The Indian Ocean. Stable. That's incredible when one considers not long ago there were three cyclones spinning across this body of water at once. But the cyclone is not to be disregarded. It effects lives. NOTED: the 'white' cloud mass southwest of the cyclone. It is a peripheral extension of the Antarctica Vortex. I am wondering if the cyclone will not make landfall at all but be incorporated into that vortex flow and 'sucked' into Antartica. It's headed in a southwest direction. The vortex flows are ionic and very powerful. I would not be surprised to find them powerful enough to redirect a cyclone. 

Pacific Global Satellite April 10, 2004 at 2:33PM. It is taking on somewhat the appearance of February 4th but with less heat intensity. The same 'Global Warming' 'heat transfer pattern' still exists despite the migration of the solar radiation north. The air pattern at the equator remains encouraging and the northern hemisphere is actually a bit cooler than earlier.  

The heat intensity has increase in the West Pacific Satellite of April 10, 2005 at 4:57 PM. The heat is not so out of balance YET that it is departing into Antarctica. It is remaining at the equator (for the most part) and that is encouraging. A long way to go.  

Real wages: two years of losses
The economy has been in recovery since late 2001 and has been creating jobs since the fall of 2003. But despite the upward trend for jobs, the hourly wages of most workers (the 80% of workers who are in manufacturing or non-managerial services) have failed to keep up with inflation over the last two years. In the first quarter of 2005, real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) wages were 0.2% below those of the same quarter a year earlier. Real wages have fallen 0.3% over the last two years after rising by 2.0% over the prior two years starting in early 2001. The chart above shows the worsening real wage trends since early 2001. This erosion of real wages despite rapid productivity growth and continued job growth is disappointing and a real detriment to working families' living standards.

Workforce needs polish, U.S. businesses declare

The article in The Chicago Tribune as cited as the title of this entry was rather troubling. As I read through some of the criticisms I realized this sounded something like a few young workers I know through my own sons but none sounded like most the people I know.

I felt it was degrading and indiscriminate in it's criticism when I realized there was no discussion of social issues and wages. In other words, what drives people to work. Work ethics? Not entirely. Money. What APPRECIATION there is for their labor. In addition to money I began to realize there is somewhat of a depression regarding 'value' in that most workers are faced with poor to no benefits including long term appreciation such as pensions.

So, I snooped around a bit, wanting to give the article some credence but found little.

In my opinion, the American low wage worker is demoralized and feeling worthless both in their quality of life and what a USA Dollar will and won't buy them. They are making compromises everywhere because of Bush's lousy economy. Compromises on a chronic basis are 'sell outs' of the emotional ethics a work force brings to it's value. When compromises happen on a regular basis without an end in sight people lose their enthusiasm for work and 'burn out' over little things; like leaving the family to get to work on time when their value at home is more rewarding. Like having inflated gas prices to the point where the daily commute is an investment and not an expense. After all who can actually afford or find one of those hybrids?

Above is a table that clearly illustrates the 'PLIGHT' of the Average American Worker. They are losing ground on a steady basis. Who can blame them for losing interest and attention in their work ethic. It isn't 'life skills' they lack, it a DAMN good paying job with benefits they haven't been afforded for a long, long time. On the same page of that table in the citation above are charts that further explain the demoralization of the American Worker and it's econmic collapse of it's wage as well as the decline in job growth. Among that decline in growth is the OPPORTUNITY to advance in status, pay and benefits. IT AIN'T THEIR FAULT !!

This is a table of 'average wage' by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is based on the value of a USA Dollar in 1982.

The highest 'average' wage prior to 1995 was in 1978 at $8.40 per hour. The USA Dollar could buy more then than now.

1976 8.24
1977 8.36
1978 8.40
1979 8.17
1980 7.78
1981 7.69
continued on to...
1992 7.41
1993 7.39
1994 7.40
1995 7.40

http://home.att.net/~Resurgence/Wages.htm

In this graph by Economic Policy Institute the value of blue-collar and non-managerial workers from the years November 2001 to May 2004 hasn't changed. That would mean with inflation and less health care coverage the mean wage earner was losing ground the entire time.

Jobs up, wages down. Employment grew, but real wages fall to a two-year low.
Just as the jobless recovery appears to be solidly behind us, a new problem has emerged: declining real wages. In fact, real wages for May 2004 fell back to the same level as November 2001, the month when the last recession ended.

When considering the cost of living increase and the difficulty in obtaining good health insurance and services the average wage of most 'hourly' workers has suffered severe loss. No wonder the work force is demoralized and not giving much attention to the work schedule. GOOD jobs are nearly impossible to find and when one considers the wages paid in Canada are 20% more than the USA why stay here if there are viable jobs elsewhere.

The figure below shows the inflation-adjusted average hourly wage of blue-collar and non-managerial workers. Because this group represents all but the top 20% of the workforce, it is a good indicator of working- and middle-class job quality. The top 20%, of course. have much higher wage scales and the top 2% are untouchable.

So, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the destitute end up in the military maimed or dead, it is safe to say the USA Work Force is 'burned out' and 'strung out' seeking a way to make ends meet yet alone improve their 'lot in life.' Demoralized or not the USA worker is still the best prepared worker in the world and every country knows that EXCEPT of course the ones who seek to further justify their 'exploitation' of America and occupy the Executive and Legislative Branches of this government.

How has the average Blue Collar Worker wage faired under Bush? Not well. As a matter of fact they have seen no increase in 'actual' value but only a roller coaster ride of stagnant worth and consumer compromises. The average USA worker age 15 and older in the month of March 2004 is paid nearly 20% less than Canadian workers and more when one considers the difference in the value of a USA Dollar. 

The Iceberg did fine after the collision with the Titanic. 

A Beijing Olympian Woman 

Beijing Women in Assembly 

WomenWarPeace.org - Including Beijing Women and Taiwanese Women

The information resources that we have regularly utilized in this website appear in the right column. Below offers some explanation of the sources that have informed particular parts of the website.The Security Council noted the ‘need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls’ in its October 2000 resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

To try to address the lack of consolidated and accessible information, UNIFEM has created this portal, which is very much a work in progress. We have only begun to create a centralized repository of information from a wide variety of sources, with links to reports and data from the UN system, and also from experts, academics, NGOs and media sources. And we have only begun to do this with resources in English. Our inital aim is to track progress on the implementation of resolution 1325, and ultimately to provide information to encourage researchers, policy makers, analysts and NGOs so they can routinely include, seek and contribute more information and analysis on women, war and peace.

Resolution 1325 provides a comprehensive political framework, within which women’s protection and their role in peace processes can be addressed. However, without adequate information and analysis about the impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building, it will be very difficult for the Security Council to mainstream gender into its work, and routinely consider women’s needs and their potential contribution.

Through this portal, UNIFEM strives to provide access to the information and analysis that is currently available on the impact of armed conflict on women and women's role in peace-building. We do our best to ascertain the legitimacy of the sources of that information and analysis. Where there are conflicting perspectives, we strive to present a variety thereof so that users can make their own judgement regarding the accuracy of the information.

Beijing Women Ensemble 

Beijing Women Ice Hockey Team 

Health minister Hidehisa Otsuji takes to the streets of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Saturday morning, asking passersby to donate blood. The nation's medical institutions are warning of a critical blood shortage.
 

Morning Papers - It's Origins

Morning Papers

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"

"Okeydoke"

History…

1903, born Clare Booth Luce, playwright, legislator, and diplomat

1847, born Joseph Pulitzer, journalist and newspaper publisher

1894, born Ben Nicholson, painter and sculptor

1932, born Omar Sharif, Egyptian motion-picture actor, who is best known for his charismatic performance in the British epic film Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Born Michel Shahoub in Alexandria, Sharif was educated at Victoria College in Cairo, Egypt. His first important acting part was the lead role in the motion picture Sina Fil Wadi (The Blazing Sun, 1954), which featured Egypt's leading film star, Faten Hamama. Sharif's profile in Arabic cinema increased when he and Faten Hamama were later married. He performed in several other Middle-Eastern films in the 1950s, including Goha (1958), before British director David Lean cast him as a handsome and noble sheik in Lawrence of Arabia. The international success of this role led to parts for Sharif as characters from a variety of other nationalities.

1941, born Paul Theroux, novelist and travel writer

1790: The first U.S. patent law, protecting inventions against piracy, is approved.

1849, The safety pin was patented. Visit this site to explore other patented ideas—most not quite as useful as the safety pin.

1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.

1912: The British luxury liner Titanic sets off on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean; five days later it sinks after hitting an iceberg.
1925, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is published; it will become one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

1932, German president Paul Von Hindenburg was re-elected, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.

1953, the 3-D horror movie "House of Wax" premiered in New York.

1963, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher failed to surface off Cape Cod, Mass., in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.

1972, the United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.

1974: Golda Meir, a founder of the state of Israel, announces that she is resigning as prime minister

1998, the Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators reached a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.

2004, the White House declassified and released a document sent to President Bush before the Sept. 11 attacks which cited recent intelligence of a possible al-Qaida plot to strike inside the United States.

Missing in Action

1967 O'GRADY JOHN F. NEW HYDE PARK NY EJECTED NO RADIO CONTACT
1968 CARVER HARRY F. NEW ALBANY IN
1968 PADGETT SAMUEL J. TULSA OK

The Moscow Times

Forced Into Slavery
A new exhibition sheds light on a rarely discussed aspect of World War II.
By Stephen Boykewich
Published: April 8, 2005
Many Europeans -- and Russians are no exception -- scoff at the U.S. system of legal liability that generates $2.9 million damages awards for burns from spilled coffee. But one of the most staggering results of any case to emerge from U.S. courts had Russians among its main beneficiaries -- and nobody dared called it excessive.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/102.html

Teller of Tales
Some people consider Yury Norshtein the greatest animator in history.
By Anna Malpas
Published: April 8, 2005
He doesn't use a computer and has never seen "The Simpsons," but Yury Norshtein has directed two short animated films, "Tale of Tales" (Skazka Skazok) and "Hedgehog in the Fog" (Yozhik v Tumane), that critics have voted the greatest of all time. Now a major exhibition is revisiting his work.
The 63-year-old director met with journalists this week as the Museum of Private Collections opened a retrospective of the films he made with his wife, the artist Francheska Yarbusova. The exhibit is named after "Tale of Tales," a 29-minute almost wordless film that combines wartime episodes with scenes of postwar Soviet life and timeless scenes of family happiness and love, all viewed by the hero, a small wolf cub.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/story/141447/

Global Eye
The Big Fix
By Chris Floyd
Published: April 8, 2005
Let's face the facts. The game is over and we -- the "reality-based community," the believers in genuine democracy and law, the heirs of Jefferson and Madison, Emerson and Thoreau, the toilers and dreamers, all those who seek to rise above the beast within and shape the brutal chaos of existence into something higher, richer and imbued with meaning -- have lost. The better world we thought had been won out of the blood and horror of history -- a realm of enlightenment that often found its best embodiment in the ideals and aspirations of the American Republic -- is gone. It's been swallowed by darkness, by ravening greed, by bestial spirits and by willful primitives who now possess overwhelming instruments of power and dominion.

A gang of such spirits seized control of the U.S. government by illicit means in 2000 and maintained that control through rampant electoral corruption in 2004. The re-election of President George W. Bush last November was a deliberately shambolic process that saw massive lockouts of opposition voters; unverifiable returns compiled by easily hackable machines operated by avowed corporate partisans of the ruling party; and vast discrepancies between exit polls and final results – gaps much larger than those that led elections in Ukraine and Georgia to be condemned as manipulated frauds. Indeed, a panel of statisticians said last week that the odds of such a discrepancy occurring naturally were 959,000 to 1, the Akron Beacon-Journal reported.

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/120.html

Defense Seeks Khodorkovsky's Acquittal
By Valeria Korchagina
Staff Writer
Lawyers for Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Thursday called on judges to acquit the former Yukos CEO on all charges as they wrapped up their closing arguments in the nine-month trial of Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/003.html

200 Fly From Ufa to Deliver a Letter
Some 200 opposition activists flew in from Ufa on Thursday to demand the ouster of Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov at a rally on Lubyanskaya Ploshchad. Some protesters warned that brewing unrest could prompt a popular revolt like the one that recently toppled the president of Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/002.html

With the aggressive atmosphere as witnessed by Cheney/Halliburton/Bush this is as it should be.

A String of Auctions Gets Canceled
A string of auctions for oil and gas development licenses have been canceled to prevent foreign companies from bidding, an official in the Natural Resources Ministry said.
The cancellations appear to constitute a de facto widening of the ban on bids by non-Russian-controlled companies, contradicting recent assurances from Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev and other ministers.
The latest cases also highlight uncertainties faced by foreign natural resource companies as the State Duma prepares to debate a long-anticipated bill on restricting foreigners' access to subsoil resources.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/001.html

Reuters

Taiwan bans news coverage by China's official media
Sun April 10, 2005 9:06 AM GMT+05:30
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has stopped allowing journalists from China's official Xinhua news agency and People's Daily to cover news on the island, the first concrete retaliatory measure since China passed an anti-secession law in March.
Joseph Wu, chairman of the cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, said on Sunday the decision was part of an overall review of exchanges with China, which views the self-ruled island of 23 million people as a breakaway province.

http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=8133585

China Daily

There is something wrong ...

US, China agree to hold regular senior-level talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-09 09:35
The United States and China have agreed for the first time ever to hold regular, senior-level talks on a whole range of political and economic issues, the US State Department said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432708.htm

Lien Chan expected to visit mainland in May
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-09 15:10
Lien Chan, leader of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, is expected to make an historic visit to the mainland in May, KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432751.htm

U.S. pushing Japan to boost military role
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-09 08:37
In the most sweeping re-examination of the U.S.-Japan security alliance in years, Japan and the United States are negotiating a military realignment that could move some or all of the nearly 20,000 Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa, close underused bases and meld an Army command in Washington state with a camp just south of Tokyo.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432684.htm

Thousands rally against Japan in Beijing
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-04-09 22:37
More than 10,000 Chinese have joined the Saturday rally in Beijing protesting Japan's distortion of its wartime past and Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN
Security Council.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432767.htm

… with this picture.

Shipping giant sets sail for big time
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-09 09:11
China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) announced on Friday it had bought China Ocean Shipping Tally Company (COSTACO), in a move expected to sharpen the competitiveness of the country's largest shipping firm.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432690.htm

Nation steels itself against further price hikes
By Xie Ye (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-09 06:26
Steel makers adopted a hard line during negotiations with Australian mining company BHP Billiton Ltd on the price of iron ore, claiming they would not accept any unreasonable requests "under any circumstances."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/09/content_432680.htm

Beijing women most confident about bodies: survey
(Chinanews)
Updated: 2005-04-08 15:33
What are the characteristics of the female figure in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Taipei?
Are women in these cities satisfied with their bodies? An underwear company conducted a survey seeking to answer just such questions.
The results: Beijing women have the biggest chests; Guangzhou women have the slimmest waists; Shanghai women have the firmest breasts; while Taipei women have "hot," well-proportioned figures.
The survey shows that Beijing women are most confident about their bodies. 13% of Beijing women who participated in the survey say that they are not at all dissatisfied with their bodies. Although Beijing women have the thickest waists, 36% of them say they are satisfied with theirs, the highest rate of satisfaction in the four cities.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/08/content_432572.htm

Daily Times

Men in China’s most modern city ageing early
The percentage of men showing signs of early ageing in Shanghai, China’s most modern and one of its richest cities, has doubled over the past two decades, state media cited a survey saying.
Symptoms of “male menopause,” which includes weariness, vesicular diseases and deteriorating sexual ability, trouble 20 percent of Shanghai men under the age of 45, the China Daily quoted the survey saying. This compares to about 10 percent in the early 1980s, according to the survey by Shanghai’s Renji Hospital, the report said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-4-2005_pg9_6

Palestinians shown ‘Gandhi’ in non-violence appeal
A US entrepreneur screened an Arabic language version of the 1982 film “Gandhi” to Palestinians in a bid to encourage non-violent methods of conducting their uprising against Israel.
The award-winning epic about pacifist Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi will be shown throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the next week and was endorsed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jeff Skoll told a Ramallah audience.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-4-2005_pg9_1

Jewel thieves empty shop near presidential palace
A gang robbed a jewellery shop on a La Paz square within sight of guards at the presidential palace, prosecutors said. Between three and six men wearing police uniforms, witnesses said, entered a building next door to JL jewelers, took out the doorman and made a hole in the wall that opened into the shop.
The jeweller, one of the oldest in La Paz, is located 50 meteres from the government offices in Palacio Quemado, 100 metres from both the legislature and municipal government offices and just steps from the cathedral of La Paz. The robbery came a month after a gang stole nearly $250,000 from an exchange house, also in downtown La Paz, after entering from an abandoned house next door through a hole in the wall. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-4-2005_pg9_4

The Japan Times

U.S. rejects September deadline for UNSC reform
Compiled from AP, Kyodo
UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary General Kofi Annan's sweeping plan for U.N. reform ran into new problems when the United States joined Russia and China in opposing his call for adoption of the entire package at a summit of world leaders in September.

… The latest U.S. position indicates that Japan faces a rocky road ahead in its bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.
In Tokyo, government officials reiterated Japan's support Friday of Annan's proposal to decide by September on expanding the Security Council.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050409a1.htm

Tokyo's terms for joining China gas project rejected
Japan could accept China's offer to jointly conduct oil and gas exploration in the East China Sea, but only if Beijing provides details of its ongoing gas projects in the disputed waters and halts its operations there, the industry minister said Friday.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20050409a3.htm

Health ministry warns of serious blood shortage nationwide
Health facilities are facing an unprecedented blood shortage and may start running out in some areas as early as this week, according to the health ministry.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050410a2.htm

'Too friendly'? Hopelessly Midwestern
By AMY CHAVEZ
I am crossing America by Amtrak train and am now leaving the Wild West headed east through the Midwest. Much of the Midwest is prairie, farms and cows. Collectively these states are called the Plains States, probably because they are indeed very plain. Not a thing is growing at this time of year, but the planting season is just around the corner. If the spring planting is good, the corn will be "knee high by the 4th of July" and these states will produce enough soybeans to make tofu for all of Japan.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050409cz.htm

Michael Moore Today

G.O.P. Consultant Weds His Male Partner
By Adam Nagourney / New York Times
WASHINGTON, April 8 - Arthur J. Finkelstein, a prominent Republican consultant who has directed a series of hard-edged political campaigns to elect conservatives in the United States and Israel over the last 25 years, said Friday that he had married his male partner in a civil ceremony at his home in Massachusetts.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2163

DeLay Says Federal Judiciary Has 'Run Amok,' Adding Congress Is Partly to Blame
By Carl Hulse and David D. Kirkpatrick / Washington Post
WASHINGTON, April 7 - Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, escalated his talk of a battle between the legislative and judicial branches of government on Thursday, saying federal courts had "run amok," in large part because of the failure of Congress to confront them.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2141

"Our next step, whatever it is, must be more than rhetoric." -- Tom DeLay

MORE THAN RHETORIC. Tom DeLay started a campaign against the Judicial Branch of our country on rhetoric? Oh. So, what next? Drummed up lies !!

continued…

People queuing to see the exhibition of the weapons that were recovered from the Maoists by the Royal Nepal Army,
 

The arms seized from the Maoist rebels by the Nepalese soldiers at Rolpa May 28.
 

Morning Papers - continued...

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  No longer a joke as Charles does it his way
  By Annabel Crabb, Windsor
  April 10, 2005
  The Sun-Herald
  
  Hen-pecked, dreamy, accident-prone and awkward he may be, but the 56-year-old heir to the British throne finally got his way yesterday.
  His insistence on marrying Camilla Parker Bowles, with all the messiness and public difficulty that a civil ceremony entailed, is the firmest indicator to date that Prince Charles, as king, would be a stubborn and determined monarch.
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/No-longer-a-joke-as-Charles-does-it-his-way/2005/04/09/1112997230116.html
  
  National parks will burn, say volunteers
  By Angela Cuming
  April 10, 2005
  The Sun-Herald
  
  Volunteer firefighters have warned that their resources are so stretched they could be forced to let fires burn in the state's national parks.
  The breakaway Volunteer Firefighters Association (VFFA) said its members had struggled to manage fires in the existing 330 parks and would be unable to deal with any blazes that broke out in parks the State Government may choose to open in the future.
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/National-parks-will-burn-say-volunteers/2005/04/09/1112997223570.html
  
  Party of Apartheid takes its final bow
  April 10, 2005 - 6:49AM
  
  The party linked to decades of white racist rule in South Africa formally left the political stage, with its leader apologising for "a system grounded in injustice".
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Party-of-Apartheid-takes-its-final-bow/2005/04/10/1113071838297.html
  
  Migration explosion dismissed as a myth
  By Tim Dick, Urban Affairs Reporter
  April 11, 2005
  Victorians are staying home, an increasing number of Sydneysiders are doing the same and even New Zealanders have stopped coming, says a study that explains why Sydney's population growth has slowed markedly.
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Migration-explosion-dismissed-as-a-myth/2005/04/10/1113071854930.html?oneclick=true
  
  Haaretz
  
  IDF kills three Gaza youths; mortar attack on Gush Katif
  
  By Arnon Regular and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents and Associated Press
  
  Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot dead three Palestinian youths in the Gaza Strip Saturday.
  
  The three casualties were identified as Ashraf Mussa, Khaled Ghanam and Ahmad al-Jazzar, all aged 14. Al-Jazzar was initially seriously wounded in the incident, near Rafah's Tel a-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. He underwent surgery at a Rafah hospital and later died of his wounds.
  
  Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting. His office issued a statement saying he was "shocked."
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/562862.html
  
  High alert on the Temple Mount
  By Haaretz Editorial
  The decision by the security establishment to close the Temple Mount to Jews on Sunday again invokes the bitter memory left by Ariel Sharon's visit to the holy site on September 28, 2000. That visit, which Ehud Barak's government agonized over whether or not to permit, ignited the second intifada.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=562567&contrassID=1&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
  
  Hezbollah should not be in Shebaa Farms and neither should Israel. Shebaa Farms belongs to Syria.
  
  Tiberias dig unearths very rare marble floor
  By Eli Ashkenazi
  A marble floor dating from the first century CE was unearthed during this season's excavations of ancient Tiberias.
  According to archaeologist Professor Yizhar Hirschfeld, director of the three-week dig that ended yesterday, the floor is apparently a remnant of a pavement in the palace of Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, who ruled the Galilee from 4 BCE to 38 CE.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=562531&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
  
  Avital to call for more financial aid for Holocaust survivors
  By Ruth Sinai
  The chairperson of the Knesset's Immigration and Absorption Committee, Labor MK Colette Avital, plans to meet next week with the heads of the Claims Conference in New York to demand they increase assistance to needy Holocaust survivors.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=562529&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
  
  Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund threatened with closure
  By Ruth Sinai
  Not long ago a Holocaust survivor entered the office of chairman of the Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund, Ze'ev Factor, and tossed his dentures onto the desk. The dentures were broken, and the man wanted money to fix them. Factor had to turn him down. Some 12,000 such requests have piled up in the fund's offices, and none of its employees knows how to soothe applicants who show up or telephone to ask when they will receive aid.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=561989&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
  
  Even in leisure, religious and secular teens diverge
  By Eli Ashkenazi
  When Rabbi Shlomo Haddad of Safed prepares bar mitzvah boys from nonreligious families to read their haftarah (the reading from the Prophets read in synagogues on Shabbat after the reading of the Torah portion), he has to compete for attention with each boy's cell phone - sometimes a boy will even carry two cell phones. The subjects of the conversations that are engrossing them are the clubs where they will meet that night or at the weekend, television programs, or new Internet sites.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=561986&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
  
  Family shows by day, porno by night
  By Shahar Smooha
  Just after midnight this past Saturday night, "Sexy23" finally gave in to the pleas of the hundreds of surfers who were watching her on the Web. A few minutes earlier she had been dancing clad in underwear and a camisole in front of her home computer in attempt to convince the anonymous viewers to award her points that would win her a vacation in Paris at the expense of the Tapuz portal and the Ego Channel. But the viewers were unenthused.
  
  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=561517&contrassID=1&subContrassID=11&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
  
  The Los Angeles Times
  
  China's Strategy Gives It the Edge in the Battle of Two Sock Capitals
  This Appalachian town declared itself the Sock Capital of the World for good reason.
  It began making stockings in 1907 and once boasted of producing 1 of every 8 pairs worn on the planet. The cushion-sole sock was invented here. Local sock makers are models of U.S. manufacturing, working hard, sharing resources, shaving expenses, investing in technology.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-socks10apr10,0,4497784.story?coll=la-home-headlines
  
  Millions Said Going to Waste in Iraq Utilities
  A coalition memo says water, sewage and power facilities rebuilt with U.S. funds are falling into disrepair. Iraqis say they need more money.
  By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer
  BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials have crippled scores of water, sewage and electrical plants refurbished with U.S. funds by failing to maintain and operate them properly, wasting millions of American taxpayer dollars in the process, according to interviews and documents.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-waste10apr10,0,3572459.story?coll=la-home-headlines
  
  15 Iraqi Soldiers Killed by Guerrillas
  The Islamic Army in Iraq takes responsibility for the attack. A U.S. soldier is reported killed by a roadside bomb in a separate incident.
  BAGHDAD — Guerrillas killed 15 Iraqi soldiers south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said Saturday.
  The attack occurred Friday as the soldiers were traveling in a truck near the town of Latifiya, about 30 miles from the Iraqi capital, the police said.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-soldiers10apr10,1,5467406.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true>
  
  Elected officials under the Bush Ego Administration are finding out they really have to govern and not just blow smoke.
  
  Gov. Making a Quiet Retreat
  Schwarzenegger is publicly upbeat about his agenda, but political realities have tripped up his bold proposals for revamping government.
  By Peter Nicholas and Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writers
  SACRAMENTO — The broad policy changes that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled with a flourish in his State of the State speech in January have foundered amid a series of missteps, compromises and clashes with a well-organized opposition.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold10apr10,0,6750152.story?coll=la-home-headlines
  
  Plight of the Wild Ones
  Exotic and abandoned animals find refuge at remote sanctuaries. State's oversight of the centers draws scrutiny after series of mishaps.
  By Amanda Covarrubias, Times Staff Writer
  A 6-year-old black leopard with a long face and thinning coat yawned lazily in the desert sun, stretching its bony legs to expose where its toes had been chopped off for use in voodoo rituals.
  Nearby, a 5-year-old mountain lion rescued from a fur farm in Nebraska paced in its wire enclosure, warily eyeing a passing groundskeeper.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sanctuary10apr10,0,6828489.story?coll=la-home-local
  
  Army Says Maoist Toll After Clash Rises to 97
  Nepalese soldiers recovered 47 more bodies of Maoists killed in a raid on an army base two days ago, taking the toll of rebels to 97 in the country's deadliest clash in five months, an army official said.
  The army said Friday that it had killed at least 50 Maoists in the clash after the rebels, armed with rocket launchers and mortars, attacked their base in Khara, 250 miles west of Katmandu.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs10.4apr10,1,3481664.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=2&cset=true
  
  SYRIA needs to send their tanks to Sheba Farms to set up their own sovereignty and send Hezbollah packing back to Lebanon.
  
  Syrian Tanks Leave; New Government to Debut
  Dozens of Syrian tanks and military vehicles left Lebanon as Damascus accelerated its military pullout.
  Witnesses said at least 75 tanks had vacated positions in the southern end of the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and were being driven on military transporters across the border.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs10.1apr10,1,2302013.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=3&cset=true
  
  Soldiers, U.N. Troops Arrest Militia Leader
  Government soldiers and U.N. troops in Congo arrested a militia leader in a crackdown on armed groups that have terrorized the lawless Ituri district and killed more than 60,000 people since 1999.
  The arrested leader, Kahwa Mandro, heads one of half a dozen ethnic-based groups allegedly protecting their communities in Ituri that are often said to be fighting over natural resources and tax revenue.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs10.7apr10,1,4661315.story?coll=la-headlines-world
  
  At Least 38 Students Killed in Truck Crash
  A truck packed with high school students skidded off a mountain road in northern Zambia, killing at least 38 and seriously injuring 50, police said.
  Friday's accident happened near Kawambwa, about 400 miles north of the capital, Lusaka, a police official said.
  The toll was likely to increase because of the number of serious injuries, a local official said.
  
  Amid Scandal, Premier Says He Will Resign
  Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross said he would resign and make way for a new coalition government because of a scandal surrounding the financing of his luxury apartment.
  Gross did not specify a date for his resignation, but said the Czech ambassador to the European Union, Jan Kohout, was his Social Democrat Party's candidate to replace him.
  
  continued…

Saudi militants are dead. 

Palestinian who's brother is one of the dead. 

Palestinian militants (not their military) carrying Qassam rockets. 

Hezbollah Deputy Leader Sheikh Naim. Hezbollah wants Israel out of Shebaa Farms. Shebaa Farms belongs to Syria. Hezbollah that is proclaiming Israel to leave Shebaa Farms is from Lebanon. Hezbollah, like Hamas are religious groups they do not belong making outrageous political demands when they are not in places in government to do so. They resort to violence because they feel disenfranchised from their goal. It is correct they should be disenfranchised from their goal.  

This is a Hamas Rally. There are mounting tensions with Hamas regarding the exclusivity of The Temple Mount. Now, this is with Hamas and not Palestine. Hamas doesn't want to share. Tell me this is a surprise. 

Morning Papers - continued...

The Jerusalem Post

IDF kills three Gaza youths; 27 mortar shells hit Gush Katif
Three Palestinian youths were shot dead by IDF troops near an army base in the southern Gaza Strip Saturday.
In response to the shooting, the Palestinians fired 27 mortar shells at Gush Katif settlements and IDF positions in the area. One house in the region sustained damage.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1113025482014

Police brace for Temple Mount violence
Bracing for possible violence, Jerusalem police will be on the highest state of alert Sunday on the Temple Mount, barring both a group of Jewish ultra-nationalists and Arab men from entering the
bitterly contested holy site due to fear that an altercation between the two sides at the compound will send the country spiraling into violence.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112926804212

Arson suspected in Carmel fires
Firefighters believe that a huge blaze that swept the Mount Carmel national park on Friday and destroyed at least 2,000 dunams of mainly natural brush and trees may have been started deliberately.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112926804606

Distant relations
Here in the sun-baked fields of western Ethiopia, miles from the closest road and in a place where daily life has changed little from the way things were a thousand years ago, lies what could be Israel's next big immigration dilemma.

… Pretty much everyone around these parts agrees on what that means. Beta Israel are blacksmiths or potters or weavers, descendants of those who by their caste could not own land because they were Falasha - people from a foreign land. The Beta Israel are from the "seed of Israel," the people explain, the faraway place described in the Bible.
But in this the Beta Israel are not unique; many Ethiopian natives believe they, too, are descendants of the kingdom of Israel. The Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled from 1930 to 1974, claimed he was a direct descendant of King Solomon and was called the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112840335728

The Chicago Tribune

FRONT-RUNNERS
Parents seek a competitive edge for their athletic preteens by hiring personal trainers
By Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 10, 2005
The athlete--a three-sport starter--was hungry for a competitive edge, that intangible thing that could make him a first-round draft choice.
Summer camps and playing catch wouldn't do it. The 6th grader needed a personal trainer.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0504100386apr10,1,3231679.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

St. Charles cop dies while chasing teens
By Jennifer Lebovich, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Grace Aduroja wrote this report and freelance reporter Gary Gibula contributed
Published April 10, 2005
A 27-year veteran of the St. Charles Police Department died early Saturday of an apparent heart attack while chasing several teenagers who allegedly tried to steal a golf cart from St. Charles East High School.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0504100179apr10,1,2903999.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=3&cset=true

2010 school reform off to wobbly start
Power struggle, lack of cash stall progress
By Stephanie Banchero
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 10, 2005
Nine months after its launch, Chicago's radical experiment to remake its city schools is struggling to get off the ground.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-0504100427apr10,1,738154.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true

`Bunker buster' nuclear arms face hurdles
White House pushes new tack for funding
By Michael Kilian
Washington Bureau
Published April 10, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is renewing a push to research and develop a new family of lower-yield nuclear weapons, including the controversial "bunker buster," or Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, that could be used against the underground weapons labs and leadership redoubts of the nation's enemies.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504100374apr10,1,2052254.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Workforce needs polish, U.S. businesses declare
`Soft skills' such as punctuality lacking, employers, unions say
By Leon Lazaroff
Tribune national correspondent
Published April 10, 2005
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- As lawmakers and educators struggle to improve high schools in the U.S., businesses and labor unions say they are alarmed that even job seekers with a diploma can't function in the workplace.
It's a problem, they say, that threatens to cripple American productivity at home and competition abroad.
Discouraged by the work habits of many new employees, a handful of states, led by New York, are working to create a nationally recognized "work readiness" credential. Proponents say the credential would certify that a prospective employee understands the importance of "soft skills" such as punctuality, a willingness to accept supervision and an ability to work in a group.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0504100376apr10,1,1181632.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Falling for Iceland
A shoulder-season visit to the land of fire and ice—and so much more
By Phil Marty
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 10, 2005
SEYDISFJORDUR, Iceland -- It wasn't love at first sight.
But here, midway through a nine-day drive around this island country, this was the clincher.
To my right, a 25-foot-high waterfall thundered, dumping its icy waters into a stream that frothed from rock to rock on its way to the fiord below.
To my left, at the bottom of a switchbacky two-lane asphalt road, this tiny village rested in the mist at the end of the fiord that runs 10 miles east to the North Atlantic.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-gc91r9i9h.13apr10,1,5316286.story?coll=chi-travel-hed

The Arab News

Death of Top Terrorists in Al-Rass Gunbattle Confirmed
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 10 April 2005 — The Interior Ministry yesterday confirmed the death of Saud Al-Otaibi, the leader of Al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia, and Moroccan Abdul Kareem Al-Majati, the No. 4 on the list of 26 most wanted terrorists, in last week’s gunbattle in Al-Rass.

Pasted from <http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=61858&d=10&m=4&y=2005>

Iraqis Call for Total US Pullout
Naseer Al-Nahr, Arab News
Tens of thousands of Iraqis gather during a rally in Firdaus Square in central Baghdad, Saturday. (AFP)

BAGHDAD, 10 April 2005 — Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched here yesterday to call for the total pullout of US troops from Iraq and demand a speedy trial of Saddam Hussein on the second anniversary of his overthrow.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61859&d=10&m=4&y=2005

Cartoon

http://www.arabnews.com/cartoon/

Israelis Kill Three Palestinian Teens
Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News

RAMALLAH, 10 April 2005 — Israeli troops fired at a group of Palestinian youths playing soccer in a refugee camp yesterday, killing three teenagers in the deadliest incident in the Gaza Strip since Israel and the Palestinians declared a cease-fire two months ago.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61860&d=10&m=4&y=2005

Lebanon Truck With Hidden Bomb Seized
Reuters

BEIRUT, 10 April 2005 — A truck loaded with 40 kilograms of explosives was seized overnight while on its way toward the Syrian border, outgoing state minister Albert Mansur said yesterday. “The truck loaded with explosives was heading to Syria, according to sources of the investigation,” Mansur said on LBCI television. Police said security forces had seized a Hyundai truck in the northeastern district of Hermel, a few kilometers from Syria. They said the explosives were hidden under carts of vegetables. The driver, identified as Muwafaq Ibrahim, from the village of Hawsh Hala near the main eastern city of Zahleh, was arrested, they said.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61876&d=10&m=4&y=2005&pix=world.jpg&category=World

Taleban Insurgents Kill Senior Afghan Official
Agencies

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 10 April 2005 — Ousted Taleban remnants have killed a senior Afghan provincial official several days after kidnapping him, a Taleban spokesman said yesterday. Sarajuddin, chief of Zabul’s power and water department, was killed after a group of Taleban seized him two days ago outside the town of Qalat, Zabul’s provincial capital, the spokesman said. The murder was confirmed by a local police official.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61877&d=10&m=4&y=2005&pix=world.jpg&category=World

Kashmir Will Top Agenda: Musharraf
Huma Aamir Malik, Arab News

ISLAMABAD, 10 April 2005 — Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that talks on the lingering Kashmir dispute, and not cricket, would top the agenda of his visit to India next week.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61890&d=10&m=4&y=2005&pix=world.jpg&category=World

2 Die, 5 Taken Ill After Eating Crabs in S. Philippines
Al Jacinto, Arab News

ZAMBOANGA CITY, 10 April 2005 — Two persons died and five more were hospitalized after eating crabs in the southern province of Surigao del Sur, the military said yesterday.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=61857&d=10&m=4&y=2005&pix=world.jpg&category=World

continued...

The Future King and Queen of England. The Brits should have a full set for once. Diana should be left her title out of respect for William and Harry.  

The Royal Wedding. Well done.  

Morning Papers - concluding

The New York Times

Translating the Body Language of Hands Extended, and Not
ROME, April 8 - Papal funerals are not supposed to be about diplomacy, but put this many world leaders in one section of St. Peter's Square, and diplomacy happens. And so, at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, there was news about a president of the United States who did not shake the hands of two Middle Eastern adversaries, and a president of Israel who did.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/international/worldspecial2/09prexy.html?hp

Two Women Bound by Sports, War and Injuries
WASHINGTON - For 25 days at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Specialist Danielle Green wondered if anyone could ever understand. But on the 26th day, a nurse told her: "A new female patient came in today. You have a lot in common."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/sports/othersports/10soldiers.html?hp&ex=1113105600&amp;amp;en=96b3f69fab998f51&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The New York Times

After the Tsunami: At Home, in Company of Memories
ANDA ACEH, Indonesia, April 3 - Amid the broken timbers and broken plaster of what used to be the entrance to a home sits a broken man, staring across a muddy wasteland, comforted by his 6-year-old son.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/international/asia/10aceh.html?hp

Cardinals Hint at Profile of New Pope: Presence Preferred
OME, April 9 - The Roman Catholic Cardinals will take an oath of secrecy when they enter the conclave to elect the next pope, but in the week since John Paul II's death many have been publicly dropping hints about what kind of man the church now needs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/international/worldspecial2/10cardinals.html?hp&ex=1113192000&amp;amp;en=5250dbb77c2f8dca&ei=5094&partner=homepage

I SUPPOSE WE SHALL see how complete the 'corruption mind think' that ENABLES Halliburton has taken root in the strongest of Moral Business minds.

The Oracle of Omaha's Latest Riddle
WHEN Berkshire Hathaway shareholders gather here in three weeks for their annual meeting, they will be treated to another homespun video starring the company's chairman, Warren E. Buffett. This year's plot is still a secret, but Mr. Buffett's co-star in last year's video was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/business/yourmoney/10omah.html>

Two Women Bound by Sports, War and Injuries
WASHINGTON - For 25 days at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Specialist Danielle Green wondered if anyone could ever understand. But on the 26th day, a nurse told her: "A new female patient came in today. You have a lot in common."
"Really?" Specialist Green said, and the nurse nodded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/sports/othersports/10soldiers.html?hp&ex=1113192000&amp;en=6c6e5b10484697c9&ei=5094&partner=homepage

An appeal in this case is certain from either side and I wouldn't have given testimony to the EPA in 2003 at the New Source Review if I didn't believe Carbon Dioxide was as lethal as NOX and SOX. I have been proven correct over and over again. With a court willing to balance the opinion and 'place' of the USA on a global scale when considering issues that beset others of other countries due to the potency of USA pollution there is better than a 'good' chance the Supreme Court will find it's own citizen survival in the balance and rule in favor of EPA regulation of CO2. It is no longer a 'luxury' to consider. There is also some dangerous ASSUMPTIONS being made by some Paleoecologists. It is true the Artic Ocean has melted completely in Earth's past. THAT does not mean the ocean temperatures were more than 1 degree C. The algae are not necessarily survivors of Human Induced Global Warming as they might have been in past warming events when the climate was warm but not necessarily this warm. Carbon dioxide levels in Ice Cores aren't now evidence to Ocean and Climate Temperatures ! There has been no proof of that correlation.

One other thing.

It is impossible from a scientific standpoint to ascertain any ocean temperature from Ice Cores. The study is impossible. If one reads my testimony you'll learn that 'homo sapien' manifests on Earth a full 20,000 years after the end of the last warming cycle. We have never been proven to survive this in the past. We are gambling with our very lives. Besides the 'doomsday' potential. Weather patterns have proven deadly and with the reduction of CO2 will return a reasonable biosphere.

2 Sides Do Battle in Court on Whether E.P.A. Should Regulate Carbon Dioxide

WASHINGTON, April 8 - A federal appeals court heard arguments on Friday in a five-year battle over whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/politics/09emissions.html

The New Zealand Herald

UN inquiry into New Zealander's death in Ivory Coast
10.04.05
by Jonathan Milne

The United Nations will send an inquiry team into war-torn Ivory Coast after a pathologist yesterday conducted an autopsy on the body of New Zealand "mercenary" Hamish Sands, who died in a rebel prison.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119679

$1 million fraud case uncovered
10.04.05
by Adrienne Kohler

An Auckland accountant has been struck off after fleecing his clients out of more than $1 million in an elaborate fraud that took years to uncover.
Between 1991 and early 2000 Ian Clarke - who ran a small North Shore practice doing accounts, taxes and GST returns for individuals and small companies - stole more than $1 million from his clients, many who had no idea that they were being defrauded until they were told by police.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119684

Immigration clampdown after fraud revealed
10.04.05
by Jonathan Dow and David Fisher

Immigration Minister Paul Swain is signalling changes in the way immigration fraud is handled, following revelations fake degrees, sham marriages and bogus job offers are being sold to Asian migrants.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119681

Marriage like the Grand National says Queen
Britain’s Prince Charles (C) speaks with his mother Queen Elizabeth as he holds the arm of his bride Camilla Duchess of Cornwall as they leave St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, southern England. Picture / Reuters
10.04.05 11.00am

WINDSOR, England - The Queen hinted where her thoughts were today when she compared the marriage between her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles to the Grand National horse race.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119692

With this king I thee wed
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles leave arm-in-arm from St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle after the Service of Prayer and Dedication following their marriage. Picture / Reuters

10.04.05
by Jo McCarroll

LONDON - The bride wore an ivory chiffon dress, an oyster silk basket weave coat offset by a wide-brimmed feather-detailed hat. The groom was in a conservative double-breasted suit and a cream-coloured waistcoat. After two months of muddled preparations - and a lifetime of waiting - Charles and Camilla, the future ruling monarchs of England, finally last night said the words "I do", sealing their union in a quiet civil ceremony in the gothic surrounds of the Guildhall.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119674

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Snow

-21.0°

Updated Sunday 10 Apr 8:59PM

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

41 °F / 5 °C
Overcast

Windchill:
33 °F / 1 °C

Humidity:
65%

Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C

Wind:
15 mph / 24 km/h from the SE

Wind Gust:
18 mph / 30 km/h

Pressure:
29.67 in / 1005 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):

Mostly Cloudy 6500 ft / 1981 m
Overcast 8000 ft / 2438 m

end

Approval of Judicial Appointments have been overwhelming positive EXCEPT for those that don't deserve them ! Bush needs to do BETTER !! 

The Complete Entry of "The Cheney Observer" noted in The NY Times Yeserday

The Tom DeLay Scandals

A score card.

By Nicholas Thompson
Updated Thursday, April 7, 2005, at 3:40 PM PT

Tom's time?

Tom DeLay, the second-ranking member of the House of Representatives, has long been a bogeyman to the left for his outrageous rhetoric, strong-arm tactics, and shady dealings. The congressman's supporters and Republican colleagues had been pledging complete fealty, and stories about his dirty linen had stayed on the back pages. But if criticizing DeLay used to be suicidal, recently it's become fashionable. A new Zogby poll shows that the formerly loyal constituents of Sugar Land, Texas, have turned on DeLay, and Republicans have begun muttering about pushing him out. The telltale sign that the piranhas smell blood in the water came when Wednesday's New York Times fronted a story about the well-funded involvement of the congressman's wife and daughter in his operations. The core of the story was old and the Times would likely have buried it a year ago. But the man known as "the hammer" is turning into a nail.

Here's a score card of the key multiplying scandals involving DeLay. Each malefaction is rated on a scale of one to 10 for its stench and the trouble it will possibly cause.

TRMPAC. Stench: 5. Trouble: 8.

In 2001, Tom DeLay helped to set up an organization called TRMPAC (Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee) aimed at helping the Texas GOP gain control of the state Legislature. His goal was to force a redistricting of Texas' congressional districts that would increase the Republican majority in Washington.

DeLay succeeded in sending five more Republicans to Congress. But his tactics created two problems. First, Texas has very strict laws forbidding the use of money raised from corporations in state races, and TRMPAC raised a lot of corporate money. Second, it made for one very shady deal. On Sept. 20, 2002, the director of TRMPAC sent $190,000, including money raised by corporations, to the Republican National State Elections Committee. Exactly two weeks later, that committee sent exactly $190,000 to state candidates favored by TRMPAC. Each transaction, taken alone, appears legal. Bundled together, they look like an effort to funnel corporate money into a race from which it was banned.

DeLay's defense is that he didn't know the details of what was happening in the organization, that the matching numbers of the $190,000 transfers were just a coincidence, and that the money raised from corporations was spent on administrative office expenses, which is legal in Texas legislative races. But all of those arguments have major weak spots that the experienced prosecutor on the case, Ronnie Earle, could expose. Grand juries have been secretly investigating the allegations of illegal campaign financing, and Earle has already indicted three of DeLay's associates and eight corporate donors. DeLay hasn't been indicted yet, but he could be. And if there's a trial, his indicted associates might choose to squawk about the congressman's misdeeds in exchange for less or no jail time.

Frequent Flying. Stench: 5. Trouble: 3.

House ethics rules prevent members from taking trips abroad funded by lobbyists or by "foreign agents," groups or individuals registered to do political work for foreign organizations or governments. DeLay, however, has reportedly taken at least three such trips. In 1997, he went to Russia on the dime of a peculiar company based in the Bahamas and connected to Russian oil interests. In 2000, he went to Britain, his lavish journey paid for in part by a lobbyist. In 2001, he went to South Korea, funded by a recently registered foreign agent.

DeLay faces little danger because of these trips. Other congressmen, including Democrats, have taken similar trips and the House Ethics Committee, which has chief responsibility for policing such disciplinary infractions, is currently shuttered. After the committee admonished the Texas congressman for three infractions this fall, three Republican members were forced out and replaced with DeLay allies. The committee has not met this year because Democrats are protesting the new rules the committee has to operate under, which (surprise) make it much harder to initiate investigations.

The risk for DeLay here is that more reporters will unearth more trips, and they'll perhaps find evidence that the funders happened to do particularly well when legislation they favored came before Congress. Worse, perhaps, the trips connect DeLay to the seedy world of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Abramoff Muck. Stench: 6. Trouble: 8.

DeLay and Abramoff are old friends and allies. Now Abramoff is one of the most toxic men in Washington. John McCain is investigating him, as is the Department of Justice for allegedly bilking Native American tribes out of tens of millions of dollars while working for them as a lobbyist. (Read this Slate "Assessment" for more about Abramoff and his penchant for referring to his patrons as "troglodytes.") It's almost certain that some of the documents subpoenaed will cause trouble for DeLay. There's even speculation in Washington that McCain is leading the investigation partly to get DeLay and thereby spare the Republican Party his hard-edged tactics and policies.

The Ethics Committee's Docket. Stench: 9. Trouble: 2.

Before the House Ethics Committee was waylaid, it admonished Tom DeLay on three different fronts last year. The first was for appearing to offer a bribe to fellow Republican Rep. Nick Smith to win his support for the closely contested Medicare reform bill. The second was for soliciting donations from a company called Westar Energy just as the House considered a bill of crucial import to the company. The third was for using a federal agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, to track down Democratic members of the Texas Legislature who were fleeing the state to block a vote regarding redistricting (see No. 1 above).

Each of these infractions was serious enough that the then-somnolent, now-comatose Ethics Committee was willing to act. At this point, however, the cases are probably finished. The Justice Department could investigate any of them, and it might already be quietly doing so. But, most likely, DeLay got away with a slap on the wrist.

Family Circus. Stench: 3. Trouble: 2.

As revealed in Wednesday's New York Times—to DeLay's fury, as he expressed today—his wife and daughter have long been on the payroll of several of the political organizations he controls. Friends and family of congressmen have done this kind of work for a long time, but they don't normally rake in the sums that Christine DeLay and Danielle DeLay Ferro did: $500,000 in four years.

The payments sound suspicious, but the story will as likely as not blow over. It allows DeLay to play the victim while defending his family's honor; most important, the key issue is whether the two women received a fair day's pay for a fair day's work—which they probably did. Ferro and Christine DeLay clearly put in long hours for their man; they play a major role in what is known in Washington as DeLay, Inc. They will probably go down only if the whole organization goes down.

And that, of course, is the real danger for Tom DeLay. It's possible that one known bad act, particularly TRMPAC, could do him in. It's also possible that he'll be felled by a misdeed that hasn't been uncovered yet—for example, dirt could come out of DeLay's nonprofit foundation for orphans, which critics charge serves as a backdoor for unregulated donations to him. The much greater risk, though, is that the parade of scandals in its entirety will lead his colleagues to vaporize him one night. DeLay can ask Sen. Trent Lott what that feels like.

Nicholas Thompson is a senior editor at Legal Affairs.

DeLay is losing support, poll finds Schiavo case and ethics battles are cited in the slide

By SAMANTHA LEVINE and JOE STINEBAKER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's footing among his constituents has slipped drastically during the past year and a majority of his district disapproves of how he handled the Terri Schiavo case, according to a Houston Chronicle poll.

Nearly 40 percent of the 501 voters questioned Wednesday through Friday said their opinion of the powerful Sugar Land Republican is less favorable than last year, compared with 11 percent who said their view of him has improved.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/31 [...]

IT DON'T MATTER if 'those good 'ole boys' are corrupt so long a we feel good about ourselves.

DeLay tackles 'liberal media, out of control judges' in home turf

By: SESHADRI KUMAR, Editor

04/05/2005

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land was in his elements at the Sugar Land Rotary Club last week as he spelled out his views on issues ranging from "how to fight the liberal media" and the "out of control" judges to the ethics violation charges and his leadership role in the Congress to social security reforms and tax reforms.

..."Security without strong economy is impossible and we want to double the economy in the next 10 years," DeLay said.

Listing the burden of taxes as an obstacle in the way of economic reform, DeLay said he supports fair tax. He clearly favors a national sales tax in place of the existing income tax.

He clearly favors a national sales tax in place of the existing income tax.

He clearly favors a national sales tax in place of the existing income tax.

He clearly favors a national sales tax in place of the existing income tax.

(HE SUPPORTS A NATIONAL SALES TAX 'until' Income Tax is needed again. What would bring people to purchase ANYTHING in the USA if it was cheaper elsewhere. It's hideous. Income Tax is a stable and reliable tax so long as there is an economy. Once there is a federal sales tax in place it will never be repealed. This is a strategy to have both not EITHER. More Flim-Flam from the Flim-Flam Man, DeLay himself.)

"Then, we will become a tax haven for the world," he said.

Stressing on regulatory reforms, DeLay said businesses spend $800 billion a year to comply with federal regulations. A 10 percent cut would save $80 billion a year, he said.

Redesigning the government to do things that make sense is another part of the agenda and the government reform includes overhauling the social security, he said.

The House Appropriations Committee rules have been changed to ensure that it is harder to spend and easy to cut spending, DeLay said.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14285784&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532245&rfi=6

Sugar Land debates draft ethics code
By: NATASHA RAUF, Reporter

03/29/2005

A draft code of ethics that would apply to city officials, members of boards and commissions and former city officials was discussed at Sugar Land City Council meeting last week.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=142411 [...]

Fort Bend County District Clerk's office began accepting passport applications on behalf of the U.S. Department of State since last week.

District Clerk Glory Hopkins says United States citizens planning international travel may apply for their passports on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m to 4 p.m. The passport office is located in Room 100 at the northeast side of the courthouse on the first floor. A representative from the State Department last year met with Hopkins and asked to begin offering the service.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14241128&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532245&rfi=6

Missouri City's cowboy mayor

Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen waves at the crowds and familiar faces at the Houston Livestock Stock Show and Rodeo at Reliant Stadium as he participates daily in the traditional Grand Entry with stock show directors and other principals of the event's 2005 edition.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14196091&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532245&rfi=6

BEST OF SHOW IN RODEO ART

Jessica Whatley, a fourth-grade student at Fort Bend ISD's Rita Drabek Elementary School, earned "Best of Show" in the district competition of the 2005 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Program for her artwork entitled, "The Guardian of the Pueblo." Jessica is shown with her art teacher, Susan Walston.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14285853&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532245&rfi=6

DeLay faces new ethics charges

03/22/2005

An Indian tribe and a gambling services company made donations to a Washington public policy group that covered most of the cost of a $70,000 trip to Britain by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, his wife, two aides and two lobbyists in mid-2000, two months before DeLay helped kill legislation opposed by the tribe and the company, Washington Post reported on March 12.

The sponsor of the week-long trip listed in DeLay's financial disclosures was the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research. A person involved in arranging DeLay's travel said that lobbyist Jack Abramoff suggested the trip and then arranged for checks to be sent by two of his clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery Inc., the Post said.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14196075&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532245&rfi=6

end