Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Morning Papers - concluding
The Guardian
February 22 2005: Much of Britain woke to a blanket of snow today as blizzards swept across the country at the beginning of a prolonged cold snap.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,1420030,00.html
Clarke announces anti-terror laws concession
Simon Jeffery
Tuesday February 22, 2005
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, today announced compromises to controversial proposals to put British terrorism suspects under de facto house arrest in the hope of winning support for their swift passage through parliament.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1420046,00.html
Revealed: the rush to war
Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday February 23, 2005
The Guardian
The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could be ruled illegal.
The government was so concerned that it might be prosecuted it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in an international court.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1423304,00.html
World 'facing bird flu pandemic'
Associated Press
Wednesday February 23, 2005
The world is facing the "gravest possible danger" of a bird flu pandemic that could kill millions of people, a leading health official warned today.
Dr Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific regional director, said governments must take rapid action to stop bird flu spreading if it mutated into a form that was highly contagious among humans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1423472,00.html
Gumfounded
As councils call for chewing gum to be taxed to help meet the annual £150m cost of clearing it up, Simon Busch traces a history of bursting bubbles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1420222,00.html
Sinn Féin faces 'symbolic' financial sanctions
Staff and agencies
Tuesday February 22, 2005
The Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, today threatened to impose "symbolic" financial sanctions against Sinn Féin for its alleged knowledge of the £26.5m Northern Bank raid.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,1420085,00.html
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
Sunny winter days spur drought concerns
State's snowpack is at 30% of average; air pollution climbs
By KYLE ARNOLD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
The unseasonably sunny weather is drawing shoppers into the Seattle Sunglass Co., looking to escape the glare of the bright sun, which usually doesn't make an appearance in these parts until spring.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213225_drought23.html
Who won illegal votes of felons?
Republicans' challenge to Gregoire win raises question
By NEIL MODIE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire won more votes from urbanites in the 2004 election while Dino Rossi, her Republican opponent, got more rural votes. Gregoire had probably more women's votes and Rossi more from men.
OK, but which candidate captured the hearts of the convicted felons who broke the law by voting?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213202_governor23.html
Fate of four cases filed by voters rests with justices
By LEWIS KAMB
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
It's characterized by high-powered lawyering, scrutinized by the media, observed by packed courtrooms and subject to the spinnings of partisan pundits.
Pasted from <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213211_contests23.html
More Fla. workers open AIDS/HIV list
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Six more county health workers said they opened an e-mail containing a confidential list of thousands of AIDS and HIV patients, bringing to 16 the total number of employees known to have opened the e-mail.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=BRF%20AIDS%20List%20E%20mail
Forensics at ground zero ends
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- The medical examiner's office has ended its effort to identify the remains of those killed at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001, leaving more than a thousand victims unidentified.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Sept%2011%20Victim%20Identification
Top nuclear negotiators to meet in Seoul
By BO-MI LIM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, poses with Wang Jiarui, second from left, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, for photos in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, Feb. 21, 2005. Kim told the visiting Chinese envoy that his government will return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks if the United States shows sincerity and if certain conditions are met, the North's official news agency reported Tuesday. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency)
SEOUL, South Korea -- Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul this weekend to discuss resuming nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea after the communist country's leader hinted at a possible compromise, officials said Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Koreas%20Nuclear
China's oldest WWII sex slave dies at 94
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SHANGHAI, China -- Zhu Qiaomei, China's oldest surviving sex slave from World War II who had fought for compensation from the Japanese government, has died at age 94, state media reported Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Obit%20Sex%20Slave
NIH researchers cleared in ethics probe
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- National Institutes of Health investigators have cleared up to 80 percent of its researchers suspected of secret deals with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, officials say.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1153&slug=NIH%20Ethics
Russia said looking for dialogue with U.S.
By JUDITH INGRAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
U.S. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a joint news conference at Catherine Palace in Pushkin, Russia, in this Nov. 22, 2002 file photo. President Bush has said the United States and Russia stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism and weapons proliferation, but a series of recent statements on both sides makes it seem more like they're butting heads. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
MOSCOW -- A top Russian official, speaking one day before President Bush meets with President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia, said Moscow wants to develop an intensive and frank dialogue with the United States, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Russia%20US
Australian airport terminal evacuated
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Passengers were evacuated from an airport terminal in the southern city of Melbourne on Monday after dozens of staff fell ill following a possible chemical or gas leak, officials said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apaa_story.asp?category=1106&slug=Australia%20Airport%20Evacuated
The Daily Mail and Guardian
'Nessie's offspring' terrorises Aussie trout farm
An Australian trout farm announced a Aus$1 000 dollar (R4 600) reward on Monday for the capture of a giant eel baptised "Nessie's offspring" that has suddenly appeared in breeding ponds and begun eating up the fish.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198091&area=/breaking_news/other_news/
Bush: Thanks for Iraq, but watch out for China
United States President George Bush on Tuesday thanked Nato leaders for helping to train Iraqi security forces, but made clear that plans to lift a European arms embargo on China still trouble transatlantic ties.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198101&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Mandela wanted to help with Zuma's debt
Former president Nelson Mandela offered to help to "extinguish" the debt of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, the Durban High Court heard on Tuesday.
Testifying at his fraud and corruption trial, Durban businessman Schabir Shaik said Mandela felt that Zuma's financial problems were "distracting him from his duties at the African National Congress".
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198054&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/
Mbeki scoffs at US stance on Zimbabwe
South African President Thabo Mbeki criticised the United States for calling Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" saying, in an interview published on Tuesday, that it went against Washington's efforts to promote democracy worldwide.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=198029
Dawa leader poised to become Iraq premier
Ibrahim Jaafari, leader of the Dawa religious party that has links to Iran, was on Tuesday poised to become Iraq's next prime minister after winning the support of Shi'ite leaders.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198095&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Indonesia searches for landslide survivors
Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday continued sifting through tonnes of garbage and debris but hopes were faint of finding anyone alive after a devastating landslide that left 150 people feared dead.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=198051
Pneumonic plague kills 43 in DRC
Forty-three people have died and 13 others have been infected following an outbreak of pneumonic plague in the mining area of Zobia, in the region of Bas-Uele in Oriental province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an official in the ministry of health said on Monday.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=198094
HIV/Aids barometer - December 2004
One Ethiopian child in 10 is an orphan, according to a report by the United Nations, the government and the Save the Children NGO. The HIV/Aids pandemic, appalling poverty and dire health conditions had left 4,6-million youngsters without parents.
http://www.mg.co.za/articleList.aspx?area=/insight/hiv__aids_barometer/
The New York Times
Justices Accept Oregon Case Weighing Assisted Suicide
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: February 23, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 - In an action likely to reopen a national debate over whether doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients end their lives, the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's challenge to the only state law in the country that authorizes physician-assisted suicide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/politics/23scotus.html?hp&ex=1109221200&en=67e25ea88137e2b8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The Secret Genocide Archive
Photos don't normally appear on this page. But it's time for all of us to look squarely at the victims of our indifference.
These are just four photos in a secret archive of thousands of photos and reports that document the genocide under way in Darfur. The materials were gathered by African Union monitors, who are just about the only people able to travel widely in that part of Sudan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/opinion/23kristof.html?oref=login
Al Jazeera
Bush: a scattered Palestinian state wont work
2/22/2005 12:00:00 PM GMT
President Bush pushes for more illegal Jewish settlements to be dismantled.
In an effort to drum up European support and to get the post-Iraq relations back on track, George Bush's speech in Brussels signalled a shift, albeit a small one, in U.S. policy towards Israel.
During his speech in Brussels, President Bush placed emphasis on the Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement being top of NATO's list of priorities.
On his fence-mending whirlwind tour of European states, Bush called for the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity in the West Bank.
"A state on scattered territories will not work," he said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_ID=7168
Hariri killing plays into U.S. hawks plans
It seems it doesn't really matter whether or not Syria was behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
The fact of the matter is Hariri's death plays right into the hands of the hawks within President Bush's administration who have long argued for 'regime change' in Damascus.
Before the bomb blast that killed Hariri and 12 others, the balance of power between anti-Assad hardliners and the more flexible forces within the Bush administration was roughly even.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_id=6999
Haaretz
Halutz tapped as next IDF chief; Ya'alon to retire early
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz was named Tuesday by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as the next chief of staff, the first ever to advance from the ranks of the air force. The appointment must first be approved by the cabinet, where it is expected to pass without a hitch.
Halutz, 57, will be the 18th chief of staff.
Mofaz selected Halutz ahead of Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who is now expected to retire from active service.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543608.html
Jordanian envoy: Peace deal between Israel, PA close
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
Jordan's new Ambassador to Israel, Marouf al-Bakhit, believes an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty is within reach.
"I followed the talks in 2000 and 2001 closely. At the Taba talks the positions were only centimeters apart," he told reporters Tuesday in a first interview with Israeli media.
Al-Bakhit, who since 1999 monitored the peace talks on Jordan's behalf, believes that gambling on interim agreements failed and it is now time to negotiate a permanent agreement under the road map framework.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543589.html
Police want NIS 61 million to counter Temple Mount threats
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
The police is demanding an additional NIS 61 million to counter increasingly grave threats of an attack on the Temple Mount.
Speaking Tueday at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting on police and Public Security Ministry budgets, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi added that an additional 187 job slots will need to be created to contend with the alerts.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543574.html
Jewish money, non-Jewish causes
By Avi Beker
There is a growing unease among the leadership of the American Jewish community regarding the new framework uniting all the communities - the United Jewish Communities umbrella organization of the Jewish Federations - that went through a dramatic structural change in 1991. The changes in the organization are linked to changes in the pattern of philanthropy in the Jewish community in the U.S., and that has an impact on donations to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543145.html
President Bush: A Palestinian state on scattered territory cannot work
By Aluf Benn
U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday placed achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement at the top of NATO's list of priorities.
Bush, speaking in Brussels on the first day of a fence-mending trip to Europe, called for the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity in the West Bank. "A state on scattered territories will not work," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543136.html
The hardest decision of all?
By Uzi Benziman
Ariel Sharon's words must be taken at face value: The decision to evacuate settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria is the hardest he has ever had to make. That is what he said to the nation in clear Hebrew, during his Sunday night appearance at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543645.html
BRUSSELS is also the place where Franks and Rumsfeld were indicted. Bush as his new Secretary of State uses 'shock' to achieve change. It is mostly ineffective. As a unilateral war monger the interventionists of Diplomats seeks 'containment' and not prevention. Containment is the only measure to work with a president that is unreasonable.
The context is the message
At first glance, there was nothing new in President George W. Bush's comments in Brussels on Monday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bush reiterated his vision of two states, Palestine alongside Israel, which he first espoused in June 2002, and which senior members of his administration, none more so than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have often repeated.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543667.html
Israel may not demolish settler homes during pullout
By Nir Hasson and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents
Israel will reconsider its decision to demolish homes in Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements evacuated during the disengagement, Cabinet Secretary General Yisrael Maimon told Army Radio on Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=543106&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
The Cheney Observer
Where is the outrage?
Monday, February 21, 2005 Posted: 12:07 PM EST (1707 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Either we are losing our capacity for moral outrage, or George W. Bush is presiding over the ultimate Teflon Administration.
On the evening of January 20, Rich Little, the impressionist-comedian, was emceeing the inaugural ball at the Washington Hilton hotel. Little did this impersonation Ronald Reagan: "You know somebody asked me, 'Do you think the War on Poverty is over?' I said: 'Yes. The poor lost.'"
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/outrage/
Chad: Oil Transparency Loopholes
February 20, 2005
Posted to the web February 21, 2005
Washington, DC
Oil revenues for Chad are now beginning to increase rapidly from the long-debated "model project" involving World Bank financing, a pipeline through Cameroon, and a consortium of major oil companies.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502210675.html
Bush warns Russia on the rule of law
BRUSSELS President George W. Bush warned Russia on Monday that it "must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law," but he said he believed its future lay "within the family of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/21/news/bush.html
Building company tight-lipped on safety concerns
Monday, 21 February 2005
The company building the LNG plant at Darwin's Wickham Point has refused to discuss safety issues raised by striking workers today.
Four hundred Australian Workers Union members picketed the building site this morning.
http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/news/200502/s1307814.htm
Indian petroleum minister to discuss Yuganskneftegaz acquisition
RBC, 21.02.2005, Moscow 10:29:28.Indian petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is expected to arrive in Russia today for a two-day visit. The visit has been designed to offer Russian fuel and energy companies the opportunity to take part in the development of new gas and oil fields in India. The Indian minister will take part in the presentation of development plans for the fields. Aiyar also proposes to hold meetings with Russian senior deputy PM Alexander Zhukov, industry and energy minister Viktor Khristenko, as well as with the heads of a number of energy and finance companies. Indian government representatives have repeatedly mentioned that the Indian ONGC was still interested in purchasing YUKOS assets, and the authorities were expected to negotiate over the issue in February.
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20050221102928.shtml
Merger, he said
Business Standard / New Delhi February 22, 2005
There is a lot to be said in favour of the proposal mooted by public sector oil giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) that it take over the downstream or marketing assets of either Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) or Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), as the synergies are obvious.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu5&leftindx=5&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=181440
The China Daily
Bush takes charm campaign to NATO, EU
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-22 09:31
BRUSSELS - US President Bush takes his drive for a new transatlantic partnership to summits with NATO and the European Union on Tuesday, anxious to draw a line under two years of bitter rifts over Iraq.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/22/content_418284.htm
Beijing pushes for charter cargo flights across Straits
By Xing Zhigang and Cao Desheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:07
Beijing is expected to announce a new policy about cross-Straits cargo charter flights on Friday in a major effort to push for direct air links with Taiwan, China Daily learned yesterday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418479.htm
FM: Lifting arms ban by EU hurts nobody
(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 08:47
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan maintained that the European Union's plan to lift its arms embargo on China won't infringe upon the interest of third parties, and that the lifting of the embargo is "irrelevant" to "the present situation of the Asia Pacific region."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418605.htm
N. Korea willing to return to nuclear talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:16
BEIJING- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has said his country is willing to return to nuclear disarmament talks despite an earlier threat to withdraw from negotiations, Chinese officials reported.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418484.htm
Does SARS virus still exist in the wild?
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:07
Does the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus still exist in the wild? Where will it come from if an epidemic breaks out again?
Experts are still arguing these questions.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418481.htm
China Daily - Taiwan Edition
Flights to Taiwan first in decades
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-31 06:23
After a half-century without non-stop airline links between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, nine charter flights took place on Saturday under a cross-Straits agreement for Spring Festival travel.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/31/content_413641.htm
China Daily - Hong Kong Edition
Goliaths compete for nuclear plant pact
Fu Jing
2005-02-23 06:07
Three global nuclear power heavyweights now competing for designing and building four nuclear units in China will submit their proposals next Monday, a national nuclear technology company said yesterday.
US-based Westinghouse, France's Areva and Russia's AtomStroyExport (ASE) are busy with finishing touches on their plans for four nuclear reactors in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418490.htm
Check mates
By Hu Yan and Wang Xu
Shanghai Star. 2005-02-17
THE abolition of the national system of compulsory premarital medical checkups about one year ago has led to a rapid increase in the rate of birth defects, and if the government fails to take effective measures, it could lead to a still more serious pubic health problem within three to five years, medical experts have warned.
On October 1, 2003, the revised Regulations Governing Marriage Registration abolished compulsory pre-marital checkups. At the time, this step received general applause as an indication of social progress and increased respect for citizens?privacy.
Prior to that, the 1994 Law of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Mother and Infant Care made pre-marital checkups mandatory. The proportion of new couples receiving premarital medical checkups increased steadily nationwide. By 2002, the national premarital checkup rate reached 68 per cent. In some developed areas, especially prosperous cities, the figure reached 95 per cent.
Each year about 8-10 per cent of couples were found to have serious hereditary or infectious diseases ?including diseases of the reproductive system, among which sexually transmitted diseases (STD) accounted for a large proportion of cases.
http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2005/0217/fo4-1.html
Protecting farmers' interests
Han Jun
2005-02-23 06:24
More effort should be made to stabilize grain prices and further increase farmers' incomes this year. And a long-term mechanism is needed to better protect farmers' interests and rights.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418518.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Danger warning on pain medicine
23.02.05
by Martin Johnston
The Health Ministry has warned that thousands of people using any of five pain-relief medicines should see a doctor about stopping the treatment because of risks to the heart and brain.
The anti-inflammatory "cox-2 inhibitor" drugs, used particularly by arthritis sufferers, have been linked to possible increases in the risk of heart disease or stroke.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10112267>
US citizen accused of discussing to kill Bush
23.02.05 3.00pm
WASHINGTON - A Virginia man, arrested and held in Saudi Arabia, has been returned to the United States to face charges of supporting al Qaeda, and was accused of plotting in 2002 and 2003 to kill President George W Bush, court documents made public on Tuesday said.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112287>
Australian government forces ISPs to join child porn crackdown
23.02.05 12.30pm
CANBERRA - Internet service providers (ISPs) will face fines of up to A$55,000 ($60,500) if they can be used to access child pornography and do not refer the information to the police.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112277>
The weather in Antarctica (crystal ice chime) is:
Scott Base
Cloudy
-19.0°
Updated Wednesday 23 Feb 9:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
39 °F / 4 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
31 °F / 0 °C
Humidity:
75%
Dew Point:
32 °F / 0 °C
Wind:
14 mph / 22 km/h from the SSE
Pressure:
29.91 in / 1013 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Overcast 2300 ft / 701 m
February 22 2005: Much of Britain woke to a blanket of snow today as blizzards swept across the country at the beginning of a prolonged cold snap.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,1420030,00.html
Clarke announces anti-terror laws concession
Simon Jeffery
Tuesday February 22, 2005
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, today announced compromises to controversial proposals to put British terrorism suspects under de facto house arrest in the hope of winning support for their swift passage through parliament.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1420046,00.html
Revealed: the rush to war
Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday February 23, 2005
The Guardian
The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could be ruled illegal.
The government was so concerned that it might be prosecuted it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in an international court.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1423304,00.html
World 'facing bird flu pandemic'
Associated Press
Wednesday February 23, 2005
The world is facing the "gravest possible danger" of a bird flu pandemic that could kill millions of people, a leading health official warned today.
Dr Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific regional director, said governments must take rapid action to stop bird flu spreading if it mutated into a form that was highly contagious among humans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1423472,00.html
Gumfounded
As councils call for chewing gum to be taxed to help meet the annual £150m cost of clearing it up, Simon Busch traces a history of bursting bubbles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1420222,00.html
Sinn Féin faces 'symbolic' financial sanctions
Staff and agencies
Tuesday February 22, 2005
The Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, today threatened to impose "symbolic" financial sanctions against Sinn Féin for its alleged knowledge of the £26.5m Northern Bank raid.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,1420085,00.html
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
Sunny winter days spur drought concerns
State's snowpack is at 30% of average; air pollution climbs
By KYLE ARNOLD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
The unseasonably sunny weather is drawing shoppers into the Seattle Sunglass Co., looking to escape the glare of the bright sun, which usually doesn't make an appearance in these parts until spring.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213225_drought23.html
Who won illegal votes of felons?
Republicans' challenge to Gregoire win raises question
By NEIL MODIE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire won more votes from urbanites in the 2004 election while Dino Rossi, her Republican opponent, got more rural votes. Gregoire had probably more women's votes and Rossi more from men.
OK, but which candidate captured the hearts of the convicted felons who broke the law by voting?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213202_governor23.html
Fate of four cases filed by voters rests with justices
By LEWIS KAMB
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
It's characterized by high-powered lawyering, scrutinized by the media, observed by packed courtrooms and subject to the spinnings of partisan pundits.
Pasted from <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/213211_contests23.html
More Fla. workers open AIDS/HIV list
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Six more county health workers said they opened an e-mail containing a confidential list of thousands of AIDS and HIV patients, bringing to 16 the total number of employees known to have opened the e-mail.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=BRF%20AIDS%20List%20E%20mail
Forensics at ground zero ends
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- The medical examiner's office has ended its effort to identify the remains of those killed at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001, leaving more than a thousand victims unidentified.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Sept%2011%20Victim%20Identification
Top nuclear negotiators to meet in Seoul
By BO-MI LIM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, poses with Wang Jiarui, second from left, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, for photos in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, Feb. 21, 2005. Kim told the visiting Chinese envoy that his government will return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks if the United States shows sincerity and if certain conditions are met, the North's official news agency reported Tuesday. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency)
SEOUL, South Korea -- Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul this weekend to discuss resuming nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea after the communist country's leader hinted at a possible compromise, officials said Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Koreas%20Nuclear
China's oldest WWII sex slave dies at 94
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SHANGHAI, China -- Zhu Qiaomei, China's oldest surviving sex slave from World War II who had fought for compensation from the Japanese government, has died at age 94, state media reported Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Obit%20Sex%20Slave
NIH researchers cleared in ethics probe
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- National Institutes of Health investigators have cleared up to 80 percent of its researchers suspected of secret deals with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, officials say.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1153&slug=NIH%20Ethics
Russia said looking for dialogue with U.S.
By JUDITH INGRAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
U.S. President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a joint news conference at Catherine Palace in Pushkin, Russia, in this Nov. 22, 2002 file photo. President Bush has said the United States and Russia stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism and weapons proliferation, but a series of recent statements on both sides makes it seem more like they're butting heads. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
MOSCOW -- A top Russian official, speaking one day before President Bush meets with President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia, said Moscow wants to develop an intensive and frank dialogue with the United States, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Russia%20US
Australian airport terminal evacuated
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Passengers were evacuated from an airport terminal in the southern city of Melbourne on Monday after dozens of staff fell ill following a possible chemical or gas leak, officials said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apaa_story.asp?category=1106&slug=Australia%20Airport%20Evacuated
The Daily Mail and Guardian
'Nessie's offspring' terrorises Aussie trout farm
An Australian trout farm announced a Aus$1 000 dollar (R4 600) reward on Monday for the capture of a giant eel baptised "Nessie's offspring" that has suddenly appeared in breeding ponds and begun eating up the fish.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198091&area=/breaking_news/other_news/
Bush: Thanks for Iraq, but watch out for China
United States President George Bush on Tuesday thanked Nato leaders for helping to train Iraqi security forces, but made clear that plans to lift a European arms embargo on China still trouble transatlantic ties.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198101&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Mandela wanted to help with Zuma's debt
Former president Nelson Mandela offered to help to "extinguish" the debt of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, the Durban High Court heard on Tuesday.
Testifying at his fraud and corruption trial, Durban businessman Schabir Shaik said Mandela felt that Zuma's financial problems were "distracting him from his duties at the African National Congress".
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198054&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/
Mbeki scoffs at US stance on Zimbabwe
South African President Thabo Mbeki criticised the United States for calling Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" saying, in an interview published on Tuesday, that it went against Washington's efforts to promote democracy worldwide.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=198029
Dawa leader poised to become Iraq premier
Ibrahim Jaafari, leader of the Dawa religious party that has links to Iran, was on Tuesday poised to become Iraq's next prime minister after winning the support of Shi'ite leaders.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198095&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Indonesia searches for landslide survivors
Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday continued sifting through tonnes of garbage and debris but hopes were faint of finding anyone alive after a devastating landslide that left 150 people feared dead.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=198051
Pneumonic plague kills 43 in DRC
Forty-three people have died and 13 others have been infected following an outbreak of pneumonic plague in the mining area of Zobia, in the region of Bas-Uele in Oriental province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an official in the ministry of health said on Monday.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=198094
HIV/Aids barometer - December 2004
One Ethiopian child in 10 is an orphan, according to a report by the United Nations, the government and the Save the Children NGO. The HIV/Aids pandemic, appalling poverty and dire health conditions had left 4,6-million youngsters without parents.
http://www.mg.co.za/articleList.aspx?area=/insight/hiv__aids_barometer/
The New York Times
Justices Accept Oregon Case Weighing Assisted Suicide
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: February 23, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 - In an action likely to reopen a national debate over whether doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients end their lives, the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's challenge to the only state law in the country that authorizes physician-assisted suicide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/politics/23scotus.html?hp&ex=1109221200&en=67e25ea88137e2b8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The Secret Genocide Archive
Photos don't normally appear on this page. But it's time for all of us to look squarely at the victims of our indifference.
These are just four photos in a secret archive of thousands of photos and reports that document the genocide under way in Darfur. The materials were gathered by African Union monitors, who are just about the only people able to travel widely in that part of Sudan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/opinion/23kristof.html?oref=login
Al Jazeera
Bush: a scattered Palestinian state wont work
2/22/2005 12:00:00 PM GMT
President Bush pushes for more illegal Jewish settlements to be dismantled.
In an effort to drum up European support and to get the post-Iraq relations back on track, George Bush's speech in Brussels signalled a shift, albeit a small one, in U.S. policy towards Israel.
During his speech in Brussels, President Bush placed emphasis on the Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement being top of NATO's list of priorities.
On his fence-mending whirlwind tour of European states, Bush called for the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity in the West Bank.
"A state on scattered territories will not work," he said.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_ID=7168
Hariri killing plays into U.S. hawks plans
It seems it doesn't really matter whether or not Syria was behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
The fact of the matter is Hariri's death plays right into the hands of the hawks within President Bush's administration who have long argued for 'regime change' in Damascus.
Before the bomb blast that killed Hariri and 12 others, the balance of power between anti-Assad hardliners and the more flexible forces within the Bush administration was roughly even.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_id=6999
Haaretz
Halutz tapped as next IDF chief; Ya'alon to retire early
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz was named Tuesday by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as the next chief of staff, the first ever to advance from the ranks of the air force. The appointment must first be approved by the cabinet, where it is expected to pass without a hitch.
Halutz, 57, will be the 18th chief of staff.
Mofaz selected Halutz ahead of Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who is now expected to retire from active service.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543608.html
Jordanian envoy: Peace deal between Israel, PA close
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
Jordan's new Ambassador to Israel, Marouf al-Bakhit, believes an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty is within reach.
"I followed the talks in 2000 and 2001 closely. At the Taba talks the positions were only centimeters apart," he told reporters Tuesday in a first interview with Israeli media.
Al-Bakhit, who since 1999 monitored the peace talks on Jordan's behalf, believes that gambling on interim agreements failed and it is now time to negotiate a permanent agreement under the road map framework.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543589.html
Police want NIS 61 million to counter Temple Mount threats
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
The police is demanding an additional NIS 61 million to counter increasingly grave threats of an attack on the Temple Mount.
Speaking Tueday at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting on police and Public Security Ministry budgets, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi added that an additional 187 job slots will need to be created to contend with the alerts.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543574.html
Jewish money, non-Jewish causes
By Avi Beker
There is a growing unease among the leadership of the American Jewish community regarding the new framework uniting all the communities - the United Jewish Communities umbrella organization of the Jewish Federations - that went through a dramatic structural change in 1991. The changes in the organization are linked to changes in the pattern of philanthropy in the Jewish community in the U.S., and that has an impact on donations to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543145.html
President Bush: A Palestinian state on scattered territory cannot work
By Aluf Benn
U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday placed achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement at the top of NATO's list of priorities.
Bush, speaking in Brussels on the first day of a fence-mending trip to Europe, called for the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity in the West Bank. "A state on scattered territories will not work," he said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543136.html
The hardest decision of all?
By Uzi Benziman
Ariel Sharon's words must be taken at face value: The decision to evacuate settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria is the hardest he has ever had to make. That is what he said to the nation in clear Hebrew, during his Sunday night appearance at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543645.html
BRUSSELS is also the place where Franks and Rumsfeld were indicted. Bush as his new Secretary of State uses 'shock' to achieve change. It is mostly ineffective. As a unilateral war monger the interventionists of Diplomats seeks 'containment' and not prevention. Containment is the only measure to work with a president that is unreasonable.
The context is the message
At first glance, there was nothing new in President George W. Bush's comments in Brussels on Monday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bush reiterated his vision of two states, Palestine alongside Israel, which he first espoused in June 2002, and which senior members of his administration, none more so than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have often repeated.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/543667.html
Israel may not demolish settler homes during pullout
By Nir Hasson and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents
Israel will reconsider its decision to demolish homes in Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements evacuated during the disengagement, Cabinet Secretary General Yisrael Maimon told Army Radio on Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=543106&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
The Cheney Observer
Where is the outrage?
Monday, February 21, 2005 Posted: 12:07 PM EST (1707 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Either we are losing our capacity for moral outrage, or George W. Bush is presiding over the ultimate Teflon Administration.
On the evening of January 20, Rich Little, the impressionist-comedian, was emceeing the inaugural ball at the Washington Hilton hotel. Little did this impersonation Ronald Reagan: "You know somebody asked me, 'Do you think the War on Poverty is over?' I said: 'Yes. The poor lost.'"
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/outrage/
Chad: Oil Transparency Loopholes
February 20, 2005
Posted to the web February 21, 2005
Washington, DC
Oil revenues for Chad are now beginning to increase rapidly from the long-debated "model project" involving World Bank financing, a pipeline through Cameroon, and a consortium of major oil companies.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502210675.html
Bush warns Russia on the rule of law
BRUSSELS President George W. Bush warned Russia on Monday that it "must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law," but he said he believed its future lay "within the family of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/21/news/bush.html
Building company tight-lipped on safety concerns
Monday, 21 February 2005
The company building the LNG plant at Darwin's Wickham Point has refused to discuss safety issues raised by striking workers today.
Four hundred Australian Workers Union members picketed the building site this morning.
http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/news/200502/s1307814.htm
Indian petroleum minister to discuss Yuganskneftegaz acquisition
RBC, 21.02.2005, Moscow 10:29:28.Indian petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is expected to arrive in Russia today for a two-day visit. The visit has been designed to offer Russian fuel and energy companies the opportunity to take part in the development of new gas and oil fields in India. The Indian minister will take part in the presentation of development plans for the fields. Aiyar also proposes to hold meetings with Russian senior deputy PM Alexander Zhukov, industry and energy minister Viktor Khristenko, as well as with the heads of a number of energy and finance companies. Indian government representatives have repeatedly mentioned that the Indian ONGC was still interested in purchasing YUKOS assets, and the authorities were expected to negotiate over the issue in February.
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20050221102928.shtml
Merger, he said
Business Standard / New Delhi February 22, 2005
There is a lot to be said in favour of the proposal mooted by public sector oil giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) that it take over the downstream or marketing assets of either Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) or Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), as the synergies are obvious.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu5&leftindx=5&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=181440
The China Daily
Bush takes charm campaign to NATO, EU
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-22 09:31
BRUSSELS - US President Bush takes his drive for a new transatlantic partnership to summits with NATO and the European Union on Tuesday, anxious to draw a line under two years of bitter rifts over Iraq.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/22/content_418284.htm
Beijing pushes for charter cargo flights across Straits
By Xing Zhigang and Cao Desheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:07
Beijing is expected to announce a new policy about cross-Straits cargo charter flights on Friday in a major effort to push for direct air links with Taiwan, China Daily learned yesterday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418479.htm
FM: Lifting arms ban by EU hurts nobody
(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 08:47
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan maintained that the European Union's plan to lift its arms embargo on China won't infringe upon the interest of third parties, and that the lifting of the embargo is "irrelevant" to "the present situation of the Asia Pacific region."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418605.htm
N. Korea willing to return to nuclear talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:16
BEIJING- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has said his country is willing to return to nuclear disarmament talks despite an earlier threat to withdraw from negotiations, Chinese officials reported.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418484.htm
Does SARS virus still exist in the wild?
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:07
Does the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus still exist in the wild? Where will it come from if an epidemic breaks out again?
Experts are still arguing these questions.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418481.htm
China Daily - Taiwan Edition
Flights to Taiwan first in decades
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-31 06:23
After a half-century without non-stop airline links between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, nine charter flights took place on Saturday under a cross-Straits agreement for Spring Festival travel.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/31/content_413641.htm
China Daily - Hong Kong Edition
Goliaths compete for nuclear plant pact
Fu Jing
2005-02-23 06:07
Three global nuclear power heavyweights now competing for designing and building four nuclear units in China will submit their proposals next Monday, a national nuclear technology company said yesterday.
US-based Westinghouse, France's Areva and Russia's AtomStroyExport (ASE) are busy with finishing touches on their plans for four nuclear reactors in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418490.htm
Check mates
By Hu Yan and Wang Xu
Shanghai Star. 2005-02-17
THE abolition of the national system of compulsory premarital medical checkups about one year ago has led to a rapid increase in the rate of birth defects, and if the government fails to take effective measures, it could lead to a still more serious pubic health problem within three to five years, medical experts have warned.
On October 1, 2003, the revised Regulations Governing Marriage Registration abolished compulsory pre-marital checkups. At the time, this step received general applause as an indication of social progress and increased respect for citizens?privacy.
Prior to that, the 1994 Law of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Mother and Infant Care made pre-marital checkups mandatory. The proportion of new couples receiving premarital medical checkups increased steadily nationwide. By 2002, the national premarital checkup rate reached 68 per cent. In some developed areas, especially prosperous cities, the figure reached 95 per cent.
Each year about 8-10 per cent of couples were found to have serious hereditary or infectious diseases ?including diseases of the reproductive system, among which sexually transmitted diseases (STD) accounted for a large proportion of cases.
http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2005/0217/fo4-1.html
Protecting farmers' interests
Han Jun
2005-02-23 06:24
More effort should be made to stabilize grain prices and further increase farmers' incomes this year. And a long-term mechanism is needed to better protect farmers' interests and rights.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/23/content_418518.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Danger warning on pain medicine
23.02.05
by Martin Johnston
The Health Ministry has warned that thousands of people using any of five pain-relief medicines should see a doctor about stopping the treatment because of risks to the heart and brain.
The anti-inflammatory "cox-2 inhibitor" drugs, used particularly by arthritis sufferers, have been linked to possible increases in the risk of heart disease or stroke.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10112267>
US citizen accused of discussing to kill Bush
23.02.05 3.00pm
WASHINGTON - A Virginia man, arrested and held in Saudi Arabia, has been returned to the United States to face charges of supporting al Qaeda, and was accused of plotting in 2002 and 2003 to kill President George W Bush, court documents made public on Tuesday said.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112287>
Australian government forces ISPs to join child porn crackdown
23.02.05 12.30pm
CANBERRA - Internet service providers (ISPs) will face fines of up to A$55,000 ($60,500) if they can be used to access child pornography and do not refer the information to the police.
Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112277>
The weather in Antarctica (crystal ice chime) is:
Scott Base
Cloudy
-19.0°
Updated Wednesday 23 Feb 9:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
39 °F / 4 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
31 °F / 0 °C
Humidity:
75%
Dew Point:
32 °F / 0 °C
Wind:
14 mph / 22 km/h from the SSE
Pressure:
29.91 in / 1013 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Overcast 2300 ft / 701 m
GOES West by UNISYS - Water Vaport 23.20.2005
Set in motion it is easy to see southern California is under a vortex. Texas is getting some heavy duty weather as well.
Current Texas Weather in Affected Area
The weather observed at TEMPLE/MILLER, TX (KTPL) at 05:55 AM CST was:
The skies were cloudy. The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94% Winds from the CLM(CLM degs) at 0 mph.
Altimeter:29.99 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 2.5 miles.
The maximum temperature in the past 6 hours was 64F.
The minimum temperature in the past 6 hours was 57F.
There was 2.02 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
The weather observed at TEMPLE/MILLER, TX (KTPL) at 06:15 AM CST was:
The skies were cloudy.
The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94% Winds were not reported.
Altimeter:30.00 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 3 miles.
There was 0.13 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
The weather observed at TEMPLE/MILLER, TX (KTPL) at 06:35 AM CST was:
The skies were cloudy.
The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94%
Winds from the CLM(CLM degs) at 0 mph.
Altimeter:30.00 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 5 miles.
There was 0.23 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
The skies were cloudy. The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94% Winds from the CLM(CLM degs) at 0 mph.
Altimeter:29.99 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 2.5 miles.
The maximum temperature in the past 6 hours was 64F.
The minimum temperature in the past 6 hours was 57F.
There was 2.02 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
The weather observed at TEMPLE/MILLER, TX (KTPL) at 06:15 AM CST was:
The skies were cloudy.
The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94% Winds were not reported.
Altimeter:30.00 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 3 miles.
There was 0.13 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
The weather observed at TEMPLE/MILLER, TX (KTPL) at 06:35 AM CST was:
The skies were cloudy.
The weather reported was a thunderstorm.
Temperature: 57F ( 14C)
Dewpoint: 55F ( 13C)
Relative Humidity: 94%
Winds from the CLM(CLM degs) at 0 mph.
Altimeter:30.00 inches of mercury.
The prevailing visibility was 5 miles.
There was 0.23 inches of precipitation in the past 6 hours.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Harvard President Should Resign. He now lacks equity in his views and is ineffective. Everyone will defend against him rather than include him.
Lawrence H. Summers - Excuse, excuses, excuses. He finally shows his 'true self.'
The transcript appears to support Summers' contention that he was discussing how, in the general population, men are more likely to have science and math test scores in the highest and lowest ranges, while women's scores are more clustered in the middle.
But in explaining why fewer women scientists rise to the top, Summers said he was inclined to favor family pressure and biology as explanations over discrimination and social factors.
In his January 14 remarks, Summers repeatedly emphasized that he was "guessing," attempting to provoke and hoped to be proved wrong.
"So my best guess, to provoke you, of what's behind all this is that the largest phenomenon, by far, is the general clash between people's legitimate family desires and employers' current desire for high power and high intensity," Summers said at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge.
"In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude, and that those considerations are reinforced by what are in fact lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination," he said.
The transcript appears to support Summers' contention that he was discussing how, in the general population, men are more likely to have science and math test scores in the highest and lowest ranges, while women's scores are more clustered in the middle.
But in explaining why fewer women scientists rise to the top, Summers said he was inclined to favor family pressure and biology as explanations over discrimination and social factors.
In his January 14 remarks, Summers repeatedly emphasized that he was "guessing," attempting to provoke and hoped to be proved wrong.
"So my best guess, to provoke you, of what's behind all this is that the largest phenomenon, by far, is the general clash between people's legitimate family desires and employers' current desire for high power and high intensity," Summers said at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge.
"In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude, and that those considerations are reinforced by what are in fact lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination," he said.
The Harvard Fiasco
Being justified by some as a 'spur of the moment' address, Harvard's President Summers, effectively set advancemend to women in male dominated professions back to the time of Genesis. In stating his DOUBTS regarding woman's ability to commit to high stress and high powered jobs he has now raised objection to women even 'trying' to convince an emloyer to hire her regardless the qualifications.
President Summers need to recount his ability to lead. A person with this level of status among academics as well as the businesses that hire them needs more THAN GUESSES and a call to challenge his statement before making it. In other words, to make such a derogatory and biased gender statement Mr. Summers should have presented 'evidence' to that effect not just a casual social reference to keep 'women in their place.'
Further, if such a study of evidence existed it would be then the challenge of academia to move beyond limitations finding resolutions to the aspiration of many women. The biological differences in women vs. men are in the areas of reproduction and not cognition, however, Mr. Summers certainly does make the arguement that men are unable to move out of their own self-righteous gender bias. Perhaps then it is male cognition that is the issue.
Harvard president to face professors in wake of latest controversy
BY PAUL NUSSBAUM
Knight Ridder Newspapers
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - (KRT) - Harvard president Lawrence Summers goes back into the lions' den Tuesday.
When he faces hundreds of restive professors in an emergency meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, he will be pilloried as an arrogant, incompetent despot and hailed as a champion of free speech victimized by liberal thought police.
Eli President’s Silence Sparks Outcry in New Haven
Faculty, students criticize Levin for his silence on the Summers controversy
By KARA M. O’REILLY
Faculty members and graduate students at Yale presented Yale President Richard C. Levin with a petition and a letter, respectively, condemning him for remaining silent on the controversial remarks of Harvard’s president on women in science.
Crimson Poll Finds Professors at FAS Deeply Divided on Embattled Leader
In a Crimson poll of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) conducted over the past four days, 32 percent of 280 faculty respondents said they think University President Lawrence H. Summers should resign. Fifty-five percent said they think he should not, and 13 percent said they did not know.
Some Students Petition for Summers, But Others Rally Against Him Today
By ANTON S. TROIANOVSKI
Crimson Staff Writer
As the international press converges on Harvard to cover the controversy surrounding University President Lawrence H. Summers, students and alumni are sending their own messages of support, criticism, and apathy.
Summers Must Show He Can Lead at Harvard
By JUSTIN POPE
AP Education Writer
February 18, 2005, 5:54 PM EST
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard President Lawrence Summers has apologized, pronounced himself a changed man, and has now released a transcript of his much-debated remarks on women's aptitude in science.
But with each step he's failed to quell a heated controversy leading up to what may be a turbulent faculty meeting and questions about whether he has the right temperament and vision to lead the nation's most prominent university.
"I do not think it is possible that he can run Harvard effectively after all this," said Daniel Fisher, a physics professor.
The Revenge of Ellen Swallow
Sincerely, I do. Our good Dr. Krugman is from Princeton and Firestone Library is unmatched. The dinosaur collection on campus and well in general Princeton and the Alchemist and Barrister can actually be called a lifestyle.
I love Cambridge. Boston. Head to the C0ck and Bull and find some 'Cheers' even.
The problem isn't Ivy League the problem is Haaavaaard.
Bush is a graduate, right? Master in Economics. Summers is believed to be a Clinton Democrat. Not long ago Mr. Summers was asked to participate in an economic initiative sponsored by Bush. It was SUPPOSED to be bipartisen. Something tells me the power and prestige went to poor Mr. Summer's head and he, after meeting Laura and realizing the true potential for women decided there was no hope for the female gender except in hosting the simpleton math of Home Economics. After all Laura is taking on the 'tough task' of White House entertaining by firing all the 'hired help' including the chief who expected to retire in style. Instead, he'll be looking for privatization of SSI.
But that aside, Bush's agenda in Europe definitely has something to do with this. The woman issue in a minute.
Senior Statesmen Henry Kissinger and Lawrence Summers Chair New Council Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Europe
April 14, 2003 - With the United States facing the greatest transatlantic rift in 50 years, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers will co-chair a Council-sponsored independent task force on a new U.S. policy toward Europe. The bi-partisan task force will bring together leaders from business, former senior government officials, and policy experts to issue a report that will address the rift. The group will also include a number of European experts.
http://www.cfr.org/pub5849/press_release/senior_s [...]
Bush may have invited a democrat to make policy but he didn't go far from the front yard in inviting Summers of Harvard.
That said. There is all this Haavaard entanglements and it's grads as illustrated with Enron. Affectionately known as 'Enrongate.'
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/enron_bush.htm
Now. I want you to realize all these issues surround the gender of male. There is nary a female to be found.
If I may turn from the Ivy League Harvard who seems to be unable to comprehend a tenured math/science female professor to a 'horrors' state university.
The University of Rhode Island
Advancing women scientists and engineers
It’s fair to say that women are underrepresented in science around the world. For example, Yana Reshetnyak was the only woman in a theoretical physics class when she attended St. Petersburg State University, Russia.
Today, Reshetnyak is among a growing number of women scientists and engineers being recruited to the University of Rhode Island. This fall, the biophysicist from Yale University will join Yan Sun in the Computer and Electrical Engineering Department and Mayrai Gindy in the Civil Engineering Department as ADVANCE Faculty Fellows.
http://advance.uri.edu/pacer/september2004/story2 [...]
Student Organizations Thrive at URI
The College of Engineering at URI boasts a number of student organizations that are designed to promote and support various facets of engineering education and engineering students’ lives. Following is a brief look at a few of these organizations and how they are enriching the College of Engineering community.
http://www.egr.uri.edu/COE2004/newsletters/S-2004/URIEngineeringNewsletterSpring2004StudentOrganizations.htm
The Society of Women Engineers
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is the largest non-profit educational and service organization representing both student and professional women in engineering and technical fields. The SWE, founded in 1950, currently has more than 17,000 members who are committed to supporting women and diversity in engineering. The organization motivates women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, while expanding the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life.
The URI chapter of the SWE is a very active organization that has served women engineering students at URI for several decades. The URI chapter has created a vibrant social community for women engineering students at the school, as well as providing strong academic and career support. The URI SWE stays active within the community and enhances leadership by participating in mentoring programs and outreach programs. URI SWE president Kaylen Haley noted that in the coming months, URI members are planning a variety of activities, including company tours, an etiquette dinner, a panel discussion, and several social events.
NOW !!!
Now, what was that Summers was saying? I guess Haarvaaard just can't get out of it's own way.
President Summers need to recount his ability to lead. A person with this level of status among academics as well as the businesses that hire them needs more THAN GUESSES and a call to challenge his statement before making it. In other words, to make such a derogatory and biased gender statement Mr. Summers should have presented 'evidence' to that effect not just a casual social reference to keep 'women in their place.'
Further, if such a study of evidence existed it would be then the challenge of academia to move beyond limitations finding resolutions to the aspiration of many women. The biological differences in women vs. men are in the areas of reproduction and not cognition, however, Mr. Summers certainly does make the arguement that men are unable to move out of their own self-righteous gender bias. Perhaps then it is male cognition that is the issue.
Harvard president to face professors in wake of latest controversy
BY PAUL NUSSBAUM
Knight Ridder Newspapers
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - (KRT) - Harvard president Lawrence Summers goes back into the lions' den Tuesday.
When he faces hundreds of restive professors in an emergency meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, he will be pilloried as an arrogant, incompetent despot and hailed as a champion of free speech victimized by liberal thought police.
Eli President’s Silence Sparks Outcry in New Haven
Faculty, students criticize Levin for his silence on the Summers controversy
By KARA M. O’REILLY
Faculty members and graduate students at Yale presented Yale President Richard C. Levin with a petition and a letter, respectively, condemning him for remaining silent on the controversial remarks of Harvard’s president on women in science.
Crimson Poll Finds Professors at FAS Deeply Divided on Embattled Leader
In a Crimson poll of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) conducted over the past four days, 32 percent of 280 faculty respondents said they think University President Lawrence H. Summers should resign. Fifty-five percent said they think he should not, and 13 percent said they did not know.
Some Students Petition for Summers, But Others Rally Against Him Today
By ANTON S. TROIANOVSKI
Crimson Staff Writer
As the international press converges on Harvard to cover the controversy surrounding University President Lawrence H. Summers, students and alumni are sending their own messages of support, criticism, and apathy.
Summers Must Show He Can Lead at Harvard
By JUSTIN POPE
AP Education Writer
February 18, 2005, 5:54 PM EST
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard President Lawrence Summers has apologized, pronounced himself a changed man, and has now released a transcript of his much-debated remarks on women's aptitude in science.
But with each step he's failed to quell a heated controversy leading up to what may be a turbulent faculty meeting and questions about whether he has the right temperament and vision to lead the nation's most prominent university.
"I do not think it is possible that he can run Harvard effectively after all this," said Daniel Fisher, a physics professor.
The Revenge of Ellen Swallow
Sincerely, I do. Our good Dr. Krugman is from Princeton and Firestone Library is unmatched. The dinosaur collection on campus and well in general Princeton and the Alchemist and Barrister can actually be called a lifestyle.
I love Cambridge. Boston. Head to the C0ck and Bull and find some 'Cheers' even.
The problem isn't Ivy League the problem is Haaavaaard.
Bush is a graduate, right? Master in Economics. Summers is believed to be a Clinton Democrat. Not long ago Mr. Summers was asked to participate in an economic initiative sponsored by Bush. It was SUPPOSED to be bipartisen. Something tells me the power and prestige went to poor Mr. Summer's head and he, after meeting Laura and realizing the true potential for women decided there was no hope for the female gender except in hosting the simpleton math of Home Economics. After all Laura is taking on the 'tough task' of White House entertaining by firing all the 'hired help' including the chief who expected to retire in style. Instead, he'll be looking for privatization of SSI.
But that aside, Bush's agenda in Europe definitely has something to do with this. The woman issue in a minute.
Senior Statesmen Henry Kissinger and Lawrence Summers Chair New Council Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Europe
April 14, 2003 - With the United States facing the greatest transatlantic rift in 50 years, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers will co-chair a Council-sponsored independent task force on a new U.S. policy toward Europe. The bi-partisan task force will bring together leaders from business, former senior government officials, and policy experts to issue a report that will address the rift. The group will also include a number of European experts.
http://www.cfr.org/pub5849/press_release/senior_s [...]
Bush may have invited a democrat to make policy but he didn't go far from the front yard in inviting Summers of Harvard.
That said. There is all this Haavaard entanglements and it's grads as illustrated with Enron. Affectionately known as 'Enrongate.'
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/enron_bush.htm
Now. I want you to realize all these issues surround the gender of male. There is nary a female to be found.
If I may turn from the Ivy League Harvard who seems to be unable to comprehend a tenured math/science female professor to a 'horrors' state university.
The University of Rhode Island
Advancing women scientists and engineers
It’s fair to say that women are underrepresented in science around the world. For example, Yana Reshetnyak was the only woman in a theoretical physics class when she attended St. Petersburg State University, Russia.
Today, Reshetnyak is among a growing number of women scientists and engineers being recruited to the University of Rhode Island. This fall, the biophysicist from Yale University will join Yan Sun in the Computer and Electrical Engineering Department and Mayrai Gindy in the Civil Engineering Department as ADVANCE Faculty Fellows.
http://advance.uri.edu/pacer/september2004/story2 [...]
Student Organizations Thrive at URI
The College of Engineering at URI boasts a number of student organizations that are designed to promote and support various facets of engineering education and engineering students’ lives. Following is a brief look at a few of these organizations and how they are enriching the College of Engineering community.
http://www.egr.uri.edu/COE2004/newsletters/S-2004/URIEngineeringNewsletterSpring2004StudentOrganizations.htm
The Society of Women Engineers
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is the largest non-profit educational and service organization representing both student and professional women in engineering and technical fields. The SWE, founded in 1950, currently has more than 17,000 members who are committed to supporting women and diversity in engineering. The organization motivates women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, while expanding the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life.
The URI chapter of the SWE is a very active organization that has served women engineering students at URI for several decades. The URI chapter has created a vibrant social community for women engineering students at the school, as well as providing strong academic and career support. The URI SWE stays active within the community and enhances leadership by participating in mentoring programs and outreach programs. URI SWE president Kaylen Haley noted that in the coming months, URI members are planning a variety of activities, including company tours, an etiquette dinner, a panel discussion, and several social events.
NOW !!!
Now, what was that Summers was saying? I guess Haarvaaard just can't get out of it's own way.
Saint Flanders - "Saint?" - Just a little extreme.
Ned Flander's of the Simpsons represents the Evangelical Chistian in the neighborhood.
In an episode where Homer takes on Ned's Power of Attorney they go to Las Vegas. Ned states during that episode: "Games of chance are strictly forbidden by Deuteronomy 7" during the roulette wheel scene, he should have known that Deuteronomy 7 has no references to gambling or "games of chance"."
Just as Ned Flanders represents 'rules' of RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE so does the subject of Gay Marriage realize the same thing. Religion does not set the rules of Civil Law but is allowed to exist in the face of it. The problem with the current regime in DC is they answer first to their Religious Bias before respecting Civil Law.
Bush can say of Putin, "He doesn't respect 'The Rule of Law'; but yet Bush doesn't respect the law at all deferring to bias that favors his politics while disrespecting the entire Gay Community.
The Simpsons producers have taken 'the authority' of discrimination away from those that discriminate and placed is where it belongs in the authority of Civil Law recognizing 'the sameness' of human experience for all of us.
In an episode where Homer takes on Ned's Power of Attorney they go to Las Vegas. Ned states during that episode: "Games of chance are strictly forbidden by Deuteronomy 7" during the roulette wheel scene, he should have known that Deuteronomy 7 has no references to gambling or "games of chance"."
Just as Ned Flanders represents 'rules' of RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE so does the subject of Gay Marriage realize the same thing. Religion does not set the rules of Civil Law but is allowed to exist in the face of it. The problem with the current regime in DC is they answer first to their Religious Bias before respecting Civil Law.
Bush can say of Putin, "He doesn't respect 'The Rule of Law'; but yet Bush doesn't respect the law at all deferring to bias that favors his politics while disrespecting the entire Gay Community.
The Simpsons producers have taken 'the authority' of discrimination away from those that discriminate and placed is where it belongs in the authority of Civil Law recognizing 'the sameness' of human experience for all of us.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Galactic Region around LBV 1806-20
Cluster of Stars including LBV1820 and SGR1820 compared in size to Earth's Sun, Sol. http://www.solstation.com/x-objects/1806-20.htm
Record space flash was hinted at in 2002 by Israeli
This occurrence is so odd. It happened on December 27, 2004. The day after Earth tilted. ACTUALLY. That isn't exactly accurate. The effects from the magnetic storm was measured the day after Earth tilted. The 'fabric' of space that Earth lives in may have been disturbed the same time SGR1806-20 of the distrubances we were experiencing on Earth. Interesting. Too coincidental not to be related.
US and European scientists reported at a press conference over the weekend that a 2002 article published by a Ben-Gurion University of the Negev astrophysicist predicted the brightest-ever recorded flash from beyond our solar system, which occurred almost two months ago.
This "giant flare" of high-energy radiation was detected by US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European satellites on December 27. The light from the giant flare was brightest in the gamma-ray energy range, a far more energetic realm of the spectrum than visible light or X-rays.
In addition, it generated a blast wave into the interstellar medium that emitted radio waves, which are still being recorded by radio telescopes around the world. The event was caused by an eruption on the surface of a known, exotic neutron star called SGR 1806-20, about 50,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.
US and European scientists reported at a press conference over the weekend that a 2002 article published by a Ben-Gurion University of the Negev astrophysicist predicted the brightest-ever recorded flash from beyond our solar system, which occurred almost two months ago.
This "giant flare" of high-energy radiation was detected by US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European satellites on December 27. The light from the giant flare was brightest in the gamma-ray energy range, a far more energetic realm of the spectrum than visible light or X-rays.
In addition, it generated a blast wave into the interstellar medium that emitted radio waves, which are still being recorded by radio telescopes around the world. The event was caused by an eruption on the surface of a known, exotic neutron star called SGR 1806-20, about 50,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.
Top Story - Goddard Space Flight Center
SCIENTISTS MEASURE THE MOST POWERFUL MAGNET KNOWN
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20021030strongestmag.html
Scientists have identified the most magnetic object known in the Universe, the result of the first direct measurement of a magnetic field around a peculiar neutron star first observed nearly 25 years ago.
By following the fate of a tiny proton whipping about at near light speed close to the neutron star with NASA's Rossi X-ray Explorer satellite, scientists calculated this star's magnetic field to be up to 10 times more powerful than previously thought -- with a force strong enough to slow a steel locomotive from as far away as the Moon.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20021030strongestmag.html
Scientists have identified the most magnetic object known in the Universe, the result of the first direct measurement of a magnetic field around a peculiar neutron star first observed nearly 25 years ago.
By following the fate of a tiny proton whipping about at near light speed close to the neutron star with NASA's Rossi X-ray Explorer satellite, scientists calculated this star's magnetic field to be up to 10 times more powerful than previously thought -- with a force strong enough to slow a steel locomotive from as far away as the Moon.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"
"Oakie-Doakie"
History ...
1872: Incorporated in 1870, New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors.
1878, the first telephone directory was issued, by the District Telephone Co. of New Haven, Conn.
1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
1901, born, Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian revolutionary.
1902, Ansel Adams, photographer.
1915: The World's Fair opens in San Francisco. The fair, called the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, celebrates the opening of the Panama Canal and the rebuilding of S.F. following the 1906 earth world's fair.
1925, The New Yorker magazine made its debut.
1927, Sydney Poitier, American motion-picture actor, the first black to become a major Hollywood star. Born in Miami, Florida, Poitier began acting with the American Negro Theater and made his movie debut in 1950 with a featured role in No Way Out, one of Hollywood's first films on racial bigotry. His next important credit was Blackboard Jungle (1955). The Defiant Ones (1958) brought Poitier an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of an escaped convict. Poitier won an Oscar five years later for Lilies of the Field (1963), in which he played a drifter who becomes a reluctant mainstay to a group of émigré nuns.
Poitier was hailed as the box-office star of 1967 for his charismatic work on three popular films: In the Heat of the Night; To Sir, with Love; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He did not appear in any movies from 1976 to 1987, preferring to direct (Buck and the Preacher, 1972; Uptown Saturday Night, 1974, and its sequel Let's Do It Again, 1975; and Stir Crazy, 1980). He played Thurgood Marshall in the 1991 Emmy Award-winning Separate But Equal.
1947, Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.
1962: Astronaut John Glenn, in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7, orbits Earth three times to become the first American to orbit Earth.
1963: Willie Mays signs a one-year $100,000 contract with the San Francisco Giants.
1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death in New York by assassins identified as Black Muslims.
1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 21/2 to eight years in prison for their roles in the Watergate coverup.
1988, During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, 52, admitted to visiting a prostitute, then announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (Defrocked in April by the Assemblies of God, he was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned after only three months.)
Missing in Action
1967 BORJA DOMINGO R. SAN FRANCISCO CA
1967 WRIGHT ARTHUR LANSING MI
Haaretz
Abbas: Pullout won't be under fire
By Gideon Alon, Daphna Berman and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents
The five-month countdown to the start of the historic withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank began Sunday with an overwhelming 17-5 vote by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542583.html
Analysis: Once a symbol of war, Sharon becomes a symbol of hope in region
Analysis: Sharon as Gorbachev
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Ariel Sharon's government made history Sunday with its decision on the evacuation of the settlements from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. The dry, brief evacuation orders issued after the cabinet meeting and bearing the signatures of A. Sharon and Mofaz herald the beginning of the end of the Israeli settlement enterprise in the territories.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542582.html
Jordan, Egypt return ambassadors after four-year absence
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Jordanian Ambassador Marouf al-Bakhit, a former general and most recently ambassador to Turkey, arrived in Israel on Sunday, as Egypt named Mohammed Assem, Cairo's current envoy to Sudan, as its new ambassador to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542442.html
The Boston Globe
Green movement pales in Bay State
Cuts hobble parks, pollution control
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff February 21, 2005
Massachusetts was once a favorite of the national environmental movement, passing some of the country's strongest laws to protect its air, water, and land. But today, after 15 years of budget cuts, it is failing to deliver key services.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/21/green_movement_pales_in_bay_state/
Weak dollar draws wary Europeans back to NYC
By Tatsha Robertson, Globe Staff February 21, 2005
NEW YORK -- Paul Coffey earns a modest salary working at a shoe warehouse near London, but this year he was able to vacation with his wife and two teenage sons in Manhattan, sightseeing and shopping for the latest fashions and electronic gadgets.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/21/weak_dollar_draws_wary_europeans_back_to_nyc/
California's signature-ready tax returns get mixed reviews
By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times February 21, 2005
SACRAMENTO -- California's tax agency is moving forward with a revolutionary -- some people say disturbing -- concept: having the government do your taxes for you.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/21/californias_signature_ready_tax_returns_get_mixed_reviews/
Irish official says Sinn Fein leaders command IRA
Government weary of assertions that groups are separate
By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press February 21, 2005
DUBLIN -- In an unprecedented confrontation, the Irish government yesterday publicly identified three of Sinn Fein's top figures -- including party leader Gerry Adams -- as members of the Irish Republican Army command.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/02/21/irish_official_says_sinn_fein_leaders_command_ira/
The Onion
BURLINGTON, VT—Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based ice-cream manufacturer known for its progressive social mission, held a press conference Monday to introduce a new flavor celebrating Academy Award winner
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4107&n=1
Michael Moore Today
Anti-War Group Plans Strategy in U.S. Heartland
By Deborah Cohen / Reuters
CHICAGO - Peace activists from around the United States gathered in St. Louis on Sunday, part of a three-day meeting to develop plans to pressure the Bush administration to exit Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1497
February 20th, 2005 3:22 pm
Talking with the Enemy
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq—and what the rebels say they want
By Michael Ware / Time
The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1494
Knocking on the nuclear door
By Lynda Hurst / Toronto Star
In 1992, in the warm glow of the Cold War's end, the United States stopped making and testing nuclear arms, halting its arsenal at 10,000 warheads and pledging to cut back further still.
Four years later, it was the first country to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty. But though committed to it in principle — certainly in regard to other nations — the U.S. wanted to keep its options open and, in 1999, to universal dismay, refused to ratify the treaty.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1498
Editorial: Phony journalist/Pimping for the White House
Star Tribune
Heard about the Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert muck-up in Washington? If you are an aficionado of the blogs, you've heard plenty. They're having a field day with it. But underneath all the fun lies a serious problem that hasn't got its due from the mainstream press: This White House employs a lot more kinds of fakery than the budgetary smoke and mirrors described in the editorial above.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1485
Agencies Warned About Fake News Videos
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Congressional investigators warned federal agencies this week that the promotion of government policies through video news releases meant to look like TV news stories may violate federal rules against propaganda.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1481
Japan Today
Ecologists revive extinct plants using seeds from lake bed
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 11:20 JST
TOKYO — A group of researchers, including members of the University of Tokyo's Laboratory of Conservation Ecology, has succeeded in reviving plants which were considered extinct at Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture by using seeds buried in lake bed soil, they said Monday.
Ireland names 3 top Sinn Fein members as IRA
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 07:17 JST
DUBLIN — Irishi Justice Minister Michael McDowell on Sunday accused three of the top leaders of the nationalist Sinn Fein political party, including party leader Gerry Adams, of belonging to the military command of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.
The government's blunt declaration indicated it no longer would tolerate Adams' protestations that his party should not be held accountable for IRA actions. The shift is intended to force the illegal IRA to disarm fully and disband, or risk the marginalization of the legal Sinn Fein.
Civic groups appeal for nuclear disarmament
Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 07:44 JST
TOKYO — Civic groups convened a meeting Saturday in Tokyo to appeal for nuclear disarmament ahead of a conference in New York in May to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The starting point for moves to seek nuclear disarmament traces was the experiences of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Masayoshi Naito, leader of one of nuclear disarmament groups, said at the meeting. (Kyodo News)
4th GSDF contingent returns from Iraq
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 10:03 JST
SENDAI — About 120 members of the fourth Ground Self-Defense Force contingent who had served for three months in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah on a humanitarian and reconstruction mission returned to Japan on Saturday.
They are the first batch to have returned from the fourth contingent, mainly from the GSDF's 6th Division based in Higashine, Yamagata Prefecture. They carried out their mission at a time when Iraq held its first democratic elections in 50 years. (Kyodo News)
Japan, U.S. set security goals
Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 05:31 JST
WASHINGTON — Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to reinforce their bilateral security alliance under a new set of "common security objectives" to deal with "uncertainty" in the Asia-Pacific amid China's growing military power, possible clashes across the Taiwan Strait and N. Korea's nuclear threat.
In a joint statement issued after the so-called "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign affairs and defense chiefs, the two nations agreed to accelerate their consultations by using the common objectives as the baseline to realign U.S. military presence in Japan and to examine "the roles, missions and capabilities" of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and U.S. armed forces. (Kyodo News)
Japan risks upsetting China on Taiwan
Janice Tang
Japan on Saturday took the bold step of including the sensitive Taiwan Strait issue as one of its "common strategic objectives" with the United States to boost their security alliance, risking Japan's already fragile relationship with China.
CNN
N. Korea: Japan, U.S. plotting invasion
From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer
Sunday, February 20, 2005 Posted: 2043 GMT (0443 HKT)
(CNN) -- North Korea has accused Japan of aspiring to rule a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" beginning with an invasion of Korea with the assistance
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/02/20/us.japan/
The Japan Times
North Korea, Taiwan top issues in Japan-U.S. talks
Compiled from Kyodo, AP
WASHINGTON -- Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to reinforce their alliance under a new set of common security objectives to deal with "unpredictability and uncertainty" in the Asia-Pacific region.
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050221a1.htm
Mitsubishi Fuso takes most time to report vehicle defects
Scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. waited an average of more than two years before reporting vehicle defect cases to the government in fiscal 2003, government officials said Sunday.
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050221a2.htm
Japan Today
Japan in dilemma over NK sanctions
Shinya Ajima
The Japanese government is coming under increasing pressure to impose economic sanctions on North Korea due to the North's attitude toward its past abductions of Japanese citizens.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=comment&id=727
Okinawa compiles proposals on reducing U.S. military presence
Friday, February 18, 2005 at 07:19 JST
NAHA — Okinawa Prefecture has compiled a set of proposals for the U.S. and Japanese governments on reducing the presence of U.S. forces there in line with the envisaged realignment of the U.S. military in Japan, prefectural government sources said Thursday.
Gov. Keiichi Inamine will visit the United States in March to put the four proposals to the U.S. government, including relocating U.S. Marines in Okinawa to outside of the prefecture and reviewing the function of the U.S. Kadena Air Base, they said. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328133
Okinawa governor asks Japan, U.S. to relocate Marines
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 04:00 JST
NAHA — Okinawa Gov Keiichi Inamine expressed hope Sunday that the discussion between the United States and Japan on security would work to reduce U.S. military facilities in his prefecture after a Japan-U.S. ministerial security meeting ended.
"We will continue to urge the governments of Japan and the United States that the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa be transferred elsewhere outside the prefecture and review the functions of the Kadena Air Base. We will also ask that the burden be reduced in a visible manner," he said. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328374
Japan to lend Y98.7 bil to Turkey for subway construction
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 08:00 JST
TOKYO — The government said Friday it will provide up to 98.73 billion yen in low-interest loans to Turkey to help build a subway system in Istanbul.
The 40-year loan, which will carry an interest rate of 0.75% per annum, follows Tokyo's previous loan of 12.46 billion yen for the same project in 1999. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=3&id=328254
Dengue fever kills 20 in East Timor
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 04:21 JST
DILI — An outbreak of dengue fever has killed 20 people in East Timor since January, a health official said Friday.
Livio da Conceicao, a surveillance officer in the Health Department, said the first case was found Jan 5 and 178 cases have been confirmed of the viral disease so far. (Kyodo News)
Sunnis seek role in Iraq government
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 07:13 JST
BAGHDAD — Sunni Muslim tribal leaders met Sunday to determine their place in a Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, while U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces launched an offensive against insurgents in troubled cities west of Baghdad after two days of carnage that left nearly 100 people dead.
As the Shiite majority prepared to take control of the country's first freely elected government, tribal chiefs representing Sunni Arabs in six provinces issued a list of demands — including participation in the government and drafting a new constitution — after previously refusing to acknowledge the vote's legitimacy.
The New York Times
Cabinet in Israel Ratifies Pullout From Gaza Strip
By GREG MYRE
Published: February 21, 2005
JERUSALEM, Feb. 20 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won cabinet approval on Sunday for two sweeping plans intended to reshape Israel's relations with the Palestinians: the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, and a revamped route for the separation barrier in the West Bank.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/international/middleeast/21mideast.html?hp&ex=1109048400&en=3f2eb769d75b1d74&ei=5094&partner=homepage
WHERE 'WALKER BUSH' GOES, THEY KISS HIS ARCE! They must be running out of money.
A New Target for Advisers to Swift Vets
By GLEN JUSTICE
Published: February 21, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 - Taking its cues from the success of last year's Swift boat veterans' campaign in the presidential race, a conservative lobbying organization has hired some of the same consultants to orchestrate attacks on one of President Bush's toughest opponents in the battle to overhaul Social Security.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21social.html?hp&ex=1109048400&en=31aa371bb47479ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Big Oil Steps Aside in Battle Over Arctic
By JEFF GERTH
Published: February 21, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 - George W. Bush first proposed drilling for oil in a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska in 2000, after oil industry experts helped his presidential campaign develop an energy plan. Five years later, he is pushing the proposal again, saying the nation urgently needs to increase domestic production.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21refuge.html
The Gulf News
Lebanon to boycott UN inquiry
Agencies
Beirut: The Lebanese government took exception to the United Nations' decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152731
Iraq reels from bomb attacks on Shiite holy day
AP
Baghdad: Eight suicide bombers struck in quick succession in a wave of attacks that killed 55 people as Iraqi Shiites marched and lashed themselves with chains in ritual mourning of the 7th century death of a leader of their Muslim sect. Ninety-one people have been killed in violence in the past two days.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152839
Inspectors on high alert over tainted foodstuffs
By Ashfaq Ahmed and Diaa Hadid, Staff Reporters
Dubai: The Municipality has warned the public not to buy products containing a potentially cancer-causing dye following a food scare in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency (FSA) on Friday published a list of more than 350 processed foods that may contain Sudan 1, a dye used to colour non-edible items such as solvents, floor polish and waxes.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152724
Mother files for divorce over unruly daughter
By Bassam Za'za', Staff Reporter
Dubai: A mother whose teenage daughter bit her is asking the court for a divorce claiming her husband has not raised the girl properly.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152743
Illegals 'behind many crimes'
By Mona Ahmad, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Nearly 3,000 illegal workers were caught by Dubai police in the past two weeks during a continuing police campaign to cut crime in the emirate.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152741
Syria is no fool … and the US is not smart
By Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief
It is absurd to think that Syria is behind the well-planned blast that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=152746
Arabs should learn how to deal with Washington
By Abdullah Al Madani
The Gulf Forum is an independent grouping of intellectuals, academics, technocrats and businessmen from the six Arab Gulf countries.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=152748
Hezbollah warns against uprising
Reuters
Beirut: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned yesterday that popular agitation against Syria's grip on Lebanon after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri could plunge the country back into civil war.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152790
On the move again
By Mildred Fernandes, Special to Gulf News
After being paralysed on the right side for 18 years, Simon Poynter has regained almost full use of his body, thanks to Dubai-based physiotherapist Jacques Caluwe.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/FeaturesNF.asp?ArticleID=152721
Biggest candle rekindles Islam's message of peace
By Mohammad Almezel, Bureau Chief
Manama: Bahrain has broken a new record for the world's largest candle during the Ashura procession on Friday night.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152808
This would definitely seal the deal with Iran. Chalabi loves Iran.
Chalabi confident Alliance will back him for PM's job
AP
Baghdad: Ahmad Chalabi, the former Washington insider who later fell out of favour with the United States, has expressed confidence that he was on the brink of being anointed by the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance to be the country's first democratically elected prime minister.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152804
Israeli PM praises Egypt over security
Reuters
Cairo: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in remarks published yesterday Egypt was doing more than before to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152797
continued...
"Oakie-Doakie"
History ...
1872: Incorporated in 1870, New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors.
1878, the first telephone directory was issued, by the District Telephone Co. of New Haven, Conn.
1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated.
1901, born, Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian revolutionary.
1902, Ansel Adams, photographer.
1915: The World's Fair opens in San Francisco. The fair, called the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, celebrates the opening of the Panama Canal and the rebuilding of S.F. following the 1906 earth world's fair.
1925, The New Yorker magazine made its debut.
1927, Sydney Poitier, American motion-picture actor, the first black to become a major Hollywood star. Born in Miami, Florida, Poitier began acting with the American Negro Theater and made his movie debut in 1950 with a featured role in No Way Out, one of Hollywood's first films on racial bigotry. His next important credit was Blackboard Jungle (1955). The Defiant Ones (1958) brought Poitier an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of an escaped convict. Poitier won an Oscar five years later for Lilies of the Field (1963), in which he played a drifter who becomes a reluctant mainstay to a group of émigré nuns.
Poitier was hailed as the box-office star of 1967 for his charismatic work on three popular films: In the Heat of the Night; To Sir, with Love; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He did not appear in any movies from 1976 to 1987, preferring to direct (Buck and the Preacher, 1972; Uptown Saturday Night, 1974, and its sequel Let's Do It Again, 1975; and Stir Crazy, 1980). He played Thurgood Marshall in the 1991 Emmy Award-winning Separate But Equal.
1947, Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.
1962: Astronaut John Glenn, in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7, orbits Earth three times to become the first American to orbit Earth.
1963: Willie Mays signs a one-year $100,000 contract with the San Francisco Giants.
1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death in New York by assassins identified as Black Muslims.
1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 21/2 to eight years in prison for their roles in the Watergate coverup.
1988, During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, 52, admitted to visiting a prostitute, then announced he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time. (Defrocked in April by the Assemblies of God, he was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but returned after only three months.)
Missing in Action
1967 BORJA DOMINGO R. SAN FRANCISCO CA
1967 WRIGHT ARTHUR LANSING MI
Haaretz
Abbas: Pullout won't be under fire
By Gideon Alon, Daphna Berman and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents
The five-month countdown to the start of the historic withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank began Sunday with an overwhelming 17-5 vote by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542583.html
Analysis: Once a symbol of war, Sharon becomes a symbol of hope in region
Analysis: Sharon as Gorbachev
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Ariel Sharon's government made history Sunday with its decision on the evacuation of the settlements from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. The dry, brief evacuation orders issued after the cabinet meeting and bearing the signatures of A. Sharon and Mofaz herald the beginning of the end of the Israeli settlement enterprise in the territories.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542582.html
Jordan, Egypt return ambassadors after four-year absence
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Jordanian Ambassador Marouf al-Bakhit, a former general and most recently ambassador to Turkey, arrived in Israel on Sunday, as Egypt named Mohammed Assem, Cairo's current envoy to Sudan, as its new ambassador to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/542442.html
The Boston Globe
Green movement pales in Bay State
Cuts hobble parks, pollution control
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff February 21, 2005
Massachusetts was once a favorite of the national environmental movement, passing some of the country's strongest laws to protect its air, water, and land. But today, after 15 years of budget cuts, it is failing to deliver key services.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/21/green_movement_pales_in_bay_state/
Weak dollar draws wary Europeans back to NYC
By Tatsha Robertson, Globe Staff February 21, 2005
NEW YORK -- Paul Coffey earns a modest salary working at a shoe warehouse near London, but this year he was able to vacation with his wife and two teenage sons in Manhattan, sightseeing and shopping for the latest fashions and electronic gadgets.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/21/weak_dollar_draws_wary_europeans_back_to_nyc/
California's signature-ready tax returns get mixed reviews
By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times February 21, 2005
SACRAMENTO -- California's tax agency is moving forward with a revolutionary -- some people say disturbing -- concept: having the government do your taxes for you.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/21/californias_signature_ready_tax_returns_get_mixed_reviews/
Irish official says Sinn Fein leaders command IRA
Government weary of assertions that groups are separate
By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press February 21, 2005
DUBLIN -- In an unprecedented confrontation, the Irish government yesterday publicly identified three of Sinn Fein's top figures -- including party leader Gerry Adams -- as members of the Irish Republican Army command.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/02/21/irish_official_says_sinn_fein_leaders_command_ira/
The Onion
BURLINGTON, VT—Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based ice-cream manufacturer known for its progressive social mission, held a press conference Monday to introduce a new flavor celebrating Academy Award winner
http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4107&n=1
Michael Moore Today
Anti-War Group Plans Strategy in U.S. Heartland
By Deborah Cohen / Reuters
CHICAGO - Peace activists from around the United States gathered in St. Louis on Sunday, part of a three-day meeting to develop plans to pressure the Bush administration to exit Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1497
February 20th, 2005 3:22 pm
Talking with the Enemy
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq—and what the rebels say they want
By Michael Ware / Time
The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1494
Knocking on the nuclear door
By Lynda Hurst / Toronto Star
In 1992, in the warm glow of the Cold War's end, the United States stopped making and testing nuclear arms, halting its arsenal at 10,000 warheads and pledging to cut back further still.
Four years later, it was the first country to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty. But though committed to it in principle — certainly in regard to other nations — the U.S. wanted to keep its options open and, in 1999, to universal dismay, refused to ratify the treaty.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1498
Editorial: Phony journalist/Pimping for the White House
Star Tribune
Heard about the Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert muck-up in Washington? If you are an aficionado of the blogs, you've heard plenty. They're having a field day with it. But underneath all the fun lies a serious problem that hasn't got its due from the mainstream press: This White House employs a lot more kinds of fakery than the budgetary smoke and mirrors described in the editorial above.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1485
Agencies Warned About Fake News Videos
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Congressional investigators warned federal agencies this week that the promotion of government policies through video news releases meant to look like TV news stories may violate federal rules against propaganda.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1481
Japan Today
Ecologists revive extinct plants using seeds from lake bed
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 11:20 JST
TOKYO — A group of researchers, including members of the University of Tokyo's Laboratory of Conservation Ecology, has succeeded in reviving plants which were considered extinct at Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture by using seeds buried in lake bed soil, they said Monday.
Ireland names 3 top Sinn Fein members as IRA
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 07:17 JST
DUBLIN — Irishi Justice Minister Michael McDowell on Sunday accused three of the top leaders of the nationalist Sinn Fein political party, including party leader Gerry Adams, of belonging to the military command of the outlawed Irish Republican Army.
The government's blunt declaration indicated it no longer would tolerate Adams' protestations that his party should not be held accountable for IRA actions. The shift is intended to force the illegal IRA to disarm fully and disband, or risk the marginalization of the legal Sinn Fein.
Civic groups appeal for nuclear disarmament
Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 07:44 JST
TOKYO — Civic groups convened a meeting Saturday in Tokyo to appeal for nuclear disarmament ahead of a conference in New York in May to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The starting point for moves to seek nuclear disarmament traces was the experiences of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," Masayoshi Naito, leader of one of nuclear disarmament groups, said at the meeting. (Kyodo News)
4th GSDF contingent returns from Iraq
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 10:03 JST
SENDAI — About 120 members of the fourth Ground Self-Defense Force contingent who had served for three months in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah on a humanitarian and reconstruction mission returned to Japan on Saturday.
They are the first batch to have returned from the fourth contingent, mainly from the GSDF's 6th Division based in Higashine, Yamagata Prefecture. They carried out their mission at a time when Iraq held its first democratic elections in 50 years. (Kyodo News)
Japan, U.S. set security goals
Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 05:31 JST
WASHINGTON — Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to reinforce their bilateral security alliance under a new set of "common security objectives" to deal with "uncertainty" in the Asia-Pacific amid China's growing military power, possible clashes across the Taiwan Strait and N. Korea's nuclear threat.
In a joint statement issued after the so-called "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign affairs and defense chiefs, the two nations agreed to accelerate their consultations by using the common objectives as the baseline to realign U.S. military presence in Japan and to examine "the roles, missions and capabilities" of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and U.S. armed forces. (Kyodo News)
Japan risks upsetting China on Taiwan
Janice Tang
Japan on Saturday took the bold step of including the sensitive Taiwan Strait issue as one of its "common strategic objectives" with the United States to boost their security alliance, risking Japan's already fragile relationship with China.
CNN
N. Korea: Japan, U.S. plotting invasion
From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer
Sunday, February 20, 2005 Posted: 2043 GMT (0443 HKT)
(CNN) -- North Korea has accused Japan of aspiring to rule a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" beginning with an invasion of Korea with the assistance
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/02/20/us.japan/
The Japan Times
North Korea, Taiwan top issues in Japan-U.S. talks
Compiled from Kyodo, AP
WASHINGTON -- Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to reinforce their alliance under a new set of common security objectives to deal with "unpredictability and uncertainty" in the Asia-Pacific region.
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050221a1.htm
Mitsubishi Fuso takes most time to report vehicle defects
Scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. waited an average of more than two years before reporting vehicle defect cases to the government in fiscal 2003, government officials said Sunday.
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050221a2.htm
Japan Today
Japan in dilemma over NK sanctions
Shinya Ajima
The Japanese government is coming under increasing pressure to impose economic sanctions on North Korea due to the North's attitude toward its past abductions of Japanese citizens.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=comment&id=727
Okinawa compiles proposals on reducing U.S. military presence
Friday, February 18, 2005 at 07:19 JST
NAHA — Okinawa Prefecture has compiled a set of proposals for the U.S. and Japanese governments on reducing the presence of U.S. forces there in line with the envisaged realignment of the U.S. military in Japan, prefectural government sources said Thursday.
Gov. Keiichi Inamine will visit the United States in March to put the four proposals to the U.S. government, including relocating U.S. Marines in Okinawa to outside of the prefecture and reviewing the function of the U.S. Kadena Air Base, they said. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328133
Okinawa governor asks Japan, U.S. to relocate Marines
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 04:00 JST
NAHA — Okinawa Gov Keiichi Inamine expressed hope Sunday that the discussion between the United States and Japan on security would work to reduce U.S. military facilities in his prefecture after a Japan-U.S. ministerial security meeting ended.
"We will continue to urge the governments of Japan and the United States that the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa be transferred elsewhere outside the prefecture and review the functions of the Kadena Air Base. We will also ask that the burden be reduced in a visible manner," he said. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328374
Japan to lend Y98.7 bil to Turkey for subway construction
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 08:00 JST
TOKYO — The government said Friday it will provide up to 98.73 billion yen in low-interest loans to Turkey to help build a subway system in Istanbul.
The 40-year loan, which will carry an interest rate of 0.75% per annum, follows Tokyo's previous loan of 12.46 billion yen for the same project in 1999. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=3&id=328254
Dengue fever kills 20 in East Timor
Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 04:21 JST
DILI — An outbreak of dengue fever has killed 20 people in East Timor since January, a health official said Friday.
Livio da Conceicao, a surveillance officer in the Health Department, said the first case was found Jan 5 and 178 cases have been confirmed of the viral disease so far. (Kyodo News)
Sunnis seek role in Iraq government
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 07:13 JST
BAGHDAD — Sunni Muslim tribal leaders met Sunday to determine their place in a Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, while U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces launched an offensive against insurgents in troubled cities west of Baghdad after two days of carnage that left nearly 100 people dead.
As the Shiite majority prepared to take control of the country's first freely elected government, tribal chiefs representing Sunni Arabs in six provinces issued a list of demands — including participation in the government and drafting a new constitution — after previously refusing to acknowledge the vote's legitimacy.
The New York Times
Cabinet in Israel Ratifies Pullout From Gaza Strip
By GREG MYRE
Published: February 21, 2005
JERUSALEM, Feb. 20 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won cabinet approval on Sunday for two sweeping plans intended to reshape Israel's relations with the Palestinians: the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, and a revamped route for the separation barrier in the West Bank.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/international/middleeast/21mideast.html?hp&ex=1109048400&en=3f2eb769d75b1d74&ei=5094&partner=homepage
WHERE 'WALKER BUSH' GOES, THEY KISS HIS ARCE! They must be running out of money.
A New Target for Advisers to Swift Vets
By GLEN JUSTICE
Published: February 21, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 - Taking its cues from the success of last year's Swift boat veterans' campaign in the presidential race, a conservative lobbying organization has hired some of the same consultants to orchestrate attacks on one of President Bush's toughest opponents in the battle to overhaul Social Security.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21social.html?hp&ex=1109048400&en=31aa371bb47479ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Big Oil Steps Aside in Battle Over Arctic
By JEFF GERTH
Published: February 21, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 - George W. Bush first proposed drilling for oil in a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska in 2000, after oil industry experts helped his presidential campaign develop an energy plan. Five years later, he is pushing the proposal again, saying the nation urgently needs to increase domestic production.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/politics/21refuge.html
The Gulf News
Lebanon to boycott UN inquiry
Agencies
Beirut: The Lebanese government took exception to the United Nations' decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152731
Iraq reels from bomb attacks on Shiite holy day
AP
Baghdad: Eight suicide bombers struck in quick succession in a wave of attacks that killed 55 people as Iraqi Shiites marched and lashed themselves with chains in ritual mourning of the 7th century death of a leader of their Muslim sect. Ninety-one people have been killed in violence in the past two days.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152839
Inspectors on high alert over tainted foodstuffs
By Ashfaq Ahmed and Diaa Hadid, Staff Reporters
Dubai: The Municipality has warned the public not to buy products containing a potentially cancer-causing dye following a food scare in the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency (FSA) on Friday published a list of more than 350 processed foods that may contain Sudan 1, a dye used to colour non-edible items such as solvents, floor polish and waxes.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152724
Mother files for divorce over unruly daughter
By Bassam Za'za', Staff Reporter
Dubai: A mother whose teenage daughter bit her is asking the court for a divorce claiming her husband has not raised the girl properly.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152743
Illegals 'behind many crimes'
By Mona Ahmad, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Nearly 3,000 illegal workers were caught by Dubai police in the past two weeks during a continuing police campaign to cut crime in the emirate.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=152741
Syria is no fool … and the US is not smart
By Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief
It is absurd to think that Syria is behind the well-planned blast that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=152746
Arabs should learn how to deal with Washington
By Abdullah Al Madani
The Gulf Forum is an independent grouping of intellectuals, academics, technocrats and businessmen from the six Arab Gulf countries.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=152748
Hezbollah warns against uprising
Reuters
Beirut: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned yesterday that popular agitation against Syria's grip on Lebanon after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri could plunge the country back into civil war.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152790
On the move again
By Mildred Fernandes, Special to Gulf News
After being paralysed on the right side for 18 years, Simon Poynter has regained almost full use of his body, thanks to Dubai-based physiotherapist Jacques Caluwe.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/FeaturesNF.asp?ArticleID=152721
Biggest candle rekindles Islam's message of peace
By Mohammad Almezel, Bureau Chief
Manama: Bahrain has broken a new record for the world's largest candle during the Ashura procession on Friday night.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152808
This would definitely seal the deal with Iran. Chalabi loves Iran.
Chalabi confident Alliance will back him for PM's job
AP
Baghdad: Ahmad Chalabi, the former Washington insider who later fell out of favour with the United States, has expressed confidence that he was on the brink of being anointed by the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance to be the country's first democratically elected prime minister.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152804
Israeli PM praises Egypt over security
Reuters
Cairo: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in remarks published yesterday Egypt was doing more than before to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=152797
continued...
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Biggest candle rekindles Islam's message of peace
The 3,000kg candle being lit during the Ashura procession in Bahrain
By Mohammad Almezel, Bureau Chief
Manama: Bahrain has broken a new record for the world's largest candle during the Ashura procession on Friday night.
The 73-metre candle was made by the Hussaini Painting Society to stress Islam's message of peace, according to society officials.
Thousands of people, including officials from The Guinness Book of Records, witnessed the lighting up of the horizontally-laid 3,000-kilogram candle.
The public took turns to light up the candle's 14,000 wicks.
"The project is aimed to send a message of peace to the whole world, stressing that Islam is not a religion of violence. It is a religion of peace, tolerance and fraternity," society president Abdul Nabi Al Hamer told Gulf News.
"It is the key message of Imam Hussain's campaign against oppression," he said.
"The message of Hussain should be expanded. It is a universal message which says 'No' to oppression and injustice," said Al Hamer as he watched young boys and girls taking part in lighting up the wicks.
The project cost the society less than $1,000 (Dh3,680) as most of the candles have been contributed by the public, he said.
Bahrainis traditionally light candles on the eve of Ashura.
This year's Ashura processions were held under tight security.
By Mohammad Almezel, Bureau Chief
Manama: Bahrain has broken a new record for the world's largest candle during the Ashura procession on Friday night.
The 73-metre candle was made by the Hussaini Painting Society to stress Islam's message of peace, according to society officials.
Thousands of people, including officials from The Guinness Book of Records, witnessed the lighting up of the horizontally-laid 3,000-kilogram candle.
The public took turns to light up the candle's 14,000 wicks.
"The project is aimed to send a message of peace to the whole world, stressing that Islam is not a religion of violence. It is a religion of peace, tolerance and fraternity," society president Abdul Nabi Al Hamer told Gulf News.
"It is the key message of Imam Hussain's campaign against oppression," he said.
"The message of Hussain should be expanded. It is a universal message which says 'No' to oppression and injustice," said Al Hamer as he watched young boys and girls taking part in lighting up the wicks.
The project cost the society less than $1,000 (Dh3,680) as most of the candles have been contributed by the public, he said.
Bahrainis traditionally light candles on the eve of Ashura.
This year's Ashura processions were held under tight security.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)