Morning Papers - Weekend Edition - From the Laptop - "Morning Papers" (It's Origins)

Morning Papers

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Due"

"Okeydoke"

Top of the News

Syria Vows Swift Lebanon Pullout in 'Historic' Move

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7817288

THE USA military is taking pot shots at everything that moves. They have no effective strategy in even dealing with people fleeing to safety. Like a Clearinghouse at the airport before they depart.

Italian Journalist Recalls Being Injured by U.S. Forces in Iraq After Monthlong Hostage Ordeal

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=555023

The REASON there is such internal instability, and I'll say on the verge of social chaos no different from Iraq, is that there existed a great deal of reform in the government and Iranian society before the illegal invasion into Iraq. When the American pulled the stupid stunt of a lifetime and opened Pandora's Box in Islam the Iranian government pulled in all it's borders and literally chased the rising populous out of 'power.' They remain out of power but not out of influence. Although many Iranians see an invasion as an answer it is not. If the USA were to do to Iran what it has done to Iraq the internal structure of Iran would go into chaos enough allow infiltration of more Anti-American forces to gain enough control to create a second Iraq. The best scenario in Iran is for allies to encourage Iran to return to it's government the popular movement of the people it feared would be unable to handle the situation with an eroding Iraq. By doing so the 'instability' will be tamed enough to maintain vital government control allowing the people of Iran 'their voice' again that has been oppressed by the instability and building rebellion of Iraq. Iran must maintain control of it's sovereignty. To allow a rebellion the opportunity to harness government assets of such wealth as Iran has would be a gross danger to the area in general considering sympathy exists with regimes like that of Pakistan. Iran should in every way return it's government to full functioning and popular movement to insure it's sovereignty. Iran should not be afraid of it's future in the world by cooperating with democracy and the European Union. It's safety and sovereignty lie there.

This is redunancy at it's worse. There is absolutely no reason to go to The United Nations Security Council. The Council should reject the approach by the USA. Bush/Cheney wants to invade. This is just an excuse.

Iran warns of regional instability
www.chinaview.cn 2005-03-06 16:25:52
BEIJING, Mar. 6 -- Iran warns that any attempt to bring its nuclear issue to the UN Security Council will lead to more instability in the Middle East.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani notes that Tehran will stop all confidence-building measures if the ongoing nuclear negotiations with the EU fail.
However, he indicates Iran will press ahead with the nuclear talks without US pressure.
Britain, France and Germany have been persuading Tehran to scrap its nuclear activities for economic and trade benefits.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/06/content_2657616.htm


This issue with Sein Fenn is much larger than one wants to admit. I am concerned about it.

Sinn Fein Seeks to Defuse Firestorm Over Murder
Associated Press
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page A22
DUBLIN, March 5 -- Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party under fire over the IRA's killing of a Belfast man, invited the victim's sisters into its party conference Saturday in an unprecedented effort to defuse their criticism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10915-2005Mar6.html

There is still internal upheaval in The Ukraine? Really?

Ex-Ukrainian interior minister found dead
SUSPICIOUS: Just hours before he was to be questioned about the killing of a journalist in 2000, Yuri Kravchenko was found with at least one bullet in his head
THE GUARDIAN , MOSCOW
Sunday, Mar 06, 2005,Page 6
Ukraine's former interior minister was found dead yesterday Friday, hours before he was due to be questioned over the murder of an investigative journalist.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/06/2003225698

Journalism at Risk

Eritrea frees reporter
04/03/2005 17:50 - (SA)
Asmara - An Eritrean correspondent for the Voice of America has been released after almost 18 months in jail without trial, but 16 other reporters remain in secret jails, an international media watchdog said.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1671555,00.html

Eritrea frees a reporter after 18 months in jail without trial
Friday March 4th, 2005 15:49.
ASMARA, Eritrea, Mar 4, 2005 (AP) -- An Eritrean correspondent for the Voice of America has been released after almost 18 months in jail without trial, but 16 other reporters remain in secret jails, an international media watchdog said.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8350

Thousands in Azerbaijan Mourn Slain Journalist
By VOA News
04 March 2005
Thousands of mourners in Azerbaijan have turned out for the funeral of magazine editor Elmar Husseinov, who was gunned down earlier in the week.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-04-voa46.cfm

Sudan Tribune

http://www.sudantribune.com/sommaire.php3

Ambassador denies Sudan backed atrocities
Saturday March 5th, 2005 01:07.

By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
WASHINGTOn, March 3, 2005 -- Sudan's ambassador to the United States on Thursday rejected allegations this week by Human Rights Watch that the government in Khartoum directed and supported ethnic militia attacks and atrocities in the conflict-torn region of Darfur.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8356
EU fails to agree steps to end killing in Sudan's Darfur
Saturday March 5th, 2005 00:30.

By Peter Deselaers
BERLIN, Mar 3, 2005 (IPS) -- The European Union has failed to find a firm action plan that could help prevent killings in the Darfur region of Sudan.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8353

Bishops welcome Sudan peace agreement, ask for support
Saturday March 5th, 2005 00:03.

NAIROBI, Feb 26, 2005 (Catholic Information Service for Africa) -- Sudanese Catholic bishops have welcomed the recently signed peace agreement between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), but called on Sudanese nationals to support their leaders in implementing the Agreement and ensuring a sustainable peace.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8361

'Never again' - again
Friday March 4th, 2005 00:30.

By Don Cheadle and John Prendergast, US Today
Mar 2, 2005 -- Paul Rusesabagina visited President Bush at the White House last month. Paul is the hotelier-turned-hero who saved more than 1,200 lives during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and whose actions inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda. Paul was eager to see the president because he wanted to tell him that Rwanda's horror of a decade ago is happening again - this time, in Sudan's western region of Darfur. A brutal campaign of state-sponsored violence in Darfur has led to the deaths of up to 300,000 people, and the lives of about 2 million displaced people hang in the balance.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8328

Michael Moore Today

AWESOME STUFF

Teens Take on Recruiters;
Students win right to counter-recruitment table
Students Vote to Ban Recruiters
Recruiter Ban Considered

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

High school students win right to counter-recruitment table
By Farheen Hakeem / Twin Cities Pulse
School was letting out on a cold but sunny afternoon last Wednesday at Kennedy High School in Bloomington, and lingering around the exit doors were dozens of teenagers laughing, shouting and throwing snowballs. It did not seem like a center of controversy, until a group of reporters marched into the school, followed by the curious students. They headed toward the cafeteria, where a group of students were fighting for their freedom of speech—a fight they won after receiving support from across the country.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1687

UCSB student council backs effort to ban recruiters
By Morgan Green / Santa Barbara News-Press
The UCSB student Legislative Council has sided with a group of professors who want military recruiters ousted from the campus because gays are not allowed to serve openly in the armed forces.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1692

URI Faculty Considers Banning Military Recruiters On Campus
Professor Says School, Military Policies Are At Odds
News Channel 10
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- A faculty member at the University of Rhode Island says military recruiters should not be welcome at the school.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1691

Sydney Morning Herald

Conviction aside, Bashir off lightly
March 5, 2005

Given Abu Bakar Bashir's likely acquittal on appeal, the real surprise was not the terrorist group leader's conviction over involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, or even the risible 30-months' jail sentence handed to him by a Jakarta court on Thursday, frustratingly and infuriatingly inadequate as the punishment is. That seven charges against Bashir - six were found unproved - even got to trial in the first place was a victory against the odds of prosecutorial will in a nation where judicial independence is in its infancy.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Editorial/Conviction-aside-Bashir-off-lightly/2005/03/04/1109700675128.html

Italian agent killed 'protecting hostage'
Italian journalist hostage Giuliana Sgrena was freed from her Iraqi captors only to be shot and wounded by US troops firing at the convoy supposed to be carrying her to safety.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/Italian-agent-killed-protecting-hostage/2005/03/05/1109958138193.html

Bush phones Italian PM over hostage bungle
US President George Bush telephoned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today to express regret about the killing of an Italian security agent and the wounding of freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena by US forces at a checkpoint in Iraq.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/Bush-phones-Italian-PM-over-hostage-bungle/2005/03/05/1109958141602.html

Charles' wedding speedbump

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Royal-wedding-speedbump/2005/03/05/1109958143899.html

International Herald Tribune

Italian is freed in Iraq and is hit by U.S. fire
ROME A U.S. armored vehicle in Iraq fired on a car carrying an Italian hostage who had just been freed Friday, wounding her and killing an Italian intelligence officer, said Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/04/news/iraq.html

Irish maverick meets EU stonewall
BRUSSELS The man at the center of the sharp divisions that broke out in the European Commission this week looked out of his office window here and laid out his guiding philosophy.
.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/04/yourmoney/mccreevy.html

Unwanted Pregnancy

Why is it the USA shows up for limitation of women's rights but not expansion of them? This is a redudant issue. If China permits lawful aborition there is no need to clarify that fact any more than that. The USA is making empty attempts to 'appear' to make a difference. The Bush/Cheney administration claims victory of empty issues to appease the electorate of their base.

UN ABORTION ADVOCATES ADMIT BEIJING EXCLUDES ABORTION RIGHTS
By C-FAM
MichNews.com
Mar 4, 2005
Many countries and abortion proponents this week reaffirmed that the Beijing Platform for Action did not create a right to abortion. This came in response to a US request that the current meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women formally clarify that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995, and the Beijing + 5 document of 2000, "do not create any new international human rights and that they do not include the right to abortion."

http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_7093.shtml

US Draws Jeers for Abortion Comments at UN
By Deborah Zabarenko

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Jeers and catcalls greeted the top U.S. delegate to a global women's conference on Friday as she stressed Washington's opposition to abortion and support for sexual abstinence and fidelity.

...Earlier Friday, Sauerbrey said the United States was dropping its demand that the document be amended to say that abortion is a matter of national sovereignty and not a human right delineated by the 1995 conference in Beijing.

...Amnesty International spokesman Alexandra Arriaga praised the U.S. move.

..."We welcome the U.S. decision to join the international consensus and affirm that women's rights are human rights," Arriaga said. "What was clear was that the United States had a very specific agenda it brought to the U.N. and that the world unanimously rejected an effort to hijack the commission."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EELDDYYMUGBJYCRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=7814488&pageNumber=1

Clinics protest Kansas gov’t demand
to open abortion records of 90 women
(front page)

BY MARY MARTIN

DES MOINES, Iowa—In an attack on the right to privacy and abortion rights, Kansas attorney general Phillip Kline has demanded the medical files of some 90 women and minors who received abortions in Kansas, stating he needs the records to prosecute criminal cases involving rape and child sex abuse. Lawyers for the two abortion clinics that are the subject of this probe have asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the subpoena, calling it a “fishing expedition” aimed at identifying names and intimate details of women’s lives in violation of their right to privacy.

http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6910/691004.html

Men jailed for illegal abortion, death:
[India News]: Balasore (Orissa), March 4 : Two people in Orissa have been sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for attempting illegal abortion on a woman that caused her death in 2000.

http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=80082

Cardinal Would Allow Pro-Abortion Politicians to Speak. Would He Allow White Supremacists?
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Boston Globe reports today that Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has said he supports allowing politicians who disagree with Church teaching on issues such as abortion to speak at Catholic colleges.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05030406.html

Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey Will Run for Senate, Abortion Battle Experience
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 4, 2005
Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- State Treasurer Bob Casey has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination to run against pro-life Senator Rick Santorum in 2006. The namesake son of the famous pro-life Democratic Governor will face a strong challenge from abortion advocate Barbara Hafer for the nod.

http://www.lifenews.com/state937.html

We already know through previous Superior Court Rulings the provision regarding notifying parents is not upheld. All clients to any abortion clinic receives competent care that any woman at any age would receive.
Abortion Law Would Help Parents Care for Teen Daughters, Congress Told

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 4, 2005

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Congressional hearing on Thursday focused on legislation that would help parents know when their teenager daughters are considering an abortion. A Pennsylvania mother told lawmakers the story of a secret abortion her daughter obtained and the heartache that resulted.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat1219.html

March 5, 2005
Embroiled in abortion dispute, Kansas AG used to spotlight
JOHN HANNA
Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - The public furor he's created by trying to force two abortion clinics to turn over medical records is nothing new to Phill Kline, who inspired intense political loyalty and loathing well before he became Kansas' attorney general.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/11061226.htm

Abortion benefits must go, Fox says
By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor
HAMILTON - When Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox agreed to a three-year contract in November that lowered county health care costs, he said he didn't realize coverage for voluntary abortion was included.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050305/NEWS01/503050373/1077/news01

Abortion waiting period approved
Aim to let women change their minds, advocates say
By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/05/05
The most significant change in abortion law in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court made the procedure legal in 1973 is headed to Gov. Sonny Perdue's desk for approval.
The state Senate on Friday easily passed House Bill 197, the Woman's Right to Know Act, 41-10.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/legis05/0305/05legabortion.html

On abortion, GOP `Choice' group won't flip for Mitt
By David R. Guarino
Saturday, March 5, 2005
National Republican abortion-rights activists picked up their weeklong attacks on Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio] again yesterday, chiding him as a ``flip-flopper'' for now calling himself ``pro-life.''
``For him to flip-flop to appeal to a small special interest group with a loud voice is going to hurt him,'' said Jennifer Blei Stockman, national co-chairman of the Republican Majority for Choice. ``The minute you start caving, people will lose all respect for you.''

http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=71681

Pro-lifers push Mississippi to brink of becoming first abortion-free state in US
By Francis Harris in Jackson
(Filed: 05/03/2005)
Outside the last abortion clinic in Mississippi, Melody Miller feels that triumph is within her grasp.
A decade ago there were six other such clinics in the impoverished Southern state but they have all closed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/05/wabort05.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/05/ixworld.html

Congressional Bill Suspending RU 486 Abortion Drug Sales Reintroduction
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 5, 2005

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Lawmakers in Congress last week reintroduced a bill that would pull the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug from the market while a Congressional agency reviews its safety.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat1220.html

Sex education must be clear
Corinne Keslin
Boynton Beach
Posted March 5 2005
Subscribe today to the Sun-Sentinel
and find out how to get one week extra!
Click here or call 1-877-READ-SUN.
Lois Solomon's Feb. 28 article, "Sex education programs deliver conflicting information in Palm Beach County," was a wake-up call to me.
It is time for parents to insist that honest and complete information be available to students in sex education programs taught by trained teachers. To simply say that condoms are not safe and not to show how not using them is much less safe is putting young, sexually active teens in danger.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/sfl-pbmail764mar05,0,2570053.story?coll=sfla-news-letters

The Cheney Observer

Republican adviser dies in actress Carrie Fisher's home
JEFF WILSON
Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Republican media adviser R. Gregory Stevens, recently co-chairman of the Bush/Cheney Entertainment Task Force, died in a guest room at the home of longtime friend and actress Carrie Fisher. He was 42.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/11054025.htm

Don't Let Republican Leadership "Go Nuclear" on Supreme Court
Sign the Petition to Protect the Filibuster

Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Sen. John McCain (Arizona)
Sen. Richard Lugar (Indiana)
Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa)
Sen. Pat Roberts (Kansas)
Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine)
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)
Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (Nebraska)
Sen. John Sununu (NH)
Sen. Pete Domenici (NM)
Sen. Mike DeWine (Ohio)
Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio)
Sen. Gordon Smith (Oregon)
Sen. Arlen Specter (Penn)
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (RI)
Sen. John Warner (Virginia)
We could lose our fight against a right-wing Supreme Court takeover before a vacancy and nomination occur – even as early as this month. This threat comes in the form of the “nuclear option” being considered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and being pushed by the Religious Right, who would like President Bush’s Supreme Court nominees to be rubber stamped.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17698

GOP experts counter Democrats' arguments:
[World News]: AUSTIN, Texas, March 4 : Two campaign finance experts have countered allegations that Texans for a Republican Majority violated state election laws and laundered corporate money.
Jim Bopp, an Indiana attorney, and Charles Spies, an attorney for the Republican National Committee, testified Thursday in the civil trial of Bill Ceverha, the committee's treasurer, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

http://news.newkerala.com/world-news/?action=fullnews&id=80370

State Democrats file ethics complaint over license offices
Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri Democrats are again criticizing Republican Gov. Matt Blunt's administration over its awarding of contracts to run driver's license offices.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/11053672.htm

Chavez renews threat to cut off oil supply to US
ACCUSATIONS: The president of Venezuela, one of the US' largest oil providers, said he would act if Washington shows any sign of aggression
AFP AND AP , NEW DELHI AND SINGAPORE
Saturday, Mar 05, 2005,Page 12
"We're not going to avoid this supply of oil unless the US government gets a little bit crazy and tries to hurt us."

Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday renewed a threat to halt oil supplies to the US if Washington "hurts" the Latin American country.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2005/03/05/2003225603

Venezuela threatens to cut off oil to U.S.:
[World News]: By CARMEN J.GENTILE, UPI Chief Latin America Correspondent : Making no bones about it, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made it clear that any act of aggression on the part of the United States would result in an immediate end to its bountiful supply of oil to its best customer in the north.

http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=80461

Oil World: Malaysia’s palm oil exports may rise 6.7%
Palm oil exports from Malaysia may rise as much as 6.7% this year because a drop in prices has made the edible oil more attractive to buyers, Oil World said.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/3/5/business/10332563&sec=business

Strong U.S. jobs report energizes stock markets despite high oil prices
12:33 AM EST Mar 05
MALCOLM MORRISON
TORONTO (CP) - Solid advances were the rule on North American stock markets Friday with investors putting aside worries over high oil prices as the best U.S. job-creation report in four months spurred buyers.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index finished up 67.67 points at 9,927.20, its best level since the autumn of 2000, with a gain of almost 186 points this week.
The TSX Venture Exchange rose 12.47 points to 2,037.77 at the end of a week in which the junior market index cruised over 2,000 for the first time, driven by strong demand for base metals and energy.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/050304/b0304120.html

Petroleum prices may top $60 or more: analysts:
[Business India]: Washington, Mar 4 : Petroleum prices may increase to more than $60 a barrel this year and some analysts are talking about the possibility of even greater increases -- to $75 or $80 a barrel -- in the event of a major supply disruption, unless the demand for crude cools in Asia and the US.

http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=80547

Bush changes tack as support for pension plans declines
Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday March 5, 2005
The Guardian
President George Bush shrugged off increasing public scepticism and redoubled his efforts yesterday to sell the idea of private investment accounts as a means of repairing the US federal pensions system.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1431046,00.html

Reality show
Allstate, McKesson, Halliburton stand out in 'tough year'
By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Kevin McCloskey is blunt: He admits he has his work cut out for him again this year.
The San Francisco-based supplier of pharmaceuticals to hospitals and drugstores recently settled an investor class-action suit for $960 million - ending a long-running securities litigation stemming from an accounting scandal six years ago.
Over the coming years, McCloskey is betting that demand for prescription drugs from the aging U.S. population should help lift sales at McKesson.

On Thursday, shares of McKesson Corp. lost 7 cents to $37.18.

Halliburton (SYMB:HAL), the oil field services company, is another recommendation.
McCloskey said the company should benefit from continued exploration spending. In addition, a risk shrouding Halliburton's shares should dissipate with the recent settlement of its asbestos litigation and the pending sale of its KBR unit, which does most of its work in Iraq.

Shares of Halliburton added 34 cents on Thursday to $44.08.

http://www.nydailynews.com/business/marketwatch/story/286723p-245501c.html

The Iraq election backfired on conservatives


By Jim Hightower
MinutemanMedia.org
Reality can be hard on theorists -- just ask that gaggle of conservative geniuses who designed and pushed the invasion of Iraq.
The theory propounded by Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and President Bush's other "Big-Thinker" war hawks (none of whom have ever actually been in a war)
was that crushing Saddam Hussein would cause the flowering of a pro-American democracy in Iraq. In the glorious vision of these theorists, grateful Iraqis would shower American troops with rose petals, Halliburton would quickly rebuild the country's infrastructure, U.S. corporations would install a pure capitalist economy, and our troops would be home by summer, having turned over power to a secular government, largely handpicked by us.

http://cjonline.com/stories/030405/opi_hightower.shtml

Reilly halts Big Dig suit, wants bigger settlement
By Casey Ross
Friday, March 4, 2005
Attorney General Tom Reilly has temporarily halted a $150 million fiscal mismanagement lawsuit against the Big Dig's private managers to pursue a broader settlement that would deliver final payback for decades of waste and shoddy work.
The move, announced by Reilly's office yesterday, reflects a calculated effort to avoid costly litigation against deep-pocketed construction firms while trying to leverage a massive payout for taxpayers.

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=71530

The World According to Wal-Mart

E.B. Lane ad agency signs on with Wal-Mart
Ruben Hernandez
The Business Journal
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. awarded Phoenix-based E.B. Lane advertising agency a contract to help the retail giant improve its image in Arizona.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2005/02/28/daily74.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Opposition bares teeth over Westminster Wal-Mart plan
By John Ingold
Denver Post Staff Writer

Special / Shannon Davidson
Gina Cude gestures to fellow community members during a meeting Wednesday at the Westminster Community Senior Center about the proposed Supercenter at West 72nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Cude works as a waitress at a restaurant near the site that could be torn down.

Westminster - Residents are gearing up to fight plans to build two Wal-Mart Supercenters in neighborhoods about 10 miles apart.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2743828,00.html

Sandy Residents Upset Again Over New Wal Mart
LAST UPDATE: 3/4/2005 4:42:31 PM
(ABC 4 News)-- Sandy residents are upset once again, about the plan to open a Wal Mart Supercenter on 9200 South and 1000 East.
This time the dispute is about the store's hours of operation. Wal Mart wants the store to remain open 24 hours per day, but nearby residents are afraid that would mean more noise and possibly more crime in the area, which would last through the night.

http://www.4utah.com/local_news/local_headlines/story.aspx?content_id=EB769924-574D-4C47-95D5-0ED7F845CA69

Wal-Mart , Dillard’s see sales get boost
BY CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
Posted on Friday, March 4, 2005
Email this story Printer-friendly version

A small but steady flow of new jobs created last year seems to have boosted consumer confidence, giving retailers their best monthly sales increase in eight months.

http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=109640

Global Warming/Climate Change

Baker's warning on global warming
March 5, 2005

Houston: The former US secretary of state James Baker, a close ally of the Bush family, has broken ranks with the Bush Administration and called for his country to get serious about global warming.
Mr Baker, in a speech to an audience including a number of oil company executives, said "orderly" change to alternative energy was needed.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Environment/Bakers-warning-on-global-warming/2005/03/04/1109700677411.html

Forests could curb global warming

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
OSLO (Reuters) - Effective control of forest fires may prove crucial in the fight against global warming since blazes from Alaska to Indonesia
spew out vast amounts of heat-trapping gases, Canadian foresters say.
"Forests are a wild card in the debate" about rising world temperatures, said Brian Stocks, a forest fire expert with the government-run
Canadian Forest Service.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5577129

Global warming debate is over, UW prof says
Calls new study as solid as proof that smoking causes cancer
By Aaron Nathans
March 3, 2005

Write a letter to the editor.

A new study out of California makes it clear that human actions are causing global warming, said a University of Wisconsin-Madison specialist in atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

http://www.madison.com/tct/home/topstories/index.php?ntid=30686&ntpid=5

Ecologist jokingly blames wolves for global warming
By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer
CHICO HOT SPRINGS -- Now there's one more thing you can blame on wolves: global warming.
That was the joking synopsis of a talk presented here Thursday by Don Despain, an ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey who has studied trees and other plants in Yellowstone National Park since 1971.


Despain recalled being asked before the 1995 reintroduction of wolves to the park what impact the big carnivores were likely to have on plants.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/03/04/news/warmingthewillows.txt

Clean Energy Policies Would Create 1.4 Million New Jobs

A new report released by the Sierra Club, the United Steel Workers, UNITE/HERE, and SEIU shows that a clean energy policy would create 1.4 million new American jobs while saving consumers an average of $1,275 on their energy bills in 2025.
The report, "Smarter, Cleaner, Stronger: Secure Jobs, A Clean Environment, and Less Foreign Oil" uses classic economic modeling to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of adopting a cleaner, smarter energy policy: the creation of new American jobs, lower energy bills, and increased protection of our air, water and land.

http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/

A Coalition of Labor and Environmental Advocates Endorse Policy Package for a Smarter, Cleaner, Stronger America
Ground-breaking State-by-State Analysis of the Job Creation Potential of a Smart Energy Policy

A coalition of labor and environmental advocates are hailing the findings of this new report that clearly demonstrates how smarter environmental policies can lead to significant job creation. The report Smarter, Cleaner, Stronger: Secure Jobs, Clean Environment, and Less Foreign Oil details for the first time on a national and a state-by-state basis, the economic benefits that will result from energy policies that stimulate the development of clean energy technologies.
Click here to download the national report. Click on a state below to download the report for that state.

http://redefiningprogress.org/bluegreen/

Climate change no myth
A FAVORITE tactic of the Bush Administration as it foreclosed U.S. participation in the Kyoto Protocol was to claim that there is no real scientific evidence of global warming, that threats of severe climate change are scare tactics by "environmental extremists."
Such politicized claims, of course, have long been rejected by reputable scientists. Now, new research presented before the American Association for the Advance of Science suggests a new rapid ice age in Earth's northern hemisphere due to global warming could occur sooner than previously thought.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050305/OPINION02/503050305

HIV/AIDS

In Pakistan

Poor availability of epidemiological data precludes proper assessment of the HIV situation in Pakistan. There has been some testing among antenatal clinic attendees in Pakistan since 1992. In 1995, no positive results were found in Faisalabad and Karachi. In Lahore, 0.6 per cent of women tested were positive. Between 1992 and 1999, there was no evidence of infection among women tested outside the major urban areas. In 1997, 0.2 per cent was found to be infected. In 1995, 0.2 per cent STD patients in Karachi and 4 per cent in Lahore were found to be positive. Testing among truck drivers in Karachi in 1995 showed no evidence. One study in 1996 found that 11 per cent of Injecting Drug Users in Lahore were positive. Cases have been reported from all four provinces, from the federally administered territories and also from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)

http://www.youandaids.org/Asia%20Pacific%20at%20a%20Glance/Pakistan/index.asp

In 2003, the United Nations reported, 74,000 cases of which 73,000 were adults. The alarming aspect is there were 4,300 deaths due to AIDS that same year. The death rate far exceeds the reporting rate and indicates clearly to me the records of social infection due to arcane social practices endangers perhaps the stability of the government. Whatever social reforms instituted by Musharraf exist aren't working. This could be a form of ethnic cleansing as well. It just isn't known.

The New Zealand Herald

Soldiers face charges over Iraqi's death in British custody

06.03.05 5.00pm
By Severin Carrell

A sergeant and three other soldiers are facing charges over the death of the Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa, who died after allegedly being severely beaten in British army cells.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10113808

ODD, Mr. Summers would have the world think it is the girls that are incapable of achieving.

Concern as boys lag behind girls in class

There are fears boys may fall further behind under NCEA. File picture / Wairarapa Times-Age

06.03.05 1.00pm
By Leah Haines

Education experts are calling for a campaign aimed at assisting boys in schools as NCEA results reveal a widening gap in achievement between the two sexes.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10113800

THIS PATTERN HAS EXISTED WITH THE 'BUSH/CHENEY' ADMINISTRATION IN EVERY WAY. The best nature experience one gets anywhere these days is Bush cutting down more trees in Crawford.

Kiwis turn their backs on nature

06.03.05 1.00pm
By Teresa O'Connor

The long Kiwi love affair with the great outdoors may be over.
New research shows New Zealanders are turning their backs on the great outdoors in droves because they have become so urbanised they lack the confidence to tackle even the most basic activities like camping and tramping.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10113801

Summer swings from cold to hot

06.03.05 5.30pm

Temperatures swung between extremes during the three months of summer, with the country experiencing the coldest December since 1945 but the eighth warmest February on record.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10113812


THIS IS INTERESTING. As the 'heat' of summer returns to higher latitudes Global Warming has left the Antarctica Continent and the superfrigid temperatures that are the norm for the continent has returned. The spring solstice is March 21st and the solar radiation is moving to the Northern Hemisphere again.

Scott Base

Snow

-25.0°

Updated Sunday 06 Mar 9:59PM

Have a good day.

end

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

36 °F / 2 °C

Overcast

Windchill: 33 °F / 0 °C

Humidity: 87%

Dew Point: 32 °F / 0 °C

Wind: 4 mph / 6 km/h from the SW

Pressure: 30.05 in / 1018 hPa (Falling)

Visibility: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV: 0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL): Overcast 300 ft / 91 m

I've got some pictures I'll put up early morning Monday along with recent satellites. It's interesting to see what is on the ground compared to what is seen on the satellite.

Have a good day.