The original condition of Drygalski. It has been a part of the coastline of Antarctica from time beginning. A very large iceberg B15a had broken lose and moved in the East Wind Drift of the ocean that circulates around Antarctica. It was thought it would miss Drygalski. But the collision occurred. 

Pre collision. Antarctica. Iceberg B15A coming closer to Drygalski. 

The damaged Drygalski Ice Tongue, January 2005. 

Morning Papers - The Year of the Rooster. 

These pictures were taken March 19, 2005. 

Morning Papers - It's Origins

Rooster "Crowing"

"Okeydoke"

History…

0121 Marcus Aurelius 16th Roman emperor (161-80), philosopher

1808, Napoleon III, emperor of France

1889, Adolf Hitler, German dictator

1893, Joan Miró, painter

1850, Daniel Chester French, sculptor

1923, Tito Puente, percussionist, composer, and bandleader

1949, Jessica Lange, actor

1812, the fourth vice president of the United States, George Clinton, died in Washington at age 73, becoming the first vice president to die while in office.

1940, RCA publicly demonstrated its new and powerful electron microscope.

1841, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," considered the first detective story, is published in Philadelphia.

1902: Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium.

1945, during World War II, allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

1968, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.

1971, the Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.

1972, the manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.

1978, a Korean Air Lines Boeing 707 crash-landed in northwestern Russia after being fired on by a Soviet interceptor after entering Soviet airspace.

1980, the first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.

1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place near Littleton, Colo., as two students killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.

Missing in Action

1965 BUTLER PHILLIP N. TULSA OK 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1965 SHEA JAMES PATRICK BURLINGAME CA CRASH TARGET AREA / NO PARA
1966 ABBOTT JOHN SAN DIEGO CA DRV RETURNED REMAINS 03/13/74
1968 CESTARE JOSEPH ANGELO NEW YORK NY
1968 WALKER WILLIAM J. RIVERSIDE CA
1968 ZUTTERMAN JOSEPH A. JR. MARYSVILLE KS
1970 MAHAN DOUGLAS F. COLUMBIA MO 07/05/72 REMAINS RECOVERED
1972 AMOS THOMAS H. REPUBLIC MO REMAINS ID'D 11/03/99
1972 BURNHAM MASON I. PORTLAND OR REMAINS ID'D 11/03/99
1972 ELIAS EDWARD K. 09/28/72 RELEASED HANOI

April 19…

1961 BAKER LEO AL SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - NATIONAL GUARD CAPTURED/SHOT BURIED WITH UNCLAIMED CUBAN INVADERS
1961 RAY "THOMAS ""PETE""" BIRMINGHAM AL SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - CAPTURED/SHOT 1979 - CASTRO FROZE REMAINS NATIONAL GUARD
1966 ADAMS LEE A. WILLITS CA
1966 BROWN JOSEPH O. NORWALK CT "REMAINS RETURNED, IDENTIFIED 12/03/98"
1966 ROBBINS RICHARD J. CLEVELAND OH 09/27/96 REMAINS RETURNED
1967 HAMILTON JOHN S. SILVER CITY NM NO CHUTE BEEP REMAINS RETURNED 10/97
1967 MADISON THOMAS M. TUSKEGEE AL 03/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1967 STERLING THOMAS JAMES AUSTIN TX 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 BLODGETT DOUGLAS R. ALEXANDRIA VA
1968 DENNIS WILLIAM R. PITTSBURGH PA
1968 GONZALEZ JESUS A. PITTSBURGH PA
1968 HOUSH ANTHONY F. NEWTON IL
1968 LORD ARTHUR JAMES SAVANNAH GA "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 MILLARD CHARLES W. WILSON NC "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 SHAFER PHILIP R. GRAND JUNCTION CO "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 WALLACE MICHAEL J. ANN ARBOR MI
1968 WERDEHOFF MICHAEL M. TOLEDO OH "HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED"
1968 WILBURN JOHN E. LUTHER OK

April 18 …

1965 WHEELER JAMES A. TUCSON AZ CRASH TARGET AREA
1969 ELLIS RANDALL S. CHARLESTON SC
1973 JAMES SAMUEL L. CHATTANOOGA TN "DEAD, CHARRED BODIES FOUND" REMAINS IDENTIFIED 04/16/99 ID DISPUTED
1973 MARTIN DOUGLAS K. TYLER TX "DEAD, CHARRED BODIES FOUND" REMAINS IDENTIFIED 04/16/99

April 17 …

1965 WOODWORTH SAMUEL ALEXANDER MINCO OK CRASH EXPLODE
1966 TROMP WILLIAM L. FENNVILLE MI NO INFO EVER CAPTURED
1967 CARLTON JAMES E. BIRMINGHAM AL
1967 MC GARVEY JAMES M. VALPARAISO IN
1968 HELD JOHN W. INDIANAPOLIS IN
1969 DAHILL DOUGLAS E. LIMA OH
1969 NEWTON CHARLES V. CANADIAN TX
1969 PREVEDEL CHARLES F. FLORISSANT MO
1969 WILLETT ROBERT V. JR. GREAT FALLS MT
1971 GILLESPIE JOHN FRANCIS AUSTRALIA "LANCE CORPORAL, 8 FD AMP MISSING IN ACTION" #3170244 REFNO 1741

April 16 …

1966 CHESLEY LARRY J. BURLEY ID 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 JOHNSON SAMUEL R. DALLAS TX 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1969 KONYU WILLIAM M. PHILLIPSBURG NJ
1970 AYERS RICHARD L. WATERLOO IA
1970 RAUSCH ROBERT E. HICKSVILLE NY
1972 JONES ORVIN C. JR. NEWPORT NEWS VA
1972 MATEJA ALAN P. LOUISVILLE KY
1975 LEWIS JAMES F. 10/75 RELEASED FROM HANOI DECEASED

Quake sparks panic on Nias Island
April 17, 2005 - 9:50AM

A powerful undersea earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Nias, causing widespread panic, officials said.
The quake measured an estimated 6.3 on the Richter scale and struck about 220 km out to sea south-south-west of the city of Medan at 11:44 pm (0244 AEST Sunday), the Hong Kong Observatory said in a statement.
Wijayanto, a Meteorology and Geophysics Agency official based in the town of Gunung Sitoli, on the eastern side of Nias island, said there was no tsunami threat from the tremor.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Quake-sparks-panic-on-Nias-Island/2005/04/17/1113676635658.html

Earthquake shakes Southern California
No damage or injuries reported
Saturday, April 16, 2005 Posted: 9:30 PM EDT (0130 GMT)
MARICOPA, California (AP) -- A magnitude-5.1 earthquake struck in Southern California on Saturday and could be felt dozens of miles away in downtown Los Angeles, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The quake struck shortly after noon and was centered about 13 miles east of Maricopa and 25 miles south-southwest of Bakersfield, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Several small aftershocks were felt throughout the afternoon.
Maricopa is about 85 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, a Kern County Sheriff's Department supervisor said. A spokesman for the Los Angeles city fire department said he received no damage

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/16/california.quake.ap/index.html

Cruise ship had turned away from storm when 70-foot rogue wave hit

April 19, 2005, 3:23 PM EDT
NEW YORK -- The cruise ship Norwegian Dawn had turned away from a storm when it was slammed by a type of rogue wave that can suddenly grow to immense size and seem to come from nowhere as it strikes a vessel.
In any group of waves, there may be one that is twice the average height and can become even bigger if it strikes a rocking ship at the right instant, said Steve Lyon, a meteorologist at the Weather Channel in Atlanta. That may be what happened to the Norwegian Dawn when it was hit by a 70-foot wave about 250 miles off the coast of Georgia early Saturday, Lyon said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--cruiseshipdiverte0419apr19,0,2781484.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

Ways to tackle US energy needs
April 17, 2005 - 11:06AM

Northern exposure ... a herd of musk ox graze in an area proposed as a site for oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo: AP
Under pressure over rising petrol prices, US President George Bush says energy legislation to be debated by Congress must encourage conservation and increased production of energy at home.
Bush introduced energy legislation four years ago that languished on Capitol Hill through his first term. With petrol prices hovering at record levels, he and members of Congress are feeling the heat from anxious Americans.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bush-mulls-ways-to-tackle-US-energy-needs/2005/04/17/1113676636519.html

The Guardian

Pope feels 'turmoil' over new job
Agencies
Wednesday April 20, 2005
Benedict XVI began his first full day as Pope this morning by saying mass in the Sistine Chapel for the cardinals who yesterday elected him as the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic church.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1464017,00.html

Back to the future with Joseph Ratzinger
The new Pope Benedict XVI's defence of conservative orthodoxy has not made him popular with more progressive Catholics, writes Stephen Bates
To many onlookers, the sermon preached by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in St Peter's Basilica yesterday looked almost like a campaign speech for the papacy in which he emerged at the 11th hour as a surprising frontrunner.
Cardinal Ratzinger, the dean of the college of cardinals which today elected him as the new pope, has been the Vatican's defender of doctrinal orthodoxy for many years. It was no surprise that he should lay into modern relativism ahead of the conclave that after only a day resulted in his becoming Pope Benedict XVI. It was the way that he did it that startled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,,1463514,00.html

Brown and Blair set out family plans
Tom Happold and agencies
Wednesday April 20, 2005
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown got together on the GMTV sofa today to sell their proposals to help working families to the "school gate mums" who are thought to be key voters.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election/story/0,15803,1464003,00.html

Rice sets chilly atmosphere for Kremlin talks
Tom Parfitt in Moscow and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian
The Kremlin's alleged backsliding on democracy was "very worrying", the US secretary of state said yesterday on the eve of her meeting with the Russian president in Moscow.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1463909,00.html

Berlusconi to face confidence vote
Agencies
Tuesday April 19, 2005
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will face a vote of confidence in the Italian parliament later this week, Senate officials said today, after he refused last night to resign and form a new government to appease disgruntled members of his ruling coalition.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1463371,00.html

GM plunges into $1bn quarterly loss
David Teather in New York
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian
The sense of crisis surrounding General Motors was heightened yesterday when the company reported a loss of $1.1bn (£580m) in the first three months of the year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1463897,00.html

Hundreds of small communities were devastated by the tsunami in south Asia. Over the next year the Guardian will focus on the village of Nusa in Aceh, Indonesia, to report on how people are rebuilding their lives and homes

Losing the plot
April 19: The difficulty of finding out who owns which land is complicating the task of rebuilding Aceh, reports John Aglionby in our fourth report from Nusa.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/nusa/0,15713,1394011,00.html

2,000 patients face hepatitis scare
Press Association
Tuesday April 19, 2005
More than 2,000 women have been advised to take a blood test following a warning they may have contracted hepatitis C from a gynaecologist.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA), which monitors and combats infectious diseases, contacted patients from 25 hospitals across England and Scotland yesterday to alert them of the scare.

http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/news/0,8363,1463351,00.html

Bomb puts heartland in the front line
Until now, the Mid-West had felt immune to the dangers which threatened the cities of the east and west coasts.
Ian Katz
Thursday April 20, 1995
The Guardian
'All of a sudden the windows blew in. It got real dark and the ceiling just started coming down. I didn't hear an explosion, just a roar of the whole building crumbling' - Carole Lawton, secretary. 'I came out and there just wasn't any building left around me. Our whole office area is gone' - a survivor

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fromthearchive/story/0,12269,1463292,00.html

Archaeologist finds 'oldest porn statue'
Krysia Diver in Stuttgart
Monday April 4, 2005
The Guardian
Stone-age figurines depicting what could be the oldest pornographic scene in the world have been unearthed in Germany.
Archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the 7,200-year-old remnants of a man having intercourse with a woman.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1451509,00.html

Japan's virgin wives turn to sex volunteers
Lustless matches put country on brink of demographic disaster
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Monday April 4, 2005
The Guardian
Like many Japanese women, Junko waited until her early 30s to get married. When she and her fiance, an employee of a well-known firm, decided to tie the knot, she set her sights on making a home, putting away some money and starting a family.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,1451704,00.html

Message of the Day

Greenpeace

Kimberly-Clark: Don't Do Business in Ancient Forests
Washington DC, United states — Some businesses make an effort to meet the needs of their customers. Then there's Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex and other brands of disposable tissue paper products. Nearly 7,000 of you have written to the company, asking it to stop destroying ancient forests for products that are thrown away or flushed down the toilet, but Kimberly-Clark hasn't listened – yet. Now there's a new opportunity to drive the message home.
You can help us put the issue on the table at Kimberly-Clark's annual shareholders meeting on April 28. We will ask the board of directors and investors to stop sourcing fiber from ancient forests and to increase their use of post consumer recycled content in their tissue paper products, especially the popular Kleenex, Scott, Viva

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/kimberly-clark

Journalism at Risk

Austrian Journalist Jailed In Turkey
Date: Wednesday, March 02 @ 09:51:47 EST
Topic: Europe
Austrian journalist Sandra Bakutz working with Radio Orange 94.0 and the German newspaper "Junge Welt" was arrested on 10 February 2005 on her arrival at Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul and has been held ever since on charges of "belonging to an illegal organisation".
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have strongly condemned the arrest and have called upon the Turkish justice minister to release the Austrian journalist at once. RSF said "Her imprisonment, which has so far lasted 18 days, is based on vague suspicions and is not supported by an international arrest warrant."

http://journalists.net/modules.php?name=AvantGo&file=print&sid=208

Iranian blogger jailed for 14 years
Published in: eLaw & Management
Date: Wed 02 March 2005
Category: General
Issue No: 1070
Arash Sigarchi, an Iranian blogger, has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter revolutionaries.
He was arrested after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists, reports BBC News. His sentence, criticised by human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, comes a day after an online ‘day of action’ to secure his release. Iranian authorities have recently clamped down on the growing popularity of weblogs, restricting access to major blogging sites from within Iran and around 20 online journalists have been arrested in the current crackdown.
Full BBC News report

http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20050302082006272

Three journalists jailed for defamation

Three Egyptian journalists have been jailed and fined for defaming housing minister Ibrahim Suleiman in a verdict that has raised fears that the government will use criminal defamation laws to subdue independent minded media.
Journalists Abdel Nasser Ali, Alaa Yehya Mohamed (known as Alaa el Ghatrify) and Youssef Taha Abdel Rahman (known as Youssef el Aoumy) were jailed for a year on 17 April and fined 10,000 LE ($1,725) over an article in al-Masry al-Youm, the country’s new independent newspaper on 18 August, reporting that the housing minister’s office had been searched. The paper printed the minister’s denial the following day. Free expression groups in Egypt and worldwide oppose the use of criminal law to tackle defamation issues and maintain that such matters should be dealt by civil courts instead.

http://www.indexonline.org/en/indexindex/articles/2005/2/egypt-three-reporters-jailed.shtml

TUNISIA: Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike
New York, April 19, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali. Jebali has been on a hunger strike since April 9 to protest his treatment in Sfax prison, about 142 miles (230 km) from Tunis.
.
According to his lawyer Noureddine B'hiri, Jebali's health is deteriorating quickly. He is very faint and weak, B'hiri said, adding that Jebali's wife, Wahida Trabelsi, is demanding that an outside doctor be allowed to examine Jebali's condition.

http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Tunisia19apr05na.html

continued...

The timber line. 

Eagle Mountain from Gleen Highway, Alaska. 

Eagle Moutain, Alaska. Not much snow. It is at a lower elevation and we know the snow line is moving up due to the heated climate. 

Pieraz Cryozootech is the name. He is a cloned colt from a champion endurance competition stallion. Will the competition every be able to surpass this? Will the endurance horse market suffer because of it. Should this colt be allowed to have offspring?

There is no accompanying article with this picture. It was taken from a London newspaper some time ago. But, I liked it and decided to bring the issue up today. In a protest by fathers who pay child support and are denied access to their children because of custody issues they demonstrated by dressing as Superheros and climbing the facade of Downing Street. 

Morning Papers - continued...

The Los Angeles Times

An Agenda, Certainly, but Which?
VATICAN CITY — Benedict XVI may travel less than his globetrotting predecessor, but few expect him to act like a "caretaker" pope.
Instead, the 78-year-old pontiff is expected to pursue an activist agenda, topped by a mission to revitalize the Roman Catholic faith and identity where it is threatened by secularism, particularly in Europe.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-assess20apr20,0,1436401.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The Gentle Watchdog
Ratzinger is known as a steadfast enforcer, but his personality and his past belie stereotypes.
BERLIN — The man chosen as pope Tuesday grew up in the foothills of southern Germany during the rise of Nazism and as a young man supported theological reform. But he later embraced a rigid conservatism to battle what he saw as threats from secularism and leftist politics.
The son of a Bavarian police officer, Joseph Ratzinger, 78, is known as a gifted yet polarizing intellectual. For nearly 25 years, he served as the Vatican's chief enforcer of doctrine, articulating the church's opposition to abortion, homosexuality, religious pluralism and Latin America's "liberation theology" movement.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-profile20apr20,0,1182319.story?coll=la-home-headlines

PR Firm Settles DWP Billing Suit for $5.7 Million
Issuing a public apology, Fleishman-Hillard on Tuesday agreed to a $5.7-million settlement of a lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles that alleged the public relations company padded its bills.
Los Angeles sued Fleishman-Hillard and its former local general manager last year. The suit contended that the company defrauded the city while billing more than $20 million from 1998 through 2004. Fleishman performed public relations work for several city agencies and worked without charge for Mayor James K. Hahn.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fleishman20apr20,0,7366547.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Bid to Ease Pharmaceutical Imports Advances
WASHINGTON — A Senate plan that would allow Americans to import lower-cost prescriptions from abroad got a significant endorsement today from former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler.
Safeguards proposed in recent legislation by Sens. Olympia Snow (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) would protect consumers from substandard and counterfeit drugs, Kessler told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He had criticized earlier proposals as too weak on safety.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041905drugs_lat,0,943140.story?coll=la-home-headlines

One-Size-Fits-All Food Pyramid Dumped
The federal government released its new symbol of national nutrition today, morphing the familiar food pyramid into 12 separate pyramids to reflect the nation's diverse lifestyles and nutritional needs.
Replacing the venerable icon that has graced the walls of school classrooms and hospital cafeterias for 15 years, the new version requires a computer — and perhaps a team of electronic technicians — to help the consumer pick out which of the 12 versions is right for them.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-041905pyramid_lat,0,4446494.story?coll=la-home-headlines

New NASA Chief Sets Sights on Mars
Michael Griffin says a manned mission can be affordable. He won't rule out fixing Hubble.
By John Johnson, Times Staff Writer
NASA's new administrator, Michael D. Griffin, faced the media Monday for the first time since being confirmed by the Senate last week and vigorously defended the Bush administration's ambitious plan to send astronauts to the moon and Mars.
"We could probably go to Mars for what we spent on Apollo" in today's dollars, he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-nasa19apr19,0,1965278.story?coll=la-home-nation

Illegal Immigration Policy Is at Crossroads in Senate
One plan could legalize half a million workers, another would tighten border controls.
WASHINGTON — The Senate is set to vote today on measures that could open the door to legalizing an estimated 500,000 immigrant farmworkers and their families.
It will be the first test of strength in years between senators who support legalized status for at least some of the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants in this country and senators who advocate reducing illegal immigration by tightening enforcement and border controls.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig19apr19,1,7711682.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Justices Weigh State's Jury Selection Law
A lawyer argues before the U.S. Supreme Court that California allows prosecutors to exclude potential jurors on the basis of race.
By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — California prosecutors are likely to face more questions before they can exclude blacks and other racial or ethnic minorities from juries, judging from the arguments Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
At issue is how to enforce a 19-year-old rule that forbids using race as a reason to keep people off a jury.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus19apr19,1,4813202.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Atom Smasher Yields 'Perfect Fluid'
The unexpected finding could provide insight into the creation of the universe, scientists say.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
Researchers smashing gold atoms together to mimic conditions in the first microseconds after the creation of the universe have observed an unexpected new state of matter.
Instead of the thin, fiery gas of quarks and gluons that they expected, they found instead a dense drop of the elementary particles that behaves like a hitherto unseen "perfect fluid."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-matter19apr19,1,154402.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Moussaoui Tries to Plead Guilty Again
The Sept. 11 suspect writes to a judge that he will accept the death penalty. His lawyers say it is a naive bid to get a Supreme Court hearing.
By Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of conspiring with Al Qaeda in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has said in a letter to federal prosecutors and a U.S. District Court judge that he wants to plead guilty and accept the death penalty, sources close to the case said Monday night.
The one-page letter, which Moussaoui sent from his jail cell two weeks ago, comes after federal prosecutors and his defense attorneys seemed at last to be on track toward a trial date sometime late this fall or in January. His trial has been stalled in the courts for more than three years.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-moussa19apr19,1,2191753.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

GOP Gays and the 'Finkelstein Phenomenon'
The issue arguably cost John Kerry the presidential election, and Kansas has just become the 18th state to constitutionally ban it, yet there are reasons to feel optimistic about the granting of full civil rights to people who have chosen a life partner of the same sex.
Even as the heartland state was enshrining bigotry in its constitution, a bipartisan legislative majority in Connecticut this month approved same-sex civil unions — and, unlike the laws allowing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and civil unions in Vermont, this one was not in response to a court order.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer19apr19,0,2839125.column
Pfizer Profit Falls 87% on Tax, Bextra Costs
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, said Tuesday that first-quarter earnings dropped 87% because of a tax charge to return overseas profit to the U.S. and costs to suspend sales of the painkiller Bextra.
Net income fell to $301 million, or 4 cents a share, from $2.33 billion, or 30 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. Revenue rose 5% to $13.1 billion, beating the $12.5-billion average estimate of analysts.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pfizer20apr20,1,2942197.story?coll=la-headlines-business

U.S. Ends Its Criminal Probe of Coca-Cola
No action is taken after a nearly two-year inquiry into claims by a former employee. Also, the firm settles an SEC suit.
The Justice Department has abruptly ended without taking action its nearly 2-year-old criminal investigation of allegations raised in a whistle-blower lawsuit of accounting irregularities at Coca-Cola Co., the world's biggest soft-drink maker said Monday.
Separately, the Atlanta-based company said it had reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over its business practices in Japan.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-coke19apr19,1,3443476.story

Forbes

Update 5: Coke Reports 11 Pct. Drop in 1Q Profit
04.19.2005, 04:31 PM
The Coca-Cola Co. reported an 11 percent drop in first-quarter profit, but still beat Wall Street expectations and saw its stock rise more than 3 percent. Shareholders, meanwhile, peppered the world's largest beverage maker at its annual meeting Tuesday with questions about human rights abuses and water depletion.
Before the meeting, the Atlanta-based company said it earned $1 billion, or 42 cents a share, for the January-March period compared to a profit of $1.13 billion, or 46 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/04/19/ap1958228.html

The International Herald Tribune

I think some of this has to do with Iraq as well. Berlusconi wanted to pull out of Iraq before the elections and then decided to stay. I think that along with a poor economy turned the public against him.

On brink, Berlusconi hangs on

… "Berlusconi has had a very personal way of governing, and when the economy goes badly, electors don't forgive anything," said Folli

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/Italy.html>

Commission chief’s trip raises EU ethics questions
BRUSSELS A report that the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, spent a week aboard the yacht of a Greek billionaire last summer sparked a new round of questioning in Brussels about ethics in the European Union.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/union.html

Guiding China’s missiles
EU satellite project could improve accuracy

HONG KONG While Europe's embargo on arms sales to China seems set to remain in place, Western defense experts warn that Beijing will score a military victory when Chinese companies begin research next month on the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation system.
.
The Chinese government in March selected four state-owned space technology companies to oversee research and development as part of China's participation in the €3.2 billion, or $4.1 billion, Galileo network, which is due to enter service in 2008.
.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/18/news/galileo.html>


Michael Moore Today

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

'Closer to God'

DeLay Says Scrutiny Has Put Him 'Closer to God'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay described himself as "closer to God" on Tuesday as a result of intense scrutiny of his ethical conduct.
DeLay, who has denied any wrongdoing, said President Bush has voiced support, along with conservative groups and fellow House Republicans -- and that he has no intentions of giving up his leadership job.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2300

DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice;
Calls Justice Anthony Kennedy's work "incredibly outrageous" because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet
Listen to Tom DeLay rant and rave (audio)

DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice
By Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intensified his criticism of the federal courts on Tuesday, singling out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's work from the bench as "incredibly outrageous" because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet.
DeLay said he thought there were a "lot of Republican-appointed judges that are judicial activists."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2301

DeLay's Denial;
In a message titled "What the Press Isn't Telling You," DeLay blames his ethics scandal on Democrats, liberal groups and the "legion of Democrat-friendly press"

DeLay Issues Broad Denial Of Ethics Violations
By Mike Allen / Washington Post
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), in his first detailed written response after weeks of questions about his dealings with lobbyists and handling of ethics matters, issued a broad denial that he violated any law or House rule in accepting trips abroad, and he implored supporters back home to accept his version of what he called "the real story."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2285

"He is still unwilling to admit that he did anything wrong."

DeLay Mails Long Rebuttal to Voters Back in Texas
By Carl Hulse / New York Times
WASHINGTON, April 18 - Under fire on several fronts, Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, is seeking to reassure his supporters with a point-by-point response to accusations of misconduct that have been raised against him.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2290

Chicago Tribune:
'Step Aside'

A stain on the House
Chicago Tribune
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay apologized last week for his assault on the federal judiciary, though it sounded like an apology more for his style than his substance. "... I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way." Yes, that's what he said.
DeLay had suggested that the judiciary would be in the crosshairs of Congress because the courts didn't rule DeLay's way in the tragic case of Terri Schiavo. DeLay's comments looked to all the world like an effort to intimidate the judges because he didn't like the way they upheld the rule of law.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2286

Poll: U.S. On Wrong Track
(CBS) Americans’ slate of national priorities has remained in place for months — the war in Iraq, the economy and jobs among others — with one new addition to the palette: gas prices. But when asked about congressional accomplishments so far this year, fewer than half can name anything Congress has done. For those in the minority who can, the legislation spurred by the Terri Schiavo case (which isn’t mentioned by the public as a priority) stands out as the most memorable.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/18/opinion/polls/main689012.shtml

This event took place on April 19, 1995, and was reported in the The New York Times the following day.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0419.html

Soldiers' 'Wish Lists' Of Detainee Tactics Cited
By Josh White / Washington Post
Army intelligence officials in Iraq developed and circulated "wish lists" of harsh interrogation techniques they hoped to use on detainees in August 2003, including tactics such as low-voltage electrocution, blows with phone books and using dogs and snakes -- suggestions that some soldiers believed spawned abuse and illegal interrogations.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2294

The Cheney Observer

People of Faith Speak Out for Justice, Religious Liberty and Dignity for All
4/18/2005 12:11:00 PM
To: National Desk, Religion Reporter
Contact: Taylor Thompson of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, 202-467-8180 ext. 213 or tthompson@pflag.org
WASHINGTON, April 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays:
People of faith across the country were insulted this week when Senate leader Bill Frist joined a campaign calling them "out of control" and "thieves in the night" who are bent on destroying "our Christian heritage and religious freedoms." Frist, who will join radical right-wing groups for "Justice Sunday" on April 24, believes families who support dignity and equality for all people, religious liberty, honest debate and the fundamental American commitment to justice are "anti-Christian" and morally deficient.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=45983

Jeb Bush praises Scientologists
By Jeannette Walls
MSNBC
Updated: 2:38 a.m. ET April 5, 2005
While the religion of Tom Cruise and John Travolta has been getting some tough press in recent days, it’s also been lauded by President Bush’s brother.
advertisement
Florida Governor Jeb Bush raised eyebrows among the critics of the sometimes controversial religion recently when he honored Scientology volunteers who helped victims of hurricanes in his state.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7384923/

JEB BUSH, REPUBLICANS UPHOLD
JUDICIAL TYRANNY IN SCHIAVO CASE
By: Reed R. Heustis, Jr

One of the biggest mantras of the Republican Party is its supposed commitment to end judicial tyranny.
Yet, when its most powerful state chief executive in the Terri Schiavo case, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was faced with a golden opportunity to sledgehammer the judiciary for its unconstitutional court-ordered murder of Schiavo, it laid an egg.
Thus is the ongoing saga of the deceptive Republican Party.
Deliberately deceiving millions of Christian voters into believing that it is legitimately pro-life and committed to republican government where the judiciary is subservient to the Constitution, the Republican Party through actions and omissions by its own most powerful leaders has shown itself to be committed to neither.

http://www.etherzone.com/2005/heus041105.shtml

Army Pays $1.18B To Halliburton For Dining Services
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on 4/10/2005
Washington (Dow Jones/AP) — The U.S. Army announced Tuesday it will pay Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. $1.18 billion for dining services in Iraq and Kuwait but retain a portion of payments suspended during a long-running billing dispute.

http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=d4244fd7-fa36-41ab-973c-d21ec8153836

U.S. adjusts plans for rebuilding Iraq
Report calls for use of more local firms
BY T. CHRISTIAN MILLER LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON — The State Department has ordered a major re-evaluation of the troubled $18.4 billion Iraqi reconstruction effort, blaming problems on early decisions to hire U.S. companies for major infrastructure projects.

http://www.ardemgaz.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ArDemocrat/2005/04/10&ID=Ar01902&Section=National

U.S. cash goes down the drain in Iraq
Officials say Iraqis have let rebuilt sewage, water and power plants fall back into disrepair.
By T. Christian Miller
Los Angeles Times
April 10, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- 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, according to interviews and documents.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/235817-4276-010.html

Suit Over Petroleum Minister Resumes Today

This Day (Lagos)
April 12, 2005
Posted to the web April 13, 2005
Onwuka Nzeshi
Warri
Legal battle resumes today, at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, in the suit filed by the Niger Delta Democratic Union, challenging the constitutionality of President Olusegun Obasanjo's refusal to appoint a Minister for Petroleum Resources since he assumed office in May 1999.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504130057.html

Judge: Bush overstepped authority ; 'Enemy combatant' Padilla ordered freed; U.S. vows an appeal; [Chicago Final Edition]
Neil A Lewis, New York Times News Service. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Mar 1, 2005. pg. 8
Dateline:
WASHINGTON
Abstract (Document Summary)
The substance of [Henry Floyd]'s opinion wasn't a surprise because it reflected a Supreme Court ruling last June in a related case involving Yaser Hamdi. A Saudi who was a U.S. citizen by virtue of his birth in the United States, Hamdi was arrested on the battlefield in Afghanistan and held as an enemy combatant in the same brig in Charleston.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/abstract/800457451.html?did=800457451&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Mar+1%2C+2005&author=Neil+A+Lewis%2C+New+York+Times+News+Service&desc=Judge%3A+Bush+overstepped+authority+%3B+%27Enemy+combatant%27+Padilla+ordered+freed%3B+U.S.+vows+an+appeal

Halliburton revises fourth-quarter profit
Associated Press
HOUSTON - Halliburton Co. restated its 2004 fourth-quarter earnings to add another $2 million in after-tax losses to reflect the collection of a $10 million receivable in February that had been reserved and a correction in lease accounting.
The Houston-based oil services conglomerate said the revision reduced earnings by 0.004 cents per share, and the impact of the lease accounting change for prior earnings periods was immaterial.
Halliburton on Jan. 28 reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $201 million, or 45 cents per share. The change announced Tuesday revised those figures to a net loss of $203 million, or 46 cents per share.
A slew of retail and restaurant companies have said they are making accounting changes to conform with Securities and Exchange Commission rules on leasing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/financial_markets/11022683.htm

Halliburton revises quarterly results
By Lisa Sanders, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:21 PM ET March 1, 2005
E-mail it Print Alert Reprint
DALLAS (MarketWatch) - Halliburton said Tuesday it revised its fourth quarter results downward by $3 million to reflect the collection of a reserved payment and a correction to the way it treats lease accounting.

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The adjustment to fourth-quarter earnings translates into 0.4 cent per share.
Shares of Halliburton fell 2.3 percent, or 99 cents, to close at $42.85 amid broad weakness in the oil and gas sector. See Energy Stocks.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B68ECEAC1-191D-4738-ACC8-DA1269901A74%7D&siteid=google&dist=google&cbsReferrer=

Halliburton adjusts Q4 earns slightly
NewsStand - Tuesday, March 01, 2005

CBS MarketWatch.com
Stephanie I. Cohen
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Halliburton Co. announced Tuesday it will make two adjustments to its previously announced fourth quarter 2004 earnings. The net impact of the adjustments is $3 million pre-tax expense, or less than a penny a share. The change stems from a $10 million payment the company received in February that was previously reserved and a correction in the accounting treatment for leasehold improvements that resulted in Halliburton recording a pre-tax expense of $13 million. "Management has determined that the impact of this matter on prior periods is immaterial," the company said in a statement.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqIp20eiendaYn0HHBgXPyNvYDg9UywrQDq

ConocoPhillips, Bechtel to collaborate on technology
Monica Perin
Houston Business Journal
ConocoPhillips and Bechtel Corp. said Monday they have reached an agreement for a worldwide collaboration to facilitate the licensing and marketing of ConocoPhillips' proprietary ThruPlus delayed coking technology.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/04/18/daily2.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Shed light on Iraq

Millions of American tax dollars spent on infrastructure repairs to water, sewage and electrical plants in Iraq have been wasted because of Iraqis' inability to operate them, according to interviews and documents recently obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The failure to have trained operators to turn projects over to is not merely a scandalous waste of money and effort. It's hampering the U.S. war effort and prolonging the suffering of the Iraqi people.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050418/OPINION/504180322/1002/OPINION

DeLay Letter Cites Democrats' 'Hate'
House majority leader says he's being targeted in an effort to damage the conservative agenda.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-delay19apr19,1,2075582.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Debriefing Scalia
Mon Apr 18, 5:03 PM ET

Op/Ed - The Nation
Editors' Note: Justice Antonin Scalia got more than he bargained for when he accepted the NYU Annual Survey of American Law's invitation to engage students in a Q&A session. Randomly selected to attend the limited-seating and closed-to-the-press event, NYU law school student Eric Berndt asked Scalia to explain his dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court case that overturned Bowers v. Hardwick and struck down the nation's sodomy laws. Not satisfied with Scalia's answer, Berndt asked the Justice, "Do you sodomize your wife?" Scalia demurred and law school administrators promptly turned off Berndt's microphone. As Berndt explains in his post to fellow law school students, it was an entirely fair question to pose to a Justice whose opinion--had it been in the majority--would have allowed the state to ask that same question to thousands of gays and lesbians, and to punish them if the answer is yes. We reprint Berndt's open letter below.

Fellow Classmates,
As the student who asked Justice Scalia about his sexual conduct, I am responding to your posts to explain why I believe I had a right to confront Justice Scalia in the manner I did Tuesday, why any gay or sympathetic person has that same right. It should be clear that I intended to be offensive, obnoxious, and inflammatory. There is a time to discuss and there are times when acts and opposition are necessary. Debate is useless when one participant denies the full dignity of the other. How am I to docilely engage a man who sarcastically rants about the "beauty of homosexual relationships" [at the Q&A] and believes that gay school teachers will try to convert children to a homosexual lifestyle [in oral argument for Lawrence]?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2281&ncid=742&e=1&u=/thenation/20050418/cm_thenation/20050502berndt

Partial response to petroleum dealers’ strike
Express News Service
Ludhiana, April 18: THE one-day strike by petroleum dealers recieved a partial response today as a number of fuel stations of all oil companies remained open in different parts of the city. By the evening, even the closed pumps also opened.
However, the petroleum dealers have threatened that if government did not agree to increase their commission, they will open fuel stations only from 9 am to 5 pm.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=125484

Ohio Senator Again Clashes Over Bush Pick
WASHINGTON — The Ohio senator who surprised fellow Republicans on Tuesday with his sudden concerns about President Bush's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations is known as a maverick.
Sen. George Voinovich was the rare Republican holdout against Bush's 2003 tax cut plan, an administration priority. Despite intense lobbying from the White House, he stood firm. The president had to settle for a smaller tax cut package.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-maverick-senator,1,816802.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Rice pacifies Moscow ahead of Bush trip
CHRIS STEPHEN
IN MOSCOW
CONDOLEEZZA Rice flew into Moscow yesterday to smooth relations between the United States and Russia ahead of a planned visit next month by President George Bush.
Speaking before talks with Russian leaders, the US Secretary of State said that, despite serious setbacks to Russian democracy, there was no sign the country was poised to return to its totalitarian past.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=419252005

Apr 19, 2005 — By Doug Palmer and Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Tuesday that China was considering taking an interim step toward easing its rigid currency regime and that Washington wants action as soon as possible.
An interim move could help ease rising Sino-U.S. tensions, but Bush said the United States would still keep the pressure on Beijing to "eventually" let markets set the value of the yuan currency.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=685668

Senate Asks Bush for Iraq War-Cost Estimates
Mon Apr 18, 2005 07:20 PM ET
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate urged the Bush administration on Monday to plan better for the costs of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of relying on a series of stop-gap spending bills.
By a lopsided vote of 61-31, senators approved a non-binding resolution calling on President Bush to submit projected war costs in the U.S. budget plan he submits to Congress each February.
Twenty-one Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the resolution as an amendment to a bill that would provide $81 billion in "emergency" funds to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=8217447

How Bush and Cheney Avoided the AMT

Their Tax Returns Highlight
Quirks of Controversial Law;
The VP's Muni-Bond Income
April 20, 2005
On tax day last week, millions of Americans had paid more in taxes for 2004 because of the alternative minimum tax. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney weren't among them.
Their returns for 2004 showed zero on line 44, the line for reporting the AMT. Originally designed to make sure wealthy taxpayers couldn't escape paying any federal income tax, the AMT is essentially a parallel income-tax system with different rules, and it disallows certain kinds of deductions. Taxpayers are required to figure the tax they would owe under the regular income tax and how much they would owe under the AMT, and then pay the bigger of the two.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111395876816711550,00.html?mod=todays_free_feature

Measure keeps 'fracing' control with states
By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Star-Tribune energy reporter
To the relief of Wyoming's natural gas industry, a congressional committee last week approved legislation to keep the regulation of hydraulic fracturing with the states, not the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The House Energy Committee included the provision in the Energy Policy Act, which still must pass the full House and Senate before becoming law.
Wyoming's burgeoning deep natural gas industry in the southern, central and western portions of the state relies heavily on the practice. It usually involves pumping fluids thousands of feet down a well bore at pressure to fracture targeted geologic formations, creating pathways for the gas, and sometimes oil, to flow to the well.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/04/18/news/wyoming/2274199b92eb4d5887256fe60078fde2.txt

Breach of Credit Data May Have Broad Scope
HSBC warns 180k of possible ID thefts; other banks also aware of security gaffe
News Story by Jaikumar Vijayan
APRIL 18, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - An IT security problem involving a U.S. retailer's point-of-sale system (POS) is prompting HSBC Holdings PLC to warn 180,000 of its credit card holders about potential identity theft. And the breach could cause other companies that issue credit cards to take similar actions.
MasterCard International Inc. and Visa U.S.A. Inc. both confirmed last week that they were notified of the systems breach, the latest in a string of security incidents that have come to light since late February. MasterCard and Visa said that in turn, they have informed unspecified numbers of banks and credit card companies about the possibility that data was compromised.

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,101137,00.html

Identity Crisis
Published: 18th April 2005

Copyright © 2005 Robin Bloor
Trouble At The Data Mill
In February, ChoicePoint, a US company that aggregates and rents consumer data, broke the news that the personal data of up to 146,000 US consumers had probably been compromised. Some of it definitely had. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported that 750 of those consumers had suffered from identity theft attacks of one kind or another, but only a small proportion of the 146,000 lived in the Los Angeles area. In all probability, many thousands of people will be affected or already have been. ChoicePoint first got to know of the problem in October, when it discovered that identity thieves had been impersonating legitimate corporations and had opened 50 accounts to access ChoicePoint's data banks.

http://www.it-director.com/article.php?articleid=12672&SESSID=94636f13bb0ce6de1d8c68eab641e2c1

continued...

The Most Powerful Man in Africa. South African President Thabo Mbeki. 

Oldest map with the term America for auction. 

Morning Papers - continued...

The Age

Adler sentence a warning
By Staff reporters
April 14, 2005 - 5:10PM

Rodney Adler speaks to the media on his way to the NSW Supreme Court.
Photo: Nick Moir
Related
Adler's sentence: Vote now
The Government has welcomed today's jail sentence handed down to disgraced former insurance chief Rodney Adler.
Adler will go to jail for four years and six months for his role in the HIH insurance collapse, with a non-parole period of two and a half years.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Adler-jailed-for-four-years/2005/04/14/1113251718481.html

Bush mulls
Multiplex mulls $1 billion US deal
April 14, 2005 - 12:39PM

Multiplex Group today confirmed it was in discussions to buy a portfolio of retail assets in the United States, believed to be worth as much as $1 billion.
In a separate deal, Multiplex said it was negotiating the sale of some of the properties within the Multiplex Property Trust, rumoured to be key buildings in Sydney and Melbourne worth a total of more than $465 million.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Multiplex-mulls-1-billion-US-deal/2005/04/14/1113251723121.html

Confidence stays at low
By Clay Lucas
April 14, 2005

Interest rates are tipped to stay on hold next month, with a survey showing consumer confidence at its second-lowest level in two years.
The Westpac/Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index, released yesterday, shows consumer confidence has stayed almost flat since plunging 17 per cent in March, the biggest fall in the survey's 30-year history.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Confidence-stays-at-low/2005/04/13/1113251681298.html

Bush's UN nominee a 'kiss-up' bully
By Michael Gawenda
United States correspondent
Washington
April 14, 2005

John Bolton, President George Bush's choice as US ambassador to the United Nations, has been described as a classic "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" by a former head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
In blunt testimony that surprised members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Carl Ford, who describes himself as a committed Republican, said Mr Bolton's behaviour "brings real question to my mind about his suitability for high office".

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Bushs-UN-nominee-a-kissup-bully/2005/04/13/1113251680804.html

…isms

Lawrence defends job discrimination lawsuit by teacher
By Clyde L. Stancil
DAILY Staff Writer
cstancil@decaturdaily.com · 340-2443
MOULTON — One of the administrative positions a Hazlewood High School teacher is suing for in federal court is vacant again.
Alexander McElroy, a Ph.D. and special education teacher, filed a discrimination suit in December that claims the Lawrence County School Board did not promote him because he is black.
He claims the eight administrative positions were given to white males who were either equally qualified or less qualified than he is.
In its response, the school system denied the claims.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050410/job.shtml

Jews suffer discrimination at Temple Mount
By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
April 10th, 2005
JERUSALEM - Several Israeli Jews, including members of Knesset, who attempted to ascend Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Sunday to hold prayers were prevented from doing so by police for fear of widespread Muslim violence.
Hundreds more were kept from entering the capital itself.

http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=483

Simon Wiesenthal Center : Zundel deported to Germany: 'Canada struck a blow against hate today'

TORONTO, March 1 /CNW/ - "Canada struck a blow against Hate andProfessional bigots today by finally deporting Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel,"said Rabbi Abraham Cooper Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center."This long-delayed move comes as the civilized world commemorates the60th anniversary of the liberation of Europe from the genocidal grip of NaziGermany. It also comes at a time when, as a result of the efforts ofprofessional Holocaust deniers and antisemites, too many young people havecome to doubt the horrific brutal reality of the Nazi's Final Solution thatsystematically murdered 6 million innocent Jews," he added."We hope Canada's move and Zundel's impending arrest will give pauseamong those in the Arab and Moslem world who have rushed to embrace the 'biglie', that Zundel and his ilk continue to peddle," he added.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/01/c0015.html

Iraqi Progressive Columnist on His Childhood Experience with the Blood Libel

In an article in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, progressive Iraqi columnist Khalid Al-Kishtayni recorded his childhood recollections of an encounter with an elderly Jew in Iraq. As a child, Al-Kishtayni had heard stories that the Jews would slaughter non-Jewish children in order to use their blood for their rituals, and the encounter therefore left a strong impression on him. The following are excerpts from the article: [1]

"Antisemitism was rife in Europe, and almost non-existent in the Islamic world until Zionism appeared on the scene, of course... One of its manifestations was the belief that the Jews would kidnap and murder [non-Jewish] children during their holidays in order to use their blood in their rituals. The Arabs did not know about this [European belief], but during the 19th century a Muslim boy disappeared in Damascus, and there was a rumor that the Jews had kidnapped him for this purpose. As a result, [some] people did the unforgivable and attacked the Jewish quarter, until the investigation found that one of the European missionaries had circulated the rumor. At that time, when we were children, traces [of this libel] continued to be heard among us, and gained footing even though it had been found to be false.

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP89505

Mormon man gets $159,000 settlement in religious discrimination case
Associated Press
DALLAS — A Canadian aerospace company has agreed to pay a Mormon man $159,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced today.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3140645

Shopper says curry-smell claim is discrimination

19.04.05

A Tauranga woman is accusing a local branch of The Warehouse of racial discrimination after she was denied the right to return purchases because they "smell like curry".
Julie Ali and her family say they were "traumatised and humiliated" on Thursday evening when staff at The Warehouse in Fraser Cove refused to exchange items of clothing.
The Fijian Indian, who moved to Tauranga with her family three years ago, said she felt her family and culture were being discriminated against.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10121187

If It's Not Full Equality For Gays, It's Bigotry
Published on 4/18/2005
Letters To The Editor:
Having read the letter on civil unions titled “Civil union passage not the will of voters,” published April 15, I am appalled anyone could be so homophobic in today's world.
It is so very pompous for someone or some group to even try and decide what is “right, acceptable, ethical or virtuous” for another group of people. The writer might try and count all the gay people she knows (and really does not know) at work, church and socially. Are they really bad, horrible or evil folks?
Anything other than full equality for people of an alternative lifestyle is 100-percent, pure–and-simple discrimination. This should never be tolerated in any matter.
Mike Hawkins
Griswold

http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=ea0c0efb-e9bb-4d26-8bd6-249b16f32941

Radio Host Fired For Wondering If Pope Went To Heaven
POSTED: 7:44 am EDT April 14, 2005
PITTSBURGH -- An evangelical Christian talk show host who questioned the beliefs of the Catholic church and entertained a caller's question about whether the late Pope John Paul II would go to heaven has been fired.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/4378405/detail.html

Re-energized Interfaith Council plans for future
By BOB REEVES / Lincoln Journal Star
At one time, it was popular to talk about America as a cultural "melting pot," an image of many different cultures being blended into a sort of bland homogeneity.
Then it became more in vogue to compare the nation's diversity to a salad bowl, in which cultures co-exist but keep their distinctions.
Neither image, however, captures the ideal of diverse faiths and cultures living and sharing together, said Rabbi Stanley Rosenbaum of Lincoln's Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2005/04/18/local/doc4262ffe82c6ca672837373.txt

Religious intolerance betrays namesake
by Letter to the Editor
I am so sick of the ongoing religious debate against the practice of homosexuality. It seems that throughout the history of Christianity, we have been committing horrific acts against our fellow human beings under the guise of Christ. The Crusades were waged under the pretense of reclaiming the holy land. European colonization subjugated and decimated entire populations of people under the canopy of "saving" them through conversion to Christianity. The practice continues today with Christian condemnation of homosexuals as "sinful" and "destructive."

http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/E.php?article=E3&date=041805

The New York Times

Benedict XVI, 78, Was John Paul II's Strict Defender of the Faith
By IAN FISHER

VATICAN CITY, April 19 - Roman Catholic cardinals reached to the church's conservative wing on Tuesday and chose as the 265th pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a seasoned and hard-line German theologian who served as John Paul II's defender of the faith.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/worldspecial2/20pope.html?ei=5094&en=76e16da2555154ea&hp=&ex=1113969600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1113991352-pQDRerzgVWaBD75wRdddWA

A Theological Visionary With Roots in Wartime Germany
ROME, April 19 - The man who has become Pope Benedict XVI was a product of wartime Germany, but also of a deeply Roman Catholic region, Bavaria.
As the Nazis strengthened their stranglehold on Germany in the 1930's, the strongly Catholic family of Joseph Ratzinger moved frequently among villages in rural Bavaria.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/worldspecial2/20profile.html?hp&ex=1114056000&en=cd711bfb0e79d225&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Facing Global Sanctions, Iran Uses Oil Fields to Seek Alliances
TEHRAN, Iran - As it faces the threat of global sanctions from the United States and Europe because of suspicions that it is turning its nuclear program to weapons production, Iran is fighting back with a powerful weapon of its own: its vast oil and gas resources.
Iran's ruling clerics are meticulously arranging energy sales and building partnerships with influential countries, including China and India, as a way to win stronger friendships around the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/business/worldbusiness/19tehran.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1113908953-WGAZ2mtqP9vjYGwAjywrGw

Europeans Fast Falling Away From Church
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: April 19, 2005

PARIS, April 18 - To understand the crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, visit the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Issy-Les-Moulineaux outside Paris.
The vast 100-year-old structure, built on the ruins of a 17th-century chateau, contains vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows and hundreds of rooms. Pope John Paul II visited here in 1980 on a trip in which he chastised the French for abandoning the church.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/international/worldspecial2/19europe.html?hp

Israel, on Its Own, Is Shaping the Borders of the West Bank
Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times
A new neighborhood is under construction in Maale Adumim, the largest Jewish settlement on the West Bank, to Washington's chagrin.
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: April 19, 2005

In the face of the withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank, other settlements may be built up.
MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank, April 16 - They're building away here in Israel's largest settlement, with Palestinian workers laboring on new apartment houses overlooking the red-brown hills of the West Bank.
Israel's intentions to keep building next to this suburb about three miles from Jerusalem have set off a small furor with the Bush administration, which is putting pressure on Israel to keep a commitment to freeze settlement growth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/international/middleeast/19westbank.html?hp&ex=1113969600&en=96559707e50cfabd&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Chinese Official Orders End to Anti-Japanese Demonstrations
By JOSEPH KAHN
Published: April 20, 2005

BEIJING, April 19 - China's foreign minister called Tuesday for an end to anti-Japanese protests, the first signal that the leadership may no longer welcome the sometimes violent demonstrations that have underpinned a new and more confrontational approach to Japan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/asia/20china.html

The Boston Globe
A 'humble worker'
Ratzinger elected pope, becomes Benedict XVI
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff April 20, 2005
VATICAN CITY -- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a conservative German theologian who served for two decades as Pope John Paul II's chief enforcer of doctrinal orthodoxy, yesterday was elected the 265th pope and chose the name Benedict XVI.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/04/20/a_humble_worker/

In U.S., pope greeted with mixed feelings
By David Crary, AP National Writer April 20, 2005
Bells rang out the news at Roman Catholic churches nationwide, heralding the election of the first new pope in 26 years. People on their lunch breaks and students in classes paused to watch the pontiff emerge onto his Vatican balcony.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/20/in_us_pope_greeted_with_mixed_feelings/

Cheese should be used as a condiment, not a meal
By Lawrence Lindner April 19, 2005
While Americans have clearly gotten the message to go easier on beef -- we eat about 25 pounds less per person a year than in the mid-1970s -- cheese consumption is way up.

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2005/04/19/cheese_should_be_used_as_a_condiment_not_a_meal/

Amtrak halts its backup service
Can't fill Acela's Boston-N.Y. gap
By Mac Daniel and Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff April 19, 2005
Amtrak said yesterday it will stop providing substitute service between Boston and New York for its Acela Express trains starting today, a decision that cuts its rail service out of Boston nearly in half.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/19/amtrak_halts_its_backup_service/

Man held in killing of Rhode Island police detective
By Elizabeth Zuckerman, Associated Press Writer April 19, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A suspect accused of killing a detective with the officer's own gun appeared in court with a white mask covering the lower half of his face, which was bruised and swollen.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/04/19/man_held_in_killing_of_rhode_island_police_detective/

Veteran journalist dies at 76
April 19, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Charles McCorkle Hauser, a writer, teacher and columnist whose career spanned 35 years and several newspapers, has died at age 76.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/04/19/veteran_journalist_dies_at_76/

The Jakarta Post

Muslim Indonesia hopes new pope will work for religious unity
JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated state, welcomed Wednesday the appointment of the new pope and aired hopes that he would build on his predecessor's work to unite Islam and Christianity.
Ali Machsan Musa, a senior leader of Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama, the world's largest Muslim movement, said he hoped the new pontiff would allow "relations between the various religions to become even better".

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050420164525&irec=1

Asian-African Ministerial Meeting kicks off
JAKARTA (Antara): Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma jointly opened on Wednesday Asian-African Ministerial Meeting.
"We have to continue cooperation between Asia and Africa in both state development and state capacity improvement, especially through solid social integration," Hassan said in his speech.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050420164525&irec=0

S. African President Thabo Mbeki visits tsunami-hit Aceh
JAKARTA (Antara): South Africa President Thabo Mbeki and First Lady Zanele Mbeki left Jakarta for Aceh on the second day of their state visit to have a closer look at the aftermath of the tsunami disaster on Dec. 26, 2004.
Mbeki, and his entourage, took off from Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 11 a.m. bound for Banda Aceh to visit devastated areas and temporary shelters for the displaced people, before returning back to Jakarta in the evening before the Asian-African Summit.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050420160014&irec=2

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