Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History . . .
1491, Henry VIII, English king
1577, Peter Paul Rubens, painter
1867, Luigi Pirandello, playwright
1867, Richard Rogers, American composer, best known for his collaborations with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He was born in New York City, and educated at Columbia University and the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School) in New York City. His first complete Broadway show was Garrick Gaieties (1925), with lyrics by the American lyricist Hart. Rodgers and Hart subsequently collaborated on many outstanding musical productions, including The Girl Friend (1926), A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Babes in Arms (1937), and Pal Joey (1940). Among the many popular-song classics from Rodgers and Hart's theater and film scores are “My Heart Stood Still,””The Lady Is a Tramp,” and “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.”
1876, Clara Maass,
1906, Maria Goeppert-Mayer, physicist
1946, Gilda Radner, comedian
1960, John Elway, quarterback
1491, England's King Henry VIII was born at Greenwich.
1778, "Molly Pitcher" (Mary Ludwig Hays) carried water to American soldiers at the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth, N.J where American forces led by General George Washington and aided by a woman known as Molly Pitcher defeat the British.
1836, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, died in Montpelier, Va.
1841, The ballet Giselle premieres in Paris, with music by Adolph Charles Adam, choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli, and the title role danced by Carlotta Grisi.
1914, Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist -- the event leading Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia a month later, beginning World War I.
1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the First World War.
1928, The plane of Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who was the first person to reach the South Pole, disappears on a flight to rescue the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile in the Arctic.
1939, Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service, flying from New York to Lisbon, Portugal, and Marseilles, France.
1944, the Republican national convention in Chicago nominated New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president and Ohio Gov. John W. Bricker for vice president.
In 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul, South Korea.
1958, Algeria prisoners freed to win Muslim support
France has ordered the release of 30 Algerian political prisoners in a move aimed at winning Muslim support over French plans for the colony's future.
General Charles de Gaulle has already unveiled proposals for local elections in Algeria - and for a referendum of all French citizens on changes to the constitution which would give him far-reaching powers as president.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_3015000/3015812.stm
1960, Welsh pit blast kills 37 miners
At least 37 men have been killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Monmouthshire, Wales.
Another eight miners are trapped, feared dead, after the accident at Six Bells Colliery, 1,000 ft (305 m) below the surface. They include two fathers, each with their two sons.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_2520000/2520665.stm
1971, The Supreme Court overturns the conviction of boxer Muhammad Ali for draft evasion, finding that his refusal to fight in Vietnam is based on the religious principles of Islam.
1976, Death sentence for mercenaries
Three Britons and an American have been sentenced to death by firing squad for their mercenary roles during the Angolan civil war.
A further nine men were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 16 to 30 years at the People's Revolutionary Tribunal in Luanda.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_2520000/2520575.stm
In 1978, the Supreme Court ordered the University of California at Davis Medical School to admit Allan Bakke, a white man who had argued he was a victim of reverse racial discrimination.
1991: Thatcher to retire from Commons
Margaret Thatcher is to give up her seat in the House of Commons at the general election.
The former prime minister, who has held her Finchley seat for more than 30 years, said she intended to remain in politics and wanted to go to the House of Lords.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/28/newsid_2520000/2520795.stm
1996, The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.
2001, Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is tranferred to The Hague, The Netherlands, to face trial for war crimes allegedly committed during the Wars of Yugoslav Succession.
2004, US transfers power back to Iraq
The United States has handed power back to the Iraqi people at a low-key ceremony in Baghdad.
US administrator Paul Bremer transferred sovereignty to an Iraqi judge at a handover brought forward two days in an attempt to prevent the occasion being marked by bloodshed.
Missing in Action
1966 CAVALLI ANTHONY FRANK NEW YORK NY EXPLODE NO PARA BEEP NO ONE OBS
1966 DUDLEY CHARLES GLENDON BOZEMAN MT
1966 WOLFE THOMAS HUBERT MONETT MO EXPLODE NO PARA BEEP NO ONE OBS
1967 BAILEY JAMES W. KOSCIUSKO MS 02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1967 LAWRENCE WILLIAM P. NASHVILLE TN 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1968 JOHNS PAUL FREDERCK LACONIA IN
The Cheney Observer
Bush aide named top transportation official
BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush named his chief of staff Monday to take over the state Department of Transportation, an agency that will be working with local governments to help control the state's growing traffic problems.
The Florida Department of Transportation has a $6 billion budget. It is one of the largest state agencies with nearly 7,500 employees and oversees more than 12,000 miles of state highway, 750 aviation facilities, 14 seaports and more than 28,000 miles of railway.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/11998713.htm
The Bush boys put out a contract
BY PETER A. BROWN
The Orlando Sentinel
(KRT) - You can almost hear George and Jeb talking about politically executing Katherine Harris as if they were characters in the ``Godfather'' movies putting out a contract on someone who stood in their way.
The Bush brothers are giving her the political kiss of death, just as the mobsters in the film trilogy often discussed the need to kill former allies because of changing alliances.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/11995726.htm
Bush comments about Democrats astonish
Comments about the Florida Democratic Party -that it has "gotten pathetic" - by Jeb Bush are astonishingly hypocritical. This is coming from a man who insists on meddling in the private affairs of the Schiavo family for political gain, when a vast majority of Floridians disagree with his actions. Playing partisan politics with Terri's life was truly pathetic.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/11979593.htm
Jeb Bush's shameful vendetta
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Originally published June 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - Malcolm X used to speak of the need to get freedom "by any means necessary." Apparently, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush feels the same about the need to get Michael Schiavo.
Mr. Bush directed the state's attorney to open an investigation into whether Mr. Schiavo delayed in calling paramedics when he found his wife, Terri, passed out in their bathroom before sunrise on Feb. 25, 1990. The pretext for this is that over the years, Mr. Schiavo has given conflicting estimates of the time he found his wife. He's said 4:30 a.m., he's said 5 a.m.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.newpitts26jun26,1,3626705.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true
Gov. Bush: Prosecutor taking up Schiavo inquiry
Saturday, June 18, 2005 Posted: 1922 GMT (0322 HKT)
Terri Schiavo died March 31 after her feeding tube was disconnected at her husband's request.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday that a prosecutor has agreed to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, citing an alleged time gap between when her husband found her and when he called 911.
Bush said his request for the probe was not meant to suggest wrongdoing by Michael Schiavo. "It's a significant question that during this ordeal was never brought up," Bush told reporters.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/17/schiavo.governor.ap/
What on earth is Jeb Bush doing?
Friday, June 24, 2005
One has to wonder what has motivated Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to become further involved in the Terri Schiavo case.
If Bush is thinking about succeeding his brother in the White House -- which he has consistently denied -- his meddling would seem to raise a lot of eyebrows among voters, even fellow Republicans.
The governor has requested reopening what has been an exhausting investigation into this tragic situation, which should have ended with Schiavo's death on March 31 at age 41. The case has been reviewed repeatedly in Florida courts. It became political in the Florida Legislature, and was in the U.S. Supreme Court six times.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-1/1119626545294090.xml
House Leader DeLay Faces Probes, Holds Power by Funneling Cash
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Representative Sherwood Boehlert of New York is one of a dwindling band of Republican moderates in the House of Representatives. He supports stricter environmental rules, campaign finance restrictions and abortion rights.
When Boehlert faced a tough primary challenge in 2002, he had little reason to expect help from Tom DeLay. The House Republican majority leader is an implacable foe of campaign finance limits and abortion -- once lamenting that heaven is ``crowded with America's invisible orphans'' -- and has called the Environmental Protection Agency the ``Gestapo.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=achsxVnlemo4&refer=us
GOP fundraiser brings in $150K for Schwarz campaign
Party moves to retain majority in Congress
By Katherine Hutt Scott
State Journal correspondent
WASHINGTON - A fundraising program created by conservative House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to benefit potentially vulnerable Republican lawmakers has sent $150,000 to the re-election campaign of freshman Rep. Joe Schwarz, a political moderate.
Schwarz, R-Battle Creek, was one of 10 House members who benefited from a Washington reception Thursday organized by the Retain Our Majority Program (ROMP).
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050626/NEWS01/506260340/1001/news
Subject : John McCain and the 'Abramoff Phenomenon'
Name : cranston36
Date : 2005-06-24 21:28 View : 51
Senator McCain of Arizona showed his disconnect from the American people and his obsession with Washington politics during a recent hearing session.
It involved a lobbyist by the name of Abramoff who has apparently stolen millions of dollars from Native American tribes during the last few years.
Abramoff and his main accomplice were both employees of Representative Tom DeLay and DeLay has been associated with other problems.
McCain, in service to his party and his political friends and flunkies had this to say about the thievery, ??Today's hearing is about more than contempt, even more than greed. It is simply and sadly a tale of betrayal." (By Abramoff of his friends.)
See how easily Senator McCain steps from truth into an alternate reality?
http://english.ohmynews.com/TALK_BACK/bbs_view.asp?ba_code=63&bb_code=276377
Caddy Hacks
Golf, the ultimate symbol of Republican corruption.
By Michael Crowley
Posted Thursday, June 23, 2005, at 11:15 AM PT
On a Wednesday afternoon earlier this month, top Republicans quietly disappeared from Capitol Hill. House votes were suspended for several hours. What was afoot? An urgent briefing on Iraq, the troubled economy, the coming avian flu pandemic?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2121377/
How a Lobbyist and a Former Tom DeLay Aide Ripped Off Clients and Padded Their Pockets
By Staff and Wire Reports
Jun 23, 2005, 06:59
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Lobbyist Jack Abramoff laundered money from a Mississippi tribal client, using it to set up bogus Christian anti-gambling groups and fund other right-wing projects, including gear for a "sniper school" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, The Washington Post reports in today's editions.
E-mails and testimony before Senate Indian Affairs Committee show an incredible trail of lies, fraud and deceit by Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, public relations executive and former spokesman for scandal-ridden House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_6916.shtml
SECRET CONTRIBUTIONS TO DELAY SHOWN RE-ROUTED AND UNDISCLOSED
Lobbyist Jack Abromoff, now under
criminal investigation, told the tribe to
cancel its check to DeLay and route
money to obscure groups
ELTON, La –(AP) A casino-rich tribe wrote checks for at least $55,000 to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s political groups, but the donations were never publicly disclosed and the tribe was directed to divert the money to other groups that helped Republicans, tribal documents show.
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=22460
US FLAG BURNING BILL APPROVED
23.6.2005. 10:31:04
The outlawing of the burning of the American flag has moved a step closer after the US House of Representatives approved the measure by a vote of 286 to 130.
Supporters said the measure to outlaw the desecration of the stars and stripes was meant to particularly discourage demonstrators burning or otherwise damaging the flag during a protest.
"Freedom of political speech does not include the destruction of a physical object – especially one that thousands of soldiers have sworn and fought to protect," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=114349®ion=4
Tribe says Abramoff wanted its donations sent elsewhere
Records show checks meant for DeLay groups were rerouted to others that aided the GOP
By ADAM NOSSITER
Associated Press
RESOURCES
FOLLOWING THE MONEY
• Inquiry: The Senate Indian Affairs Committee chaired by Republican John McCain is set to examine the relationships between lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the tribes at a hearing today in Washington.
ELTON, LA. - A casino-rich tribe wrote checks for at least $55,000 to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political groups, but the donations were never publicly disclosed and the tribe was directed to divert the money to other groups that helped Republicans, tribal documents show.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now under criminal investigation, told the Coushatta Indian tribe, a client, to cancel its checks to the DeLay groups in 2001 and 2002 and route the money to more obscure groups that helped Republicans on Medicare prescription drug legislation and Christian voter outreach.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3235704
People like Rush Limbaugh never cease to amaze me. They will sell out their own country for ratings. They have no principles. They have no morals. All they know s money.
The DeLay Double Standard
June 21, 2005
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: "A law firm under scrutiny for its role in arranging overseas trips for members of Congress says that House ethics lawyers," House ethics lawyers! "advised this law firm several years ago that it could pay for some congressional travel. This is an assertion that may bolster the argument of Tom DeLay that he did nothing wrong in accepting lavish trips organized by the firm's star lobbyist." He's not the only one who did, either. I'm reading this from the New York Times. They only mention DeLay but there were countless others who accepted payments from this Abramoff guy and his firm, and we know that there are all kinds of members of the House and Senate who go all over the world on somebody else's dime, and there was a mad dash to report all of these trips once this investigation of DeLay got going. We also learned the other day that the prosecutor down in Texas looking into DeLay has actually forgotten charges or eliminated, stopped investigations of clients that contributed money to some of his pet causes. This is Ronnie Earl. Did you hear about that? The prosecutor looking into DeLay -- the Democrat prosecutor looking into DeLay -- actually stopped investigating firms and others that have contributed to some of his pet causes. Yet how long has this gone on? How long has the press been trying to destroy Tom DeLay? Single-handedly. A single individual, with all of these innuendo, all of these false allegations, all of this trumped up, all these trumped up charges, repeated ad nauseum. How much curiosity has there been on the part of the press to get to the bottom of the ethical lapses of Tom DeLay? -- and we aren't even supposed to ask any questions about Hillary Clinton because if we do it means that we're just mean right-wingers who have nothing but personal destruction on our minds
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_062105/content/rush_is_right_3.guest.html
Nigeria's Oil Killing Fields
Kelpie Wilson Interviews Simon Amaduobogha
Wednesday 16 March 2005
At the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Oregon, held March 3-6, I was able to hear about the work of environmental lawyers and activists from around the world. The most deeply affecting panel I attended was on the human and environmental costs of multinational oil and gas development. Afterward I was able to interview Simon Amaduobogha, an attorney with Community Defence Law Foundation in Nigeria.
Kelpie Wilson: The title of your talk today was Terrorism: Oil and Gas Exploitation in Nigeria. What do you mean here by terrorism?
Simon Amaduobogha: Terrorism is a situation where people are attacked. They are being oppressed and they are being intimidated into submission by oil companies and the government of Nigeria so companies can have their way. There is a lot terror when it comes to oil operations in the Niger Delta, resulting in the destruction of property and the life of the people in these communities.
K.W.: You mentioned in your talk that terrorism presents different faces there.
S.A.: Yes, there are four different faces of terrorism. Number one is the issue of spilling the oil through poor maintenance of pipelines, thereby resulting in over 100 oil spillages a year, which is abnormal. So you cannot say it just happened. It is intentional, the way we now see it. Two is the destruction of farmlands through the laying of pipelines in the best places, and three, this destroys the livelihood of the people. Fourth is the gas flares burning the people, making it uncomfortable to live nearby. They affect the respiratory system and even the crops.
K.W.: How do the gas flares affect the crops?
S.A.: The gas is burned within the vicinity of the people, resulting in acid rain, which is not good for the crops, and at the same time it affects pollination because when the heat is so much, agents of pollination, insects, will not be able to pollinate the crops. Then you cannot get good yields.
K.W.: Nigeria is hot anyway; it's on the equator, so to have gas burning all the time must be unbearably hot.
S.A.: Very hot, very hot. And the sound - it is like hell. About 20 percent of the gas flares globally are in Nigeria. These communities are so poor they don't have electricity. They have gas flares instead that light up the night.
K.W.: As you said, a hundred spills a year is not normal. It also seems abnormal that the occasional spills in the northern hemisphere receive so much press coverage while these 100 spills a year in Nigeria are completely ignored in the international press.
S.A.: There is no news and no money for cleanup. The last oil spill in Alaska - about a billion dollars was spent to clean it up. That tells you how important it is, what the impact of oil spills is. But in Nigeria, when there is a spill, for months there is no clean up. Most times they just scoop the oil away from the surface. There is no restoration. So it is just a different situation in Nigeria.
K.W.: The picture you showed in your slide show of the little children playing on the leaking oil pipes - that made me cry. Crude oil is so corrosive and toxic. I don't think most people realize that - they think of it as like the motor oil in their cars. I worked on the Exxon Valdez cleanup and I remember how foul the stuff was. So, the question is: why does the Nigerian government not do more to reign in these oil companies who are terrorizing people?
S.A.: The Nigerian government is unable to do so because these oil companies are doing everything possible to corrupt every sector of the Nigerian government. Definitely everyone loves money, but as Jesus would say: "It is better to tie a stone around their necks and throw them into the sea than to tempt these little ones to sin." What I mean is that the oil companies who come to tempt the Nigerian officials with bribes are to blame for the corrupt situation that has kept us where we are. Our judges are corrupted by these oil companies and the entire situation is so bad. Yes, the Nigerian government should have done something, but the external forces have kept the country captive by corrupting the morals. When you get gratification from people who have given you money, it is difficult to implement laws against those same people to force them to operate in an environmentally friendly way
K.W.: The bribes they are getting from oil companies must be a large percentage of the officials' income.
S.A.: The officials are making a lot of money. For instance, we know that Kellogg Brown & Root, as well as Halliburton, gave bribes of $171 million between 1999 and 2002. A lot of money is involved. That is just one case that we know of. We do not know what Shell has been doing, or other major oil companies. This one came to the limelight because, compared to Shell, these companies are newcomers and do not have the networks to hide the evil they are doing. Companies like Shell have been in Nigeria since independence.
K.W.: Which was when? What year?
S.A.: 1960. Oil exploration started in 1958. So they've been on the ground and they know the ins and outs. If you remember when Ken Saro-Wiwa - the environmentalist from Ogoni land - was facing the kangaroo court trial, Shell as an oil company retained the services of a senior advocate of Nigeria to hold a watching brief during the criminal trial. So what is the concern of Shell in this trial if they do not have an interest in ensuring that the man is killed? For Ken Saro-Wiwa prevented them from continuing oil exploration in a terrorist manner in this community. They've been there for years and the people are dying of gas flares, pollution and everything. So he said, look, leave our land, and he was successful in mobilizing his people. There were a lot of deaths and arrests, but he was still successful in mobilizing the people to prevent Shell from continuing. So what they did was make sure that that man was killed by whatever means. Shell was interested in ensuring that he was convicted, and when he was convicted, the law under which he was tried allowed 30 days within which to appeal against the conviction. The government did not even wait for the 30 days to elapse before it executed him.
K.W.: I remember that.
S.A.: So this is how you see direct involvement of oil companies in these atrocities. Obviously nobody is against business. Business is expected to bring wealth and development to the community. But when you are doing business where there is no development for the community, it is criminal.
K.W.: You mentioned that the oil companies don't hire local people.
S.A.: Yes. Oil companies find it difficult hiring local people. The people are not educated. Sometimes what they will do is pay the local youths money and say don't come to work. Come and collect a given amount monthly.
K.W.: Just to get them off their backs?
S.A.: Yes. That is what the practice has been. After a lot of agitation, they are now hiring some graduates, but the number is insignificant. You may have 50 people working for the oil company on a platform, but you will have just 2 or 3 people from that community. What impact does this have on the community over many years? They try to set up the employment system so they do not employ local people.
K.W.: You said in your talk that it is as if the oil companies just want the people to disappear. I wonder if you would even use the term genocide?
S.A.: Yes it is like genocide. Slowly, gradually, they want to ensure that those people don't even exist. Because obviously, you take away their land to lay pipelines; you pollute the remaining part of the land that they use for farming and you don't clean up or restore it; you pollute the streams and rivers where they fish - and these people depend on farming and fishing for subsistence. The people are sick. There are no functional hospitals in those communities. What you expect for those people is for them to die, gradually. Last Christmas, I was home and I saw my people and they were all looking sick. They don't look good. People were prematurely aged because of lack of food. And that is the situation in my community. It has got to the point where people cannot afford to buy rice and eat. At this level of development rice is seen as a luxury.
K.W.: Please tell me more about the role of the military and what they do to repress people and protesters.
S.A.: In the Niger delta, you now have what they call Operation Restore Hope. It's a combination of the army, the navy and the mobile police force. It is a response to the agitation of youth for change. It is war. Anytime that people agitate now about conditions, the oil companies are free to call on this force to come and push people away. And the first thing they do is shoot and kill people. The Bush administration has given money to buy fast speedboats for this military force. Chevron in recent times has been very prone to calling the military to come and kill people who just want to meet with them.
K.W.: So people come for a meeting thinking they are going to talk and they get shot?
S.A.: Yeah. Something happened in one of our communities this year where people went to an oil platform for a meeting. They shot and killed seven people.
K.W.: I have to ask you: in your work do you fear for your life?
S.A.: Definitely one's life is always threatened when it comes to oil. We are starting gradually - with these issues, the more you press hard the more you are threatened. Ken Saro-Wiwa started small, and he was gaining ground when they saw this man was going to succeed and they killed him. So definitely, as we begin to gain more successes there will be greater threat to one's life. That is obvious. That is why I am here. Because the impression oil companies give back home is that they are good people, environmentally friendly and that is what the people of the United States and United Kingdom think their oil companies to be. They don't know what is happening in the developing world in places like the Niger Delta. That is why we need people here in the U.S. to engage on moral grounds. Because the law for the most part is in the hands of the privileged for the oppression of the poor, so if you want to do things based on law it can never be fair to the general people because a few have power to make those laws to benefit them and their cronies and business partners. On moral grounds the average American should be looking at what these companies are doing for the love of oil. It is criminal
K.W.: There are a lot of American churches that have missions in Africa. It strikes me that they would be responsive to a moral appeal. Have you tried to work through American churches?
S.A.: I don't know which churches are American or otherwise, but what I understand the churches to be doing these days is their charity work. They are not interested in politics. Because the government will say you are now being political, you are against government. There is a lot of poverty resulting from the oil companies, so the churches do their best to heal the wounds of poverty and destruction. They are doing well in that respect. I don't expect them to do much else.
K.W.: Someone asked during your panel why you don't go to the company headquarters in Europe or America and sue them there for their bribing and corruption of the Nigerian government.
S.A.: The issue of suing the parent company has a lot of legal obstacles. That is why I say the law is oppressive. Under the law, they will say that is a separate legal entity. For example, Kellogg Brown & Root. They will say the U.S. division of KBR does not know what the Nigerian division is doing, so that you cannot hold them responsible. And you cannot prove most of these things. We may know very well that the company made a phone call to bring in the police to kill people, but how can we prove that? There are too many legal bottlenecks to achieving justice. Only when there is an excessive amount of violence in the community do we have a chance. Chevron is on trial right now for a killing that happened 6 years ago. There is also the expense. Even environmentalists in the U.K. cannot afford to bring legal actions against oil companies there. And then there is international law which has refused to recognize the right of individuals to sue companies. If companies as legal entities can move from nation to nation freely to do their business, then individuals should also be seen as international people. The individual should have the right to sue companies for injuries wherever they think they can do it. Now they just to tell us to go to Nigeria to sue.
K.W.: But the companies have totally corrupted the Nigerian courts, so they've locked you in. They've put you in a box
S.A.: That is the situation, but there a few judges that may not be corrupt and we have a chance, but what we really need is a change of attitude. Compensation is not enough. We need environmental restoration.
K.W.: What percentage of U.S. oil consumption comes from the Niger Delta?
S.A.: I don't know the percentage, but Nigeria seems to be the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States
K.W.: So what would you ask American people to do?
S.A.: What I want American people to do is to put pressure on the government of America to hold the oil companies responsible for the damage they have caused in the Niger Delta and ensure that henceforth the companies act responsibly. The world looks up to the Americans as a people who are civilized, who are democratic and who are positive in their thinking. The American people should be able to rise up to correct this criminal behavior on the part of their oil companies.
K.W.: And the companies we are talking about are?
S.A.: We are talking about Exxon/Mobile, Chevron/Texaco - these are the major American oil companies. There are also the contractors: Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root.
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/printer_031605EA.shtml
The Belfast Telegraph
Grieving dad tells of his 'wee idol' football star son
'I feel so sad at such a waste of talent'
By Michael McHugh
28 June 2005
The grieving father of an Irish League football star who took his own life today paid tribute to his son and said that it was a tragic waste of a young man's talent.
Gary Bownes (26), from Monalla in northern Fermanagh, was discovered at a factory in Scotchstown, Ballyconnell, in Co Cavan, on Sunday. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650316
Police warn of pellet gun danger
Parents urged to be more cautious
By Debra Douglas
28 June 2005
As the young toddler shot in the head with a pellet gun continues on the road to recovery, police last night made a fresh plea to parents not to leave children unsupervised with the potentially dangerous weapon.
Little Paul Bann (2) narrowly escaped serious injury when he was struck by a pellet as he played outside his west Belfast home on Sunday night.
Last night, Superintendent for West Belfast Peter Farrar urged parents and those selling the guns to act responsibly.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650248
Minister attacked over smoking ban
Cancer charity slams 'wait and see' approach
By Nigel Gould
28 June 2005
A top cancer charity today slammed Health Minister Shaun Woodward for not making an immediate decision on a total smoking ban for Northern Ireland.
Macmillan Cancer Relief said any delay on a final decision on the issue risked seeing Ulster's health record fall behind those in the Republic, where there is already an outright ban on smoking.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650315
Law sees 30% rise in smoking-free homes in Republic
By Lisa Smyth
28 June 2005
A leading Ulster charity last night revealed that as a result of the controversial smoking ban in the Republic of Ireland, the number of smoke free Irish homes has increased by more than 30%.
The release of the statistics by the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association coincide with today's announcement by Health Minister Shaun Woodward that a partial smoking ban is to be implemented across Ulster.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650246
De Brun disappointed smoking ban not total
'A small first step in the right direction'
By Nigel Gould
28 June 2005
Former Ulster health minister, Bairbre de Brun today expressed her disappointment that Shaun Woodward did not announce an immediate total ban on smoking.
Ms de Brun, now a Sinn Fein MEP, said the current health minister's announcement of a ban was a "small first step in the right direction".
But she said: "The British Government initiated a consultation period a number of months ago and received 70,000 responses. A resounding 91% of those who responded were in favour of a total smoking ban on public places.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650319
Police watchdog to probe handling of march
By Debra Douglas
28 June 2005
The Police Ombudsman was today set to investigate the PSNI's handling of an Orange Order parade in Ballymena during which three people were arrested.
A man and a woman were today being questioned about disorderly behaviour while another man was arrested in connection with a driving offence after last night's Mini-Twelfth in the town.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650318
A money-spinning sort of homecoming for U2
By Louise Healy
27 June 2005
U2 will play the last gig of their three-night run at Croke Park tonight in what has been hailed a massive success for them - both musically and financially.
Punters and critics have given the band's triumphant homecoming the stamp of approval. The band is expected to pocket at least €15m from their three-night stint at Croke Park. The Vertigo tour is believed to cost in the region of €1m a night to stage. But with ticket sales making them €19m and merchandising, record sales and royalties from the tour expected to rake in millions more, the band will pocket a massive windfall even after concert promoters MCD have taken their cut.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/music/story.jsp?story=650138
Iraq: A bloody mess
By Patrick Cockburn
28 June 2005
A year ago the supposed handover of power by the US occupation authority to an Iraqi interim government led by Iyad Allawi was billed as a turning point in the violent history of post-Saddam Iraq.
It has turned out to be no such thing. Most of Iraq is today a bloody no-man's land beset by ruthless insurgents, savage bandit gangs, trigger-happy US patrols and marauding government forces.
On 28 June 2004 Mr Allawi was all smiles. "In a few days, Iraq will radiate with stability and security," he promised at the handover ceremony. That mood of optimism did not last long.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650272
The real power behind No 10
McKinsey is a highly secretive consultancy firm - and Tony Blair is more likely to listen to its advisers than to his own ministers. Katherine Griffiths investigates the 'Jesuits of capitalism'
27 June 2005
They are the modern buccaneers of the business world. They jet between cities, rack up huge expenses, and charge up to £6,000 a day to think the unthinkable for clients including big corporations and governments.
They are the star consultants of McKinsey, the élite global management consultancy. Their backgrounds are diverse - former SAS commandos, business people, aid workers - but they are drawn together by the distinct McKinsey culture. Known as "the Firm" or the "McKinsey Mafia", they are radical, zealous - and above all secretive.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=650143
Journalism at Risk
Journalists bid farewell to Fleet Street
By EMILY ROTBERG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- For over 300 years, London's Fleet Street was the heart of British journalism, home to many of the country's leading newspapers - and the pubs that fueled their employees. On Wednesday, however, the industry saluted the end of an era at a ceremony marking the departure of Reuters from its Fleet Street headquarters.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Britain%20Fleet%20Street
Woman in the wars
By Catherine Keenan
June 25, 2005
Writer beware: taking risks has paid off for Asne Seierstad, but she says her death-defying days are behind her.
Photo: Stephen Osman
A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal
By Asne Seierstad
Time Warner, 336pp, $24.95
Anyone who becomes a war correspondent at 24 by simply marching off to Chechnya and living with guerrillas in the mountains is not like most people. Asne Seierstad's editor - not to mention her mother - tried repeatedly to get her to go back home, but she refused. "I'm always driven by my curiosity to find out and sometimes that's really much stronger than I am," she explains. She left her editor to deal with her mother.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/woman-in-the-wars/2005/06/23/1119321842313.html
Chronicle of a city's death told at last in reporter's censored Nagasaki dispatches
By Deborah Cameron
June 25, 2005
It was not the world's first "ground zero" nor, sadly, its last. And if not for flowers in makeshift vases, bundles of origami birds and, most unusually, tiny wishes for world peace scribbled on to pale flat pebbles, it might be just a park.
Concentric circles from near a dark plinth in the centre of a circle of grass suggest the epicentre of the atomic explosion that ended World War II almost 60 years ago, giving Nagasaki its unenviable place in history.
Overshadowed in the world's imagination by Hiroshima, the first city to be bombed, the death toll in Nagasaki was 75,000.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/chronicle-of-a-citys-death-told/2005/06/24/1119321905320.html
Court Declines to Rule on Case of Reporters' Refusal to Testify
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: June 28, 2005
The United States Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear the cases of two reporters facing up to 18 months in jail for refusing to testify about conversations with their confidential sources.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28leak.html?hp&ex=1120017600&en=7d23405f792b6cee&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Troubles of Royko's son detailed
`Diminished capacity' blamed for holdup try
By Rudolph Bush
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
An attorney for Robert Royko painted a picture of his client's life that included drinking at age 7, treatment for alcoholism by 9, and a lifelong struggle with mental illness that left him badly diminished by the time he allegedly tried to hold up a North Side bank, according to a court filing Monday.
Royko, the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, was charged in April with trying to rob a branch of Associated Bank, 6355 N. Central Ave., using a fake bomb and detonator.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280141jun28,1,2047449.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Court Declines to Rule on Case of Reporters' Refusal to Testify
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: June 28, 2005
The United States Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear the cases of two reporters facing up to 18 months in jail for refusing to testify about conversations with their confidential sources.
The case now returns to Federal District Court in Washington, where Judge Thomas F. Hogan will hear arguments on Wednesday about when and where the reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, will begin to serve their time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28leak.html?hp&ex=1119931200&en=cb45abd23c7bff2e&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Jailed Syrian gets high-profile help
Sacha Trudeau among those offering bail for man suspected of terrorist links
A bevy of high-profile journalists including Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau is prepared to post bail for terrorism suspect Hassan Almrei, a Syrian national who is being held on a controversial national security certificate.
Mr. Trudeau, the son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, appeared yesterday at Mr. Almrei's detention review, and an affidavit filed in court noted that he is prepared to post a $5,000 bond because "he is concerned about human rights . . . and about Mr. Almrei's lengthy detention in solitary confinement."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050628/ALMREI28/TPNational/Canada
Court rejects appeal from journalists over CIA leak
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday increased the likelihood of jail time for two reporters, refusing to take up a case that pits the news media's promise to protect confidential sources against a grand jury's demand for information.
Since the Supreme Court will not see their case, reporters Judith Miller and Matt Cooper face 18 months in jail for not revealing their sources.
By Susan Walsh, AP
The justices' decision not to intervene leaves reporters Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine in contempt of court for refusing to reveal their sources in a leak probe involving CIA officer Valerie Plame. Each reporter faces up to 18 months in jail.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-27-scotus-leak_x.htm
Appeal to release jailed journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists has appealed to US President George Bush to call on Vietnam to release three jailed Vietnamese journalists.
The journalists, Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Khac Toan, and Nguyen Vu Binh were arrested at various times before September 2002 for pro-democracy or anti-Vietnam writings. The appeal, by letter, came just a day before Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai made his first visit to the White House. The 21 June visit marks the first time a high-ranking Vietnamese official has visited the US since the end of the Vietnam War. Bush also said he and Khai "signed a landmark agreement that will make it easier for people to worship freely" in Vietnam. The agreement will prohibit government officials from forcing people to renounce their faith.
http://www.indexonline.org/en/indexindex/articles/2005/2/vietnam-cpj-letter-urges-the-release-of-viet.shtml
Iran press: Jailed journalists' lawyers concerned over clients' conditions
Jun 20, 2005, 12:10 GMT
Text of report: Shirin Ebadi's protest against being prevented from visiting Ganji and Zarafshan", published by the Iranian newspaper Eqbal web site on 19 June
ISNA report: Standing in front the Evin Prison yesterday morning, Shirin Ebadi told reporters: Today Dr Mola'i and I went to the prison building to visit our clients Messrs Zarafshan and Ganji. But since their conviction orders have been confirmed and according to the law their attorneys are always entitled to visit them, the visit was obstructed.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/mediamonitor/article_1017205.php/Iran_press_Jailed_journalists_lawyers_concerned_over_clients_conditions
Burning emotions and banners
By J.R. Labbe
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
The U.S. House of Representatives is unfailingly predictable when it comes to one issue: the American flag.
Seven times an anti-desecration amendment has been placed before House members, and seven times they have adopted it. Wednesday was the most recent demonstration of what many consider an unquestionable act of patriotism.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/11990201.htm
China, journalists beware
Correspondents Report - Sunday, 26 June , 2005
Reporter: John Taylor
HAMISH ROBERTSON: There's been further confirmation over the past two months that mainland China is not a safe place to be a journalist.
The Hong Kong Correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, Ching Cheong, has been in custody since his arrest on spying charges in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou at the end of April.
It seems that the authorities objected to his reporting assignment on China's former prime minister, Zhao Ziyang, who died in January after spending years under house arrest.
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2004/s1400390.htm
Sudan suspends second southern paper
25 Jun 2005 09:35:18 GMT
Source: Reuters
KHARTOUM, June 25 (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities have suspended a second English-language opposition paper and released on bail three of its journalists, accusing them of not being properly registered, the editor of the paper and journalists said on Saturday.
Three journalists from the first independent southern-based paper, the Juba Post, were arrested on Wednesday in Khartoum and jailed for 24 hours after being told they had not personally registered with the national press council in Khartoum. They were released on a bail of 10 million Sudanese pounds ($4,000).
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MCD527130.htm
Reporters Await Fallout of Not Naming Sources
Two journalists facing jail time are to find out whether the high court will hear their case.
By James Rainey, Times Staff Writer
For two prominent journalists at two of America's top publications it's come to this: pondering the advantages of home confinement over federal prison, hearing warnings about jail house food and institutional underwear, and listening to colleagues joke about the possibility of a presidential pardon.
Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of the New York Times expect to learn Monday whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear their case.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sources26jun26,0,7584121.story?coll=la-home-nation
Jailed journalists on hunger strike to protest their detention
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 April 2002 CPJ press release:
ERITREA: Jailed journalists on hunger strike to protest their detention
New York, April 3, 2002-Ten independent Eritrean journalists who have been jailed without charge since September began a hunger strike on March 31 to protest their continued detention, according to local and international sources.
In a message smuggled from inside the Police Station One detention center in the capital, Asmara, the journalists said they would refuse food until they are either released or charged and given a fair trial.
http://www.ifex.org/fr/content/view/full/16115/
Thousands of Thais jailed for gambling
BANGKOK, June 25 (TNA) - The Thai government has jailed more than 5,000 people across the country for gambling.
Thai courts have given 5,162 gamblers prison sentences, according an official report released on Friday.
Nearly 90 percent of them are men.
The report follows the arrest of more than 350 gamblers during a police raid on one of Bangkok’s biggest gambling dens in Tao Poon.
http://www.mcot.org/query.php?nid=39633
Appeal to release jailed journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists has appealed to US President George Bush to call on Vietnam to release three jailed Vietnamese journalists.
The journalists, Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Khac Toan, and Nguyen Vu Binh were arrested at various times before September 2002 for pro-democracy or anti-Vietnam writings. The appeal, by letter, came just a day before Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai made his first visit to the White House. The 21 June visit marks the first time a high-ranking Vietnamese official has visited the US since the end of the Vietnam War. Bush also said he and Khai "signed a landmark agreement that will make it easier for people to worship freely" in Vietnam. The agreement will prohibit government officials from forcing people to renounce their faith.
http://www.indexonline.org/en/indexindex/articles/2005/2/vietnam-cpj-letter-urges-the-release-of-viet.shtml
U.N. envoy in Haiti wants jailed ex-PM released
24 Jun 2005 00:24:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.N. special envoy to Haiti called on Haitian authorities on Thursday to release former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, jailed a year ago on accusations he masterminded a massacre in February 2004.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23142977.htm
CHAD: Three journalists jailed on criminal charges
New York, June 22, 2005—Chadian authorities have jailed three journalists since yesterday in the capital, N'Djamena, on criminal charges stemming from critical reporting, sources told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Today, authorities arrested and jailed Michaé›” Didama, publication director of the private weekly Le Temps. According to local sources, Didama was charged with defamation and incitement to hatred, violence, and rebellion. The charges stemmed from two reports published in May that were based on an investigation carried out in Sudan and eastern Chad by a Le Temps reporter, local sources said.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Chad22june05na.html
SIERRA LEONE:
CPJ disturbed that jailed editor denied due process
http://www.cpj.org/protests/05ltrs/Sierra22june05pl.html
BURUNDI :
CPJ concerned that journalist still jailed without charge
http://www.cpj.org/protests/05ltrs/Burundi20june05pl.html
SOMALIA: Puntland editor jailed after resuming publication
New York, June 20, 2005—Authorities in the autonomous Puntland region of northeast Somalia arrested Abdi Farah Nur, editor of the weekly Shacab (Voice of the People), after the newspaper resumed publication yesterday in defiance of an indefinite government suspension. Farah was being held without charge in a Garowe jail today, Shacab General Manager Abdirahman Abdulle told CPJ.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Somalia20june05na.html
Journalists facing danger
2005-06-22 / Knight Ridder / By Faraydoon Jalal
Omar Gharib, the deputy manager of the Kirkuk branch of the Kurdistan Journalists' Association, looked weary as he described one of his several run-ins with insurgents.
"They called and told me if I don't quit journalism, I'll be kidnapped," he recalled.
But the threat didn't forced him to abandon his chosen profession. Instead, he said, he'll soon be training other journalists in the area on how to avoid being kidnapped.
The fall of Saddam Hussein's regime put an end to press censorship but Iraqi journalists today face a new series of challenges, including intimidation by police and public officials as well assassination and kidnapping threats from insurgents.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Opinion/2005/06/22/1119408235.htm
Iran press: Jailed journalists' lawyers concerned over clients' conditions
Jun 20, 2005, 12:10 GMT
Text of report: Shirin Ebadi's protest against being prevented from visiting Ganji and Zarafshan", published by the Iranian newspaper Eqbal web site on 19 June
ISNA report: Standing in front the Evin Prison yesterday morning, Shirin Ebadi told reporters: Today Dr Mola'i and I went to the prison building to visit our clients Messrs Zarafshan and Ganji. But since their conviction orders have been confirmed and according to the law their attorneys are always entitled to visit them, the visit was obstructed.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/mediamonitor/article_1017205.php/Iran_press_Jailed_journalists_lawyers_concerned_over_clients_conditions
continued . . .
