And there are people in this country who are willing to accept the role of obedient servant to a state that is out of control and dangerously corrupt. During the week of February 12, a former employee of the Justice Department told attendees at the annual meetings of the Conservative Political Action Conference that the rule of law must be abandoned in order for George Bush to protect us from al Qaeda. The response was not boos and cries of "For shame, for shame;" it was a standing ovation! The boos were reserved for former congressman Bob Barr when he responded that the first loyalty of all Americans is to our Constitution. In reporting on the CPAC goings on, Paul Craig Roberts aptly labeled this audience response as a signal that American Conservatism is transforming into "brownshirtism." We agree.
Even more do we agree with one another that the ideological differences that exist between Cindy and Sam must be set aside in the interest of a united front against this obscene war. If she had to do so, Cindy would describe herself as a progressive humanist who wants the militarism of America and the world to be replaced with kinder, more gentler foreign and domestic policies. She passionately believes that the vast amounts of our tax dollars that are being dumped into war and wasted by the "War" Department every year need to be returned to our communities to build a culture of plenty and peace.
If he had to do so, Sam would describe himself as a political and economic libertarian who wants a government that is limited solely to the protection of our human rights. This would eliminate almost all departments and agencies of the federal, state and local governments as they exist now. Like Cindy, he wants an end to militarism, the return of all U.S. military forces to the continental U.S. and the closure of all foreign bases.
But, Cindy and Sam are "we" in this struggle against the fascist, warlike society that America has become — particularly under the Bush regime — and "we" want a lot of company.
Whatever your political identification, please join us at Easter for a protest at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, from the 10th of April to the 16th. There, "we" will be joined by Katrina evacuees who are still unbelievably and unconscionably ensconced in the Astrodome and who will be invited to stay on our leased land next to the Secret Service check point of the Bush faux-ranch on Prairie Chapel Road until their homes are rebuilt in the Gulf States and they can return. The displaced Katrina victims care nothing about partisan politics or demented pork barrel peddling and cronyism; they just want to go home. "We" will be joined in Crawford by Progressive Democratic Congressional candidates from all over the country, who are running for office against pro-war Democrats and Republicans. "We" will again be joined by old hippies, grandmas and grandpas and young activists; and we will be joined by Iraqi war veterans, as well as fresh faced students who look like they just walked off the pages of a Gap catalog onto the Texas prairie.
"We," the authors of this article, have formed an unlikely friendship and partnership for peace. Our last collaborative piece, "The Human Cost of War," appeared in diverse online journals from Marxist sites to Libertarian ones. Those journals may be in deep philosophical opposition on other questions, but on this one they are as anti-war as we are. "We" the people of America need to reach deep inside ourselves and pull out the essential goodness that connects all of humanity together. Then, we can honor our differences, while uniting in opposition to the exploitation and ruination of our American way of life by the Bush crime family and its cronies. However, o ur biggest enemy is the citizens of this country's general ennui and complacency in the face of BushCo's blatant and bloody affronts to humanity.
"We" the people of America need to form a true coalition of peace if we are to reclaim our humanity and our inalienable birthrights.
Everyone is welcome. Everyone is needed.
Cindy Sheehan is the proud mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was 24 when he was KIA in Sadr City, Iraq on 04/04/04. She is also the author of Not One More Mother's Child available at www.koabooks.com. Cindy is the founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace www.GSFP.org Cindy is above all the very proud mother of Carly, Andy, and Janey Sheehan who hold down the fort in California.
Sam Bostaph, Ph.D., is Pofessor of Economics and Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Dallas. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on topics in intellectual history, economic theory and economic theory. A former Marine, who later served as a U.S. Army intelligence staff officer during the Vietnam War era, he is the proud father of Katie and Megan Bostaph and prays that they may never go to war themselves.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=606
WAR VETS AND STORM SURVIVORS PLAN EPIC MARCH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
C/o VFP * 216 South Meramec Ave. * St. Louis, MO * 63105 *
www.vetgulfmarch.org
WAR VETS AND STORM SURVIVORS PLAN EPIC MARCH
February 13, 2006 – Veterans For Peace, the turbulent new Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Gold Star Families for Peace – all national organizations demanding a US withdrawal from Iraq – will march with hurricane survivors, beginning March 14, 2006, from the historic Stone Street Baptist Church in Mobile for five days, through three states down coastal Highway 90, and arrive in New Orleans on March 19, the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. They are demanding not only an end to the Iraq war, but a large increase in resources to the Gulf Coast, with those resources being placed under “democratic control by the actual survivors, along with an unconditional ‘right of return’.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5881
Veterans For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Gold Star Families for Peace, at the call of the Mobile Veterans For Peace Chapter #130, will conduct a march between Mobile, AL, and New Orleans, LA, from March 14-19, 2006 -- the third anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
http://www.vetgulfmarch.org/
3rd Anniversary of Iraq War
A Call for a Week of Local Action: March 15-22, 2006
March 19th will mark the third anniversary of a war that never should have happened -- a war based on lies that continues to devastate the lives of thousands, both in Iraq and the United States.
United for Peace and Justice joins our partners in the global antiwar movement in calling for a massive outpouring of opposition to the war in Iraq. We are urging opponents of the war to organize a wide array of events in their hometowns for the entire week surrounding this anniversary.
Find a 3rd Anniversary event in your area:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=96
Events
Events listed are not necessarily endorsed or organized by UFPJ.
http://unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?caltype=39&lcountry=&state=&search=Search
Storm the White House
Multi-Day Event, Beginning March 15, come when you can and stay as long as you can - we are taking over the White House until they leave.
Wednesday, March 15th 2006 12:00 AM
Washington, DC USA
TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE BY STORM - Stop Genocide, Torture and Occupation
U.N. SOS - We need your help to end the reign of international criminals.
It is our duty and the duty of the United Nations to rescue the people of the world from the U.S. dictators. Murder for occupation and theft of land is illegal. Murder of journalists is criminal. Remove the traitors who have stolen the U.S. budget and used it to commit international crimes against humanity.
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?calid=15790
March 18 & 19 - International Days of Action Against the War
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/home.html
MARCH 18 - 19 COORDINATED ACTIONS
AGAINST POVERTY, RACISM AND WAR - BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW
Organizing Centers and Local Activities Listing
The Troops Out Now Coalition Headquarters is at:
39 West 14th Street, #206, NY, NY, 10011
212-633-6646
Email:info@troopsoutnow.org
March 18 Mass March/Convergence at Times Square Recruiting Center, NYC
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/m18orgcents.html
Flyers and Literature
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/literature.html
An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq (Page down to read in English. Thank you.)
Four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams were taken this past Saturday, November 26, in Baghdad, Iraq. They are not spies, nor do they work in the service of any government. They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are people of faith, but they are not missionaries. They have deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination.
C.P.T. first came to Iraq in October 2002 to oppose the US invasion, and it has remained in the country throughout the occupation in solidarity with the Iraqi people. The group has been invaluable in alerting the world to many of the horrors facing Iraqis detained in US-run prisons and detention centers. C.P.T. was among the first to document the torture occurring at the Abu Ghraib prison, long before the story broke in the mainstream press. Its members have spent countless hours interviewing Iraqis about abuse and torture suffered at the hands of US forces and have disseminated this information internationally.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt
Evictions May Foreshadow Iraq Civil War
By Bushra Juhi / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The sectarian cleansing that drove 68-year-old Abbas al-Saiedi from his home may be as alarming a sign of a country on the brink of civil war as the killings that have swept Iraq in the past week.
Masked gunmen carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic rifles kicked down the gate at his house, fired into the air and told the Shiite he had 48 hours to get his family out of the predominantly Sunni neighborhood in west Baghdad.
Al-Saiedi's story, a tale of fear and desperation told to The Associated Press on Wednesday, represents a growing phenomenon of religious cleansing in which members of each Muslim sect are driving the others from neighborhoods where they have long lived side by side.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6059
Mr Blair, you sent my son to die in a war based on lies
Occupation has achieved nothing positive. It is time to bring our troops home and let the Iraqi people decide their own future
By Pauline Hickey / Guardian
Dear Prime Minister,
Ref: Sgt Christian Ian Hickey of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, who became 97th fatality of the Iraq conflict
As a parent yourself, you will be aware that the most precious thing we have in our lives is our children. Until four months ago, I had been blessed with two grown-up sons. I still cannot get used to speaking about one of my sons in the past tense. My youngest son Christian, 30, was a member of the armed forces; he was an exceptional character, full of fun, with great sense of humour and was a generous, caring person who brought the best in people. He was an excellent soldier, who had progressed rapidly through the ranks, and became full sergeant at the age of 29. I enclose summary from the Coldstreams' website (Shinycapstar.com) to show I am not biased as his mother.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6062
Lawmaker: Port deal never probed for terror ties
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A review of a United Arab Emirates-owned company's plan to take over a portion of operations at key U.S. ports never looked into whether the company had ties to al Qaeda or other terrorists, a key Republican lawmaker told CNN on Wednesday.
Rep. Peter King of New York, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said officials from the Homeland Security and Treasury departments told him weeks ago that their 30-day review of the deal did not look into the question of links between DP World and al Qaeda.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6056
Seven Arrested At White House Protest Against Iraq War
By Mike Ferner / Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Washington – Holding a banner that read, “GOD FORGIVE AMERICA,” seven peace activists were arrested yesterday in front of the White House, in a civil disobedience protest against the war in Iraq.
Arrested by U.S. Park Police were Brian Terrell, Ed Bloomer, and Elton Davis, all from Catholic Worker communities in the Des Moines, Iowa area, David Goodner, University of Iowa student, Eileen Hansen, a Catholic Worker from the Winona, Minnesota, Jeff Leys, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (VCNV), and Bernie Meyer, a retired social services worker from Olympia, Washington.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6054
The Star News of Wilmington
No wetlands, no punishment
Brunswick County wetlands can be destroyed, official maps can be falsified, documents can be forged, federal officials can be lied to, but not without offending the majesty of federal law and arousing the righteous wrath of U.S. Chief District Court Judge Louise Flanagan.
Appointed to her lifetime post by President George W. Bush, she sentenced a lying, forging, map-falsifying destroyer of 10 acres of Brunswick County wetlands to … three years of probation.
Flanagan also told Michael Todd Ball of Loganville, Ga., that he couldn’t do any more work related to wetlands maps or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
That’ll show him.
That’ll set an example for anybody else who’s tempted to falsify maps, forge documents, lie to federal officials and destroy another piece of Southeastern North Carolina.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/EDITORIAL/60301031/-1/FRONTPAGE
Norwegian Town Offers Moose Adoptions
A small Norwegian town was quickly running out of moose Thursday after offering to name each animal after its sponsor in a research project.
"We have four or five left, but they are going fast," said Helge Sines, head of forestry for Vegaarshei township in southern Norway.
Township wildlife officials wanted to put radio tracking collars on 25 moose, so they could study their movements for two years. But the project was too expensive, at more than 400,000 kroner ($60,000).
So they enlisted the moose themselves to do a little fundraising.
For a 5,000 kroner ($740) donation, the team will name a moose for a sponsoring company, organization or individual.
"It doesn't cover the amount per animal, but without the goodwill of these sponsors, we wouldn't have been able to go ahead," Sines told The Associated Press.
So far, the sponsors have been companies, leaving the moose with names like Telenor, the Norwegian telecommunications group, and Interoptikk Brillehjoernet, an opticians' chain.
"We never intended to go out and promote this but the sponsorship project was mentioned in one line, one subordinate clause, on the town's home page (Wednesday), and things took off," Sines said.
"We sold five moose this morning alone," he said.
As part of the deal, moose sponsors can track their namesake on the Internet, although personal meetings are not on the agenda.
"We leave the moose in peace," said Sines. "We do not take people to visit the moose. We don't want to do anything to stress them."
The project intends to track moose movements, summer and winter pastures, grazing preferences, estimated death rates, and research methods of reducing the risk of collisions between moose and trains or motor vehicles.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/API/603020721
2-Year-Old Horse Sold for Record $16M
In this photo provided by Equi-Photo, the gavel goes down on a world record sale for a 2-year-old thoroughbred after the winning bid of $16 million by agent Demi O'Byrne for Coolmore Stud on a colt by Forestry at the Fasig Tipton 2-year-old in training sale held at Calder Racecourse in Miami, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. (AP Photo/Equi-Photo, Bill Denver)
A 2-year-old colt who has yet to run a race drew a world record sale price of $16 million at auction.
Demi O'Byrne, an agent, was the bidder and purchased the colt for a team headed by John Magnier and Michael Tabor of the Ireland-based Coolmore Stud at the Fasig-Tipton sale at Calder Race Course.
Tuesday's sale broke the record of $13.1 million paid in the mid-1980s for Seattle Dancer, a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. The previous record for a 2-year-old was $5.2 million for a son of Tale of the Cat, who was sold at this sale last year.
"You don't expect to sell a $16 million horse," said Boyd Browning, chief operating officer for Fasig-Tipton of Lexington, Kentucky. "I don't know if it will happen again in my lifetime."
O'Byrne and John Ferguson, who represents Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, pushed the bidding into record territory.
"The two major buyers in the world got hooked up in an emotional bidding situation, and sometimes logic doesn't prevail," Browning said. "An auction bid is not always a rational decision, but sometimes an emotional decision. Both people involved in the auction want to own the best horses in the world."
The colt's sale price last year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select auction now looks like the bargain of a lifetime. Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo of Florida bought the yearling for $425,000 for the purpose of reselling him, a practice known as pinhooking.
The colt, the second foal out of Magical Masquerade by Forestry, was bred in Florida by Satish Sanan's Padua Stables. An impressive workout on Feb. 19 left potential buyers excited, prompting speculation that the colt might set a sale record. The colt ran an eighth of a mile in under 10 seconds - 12 seconds is considered average.
"There were very high expectations," Browning said. "He's a beautiful horse, and he withstood the scrutiny of all the major buyers all week long."
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/APS/603020705
TURNING AROUND 'FAILING' SCHOOLS
Schools refusing to be left behind
LELAND Getting Lincoln Elementary School over the hump of the No Child Left Behind Act is as personal for Helen Davis as it is professional.
In her first year as Lincoln’s principal, Davis is also a proud alumnus, both reasons to shake off three years of not making “adequate yearly progress” under the federal act.
The school has tripled parent volunteers, increased teacher training, and offered after-school tutoring. It now begins each day with intense reading groups among other steps.
But the biggest impact on whether schools like Lincoln, Blair Elementary in New Hanover and Cape Fear Middle in Pender escape No Child’s shadow may be a pending decision that could turn scores of “failing” schools into successes.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/NEWS/60301041/1004/frontpage
Cap planned for peak’s climbersMount McKinley limit planned
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - North America’s tallest mountain is getting crowded – too crowded for safety.Starting next year, the National Park Service will cap the number of climbers allowed on Alaska’s Mount McKinley at 1,500 a year – not too many more than the record 1,340 alpinists who attempted to scale the 20,320-foot mountain last year.McKinley, known locally as Denali or "the High One," is required climbing for many of the world’s most serious mountaineers, who attempt to reach the summit of the highest peak on each of the seven continents. About half the climbers who attempt McKinley come from other countries, according to the park service.It’s too late to restrict this year’s climbing crowd."Whatever shows up this year, we will have to deal with. We are not prepared to turn back anybody this year," park ranger Daryl Miller said Friday.The goal is safety and protecting the mountain, said Kris Fister, spokeswoman for Denali National Park and Preserve. She said all but a handful of climbers are on the mountain during a brief two-month period in May and June, and about 95 percent choose the West Buttress route to reach the top."You’ve got a lot of people homing in on one area of the mountain for a short period of time," Fister said.Since 1903, McKinley has been attempted by 30,049 climbers, and a little more than half have reached the summit. Ninety-five climbers have died trying, including a record 11 in 1992. Two brothers from Ohio died last year."It is amazing how the mountain just has gotten busier," Miller said.The mountain also is popular because it’s easy to get to compared to some others in the world – just a two-hour car ride from Anchorage and a 45-minute flight from Talkeetna to base camp at 7,200 feet.Climbers typically spend 14 to 18 days on the mountain, Miller said.The large number of climbers spending so much time on Denali creates another big problem: human waste."There is just a certain amount you can deal with," Miller said.Normally, you would never see the pit toilet, dug 14 feet deep into the Kahiltna Glacier at the base camp, because it is "devoured by the glacier," Miller said.That wasn’t the case last year. For the first time, the pit toilet was visible in an August flyover of the glacier, Miller said."It melted away all the way down to 14 feet where we dug, and it was sitting on top of the ice," he said. "Now, we are concerned we may have to haul human waste off at 7,200 feet."
http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/NEWS/202270306&SearchID=73237252397613
The Times of India
Bush gets a red carpet welcome
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435418.cms
N-deal between US, Pak not possible at this juncture'
Don't take the word of anyone on this. Read the agreement. Thank you.
Full text of India-US joint statement
NEW DELHI: Following is the text of the India-US joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush on Thursday:
President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday expressed satisfaction with the great progress the United States and India have made in advancing our strategic partnership to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.
Both our countries are linked by a deep commitment to freedom and democracy; a celebration of national diversity, human creativity and innovation; a quest to expand prosperity and economic opportunity worldwide; and a desire to increase mutual security against the common threats posed by intolerance, terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The successful transformation of the US-India relationship will have a decisive and positive influence on the future international system as it evolves in this new century...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435484.cms
India, US clinch 'historic' civilian nuclear deal
NEW DELHI: After hard bargaining on the nuclear deal with the US, India on Thursday agreed that 14 of its civilian nuclear reactors will be open to international safeguards while fast breeder programme will not be subject to outside inspection.
High level official sources said after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush that India has made it clear that classification of nuclear reactors to be built in the future will be its sole decision and there would be no debate on it.
Details of the separation plan as also the assurances given by the US under the deal will be outlined by the Prime Minister in Parliament soon, the sources said.
They said the separation of India's 22 nuclear reactors will be undertaken in a phased manner and completed by 2014.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435793.cms
Nuke deal: Angry Left warns UPA govt
NEW DELHI: An angry Left on Thursday warned the Congress-led UPA government that it would not hesitate to act against the Manmohan Singh dispensation if they succumbed to US pressure while clinching the nuclear deal.
"We were telling the government again and again that the nuclear deal proposal was an American method of pressure tactics on countries like India. Nothing, but a method for continous blackmailing," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters at an anti-Bush rally here.
Bardhan said that Left parties "know what to do" if the government succumbs to US pressure on the nuclear deal. "It is obvious that they have to face consequences."
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat reserved his comments on the issue saying that his party would demand "full details" about the deal.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435976.cms
India-US N-deal a rocket: Former NSA
NEW DELHI: The nuclear cooperation deal that India and the US have agreed to is a qualitative leap forward from that envisaged by the previous government but its contours are still unclear, former national security adviser (NSA) Brajesh Mishra said on Thursday.
At the same time, the visit of US President George Bush has been a "success", Mishra, who was the NSA during the six years (1998-2004) that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister, said. Mishra was also Vajpayee's principal secretary.
"What we had agreed on between the US and India was called the NSSP (Next Steps in Strategic Partnership) which was more of a glide path rather than the kind of rocket which has now come out," he said.
Asked about the difference between the two, Mishra said: "Well, the glide path for the NSSP was a gradual affair over a number of phases and at the end of it, it was not very clear if we will get the nuclear technology from the United States, whereas in this deal, everything has been put together and it is something like a rocket.
"I don't think they (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government) understood in July of last year when they signed the joint statement that it involved such detailed and complicated negotiations," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436012.cms
Pak to seek US cooperation in nuclear energy
ISLAMABAD: Terming a US-India deal on civilian nuclear energy cooperation as an "important relaxation" of proliferation guidelines, Pakistan on Thursday said it would push for a similar pact.
"The agreement represents an important relaxation by the 44-member NSG of the group's existing guidelines on transfer of civilian nuclear technology to a state which has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT)", foreign ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said.
She said Pakistan would also seek similar cooperation with the US, adding that the issue would be raised during talks with Bush, who is expected here late on Friday on a two-day official visit.
"We will talk about this subject with the US president," Aslam said, adding, "we hope the international community will cooperate with fossil fuel deficient Pakistan, which has a fully safeguarded nuclear power generation programme".
"We will accept all appropriate safeguards for nuclear power generation," the spokesperson said. Both Pakistan and India, which conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, have not yet signed the NPT.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1435774.cms
Iran to consult EU troika before IAEA meeting
MOSCOW/VIENNA: Iran will hold talks in Vienna on Friday with the European troika - Britain, Germany and France - before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivers a report on Tehran's nuclear programme next week.
Tehran intended to confirm at the meeting that it "wants to find a reasonable way of settling the situation", said Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani, who was in Moscow on Thursday to discuss a compromise proposal to jointly enrich uranium in Russia for use in Iran's nuclear power programme.
The plan is seen as a last chance for Iran to avoid referral to the UN and possible economic sanctions for nuclear activities that the West fears are being used to secretly develop weapons.
In Vienna, IAEA general director Mohamed ElBaradei said he welcomed the Iranian move to talk with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436052.cms
Goodbye Ganguly as India cricket selectors vote for youth
India's selectors turned the page on Saurav Ganguly's international career on Thursday when they banked on youth for the first test against England, with an eye on next year's World Cup and beyond.
The panel dropped the former captain and focussed on up-and-coming batsmen and bowlers for the home series which starts on March 1 in Nagpur.
India's formidable middle-order led by Sachin Tendulkar had remained untouched for a decade and the removal of Ganguly, seen as the weakest link, could trigger wide-reaching change.
The left-handed batsman, with 5,221 runs in 88 tests and a record 21 victories as India captain, had been under pressure due to poor batting form and fitness.
http://o3.indiatimes.com/cricketnews
South Asia needs to be vigilant on avian flu: WHO
NEW DELHI: Warning South Asian countries of the "devastating" nature of avian influenza, top officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday advised care to prevent the spread of the disease.
"If the virus undergoes mutation, it could be the start of an avian influenza pandemic," warned Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO's regional director for Southeast Asia.
"This would have a devastating impact on the health of millions of people around the globe, with catastrophic implications on global economies.
"And the worst affected would be the developing countries where the health infrastructure was either not ready or strong enough to tackle the situation," said a statement quoting Samlee.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436023.cms
Guest Control: Security throws life out of gear
If Manmohan Singh and his staff were to ensconce themselves in a plush hotel in Washington DC and bring the city to a standstill whenever they stepped out, what would be the reaction of ordinary Americans? You bet they wouldn't be amused.
But chances are that neither George Bush whose security arrangements are far more elaborate than those provided for Singh or any other head of government nor his hosts will spare much thought for the inconvenience caused to thousands of ordinary citizens.
Bush's schedule has been drawn up in such a way so as to cause maximum nuisance. He is scheduled to visit Rajghat at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, bang in the middle of rush hour.
He is thoughtfully showing up at Purana Qila in the evening so that people returning from work are likely to get stuck in endless traffic snarls. Then there are the students who are sitting for their board exams.
(If you feel strongly about this, please write in with your comments or suggestions )
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1434389.cms
GM to use Halol plant for roll-out of Spark
NEW DELHI: P Chidambaram's efforts to chauffeur higher investments in the small car industry has paid off. The world's largest car maker General Motors India has decided to step on gas with plans to roll out its entry-level hatchback Chevy Spark — which will make the car maker eligible get the 8% excise benefit announced in Budget 2006-07.
The firm has decided to use its existing India facility in Halol (Gujarat) for start-up production of Spark. This would help the car maker advance Spark's India debut to end-2006, sources close to the development told ToI.
The firm had earlier planned to set up a greenfield facility in another state to produce Spark and a host of other models. Sources said though negotiations are still underway to finalise the site for its second car plant in India, GM has decided to use the Halol facility for starting local production of Spark
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1436147.cms
continued ...
n
The Iranian Reactor.
The 'deal' Iran and Russia are now engaging in is NOT the deal that was originally planned. In the original agreement Russia was to take control of the delivery of fuel rods and the storage of the used fuel rods. Since this is no longer the safeguard demanded by the Russians, realizing the USA is paying Russia to convert nuclear warheads to fuel and then shipping them in cargo containers to the USA for use in nuclear reactors, this provides at the very least an imputus of concern. That imputus can lead to sanctions against the poor judgement of Russia especially with the UN Security Council involved.
Another thing.
If the poor judgement by Bush is backed by the US Legislature there can be a UN Security Council review of the Indian program of proliferation as well. The UN Charter clearly states; there are only to be five nuclear nations, with any other nation using nuclear power for energy purposes only. As of today, the USA with Bush's agreement, if not modified by the USA Legislature has clearly violated that treaty and has jeopardized the security of the USA and it's trustworthiness to be a part of any Non-Proliferation again.
With each major power on the UN Security Council with a veto vote now violating Non-proliferation provisions, we are entering again an escalation of nuclear weapon proliferation, research and "The Doomsday Clock" is ticking again.
The Iranian Reactor.
The 'deal' Iran and Russia are now engaging in is NOT the deal that was originally planned. In the original agreement Russia was to take control of the delivery of fuel rods and the storage of the used fuel rods. Since this is no longer the safeguard demanded by the Russians, realizing the USA is paying Russia to convert nuclear warheads to fuel and then shipping them in cargo containers to the USA for use in nuclear reactors, this provides at the very least an imputus of concern. That imputus can lead to sanctions against the poor judgement of Russia especially with the UN Security Council involved.
Another thing.
If the poor judgement by Bush is backed by the US Legislature there can be a UN Security Council review of the Indian program of proliferation as well. The UN Charter clearly states; there are only to be five nuclear nations, with any other nation using nuclear power for energy purposes only. As of today, the USA with Bush's agreement, if not modified by the USA Legislature has clearly violated that treaty and has jeopardized the security of the USA and it's trustworthiness to be a part of any Non-Proliferation again.
With each major power on the UN Security Council with a veto vote now violating Non-proliferation provisions, we are entering again an escalation of nuclear weapon proliferation, research and "The Doomsday Clock" is ticking again.
Indians protested against President Bush today in Bombay.
That is a whole lot of people feeling Anti-Bush. Let's hope they aren't Anti-American. In speaking to some Indians over the phone recently and since the soaking Global Warming rains; they seem more Anti-Bush in support of Americans than Anti-American.
Morning Papers - continued
The New York Times
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. The incidents are lower because the human labor involved is lower not because the mines are safer. This is pure and absolute corruption of the system. A human life's safety is to insured by strict laws and penalityies that count. This is a regressive administration that seeks higher profits and not higher saftey standards leading to higher profitability by avoiding liability.
U.S. Is Reducing Safety Penalties for Mine Flaws
By IAN URBINA and ANDREW W. LEHREN
CRAIGSVILLE, W.Va. — In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis by The New York Times.
Federal records also show that in the last two years the federal mine safety agency has failed to hand over any delinquent cases to the Treasury Department for further collection efforts, as is supposed to occur after 180 days.
With the deaths of 24 miners in accidents in 2006, the enforcement record of the Mine Safety and Health Administration has come under sharp scrutiny, and the agency is likely to face tough questions about its performance at a Senate oversight hearing on Thursday.
"The Bush administration ushered in this desire to develop cooperative ties between regulators and the mining industry," said Tony Oppegard, a top official at the agency in the Clinton administration. "Safety has certainly suffered as a result."
A spokesman for the agency, Dirk Fillpot, defended its record, pointing out that last year the coal industry had 22 fatalities, the lowest number in its history.
"Safety is definitely improving," Mr. Fillpot said.
A spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, Carol Raulston, agreed.
"The agency realized in recent years that you can't browbeat operators into improved safety, and this general approach has worked," Ms. Raulston said. "The tragic events of this year have given everyone pause. But I don't think it means we want to abandon what we have found works."
Federal records show that fatalities across all types of mining have stayed relatively stable. In each of the last three years, 55 to 57 miners have died in all areas of mining. Experts say a long-term decline in coal mine fatalities is in part a result of growing mechanization.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/02mine.html?ei=5094&en=16f66ee262e5d96b&hp=&ex=1141362000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
New York is not corrupt enough for the Bush/Rove White House. What's wrong with everyone? I hope a nice 'learn your boundaries, states rights lawsuit comes of it. I think the Robert's Court has already coached the opposition though. That isn't to say the federal government is right but only to say it is 'primed' for the best Supreme Court outcomes for their politics. You know. Bush home court advantage.
New York Is Sued by U.S. on Delay of Vote System
By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: March 2, 2006
ALBANY, March 1 — The Justice Department sued New York State on Wednesday for failing to overhaul its election system and replace its aging voting machines. It is the first lawsuit the federal government has filed to force a state to comply with the voting guidelines enacted by Congress after the 2000 election debacle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/nyregion/02vote.html?hp&ex=1141362000&en=c2710cd98dc341d0&ei=5094&partner=homepage\
The Chicago Tribune
McCartneys Join Effort to End Seal Hunt
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 2, 2006, 10:35 AM CST
CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island -- Opponents of Canada's seal hunt have a powerful ally in their bid to end the annual slaughter: Paul McCartney, who pledged to take to the ice floes Thursday and frolic with the doe-eyed pups before the harvest gets under way.
The former Beatle and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, arrived Wednesday night in this fishing community on Canada's Atlantic coast and intend to land a helicopter on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence if Thursday's weather permits.
The longtime animal-rights activists want to publicize the plight of the fluffy white pups, which are calved and weaned from their mothers on the frigid ice before being clubbed to death.
"Previous Canadian governments have allowed this heartbreaking hunt to continue despite the fact that majority of its citizens -- as well as those in Europe and America -- are opposed to it," the McCartneys said in a joint statement before heading up to the ice floes Thursday morning.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-canada-seal-hunt,1,224672.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bush's Katrina problem just got bigger
Posted by Frank James at 8:56 pm CST
Today's Associated Press report about videotape of a videoconference in which President Bush was told before Hurricane Katrina's landfall that the storm would be hugely catastrophic and that there was concern that New Orleans' levees might fail is a stunning piece of bad news for the White House.
What makes this revelation particularly bad for Bush is that it directly contradicts his by now famous statement on the Good Morning America television show days after the hurricane. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he said.
The video makes clear that such levee breaches were definitely anticipated by experts like Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center who told the federal officials assembled for the videoconference as much, including Bush who participated from his Crawford, Texas ranch. Mayfield warned that the hurricane would be among the worst to hit the U.S. in recorded history.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/03/bushs_katrina_p.html
Analysis: Midway runway too slick
The Associated Press
Published March 2, 2006, 7:40 AM CST
The surface of a runway at Midway Airport was slicker than pilots were told the night a jet slid off the snowy airstrip and into a busy street last December, according to a report published today.
A USA Today analysis that used a physics formula and accident evidence from federal investigators determined that conditions on the runway were ``poor at best.''
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said air traffic controllers reported conditions that were fair for most of the runway and poor at the end the night of Dec. 8, when a Southwest Airlines jet from Baltimore landed in a snowstorm, skidded off the end of the runway and into traffic. The plane crushed a car, killing 6-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind., who was riding inside.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060302midway,1,7876072.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Northwest, Delta Talks Fail to Yield Deal
By JOSHUA FREED and HARRY R. WEBER
AP Business Writers
Published March 2, 2006, 6:30 AM CST
Strike threats loomed at two of the nation's largest airlines on Thursday after talks with pilots did not yield agreements.
Northwest Airlines Corp. has the power to force the pay cuts and work rule changes it wants on pilots, which would almost certainly prompt a strike. The company kept talking anyway.
And the pilot union at Delta Air Lines Inc. said it would conduct a strike vote after talks failed and the matter headed to arbitration.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-airlines-labor,1,7955407.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Singh Gives Bush Grief Over Taj Mahal Snub
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 2, 2006, 6:59 AM CST
NEW DELHI -- Add India's prime minister to the list of people giving President Bush a hard time for not visiting the country's famed Taj Mahal.
As the leaders toasted each other and their nation's ties Thursday before lunch alongside several hundred guests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh briefly paused and addressed Bush's wife, Laura.
"I am truly sorry the president is not taking you to Taj Mahal this time," Singh said. "I hope he will be more chivalrous next time you are here."
The president said Singh was not alone in his disappointment. "I've been hearing about it from Laura ever since I told her that we weren't going," Bush said.
The majestic 17th-century white marble mausoleum is a monument of love, built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-unchivalrous-bush,1,279902.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Ex-governor was source of leak
Lawyer says he didn't understand seal order
By Matt O'Connor, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Jason George contributed to this report
Published March 2, 2006
In a transcript unsealed Wednesday, the lawyer for former Gov. George Ryan admitted that Ryan leaked sealed information to a TV reporter last week about a juror in his corruption trial, but the lawyer insisted Ryan didn't realize the subject was sealed.
The transcript of the private sidebar discussion at the trial Monday shows that prosecutors suspect Ryan or his family was also responsible for a subsequent leak to the Sun-Times about the same juror.
Prosecutors alleged that Ryan went to WFLD-Ch. 32 last week to give an interview about the juror's dismissal. But Dan Webb, Ryan's lawyer, said he had sent Ryan to the Fox station to warn the reporter not to air a story after learning from Ryan that he unwittingly leaked the sealed court matter to a WFLD reporter.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0603020284mar02,1,2641851.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Judge backs down in rape trial
Woman won't face jail for refusing to view tape of alleged assault
By Art Barnum and Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 2, 2006
A Cook County judge backed off Wednesday after triggering a furor with a warning that he might lock up a woman for refusing to watch a videotape showing her alleged 2002 rape in a Burr Ridge home.
Circuit Judge Kerry Kennedy's decision was a relief to victims advocates, who said forcing the woman to watch the tape on the witness stand would have been cruel and could have discouraged others from reporting sexual assaults.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0603020210mar02,1,5857705.story?coll=chi-news-hed
UCI Psychiatrist Bilked by Nigerian E-Mails, Suit Says
Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk lost perhaps $3 million over 10 years in the scam, his son alleges in court documents.
By William Lobdell
Times Staff Writer
Published March 2, 2006
A renowned psychiatrist from UC Irvine was duped into squandering at least $1.3 million of his family's fortune on a Nigeria Internet scam, according to a lawsuit recently filed by his son.
The son, also an Orange County doctor, said his father — Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk — gave as much as $3 million over a 10-year period in response to an Internet plea that promised the doctor a generous cut of a huge sum of cash trapped in African bank accounts in exchange for money advances.
The court documents, filed last month in Orange County Superior Court, allege Gottschalk even traveled to Africa to meet a shadowy figure known as "The General."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-me-nigerian2mar02,1,7629930.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Honor this: Allen yes, Balbo no
I tell you who deserves to have a street named in his honor: Ald. Tom Allen (38th), the brave politician trying to put a stop to honorary street names.
(See related story here; vote yay or nay on Allen's proposal here; continue reading this column below)
Allen has twice before failed to move similar legislation through the City Council. And one reason he's keen on the idea, he told me Wednesday afternoon, is because the current, haphazard, no-standards system gives "no protection against us getting blindsided" by rubberstamping a honoree whom many might consider less than honorable."
Was he referring to anyone in particular? Say former Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, whose mixed legacy includes service to poor children and threats of death to police officers, and whose death in a blizzard of bullets in a 1969 raid remains an ugly stain on the reputation of local law enforcement?
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/03/honor_this_alle.html
Pakistan Times
In the USA there is already a law on the books called "Hate Crime." Cartoons fall under Freedom of Speech. It is Islam's hypersensitivity due to Osama bin Laden's schismed al Qaeda that has raised this is a level of atrocity. There is separation of church and state in the USA. The swastika is not banned anywhere in the world today. That is as much a sign of atrocity as what might be coined offensive religious cartoons. This is an unrelaistic request of a dictator that is playing national politics with that of American and Western Democracy. I don't see an 'Anti-Blasphemy Law' as possible given our Constitution realizing what one religion might see as blasphemy another might embrace. It's out of the question. I think for the time being and realizing the imbalance of propriety in Islamic nations it is prudent to respect boundaries. But, the Islamic nations have to return function to their religion while tolerance of difference leading to peace is paramount.
Musharraf Vows:
Pakistan wants US to Push for anti-blasphemy Law
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants US President George W Bush to push
for a new law banning blasphemy (outlawing blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) which have caused violent protests throughout the country and Muslim world.
This was stated by President General Pervez Musharraf in an interview with Sky News here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
President Bush is arriving India Wednesday before travelling to Pakistan. He’s (Bush) already said he wants to facilitate with talks on solving the Kashmir problem.
Mr Bush called President Musharraf his ‘buddy and friend’. It’s
heart-warming stuff. But all parties have a lot to gain by being so cosy, President Musharraf added.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010600.htm
Pakistan equipped with BVRS Weapon
RAWALPINDI: The senior commanders were told here Tuesday that Pakistan was now equipped with Beyond Visual Range standoff weapon system that can fight terrorists as well as insurgents in the country. The AGM 154 system has been provided by USA under its anti-terror package which includes many systems including BVR standoff weapon.
Raytheon of USA has developed this system for the Air Force and the Navy. The AGM-154A (formerly Advanced Interdiction Weapon System) is intended to provide a low cost, highly lethal glide weapon with a standoff capability. JSOW family of kinematically efficient, air-to-surface glide weapons, in the
1,000-lb class, provides standoff capabilities from 15 nautical miles (low altitude launch) to 40 nautical miles (high altitude launch), reports noted journalist Aroosa Alam.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010601.htm
35 militants killed in NW Pakistan
'Pakistan Times' NWFP Bureau
MIRAN SHAH: The security forces have brought their operation to an end in Daandey areas of South Waziristan, who killed terrorists ranging between 35 to 40 many amongst them are foreigners.
According to officials sources, three Chechen commander along with his three guards were killed in the operation at time when he was try to flee from the operation area.
The security forces surrounded residence of Noor Payo and other adjoining houses following a tip-off of alien terrorist hiding in Noor’s house.
In the operation gunship helicopters were also used for shelling on the residences. A huge arms cache of ammunition of the militants was confiscated.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010604.htm
Attack Shows al-Qaida Can Still Strike
'Pakistan Times' Monitoring Desk
MANAMA (Bahrain): Al-Qaida on Saturday vowed more attacks on
Saudi oil facilities, a day after an attempt to bomb the world's biggest oil processing complex showed the group still can strike inside the Kingdom.
A strike on the Abqaiq complex, near Saudi Arabia's eastern Persian Gulf coast, could have been devastating. Nearly two-thirds of the country's oil flows through the facility for processing before export.
Foiling the attack demonstrated Saudi Arabia's success in putting tough security around the oil industry, the source of the royal family's wealth, oil analysts said.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top022606010.htm
Poverty reduced by 6.7 per cent in Pakistan: PM
'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau
ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz says the overall poverty in the country has declined by 6.7 percent, unemployment rate for the current year 6.8 percent and GDP is expected to grow 6.5 to 7 percent during the current financial year.
Presiding over a meeting of the National Economic Council in Islamabad Tuesday Mr. Aziz said the economic growth is to maintain its momentum despite the tragic earthquake and spikes in oil prices.
Moreover, The Prime Minister said, the additional fiscal space created mainly due to better revenue collection and debt management has allowed government to increase development expenditure and the development spending today is all times high.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010606.htm
Jessica Simpson Dines With N.M. Governor
'Pakistan Times' Societal Desk
SANTA FE, N.M: Jessica Simpson took a break from filming her
latest movie to dine with Gov. Bill Richardson, his wife and others at the governor's mansion.
Simpson, who is in Santa Fe filming "Employee of the Month," ate with the governor Thursday night. The film is the fifth shot in New Mexico by Lions Gate Entertainment, an independent production and distribution studio.
"The governor feels very strongly about getting involved personally to promote New Mexico's film industry," Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said.
Red Carpet
Richardson has rolled out the red carpet for other celebrities. Most recently, he dined at the mansion with Irish actor Liam Neeson.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top022606013.htm
LA Times
Bush Is Warned on Katrina in Video
Footage of a briefing full of dire predictions renews criticism of the government's response.
By Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2006
WASHINGTON — Newly released video footage taken just hours before Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast shows that federal officials delivered stark warnings to President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the storm could lead to massive loss of life.
"We are fully prepared," Bush responded.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-katrina2mar02,0,5568671.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Washington Post
Blast Kills U.S. Diplomat in Pakistan
By Kamran Khan and Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 10:54 AM
KARACHI, Pakistan, March 2 -- An apparent suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi Thursday, killing four people, including a U.S. diplomat and a Pakistani security officer, and wounding about 50 others, according to officials.
The attack came two days before President Bush is scheduled to visit Pakistan, following his journey to Afghanistan and India. It also followed what Pakistani officials said was a major assault by the Pakistani military that killed 40 to 45 militants in a tribal region of the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200194.html
Video Shows Bush Being Warned on Katrina
Officials Detailed a Dire Threat to New Orleans
By Spencer S. Hsu and Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
A newly leaked video recording of high-level government deliberations the day before Hurricane Katrina hit shows disaster officials emphatically warning President Bush that the storm posed a catastrophic threat to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and a grim-faced Bush personally assuring state leaders that his administration was "fully prepared" to help.
The footage, taken of a videoconference of federal and state officials on Aug. 28, offered an unusually vivid glimpse of real-time decision making by an administration that has vigorously guarded its internal deliberations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101731.html
U.S. Reviewing 2nd Dubai Firm
Israeli Deal Also Faces Security Check
By Jonathan Weisman and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
The Bush administration, stung by the public outcry over the Dubai port deal, has launched a national security investigation of another Dubai-owned company set to take over plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision components used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.
The administration notified congressional committees this week that its secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is investigating the security implications of Dubai International Capital's $1.2 billion acquisition of London-based Doncasters Group Ltd., which has subsidiaries in the United States. It is also investigating an Israeli company's plans to buy the Maryland software security firm Sourcefire, which does business with Defense Department agencies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102192.html
Saudi Group Alleges Wiretapping by U.S. Defunct Charity's Suit Details Eavesdropping
By Carol D. Leonnig and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
Documents cited in federal court by a defunct Islamic charity may provide the first detailed evidence of U.S. residents being spied upon by President Bush's secret eavesdropping program, according to the organization's lawsuit and a source familiar with the case.
The al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Saudi organization that once operated in Portland, Ore., filed a description of classified government records in a lawsuit Tuesday and immediately asked a judge for a private review.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102585.html
U.S., India Seal Nuclear Deal
Accord Sets Up Sharing of Data, Fuel to Satisfy Rising Energy Needs
By Jim VandeHei, Muneeza Naqvi and Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 10:48 AM
NEW DELHI, March 2 -- President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck what both leaders called an historic agreement Thursday to provide U.S. nuclear power assistance to India in exchange for new inspections of India's civilian nuclear facilities.
The agreement, which requires congressional action, is a major break with prior U.S. policy, which barred nuclear assistance to nations, like India, that have refused to sign the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Drawing protests from some politicians in both countries, Bush and Singh agreed that India would separate its civilian and military nuclear programs to gain U.S. expertise and nuclear fuel to meet its rapidly rising energy needs. Under the deal, only 14 of India's 22 nuclear plants classified for civilian use will be subject to inspections. The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200183.html
Authorities Suspect Arson in Okla. Fires
By ROCHELLE HINES
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 9:30 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Authorities took one man into custody on suspicion of arson and were searching for another after a wildfire in southwestern Oklahoma destroyed at least 30 homes and forced the evacuation of two schools, a nursing home and area businesses.
The fire was one of several fueled by gusty winds and high temperatures, and firefighters remained at the scene for a second day Thursday. Seven firefighters have been injured while fighting the blazes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200315.html
All D.C. Will Be a Stage for Shakespeare
By Peter Marks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
Let the Bardolatry begin.
In the most extravagant demonstration of the area's devotion to William Shakespeare -- in a theater town with three standing companies devoted to the playwright -- Washington next year will stage a six-month, citywide immersion in theatrical, ballet, film, operatic, orchestral, choral and jazz adaptations of the canon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102638.html
Witness Says He Warned Skilling Enron Played 'Fast and Loose,' Ex-Trading Chief Testifies
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page D01
HOUSTON, March 1 -- A former Enron Corp. official warned Jeffrey K. Skilling, then chief executive, that an accounting move "lacked integrity" and testified that the company played "fast and loose" with the rules, jurors heard this week in the fraud trial of Skilling and former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay.
David W. Delainey said Skilling responded by asking him, "What do you want to do?" The former trading chief interpreted that as an admonition to "get in line" with the plan to improperly shift hundreds of millions of dollars in losses into another division in early 2001.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102290.html
The EPA just doesn't 'get it.' HOW ABOUT LESS GASOLINE?
EPA Seeks Less Benzene In Gasoline
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A12
The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday proposed cutting toxic emissions from cars nearly in half by 2030, drawing praise from many environmentalists while sparking concern among gasoline refiners.
The new standards, which are subject to a 60-day comment period, would take effect in 2011. They would force refiners to reduce the annual average benzene content in their gasoline by 36 percent and would establish a national trading system so companies producing gas with more benzene content could buy pollution credits from cleaner refiners. Auto manufacturers would also have to install technology to reduce benzene emissions in new cars.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102113.html
Where Prostitutes Also Fight AIDS
Brazil's Sex Workers Hand Out Condoms, Crossing U.S. Ideological Line
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A14
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Paula Duran is an outreach worker with a style of her own. That style -- heavy on fishnet, tattoos and suggestive poses -- is at the heart of an ideological disagreement between Brazil and the United States over the best way to fight AIDS.
Duran, 35, is a prostitute in Villa Mimosa, a red-light district in this seaside city where an estimated 3,500 sex workers lounge in the doorways and lean out the windows of scarred, decaying buildings.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102316.html
County Falls Behind on 'No Child' Proficiency Standards
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page T06
By now, most parents and educators know that the No Child Left Behind law spotlights achievement test scores in public schools. Few know that the federal law also illuminates the performance of entire school systems.
Last week, Maryland publicized new ratings for all 24 school systems statewide. The data showed that Prince George's County public schools, like 19 other systems, failed last year to make adequate yearly progress toward the law's goal of near-universal academic proficiency by 2014.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101223.html
Churches Still Await Katrina Aid
Bush-Clinton Fund Criticized for Delay in Allocating $20 Million
By Hamil R. Harris and Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A10
After Hurricane Katrina struck, President Bush enlisted a coalition of clergy from across the nation to distribute part of the $110 million in private funds that his father and former president Bill Clinton raised to help victims of the storm.
But six months later, Bishop T.D. Jakes, one of the ministers selected by Bush, said that not a dime of the $20 million designated for faith organizations along the Gulf Coast has arrived. He blames the fund led by Clinton and former president George H.W. Bush for not coming up with a plan to distribute the money to churches and other faith-based organizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102379.html
continued ….
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. The incidents are lower because the human labor involved is lower not because the mines are safer. This is pure and absolute corruption of the system. A human life's safety is to insured by strict laws and penalityies that count. This is a regressive administration that seeks higher profits and not higher saftey standards leading to higher profitability by avoiding liability.
U.S. Is Reducing Safety Penalties for Mine Flaws
By IAN URBINA and ANDREW W. LEHREN
CRAIGSVILLE, W.Va. — In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis by The New York Times.
Federal records also show that in the last two years the federal mine safety agency has failed to hand over any delinquent cases to the Treasury Department for further collection efforts, as is supposed to occur after 180 days.
With the deaths of 24 miners in accidents in 2006, the enforcement record of the Mine Safety and Health Administration has come under sharp scrutiny, and the agency is likely to face tough questions about its performance at a Senate oversight hearing on Thursday.
"The Bush administration ushered in this desire to develop cooperative ties between regulators and the mining industry," said Tony Oppegard, a top official at the agency in the Clinton administration. "Safety has certainly suffered as a result."
A spokesman for the agency, Dirk Fillpot, defended its record, pointing out that last year the coal industry had 22 fatalities, the lowest number in its history.
"Safety is definitely improving," Mr. Fillpot said.
A spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, Carol Raulston, agreed.
"The agency realized in recent years that you can't browbeat operators into improved safety, and this general approach has worked," Ms. Raulston said. "The tragic events of this year have given everyone pause. But I don't think it means we want to abandon what we have found works."
Federal records show that fatalities across all types of mining have stayed relatively stable. In each of the last three years, 55 to 57 miners have died in all areas of mining. Experts say a long-term decline in coal mine fatalities is in part a result of growing mechanization.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/02mine.html?ei=5094&en=16f66ee262e5d96b&hp=&ex=1141362000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
New York is not corrupt enough for the Bush/Rove White House. What's wrong with everyone? I hope a nice 'learn your boundaries, states rights lawsuit comes of it. I think the Robert's Court has already coached the opposition though. That isn't to say the federal government is right but only to say it is 'primed' for the best Supreme Court outcomes for their politics. You know. Bush home court advantage.
New York Is Sued by U.S. on Delay of Vote System
By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: March 2, 2006
ALBANY, March 1 — The Justice Department sued New York State on Wednesday for failing to overhaul its election system and replace its aging voting machines. It is the first lawsuit the federal government has filed to force a state to comply with the voting guidelines enacted by Congress after the 2000 election debacle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/nyregion/02vote.html?hp&ex=1141362000&en=c2710cd98dc341d0&ei=5094&partner=homepage\
The Chicago Tribune
McCartneys Join Effort to End Seal Hunt
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 2, 2006, 10:35 AM CST
CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island -- Opponents of Canada's seal hunt have a powerful ally in their bid to end the annual slaughter: Paul McCartney, who pledged to take to the ice floes Thursday and frolic with the doe-eyed pups before the harvest gets under way.
The former Beatle and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, arrived Wednesday night in this fishing community on Canada's Atlantic coast and intend to land a helicopter on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence if Thursday's weather permits.
The longtime animal-rights activists want to publicize the plight of the fluffy white pups, which are calved and weaned from their mothers on the frigid ice before being clubbed to death.
"Previous Canadian governments have allowed this heartbreaking hunt to continue despite the fact that majority of its citizens -- as well as those in Europe and America -- are opposed to it," the McCartneys said in a joint statement before heading up to the ice floes Thursday morning.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-canada-seal-hunt,1,224672.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bush's Katrina problem just got bigger
Posted by Frank James at 8:56 pm CST
Today's Associated Press report about videotape of a videoconference in which President Bush was told before Hurricane Katrina's landfall that the storm would be hugely catastrophic and that there was concern that New Orleans' levees might fail is a stunning piece of bad news for the White House.
What makes this revelation particularly bad for Bush is that it directly contradicts his by now famous statement on the Good Morning America television show days after the hurricane. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he said.
The video makes clear that such levee breaches were definitely anticipated by experts like Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center who told the federal officials assembled for the videoconference as much, including Bush who participated from his Crawford, Texas ranch. Mayfield warned that the hurricane would be among the worst to hit the U.S. in recorded history.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/03/bushs_katrina_p.html
Analysis: Midway runway too slick
The Associated Press
Published March 2, 2006, 7:40 AM CST
The surface of a runway at Midway Airport was slicker than pilots were told the night a jet slid off the snowy airstrip and into a busy street last December, according to a report published today.
A USA Today analysis that used a physics formula and accident evidence from federal investigators determined that conditions on the runway were ``poor at best.''
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said air traffic controllers reported conditions that were fair for most of the runway and poor at the end the night of Dec. 8, when a Southwest Airlines jet from Baltimore landed in a snowstorm, skidded off the end of the runway and into traffic. The plane crushed a car, killing 6-year-old Joshua Woods of Leroy, Ind., who was riding inside.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060302midway,1,7876072.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Northwest, Delta Talks Fail to Yield Deal
By JOSHUA FREED and HARRY R. WEBER
AP Business Writers
Published March 2, 2006, 6:30 AM CST
Strike threats loomed at two of the nation's largest airlines on Thursday after talks with pilots did not yield agreements.
Northwest Airlines Corp. has the power to force the pay cuts and work rule changes it wants on pilots, which would almost certainly prompt a strike. The company kept talking anyway.
And the pilot union at Delta Air Lines Inc. said it would conduct a strike vote after talks failed and the matter headed to arbitration.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-airlines-labor,1,7955407.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Singh Gives Bush Grief Over Taj Mahal Snub
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 2, 2006, 6:59 AM CST
NEW DELHI -- Add India's prime minister to the list of people giving President Bush a hard time for not visiting the country's famed Taj Mahal.
As the leaders toasted each other and their nation's ties Thursday before lunch alongside several hundred guests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh briefly paused and addressed Bush's wife, Laura.
"I am truly sorry the president is not taking you to Taj Mahal this time," Singh said. "I hope he will be more chivalrous next time you are here."
The president said Singh was not alone in his disappointment. "I've been hearing about it from Laura ever since I told her that we weren't going," Bush said.
The majestic 17th-century white marble mausoleum is a monument of love, built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-unchivalrous-bush,1,279902.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Ex-governor was source of leak
Lawyer says he didn't understand seal order
By Matt O'Connor, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Jason George contributed to this report
Published March 2, 2006
In a transcript unsealed Wednesday, the lawyer for former Gov. George Ryan admitted that Ryan leaked sealed information to a TV reporter last week about a juror in his corruption trial, but the lawyer insisted Ryan didn't realize the subject was sealed.
The transcript of the private sidebar discussion at the trial Monday shows that prosecutors suspect Ryan or his family was also responsible for a subsequent leak to the Sun-Times about the same juror.
Prosecutors alleged that Ryan went to WFLD-Ch. 32 last week to give an interview about the juror's dismissal. But Dan Webb, Ryan's lawyer, said he had sent Ryan to the Fox station to warn the reporter not to air a story after learning from Ryan that he unwittingly leaked the sealed court matter to a WFLD reporter.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0603020284mar02,1,2641851.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Judge backs down in rape trial
Woman won't face jail for refusing to view tape of alleged assault
By Art Barnum and Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 2, 2006
A Cook County judge backed off Wednesday after triggering a furor with a warning that he might lock up a woman for refusing to watch a videotape showing her alleged 2002 rape in a Burr Ridge home.
Circuit Judge Kerry Kennedy's decision was a relief to victims advocates, who said forcing the woman to watch the tape on the witness stand would have been cruel and could have discouraged others from reporting sexual assaults.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0603020210mar02,1,5857705.story?coll=chi-news-hed
UCI Psychiatrist Bilked by Nigerian E-Mails, Suit Says
Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk lost perhaps $3 million over 10 years in the scam, his son alleges in court documents.
By William Lobdell
Times Staff Writer
Published March 2, 2006
A renowned psychiatrist from UC Irvine was duped into squandering at least $1.3 million of his family's fortune on a Nigeria Internet scam, according to a lawsuit recently filed by his son.
The son, also an Orange County doctor, said his father — Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk — gave as much as $3 million over a 10-year period in response to an Internet plea that promised the doctor a generous cut of a huge sum of cash trapped in African bank accounts in exchange for money advances.
The court documents, filed last month in Orange County Superior Court, allege Gottschalk even traveled to Africa to meet a shadowy figure known as "The General."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-me-nigerian2mar02,1,7629930.story?coll=chi-business-hed
Honor this: Allen yes, Balbo no
I tell you who deserves to have a street named in his honor: Ald. Tom Allen (38th), the brave politician trying to put a stop to honorary street names.
(See related story here; vote yay or nay on Allen's proposal here; continue reading this column below)
Allen has twice before failed to move similar legislation through the City Council. And one reason he's keen on the idea, he told me Wednesday afternoon, is because the current, haphazard, no-standards system gives "no protection against us getting blindsided" by rubberstamping a honoree whom many might consider less than honorable."
Was he referring to anyone in particular? Say former Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, whose mixed legacy includes service to poor children and threats of death to police officers, and whose death in a blizzard of bullets in a 1969 raid remains an ugly stain on the reputation of local law enforcement?
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/03/honor_this_alle.html
Pakistan Times
In the USA there is already a law on the books called "Hate Crime." Cartoons fall under Freedom of Speech. It is Islam's hypersensitivity due to Osama bin Laden's schismed al Qaeda that has raised this is a level of atrocity. There is separation of church and state in the USA. The swastika is not banned anywhere in the world today. That is as much a sign of atrocity as what might be coined offensive religious cartoons. This is an unrelaistic request of a dictator that is playing national politics with that of American and Western Democracy. I don't see an 'Anti-Blasphemy Law' as possible given our Constitution realizing what one religion might see as blasphemy another might embrace. It's out of the question. I think for the time being and realizing the imbalance of propriety in Islamic nations it is prudent to respect boundaries. But, the Islamic nations have to return function to their religion while tolerance of difference leading to peace is paramount.
Musharraf Vows:
Pakistan wants US to Push for anti-blasphemy Law
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants US President George W Bush to push
for a new law banning blasphemy (outlawing blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) which have caused violent protests throughout the country and Muslim world.
This was stated by President General Pervez Musharraf in an interview with Sky News here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
President Bush is arriving India Wednesday before travelling to Pakistan. He’s (Bush) already said he wants to facilitate with talks on solving the Kashmir problem.
Mr Bush called President Musharraf his ‘buddy and friend’. It’s
heart-warming stuff. But all parties have a lot to gain by being so cosy, President Musharraf added.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010600.htm
Pakistan equipped with BVRS Weapon
RAWALPINDI: The senior commanders were told here Tuesday that Pakistan was now equipped with Beyond Visual Range standoff weapon system that can fight terrorists as well as insurgents in the country. The AGM 154 system has been provided by USA under its anti-terror package which includes many systems including BVR standoff weapon.
Raytheon of USA has developed this system for the Air Force and the Navy. The AGM-154A (formerly Advanced Interdiction Weapon System) is intended to provide a low cost, highly lethal glide weapon with a standoff capability. JSOW family of kinematically efficient, air-to-surface glide weapons, in the
1,000-lb class, provides standoff capabilities from 15 nautical miles (low altitude launch) to 40 nautical miles (high altitude launch), reports noted journalist Aroosa Alam.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010601.htm
35 militants killed in NW Pakistan
'Pakistan Times' NWFP Bureau
MIRAN SHAH: The security forces have brought their operation to an end in Daandey areas of South Waziristan, who killed terrorists ranging between 35 to 40 many amongst them are foreigners.
According to officials sources, three Chechen commander along with his three guards were killed in the operation at time when he was try to flee from the operation area.
The security forces surrounded residence of Noor Payo and other adjoining houses following a tip-off of alien terrorist hiding in Noor’s house.
In the operation gunship helicopters were also used for shelling on the residences. A huge arms cache of ammunition of the militants was confiscated.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010604.htm
Attack Shows al-Qaida Can Still Strike
'Pakistan Times' Monitoring Desk
MANAMA (Bahrain): Al-Qaida on Saturday vowed more attacks on
Saudi oil facilities, a day after an attempt to bomb the world's biggest oil processing complex showed the group still can strike inside the Kingdom.
A strike on the Abqaiq complex, near Saudi Arabia's eastern Persian Gulf coast, could have been devastating. Nearly two-thirds of the country's oil flows through the facility for processing before export.
Foiling the attack demonstrated Saudi Arabia's success in putting tough security around the oil industry, the source of the royal family's wealth, oil analysts said.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top022606010.htm
Poverty reduced by 6.7 per cent in Pakistan: PM
'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau
ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz says the overall poverty in the country has declined by 6.7 percent, unemployment rate for the current year 6.8 percent and GDP is expected to grow 6.5 to 7 percent during the current financial year.
Presiding over a meeting of the National Economic Council in Islamabad Tuesday Mr. Aziz said the economic growth is to maintain its momentum despite the tragic earthquake and spikes in oil prices.
Moreover, The Prime Minister said, the additional fiscal space created mainly due to better revenue collection and debt management has allowed government to increase development expenditure and the development spending today is all times high.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top3010606.htm
Jessica Simpson Dines With N.M. Governor
'Pakistan Times' Societal Desk
SANTA FE, N.M: Jessica Simpson took a break from filming her
latest movie to dine with Gov. Bill Richardson, his wife and others at the governor's mansion.
Simpson, who is in Santa Fe filming "Employee of the Month," ate with the governor Thursday night. The film is the fifth shot in New Mexico by Lions Gate Entertainment, an independent production and distribution studio.
"The governor feels very strongly about getting involved personally to promote New Mexico's film industry," Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said.
Red Carpet
Richardson has rolled out the red carpet for other celebrities. Most recently, he dined at the mansion with Irish actor Liam Neeson.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/top022606013.htm
LA Times
Bush Is Warned on Katrina in Video
Footage of a briefing full of dire predictions renews criticism of the government's response.
By Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2006
WASHINGTON — Newly released video footage taken just hours before Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast shows that federal officials delivered stark warnings to President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the storm could lead to massive loss of life.
"We are fully prepared," Bush responded.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-katrina2mar02,0,5568671.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Washington Post
Blast Kills U.S. Diplomat in Pakistan
By Kamran Khan and Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 10:54 AM
KARACHI, Pakistan, March 2 -- An apparent suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi Thursday, killing four people, including a U.S. diplomat and a Pakistani security officer, and wounding about 50 others, according to officials.
The attack came two days before President Bush is scheduled to visit Pakistan, following his journey to Afghanistan and India. It also followed what Pakistani officials said was a major assault by the Pakistani military that killed 40 to 45 militants in a tribal region of the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200194.html
Video Shows Bush Being Warned on Katrina
Officials Detailed a Dire Threat to New Orleans
By Spencer S. Hsu and Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
A newly leaked video recording of high-level government deliberations the day before Hurricane Katrina hit shows disaster officials emphatically warning President Bush that the storm posed a catastrophic threat to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and a grim-faced Bush personally assuring state leaders that his administration was "fully prepared" to help.
The footage, taken of a videoconference of federal and state officials on Aug. 28, offered an unusually vivid glimpse of real-time decision making by an administration that has vigorously guarded its internal deliberations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101731.html
U.S. Reviewing 2nd Dubai Firm
Israeli Deal Also Faces Security Check
By Jonathan Weisman and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
The Bush administration, stung by the public outcry over the Dubai port deal, has launched a national security investigation of another Dubai-owned company set to take over plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision components used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.
The administration notified congressional committees this week that its secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is investigating the security implications of Dubai International Capital's $1.2 billion acquisition of London-based Doncasters Group Ltd., which has subsidiaries in the United States. It is also investigating an Israeli company's plans to buy the Maryland software security firm Sourcefire, which does business with Defense Department agencies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102192.html
Saudi Group Alleges Wiretapping by U.S. Defunct Charity's Suit Details Eavesdropping
By Carol D. Leonnig and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
Documents cited in federal court by a defunct Islamic charity may provide the first detailed evidence of U.S. residents being spied upon by President Bush's secret eavesdropping program, according to the organization's lawsuit and a source familiar with the case.
The al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a Saudi organization that once operated in Portland, Ore., filed a description of classified government records in a lawsuit Tuesday and immediately asked a judge for a private review.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102585.html
U.S., India Seal Nuclear Deal
Accord Sets Up Sharing of Data, Fuel to Satisfy Rising Energy Needs
By Jim VandeHei, Muneeza Naqvi and Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 10:48 AM
NEW DELHI, March 2 -- President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck what both leaders called an historic agreement Thursday to provide U.S. nuclear power assistance to India in exchange for new inspections of India's civilian nuclear facilities.
The agreement, which requires congressional action, is a major break with prior U.S. policy, which barred nuclear assistance to nations, like India, that have refused to sign the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Drawing protests from some politicians in both countries, Bush and Singh agreed that India would separate its civilian and military nuclear programs to gain U.S. expertise and nuclear fuel to meet its rapidly rising energy needs. Under the deal, only 14 of India's 22 nuclear plants classified for civilian use will be subject to inspections. The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
The country's eight military reactors will be off limits.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200183.html
Authorities Suspect Arson in Okla. Fires
By ROCHELLE HINES
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 9:30 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Authorities took one man into custody on suspicion of arson and were searching for another after a wildfire in southwestern Oklahoma destroyed at least 30 homes and forced the evacuation of two schools, a nursing home and area businesses.
The fire was one of several fueled by gusty winds and high temperatures, and firefighters remained at the scene for a second day Thursday. Seven firefighters have been injured while fighting the blazes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030200315.html
All D.C. Will Be a Stage for Shakespeare
By Peter Marks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A01
Let the Bardolatry begin.
In the most extravagant demonstration of the area's devotion to William Shakespeare -- in a theater town with three standing companies devoted to the playwright -- Washington next year will stage a six-month, citywide immersion in theatrical, ballet, film, operatic, orchestral, choral and jazz adaptations of the canon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102638.html
Witness Says He Warned Skilling Enron Played 'Fast and Loose,' Ex-Trading Chief Testifies
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page D01
HOUSTON, March 1 -- A former Enron Corp. official warned Jeffrey K. Skilling, then chief executive, that an accounting move "lacked integrity" and testified that the company played "fast and loose" with the rules, jurors heard this week in the fraud trial of Skilling and former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay.
David W. Delainey said Skilling responded by asking him, "What do you want to do?" The former trading chief interpreted that as an admonition to "get in line" with the plan to improperly shift hundreds of millions of dollars in losses into another division in early 2001.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102290.html
The EPA just doesn't 'get it.' HOW ABOUT LESS GASOLINE?
EPA Seeks Less Benzene In Gasoline
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A12
The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday proposed cutting toxic emissions from cars nearly in half by 2030, drawing praise from many environmentalists while sparking concern among gasoline refiners.
The new standards, which are subject to a 60-day comment period, would take effect in 2011. They would force refiners to reduce the annual average benzene content in their gasoline by 36 percent and would establish a national trading system so companies producing gas with more benzene content could buy pollution credits from cleaner refiners. Auto manufacturers would also have to install technology to reduce benzene emissions in new cars.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102113.html
Where Prostitutes Also Fight AIDS
Brazil's Sex Workers Hand Out Condoms, Crossing U.S. Ideological Line
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A14
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Paula Duran is an outreach worker with a style of her own. That style -- heavy on fishnet, tattoos and suggestive poses -- is at the heart of an ideological disagreement between Brazil and the United States over the best way to fight AIDS.
Duran, 35, is a prostitute in Villa Mimosa, a red-light district in this seaside city where an estimated 3,500 sex workers lounge in the doorways and lean out the windows of scarred, decaying buildings.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102316.html
County Falls Behind on 'No Child' Proficiency Standards
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page T06
By now, most parents and educators know that the No Child Left Behind law spotlights achievement test scores in public schools. Few know that the federal law also illuminates the performance of entire school systems.
Last week, Maryland publicized new ratings for all 24 school systems statewide. The data showed that Prince George's County public schools, like 19 other systems, failed last year to make adequate yearly progress toward the law's goal of near-universal academic proficiency by 2014.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101223.html
Churches Still Await Katrina Aid
Bush-Clinton Fund Criticized for Delay in Allocating $20 Million
By Hamil R. Harris and Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page A10
After Hurricane Katrina struck, President Bush enlisted a coalition of clergy from across the nation to distribute part of the $110 million in private funds that his father and former president Bill Clinton raised to help victims of the storm.
But six months later, Bishop T.D. Jakes, one of the ministers selected by Bush, said that not a dime of the $20 million designated for faith organizations along the Gulf Coast has arrived. He blames the fund led by Clinton and former president George H.W. Bush for not coming up with a plan to distribute the money to churches and other faith-based organizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102379.html
continued ….
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