Helicopter Crash in Iraq Kills 31 Marines

Killing in the Name of DEMOCRACY is Fun !

'All Americans need to get used to the idea of killing other people to achieve the goal of global democracy under Bush !'


The number of people voting in Bush's Iraq is far less than the number that voted in Saddam's.

Both regime's elections are meaningless and neither of the regimes are good for the people of Iraq.

The 'Ideologues' of the press would like to see global censure of opinion that is Anti-Bush. If there is a movement in Jordan to 'contain' Anti-American sentiment that interprets very differently than Anti-Bush opinion globally and domestically.

Anti-American sentiment in Arabia is directly related to the Jihad culture. The Anti-Bush opinion is related to stopping aggression, oppression and death of vast amounts of people as well as culture.

Bush 'speaks' of 'adopting' policies by countries to move toward democracies. But that statement is not based in peaceful methods. THAT reality is the issue that is the basis of Anti-Bush opinion. IT IS JUSTIFIED !! His statement alone that Americans find it difficult to deal with the idea of 'death' to achieve a goal to democracy should be a 'red-flag' for everyone !

The Democrats currently opposing deception and oppression of civil rights at the highest level that has lead to adverse global and domestic policy, such as Barbara Boxer, Hillar Clinton, Joe Biden, John Kerry and Edward Kennedy are vitally important voices. We can't hear them enough.

Boycott the Oscars - "The Truth, Justice and The American Way" This one is for you, Mike !!

moore

Life doesn't get more rough than this. A small town boy takes on the corrupt establishment, receives global acclaim only to be politically ostracized by The Academy for a well deserved Oscar. It is astounding that a Cannes Film Festival and People's Choice Award winning film is passed over for Best Film at the Oscars. What is the matter at 'The Academy?' Did you think it might win and Bush/FCC would be making it bad for you?

They might.

But, so what.

You have us then.

Half a nation and the world ain't such a bad thing to have.

Well.

I think the majority that voted Fahrenheit 9/11 for People's Choice should prove exactly what we think of the Oscars and boycott it and the films it nominated and Disney. That is not being a 'sore' loser that is being INSULTED. On behalf of the best film maker in the business I invite the rest of the world to join me!

Disney 'blocks' Moore documentary

Controversial director Michael Moore has said film studio Disney is refusing to release his new documentary, which heavily criticises President Bush.

Fahrenheit 911 was to be distributed by Miramax, a division of Disney.

...............................

In Cannes, Michael Moore Says '9/11' Faces Exile

By Desson ThomsonWashington
Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 17, 2004; Page C01

CANNES, May 16 -- Filmmaker Michael Moore, director of the politically charged "Fahrenheit 9/11," whose July 4 release has been blocked by Walt Disney, publicly lamented Sunday that time is running out for him to show the film in time for the presidential election.

U.S. General in Afghanistan Warns that Destabilizing Iran Will Hurt His Mission

I know what Cheney's excuse is for his speech at his Inauguration, now. With that 40% ejection fraction the oxygen was too thin.


January 25th, 2005 4:55 am

General in Afghanistan Urges Care on Iran

By Stephen Graham / Associated Press

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - A senior American commander overseeing efforts to capture Taliban and al-Qaida remnants in Afghanistan said Monday his mission could be harmed by any instability in neighboring Iran.

Annan tells historic session: Act against new anti-Semitism

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

NEW YORK - Sixty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, a national anthem - Hatikva - was played yesterday for the first time at the UN General Assembly, and a cantor chanted El Maleh Rahamim, ending an historic special session that commemorated the victims of the Holocaust.

At the same time, speaker after speaker wondered why the vow "never again" was not enough to prevent the genocide in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur.Holocaust survivor Eli Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate, was the keynote speaker, a rare appearance by a non-statesman or diplomat to speak from the podium of the body that was created in the wake of the horrors of World War II.

....................................................


SUDAN: Darfur villages reportedly burnt in fresh violence

24 Jan 2005 15:01:11 GMTSource: IRINNAIROBI, 24 January (IRIN)

Eight villages in the western Sudanese region of Darfur were reportedly burned to the ground on Friday in a fresh outbreak of violence, sources said. An unspecified number of people were killed, the sources added.


Khartoum accuses Darfur rebels of killing scores of civiliansSudan

Politics, 1/24/2005

An official in the Sudanese army said a group of Darfur rebels killed scores of Sudanese and injured others in an attack against villages in al-Malam area to the north of Darfur.The official explained that rebel groups robbed properties and burnt 8 villages in the area which is situated between the two districts of south and north Darfur. But the official did not specify which of the two rebel forces carried out the attack.


U.S. Lawmakers Meet Darfur Rebels

TOM MALITIAssociated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya - U.S. lawmakers who met with Darfur rebels in western Sudan and visited camps for Sudanese refugees in Chad over the weekend said they will ask Washington to push for U.N. sanctions against the Sudanese government.

Tsunami death toll over 280 000

Panic

Jakarta - The number of people presumed dead in last month's Asian tsunamis rose to more than 280 000 on Tuesday, with Indonesian authorities announcing a further increase in the number of dead and missing.

Jakarta tsunami aid summit's declaration

Complete Devastation

The special ASEAN leaders' meeting held in Jakarta on Thursday issued a declaration on action to strengthen emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and prevention on the aftermath of eathquake and tsunami disaster.

The full text of the declaration is as follows:

We, the Heads of State/Government, Special Envoys and Heads of regional as well as international organisations, who gathered on 6 January 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia, expressed solemnly our profound sorrow and our solidarity to overcome the unprecedented catastrophe befalling the Indian Ocean rim countries on 26 December 2004.

For Men of Seaside Village, Lonely and Unfamiliar Roles

It was all too quick

Tsunami Took Heavier Toll on Aceh's Women

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, January 25, 2005; Page A01

LAMTEUNGOH, Indonesia -- Baharuddin, the head of this devastated Sumatran fishing village, gently lifted the limp remains of his 11-year-old daughter, swaddled in a plaid sarong.

"She was my youngest daughter," he said, gazing down mournfully and tenderly at the remains. "She was the most beautiful one."

He placed her in a communal grave not far from the sea, where a wall of black water crashed ashore last month and killed his wife and their five children. Baharuddin and two other villagers laid two other bodies in the grave and shoveled soil on top.

..........................................


Indonesia sends top team for Aceh rebel talks: Source

JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia's chief security minister will lead a top-level delegation to Finland to resume talks this week with rebels from tsunami-hit Aceh province, an official close to the negotiating team said on Tuesday.

Prompt action kept epidemics at bay- CNO

There was little survival the Indian Ocean Tsunami

Prompt action and preventive measures helped contain the spread of infectious diseases in tsunami-hit areas, the Centre for National Operations (CNO) said yesterday.

According to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Health, there have been only 135 cases of diarrhoea and 579 cases of viral fever in the affected areas which are below the baseline for epidemics.

US, Canada hit by raging storm rated in 'top five'

Mississauga, Canada 1.23.2005

BLIZZARD BURIES NEW ENGLAND IN RECORD SNOW

According to the NOAA National Weather Service office in Taunton, Mass., this storm is the second snowiest on record for Providence, R.I., with 23.4 inches, the fifth snowiest for Boston with 22.5 inches, and the fifth snowiest in Worcester, Mass., with 24.1 inches. Records for these cities date back more than 100 years.

Many major cities also noted back-to-back days of record snowfall. On Sunday, records were set for the date in the following cities (previous record and year of occurrence): Worcester, Mass., 18.1 inches (12.5 inches in 1966); Providence, R.I., 16.4 inches (8.0 inches in 1965) Portland, Maine, 15.3 inches (9.0 inches in 1966); Boston, Mass., 13.4 inches (12.4 inches in 1935). This followed Saturday's record snowfall in Boston, Mass., 9.1 inches (5.3 inches in 1987); New York, N.Y., 8.5 inches (8.1 inches in 1987); Bridgeport, Conn., 7.0 inches (5.6 inches in 1987); Providence, R.I., 7.0 inches (5.5 inches in 1987).

Northeast Digs Out of Deadly Blizzard

The Penninsula of Hull, Massachusetts as noted in The New York Times.

Blizzard wallops Maritimes, parts of U.S.

CTV.ca News Staff

A nasty blizzard driven by strong winds is hammering Atlantic Canada for the third time in seven days.

Atlantic Canada hit with third storm in a week

CTV.ca News Staff

Drivers in Atlantic Canada are being advised to stay off the roads as high winds and blizzard conditions make travel difficult, and dangerous.

About nine days ago, there was green grass in Halifax. That was before three blizzards walloped the region in about a week.

Well Balanced Partnerships

The Orange Party. The Party that would not be undone. Now. This is what I call progress. Russia has every reason to be proud of it's role in maintaining stability in The Ukraine that has resulted in an alliance that will carry both countries forward in their desires to become allies with NATO. Viktor and Vladimir, Congratulations to Both !! I do believe, must to his credit, Secretary Powell was at the Ukrainian Inauguration yesterday. Thank you.

With the elections behind him, Viktor Yushchenko takes a vital place as President in The Ukraine. One of his 'inclusive' measures was to bring to the country a woman Prime Minister in Yulia Tymoshenko. With a 'hand shake' from Secretary Powell yesterday at his inauguration, President Yushchenko traveled to Russia to be readily greeted by Russia's President Vladimir Putin as an additional measure of inclusion to the alliances of The Ukraine, both countries want to pursue relationship of strong and reliable friendship in NATO. I hope they succeed.

Here is to the people of The Ukraine, who through their judiciary, found a peaceful way to maintain a democratic principle, "The Truth."

After the Victory Parties in Ukraine

A Woman as The Ukraine Prime Minister - Applause - Rounds and rounds of applause - Welcome, Yulia Tymoshenko.

I don't find her rise to power strange at all.

After the Victory Parties in Ukraine "Ms. Tymoshenko is a divisive figure who rose to prominence in the 1990's as a rich and powerful energy executive. She has gone from being an ally of a corrupt prime minister to a fighter of corruption, then was briefly jailed on fraud and money-laundering charges that she insists were political, and were dismissed."

I am not sure she is divisive so much as 'declaratory.' She evidently is an ambitious person who became familiar with a corrupt administration only to turn on it and seek power by prosecuting it from a political platform. She helped the Orange Party succeed and for that she has been rewarded.

I think the New York Times does not like 'A clanging bell' but Ms. Tymoshenko is Mr. Yushchenko choice and has confidence in a controversial woman.

I think there is some legitimacy in the reservations made here but I think they are more the opinion of sexism and reverberation of other global bias than the actual best interest of the people of The Ukraine.

"Hush, hush, Ms. Tymoshenko, know your place."

Oh?

... On a more troubling note, Mr. Yushchenko nominated Yulia Tymoshenko, an outspoken and ambitious ally, as prime minister. That choice is especially significant because some presidential powers were transferred to Parliament last month, enhancing the prime minister's stature. Ms. Tymoshenko could become still more powerful if the dioxin poisoning Mr. Yushchenko suffered last year should leave him with serious, lasting health problems.

Ms. Tymoshenko is a divisive figure who rose to prominence in the 1990's as a rich and powerful energy executive. She has gone from being an ally of a corrupt prime minister to a fighter of corruption, then was briefly jailed on fraud and money-laundering charges that she insists were political, and were dismissed. But the problem with her nomination lies less in these distant events than in Ms. Tymoshenko's demagogic and uncompromising speeches over the past few weeks. She had publicly boasted that Mr. Yushchenko had pledged to make her prime minister in a deal he could not withdraw. He must now make sure she understands that he, not she, will be setting the ultimate direction of Ukrainian policy.

National reconciliation must be more than a slogan in a country where most of the industry and wealth are located in regions that voted overwhelmingly against Mr. Yushchenko. It is there, especially, that Ms. Tymoshenko is seen as needlessly divisive. She now needs to erase that impression by loyally carrying out Mr. Yushchenko's policies.

Bush speech ignites global debate - I am not alone in my Opinion. The world does not have a friend of peace in the USA anymore.

Bush's Speech Statistics. Words have 'meaning' and I am confident Bush means every word he has said regardless of the back peddling on his behalf by Dear Old Dad. If one doesn't believe the words within these statistics are sincere then all one has to do is read the plans Cheney has laid out for Iran with entanglements of Israel that Cheney has no right to make. There is no denying regardless of the excuses made by those attempting to 'calm the nerves' of the Intellects in the USA that Bush is a war monger and people like Woodruff and her spouse chronically 'cover' for him until it is too late.

THERE IS too much 'mistrust.' Oddly enough for as untrustworthy CNN has become under the guidance of a staunch bigot in Sharon von Zweiten they still have occassional guests that see the world differently. The problem is that once they have voiced their opinion they are rarely heard from again.

"Lindsay raises another point.

By bluntly equating terror and tyranny, Bush essentially absolves himself of all responsibility and ignores the fact that some of the anti-Americanism that manifests itself in violence is a result of American policies, not a hatred for American freedom.

Stephen Hess, a former presidential speechwriter who is now a fellow at the centrist Brookings Institution, called the address "the quintessential American inauguration speech," and pointed to principles Bush borrowed from previous inaugural speeches by, among others, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

"This was all about principles," Hess said, adding he felt European reaction to the speech was alarmist.

But in an interview on CNN yesterday, David Gergen, who advised several U.S. presidents, said the speech revealed a much more ambitious strategy to win the war on terror than first thought.
"It is not simply going after Iraq and getting rid of Saddam nor is it simply going after Al Qaeda," Gergen said. "It's rather to expand and extend liberty across much of the world."

Gergen said Bush's neoconservative backers were energized by the speech and buoyed by its idealism.

"They'll expect something to happen as a result of this," he said."

I INFREQUENTLY agree with Mr. Gergen but there have been times when I have agreed with him and this is one of them. I believe this IS the truth of the situation without a shadow of a doubt. One needs to realize unlike Jefferson, Kennedy, Reagan and Washington; Bush is a Neocon and loves war and killing. This is a difficult time for the USA but it is a dangerous time for the world.

Who do you want on your side? Mystics that live among the Neocons or Down to Earth Realists

Consider these realities:

• Over two-thirds of abstinence-only education programs, the only sex-education for millions of American youngsters, teach myth as fact, including misinformation about contraceptives and basic science.

• Even the most reliable birth control has a 1 percent failure rate.

• In Miami-Dade County, 13,000 children are on a waiting list for subsidized child care.

• Nationwide, almost 550,000 children are in foster care. Eighty percent of today's prison population and 30 percent of homeless people were once in foster care.

• Of the 550,000 children in foster care today, 100,000 are available and waiting for adoption.

• Fewer than one-third of teen mothers finish high school, and most remain trapped in poverty.

• Compared to the children of older mothers, children of teens have more health problems but receive less healthcare. They commonly do not get essential nurturing or cognitive stimulation, are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade in school and suffer double the rates of abuse and neglect.

• In 2003, poverty rates grew for the third straight year. Nationwide, more than one in three women (35.5 percent) who are single parents are poor.

• Nearly one in five (19.2 percent) nonelderly Florida residents has no health insurance.

• Abortion rates are highest among the poor. While abortion rates began falling more than a decade ago for most segments of the population, they have been rising among the poor. The most frequently cited reasons include financial instability and lack of access to healthcare.

WAR ! Late Term Abortion Bush Sytle ! 

Unwanted Pregnancies

Senator Hillary Clinton Blasts Bush Administration over Abortion

NEW YORK, January 12, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortion crusader and New York Senator Hillary Clinton condemned US President George W. Bush Tuesday, claiming his withdrawal of funding from organizations that commit or promote abortions is harming women.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05011202.html

Barbara Boxer: FDA should follow sound science and research

By: Barbara Boxer

Many of us have worked long and hard to ensure that women have an array of safe choices for family planning. One option is the emergency contraception pill (EC), also known as the "morning-after pill" or "Plan B."
The emergency contraception pill contains a large dose of the type of female hormones found in birth control pills. It has been proven safe and effective in stopping pregnancy if taken within five days of sexual intercourse. By providing the option of contraception after unprotected sex, EC has the potential to drastically reduce both unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_17232.shtml

Lawmakers debate ‘morning-after pill’
By TOM FAHEY
State House Bureau Chief

CONCORD — Advocates from rape crisis centers and women’s shelters urged passage of a bill yesterday that would allow pharmacists to distribute emergency contraceptives without a prescription.
Senate Bill 30 would not only reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, but eliminate the incidence of abortions, they argued.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=49772

Two marches set to support abortion rights
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Concerned that the re-election of George Bush will be a setback for abortion rights, activists have organized two marches in Seattle today, the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision legalizing a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/209028_marches22.html

Keep abortion legal, safe and rare

To keep abortion rare, condoms, sex education and the morning-after pill (sometimes called the emergency contraception pill or Plan B) must be available to everyone. Surely both sides of the argument can see the benefit of this.

Jane Blanchard

Sarasota

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050122/OPINION/501220722/1029

US Republican chair draws party fire on abortion
22 Jan 2005 00:20:06 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Some Republican Party backers of abortion rights are upset with their party's new chairman, Ken Mehlman, for planning to host a salute next week to those who favor banning abortion.
"This crosses the line," Ann Stone, national chair of Republicans for Choice, a political action group with about 100,000 members nationwide, said on Friday.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21177427.htm

FDA Reconsidering the Sale of Plan B Without a Prescription
By shannon russell
Published: Friday, January 21, 2005
Page 1 of 3
The government is considering reversing an earlier decision made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which would make the morning after pill available to women without a prescription. The impending decision has already caused a flurry of activity from groups in support of and against making the pill available over-the-counter.

http://www.thehilltoponline.com/news/2005/01/21/NationWorld/Fda-Reconsidering.The.Sale.Of.Plan.B.Without.A.Prescription-838423.shtml

Guest Column: Work together to prevent - not outlaw - abortion
By Juliana Lightle
Opinion
TALK AMARILLO

"I can just see all the ultra-leftist liberals and war protest nuts just wanting to get in to shake the murderous genocidal dictator's hand to comfort him to say "Mr. Hussein, we are so sorry for your inconvenience. We did everything we could to stop this....'." - From west-texas

HAPPY - Today marks 32 years since the Roe vs. Wade decision determined the legality of abortion.

In the years since 1973, much has changed regarding public opinion and how society views abortion. Because of innovations in technology, it now is possible to have a visual image of the zygote, embryo and fetus at every stage of development.

… In truth, Roe vs. Wade was much less about abortion than women's rights to privacy and choice.
In its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized for the first time that the constitutional right to privacy was broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

… Do we really want to force pregnant women to resort to unsafe, back-alley abortions that jeopardize their health?

Do women really want to have their opportunities in life restricted to domestic roles and chores?

As we observe the 32nd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, it is my hope that all women will reflect upon the full meaning of women's rights and the unintended as well as the intended consequences of restricting these rights.

Despite differences in opinions, both pro-life and pro-choice advocates do agree on one thing: There are no easy answers to pregnancies that are not intended.

However, rather than argue about the morality of abortion, both sides of the controversy could profit from concentrating time and energy on preventing the source of many abortions: unwanted pregnancies.

Juliana Lightle is a board member of Friends of Planned Parenthood.

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/012205/opi_1070160.shtml

Abortion rights backers endorse two bills
By BOB ANEZ
Associated Press
HELENA -- Abortion rights advocates Friday threw their support behind a pair of bills intended to protect women seeking abortions and reduce unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortion.
The measures, scheduled for legislative hearings Monday, were touted at a rally marking the anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973 that established a woman's right to abortion.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/01/21/build/state/33-abortionrally.inc

Delay over morning-after pill brings suit
January 23, 2005
Advertisement

WASHINGTON -- The government has delayed a decision about whether to allow women to buy the morning-after birth control pill over the counter but hopes to act soon, the manufacturer said Friday.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/health/cst-nws-pill23.html

Contraceptives on state sex-ed agenda
Sunday, January 23, 2005
By AMY McFALL PRINCE, Columbian staff writer
According to recently released state guidelines on sexual education, schools should be teaching students about the effectiveness and safety of FDA-approved contraceptives.

http://www.columbian.com/01232005/clark_co/235574.html

After 32 Years, Roe Remains a Lightning Rod
By Karlyn Barker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page C01
Demonstrators on both sides of the issue shared icy sidewalks in Washington yesterday to protest or commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29474-2005Jan22.html

Church blocks sex education

By Paul Hutcheon, Scottish Political Editor

THE Catholic Church last night claimed victory in the ongoing row over sexual health education in schools after insisting that headteachers would be able to block family planning workers from entering classrooms.

http://www.sundayherald.com/47293

Abortion foes see window for change
By Ann W. O'Neill
Staff Writer
Posted January 23 2005
Alexandra Kitarogers was in grade school in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision, Roe vs. Wade, gave women the constitutional right to end their pregnancies.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cabortion23jan23,0,2086048.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Activists mark abortion decision
About 100 people gather to celebrate the landmark court ruling; later, others mourn at a candlelight vigil
Nick Wilson
The Tribune
The chants of abortion-rights activists rang out in front of the county courthouse Saturday afternoon on the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/local/10714726.htm

Chilly remembrance of Roe
Abortion-rights advocates mark 32nd anniversary of ruling
BY TAMMIE SMITH
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jan 23, 2005
ELSEWHERE
Rallies observe decision
About two dozen abortion-rights advocates braved freezing temperatures yesterday to rally on a West End street corner in support of keeping abortion legal.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780401558&path=!news&s=1045855934842

Use of Birth Control Down

A new study finds a substantial drop in the number of women using birth control.
The government survey finds the number of sexually active women who do not use birth control jumped from 5 % in 1995 to 7% in 2002.
The study included women between the ages of 15 and 44, but researchers say the increase in unprotected sex was seen only in women over the age of 20.
Experts say the increase translates to a potential 4 million women who could be risking an unintended pregnancy.

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=2770304&nav=0hBEUrr2

Don't let birth control myths fool you
Get the facts on the pill
By Lauren Gong
Thursday, January 6, 2005
last updated January 6, 2005 2:00 AM
With so many birth control myths floating around campus and such a wide variety of brands to choose from — not to mention all the side effects to sift through — it’s no wonder that the average Stanford woman makes a blind decision based on the advice of the advice of one doctor.
I was recently at Vaden Health Center when I mentioned to my doctor that a significant number of my sexually active friends from back home are not taking birth control and instead relying on the withdrawal method. It surprised her that they were using such an ineffective method of birth control when oral contraceptives are so readily accessible at student health centers and local organizations like Planned Parenthood just a short drive away.

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=15547&repository=0001_article


Birth control pill more likely to fail the overweight
By Amanda Gardner
Healthday
Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to get pregnant while taking birth control pills than women of normal weight, new research finds.

http://springfield.news-leader.com/health/thisweek/0104-Birthcontr-265860.html

Birth Control Statistics

Talk of the Nation, January 4, 2005 · A new survey shows a significant increase in the numbers of women who decide not to use birth control.
Guest:
Dr. Paul Blumenthal, director of contraceptive research and programs at Johns Hopkins University

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4258399

Feminist Daily News Wire
January 7, 2005
Abortion Opponent to Serve as Bush's Domestic Policy Advisor
President Bush announced that he has appointed Claude Allen, who served as an aide to former Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, to be his new domestic policy advisor. Allen, whose appointment to the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals was twice blocked, is the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services where he has served since 2001.

http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8825

Death penalty bills bring abortion into spotlight
01/07/2005
By NIKI SULLIVAN / Associated Press
Sponsors of competing bills that would make people who kill pregnant women subject to the death penalty are clashing over how to classify an unborn child.
And those who favor abortion rights say one of the bills is actually aimed at chipping away at those rights.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D87EUSI00.html

Majority against divorce, and overwhelmingly against abortion
38% favour introduction of divorce now
Although a majority of the Maltese (55.7%) think that it was not necessary to introduce divorce in Malta, more than a third (38%) say it has become necessary; 6.3% did not offer any opinion.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=174417

`Morning-after pill' access does not increase unprotected sex, study shows
BY JULIE SEVRENS LYONS
Knight Ridder Newspapers
SAN JOSE, Calif. - (KRT) - Improving access to "morning-after pills" does not increase unprotected sex or sexually transmitted diseases, a new study of 2,000 California women shows.
The findings could fuel the debate over the safety and effectiveness of emergency contraceptives, as the Food and Drug Administration this month considers again whether to make the pills available over the counter.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10579729.htm

From the Journal of the American Medical Association

Tina R. Raine; Cynthia C. Harper; Corinne H. Rocca; Richard Fischer; Nancy Padian; Jeffrey D. Klausner; Philip D. Darney
Direct Access to Emergency Contraception Through Pharmacies and Effect on Unintended Pregnancy and STIs: A Randomized Controlled Trial
JAMA, January 5, 2005; 293: 54 - 62.
...Context It is estimated that half of unintended pregnancies could be averted if emergency contraception (EC) were easily accessible and used....
...Design, Setting, and Participants A randomized, single-blind, controlled trial (July 2001-June 2003) of 2117 women, ages 15 to 24 years, attending 4 California clinics providing family planning services, who were…

CLINICAL CROSSROADS:
David A. Grimes
A 26-Year-Old Woman Seeking an Abortion
JAMA, Sep 1999; 282: 1169 - 1175.
...Her health insurance is through public assistance in Massachusetts....
...The patient is a primigravida who has been sexually active in a monogamous relationship for the past 6 years....

EDITORIALS:
Iris F. Litt
Placing Emergency Contraception in the Hands of Women
JAMA, January 5, 2005; 293: 98 - 99.
...Nonetheless, in the United States an estimated 3.5 million unwanted pregnancies occur annually, one third of which...
...Religious beliefs, concerns about contraceptive safety, and psychological barriers also contribute....

Groups Assail Approach For Treating Victims
Scores of advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, assailed new Justice Department guidelines for treating rape victims because the detailed procedures make no mention of emergency contraception as an option that could spare some women unwanted pregnancies.
The result is "a glaring omission in an otherwise thorough document," the groups wrote Diane M. Stuart, director of the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women.
Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the omission "a blatant example of politics taking precedence over the emotional and physical health needs of women."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54843-2005Jan6.html

Women need new birth control options
January 10, 2005
BY LAURA BERMAN

Believe it or not, there are fewer women today using birth control than there were just a few years ago. A recent study found that 7.4 percent of women have had unprotected sex in the last three months, compared with just 5.2 percent of women back in 1995.
And it's not the teens who are playing Russian roulette with their sex lives. Women over age 21 make up the roughly 4.6 million women who are currently at risk for unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. Not to mention sexually transmitted diseases.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/berman/cst-ftr-berman10.html

Fire Damages Washington Abortion Business, Cause Still Unknown
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 10, 2005

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- Fire damaged an abortion facility over the weekend in the Washington state capital and federal investigators have been brought in to investigate the cause, which is currently unknown.

http://www.lifenews.com/state831.html

Vera Drake Star Imelda Staunton: Pro-Abortion Film is My "Best Work"

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 10, 2005

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Imelda Staunton, who plays the lead character in the internationally heralded pro-abortion film Vera Drake says the role of the part-time illegal abortion practitioner is her best work yet.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat1094.html

Emergency contraception can help victims of sexual assault

The devastation of suffering through a sexual assault can be compounded by an unwanted pregnancy. While that might seem obvious, it's a fact that apparently is lost on the U.S. Department of Justice.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/viewpoints/editorials/050110rapevictims.shtml

Denying rape victims
OUR OPINION: RESTORE CONTRACEPTION OPTION TO GUIDELINES
The same Justice Department that draped cloth over a nude statue at its Washington, D.C., headquarters has issued new rape-treatment guidelines that omit offering information about emergency contraception to victims of sexual attacks. The policy is wrongheaded and foolish. It could cause women to carry to full term unwanted pregnancies perpetrated by criminals.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/10606789.htm

Fuente: Amnistía Internacional (AI)
http://www.es.amnesty.org/
ALGERIA BRIEFING TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
/noticias.info/
AI Index: MDE 28/011/2004
32nd Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 10-28 January 2005: Comments by Amnesty International on the compliance by Algeria with its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=44449&src=0

After botched surgery, woman sought companions for suicide
By YOKO INOUE
Yomiuri Shimbun
TOKYO - In October, a 21-year-old woman committed suicide in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, suffocating herself by burning charcoal briquettes in a sealed car. Found dead with her was another woman she had - met through an Internet site for people who wish to die.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10609448.htm

Canadian Conservative Party to go Officially Pro-Abortion?
Social Conservatives Warned to Wake Up
TORONTO, January 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "The grassroots of the party should be very careful because it sounds like the Red Tories are attempting to gain the upper hand." That was the reaction of Jim Hughes the leader of the political arm of Canada's pro-life movement to the decision by a conference of 32 Greater Toronto Conservative Party ridings to adopt a policy to support abortion. Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), also told LifeSiteNews.com he was concerned about the other resolutions put forward which undercut social conservative and democratic priorities.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05011001.html

Florida Parental Notification for Abortion Measure Targeted by Lawsuit

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 10, 2005

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates in Florida asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a measure passed overwhelmingly by Florida residents on the November ballot that would make sure abortion businesses tell parents when their teenage daughter is considering an abortion.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood say the constitutional amendment voters approved should be thrown out because the state's high court overstepped its authority when it dismissed a lawsuit both groups previously filed saying the language of the amendment was improper.

http://www.lifenews.com/state832.html

THIS IS A NEW DIRECTION FOR Pro-Lifers. Get Pregnant, Get Bailed regardless of the crime. I think there is some gender bias here. Where is the father?

Anti-abortion group to demand early release of pregnant inmate

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Members of a Baltimore-based anti-abortion group, Defend Life, will be in Annapolis to lobby Maryland's governor for the early release of a pregnant inmate.

Thirty-one-year-old Rebecca Price of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, was given a five-year sentence in September for the theft of more than 23-thousand dollars from clients at a Hagerstown travel agency where she was a manager.

The protesters say the sentence is unjust and that Price needs to spend time with her baby when it is born -- which could be any day now.
The Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy recommended that Price be sentenced either to probation or to two years and six months in prison. The judge said he departed from the guidelines because of the substantial loss to the victims and Price's lack of remorse.

http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=2799119

AH, THE ECONOMIC advantage

Ending Abortion Would Save Social Security, Group Argues
By Susan Jones

CNSNews.com Morning Editor
January 13, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - President Bush can protect Social Security by "curing" abortion, a pro-life group says.
The American Life League is running a full-page newspaper ad in Thursday's Washington Times, explaining that since 1973, more than 50 million babies have been killed through abortion.

"Those are the very babies that, today, would be living, working -- and paying into Social Security," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "However, the national plague of abortion has eliminated those contributors from society."

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200501%5CCUL20050113a.html

The Cheney Observer

On the first day of the Bush administration's second term, EPA announces that it has signed the sweetheart CAFO deal. In reviewing the final terms of the agreement but it is likely that it will prevent NC from enforcing the Clean Air Act against large hog and poultry operations for air emissions.

Here is the EPA's release. There will be a 30-day comment period.

EPA Announces Air Quality Compliance Agreement for Animal Feeding Operations

Contact: Cynthia Bergman 202-564-9828/ bergman.cynthia@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C.- January 21, 2005) The Environmental Protection Agency today announced an air quality compliance agreement to address emissions from certain animal feeding operations, also known as AFOs. This agreement is part of the Agency’s ongoing effort to minimize air emissions from animal feeding operations and to ensure those operations comply with the Clean Air Act and other laws.

"This agreement is a huge step forward," said Thomas V. Skinner, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "It will allow us to reach the largest number of AFOs in the shortest period of time and ensure that they comply with applicable clean air requirements."

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/7505fc66006c202d85256f90005c4363!OpenDocument

EPA Announces New Aircraft Drinking Water Quality Data
Contact: Cynthia Bergman 202-564-9828 / bergman.cynthia@epa.gov
(Washington, D.C. – January 19, 2005) A second round of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing shows that 17.2 percent of 169 randomly selected passenger aircraft carried water contaminated with total coliform bacteria. The latest round of tests were performed on domestic and international passenger aircraft at airports nationwide in November and December of last year. The results confirm the presence of bacteria at levels warranting continued EPA scrutiny.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/4cad7566ca567d3f85256f8e0053ce39!OpenDocument


Was it oil exploration or dumping of nuclear waste?
By Boniface Ongeri and Victor Obure

A Wajir resident peers at strange equipment left behind by an American company that was purportedly prospecting for oil in the area.
There was tremor of excitement in Kenya during the early 80s when word emerged that there would be a feasibility study on oil exploration in North Eastern Province.

But all this has since turned out to be castles in the air. No oil was ever discovered in North Eastern and it is further suspected that the American company came to the country with ulterior motives.
There are widespread fears that the company was dumping toxic waste in the arid region under the guise of exploring for oil. The anguished residents are now up in arms and want the Government to dispel speculation that the company deposited nuclear waste at the sites.
A visit to the region reveals that the company excavated deep trenches and later covered them with concrete slabs.
Residents who were employed by the company as casuals during the purported exploration confided that they would be unceremoniously laid off whenever the depth of the trenches reached a certain level.

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=11300>

Oil Surges Close to 8-Week High as Cold Weather Boosts Demand
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose close to an eight-week high as freezing weather in the U.S. Northeast increased consumption of heating fuels and unrest before the Iraqi election disrupted oil shipments from the country.

Pasted from <http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aeCLiQIEBbbw&refer=home>

U.S. OKs expanded oil drilling in Alaska
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Citing a need for domestic energy, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou.
The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with "minimal impact" on the area's wildlife.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Alaska%20Oil

OPEC Cuts Size of Projected Oil Stocks
Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:43 PM ET
By Andrew Mitchell
LONDON (Reuters) - World oil inventories are continuing to rise but stronger-than-expected demand growth means the stockbuild will be smaller than previously thought, the OPEC oil cartel said on Friday. Supply problems outside the cartel will heighten demand for OPEC's oil over the coming months, according to the report from the group's Vienna secretariat. Current OPEC production levels imply just a small first quarter stockbuild, accelerating modestly into the second quarter.

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7396357

DICK CHENEY will run in the 2008 race for president. I was plainly obvious to me that his aggressive stance while burying his chin into his chest at St. Vincent's the morning of the inaugural that he is running for something. It is either the desire to escalate war in the Middle East for the Caspian Sea or he is running for president. Either way he is a living nightmare.

2008 ELECTION: With Cheney and Bush not running, race is wide open
BY ADAM NAGOURNEY
NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON - 2008 ELECTIONWith Cheney and Bush not running, race is wide open For the past half a century, there has been a reliable political dynamic at every presidential inauguration. Someone on the platform -- usually the president or the vice president -- had emerged as the party's likely candidate for an election that was still four years away.

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/10698280.htm

British Petroleum Avoids Iran Operation due to U.S. Sanctions

British Petroleum announced that it will not be developing the Iranian Oil and Gas resources. The oil company with the biggest producer of oil and Gas in US. The company plans to avoid Iran because of US sanctions on Iran. The company is proceeding with oil and Gas exploration and production implementation in Russia, Africa and Gulf of Mexico

http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/21828.asp

Alaska Peninsula group heads south to promote petroleum drilling
DAN JOLING
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A delegation of fishermen and government officials from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula will travel to Texas next week promoting their area for oil and gas development, a turnaround from past opposition.
Representatives of the Aleutians East Borough will travel to Houston to attend the North American Prospects Expo, the largest oil and gas exploration and production event in the world. Two representatives from the Aleut Corp., the regional Native corporation, also will attend.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/10704927.htm

GoM to consider raising gas price for fertiliser, power units:
[Business India]: New Delhi, Jan 21 : A Group of Ministers will consider on January 25 raising natural gas price for fertilizer and power units and setting up of a regulator for the oil sector.

http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=63208

Rosneft in 50m-tonne oil deal
MOSCOW: The Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, new owner of the main production subsidiary of oil giant Yukos, yesterday announced a contract to supply China with 50 million tonnes of oil by 2010.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=102495&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=27309

LOS ANGELES
Floating oil slick mystifies officials
New York Times News Service

A phantom oil slick floating somewhere along a 90-mile stretch of Southern California coastline is killing birds as investigators scramble to find its whereabouts.
More than 700 sea birds have died, another 700 are hospitalized and at least one sea lion was evacuated to a marine mammal center, officials said.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/22/BACADIGEST2.DTL

FCC unlikely to change course
Departure of Michael Powell expected to bring no shift in policy
By STEPHEN LABATON and JOHN O'NEIL
The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Michael K. Powell announced Friday that he would step down in March as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/10704649.htm

Cheney firm's £40m MoD deal
BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR
Key points
• Announcement to have far-reaching implications for Scottish shipbuilding
• Controversial firm closely linked to US VP Dick Cheney
• Demand could guarantee future of 1,000 jobs at Rosyth yard
Key quote
"This group appear to have the finger of suspicion pointing at them over bribery and corruption in their own country and elsewhere in the world." - Gordon MP
Story in full THE MULTIBILLION-pound project to build Britain’s biggest ever warships will be placed under the control of controversial American military firm Halliburton, under an extraordinary deal to be announced this week.
The Ministry of Defence is expected to confirm that the controversial firm, closely linked to US vice-president Dick Cheney, will be installed to manage the construction of the two "super-carriers", in a move that will have far-reaching implications for Scottish shipbuilding.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=85902005

Supreme Court is key to new Bush term
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
23 January 2005
The clearest pointer to the course of the second Bush administration at last week's inauguration was not the soaring presidential pledge to end global tyranny - a mismatch between rhetoric and reality if every there was one.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=603726

Bush to face battles on 2nd-term agenda
BY MARK SILVA
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - With the pomp of the inaugural party over, the hard work of President Bush's second term begins as he confronts a series of hurdles testing his ability to fulfill his many re-election promises.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/10709893.htm

Meeting to resolve Enron impasse
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

PUNE: For power-starved Maharashtra, there could be some reprieve over the Dabhol power plant.

Last week, representatives of financial institutions (FIs) and the state electricity board officials, met officials of GE and Bechtel in New York in an effort to resolve the issues of the power plant. Officials said they were hopeful of some settlement.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/998461.cms

Hearings will probe Caltrans
By Mike Adamick
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Lawmakers plan to lash Caltrans and the agency that oversees it in a series of hearings next week, berating top officials for concealing cost overruns on the $5.9 billion Bay Bridge replacement.

For instance, Bechtel helps the Bay Area Toll Authority prepare budget documents and cost estimates for some road and bridge work.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/10708110.htm


Fuel depot may have tainted aquifer
Idaho state agency cautions that results are preliminary
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RATHDRUM, Idaho -- Petroleum contaminants have been found in water samples from the aquifer below a railroad refueling depot in northern Idaho, The Spokesman-Review reported yesterday.
Preliminary water samples showed detectable levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in the giant underground aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for more than 400,000 people in Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the newspaper said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206159_leak01.html

Iran's NIOC among top three oil companies
Saturday, January 01, 2005 - ©2004 IranMania.com

LONDON, Jan 1 (IranMania) - The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has moved up from fourth to third in the latest annual league table of the world's top 50 oil companies published by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW), IRNA said.
According to the London-based newsletter, NIOC overtook Petroleos de Venezuela in its rankings based on six operational criteria covering 2003--oil and gas reserves, oil and gas output, refining capacity and product sales.

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=28257&NewsKind=Business%20%26%20Economy

Oil giants resume Libyan adventure
(Filed: 02/01/2005)
The former pariah wants Western help to exploit gigantic reserves, writes Sylvia Pfeifer
The world's biggest energy companies are preparing to fight it out for a stake in Libya's lucrative oil and gas industry. Less than a year after it was welcomed back into the international fold, Libya will later this month hold a multi-billion pound auction of drilling rights to some of the world's largest oil and gas reserves.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/01/02/cclibya02.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2005/01/02/ixcoms.html

Moscow backs oil pipeline to Pacific
MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday it had ordered the construction of an oil pipeline from its huge Siberian oilfields to the Pacific Ocean opposite Japan, in a move to boost export opportunities throughout East Asia and to the United States.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=100301&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=27288

US gets tougher rules on torture
By Neil A. Lews
Washington

The Justice Department has broadened its definition of torture, significantly retreating from a memorandum in August 2002 that said President George Bush could ignore domestic and international prohibitions against it in the name of national security.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/US-gets-tougher-rules-on-torture/2005/01/01/1104345033971.html

SCC Bags Bechtel Order- KSA
Arab News - 01/01/2005

Saudi Cable Company (SCC) has announced the award of an order for supply of medium tension cables worth SR24 million ($6.4 million) to Bechtel Corporation to meet their worldwide requirements for projects outside Saudi Arabia.
Bechtel is one of the largest international companies in the fields of engineering and construction of various types as well as project management with a turnover of over $16 billion. It has been classified as the top contractor in the American market for the past six years. Bechtel's choice of SCC for this order comes from the confidence in SCC product quality that has a worldwide renown because of the company's strict quality control measures and conformity to international specifications as well as their long association with SCC in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Saudi Arabian markets.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=75140

'Axis of evil' tops Bush's second-term agenda
WASHINGTON (AP) — The three countries President Bush called an "axis of evil" in his first term are at the top of his foreign policy to-do list in the second, along with a revitalized Mideast peace process and continued efforts to repair European alliances frayed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-01-bush-abroad_x.htm

Insurgency costs oil companies $8b
January 3, 2005 - 8:49AM

Iraqi insurgents are waging an all-out war on the country's vital oil industry, which has lost nearly $US8 billion ($A10.3 billion) in revenue since last year's US-led invasion, oil minister Thamer Ghadban said today.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Iraq/Insurgency-costs-oil-companies-8b/2005/01/03/1104601268560.html

Worker dies on North Sea platform

The Brent Bravo oil platform, where Graham Burns died
A man has died on a North Sea oil platform off the coast of Shetland.
Electrician Graeme Burns, 47, died while carrying out maintenance work with a colleague on Brent Bravo on New Year's Day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4141689.stm

Russia selects Pacific route for oil pipeline
The Asahi Shimbun
MOSCOW--The Russian government announced Friday it has agreed to the construction of an oil pipeline along a route favored by Tokyo.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed on the route that would connect eastern Siberia to Russia's Pacific coast. That plan was chosen over a Chinese proposal to route the line to Daqing in northern China.

http://www.asahi.com/english/business/TKY200501030076.html

Iran’s oil minister in Islamabad on 5th
ISLAMABAD: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday for talks with his Pakistani counterpart, diplomatic sources said on Sunday.

Pasted from <http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-1-2005_pg7_30>

US dollar trades close to all-time low against euro
CONCERN: The euro is 8.5 percent stronger against the dollar than it was a year ago, with the greenback poised to continue its downward movement
AFP , LONDON
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005,Page 10

The euro soared close to its all-time high against the dollar in London on Friday on the last day of a year in which it gained 8.5 percent on a steadily weakening greenback.
The euro in afternoon trading was at US$1.3635 against US$1.3634 in New York late on Thursday. The single European currency at one point shot up to US$1.3661, just shy of the record US$1.3666 set on Thursday. The dollar was meanwhile at ¥102.53 after ¥103.4 on Thursday.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2005/01/02/2003217715

Bush makes right move
By Jeff Sessions
President Bush was right to say he will renominate the 20 superb judicial candidates who were denied floor votes by an unprecedented use of the filibuster. Few would dispute that the obstruction of Bush nominees played to the political advantage of Bush and Republican Senate candidates and was an important factor in Republicans' picking up four seats. The leader of the Democratic obstructionism, Tom Daschle, lost his seat. And the one Democrat who won in a competitive race, Ken Salazar of Colorado, pledged not to filibuster nominees.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2005-01-02-judicial-nominees-oppose_x.htm

Libya reopens oil territory
Americans scramble for rights to explore
TRIPOLI, Libya — For the first time in a decade, a new oil territory is opening — reopening, that is.
American oil executives recently have been flocking to Libya, crowding the lobby of Tripoli's only luxury hotel and literally standing in line to meet local officials.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10545386.htm

Ten Years Later
"Then the second wave of al-Qaeda attacks hit America." A leading expert on counterterrorism imagines the future history of the war on terror. A frightening picture of a country still at war in 2011
by Richard A. Clarke
.....
This is a transcript of the Tenth Anniversary 9/11 Lecture
Sunday, September 11, 2011
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Professor Roger McBride
Dean, Honored Guests,
It is a great honor to be chosen to give this tenth-anniversary lecture. This year, more than at any other time since the beginning of the war on terror, I think we can see clearly how that war has changed our country. Now that the terror seems finally to have receded somewhat, perhaps we can begin to consider the steps necessary to return the United States to what it was before 9/11. To do so, however, we must be clear about what has happened over the past ten years. Thus tonight I will dwell on the history of the war on terror.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200501/clarke?ca=%2FLLR8k1sBp%2BHdGM9e2OabuNJcNeokXZ1xGN47jmY%2B%2Bk%3D

Jon Carroll

So many stories in the newspaper right now are looking back on the dreadful and yet terrible year 2004, with critical appraisals and timelines and the usual hoorah. I decided to step it up a notch and look back on the year 2005, so that we can all experience pre-need nostalgia.

… Noting an "action gap" between the proposing of laws and their enactment by Congress, Halliburton said that it would behave as though the president's proposals were in fact laws. Vice President Dick Cheney noted that "the cumbersome process of legislation should not be allowed to slow the president's visionary proposals."
The company's first official act was to invest all monies in the Social Security trust fund in Halliburton. "The American people's investment will grow as we grow," said a spokesman for the company. "And trust me, we are gonna grow."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/31/DDGAB9AEE21.DTL>

Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition'
By Jamie Lyons, PA Political Correspondent
United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3944374

Bush breaks silence on bin Laden
December 31, 2004

Militants foiled ... Saudi police seal off the scene of a car-bomb blast outside the Interior Ministry. No one was killed.
Photo: AFP
The US President, George Bush, has taken the unusual step of responding to one of Osama bin Laden's taunting tape recordings, declaring that bin Laden's recent call for Iraqis to boycott the elections next month "make the stakes of this pretty clear to me".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Global-Terrorism/Bush-breaks-silence-on-bin-Laden/2004/12/30/1104344928194.html

Bechtel to cut 200 more jobs from S.F. headquarters
Division moves, frozen program blamed for losses
David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Bechtel Corp. will cut about 200 jobs in January from its San Francisco headquarters, which has been losing staff as the construction and engineering giant moves a few of its divisions elsewhere.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/28/BUGVOAHOIM1.DTL

CHENIERE ENERGY: Cheniere Energy Awards Construction Turnkey Contract to Bechtel Corporation
Publication Date: Dec 28,2004, 15:54
SUMMARY: Cheniere Energy, Inc. announced that its wholly owned limited partnership, Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. (Sabine), and Bechtel Corporation executed a Lump Sum Turnkey Agreement for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of the Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving, storage and regasification terminal to be located in western Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

http://webbolt.ecnext.com/coms2/description_41522_CHENIEREENERGY281204_EQU

Bush gala has big donations pouring in
Businesses, individuals to provide $40 million for 2nd inauguration, set to military theme
By Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
Published December 28, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Soldiers will dance free of charge at President Bush's second inauguration, a record $40 million-plus celebration for "a nation at war" financed by some of the same big donors who bankrolled Bush's re-election campaign.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0412280295dec28,1,2969753.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

BUSH'S DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN TO CREATE A SOCIAL SECURITY 'CRISIS'
By Randolph T. Holhut
www.OpEdNews.Com
DUMMERSTON, Vt. - I look at how the Bush administration is trying to manufacture a Social Security "crisis," and it looks much like what was done to manufacture the rationale for invading Iraq.

http://www.opednews.com/holhut_122804_social_security.htm

Halliburton and army agree over oil dispute
Matt Kelley

WASHINGTON — The Army apparently has sided with Halliburton in a dispute over the company’s charges for fuel delivered to Iraq.
The Army Corps of Engineers official overseeing the contract wrote to superiors last month that Halliburton followed correct procedures and got the best price for the gasoline supplied by a Kuwaiti company.

http://www.bakusun.az:8101/cgi-bin/ayten/bakusun/show.cgi?code=5163

Cheney to Become Human Billboard at Inaugural
To pay for Bush’s extravagant inauguration, the White House is selling advertising space on the vice president
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Andy Borowitz
Newsweek
Updated: 12:46 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2005
Jan. 18 - To cover the escalating costs of this Thursday’s inauguration of President George W. Bush, major corporations are lining up to buy ad space on the side of Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House announced today.
advertisement

According to the administration, Cheney will become a “human billboard” to display the logos of several Fortune 500 companies underwriting the expensive event. Using state-of-the-art blue-screen technology, Cheney’s body will play host to ads for some of the Bush campaign’s largest corporate contributors, as well as promos for upcoming Fox TV shows.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6839322/site/newsweek/


Crossing the Rubicon
Simplifying the case against Dick Cheney
by
Michael Kane
January 18, 2005 (FTW) - In an argument of over 600 pages and 1,000 footnotes, Crossing the Rubicon makes the case for official complicity within the U.S. government and names Dick Cheney as the prime suspect in the crimes of 9/11. Since the publication of this book (to which I had the privilege of contributing a chapter), many people have asked to hear the case against Cheney argued "short & sweet."

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/011805_simplify_case.shtml

Halliburton - Poster Child For War Profiteering
By Evelyn Pringle
Of course, by now, everybody has at least heard of Halliburton, the all-time poster child for war profiteering. But I'll bet most people don't understand exactly how this company has gone the full financial circle in Iraq. Some background info may be helpful.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0501/S00198.htm

Halliburton unit may get UK job
Reports say aircraft carrier contract could be worth up to $7.5 billion.
January 23, 2005: 7:30 AM EST
LONDON (Reuters) - A unit of Houston-based oilfield service firm Halliburton is set to be awarded a key role in a major British defense project worth up to £4 billion ($7.5 billion), UK newspapers said Sunday.
The Business said Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) would confirm this week that Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), Halliburton (Research)'s engineering and construction subsidiary, had won a contract to manage the construction of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/23/news/international/halliburton_uk.reut/

Two Bush inaugural speeches reflect two almost entirely different worlds
DPA , Washington
Monday, Jan 24, 2005,Page 9

Few direct comparisons can be made between US President George W. Bush's inaugural speech Thursday and his first in 2001, but there is one overwhelming similarity: They both reflected their times, very different times.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2005/01/24/2003220775

Iran slams Bush's 'psychological warfare'
January 23 2005 at 04:06PM
By Parisa Hafezi
Tehran - Iran, responding to comments by senior American officials, said on Sunday that any United States military attack on the country would be a strategic mistake and dismissed the US remarks as "psychological warfare".
American President George Bush last week said military action against Iran's nuclear programme had not been ruled out and Vice President Dick Cheney said Iran topped the list of world trouble spots and Israel could decide to bomb its nuclear facilities.
But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hamid Reza Asefi said: "We think the chance (of a US military attack) is very low unless someone wants to make a major strategic mistake."

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=qw1106483940935B265

Foreign lenders may sell Dabhol debt for $360 mn
Kavita Nair / Mumbai January 24, 2005
Lenders close to sign a deal after a meeting on Friday.

A major roadblock to a solution to the 2,184 MW, $2.9 billion Dabhol Power Company (DPC) problem has been cleared, with foreign lenders to the Enron-promoted project agreeing in principle to Indian lenders buying out their debt.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=178933&leftnm=lmnu3&lselect=0&leftindx=3

U.S. Democratic Party “Putting Brakes on President Bush’ Lead
U.S. President George W. Bush’s second term, launched on January 20 with a spectacular inauguration, is facing difficulties from the onset.
Senate confirmation is being held in check regarding key Cabinet member-designates including the secretary of state-designate, and the endorsement process is being delayed for some designated officials.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2005012236458

Backseat Driver
The Dark Side Of the Globe
Jerry Flint, 01.10.05, 12:00 AM ET
Detroit is shipping too much of the engineering and design of cars abroad. I figure it has already lost the ability to build a small car from scratch.
The mantra of the modern economics writer is "globalism." I don't have a problem with globalism generally, but I worry about how the American automobile industry may, thanks to globalism, find itself unable to create and engineer a car in America. Detroit has turned to globalism to build vehicles better, faster, cheaper. But for some reason this means that nowadays Detroit ships the good jobs overseas, and I'm not convinced the vehicles come out better, faster and cheaper.

http://www.forbes.com/global/2005/0110/019_print.html

'Introvert' Jeb Bush keeps a low profile

By Associated PressPublished January 21, 2005

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush missed every event sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida leading to Thursday's inauguration.


Locals clamor for a change

Commissioners approve new ordinance to curb excessive noise.

BY ANDREW MACKIE
RECORD STAFF WRITER
Friday, January 21, 2005

HICKORY

The Catawba County Board of Commissioners hope a stiffer noise law will curb unnecessary clatter. A Springs Road couple has their doubts.

Bush/Cheney talk as if the Europeans are asking 'pretty please.' Iran is a strategically important nation for Dick's pet project "The Caspian Sea" and he isn't fooling anybody. If there is a mission launched into Iran it will be in the spirit of oil dominance not the security of Israel. The leadership of Israel is being kind in their estimation, they know what Bush/Cheney are all about. Who needs them? No one would expect Israel to 'stand by' as if anestisized by Europe's Promise of Nuclear Safety if there was a 'real threat' to that country.

Israel also does not need Europe to do it's bidding. Israel is fully capable of taking care of itself on all fronts. It's diplomatic distance from Iran does not indicate anything except mistrust between the two countries which should be dispelled with acceptance. Iran is capable of it, they need to get out of their own way realizing their greatest safety is openness and trade relations with other countries.

This is something new?

Hello? Where has everyone been? I have been saying this for years. This is not a big revelation. Did the Indian government the reality of the Permian or what?

The Permian extinction has always been the largest extinction of life on Earth. 95% of all marine life died because of the 'heat' of the oceans resulting in crenation of the microscopic 'primary producers.' The primary producers are those that are the cornerstone to all life. The microscopic plants and plankton that use photosynthesis to fuel their life. The primary producers are the bottom of the food chain and are 'supposed' to be the most abundant. They are what every other species feed on either directly or indirectly through it's food chain.

Scientists/archeologists/geologists for a long time believed all extinctions of which there are five complete were due to glacial periods. The Permian Extinction was believed to be to glaciation until further evidence of ice cores pointed to very high levels of greenhouse gases in the troposphere. The geologic investigators then realized The Permian Extinction was caused by Global Warming. It was the heating of the seas and oceans that collapsed the fisheries.

I am pleased to realize India and I are finally on the same page.


Biggest extinction wasn't caused by asteroid or comet:Report:

[India News]:

New Delhi, Jan 21 :

The biggest mass extinction in the history of earth some 250 million years ago was caused by global warming and not by the impact of asteroid or comet as earlier believed, new evidence has indicated.

In a paper published by Science Express, the online version of the journal Science, yesterday researchers headed by University of Washington scientist Peter Ward said they have found no evidence for an impact at the time of "the Great Dying" 250 million years ago.

Instead, their research indicates the culprit might have been atmospheric warming because of greenhouse gases triggered by erupting volcanoes.The extinction occurred at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods at a time when all land was concentrated in a supercontinent called Pangea.

The Great Dying is considered the biggest catastrophe in the history of life on Earth, with 90 per cent of all marine life and nearly three-quarters of land-based plant and animal life going extinct."The marine extinction and the land extinction appear to be simultaneous, based on the geochemical evidence we found," their paper said."Animals and plants both on land and in the sea were dying at the same time, and apparently from the same causes too much heat and too little oxygen."

PTI