ABC News On Line

E Timor rejects need for peacekeepers
East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says his country does not need foreign peacekeepers, shortly after Australia said it had sent two warships close to Timorese waters.
The East Timorese capital Dili was rocked by a riot on April 28 sparked by the sacking of 600 soldiers.
At least five people were killed and thousands fled the city to avoid violence.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard responded by saying that two warships were being deployed to northern Australian waters in case East Timor requested international troops to quell any upheaval.
"East Timor does not need a peacekeeping force, because there is no war in East Timor," Dr Ramos Horta said.
However Dr Ramos Horta says additional international police advisers would be helpful in the tiny nation.
"We need an international police to create stability," he said.
Dr Ramos Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has already urged the United Nations to deploy an international police force in his country ahead of next year's elections.
The Australian move comes as the United Nations considers a request to extend its mission in East Timor - initially by one month.
The mission is due to end on May 19.
Witnesses meanwhile say many of Dili's residents have returned to the city.
Dr Ramos Horta says some people are waiting until after the three-day congress of the ruling party Fretilin, beginning next Wednesday, to come back.
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said this week that the riot as well as an attack on a government office outside Dili on Monday, in which one policeman was killed, were a continuing attempt to stage a coup.
The government has said it has made contact with nearly 400 of the sacked soldiers and offered to pay their wages until June.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637481.htm



Navy on stand-by for E Timor deployment
Prime Minister John Howard says two Navy amphibious transport ships are standing by in case of further unrest in East Timor.
HMAS Kanimbla and HMAS Manoora are heading to waters in Australia's north.
Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the situation in East Timor remained unstable after riots by rebel soldiers.
Mr Howard says if a request for help comes, the Navy will be in a position to respond quickly.
"We have had absolutely no requests," he said.
"I simply repeat that what the military does quite sensibly is use its assets in such a way that if we were to receive a request we'd be able to respond."
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says it is sensible to send two warships to Australia's north.
"This is our area, it's our back door, it's a difficult back door, it's not getting any easier. It's another good reason for not bogging ourselves down in Iraq," Mr Beazley told Sydney radio's 2GB.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1636986.htm



Downer praises Indonesia's deadly anti-terrorism efforts
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has praised Indonesia's efforts to tackle terrorism.
Mr Downer has told the Future Summit in Brisbane that cooperation between Australia and its South East Asian neighbours has worked well to limit the threat to the region posed by terrorists.
He singled Indonesian authorities out for their progress.
"Indonesia has arrested or, dare I say in some cases, they've killed, but arrested and killed more terrorists than any other country outside of the Middle East," he said.
"The Indonesian government has done a very good job on counter-terrorism and a much underrated job."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637438.htm



UN to stay in E Timor for at least another month
The United Nations (UN) has been asked to extend its mission in East Timor, initially by one month, following a deadly riot, the mission said.
"The as-of-yet unconfirmed, but current proposal is for a continuation of UNOTILs current mandate for one month," said a statement from the UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL).
The mission is due to end on May 19.
The UN has helped prop up East Timor since its people voted in 1999 to split from Indonesia.
The tiny nation of about one million became independent in 2002.
The East Timorese capital Dili was rocked by a riot on April 28 that saw at least five people killed and more than 100 buildings destroyed or damaged, while more than 20,000 people fled the capital in fear afterwards.
It began with a rally in support of nearly 600 soldiers who were sacked when they deserted their barracks complaining of ethnic discrimination.
Sukehiro Hasegawa, special representative of the UN secretary-general, made the request for the extension to the Security Council on May 5.
The UNOTIL statement quoted Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, who also briefed the council, as saying the riot was "a wake-up call to us, the East Timorese leadership, as well as to the international community, that we must not take for granted the apparent peace and tranquillity in the country."
Mr Hasegawa praised the progress East Timor has made in recent years.
But he said "state institutions are increasingly challenged to address the grievances of various groups and the rising expectations of the people, as well as the potential risks associated with the conduct of the first post-independence presidential and parliamentary elections."
East Timor is due to hold the elections in 2007.
The UN mission in East Timor once numbered some 11,000 troops and civilians but has been scaled back to 130 administrators, police and military advisers.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1636618.htm



Ramos-Horta warns political parties to behave
East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has warned political parties in the tiny nation to behave themselves in the wake of recent unrest or face losing credibility ahead of elections next year.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on national radio late on Wednesday (local time), Dr Ramos-Horta said parties must restrain from using violence.
"I call on all parties to know that those who want to spread disunity, scare or threaten the people will not be chosen by the people" in the 2007 elections, the Nobel peace laureate said.
"Whoever wants to lead this country in the future would have to have a good standing and not use violence in getting power, because they would not be recognised by the international community."
He cited the case of the Palestinian territories, where democratically-elected Hamas was being snubbed internationally "because they continue to implement violence in a continuous way".
"Do not seek violence, because you are the ones to suffer because of that, but respect the people and respect international regulations," he warned.
Dili was rocked by a riot on April 28 that saw at least five people killed.
It began with a rally in support of nearly 600 soldiers who were sacked when they deserted their barracks complaining of ethnic discrimination.
More than 100 buildings were destroyed or damaged as well in the worst unrest to hit the nation since it voted for independence from Indonesian rule in 1999.
It caused more than 20,000 people to flee the capital in fear.
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said this week that the riot as well as an attack on a government office outside Dili on Monday, in which one policeman was killed, were a continuing attempt to stage a coup.
He said his opponents wanted to cripple East Timor's democratic institutions so the president would be forced to dissolve parliament.
Separately, a statement from Dr Ramos-Horta's office on Wednesday said it was "sad and disturbing" that the leader of the Democratic Party, Fernando Lasama, along with his wife "are instigating unrest".
It did not elaborate.
The Democratic Party won 8.7 per cent of the vote in 2002 elections, the second highest portion after the ruling Fretilin party of Mr Alkatiri, which scored 57.4 per cent.
Fretilin was the party at the core of East Timor's 24-year resistance struggle against Indonesian rule, while the Democratic Party bills itself as being a party of the younger generation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1636548.htm




East Timor invites UN to probe violence
East Timor has invited international human rights monitors to visit the country, to investigate allegations of violence by Timorese security forces.
The move comes as authorities in Dili try to resolve the recent unrest that erupted into riots and left five people dead.
Recent inquiries by the US State Department and Human Rights Watch have accused Timorese police of excessive force against detainees, including protesters arrested during the recent riots.
Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has written to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, inviting a team of investigators to East Timor to assess the allegations themselves.
He says East Timor is committed to its international human rights obligations and takes the allegations seriously.
The Government has already begun efforts to rebuild properties destroyed in the riots and says Dili has returned to calm.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1636057.htm




Illegal fishing costs Indonesia $2-billion a year: expert
The World Today - Friday, 12 May , 2006 12:40:00
Reporter: David Weber
ELEANOR HALL: This week, the Federal Government announced $389-million would be committed to the fight against illegal fishing in Australian waters.
But a marine expert has told an expert gathering in Perth today that the cost of illegal fishing to Indonesia is even greater than it is to Australia.
Doctor Tommy Wagey is the Regional Co-ordinator of the Arafura and Timor Sea Expert Forum, and he says illegal fishing costs Indonesia $2-billion every year.
Doctor Wagey has been speaking to David Weber in Perth.
TOMMY WAGEY: The straight answer is quite bad, because we are facing not only one area of the illegal fishing that is taking place in Indonesia, and that's in the Arafura Sea, but we are facing from different fronts.
If you are familiar with the geography with Indonesia, you have the border with the Philippines in the Sulawesi Sea, and that's another place, another hotspot in Indonesia.
And another one which is quite substantial and significant is in the South China Sea area. But by far, the Arafura Sea is the main problem.
DAVID WEBER: How much is it costing the Indonesian Government or the economy of Indonesia?
TOMMY WAGEY: Up to $2-billion of this practice, the illegal practice, and that number that I just mentioned to you I guess is on the lower side of the estimates. Without the illegal fishing, currently we are at, I believe the latest number is about $US 4-billion per year.
So if you took that number – about $2-billion per year we lost to the illegal fishing – so at least 50 per cent of the total revenue from fisheries has been lost.
DAVID WEBER: Where are the boats coming from?
TOMMY WAGEY: If we start from the Arafura Sea, so most of the foreign vessels, the boats, are coming from Thailand, Taiwan, China, those are the sort of major players.
If you look at the Sulawesi Sea bordering with the Philippines, more of the vessels are coming from the Philippines, and in the South China Sea they're also vessels from Thailand and Vietnam.
DAVID WEBER: You think that Australia can help Indonesia with its problems?
TOMMY WAGEY: I believe so. I strongly believe so. We have to look at it from each country's problem.
So first we have to eliminate the illegal ones, and by doing that we should be able to put right and correct management measures in there. And I will propose there are three things that we have to do: first we have to find an alternative for these small-scale fisherman to not fish illegally. And number two, we have to put in place a good law enforcement and regulation measures and finally, we need to have a good research and scientific information.
DAVID WEBER: Indonesia takes a fairly direct approach with its navy and its fisheries department vessels, they tend to go out there and open fire on illegal fishing boats. Are you suggesting that Australian ships should have some kind of jurisdiction in Indonesian waters as well?
TOMMY WAGEY: I guess that issue is sort of out of my territory to answer, but I guess we are sharing the same border and for instance, if we could do this information sharing with the capacity that both countries have, we can resolve this.
ELEANOR HALL: The Regional Co-ordinator of the Arafura and Timor Sea Expert Forum, Dr Tommy Wagey, speaking to David Weber in Perth.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1637120.htm



Indonesia quiet on Papuan's coercion claims
By Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson
Indonesia's Foreign Minister has declined to respond directly to allegations by Papuan woman Siti Pandera Wainggai that she was coerced into pleading for her daughter's return from Australia.
Anike Wainggai and her father are among a group of 42 asylum seekers who have been granted temporary protection visas in Australia.
Her mother has told ABC TV's Lateline program she was offered bribes and threatened with death if she did not appear on Indonesian television appealing for her daughter's return.
Ms Wainggai says she fled Indonesia to Papua New Guinea after getting death threats from Indonesian intelligence agents.
"I have been followed by certain people who have been paid to carry out the plan to kill me, and I was forced to do certain things they wanted me to do," she said.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda has answered a question about allegations of coercion by Ms Wainggai by saying that Indonesia is waiting to receive a direct request from her for help in reuniting her with Anike.
When told that Ms Wainggai says she wants to join her daughter in Australia, Mr Wirajuda said: "I cannot say anything about it since we are not in contact yet with the mother."
Until now, Indonesia's Government has consistently maintained that Ms Wanggai is still in Indonesia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1636646.htm



Papuans say Indonesian military guilty of revenge attacks
By Port Moresby correspondent Steve Marshall
Papuan student activists are alleging that the Indonesian military murdered fellow students in revenge attacks following the deaths of five Indonesian security officers during a protest last March.
In an exclusive report on the ABC TV's 7:30 Report tonight, Papuan students claim they witnessed the Indonesian military commit murder on two separate occasions.
One student's account described Indonesian soldiers stabbing a student to death in the water when the boat they were using to escape Papua sank.
Another student claims the Indonesian military shot up university dormitories in the Highlands, killing two people.
The Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, said the Indonesian military responded to the March riots over the Freeport gold and copper mine with a violent crackdown.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1635570.htm



At least 2 killed in Ethiopian blasts
At least two people were killed and 21 injured when four blasts rocked the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, the latest in a series of mystery explosions in the country.
Two people died and seven were hurt, five seriously, when the last off the apparently coordinated explosions went off at a crowded cafe in the capital's north-west Mercato district, the city's largest market, police said.
Another 14 people were hurt in two of three earlier separate blasts - two in the northern Piazza commercial district and one on a bus near a station in western Addis Ababa - that started in the pre-dawn hours.
"These explosions are criminal acts," said Demsach Hailu of the Ethiopian Federal Police.
"These explosions are similar to the previous ones.
"These people want to give the impression that there is no peace and stability in the city any more.
"All the explosions are targeting civilians."
The last and most damaging explosion took place at a cafe in the crowded Mercato district.
Blood and broken glass were strewn about the remains of the cafe's veranda where distraught witnesses described a horrific explosion.
"I saw the waitresses falling down on the ground, I saw blood," 15-year-old Berekat Betwidid said through tears.
"One waitress tried to crawl back inside and I ran away."
Yeheyes Salomon, 24, said he was about to walk into the cafe when the blast hit, killing one woman, apparently a waitress, instantly.
"A woman got hit in the chest, she died immediately," he said.
"I saw another woman whose shoes and feet were blown off by the blast."
The cafe explosion was preceded by about 10 minutes by a blast on city bus travelling on the road to the town of Jima west of Addis Ababa in which seven people were wounded, two seriously, police said.
Exact details of the explosion on the bus, which can seat about 50 passengers, were not immediately clear.
The blasts were the latest in more than a dozen to have hit Addis Ababa and provincial towns since the beginning of the year, killing at least seven people.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637530.htm



Former Fijian PM appears in court over charges to incite mutiny
The World Today - Friday, 12 May , 2006 12:28:00
Reporter: Sean Dorney
ELEANOR HALL: Let's go now to Fiji, where the country's former Prime Minister has made a surprise appearance in court this morning, charged with inciting the bloody army mutiny which wracked the island six years ago.
The former Prime Minister and coup leader has been under investigation for some time. But today's court appearance comes a day before polls close in a week-long election.
The ABC's Pacific Correspondent Sean Dorney was at the court this morning, and joins us now from a press conference with the Police Commissioner.
So, Sean, just how significant is it that Mr Rambuka has been charged?

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1637057.htm



AWB inquiry hears evidence from former UN Customs official
The World Today - Friday, 12 May , 2006 12:14:00
Reporter: Brendan Trembath
ELEANOR HALL: It's been out of the headlines for a few weeks, but today the Iraq bribery scandal inquiry has resumed with a new witness from the United States.
The Cole Commission had an early start this morning to hear evidence from former United Nations customs official Felicity Johnston.
In 2000 Ms Johnston alerted Australian officials to the possibility that the wheat exporter AWB might have been making irregular payments to Saddam Hussein's regime.
She recently told the ABC's Four Corners program that she was disappointed about the way the Australian Government responded to her claim.
Brendan Trembath has been at the inquiry in Sydney and joins us now.
So Brendan how critical of the Federal Government was Ms Johnson in her evidence today?

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1637031.htm



India refuses AWB wheat supply
AM - Friday, 12 May , 2006 08:23:00
Reporter: Josie Taylor
PETER CAVE: There's more trouble for Australia's monopoly grains exporter AWB Limited, and Australia's wheat exports to India appear to be in limbo.
AWB has confirmed that Indian authorities are currently refusing to accept the remainder of a 500,000 tonne contract, leaving three loaded ships stranded in Australian ports.
The company says that "quality concerns" have been raised.
Josie Taylor reports.
JOSIE TAYLOR: Australia's contract to deliver wheat to India ran into problems early on.
Last week, Indian authorities refused to allow AWB's first shipment into the country, after testing showed the wheat contained unacceptable levels of pesticide.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1636827.htm



RMIT launches investigation into cause of staff brain tumours
AM - Friday, 12 May , 2006 08:27:00
Reporter: Lynn Bell
PETER CAVE: Five members of staff at RMIT University in Melbourne have been diagnosed with brain tumours in the last month.
Two other staff members have developed brain tumours in recent years, and the university is concerned that more staff may now report serious health problems.
A number of telecommunications transmitters are fitted to the top of the building, and RMIT has launched an investigation to look for the cause of the problem.
As Lynn Bell reports.
LYNN BELL: Of the seven staff members at RMIT University who've recently discovered brain tumours, two are suffering malignant tumours.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1636831.htm



Water prices to rise in Canberra
People living in Canberra face higher water charges from July 1.
The rise includes an allowance for a loss of revenue by ACTEW caused by water restrictions and extra works required by the drought.
It will add about $46 a year to the average household bill.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637460.htm



Council considers special pipes for recycled water
New houses in the Jondaryan Shire, in southern Queensland, will be required to fit special pipes to carry recycled water under a plan being considered by the local council.
Mayor Peter Taylor says the "purple pipe" system will allow residents to use treated sewage on their gardens and toilets.
He says even though the proposal has yet to be included in the town planning scheme, one developer has agreed to install the system in a new subdivision in Westbrook.
"So we'll have a dual pipeline system and new subdivisions from here on and that certainly will make a significant step forward to saving water and reusing water across Jondaryan shire," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637118.htm



The Cheney Observer


Probe focuses on Rove's testimony
As he wraps up, special counsel asking if deputy chief of staff lied about conversation
By JIM VANDEHEI
Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is wrapping up his investigation into White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's role in the CIA leak case by weighing this central question:
Did Rove, who was deeply involved in defending President Bush's use of pre-Iraq war intelligence, lie about a key conversation with a reporter that was aimed at rebutting a tough White House critic?
Fitzgerald, according to sources close to the case, is reviewing testimony from Rove's five appearances before the grand jury. President Bush's top political strategist has argued that he never intentionally misled the grand jury about his role in leaking information about undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame to Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in July 2003. Rove testified that he simply forgot about the conversation when he failed to disclose it to Fitzgerald in earlier testimony.
Fitzgerald is weighing Rove's foggy-memory defense against evidence he has acquired or accumulated over nearly 2 1/2 years that shows Rove was very involved in White House efforts to beat back allegations that Bush twisted U.S. intelligence to justify the Iraq war, according to sources involved in the case.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3847111.html


Bush sends GOP lawmakers more invites to White House
By Jonathan E. Kaplan
Facing dismal approval ratings and malaise among some of his most ardent supporters in Congress six months before the 2006 midterm elections, President Bush has stepped up his role as schmoozer in chief.
At least three times since February, the president has invited a dozen Republican lawmakers to his White House residence for 90-minute discussions about the Iraq war, immigration, federal spending, energy policy and politics.
GOP Reps. John Sullivan (Okla.), Kay Granger (Texas), Sue Kelly (N.Y.) and Jon Porter (Nevada) attended a meeting in April, as did several freshman and sophomore members.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/050906/bush.html



Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir Republicans
By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: May 8, 2006
WASHINGTON, May 5 — To anyone who doubts the stakes for the White House in this year's midterm Congressional elections, consider that Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the Democrat who would become chairman of the Judiciary Committee if his party recaptured the House, has called for an inquiry into the possible impeachment of President Bush over the war in Iraq.
President Bush walking to the Oval Office last week, trailed by Karl Rove, left, his chief strategist, and Allan B. Hubbard, his assistant for economic policy. Mr. Rove is helping lead Republican midterm election efforts.
Or listen to Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, who would run the Senate Judiciary Committee if the Democrats took the Senate. Mr. Leahy vowed in a recent interview to subpoena top administration officials, if he got the chance, to answer more questions about their secret eavesdropping program and what he considers faulty prewar intelligence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/washington/08stakes.html?hp&ex=1147060800&en=c1ae6a2ff27cb651&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Judicial Boycott?
Posted 2006-05-11
Several prominent conservatives, including former Attorney General Ed Meese and American Center for Law and Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, boycotted a recent White House meeting with attorney Harriet Miers and political strategist Karl Rove.
The boycotters complained the White House has been slow in nominating federal judges and they want the process speeded up. Appointing honorable and sound judges to the federal bench is a vital issue, but Mr. Sekulow, Mr. Meese and their colleagues were wrong to boycott the meeting. They missed hearing Mr. Rove announce that his boss would soon send almost two dozen nominees to the Senate, including eight names for circuit judge posts. The nominations will go a long way toward restoring constitutionality and sanity to the federal judiciary.
President Bush has kept his promise of appointing strong conservatives to the bench, but his nominees have also been men and women of brilliant intellect and unquestioned integrity. A minor judicial victory was won Tuesday when Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats fumed and griped about nominee Brett Kavanaugh but didn’t lay a glove on him.

http://www.dnronline.com/opinion_details.php?AID=4330&sub=Editorial



Rove prepares 20 judges
By Alexander Bolton
Presidential adviser Karl Rove and White House counsel Harriet Miers yesterday told conservative activists and Senate staff that the administration would soon send the names of more than 20 judicial nominees to Capitol Hill for confirmation.
The undertaking to move ahead came at a 2:30 meeting at the White House that was boycotted by leading conservatives upset at the slow pace of nominations, according to people who attended the meeting.
Conservatives are upset by the Senate’s slow pace on judges since the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in February. They are frustrated that the White House has sent few nominees with strong conservative records.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/050906/news1.html


NBC's O'Donnell allowed Cheney to mislead on CIA Iraq intelligence "breakdown" and purported "turning point" in Iraq
Summary: In an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell failed to challenge Cheney's misleading claims on prewar Iraq intelligence and the purported progress being made toward the establishment of a stable Iraqi state. O'Donnell also allowed Cheney to claim that 2005 was a "turning point" for Iraq without noting that the Bush administration has touted various "turning points" in the war for more than two years.

During a May 7 interview with Vice President Dick Cheney, NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell failed to challenge Cheney's misleading claims on prewar Iraq intelligence and the purported progress being made toward the establishment of a stable Iraqi state. O'Donnell allowed Cheney to blame the CIA for failing to "produce the quality intelligence" on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities prior to the Iraq war, despite recent reports that the CIA and other intelligence agencies warned the Bush administration that some of its key claims about Iraq's supposed nuclear program were not true. O'Donnell also allowed Cheney to claim that 2005 was a "turning point" for Iraq without noting that the Bush administration has touted various "turning points" in the war for more than two years, suggesting each time that the situation in Iraq was about to improve.

Claim #1: The CIA failed to "produce ... quality intelligence" prior to the Iraq war
During the interview, portions of which aired on various NBC and MSNBC programs -- including the May 7 broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press and the May 9 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews -- O'Donnell asked Cheney to comment on the "damage" suffered by the CIA during the tenure of former director Porter J. Goss, who resigned May 5. Cheney replied that Goss had led the agency during a "tough time," in the aftermath of "[t]he report about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ... before the war in Iraq," in which Cheney claimed there was a "breakdown in the system" and the CIA "didn't produce the quality intelligence that was needed."

But there is ample evidence that, contrary to Cheney's claims, the CIA produced accurate intelligence reports on Iraq's nuclear capabilities that the Bush administration ignored -- allegedly because the evidence did not support its case for war. Moreover, other U.S. intelligence agencies also produced accurate assessments of Iraq's nuclear threat (or lack thereof), which the Bush administration also apparently ignored.

In his January 28, 2003, State of the Union address, President Bush presented the case -- frequently advanced by members of his administration -- that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program. This argument was a key component of the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq. Bush specifically claimed that the British government learned that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa and that "[o]ur intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production":

BUSH: Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even while inspectors were in his country.
[...]

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

Cheney made similar claims, stating on the March 16 broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press that "we believe [Saddam Hussein] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." On the September 14, 2003, broadcast of Meet the Press, when host Tim Russert asked Cheney if he "misspoke" in suggesting that Hussein possessed a nuclear weapon, Cheney insisted that he intended to say "weapons capability," and not "weapons."

From the September 14, 2003, broadcast of Meet the Press:


RUSSERT: And even though the International Atomic Energy Agency said he does not have a nuclear program, we disagree.

CHENEY: I disagree, yes. And you'll find the CIA, for example, and other key parts of our intelligence community, disagree. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. [Mohamed] ElBaradei [International Atomic Energy Agency chief], frankly, is wrong. And I think if you look at the track record of the International Atomic Energy Agency and this kind of issue, especially where Iraq is concerned, they have consistently underestimated or missed what it was Saddam Hussein was doing. I don't have any reason to believe they're any more valid this time than they've been in the past.

RUSSERT: Reconstituted nuclear weapons. You misspoke.

CHENEY: Yeah. I did misspeak. I said repeatedly during the show "weapons capability." We never had any evidence that he had acquired a nuclear weapon.

However, Tyler Drumheller -- a 26-year CIA veteran who served as chief of the agency's European operations during the lead-up to the Iraq war -- said that the CIA told the Bush administration in the fall of 2002 that according to a high-level source within the Iraqi government, Iraq "had no active weapons of mass destruction program" -- an assessment of Iraq's nuclear capabilities that proved to be accurate, based on the subsequent findings of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). In its final report in September 2004 (also known as the Duelfer Report), the ISG concluded that "Iraq did not possess a nuclear device, nor had it tried to reconstitute a capability to produce nuclear weapons after 1991." In addition, the ISG found no evidence that Iraq sought uranium from abroad after 1991 and concluded that Iraq's interest in high-strength aluminum tubes was "best explained" by its conventional weapons programs.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Drumheller was interviewed by co-host Ed Bradley on the April 23 broadcast of CBS' 60 Minutes. Drumheller revealed that by the fall of 2002, the CIA had co-opted an Iraqi official in the "inner circle of Saddam Hussein." According to Drumheller, Bush, Vice President Cheney, and then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (now secretary of state) were "enthusiastic" and "excited that we had a high-level penetration of the Iraqis." Drumheller said, however, that the Bush administration "stopped being interested in the intelligence" when the CIA reported that the Iraqi official -- whom 60 Minutes identified as then-foreign minister Naji Sabri -- revealed that Iraq "had no active weapons of mass destruction program." Drumheller further stated that "[t]he war in Iraq was coming and they [the Bush administration] were looking for intelligence to fit into that policy, to justify the policy."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200605110003


… AND THE GAME BEGINS ….


Warner criticizes Bush policy
As the former governor explores a possible White House run, he outlines his views on national security.
BY DAVID LERMAN
(202) 824-8224
May 10, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner accused the Bush administration Tuesday of conducting foreign policy with a "19th-century mind-set" that shuns the views of allies and produced a "litany of mistakes" in Iraq.
Outlining the beginnings of a national security agenda as he explores a 2008 presidential campaign, Warner endorsed a proposal by a centrist Democratic group that urged a muscular foreign policy that makes greater use of diplomatic and economic tools.
"The notion of unilateral action without consequences is a notion that should have passed away with the 20th century," Warner told members of the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. "We're at our strongest when we pursue a policy that unites our friends and divides our enemies, and not the reverse."

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-23189sy0may10,0,7281195.story?coll=dp-news-local-final



Rove revamps the Republican strategy
With ratings down and an election coming up, the GOP take a new tack
WASHINGTON – This fall’s election season is going to make the past three look like episodes of “Barney.”
The conventional notion here is that Democrats want to “nationalize” the 2006 elections — dwelling on broad themes (that is, the failures of the Bush Administration) — while the Republicans will try to “localize” them as individual contests that have nothing to do with, ahem, the goings on in the capital.
That was before the GOP situation got so desperate. The way I read the recent moves of Karl Rove & Co., they are preparing to wage war the only way open to them: not by touting George Bush, Lord knows, but by waging a national campaign to paint a nightmarish picture of what a Democratic Congress would look like, and to portray that possibility, in turn, as prelude to the even more nightmarish scenario: the return of a Democrat (Hillary) to the White House.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12703794/


.. and this month the military is expanding it's domestic powers to include ... If you don't want to end up on a rendition flight don't go near the borders !

Pentagon Exploring Border Control Patrols
By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is looking at ways the military can help provide more security along the U.S. southern border, defense officials said Thursday, once again drawing the nation's armed forces into a politically sensitive domestic role.
Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials this week to come up with options for the use of military resources and troops _ particularly the National Guard _ along the border with Mexico, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions. The officials, who requested anonymity because the matter has not been made public, said there are no details yet on a defense strategy.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/3858311.html



Iranian nukes not the real issue
By Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - In pushing for a showdown over Iran's nuclear program in the United Nations Security Council, the administration of US President George W Bush has presented the issue as a matter of global security - an Iranian nuclear threat in defiance of the international community.
But the history of the conflict and the private strategic thinking of both sides reveal that the dispute is really about the Bush administration's drive for greater dominance in the Middle East and Iran's demand for recognition as a regional power.
It is now known that the Iranian leadership, which was convinced that Bush was planning to move against Iran after toppling Saddam Hussein in Iraq, proposed in April 2003 to negotiate with the United States on the very issues that the US administration had claimed were the basis for its hostile posture toward Tehran: its nuclear program, its support for Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli armed groups, and its hostility to Israel's existence.
Tehran offered concrete, substantive concessions on those issues. But on the advice of Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Bush refused to respond to the proposal for negotiation. Nuclear weapons were not, therefore, the primary US concern. In the hierarchy of the US administration's interests, the denial of legitimacy to the Islamic Republic trumped a deal that could have provided assurances against an Iranian nuclear weapon.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE13Ak01.html



Iran and Turkey fire salvo over Iraq
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS - Both Turkey and Iran have been launching military raids into northern Iraq against a Kurdish paramilitary group that is based there, posing a dangerous new threat to stability both within Iraq and to the region.
The Iraq-based Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), labeled a terrorist group by the United States, Britain and the European Union, is a paramilitary party that preaches Kurdish nationalism, especially in Turkey, where it is demanding political rights and better living standards for the country's 12 million Kurds.
Turkey recently launched a massive military operation involving more than 250,000 troops against the PKK (nearly double the number of US troops in Iraq), concentrated in the mountains along Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq. Extensive incursions into northern Iraq have been reported, aimed at cutting off the PKK's supply lines to Turkey from its camps in northern Iraq. Turkey also claims that "the PKK has recently increased its activities and obtained weapons from Iraq".
Iran, meanwhile, has begun attacks on PKK units based in Iran, and the Iranian military has entered Iraqi territory in hot pursuit of
PKK militants. This represents a different approach from recent years, when Turkey regularly accused Tehran of turning a blind eye to the PKK in Iran.
The Baghdad government has objected, claiming a violation of its sovereignty, but both countries insist that they are acting in self-defense.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HE13Ak03.html



US lawmakers angered
over China currency verdict
(May 11, '06)
US Treasury Secretary John Snow has declined to cite China as a "currency manipulator", weakening prospects for the various bills circulating in Congress intended to force appreciation of the Chinese yuan. But the yuan dispute isn't over yet: anger over the issue in the US remains widespread and bipartisan, with commentators like Peter Morici irked over Snow's virtually borrowing from Beijing's own script.

Backdown on yuan irks legislators
By David M Lenard
HUA HIN, Thailand - On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury issued on behalf of the Bush administration its Semiannual Report on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies. Though the report discussed many countries, media attention focused almost entirely on the report's failure to cite China as a "currency manipulator".
Treasury Secretary John Snow, in his official press statement on the report , said: "The Treasury Department is unable to conclude that China's intent has been to manage its exchange-rate regime for the purposes of preventing effective balance-of-payments adjustment or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade. Thus we have not designated China pursuant to the 1988 Trade Act."
At a subsequent press conference, Snow said the question of intent was crucial: "The test in the '88 act ultimately comes down to intent," he said, noting that during last month's visit of President Hu Jintao to the White House, the Chinese leader had pledged to "increase the flexibility of the exchange rate", in addition to boosting imports and facilitating additional foreign investments in China. Snow said these actions indicated that "China has indicated the intent to address imbalances".

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE12Cb06.html



Bush caves in to Chinese mercantilism
By Peter Morici
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday released its long-awaited report on the international economic and exchange rate practices of major US trading partners.
Regarding China, it concluded that "far too little progress has been made in introducing exchange flexibility"; however, "the Treasury Department is unable to determine, from the evidence at hand, that China's foreign-exchange system was operated during the last half of 2005 for the purpose [ie, with the intent] of preventing adjustments in China's balance of payments or gaining China an unfair competitive advantage in trade".
It would seem that Treasury Secretary John Snow would like China to volunteer that it is manipulating the global commercial system before it can be cited for doing so (see Snow's statement here).

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE12Cb07.html



John Snow on the yuan
The following is an excerpt of the statement of US Treasury Secretary John Snow on the Report on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies.
... Let me turn to emerging Asia, and China specifically. Strong growth in China and the region have helped propel the global economy. But greater exchange-rate flexibility in emerging Asia is an irreplaceable component of the adjustment of global imbalances, and Chinese exchange-rate flexibility is the linchpin of currency flexibility in emerging Asia.
China's international economic and exchange-rate policies are deeply concerning. The United States has been joined by the international community, including the G7 [Group of Seven], the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Asian Development Bank in vigorously encouraging China to implement greater exchange-rate flexibility. In the final analysis, though, the Treasury Department is unable to conclude that China's intent has been to manage its exchange-rate regime for the purposes of preventing effective balance-of-payments adjustment or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade. Thus we have not designated China pursuant to the 1988 Trade Act. Let me share with you our reasons.
China is engaged in a historic transformation to a market system. To achieve the requisite economic rebalancing, China must make its currency regime more flexible, strengthen consumption and modernize its financial system - the three pillars of our policy engagement.
China's leadership has publicly committed to take these steps. President Hu [Jintao], in a meeting with President [George W] Bush on April 20, stated that China does not want a large current-account surplus and will act to reduce it. Premier Wen [Jiabao] made this same commitment in his speech to the National People's Congress and also committed to allow more exchange rate flexibility. China's recent five-year plan places strong emphasis on consumption and rural development in order to spur domestic demand. China's central bank governor laid out a five-point plan to reduce the surplus, including efforts to boost domestic demand, reduce China's high saving rate, accelerate removal of trade barriers, allow foreign firms greater access and achieve greater exchange-rate flexibility.
Of course, words must be backed by action, and China is taking some action. On the exchange-rate front, China abandoned its eight-year peg against the dollar last July, and the yuan has moved slightly higher against the dollar since that time. But given the close relationship between the yuan and the dollar and because the dollar appreciated last year across the board, China's currency on a trade-weighted basis appreciated by over 9% last year. China has also taken steps to create a deeper and more liquid foreign-exchange market, allowing interbank foreign-currency trading for the first time this year.
China is also acting to boost consumption, dampen its high saving rate, and promote domestic demand. Recently, China has put in place steps to cut taxes, develop rural areas, and raise minimum wages.
China's efforts to modernize its weak financial sector are part of the strategy to spur consumption and more efficient investment. In the last year and a half, China has acted to tighten its risk-classification system for bank loans, deregulate and raise bank lending rates, and bring in foreign expertise and know-how to improve the soundness and market orientation of the banking system. We strongly urge China to allow foreign firms greater access to China's financial system and to lift the ownership caps facing foreign entities.
Let us be clear: we are extremely dissatisfied with the slow and disappointing pace of reform of the Chinese exchange-rate regime. The RMB's [renminbi, or yuan] appreciation has done little to curb China's large current-account surplus or cool its fast-growing economy, which last quarter was at an over-10% annual rate. Further exchange-rate flexibility is a key tool for tightening financial conditions amid ample liquidity, reinforcing the effect of recent monetary policy actions aimed at cooling economic activity. Thus this slow pace is neither in China's self-interest nor in the interest of the world economy. With a still-rigid exchange rate, China lacks effective monetary-policy tools to avoid the boom-bust cycles it has experienced in the past. This is particularly important now that investment in China appears to be reaccelerating, increasing the risk of a hard landing.
For the last three years, the Treasury Department has made engagement with China one of its top priorities. This intensive engagement has first and foremost concentrated on exchange-rate flexibility, but also on the other steps necessary to shift the sources of growth toward domestic demand and consumption, reform the financial sector and to build the foreign-exchange market infrastructure. While the economic face of China changes rapidly each day, we are not satisfied with the progress made on China's exchange-rate regime and we will monitor closely China's progress every step of the way.
It is important for China to understand that its exchange-rate regime is not simply a bilateral US-China issue, but a multilateral issue. Chinese exchange-rate practices affect the entire world. The IMF is the world's only multilateral institution with a mandate to consider exchange rates. Managing director Rodrigo De Rato has called for strengthening IMF exchange-rate surveillance in his medium-term strategy. Further, at the recent IMF/World Bank spring meetings, he developed a new mechanism for multilateral consultations to broaden the global discussion of imbalances. The IMF must take this mandate for leadership by encouraging real reform in the Chinese currency regime.
In conclusion, the entire international community must work together cooperatively to address global imbalances, but it is a matter of extreme urgency that China act immediately to increase the flexibility of its exchange-rate regime before real harm is done to its own economy, to its Asian neighbors, and to the global financial system.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE12Cb05.html



US-UAE trade talks resume with labour rights in spotlight

Trade talks between the United States and the United Arab Emirates resumed as the booming Gulf state faced pressure to give more rights to an increasingly restive blue-collar foreign workforce.
.
The negotiations had been postponed in March amid a row over a major US port deal involving a UAE company. The latest round in Abu Dhabi is expected to last until Thursday amid a virtual media blackout, according to a US embassy official.
.
US Congress, citing an alleged poor UAE record in fighting terror, had opposed part of a 6.9-billion-dollar acquisition of British shipping giant P and O by Dubai Ports World that would have transferred the operation of six major US ports to the government-controlled Emirati company.
.
US President George W. Bush backed the deal, but ultimately the UAE, averse to any controversy with its major ally, pulled the plug with a decision on March 9 to cede control of the ports to a US entity.
.
However, Dubai International Capital, another Dubai government-controlled entity, sealed on Sunday a 1.27-billion-dollar deal to take over British engineering company Doncasters Group, which owns a US company supplying parts to the US military, after it was given the green light by Bush.
.
But the dust had not settled in the ports row when Dubai was in the headlines again over abusive labour practices following violent riots in March and April by thousands of Asian construction workers at two high-profile building sites to demand better pay and living conditions.
.
UAE officials have been dismissive of the charges, including a strongly-worded condemnation by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
.
Some have blamed "hidden hands" that want to sully the UAE's image, while others have accused lobby groups with strong influence over the US government of stirring up the issue to force the country to sign a free trade deal on terms more favourable to Washington.
.
"I think this is part of the rules of the game when a super power is putting you in a corner and pressuring you until you give up," Aisha Sultan, deputy head of a government-sanctioned human rights association created two months ago, told AFP.
.
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/117445.asp



Dubai Ports vows to break into US market
JEBEL ALI (UAE) — Dubai Ports World vowed yesterday to take another stab at breaking into the US market, describing a decision to relinquish operations at six US ports two months ago as a temporary setback.
“Once (the) process is changed and new legislation comes in then we are ready to go back,” Mohammed Sharaf, the chief executive of the container-port operator controlled by the Dubai government, said in an interview.
“It all depends on the Americans, what sort of legislation they will come up with ... This is the world’s largest economy. How can you just ignore it?”
Following the announcement earlier this year of its $6.9-billion acquisition of British shipping giant P and O, DP World and Dubai were plunged into an unprecedented controversy for the Arab Gulf state.

http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=29549



World's first luxury submarines being made in Dubai
Tucked away in Dubai's Ports Freezone is Exomos, a factory warehouse where the world's first luxury consumer submersibles are being assembled.
These sci-fi looking crafts come in nine different models and can be custom designed to the whims of a buyer's imagination, with some submarines designed to look like stingrays and gobies.
Exomos was established over a year ago by Herve Jaubert, a Frenchman and a former mechanical engineer for the French Naval Academy. He came to Dubai after failing to make his underwater dreams a reality by setting up shop in the United States and France.
Jaubert says that although he sells submarines around the world, it is in the Middle East that they are most popular. Jaubert puts this down to government restrictions in the west that make it difficult for people to own submarines.
"When you have a submarine and when you want to operate a submarine in the Western world, it is not easy. Government agencies do not like submarines," he explains.
What makes Exomos submersibles unique is a technology called 'Ambient Pressure Design' which means that Jaubert's submarines are not claustrophobic but offer panoramic views underwater from their large windows making them ideal for tourist and leisure use.

http://www.zeenews.com/nri/inner1.asp?aid=196882&sid=BUS



A reduced Board over at Sabah Ports
09 May, 2006
Kota Kinabalu: Eight people were appointed to a reduced Board of Directors of the Sabah Ports Authority for the 2005-2008 term, that also saw an extension for its incumbent Chairman Datuk Zaki Gusmiah. Previously the Board comprised 11 members.
Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan handed over their letters of appointment in a ceremony at the Ministry's building, here.
The other members of the Board are V. Jothi (Deputy Chairman), Maznah Abdul Ghani and Mayong Omar (all incumbents) while new members are Datuk Richard Yong We Kong, Hj Mohd Ibrahim Mohd Yassin and Dr Johnson Tee.
Another member would be a representative from the Ministry of Finance, a Deputy Permanent Secretary.

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=41916



Absence of board at major ports threatening capacity expansion
Amit Mitra
Ministry asks eight ports to take corrective steps immediately
Rising traffic
Ports sector to face fresh surge in throughput with rise in the export-import trade.
Currently, capacity utilisation is more than 100 per cent.
Export-import trade may face serious problems unless fresh capacities are added.
Mumbai May 9
Eight of the 12 major ports in the country are functioning without Board of Trustees, which play a significant role in the implementation of expansion and modernisation schemes in their respective ports.
After the term of the eight boards expired in April this year, the new boards have so far not been fully constituted, threatening to throw cold water on the capacity expansion programmes of these ports. In the light of the importance of reconstitution of the boards, the Ministry of Shipping has asked the eight ports to hasten steps to have their new boards in place at the earliest, informed sources told Business Line.
The ports that are at present not having Board of Trustees are Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Paradip, Marmogao, Kandla, Cochin and Kolkata. Only, Visakhapatnam port has initiated steps to reconstitute the board and is close to having a new one in place, according to sources.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/10/stories/2006051001860700.htm



Carpenter shores up the ports
Ean Higgins
May 11, 2006
WEST Australian Premier Alan Carpenter will today spend nearly $90 million on improving the state's ports, which are struggling to cope with the huge demand for iron ore from China.
The Australian has learned Mr Carpenter's first budget will deliver record spending on upgrading the state's transport links including roads, rail and other capital works.
Western Australia is currently the economic powerhouse of the nation. But Mr Carpenter says that without more federal spending to match the state's efforts, Australia will not reap the full potential of the resources boom. "We are providing the wealth that allows Peter Costello to provide more tax cuts," he said.
While there will be substantial capital works spending in health, education and other service-related areas and some additional benefits for the welfare sector, the windfall will not be primarily directed at tax cuts.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19097017-2702,00.html



Hybrid pizzly bear comes to a grisly end
May 12, 2006
OTTAWA: Tests have confirmed a bear killed by an American hunter in Canada's far north was the first grizzly-polar bear cross ever discovered in the wild.
"It actually is a hybrid," said Judy McLinton, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Territories' Environment and Natural Resources Department in Yellowknife.
Jim Martell, 65, who paid $C50,000 ($58,240) to hunt polar bears last month, shot the animal, described by local media as a "pizzly", a "grolar bear", or Martell's favourite, a "polargrizz" on April 16.
The Idaho native told The National Post: "Everybody thought it was a polar bear, and then they started looking more and more and they saw other features that resembled some of a grizzly as well."
The bear had thick, creamy white fur, typical of polar bears, but its long claws, humped back and shallow face, as well as brown patches around its eyes, nose, back and on one foot were grizzly traits.
Geneticists have linked the two species. They believe grizzly bears ventured north about 250,000 years ago to hunt seals and their fur turned white over time. Thus, the polar bear was born. Odd couples have produced mixed offspring in captivity. But this was the first discovery of this mixed breed in the wild, officials said.
The two species mate at different times of the year and inhabit vastly different regions - one lives on Arctic ice floes, the other in forests. But hunters had reported seeing grizzlies further north in recent years as the Arctic warmed, said Andy Carpenter, Mayor of Sachs Harbour, a tiny hamlet on Banks Island where the bear was shot.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,19107847-30417,00.html



News profit doubles on Fox, cable
John Lehmann
May 12, 2006
NEWS Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch yesterday sounded a warning bell for newspapers which relied heavily on classifieds advertising, saying online news sites were not fully capturing lost revenue.
Mr Murdoch made the observation as his global media company posted a doubling of third-quarter net income to $US820 million ($1.06 billion), underpinned by a 29 per cent lift in operating income at its television division.
While News is predicting a bullish future for its rapidly growing "new media" division, Fox Interactive Media, Mr Murdoch questioned whether its news online sites would recover the advertising revenue leaking away from printed newspaper editions. "They (newspaper sites) are not at this stage showing signs that they're going to replace fully what we may lose, but we're not losing much," he said.
"As long as we can remain the dominant newspaper in our markets, we're not too worried.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19105572-643,00.html



New Dock Workers’ Union boss to fight for members
Standard Correspondent
The newly elected Dockworkers Union secretary-general, Mr Simon Sang, has pledged to push for salary increases for the lowest paid port workers.
Sang on Wednesday said he would ensure that the workers were awarded a 50 per cent increase.
"There is great discrepancy in salary scales at the Kenya Ports Authority, which needs to be narrowed down. This will be my priority once I get down to work," he said.
He took over at the giant union after trouncing long-serving secretary-general, Kennedy Kiliku. On the intended KPA privatisation, Sang said it was wrong for the Government to do so since the parastatal was operating profitably.
"Unlike Kenya Railways Corporation and Telkom Kenya, KPA is making profits.

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143952320



New rules to screen workers at ports
Proposed Homeland Security guidelines would require IDs and background checks. They would affect about 15,000 people in Hampton Roads.
BY PETER DUJARDIN
247-4749
May 11, 2006
Anyone convicted of robbery, drug distribution or gun possession charges within the past seven years would be among those banned from working at ports under proposed new guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security.
The department on Wednesday revealed its proposal for a new identification card and background check system for 750,000 transportation workers nationally, including about 15,000 in Hampton Roads.
The rules as written would require truck drivers, longshoremen, port authority workers, railway workers and others who have unescorted access to marine terminals to pass comprehensive criminal background checks and be issued a fingerprint-based ID card in order to get onto a terminal.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-23832sy0may11,0,4987431.story?coll=dp-news-local-final



DeLay sets June 9 resignation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas said on Thursday he would formally resign his seat in Congress effective June 9, clearing the way for another Republican to take his spot on the November election ballot.
DeLay, the former Republican House leader and once one of the most powerful politicians in Washington, announced last month he would step down from Congress after becoming embroiled in the scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"I have recently made the decision to pursue new opportunities to engage in the important cultural and political battles of our day from an arena outside the U.S. House of Representatives," Delay said Thursday in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
DeLay said last month he would step aside to give the party a better shot at holding his House seat in Texas. Seven Republicans are vying for the right to replace DeLay in the November race against Democrat Nick Lampson.
The contenders interviewed over the weekend with local party leaders in DeLay's home district. The local leaders will pick the new candidate, probably sometime in June, in a race considered potentially one of the most competitive in the country.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-05-11T215619Z_01_N11432356_RTRUKOC_0_US-DELAY.xml&archived=False



Judge's file on affirmative action missing
WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- Files on affirmative action written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts when he was an adviser to President Ronald Reagan are still missing.
The file vanished in July when lawyers from the Bush administration were reviewing the materials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., as part of a vetting process before Roberts' formal nomination to the Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
Allen Weinstein, the archivist of the United States, disclosed that the file was missing in August and requested the archive's Office of the Inspector General's review, which appeared this week on the Web site TheMemoryHole.com.
"This investigation is unresolved and the file is still missing," said the 64-page report. "The OIG was unable to determine whether the missing file was taken intentionally, unintentionally, or lost."
Investigators concluded archives staff did not follow agency policies and procedures in allowing two White House lawyers to review the documents in a private office for as long as 30 minutes while they participated in conference calls with the White House, the report said.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060511-113453-5314r


Sydney Morning Herald


Disaster mine won't reopen for months
May 12, 2006 - 3:28PM
AdvertisementAdvertisement
It will be months before Tasmania's Beaconsfield Gold Mine can reopen, mine manager Matthew Gill predicts.
Mr Gill was speaking after the first meeting of the taskforce set up to help minimise the impact of the mine's temporary closure following the April 25 disaster which killed miner Larry Knight.
"It's not weeks ... months (but) not years," Mr Gill said when asked for a timeline for a possible re-opening.
"There is a myriad of issues that we just need the time to list, develop the plans for and then work forward on that.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/disaster-mine-wont-reopen-for-months/2006/05/12/1146940721299.html



London bombings: reports cite al-Qaeda link
May 12, 2006 - 7:40AM
Two of the suicide bombers behind last year's deadly attacks on London probably had contacts with al-Qaeda - but British security lacked resources to stop the atrocity, two reports say.
The first detailed accounts of the July 7 bombings cleared the intelligence services of any failings in not preventing Britain's worst-ever terrorist strike.
At the same time the reports - one by an influential parliamentary committee and another by the Home Office - highlighted the magnitude of the task they face in foiling such plots.
Four British Muslim extremists killed 52 innocent people and injured more than 700 others when they blew up three London Underground trains and a double decker bus during the morning rush hour by detonating bombs packed into rucksacks.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/london-bombings-reports-cite-alqaeda-link/2006/05/12/1146940702475.html



Priest guilty of 1980 nun murder
May 12, 2006 - 6:39AM
The Rev. Gerald Robinson has been convicted of killing a nun while she was preparing a hospital chapel for Easter services in 1980.
Photo: AP
A 68-year-old Catholic priest has been found guilty of the murder 26 years ago of a nun in a crime that prosecutors said had Satanic undertones and may have been covered up by church leaders.
The Rev Gerald Robinson appeared stony faced as the jury's guilty verdict was read and he blinked repeatedly and glanced at his lawyers before being led away in handcuffs.
He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Osowik, who offered Robinson a court-appointed lawyer if he wanted to appeal.
Robinson, who wore his clerical collar throughout the two-week trial, had been free on bail raised by supporters since his arrest in 2004, and relieved of his priestly duties since that time.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/catholic-priest-found-guilty-of-a-satanic-murder/2006/05/12/1146940701247.html



Fury over OJ murder victim prank
In this video image from the show Juiced, O J Simpson tries to sell his infamous white Ford Bronco
AdvertisementAdvertisement
May 12, 2006 - 3:46PM
O J Simpson is the star of a new candid-camera program pulls a prank involving the infamous white Bronco, drawing criticism from the family of murder victim Ronald Goldman.
In the scene taped as part of the one-hour, pay-per-view show called Juiced, Simpson pretends to sell the Bronco at a used car lot and boasts to a prospective buyer that he made the vehicle famous, according to a segment aired on Inside Edition in the US.
"It was good for me - it helped me get away," Simpson said, referring to the slow-speed, televised police chase that preceded his arrest on charges of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Goldman, her friend.
Goldman's father, Fred, told Inside Edition he found Simpson's comment "morally reprehensible."
Simpson was acquitted of murder. A civil jury later held him liable for the killings and ordered him to pay $43 million to the Brown and Goldman families.
Much of that judgment remains unpaid.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/fury-over-oj-murder-victim-prank/2006/05/12/1146940722326.html


Phone tower cancer fears
By Adam Morton and David Rood
May 12, 2006
A SPATE of brain tumours among staff has forced RMIT University to close part of its business school and test for radiation emissions from rooftop phone towers.
As staff reacted with shock, the university yesterday shut the top two floors of the Bourke Street building and ordered more than 100 employees to work from home for the next fortnight.
The closure follows the discovery of five brain tumours in the past month and two others in 1999 and 2001. Two were malignant and five were benign.
WorkCover has launched an investigation and RMIT has promised its own inquiry.
The academics' union last night expressed concern that the tumours were caused by the communications towers on the roof of the former Tivoli Theatre site.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/05/11/1146940676777.html?from=top5




The Chicago Tribune

200 Are Feared Dead in Nigeria Oil Blast
By Associated Press
Published May 12, 2006, 10:49 AM CDT
ILADO, Nigeria -- A ruptured gas pipeline exploded as villagers collected fuel in southwestern Nigeria Friday, killing up to 200 people and leaving charred bodies scattered around the blast site.
Rescue workers dug a ditch near the blast site in Ilado, a village about 25 miles east of Nigeria's main city of Lagos. Lagos Police Commissioner Emmanuel Adebayo said the victims would be buried in a common grave.
"Between 150 and 200 people died," Adebayo told reporters. Dozens of burned corpses were lying on the ground and plumes of black smoke rose into the air.
Firefighters were on the scene and the Red Cross said it had workers helping survivors. Red Cross spokeswoman Okon Umoh said many of the bodies had fallen into the water.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-nigeria-pipeline-blast,1,999643.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true



Inmate takes prison staffer hostage at Dixon facility
Tribune staff reports
Published May 12, 2006, 9:46 AM CDT
An inmate at Dixon Correctional Center in Downstate Illinois continued to hold a female staff member hostage this morning, and officials were still negotiating with him, a spokesman said.
Department of Corrections spokesman Sergio Molina said the inmate was cooperative.
Prison officials would not confirm the identity of the inmate, but they did fax a letter to the Tribune written by a man who has been in prison since 1984 on multiple rape convictions.
In the letter, the man wrote: "I'm in a position that I didn't want to be in—but I didn't see any other option to get the truth out. … Please help me if you can."
The four-page, hand-written letter was faxed to the Tribune Thursday evening. It bears the inmate's signature and contains a time stamp that indicates it was sent at 8:17 p.m. from the "Dixon CC Wardens Office."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060512prison-hostage,0,6156128.story?coll=chi-homepagepromo440-fea


4 Marines Killed in Tank Accident in Iraq
By THOMAS WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
Published May 12, 2006, 5:47 AM CDT
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Four Marines drowned when their tank rolled off a bridge and plunged into a canal, the military said Friday, adding that while the accident occurred in a Sunni insurgent stronghold, it was not the result of an enemy action.
The deaths brought to at least 12 the number of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq this week, according to an Associated Press count.
The accident occurred Thursday when the four Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5 were traveling in a U.S. M1A1 Main Battle Tank near Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province. U.S.-led coalition forces have seen heavy fighting in the area, known as the Sunni Triangle because it is rife with Sunni insurgents.
"We are a close-knit family and this loss affects us all," said U.S. Col. Larry D. Nicholson, commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 5. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these Marines during this difficult period."
The accident was under investigation, and the military said no other information was immediately available, including what kind of operation the Marines were taking part in and whether fighting with insurgents was under way in the area at that time.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-iraq,1,7982944.story?coll=chi-news-hed



Philadelphia Inquirer

Line of mourners now stretches for blocks
Cardinal Rigali will preside over the noon funeral Mass for slain officer Gary Skerski.
By Peter Mucha
Inquirer Staff Writer
After encircling the block around St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church, the line of mourners in Port Richmond now extends more blocks down Allegheny Avenue.
Slowly the line advances, as people of all ages and backgrounds, from parochial children in their uniforms to police from all over the region to casually dressed people from the neighborhood, make their way toward the shadowy steps to be let into the church four or five at a time.
They're there for the viewing of slain Philadelphia police officer Gary Skerski, whose casket was carried into the church just after 8:30 this morning.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14563521.htm


Hunt for cop-killer expands to other East Coast states
125G reward; Skerski funeral today
By DAVID GAMBACORTA & SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM
Police yesterday announced the formation of a special task force that will work around the clock - and reach up and down the East Coast - to capture the sinister masked gunman who killed Officer Gary Skerski.
Though local homicide cops are leading the investigation, state and federal officials have joined the search for Skerski's killer, which might reach into other cities and states.
"We're in touch with New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, actually the whole Eastern seaboard, because we have no way of knowing if this is somebody who's been doing this type of thing locally or somebody passing through," Police Chief Inspector Joseph Fox said yesterday at a weekly police meeting.
While law-enforcement officials huddled, the city drove up the reward for information leading to the arrest of Skerski's killer to a record $125,000.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14560498.htm



Street: No new cops; plainclothes to wear uniforms
By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM
simone@phillynews.com 215-854-5324
As the family of slain officer Gary Skerski readied the final details of his funeral, Mayor Street vowed yesterday to keep his word: The city won't hire any extra cops anytime soon.
However, the Police Department announced a change yesterday that will put more blue on the streets anyway. All plainclothes officers in the Patrol Bureau will put their uniforms back on to create a stronger presence.
"The ground rule is no plainclothes," said the department's No. 2 commander, First Deputy Commissioner Patricia Giorgio-Fox, to a group of captains at a weekly police meeting.
The new standard affects all cops working in the city's 23 districts, which have narcotics, burglary and other specialized officers who wear plain clothes.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14560497.htm



Police create task force in manhunt for officer's killer
The search, aided by U.S. agents, has spread into other states. Despite a record reward, officials say there is no key suspect.
By Barbara Boyer and Michael Currie Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writers
Day 4 of the largest manhunt in recent city history saw police concentrate their efforts - forming a special task force and working with FBI and DEA agents - and the emergence of the biggest reward ever offered in Philadelphia to catch a criminal.
The day ended with investigators toiling to catch Officer Gary Skerski's killer.
"We will track him down, and we will make him pay," said John Apeldorn, a retired homicide captain and president of the Citizens Crime Commission of Delaware Valley.
The Crime Commission has raised a $125,000 reward - $63,000 from the city. But despite the unequivocal message the reward conveys, investigators conceded that a strong suspect has not emerged.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14558432.htm



Poll: Rendell widens lead over Swann to 55-33
PETER JACKSON
Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Gov. Ed Rendell has widened his lead over Republican challenger Lynn Swann to 22 percentage points, according to an independent poll released Friday.
A majority of Pennsylvania voters - even a majority of Republican voters - said they do not know enough about Swann, a former Pittsburgh Steelers star, to form an opinion about him four months after he declared his candidacy, the poll said.
The Democratic governor led Swann 55 percent to 33 percent in the May poll by Quinnipiac University - compared with 47-37 percent in a similar telephone survey conducted in April. Ten percent were undecided in May, compared with 12 percent in April.
"Swann's candidacy has yet to catch fire," said Clay Richards, assistant director of the Connecticut-based university's polling institute. "As long as 55 percent of Pennsylvania voters feel Gov. Rendell deserves re-election, he is going to be hard to beat."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14562754.htm



More uranium reportedly found in Iran
GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press
VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. atomic agency found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country's defense ministry, diplomats said Friday, adding to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities aimed at making nuclear arms.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for revealing the confidential information, said the findings were preliminary and still had to be confirmed through other lab tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.
Still, they said, further analysis could show that the traces match others established to have come from abroad. The International Atomic Energy Agency determined earlier traces of weapons-grade uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity discovered just over three years ago.
Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity. It becomes suitable for use in nuclear weapons when enriched to more than 90 percent.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14563849.htm



Vioxx study says heart risk falls when drug is stopped
By Thomas Ginsberg
Inquirer Staff Writer
New data show that cardiovascular risks from the recalled pain reliever Vioxx decreased after patients stopped taking it, a result Merck & Co. Inc. said undermined the claims of some heart-attack sufferers.
Merck faces at least 11,500 personal-injury lawsuits and 190 class-action lawsuits over Vioxx, recalled on Sept. 30, 2004, after a company-sponsored study found it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke in people taking it for 18 months or longer. So far, Merck has won three and lost three trials.
Merck had recalled Vioxx, a $2.5 billion product, based on three years of data from patients taking Vioxx and a placebo. After the recall, Merck continued studying the patients for a fourth year after they, too, stopped taking Vioxx.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14558453.htm



Corzine declines to back activists on bear policy
A spokesman said it "puts the safety and security of our families first." Two killings stirred opposition.
By Jennifer Moroz
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
Gov. Corzine apparently will not intervene on behalf of environmental and animal-rights activists who want New Jersey to ditch its policy allowing the killing of bears that stray into urban areas.
Responding to letters this week from the Humane Society and the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said yesterday that the bear management plan "puts the safety and security of our families first."
"The governor is supportive of that policy," Coley said in an e-mail.
Upset that two bears have been killed after wandering into New Jersey cities in the last week, the two groups beseeched Corzine to step in to revise the state's zero-tolerance policy on bruins in urban areas.
In a letter sent yesterday, the Humane Society asked that the state instead begin mandatory training for police and animal-control officers on how to immobilize bears nonfatally and transport them safely from suburban and urban areas.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14560466.htm



In reading, Dick lags far behind Jane
Huddled in a cozy corner of a Cooper Elementary School classroom, three pals were having a blast, sprawled on their bellies, reading about the adventures of Captain Underpants and laughing uproariously.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/special_packages/school_report_card/


Knight Ridder's profit shrinks in half
The Inquirer's owner said higher expenses helped reduce its results. The chain is about to be bought.
By Joseph N. DiStefano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Higher expenses cut Knight Ridder Inc.'s profit by half in the first quarter, as the San Jose, Calif.-based owner of The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News prepared for its sale to the McClatchy Co.
Knight Ridder reported yesterday that net income was $28.4 million, or 42 cents a share, down from $60.5 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $739.9 million from $711.8 million.
Interest on borrowed money rose to $33 million from $19 million during the same quarter last year; newsprint, ink and supplement expenses rose to $107 million from $96 million; and the company spent $6 million on valuing and offering itself for sale, plus $5 million on stock options, during the quarter, Knight Ridder reported.
McClatchy plans to complete its acquisition of the 32-newspaper chain in early July, after first arranging the sale of the Philadelphia papers and 10 others. McClatchy hopes to collect $2.15 billion from the sales, it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/special_packages/kri/14364869.htm


The Bush base bailout
I’m on the road today – I’m slated to be on a panel that will debate whether the media has been too hard or too soft on President Bush – so forgive me if this blog entry is a bit undernourished. In fact, let’s just turn it over to Peggy Noonan.
In yesterday’s Inquirer, I wrote a column about Bush’s sliding poll numbers. I don’t normally do poll-driven stories, but the current situation is particularly newsworthy, because of the solid evidence that followers in his conservative/Republican base are starting to bail in significant numbers. (This morning, in fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that a new Harris survey pegs Bush’s overall approval rating at his lowest ever, 29 percent.)

http://www.dickpolman.blogspot.com/

continued …

Those that died never had a chance ! F3 Tornado.

May 10, 2006.

Photographer states :: This was one of the homes destroyed by the tornado that went through Collin County, TX last night.

This was the weather 72 hours before the killer tornadoes. No excuses !

May 6, 2006.

Port Lavico, Texas.

A Failure by the Texas Governor to Protect it's Citizens. Even Dorothy had shelter in Kansas.

May 9, 2006. Sherman, Texas.

Photographer states :: From Sherman looking SSW towards Gunter. Same complex produced 3 tornadoes in Gunter, Anna, and Westminster an hour later.

Morning Papers - continued ...

Tehran Times

Iran, Indonesia sign deal on $5b refinery
JAKARTA (AFX) – PT Elnusa has stated that it expects to soon secure the participation of investors needed to complete a $5 billion oil refinery project it plans to build jointly with a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
Elnusa's advisor, Global Union Energy Ventures Ltd, will be scouting for investors until June 30, Elnusa announced in a presentation paper.
It said Global Union will invite Middle East crude producers, as well as fuel buyers in the Southeast Asian region, Japan, South Korea, and China to join the project.
On Wednesday, Elnusa and the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) signed a memorandum of understanding to build the refinery. The deal came as Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad was in Indonesia on a five-day trip.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/11/2006&Cat=9&Num=018


5+1 plus one
By Parviz Esmaeili
Before the foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany met on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had expressed hope that her guests would be flexible on a U.S.-backed resolution against Iran under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy announced after the meeting that the EU 3 (Britain, Germany, and France) would draw up a new proposal, including incentive and punitive mechanisms, to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment.
Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed strong opposition to dealing with the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, he said of the outcome of the meeting that the 5+1 group intends to enter into direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear dossier, and this includes the United States, too.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/11/2006&Cat=14&Num=001



Iran's nuclear program: The way out
By Hassan Rowhani
A nuclear weaponized Iran destabilizes the region, prompts a regional arms race, and wastes the scarce resources in the region. And taking account of U.S. nuclear arsenal and its policy of ensuring a strategic edge for Israel, an Iranian bomb will accord Iran no security dividends. There are also some Islamic and developmental reasons why Iran as an Islamic and developing state must not develop and use weapons of mass destruction.
Three years of robust inspection of Iranian nuclear and non-nuclear facilities by the IAEA inspectors led Dr. ElBaradei to conclude and certify that to date there are no indications of any diversion of nuclear material and activities toward making a bomb. At the same time, ElBaradei has pointed out that the IAEA cannot certify that Iran's program is exclusively peaceful. But the fact is that few among many states with a nuclear program have received such a clean bill of health from the IAEA. Such certification by the IAEA does and should take time and effort. Iran is prepared and willing to invest the time and effort necessary to receive the IAEA clean bill of health. The IAEA is also ready to pursue its investigation of Iran's nuclear activities. So should the states that have concern about it.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/11/2006&Cat=2&Num=015



New York warned to prepare for hurricanes
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A hurricane with only moderate intensity could wreak havoc in New York City because it has been years since the nation's financial center faced severe weather, government forecasters warned.
"The first time we get hit here with a Category 2, it's going to be disastrous," said meteorologist Michael Wyllie of the National Weather Service, referring to the scale used to rate hurricane strength. Wyllie said powerful storms have missed New York in recent years, unlike parts of the Gulf Coast, where periodic storms "thin out the trees and the buildings."
Gloria, the last big storm to hit the New York area, caused about $900 million in economic losses along the East Coast in 1985, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's not like we can all run down to Home Depot and pick up these two-by-fours to board up windows," said John Koch, lead forecaster at the NWS forecast office in New York. "What we want people to do is know what they are going to do with their family and their pets."

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/11/2006&Cat=7&Num=012


The Jakarta Post

Booming pulp mills pose threat to tropical forests
BANGKOK (AP): A shortage of wood to fuel growing demand from pulp and paper mills worldwide is forcing some companies to tap illegal sources while others are clear-cutting tropical forests, a leading conservation group charged Thursday.
In an eight-year study, the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, or CIFOR, also found that international investors have sunk US$40 billion worldwide into "financially risky and environmentally destructive" projects with little concern for their sustainability.
"Financial institutions have shown a surprising lack of interest in understanding how the pulp companies requesting loans are going to get all this cheap wood," said David Kaimowitz, director general of CIFOR.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060511164544&irec=0



Democracy too precious a gift to sacrifice
Dwi Atmanta, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
April 30 was a Sunday but it was not a day of relaxation for the people of Tuban -- and the rest of the nation might feel the same.
Tension gripped Tuban, situated on the northern coast of East Java, the day after a mob burned down the regional elections commission office and property owned by Regent Haeny Relawati, who should have been celebrating her successful reelection bid.
Police announced the arsonists were upset by Haeny's victory over their preferred candidates, Noor Nahar Hussein and his running mate Go Tjong Ping, in an election they claimed was unfair.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060511.A01&irec=0



Soeharto case 'to be dropped'
M. Taufiqurrahman and Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Plans to prosecute former president Sohaerto for corruption "will be dropped", State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said following a meeting late Wednesday at the Presidential office.
With doctors at the Pertamina Hospital reporting Soeharto's health was improving, a meeting took place between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla with People's Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono, Regional Representative Council head Ginanjar Kartasasmita, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan, Supreme Audit Agency chairman Anwar Nasution, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh, Indonesian Military Commander Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and several Cabinet members.
Speaking shortly before midnight, Yusril said the options regarding Soeharto included granting amnesty and halting all investigations into corruption charges.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060511.@01&irec=1



Activists hail RI's inclusion on rights body
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Activists in Jakarta welcomed Indonesia's election to the newly established United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday and called for the government to further improve rights protection in the country.
Calling the election a success, noted human rights campaigner Todung Mulya Lubis said Indonesia's election showed the international community appreciated the country's commitment to improving human rights.
"(However) the government must take concrete action (on human rights) otherwise it will lose credibility," he told The Jakarta Post here Wednesday.
At a Tuesday session, the UN General Assembly elected Indonesia along with 46 other nations to the council, which replaces the old UN Human Rights Commission.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060511.B01&irec=2



Iranian president courts Indonesian support
Tony Hotland and Rendi Akhmad Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday sought Indonesian support for his country's controversial nuclear program, saying Western opposition would not dissuade Iran from pursuing its right to nuclear technology.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who leads the country with the world's largest Muslim population and which recently renewed full military ties with the United States, used the meeting to propose a new forum to revive stalled talks over Iran's nuclear program.
President Yudhoyono said, "Indonesia believes that Iran's peaceful use of nuclear technology and other related issues can be resolved through diplomatic negotiations by involving more parties at the international level."

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060511.@02&irec=4


Porn bill protesters get second wind
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Some 5,000 people under the banner of The Nationalist Network will take to the streets Thursday in another protest against the pornography bill.
They will start marching from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, passing through Semanggi flyover toward the House of Representatives in South Jakarta.
While the porn bill is still being deliberated at the House of Representatives, with some revisions made, many groups -- particularly artists and people interested in the study of culture -- are still trying to convince the House to drop the bill, saying it would deny the people freedom of expression.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060511.A04&irec=7


The San Francisco Chronicle

Goodbye! Six old series are in their final days. We say a fond farewell to some, and tell the others to let the door hit them on the way out.
Rarely do television series retire before they're supposed to -- there are no accurate sell-by dates in this business. And that makes saying goodbye to them often more bitter than sweet, at least for critics.
A hit show is such a rarity on television when you think about the numbers (at least an 80 percent failure rate, historically, for new series, and most series struggle to make it past Season 3 with decent ratings). But once a series is in the stratosphere, loved by all or most, emotions become more complicated. What normally happens is a hit show leaves one or two (or five) seasons after it should have, creatively. But networks and, in turn, producers and stars, have a hard time giving up the perch and the perks. A network doesn't like to walk away from a former hit series unless the ratings are in a steep decline.
By the time the much-hyped farewell episode rolls around -- the series finale instead of the season finale -- the show itself often seems like a distant cousin overstaying a welcome. It's difficult, in that moment, to recall all the reasons you loved it in the first place.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/10/DDGL1INV451.DTL



Governor's plan gives $5.7 billion to schools
Increase would settle suit brought by teachers union
Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking to reach detente with the education lobby that helped sink his special election agenda last year, will propose spending $5.7 billion more on schools to settle a lawsuit that accused him of shortchanging schools in the past.
The substantial increase in school funding also comes from a surge of unexpected tax revenue that rolled into state coffers this year.
When the final budget is signed this year, schools would get an immediate infusion of $2 billion under the agreement. Another $2.9 billion would be paid out over seven years to improve academic performance in lower-performing schools, according to educators briefed on the governor's plans and high-ranking Schwarzenegger administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Schwarzenegger will release his revised budget plan for the 2006-07 fiscal year Friday.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/11/SCHOOLS.TMP



BERKELEY
Troubles on Telegraph
Closure of Cody's is only one of signs of 'The Ave's' decline
The closure of Cody's Books on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue is the latest, and perhaps sharpest, blow to a famed but increasingly troubled area renowned for its intense pedestrian traffic, youth-oriented businesses, colorful street vendors and vagrants.
Business owners, city leaders and UC Berkeley officials say things have hit a disturbing low on "The Ave,'' where the commercial vacancy rate is approaching 15 percent and last year's sales tax receipts were 30 percent below what they were in 1990 when adjusted for inflation - the sharpest decline of any business district in the city.
"Sales are horrible right now," said Al Geyer, founder of Annapurna, an eclectic store that's been on Telegraph since 1968 and offers an array of goods ranging from pipes to spiritual music to sex toys. "I don't think anybody is making any money."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/11/TELEGRAPH.TMP



Internet Agency Rejects Xxx Domain Name
Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography Web sites, the Internet's key oversight agency voted Wednesday to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the Internet.
The decision from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers reverses its preliminary approval last June to create a ".xxx" domain name for voluntary use by the adult entertainment industry.
Paul Twomey, ICANN'S chief executive, said the decision largely came down to whether by creating an "xxx" domain ICANN might be put in a position of having to enforce all of the world's laws governing pornography.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/10/financial/f173401D38.DTL&type=tech



A 3rd President Bush? First 2 All for It
Could there be a third President Bush? The current chief said Wednesday that younger brother Jeb would make a great one, too, and has asked him about making a run. The first President Bush likes the idea as well.
Jeb Bush, the Republican governor of Florida, has one asset that his presidential brother doesn't right now — approval from most of his constituents. While George W. Bush's approval ratings are in the low 30s, some 55 percent of Florida voters surveyed last month by Quinnipiac University said Jeb was doing a good job.
The governor has repeatedly said he won't be a candidate for president in 2008, but that doesn't stop his family from encouraging him to go for it some day.
"I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that's his intention or not," the president said in an interview with Florida reporters, according to an account on the St. Petersburg Times Web site.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/05/10/national/w125735D27.DTL



Bring On The $6 Gallon Of Gas
It would revolutionize America. It would make us all better humans. But could you handle it?
No wait, not six. To hell with that. Make it 10. Ten bucks a gallon, no matter what the going rate for a barrel of light sweet crude. That would so completely, violently, brilliantly do it. Revolutionize the country. Firebomb our pungent stasis. Change everything. Don't you agree?
Here's what we could do: Give gas discounts to cab drivers (at least initially) and metro transit systems and low-income folks, those who have to drive their busted-up '78 Honda Civics to their jobs scrubbing restaurant toilets and flipping burgers and vacuuming the residual cocaine from the seat cushions of numb SUV owners. Everyone else, 10 bucks a gallon, across the board. Eleven for premium.
It would take some finessing. Maybe also give a price break to some truckers and trucking companies (so vital to the overall economy), but not so much to global delivery companies (FedEx, DSL et al.), because not doing so would force them to raise shipping rates and force you (and me) to reconsider buying everything online and hence will encourage you to shop locally once again, thus reviving a stagnant local economy.

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/



SAN FRANCISCO
Lawyer calls BALCO leaks a moot issue
National security not involved and case is over, she says
Unlike a New York Times reporter who was jailed for refusing to disclose a confidential source, two Chronicle reporters who have been ordered to identify the source of leaked grand jury testimony aren't involved in a national security case. In fact, their lawyer says they're not involved in an ongoing case at all.
"The government's interest is learning who the whistle-blower is in a case that's over," said Eve Burton, general counsel for the Hearst Corp., as she prepared her opposition to subpoenas issued by federal prosecutors last Friday to the Hearst-owned newspaper and reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada.
She was referring to the now-completed prosecution of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative officials and others who admitted supplying illicit performance-enhancing drugs to top athletes. Williams and Fainaru-Wada used leaked testimony from the BALCO grand jury to write articles about Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and other athletes.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/10/BAG1OIOPUI1.DTL



EDITORIAL
Stop the cycle of violence
OUTRAGE HAS rightly surfaced over last week's brutal murder of 22-year-old Terrell Rollins, who was a homicide witness under city protection. But what about the circumstances that put him there?
Let's review the case for which Rollins was standing witness: Last September, Rollins watched his friend, 20-year-old Arkelylius Collins, go down in a hail of more than 30 rounds. The murder happened at 1:30 in the afternoon. The defendants were allegedly armed with rifles when they stepped out of their car and allegedly opened fire.
A 20-year-old was killed. More than 30 rounds were fired. It happened in public and in broad daylight.
What are we missing here? Where is the outrage over the Collins case, for which Rollins probably gave his life? Is this what the public has come to expect from the Bayview?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/EDGDOIJKE51.DTL



'Perfect pick' for Bush
IT MAKES perfect sense for President Bush to nominate Gen. Michael V. Hayden as CIA director, no matter what the critics, including a surprising number of normally house-broken Republicans, have to say.
True, Hayden was in charge of the National Security Agency during the run-up to Sept.11, a massive terrorist attack which intelligence agencies are built to prevent. But remaining unflappably confident while getting it all wrong is a vital credential for the head of the CIA under this administration.
Recall that former CIA Director George Tenet was honored by Bush with the Medal of Freedom for dutifully pretending that the case for WMDs in Iraq was a "slam-dunk'' and politely taking the hit on Bush's infamous "16 word'' State of the Union lie about that African uranium.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/EDGQHIOURG1.DTL



EDITORIAL
Credit-card security
ONE OF the guiding principles of preventing identity theft is: Less is more. The less of your personal information that is floating around, the more security you enjoy.
For that reason, consumers should welcome legislation by state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, that would prohibit retailers and banks from including credit-card numbers on the receipts they keep after a transaction.
Many Californians may have noticed that the credit-card numbers have -- by law -- already been truncated or eliminated on the receipts they get at an ATM machine or gas station. Bowen's SB1699 would extend that law to the merchants' copies of receipts.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/EDGDOIJKE31.DTL



OPEN FORUM
No fear
A community can and must protect witnesses from attacks and intimidation
LAST THURSDAY, a courageous young man was murdered in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood. Terrell Rollins was only 22 years old. Taking a stand against the violence in his community, he bravely came forward and testified about a murder he witnessed last year. He was relocated by my office as part of the Witness Protection Program. Tragically, he was assassinated by three masked men after leaving protection and returning to his neighborhood.
The death of this courageous young man is a profound loss to his family, his friends and our city. Our first priority is to hold accountable the masked men who committed this terrible crime. But we must also not allow their brazen act to intimidate other eyewitnesses from coming forward.
What is at stake is the basic right to live in a community free from violence. In a city as compassionate and creative as San Francisco, we cannot accept that zones of lethality exist in our city, and we cannot accept that victims and witnesses are being silenced. Over the long term, we must commit to the best crime prevention approach -- genuine economic opportunity in our most underserved neighborhoods.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/EDGDOIJKDN1.DTL



OPEN FORUM
Protect the bay -- and a neighborhood
THE REGIONAL Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to vote today on whether to accept the recommendation of its staff and approve a permit that would allow Mirant Corp. to continue operating its Potrero power plant in San Francisco out of compliance with environmental standards until June 30, 2011. The board should reject the permit.
Under its permit, Mirant's Potrero plant uses a "once-through" cooling system that every day sucks some 226 million gallons of water from San Francisco Bay, runs it through super-heated plant facilities, then returns it into the bay as scalding, polluted discharge. The adverse impact to the regional environment isn't limited to the fish and other organisms essential to the bay's ecosystem that are sucked into the plant, cooked alive, then spewed back. Mounting evidence additionally demonstrates that the Potrero plant's massive output in shallow water represents a significant environmental threat, too, stirring up polluted sediments laced with harmful levels of copper, dioxins, mercury, PCBs and other toxins, and dispersing them throughout the bay.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/10/EDG7RIOFF91.DTL



THE FEAR FACTOR
A tussle is playing out today in the streets and capitols of the United States, much like in 1964, with the fate of minorities perceived as outsiders hanging in the balance
Milwaukee is known as one of the more progressive cities in America. According to the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, it's a more liberal metropolis than Austin, Denver, Honolulu or Santa Rosa, but on April 1, 1964, Milwaukee was the place to be if you opposed greater economic and social mobility for black Americans. That night at Milwaukee's Serb Memorial Hall, a large crowd of whites -- mainly Eastern European immigrants and their offspring -- listened intently as Alabama Gov. George Wallace railed against "racial quotas" and other potential federal legislation he said would hurt the audience's job prospects and the social fabric of their neighborhoods. Wallace was campaigning for the Democrats' presidential nomination.
"A vote for this little governor will let the people in Washington know that we want them to leave our homes, schools, jobs, business and farms alone," Wallace told his audience, which burst out in sustained applause.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/07/INGRFILBL11.DTL


Hells Angels' road gets rougher
The outlaw gang is leaving a trail of deaths and busts
It has been a hell of year for the Hells Angels -- and it is not likely to get any better for the Bay Area members of the world's most famous outlaw motorcycle gang.
Oh, right. It's not a gang. Just a bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts.
"The club is a motorcycle club, it is not an organized gang, it is not a criminal enterprise," says Jim Bustamante. He's the lawyer representing "Joey" Wilson, the president of the bikers' Frisco chapter who was busted two weeks ago -- along with his sergeant at arms and 10 associates -- on methamphetamine and cocaine charges. All the accused deny the charges.
"I know a lot of members," said Bustamante. "They're great guys."
Just how great are they? The Hells Angels form one the most elite clubs in the world -- it can take more than two years of careful screening before you are judged worthy enough to wear the famed Death Head patch on your back.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/07/INGK8IKG6T1.DTL


Sympathy for the devil: The 'big smear' against Big Oil
With the recent increase in gasoline prices, politicians and pundits are once again condemning oil companies for their high profits. Much of these profits are an undeserved windfall, they claim, which should be given back to society via a proposed multibillion-dollar tax. As Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and others say, they seek "to tax only excess profits, leaving ... reasonable profits unaffected." Such taxation is justified because the recent low supply and high demand that led to higher profits, says economist Dean Baker, "is kind of (the oil companies') good luck. They didn't do anything to earn it."
But America's oil companies have earned every penny of their profits. To characterize any portion of them as an unearned windfall -- like manna dropped from heaven -- is a vicious smear. It is to evade what is truly responsible for their profits this and every quarter: the great value they create and the tremendous thought, effort and risk-taking that goes into creating it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/07/INGRFIKRJO1.DTL


Iran's uneasy hero
First Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize says Iran and the U.S. should try direct negotiations
It's been almost three years since the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its peace prize to Shirin Ebadi, a petite lawyer and activist from Tehran. The honor created a stir around the world -- Ebadi was both the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to win the accolade, which goes to the person who has done "the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
In Tehran, tens of thousands of people -- many of whom carried signs featuring Ebadi's image -- crowded the streets to welcome her home from Paris, where she'd been when the award was announced.
[Podcast: Listen to Shirin Ebadi's interview with Insight's Jonathan Curiel.]
Ebadi was a hero. She still is to many Iranians, but in her new book, "Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope," and in a phone interview last week with Insight, Ebadi emphasized her displeasure at hero-worshiping. She doesn't want people to think of her as a savior who will single-handedly bring about more women's rights in Iran, or broker peace between Iran and the United States.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/07/INGRFIKURE1.DTL


Michael Moore Today

"Am I gonna lose the f------ leg?"

http://www.michaelmoore.com/


'Life and death every day' for Iraq medics
By Cal Perry / CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- "Don't let me die! Please, don't let me die," the U.S. soldier said repeatedly as medics carried him to the trauma room.
His glazed eyes focused on an Army chaplain kneeling over him. There was blood everywhere.
A roadside bomb that exploded next to his patrol vehicle sent shards of metal into his body and catapulted him from the vehicle.
He, like so many of the gravely wounded soldiers in Iraq, was rushed to the 10th Combat Support Hospital, where minutes or seconds can mean life or death.
"Am I going to live?" he asked, in a pleading, rhythmic voice.
"Hell, yes, you are," replied Capt. David Steinbruner, one of the doctors.
Moments earlier, the soldier asked the medics to keep his leg from falling off the gurney as they hurried him into the emergency room. The blast tore the flesh from the bone. His left hand was just as bad -- a "near amputation," according to one of the doctors.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6800



Will I re-enlist? Hell no.
From: Joel Bottem
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2005 5:41 AM
To: soldiers@michaelmoore.com
Subject:
Dear Honorable Moore,
After several years out of the military, and many months of hearing the media reporting how bad the National Guard and Reserves needed people, I signed up for 1 year. It is an option the National Guard offers to Prior Service personnel. It took me a year-and-a-half after 9/11 to convince my wife I was needed, and that I had more to give to the service of our country.
I joined for the 1 year, singing up as a mechanic with the 951st Maintenance Company out of Camp Murray, Tacoma, Washington. With just 3 months remaining on my contract, my unit gets activated, and I am put on a "stop-loss." My executive officer laughingly told me President Bush has turned my "try-one enlistment" into a "try-two-and-a-half." I am now attached to the 152nd Maintenance Company, from Maine, serving in Baghdad, Iraq.
To add insult to injury, when our maintenance company arrived into Kuwait, we were informed that the unit we were to be attached to in Iraq no longer needed mechanics, so we would be doing "force protection." So we have an entire maintenance company of approximately 240 soldiers, aside from maybe 20 personnel, pulling guard duty, while KBR mechanics make $140K and up to do the work we were brought over to do.
I just turned 40 in July, my birthday was spent pulling guard duty on an ammo holding area very near Baghdad. Will I re-enlist? Hell no.
Thanks for all you do!
Joel Bottem
Currently in Iraq, not Seattle where I should be

http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/willtheyevertrustusagain/index.php?id=37



I Personally think the Freeway Banner Protest is a great idea, especially with gas prices the way they are. It makes a huge statement. Just think about the amount of fuel the Iraq Invasion uses daily that is driving the price through the roof. Then realize the Iraqi Oil Glut is controlled by Halliburton which is receiving record profits compliments of it's former CEO, Dick Cheney. Now, add to that those profits as well as the American Public hardship with higher gas prices are paid for by the deaths of American Military. There is something grossly "W"rong with this picture.

http://www.freewayblogger.com/impeachment_project2.htm


Be It Resolved: You Can Impeach the President

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622


May 11th to 14th: Empty Boots Will March to Washington

Eyes Wide Open, AFSC’s widely acclaimed exhibit of boots and shoes commemorating the casualties of the Iraq war is returning to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. after a tour of more than 70 cities.
This year, the exhibit anchors a larger four-day event (schedule below), Silence of the Dead – Voices of the Living: A Witness To End the War in Iraq, co-sponsored with organizations of veterans, military families, and others.

http://www.afsc.org/eyes/


Mother's Day with Code Pink

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=894


Fla. House Speaker Won't Challenge Harris
By David Royse / Associated Press
Gov. Jeb Bush's choice of Republicans to run for U.S. Senate this fall announced Wednesday that he was declining the opportunity and won't challenge U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris for the party's nomination.
Allan Bense, the state House speaker, had been urged by several top party members to get into the primary against Harris, whose poll numbers have dwindled.
Bush had personally asked Bense to run and earlier this week went so far as to say Harris cannot beat the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Bill Nelson.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=33


Santa Cruz joins fight against property-rights Republican Pombo
By Genevieve Bookwalter / Santa Cruz Sentinel
SANTA CRUZ — It may not be a local race, but some in Santa Cruz are lining up to support congressional hopeful Pete McCloskey, the Republican primary challenger to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy.
Pombo, who has proposed bills to sell 15 national parks, abolish protection for 150 million acres of wilderness and weaken the Endangered Species Act, has irked the national environmental community to the point that it is rallying for his Republican opponent, even here in Santa Cruz.
Pombo is "not a desirable congressman," said Democrat and Santa Cruz resident Eleanor Wasson, 98. Wasson is hosting a fundraiser for McCloskey on Saturday and expects many in the county to turn out.
McCloskey is accepting individual donations up to $2,100 per person, and had raised about $205,000 at the end of the first quarter, which finished in March. Pombo, on the other hand, has raised $1.4 million.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=31


Bush Faces Tricky Political Situation in Florida
By Jim Rutenberg / New York Times
SUN CITY CENTER, Fla., May 9 — President Bush and his brother continued their awkward dance today with Representative Katherine Harris of Florida, whose run for the Republican Senate nomination this year they have met with chilliness.
Ms. Harris was on hand this morning to meet President Bush as he stopped in Tampa en route to a Medicare event in this nearby, senior-rich town — just one day after Governor Jeb Bush said publicly that he did not believe Ms. Harris could win against the Democratic incumbent Senator here, Bill Nelson.
Jeb Bush was there, too, as Ms. Harris waited for the president to walk off Air Force One in Tampa, and the two seemed friendly as they chatted in the receiving line on the tarmac, according to a pool report.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/the06fix/index.php?id=30


If George Won't Read it, Maybe You Will
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to George
Mr George Bush,
President of the United States of America,
For sometime now I have been thinking, how one can justify the undeniable contradictions that exist in the international arena -- which are being constantly debated, especially in political forums and amongst university students. Many questions remain unanswered. These have prompted me to discuss some of the contradictions and questions, in the hope that it might bring about an opportunity to redress them.
Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God, feel obliged to respect human rights, present liberalism as a civilization model, announce one’s opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, make “War on Terror” his slogan, and finally, work towards the establishment of a unified international community – a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern, but at the same time, have countries attacked. The lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed and on the slight chance of the presence of a few criminals in a village, city, or convoy for example, the entire village, city or convoy (are) set ablaze.
Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around one hundred thousand people killed, its water sources, agriculture and industry destroyed, close to 180,000 foreign troops put on the ground, sanctity of private homes of citizens broken, and the country pushed back perhaps fifty years. At what price? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent from the treasury of one country and certain other countries and tens of thousands of young men and women – as occupation troops – put in harms way, taken away from family and loved ones, their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that everyday some commit suicide and those returning home suffer depression, become sickly and grapple with all sorts of ailments; while some are killed and their bodies handed to their families.
On the pretext of the existence of WMDs, this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with.
Of course Saddam was a murderous dictator. But the war was not waged to topple him, the announced goal of the war was to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. He was toppled along the way towards another goal; nevertheless the people of the region are happy about it. I point out that throughout the many years of the imposed war on Iran Saddam was supported by the West.
Mr. President,
You might know that I am a teacher. My students ask me how can these actions be reconciled with the values outlined at the beginning of this letter and duty to the tradition of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the Messenger of peace and forgiveness?
There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously kept in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.
European investigators have confirmed the existence of secret prisons in Europe too. I could not correlate the abduction of a person, and him or her being kept in secret prisons, with the provisions of any judicial system. For that matter, I fail to understand how such actions correspond to the values outlined in the beginning of this letter, i.e. the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH), human rights and liberal values.
Young people, university students, and ordinary people have many questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with some of them.
Throughout history many countries have been occupied, but I think the establishment of a new country with a new people, is a new phenomenon that is exclusive to our times.
Students are saying that sixty years ago such a country did not exist. They show old documents and globes and say try as we have, we have not been able to find a country named Israel.
I tell them to study the history of WWI and II. One of my students told me that during WWII, which more than tens of millions of people perished in, news about the war, was quickly disseminated by the warring parties. Each touted their victories and the most recent battlefront defeat of the other party. After the war they claimed that six million Jews had been killed. Six million people that were surely related to at least two million families.
Again let us assume that these events are true. Does that logically translate into the establishment of the state of Israel in the Middle East or support for such a state? How can this phenomenon be rationalized or explained?
Mr. President,
I am sure you know how – and at what cost – Israel was established:
-Many thousands were killed in the process.
-Millions of indigenous people were made refugees.
-Hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland, olive plantations, towns and villages were destroyed.
This tragedy is not exclusive to the time of establishment; unfortunately it has been ongoing for sixty years now.
A regime has been established which does not show mercy even to kids, destroys houses while the occupants are still in them, announces beforehand its list and plans to assassinate Palestinian figures, and keeps thousands of Palestinians in prison. Such a phenomenon is unique – or at the very least extremely rare – in recent memory.
Another big question asked by the people is “why is this regime being supported?”
Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH) or Moses (PBUH) or liberal values?
Or are we to understand that allowing the original inhabitants of these lands – inside and outside Palestine -- whether they are Christian, Moslem or Jew, to determine their fate, runs contrary to principles of democracy, human rights and the teachings of prophets? If not, why is there so much opposition to a referendum?
The newly elected Palestinian administration recently took office. All independent observers have confirmed that this government represents the electorate. Unbelievingly, they have put the elected government under pressure and have advised it to recognize the Israeli regime, abandon the struggle and follow the programs of the previous government.
If the current Palestinian government had run on the above platform, would the Palestinian people have voted for it? Again, can such position taken in opposition to the Palestinian government be reconciled with the values outlined earlier? The people are also asking “Why are all UNSC resolutions in condemnation of Israel vetoed?”
Mr. President,
As you are well aware, I live amongst the people and am in constant contact with them -- many people from around the Middle East manage to contact me as well. They do not have faith in these dubious policies either. There is evidence that the people of the region are becoming increasingly angry with such policies.
It is not my intention to pose too many questions, but I need to refer to other points as well.
Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East region is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D [Research & Development] one of the basic rights of nations?
You are familiar with history. Aside from the Middle Ages, in what other point in history has scientific and technical progress been a crime? Can the possibility of scientific achievements being utilized for military purposes be reason enough to oppose science and technology altogether? If such a supposition is true, then all scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, engineering, etc. must be opposed.
Lies were told in the Iraqi matter. What was the result? I have no doubt that telling lies is reprehensible in any culture, and you do not like to be lied to.
Mr. President,
Don’t Latin Americans have the right to ask why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or, Why must they constantly be threatened and live in fear?
The people of Africa are hardworking, creative and talented. They can play an important and valuable role in providing for the needs of humanity and contribute to its material and spiritual progress. Poverty and hardship in large parts of Africa are preventing this from happening. Don’t they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth – including minerals – is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others?
Again, do such actions correspond to the teachings of Christ and the tenets of human rights?
The brave and faithful people of Iran too have many questions and grievances, including: the coup d’etat of 1953 and the subsequent toppling of the legal government of the day, opposition to the Islamic revolution, transformation of an Embassy into a headquarters supporting the activities of those opposing the Islamic Republic (many thousands of pages of documents corroborate this claim), support for Saddam in the war waged against Iran, the shooting down of the Iranian passenger plane, freezing the assets of the Iranian nation, increasing threats, anger and displeasure vis-à-vis the scientific and nuclear progress of the Iranian nation (just when all Iranians are jubilant and celebrating their country’s progress), and many other grievances that I will not refer to in this letter.
Mr. President,
September Eleven was a horrendous incident. The killing of innocents is deplorable and appalling in any part of the world. Our government immediately declared its disgust with the perpetrators and offered its condolences to the bereaved and expressed its sympathies.
All governments have a duty to protect the lives, property and good standing of their citizens. Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems – and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services – or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren’t those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial?
All governments have a duty to provide security and peace of mind for their citizens. For some years now, the people of your country and neighbors of world trouble spots do not have peace of mind. After 9.11, instead of healing and tending to the emotional wounds of the survivors and the American people -- who had been immensely traumatized by the attacks -- some Western media only intensified the climate of fear and insecurity – some constantly talked about the possibility of new terror attacks and kept the people in fear. Is that service to the American people? Is it possible to calculate the damages incurred from fear and panic?
American citizens lived in constant fear of fresh attacks that could come at any moment and in any place. They felt insecure in the streets, in their place of work and at home. Who would be happy with this situation? Why was the media, instead of conveying a feeling of security and providing peace of mind, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity?
Some believe that the hype paved the way -- and was the justification --for an attack on Afghanistan. Again I need to refer to the role of media.
In media charters, correct dissemination of information and honest reporting of a story are established tenets. I express my deep regret about the disregard shown by certain Western media for these principles. The main pretext for an attack on Iraq was the existence of WMDs. This was repeated incessantly -- for the public to finally believe -- and the ground set for an attack on Iraq.
Will the truth not be lost in a contrived and deceptive climate?
Again, if the truth is allowed to be lost, how can that be reconciled with the earlier mentioned values? Is the truth known to the Almighty lost as well?
Mr. President,
In countries around the world, citizens provide for the expenses of governments so that their governments in turn are able to serve them.
The question here is “what has the hundreds of billions of dollars, spent every year to pay for the Iraqi campaign, produced for the citizens?”
As Your Excellency is aware, in some states of your country, people are living in poverty. Many thousands are homeless and unemployment is a huge problem. Of course these problems exist – to a larger or lesser extent -- in other countries as well. With these conditions in mind, can the gargantuan expenses of the campaign – paid from the public treasury – be explained and be consistent with the aforementioned principles?
What has been said, are some of the grievances of the people around the world, in our region and in your country. But my main contention – which I am hoping you will agree to some of it – is:
Those in power have a specific time in office and do not rule indefinitely, but their names will be recorded in history and will be constantly judged in the immediate and distant futures.
The people will scrutinize our presidencies.
Did we mange to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment?
Did we intend to establish justice or just supported especial interest groups, and by forcing many people to live in poverty and hardship, made a few people rich and powerful -- thus trading the approval of the people and the Almighty with theirs’?
Did we defend the rights of the underprivileged or ignore them?
Did we defend the rights of all people around the world or imposed wars on them, interfered illegally in their affairs, established hellish prisons and incarcerated some of them?
Did we bring the world peace and security or raised the specter of intimidation and threats?
Did we tell the truth to our nation and others around the world or presented an inverted version of it?
Were we on the side of people or the occupiers and oppressors?
Did our administrations set out to promote rational behavior, logic, ethics, peace, fulfilling obligations, justice, service to the people, prosperity, progress and respect for human dignity or the force of guns, intimidation, insecurity, disregard for the people, delaying the progress and excellence of other nations, and trample on people’s rights?
And finally, they will judge us on whether we remained true to our oath of office – to serve the people, which is our main task, and the traditions of the prophets -- or not?
Mr. President,
How much longer can the world tolerate this situation?
Where will this trend lead the world to?
How long must the people of the world pay for the incorrect decisions of some rulers?
How much longer will the specter of insecurity – raised from the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction -- hunt the people of the world?
How much longer will the blood of the innocent men, women and children be spilled on the streets, and people’s houses destroyed over their heads?
Are you pleased with the current condition of the world?
Do you think present policies can continue?
If billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states, and extinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic and other conflicts, were would the world be today? Would not your government and people be justifiably proud?
Would not your administration’s political and economic standing have been stronger?
And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American government?
Mr. President, it is not my intention to distress anyone.
If Prophet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, or Jesus Christ (PBUH) were with us today, how would they have judged such behavior? Will we be given a role to play in the promised world, where justice will become universal and Jesus Christ (PBUH) will be present? Will they even accept us?
My basic question is this: Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world? Today there are hundreds of millions of Christians, hundreds of millions of Muslims and millions of people who follow the teachings of Moses (PBUH). All divine religions share and respect one word and that is “monotheism” or belief in a single God and no other in the world.
The Holy Koran stresses this common word and calls on all followers of divine religions and says: [3.64] Say: O followers of the Book! Come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah; but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (The Family of Imran)
Mr. President,
According to divine verses, we have all been called upon to worship one God and follow the teachings of divine Prophets.
“To worship a God which is above all powers in the world and can do all He pleases.” “The Lord which knows that which is hidden and visible, the past and the future, knows what goes on in the Hearts of His servants and records their deeds.”
“The Lord who is the possessor of the heavens and the earth and all universe is His court” “planning for the universe is done by His hands, and gives His servants the glad tidings of mercy and forgiveness of sins” “He is the companion of the oppressed and the enemy of oppressors” “He is the Compassionate, the Merciful” “He is the recourse of the faithful and guides them towards the light from darkness” “He is witness to the actions of His servants” “He calls on servants to be faithful and do good deeds, and asks them to stay on the path of righteousness and remain steadfast” “Calls on servants to heed His prophets and He is a witness to their deeds” “A bad ending belongs only to those who have chosen the life of this world and disobey Him and oppress His servants” and “A good end and eternal paradise belong to those servants who fear His majesty and do not follow their lascivious selves.”
We believe a return to the teachings of the divine prophets is the only road leading to salvation. I have been told that Your Excellency follows the teachings of Jesus (PBUH) and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth.
We also believe that Jesus Christ (PBUH) was one of the great prophets of the Almighty. He has been repeatedly praised in the Koran. Jesus (PBUH) has been quoted in Koran as well: [19.36] And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. Marium
Service to and obedience of the Almighty is the credo of all divine messengers.
The God of all people in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the Pacific and the rest of the world is one. He is the Almighty who wants to guide and give dignity to all His servants. He has given greatness to Humans.
We again read in the Holy Book: “The Almighty God sent His prophets with miracles and clear signs to guide the people and show them divine signs and purify them from sins and pollutions. And He sent the Book and the balance so that the people display justice and avoid the rebellious”.
All of the above verses can be seen, one way or the other, in the Good Book as well.
Divine prophets have promised:
The day will come when all humans will congregate before the court of the Almighty, so that their deeds are examined. The good will be directed towards Haven and evildoers will meet divine retribution. I trust both of us believe in such a day, but it will not be easy to calculate the actions of rulers, because we must be answerable to our nations and all others whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by our actions.
All prophets, speak of peace and tranquility for man -- based on monotheism, justice and respect for human dignity.
Do you not think that if all of us come to believe in and abide by these principles, that is, monotheism, worship of God, justice, respect for the dignity of man, belief in the Last Day, we can overcome the present problems of the world -- that are the result of disobedience to the Almighty and the teachings of prophets – and improve our performance?
Do you not think that belief in these principles promotes and guarantees peace, friendship and justice?
Do you not think that the aforementioned written or unwritten principles are universally respected?
Will you not accept this invitation? That is, a genuine return to the teachings of prophets, to monotheism and justice, to preserve human dignity and obedience to the Almighty and His prophets?
Mr. President,
History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive. God has entrusted the fate of men to them. The Almighty has not left the universe and humanity to their own devices.
Many things have happened contrary to the wishes and plans of governments. These tell us that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined by Him.
Can one deny the signs of change in the world today?
Is the situation of the world today comparable to that of ten years ago? Changes happen fast and come at a furious pace.
The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay little heed to the promises and comments made by a number of influential world leaders. Many people around the world feel insecure and oppose the spreading of insecurity and war and do not approve of and accept dubious policies.
The people are protesting the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries.
The people are disgusted with increasing corruption.
The people of many countries are angry about the attacks on their cultural foundations and the disintegration of families. They are equally dismayed with the fading of care and compassion. The people of the world have no faith in international organizations, because their rights are not advocated by these organizations.
Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems.
We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point -- that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for you is: “Do you not want to join them?”
Mr. President,
Whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the
Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things.
Vasalam Ala Man Ataba’al hoda
Mahmood Ahmadi-Nejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=643

PDF

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_documents/ahmadinejad0509.pdf

continued …

May 9, 2006.

Todd Russell and Brant Webb more their safety tags to 'Safe' after the rescue at the Tasmanian Mine.

May 7, 2006.

May 7, 2006. The Iranian President front and center with the Basij Militia in Tehran.

Indonesia, Iran to focus on bolstering economic ties

May 9, 2006.

Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonoin Jakarta.


Rendi Akhmad Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Indonesia, due to start late Tuesday evening, will focus primarily on boosting economic relations between the two countries, with Iran pledging to invest more than US$4 billion in several oil and gas projects here.
Besides investing in the country's oil and gas sector, Iran also hopes to boost bilateral trade with Indonesia, which is deemed to be falling far short of its potential, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda says.
"The visit this time will focus more on economic cooperation based on concrete projects. Iran is interested in investing in refineries and supplying the crude," said Hassan late Monday after meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The National Iranian Oil Refinery & Distribution Co. is slated to sign a deal with PT Elnusa Harapan, a subsidiary of state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, to construct a refinery in Java with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, is also interested in establishing a number of joint-venture companies in Indonesia that would operate in the oil, gas and petrochemical businesses.
This interest was first conveyed during the administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, but the two countries never followed up on the proposal.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, badly needs new investment for its oil and gas sector to boost output. Although the country is the only Southeast Asian member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), its oil output has fallen 5 percent annually over the last decade to 1.05 million bpd at present.
The latest efforts by Iran to bolster economic ties with Indonesia come against the backdrop of a nuclear standoff between Iran and the United States, with the United Nations Security Council set to meet soon to seek a common strategy to force Iran to halt its nuclear program.
In response to questions about whether Indonesia would convey its stance over the nuclear issue to Ahmadinejad, Hassan simply said that "it would be the right time for Indonesia to seek first-hand information from Iran about the issue."
The Shiite-dominated Islamic republic -- which has forged excellent ties with Asian economic powerhouses China, India and Japan -- wants to establish a similar relationship with Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population.
Hassan said Indonesia and Iran would also discuss ways of increasing cooperation in the science and technology fields, which is considered necessary to boost the economic development of the Islamic world.
In order to facilitate the flow of visitors between the two countries, Indonesia will grant Iranian citizens a visa-on-arrival facility to complement the visa-free facility available to Iranian service and diplomatic passport holders, said Hassan.
Iran already grants a two-week visa-free facility to Indonesian citizens, extendable for another two weeks.