The Los Angeles Times
An Agenda, Certainly, but Which?
VATICAN CITY — Benedict XVI may travel less than his globetrotting predecessor, but few expect him to act like a "caretaker" pope.
Instead, the 78-year-old pontiff is expected to pursue an activist agenda, topped by a mission to revitalize the Roman Catholic faith and identity where it is threatened by secularism, particularly in Europe.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-assess20apr20,0,1436401.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Gentle Watchdog
Ratzinger is known as a steadfast enforcer, but his personality and his past belie stereotypes.
BERLIN — The man chosen as pope Tuesday grew up in the foothills of southern Germany during the rise of Nazism and as a young man supported theological reform. But he later embraced a rigid conservatism to battle what he saw as threats from secularism and leftist politics.
The son of a Bavarian police officer, Joseph Ratzinger, 78, is known as a gifted yet polarizing intellectual. For nearly 25 years, he served as the Vatican's chief enforcer of doctrine, articulating the church's opposition to abortion, homosexuality, religious pluralism and Latin America's "liberation theology" movement.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-profile20apr20,0,1182319.story?coll=la-home-headlines
PR Firm Settles DWP Billing Suit for $5.7 Million
Issuing a public apology, Fleishman-Hillard on Tuesday agreed to a $5.7-million settlement of a lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles that alleged the public relations company padded its bills.
Los Angeles sued Fleishman-Hillard and its former local general manager last year. The suit contended that the company defrauded the city while billing more than $20 million from 1998 through 2004. Fleishman performed public relations work for several city agencies and worked without charge for Mayor James K. Hahn.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fleishman20apr20,0,7366547.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Bid to Ease Pharmaceutical Imports Advances
WASHINGTON — A Senate plan that would allow Americans to import lower-cost prescriptions from abroad got a significant endorsement today from former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler.
Safeguards proposed in recent legislation by Sens. Olympia Snow (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) would protect consumers from substandard and counterfeit drugs, Kessler told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He had criticized earlier proposals as too weak on safety.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041905drugs_lat,0,943140.story?coll=la-home-headlines
One-Size-Fits-All Food Pyramid Dumped
The federal government released its new symbol of national nutrition today, morphing the familiar food pyramid into 12 separate pyramids to reflect the nation's diverse lifestyles and nutritional needs.
Replacing the venerable icon that has graced the walls of school classrooms and hospital cafeterias for 15 years, the new version requires a computer — and perhaps a team of electronic technicians — to help the consumer pick out which of the 12 versions is right for them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041905pyramid_lat,0,4446494.story?coll=la-home-headlines
New NASA Chief Sets Sights on Mars
Michael Griffin says a manned mission can be affordable. He won't rule out fixing Hubble.
By John Johnson, Times Staff Writer
NASA's new administrator, Michael D. Griffin, faced the media Monday for the first time since being confirmed by the Senate last week and vigorously defended the Bush administration's ambitious plan to send astronauts to the moon and Mars.
"We could probably go to Mars for what we spent on Apollo" in today's dollars, he said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-nasa19apr19,0,1965278.story?coll=la-home-nation
Illegal Immigration Policy Is at Crossroads in Senate
One plan could legalize half a million workers, another would tighten border controls.
WASHINGTON — The Senate is set to vote today on measures that could open the door to legalizing an estimated 500,000 immigrant farmworkers and their families.
It will be the first test of strength in years between senators who support legalized status for at least some of the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants in this country and senators who advocate reducing illegal immigration by tightening enforcement and border controls.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig19apr19,1,7711682.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Justices Weigh State's Jury Selection Law
A lawyer argues before the U.S. Supreme Court that California allows prosecutors to exclude potential jurors on the basis of race.
By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — California prosecutors are likely to face more questions before they can exclude blacks and other racial or ethnic minorities from juries, judging from the arguments Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
At issue is how to enforce a 19-year-old rule that forbids using race as a reason to keep people off a jury.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus19apr19,1,4813202.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Atom Smasher Yields 'Perfect Fluid'
The unexpected finding could provide insight into the creation of the universe, scientists say.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
Researchers smashing gold atoms together to mimic conditions in the first microseconds after the creation of the universe have observed an unexpected new state of matter.
Instead of the thin, fiery gas of quarks and gluons that they expected, they found instead a dense drop of the elementary particles that behaves like a hitherto unseen "perfect fluid."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-matter19apr19,1,154402.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Moussaoui Tries to Plead Guilty Again
The Sept. 11 suspect writes to a judge that he will accept the death penalty. His lawyers say it is a naive bid to get a Supreme Court hearing.
By Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of conspiring with Al Qaeda in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has said in a letter to federal prosecutors and a U.S. District Court judge that he wants to plead guilty and accept the death penalty, sources close to the case said Monday night.
The one-page letter, which Moussaoui sent from his jail cell two weeks ago, comes after federal prosecutors and his defense attorneys seemed at last to be on track toward a trial date sometime late this fall or in January. His trial has been stalled in the courts for more than three years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-moussa19apr19,1,2191753.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
GOP Gays and the 'Finkelstein Phenomenon'
The issue arguably cost John Kerry the presidential election, and Kansas has just become the 18th state to constitutionally ban it, yet there are reasons to feel optimistic about the granting of full civil rights to people who have chosen a life partner of the same sex.
Even as the heartland state was enshrining bigotry in its constitution, a bipartisan legislative majority in Connecticut this month approved same-sex civil unions — and, unlike the laws allowing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and civil unions in Vermont, this one was not in response to a court order.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer19apr19,0,2839125.column
Pfizer Profit Falls 87% on Tax, Bextra Costs
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, said Tuesday that first-quarter earnings dropped 87% because of a tax charge to return overseas profit to the U.S. and costs to suspend sales of the painkiller Bextra.
Net income fell to $301 million, or 4 cents a share, from $2.33 billion, or 30 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. Revenue rose 5% to $13.1 billion, beating the $12.5-billion average estimate of analysts.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pfizer20apr20,1,2942197.story?coll=la-headlines-business
U.S. Ends Its Criminal Probe of Coca-Cola
No action is taken after a nearly two-year inquiry into claims by a former employee. Also, the firm settles an SEC suit.
The Justice Department has abruptly ended without taking action its nearly 2-year-old criminal investigation of allegations raised in a whistle-blower lawsuit of accounting irregularities at Coca-Cola Co., the world's biggest soft-drink maker said Monday.
Separately, the Atlanta-based company said it had reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over its business practices in Japan.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-coke19apr19,1,3443476.story
Forbes
Update 5: Coke Reports 11 Pct. Drop in 1Q Profit
04.19.2005, 04:31 PM
The Coca-Cola Co. reported an 11 percent drop in first-quarter profit, but still beat Wall Street expectations and saw its stock rise more than 3 percent. Shareholders, meanwhile, peppered the world's largest beverage maker at its annual meeting Tuesday with questions about human rights abuses and water depletion.
Before the meeting, the Atlanta-based company said it earned $1 billion, or 42 cents a share, for the January-March period compared to a profit of $1.13 billion, or 46 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/04/19/ap1958228.html
The International Herald Tribune
I think some of this has to do with Iraq as well. Berlusconi wanted to pull out of Iraq before the elections and then decided to stay. I think that along with a poor economy turned the public against him.
On brink, Berlusconi hangs on
… "Berlusconi has had a very personal way of governing, and when the economy goes badly, electors don't forgive anything," said Folli
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/Italy.html>
Commission chief’s trip raises EU ethics questions
BRUSSELS A report that the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, spent a week aboard the yacht of a Greek billionaire last summer sparked a new round of questioning in Brussels about ethics in the European Union.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/union.html
Guiding China’s missiles
EU satellite project could improve accuracy
HONG KONG While Europe's embargo on arms sales to China seems set to remain in place, Western defense experts warn that Beijing will score a military victory when Chinese companies begin research next month on the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation system.
.
The Chinese government in March selected four state-owned space technology companies to oversee research and development as part of China's participation in the €3.2 billion, or $4.1 billion, Galileo network, which is due to enter service in 2008.
.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/galileo.html>
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
'Closer to God'
DeLay Says Scrutiny Has Put Him 'Closer to God'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay described himself as "closer to God" on Tuesday as a result of intense scrutiny of his ethical conduct.
DeLay, who has denied any wrongdoing, said President Bush has voiced support, along with conservative groups and fellow House Republicans -- and that he has no intentions of giving up his leadership job.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2300
DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice;
Calls Justice Anthony Kennedy's work "incredibly outrageous" because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet
Listen to Tom DeLay rant and rave (audio)
DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice
By Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intensified his criticism of the federal courts on Tuesday, singling out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's work from the bench as "incredibly outrageous" because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet.
DeLay said he thought there were a "lot of Republican-appointed judges that are judicial activists."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2301
DeLay's Denial;
In a message titled "What the Press Isn't Telling You," DeLay blames his ethics scandal on Democrats, liberal groups and the "legion of Democrat-friendly press"
DeLay Issues Broad Denial Of Ethics Violations
By Mike Allen / Washington Post
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), in his first detailed written response after weeks of questions about his dealings with lobbyists and handling of ethics matters, issued a broad denial that he violated any law or House rule in accepting trips abroad, and he implored supporters back home to accept his version of what he called "the real story."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2285
"He is still unwilling to admit that he did anything wrong."
DeLay Mails Long Rebuttal to Voters Back in Texas
By Carl Hulse / New York Times
WASHINGTON, April 18 - Under fire on several fronts, Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, is seeking to reassure his supporters with a point-by-point response to accusations of misconduct that have been raised against him.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2290
Chicago Tribune:
'Step Aside'
A stain on the House
Chicago Tribune
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay apologized last week for his assault on the federal judiciary, though it sounded like an apology more for his style than his substance. "... I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way." Yes, that's what he said.
DeLay had suggested that the judiciary would be in the crosshairs of Congress because the courts didn't rule DeLay's way in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo. DeLay's comments looked to all the world like an effort to intimidate the judges because he didn't like the way they upheld the rule of law.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2286
Poll: U.S. On Wrong Track
(CBS) Americans’ slate of national priorities has remained in place for months — the war in Iraq, the economy and jobs among others — with one new addition to the palette: gas prices. But when asked about congressional accomplishments so far this year, fewer than half can name anything Congress has done. For those in the minority who can, the legislation spurred by the Terri Schiavo case (which isn’t mentioned by the public as a priority) stands out as the most memorable.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/18/opinion/polls/main689012.shtml
This event took place on April 19, 1995, and was reported in the The New York Times the following day.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0419.html
Soldiers' 'Wish Lists' Of Detainee Tactics Cited
By Josh White / Washington Post
Army intelligence officials in Iraq developed and circulated "wish lists" of harsh interrogation techniques they hoped to use on detainees in August 2003, including tactics such as low-voltage electrocution, blows with phone books and using dogs and snakes -- suggestions that some soldiers believed spawned abuse and illegal interrogations.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2294
The Cheney Observer
People of Faith Speak Out for Justice, Religious Liberty and Dignity for All
4/18/2005 12:11:00 PM
To: National Desk, Religion Reporter
Contact: Taylor Thompson of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, 202-467-8180 ext. 213 or tthompson@pflag.org
WASHINGTON, April 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays:
People of faith across the country were insulted this week when Senate leader Bill Frist joined a campaign calling them "out of control" and "thieves in the night" who are bent on destroying "our Christian heritage and religious freedoms." Frist, who will join radical right-wing groups for "Justice Sunday" on April 24, believes families who support dignity and equality for all people, religious liberty, honest debate and the fundamental American commitment to justice are "anti-Christian" and morally deficient.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45983
Jeb Bush praises Scientologists
By Jeannette Walls
MSNBC
Updated: 2:38 a.m. ET April 5, 2005
While the religion of Tom Cruise and John Travolta has been getting some tough press in recent days, it’s also been lauded by President Bush’s brother.
advertisement
Florida Governor Jeb Bush raised eyebrows among the critics of the sometimes controversial religion recently when he honored Scientology volunteers who helped victims of hurricanes in his state.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7384923/
JEB BUSH, REPUBLICANS UPHOLD
JUDICIAL TYRANNY IN SCHIAVO CASE
By: Reed R. Heustis, Jr
One of the biggest mantras of the Republican Party is its supposed commitment to end judicial tyranny.
Yet, when its most powerful state chief executive in the Terri Schiavo case, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was faced with a golden opportunity to sledgehammer the judiciary for its unconstitutional court-ordered murder of Schiavo, it laid an egg.
Thus is the ongoing saga of the deceptive Republican Party.
Deliberately deceiving millions of Christian voters into believing that it is legitimately pro-life and committed to republican government where the judiciary is subservient to the Constitution, the Republican Party through actions and omissions by its own most powerful leaders has shown itself to be committed to neither.
http://www.etherzone.com/2005/heus041105.shtml
Army Pays $1.18B To Halliburton For Dining Services
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on 4/10/2005
Washington (Dow Jones/AP) — The U.S. Army announced Tuesday it will pay Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. $1.18 billion for dining services in Iraq and Kuwait but retain a portion of payments suspended during a long-running billing dispute.
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=d4244fd7-fa36-41ab-973c-d21ec8153836
U.S. adjusts plans for rebuilding Iraq
Report calls for use of more local firms
BY T. CHRISTIAN MILLER LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON — The State Department has ordered a major re-evaluation of the troubled $18.4 billion Iraqi reconstruction effort, blaming problems on early decisions to hire U.S. companies for major infrastructure projects.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ArDemocrat/2005/04/10&ID=Ar01902&Section=National
U.S. cash goes down the drain in Iraq
Officials say Iraqis have let rebuilt sewage, water and power plants fall back into disrepair.
By T. Christian Miller
Los Angeles Times
April 10, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials have crippled scores of water, sewage and electrical plants refurbished with U.S. funds by failing to maintain and operate them properly, wasting millions of American taxpayer dollars, according to interviews and documents.
http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/235817-4276-010.html
Suit Over Petroleum Minister Resumes Today
This Day (Lagos)
April 12, 2005
Posted to the web April 13, 2005
Onwuka Nzeshi
Warri
Legal battle resumes today, at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, in the suit filed by the Niger Delta Democratic Union, challenging the constitutionality of President Olusegun Obasanjo's refusal to appoint a Minister for Petroleum Resources since he assumed office in May 1999.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200504130057.html
Judge: Bush overstepped authority ; 'Enemy combatant' Padilla ordered freed; U.S. vows an appeal; [Chicago Final Edition]
Neil A Lewis, New York Times News Service. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 1, 2005. pg. 8
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Abstract (Document Summary)
The substance of [Henry Floyd]'s opinion wasn't a surprise because it reflected a Supreme Court ruling last June in a related case involving Yaser Hamdi. A Saudi who was a U.S. citizen by virtue of his birth in the United States, Hamdi was arrested on the battlefield in Afghanistan and held as an enemy combatant in the same brig in Charleston.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/abstract/800457451.html?did=800457451&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Mar+1%2C+2005&author=Neil+A+Lewis%2C+New+York+Times+News+Service&desc=Judge%3A+Bush+overstepped+authority+%3B+%27Enemy+combatant%27+Padilla+ordered+freed%3B+U.S.+vows+an+appeal
Halliburton revises fourth-quarter profit
Associated Press
HOUSTON - Halliburton Co. restated its 2004 fourth-quarter earnings to add another $2 million in after-tax losses to reflect the collection of a $10 million receivable in February that had been reserved and a correction in lease accounting.
The Houston-based oil services conglomerate said the revision reduced earnings by 0.004 cents per share, and the impact of the lease accounting change for prior earnings periods was immaterial.
Halliburton on Jan. 28 reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $201 million, or 45 cents per share. The change announced Tuesday revised those figures to a net loss of $203 million, or 46 cents per share.
A slew of retail and restaurant companies have said they are making accounting changes to conform with Securities and Exchange Commission rules on leasing.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/financial_markets/11022683.htm
Halliburton revises quarterly results
By Lisa Sanders, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:21 PM ET March 1, 2005
E-mail it Print Alert Reprint
DALLAS (MarketWatch) - Halliburton said Tuesday it revised its fourth quarter results downward by $3 million to reflect the collection of a reserved payment and a correction to the way it treats lease accounting.
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The adjustment to fourth-quarter earnings translates into 0.4 cent per share.
Shares of Halliburton fell 2.3 percent, or 99 cents, to close at $42.85 amid broad weakness in the oil and gas sector. See Energy Stocks.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B68ECEAC1-191D-4738-ACC8-DA1269901A74%7D&siteid=google&dist=google&cbsReferrer=
Halliburton adjusts Q4 earns slightly
NewsStand - Tuesday, March 01, 2005
CBS MarketWatch.com
Stephanie I. Cohen
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Halliburton Co. announced Tuesday it will make two adjustments to its previously announced fourth quarter 2004 earnings. The net impact of the adjustments is $3 million pre-tax expense, or less than a penny a share. The change stems from a $10 million payment the company received in February that was previously reserved and a correction in the accounting treatment for leasehold improvements that resulted in Halliburton recording a pre-tax expense of $13 million. "Management has determined that the impact of this matter on prior periods is immaterial," the company said in a statement.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqIp20eiendaYn0HHBgXPyNvYDg9UywrQDq
ConocoPhillips, Bechtel to collaborate on technology
Monica Perin
Houston Business Journal
ConocoPhillips and Bechtel Corp. said Monday they have reached an agreement for a worldwide collaboration to facilitate the licensing and marketing of ConocoPhillips' proprietary ThruPlus delayed coking technology.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/04/18/daily2.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Shed light on Iraq
Millions of American tax dollars spent on infrastructure repairs to water, sewage and electrical plants in Iraq have been wasted because of Iraqis' inability to operate them, according to interviews and documents recently obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The failure to have trained operators to turn projects over to is not merely a scandalous waste of money and effort. It's hampering the U.S. war effort and prolonging the suffering of the Iraqi people.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050418/OPINION/504180322/1002/OPINION
DeLay Letter Cites Democrats' 'Hate'
House majority leader says he's being targeted in an effort to damage the conservative agenda.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-delay19apr19,1,2075582.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Debriefing Scalia
Mon Apr 18, 5:03 PM ET
Op/Ed - The Nation
Editors' Note: Justice Antonin Scalia got more than he bargained for when he accepted the NYU Annual Survey of American Law's invitation to engage students in a Q&A session. Randomly selected to attend the limited-seating and closed-to-the-press event, NYU law school student Eric Berndt asked Scalia to explain his dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court case that overturned Bowers v. Hardwick and struck down the nation's sodomy laws. Not satisfied with Scalia's answer, Berndt asked the Justice, "Do you sodomize your wife?" Scalia demurred and law school administrators promptly turned off Berndt's microphone. As Berndt explains in his post to fellow law school students, it was an entirely fair question to pose to a Justice whose opinion--had it been in the majority--would have allowed the state to ask that same question to thousands of gays and lesbians, and to punish them if the answer is yes. We reprint Berndt's open letter below.
Fellow Classmates,
As the student who asked Justice Scalia about his sexual conduct, I am responding to your posts to explain why I believe I had a right to confront Justice Scalia in the manner I did Tuesday, why any gay or sympathetic person has that same right. It should be clear that I intended to be offensive, obnoxious, and inflammatory. There is a time to discuss and there are times when acts and opposition are necessary. Debate is useless when one participant denies the full dignity of the other. How am I to docilely engage a man who sarcastically rants about the "beauty of homosexual relationships" [at the Q&A] and believes that gay school teachers will try to convert children to a homosexual lifestyle [in oral argument for Lawrence]?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2281&ncid=742&e=1&u=/thenation/20050418/cm_thenation/20050502berndt
Partial response to petroleum dealers’ strike
Express News Service
Ludhiana, April 18: THE one-day strike by petroleum dealers recieved a partial response today as a number of fuel stations of all oil companies remained open in different parts of the city. By the evening, even the closed pumps also opened.
However, the petroleum dealers have threatened that if government did not agree to increase their commission, they will open fuel stations only from 9 am to 5 pm.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=125484
Ohio Senator Again Clashes Over Bush Pick
WASHINGTON — The Ohio senator who surprised fellow Republicans on Tuesday with his sudden concerns about President Bush's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations is known as a maverick.
Sen. George Voinovich was the rare Republican holdout against Bush's 2003 tax cut plan, an administration priority. Despite intense lobbying from the White House, he stood firm. The president had to settle for a smaller tax cut package.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-maverick-senator,1,816802.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
Rice pacifies Moscow ahead of Bush trip
CHRIS STEPHEN
IN MOSCOW
CONDOLEEZZA Rice flew into Moscow yesterday to smooth relations between the United States and Russia ahead of a planned visit next month by President George Bush.
Speaking before talks with Russian leaders, the US Secretary of State said that, despite serious setbacks to Russian democracy, there was no sign the country was poised to return to its totalitarian past.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=419252005
Apr 19, 2005 — By Doug Palmer and Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Tuesday that China was considering taking an interim step toward easing its rigid currency regime and that Washington wants action as soon as possible.
An interim move could help ease rising Sino-U.S. tensions, but Bush said the United States would still keep the pressure on Beijing to "eventually" let markets set the value of the yuan currency.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=685668
Senate Asks Bush for Iraq War-Cost Estimates
Mon Apr 18, 2005 07:20 PM ET
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate urged the Bush administration on Monday to plan better for the costs of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of relying on a series of stop-gap spending bills.
By a lopsided vote of 61-31, senators approved a non-binding resolution calling on President Bush to submit projected war costs in the U.S. budget plan he submits to Congress each February.
Twenty-one Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the resolution as an amendment to a bill that would provide $81 billion in "emergency" funds to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=8217447
How Bush and Cheney Avoided the AMT
Their Tax Returns Highlight
Quirks of Controversial Law;
The VP's Muni-Bond Income
April 20, 2005
On tax day last week, millions of Americans had paid more in taxes for 2004 because of the alternative minimum tax. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney weren't among them.
Their returns for 2004 showed zero on line 44, the line for reporting the AMT. Originally designed to make sure wealthy taxpayers couldn't escape paying any federal income tax, the AMT is essentially a parallel income-tax system with different rules, and it disallows certain kinds of deductions. Taxpayers are required to figure the tax they would owe under the regular income tax and how much they would owe under the AMT, and then pay the bigger of the two.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111395876816711550,00.html?mod=todays_free_feature
Measure keeps 'fracing' control with states
By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Star-Tribune energy reporter
To the relief of Wyoming's natural gas industry, a congressional committee last week approved legislation to keep the regulation of hydraulic fracturing with the states, not the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The House Energy Committee included the provision in the Energy Policy Act, which still must pass the full House and Senate before becoming law.
Wyoming's burgeoning deep natural gas industry in the southern, central and western portions of the state relies heavily on the practice. It usually involves pumping fluids thousands of feet down a well bore at pressure to fracture targeted geologic formations, creating pathways for the gas, and sometimes oil, to flow to the well.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/04/18/news/wyoming/2274199b92eb4d5887256fe60078fde2.txt
Breach of Credit Data May Have Broad Scope
HSBC warns 180k of possible ID thefts; other banks also aware of security gaffe
News Story by Jaikumar Vijayan
APRIL 18, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - An IT security problem involving a U.S. retailer's point-of-sale system (POS) is prompting HSBC Holdings PLC to warn 180,000 of its credit card holders about potential identity theft. And the breach could cause other companies that issue credit cards to take similar actions.
MasterCard International Inc. and Visa U.S.A. Inc. both confirmed last week that they were notified of the systems breach, the latest in a string of security incidents that have come to light since late February. MasterCard and Visa said that in turn, they have informed unspecified numbers of banks and credit card companies about the possibility that data was compromised.
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,101137,00.html
Identity Crisis
Published: 18th April 2005
Copyright © 2005 Robin Bloor
Trouble At The Data Mill
In February, ChoicePoint, a US company that aggregates and rents consumer data, broke the news that the personal data of up to 146,000 US consumers had probably been compromised. Some of it definitely had. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported that 750 of those consumers had suffered from identity theft attacks of one kind or another, but only a small proportion of the 146,000 lived in the Los Angeles area. In all probability, many thousands of people will be affected or already have been. ChoicePoint first got to know of the problem in October, when it discovered that identity thieves had been impersonating legitimate corporations and had opened 50 accounts to access ChoicePoint's data banks.
http://www.it-director.com/article.php?articleid=12672&SESSID=94636f13bb0ce6de1d8c68eab641e2c1
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