Bush's position on Conservation is a joke !

Figure 2. Excessive Erosion on Cropland, 1997. Each red dot represents 5000 acres of highly erodible land and each yellow dot represents 5000 acres of non-highly erodible

Agricultural lands are a recognized nonpoint source of water contaminants. Currently, complete and consistent data of surface water and ground water quality is lacking at a national level. Several inventories have been done that cover different watersheds and different time periods. Perhaps the most current, albeit incomplete, data are supplied by the National Water Quality Inventory, which is completed every two years as required by Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act (USEPA, 2000). For this inventory, states, territories, tribes, and interstate commissions assessed the health of their waters in relation to designated water use and accompanying water quality standards. A subset of US rivers and streams, lakes, Great Lakes shoreline, estuaries, and ocean shoreline were evaluated. States and tribes assessed 23% of the total river and stream miles; 42% of the lake, reservoir, and pond acres; 90% of the Great Lakes shoreline miles; 32% of the estuary square miles; and 5% of ocean shoreline miles.


American Corn Growers Association Says USDA Should Stay the Course on Conservation Reserve Program (click here)
Washington, DC--Keith Bolin, President of the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA), says his organization is opposed to any actions by USDA to allow an early exit from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
“USDA should stay the course on the CRP,” said Bolin.
“Recent discussions coming out of the Department of Agriculture suggesting an administrative action to allow farmers to exit the program early is short-sighted and ill-advised.”
The CRP was established in 1985 as a voluntary program that allows farmers to retire highly erodible land from production and also ensure a secure income during times of low commodity pricing.
As the program grew, farmers were able to retire land to reduce degradation of environmentally sensitive areas.
Some of these environmental aspects include wetland acreage, runoff into waterways, and wildlife habitat.
Currently the USDA pays $1.6 billion in annual CRP rental payments to land owners and operators.
During their 5-10 year contracts, CRP participants practice a number of conservation methods including grass and tree planting and wildlife cover.
The continuation of the CRP program is at risk due to budgetary pressures as well as those in the agribusiness sector who want more corn planted next year in order to suppress corn prices.
“The budgetary argument will not hold water,” explained Bolin.
“Last year an analysis by the University of Tennessee’s Agriculture Policy Analysis Center (APAC) revealed that federal spending on other farm programs would increase exponentially if the CRP was reduced or eliminated.
"The argument of needing more corn acres is problematic as well, since all CRP acres are highly erodible and very little of it is suitable for corn production.”
“Current USDA projections for next year’s corn crop and carryover shows there will be more than sufficient production to cover all needs,” concluded Bolin.
“Jeopardizing highly erodible land by taking it out of the reserve just so that the integrated livestock factory farms can go back to buying cheap corn as they have for the past decade is unacceptable.
"ACGA opposes any actions that threaten the integrity of the CRP."
For more information, call Larry Mitchell at 202-835-0330.
See Related Websites/Articles:
American Corn Growers Association
APAC Report in Conservation Reserve Program (click at this title - The economic impact effects TO AMERICAN AGRICULTURE should the land be used before it's recovered from OVERUSE.)

This is the drought map of the USA according to NOAA issues July 2006. Bush could not care what the drought or fire circumstances of the nation are !

From the State of the Union 2003

Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment. I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce more energy at home. I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70-percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years. I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest.

I urge you to pass these measures, for the good of both our environment and our economy. Even more, I ask you to take a crucial step and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined.

In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about not through endless lawsuits or command-and-control regulations, but through technology and innovation. Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.

The Republican President, Vice, Cabinet, House and Senate did NOTHING to stop the effects of Human Induced Global Warming, while exploited every natural resource the USA had and made plans to destroy the Alaskan wilderness as well with bridges to nowhere and drilling in ANWR.

THEY DID NOTHING

and

THEY ARE STILL DOING NOTHING.

The project for the Hydrogen Car is nearly dead. Has anyone heard anything about it's success and wide distribution in the USA? No. Is the transportation infrastructure different? No. Is the energy infrastructure different? No. Are skies cleaner? No. Is there still mercury pouring out of smokestakes in the USA and polluting the air and fisheries? Yes.

READER VIEWS: ON COAL-FIRED PLANT, ZOO EAGLE, BOB LIDA
Sebelius shows
a lack of courage
I agreed with The Eagle editorial "Take lead: Sebelius needs to walk her green talk" (Sept. 16 Opinion), regarding Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Holcomb coal-fired plant expansion question. She's simply passing the buck by dumping the permitting decision on the state's Health and Environment secretary. Thus, Rod Bremby becomes the fall guy, whichever way he goes, and she will retain her "green" image, saying it wasn't her decision.
Hogwash. If she doesn't have the legal power to stop what would be a huge source of polluting carbon dioxide, she certainly has the power to influence Bremby. In reality, she's between a rock and a hard place. I believe she really does want to keep the Holcomb plant from expanding and contributing to more global warming. But she knows that she'll probably not get another thing through the Legislature if she blocks it, because of the political power of western Kansas legislators who see it as "economic development, the planet be damned."
In his book "Profiles in Courage," President John F. Kennedy told of leaders who had the courage to do the morally correct thing rather than the politically safe thing. I hope Sebelius would show that kind of courage. An old saying comes to mind, which paraphrased might read: "If you're not part of the solution to global warming, you're part of the problem."
T. KNEILBel Aire

http://www.kansas.com/205/story/182931.html

The Republicans are lazy, old, do nothings that have not one innovative thought among them and absolutely no moral leadership to guide this country and bring about rapid change to stop the devastating effects of Human Induced Global Warming. Old ideas, no leadership and more exploitation. That is all the Republicans have to offer the American electorate.

Do you remember what Bush's plans were to make health care affordable? Do you? From the same State of the Union address of 2003.

To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher cost, the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued. (Applause.) Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more for health care, and many parts of America are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform.

Tort reform. He promised Tort Reform would rein in the runaway costs of health care. You know what it did, it allowed Michael Moore to go out and make a movie about the most exploitive industry in the USA, "Privatized Health Care" that kills it's members. Members TWARTED from suing because of Bush's Republicans OPPRESSIVE Tort Reforms.

Anyone in their right mind voting Republican in 2008 doesn't care about themselves, their children or the future, but, ONLY more and more exploitation of anything that will bring them ready cash. Exploitation of the USA treasury. That's all their interested in because if they were successful in private industry they won't be looking to the USA Treasury to exploit in the first place !

Paulson defends Bush on environment (click here)
By Deepti Hajela, Associated Press September 28, 2007
NEW YORK - The idea that President Bush is not committed to fighting climate change is a misperception, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson insisted yesterday.
Paulson spoke during the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative conference. His comments came the same day Bush convened a two-day meeting on climate issues that emphasizes creating more ways to find a solution to global warming, rather than setting firm goals for reducing carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for the environmental problem.
While it's an approach that has earned Bush some criticism, Paulson said the president is seeking to find solutions.
"He's taking it very seriously. I don't see how it can be anything other than a positive to get the major economies of the world, to get the nations that are responsible for 80 percent of carbon emissions, to get them together to deal with the global problem," Paulson said, responding to a question from panel moderator Tom Brokaw.
The panel addressed issues of economic growth in a time of climate change. Paulson was also scheduled to speak yesterday at Bush's conference in Washington.
Bush's approach got some support from another panelist, Tony Blair, former prime minister of Britain, who said it is important to get the countries together with a framework that takes into account their different economic stages.
It was an interesting start to the second day of the conference, started by former president Bill Clinton in 2005 to bring people together for discussions and actions on global causes.
The initiative draws together world leaders, celebrities, and scholars for three days of discussions on global issues and asks them to take concrete steps on those causes. The first day brought out a number of commitments as participants pledged action on this year's four areas of focus: climate change and energy, poverty, healthcare, and education.

IF THERE IS NO EARTH, THEIR IS NO ECONOMY ! JERKS ! Tell me, Hank, what's the value of the USA dollar looking like? Ever hear of the word corruption, Hank? Because you and Goldman Sachs have it emblazened across your chests right now !

Goldman Sachs takes stake in Russia's Tinkoff Credit Systems - report (click here)
September 27, 2007: 04:22 AM EST
FRANKFURT, Sep. 27, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Group Inc has taken a stake in Russia's Tinkoff Credit Systems bank, Vedomosti reported citing an executive at the bank.The newspaper did not say how much Goldman Sachs invested in the bank, which specializes in maintaining accounts for holders of Visa credit cards.Tinkoff currently has 13 mln usd in capital, and hopes to increase this to 50 mln usd by the end of the year.Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the newspaper.Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis Highlights: Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and Target (click here)

...Brokerage analysts raised their fiscal 2007 and 2008 forecasts on Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) after the firm topped expectations by nearly 40% with profits of $6.13 per share. GS was able to employ trading strategies to take advantage of the turmoil, though not all of its hedge funds followed the same practice. Forecasts for fiscal 2007 are at a new high with brokerage analysts now expecting profits of $23.67 per share versus $21.83 a week ago. Prior to the recent surprise, the consensus forecast had been falling. For fiscal 2008, the consensus estimate calls for profits of $22.45 per share versus $21.82 a week ago. Two months ago, the consensus estimate had stood at $22.80, however....

Morning Papers - continued...

Sidney Morning Herald

Climate strategy a disaster: study
Marian Wilkinson, Environment Editor
September 28, 2007
THE Howard Government's strategy to deal with climate change - including support for "aspirational" goals rather than binding targets - could lead to catastrophic consequences in Australia, a study has found.
These include a threefold increase in heat-related deaths, the collapse of crop yields and a serious decline in river flows.
The scientific report, commissioned by the conservation group WWF, will be released today, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, and the Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, join ministers from the main polluting economies in Washington to discuss climate change negotiations.
The head of WWF, Greg Bourne, criticised the Government yesterday over its support for "aspirational" goals to reduce emissions. It promoted the goals at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting that resulted in the Sydney Declaration.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/pms-climate-strategy-a-disaster-study/2007/09/27/1190486482407.html


Arctic thaw becoming critical: NASA
September 28, 2007 - 11:24PM
A record melt of Arctic summer sea ice this month may be a sign that global warming is reaching a critical trigger point that could accelerate the northern thaw, some scientists say.
"The reason so much (of the Arctic ice) went suddenly is that it is hitting a tipping point that we have been warning about for the past few years," James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told Reuters.
The Arctic summer sea ice shrank by more than 20 per cent below the previous 2005 record low in mid-September to 4.13 million sq km, according to a 30-year satellite record. It has now frozen out to 4.2 million sq km.
The idea of climate tipping points - like a see-saw that suddenly flips over when enough weight gets onto one side - is controversial because it is little understood and dismissed by some as scaremongering about runaway effects.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Arctic-thaw-becoming-critical-NASA/2007/09/28/1190486579178.html



Climate change may sink Maldives
September 28, 2007 - 6:45PM
Unless the world starts taking climate change seriously, the Maldives could become uninhabitable this century, the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago Maumoon Abdul Gayoom says.
With a United Nations climate panel forecasting world sea levels likely to rise by up to 59cm by 2100 due to global warming, the clock is ticking, he said.
"Time is running out for us," Gayoom told Reuters.
"Global warming and sea-level rise pose a clear and present danger for the Maldives and its people.
"Three-quarters of our 1,200 islands lie no higher than four feet above mean sea-level. The projected rise in sea-levels by the end of this century could mean that our islands may become uninhabitable at that time."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Climate-change-may-sink-Maldives/2007/09/28/1190486562744.html


US vows to tackle climate change
September 28, 2007 - 2:15PM
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today declared climate change to be a "real and growing problem" that should be resolved under the UN at the start of a forum of major polluters viewed warily by defenders of the Kyoto Protocol.
"We have come together today because we agree that climate change is a real and growing problem - and that human beings are contributing to it," Rice said in her opening address.
"I want to stress that the United States takes climate change very seriously, for we are both a major economy and a major emitter. We do not think of ourselves as standing above or apart from the international community on this issue."
The two-day talks in Washington kick off a 15-month process under which the 16 participating economies will sketch targets for reducing their emissions, examine the possibility of a long-term goal and look at ways of harnessing the power of business and new technology to tackle their pollution, according to a US proposal.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-vows-to-tackle-climate-change/2007/09/28/1190486558748.html


'Disgust' at bid to save bombers
Australians who lost relatives and mates in the 2002 Bali bombings say they're disgusted by an Amnesty International campaign to save three of the bombers from execution.
The Australian arm of the human rights group is urging people to lobby Indonesian authorities to stop the executions as part of Amnesty's ongoing campaign against capital punishment.
The three bombers - who played key roles in the attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians - could face the firing squad soon after Indonesia's Supreme Court rejected their final appeals.
Amnesty International Australia anti-death penalty coordinator Tim Goodwin said the group was ramping up pressure on Indonesian authorities to stay the executions.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/disgust-at-bombers-plea/2007/09/28/1190486553694.html


Anglican church allows women bishops
Australia could have its first Anglican woman bishop as early as next year following a decision by the church's highest court.
The head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Philip Aspinall, said the appellate tribunal had decided there was nothing in the church's constitution that would prevent a woman becoming a bishop.
In 2005, a group of 25 members of the church's national parliament - the General Synod - asked the tribunal for its view on the lawfulness of women bishops.
The tribunal, by a majority of four to three, today found that it was possible to consecrate women bishops.
However, it said it could only occur in a diocese that had both adopted a 1992 church law allowing women priests and which had ensured its own laws and constitution allowed it.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/anglican-church-allows-women-bishops/2007/09/28/1190486541592.html


Rates pressure grows: survey
Australians would likely cop another interest rate rise before the end of the year if not for the ongoing ructions in financial markets, TD Securities senior strategist Joshua Williamson says.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last raised rates in August, but left them on hold at 6.50 per cent when the bank's board met in September.
Most economists now expect the central bank to maintain the cash rate status quo until the middle of 2008.
But Mr Williamson said the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge, released today, shows inflation remains at the top of the RBA's target band, adding weight to the argument for another interest rate rise.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/general/rising-pressure-on-interest-rates/2007/09/28/1190486529089.html


Party politics with footy finals
Edmund Tadros
September 28, 2007 - 2:31PM
The Labor party will run radio advertisements during the NRL and AFL football finals criticising the Federal Government's planned weekend advertising blitz.
NRL legend Tommy Raudonikis and AFL legend Peter "Crackers" Keenan will front the Labor campaign, which will slam the Government for spending $227 thousand of taxpayer funds on advertisements.
Raudonikis has previously appeared in advertisements opposing the Howard Government's industrial relations laws.
The Government said that they followed guidelines when developing and running media campaigns.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/party-politics-with-footy-finals/2007/09/28/1190486545357.html


Fans rage against the scalpers
Asher Moses
September 28, 2007 - 1:27PM
Australian Rage Against The Machine fans are now raging against cyber-scalpers and Ticketmaster after tickets to the rock band's local shows sold out within seconds yesterday.
The tickets to the Sydney and Melbourne gigs went on sale at 9am and within minutes scalpers were listing them on eBay at a significant premium.
General admission floor tickets, which had a face value of $111.70, are now selling on the auction site for over five times that amount.
Enraged fans who had been hoping to see the shows, scheduled for January next year, were so dismayed they attempted to sabotage the eBay auctions by registering fake accounts and entering bogus bids as high as $1 billion.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/fans-rage-against-the-scalpers/2007/09/28/1190486540211.html


Police confront Burmese protesters in Canberra
Protests in Canberra ... police and demostrators confront each other outside the Burmese embassy.
Photo: Andrew Taylor
Being a Burmese-Australian, we feel neglected ... It is really hard to control the emotional point of view. There are people dying back home."
Erik Jensen
September 28, 2007 - 4:04PM
Police detained an assistant nurse, still wearing his Uniting Care uniform, at a pro-democracy demonstration outside the Burmese embassy in Canberra today.
"I was dragged down to the other side [of the embassy]. I was kicked in the back,'' Maung Maung Than, the detained man, said.
"It was an over-reaction. We didn't show any sign of violence towards the police. We are here to protest the Burmese military dictatorship.''
The protest of about 60 people assembled outside the Burmese embassy and was peaceful until a scuffle broke out over a sit-in on the closed road between the designated protest area and the embassy.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/police-confront-burmese-protesters-in-canberra/2007/09/28/1190486546224.html


14kg of cocaine found in kindergarten
September 28, 2007 - 6:05AM
Police in Los Angeles discovered 14 kilograms of cocaine and some 20 kilos of marijuana in a raid on a kindergarten in the city, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
They also found a stash of firearms and $US300,000 ($342,720) in cash stored in shoeboxes.
"In the same place as cellophane-wrapped cocaine and marijuana and a loaded assault rifle and three handguns, we found children's toys," spokesman Paul Vernon said.
Maria Castellon, 47, the owner of the building was arrested and is being held in lieu of $US2.03 million ($2.32 million) bail.
Police estimated that the cocaine was worth at least $US252,000 ($287,885) on the street, while the marijuana is valued at about $US20,000 ($22,850).

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/14kg-of-cocaine-found-in-kindergarten/2007/09/28/1190486514594.html


Teacher's aid on child pornography charges
September 28, 2007 - 12:14PM
A 60-year-old Townsville teacher's aid has been charged over the importation of child pornography.
Police today said a joint operation with customs led to the arrest of the man this month after customs allegedly found child exploitation material being imported in the form of commercially produced DVDs.
The man, who cannot be named, is listed on court documents as a teacher's aid and computer technician.
Officers have searched his Townsville home and car, seizing more than 50 computer hard drives, hundreds of DVDs and other items.
Investigations were now being carried out into whether the man had had contact with children in his neighbourhood, a police spokesman said today.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/teachers-aid-on-child-pornography-charges/2007/09/28/1190486535204.html



Bones in Russia may be tsar's children
September 28, 2007 - 7:29PM
There is a "high probability" that the bones found near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg belonged to a daughter and son of the last tsar, an official says, citing preliminary forensic work.
"Investigators have made a preliminary conclusion that there is a high degree of probability that the bones ... belong to the Crown Prince Alexei and Princess Maria," Vladimir Gromov, deputy forensic chief in the Sverdlovsk region, said in televised remarks.
The bones were found by archaeologists in a burned field near Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains where Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were held prisoner by the Bolsheviks and then shot in 1918.
The discovery was announced in August.
Prosecutors later announced they would reopen an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the royal family.
In 1998, remains unearthed from a mining pit and identified as those of Nicholas and Alexandra and three of their daughters were reburied in a ceremony in the imperial-era capital of St Petersburg.
The ceremony, however, was shadowed by statements of doubt - including from within the Russian Orthodox Church - about their authenticity.
If confirmed, the latest find would fill in a missing chapter in the story of the doomed Romanov family, whose reign was ended by the violent 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which ushered in more than 70 years of Communist rule.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bones-in-Russia-may-be-tsars-children/2007/09/28/1190486564847.html


Britney drama queen inks TV deal
Asher Moses
September 20, 2007 - 3:01PM
A week ago Chris Crocker was the laughing stock of the internet, but he will almost certainly have the last laugh - his nutty diatribe has helped land him his own TV show.
The overtly gay 19-year-old, who lives with his grandmother in Tennessee, posted an emotional video clip on YouTube last week in which he hysterically defended Britney Spears's abysmal performance at the MTV Video Music awards.
As his tears made the mascara run down his face, Crocker cried: "She lost her aunt, she went through a divorce, she had two f---ing kids, her husband turned out to be a user, a cheater, and now she's going through a custody battle. All you people care about is readers and making money off of her. She's a human!"

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/britney-drama-queen-inks-tv-deal/2007/09/20/1189881661178.html


Complex's swastika symbol mistake
Painting a swastika on a public building is a hate crime. But what happens when the building is the swastika?
From the ground, a construction in San Diego, United States, appears innocuous. But viewed from the air, on the internet via Google Earth, the shape is unmistakeable - it resembles the Nazi symbol.
Construction began for the six-building complex at the US naval base at Coronado in southern California in 1967.
The plans called for two central buildings and a single L-shaped barracks, but the Naval Amphibious Base Complex 320-325 evolved in design. By the time it was finished in 1970 it had four L-shaped buildings set at right angles. That was when the problem was spotted.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/complex-mistake/2007/09/27/1190486482564.html


Mugabe accuses Bush of duplicity
Claudia Parsons in New York
September 28, 2007
THE President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has accused the US President, George Bush, of "rank hypocrisy" for lecturing him on human rights and likened the Guantanamo Bay prison to a concentration camp.
"His hands drip with innocent blood of many nationalities," Mr Mugabe said in a fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly. "He kills in Iraq. He kills in Afghanistan. And this is supposed to be our master on human rights?"
Mr Mugabe, 83, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, was speaking the day after Mr Bush scolded the governments of Belarus, Syria, Iran and North Korea as "brutal regimes" in his speech to the General Assembly.
Mr Bush criticised the Zimbabwean Government headed by Mr Mugabe as "tyrannical" and an "assault on its people".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/mugabe-accuses-bush-of-duplicity/2007/09/27/1190486482559.html


Saudi women ponder wheel of change
September 29, 2007
Increasing economic clout could help bring about the right to drive, writes Hassan Fattah.
In a recent episode of Saudi Arabia's most popular television show, a Saudi man of the future is seen sitting in his house as his daughter pulls into the driveway, her children piled into the back of the car.
"Where have you been?" the father asks.
"The kids were bored so I took them to the movies," she replies, matter-of-factly, as she gets out of the driver's seat.
The scene may appear mundane, but in Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden to drive - and, by the way, where there are no cinemas, either - the skit portends something of a revolution. From a taboo about which there could be no open discussion, a woman's right to drive is developing into a topic of lively debate in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/wheel-of-change-for-women/2007/09/28/1190486567026.html


Pressure to deal with Blackwater mounting
James Risen in Washington
September 29, 2007
SECURITY personnel from Blackwater USA have been involved in 56 shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq so far this year, the US State Department says.
The private contractor, which is based in North Carolina, provided security to US diplomats on 1873 convoy runs in Iraq in the year to date, and its employees fired weapons 56 times, a written statement by the Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, said on Thursday. It is the first time the Bush Administration had made such data public.
The State Department did not release comparable 2007 figures for other security firms, but the Blackwater numbers show a far higher rate of shootings per convoy mission than during the previous year by one of the company's primary competitors, Dander International.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pressure-to-deal-with-blackwater-mounting/2007/09/28/1190486567000.html



Trash Talk TV - Tom builds a bunker
2007-09-27 16:44:17
Tom Cruise is going underground, Demi Moore is no more - it must be Trash Talk time again.(02:27)

http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Trash%20Talk&rid=31991



Je t'aime
A Velib docking station in Paris.
Photo: AP
September 29, 2007
Sarah Turnbull returns to Paris after three years and finds her beloved city full of bicycles and buzzing with a new energy.
Returning to a place you adore is a bit like reuniting with a lover: your excitement is tempered by a tweak of apprehension. During time apart, people change, evolve. Cities can, too, as I discovered when I returned to Paris.
My immediate impression, though - upon arriving on a golden evening at the end of what had been a cool, wet French summer - is one of reassuring familiarity. As I walk through the central 2nd arrondissement that was once my home, the cafe terraces are spilling over with chattering crowds.
Apart from a brief stopover, this is my first time here since we left more than three years ago. I don't feel like a tourist exactly, passing the pearl-grey buildings, the quaint shop signs announcing "Closed for holidays", the nonchalant Parisians with sunglasses perched on their heads, but I feel a definite rush of rediscovery.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/france/rekindling-a-romance-with-paris/2007/09/27/1190486467884.html


Have couch, will travel
Rafeal Nussbaum from Switzerland poses with his couchsurfing guests.
Photo: Reuters
September 27, 2007 - 3:39PM
Squeezing 150 people into Vince Peiro's flat in the foothills of the Swiss Alps would be a very tight fit - hence the tent city sprouting outside in the July evening sunshine.
Peiro was hosting a party for members of http://www.couchsurfing.com, an increasingly popular website that matches up travellers with locals offering a spare bed or couch for the night - for free.
Couchsurfing, which people can use to find somewhere to stay or just a local guide to a city, has more than 300,000 members worldwide, with up to 10,000 more signing up each week.
"I travelled for nearly a year in 1998 and I was often surprised by the hospitality I received all over the world and especially in the Middle East," said Peiro, in his early 30s.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/couchsurfing-the-hip-way-to-travel/2007/09/27/1190486465786.html


Scientists discover radio signal from deep space
Scott Casey and Sam Cardwell September 28, 2007 - 5:06AM
CANBERRA - A team of American astronomers has detected a huge burst of radio energy from deep space while using the Parkes radio telescope in NSW.
The huge burst of energy, which has startled scientists with its strength, is thought to have originated over 500 mega-parsecs or one-and-a-half billion light years from earth.
Professor Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University in Melbourne said that the burst was unusual as this kind of activity was usually very faint at such extreme distances.
"Normally the kind of cosmic activity we're looking for at this distance would be very faint but this was so bright that it saturated the equipment," he said in a statement.
The burst of energy, which lasted for only five milliseconds, was so strong that when it was first detected six years ago it was dismissed as man-made interference.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/09/28/1190486511000.html?s_rid=smh:top5


Australians set to flee Burma
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Australia's embassy in Rangoon has contingency evacuation plans if the situation deteriorates amid the Burmese military regime's bloody crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
Tens of thousands of people have joined Buddhist monks and nuns over the past week protesting against Burma's repressive military regime.
Burma state media has reported the government's crackdown on the protests have so far left at least nine people dead. Mr Downer's comments come as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had addressed Burma's representative directly during talks with Southeast Asian officials on the violent crackdown.
Mr Downer today told ABC Radio it wasn't known just how many Australians were in Burma, but there were not believed to be many and so far there had been no reports of any of them getting into difficulties.
"The embassy is saying the crackdown is really well and truly under way now. The military is visiting pagodas and threatening the monks," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/australians-set-to-flee-burma/2007/09/28/1190486520736.html


When food is scarce, tempers boil
Australian journalist Peter Olszewski has visited Burma more than a dozen times in the past five years.
I WAS lunching with a young Burmese businesswoman in the Monsoon Restaurant near the Sule Pagoda two weeks ago when the first of the maroon-robed monks marched past. They were a group of 400, waving flags, with a large contingent of supporters.
Suddenly the clatter of the busy restaurant ceased. An eerie silence set in. From outside came chanting, shouting and the strange slapping sound of hundreds of slippered feet.
I looked out the window and there they were — the marching monks. The notion that this might happen had been the talk of the town for days as tensions increased.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/when-food-is-scarce-tempers-boil/2007/09/27/1190486480889.html



Condoms spread HIV: archbishop
September 28, 2007
MOZAMBIQUE'S Roman Catholic Archbishop has accused European condom manufacturers of deliberately infecting their products with HIV "in order to finish quickly the African people".
The Archbishop of Maputo, Francisco Chimoio, told the BBC that he had specific information about a plot to kill off Africans.
"I know that there are two countries in Europe … making condoms with the virus, on purpose," he alleged. He refused to name the countries.
He added: "They want to finish with the African people. This is the program. They want to colonise until up to now. If we are not careful we will finish in one century's time."

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/27/1190486480904.html


New Zealand Herald

Did Bush turn down chance to get rid of Saddam for $1.3b?
5:00AM Friday September 28, 2007
President George W. Bush and former Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar. Photo / Reuters
MADRID - Saddam Hussein was prepared to take US$1 billion ($1.36 billion) and go into exile before the Iraq war, according to a transcript of talks between United States President George W Bush and an ally, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
During a meeting at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on February 22, 2003 - one month before the US-led invasion - Bush told former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar that Saddam could also be assassinated, according to the transcript published in El Pais in Spanish.
In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined to comment on the report.
The meeting at Bush's Texas ranch was ahead of a final diplomatic pushat the United Nations. The White House was planning to introduce a new Security Council resolution to pressure Saddam, but most council members saw it as a ploy to gain their authorisation for war.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466396



Locals handed control of foreign companies
5:00AM Friday September 28, 2007
Robert Mugabe
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Parliament has passed a bill giving local owners majority control of foreign-owned companies, including mines and banks, a move analysts say could drive the fragile economy deeper into crisis.
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party pushed through the bill after members of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change walked out in protest.
Mugabe's Government, which critics accuse of plunging Zimbabwe into turmoil by seizing white-owned farms and handing them to inexperienced black farmers, says the bill is part of its drive to empower the country's poor majority.
Analysts fear the move could sound the death knell for an economy that has also suffered from foreign investor flight over fears about the security of their investment.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466394


Myanmar crackdown draws outrage (+ photos, video)
YANGON - Fuelled by "revulsion" at Myanmar's violent crackdown on popular protests against military rule, Southeast Asia rounded on the generals on Friday and critics planned demonstrations at embassies across the region.
While the streets of Myanmar's former capital were quiet early on Friday, protests were expected at embassies in Taipei, Canberra, Manila and Tokyo, where government officials were trying to formulate a response to the crisis.
In Canberra, some protesters were detained and an axe seized after a group of around 100 clashed with police while trying to charge the Myanmar embassy there.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466445


Desperate Myanmar junta blocks blogs
10:21AM Friday September 28, 2007
Protesters are beaten while a shot Japanese photographer, who later died, continues to take photos from the ground. Photo / Reuters
The military junta in Myanmar is desperately trying to stem the flow information about the country's turmoil to the rest of the world.
Website mizzima.com says the authorities have blocked popular blogs that have been continuously posting news and photographs of the violence against monks and protesters.
Popular domestic Myanmar blogs Kohitke and Niknayman have been blocked from uploading further content today.
"Curbs of freedom of expression by the people and restricting the free media are a blatant violation of fundamental human rights. We condemn the SPDC vehemently," A Niknayman blogger said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466465


PM nominates Musharraf
5:00AM Friday September 28, 2007
Pervez Musharraf
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday filed papers nominating President General Pervez Musharraf to stand in an October 6 presidential election.
Pakistan faces months of uncertainty as Musharraf tries to stay in control. An alliance of opposition parties is demanding an end to military involvement in politics and the restoration of full democracy. It is hoping the Supreme Court will rule against Musharraf's election bid.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466393


Africa's governments ranked from best to worst
5:00AM Friday September 28, 2007
By Steve Bloomfield
Mauritius came out on top for its strong human rights record and anti-corruption measures.
Most visitors to the tiny island nation of Mauritius come in search of a predictable mix of unspoilt beaches and hot weather. Few will have been aware of the Government's strong record on human rights and most are probably unaware of its rigorous anti-corruption legislation and policies on poverty, education and health.
But now the 1.2 million people who live in Mauritius may start boasting about those achievements a little more loudly. Mauritius, about 1930km off the coast of mainland Africa, has been named the continent's best-governed country in the first comprehensive ranking of African governance.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10466325

continued...

Meet the man who hunts the whalers

Paul Watson ... "these guys are criminals".

Photo: Peter Mathew

Andrew Darby

September 29, 2007
CALL him dangerous or call him courageous. Just don't call him unwilling.
Paul Watson, the Ahab who scours the Southern Ocean for the Japanese whaling fleet, is girding for another attack - this time on behalf of a white whale.
This summer the Japanese fleet is to add Australian humpbacks to the hundreds of whales that it kills in the name of science and sells for meat.
Mr Watson, the president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has arrived in Tasmania to repair his ship for a campaign he calls Operation Migaloo after the alabaster humpback that migrates annually along the Australian east coast.
"I think we have to take a more aggressive position against [the whalers]," Mr Watson told the Herald.
"Because right now they have crossed the line into going after endangered species. That to me is no different from poaching elephants, or running drugs or robbing banks. These guys are criminals and should be dealt with as such."
With the humpbacks' southern migration now in full swing off our coasts, alarm is rising. Diplomatic efforts to dissuade Japan at the International Whaling Commission proved fruitless and the Federal Government has rejected legal action.
Mr Watson believes whaling will be an election issue in Australia, where Labor advocates government monitoring of the Japanese in the Southern Ocean, and going to international courts.
"I think there's no way the Howard Government is going to convince anybody they are going to do anything," Mr Watson says. "They've got a record of doing absolutely nothing, other than kiss the arse of the Japanese."
Greenpeace is refusing to outline its plans until mid-October but Mr Watson believes its ship, the Esperanza, will trail the fleet south all the way from Japan. He dismisses Greenpeace's extraordinary recent record of raising awareness of the hunt by video.
"We all know it's going on. What are we going to do to stop it? That's the point. I will not roll a camera while a whale dies. I don't care how valuable that is. Anyway, we've never seen a whale killed, because when we show up, they don't kill whales. They run. You notice that when Greenpeace shows up, they just carry on. Business as usual."
In his three Antarctic campaigns, Mr Watson has had only fleeting encounters with his nemesis, the factory ship Nisshin Maru. It fled at full speed twice when he found it in 2005. But earlier this year, after months of searching, he surprised the fleet near the Balleny Islands, far south of New Zealand.
His 20-knot former patrol boat Robert Hunter trailed a heavy rope across Nisshin Maru's bow in an attempt to entangle its propeller, and the Japanese almost came within range of his slower vessel, Farley Mowat, which was fitted with a hull-slicing hydraulic "can-opener".
But Mr Watson was forced to call off the battle to search for two Sea Shepherd activists, retrieved after hours lost in their dinghy, disabled by hitting Nisshin Maru's hull as they tried to heave a net into the propeller.
A few days later Robert Hunter was damaged when it collided with the fleet's observation vessel, Kaiko Maru. Low on fuel and facing the loss of the Hunter's British flag after Japanese Government pressure, Mr Watson called off the chase. Since then, like Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd has registered under the Dutch flag.
"Japan already leaned on Holland hard to try to get the Dutch flag off us," he says. He says the tables were turned at a meeting in The Hague in July and the Dutch complained about Japan's illegal whaling.
After dry-docking in Launceston to repair Robert Hunter's hull, increase helicopter space and paint the ship black, Mr Watson plans to head south on December 1.
He was convinced that last year he was being tracked by satellite, enabling the whalers to steer clear of him. "I think we have a better way to do surveillance this year," he says. "We're trying different tactics, which of course I can't go into. But I'm a little more confident we're going to get them."
In evidence of Japan's determination to continue whaling, the Government-owned fleet is expected to be joined by a new chaser ship launched last month.
Mr Watson dismissed its importance. "We're going to concentrate on the Nisshin Maru," he says. "Because if you can stop the factory ship, you stop the operation."
The Japanese Government has described Mr Watson's attacks as "terroristic".
The International Whaling Commission has repeatedly condemned any actions that risk human life and property at sea, and warned that confrontations may lead to grave accidents.
Off to the kill: Japan's plans
* Japan has given itself a "scientific permit" to kill up to 50 humpbacks, 50 fin whales and 935 minkes in Antarctic waters this summer.
* All whales killed by Japan are in the International Whaling Commission's Southern Ocean Sanctuary, and many are taken inside a Canberra-declared whale sanctuary off the Australian Antarctic Territory.
* The humpbacks targeted by the Japanese are from stocks breeding in Australia's tropical waters and migrating to the Antarctic, where they feed in summer. About 8000 migrate along the east coast and about 14,000 use the west coast.
* The latest government figures put the Japanese stockpile of frozen whale meat at 3327 tonnes, which means that 1235 tonnes left the hoard in July.

Strong deep-space signal startles astronomers

The significance of the energy burst was discovered in a re-analysis of six-year-old data collected at Parkes.Photo: Fiona-Lee Quimby

Coral reefs are dying due to warming and cities should take action

Location of U.S. coral reef ecosystems in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.

Source:
CSIRO Australia
Date:
May 19, 2007
Southern Ocean Carbon Sink Weakened (click here)
Science Daily — Scientists have observed the first evidence that the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, has weakened by about 15 per cent per decade since 1981.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Baseline Air Pollution Station at Cape Grim, north-west Tasmania. (Credit: Image courtesy of CSIRO Australia)
In research published in Science, an international research team – including CSIRO’s Dr Ray Langenfelds – concludes that the Southern Ocean carbon dioxide sink has weakened over the past 25 years and will be less efficient in the future. Such weakening of one of the Earth’s major carbon dioxide sinks will lead to higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the long-term.
Dr Paul Fraser, who leads research into atmospheric greenhouse gases at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, says the international team’s four-year study concludes that the weakening is due to human activities.
“The researchers found that the Southern Ocean is becoming less efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide due to an increase in wind strength over the Ocean, resulting from human-induced climate change,” Dr Fraser says.
“The increase in wind strength is due to a combination of higher levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and long-term ozone depletion in the stratosphere, which previous CSIRO research has shown intensifies storms over the Southern Ocean.”
The increased winds influence the processes of mixing and upwelling in the ocean, which in turn cause an increased release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, reducing the net absorption of carbon dioxide into the ocean.
“Combined, the Earth’s land and ocean sinks absorb about half of all carbon dioxide emissions from human activities,” Dr Fraser says. “The Southern Ocean takes up 15 per cent of these emissions, hence a reduction in its efficiency will have serious implications for atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over coming decades.”
Dr Fraser points to one piece of good news: that ozone levels in the stratosphere have stopped declining and should recover slowly in coming decades. “Thus the impact of ozone depletion on the Southern Ocean carbon dioxide sink will lessen in the future, but the impact of increasing levels of greenhouse gases will continue unabated.”
The international team comprised researchers from CSIRO in Australia, the Max-Planck Institute in Germany, the University of East Anglia and British Antarctic Survey in England, the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in the US, NIWA in New Zealand, the South African Weather Service, LSCE/IPSL and CNRS in France, and the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies in Japan.
The team used observations from 40 stations around the world, including Cape Grim in north-west Tasmania. The Cape Grim station, operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, monitors and studies changes in global atmospheric composition in a program led by CSIRO and the Bureau.
Meanwhile, research to increase understanding and improve management of the oceans will increase following the announcement today by WA Premier, the Hon Alan Carpenter. The Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) is a new $A21 million, five-year research collaboration focussing on the marine environment to Australia’s west.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by CSIRO Australia.

The Gulf of Mexico is hot. There is no getting away from the fact it is so hot the corals are suffering.

September 28, 2007
0845 UTC
GOES East Water Vapor Satellite (click on link to title for 12 hour loop. thank you)

It spawned a 'near shore' storm this week.

Mexico prepares for Tropical Storm Lorenzo (click here)

September 28 2007 at 01:10AM
By Miguel Angel HernandezVeracruz - Tropical Storm Lorenzo formed just off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Thursday after the area was put under a storm warning.A hurricane hunter aircraft found that a previously formed tropical depression strengthened and had top sustained winds of 96km/h shortly before 2pm, the National Hurricane Centre said. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane once its sustained winds reach 119km/h.Lorenzo's centre was just off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Thursday, and was projected to hit land Friday morning near the small port of Tuxpan.Officials cancelled classes and set up shelters Thursday as steady rains drenched Veracruz state's coastline. No evacuations were immediately planned, however.

The victimization of UNYSIS - Weather Satellites can't be accessed. Amazing. UNISYS is the Monkey in the Middle of an incompetent administration

CNN has a 'witch hunt' campaign about National Security starting this week. They have started ranting to supply "The Culture of Fear" with a head of stream to railroad UNISYS into victimization while Michael Chertoff could never get his act together.

Chertoff's security comments face opposition (click here)
Updated Thu. Sep. 27 2007 1:24 PM ET
Canada AM
A keynote speaker at a conference has criticized U.S. secretary of homeland security Michael Chertoff's comments that privacy is not sacrificed by anti-terrorism security measures.
Chertoff spoke at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Montreal Wednesday and said that measures to create secure ID and to screen people enter the United States will improve privacy.
"I want to reject the implicit zero-sum premise that privacy must be traded for security," Chertoff said at the conference....


George Bush's climate change plan draws fireBy Alex Spillius in New York (click here)
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 28/09/2007
George W Bush has staged his first major meeting on climate change in an attempt to persuade the world's most polluting powers to avoid another Kyoto-style agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions....


Keelty stands firm on climate change security comments (click here)
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty has stood by his claim that climate change is the greatest security issue facing Australia's future.
Commissioner Keelty earlier this week said that rising sea levels as a result of climate change would force an exodus of refugees to seek illegal residence in Australia
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has rejected the claim while the Prime Minister John Howard has said terrorism is the more immediate security threat.
Commissioner Keelty says his comments were made in an academic context and one threat can not be compared with the other.
"I don't think it matters which is more important. I mean certain threats will ascend at certain different periods in our history and this was as I say a futuristic comment," he said....



Report says Unisys probed for U.S. Homeland Security breach (click here)
Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:03am BST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating allegations that Unisys failed to detect a Chinese Web site's cyber break-ins on computers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and then tried to cover up its shortcomings, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Unisys won a $1 billion (494 million pound) contract in 2002 to build and manage information technology networks at the department and the Transportation Security Administration. But evidence gathered by the Homeland Security Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives indicates network-intrusion devices were not properly installed and monitored, the Post said.
As a result, some 150 DHS computers were compromised by hackers using a Chinese-language Web site from June through October in 2006.
Unisys, based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, disputed the charge with a statement saying: "We can state generally that the allegation that Unisys did not properly install essential security systems is incorrect. In addition, we routinely follow prescribed security protocols and have properly reported incidents to the customer in accordance with those protocols.
"... We believe that a proper investigation of this matter will conclude that Unisys acted in good faith to meet the customer's security requirements."
Besides the original $1 billion contract, Unisys received a $750 million follow-up deal in 2005, the Post said.
An aide on the Homeland Security Committee told the newspaper that the FBI was investigating Unisys for criminal fraud. The committee also has called for the DHS to look into the matter.
The committee also said the contractor allegedly had falsely certified the computer network had been protected to cover up its failings, the Post said.

Morning Papers - continued...

Zoos

Henkel North America sent 30 volunteers and $25,000 in materials to help the flood-ravaged zoo after the community won a contest
By BILL HANNA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
STAR-TELEGRAM/RALPH LAUER
Henkel volunteers Pamela Scovill, left, and Sabina Schauer mount a new sign as they help spruce up the Frank Buck Zoo on Wednesday.
GAINESVILLE -- When Gainesville was hit with devastating floods June 18, Frank Buck Zoo also took a significant hit.
About 150 animals had to be evacuated, and much of the zoo was under 12 feet of water for about two days.
Floodwaters sent debris rushing across the grounds at the 13-acre zoo, washing away landscaping and causing some erosion.
"It was a trying time," zoo Director Susan Kleven said. "We had to evacuate five times in a month because it kept raining."
So when Gainesville was named the winner of the Henkel Helps contest sponsored by Henkel North America, which makes products including Dial soap and Right Guard deodorant, it was a godsend to Kleven.

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/248865.html



News Flash
Junior League invites you to RunWild! for fitness at zoo
By Ken Neuhauser
kneuhauser@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Junior League of Louisville is stressing the importance of fitness and health with a family event this weekend at the Louisville Zoo.
RunWild! -- featuring a two-mile fun run/walk, a health and wellness expo and fitness and cooking demonstrations -- will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the zoo, 1100 Trevilian Way.
Registration will begin at 7 a.m.
The walk will start at 8:30.
Highlights include relay races, yoga, a hip-hop dance class, cardio kickboxing and food samples.
The registration fee is $25 per family of four or $15 per adult and $10 per child.
The fee includes full day admission to the zoo, a T-shirt and more.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/FEATURES03/709270334/1010/FEATURES



Volunteer Profile: Go wild at Sacramento Zoo benefit
By Gloria Glyer -
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 27, 2007
Jeff Tackett says he loves "volunteering at the Sacramento Zoo because they have so many wonderful programs." Sacramento Bee/Erhardt Krause
What: Wild Affair, presented by the Sacramento Zoological Society.
When and where: 5 p.m. Oct. 6 on the grounds of the Sacramento Zoo in William Land Park; $150 for singles, $1,500 for a table for 10, $3,000 for a patron sponsor table; (916) 808-8815 or www.saczoo.com.
The program: Behind-the-scenes zoo tours during cocktails and hors d'oeuvres; 7:30 p.m. feast prepared by Patrick Mulvaney of Mulvaney's Building and Loan; wild auction with Channel 13's Dave Bender as the host; a salute to Unger Construction and the city of Sacramento.

http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/400619.html



St. Louis Zoo offers classes for all ages
The St. Louis Zoo's education department is offering a variety of classes and programs for all ages.
Students in grades two through eight can participate in the Keeper for a Day program. Kids will help care for small animals in the Children's Zoo. Openings are available December through March 23.
Families can explore nature together with a variety of day, evening and overnight programs.
Adult programs include a breakfast tour, zoology courses and guest lectures on wildlife conservation programs.
Science education programs are available for home school students and include live animals, biofacts, observation and investigation activities.
Scout troops can complete badge activities and teachers can bring their class ti a WildNight! Adventure at the Zoo.
Fees vary. Proceeds support the Zoo. For information and registration, visit www.stlzoo.org/education or call (314) 768-5408.

http://www.bnd.com/entertainment/story/138550.html



Eye surgery set for Columbus Zoo gorilla
POWELL (AP) — A nationally recognized pediatric eye disorder expert is being brought in to perform surgery on a 3-year-old gorilla to correct a lazy eye, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said.
Dr. Richard Hertle of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh will move some of the muscles to correct the movement of Doty’s eye during the surgery on Thursday, the zoo said.
The zoo decided to call on a specialist in human eye surgery since gorilla and human eyes are so similar, said Dr. Mike Barrie, one of the zoo’s veterinarians.
“The anatomy is almost identical and the process of the problem is the same as in people as in primates,” Barrie said.
Having a gorilla wear glasses or an eye patch — a common solution to lazy eye in humans — wouldn’t have worked, he said.
Information from: Tracy Townsend/WBNS-TV, http://www.10tv.com/

http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/UPDATES01/70927003/-1/rssupdates



Chengdu Zoo
We had the unique opportunity to receive a personal tour by a zoo veterinarian. A friend of my brother and sister-in-law's has been a vet at this zoo for two years and he is the only Western zoo vet in all of China. (This is also his last week there as he is planning to go into private practice where he can offer more of his services to farmer's in need of vetrinary care to keep their animals (and their subsistance) alive.
We learned all kinds of interesting facts, and laughed at the animals reactions to him as some of them recognized him.
Since we are going to the Panda Reserve on Friday, we'll save the panda photos for then.

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Chengdu/blog-205943.html



Jackson zoo to break ground on new education center
The Clarion-Ledger
Zoo staff, officials and donors will break ground on the Gertrude C. Ford Education Center at 10 a.m. today at the Jackson Zoological Park, 2918 W. Capitol St.
The approximately $1.5 million facility will feature classroom space and unique animal exhibit space.
The center is the final component of the four-acre Wilderness Mississippi area of the zoo, which opened in 2006 and displays more than 100 species of animals.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS/70927001



Legacy announces Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals
Posted in News on Thursday, September 27th, 2007
Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals, the latest in Real Life Games from Legacy Interactive, will arrive in October, first at retail and then in a downloadable version available at www.legacygames.com. Vivendi Games will distribute the title at retail in North America. The interactive exploration of veterinary medicine is the follow-up to 2005’s Zoo Vet. The virtual practice of veterinary medicine affords players the opportunity to perform surgery, administer medicine and carry out other treatment procedures using a variety of medical tools. Hints are available from the zoo staff so players of all levels are able to succeed. Would-be veterinarians can also investigate conservation issues, view video footage of endangered species in Africa, and access information about the education and skills required to pursue a career as a vet. The animal action is rounded out by a memory game, a trivia test, a word search and a jigsaw puzzle.

http://www.avault.com/?p=1124



Jackson Zoo breaks ground on new education center
The Clarion-Ledger
Barbara Gauntt /The Clarion-Ledger
Jackson Zoo Director Beth Poff (right) and Robert Parker Adams, architect of the Gertrude C. Ford Education Center, address a crowd gathered for the groundbreaking of the Education Center at the Zoo this morning.
Zoo staff, officials and donors gathered today to break ground on the Gertrude C. Ford Education Center at the Jackson Zoological Park, 2918 W. Capitol St.
The approximately $1.5 million facility will feature classroom space and unique animal exhibit space.
The center is the final component of the four-acre Wilderness Mississippi area of the zoo, which opened in 2006 and displays more than 100 species of animals.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS/70927020


Creative therapy offered at zoo
Relationship-rescue therapist Dr. Karen Gail Lewis and entertainer Barbara Baxter will help women remove the obstacles to their personal and professional development Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden beginning with a "meet-and-greet" visit with the elephants, a lively metaphor for those roadblocks.
This creative, self-discovery session is the newest brainchild of Lewis, a popular speaker, author and professor. With a 37-plus-year career, she practices in Kenwood and Washington, D.C. Baxter is an author, illustrator, entertainer and speaker who has met life's road bumps with grace and humor. She lives in Northern Kentucky.
Cost for the half-day workshop is $185. To register, contact Lewis at 542-0646 or Dr.KarenGailLewis.com.

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS05/709270372/1106/RSS1115



Win Pull-Along Zoo Animals from Melissa & Doug
Melissa & Doug from Flair is an inspirational range of wooden toys that has been created by a husband and wife team who wanted the very best for their own children.
Taking all their parental experience they have come up with a fabulous range of products all of which carry a lifetime guarantee.
The no-nonsense packaging means you can see exactly what's inside - just good old-fashioned toys with heaps of play value.
Eighteen lucky readers have the chance of winning one of the best toys from the range.
Toddlers will love this colourful trio of animals that can be stacked and sorted in a variety of combinations. When put together it produces a zoo train over two feet in length, which will delight any toddler.

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1718216.mostviewed.win_pullalong_zoo_animals_from_melissa_doug.php



Cirque du Soleil Street Performances downtown on Friday and at Virginia Zoo’s Horticulture Open House on Saturday
The traveling band of Saltimbanco street performers from the Cirque du Soleil traveling show will be performing Friday, September 28, in front of Waterside from Noon to 2 p.m. and in front of Nauticus from 3 to 5 pm., moving to the Virginia Zoo on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m.
At the Virginia Zoo the troupe of street performers will be playing and clowning with Zoo guests and giving away promotional items during their visit. Come join in the fun of Cirque du Soleil, a truly unique and magical experience!
The Virginia Zoo’s Horticulture Open House will also take place on Saturday, September 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Guests will enjoy educational displays, walking tours, a plant sale, face painting, maze, scavenger hunt and more! All programs and activities are included in the regular Zoo admission price.
As an accredited Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facility, the Virginia Zoo exhibits over 350 animals, beautifully manicured grounds and offers a fun-filled day for all. For more than a century, the Virginia Zoo has demonstrated a commitment to wildlife, conservation and education. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and located at 3500 Granby Street in Norfolk. Daily admission prices are $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for seniors (age 62 and over), and $5.00 for children ages 2-11. Visit www.virginiazoo.org or call (757) 441-2374 for more information.

http://www.norfolk.gov/News/Press/prdetails.asp?PressID=1031



Racine Zoo earns national accreditation
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 2:27 PM CDT
The Racine Zoo recently received accreditation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
To be accredited, the zoo underwent a thorough investigation of its standards of animal care, veterinary programs, conservation, education and safety.
“Being accredited by the AZA is notable since there are just over 200 AZA accredited Zoo’s in America due in part to their stringent guidelines,” said Jay Christie, President and CEO, Racine Zoo. “The Racine Zoo is a great community resource and for it to be recognized and accredited by the AZA is an honor the entire community should be proud of.”
Founded in 1924, the AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.
The mission of the AZA Accreditation Commission is to establish, uphold, and raise the highest zoological and aquarium industry standards through self-evaluation, on-site inspection, and peer review.
AZA requires zoos and aquariums to successfully complete a rigorous accreditation process in order to be members of the association, and are required to resubmit to this process every five years.
“Only the very best zoos and aquariums can meet tough Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation standards,” said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. “The leadership and staff of the Racine Zoo are to be congratulated for the hard work and commitment that they put into the accreditation process.”

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2007/09/26/local_news/doc46fab316a47b7600226774.txt



Shanghai wildlife park has cheetahs to spare
By Lu Feiran 2007-9-28
THE Shanghai Wildlife Park in Nanhui District will open a cheetah center before the National Day holiday.
The center will be home for 20 cheetahs aged between one month and a year born in the park over the past two years.
The park has 60 cheetahs - the largest collection of any in the country. It managed to breed 31 cheetahs last year, a new record in Asia.
"Breeding cheetahs is very difficult and not much easier than breeding pandas," said Su Feilong, an official with the park.
"Despite the success we have had at our park, only 37 cheetahs live in all the other zoos in China."

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200709/20070928/article_332874.htm



America's First Zoo has a new website :

http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org/



Zoo will take snakes found in rattler raid
WAYNE, Mich., 22 (UPI) -- A Kentucky zoo will soon be the new home of a bevy of poisonous snakes found this week in the basement of a Detroit-area home.
A total of 64 serpents, including dozens of rattlesnakes, were confiscated by Wayne police in the home of a man who had showed up at a hospital claiming to have bitten.
City ordinance prohibits possession of poisonous snakes, so officials found a new home for them at the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade, according to the Detroit News.
The snakes’ erstwhile owner recovered from the bite.
© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2007/09/22/zoo_will_take_snakes_found_in_rattler_raid/4507/


Zoo gets special visitor from the north
by Staten Island Advance
Saturday September 22, 2007, 1:57 PM
The Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton got a special visitor from way up north - Atka, an Arctic gray wolf.
Well, he wasn't from as far north as you'd think. He was brought down from the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., for a special educational event.
Hilton FloresAtka, an Arctic gray wolf, pays a visit to the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton.
As he did laps around a crowd in the auditorium - at the end of a heavy chain grasped by a handler - spectators whipped out cell phones and cameras to capture shots of the large animal.
Despite Atka's size - as well as the fangs and big yellow eyes - he was docile and friendly, and even earned some laughs from the crowd when he tried to scavenge through a garbage can.
But one of the rules was: No petting.
He may appear friendly, but he's still a wolf, said Maggie Howell, the conservation center's managing director.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2007/09/zoo_gets_special_visitor_from.html



Sea Lion @ Bronx Zoo 2

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31icu_sea-lion-bronx-zoo-2_animals



Roof zoo plan to put pizzazz into Harrods
Zoe Wood, retail correspondent
Sunday September 23, 2007
The Observer
Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed has a pet project to build a zoo on the roof of the world-famous London store.
What would be a retail first is the brainchild of Harrods creative director Bill Mitchell, who is retained by al-Fayed to come up with ideas to inject pizzazz into the 158-year-old department store.
Mitchell, an artist in his own right, is installed in a garret on the eighth floor of the Knightsbridge store. His commissions for Harrods include the statue dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, as well as the store's kitsch Egyptian Room.

http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2174798,00.html



Chaffee Zoo Having Hard Time Keeping Stingrays Alive
09/22/2007 - Stingrays can be extremely docile creatures, even more so when viewed at petting zoos. Families and young children have a chance to interact first hand.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=5669554



Party guests go wild to benefit zoo animals
By Helen Ford Wallace
Parties, ETC.
IT'S A JUNGLE IN THERE • If all the wild animals at the Oklahoma City Zoo had peeked in the windows of Deep Fork Grill last weekend, they'd have seen people going wild in their honor.
Guest chefs for Deep Fork, Lela and Mark Sullivan, planned a "Going Wild at Deep Fork Grill” gourmet dinner for friends and for Sullivan's favorite organization: the zoo. A capacity crowd arrived to the beat of jungle drums and a drink called a Manatee Mojito, a great lime and mint drink. Toy zoo animals decorated the tables. An embossed gold giraffe was on the red napkins and guest towels.
Filet and salmon were main courses, and dessert was champagne and raspberry sorbet accompanied by chocolate chip cookies, a host's favorite.

http://newsok.com/article/3130514/1190496888



Woodland Park Zoo euthanizes giraffe that "brought joy"
By Brian Alexander
Seattle Times staff reporter
Sukari, a 25-year-old giraffe, came to Woodland Park Zoo in 1982.
An elderly female giraffe at Woodland Park Zoo has died, the zoo announced Thursday.
The 25-year-old giraffe, named Sukari, suffered from several age-related conditions and was euthanized, according to a zoo news release.
Sukari arrived here from a Dallas zoo in 1982 when she was less than a year old.
She had four offspring, which are all living at other zoos.
"As animals reach the end of their life expectancies, we try to prepare for their passing. But it is still sad losing a geriatric animal, especially one that has lived virtually her entire life with us," said Woodland Park Zoo General Curator Nancy Hawkes. "She was an iconic animal who brought joy and inspiration to our many visitors and school groups. ... She will be missed."
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003894832_giraffe21m.html



Zoo Raising the Bar
WSLS NewsChannel 10
Sep 23, 2007
Mill Mountain Zoo is accredited and trucking forward.
In fact, things have been hopping on top of Mill Mountain ever since last Sunday when the Association of Zoos and Acquariums gave the zoo their stamp of approval.
"Only 10 percent of the zoos in the country have that honor," Dave Orndorff, the zoo's curator, said. "They actually gave us a standing ovation."
The viewing glass in front of the monkey cage is just one of the things the zoo did to make the mark.

http://www.wsls.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSLS%2FMGArticle%2FSLS_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352864202&path=!news!localnews



Visit the zoo for some gung-ho gardening
Kathy Van Mullekom Diggin' In
September 23, 2007
If animals at the Virginia Zoo could talk, they would tell you they live among some of the most colorful, tropical, wild and wonderful gardens in all of Hampton Roads.
Why? Because Marie Butler is a gung-ho gardener.
Marie, in charge of more than 400 plant varieties in nine theme gardens at the zoo, is an organic gardener who loves to try bold foliage and flowers.
She hand picks what the zoo grows and coordinates it to benefit wildlife living at the site and butterflies, bees and birds that visit the diverse gardens.

http://www.dailypress.com/features/dp-gl_diggin_0923sep23,0,5765995.column



National Zoo Euthanizes Cheetah
The Smithsonian's National Zoo staff euthanized an 8-year-old male cheetah named Ume Wednesday after a rapid decline in the animal's condition. Ume came to the National Zoo in 2004 from White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Fl., where he survived a lightning strike that killed his sibling and staff speculate may have contributed to his health issues.
Ume did well during his initial introduction to the National Zoo, but had a history of health issues which animal care staff carefully monitored. Animal care staff managed the cat's poor appetite since his arrival at the Zoo but noted a significant decline in his appetite and weight several months ago.

http://newsblaze.com/story/20070923142444tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html



Photo Week: Buttonwood Park Zoo

http://maryschwalm.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/photo-week-buttonwood-park-zoo/



East London zoo to receive a facelift
September 24, 2007, 07:30
The old East London zoo is to be given a multi-million rand facelift. This comes from a new master plan for the zoo which maps the route forward for the next 15 years. The plan, if it succeeds, will rate the zoo as one of the best in the world.
It's the only zoo in the Eastern Cape, and about 100 000 people visit it yearly to be entertained and to learn. The plan will cost the taxpayer R280 million and authorities say proper consultation and research has been done. East London Zoo Manager, Nico Roux, says "The development will be done in phases, so should funding become available, we will start with phase 1."
Buffalo City Municipality has blessed the plan and shown confidence in it by putting forward R1,3 million this financial year. It's expected to become one of the city's major tourist attractions. Director at the community service buffalo city, Wendy Maqekeza Galada, says "We will be attracting more people so there'll be more jobs created at all levels."
More than 200 animals are kept at the zoo. Educational tours and conservation studies are also carried out.

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,156330,00.html



My first AZA conference!
By Brenda Gonzalez, Membership Supervisor
Once a year, Zoo and Aquarium officials from all over the country converge on one city- for the National Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Conference. The Sacramento Zoo had a pretty good showing- sending our two Lead Animal Keepers, the Education Director, the Marketing & Community Relations Director, the Marketing Manager, little ol' me, the Membership Supervisor and of course our Zoo Director (who also happens to be the current Chair of the AZA!).

http://sacramentozoo.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-first-aza-conference.html



Zoo reopens, few visitors
Published Date: September 24, 2007
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer
KUWAIT: The Kuwait Zoo is a very entertaining place which is often visited by kids. During Ramadan, people visiting Kuwait Zoo has very much decreased. The zoo was closed for a couple of months because of the bird flu outbreak in Kuwait, but it was reopened last week after the danger of this disease disappeared. Many people wondered what happened with the zoo when they went to it and found it closed. Moreover, the hours of the zoo during Ramadan isn't clear to the public.

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODM5NjkyMTA3



Home is where the hawk is, finally
By MARK DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/24/07
Maybe it got tired of chasing the rats, or flying solo. Perhaps it missed the crowds that applauded its aerial antics.
Or maybe, just maybe, it got homesick. After all, home is where the free meal is.
Alamo, a fugitive from Zoo Atlanta for a month, was recaptured Saturday.
Whatever the reason, Alamo, Zoo Atlanta's wayward hawk, is back in familiar haunts. Zoo employees returned the Harris' hawk to its old habitat Saturday.
"He's doing great," said Jennifer Waller, a spokeswoman for the zoo. "He even gained a little weight."
Alamo took it on the wing Aug. 22 during a performance at the zoo's outdoor amphitheater. It flew to the top of a nearby tree, scowled at everyone, then took off.
It didn't go far from its Grant Park digs. People reported seeing the Parabuteo unicinctus at a nearby BP, hanging out. Others said they saw the feathered fugitive hovering around the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. One Grant Park resident took a photo of the fierce-eyed raptor as it sat in a tree in his backyard.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, the zoo got a call from a homeowner whose house is about a mile from the zoo. The caller reported a dark bird in the backyard. It had a white tail ... and a leather strap on its ankle.
A zoo employee who knows Alamo hustled to the house, baited trap in hand. When she arrived, she saw a big bird in the backyard, and knew.
"It was him," Waller said. "He went right in. And now he's back home."

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/living/stories/2007/09/23/hawk_0924.html



PETA asks Lim not to get more animals for Manila Zoo
By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 08:22pm (Mla time) 09/24/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The animal welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has asked Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim not to push through with his plan to get more animals from Calauit Island in Palawan province for the city zoo.
PETA Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker said the city government should instead find ways to improve the welfare of animals or close down the Manila Zoo and set its residents free in wildlife reservations.
“Given the problems with the zoo’s aging infrastructure, it would be extremely cruel to subject even more animals to such miserable conditions,” Baker said in his September 21 letter to Lim, a copy of which was provided by PETA to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_id=90430



Monkeys mug tourist, take phone at zoo
(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-20 11:08
A visitor to Fuzhou Zoo had his phone stolen and his arm scratched after he took photos of a group of Assamese macaques.
Zheng Dong was taking snaps of the monkeys when one of them suddenly snatched his phone and started chewing it.
Zheng climbed over the railings and tried to get his phone but three of the macaques flew into a rage and scratched his arm.
With the help of zookeepers Zheng got his phone back, but it was damaged beyond repair. He is now claiming compensation from the zoo.
(Fuzhou Evening News)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-09/20/content_6121450.htm



Owners of Petting Zoo Fear for Animals' Safety
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — The owners of a small petting zoo are worried for their animals' safety after several acts of vandalism.
The Barnyard Friends petting zoo is home to peacocks, horses, donkeys, a camel and several other animals. The zoo, however, has been the victim of several acts of vandalism and suspicious animal deaths over the last couple of years, owners Rena and Dan Kirk said.
In 2005, Rena Kirk found a skunk dead in its case, and later that month found a dead goat. Within a week of that death, another goat was found dead.
"It started out as a couple of things happened that we just thought were flukes," Kirk said.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/indiana/9965161.html



Zoo coordinates year's second big clean up

http://www.nczoo.org/press/view.cfm?ID=263



Rain Dancin’
Posted at 10:03 am September 24, 2007 by Ellie Rosenbaum An unseasonably early and rare rainstorm had been predicted for San Diego last week, and we waited anxiously for it to arrive at the Gaint Panda Research Station. Pandas, especially youngsters, seem to come alive in the rain, romping and climbing with what appears to be great glee as if the rain was a special treat provided just for them. Throughout Friday morning, I encouraged guests to return to the area should the showers begin, and, the bears begin to play in it.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/rain-dancin/



Owners of Petting Zoo Fear for Animals' Safety
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — The owners of a small petting zoo are worried for their animals' safety after several acts of vandalism.
The Barnyard Friends petting zoo is home to peacocks, horses, donkeys, a camel and several other animals. The zoo, however, has been the victim of several acts of vandalism and suspicious animal deaths over the last couple of years, owners Rena and Dan Kirk said.
In 2005, Rena Kirk found a skunk dead in its case, and later that month found a dead goat. Within a week of that death, another goat was found dead.
"It started out as a couple of things happened that we just thought were flukes," Kirk said.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/indiana/9965161.html



Fort Worth Zoo planning new reptile house
Dallas Business Journal
The Fort Worth Zoo on Monday unveiled plans to build an $18 million, 30,000-square-foot reptile and amphibian house.
The new herpetarium, which will be called the Museum of Living Art, or MOLA for short, will be home to 165 different species representing about 900 animals. The new facility will replace the zoo's existing 9,000-square-foot herpetarium, which was built in 1960, and has failing plumbing and sub-par holding facilities.
The MOLA will include quarantine rooms and hibernaculums, which are used for the breeding of rare, endangered and critically endangered animals.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2007/09/24/daily9.html



Living art museum to replace zoo's outdated herpetarium
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- The city's estimable art landscape already includes the likes of Cezanne, O'Keefe and Rothko.
Joining them in the next two years will be more ancient works of art, such as the Solomon Island leaf frog, the green tree python and West African dwarf crocodile.
Fort Worth Zoo and city officials unveiled plans for Fort Worth's newest museum Monday, a $15 million contemporary-looking facility that will be called the Museum of Living Art.
"We never do anything that is going to be boring," said Ramona Bass, co-chairwoman of the Fort Worth Zoological Association. "The whole collection is so unique and so special. We want it to be pleasing and exciting and educational."
The exhibit will replace the zoo's 47-year-old herpetarium, which houses the zoo's renowned collection of snakes, turtles, frogs and other cold-blooded animals.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/246404.html



Butterflies add flights of fancy color to Memphis Zoo's critter collection
By Cindy Wolff (Contact)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Mac McAllister tried his luck, his 6-year-old fist balled up save for his index finger pointed out, eagerly waiting for a butterfly to light.
It didn't matter which one. It could be a black one with yellow stripes, a white one or maybe that orange one flickering around a purple flower. Just any butterfly. Please! Just for a second.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/sep/25/gossamer-wings/


Say g'day to Racine Zoo's makeover plans
By BRENT KILLACKEY
Journal Times
Monday, September 24, 2007 10:37 PM CDT
RACINE — The Racine Zoo wants a new entrance area that’s easier to locate and delivers a bit of a wow effect as visitors step inside.
Under plans being brought forward for city approval, the main entrance would be relocated to a more prominent position at the corner of Main and Goold streets.
After entering between two new buildings — a gift shop and Discovery Center — visitors would emerge into a well-landscaped, Australian-themed exhibit that would allow them to meander past existing favorites like kangaroos and emus and some new animals such as wallaroos, wallabies and swans, according to zoo officials.
“The initial view will be spectacular,” said David Easley, chair of the Racine Zoological Gardens board of directors.

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2007/09/24/local_news/doc46f8831711acc621080731.txt



Exclusive: Dutch zoo can breed jellyfish
by Thijs Westerbeek*
25-09-2007
It has been hailed as a major breakthrough: Burgers' Ocean, the marine section of Burgers' Zoo in the Dutch city of Arnhem, has successfully bred jellyfish in captivity.
Jellyfish are vulnerable creatures with a very complicate life cycle. All of its stages have to be run through for an animal to reach maturity. Marine biologists across the globe have attempted it, but usually the breeding programme ends after a couple of months with a tank full of smelly jelly.

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/070925jellyfish



Zoo trustees pick Hutchinson as interim chief
Don Hutchinson (Photo by Steve Ruark/Special to The Sun)
September 25, 2007
Trustees of the Maryland Zoological Society have selected former Baltimore County Executive Donald P. Hutchinson to serve as interim president and chief executive officer of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, zoo officials said.
Responsibilities for Hutchinson, now president of Hutchinson Consulting, will include managing the zoo and evaluating its finances, as well as helping to find his permanent replacement.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.zoo25sep25,0,2495274.story



Hutchinson appointed interim CEO of Maryland Zoo
Baltimore Business Journal - by Julekha Dash Staff
The board of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has tapped former SunTrust Bank President Don Hutchinson to serve as interim CEO of the financially strapped Druid Hill attraction.
Hutchinson will succeed Elizabeth "Billie" Grieb, who will step down as zoo president in December after five years at the helm.
Hutchinson will work to improve the 131-year-old attraction's aging infrastructure and improve its financial position through the 2009 legislative session while the board renews its search for a permanent replacement next year, officials said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/09/24/daily11.html



Star Wars comes to the zoo
The Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park will get a taste of a galaxy far, far away from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, when members of three area Star Wars clubs will be entertaining zoo patrons.
Characters will be presented by the Binghamton FanForce Chapter, The 501st Legion’s Garrison Excelsior and The Rebel Legion’s Echo Base. The clubs will have a table as well; visitors can stop by for some giveaways for kids and to learn more.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/NEWS01/70925007



Zoo boss triumphs in car park fight
Published on 25/09/2007
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE zoo boss David Gill is celebrating a major victory over his arch enemies at Barrow Borough Council.
A government inspector says he can keep a new car park that the council ordered him to rip up.
In his latest run-in with Barrow planners, Mr Gill had asphalted a large parking area outside his South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Dalton without planning permission.
The council’s planning committee said it was an eyesore and issued an enforcement notice for it to be removed in January.
Mr Gill ignored the demand and took his fight to an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Now the inspector, John Braithwaite, has ruled the car park can stay.

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=546480



Have a Howling Good Time at Zoo's Wolf Awareness Day
You can learn all about wolves and the need to protect them during Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's annual Wolf Awareness Day, featuring special activities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, October 13.
Visit the Wolf Lodge to see the Zoo's grey wolves and play "From Pup to Pack Leader," an interactive board game that will have you wagging your tail, howling and growling. Check out the Wolf Story Corner, get your face painted and make a pledge to help wolves and other wildlife.
The Zoo's Wolf Awareness Day kicks off National Wolf Awareness Week, which aims to educate people about this often misunderstood predator. Once abundant in the forests of North America and Europe, wolves now are threatened due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction.

http://www.clemetzoo.com/pressroom/index.asp?action=details&pressrelease_id=1268



Zoo gets spooked
25 September 2007
A SPOOK-TACULAR Halloween Festival will be held Bristol Zoo next month.
There will be ghastly ghouls and scary spooks aplenty and families will be able to try their hands at pumpkin carving, dress up in creepy costumes and join witches and wizards for fun, games and music. Prizes and freebies will be dished out to lucky visitors.
During the festival a Halloween Trail will be held. Families can pick up a spooky trail card when entering the zoo and follow the creepy trail visiting animals on the way.

http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/whatson/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=whatsonMisc&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=zwhatson&itemid=WeED25%20Sep%202007%2018%3A36%3A08%3A390



Program gets kids moving at the zoo
09/25/2007 03:58 PM
ASHEBORO, N.C. -- What's the best way to get your little one moving? Parents at one Randolph County school are combining nurture with nature.
The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro is a popular place for kids to take a walk on the wild side. But for one group, it's now become a place to simply take a walk.
“Early childhood obesity is on the rise in Randolph County especially,” said Amanda Ratliff with the Randolph County Public Library, which sponsors Franklinville Parents-as-Teachers.

http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=587621



Zoo babies (Video)
Meet Taronga Zoo's Bubble and Janey and their surrogate mothers.

http://publish.vx.roo.com/thedaily/videoplayer/?channel=Telegraph+TV&clipid=1418_163435&bitrate=300&format=wmp



Pueblo Zoo accredited once again
The Pueblo Zoo once again has been accredited by Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The zoo organization first earned the AZA accreditation in 1992 when it took over management of the Pueblo Zoo, and has earned it again every five years since.
Marti Osborn, the zoo's associate director and education curator, said the accreditation is like the Good Housekeeping stamp of approval; it means the zoo operates at a high level of professionalism.
The accreditation enables the zoo to get rare Species Survival Plan animals that are managed by committees in the zoo world, she said.

http://www.chieftain.com/life/1190788424/3



All the way from Florence, new Orangutan fits in nicely
by Renee Towan, Horticulturist
Today we installed a chainsaw carving across from the orangutan exhibit. I researched this type of artwork made throughout the west coast and found them to be quite expensive. However when I contacted Timothy Robins at http://www.mysticwoods.net/ he offered to donate his time to work on a carving of our male orang. Timothy grew up in Sacramento spending time at our Zoo when he was young and was honored to be able to display his work here.
The carving had quite a trip, traveling all the way from Florence, Oregon to Sacramento. Gardens are more than just plants, they need a little whimsy and "Leo" (affectionately nicknamed by the maintenance staff) is providing that here overlooking the orangs and zebras.

http://sacramentozoo.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-way-from-florence-new-orangutan.html



Cleveland Zoo secures $1M gift
By SHANNON MORTLAND
11:41 am, September 26, 2007
The Cleveland Zoological Society has received a $1 million gift for its new African Elephant Crossing exhibit.
The gift came from Lauren and Steve Spilman to name the Sydell L. Miller Elephant Care and Visitor Center in honor of Lauren’s mother. The gift brings the amount raised for the exhibit to $7.4 million.
“The zoo holds a special place in our hearts and we are excited to be able to give such a special gift to my mother,” said Lauren Spilman, who has served on the Zoological Society’s board of trustees for five years. “She loves elephants and this is the perfect way to honor her and assist the zoo and Zoo Society to take our zoo from good to great.”
African Elephant Crossing will be four times larger than the current elephant exhibit. The $25 million project is being financed equally by the Zoological Society and the Cleveland Metroparks and is slated to open in 2010.
Sydell Miller is the co-founder of Matrix Essentials Inc., a maker of hair and beauty products that now is owned by L’Oreal USA Inc.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20070926/FREE/70926017/1096&Profile=1096



2007-09-26 - Colchester, United Kingdom
Zoo keepers at Colchester Zoo have become extremely concerned about the health of one of its elephants. Keepers at the zoo are worried about the progress of Rosa the elephant, who has been under a pioneering drug treatment for several months now with no improvement. In May Rosa was examined under anaesthetic to assess her condition which was causing her obvious discomfort and compromising her welfare. The procedure confirmed scarring to her vagina which was affecting the nerves in the pelvic are...

http://www.elephant-news.com/index.php?id=2772



Werribee Open Range Zoo
http://www.zoo.org.au/vorz/
Hours: 9am - 5pm (last entry 3.30pm)
Directions: Car: Get out of Melbourne via the West Gate Freeway and head towards Geelong. About half an hour out you'll see signs for Werribee Open Range Zoo. Public transport: There's a shuttle that leaves from the Victorian Art Centre in the city.

http://www.travbuddy.com/Werribee-Open-Range-Zoo-v11095


Military families get free zoo admission Oct. 14
BY STEPHANIE HEINATZ 757-247-7821
4:24 PM EDT, September 27, 2007
NORFOLK - As part of Fleet Week 2007, military troops and their families will receive free admission to the Virginia Zoo on Granby Street in Norfolk Sunday, Oct. 14.
To get in, you'll need to show a military ID card validating active duty, retired, Defense Department civilian or reservist status.
The event, which will include other activities, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Games, music, face painting, clowns, inflatable ride and military demonstrations will be available for the military kids. For more information, or for directions to the zoo, visit www.virginiazoo.org.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/norfolk/dp-now-freezoo.0927,0,7297701.story



Jackson Zoo Breaks Ground on New Facility
The Jackson Zoo celebrated the ground breaking of a new 1.5 million dollar facility Thursday. The Gertrude C. Ford Education Center will complete the new 'Wilderness Mississippi area of the zoo. The area is home to native Mississippi habitats and species, like alligators, cougars, and river otters. Smaller animals, like honeybees, spiders, and lizards will be on exhibit in the new Education Center. It will also include interactive displays for school groups and visitors.
"The lesson we want to teach is to basically get a conservation ethic with the kids at an early age, just to enjoy what's out there in the wild in Mississippi," said Jackson Zoo Executive Director Beth Poff. "Hopefully protect it as they grow up."
Construction on the 35 hundred square foot facility begins in November and should be complete in the spring of 2009.

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7139880&nav=2CSf



KC Zoo Welcomes Baby Chimp
POSTED: 2:47 pm CDT September 27, 2007
UPDATED: 2:57 pm CDT September 27, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A new primate, a female chimpanzee, was born at the Kansas City Zoo on Sept. 1.
The baby chimpanzee, as yet unnamed, was born to Kioja, a 13-year-old chimp.
Kioja's parents, Blackie and Jimmie, are members of the original chimpanzee troupe that has been at the zoo for almost 50 years.

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