Morning Papers - concluding

The Globe and Mail

N. Korea says it has completed removing fuel rods from reactor

Seoul — North Korea said Wednesday it had completed removing spent nuclear fuel rods from a reactor at its main nuclear complex — a move that could allow it to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium — in the communist state's latest provocation amid a deadlock in disarmament talks.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050511.wkorea0511/BNStory/International/

Bell joins group trying to secure Net

Bell Canada is teaming up with other industry players and the academic world to find ways to improve Internet security in Canada, tackling such on-line abuses as identity theft.
The new initiative, called the Forum for Information Security Innovation in Canada (FISIC), will be officially launched Thursday. The group plans to develop and fund research projects, and commercialize security solutions, in a bid to assist the government in protecting the communications infrastructure.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050510.wsecur0510/BNStory/Technology/

The Cheney Observer

Bush Cheney Tax To Decimate Working Republicans
by CONSPIRACY PLANET

In a stunning new development, the Bush Cheney Regime has proposed yet another plan to increase the tax burden on working class Republicans and Democrats.
In his column "New Bushonian Tax Fraud: Bush Cheney Regime Wants Consumption Tax to Stave Off Social Security Shortfalls," published on Al Martin Raw (almartinraw.com, economic forecaster Al Martin writes that the Bush Cheney Regime has decided to float the concept of a new tax. It will be packaged and sold to US citizens as a VAT Value Added Tax, Consumption Tax, or National Sales Tax and pro-Bush Republicans claim it will be necessary to keep the Social Security program solvent.

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=49&contentid=2171

US oil firm shuts 10,000 bpd flowstation in southern Nigeria

US oil giant Chevron said Tuesday it had shut a flowstation producing 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Nigeria's southern delta, after discovering a breach of a pipeline linking it to an export terminal.
A spokesman for the firm's subsidiary in Nigeria told Xinhua they didn't know whether the pipeline from Makaraba flowstation to the Escravos export terminal had been blown up due to sabotage as reported.

http://english.people.com.cn/200505/11/eng20050511_184511.html

Perkins accused opponents of Bush's judicial picks of anti-Christian bigotry

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Christian think tank Family Research Council, baselessly accused Democratic senators of opposing President Bush's judicial nominees because of their deeply held Christian beliefs in opposition to abortion rights.
In fact, the Senate has confirmed 205 of Bush's judicial nominees -- most with substantial Democratic support -- and few, if any, of these confirmed judges have voiced support for abortion rights. Indeed, many are overtly anti-abortion (e.g., Michael W. McConnell, confirmed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, John G. Roberts
, confirmed to the District of Columbia Circuit, and James Leon Holmes, confirmed to the Eastern District of Arkansas.) What distinguishes the nominees whom Democrats have filibustered is what Democrats say is their unwillingness or inability to put aside their ideological views and follow the law. In the case of the three nominees listed below, opponents have cited specific actions and statements related to abortion that run counter to precedent and statutory law:

Owen said the court had acted "irresponsibly." Her dissent earned a harsh rebuke from fellow Republican justice Alberto Gonzales, who is now U.S. attorney general. Gonzales accused Owen essentially of rewriting the law by ignoring the language of the statute and legislative history, and wrote that adopting Owen's position on the case "would be an unconscionable act of judicial activism."

The State Bar of California staunchly opposed Brown's nomination to the California Supreme Court. The bar stated in 1996 that her "judicial opinions were insensitive to established precedents and improperly reflected [her] philosophical and personal views." When Bush nominated Brown to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in July 2003, the Congressional Black Caucus stated: "Justice Brown's record proves that she is unable or unwilling to divorce her personal views from her responsibility to fairly interpret the law or the Constitution." Progressive advocacy group People for the American Way (PFAW) outlined the numerous substantive reasons for Democratic opposition to Brown's nomination in a 2003 report.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200504220005

Compton Petroleum Q1 profit falls 55% to $10M; revenues up 22% to $106.5M

http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=1d6cb9db-d8c2-43ae-ba78-c14b319cbd9c

Halliburton Receives Southeast Asia Contract to Deliver Cost-Effective Reliable Reservoir Monitoring
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2005--Halliburton's (NYSE:HAL) Energy Services Group was recently awarded a contract to provide its EZ-Gauge(TM) technology on projects in Vietnam for Japan Vietnam Petroleum Company Limited (JVPC), a joint venture company of Nippon Oil Exploration Limited (a subsidiary of Nippon Oil Group), ConocoPhillips, and PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Company (a subsidiary of PetroVietnam). JVPC selected the EZ-Gauge system because it provides a cost-effective, accurate pressure data collection system that is free of downhole electronics. Reliability and longevity of the system is significantly greater than other monitoring technologies.
The most commonly used alternative to EZ-Gauge technology is conventional electronic, permanent downhole gauges. The EZ-Gauge system is designed to reduce cost, improve reliability and improve longevity over these conventional electronic systems. It delivers these improvements especially in downhole environments exceeding about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050510005692&newsLang=en

Halliburton Wins Bonuses
By REUTERS
Published: May 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - The Army said Tuesday that it had awarded $72 million in bonuses to the Halliburton Company for logistics work in Iraq but had not decided whether to give the company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.
The Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., said in a statement that it had given a Halliburton unit, Kellogg Brown & Root, ratings from excellent to very good for six task orders for work supporting troops in Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/11/business/11halliburton.html>

Grenade found near site where Bush gave speech in Georgia

Tbilisi, Georgia — Georgia's security chief said Wednesday that an inactive grenade was found near the site where U.S. President George W. Bush made a speech in Tbilisi.
Gela Bezhuashvili, secretary of the National Security Council, said the Soviet-made RPG-5 grenade was found 100 feet from the stand where Mr. Bush spoke on Tuesday.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050511.wgrenade0511/BNStory/International/

Judge who exonerated Cheney is on the payroll of Exxon

http://www.legitgov.org/news_cheney_task_force_judge_051005.html

U.S. court dismisses Cheney energy task force case
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit that sought details about Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy policy task force that critics say secretly formed policy favorable to the industry.
The unanimous ruling ordered a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit by the Sierra Club environmental group and the watchdog group Judicial Watch that sought to learn about contacts between task force members and industry executives.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-05-10T185527Z_01_N1013959_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-ENERGY-CHENEY-DC.XML

Judges poised to rule on Microsoft
Microsoft's fate hangs in the balance as a Court of Appeal considers whether to overturn the break-up order. A ruling is thought to be imminent and BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Washington takes a look at the judges making the decision.
Anti-trust experts in Washington have always seen the District of Columbia's Appeals Court as a much friendlier venue for Microsoft than the courtroom of Thomas Jackson - the judge who ordered the firm to be split up.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1363208.stm

A. Raymond Randolph, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law
We are proud to have the HONORABLE A. RAYMOND RANDOLPH serve as distinguished adjunct professor of law. Judge Randolph has been on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1990.
Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Randolph had a distinguished legal career, in both the public and private sectors. Judge Randolph clerked for the Honorable Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upon his graduation from law school.

http://www.law.gmu.edu/faculty/bio.php?fac=58

George Mason University, Law and Economics Center has received $115,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.
1998
$15,000 ExxonMobil Corporate Giving
Source: ExxonMobil 1998 grants list
2000
$40,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Law Economics Center
Source: ExxonMobil Foundation 2000 IRS 990
2001
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2001 Annual Report
2002
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Source: ExxonMobil 2002 Annual Report
2003
$20,000 ExxonMobil Foundation
Law and Economics Center
Source: ExxonMobil 2003 Corporate Giving Report

http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=37

ECONOMICS INSTITUTES FOR FEDERAL JUDGES
'Passionate Adherent'
The Law and Economics Center at George Mason University School of Law (GMU) is dedicated to teaching the economic analysis of law to lawyers and judges. It was founded by Henry Manne in 1974 at the University of Miami School of Law, where he was then a professor. After a brief stop at Emory University, Manne brought the Center to Virginia in 1986, when he became dean of GMU's Law School. Manne is a passionate adherent of the Chicago School of economics and has transformed George Mason into a bastion of law and economics thinking.

http://www.metrolink.net/%7Ecmueller/ii-09.html

BUCK CHENEY - DUCK MASTER!
The savvy outdoorsman inspires awe and admiration even with the tenderfoot!
From Mark Morford at the San Fransisco Chronicle - Dick Cheney Kills Birds Dead
The manly veep has himself a lazy, "canned" pheasant slaughter, and we are so impressed
So then about a month ago the vice president of these beautiful and deeply confused United States, he of the struggling defibrillator and the shockingly nefarious wife and the gnarled calluses from working Dubya's puppet strings, he of the thin-lipped sneer that makes babies cry and women wince and foreign policies crumble like feta cheese in the freezer, well, Dick goes himself a-huntin'.

http://www.falloutshelternews.com/BuckCheney.html

Duck Master's offshore tax-havens
Double Trouble for Halliburton
Halliburton lands $72 million in bonuses
Auditors Questioned $212.3 Million in Charges From KBR
Halliburton exec on fraud charges
Halliburton Whistleblower Beaten by KBR Thugs
Halliburton exec on fraud charges
Buckmaster's KBR spent millions getting $82,100 worth of LPG into Iraq
KBR (Halliburton subsidiary) got $12 bil. Iraq contracts
Phoney-baloney billing at Halliburton under scrutiny
More than 100 families win $30 mil. in asbestos case
Duck Master at Auschwitz - he took his hausfrau!
The Cheneys enjoy a laugh at Auschwitz
Haliburton highway deal in Virginia challenged
Veep limo creamed by snowball [PHOTO]
Buck threatens WWIII with Iran.
Duckmaster Pals Reap Millions
More Halliburton failings in Iraq
Halliburton Hires Columbian Mercenaries
Swiss freeze accounts in investigation of alleged bribes by Halliburton partner
Halliburton lost track of government property in Iraq
Halliburton Returns Radioactive Material(It Lost 2 Years Ago)
Etc., etc., etc.

The New Zealand Herald

Halliburton gets US$72m bonus for work in Iraq
11.05.05 1.00pm
By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON - The US Army says it has awarded US$72 million ($99.57 million) in bonuses to Halliburton Co for logistics work in Iraq.
However, it has not not decided whether to give the Texas company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124961

US warlord policy in Afghanistan slammed
11.05.05 1.00pm
By Manuela Badawy

NEW YORK - The US policy of engaging Afghan warlords to hunt down al Qaeda members is undermining the recovery of the devastated country, said a prominent Afghan editor who helped draft the new constitution.
Shukria Barakzai, 33, in New York to receive the Worldpress.org's 2004 International Editor of the Year award at the United Nations, made clear her gratitude for the 2001 US-led invasion, which ended many limitations on women.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124962

Swedish teen arrested for hacking internet code
11.05.05 1.00pm

WASHINGTON - Cisco Systems in the US said authorities in Sweden had detained a person for stealing its source code, the basic instructions for the machines that direct internet traffic around the globe.
"We are aware that a person has been detained in Sweden related to the IOS source code theft and are encouraged by this action," the San Jose, California, company said in a statement.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124963

Poachers poison rhinos in S Africa reserve
11.05.05 1.00pm

JOHANNESBURG - Poachers have fatally poisoned five rhinos and several other animals in a South African nature reserve, a new tactic conservationists said was deeply worrying.
The incident is one of the worst of its kind in living memory in South Africa, where the poaching of rhinos is relatively rare.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124960

Treaty thaws Russian relations with EU
Jose Manuel Barroso
11.05.05
By Andrew Hurst

MOSCOW - Russia and the European Union announced a breakthrough agreement on political and economic relations yesterday aimed at defusing years of tension that accompanied the bloc’s expansion to Russian frontiers.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124885

Explosion kills two in Southern Russia
11.05.05 12.20pm

MAKHACHKALA, Russia - An explosion killed a woman and a police officer and wounded at least two others in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Tuesday, Russia's Interior Ministry said.
A ministry spokesman said traffic policemen noticed a suspicious package on a busy street near the centre of Makhachkala, the capital of the region, which borders Chechnya.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10124927

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Some cloud

-16.0°

Updated Wednesday 11 May 8:59PM

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

55 °F / 13 °C
Clear

Humidity:
44%

Dew Point:
34 °F / 1 °C

Wind:
Calm

Pressure:
29.88 in / 1012 hPa

Visibility:
-

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):
Clear -

end