April 22, 2005. Madison, Indiana. April showers bring May flowers.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Earth Day 2005
Celebs Join Inuits at Earth Day Event
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 22, 2005
Filed at 8:04 p.m. ET
TORONTO (AP) -- Hollywood stars Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal joined Canadian Inuits in the Arctic Circle for a traditional spring dance on Earth Day Friday, seeking to highlight the effect of global warming on northern Canadians.
The celebrities joined some 1,000 Inuit -- half of whom were children -- in their traditional dress and followed elders onto an ice floe to form the image of an Inuit drum dancer. From the air, photographers were able to see the humans spell out the words: ''Arctic Warning: Listen.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Canada-Inuit-Earth-Day.html
When Nature Assaults Itself
LATE one afternoon not long ago, I stood on the bridge of an Alaska-bound oil tanker, trying to divine our ecological future from the encircling horizon: a gray band of haze separating an overcast sky from the slate-gray sea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/opinion/22burdick.html
Tech giants boost recycling efforts
David Becker, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: April 21, 2005
Dell and Hewlett-Packard cut fees for their recycling programs this week, in advance of Friday's Earth Day observance.
Technology companies have come under growing pressure in the past few years to address the growing mounds of dangerous waste created by outdated computer hardware. Gear such as monitors and circuit boards are full of hazardous chemicals that can leach into the soil and groundwater if dumped into landfills. Groups such as the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative have successfully pushed computer makers to responsibly recycle more and more of their obsolete goods.
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1003_3-5679907.html
HP Celebrates Earth Day
In honor of the day devoted to all things earth-healthy, HP offers a limited-time 50-percent discount on its recycling services. And then some.
Libe Goad - PC Magazine
April 22 In honor of Earth Day, HP is offering new initiatives to encourage consumers to recycle their old computers and computer-related products. First on the list – a 50 percent discount on the company's recycling program, along with a push to educate the general consumer about e-waste and how to take care of it.
HP's Manager, Corporate Environmental Strategies & Sustainability John Fray said that recent HP surveys shows a surprising lack of consumer knowledge about e-waste and related recycling programs.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=695017
The Wilderness Society
Take an Arctic Journey
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located off the coast of the Beaufort Sea on Alaska's north shore, is prized for its wilderness and wildlife. It is also coveted by multi-national oil companies for its possible oil reserves. The Wilderness Society is working to set this area off limits to oil development, and protect its most precious resources: Wilderness and the wildlife that depend on it.
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Arctic/journey.cfm?TopLevel=Journey
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 22, 2005
Filed at 8:04 p.m. ET
TORONTO (AP) -- Hollywood stars Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal joined Canadian Inuits in the Arctic Circle for a traditional spring dance on Earth Day Friday, seeking to highlight the effect of global warming on northern Canadians.
The celebrities joined some 1,000 Inuit -- half of whom were children -- in their traditional dress and followed elders onto an ice floe to form the image of an Inuit drum dancer. From the air, photographers were able to see the humans spell out the words: ''Arctic Warning: Listen.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Canada-Inuit-Earth-Day.html
When Nature Assaults Itself
LATE one afternoon not long ago, I stood on the bridge of an Alaska-bound oil tanker, trying to divine our ecological future from the encircling horizon: a gray band of haze separating an overcast sky from the slate-gray sea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/opinion/22burdick.html
Tech giants boost recycling efforts
David Becker, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: April 21, 2005
Dell and Hewlett-Packard cut fees for their recycling programs this week, in advance of Friday's Earth Day observance.
Technology companies have come under growing pressure in the past few years to address the growing mounds of dangerous waste created by outdated computer hardware. Gear such as monitors and circuit boards are full of hazardous chemicals that can leach into the soil and groundwater if dumped into landfills. Groups such as the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative have successfully pushed computer makers to responsibly recycle more and more of their obsolete goods.
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1003_3-5679907.html
HP Celebrates Earth Day
In honor of the day devoted to all things earth-healthy, HP offers a limited-time 50-percent discount on its recycling services. And then some.
Libe Goad - PC Magazine
April 22 In honor of Earth Day, HP is offering new initiatives to encourage consumers to recycle their old computers and computer-related products. First on the list – a 50 percent discount on the company's recycling program, along with a push to educate the general consumer about e-waste and how to take care of it.
HP's Manager, Corporate Environmental Strategies & Sustainability John Fray said that recent HP surveys shows a surprising lack of consumer knowledge about e-waste and related recycling programs.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=695017
The Wilderness Society
Take an Arctic Journey
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located off the coast of the Beaufort Sea on Alaska's north shore, is prized for its wilderness and wildlife. It is also coveted by multi-national oil companies for its possible oil reserves. The Wilderness Society is working to set this area off limits to oil development, and protect its most precious resources: Wilderness and the wildlife that depend on it.
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Arctic/journey.cfm?TopLevel=Journey
Thursday, April 21, 2005
UNISYS Hemispheric Water Vapor Satellite - satellite link changes continually. May not appear as picture.
Hempisheric from the point of view it encompasses North America.
I haven't posted an entire satellite because I am waiting for a clearer pattern to emerge. The only 'air flow structure' that is consistent thoughout the globe at this point is the equator which is holdind a steady and mostly consistent rotation around the planet. The air mass in the South Pacific is becoming consistent and it is obviously STILL a 'heat transfer system.' The 'intensity' of the heat entering Antarctica is diminished but consistent. The odd thing is this new phenomina noted in the UNISYS satellite. Where 'heat system' (clouds of water vapor) normally have come off the equator they are now making U-Turns. The vapor is coming off the equator but rather than ascending to 90 degrees north it is within short distances returning to the equator. The entire dynamics of the planet at this point is new. We are a full one third of time from the Spring Equinox on March 21 with the Summer Solstice coming in June. I think it is encouraging. I am wondering what the hurricane season will look like this year.
There should be a better pattern of air masse movement within a day or so. If not then I'll estimate the lack of it and post it. Above is the satellite from UNISYS I noted the 'U Turn' heat systems at the equator.
I haven't posted an entire satellite because I am waiting for a clearer pattern to emerge. The only 'air flow structure' that is consistent thoughout the globe at this point is the equator which is holdind a steady and mostly consistent rotation around the planet. The air mass in the South Pacific is becoming consistent and it is obviously STILL a 'heat transfer system.' The 'intensity' of the heat entering Antarctica is diminished but consistent. The odd thing is this new phenomina noted in the UNISYS satellite. Where 'heat system' (clouds of water vapor) normally have come off the equator they are now making U-Turns. The vapor is coming off the equator but rather than ascending to 90 degrees north it is within short distances returning to the equator. The entire dynamics of the planet at this point is new. We are a full one third of time from the Spring Equinox on March 21 with the Summer Solstice coming in June. I think it is encouraging. I am wondering what the hurricane season will look like this year.
There should be a better pattern of air masse movement within a day or so. If not then I'll estimate the lack of it and post it. Above is the satellite from UNISYS I noted the 'U Turn' heat systems at the equator.
FBI Protects Osama bin Laden's "Right to Privacy" in Documents Released
Osama bin Laden is not a citizen of this country. As far as I know he is a man without a country. I don't think there is a country on the face of Earth that extends him citizenship. What goes on? How does a known terrorists, wanted by the FBI with a bounty of $25 million on his head get privacy protection while the Justice Department is rounding up innocent citizens and keeping some as enemy combatants !
WHAT GOES ON !!!!!!!
April 20th, 2005 4:17 pm
FBI Protects Osama bin Laden's “Right to Privacy” in Document Release
Judicial Watch Investigation Uncovers FBI Documents Concerning Bin Laden Family and Post-9/11 Flights
Washington, DC -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has invoked privacy right protections on behalf of al Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden. In a September 24, 2003 declassified “Secret” FBI report obtained by Judicial Watch, the FBI invoked Exemption 6 under FOIA law on behalf of bin Laden, which permits the government to withhold all information about U.S. persons in “personnel and medical files and similar files” when the disclosure of such information “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) (2000))
Before invoking privacy protections for Osama bin Laden under Exemption 6, the FBI should have conducted a balancing “test” of the public's right to disclosure against the individual's right to privacy. Many of the references in the redacted documents cite publicly available news articles from sources such as The Washington Post and Associated Press. Based on its analysis of the news stories cited in the FBI report, Judicial Watch was able to determine that bin Laden’s name was redacted from the document, including newspaper headlines in the footnoted citations.
“It is dumbfounding that the United States government has placed a higher priority on the supposed privacy rights of Osama bin Laden than the public’s right to know what happened in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is difficult for me to imagine a greater insult to the American people, especially those whose loved ones were murdered by bin Laden on that day.”
The redacted documents were obtained by Judicial Watch under the provisions of the FOIA and through ongoing litigation (Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security & Federal Bureau of Investigation, No. 04-1643 (RWR)). Among the documents was a declassified “Secret” FBI report, dated September 24, 2003, entitled: “Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article (Re: [Redacted] Family Departures After 9/11/2001).” Judicial Watch filed its original FOIA request on October 7, 2003. The full text of the report and related documents are available on the Internet by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
WHAT GOES ON !!!!!!!
April 20th, 2005 4:17 pm
FBI Protects Osama bin Laden's “Right to Privacy” in Document Release
Judicial Watch Investigation Uncovers FBI Documents Concerning Bin Laden Family and Post-9/11 Flights
Washington, DC -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has invoked privacy right protections on behalf of al Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden. In a September 24, 2003 declassified “Secret” FBI report obtained by Judicial Watch, the FBI invoked Exemption 6 under FOIA law on behalf of bin Laden, which permits the government to withhold all information about U.S. persons in “personnel and medical files and similar files” when the disclosure of such information “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) (2000))
Before invoking privacy protections for Osama bin Laden under Exemption 6, the FBI should have conducted a balancing “test” of the public's right to disclosure against the individual's right to privacy. Many of the references in the redacted documents cite publicly available news articles from sources such as The Washington Post and Associated Press. Based on its analysis of the news stories cited in the FBI report, Judicial Watch was able to determine that bin Laden’s name was redacted from the document, including newspaper headlines in the footnoted citations.
“It is dumbfounding that the United States government has placed a higher priority on the supposed privacy rights of Osama bin Laden than the public’s right to know what happened in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is difficult for me to imagine a greater insult to the American people, especially those whose loved ones were murdered by bin Laden on that day.”
The redacted documents were obtained by Judicial Watch under the provisions of the FOIA and through ongoing litigation (Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security & Federal Bureau of Investigation, No. 04-1643 (RWR)). Among the documents was a declassified “Secret” FBI report, dated September 24, 2003, entitled: “Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article (Re: [Redacted] Family Departures After 9/11/2001).” Judicial Watch filed its original FOIA request on October 7, 2003. The full text of the report and related documents are available on the Internet by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History…
753 BC, According to legend, twin brothers Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, found the ancient city of Rome.
1649, the Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.
1836, Shouting, "Remember the Alamo," General Sam Houston and his army of Texans defeat Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto, winning independence for Texas.
1838, John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer
1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.
1940, the quiz show that asked the "$64 question," "Take It or Leave It," premiered on CBS Radio.
1955, 50 years ago, the Jerome Lawrence-Robert Lee play "Inherit the Wind," loosely based on the Scopes trial of 1925, opened at the National Theatre in New York.
1960, Three years after construction of Brasília began, the city replaces the crowded Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil.
1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.
1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.
1980, at the Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line; however, she was later exposed as a fraud.
Missing in Action
1966 AUSTIN ELLIS E. VERMONTVILLE MI POSS DEAD
1966 KELLER JACK E. CHICAGO IL
1967 HAMILTON ROGER DALE BALTIMORE MD
1967 HASENBACH PAUL A. FREEBURG MO DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 MANGINO THOMAS A. ALLIANCE OH DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 NIDDS DANIEL R. WEST ISLIP NY DISAPPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 WINTERS DAVID M. DELPHIA CA DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1968 CREAMER JAMES E. NORTH BRANFORD CT
1968 JOHNSON FRANKIE B. JR. FOUNTAIN INN SC
1968 JAMERSON LARRY C. ROSMAN NC
1968 LINK ROBERT C. WASHINGTON DC
1968 MAC KEDANZ LYLE E. HUTCHINSON MN
1968 OLSEN FLOYD W. WHEATON IL
1968 SPINDLER JOHN GATES ST LOUIS MO
1970 WHEELER EUGENE L. ASHVILLE OH "VOICE CONTACT, IN SHOOTOUT"
1978 MAC NAMARA LEN PHNOM PHENH JAIL TIL 11/78
1978 CLARK JAMES W. PHNOM PHENH JAIL TIL 11/78
Nobel Prize winner launches DNA company of the future
NOBEL Prize winner Dr Sydney Brenner has started a firm which will take DNA analysis into a new era.
Population Genetics Technologies, which will be based in Cambridge, will allow mass analysis of whole populations, simultaneously.
One example of how this will benefit mankind is in eliminating side-effects from powerful drugs.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/business/news/2005/04/20/f41e4dce-dd9e-4e5c-a3cb-7ac1ff27cbf7.lpf
The Australian
Asteroid will get two shots at Earth
Nigel Hawkes, London
April 19, 2005
A GIGANTIC asteroid that is on a course to miss the Earth by a whisker in 2029 could go around its orbit again and score a direct hit a few years later.
Astronomers have calculated that the 350m-wide asteroid called 2004 MN4 will pass by Earth at a distance of between 24,140km and 40,235km - about one-tenth of the distance between the Earth and the moon and close enough to be seen with the naked eye.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15014308%255E29098,00.html
Shuttle might go without some upgrades: NASA chief
Reuters
April 19, 2005
NEW NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said today he might consider letting the space shuttle return to flight even if an independent panel has not finally approved some safety improvements.
Griffin, a rocket scientist who was confirmed by Congress last week to head the US space agency, said NASA's managers will have the final say on whether the shuttle Discovery lifts off during its scheduled launch window from May 15 to June 3.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15018093%255E29098,00.html
The Sydney Morning Herald
Detainees' last option: don't dob
By Neil McMahon, with Matthew Moore and Phil Cornford in Denpasar
April 21, 2005
The words are chilling, the meaning obvious.
Within minutes of being arrested at Denpasar airport, Renae Lawrence had taken stock of the horrifying situation unfolding around her: she and three other young Australians in detention with packets of heroin strapped to their bodies.
They were busted. And dramatic footage shot by Indonesian police last Sunday suggests Lawrence made a swift judgement on their smartest strategy: don't dob.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Detainees-last-option-dont-dob/2005/04/20/1113854264360.html
Hooded spectre of Abu Ghraib has his revenge
A photograph can sometimes crystallise a tragic moment in human history, writes Rachel Roberts.
In Abu Ghraib prison, things happened. Some of these things were recorded in photographs. More disturbingly, many others were not. Acts of torture, humiliation and abuse that inspired shock and awe around the world. By now the world is familiar with the images that came out of Abu Ghraib.
They included pictures of Iraqi detainees being forced to pile one upon another, amassed in a grotesque pyramid of naked bodies.
There were shots of US soldiers grinning and giving the camera the "thumbs up" sign over the bodies of wounded detainees and corpses lying open-mouthed as if aghast at the final acts of cruelty committed against them. There were images of men cowering in front of snarling dogs, as well as a photo of one naked Iraqi detainee who, with a leash around his neck, was paraded in front of the camera like a dog.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Hooded-spectre-of-Abu-Ghraib-has-his-revenge/2005/04/20/1113854259656.html
Tornado in eastern China kills seven
April 21, 2005 - 12:44PM
A tornado tore apart houses in two towns in eastern China, killing seven people and injuring more than 80 others, a news report said.
The tornadoes hit two counties on the outskirts of Yancheng, a city in Jiangsu province north west of Shanghai, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The report said Xinhua reporters who visited the village of Dazhi, one of the hardest-hit areas, found "half of the houses at the village collapsed and the only township hospital crowded with some 60 villagers waiting for treatment".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Tornado-in-eastern-China-kills-seven/2005/04/21/1114028464306.html
Bodies found as Iraq bomb targets Allawi
April 21, 2005 - 8:59AM
Iraq's interim president has announced the recovery of more than 50 bodies from the Tigris River, saying the grisly discovery was proof of claims that dozens were abducted from an area south of the capital despite a fruitless search by Iraqi forces.
Northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said 19 bullet-riddled bodies were found slumped against a bloodstained wall in a soccer stadium in Haditha.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bodies-found-as-Iraq-bomb-targets-Allawi/2005/04/21/1114028455731.html
BBC
Adult stem cells 'cancer threat'
Adult stem cells can pose a cancer risk, warn scientists.
Stem cells are immature "master" cells that can be programmed to become many kinds of tissue and have been heralded as future cures for numerous disease.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4465717.stm
Inhaled insulin 'within a year'
A device which allows people with diabetes to inhale, rather than inject, insulin could be licensed for use within a year, scientists claim.
Tests carried out around the UK and in the US have shown that the device is as effective as conventional injections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4464571.stm
Shift work linked to health risks
Employees working split shifts could be harming their health, Health and Safety Executive research has suggested.
A study found offshore oil rig workers who worked seven nights then seven days had a higher risk of heart disease than those who stayed on days or nights.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4466555.stm
Child diabetes time-bomb warning
The form of diabetes more associated with adults is much higher among children than thought, figures suggest.
Research in east London has revealed 22 children under 16 have type 2 diabetes, which is largely caused by obesity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4462111.stm
Great Wall visible in space photo
A photograph taken from space appears to confirm that China's Great Wall can be seen with the naked eye after all.
China's schoolchildren have long been taught that the ancient fortification is one of the few man-made structures that can be picked out from orbit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4459311.stm
Arrest order for Ecuador leader
Ecuador's new President Alfredo Palacio has ordered the arrest of the former leader, Lucio Gutierrez, who was sacked by Congress on Wednesday.
After the vote, the army withdrew support for Mr Gutierrez, who left the presidential palace by helicopter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4467389.stm
Ancient necropolis found in Egypt
Archaeologists say they have found the largest funerary complex yet dating from the earliest era of ancient Egypt, more than 5,000 years ago.
The necropolis was discovered by a joint US and Egyptian team in the Kom al-Ahmar region, around 600 km (370 miles) south of the capital, Cairo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4467253.stm
Berlusconi resigns as Italian PM
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has resigned, but says he will soon put together a new coalition.
He told the upper house of parliament that his party had a mandate to lead until 2006 and it would do so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4464865.stm
Ford sees profits fall to $1.2bn
US car giant Ford Motor saw its profits fall almost 40% in the first quarter, as falling US sales and rising prices for raw materials ate into margins.
The company said its net profit was $1.21bn (£630m), on sales of $45.1bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4464743.stm
Iraq 'hostages dumped in river'
The bodies of more than 50 men, women and children have been recovered from the River Tigris in the town of Suwayra, south of Baghdad.
Many had been badly mutilated, Iraqi authorities said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4465769.stm
Dusty debris may be asteroid belt
The Spitzer telescope has detected what looks to be an asteroid belt around a star some 41 light-years from Earth.
US astronomers say that if confirmed it would be the first such band of rocky material found around a star of similar age and size to our own Sun.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4465329.stm
Dozens killed in Zambia explosion
At least 46 workers have been killed and several others injured in a blast at an explosives factory in Zambia.
The explosion occurred at about 1100 (0900GMT) in a workshop at the Chinese-owned plant which supplies explosives to local copper mines.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4466321.stm
Rwanda's anger at Hutu 'refugees'
Rwanda has condemned Burundi for moving a group of Rwandan Hutus who had crossed their common border, further from the frontier.
Rwanda says the Hutus are fugitives from justice, and says the Burundian action amounts to giving them the status of asylum-seekers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4460741.stm
Rwanda genocide 'failure' berated
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the international community of deliberately failing to prevent the genocide in the country 10 years ago.
Speaking at the conference on the killings in the Rwandan capital Kigali, Mr Kagame condemned the worldwide inaction at the time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3599493.stm
UN chief's Rwanda genocide regret
The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he could and should have done more to stop the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago.
At a memorial conference at the UN, Mr Annan said he realised he personally could have done more to rally support for international efforts to stop it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3573229.stm
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Welcome to the Internet Site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
http://www.ictr.org/
HIV note panics Kenyan students
Kenyan police are investigating a claim that a female student has slept with more than 100 fellow students to try to infect them with HIV, the Aids virus.
Officials at Moi University in western Kenya say they believe a two-page letter posted on a notice board from a law student signed NP could be a hoax.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4464897.stm
Bigotry
You can't legislate on nappy changing
April 20, 2005
NO social engineer from central casting will ever design a happiness model for any one of us better than we design for ourselves. And it's oppressive to try. Yet, for those unhappy with the pace of social change, there is a tendency to hit the legislative button to engineer centrally imposed solutions. The Left, whose constant refrain is that change is too slow, has long been eager to press the accelerator with allegedly progressive laws pushing us towards a happier future. Now it seems that those on the Right are also succumbing to social engineering.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15022177%5E32522,00.html
Wristband plan to tackle bigotry
The craze for wristbands is the latest weapon being used in the battle to beat bigotry in the west of Scotland.
Celtic and Rangers football stars are joining forces with police to launch the bands, which carry the message "Say No To Sectarianism".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4465669.stm
Religious bigotry in the Military
Vice Commandant says "There were people
walking up to someone and basically they would get
in a conversation where it would end with, `If you don't
believe what I believe you are going to hell,'"
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- There have been 55 complaints of religious discrimination at the academy in the past four years, including cases in which a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet.
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=20417
Europe blinded by anti-Semitic bigotry
The Association of University Teachers in the United Kingdom is set today to begin blacklisting Israeli professors who refuse to condemn their country's policies toward Arabs.
The academics will debate today whether to boycott three of Israel's eight universities – Haifa, Bar Ilan and Hebrew – over their alleged complicity with the government's policies toward the so-called "Palestinians."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43891
Tories rap McConnell in racism row
14:14, Apr 20 2005
First Minister Jack McConnell has been fiercely criticised by a top Tory after he appeared to accuse Conservatives of waging a racist General Election campaign.
Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram accused Mr McConnell of stoking up ill-feeling.
"I have noticed right through this campaign that when the Government is feeling vulnerable on any particular argument, it either says we are playing politics with it or it begins to abuse us," Mr Ancram said in Edinburgh.
http://iclanarkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scotland/headlines/tm_objectid=15423945&method=full&siteid=50144&headline=tories-rap-mcconnell-in-racism-row-name_page.html
How is that racism?
There is a lot of talk on sports talk radio right now over the issue of whether or not the NBA needs an age minimum.
Obviously not everybody is going to like such an idea and Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O’Neal who is so animatedly against it he called it racist.
“You don’t hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it’s unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can’t you play basketball for 48 minutes?” O’Neal said.
If you ask me that’s a bunch of hog wash.
http://www.forestlaketimes.com/2005/April/20onemineute.html
Transit agency sued for racism
Daily Journal wire report
Civil rights organizations and AC Transit bus riders sued the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in federal court yesterday, alleging discrimination against poor transit riders of color who depend on AC Transit bus service.
Bill Lann Lee, former assistant attorney general for civil rights in the U.S. Justice Department, said “The Bay Area has two separate and unequal transit systems: an expanding state of the art rail system, Caltrain and BART, for predominantly white, relatively affluent communities and a shrinking bus system, AC Transit, for low-income people of color.”
http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=04-20-05&storyID=42076
Are you a racist? The test that claims to know
Can a five-minute online test tell whether you are racist or not? In the US, two million people have taken one and now a UK version is available.
Racism is a reality encountered every day in Britain, but how many people actually consider themselves racist?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4447471.stm
'Fair' housing no reality on LI
Area is nation’s 3rd most segregated
April 20, 2005
The maddening part about ERASE Racism's new report on racial discrimination in Long Island's housing market is that it's nothing new - and nothing that savvy Long Islanders, white, black, yellow or brown, didn't know.
Racial steering is so virulent a piece of the local culture that even victims - who tend to worry more about getting a roof over their heads than entering some legal or regulatory maze - rarely bother to complain about it.
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/opinion/ny-vprac204225268apr20,0,2607777.story?coll=ny-opinion-print
Calls for Congressional Solution to End Wage Discrimination
WASHINGTON -- April 19 -- "The fact is simple and unacceptable - forty-two years after the Equal Pay Act was passed women working full-time, year round, are only making 76 cents to every dollar a man earns," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "This kind of discrimination has an economically devastating impact on women and their families."
The wage gap between men and women stubbornly remains despite passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. Why do more women than men live in poverty? Because many of them are working minimum or sub-minimum wage jobs and because they still are not receiving equal pay for equal work
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0419-11.htm
Professor Takes UC to Court, Citing Discrimination
Chapela Says His Origin, Criticism of UC Sparked Retaliation
By PREETI PIPLANI
Contributing Writer
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
UC Berkeley associate professor Ignacio Chapela took his ongoing battle for tenure to court yesterday, claiming his national origin and criticism of a UC research contract drove UC to deny him tenure.
http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=18390
TOM DELAY gets to stay but a Florida mayor is harassed by Jeb Bush over baseless charges.
Orlando Mayor
4/20/2005
Governor reinstates Buddy Dyer as mayor of Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said today hours after charges against him and three others were dropped that his government will be operated transparently.
The four were indicted on charges of violating a state law that prohibits payments for collection of absentee ballots.
He was reinstated as mayor today. Governor Jeb Bush had suspended him last month when the charges were announced.
Dyer said the decision by special prosecutor Brad King showed that he never did anything wrong.
Dyer entered a pretrial diversion agreement that said he agrees that he and any of his future election campaigns will abide by the state's interpretation of the law.
The mayor said that his administration would from now on be conducted "absolutely in the sunshine."
Charges were also dropped against Circuit Judge Alan Apte, Dyer's campaign manager, Patty Sharp, and campaign consultant Ezzie Thomas.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.wcjb.com/news.asp?id=12354
Virus proves Sober more socially adept
by David Quainton
Anti-virus experts are raising threat alerts over the latest variant of an aging virus. Sober.N is spreading in German and English speaking countries.
The new variant has been widely seeded in the early hours of this morning, and though relatively simple, its sophisticated social engineering is expected to fool many.
"It only uses two different messages, in English and German, but what makes it worse than other variants is the social engineering is really good," said Patrik Runald, senior technology consultant at Finnish anti-virus company F-Secure. "Most people will be interested in what the message has to say."
http://www.scmagazine.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsDetails&newsUID=527540e2-6f3b-4b45-b5ce-65571dd1ce9d&newsType=Latest%20News
continued...
"Okeydoke"
History…
753 BC, According to legend, twin brothers Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, found the ancient city of Rome.
1649, the Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.
1836, Shouting, "Remember the Alamo," General Sam Houston and his army of Texans defeat Mexican forces in the Battle of San Jacinto, winning independence for Texas.
1838, John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer
1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.
1940, the quiz show that asked the "$64 question," "Take It or Leave It," premiered on CBS Radio.
1955, 50 years ago, the Jerome Lawrence-Robert Lee play "Inherit the Wind," loosely based on the Scopes trial of 1925, opened at the National Theatre in New York.
1960, Three years after construction of Brasília began, the city replaces the crowded Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil.
1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.
1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.
1980, at the Boston Marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line; however, she was later exposed as a fraud.
Missing in Action
1966 AUSTIN ELLIS E. VERMONTVILLE MI POSS DEAD
1966 KELLER JACK E. CHICAGO IL
1967 HAMILTON ROGER DALE BALTIMORE MD
1967 HASENBACH PAUL A. FREEBURG MO DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 MANGINO THOMAS A. ALLIANCE OH DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 NIDDS DANIEL R. WEST ISLIP NY DISAPPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1967 WINTERS DAVID M. DELPHIA CA DISAPEARED WHILE ON SAMPAN
1968 CREAMER JAMES E. NORTH BRANFORD CT
1968 JOHNSON FRANKIE B. JR. FOUNTAIN INN SC
1968 JAMERSON LARRY C. ROSMAN NC
1968 LINK ROBERT C. WASHINGTON DC
1968 MAC KEDANZ LYLE E. HUTCHINSON MN
1968 OLSEN FLOYD W. WHEATON IL
1968 SPINDLER JOHN GATES ST LOUIS MO
1970 WHEELER EUGENE L. ASHVILLE OH "VOICE CONTACT, IN SHOOTOUT"
1978 MAC NAMARA LEN PHNOM PHENH JAIL TIL 11/78
1978 CLARK JAMES W. PHNOM PHENH JAIL TIL 11/78
Nobel Prize winner launches DNA company of the future
NOBEL Prize winner Dr Sydney Brenner has started a firm which will take DNA analysis into a new era.
Population Genetics Technologies, which will be based in Cambridge, will allow mass analysis of whole populations, simultaneously.
One example of how this will benefit mankind is in eliminating side-effects from powerful drugs.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/business/news/2005/04/20/f41e4dce-dd9e-4e5c-a3cb-7ac1ff27cbf7.lpf
The Australian
Asteroid will get two shots at Earth
Nigel Hawkes, London
April 19, 2005
A GIGANTIC asteroid that is on a course to miss the Earth by a whisker in 2029 could go around its orbit again and score a direct hit a few years later.
Astronomers have calculated that the 350m-wide asteroid called 2004 MN4 will pass by Earth at a distance of between 24,140km and 40,235km - about one-tenth of the distance between the Earth and the moon and close enough to be seen with the naked eye.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15014308%255E29098,00.html
Shuttle might go without some upgrades: NASA chief
Reuters
April 19, 2005
NEW NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said today he might consider letting the space shuttle return to flight even if an independent panel has not finally approved some safety improvements.
Griffin, a rocket scientist who was confirmed by Congress last week to head the US space agency, said NASA's managers will have the final say on whether the shuttle Discovery lifts off during its scheduled launch window from May 15 to June 3.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15018093%255E29098,00.html
The Sydney Morning Herald
Detainees' last option: don't dob
By Neil McMahon, with Matthew Moore and Phil Cornford in Denpasar
April 21, 2005
The words are chilling, the meaning obvious.
Within minutes of being arrested at Denpasar airport, Renae Lawrence had taken stock of the horrifying situation unfolding around her: she and three other young Australians in detention with packets of heroin strapped to their bodies.
They were busted. And dramatic footage shot by Indonesian police last Sunday suggests Lawrence made a swift judgement on their smartest strategy: don't dob.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Detainees-last-option-dont-dob/2005/04/20/1113854264360.html
Hooded spectre of Abu Ghraib has his revenge
A photograph can sometimes crystallise a tragic moment in human history, writes Rachel Roberts.
In Abu Ghraib prison, things happened. Some of these things were recorded in photographs. More disturbingly, many others were not. Acts of torture, humiliation and abuse that inspired shock and awe around the world. By now the world is familiar with the images that came out of Abu Ghraib.
They included pictures of Iraqi detainees being forced to pile one upon another, amassed in a grotesque pyramid of naked bodies.
There were shots of US soldiers grinning and giving the camera the "thumbs up" sign over the bodies of wounded detainees and corpses lying open-mouthed as if aghast at the final acts of cruelty committed against them. There were images of men cowering in front of snarling dogs, as well as a photo of one naked Iraqi detainee who, with a leash around his neck, was paraded in front of the camera like a dog.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Hooded-spectre-of-Abu-Ghraib-has-his-revenge/2005/04/20/1113854259656.html
Tornado in eastern China kills seven
April 21, 2005 - 12:44PM
A tornado tore apart houses in two towns in eastern China, killing seven people and injuring more than 80 others, a news report said.
The tornadoes hit two counties on the outskirts of Yancheng, a city in Jiangsu province north west of Shanghai, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The report said Xinhua reporters who visited the village of Dazhi, one of the hardest-hit areas, found "half of the houses at the village collapsed and the only township hospital crowded with some 60 villagers waiting for treatment".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Tornado-in-eastern-China-kills-seven/2005/04/21/1114028464306.html
Bodies found as Iraq bomb targets Allawi
April 21, 2005 - 8:59AM
Iraq's interim president has announced the recovery of more than 50 bodies from the Tigris River, saying the grisly discovery was proof of claims that dozens were abducted from an area south of the capital despite a fruitless search by Iraqi forces.
Northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said 19 bullet-riddled bodies were found slumped against a bloodstained wall in a soccer stadium in Haditha.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bodies-found-as-Iraq-bomb-targets-Allawi/2005/04/21/1114028455731.html
BBC
Adult stem cells 'cancer threat'
Adult stem cells can pose a cancer risk, warn scientists.
Stem cells are immature "master" cells that can be programmed to become many kinds of tissue and have been heralded as future cures for numerous disease.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4465717.stm
Inhaled insulin 'within a year'
A device which allows people with diabetes to inhale, rather than inject, insulin could be licensed for use within a year, scientists claim.
Tests carried out around the UK and in the US have shown that the device is as effective as conventional injections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4464571.stm
Shift work linked to health risks
Employees working split shifts could be harming their health, Health and Safety Executive research has suggested.
A study found offshore oil rig workers who worked seven nights then seven days had a higher risk of heart disease than those who stayed on days or nights.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4466555.stm
Child diabetes time-bomb warning
The form of diabetes more associated with adults is much higher among children than thought, figures suggest.
Research in east London has revealed 22 children under 16 have type 2 diabetes, which is largely caused by obesity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4462111.stm
Great Wall visible in space photo
A photograph taken from space appears to confirm that China's Great Wall can be seen with the naked eye after all.
China's schoolchildren have long been taught that the ancient fortification is one of the few man-made structures that can be picked out from orbit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4459311.stm
Arrest order for Ecuador leader
Ecuador's new President Alfredo Palacio has ordered the arrest of the former leader, Lucio Gutierrez, who was sacked by Congress on Wednesday.
After the vote, the army withdrew support for Mr Gutierrez, who left the presidential palace by helicopter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4467389.stm
Ancient necropolis found in Egypt
Archaeologists say they have found the largest funerary complex yet dating from the earliest era of ancient Egypt, more than 5,000 years ago.
The necropolis was discovered by a joint US and Egyptian team in the Kom al-Ahmar region, around 600 km (370 miles) south of the capital, Cairo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4467253.stm
Berlusconi resigns as Italian PM
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has resigned, but says he will soon put together a new coalition.
He told the upper house of parliament that his party had a mandate to lead until 2006 and it would do so.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4464865.stm
Ford sees profits fall to $1.2bn
US car giant Ford Motor saw its profits fall almost 40% in the first quarter, as falling US sales and rising prices for raw materials ate into margins.
The company said its net profit was $1.21bn (£630m), on sales of $45.1bn.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4464743.stm
Iraq 'hostages dumped in river'
The bodies of more than 50 men, women and children have been recovered from the River Tigris in the town of Suwayra, south of Baghdad.
Many had been badly mutilated, Iraqi authorities said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4465769.stm
Dusty debris may be asteroid belt
The Spitzer telescope has detected what looks to be an asteroid belt around a star some 41 light-years from Earth.
US astronomers say that if confirmed it would be the first such band of rocky material found around a star of similar age and size to our own Sun.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4465329.stm
Dozens killed in Zambia explosion
At least 46 workers have been killed and several others injured in a blast at an explosives factory in Zambia.
The explosion occurred at about 1100 (0900GMT) in a workshop at the Chinese-owned plant which supplies explosives to local copper mines.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4466321.stm
Rwanda's anger at Hutu 'refugees'
Rwanda has condemned Burundi for moving a group of Rwandan Hutus who had crossed their common border, further from the frontier.
Rwanda says the Hutus are fugitives from justice, and says the Burundian action amounts to giving them the status of asylum-seekers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4460741.stm
Rwanda genocide 'failure' berated
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the international community of deliberately failing to prevent the genocide in the country 10 years ago.
Speaking at the conference on the killings in the Rwandan capital Kigali, Mr Kagame condemned the worldwide inaction at the time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3599493.stm
UN chief's Rwanda genocide regret
The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he could and should have done more to stop the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago.
At a memorial conference at the UN, Mr Annan said he realised he personally could have done more to rally support for international efforts to stop it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3573229.stm
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Welcome to the Internet Site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
http://www.ictr.org/
HIV note panics Kenyan students
Kenyan police are investigating a claim that a female student has slept with more than 100 fellow students to try to infect them with HIV, the Aids virus.
Officials at Moi University in western Kenya say they believe a two-page letter posted on a notice board from a law student signed NP could be a hoax.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4464897.stm
Bigotry
You can't legislate on nappy changing
April 20, 2005
NO social engineer from central casting will ever design a happiness model for any one of us better than we design for ourselves. And it's oppressive to try. Yet, for those unhappy with the pace of social change, there is a tendency to hit the legislative button to engineer centrally imposed solutions. The Left, whose constant refrain is that change is too slow, has long been eager to press the accelerator with allegedly progressive laws pushing us towards a happier future. Now it seems that those on the Right are also succumbing to social engineering.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15022177%5E32522,00.html
Wristband plan to tackle bigotry
The craze for wristbands is the latest weapon being used in the battle to beat bigotry in the west of Scotland.
Celtic and Rangers football stars are joining forces with police to launch the bands, which carry the message "Say No To Sectarianism".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4465669.stm
Religious bigotry in the Military
Vice Commandant says "There were people
walking up to someone and basically they would get
in a conversation where it would end with, `If you don't
believe what I believe you are going to hell,'"
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- There have been 55 complaints of religious discrimination at the academy in the past four years, including cases in which a Jewish cadet was told the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another was called a Christ killer by a fellow cadet.
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=20417
Europe blinded by anti-Semitic bigotry
The Association of University Teachers in the United Kingdom is set today to begin blacklisting Israeli professors who refuse to condemn their country's policies toward Arabs.
The academics will debate today whether to boycott three of Israel's eight universities – Haifa, Bar Ilan and Hebrew – over their alleged complicity with the government's policies toward the so-called "Palestinians."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43891
Tories rap McConnell in racism row
14:14, Apr 20 2005
First Minister Jack McConnell has been fiercely criticised by a top Tory after he appeared to accuse Conservatives of waging a racist General Election campaign.
Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram accused Mr McConnell of stoking up ill-feeling.
"I have noticed right through this campaign that when the Government is feeling vulnerable on any particular argument, it either says we are playing politics with it or it begins to abuse us," Mr Ancram said in Edinburgh.
http://iclanarkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scotland/headlines/tm_objectid=15423945&method=full&siteid=50144&headline=tories-rap-mcconnell-in-racism-row-name_page.html
How is that racism?
There is a lot of talk on sports talk radio right now over the issue of whether or not the NBA needs an age minimum.
Obviously not everybody is going to like such an idea and Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O’Neal who is so animatedly against it he called it racist.
“You don’t hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it’s unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can’t you play basketball for 48 minutes?” O’Neal said.
If you ask me that’s a bunch of hog wash.
http://www.forestlaketimes.com/2005/April/20onemineute.html
Transit agency sued for racism
Daily Journal wire report
Civil rights organizations and AC Transit bus riders sued the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in federal court yesterday, alleging discrimination against poor transit riders of color who depend on AC Transit bus service.
Bill Lann Lee, former assistant attorney general for civil rights in the U.S. Justice Department, said “The Bay Area has two separate and unequal transit systems: an expanding state of the art rail system, Caltrain and BART, for predominantly white, relatively affluent communities and a shrinking bus system, AC Transit, for low-income people of color.”
http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=04-20-05&storyID=42076
Are you a racist? The test that claims to know
Can a five-minute online test tell whether you are racist or not? In the US, two million people have taken one and now a UK version is available.
Racism is a reality encountered every day in Britain, but how many people actually consider themselves racist?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4447471.stm
'Fair' housing no reality on LI
Area is nation’s 3rd most segregated
April 20, 2005
The maddening part about ERASE Racism's new report on racial discrimination in Long Island's housing market is that it's nothing new - and nothing that savvy Long Islanders, white, black, yellow or brown, didn't know.
Racial steering is so virulent a piece of the local culture that even victims - who tend to worry more about getting a roof over their heads than entering some legal or regulatory maze - rarely bother to complain about it.
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/opinion/ny-vprac204225268apr20,0,2607777.story?coll=ny-opinion-print
Calls for Congressional Solution to End Wage Discrimination
WASHINGTON -- April 19 -- "The fact is simple and unacceptable - forty-two years after the Equal Pay Act was passed women working full-time, year round, are only making 76 cents to every dollar a man earns," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "This kind of discrimination has an economically devastating impact on women and their families."
The wage gap between men and women stubbornly remains despite passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. Why do more women than men live in poverty? Because many of them are working minimum or sub-minimum wage jobs and because they still are not receiving equal pay for equal work
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0419-11.htm
Professor Takes UC to Court, Citing Discrimination
Chapela Says His Origin, Criticism of UC Sparked Retaliation
By PREETI PIPLANI
Contributing Writer
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
UC Berkeley associate professor Ignacio Chapela took his ongoing battle for tenure to court yesterday, claiming his national origin and criticism of a UC research contract drove UC to deny him tenure.
http://www.dailycal.org/article.php?id=18390
TOM DELAY gets to stay but a Florida mayor is harassed by Jeb Bush over baseless charges.
Orlando Mayor
4/20/2005
Governor reinstates Buddy Dyer as mayor of Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said today hours after charges against him and three others were dropped that his government will be operated transparently.
The four were indicted on charges of violating a state law that prohibits payments for collection of absentee ballots.
He was reinstated as mayor today. Governor Jeb Bush had suspended him last month when the charges were announced.
Dyer said the decision by special prosecutor Brad King showed that he never did anything wrong.
Dyer entered a pretrial diversion agreement that said he agrees that he and any of his future election campaigns will abide by the state's interpretation of the law.
The mayor said that his administration would from now on be conducted "absolutely in the sunshine."
Charges were also dropped against Circuit Judge Alan Apte, Dyer's campaign manager, Patty Sharp, and campaign consultant Ezzie Thomas.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.wcjb.com/news.asp?id=12354
Virus proves Sober more socially adept
by David Quainton
Anti-virus experts are raising threat alerts over the latest variant of an aging virus. Sober.N is spreading in German and English speaking countries.
The new variant has been widely seeded in the early hours of this morning, and though relatively simple, its sophisticated social engineering is expected to fool many.
"It only uses two different messages, in English and German, but what makes it worse than other variants is the social engineering is really good," said Patrik Runald, senior technology consultant at Finnish anti-virus company F-Secure. "Most people will be interested in what the message has to say."
http://www.scmagazine.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsDetails&newsUID=527540e2-6f3b-4b45-b5ce-65571dd1ce9d&newsType=Latest%20News
continued...
Morning Papers - concluding
International Herald Tribune
Pope seeks dialogue with other religions
VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI used his first papal Mass on Wednesday to send a message of openness and reconciliation to his Roman Catholic followers, to other Christian churches and "to everyone, even to those who follow other religions or who are simply seeking an answer to the fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/pope.html
China's growth rate hits 9.5 percent in first quarter
SHANGHAI Soaring exports and strong investment in new apartment buildings and office towers helped the Chinese economy grow at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in the first quarter, considerably stronger than expected and faster than the government's target rate of 8 percent, China's statistics agency announced on Wednesday
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/business/yuan.html
The Cheney Observer
Bush Cheney Regime Changing US to Dictatorship
Changing the United States from a democracy to a dictatorship is one of the imperatives of the Bush-Cheney Regime, writes political analyst Al Martin, author of the highly acclaimed memoir "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider."
"There are Bushonian policies that are being hidden as political policies, like the Patriot Acts," Martin continues in his column "Bushonomics II (Part 2): The Final Chapter."
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=2110
Trickiest part of old plant cleanup to begin this year
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. The government contractor cleaning up the old K-25 uranium enrichment plant at Oak Ridge still has the riskiest part of the work ahead. That work will begin later this year.
It involves recovering highly enriched uranium from the miles of equipment inside the huge plant.
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3228690
2004 not best of times for Halliburton, EDS, El Paso
UNDATED (AP) - Three of the largest Texas-based companies lost money through the first nine months of 2004.
Yet investors took wildly different views of Halliburton Company, Electronic Data Systems Corporation and El Paso Corporation.
Analysts say the biggest difference among the three is that Halliburton seems closest to fixing its most serious problems.
-
Houston-based Halliburton has been in the headlines and under criminal, congressional and Pentagon investigation for its work for the U-S government in Iraq. There, Halliburton's orders have passed the ten (B) billion-dollar mark.
http://www.newswatch50.com/business/wire/story.aspx?content_id=19B28AC4-F88F-42DC-A80C-0414290D32A6
Diplomatic coup for Japan as Russia picks oil pipeline route
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: January 4 2005 03:00 Last updated: January 4 2005 03:00
Russia will by May draw up detailed plans for the financing and construction of an estimated $11.5bn oil pipeline to the Pacific following a decision over the new year to adopt a Japanese-proposed route over one that would have favoured China.
The long-expected decision to build the pipeline from eastern Siberia to the Pacific, from where oil can easily be transported to Japan, will be seen as a diplomatic victory for Tokyo over Beijing.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4323861c-5df5-11d9-ac01-00000e2511c8.html
The Guantanamo Gulag
by Mike Whitney
published by The Progressive Trail
The Guantanamo Gulag
"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."
Winston Churchill
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
U.N. Convention Against Torture; Article 2, Section 2
The prison facility at Guantanamo Bay is the brightest star in the Bush firmament. It towers over the political landscape like a monument to human cruelty. That's why the administration chose to slap it up in full view of the world. It's their way of announcing that the fundamental rules of the game have changed.
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/050103Whitney.shtml
The World According to Wal-Mart
New Wal-Mart stores
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-11 08:41:41
BEIJING, April 11 -- The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says it will open two outlets in Beijing this year, and at least one more store next year.
Company officials made the announcement on Thursday at a seminar on food safety in supermarkets, saying the outlets will be supercentres, with floor space of about 20,000 square metres.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/11/content_2812412.htm
Wal-Mart to Offer Premium Items to Lure More Affluent Shoppers
April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will offer a line of premium bath and bedding items in more than 1,000 stores to lure affluent shoppers.
The line, called Home Trends Select, will debut April 11 and include sheets, comforters and towels, Paul Beahm, Wal-Mart vice president and divisional merchandise manager for domestics, said in an April 5 interview.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aCldffzUDDHw&refer=top_world_news
Assembly Passes Bill Affecting Only Wal-Mart
Sunday, April 10, 2005; Page C05
The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval yesterday to a bill that in effect would force Wal-Mart to boost spending on employee health benefits or contribute money to the state's health care program for the poor.
The House of Delegates voted 82 to 48 to approve the same bill that the Senate approved last week. The House earlier had approved a slightly different version. The legislation now goes to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who has promised to veto the measure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41015-2005Apr10.html>
Wal-Mart tries to discount image of avarice
Retailer launches bid to counter negative publicity
By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun April 10, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. invited dozens of reporters from around the world to its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters last week in an unusual media event to defend itself against negative headlines.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/04/10/wal_mart_tries_to_discount_image_of_avarice/
Isle of Wight developers want Wal-Mart, to the dismay of some
04/10/2005
Associated Press
Isle of Wight County residents are divided over local developers' attempts to attract Wal-Mart to build a store in a proposed development just outside Smithfield.
County officials estimate that Wal-Mart would bring about 450 jobs and at least $700,000 in annual taxes if it builds in the proposed 1,200-home, 850-acre Benn's Grant development.
But for hardware store owner Fred Winn, it would bring high blood pressure.
"It's one of the worst businesses ever created," said Winn, who has owned his Main Street business for 20 years.
"I don't know of one area where they have ever done any good. They have put more business out of business. They will destroy the nature of Isle of Wight County," Winn said.
http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89CMJMG0.html
SF Wal-Mart Supercenter site changed
By DENISE M. CHAMPAGNE
Times Staff Writer
dchampagne@fltimes.com
SENECA FALLS — A Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for Seneca Falls will be a new store in a different location than previously announced.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based chain will soon unveil plans for a 183,570 square-foot Supercenter on 21 acres of vacant land behind Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell and Monro Muffler Brake off Route 414.
The store will face Route 414 and have an entrance/exit just south of Monro Muffler where a left-turn lane will be placed in the northbound lane of Route 414. Three driveways will enter the site off North Road
The new store will be 21/2 times larger than the existing one, which faces Routes 5&20, about 1,000 feet west of Route 414.
http://www.fltimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=8023
The Associated Press/LITTLE ROCK
By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press Writer
New anti-Wal-Mart group launches ads
APR. 20 5:46 P.M. ET A newly formed, union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group, which draws support from environmentalists, political activists, and women's rights groups, launched its first media campaign Wednesday to call for the world's largest retailer to reform its business practices.
In its campaign called Wal-Mart Watch, Five Stones, formed in December 2004 along with its larger umbrella The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, took out an ad in Wednesday's New York Times. The ad accuses Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of low pay and meager employee benefits that force their workers to rely on Medicaid, food stamps, and federal housing to survive.
Wal-Mart accused the group of engaging in a partisan attack, and questioned the group's information.
On the Net:
www.walmartwatch.com
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89JCR9O1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
$7.6 Million Wal-Mart FLW Tour To Visit Wheeler Lake
Wednesday April 20, 4:13 pm ET
DECATUR, Ala., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The $7.6 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour will stop in Decatur May 11-14 with a $900,000 event on Wheeler Lake presented by Pedigree. Hosted by the Decatur Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tournament features 400 anglers from the United States, Japan and Australia, with 200 of the world's best bass pros fishing for a top award of $100,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will also compete for a top award of $20,000 cash.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050420/clw117.html?.v=1
Wal-Mart takes step toward Rockton site
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - 10:57:34 am CDT
By Ann Montgomery
Daily News staff writer
ROCKTON - The first official sign that Wal-Mart wants to locate in northern Winnebago County has made its way to Rockton Village Hall.
Paperwork requesting annexation to the Village of Rockton arrived in Village President Dale Adam's office this week. A legal notice informing the public about the request is set to run in this newspaper beginning Thursday.
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news03.txt
City's planning commission will consider Wal-Mart
By Erik Siemers
Tribune Reporter
April 20, 2005
Some folks who live near the intersection of Wyoming and Menaul boulevards are upset with the neighbor that wants to move in.
For starters, this neighbor will be up all night.
It'll always have visitors.
Some worry it might even bring an odor.
"People are so emotional about this," says District 7 City Councilwoman Sally Mayer.
Wal-Mart, the giant retailer that is a boon to some and an anathema to others, elicits polarizing reactions, and its latest move in Albuquerque is no different.
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_3714719,00.html
Election will decide Wal-Mart rezoning
THELMA GRIMES
News-Sun
It's official. Registered Benson voters will take part in a special election in September to decide on a rezoning request that, if approved, would allow construction of a Wal-Mart.
The voters will now decide, although the City Council approved the request in February to rezone the 9.9-acre parcel on Prickly Pear Avenue from R-2 residential to B-2 commercial.
http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news1.txt
Global Warming
"Snowed"
Though global climate change is breaking out all around us, the U.S. news media has remained silent.
By Ross Gelbspan
May/June 2005 Issue
WHEN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA was inundated by a foot of rain, several feet of snow, and lethal mudslides earlier this year, the news reports made no mention of climate change—even though virtually all climate scientists agree that the first consequence of a warmer atmosphere is a marked increase in extreme weather events. When four hurricanes of extraordinary strength tore through Florida last fall, there was little media attention paid to the fact that hurricanes are made more intense by warming ocean surface waters. And when one storm dumped five feet of water on southern Haiti in 48 hours last spring, no coverage mentioned that an early manifestation of a warming atmosphere is a significant rise in severe downpours.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/snowed.html
Niwa vessel sets out to measure global warming
20 April 2005
A National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) ship will leave Wellington tomorrow on a two-month voyage to Hawaii to deploy high-tech floats which will measure global warming.
The Argo programme is an international effort to deploy a network of floats which will help scientists predict the strength of tropical cyclones. They can even track the path of toxic algal blooms. The crew of the Kaharoa have already deployed more than 141 Argo floats – more than any other vessel in the world, Niwa scientist Philip Sutton said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3254929a11,00.html
CLP must pay $29b for role in global warming: greens
Doug Crets
April 21, 2005
An environmental advocacy group says China Light and Power owes HK$28.9 billion in "external costs'' to consumers around the world because it has failed to calculate the effect of coal-burning on global climate change into its current electricity rates and its HK$8.6 billion profit last year.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Metro/GD21Ak03.html
Hurricanes 2005, Connecting Global Warming to Renewable Energy; Green Energy Resources Offers to Purchase 1 Million Tons, Donate Free Seminars to States
HUNTINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2005--Green Energy Resources(Pink Sheets: GRGR) pledged to purchase 1 million tons of storm damage wood in 2005, to defray storm costs to victims.
Michael Brown, Director of Fema, said "he must balance communities needs for quick cleanup against protecting taxpayer dollars from being wasted." Fema pays 6 times the normal hauling rate to insure a quick and rapid clean up in an emergency storm situation. On average, Fema is paying $65 per ton to remove storm damage debris, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal last September. The average normal hauling cost per ton is around $10.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050420005437&newsLang=en
Oregon Gov. Kulongoski announces initiatives
to curb global warming in Oregon
SALEM, OR (04/19/05) -- Five new initiatives aimed at curbing global warming in Oregon have been announced by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. The initiatives are part of a regional strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest, and are based on the recommendations of The Governor’s Advisory Group on Global Warming.
http://www.caprep.com/0405039.htm
Climate review sees global warming continuing
It's been confirmed that 2004 was the tenth hottest year on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate review also found that last year arid parts of the country got wetter, while other areas remained dry.
David Jones from the National Climate Centre says the next 12 months are also likely to be warmer than average - and it's all consistent with global warming.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/stories/s1277482.htm
Cal State San Marcos prof looks at long-term effects
By Lisa Petrillo
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
As George Vourlitis leads his troops into the field, he turns to offer one last bit of wisdom.
"Watch out for snakes," said the Cal State San Marcos biology professor before plunging into the dead-looking scrub brush.
Dodging venomous snakes is not exactly the higher education advertised in the university course catalog, but his students eagerly, though cautiously, follow him into the front lines of global-warming research.
The Earth's average temperature has risen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century on average, and it gone higher in some parts of the world. The consensus of scientists around the world is that burning of fossil fuels is a significant driver of rising global temperatures.
"The scientific community knows climate is changing; everyone knows humans are the reason why. The question is, what are the cumulative effects?" he said.
That's his million-dollar question, the question that won him funding from the prestigious National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation to answer.
Over the next five years, the project will attempt to show long-term effects of greenhouse gases in the Southern California basin, if any. Whether he will find definitive answers he doesn't know.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050105-9999-1mc5global.html
(Hartford-AP, Jan. 6, 2005 2:10 PM) _ The governor's Steering Committee on Climate Change is recommending 55 ways that Connecticut can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Several legislative committees will now consider the ideas.
One major recommendations in the draft action plan is to cut the amount of greenhouse gases from automobile emissions.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2775197&nav=3YeXUuNz
Seabirds in the North Sea: victims of climate change?
05-01-2005
Researchers suspect climate change is undermining the supply of sandeels, and bears much of the blame for widespread breeding failure around the North Sea.
In February 2004, birdwatchers in eastern Britain were surprised by reports of Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis inland, something highly unusual for a bird that normally winters far out at sea. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of dead Northern Fulmars began washing up along UK coastlines. Similar numbers were reported from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/features/2005/01/north_sea_seabirds.html
New Biology A-Level Includes Global Warming and Stem Cells
By Nick Foley, PA
Leading TV medical scientist Lord Winston was today launching an innovative A-level course aimed at capturing schoolchildren’s interest in biology.
The two-year qualification will focus on contemporary issues such as global warming and stem cell research in a move away from traditional, lecture-based teaching.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3968513
Hot weather in 2004 a sign of global warming
Last year has been ranked the tenth hottest year in Australia since official records began in 1910.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation's annual climate survey, the mean temperature during 2004 was 0.45 degrees above the long-term average.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1277610.htm
The New Zealand Herald
330 police staff investigated over objectionable emails
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced the investigation this afternoon. Picture / Brett Phibbs
21.04.05 UPDATED at 4.05pm
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced this afternoon that 330 staff are under investigation over objectionable material on the force's email system.
Mr Robinson said the investigation did not involve child porn, but some of the material was such that if police were legitimately exposed to it in the course of their jobs they would receive a psychological debrief after seeing it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121679
Bus drivers plan six day strike
21.04.05 3.45pm
The Auckland bus drivers dispute has taken a turn for the worse.
The Stagecoach drivers are going on strike for six days from May 5.
They have rejected a $1 an hour pay rise.
The drivers are demanding a pay increase of $2 an hour.
Bus services were disrupted between 9.30 this morning and 2.30 this afternoon as bus drivers stopped work to consider a counter pay offer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121681
Iceberg crash reshapes coastline of Antarctica
21.04.05 1.00pm
By Genevieve Roberts
The world's largest iceberg has crashed into an Antarctic glacier, snapping off a five-kilometre chunk of the glacial outflow and reshaping the coastline of Antarctica.
The predicted "collision of the century" between the B15-A iceberg, which is the size of Luxembourg, and the 70-kilometre long Drygalski ice tongue had been expected at the beginning of the year. But the icy colossus became stranded a few kilometres from the tongue, starving penguins and blocking ships supplying food and fuel to Antarctic research stations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10121640
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-32.0°
Updated Thursday 21 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
43 °F / 6 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
39 °F / 4 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.14 in / 1020 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Scattered Clouds 500 ft / 152 m
Overcast 2897 ft / 883 m
end
Pope seeks dialogue with other religions
VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI used his first papal Mass on Wednesday to send a message of openness and reconciliation to his Roman Catholic followers, to other Christian churches and "to everyone, even to those who follow other religions or who are simply seeking an answer to the fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/pope.html
China's growth rate hits 9.5 percent in first quarter
SHANGHAI Soaring exports and strong investment in new apartment buildings and office towers helped the Chinese economy grow at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in the first quarter, considerably stronger than expected and faster than the government's target rate of 8 percent, China's statistics agency announced on Wednesday
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/business/yuan.html
The Cheney Observer
Bush Cheney Regime Changing US to Dictatorship
Changing the United States from a democracy to a dictatorship is one of the imperatives of the Bush-Cheney Regime, writes political analyst Al Martin, author of the highly acclaimed memoir "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider."
"There are Bushonian policies that are being hidden as political policies, like the Patriot Acts," Martin continues in his column "Bushonomics II (Part 2): The Final Chapter."
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=2110
Trickiest part of old plant cleanup to begin this year
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. The government contractor cleaning up the old K-25 uranium enrichment plant at Oak Ridge still has the riskiest part of the work ahead. That work will begin later this year.
It involves recovering highly enriched uranium from the miles of equipment inside the huge plant.
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3228690
2004 not best of times for Halliburton, EDS, El Paso
UNDATED (AP) - Three of the largest Texas-based companies lost money through the first nine months of 2004.
Yet investors took wildly different views of Halliburton Company, Electronic Data Systems Corporation and El Paso Corporation.
Analysts say the biggest difference among the three is that Halliburton seems closest to fixing its most serious problems.
-
Houston-based Halliburton has been in the headlines and under criminal, congressional and Pentagon investigation for its work for the U-S government in Iraq. There, Halliburton's orders have passed the ten (B) billion-dollar mark.
http://www.newswatch50.com/business/wire/story.aspx?content_id=19B28AC4-F88F-42DC-A80C-0414290D32A6
Diplomatic coup for Japan as Russia picks oil pipeline route
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: January 4 2005 03:00 Last updated: January 4 2005 03:00
Russia will by May draw up detailed plans for the financing and construction of an estimated $11.5bn oil pipeline to the Pacific following a decision over the new year to adopt a Japanese-proposed route over one that would have favoured China.
The long-expected decision to build the pipeline from eastern Siberia to the Pacific, from where oil can easily be transported to Japan, will be seen as a diplomatic victory for Tokyo over Beijing.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4323861c-5df5-11d9-ac01-00000e2511c8.html
The Guantanamo Gulag
by Mike Whitney
published by The Progressive Trail
The Guantanamo Gulag
"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."
Winston Churchill
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
U.N. Convention Against Torture; Article 2, Section 2
The prison facility at Guantanamo Bay is the brightest star in the Bush firmament. It towers over the political landscape like a monument to human cruelty. That's why the administration chose to slap it up in full view of the world. It's their way of announcing that the fundamental rules of the game have changed.
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/050103Whitney.shtml
The World According to Wal-Mart
New Wal-Mart stores
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-11 08:41:41
BEIJING, April 11 -- The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says it will open two outlets in Beijing this year, and at least one more store next year.
Company officials made the announcement on Thursday at a seminar on food safety in supermarkets, saying the outlets will be supercentres, with floor space of about 20,000 square metres.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/11/content_2812412.htm
Wal-Mart to Offer Premium Items to Lure More Affluent Shoppers
April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will offer a line of premium bath and bedding items in more than 1,000 stores to lure affluent shoppers.
The line, called Home Trends Select, will debut April 11 and include sheets, comforters and towels, Paul Beahm, Wal-Mart vice president and divisional merchandise manager for domestics, said in an April 5 interview.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aCldffzUDDHw&refer=top_world_news
Assembly Passes Bill Affecting Only Wal-Mart
Sunday, April 10, 2005; Page C05
The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval yesterday to a bill that in effect would force Wal-Mart to boost spending on employee health benefits or contribute money to the state's health care program for the poor.
The House of Delegates voted 82 to 48 to approve the same bill that the Senate approved last week. The House earlier had approved a slightly different version. The legislation now goes to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who has promised to veto the measure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41015-2005Apr10.html>
Wal-Mart tries to discount image of avarice
Retailer launches bid to counter negative publicity
By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun April 10, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. invited dozens of reporters from around the world to its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters last week in an unusual media event to defend itself against negative headlines.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/04/10/wal_mart_tries_to_discount_image_of_avarice/
Isle of Wight developers want Wal-Mart, to the dismay of some
04/10/2005
Associated Press
Isle of Wight County residents are divided over local developers' attempts to attract Wal-Mart to build a store in a proposed development just outside Smithfield.
County officials estimate that Wal-Mart would bring about 450 jobs and at least $700,000 in annual taxes if it builds in the proposed 1,200-home, 850-acre Benn's Grant development.
But for hardware store owner Fred Winn, it would bring high blood pressure.
"It's one of the worst businesses ever created," said Winn, who has owned his Main Street business for 20 years.
"I don't know of one area where they have ever done any good. They have put more business out of business. They will destroy the nature of Isle of Wight County," Winn said.
http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89CMJMG0.html
SF Wal-Mart Supercenter site changed
By DENISE M. CHAMPAGNE
Times Staff Writer
dchampagne@fltimes.com
SENECA FALLS — A Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for Seneca Falls will be a new store in a different location than previously announced.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based chain will soon unveil plans for a 183,570 square-foot Supercenter on 21 acres of vacant land behind Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell and Monro Muffler Brake off Route 414.
The store will face Route 414 and have an entrance/exit just south of Monro Muffler where a left-turn lane will be placed in the northbound lane of Route 414. Three driveways will enter the site off North Road
The new store will be 21/2 times larger than the existing one, which faces Routes 5&20, about 1,000 feet west of Route 414.
http://www.fltimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=8023
The Associated Press/LITTLE ROCK
By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press Writer
New anti-Wal-Mart group launches ads
APR. 20 5:46 P.M. ET A newly formed, union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group, which draws support from environmentalists, political activists, and women's rights groups, launched its first media campaign Wednesday to call for the world's largest retailer to reform its business practices.
In its campaign called Wal-Mart Watch, Five Stones, formed in December 2004 along with its larger umbrella The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, took out an ad in Wednesday's New York Times. The ad accuses Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of low pay and meager employee benefits that force their workers to rely on Medicaid, food stamps, and federal housing to survive.
Wal-Mart accused the group of engaging in a partisan attack, and questioned the group's information.
On the Net:
www.walmartwatch.com
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89JCR9O1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
$7.6 Million Wal-Mart FLW Tour To Visit Wheeler Lake
Wednesday April 20, 4:13 pm ET
DECATUR, Ala., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The $7.6 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour will stop in Decatur May 11-14 with a $900,000 event on Wheeler Lake presented by Pedigree. Hosted by the Decatur Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tournament features 400 anglers from the United States, Japan and Australia, with 200 of the world's best bass pros fishing for a top award of $100,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will also compete for a top award of $20,000 cash.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050420/clw117.html?.v=1
Wal-Mart takes step toward Rockton site
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - 10:57:34 am CDT
By Ann Montgomery
Daily News staff writer
ROCKTON - The first official sign that Wal-Mart wants to locate in northern Winnebago County has made its way to Rockton Village Hall.
Paperwork requesting annexation to the Village of Rockton arrived in Village President Dale Adam's office this week. A legal notice informing the public about the request is set to run in this newspaper beginning Thursday.
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news03.txt
City's planning commission will consider Wal-Mart
By Erik Siemers
Tribune Reporter
April 20, 2005
Some folks who live near the intersection of Wyoming and Menaul boulevards are upset with the neighbor that wants to move in.
For starters, this neighbor will be up all night.
It'll always have visitors.
Some worry it might even bring an odor.
"People are so emotional about this," says District 7 City Councilwoman Sally Mayer.
Wal-Mart, the giant retailer that is a boon to some and an anathema to others, elicits polarizing reactions, and its latest move in Albuquerque is no different.
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_3714719,00.html
Election will decide Wal-Mart rezoning
THELMA GRIMES
News-Sun
It's official. Registered Benson voters will take part in a special election in September to decide on a rezoning request that, if approved, would allow construction of a Wal-Mart.
The voters will now decide, although the City Council approved the request in February to rezone the 9.9-acre parcel on Prickly Pear Avenue from R-2 residential to B-2 commercial.
http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news1.txt
Global Warming
"Snowed"
Though global climate change is breaking out all around us, the U.S. news media has remained silent.
By Ross Gelbspan
May/June 2005 Issue
WHEN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA was inundated by a foot of rain, several feet of snow, and lethal mudslides earlier this year, the news reports made no mention of climate change—even though virtually all climate scientists agree that the first consequence of a warmer atmosphere is a marked increase in extreme weather events. When four hurricanes of extraordinary strength tore through Florida last fall, there was little media attention paid to the fact that hurricanes are made more intense by warming ocean surface waters. And when one storm dumped five feet of water on southern Haiti in 48 hours last spring, no coverage mentioned that an early manifestation of a warming atmosphere is a significant rise in severe downpours.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/snowed.html
Niwa vessel sets out to measure global warming
20 April 2005
A National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) ship will leave Wellington tomorrow on a two-month voyage to Hawaii to deploy high-tech floats which will measure global warming.
The Argo programme is an international effort to deploy a network of floats which will help scientists predict the strength of tropical cyclones. They can even track the path of toxic algal blooms. The crew of the Kaharoa have already deployed more than 141 Argo floats – more than any other vessel in the world, Niwa scientist Philip Sutton said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3254929a11,00.html
CLP must pay $29b for role in global warming: greens
Doug Crets
April 21, 2005
An environmental advocacy group says China Light and Power owes HK$28.9 billion in "external costs'' to consumers around the world because it has failed to calculate the effect of coal-burning on global climate change into its current electricity rates and its HK$8.6 billion profit last year.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Metro/GD21Ak03.html
Hurricanes 2005, Connecting Global Warming to Renewable Energy; Green Energy Resources Offers to Purchase 1 Million Tons, Donate Free Seminars to States
HUNTINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2005--Green Energy Resources(Pink Sheets: GRGR) pledged to purchase 1 million tons of storm damage wood in 2005, to defray storm costs to victims.
Michael Brown, Director of Fema, said "he must balance communities needs for quick cleanup against protecting taxpayer dollars from being wasted." Fema pays 6 times the normal hauling rate to insure a quick and rapid clean up in an emergency storm situation. On average, Fema is paying $65 per ton to remove storm damage debris, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal last September. The average normal hauling cost per ton is around $10.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050420005437&newsLang=en
Oregon Gov. Kulongoski announces initiatives
to curb global warming in Oregon
SALEM, OR (04/19/05) -- Five new initiatives aimed at curbing global warming in Oregon have been announced by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. The initiatives are part of a regional strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest, and are based on the recommendations of The Governor’s Advisory Group on Global Warming.
http://www.caprep.com/0405039.htm
Climate review sees global warming continuing
It's been confirmed that 2004 was the tenth hottest year on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate review also found that last year arid parts of the country got wetter, while other areas remained dry.
David Jones from the National Climate Centre says the next 12 months are also likely to be warmer than average - and it's all consistent with global warming.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/stories/s1277482.htm
Cal State San Marcos prof looks at long-term effects
By Lisa Petrillo
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
As George Vourlitis leads his troops into the field, he turns to offer one last bit of wisdom.
"Watch out for snakes," said the Cal State San Marcos biology professor before plunging into the dead-looking scrub brush.
Dodging venomous snakes is not exactly the higher education advertised in the university course catalog, but his students eagerly, though cautiously, follow him into the front lines of global-warming research.
The Earth's average temperature has risen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century on average, and it gone higher in some parts of the world. The consensus of scientists around the world is that burning of fossil fuels is a significant driver of rising global temperatures.
"The scientific community knows climate is changing; everyone knows humans are the reason why. The question is, what are the cumulative effects?" he said.
That's his million-dollar question, the question that won him funding from the prestigious National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation to answer.
Over the next five years, the project will attempt to show long-term effects of greenhouse gases in the Southern California basin, if any. Whether he will find definitive answers he doesn't know.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050105-9999-1mc5global.html
(Hartford-AP, Jan. 6, 2005 2:10 PM) _ The governor's Steering Committee on Climate Change is recommending 55 ways that Connecticut can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Several legislative committees will now consider the ideas.
One major recommendations in the draft action plan is to cut the amount of greenhouse gases from automobile emissions.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2775197&nav=3YeXUuNz
Seabirds in the North Sea: victims of climate change?
05-01-2005
Researchers suspect climate change is undermining the supply of sandeels, and bears much of the blame for widespread breeding failure around the North Sea.
In February 2004, birdwatchers in eastern Britain were surprised by reports of Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis inland, something highly unusual for a bird that normally winters far out at sea. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of dead Northern Fulmars began washing up along UK coastlines. Similar numbers were reported from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/features/2005/01/north_sea_seabirds.html
New Biology A-Level Includes Global Warming and Stem Cells
By Nick Foley, PA
Leading TV medical scientist Lord Winston was today launching an innovative A-level course aimed at capturing schoolchildren’s interest in biology.
The two-year qualification will focus on contemporary issues such as global warming and stem cell research in a move away from traditional, lecture-based teaching.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3968513
Hot weather in 2004 a sign of global warming
Last year has been ranked the tenth hottest year in Australia since official records began in 1910.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation's annual climate survey, the mean temperature during 2004 was 0.45 degrees above the long-term average.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1277610.htm
The New Zealand Herald
330 police staff investigated over objectionable emails
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced the investigation this afternoon. Picture / Brett Phibbs
21.04.05 UPDATED at 4.05pm
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced this afternoon that 330 staff are under investigation over objectionable material on the force's email system.
Mr Robinson said the investigation did not involve child porn, but some of the material was such that if police were legitimately exposed to it in the course of their jobs they would receive a psychological debrief after seeing it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121679
Bus drivers plan six day strike
21.04.05 3.45pm
The Auckland bus drivers dispute has taken a turn for the worse.
The Stagecoach drivers are going on strike for six days from May 5.
They have rejected a $1 an hour pay rise.
The drivers are demanding a pay increase of $2 an hour.
Bus services were disrupted between 9.30 this morning and 2.30 this afternoon as bus drivers stopped work to consider a counter pay offer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121681
Iceberg crash reshapes coastline of Antarctica
21.04.05 1.00pm
By Genevieve Roberts
The world's largest iceberg has crashed into an Antarctic glacier, snapping off a five-kilometre chunk of the glacial outflow and reshaping the coastline of Antarctica.
The predicted "collision of the century" between the B15-A iceberg, which is the size of Luxembourg, and the 70-kilometre long Drygalski ice tongue had been expected at the beginning of the year. But the icy colossus became stranded a few kilometres from the tongue, starving penguins and blocking ships supplying food and fuel to Antarctic research stations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10121640
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-32.0°
Updated Thursday 21 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
43 °F / 6 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
39 °F / 4 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.14 in / 1020 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Scattered Clouds 500 ft / 152 m
Overcast 2897 ft / 883 m
end
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