A huge autonomous Heat Storm has broken loose of the vortex flow. It will probably enter Antarctica causing damage to the Ice Continent. Australia and New Zealand need to pay attention as the path to this monster is still uncertain. Noted the equatorial heat connection is intact as it was not on Febrary 4th. The Western Northern Hemisphere maintains turbulence but is cooler. That is reasonable considering the Arctic Air that was delivered to the middle of the North American Continent over the last 24 hours. 

This is Western Pacific Ocean April 11, 2005 at 3:59 PM. There is a good deal of heat concentration in this area. The island nations here are suffering I am sure with turbulent weather. From a Global Warming perspective the event still isn't the magnitude of February 4th and the equator is still holding a good amount of the heat globally in a uniform manner which was abandoned on February 4th because of the intense velocity of the Antarctica vortex at that time. The low pressure at the equatorial areas readily moved into the vortex distributing the heavier colder air to the Australian continent and lower latitudes while the lighter hotter air settled over the Ice Continent. This is not as intense and a marginal victory so far but the solar radiation is moving north as well. Sometimes light/dark cycles affect this outcome a great deal as well. It's a better picture so far. 

It looks as though Antarctica will get hit with heat storms from both west and east of Australia. I don't believe it is as bad as it has been a couple of months ago but it goes to prove how strong these vortices are. The cyclone as noted from earlier has moved markedly south and along with the vortex flow. It may be the storm will enter Antarctica along with the peripheral vortex flow. Other storms are forming offshore Northwest Australia. 

Global Pacifc Satellite 4.11.05 at 2:27 AM. There is still significant heat entering Antarctica. Not to the magnitude of Feb. 4th. There is still encouragement stability at the equator. Some lessing of that stability just east of the heat concentration at the western border of the satellite. NOTED: on Europe-Africa satellite. The decrease in the Northern Hemisphere over North America is showing up on the European Satellite. 

Western Pacific Satellite 4.11.05 at 4:58AM. This shows a slightly less intensity of heat. The equator concentration is holding better than the February 4th event. 

The cyclone in the Indian Ocean is in the southeast quadrant of the satellie map. The stars are a cute addition to the effects. But the cycone is being pulled by the Antarctica Vortex and is hence pulling air masses across Madgascar adn Africa where there is a heat center which has been resided there for over 36 hours. The connectedness to the equator extends across the Atlantic to the Delta of the Amazon. 

Indian Ocean April 11, 2005 at 1:02AM. To prove how dynamic these vortexes are this is a clear illustration. The cyclone in the Indian Ocean has been affected by the ionic periphery of the Antarctica Vortex. The symmetry of the cyclone is pulled into the vortex flost which still appears in the picture over the year at the bottom caption. The periphery of the cyclone is pulled into the direction of the vortex flow. One step further the storm system to the east is also being lead into the cyclone. To the west of the cyclone the air mass that reaches ACROSS Africa is being pulled into the cyclone and hence into the vortex flow of the Antarctica. 

Cuba urged to free journalists
Mar 17, 2005
The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote to Cuban President Fidel Castro to urge his government to release 23 independent reporters jailed since a March 2003 crackdown on dissents.

The letter from the New York-based watchdog group was endorsed by 108 Latin American writers and journalists, including novelists Carlos Fuentes and Elena Poniatowska of Mexico and Tomas Eloy Martinez of Argentina.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_story_skin/479927%3fformat=html

Morning Papers - It's Origins - SORRY FOR THE DELAY. BLOGGER WAS HAVING DIFFICULTIES AGAIN. AND IT WASN'T JUST BLOGGER. I'LL BE DARN !!

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Due"

"Okeydoke"

History…

1893, born Dean Gooderham Acheson, American statesman, born in Middletown, Connecticut, and educated at Yale University and Harvard Law School. From 1919 to 1921, he was private secretary to Louis D. Brandeis, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1933 Acheson served as undersecretary of the treasury. He was assistant secretary of state (1941-1945) and undersecretary (1945-1947). In 1949 Acheson became secretary of state under President Harry S. Truman. Acheson continued the policies of his predecessor, George C. Marshall, most notably in the implementation of the European Recovery Program, also known as the Marshall Plan. He also represented the United States in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.

1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

1951, U.S. president Harry Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur from his commands during the Korean War after the general publicly criticized the administration's war policy.

1953, Oveta Culp Hobby became the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

1968, President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
1970, Apollo 13 blasts off toward the moon; an explosion two days later forces astronauts to abort the mission and make a daring return to earth.

1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control, during his brutal regime, an estimated 300,000 civilians were killed.

1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.

Missing in Action

1965 SWANSON WILLIAM E. MINNEAPOLIS MN FLAK CRASH EXPLODE
1968 WHITTEMORE FREDERICK H. CARSON CITY NV
1970 NELSON JAN HOUSTON CLEARWATER FL
1971 BUERK WILLIAM CARL LOS ANGELES CA

Journalism at Risk

Authorities suspend licence of jailed journalists' lawyer
Country/Topic: China
Date: 01 March 2005
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Person(s): Shi Tao, Zhang Lin, Huang Jinqiu
Target(s): journalist(s) , web dissident(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): imprisoned
Urgency: Threat
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:
CHINA: Authorities suspend license of lawyer for jailed journalists
New York, March 1, 2005 - Authorities in Shanghai have suspended the law license of Guo Guoting, defense attorney for three jailed journalists as well as a number of other dissidents and members of the Falun Gong religious sect. The suspension throws into question the defense of imprisoned writers Shi Tao, Zhang Lin and Huang Jinqiu.

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65030/

IFJ Backs Iranian Journalists in Protest
Published: 2.03.2005
IFJ, Brussels, 01.03.2005 -- The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the Iranian authorities for the sentencing of web journalist, Arash Cigarchi, to 14 years imprisonment following interviews he had given to the BBC World Service and the US financed, Radio Farda, last week. Cigarchi was convicted of, among other things, espionage, colluding with hostile governments and endangering national security.

http://www.cascfen.org/news.php?nid=921&cid=14

Iran Country Report on Human Rights Practices - 2004
Released by US State Department, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor - February 28, 2005

...The Press Law established the Press Supervisory Board, which is responsible for issuing press licenses and for examining complaints filed against publications or individual journalists, editors, or publishers. In certain cases, the Press Supervisory Board may refer complaints to the Press Court for further action, including closure. Its hearings were conducted in public with a jury composed of clerics, government officials, and editors of government-controlled newspapers. The jury was empowered to recommend to the presiding judge the guilt or innocence of defendants and the severity of any penalty to be imposed, although these recommendations were not legally binding.

Since 2000, approximately 100 newspapers and magazines have been closed for varying lengths of time. In the last few years, some human rights groups asserted that the increasingly conservative Press Court assumed responsibility for cases before Press Supervisory Board consideration, often resulting in harsher judgments. Efforts to amend the press laws have not met with success, although in October 2003, Parliament passed a law limiting the duration of temporary press closures to a maximum of 10 days for newspapers, 4 weeks for weeklies or bi-weeklies, 2 months for monthlies, and 3 months for other publications. The importance of the legislation was to stop the practice of extending "temporary" bans indefinitely.

http://www.payvand.com/news/05/mar/1002.html

Soccer Stars Lining Up for 'Lags Eleven'
By PA Reporters
They could be one of the most talented sides with some of the foremost names in football.
Arsenal’s Jermaine Pennant, facing three months in jail for drink driving while banned from the road, is just the latest in a string of star names to join the “lags eleven”.
1998: Diego Maradona received two years for shooting journalists with an air rifle but never served the sentence.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4194514

Turkish media curbs decried
Tuesday 01 March 2005, 21:25 Makka Time, 18:25 GMT
Erdogan's EU ambitions could yet founder on rights issues
A lack of press freedom and the prosecution of journalists and intellectuals mean Turkey is not yet
ready to join the European Union,
rights activists say.
Some 60 Turkish writers, publishers and journalists currently face prosecution or are incarcerated, including 19 jailed reporters, Alexis Krikorian of the Geneva-based International Publishers Association (IPA), said on Tuesday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EACBD155-639C-49D7-B72F-E4772FB39250.htm

Ongoing media intimidation is a sure sign of Zimbabwean government insecurity, writes Andrew Meldrum
Monday February 28, 2005
Associated Press correspondent Angus Shaw eluded Zimbabwe police by driving across the Chirundu bridge spanning the Zambezi River to enter Zambia on February 18.
Times correspondent Jan Raath evaded arrest the day before by travelling across Zimbabwe to the southern Plumtree border post and crossing into Botswana.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1427130,00.html

Congress must pass law to shield press
Monday, February 28, 2005
In America, you can go to jail for doing your job. That's the message being sent by a federal appeals court, which recently upheld an earlier court decision ordering two reporters to disclose their sources to a grand jury or face up to 18 months in jail.
Forty-nine states, including New Jersey, and the District of Columbia offer journalists legal protection from just such a scenario. The shield laws in the states where the two reporters are based, New York and Washington, are among the strongest.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0MDAmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2NTg5MjcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA==

Cuba: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. February 28, 2005. (FULL REPORT)
Cuba is a totalitarian state controlled by Fidel Castro, who is chief of state with the titles of president, head of government, first secretary of the Communist Party (CP), and commander in chief of the armed forces. The regime exercises control over all aspects of life through the CP and its affiliated mass organizations, the government bureaucracy headed by the Council of State, and the state security apparatus. In March 2003, he declared his intent to remain in power for life.

... The authorities sometimes detained independent journalists to question them about contacts with ... AI determined that all 75 jailed activists were "prisoners of ...

http://www.cubanet.org/ref/dis/02280501_e.htm

'Disappearances' Still Rife, Says Report
Marty Logan
KATHMANDU, Mar 1 (IPS) - Almost one year after Nepal promised to move to end ''disappearances'' of people suspected of aiding a potent Maoist insurgency that has left 11,000 of its citizens dead, the Himalayan nation's commitments still ring hollow.
''The commitments have remained empty declarations, unsubstantiated by real efforts to stop the violations,'' declared the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday.
... released detainees jailed since Feb. 1, apparently at whim, such as Bishnu Nisthuri, general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, who was let ...

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=27665

Reporter's notebook: final 5 Ws
By GEORGIANA VINES, gvpolitics@hotmail.com
February 28, 2005

Who: Georgiana Vines
What: Looks back on 44-year career covering politics
Where: Through Miami, Milwaukee, Texas and Knoxville
When: 1961-2005
Why: Final assignment from editor

I was going through photographs at home the other night when I came across a press badge provided by the Knoxville Police Department in 1972.

Kyle Testerman was mayor and his message to the police force was "to be courteous and cooperative on all occasions to the bearer of this pass."

… "to be courteous and cooperative on all occasions to the bearer of this pass."

… "to be courteous and cooperative on all occasions to the bearer of this pass."

… "to be courteous and cooperative on all occasions to the bearer of this pass."

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/news_columnists/article/0,1406,KNS_359_3581531,00.html

IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists After Book Fair Censorship Sparks Free Expression Fears
08/02/2005
The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.
This week a detained journalist began a hunger strike in protest following his arrest and detention along with other activists after a police raid on the book fair on January 28.

http://www.ifj-europe.org/default.asp?index=2947&Language=EN

Media group asks Eritrea to free more journalists
Tuesday March 8th, 2005 00:16.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - A rights group voiced relief on Monday at the release of a Voice of America (VOA) reporter held by Eritrea but said the Red Sea state should also free other jailed journalists.

Eritrea has been Africa's biggest jailer of journalists since 2001, when all independent newspapers were banned.

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8407

Nepalese editor Kanak Dixit released

New York, March 8, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release early this morning of prominent Nepalese editor Kanak Mani Dixit, who was detained and questioned for roughly five hours last night. At least four journalists jailed since the royal coup on February 1 remain imprisoned.

http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Nepal08mar05na.html

China joins the BBC for a Question Time from Shanghai
By Richard Spencer in Shanghai
(Filed: 11/03/2005)
China's mix of old and new thinking was on dramatic display last night when it let the BBC record Question Time in Shanghai but ensured that the programme would be seen only abroad.
The event was an experiment for the BBC and the Chinese government, which admitted that it was not the type of show that would be allowed on its tightly controlled media.
... China leads the world in the number of jailed journalists, while the handful of newspapers that once reported on abuses of power have had their editors replaced ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/11/wchin11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/11/ixnewstop.html

Dozens of Latin American writers join CPJ
in urging Castro to release jailed colleagues
March 16, 2005
Fidel Castro Ruz
President of the Councils of State and Ministers
Republic of Cuba
c/o Cuban Interests Section in the United States of America
2630 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009
Via facsimile: (202) 797-8521

Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists, together with the following 107 Latin American journalists and writers, calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned Cuban journalists. We further demand that the sentences of six journalists released on medical parole be annulled.

http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/cuba_crackdown_05/cuba_crackdown_main.html

Cuba urged to free journalists
Mar 17, 2005
The Committee to Protect Journalists wrote to Cuban President Fidel Castro to urge his government to release 23 independent reporters jailed since a March 2003 crackdown on dissents.

The letter from the New York-based watchdog group was endorsed by 108 Latin American writers and journalists, including novelists Carlos Fuentes and Elena Poniatowska of Mexico and Tomas Eloy Martinez of Argentina.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_story_skin/479927%3fformat=html

continued...

Forget the Heart. Listen To Your Caudate Nucleus.
By Rick WeissWashington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42769-2005Apr10.html
I called White House spokesman Trent Duffy to see whether the administration was, as I suspected, all over the new work.
"As you know, we're prohibited from discussing classified information," he said with a tone of sincerity I now found suspicious. "But I can think of lots of applications," he continued.
High on his list was to do something to make people believe that "Area 51" has nothing to do with UFOs, thereby eliminating in one stroke about half the phone calls he deals with each day.
 

Morning Papers - continued...

The Washington Post

Santorum Urges DeLay to Answer Critics
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), one of Capitol Hill's leading conservatives, warned House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) yesterday that he needs to "lay out what he did and why he did it" if he is going to put an end to questions about his travel and dealings with lobbyists.
Another weekend critic was Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), a frequent DeLay antagonist, who said DeLay should step down. Shays told about 50 people at a town hall meeting in Greenwich on Saturday that he considers DeLay "an absolute embarrassment to me and to the Republican Party."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42422-2005Apr10.html

It's about time The Republicans start policing their own in a real way. The question is does DeLay, Cheney and Bush give a 'hoot' what anyone else thinks. What the rest of the party will find out is what the Democrats have known for years now in that these men feel they are above it all and they are in places of worship rather than in a place THAT SERVES THE PEOPLE of this nation. I am surprised Santorum and Shays haven't been sabotaged into towing the "New Party" line of corruption with the terrible three.

A Master Reappears At Augusta
Woods Wins His First Golf Major in 21/2 Years
By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A01
AUGUSTA, Ga., April 10 -- With a final 15-foot birdie putt in the waning daylight Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club, Tiger Woods ended his 2 1/2-year drought in the major championships of golf by winning the 69th Masters on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against Chris DiMarco.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42795-2005Apr10.html

D.C. Board Rarely Punishes Physicians
By Cheryl W. Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A01
Second of three articles
For more than seven years, the D.C. Board of Medicine knew that something was amiss with Jewel A. Quinn's medical practice.
In 1997, a board investigator, acting on a patient complaint, visited Quinn's office in Northeast Washington and found an "examination table so cluttered and hidden by items that it was not visible" and a "filthy" restroom with no hot water, according to D.C. records.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42456-2005Apr10.html

Forget the Heart. Listen To Your Caudate Nucleus.
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page C01
No doubt about it, there's a lot of good that can come from studying the brain.
It was good, for example, when scientists found the brain cells involved in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. It was even neat when speculative studies purported to find the neurological seats of anger, religiosity and homosexuality. It's fascinating to watch science trying to chip away at the ineffable stuff that makes us human.
But this time, They've Gone Too Far.
In the first experiment of its kind, scientists in California and Texas seem to have discovered the part of the human brain at the heart of feelings of trust.
Nothing good can come of this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42769-2005Apr10.html

Bolton's Tough Style, Record Face Scrutiny
Hearings Begin Today For U.N. Nominee
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A01
During a meeting on North Korea in late 2001, John R. Bolton's repeated talk of overthrowing Kim Jong Il frustrated the State Department's specialist on the country. "Regime change" is not President Bush's declared objective in North Korea, Charles L. Pritchard recalled telling Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42539-2005Apr10.html

Kerry Alleges Intimidation of Voters in 2004
Associated Press
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A05
BOSTON, April 10 -- Many would-be voters in last year's presidential election were denied access to the polls through trickery and intimidation, former Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry told the Massachusetts League of Women Voters on Sunday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42424-2005Apr10.html

Landlords Accused of Rejecting Vouchers
Test Calls Sought District Housing
By Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page B01
Nearly two out of three people who try to rent apartments in the District using federal housing vouchers meet significant resistance from landlords or get turned down flat, according to a report released today by an advocacy group.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42568-2005Apr10.html

Disparities Found in Sub-Prime Lending
Data Show African Americans, Hispanics Pay More to Borrow for Home, Refinance
By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A02
About 29 percent of African Americans who bought or refinanced homes last year ended up with high-cost loans, compared with only about 10 percent of white Americans, according to an a consumer advocacy group's analysis of new data from 15 large national lenders.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42432-2005Apr10.html

Thousands Riot In Chinese Village
Reuters
Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A16
BEIJING, April 11 -- Thousands of villagers rioted in eastern China after two women among about 200 elderly anti-pollution protesters were killed during efforts by police to disperse them, villagers and officials said on Monday. More than 50 policemen and about four villagers were injured in the clashes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42880-2005Apr11.html

Of interest…

Jailbreak Shows Weakness of Haiti's Gov't
By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer

(03-02) 14:01 PST PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) --
Haiti's latest jailbreak has highlighted the growing fragility of the U.S.-backed government, raising questions over whether it can keep power long enough to hold elections in a power vacuum created by the rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Guards unlocked the doors and detainees fled, including some who went unwillingly, according to escapees and human rights activists. One of the most popular inmates, former Premier Yvon Neptune, enjoyed a dinner in freedom — before asking to be locked up again.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/02/international/i140156S00.DTL

Bono Nominated for World Bank Presidency
By Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Published: Monday 07, 2005
zaman.com
Irish rock star Bono (Paul Hewson) is one of several people who have been nominated for the president of the World Bank.
US Secretary of Treasury John Snow said Bono's candidacy would not be considered lightly because he is known for his work in the fight against AIDS and

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050307&hn=17207

Under a Green Banner
The story of the San Patricios, a battalion--fighting for Mexico against the United States--that history nearly forgot
By MARGARET REGAN

Tricia McInroy
Scott Egan's mural "Spirit of Sacrifice," honoring Irish soldiers who fought for Mexico, pictures the brown hand of a Mexican clutching the white hand of an Irishman.

An Irish San Patricio, branded with the letter "D," dies near a Celtic cross marking the battle of Churubusco. Egan gave the soldier the face of Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands.
In the Bicentennial year of 1976, in the blazing deserts of the Southwest, a Chicano theater troupe unexpectedly put on a play about the Irish.

Staged in community centers and churches all over dust-dry Tucson, the drama began in misty-green Ireland, County Tipperary to be exact, in the dark days of English rule. The play proceeded to the bloody battlefields of the Mexican-American War, and ended with the hanging of Irish soldiers on the outskirts of Mexico City.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:66768

Michael Moore Today

Resignation Demanded;
"Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election." Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

DeLay Draws Fire From Fellow Republicans

By LOU KESTEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is drawing heat from some fellow Republicans who say his continuing ethics problems are harming the GOP.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=3&u=/ap/20050411/ap_on_go_co/delay&sid=84439559

How U.S. failed GIs
By Joseph Tanfani, Tom Infield, Carrie Budoff and Edward Colimore / Philadelphia Inquirer
When roadside bombs began killing American soldiers in Iraq, the Pentagon promised to run factories around the clock until they had enough armored vehicles.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2167

Marines cobbled armor together more quickly
By Tom Infield and Michael Matza / Philadelphia Inquirer
When the Marines went to Iraq a year ago to help quell the insurgency, they got a nasty surprise.
They needed to shield their vehicles. But the only armor available was too thin, and designed primarily for stopping bullets, not roadside bombs.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2168

Truck drivers 'beg and scrounge' for armor
By Carrie Budoff, Tom Infield and Joseph Tanfani / Philadelphia Inquirer
After Sgt. Nick Pulliam got to Kuwait and saw how the Army had armored his unit's cargo trucks, he did what other troops in Iraq have done: He went dumpster-diving.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2169

US 'smuggles wounded troops home' under cover of darkness
By Andrew Buncombe / The Independent
The Pentagon has been accused of smuggling wounded soldiers into the US under cover of darkness to avoid bad publicity about the number of troops being injured and maimed in Iraq. The media have also been prevented from photographing wounded soldiers when they arrive at hospital.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2166

continued...

19 YEAR WAR. 19 YEAR WAR. An entire generation. How long will Iraq take? The 19-year-old war between the government and the LRA has displaced 1.5 million people. 

Morning Papers - concluding

All Africa

Tito Comes to Town
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
April 10, 2005
Posted to the web April 10, 2005
Kumbirai Mafunda
- South African central bank boss tells Gono to speed up reforms
SOUTH Africa's central bank Governor Tito Mboweni slipped into the country last week and held meetings with the RBZ's Gideon Gono on the need to accelerate economic reforms and synchronise Harare's macro-economic fundamentals with the rest of the region.
At 127,6 %, Zimbabwe's inflation rate is the highest in the region and analysts say Harare is SADC's "Achilles heel" in the quest for a single-digit inflation area by 2008. As part of the effort towards economic integration, SADC countries have committed themselves to lower down inflation to an upper limit of 8% for 2012 and 5% by 2015.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504100112.html

Senate Introduction Condemned
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
April 10, 2005
Posted to the web April 10, 2005
Our Own Staff
THE reintroduction of the Senate is going to fast track Zimbabwe's economic collapse, as it is an unwarranted and unbudgeted national expense, analysts have said.
During his campaign rallies for the recent parliamentary elections President Robert Mugabe hinted that if Zanu PF won a two-thirds majority in the recent parliamentary elections, it would effect constitutional changes and re-introduce the Senate.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504100110.html

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 10, 2005
Posted to the web April 10, 2005
Standard
Nairobi
Kenya has issued a polio alert along its border with Sudan following an outbreak in that country.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504100171.html

Mugabe Refuses to Sign NGOs Bill

Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
April 10, 2005
Posted to the web April 10, 2005
Caiphas Chimhete
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has refused to sign the controversial Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Bill in its present state and has referred it back for further consultations, The Standard can reveal.
Sources said Mugabe felt the NGO Bill, which was crafted largely by vindictive former Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President's Office Jonathan Moyo and Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, was "too obnoxious" and would portray government in bad light in the eyes of the international community.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504100111.html

Residents Ignore Polls for Paraffin

Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
April 10, 2005
Posted to the web April 10, 2005
Rutendo Mawere
ON 31 March, Zimbabwe's election day, scores of Harare residents were faced with a crucial decision: they either queued to vote or for fuel.
For most, the choice was simple - paraffin, a vital energy source for a majority of urban poor, which has been in short supply since the country began experiencing intermittent fuel shortages. It had been rumoured the scarce commodity was available at some of the service stations and those that could afford it were determined not to miss the opportunity.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504100116.html

Welcome to Eziowelle, Home of Cardinal Arinze

This Day (Lagos)
April 8, 2005
Posted to the web April 9, 2005
Charles Onyekamuo
Lagos
Nothing in Eziowelle suggests that this is the village that may produce the next Pope of the Catholic Church. Its most prominent son is Cardinal Francis Arinze, who is currently rated as one of the top three likely to succeed Pope John Paul II, from this dusty community. Charles Onyekamuo visits the village, speaks with the Cardinal's elder brother, inspects the family house, and reports
The road to Eziowelle is not exactly smooth. Right from the Afor-Igwe market junction in Umunachi, Dunukofia council area of the state which shares borders with the town, the three-kilometre stretch to Eziowelle reminds you of the utter neglect by governments, at both the second and the third tiers, of the various feeder roads that dot communities in the in Nigeria. Eziowelle, which literally means 'a good place', is an agrarian community lying about eight kilometres east of Onitsha, Anambra state's commercial nerve centre.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504090142.html

We'll Support Whoever Becomes New Pope - Arinze's Kinsmen

Vanguard (Lagos)
April 9, 2005
Posted to the web April 9, 2005
Anayo Okoli
Awka
Since the death of Pope John Paul II, last week, Eziowelle town,a sleepy community in Idemili North Local Governement Area of Anambra has become a mecca of a sort. Eziowelle is the home town of Cardinal Francis Arinze ranked as a strong contender to the office of Pope. Journalists, local and international have been trooping to the town to interact with the residents of the community, who are mainly Catholics.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504090172.html

New Pope Should Be African - Orombi
New Vision (Kampala)
April 7, 2005
Posted to the web April 7, 2005
Jude Etyang
Kampala
THE Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, yesterday said an African should replace Pope John Paul II.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504070577.html

Religion: An African Successor for the 'Symbol of Unity'?
Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)
April 2, 2005
Posted to the web April 4, 2005
Moyiga Nduru
Nairobi
Even as Roman Catholics around the world mourn the death of Pope John Paul II, the attention of many is turning to the future -- and the question of who will succeed the Polish cleric as Bishop of Rome.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504040024.html

Lesotho: Demand for Aids Treatment Could Jeopardise Quality of Care

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 7, 2005
Posted to the web April 7, 2005
Maseru
A storm is quietly brewing in Lesotho after international media reports raised concerns that private doctors were dispensing anti-AIDS drugs without specialised training - putting the lives of many HIV-positive people at risk.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504070343.html

HIV/Aids Distorts Labour Market - Werikhe Warns

The Monitor (Kampala)
April 9, 2005
Posted to the web April 8, 2005
Elias Biryabarema
Kampala
The HIV/Aids pandemic is creating a distortion in the labour market with the available human resource increasingly mismatching the most desired employee qualities, according to the State Minister for Energy, Mr Michael Werikhe.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504080737.html

State Hospitals Buckle Under HIV/Aids Load

Business Day (Johannesburg)
April 7, 2005
Posted to the web April 7, 2005
Wyndham Hartley
Cape Town
The massive load placed on hospitals by the HIV/AIDS epidemic was demonstrated by the fact that 60% of all people admitted to KwaZulu-Natal hospitals had been infected by the virus, Parliament's health committee heard yesterday.
The head of the provincial health department, Ronald Green-Thompson, said a shortage of staff and increased workload in the province's hospitals meant the quality of services rendered were below the standard envisaged by the department.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504070367.html

Uganda: Army Rescues 100 LRA Captives As Hostilities Intensify

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 8, 2005
Posted to the web April 8, 2005
Kampala
The Ugandan army rescued more than 100 people kidnapped by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) during the month of March, and also killed 50 insurgents, an army spokesman told IRIN on Thursday.
"We rescued 110, mainly children, but also adults who had been abducted by the rebels from the [northern Ugandan] areas of Gulu, Apac, Adjumani, Kitgum and Pader," Lt Kiconco Tabaro, an army spokesman based in northern Uganda, said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504080048.html

Betty Bigombe Phones Kony

New Vision (Kampala)
April 6, 2005
Posted to the web April 6, 2005
Kampala
Chief peace broker Betty Bigombe has talked to LRA rebel chief Joseph Kony to revitalise negotiations aimed at ending the 19-year-long insurgency that has devastated northern Uganda, reports Alfred Wasike.
"I have talked to him about arranging a meeting to iron out obstacles. But I expressed very strong concern about their resumption of lip-cutting and other forms of terror that they used to engage in to terrorise the population in northern Uganda," said Bigombe, who works for the World Bank in Washington D.C.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504060621.html

U.S. Govt to Supply Intelligence On Kony

The Monitor (Kampala)
April 4, 2005
Posted to the web April 4, 2005
Moses Odokonyero
Gulu
The American government will help Uganda with intelligence information in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army rebels.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504040062.html

Uganda: NGOs Suggest New Ceasefire in North

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 5, 2005
Posted to the web April 5, 2005
Kampala
A group of NGOs working in war-torn northern Uganda lobbied the government on Monday to offer a new ceasefire to the rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), as an incentive to re-establish peace talks.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504050002.html

New Zealand Herald

Pupils, teacher injured in school explosion
11.04.05 4.00pm

Five pupils and a teacher were taken to Kaiataia Hospital today after an explosion in a Kaitaia College metalwork class shortly after 1pm.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119892

Woman dies after injury allegedly overlooked
11.04.05 4.00pm

A woman died in Tauranga Hospital of a spinal injury after an x-ray six days beforehand did not reveal such an injury, an inquest has been told.
A coroner's inquest at Tauranga District Court is probing the death of 57-year-old Te Ata Iraia Hammond, who died on April 11, 2003, from a spinal injury that damaged arteries carrying blood to her brain.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119875

Yachties give library its biggest gift ever
11.04.05 2.00pm

An elderly American yachtie couple have given the single biggest financial donation ever received by Whangarei District Library.
Carl and Mary Leonard, who live for six months of the year on their schooner Annabelle in Whangarei's Town Basin, have given $25,000 to the library.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119832

Turning in fugitive mother was 'heartwrenching'
Juliette Gilbert
11.04.05 11:45am

A Rotorua real estate company employee says it was "heartwrenching" helping American and New Zealand authorities catch US fugitive Juliette Gilbert.
The woman was involved in the capture of Gilbert in Rotorua on Saturday morning.
Gilbert was wanted by the FBI after fleeing Washington in 2002 with her nine-year-old son Sky. American courts had awarded joint custody to Sky's father Roby.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119842

Pakistan appeals for release of official held in Iraq
Malik Mohammad Javed
11.04.05 1.00pm
By Lutfi Abu-Oun and Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD - Pakistan appealed on Sunday for the safe release of an official in its Baghdad embassy who was seized by an insurgent group in the latest kidnapping of a foreigner in Iraq's lawless capital.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119835

Kurds hope election will bring democracy for all
11.04.05
by Rebecca Walsh

More than 300 members of Auckland’s Kurdish community celebrated the election of Iraq’s first Kurdish President at the weekend - an event they hope marks the beginning of democracy for all people in Iraq.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119803

Polls send mixed message to Blair's Labour party
11.04.05 4.20pm

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair received mixed messages from two polls on Monday, with one putting his ruling Labour Party well ahead of the opposition Conservatives and another showing them tied.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119890


Blair publishes election manifesto
The face of Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) features with that of Conservative party leader Michael Howard on a new Labour party election campaign poster seen in London. Picture / Reuters
11.04.05 1.00pm
By Mike Peacock

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair has heralded the release of his Labour Party's election policies as campaigning hit full swing with polls showing he is on track to secure a third term in power.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119860

Cardinal seeks to quell curiosity about new pope
Cardinal Camillo Ruini urged people on Sunday to contain their curiosity and let God do his work. Picture / Reuters
11.04.05 1.00pm
By Crispian Balmer

VATICAN CITY - A senior Roman Catholic Cardinal tried on Sunday to quell mounting speculation about who will succeed Pope John Paul, urging people to contain their curiosity and let God do his work.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119877

Sudan seeks $2.6b to heal Africa's longest feud
11.04.05 1.00pm
By Alister Doyle

OSLO - Sudan will seek $2.6 billion on Monday to rebuild its south devastated by Africa's longest civil war but donors are wary because of the continued conflict in Darfur.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leaders of the Sudanese government and the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) will attend 60-nation talks in Oslo on Monday and Tuesday after a January accord to end the 21-year war.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119867

Sharon criticises mortar fire as violation of truce
11.04.05 1.00pm
By Jeffrey Heller

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland - Israeli leader Ariel Sharon flew on Sunday to President Bush's Texas ranch and criticised a barrage of Palestinian mortar fire at Jewish settlements in Gaza as a "flagrant violation" of a truce deal.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119843

Israel seals off shrine to foil Jewish march
11.04.05

JERUSALEM - Thousands of Israeli police sealed off a flashpoint shrine in Jerusalem on Sunday to foil a march by ultranationalist Jews that Palestinian militants had warned could scupper their ceasefire.
Israel banned the march by Jews bent on derailing Israel’s plan to pull settlers out of Gaza. Scuffles broke out as police blocked approaches to the site revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119779

Thousands riot in China village, 50 police injured
11.04.05 7.00pm

BEIJING - Thousands of villagers rioted in eastern China injuring dozens of police after two women among about 200 elderly anti-pollution protesters were killed during efforts by police to disperse them, villagers and officials said on Monday.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119898

Quake jolts Tokyo, no tsunami warning issued
11.04.05 12.20pm

TOKYO - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 jolted the Tokyo region on Monday morning, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of serious damage.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119865

The weather at Scott Base (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Cloudy

-21.0°

Updated Monday 11 Apr 7:59PM

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

36 °F / 2 °C
Clear

Windchill:
29 °F / -2 °C

Humidity:
75%

Dew Point:
28 °F / -2 °C

Wind:
8 mph / 13 km/h from the NNW

Pressure:
29.47 in / 998 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):
Clear -

end

Walenburg, Colorado. The accumulation from the previous picture of the same location can easiy be noted in the overhang off the roof.  

This was Denver later in the day. Taken in front of a home after a long, relatively dry winter, they biggest snowstorm of the season. The foothills west of the City is receiving up to 30"...while in Boulder downsloping winds have "shut off" the snow, leaving them with only about 6".
 

Aurora, Colorado. It is a very heavy snow. It's probably cold enough. There are small icicles on the brick wall to the right forming.  

Denver, Colorado. The snow seems like a slush in some pictures but then there is no time of day the picture and we don't know at what stage the blizzard is noted. The wind is causing visibility problems for drivers. In the pictures of Walsenburg, noted is the progressively increasing amount of snow hanging off the garage  

Walsenburg, Colorado. Strong winds are driving the snow as well. 

Centennial, Colorado. April 10, 2005 

They are calling it a blizzard of all things. Monument, Colorado. April 10, 2005. In case you don't understand the picture, The Snow Plow is stuck in the roadway and then the snow started to bury it further. Note the porch of the house in the background. The snow is very deep. Looks like a white flood.