August 26, 2005. Coventry, United Kingdom.
Friday, August 26, 2005
August 25, 2005. Incoming !! Some storm, huh? They should have known. I told them it was the eddy of an ionic vortex. It was CLOSE to picking up velocity when it approached Florida. These are different. These aren't hurricanes. They are vortex eddies. Entirely different properties in that they are feed by the system they are a part of. Far more unpredictable.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Jailed Journalists
Independent journalists demand liberty for jailed colleague
HAVANA, August 22 (www.cubanet.org) - Colleagues of Oscar Mario González Pérez, an independent journalist held by police for the past month, have issued a public appeal for his release.
"The world should not allow Cuba to continue jailing journalists just because they are journalists," said a public statement.
"If this man is condemned to prison, as occurred with other colleagues in 2003, the number of journalists serving long sentences in Cuba will be increased to 22," the statement said.
Those signing were Amarilis C. Rey, Tania Díaz Castro, Ernesto Roque, Juan González Febles, Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso, Ana Rosa Veitía, and Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y05/ago05/23e4.htm
PAKISTAN: Sindh bans three newspapers, editor jailed
New York, August 23, 2005—The government of the southern province of Sindh banned three Karachi-based weekly newspapers last week accusing them of creating “sectarian extremism and hatred.”
Officials withdrew the publication permits of the three weeklies on August 15 because they published “objectionable material” that caused “danger to public safety/order.”
Police had already raided the offices of Zarb-i-Islam, Friday Special, and Wajood on July 19, shutting down the publications and arresting several journalists including Wajood editor and publisher Mohammad Tahir, who is still in jail.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Pak23aug05na.html
Reporters told they face jail
Christine Caulfield
24aug05
A JUDGE has warned two senior Herald Sun journalists they could be jailed for refusing to reveal the name of a source who blew the whistle on a controversial federal government policy.
Reporters Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus will be formally charged with contempt of court after declining to give evidence identifying the source of documents revealing a $500 million rebuff to war veterans.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16364526%255E2862,00.html
Journalists under threat
Michael DeGolyer
August 25, 2005
Press freedom is slipping just when it is most needed to ensure healthy governance
The Chief Executive must have felt like Daniel entering the lion's den Wednesday when he ventured among journalists at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. Escaping harm after being thrown into a den of starving lions is so rare it made it into the Bible as divine intervention.
The biblical story has the hero walking unhurt among ravenous beasts. But Daniel did not try to eat with the lions. That might have made things turn out differently, especially since Daniel, like Donald, was intended as the main course.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Opinion/GH25Df01.html
Film directors and writers call for release of jailed journalist
Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday August 25, 2005
The Guardian
More than two dozen prominent European film directors, writers and journalists have published an open letter calling for the release of Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter who is today spending her 50th day in jail for refusing to identify confidential sources.
The film directors Pedro Almodovar and Wim Wenders, the German writer Günter Grass and the former BBC reporter Kate Adie were among the 27 signatories of the letter, which called Miller's imprisonment "more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1555907,00.html
Europeans join campaign to free jailed US journalist
Leading figures from the arts and media in Europe have joined forces to appeal to Washington for the release of Judith Miller, the veteran New York Times reporter who yesterday marked her 50th day in prison for refusing to testify in the inquiry into the leaking of the identity of the CIA operative Valerie Plame.
"At a time when the most extremist ideas are gaining ground, and when growing numbers of reporters are being killed or taken hostage, arresting a journalist in a democratic country is more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice," the group said. Its 27 members include the Spanish film director, Pedro Almódovar, the German literary Nobel laureate, Gunther Grass, and the former chief BBC reporter, Kate Adie.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article307976.ece
… isms
Jewish group denounces video on Auschwitz
By JOCELYN GECKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PARIS -- An Internet video that depicts the Nazi death camp Auschwitz as a rave party drew sharp criticism Wednesday from a Jewish rights group, which urged authorities to have it removed from European Web sites.
The three-minute video titled "Housewitz" - a pun on house music and Auschwitz - casts Nazi soldiers as DJs. It alternates black-and-white still photos of Holocaust atrocities with color images of youths at an outdoor party. And it advertises a "Free taxi ride home," showing a wheelbarrow full of corpses.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Auschwitz%20Video
Gender-segregated classes for visiting Saudi professors spark faculty complaint
By Zinie Chen Sampson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:03 p.m. August 10, 2005
RICHMOND, Va. – The creation of gender-segregated classes at Virginia Tech for visiting faculty from Saudi Arabia is drawing complaints from professors, who say a state-supported school shouldn't promote discrimination.
King Abdulaziz University paid Virginia Tech $246,000 to design and operate the faculty development program this summer.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20050810-1503-virginiatech-saudis.html
Seminar On Gender Issues Continues
Luanda, Aug 10 - The seminar on gender issues that started Tuesday in Luanda under the NGO "Angola2000", continues today its work of sensitising members of various organisations on human rights matters.
The seminar is also to inform the participants on the importance of resolution of conflicts through dialogue and endeavour to secure women with full representation and participation in decision making in various sectors of activity.
On the first day of the meeting, the participants discussed issues related to gender discrimination at workplace, at home, society and women role in the society. Sixteen NGOs are attending the seminar.
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=364340
Gender equality taking root
Females must believe in themselves, says commission, which has also helped to educate men
August 10, 2005
By Linda Mbongwa and Poloko Tau
The lives of women have improved since the birth of the new South Africa - but the struggle continues as fresh challenges present themselves.
Chana Mojake, CEO of the Commission on Gender Equality, (CGE), said the commission dealt with between 500 and 700 complaints from the public concerning issues of equality every year.
She was speaking in Johannesburg on the eve of Women's Day.
In the past, Mojake said, men used to dominate both at home and in the workplace, but through the commission's efforts to advance gender equality, most women now knew about their rights.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=2831544
Nadia in tears after Oz housemates discuss gender
Filed: 19:39, Aug 10 2005 by Neil Wilkes
Nadia was left in tears on her first night in the Aussie Big Brother house after the issue of her gender was raised.
All three remaining housemates - Greg, Tim and Vesna - had had suspicions that Nadia was not born as a female but Vesna decided to confront the question as the four sat in the jacuzzi.
As she stuttered around the subject, Greg cut to the chase and asked: "Are you a transexual, Nadia?"
http://bigbrother.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds8505.html
Women can transform state of gender relations
RECENTLY I was invited to Mendi by “Meri I Kirap Sapotim” (MIKS) group to conduct a session on freedom and empowerment to a group composed mainly of women.
The workshop was part of an NGO’s efforts to create greater awareness of the limited preferential voting (PLV) system, while bolstering women’s rights, good governance and active public participation.
This workshop was held in anticipation for the coming Mendi by-election.
http://www.thenational.com.pg/0811/column6.htm
Society's ambivalence about nudity emerges in reactions to art
‘Sensation still works on people. So there is always someone who aims for that first time.'
August 24, 2005 ㅡ The price for nudity was more severe than anyone had expected. Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Kim Un-gyu, an artist and middle-school art instructor who posted a nude photo of himself and his pregnant wife on his Web site, violated the country's anti-pornography laws. A few days later, two punk rock musicians from The Couch who exposed themselves during a live television broadcast were arrested for violating public performance laws.
While the two incidents stirred media outrage for challenging social norms over public nudity, many in the cultural sphere argued that the cases should have been handled differently, taking into account the artists' intentions in using nudity and their way of displaying it.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200508/23/200508232028293139900091009101.html
Study: Race disparity during traffic stops
By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writer August 24, 2005
WASHINGTON --Black, Hispanic and white motorists are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched, handcuffed, arrested and subjected to force or the threat of it, a Justice Department study has found.
The study, by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, was completed last April and posted on the agency's Web site after Bush administration officials disagreed over whether a press release should mention the racial disparities.
Traffic stops have become a politically volatile issue as minority groups have complained that many stops and searches are based on race rather than on legitimate suspicions.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/24/study_race_disparity_during_traffic_stops/
WRETCHED SETTLERS.
DO ANYONE NEED THAT KIND OF HATE?
NO, of course not.
Transparent Sham in Gaza
Fawaz Turki, disinherited@yahoo.com
So the wretched settlers — all 8,500 of them who had occupied 20 percent of Gaza’s choice land to build their colonies on — have pulled out, leaving a desolate landscape of rubble and garbage behind. But whatever you do, hold the celebrations, and think not of what has changed, but what has not. The settlers may have folded their tents, as it were, and headed north — for many, to settle on expropriated Palestinian land in the West Bank — but the military occupation remains very much in place, determining the economic and social future of the strip.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=68933&d=24&m=8&y=2005
Hydro One denies racial discrimination
Canadian Press
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
CREDIT: (CP file photo/Frank Gunn)
Hydro One adamantly denies allegations it's firing workers based on race.
TORONTO -- Hydro One is strongly denying suggestions by the union that represents its striking engineers that it fired a group of young employees based on their ethnicity.
“There have been several allegations from (the union) that we're trying to go after certain ethnic groups or new immigrants,” spokesman Peter Gregg said Wednesday after the union alluded to discrimination in its latest salvo against the utility.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.html?id=dda6b4eb-c411-488c-a39c-2a84c89be480
Indian lawyer fights race discrimination
Nabanita Sircar
London,
An Indian lawyer is fighting a race discrimination case at an employment tribunal against Mudassar Arani, who is the solicitor for a terror suspect for a UK bomb plot. The suspect has given evidence in support of his solicitor.
Ms Arani, representing terror suspect Omar Rehman, who also represents cleric Abu Hamza, has been accused of being a foul-mouthed racist bully who exploits poorly paid employees.
Her former paralegal Jitendra Sharma, 40, has told Watford Employment Tribunal that Arani made his life a misery because he was Indian.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_1471059,00430004.htm
Fresno State Responds to Lawsuit
August 24, 2005 — Fresno State is responding to the lawsuit filed by fired women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
The lawsuit against the university claims Johnson-Klein has been the victim of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and inappropriate touching.
Fresno State has not yet been served with the lawsuit, but in a short statement, the school said Stacy Johnson-Klein was terminated after a careful investigation.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/082405_nw_johnson_klein.html
Crime big worry for ethnic groups
A photo of slain dairy owner, Bhagubhai Vaghela on stage at a meeting to express the Asian community's safety concerns in Auckland. Picture / Paul Estcourt
25.08.05
Law and order and immigration are top issues among New Zealand's ethnic communities this election, although a new voter dynamic is emerging among the young, writes
Errol Kiong.
An old scab was ripped open to bleed afresh with the killing of Auckland minimart worker Bhagubhai Vaghela in June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10342302
Global Warming
Federal Judge OKs Global Warming Lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 24, 2005; 9:52 PM
SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.
A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402080.html
Court allows suit linking U.S. aid, global warming
Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:00 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Two environmental groups and four U.S. cities may sue U.S. federal agencies which finance overseas projects which they say contribute to global warming, a federal judge has ruled.
The two federal agencies -- Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States -- had asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss the lawsuit.
It was brought by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the cities of Boulder, Colorado, Santa Monica, California, Oakland, California and Arcata, California.
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-08-25T010105Z_01_N24507450_RTRIDST_0_LIFE-GLOBALWARMING.XML
N.H. still ranks low in efforts to reduce global warming
By COLIN MANNING
:N.H. Statehouse Writer
statehouse@fosters.com
PORTSMOUTH -- New Hampshire is still at the “back of the class” when it comes to its efforts for reducing global warming.
A coalition of environmental groups released its global warming report card on Tuesday with New Hampshire receiving a C-, once again giving the state the dubious distinction of having the lowest grade in New England. While the grade was the lowest of the six New England states, New Hampshire did improve on the previous year's grade of a D+. Meanwhile, Maine had one of the better scores in the region with a B-. It marked a noticeable improvement for Maine which last year received a C.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS0202/50824062/-1/CITIZEN
Global warming: The flaw in the thaw
Campaigners have seized upon the world's shrinking glaciers as proof of global warming. But there is more to it than that, reports Fred Pearce
A SNOW-CAPPED mountain on the equator? "Impossible," declared the learned gentlemen of the Royal Geographical Society in London. In 1848, the Swiss missionary and explorer Johannes Rebmann had become the first European to gaze upon the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro. But when his account reached London, some of the society's members refused to believe him. One even suggested that Rebmann's eyesight must be deficient.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18725141.500
Meteor dust obscures climate change views
By Deborah Smith, Science Editor
August 25, 2005 - 7:16AM
When a meteor the size of a small house exploded with the force of an atomic bomb high above the remote Antarctic coast last year there was no one to witness the fireball or hear the sonic booms.
The nearest people in Antarctica were 900 kilometres away, too distant to observe what would have appeared like a second sun streaking across the cold afternoon sky.
"Only the penguins would have seen it," said Andrew Klekociuk, of the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/meteor-dust-obscures-climate-change-views/2005/08/25/1124562946827.html
Nine states plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:31 PM BST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Officials in nine Northeastern U.S. states have reached a preliminary agreement to cap and then cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 10 percent by 2020, a Delaware official said on Wednesday.
If the agreement is made final, it would be the first of its kind in the United States. The Bush administration has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, a greenhouse gas reduction plan that has been adopted by more than 150 other countries.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-08-24T193155Z_01_DIT422372_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-EMISSIONS-DC.XML
end
Independent journalists demand liberty for jailed colleague
HAVANA, August 22 (www.cubanet.org) - Colleagues of Oscar Mario González Pérez, an independent journalist held by police for the past month, have issued a public appeal for his release.
"The world should not allow Cuba to continue jailing journalists just because they are journalists," said a public statement.
"If this man is condemned to prison, as occurred with other colleagues in 2003, the number of journalists serving long sentences in Cuba will be increased to 22," the statement said.
Those signing were Amarilis C. Rey, Tania Díaz Castro, Ernesto Roque, Juan González Febles, Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso, Ana Rosa Veitía, and Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y05/ago05/23e4.htm
PAKISTAN: Sindh bans three newspapers, editor jailed
New York, August 23, 2005—The government of the southern province of Sindh banned three Karachi-based weekly newspapers last week accusing them of creating “sectarian extremism and hatred.”
Officials withdrew the publication permits of the three weeklies on August 15 because they published “objectionable material” that caused “danger to public safety/order.”
Police had already raided the offices of Zarb-i-Islam, Friday Special, and Wajood on July 19, shutting down the publications and arresting several journalists including Wajood editor and publisher Mohammad Tahir, who is still in jail.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Pak23aug05na.html
Reporters told they face jail
Christine Caulfield
24aug05
A JUDGE has warned two senior Herald Sun journalists they could be jailed for refusing to reveal the name of a source who blew the whistle on a controversial federal government policy.
Reporters Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus will be formally charged with contempt of court after declining to give evidence identifying the source of documents revealing a $500 million rebuff to war veterans.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16364526%255E2862,00.html
Journalists under threat
Michael DeGolyer
August 25, 2005
Press freedom is slipping just when it is most needed to ensure healthy governance
The Chief Executive must have felt like Daniel entering the lion's den Wednesday when he ventured among journalists at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. Escaping harm after being thrown into a den of starving lions is so rare it made it into the Bible as divine intervention.
The biblical story has the hero walking unhurt among ravenous beasts. But Daniel did not try to eat with the lions. That might have made things turn out differently, especially since Daniel, like Donald, was intended as the main course.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Opinion/GH25Df01.html
Film directors and writers call for release of jailed journalist
Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday August 25, 2005
The Guardian
More than two dozen prominent European film directors, writers and journalists have published an open letter calling for the release of Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter who is today spending her 50th day in jail for refusing to identify confidential sources.
The film directors Pedro Almodovar and Wim Wenders, the German writer Günter Grass and the former BBC reporter Kate Adie were among the 27 signatories of the letter, which called Miller's imprisonment "more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1555907,00.html
Europeans join campaign to free jailed US journalist
Leading figures from the arts and media in Europe have joined forces to appeal to Washington for the release of Judith Miller, the veteran New York Times reporter who yesterday marked her 50th day in prison for refusing to testify in the inquiry into the leaking of the identity of the CIA operative Valerie Plame.
"At a time when the most extremist ideas are gaining ground, and when growing numbers of reporters are being killed or taken hostage, arresting a journalist in a democratic country is more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice," the group said. Its 27 members include the Spanish film director, Pedro Almódovar, the German literary Nobel laureate, Gunther Grass, and the former chief BBC reporter, Kate Adie.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article307976.ece
… isms
Jewish group denounces video on Auschwitz
By JOCELYN GECKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PARIS -- An Internet video that depicts the Nazi death camp Auschwitz as a rave party drew sharp criticism Wednesday from a Jewish rights group, which urged authorities to have it removed from European Web sites.
The three-minute video titled "Housewitz" - a pun on house music and Auschwitz - casts Nazi soldiers as DJs. It alternates black-and-white still photos of Holocaust atrocities with color images of youths at an outdoor party. And it advertises a "Free taxi ride home," showing a wheelbarrow full of corpses.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Auschwitz%20Video
Gender-segregated classes for visiting Saudi professors spark faculty complaint
By Zinie Chen Sampson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:03 p.m. August 10, 2005
RICHMOND, Va. – The creation of gender-segregated classes at Virginia Tech for visiting faculty from Saudi Arabia is drawing complaints from professors, who say a state-supported school shouldn't promote discrimination.
King Abdulaziz University paid Virginia Tech $246,000 to design and operate the faculty development program this summer.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20050810-1503-virginiatech-saudis.html
Seminar On Gender Issues Continues
Luanda, Aug 10 - The seminar on gender issues that started Tuesday in Luanda under the NGO "Angola2000", continues today its work of sensitising members of various organisations on human rights matters.
The seminar is also to inform the participants on the importance of resolution of conflicts through dialogue and endeavour to secure women with full representation and participation in decision making in various sectors of activity.
On the first day of the meeting, the participants discussed issues related to gender discrimination at workplace, at home, society and women role in the society. Sixteen NGOs are attending the seminar.
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=364340
Gender equality taking root
Females must believe in themselves, says commission, which has also helped to educate men
August 10, 2005
By Linda Mbongwa and Poloko Tau
The lives of women have improved since the birth of the new South Africa - but the struggle continues as fresh challenges present themselves.
Chana Mojake, CEO of the Commission on Gender Equality, (CGE), said the commission dealt with between 500 and 700 complaints from the public concerning issues of equality every year.
She was speaking in Johannesburg on the eve of Women's Day.
In the past, Mojake said, men used to dominate both at home and in the workplace, but through the commission's efforts to advance gender equality, most women now knew about their rights.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=2831544
Nadia in tears after Oz housemates discuss gender
Filed: 19:39, Aug 10 2005 by Neil Wilkes
Nadia was left in tears on her first night in the Aussie Big Brother house after the issue of her gender was raised.
All three remaining housemates - Greg, Tim and Vesna - had had suspicions that Nadia was not born as a female but Vesna decided to confront the question as the four sat in the jacuzzi.
As she stuttered around the subject, Greg cut to the chase and asked: "Are you a transexual, Nadia?"
http://bigbrother.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds8505.html
Women can transform state of gender relations
RECENTLY I was invited to Mendi by “Meri I Kirap Sapotim” (MIKS) group to conduct a session on freedom and empowerment to a group composed mainly of women.
The workshop was part of an NGO’s efforts to create greater awareness of the limited preferential voting (PLV) system, while bolstering women’s rights, good governance and active public participation.
This workshop was held in anticipation for the coming Mendi by-election.
http://www.thenational.com.pg/0811/column6.htm
Society's ambivalence about nudity emerges in reactions to art
‘Sensation still works on people. So there is always someone who aims for that first time.'
August 24, 2005 ㅡ The price for nudity was more severe than anyone had expected. Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Kim Un-gyu, an artist and middle-school art instructor who posted a nude photo of himself and his pregnant wife on his Web site, violated the country's anti-pornography laws. A few days later, two punk rock musicians from The Couch who exposed themselves during a live television broadcast were arrested for violating public performance laws.
While the two incidents stirred media outrage for challenging social norms over public nudity, many in the cultural sphere argued that the cases should have been handled differently, taking into account the artists' intentions in using nudity and their way of displaying it.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200508/23/200508232028293139900091009101.html
Study: Race disparity during traffic stops
By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writer August 24, 2005
WASHINGTON --Black, Hispanic and white motorists are equally likely to be pulled over by police, but blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched, handcuffed, arrested and subjected to force or the threat of it, a Justice Department study has found.
The study, by the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, was completed last April and posted on the agency's Web site after Bush administration officials disagreed over whether a press release should mention the racial disparities.
Traffic stops have become a politically volatile issue as minority groups have complained that many stops and searches are based on race rather than on legitimate suspicions.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/24/study_race_disparity_during_traffic_stops/
WRETCHED SETTLERS.
DO ANYONE NEED THAT KIND OF HATE?
NO, of course not.
Transparent Sham in Gaza
Fawaz Turki, disinherited@yahoo.com
So the wretched settlers — all 8,500 of them who had occupied 20 percent of Gaza’s choice land to build their colonies on — have pulled out, leaving a desolate landscape of rubble and garbage behind. But whatever you do, hold the celebrations, and think not of what has changed, but what has not. The settlers may have folded their tents, as it were, and headed north — for many, to settle on expropriated Palestinian land in the West Bank — but the military occupation remains very much in place, determining the economic and social future of the strip.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=68933&d=24&m=8&y=2005
Hydro One denies racial discrimination
Canadian Press
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
CREDIT: (CP file photo/Frank Gunn)
Hydro One adamantly denies allegations it's firing workers based on race.
TORONTO -- Hydro One is strongly denying suggestions by the union that represents its striking engineers that it fired a group of young employees based on their ethnicity.
“There have been several allegations from (the union) that we're trying to go after certain ethnic groups or new immigrants,” spokesman Peter Gregg said Wednesday after the union alluded to discrimination in its latest salvo against the utility.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.html?id=dda6b4eb-c411-488c-a39c-2a84c89be480
Indian lawyer fights race discrimination
Nabanita Sircar
London,
An Indian lawyer is fighting a race discrimination case at an employment tribunal against Mudassar Arani, who is the solicitor for a terror suspect for a UK bomb plot. The suspect has given evidence in support of his solicitor.
Ms Arani, representing terror suspect Omar Rehman, who also represents cleric Abu Hamza, has been accused of being a foul-mouthed racist bully who exploits poorly paid employees.
Her former paralegal Jitendra Sharma, 40, has told Watford Employment Tribunal that Arani made his life a misery because he was Indian.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_1471059,00430004.htm
Fresno State Responds to Lawsuit
August 24, 2005 — Fresno State is responding to the lawsuit filed by fired women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
The lawsuit against the university claims Johnson-Klein has been the victim of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and inappropriate touching.
Fresno State has not yet been served with the lawsuit, but in a short statement, the school said Stacy Johnson-Klein was terminated after a careful investigation.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/082405_nw_johnson_klein.html
Crime big worry for ethnic groups
A photo of slain dairy owner, Bhagubhai Vaghela on stage at a meeting to express the Asian community's safety concerns in Auckland. Picture / Paul Estcourt
25.08.05
Law and order and immigration are top issues among New Zealand's ethnic communities this election, although a new voter dynamic is emerging among the young, writes
Errol Kiong.
An old scab was ripped open to bleed afresh with the killing of Auckland minimart worker Bhagubhai Vaghela in June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10342302
Global Warming
Federal Judge OKs Global Warming Lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 24, 2005; 9:52 PM
SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.
A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402080.html
Court allows suit linking U.S. aid, global warming
Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:00 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Two environmental groups and four U.S. cities may sue U.S. federal agencies which finance overseas projects which they say contribute to global warming, a federal judge has ruled.
The two federal agencies -- Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States -- had asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss the lawsuit.
It was brought by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the cities of Boulder, Colorado, Santa Monica, California, Oakland, California and Arcata, California.
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-08-25T010105Z_01_N24507450_RTRIDST_0_LIFE-GLOBALWARMING.XML
N.H. still ranks low in efforts to reduce global warming
By COLIN MANNING
:N.H. Statehouse Writer
statehouse@fosters.com
PORTSMOUTH -- New Hampshire is still at the “back of the class” when it comes to its efforts for reducing global warming.
A coalition of environmental groups released its global warming report card on Tuesday with New Hampshire receiving a C-, once again giving the state the dubious distinction of having the lowest grade in New England. While the grade was the lowest of the six New England states, New Hampshire did improve on the previous year's grade of a D+. Meanwhile, Maine had one of the better scores in the region with a B-. It marked a noticeable improvement for Maine which last year received a C.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS0202/50824062/-1/CITIZEN
Global warming: The flaw in the thaw
Campaigners have seized upon the world's shrinking glaciers as proof of global warming. But there is more to it than that, reports Fred Pearce
A SNOW-CAPPED mountain on the equator? "Impossible," declared the learned gentlemen of the Royal Geographical Society in London. In 1848, the Swiss missionary and explorer Johannes Rebmann had become the first European to gaze upon the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro. But when his account reached London, some of the society's members refused to believe him. One even suggested that Rebmann's eyesight must be deficient.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18725141.500
Meteor dust obscures climate change views
By Deborah Smith, Science Editor
August 25, 2005 - 7:16AM
When a meteor the size of a small house exploded with the force of an atomic bomb high above the remote Antarctic coast last year there was no one to witness the fireball or hear the sonic booms.
The nearest people in Antarctica were 900 kilometres away, too distant to observe what would have appeared like a second sun streaking across the cold afternoon sky.
"Only the penguins would have seen it," said Andrew Klekociuk, of the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/meteor-dust-obscures-climate-change-views/2005/08/25/1124562946827.html
Nine states plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:31 PM BST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Officials in nine Northeastern U.S. states have reached a preliminary agreement to cap and then cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 10 percent by 2020, a Delaware official said on Wednesday.
If the agreement is made final, it would be the first of its kind in the United States. The Bush administration has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, a greenhouse gas reduction plan that has been adopted by more than 150 other countries.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-08-24T193155Z_01_DIT422372_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT-EMISSIONS-DC.XML
end
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1580 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal
1609 Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1804 Alice Meynell becomes 1st woman jockey (England)
1825 Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)
1830 Belgium revolts against Netherlands
1835 NY Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel
1862 Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
1862 The Secretary of War authorizes General Rufus Saxton to arm up
to five thousand slaves.
1864 Combination rail & ferry service available from SF to Alameda
1886 Kentucky State College (now University), chartered in May, 1886 as
the State Normal School for Colored Persons and only the second
state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky, is
founded in Frankfort, Kentucky. It will become a land grant
college in 1890.
1886 Some six hundred delegates organize the American National Baptist
Convention at a St. Louis meeting. Rev. William J. Simmons is
elected president.
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
1920 1st US woman to win in Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey)
1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
1927 Althea Gibson is born in Silver, South Carolina. She will grow
up to be a pioneer in the field of tennis, becoming the first
African American to play tennis at the U.S. Open in 1950 and
at Wimbledon the following year. In 1957, she will win the
singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon, another first for an
African American.
1925 A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Sleeping Car Porters' Union
(Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) at a mass meeting in the
Elks' Hall in Harlem. He is elected president.
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1944 Paris liberated from Nazi occupation
1945 Jewish immigrants are permitted to leave Mauritius for Palestine
1946 Ben Hogan wins the PGA championship
1950 Sugar Ray Robinson knocks out Jose Basora to retain the Pennsylvania
Middleweight Title.
1964 Blair Underwood is born. He will become an actor and will star in
"Downtown," and will be best known for his role as "L.A. Law's"
Jonathan Rollins.
1965 James M. Nabrit Jr. is named ambassador and assigned to the
United Nations' delegation.
1967 Paraguay accepts its constitution
1981 Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09)
1981 Mark Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, is sentenced to 20 years
1981 Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km)
1983 Triple A baseball's Louisville breaks 1 million fan mark
1983 US & USSR sign $10 billion grain pact
1988 Challenger Center opens its classroom doors in Houston
1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-214
1989 Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune (0400 GMT)
1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women's record (47'8«")
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
1991 - African Americans receive seven Emmy awards, a record number up to
that time.
Missing in Action
1966 BULLARD WILLIAM H. ELSINORE CA
1967 BOIS CLAIRE RONALD A TUCSON AZ RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1967 JACOBS EDWARD JAMES JR. MT VERNON WA
1967 ZAVOCKY JAMES JOHN PARMA OH RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1968 GREGORY KENNETH R. ALTUS OK 05/26/69 RELEASED
1968 JOHNSON BOBBY L. DETROIT MI 02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 JONES THOMAS N. LYNNVILLE IN 01/01/69 RELEASED
1972 DOYLE MICHAEL W. PHILADELPHIA PA REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85
1972 ENSCH JOHN C. SPRINGFIELD IL 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
The Jerusalem Post
Where to for the evacuees? Not the West Bank
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's Jewish residents have elected to end their settlement enterprise in the lands Israel won in 1967, despite the initial push of the settlement movement to absorb them into West Bank communities.
Amid swelling criticism of its handling of the anti-disengagement struggle, the settlement leadership has backtracked from calling on Gaza evacuees to relocate in West Bank communities, saying now that it "would be cynical to take advantage of them after their loss."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938375659
1,000 families 'have no homes to go to'
By DAN IZENBERG
A leader of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel charged on Tuesday that only 100 of the 1,700 families evacuated from the West Bank and northern Samaria settlements have found permanent housing solutions so far, and that only 700 families have found temporary solutions to tide them over. The other 1,000 have no solutions at all.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124763678519
Dispute deepens over relocation options
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND DANIEL KENNEMER
Decrying the tent cities as an "unnecessary media ploy," the Constructing and Housing Ministry continued to insist Wednesday that there were still numerous housing options for the settlers to choose from.
"They can complain all they want, but the fact is that very few settlers approached us before the disengagement and we are working at a breakneck speed now to meet their needs," said ministry director-general Shmuel Abuav. "You cannot help but be awed by all we have accomplished in the past months."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021447
Manhunt underway for J'lem stabber
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A massive police manhunt was underway Thursday for an Arab man who stabbed 21-year-old British yeshiva student Shmuel Mett to death and seriously wounded a classmate with a large kitchen knife in a terror attack in Jerusalem's Old City.
Mett's funeral will begin at 5 p.m. from his yeshiva.
The Wednesday night attack came just a day after Israel completed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850020015
Pets rescued from empty Gaza homes
By ANAV SILVERMAN
It's not every day that a goose is relocated to a new home, or for that matter hundreds of other dogs, cats, turkeys, chickens, lizards, ducks and parakeets. However, that's exactly what's been happening to animals in Gush Katif, who have not been evacuated by soldiers or police, but rather by volunteer workers in animal protection organizations like Noach and Kol Chai, who have volunteered to save these animals from starvation in the abandoned homes.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021060
Mortar fire in north, Kassams in south
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND JPOST STAFF
Three days after the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip – an operation conducted amidst near-total quiet on the part of the various terror organizations – Israel again found itself under fire.
A mortar shell landed in Moshav Margaliot near the Lebanese border Thursday morning. No one was injured, but a chicken coop sustained damage.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938373544
Important Animals
Campaign for Turtle Eggs Stirs Controversy
By LISA J. ADAMS, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY -- A campaign aimed at halting the illegal consumption of endangered turtles' eggs has run into trouble before it starts, with a women's group asking officials to block public service announcements featuring a scantily clad model.
"My man does not need turtle eggs because he knows they don't make him more potent," Argentine model Dorismar purrs from posters in which she poses alternately in sexy bathing suits, skimpy shorts and an unbuttoned shirt and cowboy hat.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mexico-turtle-controversy,1,5220376.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines
Zoo ready to bid sad farewell to elephants
23/08/2005 - 15:18:02
It’s going to be an emotional farewell for Dublin Zoo’s two popular elephants when they head to a new home in Germany in a few weeks, the zoo’s assistant director said today.
Elephants Judy and Kirsty, who have been at the zoo for a decade, will be moving to Neunkirchen Zoo in western Germany in mid September.
Paul O’Donoghue, Dublin Zoo’s assistant director, said the decision to move the elephants was a difficult one, but the zoo was committed to an elephant breeding programme.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=153521818&p=y535zz5z4
A day at the zoo
By Minna Jacobs
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
As if in a Technicolor dream sequence, we found ourselves walking on jungle-like trails through what felt like tropical heat and perspiration-inducing humidity while gazing at animals that weren't exactly your garden variety.
Beautiful peacocks were strutting right beside us, all the while managing to look much more at home than any of us.
Believe me when I tell you we were doing all that at a very unique birthday party for my great-grandson, Tyler, who changed form 3 to 4 years-old in what seems like the blink of an eye.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/socialcolumn/s_366202.html
Audubon Zoo Clones Wild Cats
Researchers in New Orleans say they have proved cloning can be used to save endangered species.
Two litters of wild cats born in July and August are the offspring of cloned wild cats.
Zoo officials say the eight kittens are doing just fine.
According to scientists at the Audubon Center, this is the first time clones of two wild cats, or any kind of cat for that matter, have been able to reproduce.
The kittens will be on display later this year at the Audubon Zoo.
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3757701
Dog day afternoon at the zoo
By DIANA COZADINOS
Wednesday, 24 August 2005
THEY hoot to communicate and regurgitate food for their young - but Mogo Zoo's newest residents are not birds.
While it's not too often that dogs would be found living amongst the exhibits at any zoo, the rare and endangered Cape Hunting Dogs are far from the average household pet.
Jarsi, Karsi, Biggs and Scar arrived from Perth Zoo with Mogo Zoo owners Sally and Bill Padey, who drove them across the country in just two and a half days.
http://batemansbay.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=418484&y=2005&m=8
Zoo's tortoise gets baseball-sized bladder stone removed
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - A desert tortoise at the San Francisco Zoo is moving more swiftly now after having four bladder stones - one as large as a baseball - removed from his underbelly.
The 40-year-old tortoise named Cactus returned to public display this week after undergoing the surgery, in which veterinarians cut into his shell, removed the bladder stones and resealed the incision using fiberglass.
The stones weighed a little more than a pound - a lot for an animal that normally weighs just eight pounds, and potentially life-threatening at that size if not removed, zoo officials said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/12464327.htm
San Diego Zoo's Panda Cub Is A Girl
Last Updated:
08-24-05 at 4:36PM
After three weeks of wondering, San Diego Zoo officials have announced that the new panda cub is a girl.
Veterinarians got a second look at the cub this week. They say the baby girl now weighs 22 ounces, a gain of nine ounces in just one week.
"The veterinary staff had its suspicions during the cub's first exam last week, but chose to wait one more week to get a second look as the cub continues to develop," according to a zoo statement.
http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.21438.html
ROYAL OAK, Mich., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest member of the ArcticRing of Life, the polar bear cub Talini, has started swimming in the exhibit'slarge ice pack pool. Accompanied by her mother, Barle, the cub is spendingtime learning how to swim in the pool every Sunday.At more than 100 pounds, the polar bear cub is big enough to swim in theArctic Ring of Life's 300,000 gallon saltwater pool in the Ice Pack exhibit.Regular swimming lessons in the large pool will help develop her muscles.Barle and Talini will continue to live separately from the other polar bearsuntil Talini is fully grown, in approximately one year."The polar bear cub has been showing great progress in her development.Her mother has been teaching her all the skills she needs to survive on herown, and we are excited to see her take this next step to adulthood," saidScott Carter, Director of Conservation and Animal Welfare for the DetroitZoological Institute.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-24-2005/0004093614&EDATE=
3 stars join zoo campaign
birthdays of note
Steven Stolen, executive director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, turns 48; former Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller turns 40; and Catt Sadler of WXIN (Channel 59) morning news turns 31 today. On Thursday, Joseph D. Barnette Jr., president of Sexton Cos., will turn 66; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison will turn 33; Sen. Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis, will turn 66; Joe Slash, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Urban League, will turn 62; and Susan W. Brooks, U.S. attorney for Indiana's Southern District, will turn 45.
Actors Harrison Ford and Jane Alexander and businessman/philanthropist Ted Turner are now associated with the Indianapolis Prize.
Indianapolis Zoo officials announced Tuesday the celebrity trio will serve as honorary chairs for the program, which will present a $100,000 prize every other year to an individual who has made significant contributions to animal conservation efforts.
Star power was a tiny part of their appeal. "You can't win the conservation wars we're fighting just by having researchers out in the field," said Indianapolis Zoo CEO Michael Crowther, who added: "They believe in what we are doing."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/COLUMNISTS04/508240451
ONLINE EXTRA: Group condemns private Alberta zoo for allowing patrons to kiss bears
Canadian Press
INNISFAIL, Alta. - A private zoo in central Alberta is under attack for training bears to smooch with visitors while they pose for pictures.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, says letting a brown bear named Ali Oop licks people's faces at the Discovery Wildlife Park is "dangerous and stupid."
The organization also says it's dumb that the zoo allows the bear to strike a scary pose while standing on its hind legs behind visitors while photos are snapped.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12464246.htm
Michael Moore Today
Casey Sheehan's Combat Boots Arrive in Crawford, Texas
U.S. Newswire
Marq Anderson, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) national tour manager, arrives at Camp Casey to return the military combat boots worn in Iraq by fallen U.S. soldier, Casey Sheehan to his grieving mother, Cindy Sheehan, in Crawford, Texas on Thursday, August 25, at 11:30 a.m. EST (10:30 a.m. CST).
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3859
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 18)
-- a message from Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Texas
I got up really early today to head back to Camp Casey. On the way, I had some amazing conversations with people. In one of those conversations, I was talking to Tyler who was sitting next to me on one of the planes. We were not talking about me and what I have been doing. Randomly, he told me he had just been in Texas about an hour north of Crawford. I said: "Wow that's where I am going and that's where I have been all month." He said: "I know I own a television." I thought that was pretty cute.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=468
Anti-Iraq war parents to take protests across nation
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parents of soldiers killed in Iraq plan to follow President George W. Bush around the country in the coming months, hoping to generate nationwide anti-war sentiment after camping out at his Texas ranch.
Through much of August, Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, has stationed herself with other protesters outside Bush's Crawford ranch, garnering international media coverage at a time when more than 1,800 U.S. military have died in the Iraq conflict.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3845
Iraqis Miss Third Constitution Deadline
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The speaker of
Iraq's Parliament announced a one-day extension early Friday in talks on Iraq's new constitution — a fourth attempt to win Sunni Arab approval for the draft.
Hajim al-Hassani, speaking minutes after the midnight deadline, said that after meeting for three days, "we found that time was late and we saw that the matters will need another day in order to reach results that please everyone."
Earlier, however, a Sunni Arab negotiator said Shiites didn't even show up for a late-night meeting, and two Shiite delegates told reporters they saw no reason why the draft presented to the legislature Monday could not be forwarded to the people in a referendum Oct. 15.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AuWRQG0fveNCwAbPp6qCNOCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
One day before crucial vote, fighting breaks out in Najaf
By Hannah Allam and Mohammed al Dulaimy / Knight Ridder
BAGHDAD, Iraq - After months of silence, rebel Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr placed his militiamen on high alert Wednesday and asked his followers in the Iraqi government to suspend their work as Iraq descended into political chaos a day before a crucial vote on its proposed new constitution.
In Najaf, which had been one of Iraq's safest cities and was high on the list of places where U.S. forces could withdraw next year, as many as 24 people died in street fighting between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and a mixture of government forces and the Badr Organization Shiite militia.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3857
A homegrown effort
Columbia residents support Sheehan’s protest with yard vigil
By Candace Phillips / Missourian
Crosses bearing the names of fallen soldiers cover 41 year-old Jamie Walters’ yard as he sits under a blue tent with his friend, Ruth O’Neill. O’Neill’s dog, tied up with a leash, sits at their feet. Behind their tribute to the soldiers is a sign that reads “Camp Casey Columbia.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3858
Pentagon Orders 1,500 More Troops to Iraq
By John J. Lumpkin / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 paratroopers to Iraq to provide security in advance of two upcoming national votes, the military announced Wednesday.
Two infantry battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq before the scheduled Oct. 15 referendum on the proposed constitution, and remain through the December national elections, the Pentagon said in a statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3855
Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Most
By Jennifer Loven / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3853
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Couple mistaken for radical faces backlash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LA HABRA, Calif. -- A couple whose home was wrongly identified on national television as belonging to an Islamic radical has faced harassment, and police are providing special protection.
After the report ran on Fox News on Aug. 7, people have shouted profanities at Randy and Ronnell Vorick and spray-painted "terrorist" (spelling it "terrist") on their property.
"I'm scared to go to work and leave my kids home. I call them every 30 minutes to make sure they're OK," Randy Vorick said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=FBI%20Probe%20House
Indonesian measles outbreak kills five
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A measles outbreak on Indonesia's Sumba island has killed five children and sickened 711 others, UNICEF said Thursday.
The U.N. children's agency, along with the World Health Organization and the government, had launched a vaccination campaign to contain the deadly virus.
It also is planning to vaccinate as many as 200,000 children aged 6 months to 15 years on the island, located about 620 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta, said John Budd, a spokesman for UNICEF.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Indonesia%20Measles
Panel: Academies should address behavior
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Hostile attitudes and inappropriate treatment of women persist at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Naval Academy, a Pentagon task force says.
The panel called for better training of future officers at the academies, saying the value of women in the military should be better emphasized. It said present training regarding sexual harassment and assault issues is inadequate, resulting in misunderstandings by cadets and midshipmen about how to obtain medical care, counseling and legal assistance.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academies%20Sexual%20Assault
Air Force scandal results in reforms
By ROBERT WELLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- As Air Force cadets return to classes this month, they are seeing a new system for handling rape allegations - reforms put in place throughout the military in response to the sex scandal that rocked this prestigious school more than two years ago.
The Defense Department is adding sexual assault response coordinators at every major base around the world. Bases also will have at least one victim's advocate, most of them civilians.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academy%20Sexual%20Assault
Iran said seeks broader nuke negotiations
By NASSER KARIMI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator called for more countries to join the three European states engaged in talks about Tehran's contentious nuclear program, state-run television reported Thursday.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said he welcomed negotiations with all members of the board of governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, plus countries from the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iran%20Nuclear
Fire and water sweep through Europe
By DANICA KIRKA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
VIENNA, Austria -- Fire and floods have engulfed Europe this summer, as a drought in Spain and Portugal transformed swaths of woodland into a massive tinderbox and torrential downpours carved a trail of destruction through Alpine valleys and impoverished Balkan villages.
Entire sections of the Swiss capital, Bern, have been submerged. Blazes flare up even as old ones are snuffed in Portugal and Spain. And dozens have been killed in a third straight summer of extreme European weather that has people asking: Why?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Fire%20and%20Floods
Aid agency said to hide Iraq insurgents
By ARIEL DAVID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ROME -- Italy's Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two Italian aid workers kidnapped last year in Baghdad, an official said in an interview published Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Italy%20Iraq%20Hostages
Rescuers evacuate Switzerland district
By THOMAS BRUNNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERN, Switzerland -- Rescue workers completed an airlift evacuation of a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital Thursday as large parts of central and southern Europe were hit by flooding that killed at least 42 people.
Hardest hit was Romania with 31 victims, many of whom were trapped inside their homes and drowned as torrents of water rushed in. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland reported a total of 11 dead, but numbers were expected to climb as more bodies of the missing are recovered.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Floods
Earth's core spinning faster than crust
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP SCIENCE WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The giant iron ball at the center of the Earth appears to be spinning a bit faster than the rest of the planet.
The solid core that measures about 1,500 miles in diameter is spinning about one-quarter to one-half degree faster, per year, than the rest of the world, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Earthspin
Federal judge OKs global warming lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.
A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Global%20Warming%20Lawsuit
Aruba judge to network: Don't show suspect
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. television network not to broadcast footage from a tour of an Aruban jail that shows the suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
The judge issued the order at the request of an attorney for the suspect, Joran van der Sloot, following a hearing on the Dutch Caribbean island.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/aplatin_story.asp?category=1102&slug=Aruba%20Missing%20Teen
Middle East Times
Iraq battles for charter deal as Shia rivals clash
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi leaders were battling on Thursday to strike an accord on the constitution by a midnight deadline and restore calm after deadly fighting erupted between Shia rivals that could derail the political process.
Negotiators involved in drafting the constitution said that leaders were in intense talks with Sunni Arabs in a last-minute bid to seek their nod for the charter before it goes to parliament for lawmakers' vote.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-092319-5114r
Palestinians dismayed at Israeli plans for settlement
JERUSALEM -- Israel announced plans on Thursday to build a major new police headquarters close to its largest West Bank settlement after kicking up a storm by appropriating Palestinian land for its huge separation barrier.
The plans were made public after Israel removed all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank enclaves, a move that the international community has hoped would pave the way for further pullbacks from Palestinian land.
"The construction project for a police HQ and an access road has obtained all the necessary authorizations and will begin shortly," said a military spokesman responsible for civil affairs in the West Bank.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-090841-3777r
Viewpoint: Time for Hamas to shut up
Youssef M. Ibrahim
August 23, 2005
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The Palestinians are on the verge of a great moment in their history as Israel pulls all its forces and settlers, unilaterally, out of Gaza making this part of Palestine free for the first time since 1948.
Nothing would be more irresponsible than actions to interrupt that historic moment by the various movements, particularly Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, and others like it that are out of control in Palestine.
Attacking the vastly superior Israeli armed forces as they pull out with toy rockets or settlements and villages on the borders with Gaza, or suicide bombers inside the occupied West Bank would be a criminal irresponsible act, in fact suicide for Palestinians.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050823-071101-4618r
Top Al Qaeda operative in Saudi killed in shootout
RIYADH -- Saudi security forces shot dead one of the country's top Al Qaeda leaders in the holy city of Medina Thursday, adding to a toll of the group's successive chiefs gunned down in shootouts.
The clash that killed Saleh Al Ufi coincided with another operation in the north of the capital Riyadh and was the first of its kind since Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz assumed the throne of the oil-rich kingdom this month.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050818-110129-1767r
Iran questions EU-3 role in nuclear negotiations
Aresu Eqbali
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's new hardline nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Thursday challenged the role of Britain, France and Germany as the leaders of diplomatic efforts over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
"Based on what logic and agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have the negotiations been limited and dependent on the three European countries?" Larijani was quoted as saying by state television.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-085835-1266r
Egypt election campaign in full swing
Jean-Marc Mojon
AFP
August 24, 2005
CAIRO -- Egypt's first competitive presidential campaign was in full swing two weeks before the poll, with incumbent Hosni Mubarak pledging fair elections but opposition candidates and rights groups crying foul.
A week after the start of the campaign, there was little sign of great popular fervor as 32 millions voters mulled their choice for the September 7 elections.
The 77-year-old Mubarak, who has been in power for 24 years, has been leading an aggressive campaign, crisscrossing the country to promise 4 million new jobs if reelected and billions of dollars to boost the economy.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-091928-6652r
Brazilian officials voice support for British probe into police shooting
LONDON -- A delegation from Brazil voiced confidence in a British investigation into the fatal shooting of a Brazilian man in London last month and dismissed the suggestion of a police cover-up for now.
The comments came as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said that it would finish a report into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, by the end of the year.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-042446-8538r
Iran judiciary set to close Kazemi case
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's hardline judiciary will soon close the case of murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi and has blocked family lawyers from pressing for a fresh probe, one of the lawyers said on Thursday.
Last July a Tehran court acquitted an intelligence agent accused of giving the journalist a mortal blow to the head while she was in custody two years ago, and family lawyers have set their sights on bringing to justice a judiciary official that they say is the real killer.
"We predict that the defendant will be cleared," Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said of the intelligence agent.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-044421-9146r
Pakistani women candidates defy conservatives
PESHAWAR -- When two men called at Razia Sultana's house late one night to persuade her not to stand in upcoming local elections, it made her more determined to fight.
The 35-year-old is one of thousands of women in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province who are bravely defying an illegal ban on female candidates and voters imposed by Islamic clerics and conservative politicians.
"They came to my house and pressurized me not to stand in the election," she said. "So I told them to bring a letter from President Musharraf saying I couldn't be a candidate, otherwise I would go ahead."
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050817-104207-5869r
continued ...
"Okeydoke"
History
1580 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal
1609 Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1804 Alice Meynell becomes 1st woman jockey (England)
1825 Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)
1830 Belgium revolts against Netherlands
1835 NY Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel
1862 Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
1862 The Secretary of War authorizes General Rufus Saxton to arm up
to five thousand slaves.
1864 Combination rail & ferry service available from SF to Alameda
1886 Kentucky State College (now University), chartered in May, 1886 as
the State Normal School for Colored Persons and only the second
state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky, is
founded in Frankfort, Kentucky. It will become a land grant
college in 1890.
1886 Some six hundred delegates organize the American National Baptist
Convention at a St. Louis meeting. Rev. William J. Simmons is
elected president.
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
1920 1st US woman to win in Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey)
1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
1927 Althea Gibson is born in Silver, South Carolina. She will grow
up to be a pioneer in the field of tennis, becoming the first
African American to play tennis at the U.S. Open in 1950 and
at Wimbledon the following year. In 1957, she will win the
singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon, another first for an
African American.
1925 A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Sleeping Car Porters' Union
(Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) at a mass meeting in the
Elks' Hall in Harlem. He is elected president.
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1944 Paris liberated from Nazi occupation
1945 Jewish immigrants are permitted to leave Mauritius for Palestine
1946 Ben Hogan wins the PGA championship
1950 Sugar Ray Robinson knocks out Jose Basora to retain the Pennsylvania
Middleweight Title.
1964 Blair Underwood is born. He will become an actor and will star in
"Downtown," and will be best known for his role as "L.A. Law's"
Jonathan Rollins.
1965 James M. Nabrit Jr. is named ambassador and assigned to the
United Nations' delegation.
1967 Paraguay accepts its constitution
1981 Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09)
1981 Mark Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, is sentenced to 20 years
1981 Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km)
1983 Triple A baseball's Louisville breaks 1 million fan mark
1983 US & USSR sign $10 billion grain pact
1988 Challenger Center opens its classroom doors in Houston
1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-214
1989 Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune (0400 GMT)
1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women's record (47'8«")
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
1991 - African Americans receive seven Emmy awards, a record number up to
that time.
Missing in Action
1966 BULLARD WILLIAM H. ELSINORE CA
1967 BOIS CLAIRE RONALD A TUCSON AZ RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1967 JACOBS EDWARD JAMES JR. MT VERNON WA
1967 ZAVOCKY JAMES JOHN PARMA OH RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1968 GREGORY KENNETH R. ALTUS OK 05/26/69 RELEASED
1968 JOHNSON BOBBY L. DETROIT MI 02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 JONES THOMAS N. LYNNVILLE IN 01/01/69 RELEASED
1972 DOYLE MICHAEL W. PHILADELPHIA PA REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85
1972 ENSCH JOHN C. SPRINGFIELD IL 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
The Jerusalem Post
Where to for the evacuees? Not the West Bank
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's Jewish residents have elected to end their settlement enterprise in the lands Israel won in 1967, despite the initial push of the settlement movement to absorb them into West Bank communities.
Amid swelling criticism of its handling of the anti-disengagement struggle, the settlement leadership has backtracked from calling on Gaza evacuees to relocate in West Bank communities, saying now that it "would be cynical to take advantage of them after their loss."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938375659
1,000 families 'have no homes to go to'
By DAN IZENBERG
A leader of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel charged on Tuesday that only 100 of the 1,700 families evacuated from the West Bank and northern Samaria settlements have found permanent housing solutions so far, and that only 700 families have found temporary solutions to tide them over. The other 1,000 have no solutions at all.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124763678519
Dispute deepens over relocation options
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND DANIEL KENNEMER
Decrying the tent cities as an "unnecessary media ploy," the Constructing and Housing Ministry continued to insist Wednesday that there were still numerous housing options for the settlers to choose from.
"They can complain all they want, but the fact is that very few settlers approached us before the disengagement and we are working at a breakneck speed now to meet their needs," said ministry director-general Shmuel Abuav. "You cannot help but be awed by all we have accomplished in the past months."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021447
Manhunt underway for J'lem stabber
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A massive police manhunt was underway Thursday for an Arab man who stabbed 21-year-old British yeshiva student Shmuel Mett to death and seriously wounded a classmate with a large kitchen knife in a terror attack in Jerusalem's Old City.
Mett's funeral will begin at 5 p.m. from his yeshiva.
The Wednesday night attack came just a day after Israel completed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850020015
Pets rescued from empty Gaza homes
By ANAV SILVERMAN
It's not every day that a goose is relocated to a new home, or for that matter hundreds of other dogs, cats, turkeys, chickens, lizards, ducks and parakeets. However, that's exactly what's been happening to animals in Gush Katif, who have not been evacuated by soldiers or police, but rather by volunteer workers in animal protection organizations like Noach and Kol Chai, who have volunteered to save these animals from starvation in the abandoned homes.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021060
Mortar fire in north, Kassams in south
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND JPOST STAFF
Three days after the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip – an operation conducted amidst near-total quiet on the part of the various terror organizations – Israel again found itself under fire.
A mortar shell landed in Moshav Margaliot near the Lebanese border Thursday morning. No one was injured, but a chicken coop sustained damage.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938373544
Important Animals
Campaign for Turtle Eggs Stirs Controversy
By LISA J. ADAMS, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY -- A campaign aimed at halting the illegal consumption of endangered turtles' eggs has run into trouble before it starts, with a women's group asking officials to block public service announcements featuring a scantily clad model.
"My man does not need turtle eggs because he knows they don't make him more potent," Argentine model Dorismar purrs from posters in which she poses alternately in sexy bathing suits, skimpy shorts and an unbuttoned shirt and cowboy hat.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mexico-turtle-controversy,1,5220376.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines
Zoo ready to bid sad farewell to elephants
23/08/2005 - 15:18:02
It’s going to be an emotional farewell for Dublin Zoo’s two popular elephants when they head to a new home in Germany in a few weeks, the zoo’s assistant director said today.
Elephants Judy and Kirsty, who have been at the zoo for a decade, will be moving to Neunkirchen Zoo in western Germany in mid September.
Paul O’Donoghue, Dublin Zoo’s assistant director, said the decision to move the elephants was a difficult one, but the zoo was committed to an elephant breeding programme.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=153521818&p=y535zz5z4
A day at the zoo
By Minna Jacobs
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
As if in a Technicolor dream sequence, we found ourselves walking on jungle-like trails through what felt like tropical heat and perspiration-inducing humidity while gazing at animals that weren't exactly your garden variety.
Beautiful peacocks were strutting right beside us, all the while managing to look much more at home than any of us.
Believe me when I tell you we were doing all that at a very unique birthday party for my great-grandson, Tyler, who changed form 3 to 4 years-old in what seems like the blink of an eye.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/socialcolumn/s_366202.html
Audubon Zoo Clones Wild Cats
Researchers in New Orleans say they have proved cloning can be used to save endangered species.
Two litters of wild cats born in July and August are the offspring of cloned wild cats.
Zoo officials say the eight kittens are doing just fine.
According to scientists at the Audubon Center, this is the first time clones of two wild cats, or any kind of cat for that matter, have been able to reproduce.
The kittens will be on display later this year at the Audubon Zoo.
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3757701
Dog day afternoon at the zoo
By DIANA COZADINOS
Wednesday, 24 August 2005
THEY hoot to communicate and regurgitate food for their young - but Mogo Zoo's newest residents are not birds.
While it's not too often that dogs would be found living amongst the exhibits at any zoo, the rare and endangered Cape Hunting Dogs are far from the average household pet.
Jarsi, Karsi, Biggs and Scar arrived from Perth Zoo with Mogo Zoo owners Sally and Bill Padey, who drove them across the country in just two and a half days.
http://batemansbay.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=418484&y=2005&m=8
Zoo's tortoise gets baseball-sized bladder stone removed
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - A desert tortoise at the San Francisco Zoo is moving more swiftly now after having four bladder stones - one as large as a baseball - removed from his underbelly.
The 40-year-old tortoise named Cactus returned to public display this week after undergoing the surgery, in which veterinarians cut into his shell, removed the bladder stones and resealed the incision using fiberglass.
The stones weighed a little more than a pound - a lot for an animal that normally weighs just eight pounds, and potentially life-threatening at that size if not removed, zoo officials said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/12464327.htm
San Diego Zoo's Panda Cub Is A Girl
Last Updated:
08-24-05 at 4:36PM
After three weeks of wondering, San Diego Zoo officials have announced that the new panda cub is a girl.
Veterinarians got a second look at the cub this week. They say the baby girl now weighs 22 ounces, a gain of nine ounces in just one week.
"The veterinary staff had its suspicions during the cub's first exam last week, but chose to wait one more week to get a second look as the cub continues to develop," according to a zoo statement.
http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.21438.html
ROYAL OAK, Mich., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest member of the ArcticRing of Life, the polar bear cub Talini, has started swimming in the exhibit'slarge ice pack pool. Accompanied by her mother, Barle, the cub is spendingtime learning how to swim in the pool every Sunday.At more than 100 pounds, the polar bear cub is big enough to swim in theArctic Ring of Life's 300,000 gallon saltwater pool in the Ice Pack exhibit.Regular swimming lessons in the large pool will help develop her muscles.Barle and Talini will continue to live separately from the other polar bearsuntil Talini is fully grown, in approximately one year."The polar bear cub has been showing great progress in her development.Her mother has been teaching her all the skills she needs to survive on herown, and we are excited to see her take this next step to adulthood," saidScott Carter, Director of Conservation and Animal Welfare for the DetroitZoological Institute.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-24-2005/0004093614&EDATE=
3 stars join zoo campaign
birthdays of note
Steven Stolen, executive director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, turns 48; former Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller turns 40; and Catt Sadler of WXIN (Channel 59) morning news turns 31 today. On Thursday, Joseph D. Barnette Jr., president of Sexton Cos., will turn 66; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison will turn 33; Sen. Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis, will turn 66; Joe Slash, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Urban League, will turn 62; and Susan W. Brooks, U.S. attorney for Indiana's Southern District, will turn 45.
Actors Harrison Ford and Jane Alexander and businessman/philanthropist Ted Turner are now associated with the Indianapolis Prize.
Indianapolis Zoo officials announced Tuesday the celebrity trio will serve as honorary chairs for the program, which will present a $100,000 prize every other year to an individual who has made significant contributions to animal conservation efforts.
Star power was a tiny part of their appeal. "You can't win the conservation wars we're fighting just by having researchers out in the field," said Indianapolis Zoo CEO Michael Crowther, who added: "They believe in what we are doing."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/COLUMNISTS04/508240451
ONLINE EXTRA: Group condemns private Alberta zoo for allowing patrons to kiss bears
Canadian Press
INNISFAIL, Alta. - A private zoo in central Alberta is under attack for training bears to smooch with visitors while they pose for pictures.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, says letting a brown bear named Ali Oop licks people's faces at the Discovery Wildlife Park is "dangerous and stupid."
The organization also says it's dumb that the zoo allows the bear to strike a scary pose while standing on its hind legs behind visitors while photos are snapped.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12464246.htm
Michael Moore Today
Casey Sheehan's Combat Boots Arrive in Crawford, Texas
U.S. Newswire
Marq Anderson, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) national tour manager, arrives at Camp Casey to return the military combat boots worn in Iraq by fallen U.S. soldier, Casey Sheehan to his grieving mother, Cindy Sheehan, in Crawford, Texas on Thursday, August 25, at 11:30 a.m. EST (10:30 a.m. CST).
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3859
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 18)
-- a message from Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Texas
I got up really early today to head back to Camp Casey. On the way, I had some amazing conversations with people. In one of those conversations, I was talking to Tyler who was sitting next to me on one of the planes. We were not talking about me and what I have been doing. Randomly, he told me he had just been in Texas about an hour north of Crawford. I said: "Wow that's where I am going and that's where I have been all month." He said: "I know I own a television." I thought that was pretty cute.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=468
Anti-Iraq war parents to take protests across nation
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parents of soldiers killed in Iraq plan to follow President George W. Bush around the country in the coming months, hoping to generate nationwide anti-war sentiment after camping out at his Texas ranch.
Through much of August, Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, has stationed herself with other protesters outside Bush's Crawford ranch, garnering international media coverage at a time when more than 1,800 U.S. military have died in the Iraq conflict.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3845
Iraqis Miss Third Constitution Deadline
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The speaker of
Iraq's Parliament announced a one-day extension early Friday in talks on Iraq's new constitution — a fourth attempt to win Sunni Arab approval for the draft.
Hajim al-Hassani, speaking minutes after the midnight deadline, said that after meeting for three days, "we found that time was late and we saw that the matters will need another day in order to reach results that please everyone."
Earlier, however, a Sunni Arab negotiator said Shiites didn't even show up for a late-night meeting, and two Shiite delegates told reporters they saw no reason why the draft presented to the legislature Monday could not be forwarded to the people in a referendum Oct. 15.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AuWRQG0fveNCwAbPp6qCNOCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
One day before crucial vote, fighting breaks out in Najaf
By Hannah Allam and Mohammed al Dulaimy / Knight Ridder
BAGHDAD, Iraq - After months of silence, rebel Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr placed his militiamen on high alert Wednesday and asked his followers in the Iraqi government to suspend their work as Iraq descended into political chaos a day before a crucial vote on its proposed new constitution.
In Najaf, which had been one of Iraq's safest cities and was high on the list of places where U.S. forces could withdraw next year, as many as 24 people died in street fighting between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and a mixture of government forces and the Badr Organization Shiite militia.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3857
A homegrown effort
Columbia residents support Sheehan’s protest with yard vigil
By Candace Phillips / Missourian
Crosses bearing the names of fallen soldiers cover 41 year-old Jamie Walters’ yard as he sits under a blue tent with his friend, Ruth O’Neill. O’Neill’s dog, tied up with a leash, sits at their feet. Behind their tribute to the soldiers is a sign that reads “Camp Casey Columbia.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3858
Pentagon Orders 1,500 More Troops to Iraq
By John J. Lumpkin / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 paratroopers to Iraq to provide security in advance of two upcoming national votes, the military announced Wednesday.
Two infantry battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq before the scheduled Oct. 15 referendum on the proposed constitution, and remain through the December national elections, the Pentagon said in a statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3855
Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Most
By Jennifer Loven / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3853
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Couple mistaken for radical faces backlash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LA HABRA, Calif. -- A couple whose home was wrongly identified on national television as belonging to an Islamic radical has faced harassment, and police are providing special protection.
After the report ran on Fox News on Aug. 7, people have shouted profanities at Randy and Ronnell Vorick and spray-painted "terrorist" (spelling it "terrist") on their property.
"I'm scared to go to work and leave my kids home. I call them every 30 minutes to make sure they're OK," Randy Vorick said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=FBI%20Probe%20House
Indonesian measles outbreak kills five
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A measles outbreak on Indonesia's Sumba island has killed five children and sickened 711 others, UNICEF said Thursday.
The U.N. children's agency, along with the World Health Organization and the government, had launched a vaccination campaign to contain the deadly virus.
It also is planning to vaccinate as many as 200,000 children aged 6 months to 15 years on the island, located about 620 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta, said John Budd, a spokesman for UNICEF.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Indonesia%20Measles
Panel: Academies should address behavior
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Hostile attitudes and inappropriate treatment of women persist at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Naval Academy, a Pentagon task force says.
The panel called for better training of future officers at the academies, saying the value of women in the military should be better emphasized. It said present training regarding sexual harassment and assault issues is inadequate, resulting in misunderstandings by cadets and midshipmen about how to obtain medical care, counseling and legal assistance.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academies%20Sexual%20Assault
Air Force scandal results in reforms
By ROBERT WELLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- As Air Force cadets return to classes this month, they are seeing a new system for handling rape allegations - reforms put in place throughout the military in response to the sex scandal that rocked this prestigious school more than two years ago.
The Defense Department is adding sexual assault response coordinators at every major base around the world. Bases also will have at least one victim's advocate, most of them civilians.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academy%20Sexual%20Assault
Iran said seeks broader nuke negotiations
By NASSER KARIMI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator called for more countries to join the three European states engaged in talks about Tehran's contentious nuclear program, state-run television reported Thursday.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said he welcomed negotiations with all members of the board of governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, plus countries from the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iran%20Nuclear
Fire and water sweep through Europe
By DANICA KIRKA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
VIENNA, Austria -- Fire and floods have engulfed Europe this summer, as a drought in Spain and Portugal transformed swaths of woodland into a massive tinderbox and torrential downpours carved a trail of destruction through Alpine valleys and impoverished Balkan villages.
Entire sections of the Swiss capital, Bern, have been submerged. Blazes flare up even as old ones are snuffed in Portugal and Spain. And dozens have been killed in a third straight summer of extreme European weather that has people asking: Why?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Fire%20and%20Floods
Aid agency said to hide Iraq insurgents
By ARIEL DAVID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ROME -- Italy's Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two Italian aid workers kidnapped last year in Baghdad, an official said in an interview published Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Italy%20Iraq%20Hostages
Rescuers evacuate Switzerland district
By THOMAS BRUNNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERN, Switzerland -- Rescue workers completed an airlift evacuation of a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital Thursday as large parts of central and southern Europe were hit by flooding that killed at least 42 people.
Hardest hit was Romania with 31 victims, many of whom were trapped inside their homes and drowned as torrents of water rushed in. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland reported a total of 11 dead, but numbers were expected to climb as more bodies of the missing are recovered.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Floods
Earth's core spinning faster than crust
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP SCIENCE WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The giant iron ball at the center of the Earth appears to be spinning a bit faster than the rest of the planet.
The solid core that measures about 1,500 miles in diameter is spinning about one-quarter to one-half degree faster, per year, than the rest of the world, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Earthspin
Federal judge OKs global warming lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.
A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Global%20Warming%20Lawsuit
Aruba judge to network: Don't show suspect
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. television network not to broadcast footage from a tour of an Aruban jail that shows the suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
The judge issued the order at the request of an attorney for the suspect, Joran van der Sloot, following a hearing on the Dutch Caribbean island.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/aplatin_story.asp?category=1102&slug=Aruba%20Missing%20Teen
Middle East Times
Iraq battles for charter deal as Shia rivals clash
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi leaders were battling on Thursday to strike an accord on the constitution by a midnight deadline and restore calm after deadly fighting erupted between Shia rivals that could derail the political process.
Negotiators involved in drafting the constitution said that leaders were in intense talks with Sunni Arabs in a last-minute bid to seek their nod for the charter before it goes to parliament for lawmakers' vote.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-092319-5114r
Palestinians dismayed at Israeli plans for settlement
JERUSALEM -- Israel announced plans on Thursday to build a major new police headquarters close to its largest West Bank settlement after kicking up a storm by appropriating Palestinian land for its huge separation barrier.
The plans were made public after Israel removed all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank enclaves, a move that the international community has hoped would pave the way for further pullbacks from Palestinian land.
"The construction project for a police HQ and an access road has obtained all the necessary authorizations and will begin shortly," said a military spokesman responsible for civil affairs in the West Bank.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-090841-3777r
Viewpoint: Time for Hamas to shut up
Youssef M. Ibrahim
August 23, 2005
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The Palestinians are on the verge of a great moment in their history as Israel pulls all its forces and settlers, unilaterally, out of Gaza making this part of Palestine free for the first time since 1948.
Nothing would be more irresponsible than actions to interrupt that historic moment by the various movements, particularly Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, and others like it that are out of control in Palestine.
Attacking the vastly superior Israeli armed forces as they pull out with toy rockets or settlements and villages on the borders with Gaza, or suicide bombers inside the occupied West Bank would be a criminal irresponsible act, in fact suicide for Palestinians.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050823-071101-4618r
Top Al Qaeda operative in Saudi killed in shootout
RIYADH -- Saudi security forces shot dead one of the country's top Al Qaeda leaders in the holy city of Medina Thursday, adding to a toll of the group's successive chiefs gunned down in shootouts.
The clash that killed Saleh Al Ufi coincided with another operation in the north of the capital Riyadh and was the first of its kind since Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz assumed the throne of the oil-rich kingdom this month.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050818-110129-1767r
Iran questions EU-3 role in nuclear negotiations
Aresu Eqbali
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's new hardline nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Thursday challenged the role of Britain, France and Germany as the leaders of diplomatic efforts over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
"Based on what logic and agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have the negotiations been limited and dependent on the three European countries?" Larijani was quoted as saying by state television.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-085835-1266r
Egypt election campaign in full swing
Jean-Marc Mojon
AFP
August 24, 2005
CAIRO -- Egypt's first competitive presidential campaign was in full swing two weeks before the poll, with incumbent Hosni Mubarak pledging fair elections but opposition candidates and rights groups crying foul.
A week after the start of the campaign, there was little sign of great popular fervor as 32 millions voters mulled their choice for the September 7 elections.
The 77-year-old Mubarak, who has been in power for 24 years, has been leading an aggressive campaign, crisscrossing the country to promise 4 million new jobs if reelected and billions of dollars to boost the economy.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-091928-6652r
Brazilian officials voice support for British probe into police shooting
LONDON -- A delegation from Brazil voiced confidence in a British investigation into the fatal shooting of a Brazilian man in London last month and dismissed the suggestion of a police cover-up for now.
The comments came as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said that it would finish a report into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, by the end of the year.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-042446-8538r
Iran judiciary set to close Kazemi case
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's hardline judiciary will soon close the case of murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi and has blocked family lawyers from pressing for a fresh probe, one of the lawyers said on Thursday.
Last July a Tehran court acquitted an intelligence agent accused of giving the journalist a mortal blow to the head while she was in custody two years ago, and family lawyers have set their sights on bringing to justice a judiciary official that they say is the real killer.
"We predict that the defendant will be cleared," Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said of the intelligence agent.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-044421-9146r
Pakistani women candidates defy conservatives
PESHAWAR -- When two men called at Razia Sultana's house late one night to persuade her not to stand in upcoming local elections, it made her more determined to fight.
The 35-year-old is one of thousands of women in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province who are bravely defying an illegal ban on female candidates and voters imposed by Islamic clerics and conservative politicians.
"They came to my house and pressurized me not to stand in the election," she said. "So I told them to bring a letter from President Musharraf saying I couldn't be a candidate, otherwise I would go ahead."
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050817-104207-5869r
continued ...
August 25, 2005. APPEALING FOR CALM: Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr speaks with journalists at his office in Najaf as fighting is taking place in the early hours of August 25. Supporters of Sadr opposed to a new, US-backed constitution clashed with police and rival militias in Baghdad and other cities overnight.
Morning Papers - continued...
Cheney Observer
China's CNPC H1 oil exploration discoveries at 300 mln tons - report
08.23.2005, 11:13 PM
BEIJING (AFX) - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the parent company of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina, discovered oil reserves of 300 mln tons and gas reserves of at least 150 bln cubic meters in the first half of this year, the China Daily reported, citing a company official.
The official, who did not want to be identified, added that CNPC plans to invest some 153.5 bln yuan this year in domestic oil and gas exploitation.
He said discoveries included 200 mln tons of oil in the Jidong field of Bohai Bay Basin and 100 mln cu m of natural gas in the Songliao Basin in northeast China.
CNPC also expects oil reserves in Zhoufeng in the Ordos Basin in northwestern China to jump by some 100 mln tons by the end of this year, the official said.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/08/23/afx2189877.html
Venezuela's Chavez Squeezes Oil Companies With Taxes
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- On July 14 in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuelan government tax auditors and a prosecutor went to the offices of Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company.
They seized boxes of records to build a case that San Ramon, California-based Chevron and 21 other energy companies owe Venezuela $3 billion in back taxes. The raid is part of President Hugo Chavez's push to squeeze more money out of foreign companies that want to pump oil from the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=a3z63_HrIvtc
Ecuador oil protesters see Wednesday settlement
24 Aug 2005 04:34:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates with deal expected on Wednesday)
By Hugh Bronstein
QUITO, Ecuador, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Ecuador oil protesters, whose attacks choked off petroleum exports from the country, said they expect to sign a deal with private energy companies on Wednesday, bringing the crisis to an end.
The activists crippled Ecuador's oil industry last week and helped jack up global petroleum prices by dynamiting pipelines and vandalizing pumping equipment at installations of state oil firm Petroecuador in the eastern part of the country.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23560705.htm
Oil prices above 66 usd in Asian trading ahead of US petroleum stocks report
08.24.2005, 12:33 AM
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Oil prices surged above 66 usd a barrel in Asian trade as the market awaited the weekly petroleum inventory report from the US.
At 10.40 am (0240 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was trading at 66.18 usd a barrel, up 47 cents from its close of 65.71 usd in the US overnight.
The US Department of Energy is expected to release the weekly inventory report later today amid expectations it would show a rise in crude stocks.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/08/23/afx2189900.html
'Oil derivatives export fetches $2.4 bln for Iran'
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, August 24 (IranMania) - Iran earned an estimated $2 bln and 400 mln in the five months from March 21 by exporting 8 mln and 2 thousand tons of oil derivatives, said a senior official.
Deputy Head of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Hojatollah Ghanimifard told IRNA that the increase in revenue was due to higher crude prices on the international markets in the said period.
Ghanimifard said diesel, kerosene, kiln oil, naphtha and gas condensates were among the items exported in the period under study. He added that during this period, kiln oil followed by gas condensates were the two top exported items in this category, while kerosene was at the bottom of the list.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=34699&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
PetroChina, China's biggest state-owned oil firm, says first-half profit up 36%
Canadian Press
August 24, 2005
HONG KONG (AP) - PetroChina Co., China's biggest state-owned oil firm, said Wednesday its first-half net profit rose 36 per cent, spurred by higher oil prices.
The Chinese company - whose parent firm recently reached an agreement to buy a major Canadian oil producer in Kazakhstan - said net profit for the six months that ended June 30 totalled 61.6 billion yuan ($7.6 billion US), up from 45.28 billion yuan ($5.58 billion US) in the same period last year.
First-half revenue rose to 252.5 billion yuan from 178.4 billion yuan in the first six months of 2004, the firm said.
http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=edf38bc3-7f2b-496e-b912-710e8976765b
Crude Oil Reaches $68 as Storm Threatens Gulf of Mexico Output
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a record $68 a barrel in New York on concern that a storm may disrupt output in the Gulf of Mexico, where 30 percent of U.S. oil is produced.
Tropical Storm Katrina is forecast to reach hurricane strength before crossing Florida on Aug. 26 and moving into the U.S. Gulf, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. Last year prices jumped at least $10 a barrel, or 22 percent, in the month after Ivan, a category-4 hurricane, swept through the area, cutting production and damaging rigs.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=a7.dQRqYS6Ws&refer=home
Ecuador oil protesters threaten hunger strike
Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:55 AM BST
By Hugh Bronstein
QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Protesters whose attacks have choked off Ecuadorean oil exports threatened on Wednesday to launch a hunger strike to pressure the government to grant them immunity, marking a setback in settlement talks.
The activists, who want private energy companies to invest more in the poor Amazon communities where they operate, crippled Ecuador's oil industry last week and helped push up global petroleum prices by dynamiting pipelines and vandalising pumping equipment belonging to the state oil firm Petroecuador.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-08-25T005524Z_01_ROB503266_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ECUADOR.xml
Oil: Prices hit record on storm, petrol supply
25.08.05 8.40am
NEW YORK - Oil prices surged more than 2 per cent to break a record on Wednesday after an unexpected drop in US petrol stocks added to worries that a gathering Caribbean storm could damage US oil production platforms.
News Iran's parliament had thrown out the new president's choice for oil minister added to the market's uncertainty and drew a big question mark over oil policy in Opec's second-biggest producer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10342392
U.S. Stocks Fall on Record Oil; S&P 500 Erases 2005 Advance
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks dropped to six-week lows, erasing the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's gain for the year, as crude-oil prices rose above $67 a barrel to a record.
Oil's advance wiped out a rally sparked by an unexpected increase in new home sales. Caterpillar Inc. and United Technologies Corp. fell after the government reported the biggest decline in durable-goods orders in 18 months.
``It's not oil at new records by itself any more, it's oil with economic numbers substantiating the impact that oil's having on the economy,'' said John Twomey, head of trading at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. in an interview in New York. ``That's creating some nervousness'' in the market.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aho0giB.T2ss&refer=news_index
Kyrgyz Finance Ministry to receive 247 thousand US dollars from Islamic Development Bank as a grant
- Islamic Development Bank approved allocation of 247 thousand US dollars as the annual technical help (grant) to Kyrgyz Finance Ministry for the strengthening of potential, the press-service of Kyrgyz Finance Ministry reported.
Project of the strengthening of potential of Kyrgyz Finance Ministry is directed on strengthening of management and coordination of activity concerning the future and current investments to Kyrgyz economy.
http://www.akipress.com/_en_news.php?id=13913
Uzbek prosecutors say Uzbek refugees in Romania include terrorists
- Terrorists are among the Uzbek refugees a UN body sent to Romania from Kyrgyzstan in late July after bloodshed in their homeland, the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan said Thursday.
According to prosecutors, some of the 439 refugees the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sent from the neighboring Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan to Europe were involved in the May 13 uprising in the border city Andijan, which officially claimed 176 lives.
Prosecutors said they were suspected terrorists and criminals who were thought to have attacked police and security offices, a military unit and a prison in Andijan, freed the inmates and seized the building of the regional administration in the disturbances.
The statement cited the Uzbek police as saying that although the majority of weapons and ammunition used in the disturbances had been recovered, 26 automatic rifles, 50 pistols, three machineguns, 106 grenades, 47 knives-bayonets and thousands of cartridges were still missing.
"There is no guarantee that these 'peaceful refugees,' who are so passionately defended by some Western countries and international organizations, will not commit new terrorist attacks not only in Central Asia but in other parts of the world, now that they have such a large arsenal, which would be enough to organize several 'peaceful protests' like the one in Andijan," the statement said.
The prosecutors also said the Uzbek citizens had been sent from Kyrgyzstan to Romania as refugees under pressure from the West and some international organizations.
http://www.akipress.com/_en_news.php?id=13917
Pennsylvania Candidate Lies Low in Race
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
August 24, 2005, 10:57 PM EDT
ASPINWALL, Pa. -- Determined to take down conservative Sen. Rick Santorum, Democrats recruited a candidate who resembles him in many ways.
Like Santorum, Bob Casey Jr. is Roman Catholic, fortysomething and opposed to abortion.
But Casey is nowhere near as outspoken as Santorum, and that appears to be helping him the most in a race that is sure to be one of the most expensive and hard-fought elections in 2006.
Casey has produced better early poll numbers by largely remaining out of the spotlight this summer, leaving Santorum to do the talking -- and writing.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-pennsylvania-senate,0,239674.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
The Gas-Guzzler Relief Act
Jonathan Fahey, 08.24.05, 7:56 AM ET
NEW YORK - The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's elaborate proposal to update the 30-year-old regulations that govern the fuel economy of U.S. pickups, minivans and SUVs released yesterday may or may not end up make the United States less thirsty for oil. But it was clearly designed to help out the automakers most thirsty for profits, the struggling General Motors and Ford Motor.
http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/08/24/autos-fuel-cafe-cz_jf_0824fuel.html
Hatfield are Bush-wacked
24 August 2005
Herts Senior County League
Bushey Rangers 4 Hatfield Town 1
HATFIELD'S league campaign got off to an abysmal start with a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Bushey Rangers.
Saturday's dismal performance at the Moatfield has left them second from bottom in the Herts Senior County Premier League.
It's very early days but Hatfield will have to bounce straight back if they don't want to find themselves in a losing rut.
http://www.herts24.co.uk/content/whtimes/sport/story.aspx?brand=WHTOnline&category=sportfootball&tBrand=herts24&tCategory=sportwhtnew&itemid=WEED24%20Aug%202005%2010%3A42%3A37%3A053
Ex-Halliburton worker pleads guilty to bribes
Mon Aug 22, 4:24 PM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A former Halliburton Co. worker pleaded guilty late last week to taking more than $110,000 in bribes from an Iraqi company in 2004 and defrauding the United States, court documents showed.
The man, Glenn Allen Powell, is facing up to 20 years in prison plus a $1.25 million fine for the crimes, which he committed while working for Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction unit, the U.S. government's largest private contractor in
Iraq.
According to his plea agreement filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Rock Island, Illinois, Powell admitted to taking a kickback from the company, which was not named, in exchange for securing a $609,000 contract for it to renovate a warehouse in Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050822/pl_nm/energy_halliburton_dc
Teams seeking LANL job set for interviews
By ANDY LENDERMAN The New Mexican
August 24, 2005
Both teams seeking to take over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory are scheduled to meet next week with government officials for a series of interviews .
Rod Geer, a spokesman for the team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the University of Texas system, said his team is preparing to answer questions by the National Nuclear Security Administration's Source Evaluation Board.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/31656.html
Backing for Jeb Bush Stable in Florida
CREDIT: Flag courtesy of ITA’s Flags of All Countries used
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in Florida are satisfied with Jeb Bush, according to a poll by Strategic Vision. 55 per cent of respondents in the Sunshine State approve of the governor’s performance.
Bush—a Republican—was first elected in November 1998. In 2002, he defeated Democrat Bill McBride with 56 per cent of the vote. Bush cannot seek a third consecutive term in office.
The number of Floridians who think their governor should launch a bid for the White House decreased for the second consecutive month. 33 per cent of respondents say they would like to see Jeb Bush run for president, down seven points since June.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8664
BUSH REGIME ROTTEN TO THE CORE
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- A storm of anti-war protests and sentiment is sweeping across the nation. Finally, reality and truth are trumping President George W. Bush's lies. Even the perpetual propaganda machine of the corporate media can no longer manufacture consent for Bush's monstrously bad policies and decisions.
A storm of anti-war protests and sentiment is sweeping While most Americans work and struggle with lower wages, a sputtering economy and rising gas prices, Bush still basks in the Texas sun in his long summer of content. He prefers isolation and deliberate disconnection from
the grim evidence of his wholesale failures.
Cindy Sheehan has left the vigil outside Bush's ranch to care for her ailing mother. But others are in her place, reminding the world that Bush will never admit his responsibility for the war in Iraq, its failure and the death of Sheehan's son Casey and more than 1,800 other Americans.
The Busheviks consider Sheehan's witness to the tragedy of the senseless war as an irritant, a PR problem that will fade in time. They've used the usual suspects of right-wing indecency -- Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity -- to do their dirty work. Those who question the war must be silenced at best, or at least discredited and vilified.
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher227.html
Rove behavior: Could it be Bush's Watergate?
Thomas Pauken. Smirking Chimp
August 22, 2005
KARL Rove's favorite president is Richard Nixon. What a twist of fate it would be if Rove were driven from power as Nixon was over what both men would consider trivial matters — the leaking of a CIA employee's name to reporters by Rove in 2004, and the Watergate break-in of the Democratic headquarters at the instigation of Nixon campaign officials in 1972.
Just as it was not the Watergate break-in per se (but the subsequent cover-up) that brought Nixon down, so it may be that what Rove said and did after the fact will prove his undoing.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m14962&l=i&size=1&hd=0
White House Week
You Know, You Can't Keep A Good Boy Genius Down
The recent controversy swirling around Karl Rove hasn't slowed him a bit. That's according to White House insiders who say Bush's political boy genius is as engaged as ever in high-level decision making despite all the attacks by angry Democrats alleging he improperly--and possibly illegally--outed a covert CIA operative. Rove was a key player behind the recently passed transportation and energy bills, and now he's planning Bush's fall agenda, which will include a renewed push for Social Security overhaul, changes in immigration law, and tax restructuring. Says a White House insider who talks to Rove regularly, "He is as instrumental as he ever was."
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050829/29whitehouse.htm
Plame in the Courtroom
Rumors and leaks continue to swirl around the case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame and the various journalists and Bush "senior administration officials" believed to be involved in some fashion in her outing. Whole forests have undoubtedly been pulped for the endless flood of summer stories about the Plame case and yet something has been missing. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, the law against outing a CIA operative under which Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was, in essence, called into existence, is rarely discussed in any serious way -- and then at best only in a passing paragraph or two deep in any story. And yet a media/punditry consensus has formed that it is a law so specifically, even quirkily, written as to be almost impossible to use in a prosecution (hopeless, in fact, against a figure like Karl Rove or Vice President Cheney's right-hand man I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby); and that Special Counsel Fitzgerald has already turned away from the law, moving on to more conceivable avenues of prosecution -- like obstruction of justice.
http://www.nowpublic.com/node/16782
What Now, Karl?
Rove and Ashcroft face new allegations in the Valerie Plame affair
by Murray Waas
August 13th, 2005 2:39 PM
Rove consulted on three of Ashcroft’s political campaigns, earning $746,000.
photo: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
Murray Waas will be writing more about the latest in the Plame affair at www.whateveralready.blogspot.com.
Justice Department officials made the crucial decision in late 2003 to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame in large part because investigators had begun to specifically question the veracity of accounts provided to them by White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to senior law enforcement officials.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/index.php?issue=0533&page=waasweb1&id=66861&cid=2
continued ...
China's CNPC H1 oil exploration discoveries at 300 mln tons - report
08.23.2005, 11:13 PM
BEIJING (AFX) - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the parent company of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina, discovered oil reserves of 300 mln tons and gas reserves of at least 150 bln cubic meters in the first half of this year, the China Daily reported, citing a company official.
The official, who did not want to be identified, added that CNPC plans to invest some 153.5 bln yuan this year in domestic oil and gas exploitation.
He said discoveries included 200 mln tons of oil in the Jidong field of Bohai Bay Basin and 100 mln cu m of natural gas in the Songliao Basin in northeast China.
CNPC also expects oil reserves in Zhoufeng in the Ordos Basin in northwestern China to jump by some 100 mln tons by the end of this year, the official said.
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/08/23/afx2189877.html
Venezuela's Chavez Squeezes Oil Companies With Taxes
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- On July 14 in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuelan government tax auditors and a prosecutor went to the offices of Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company.
They seized boxes of records to build a case that San Ramon, California-based Chevron and 21 other energy companies owe Venezuela $3 billion in back taxes. The raid is part of President Hugo Chavez's push to squeeze more money out of foreign companies that want to pump oil from the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=a3z63_HrIvtc
Ecuador oil protesters see Wednesday settlement
24 Aug 2005 04:34:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates with deal expected on Wednesday)
By Hugh Bronstein
QUITO, Ecuador, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Ecuador oil protesters, whose attacks choked off petroleum exports from the country, said they expect to sign a deal with private energy companies on Wednesday, bringing the crisis to an end.
The activists crippled Ecuador's oil industry last week and helped jack up global petroleum prices by dynamiting pipelines and vandalizing pumping equipment at installations of state oil firm Petroecuador in the eastern part of the country.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23560705.htm
Oil prices above 66 usd in Asian trading ahead of US petroleum stocks report
08.24.2005, 12:33 AM
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Oil prices surged above 66 usd a barrel in Asian trade as the market awaited the weekly petroleum inventory report from the US.
At 10.40 am (0240 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was trading at 66.18 usd a barrel, up 47 cents from its close of 65.71 usd in the US overnight.
The US Department of Energy is expected to release the weekly inventory report later today amid expectations it would show a rise in crude stocks.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/08/23/afx2189900.html
'Oil derivatives export fetches $2.4 bln for Iran'
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, August 24 (IranMania) - Iran earned an estimated $2 bln and 400 mln in the five months from March 21 by exporting 8 mln and 2 thousand tons of oil derivatives, said a senior official.
Deputy Head of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Hojatollah Ghanimifard told IRNA that the increase in revenue was due to higher crude prices on the international markets in the said period.
Ghanimifard said diesel, kerosene, kiln oil, naphtha and gas condensates were among the items exported in the period under study. He added that during this period, kiln oil followed by gas condensates were the two top exported items in this category, while kerosene was at the bottom of the list.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=34699&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
PetroChina, China's biggest state-owned oil firm, says first-half profit up 36%
Canadian Press
August 24, 2005
HONG KONG (AP) - PetroChina Co., China's biggest state-owned oil firm, said Wednesday its first-half net profit rose 36 per cent, spurred by higher oil prices.
The Chinese company - whose parent firm recently reached an agreement to buy a major Canadian oil producer in Kazakhstan - said net profit for the six months that ended June 30 totalled 61.6 billion yuan ($7.6 billion US), up from 45.28 billion yuan ($5.58 billion US) in the same period last year.
First-half revenue rose to 252.5 billion yuan from 178.4 billion yuan in the first six months of 2004, the firm said.
http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=edf38bc3-7f2b-496e-b912-710e8976765b
Crude Oil Reaches $68 as Storm Threatens Gulf of Mexico Output
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a record $68 a barrel in New York on concern that a storm may disrupt output in the Gulf of Mexico, where 30 percent of U.S. oil is produced.
Tropical Storm Katrina is forecast to reach hurricane strength before crossing Florida on Aug. 26 and moving into the U.S. Gulf, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. Last year prices jumped at least $10 a barrel, or 22 percent, in the month after Ivan, a category-4 hurricane, swept through the area, cutting production and damaging rigs.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=a7.dQRqYS6Ws&refer=home
Ecuador oil protesters threaten hunger strike
Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:55 AM BST
By Hugh Bronstein
QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Protesters whose attacks have choked off Ecuadorean oil exports threatened on Wednesday to launch a hunger strike to pressure the government to grant them immunity, marking a setback in settlement talks.
The activists, who want private energy companies to invest more in the poor Amazon communities where they operate, crippled Ecuador's oil industry last week and helped push up global petroleum prices by dynamiting pipelines and vandalising pumping equipment belonging to the state oil firm Petroecuador.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-08-25T005524Z_01_ROB503266_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ECUADOR.xml
Oil: Prices hit record on storm, petrol supply
25.08.05 8.40am
NEW YORK - Oil prices surged more than 2 per cent to break a record on Wednesday after an unexpected drop in US petrol stocks added to worries that a gathering Caribbean storm could damage US oil production platforms.
News Iran's parliament had thrown out the new president's choice for oil minister added to the market's uncertainty and drew a big question mark over oil policy in Opec's second-biggest producer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10342392
U.S. Stocks Fall on Record Oil; S&P 500 Erases 2005 Advance
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks dropped to six-week lows, erasing the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's gain for the year, as crude-oil prices rose above $67 a barrel to a record.
Oil's advance wiped out a rally sparked by an unexpected increase in new home sales. Caterpillar Inc. and United Technologies Corp. fell after the government reported the biggest decline in durable-goods orders in 18 months.
``It's not oil at new records by itself any more, it's oil with economic numbers substantiating the impact that oil's having on the economy,'' said John Twomey, head of trading at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. in an interview in New York. ``That's creating some nervousness'' in the market.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aho0giB.T2ss&refer=news_index
Kyrgyz Finance Ministry to receive 247 thousand US dollars from Islamic Development Bank as a grant
- Islamic Development Bank approved allocation of 247 thousand US dollars as the annual technical help (grant) to Kyrgyz Finance Ministry for the strengthening of potential, the press-service of Kyrgyz Finance Ministry reported.
Project of the strengthening of potential of Kyrgyz Finance Ministry is directed on strengthening of management and coordination of activity concerning the future and current investments to Kyrgyz economy.
http://www.akipress.com/_en_news.php?id=13913
Uzbek prosecutors say Uzbek refugees in Romania include terrorists
- Terrorists are among the Uzbek refugees a UN body sent to Romania from Kyrgyzstan in late July after bloodshed in their homeland, the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan said Thursday.
According to prosecutors, some of the 439 refugees the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sent from the neighboring Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan to Europe were involved in the May 13 uprising in the border city Andijan, which officially claimed 176 lives.
Prosecutors said they were suspected terrorists and criminals who were thought to have attacked police and security offices, a military unit and a prison in Andijan, freed the inmates and seized the building of the regional administration in the disturbances.
The statement cited the Uzbek police as saying that although the majority of weapons and ammunition used in the disturbances had been recovered, 26 automatic rifles, 50 pistols, three machineguns, 106 grenades, 47 knives-bayonets and thousands of cartridges were still missing.
"There is no guarantee that these 'peaceful refugees,' who are so passionately defended by some Western countries and international organizations, will not commit new terrorist attacks not only in Central Asia but in other parts of the world, now that they have such a large arsenal, which would be enough to organize several 'peaceful protests' like the one in Andijan," the statement said.
The prosecutors also said the Uzbek citizens had been sent from Kyrgyzstan to Romania as refugees under pressure from the West and some international organizations.
http://www.akipress.com/_en_news.php?id=13917
Pennsylvania Candidate Lies Low in Race
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
August 24, 2005, 10:57 PM EDT
ASPINWALL, Pa. -- Determined to take down conservative Sen. Rick Santorum, Democrats recruited a candidate who resembles him in many ways.
Like Santorum, Bob Casey Jr. is Roman Catholic, fortysomething and opposed to abortion.
But Casey is nowhere near as outspoken as Santorum, and that appears to be helping him the most in a race that is sure to be one of the most expensive and hard-fought elections in 2006.
Casey has produced better early poll numbers by largely remaining out of the spotlight this summer, leaving Santorum to do the talking -- and writing.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-pennsylvania-senate,0,239674.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
The Gas-Guzzler Relief Act
Jonathan Fahey, 08.24.05, 7:56 AM ET
NEW YORK - The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's elaborate proposal to update the 30-year-old regulations that govern the fuel economy of U.S. pickups, minivans and SUVs released yesterday may or may not end up make the United States less thirsty for oil. But it was clearly designed to help out the automakers most thirsty for profits, the struggling General Motors and Ford Motor.
http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/08/24/autos-fuel-cafe-cz_jf_0824fuel.html
Hatfield are Bush-wacked
24 August 2005
Herts Senior County League
Bushey Rangers 4 Hatfield Town 1
HATFIELD'S league campaign got off to an abysmal start with a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Bushey Rangers.
Saturday's dismal performance at the Moatfield has left them second from bottom in the Herts Senior County Premier League.
It's very early days but Hatfield will have to bounce straight back if they don't want to find themselves in a losing rut.
http://www.herts24.co.uk/content/whtimes/sport/story.aspx?brand=WHTOnline&category=sportfootball&tBrand=herts24&tCategory=sportwhtnew&itemid=WEED24%20Aug%202005%2010%3A42%3A37%3A053
Ex-Halliburton worker pleads guilty to bribes
Mon Aug 22, 4:24 PM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A former Halliburton Co. worker pleaded guilty late last week to taking more than $110,000 in bribes from an Iraqi company in 2004 and defrauding the United States, court documents showed.
The man, Glenn Allen Powell, is facing up to 20 years in prison plus a $1.25 million fine for the crimes, which he committed while working for Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction unit, the U.S. government's largest private contractor in
Iraq.
According to his plea agreement filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Rock Island, Illinois, Powell admitted to taking a kickback from the company, which was not named, in exchange for securing a $609,000 contract for it to renovate a warehouse in Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050822/pl_nm/energy_halliburton_dc
Teams seeking LANL job set for interviews
By ANDY LENDERMAN The New Mexican
August 24, 2005
Both teams seeking to take over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory are scheduled to meet next week with government officials for a series of interviews .
Rod Geer, a spokesman for the team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the University of Texas system, said his team is preparing to answer questions by the National Nuclear Security Administration's Source Evaluation Board.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/31656.html
Backing for Jeb Bush Stable in Florida
CREDIT: Flag courtesy of ITA’s Flags of All Countries used
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in Florida are satisfied with Jeb Bush, according to a poll by Strategic Vision. 55 per cent of respondents in the Sunshine State approve of the governor’s performance.
Bush—a Republican—was first elected in November 1998. In 2002, he defeated Democrat Bill McBride with 56 per cent of the vote. Bush cannot seek a third consecutive term in office.
The number of Floridians who think their governor should launch a bid for the White House decreased for the second consecutive month. 33 per cent of respondents say they would like to see Jeb Bush run for president, down seven points since June.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8664
BUSH REGIME ROTTEN TO THE CORE
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- A storm of anti-war protests and sentiment is sweeping across the nation. Finally, reality and truth are trumping President George W. Bush's lies. Even the perpetual propaganda machine of the corporate media can no longer manufacture consent for Bush's monstrously bad policies and decisions.
A storm of anti-war protests and sentiment is sweeping While most Americans work and struggle with lower wages, a sputtering economy and rising gas prices, Bush still basks in the Texas sun in his long summer of content. He prefers isolation and deliberate disconnection from
the grim evidence of his wholesale failures.
Cindy Sheehan has left the vigil outside Bush's ranch to care for her ailing mother. But others are in her place, reminding the world that Bush will never admit his responsibility for the war in Iraq, its failure and the death of Sheehan's son Casey and more than 1,800 other Americans.
The Busheviks consider Sheehan's witness to the tragedy of the senseless war as an irritant, a PR problem that will fade in time. They've used the usual suspects of right-wing indecency -- Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity -- to do their dirty work. Those who question the war must be silenced at best, or at least discredited and vilified.
http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher227.html
Rove behavior: Could it be Bush's Watergate?
Thomas Pauken. Smirking Chimp
August 22, 2005
KARL Rove's favorite president is Richard Nixon. What a twist of fate it would be if Rove were driven from power as Nixon was over what both men would consider trivial matters — the leaking of a CIA employee's name to reporters by Rove in 2004, and the Watergate break-in of the Democratic headquarters at the instigation of Nixon campaign officials in 1972.
Just as it was not the Watergate break-in per se (but the subsequent cover-up) that brought Nixon down, so it may be that what Rove said and did after the fact will prove his undoing.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m14962&l=i&size=1&hd=0
White House Week
You Know, You Can't Keep A Good Boy Genius Down
The recent controversy swirling around Karl Rove hasn't slowed him a bit. That's according to White House insiders who say Bush's political boy genius is as engaged as ever in high-level decision making despite all the attacks by angry Democrats alleging he improperly--and possibly illegally--outed a covert CIA operative. Rove was a key player behind the recently passed transportation and energy bills, and now he's planning Bush's fall agenda, which will include a renewed push for Social Security overhaul, changes in immigration law, and tax restructuring. Says a White House insider who talks to Rove regularly, "He is as instrumental as he ever was."
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050829/29whitehouse.htm
Plame in the Courtroom
Rumors and leaks continue to swirl around the case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame and the various journalists and Bush "senior administration officials" believed to be involved in some fashion in her outing. Whole forests have undoubtedly been pulped for the endless flood of summer stories about the Plame case and yet something has been missing. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, the law against outing a CIA operative under which Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was, in essence, called into existence, is rarely discussed in any serious way -- and then at best only in a passing paragraph or two deep in any story. And yet a media/punditry consensus has formed that it is a law so specifically, even quirkily, written as to be almost impossible to use in a prosecution (hopeless, in fact, against a figure like Karl Rove or Vice President Cheney's right-hand man I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby); and that Special Counsel Fitzgerald has already turned away from the law, moving on to more conceivable avenues of prosecution -- like obstruction of justice.
http://www.nowpublic.com/node/16782
What Now, Karl?
Rove and Ashcroft face new allegations in the Valerie Plame affair
by Murray Waas
August 13th, 2005 2:39 PM
Rove consulted on three of Ashcroft’s political campaigns, earning $746,000.
photo: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
Murray Waas will be writing more about the latest in the Plame affair at www.whateveralready.blogspot.com.
Justice Department officials made the crucial decision in late 2003 to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame in large part because investigators had begun to specifically question the veracity of accounts provided to them by White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to senior law enforcement officials.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/index.php?issue=0533&page=waasweb1&id=66861&cid=2
continued ...
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