The New York Times
Vow? Since when has that ever meant anything?
Despite Vow, Drug Makers Still Withhold Data
By ALEX BERENSON
Published: May 31, 2005
When the drug industry came under fire last summer for failing to disclose poor results from studies of antidepressants, major drug makers promised to provide more information about their research on new medicines. But nearly a year later, crucial facts about many clinical trials remain hidden, scientists independent of the companies say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/business/31trials.html?hp
For Train Riders, Middle Seat Isn't the Center of Attention
Susan Stava for The New York Times
Because commuters would rather stand than occupy a middle seat, transit systems are reworking trains’ seating arrangements.
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: May 31, 2005
Before the 5:19 p.m. train headed north out of Grand Central Terminal last week, some passengers were already sitting on the floor, surrounded by the scuffed shoes and stuffed briefcases of people leaning against the walls.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/nyregion/31seat.html?hp&ex=1117598400&en=cb2e80254d49d798&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: May 31, 2005
New love can look for all the world like mental illness, a blend of mania, dementia and obsession that cuts people off from friends and family and prompts out-of-character behavior - compulsive phone calling, serenades, yelling from rooftops - that could almost be mistaken for psychosis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/health/psychology/31love.html?hp
Woman Makes History at Indy 500 Without Checkered Flag
Kurt Bauer/Associated Press
Danica Patrick, who finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500, had led with 10 laps to go.
By DAVE CALDWELL
Published: May 30, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS, May 29 - Danica Patrick, a 23-year-old rookie who does not drive like one, rocketed into the lead with 10 laps left Sunday in the 89th Indianapolis 500, chasing away earlier misfortune and storming toward a first with each left-hand turn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/sports/othersports/30indy.html?8hpib
Khodorkovsky Found Guilty of Fraud
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 31, 2005
Filed at 4:53 a.m. ET
MOSCOW (AP) -- A court on Tuesday declared tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty of an array of charges including fraud and tax evasion, and sentenced him to nine years in prison minus time served.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Russia-Khodorkosky.html?hp
C.I.A. Expanding Terror Battle Under Guise of Charter Flights
Pavel Horejsi for The New York Times
A Casa 235 about to take off from Ruzyne Airport in Prague on a flight to Afghanistan operated by the C.I.A.-connected Aero Contractors.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: May 31, 2005
This article was reported by Scott Shane, Stephen Grey and Margot Williams and written by Mr. Shane.
SMITHFIELD, N.C. - The airplanes of Aero Contractors Ltd. take off from Johnston County Airport here, then disappear over the scrub pines and fields of tobacco and sweet potatoes. Nothing about the sleepy Southern setting hints of foreign intrigue. Nothing gives away the fact that Aero's pilots are the discreet bus drivers of the battle against terrorism, routinely sent on secret missions to Baghdad, Cairo, Tashkent and Kabul.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/national/31planes.html?hp&ex=1117598400&en=8e93dc2aa23dd421&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Anti-Semitism
Christian Zionism
Letter from an Ex-Presbyterian Withdrawing from the PCUSA
IHC Abstract
The cost of standing with Israel as Zionist Christians in these truth-distorted times may mean increasingly the disruption of fellowship with church leaders and members who are blind to basic Biblical truths. Richard Stoecker in this moving letter addressed to his pastor takes his stand against Presbyterian Church leaders and their expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies. He writes: “The biggest single reason for my withdrawal [from the Presbyterian Church] is that I do not want to be complicit in antisemitism or anti-Zionism . . . By its actions, the 2004 General Assembly placed itself in direct opposition to God, thus making the PCUSA an apostate and heretical church.” He continues “I can no longer in good conscience remain in the Presbyterian Church USA, and my conscience must be my guide.” Stoecker is to be commended for his decision to disconnect from those who align themselves against Israel. No doubt the stakes will continue to be higher and increasingly more costly for those faithful friends of God’s chosen people in their endeavor to cling tenaciously to their God-given inheritance, the Land of Israel.
Dear Pastor,
I sent you a letter like this before, a letter expressing my decision to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church. I tried to make an attempt to remain in the church, but I cannot. Even as I am writing, I know that evil forces in the Muslim world are no doubt plotting new ways to try to destroy Israel. If something happens to the Israelis, I don’t know if I could live with myself, belonging as I do to a church that in its national leadership has attempted to hamper Israel’s ability to defend itself. Pope Benedict XVI has reached out to Israel in good will. Baptist churches generally support Israel. Why can’t we Presbyterians see that after 2000 years of persecution of Jews, our attitude toward Jews should be one of atonement and support, not hostility. The same thing I say of Presbyterians is true of other ‘mainline’ churches, in actuality becoming ‘marginal-line’ churches, since most of these churches have been experiencing significant losses of membership for years. The Presbyterians have been losing 40,000 members a year for a long time.
The biggest single reason for my withdrawal is that I do not want to be complicit in antisemitism or anti-Zionism. The 216th General Assembly of 2004 made statements about Israel, the homeland of God’s chosen people, that clearly showed their sympathies rest with Palestinian Muslim terrorists and ultra-Leftists against the Jews, a group of whom it can be said they enjoy the special favor of God - the chosen people. The Psalms say, “If I forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning.” I need the use of my right hand for all kinds of things.
By its actions, the 2004 General Assembly placed itself in direct opposition to God, thus making the PCUSA an apostate and heretical church. Other churches in the World Council of Churches, like lemmings, followed the same unfortunate and extremely misguided path. The WCC, with its many member denominations - more than 340 - has chosen the path of heresy, and it will not be to their benefit, although it may be pleasing to anti-Zionist atheist professors.
Every day I remain in this church as a member, I am supporting the evil of antisemitism, which gives itself the respectable and socially acceptable covering of anti-Zionism. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism, I have concluded, are the same, except in very rare exceptions. If we cannot do anything to help Israel, we should at least, as doctors say, “at first do no harm.” Neutrality would be better than opposition, but support is the best of all.
I am a Christian Zionist, which means I support the nation of Israel and any actions the government of Israel deems necessary to defend itself against the wicked forces that have attempted to destroy it for so long. The Bible clearly indicates the Jews in Israel are there in fulfillment of ancient prophecies in the Bible, which is the word of God.
The Presbyterian Church has been too reluctant to identify Islam as what it is, a false, violent, intolerant, heretical and vicious religion. Indeed, Islam does not even deserve to call itself a religion - it is a kind of fascism disguised as a religion. Suicide bombing is the most evil phenomenon I have ever seen. Islamic countries have the worst human-rights records in the world on a wide range of measures. This is well-documented and well-known.
I have tried to speak out against the sins of the 216th General Assembly regarding Israel, but I am only one person, and too many roadblocks are thrown in my way in terms of getting permission from authorities to make short addresses of protest. When I have addressed the elders of our church and the General Council, concentrating on Israel, it is impossible to tell whether others agree with me or not. It is not enough to convince anybody that the Bible predicted the return of the Jews to Israel Many seem not to realize that the Bible is a unique book. My pastor has tried to help me, but I cannot always follow his directions, and I feel an urgency about this issue.
The problems of the Presbyterian Church USA all boil down to one central problem - we have drifted too far from the Bible, God’s revelation to Man. When we ignore the Bible, or say it is no different from the Koran or any other religious document, we have no guidelines but half-baked theories from liberal seminaries, subjective feelings and impulses.
I can no longer in good conscience remain in the Presbyterian Church USA, and my conscience must be my guide. A Christian church must stand for the eternal principles derived from the Jewish Ten Commandments and the directions we received from Jesus and the other writers of the New Testament.
I left the church I attended before because they taught truth, but not combined with love. Perhaps the Presbyterians teach love without enough truth. A church needs both, and I am not a very social person anyway, so it is a struggle for me to go to any church. For 13 years there was a minister in my town who was a fundamentalist, like me, a better man than me, who knew how to teach both truth and love. He died in 2000. He was followed by ministers who essentially lacked compassion, although they believed in the Bible. One of them disrespected me, and at my age I can’t handle that well. He disrespected me repeatedly.
When I first began attending your church, it was such a relief to be around people who were polite. I thank you for the times you have tried to help me and your willingness to listen, but I feel led to leave this church because what the highest levels of leadership say reflect on me as a person, and there are too many barriers between the members and the national leadership to change their direction. I know some anti-divestment Presbyterians in other parts of the country who have other anti-divestment Presbyterians working with them for change, but I seem to be almost completely isolated in my views among Presbyterians in this area and I cannot, and no longer want to, carry the torch of reform by myself. It is too much of a strain and causes me too much stress.
I think your own interpretation of the Bible is probably considerably different from mine, and there needs to be a certain level of agreement on basic issues in a church. Jesus prayed that Christians would be one. That does not mean lockstep conformity, but a respect for the sanctity of life, support for Israel, acceptance of the Bible as God’s word and basic moral standards and reverence for the Bible seem necessary to me in a church.
I’m sorry if this is too blunt, but you already know I feel this way anyway. I wish you well in your Christian journey, and trust that God will find new ways for me to follow his leading.
Richard Stoecker
May 20, 2005
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=6/c/300520051
RAI Novosti
Khodorkovsky sentenced to 9 years, 1 less than prosecutors demanded
MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - The Meshchansky court has sentenced former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and his business partner Menatep head Platon Lebedev to nine years in prison. They will serve their sentence in a general security prison. Volna CEO Andrei Krainov's five-year sentence was suspended. Prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin had sought the 10-year maximum sentence for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev and 5.5-year suspended sentence with a five-year probation period for Krainov.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were also ordered to pay 17.395 billion rubles (some $600 million) to the federal tax service.
The court recommended levying 15 million-ruble and 62 million-ruble lawsuits against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev respectively.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050531/40447529.html
WORLD'S NO. 1 BATTLE TANK PRODUCER TO BE PRIVATIZED
MOSCOW, May 30. (RIA Novosti) - Uralvagonzavod, the world's biggest producer of battle tanks, will be privatized in 2006, said Eduard Rossel, governor of Russia's Sverdlovsk region.
The company will initially be 100% state-owned, but then all shares, save the controlling stake, will be offered to investors, Biznes, a daily, reported today.
The current state-run Uralvagonzavod, Rossel said, will give way to the Ural Railway Car Holding Company made up of Uraltransmash, which produces self-propelled guns, and mine layers and dispensers, Zavod No 9, towed field guns, and ChTZ-Uraltrak, a civil engineering company.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050530/40438961.html
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OPEN FOR DIALOGUE WITH VATICAN - PATRIARCH
MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Orthodox Church is open for dialogue with the Vatican, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia said on Monday. "We are open for dialogue, for overcoming difficulties which hamper our cooperation and for improving relations between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches," Alexis II said.
We should start a dialogue, he added.
The patriarch expressed hope that "the new Pope will open dialogue with Orthodox Churches" as he had stated recently. "We hail such statements," Alexis II said.
"We should overcome difficulties hampering our dialogue and cooperation," he added.
http://en.rian.ru/society/20050530/40442720.html
US, RUSSIA AND EU TO DEVELOP NEW SPACECRAFT
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov)
By developing new-generation spacecraft for resupplying the International Space Station (ISS), the United States, Russia and the European Union have launched another space race.
At first glance, the issue seems to be the following: Will U.S. space shuttles resume flights to the ISS this year? Moscow is optimistic on this score. "We hope that space shuttles will fly because the multinational project will otherwise have to be revised," Anatoly Perminov, chief of the Federal Space Agency, said in mid-May.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050530/40440801.html
SCIENCE FICTION WRITER SHECKLEY TO FLY HOME
KIEV, May 27 (RIA Novosti) - The famous American science fiction writer Robert Sheckley, who has spent a month in a private hospital in Kiev, will fly home today.
His doctors in Kiev said he had a serious respiratory disease and his current state was not satisfactory, but he can take the flight back home to the US.
Sheckley was to fly on Thursday but the departure was delayed by problems with the plane.
http://en.rian.ru/culture/20050527/40428770.html
ARE IRAN'S ARGUMENTS MORE CONVINCING FOR THE EU THAN U.S. FEARS?
MOSCOW. (Pyotr Goncharov, RIA Novosti commentator) -- The talks held last week between the EU and Tehran in Geneva on Iran's nuclear program looked like they had been thoroughly orchestrated and it will be interesting to see what happens now.
The next episode is expected either on June 13, when the IAEA Board of Governors will meet, or after a new Cabinet is formed in Iran following the June 17 presidential elections.
At the concluding round of talks in Geneva, the EU proposed that Tehran submit for its consideration a general project of EU-Iran cooperation covering various aspects, including nuclear technology cooperation, within two months. The proposal, it must be admitted, was unexpected and contradicted the logic of the talks held in the past.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050530/40442902.html
New Chechen mufti to fight against Wahhabism
GROZNY, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - New Chechen Mufti Sultan Mirzayev, 40, said that his key task was "ideological fight against Wahhabism and active promotion of traditional Islam."
"Imams and religious figures should explain the danger of the Wahhabite ideology, give balanced arguments and refer to the Koran," the mufti said in a RIA Novosti interview on Tuesday. The work with young people is a priority task. "In addition to radical Islamic trends, Chechnya has many other problems, including drug addiction. Clergymen should use their weapons to fight this evil," the mufti said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050531/40447852.html
Japan to receive most Sakhalin-II natural gas
MOSCOW, May 31. (RIA Novosti) - Sakhalin Energy, which operates the Sakhalin-II oil and natural gas project, signed another long-term contract on the sale of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Monday. Vedomosti, a leading business daily, reported today that the company had found a buyer for 70% of the LNG, about half of which would go to Japan.
http://en.rian.ru/business/20050531/40447072.html
PRESIDENT PUTIN'S VISIT TO JAPAN TO PROMOTE PARTNERSHIP
TOKYO, May 31. (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan will be a significant move for promoting bilateral relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said upon his arrival in Tokyo.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050531/40444802.html
RUSSIA WOULD LIKE EUROPE TO HAVE A CONSTITUTION
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov) - France's "Non" vote to a common constitution for the European Union has disappointed Moscow.
The Russian leaders commiserate with the failure of President Jacques Chirac, who took a considerable risk urging his fellow citizens to vote for the constitution and now the future of his rightwing-centrist Cabinet has been put into question. If Chirac goes, Russian President Vladimir Putin will lose a reliable ally in Old Europe, a man whose understanding of the role of Europe in the global lineup of forces is very similar to his own.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050530/40439787.html
RUSSIA TO DESIGN NEW BOEING AIRCRAFT
MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti) - The incomplete Boeing B-787 Dreamliner passenger plane design has been unveiled in Moscow while about 300 Russian engineers help design its components, Vremya Novostei reported.
On May 16, Boeing Russia-CIS President Sergei Kravchenko said that the company had decided to include Moscow in an extremely limited list of cities where B-787-s will be unveiled. His decision is motivated by Russia's considerable contribution to the R&D effort.
http://en.rian.ru/business/20050517/40366347.html
Number of drug addicts grows in Chechnya
GROZNY, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - Drug addiction and peddling are becoming "catastrophic" in Chechnya, said Rudnik Dudayev, secretary of the Chechen Security Council.
Dudayev said at the session of the republican interdepartmental commission on drugs that the increasing involvement of women, who act as couriers, is especially dangerous.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050531/40448710.html
Russia needs national plan of action for children's protection
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Olga Sobolevskaya) - On June 1, the International Day of Children's Protection, it is traditional to announce statistic data.
Like this: about one third of little Russians, over 400,000, are born out of wedlock, every seventh child is raised in a broken family. Last year, 65,000 children were taken away from their parents, who lost parental rights.
"The Russian family looks simply depressing," said recently Yekaterina Lakhova, chairman of the Russian parliament's Committee for Women's Issues, the Families and Youth.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050531/40447525.html
RUSSIA NEEDS A STABLE CAUCASUS
MOSCOW (Sergei Markedonov for RIA Novosti) - The Russian military presence in Georgia has become the key issue of the Caucasian Big Game in the last few months.
Discussions of the timeframe and speed of their withdrawal from Georgia overshadowed the problems of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050526/40422755.html
RUSSIA, U.S. DESTINED TO COOPERATE IN CENTRAL ASIA
MOSCOW (Sergei Markedonov, for RIA Novosti) - Many people in Russia see America's presence in the post-Soviet (Eurasian) area as virtually an attempt to end Russia's national sovereignty.
Alexander Dugin, a prominent theoretician of Russian traditionalism, recently said the United States was trying to penetrate the "canonical territory" of Russian diplomacy. However, the military-political presence of the world's No.1 superpower in some ex-Soviet republics might become an important stabilizing factor.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050530/40442546.html
Global Warming and Climate Change
Brussels focuses on effort to tackle climate change
By Fiona Harvey in London
Published: May 30 2005 16:33 Last updated: May 30 2005 16:33
The European Commission will step up attempts to tackle climate change this week amid concern that international progress is again being stalled by the US.
Uninterrupted by France's No vote, the European Union's executive will also consider prospects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation as part of “Green Week”, which this year will concentrate on climate change.
Stavros Dimas, the European Union's environment commissioner, said: “Climate change is one of our biggest environmental challenges and a major threat to our economies. Our aim in bringing together key players and stakeholders during Green Week is not only to listen but also to try to move towards workable and cost-effective solutions, particularly in view of the further efforts that will be needed to achieve global reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.”
But Green Week, timed to lead up to the United Nations World Environment Day this Sunday, when mayors from around the world will adopt measures to create greener cities, will take place against a backdrop of uncertainty over the prospects for international action on climate change.
Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, is visiting leaders of EU member states and the Group of Eight industrialised nations over the next few weeks in preparation for the UK's presidency of the EU from July and the G8 summit in Gleneagles on July 6. He will discuss climate change, which he has made one of his twin priorities for the G8 this year, along with Africa. But the leak of a memo purporting to be the draft text of a G8 statement on climate change, to be issued at Gleneagles, dismayed some environmental campaigners. The document lacked any reference to specific targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the US has long and consistently refused to be tied to targets for emissions reduction such as those imposed by the UN-brokered Kyoto protocol on climate change.
Another sensitive area surrounds plans to deal with climate change beyond 2012, when the main provisions of the Kyoto protocol expire. Business leaders in the UK called last week for the government to provide “greater certainty” to businesses by extending emissions reduction targets to 2025.
But the US is adamantly opposed to discussions of actions beyond 2012. Senior US officials have said such discussions would be “premature” and repeated this view at a meeting of Kyoto countries in Bonn earlier this month. The G8 meeting is more likely to see agreement on the importance of investing in research and development into technologies that will help reduce emissions, such as renewable energy sources and the capture and storage of carbon. The US spends more than $5bn $5bn (€4bn, £2.8bn) a year on technologies and research related to climate change.
http://financialtimes.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=FT.com+%2F+International+economy+-+Brussels+focuses+on+effort+to+tackle+climate+change&expire=&urlID=14394223&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F12448cfa-d120-11d9-9c1d-00000e2511c8%2Cft_acl%3D%2Cs01%3D1.html&partnerID=1744
Small species back-up giant marsupial climate change extinction claim
Thinking small in a time when everything was big has helped Queensland researchers to unearth new evidence that climate change, instead of humans, was responsible for wiping out Australian giant marsupials or megafauna 40,000 years ago.
Instead of only excavating 'trophy specimens' such as giant kangaroos and wombats, the researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Queensland Museum performed the first systematic analysis of a site in the fossil rich Darling Downs region of south-eastern Queensland.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-05/ra-ssb052705.php
Climate Change Threatens Crop Losses, More Hunger
Monday, 30 May 2005, 11:37 am
Press Release: United Nations
Climate Change Threatens Crop Losses, More Hungry People - UN
New York, May 26 2005 1:00PM
Climate change threatens to increase crop losses, increase the number of people facing malnutrition, or worse, and may change the development patterns of animal diseases and plant pests, the United Nations agricultural agency says in a new report.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), has developed the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) methodology, a worldwide spatial soil and climate suitability database for use in quantifying regional impacts and geographical shifts in agricultural land and productivity potentials.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00456.htm
Panel launched for climate change
The Ministry of Environment announced yesterday an intergovernmental panel to oversee the assessment of scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant to climate change on Korean Peninsula.
The Korea Panel on Climate Change, which comprises a group of experts and government officials from the ministry and the Korean Meteorological Administration, will also be tasked with making both long-term and short-term policy recommendations based on the assessment.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/05/31/200505310002.asp
continued. . .
