The China Daily
South Korea ready for 'diplomatic war' with Japan
(CRI)
Updated: 2005-03-24 17:08
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun says his country is ready for a "diplomatic war" with Japan as tensions flared between the neighbours over a territorial row and a Japanese textbook critics say whitewashes Japan's militarism.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427897.htm
Cross-Straits ties threatened by protest
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
Cross-Straits relations may worsen if secessionist forces in Taiwan challenge the newly-passed Anti-Secession Law, leading mainland researchers warned Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427916.htm
Kim invites Chinese president for a visit
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
China and the DPRK are working on a schedule for a visit by President Hu Jintao.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju at the Fujian Hall in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 23, 2005. [Reuters]
The invitation from the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-il, was conveyed by Premier Pak Bong-ju, who is now visiting China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427917.htm
Beijing unveils security plan for Olympics
By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-23 23:14
Beijing, the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games, yesterday gave details of its Olympic security scheme, which will play an over-arching role in preparations for the sports gathering.
Chinese security personnel listen to a speech on security issues affecting the 2008 Olympics, in Beijing, March 23, 2005. The construction of the 2008 Olympic venues is in progress as the National Olympic Stadium, dubbed the "birds nest" because of its unusual design, will begin construction this week. [Reuters]
The massive scheme involves the participation of almost all the security organizations around the city.
This includes public security, national security and the armed police.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/23/content_427550.htm
EU official calls China embargo 'unfair'
(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-03-24 07:38
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Maintaining the European Union's 15-year arms embargo against China is "unfair," and European leaders are leaning toward lifting it, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Wednesday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427647.htm
The Cheney Observer
The biggest robberies
John Dillinger was a tough bank robber to catch. The F.B.I. ended his career ambushing him in Chicago. But the biggest bank heist ever resulted from Reagan deregulating the savings and loan industry. White collar crooks stuck taxpayers for $1.4 trillion through unsecured insider loans. Neil and Jeb Bush were implicated but never investigated along with many others. Savings and loan crimes were buried by Desert Storm hysteria. The latest White House scam is "reforming" Social Security which is basically a public trust bank account. But both parties of Congress have already "borrowed" $180 billion from Social Security for general fund spending. Now "conservatives" are increasing spending and creating record debt with radical tax breaks for the elite along with the cost of occupying Iraq. WMD lies started an unholy war of mass deception handing out a billion dollars per week to no-bid war profiteers. The public is being robbed. Privatizing S.S. will only fatten stock market sharks and cost trillions in bureaucratic overhead while draining retirement funds. We need a responsible democracy in America instead of colonizing Iraq for oil corporations. Too bad Hoover's not around to nab the new breed of bank robbers in Washington.
John Smart
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/03/13/opinions/a04031305_02.txt
E. Pringle: Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
Monday, 14 March 2005, 12:19 pm
Opinion: Evelyn Pringle
Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
By Evelyn Pringle
Miamisburg Ohio
Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC), Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening program in government institutions, including the public school system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade.
The New Freedom Commission was established by an Executive Order Bush issued on April 29, 2002. According to a July 22, 2003, press release, the Commission recommends transforming America’s mental health care system.
“Achieving this goal will require greater engagement and education of first line health care providers - primary care practitioners - and a greater focus on mental health care in institutions such as schools, child welfare programs, and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The goal is integrated care that can screen, identify, and respond to problems early,” the Commission’s press release stated.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0503/S00111.htm
This was when CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown was still a Global Program as well as domestic. It no longer ventures outside the USA very much for a Well Rounded Citizenry. At any rate this was when David Bohrman was the Executive Producer and you can't get better than that. His 'RESCUE' of the nation was classic to his ability to deliver timely coverage when he moved Aaron Brown to the rooftop across the river from the burning and fallen World Trade Towers. That level of expertise no longer exists at NewsNight and the show seeks only manipulation of the public through the political Christian Agenda of the Religious Right.
I used to love that show. Now, it's a news hour for pansies.
The Anthrax Thing
Kindly remember prior to this was September 11, 2001.
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 10, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: When it was one person, it seemed possible it was an innocent if bizarre coincidence. When a second person was exposed to anthrax, innocent explanations were a stretch for even the optimists among us. Now there are three and a criminal investigation. And while all the responsible parties say, be calm, who can honestly say there isn't a knot in the pit of your stomach when you think about this anthrax case?
So we see this building in South Florida differently tonight. This is a crime, scene pure and simple. The killer remains unknown and the weapon, anthrax, remains invisible. It is the fear that is palpable.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/10/asb.00.html
America Strikes Back: Anthrax Alert
Aired October 12, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Truth be told, my favorite part of the day comes about an hour before this program, where I sit and write this page. It's a chance to pretty much say what I want, in the way I want to say it. And the fact is I don't know what to say tonight, because in many ways, I am as confused, as anxious, as angry as anyone. Not exactly the frame of mind a reporter likes to find himself in.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/12/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 16, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. If you're keeping track, it has been five weeks now. There are too many numbers to keep track of. The thousands who died on September 11th, the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs since. There are the thousands of military men and women involved in the war effort, thousands of reservists waiting. There are the number of bombing runs, the number of missiles fired, numbers all.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/16/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 17, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
At one point today, we were told some members of Congress, some members in the leadership sat down and discussed whether they might need another place to meet, a place that wasn't the floor of the House or Senate, a place that wasn't the Capitol. This is not a dream: This is a the United States as we have never known it and it is unsettling.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/17/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 23, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Here is a straight lead -- we don't do many straight leads. But this is the way the big time newspapers would write it: The President of the United States, George W. Bush, had to say today -- quote -- "I don't have anthrax." And I thought some of the questions asked of President Clinton were a little strange.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/23/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 24, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. One of our writers, Linda Keenan, observed today one of those things that is a potent reminder of how quickly we humans adapt. When word came today that another employee at the "New York Post," whose offices are not far from here, had the skin form of anthrax, nobody paid much attention. Believe me, a week ago we would have paid a lot of attention.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/24/asb.00.html
America's New War: The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 29, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, again, everyone.
Well, another week, another threat. It's almost as if the terrorists were worried we would be bored by anthrax by now. You probably heard that Attorney General John Ashcroft stepped before the microphones today to say the government has received credible threats of yet another possible terrorist attack. No details offered, because he said no details known. And he added he hoped all Americans would carry on their lives normally.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/29/asb.00.html
Ex-official of Halliburton is charged with fraud
Bid-rigging scheme, kickback alleged
By Ray Long and Andrew Zajac, Tribune staff reporters. Ray Long reported from Springfield and Andrew Zajac from Washington; national correspondent Dahleen Glanton contributed from Atlanta
Published March 18, 2005
SPRINGFIELD -- A former manager of a Halliburton Inc. subsidiary and a Kuwaiti businessman have been charged with bilking taxpayers out of more than $3.5 million in a bid-rigging scheme involving fuel trucks for U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
The 10-count indictment alleged that the worker, Jeff Alex Mazon, joined Ali Hijazi, a top official with a Kuwaiti-based contractor, in a 2003 plan to alter bids so that Hijazi's company would win fuel tanker business.
Mazon allegedly received a $1 million kickback from Hijazi for changing bids to ensure that LaNouvelle General Trading and Contracting Co. received the contract. That allowed the firm to supply the tankers for KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary doing much of the firm's Iraqi reconstruction work.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0503180221mar18,1,3035297.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Haliburton Bahamian Style
Does it disturb anyone that Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm?
Not unlike the contracts awarded the Bush administrations cronies in the rebuilding of Iraq like the one awarded Haliburton, it seems we have our own Haliburton – Bahamian style. Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States, who served as Haliburton Energy’s, CEO until 2000, did $73 million business with Iraq between 1998 and 2000. “Today he draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract”. (Corpwatch)
Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm. Does this disturb anyone? The Tribune’s June 16 2003 Government notice of application for licenses for oil exploration for Kerr Mc Gee is dated 1987.
Last week David Christian Vice President of Kerr McGee led us down the garden path, saying that because they have done this kind of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, that an EIA is not a necessity in the Blake Plateau in the northern Bahamas. Doesn’t it bother anyone that we are now taking developers/investors word regarding the necessity of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)? Since when does the developer/investor dictate to the Bahamas what is needed for a development to proceed? In today’s world given all that has been learned regarding human impact on the environment there is NO reason for Kerr Mc Gee’s not to conduct an EIA for seismic testing.
If we follow Mr. Christians’ logic then we could virtually do away with harassing developers for an EIA, since to have performed an EIA for a development in New Providence should mean that we would not have to have one done for a development in Exuma. This is completely absurd and utter hogwash. One would think that a global corporation that boasts environmental responsibility, Kerr Mc Gee would demonstrate the same high standards of environmental review that its company claims to practice at home.
http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=2084
Rebuilding Iraq a big, slow job
Under constant threat of sabotage, up to 200 U.S. companies are hard at work patching a nation together
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/20/BUGMGBS0MB1.DTL
Cheney again emerges from the shadows
By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
March 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney, who has avoided the spotlight since taking the oath of office for a second term more than two months ago, is once again stepping from the shadows to tout President Bush's Social Security plan and boost White House foreign policy goals.
Cheney is in the midst of a tour that will carry him to Bakersfield, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; and McCandless, Pa., to promote the administration's plan for a national retirement program, a package that polls show hasn't caught on with the voting public.
And he's speaking with reporters again, telling the Washington Post on Tuesday that recent diplomatic appointments, like the nomination of John R. Bolton to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will bring about needed changes in the world body.
The 64-year-old Cheney emerged during the first Bush term as the president's top adviser, especially in the area of foreign affairs where he is considered a hawk on the war on terror and Iraq. He also devised the president's energy policy, which recently received support when the Senate voted to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a key component.
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CHENEY-03-23-05&cat=PP
Cheney attacks Powell, says U.S. diplomacy very weak until now
Big News Network.com Wednesday 23rd March, 2005
U.S. diplomacy has been very weak up until now says Vice President Dick Cheney.
Commenting on proposed appointments of hard-liners John Bolton and Paul Wolfowitz Cheney said, "If we are going to be successful long-term in the war on terror and in the broader objective of promoting freedom and democracy in (Arab and Muslim parts) of the world, we have to get the public diplomacy piece of it right. Up until now, that has been a very weak part of our arsenal."
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=680a5e06ff7ea5c0
The Jordan Times
Mustafa Mahmoud sets off on Mount Everest expedition
By Reem Halasa
Mahmoud with fellow mountaineers on the road to Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, earlier this year (Photo courtesy Mustafa Mahmoud)
AMMAN — With six summits behind him, the biggest challenge now remaining for Jordan's sole mountaineer Mustafa Mahmoud, is Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews4.htm
Lebanon's blast stokes fears of communal violence
Lebanese internal security forces on Wednesday inspect a ruined commercial centre following an explosion in the coastal nightlife and shopping district of Kaslik, 20 km north of Beirut (AFP photo by Ramzi Haidar)
BEIRUT (Reuters) — A powerful bomb tore through a shopping mall in the anti-Syrian Christian heartland north of Beirut on Wednesday, killing three Asian workers and bringing Lebanon closer to chaos weeks before general elections.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news1.htm
Hariri investigation may be needed — Annan
ALGIERS (Reuters) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday a more in-depth investigation may be needed into the killing of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri than a UN report due to be released shortly.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Sharon overcomes key hurdle to Gaza pullout
A Gazan woman living in an old cemetery wash her laundry next to a grave on Wedensday (AFP photo by Mahmud Hams)
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a key vote on Wednesday over a state budget he must push through parliament by the end of the month or face a snap election that would threaten his plan to pull out of Gaza.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news11.htm
Gov't crisis deepens as warlords want impeachment
NAIROBI (AFP) — The crisis over the relocation from exile of Somalia's transitional government deepened Wednesday as powerful warlords said they would move to impeach President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Warlords controlling Somalia's bullet-scarred capital of Mogadishu said they would introduce a no-confidence motion against Yusuf in parliament and seek his removal for allegedly violating the lawless country's transitional charter.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Forgotten Sudanese forced out to desert camp
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AL FATHA — Amna Kody holds up her infected leg and pleads for some pills to stop the pain. But there are no doctors in Al Fatha where Sudanese authorities have forcibly relocated thousands of people taking refuge near Khartoum.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news9.htm
Navy Seals sue AP, reporter over Iraq photos
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Five US Navy SEALs and the wife of one of the men have sued The Associated Press and a San Diego-based reporter, claiming the news organisation endangered their lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos of the elite unit apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news10.htm
The mirage of state building
Rima Merriman
In occupied Palestine, you hear the mantra of “capacity building” over and over again, wherever you go. There is high unemployment, but there is also a rising demand for skilled workers, and those workers are in short supply.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion5.htm
'Kingdom has lowest percentage of TB cases in region'
AMMAN (Petra) — Recent Health Ministry statistics indicate that the Kingdom has the least number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the region.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews10.htm
World Bank to extend $15 million loan for Public Sector Reform Programme
AMMAN (JT) — The World Bank board of executive directors agreed on Tuesday to extend a $15 million loan to help Jordan execute the third stage of its Public Sector Reform Programme, a senior official announced yesterday.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews9.htm
Witness testifies that Jayyousi bought laboratory equipment, sulphuric acid
AMMAN (JT) — An employee of a laboratory supply company testified on Wednesday in the case of nine men standing trial at the State Security Court (SSC) accused of attempting to carry out the first ever Al Qaeda chemical attack in the Kingdom.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews5.htm
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