International Herald Tribune
Pope seeks dialogue with other religions
VATICAN CITY Pope Benedict XVI used his first papal Mass on Wednesday to send a message of openness and reconciliation to his Roman Catholic followers, to other Christian churches and "to everyone, even to those who follow other religions or who are simply seeking an answer to the fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/pope.html
China's growth rate hits 9.5 percent in first quarter
SHANGHAI Soaring exports and strong investment in new apartment buildings and office towers helped the Chinese economy grow at an annual rate of 9.5 percent in the first quarter, considerably stronger than expected and faster than the government's target rate of 8 percent, China's statistics agency announced on Wednesday
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/20/business/yuan.html
The Cheney Observer
Bush Cheney Regime Changing US to Dictatorship
Changing the United States from a democracy to a dictatorship is one of the imperatives of the Bush-Cheney Regime, writes political analyst Al Martin, author of the highly acclaimed memoir "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider."
"There are Bushonian policies that are being hidden as political policies, like the Patriot Acts," Martin continues in his column "Bushonomics II (Part 2): The Final Chapter."
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=2110
Trickiest part of old plant cleanup to begin this year
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. The government contractor cleaning up the old K-25 uranium enrichment plant at Oak Ridge still has the riskiest part of the work ahead. That work will begin later this year.
It involves recovering highly enriched uranium from the miles of equipment inside the huge plant.
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3228690
2004 not best of times for Halliburton, EDS, El Paso
UNDATED (AP) - Three of the largest Texas-based companies lost money through the first nine months of 2004.
Yet investors took wildly different views of Halliburton Company, Electronic Data Systems Corporation and El Paso Corporation.
Analysts say the biggest difference among the three is that Halliburton seems closest to fixing its most serious problems.
-
Houston-based Halliburton has been in the headlines and under criminal, congressional and Pentagon investigation for its work for the U-S government in Iraq. There, Halliburton's orders have passed the ten (B) billion-dollar mark.
http://www.newswatch50.com/business/wire/story.aspx?content_id=19B28AC4-F88F-42DC-A80C-0414290D32A6
Diplomatic coup for Japan as Russia picks oil pipeline route
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: January 4 2005 03:00 Last updated: January 4 2005 03:00
Russia will by May draw up detailed plans for the financing and construction of an estimated $11.5bn oil pipeline to the Pacific following a decision over the new year to adopt a Japanese-proposed route over one that would have favoured China.
The long-expected decision to build the pipeline from eastern Siberia to the Pacific, from where oil can easily be transported to Japan, will be seen as a diplomatic victory for Tokyo over Beijing.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4323861c-5df5-11d9-ac01-00000e2511c8.html
The Guantanamo Gulag
by Mike Whitney
published by The Progressive Trail
The Guantanamo Gulag
"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."
Winston Churchill
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
U.N. Convention Against Torture; Article 2, Section 2
The prison facility at Guantanamo Bay is the brightest star in the Bush firmament. It towers over the political landscape like a monument to human cruelty. That's why the administration chose to slap it up in full view of the world. It's their way of announcing that the fundamental rules of the game have changed.
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/050103Whitney.shtml
The World According to Wal-Mart
New Wal-Mart stores
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-11 08:41:41
BEIJING, April 11 -- The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says it will open two outlets in Beijing this year, and at least one more store next year.
Company officials made the announcement on Thursday at a seminar on food safety in supermarkets, saying the outlets will be supercentres, with floor space of about 20,000 square metres.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/11/content_2812412.htm
Wal-Mart to Offer Premium Items to Lure More Affluent Shoppers
April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will offer a line of premium bath and bedding items in more than 1,000 stores to lure affluent shoppers.
The line, called Home Trends Select, will debut April 11 and include sheets, comforters and towels, Paul Beahm, Wal-Mart vice president and divisional merchandise manager for domestics, said in an April 5 interview.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aCldffzUDDHw&refer=top_world_news
Assembly Passes Bill Affecting Only Wal-Mart
Sunday, April 10, 2005; Page C05
The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval yesterday to a bill that in effect would force Wal-Mart to boost spending on employee health benefits or contribute money to the state's health care program for the poor.
The House of Delegates voted 82 to 48 to approve the same bill that the Senate approved last week. The House earlier had approved a slightly different version. The legislation now goes to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who has promised to veto the measure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41015-2005Apr10.html>
Wal-Mart tries to discount image of avarice
Retailer launches bid to counter negative publicity
By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun April 10, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. invited dozens of reporters from around the world to its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters last week in an unusual media event to defend itself against negative headlines.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/04/10/wal_mart_tries_to_discount_image_of_avarice/
Isle of Wight developers want Wal-Mart, to the dismay of some
04/10/2005
Associated Press
Isle of Wight County residents are divided over local developers' attempts to attract Wal-Mart to build a store in a proposed development just outside Smithfield.
County officials estimate that Wal-Mart would bring about 450 jobs and at least $700,000 in annual taxes if it builds in the proposed 1,200-home, 850-acre Benn's Grant development.
But for hardware store owner Fred Winn, it would bring high blood pressure.
"It's one of the worst businesses ever created," said Winn, who has owned his Main Street business for 20 years.
"I don't know of one area where they have ever done any good. They have put more business out of business. They will destroy the nature of Isle of Wight County," Winn said.
http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89CMJMG0.html
SF Wal-Mart Supercenter site changed
By DENISE M. CHAMPAGNE
Times Staff Writer
dchampagne@fltimes.com
SENECA FALLS — A Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for Seneca Falls will be a new store in a different location than previously announced.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based chain will soon unveil plans for a 183,570 square-foot Supercenter on 21 acres of vacant land behind Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell and Monro Muffler Brake off Route 414.
The store will face Route 414 and have an entrance/exit just south of Monro Muffler where a left-turn lane will be placed in the northbound lane of Route 414. Three driveways will enter the site off North Road
The new store will be 21/2 times larger than the existing one, which faces Routes 5&20, about 1,000 feet west of Route 414.
http://www.fltimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=8023
The Associated Press/LITTLE ROCK
By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press Writer
New anti-Wal-Mart group launches ads
APR. 20 5:46 P.M. ET A newly formed, union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group, which draws support from environmentalists, political activists, and women's rights groups, launched its first media campaign Wednesday to call for the world's largest retailer to reform its business practices.
In its campaign called Wal-Mart Watch, Five Stones, formed in December 2004 along with its larger umbrella The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, took out an ad in Wednesday's New York Times. The ad accuses Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of low pay and meager employee benefits that force their workers to rely on Medicaid, food stamps, and federal housing to survive.
Wal-Mart accused the group of engaging in a partisan attack, and questioned the group's information.
On the Net:
www.walmartwatch.com
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D89JCR9O1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
$7.6 Million Wal-Mart FLW Tour To Visit Wheeler Lake
Wednesday April 20, 4:13 pm ET
DECATUR, Ala., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The $7.6 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour will stop in Decatur May 11-14 with a $900,000 event on Wheeler Lake presented by Pedigree. Hosted by the Decatur Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tournament features 400 anglers from the United States, Japan and Australia, with 200 of the world's best bass pros fishing for a top award of $100,000 cash. Two hundred co-anglers will also compete for a top award of $20,000 cash.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050420/clw117.html?.v=1
Wal-Mart takes step toward Rockton site
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - 10:57:34 am CDT
By Ann Montgomery
Daily News staff writer
ROCKTON - The first official sign that Wal-Mart wants to locate in northern Winnebago County has made its way to Rockton Village Hall.
Paperwork requesting annexation to the Village of Rockton arrived in Village President Dale Adam's office this week. A legal notice informing the public about the request is set to run in this newspaper beginning Thursday.
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news03.txt
City's planning commission will consider Wal-Mart
By Erik Siemers
Tribune Reporter
April 20, 2005
Some folks who live near the intersection of Wyoming and Menaul boulevards are upset with the neighbor that wants to move in.
For starters, this neighbor will be up all night.
It'll always have visitors.
Some worry it might even bring an odor.
"People are so emotional about this," says District 7 City Councilwoman Sally Mayer.
Wal-Mart, the giant retailer that is a boon to some and an anathema to others, elicits polarizing reactions, and its latest move in Albuquerque is no different.
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_3714719,00.html
Election will decide Wal-Mart rezoning
THELMA GRIMES
News-Sun
It's official. Registered Benson voters will take part in a special election in September to decide on a rezoning request that, if approved, would allow construction of a Wal-Mart.
The voters will now decide, although the City Council approved the request in February to rezone the 9.9-acre parcel on Prickly Pear Avenue from R-2 residential to B-2 commercial.
http://www.bensonnews-sun.com/articles/2005/04/20/news/news1.txt
Global Warming
"Snowed"
Though global climate change is breaking out all around us, the U.S. news media has remained silent.
By Ross Gelbspan
May/June 2005 Issue
WHEN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA was inundated by a foot of rain, several feet of snow, and lethal mudslides earlier this year, the news reports made no mention of climate change—even though virtually all climate scientists agree that the first consequence of a warmer atmosphere is a marked increase in extreme weather events. When four hurricanes of extraordinary strength tore through Florida last fall, there was little media attention paid to the fact that hurricanes are made more intense by warming ocean surface waters. And when one storm dumped five feet of water on southern Haiti in 48 hours last spring, no coverage mentioned that an early manifestation of a warming atmosphere is a significant rise in severe downpours.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/05/snowed.html
Niwa vessel sets out to measure global warming
20 April 2005
A National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) ship will leave Wellington tomorrow on a two-month voyage to Hawaii to deploy high-tech floats which will measure global warming.
The Argo programme is an international effort to deploy a network of floats which will help scientists predict the strength of tropical cyclones. They can even track the path of toxic algal blooms. The crew of the Kaharoa have already deployed more than 141 Argo floats – more than any other vessel in the world, Niwa scientist Philip Sutton said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3254929a11,00.html
CLP must pay $29b for role in global warming: greens
Doug Crets
April 21, 2005
An environmental advocacy group says China Light and Power owes HK$28.9 billion in "external costs'' to consumers around the world because it has failed to calculate the effect of coal-burning on global climate change into its current electricity rates and its HK$8.6 billion profit last year.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Metro/GD21Ak03.html
Hurricanes 2005, Connecting Global Warming to Renewable Energy; Green Energy Resources Offers to Purchase 1 Million Tons, Donate Free Seminars to States
HUNTINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2005--Green Energy Resources(Pink Sheets: GRGR) pledged to purchase 1 million tons of storm damage wood in 2005, to defray storm costs to victims.
Michael Brown, Director of Fema, said "he must balance communities needs for quick cleanup against protecting taxpayer dollars from being wasted." Fema pays 6 times the normal hauling rate to insure a quick and rapid clean up in an emergency storm situation. On average, Fema is paying $65 per ton to remove storm damage debris, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal last September. The average normal hauling cost per ton is around $10.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050420005437&newsLang=en
Oregon Gov. Kulongoski announces initiatives
to curb global warming in Oregon
SALEM, OR (04/19/05) -- Five new initiatives aimed at curbing global warming in Oregon have been announced by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. The initiatives are part of a regional strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest, and are based on the recommendations of The Governor’s Advisory Group on Global Warming.
http://www.caprep.com/0405039.htm
Climate review sees global warming continuing
It's been confirmed that 2004 was the tenth hottest year on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate review also found that last year arid parts of the country got wetter, while other areas remained dry.
David Jones from the National Climate Centre says the next 12 months are also likely to be warmer than average - and it's all consistent with global warming.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/stories/s1277482.htm
Cal State San Marcos prof looks at long-term effects
By Lisa Petrillo
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
As George Vourlitis leads his troops into the field, he turns to offer one last bit of wisdom.
"Watch out for snakes," said the Cal State San Marcos biology professor before plunging into the dead-looking scrub brush.
Dodging venomous snakes is not exactly the higher education advertised in the university course catalog, but his students eagerly, though cautiously, follow him into the front lines of global-warming research.
The Earth's average temperature has risen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century on average, and it gone higher in some parts of the world. The consensus of scientists around the world is that burning of fossil fuels is a significant driver of rising global temperatures.
"The scientific community knows climate is changing; everyone knows humans are the reason why. The question is, what are the cumulative effects?" he said.
That's his million-dollar question, the question that won him funding from the prestigious National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation to answer.
Over the next five years, the project will attempt to show long-term effects of greenhouse gases in the Southern California basin, if any. Whether he will find definitive answers he doesn't know.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050105-9999-1mc5global.html
(Hartford-AP, Jan. 6, 2005 2:10 PM) _ The governor's Steering Committee on Climate Change is recommending 55 ways that Connecticut can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Several legislative committees will now consider the ideas.
One major recommendations in the draft action plan is to cut the amount of greenhouse gases from automobile emissions.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2775197&nav=3YeXUuNz
Seabirds in the North Sea: victims of climate change?
05-01-2005
Researchers suspect climate change is undermining the supply of sandeels, and bears much of the blame for widespread breeding failure around the North Sea.
In February 2004, birdwatchers in eastern Britain were surprised by reports of Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis inland, something highly unusual for a bird that normally winters far out at sea. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of dead Northern Fulmars began washing up along UK coastlines. Similar numbers were reported from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/features/2005/01/north_sea_seabirds.html
New Biology A-Level Includes Global Warming and Stem Cells
By Nick Foley, PA
Leading TV medical scientist Lord Winston was today launching an innovative A-level course aimed at capturing schoolchildren’s interest in biology.
The two-year qualification will focus on contemporary issues such as global warming and stem cell research in a move away from traditional, lecture-based teaching.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3968513
Hot weather in 2004 a sign of global warming
Last year has been ranked the tenth hottest year in Australia since official records began in 1910.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation's annual climate survey, the mean temperature during 2004 was 0.45 degrees above the long-term average.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1277610.htm
The New Zealand Herald
330 police staff investigated over objectionable emails
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced the investigation this afternoon. Picture / Brett Phibbs
21.04.05 UPDATED at 4.05pm
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced this afternoon that 330 staff are under investigation over objectionable material on the force's email system.
Mr Robinson said the investigation did not involve child porn, but some of the material was such that if police were legitimately exposed to it in the course of their jobs they would receive a psychological debrief after seeing it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121679
Bus drivers plan six day strike
21.04.05 3.45pm
The Auckland bus drivers dispute has taken a turn for the worse.
The Stagecoach drivers are going on strike for six days from May 5.
They have rejected a $1 an hour pay rise.
The drivers are demanding a pay increase of $2 an hour.
Bus services were disrupted between 9.30 this morning and 2.30 this afternoon as bus drivers stopped work to consider a counter pay offer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121681
Iceberg crash reshapes coastline of Antarctica
21.04.05 1.00pm
By Genevieve Roberts
The world's largest iceberg has crashed into an Antarctic glacier, snapping off a five-kilometre chunk of the glacial outflow and reshaping the coastline of Antarctica.
The predicted "collision of the century" between the B15-A iceberg, which is the size of Luxembourg, and the 70-kilometre long Drygalski ice tongue had been expected at the beginning of the year. But the icy colossus became stranded a few kilometres from the tongue, starving penguins and blocking ships supplying food and fuel to Antarctic research stations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10121640
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-32.0°
Updated Thursday 21 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
43 °F / 6 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
39 °F / 4 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.14 in / 1020 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Scattered Clouds 500 ft / 152 m
Overcast 2897 ft / 883 m
end
