The Moscow Times
Storm Downs Power Lines in Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia -- Strong winds and heavy snows downed power lines in western Georgia early Thursday, cutting power to millions of Georgians already suffering a heating outage due to a natural gas shortage.
Snow was falling in the capital, Tbilisi, as residents stood in long lines to fill kerosene canisters for portable heaters. Some brought jewelry and other valuables to pawn shops to scrape together enough money to buy heaters and fuel.
Deputy Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri said fierce weather in western Georgia ruptured power lines leading from the Inguri hydroelectric station to eastern regions, leaving about 3 million people in the dark.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/045.html
Pipeline May Trump Ecology, Experts Say
By Valeria Korchagina
Staff Writer
State ecological experts in charge of evaluating the proposed route of the Far East pipeline warned Thursday about the dangers it posed to Lake Baikal but expressed concern that their opinion would not be heeded and could be overturned.
Some 80 percent of the 50-member commission of ecological experts created to investigate the project voted earlier this week against the Transneft-proposed route because it ran too close to the world's largest freshwater lake and hence endangered it, Gennady Chegasov, a member of the commission, said at a news conference Thursday.
Chegasov, along with environmentalists in Russia and abroad, argues that the construction of the pipeline in the highly seismic area of Baikal's basin risks an ecological disaster of unprecedented magnitude. Under the proposed route, one stretch of the pipeline would run just 800 meters away from the shoreline of Baikal, a unique reservoir containing some 20 percent of the planet's surface fresh water and accommodating some 3,000 endemic species.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/043.html
Investors Find Only Gref at Davos
By Lynn Berry
Staff Writer
DAVOS, Switzerland — Jim O'Neill, the Goldman Sachs economist who created the BRIC acronym standing for Brazil, Russia, India and China, had some good news about the four countries to present to business leaders attending the World Economic Forum this week: By 2050, the four BRIC economies would be among the seven largest in the world.
He also had a confession to make: Of the four countries, Russia was the one that worried him the most, in large part because he found the government's behavior difficult to understand.
"The motives for the decisions coming out of the Kremlin are difficult for us to understand, although they are not always sinister," O'Neill, head of Goldman's global economic research, said after presenting his latest report Wednesday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/001.html
Europe Heeds Its Gazprom 'Wake-Up Call'
By Catherine Belton
Staff Writer
World leaders increased calls for reducing Europe's dependency on gas supplies from Russia on Thursday as freezing temperatures forced cutbacks from Gazprom for the eighth day running and Russia continued to snipe at Ukraine, a vital transit country.
As political and business leaders gathered in Davos for the World Economic Forum, Poland's prime minister and U.S. billionaire George Soros said the recent disruptions in gas supply meant Europe should find alternate sources.
Soros called Russia's recent standoffs with Ukraine and Georgia over prices "a wake-up call for Europe" as Russia used its might to gain leverage over its neighbors, while Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said his country wanted to diversify supplies.
"Trust is measured on practice and the practice we have seen in January of this year was not promising," Marcinkiewicz told reporters in Davos, Reuters reported. He said his country was now considering building a liquefied natural gas, or LNG, plant.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/003.html
Telenor Ups Stakes by Going to Court
By Maria Levitov
Staff Writer
Norway's Telenor announced three lawsuits against No. 2 mobile phone operator VimpelCom on Thursday and said it might pursue litigation in the United States.
The legal action significantly raises tensions between the Norwegian telecoms giant and Alfa Group, both of which own blocking stakes in VimpelCom. The fight threatens to spook investors.
Telenor executives on Thursday accused VimpelCom of convening an illegal extraordinary shareholders meeting and providing misleading information to shareholders regarding VimpelCom's purchase of Ukrainian RadioSystems for $231.3 million in November.
"We cannot accept that VimpelCom and Alfa Group are now operating with a complete lack of respect for law, transparency, corporate governance and financial controls," Jan Edvard Thygesen, head of Telenor in Eastern and Central Europe, said at a Moscow news conference.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/002.html
Rosbank to Sell Off 15% in IPO This Year
Reuters
Rosbank, a top-10 Russian bank, said on Thursday it would issue new shares equivalent to 15 percent of its equity to sell to investors when it launches an initial public offering towards mid-year.
"The decision by the board of directors to place 100 million new shares via open subscription is linked to
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/046.html
Basement Operation
It's the only drama troupe willing to resist fear and censorship in Belarus. Now, the underground Free Theater of Minsk is emerging into the spotlight.
By Alexander Osipovich
Published: January 27, 2006
It is not easy to catch a performance by the Free Theater of Minsk. The Belarussian newspapers do not announce when or where it will put on its next show. To get into a play, prospective audience members must leave a phone message with the theater's administrator, then wait for further instructions. Those who make it through the cloak-and-dagger procedure will find themselves in a dark, crowded space -- perhaps a bar, perhaps a private apartment -- watching cutting-edge drama in the country that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has famously called "the last dictatorship in Europe."
The Free Theater is less than one year old. It has no permanent home and only three plays in its repertoire. Yet it has already won support from international figures such as British playwright Tom Stoppard and former Czech President (and absurdist playwright) Vaclav Havel. Moreover, its profile is likely to grow in 2006, as the theater plans a series of performances at drama festivals throughout Europe. The roadshow starts in Moscow on Friday and Saturday, when the theater performs for local audiences at the Meyerhold Center.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/101.html
Don't Miss a Chance to Put an End to TB
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other world leaders will call on the Group of Eight to join forces to control tuberculosis in our lifetimes at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday. The forum is the venue for the launch of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015, a blueprint developed by the Stop TB Partnership, a global network of state and nonstate organizations (including the World Health Organization) allied to fight the tuberculosis pandemic.
Why Davos? Why now?
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/006.html
A Man-Made Eden
Cursed land or untouched paradise? Two decades after the Chernobyl disaster transformed dozens of communities into ghost towns, a book by Mary Mycio assesses the damage.
By David R. Marples
Published: January 27, 2006
The appearance last fall of "Wormwood Forest," Mary Mycio's absorbing book about Chernobyl, coincided with the release of a controversial report by several agencies of the United Nations and the governments of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus on the environmental and health effects of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Together, the two studies offer an antidote to more pessimistic analyses -- an indication that the effects of the accident might be less bleak than initially predicted, and that a reassessment is warranted of the evacuated areas and of medical casualties, both now and in the future.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/105.html
The Ice Woman Cometh
By Michele A. Berdy
Лёд тронулся: the log jam has broken, literally "the ice moved"
I can't imagine why I've got ice on my mind these days. Maybe it's because the heat went out in my apartment building one night and I woke up to a winter wonderland right inside my very own home. Добро пожаловать в Ледниковый период! (Welcome to the Ice Age!)
This seems as good a time as any to hone one's ice vocabulary. Лёд (ice) is a simple enough word, but unfortunately it has one of those nasty "mobile" vowels -- vowels that just can't sit still. When declined, the "ё" zips out of sight, leaving us poor foreigners to struggle with difficult consonant clusters. Мой подоконник покрыт коркой льда. (My window sill is covered with a crust of ice.) Pronunciation also gets tricky when speaking of the ice in drinks, properly called кубики льда (ice cubes), but most commonly plain old лёд. Минеральная вода со льдом при комнатной температуре 12 градусов? Спятил, что ли? (Ice in my mineral water when the room temperature is 12 degrees? Are you nuts?)
Then there's сосулька (icicle), a thing of beauty when glimpsed from afar glistening in the sunlight, a life-threatening weapon when hanging over your doorway. Достань из кладовки, пожалуйста, стремянку и сбей сосульки с потолка. (Could you get the stepladder out of the closet and clear the icicles from the ceiling?)
Let us not forget the tiny леденец, which can either mean a hard candy or a throat lozenge. Горло болит. У нас есть леденцы в аптечке? (My throat hurts. Do we have any lozenges in the medicine cabinet?) Not to mention the enormous ледник (glacier), which gave us Ледниковый период -- literally "the period of glaciers" -- what we call the Ice Age. This may also be used in reference to Moscow in January 2006.
You might find it handy to know the verb леденеть, which means to ice up, literally or figuratively. Посмотрев на термометр, я оледенела от ужаса. (When I looked at the thermometer my blood ran cold; literally "I turned to ice from horror.")
Another nice icy expression is a bit of a false friend. In Russian разбить лёд (to break the ice) has more of the sense of overcoming enmity or hostility than the American sense of making a bit of chit-chat to smooth over moments of social awkwardness. На переговорах одна сторона смогла разбить лёд недоверия и вражды. (At the negotiations one side was able to break through the distrust and hostility.)
If you are from more southern climes, it may be hard to grasp the image in the expression лёд тронулся (literally, "the ice moved"). When a river begins to thaw, it emits eerie deep whoops and howls and then finally cracks. That seems to take forever, but as soon as one crack appears, the ice will start to break up quickly. Hence the headline "Газовая война -- лёд тронулся" means that there has been a breakthrough in the gas war and we can now expect progress in negotiations.
The most slippery ice words are the paronymous pair ледовый and ледяной. Paronymous words have the same root but slightly different meanings. Here both are adjectives for ice. Ледовый is used when something is made of ice by nature (ледовое поле; ice field); when referring to something on the ice (like ледовая дорога -- the ice road -- over Lake Ladoga during World War II); when referring to action connected with ice (ледовое плавание -- Arctic navigation); or when referring to some instrument or machine that deals with ice (ледовый топор; ice axe).
Ледяной is the word more commonly used in everyday speech. It refers to things made of ice by man, like ледяной дом (ice house), ледяное царство (ice kingdom) or even ледяной Биг-Бен (Big Ben ice sculpture). It is also used for things covered in ice (ледяная крыша; ice-covered roof) and anything that is icy cold.
Like, for example, my very own ледяные руки (ice-cold hands).
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/007.html
Global Eye
Fever Dream
By Chris Floyd
Published: January 27, 2006
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2006 -- Heralding a "bold new era of unity and reform" in Washington, President George W. Bush quelled a series of controversies over the limits of executive power today by signing a sweeping new measure, the Extending the Boundaries of Legality Act (EBOLA), in a gala ceremony at the White House.
The measure, passed overwhelmingly by Congress last week, acknowledges "the inherent authority of the commander in chief to take all necessary measures to preserve the security of the United States without fear of penalty or undue constraint by existing statutes, judicial rulings, foreign jurisdictions or international treaties." This immunized authority is to be exercised "at the discretion of the president" and can be "devolved upon any and all designated agents, public and private, of the executive." The act also relieves the president of the "onerous and inefficient bureaucratic requirement" of informing Congress of his actions.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/27/120.html
The San Francisco Chronicle
Flocking into fowl territory
Avian life brings out bird watchers
Clear skies, absent winds and low tide blended in a fine formula for a bird-watching walk on a recent Sunday morning.
Fifteen people, bundled against the cold, met volunteer guides Laurie Graham and Jeff Fairclough from San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) at a trailhead near the mouth of Colma Creek, north of San Francisco International Airport.
They trooped to a footbridge, one link in the San Francisco Bay Trail, and came to a swift halt.
An endangered clapper rail had been spied. Its striped back and russet breast were sporadically revealed as the foot-tall bird slunk about its business through the reeds.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/SPGEUGSVVU1.DTL
Former basketball star Isaiah 'J.R.' Rider accused of kidnapping
Former professional basketball star Isaiah "J.R." Rider, known as much for getting into trouble as his brilliant scoring points, was arrested by Marin County sheriff's deputies early Thursday morning for allegedly kidnapping a female aquaintance in Marin County, authorities said.
Rider, 34, of Alameda, was scheduled to be arraigned today in Marin County Superior Court on charges of kidnapping and battery. Rider, who also faces an outstanding warrant for resisting arrest in Alameda County, was being held at the Marin County Jail on $2 million bail Thursday night.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/MNGT0GUGHG9.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
Feds visit stores again, seeking Versace fakes
Federal agents returned Wednesday to some of the same San Francisco antique and art stores they searched three weeks ago -- but this time they were looking for bogus Versace furniture and housewares.
On Jan. 5, agents raided 11 Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf stores that specialize in selling showy objets d'art to tourists. Then, officials were looking for undocumented workers, illegal importation of ivory, money laundering and mail fraud.
Investigators arrested 28 people for immigration violations, but to date have charged no one with other crimes. As agents searched the shops' records, they came across signs that some of the stores might also be selling designer knockoffs, an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Wednesday.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/BAG0NGT6QV1.DTL
Two Tons of Pot Found in Border Tunnel
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer
Friday, January 27, 2006
With tougher drug enforcement above ground, authorities say traffickers along the U.S.-Mexican border were forced to dig deep below ground instead.
Inside a five-foot-wide tunnel, with just enough room for an adult to stand, authorities say they discovered two tons of marijuana this week, and what they believe was a passageway for drug trade.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/national/a174108S16.DTL
CALIFORNIA
Secondhand smoke toxic air contaminant
State Air Resources Board vote paves way for possible new limits on tobacco use
California regulators became the first in the nation Thursday to designate secondhand tobacco smoke as a "toxic air contaminant,'' a move that could lead to new city and state laws and educational campaigns directed at smoking parents.
The state Air Resources Board voted to target environmental tobacco smoke on the basis of studies that link other people's smoke to increased cases of breast cancer, heart disease, asthma and reproductive problems among nonsmokers.
The designation, adopted 6-0, places secondhand smoke in the same category as the poisons arsenic and benzene. About 200 chemicals are on state and federal lists.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/27/SMOKE.TMP
Study Finds Rich-Poor Income Gap Growing
The disparity between rich and poor is growing in America as the federal minimum wage has remained flat for years, union membership has declined and industries have faced global competition, according to a study released Thursday.
The report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, both liberal-leaning think tanks, found the incomes of the poorest 20 percent of families nationally grew by an average of $2,660, or 19 percent, over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the incomes of the richest fifth of families grew by $45,100, or nearly 59 percent, the study by the Washington-based groups said.
Families in the middle fifth saw their incomes rise 28 percent, or $10,218.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/national/a172428S12.DTL
Congressional Panel Expects $337B Deficit
The budget deficit will rise to at least $337 billion this year and may well approach or exceed $400 billion because of tax cuts and new spending for hurricane relief and the war in Iraq, congressional budget analysts said Thursday.
The latest Congressional Budget Office data also suggest President Bush is unlikely to be able to keep his promise to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his term.
Even assuming a phasing down of the war in Iraq and the costs of hurricane relief, implementing tax cuts sought by Bush and Congress would produce deficits exceeding $300 billion through the end of the decade, the nonpartisan CBO says.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/national/w134709S01.DTL
CALIFORNIA
Bullet train likely chugging to derailment
$9.95 billion bond could be taken off of November ballot
Sacramento -- While nations from Mexico to China are investing heavily in high-speed rail, California's dream to shoot 220 mph bullet trains from San Francisco to Los Angeles is beginning to fade.
Detractors in the Legislature and outside it say it's better for the state to attack existing congestion than gamble finite dollars on the possibility of whisking commuters from Northern to Southern California in less than three hours.
Supporters warn that without high-speed rail, California would need to build 3,000 new miles of highway lanes, 60 new airline gates and five more runways to meet the transportation needs created by the state population growing from 35 million to 48 million over the next 25 years.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/BAGHRGT0GH1.DTL
If California and Oregon get their acts toghether on this they could link it to have a west coal high speed rail service. Then with 'Acela' on the DC to Boston corridor the possibilities are intereesting. A Chicago hub would be good. But, the central switching stations are already clear for developement without disturbing land owners. It's all there. We just need for a political leader to put it all together in an incentive package that makes it work similar to the intersate highway system.
Should California give up on high-speed rail?
Yes, it's an unaffordable boondoggle
10%
No, it's fuel-efficient way around congestion
87%
Keep it barely alive, someday the money will be there
3%
SAN LEANDRO
Tensions ease over gay posters
Conflict resolved by faculty meetings, principal says
Two days after San Leandro High School teachers were ordered to hang posters in their rooms promoting tolerance toward gay students, many faculty and students said the move was long overdue.
"It shouldn't even be a debate. Kids need to feel comfortable in class, and the adults need to make sure that happens," said senior Je'Nea Woods. "The school environment's supposed to be about students. Everyone should feel safe whether they're homosexual or not."
The school board-mandated posters sparked a controversy Monday when a handful of the school's 120 teachers said the posters -- which feature pink triangles, a rainbow banner and the words "safe space" -- contradicted their religious beliefs.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/26/BAGHRGT0GD1.DTL
Political opposites aligned against Bush wiretaps
Larry Diamond, a Democrat and a Hoover Institution senior fellow, went to Baghdad in 2004 as a consultant for the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority, believing strongly in the Bush administration's goal of building a democracy there. While critical of many aspects of the Iraq war, he has, he says, wholeheartedly supported President Bush's aggressive approach to the war on terror.
Grover Norquist is one of the most influential conservative Republicans in Washington. His weekly "Wednesday Meeting" at his L Street office is a must for conservative strategists, and he has been called the "managing director of the hard-core right" by the liberal Nation magazine. Perhaps the country's leading anti-tax enthusiast, he is, like Diamond, a hawk in the war on terror.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/26/MNG24GTB8O1.DTL
iRepress
http://www.sfgate.com/comics/fiore/
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Kerry will try Alito filibuster
From Ed Henry / CNN
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry will attempt a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, CNN has learned.
Kerry, in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, was marshaling support in phone calls during the day, he told CNN.
Kerry said he told a group of Democratic senators Wednesday, and urged that they join him. Kerry said he has the support of fellow Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Some senior Democrats told CNN they are worried that the move could backfire.
Republicans would need 60 votes to overturn a filibuster -- a procedural move that extends Senate debate indefinitely, effectively blocking a vote. Senior White House officials said the move would make the Democrats look bad, and that Republicans believe they have enough votes to overcome any filibuster attempt.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5656
Dems Threaten Filibuster, GOP Tries To Force Vote
(AP) WASHINGTON Die-hard Democratic critics of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito threatened on Thursday to block a vote on his confirmation, and Republicans countered with a move designed to force his approval by early next week.
"It is time to establish an end point" in the debate over President Bush's selection to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he and other Democrats had refused to agree to a timetable for ending debate. "There's some division in our caucus," he conceded.
Democratic Leader Harry Reid signaled as much in remarks on the Senate floor. He offered no support for Kennedy, John Kerry and others whose filibuster represents a last stand against Alito's confirmation.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5657
Wyden to support filibuster of Alito nomination
By kgw.com, CNN and AP Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told KGW Thursday that he would support an effort by fellow Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, both D-Mass., to filibuster the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Republicans, meanwhile, countered with a move designed to ensure Alito's approval by early next week.
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is sworn in during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill.
"Judge Alito's confirmation would be an ideological coup on the Supreme Court," Kerry said in a written statement explaining his support for a filibuster. "We can't afford to see the court's swing vote, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, replaced with a far-right ideologue like Samuel Alito."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5660
John Kerry's Statement
Yesterday, Senator Ted Kennedy and I told our colleagues that we supported a filibuster of Judge Alito’s nomination for the Supreme Court. And we weren’t alone. But the bottom line is that it takes more than two or three people to filibuster successfully. It’s not “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” If you want to stop Judge Alito from becoming Justice Alito, use your own email list and organize. We can’t just preach to our own choir. We need to prove to everyone – from our friends and neighbors to our fellow Senators – that the American people know Judge Alito will take our country in the wrong direction, and they expect something to be done about it.
http://www.johnkerry.com/
Ted Kennedy
KENNEDY SUPPORTS FILIBUSTER ON NOMINATION OF JUDGE ALITO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner (202) 224-2633
Other than voting to send our men and women to war, there is no more important vote in the Senate than our vote on a Supreme Court nominee. This is a vote of a generation and a test of conscience. Judge Alito does not share the values of equality and justice that make this country strong. He does not deserve a place on the highest court of the land.
We owe it to future generations of Americans to oppose this nomination. If Judge Alito is confirmed, he will serve on the court long after President Bush leaves office, and the progress of half a century on the basic rights of all Americans is likely to be rolled back. He's the wrong Justice for justice and the rule of law in America.
http://kennedy.senate.gov/%7Ekennedy/statements/06/01/2006126B51.html
Have your Senator join them.
The link on Mike's site has been made ineffective.
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Try this one.
http://www.senate.gov/
People for the American Way
http://www.savethecourt.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=mwK0JbNTJrF&b=1387741&action=5400&template=x.ascx
Abramoff Prosecutor Among Bush Nominees
By Donna De La Cruz / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday nominated one of the Justice Department's lead prosecutors in the Jack Abramoff corruption probe to a U.S. District Court seat.
Noel Hillman, chief of the department's public integrity section, was nominated for the federal judgeship in New Jersey, where he served in the U.S. Attorney's office under Michael Chertoff, now secretary of Homeland Security.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5648
Prosecutor Will Step Down From Lobbyist Case
By Philip Shenon and Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush.
The prosecutor, Noel L. Hillman, is chief of the department's public integrity division, and the move ends his involvement in an inquiry that has reached into the administration as well as the top ranks of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5661
China, Iran warm to Russia nuclear proposal
By Lindsay Beck and Ben Blanchard / Reuters
BEIJING - China and Iran expressed support on Thursday for a Russian proposal to resolve Tehran's nuclear standoff, and both said they opposed the threat of sanctions from the U.N. Security Council.
Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, on a one-day trip to Beijing seeking China's support, said the Russian proposal -- that uranium be enriched on Russian soil -- needed further discussion.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5650
Bush and China Endorse Russia's Nuclear Plan for Iran
By David E. Sanger and Elaine Sciolino / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — President Bush and the Chinese government both declared their full support on Thursday for a Russian proposal to allow Iran to operate civilian nuclear facilities as long as Russia and international nuclear inspectors are in full control of the fuel.
Mr. Bush's explicit public endorsement puts all of the major powers on record supporting the proposal, even as most acknowledge that it is a significant concession to Iran and runs the risk that the country will drag out the negotiations while continuing to produce nuclear material. Yet officials say they believe it is the best face-saving strategy to pursue a negotiated settlement with Iran.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5662
Political opposites aligned against Bush wiretaps
By James Sterngold / San Francisco Chronicle
Larry Diamond, a Democrat and a Hoover Institution senior fellow, went to Baghdad in 2004 as a consultant for the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority, believing strongly in the Bush administration's goal of building a democracy there. While critical of many aspects of the Iraq war, he has, he says, wholeheartedly supported President Bush's aggressive approach to the war on terror.
Grover Norquist is one of the most influential conservative Republicans in Washington. His weekly "Wednesday Meeting" at his L Street office is a must for conservative strategists, and he has been called the "managing director of the hard-core right" by the liberal Nation magazine. Perhaps the country's leading anti-tax enthusiast, he is, like Diamond, a hawk in the war on terror.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5653
Top U.S. General Says Army 'Stretched'
By Nick Wadhams / Associated Press
DIWANIYAH, Iraq - The top U.S. general in Iraq acknowledged Thursday that American forces are "stretched" but said troop withdrawals will be dictated by war strategy and not the strain faced by the soldiers.
Gen. George Casey's remarks contrasted sharply with statements made on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who disputed findings of an unreleased study conducted for the Pentagon that said the Army is overextended because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush shrugged off the report Thursday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5655
Top U.S. General Says Army 'Stretched'
By Nick Wadhams / Associated Press
DIWANIYAH, Iraq - The top U.S. general in Iraq acknowledged Thursday that American forces are "stretched" but said troop withdrawals will be dictated by war strategy and not the strain faced by the soldiers.
Gen. George Casey's remarks contrasted sharply with statements made on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who disputed findings of an unreleased study conducted for the Pentagon that said the Army is overextended because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush shrugged off the report Thursday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=56
Report Finds Future of Army In Danger; Rumsfeld Responds By Blaming Clinton
Yesterday, former Defense Secretary William Perry released a study that found that “the strain of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is endangering the nation.” A copy of the report is available here. The Perry study came on the heels of an official Pentagon study that came to a similar conclusion. Even the top U.S. commander in Iraq recognizes the military is overstretched.
Everyone seems to acknowledge the problem except Donald Rumsfeld. The Secretary of Defense defiantly claimed: “The force is not broken. … I just can’t imagine someone looking at the United States armed forces today and suggesting that they’re close to breaking. That’s just not the case.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/26/perry-report/
Security breached at chemical weapons arsenal
Three enter restricted zone; guards inspecting vehicles leaving facility
Associated Press
WHITE HALL, Ark. - The Army stepped up security at an arsenal where chemical weapons are stored after three people entered a restricted zone, officials said Wednesday.
The security measures were taken as a precaution at the Pine Bluff Arsenal after the intrusion at a forested federal preserve 30 miles south of Little Rock. Officials didn’t know what the three people were doing there, spokeswoman Cheryl Avery said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5645
Open Letter To Chris Matthews
http://openlettertochrismatthews.blogspot.com/
The Boston Globe
Gulf reefs damaged by Rita, warm waters
By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer January 27, 2006
NEW ORLEANS --Hurricane Rita's pounding waves and a hotter-than-usual Gulf of Mexico took a toll on the Gulf of Mexico's only government-protected coral reefs about 100 miles off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
Besides hardcore divers and offshore oil workers, few people see the multicolored reefs, manta rays, lobsters, sharks and fish of all stripes that dart in and out of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
But it is an important feature in the Gulf. Loggerhead sea turtles call it home, for example, and it is one of the few places in the world where hammerhead sharks school.
The reefs, which began to form up to 15,000 years ago, are the northernmost coral reefs in the United States and gained sanctuary status in 1992. Roughly 2,500 divers visit them each year.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/27/gulf_reefs_damaged_by_rita_warm_waters/
Judge rips state on care for mentally ill children
Ruling requires more home-based aid for the poor
By Scott Allen, Globe Staff January 27, 2006
Massachusetts has illegally forced thousands of mentally ill children ''to endure unnecessary confinement in residential facilities" because the state did not provide adequate care for them at home, a federal judge ruled yesterday, handing a major legal victory to advocates for low-income children who rely on the state-run Medicaid program for their healthcare.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/01/27/judge_rips_state_on_care_for_mentally_ill_children/
Youth movement
Provincetown tries to attract younger residents as its year-round population ages, declines
By Cristina Silva, Globe Staff January 27, 2006
PROVINCETOWN-- Its year-round population declining and its economy sagging like a wet beach bag, Provincetown has a new worry: It's getting old.
With its colorful art galleries and Bohemian personalities, Provincetown has long been a mecca for gay travelers. But town officials worry that its population is graying and that it needs younger visitors and their disposable incomes to pump up the local economy.
In the last year, the Provincetown tourism office has begun running flashy ads in gay and lesbian magazines that cater to readers under 40, such as Instinct, Genre, Curve, 411 Magazine, and Out Traveler. It has also advertised in more traditional gay- friendly publications such as the Boston Phoenix.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/01/27/youth_movement/
Hearing draws opposing views on wind power project
January 27, 2006
LONDONDERRY, Vt. --The debate over wind energy in Vermont was up-close and personal for many of those gathered for a public hearing on a proposed wind power project.
The Windham Regional Commission, which hosted Thursday night's session at the Flood Brook Elementary School, announced it had concluded that a proposal for 19, 420-foot wind turbines on Glebe Mountain did not comport with the town plan.
A partnership comprising Catamount Energy and Japan-based Marubeni Power International has estimated that the project, planned for a ridge line extending from Londonderry into neighboring Windham, would generate up to 47.5 megawatts of power.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/01/27/hearing_draws_opposing_views_on_wind_power_project/
Yankee over radiation limit
January 27, 2006
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --A 20 percent increase in the power output of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant could result in the plant violating Vermont's standards for radiation releases by as much as 26 percent, the state Health Department has concluded.
Vermont Yankee officials dispute the state's method for measuring radiation emanating from the plant, and Vermont's health commissioner said Thursday that the state's 30-year-old limit for radiation measured at the plant's fence line may be too low.
The method for measuring existing radiation releases has been in dispute even as the plant gears up to raise its power output from a rated capacity of 540 megawatts to 650 megawatts -- a move that is expected to raise the amount of radiation emitted from the plant.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/01/27/state_higher_power_may_put_yankee_over_radiation_limit/
UN body backs $100 laptop for world's kids
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The United Nations has thrown its weight behind a project to place a $100, hand-cranked laptop computer in the hands of millions of schoolchildren around the globe.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will sign a partnership agreement with the head of the project, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Nicholas Negroponte, in the Alpine ski resort of Davos on Saturday, officials said.
Davos is hosting the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a gathering of top politicians, economists and business executives.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/01/26/un_body_backs_100_laptop_for_worlds_kids/
Judge denies father's records request in case of missing daughter
January 27, 2006
HAVERHILL, N.H. --A New Hampshire judge denied a Massachusetts man's request to see police files in the case of his daughter, who disappeared nearly two years ago.
Maura Murray went missing after a minor car accident in Haverhill in February 2004.
Fred Murray, of Hanson, Mass., believes his daughter was a victim of foul play and has hired private detectives to investigate the case.
Murray claims police, the attorney general and the governor violated state and federal public information laws by not releasing the investigative files. He went before a judge last week to ask for access to those files.
The state argued that a missing person investigation has the potential to become a criminal case, so details that could compromise the investigation can't be made public.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/01/27/judge_denies_fathers_records_request_in_case_of_missing_daughter/
50 flavorful, affordable wines
By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent October 19, 2005
Here are all the $10-and-under wines tasted, with notes for the whites and reds that made the tasters' lists and others the group thought interesting. Countries of origin are included in parentheses, followed by the shop the wines came from (check your local store for availability).
http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2005/10/19/50_flavorful_affordable_wines/?p1=MEWell_Pos4
Varsity girls hockey a no-go
January 27, 2006
HOOKSETT, N.H. --New Hampshire high schools won't participate in girls varsity hockey next season. That's the decision from New Hampshire's Interscholastic Athletic Association, which said Thursday that not enough teams had stepped up to warrant recognizing the sport for girls.
The association needs eight teams to make the sport viable at the varsity level. But only six schools have stepped forward with teams. Those were Bishop Geurtin, in Nashua, Hanover High School, Oyster River, in Durham, Saint Thomas, in Dover, and Souhegan High School, in Amherst.
The association says considering the shortage of teams, the soonest girls varsity hockey could begin would be the 2007-2008 season.
In the meantime, girls high school hockey teams will continue to play a club schedule.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/01/27/varsity_girls_hockey_a_no_go/
Minor earthquake shakes central Utah
January 27, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY --A minor earthquake shook part of central Utah, officials said. There were no reports of injury or damage.
The quake, which measured magnitude 3.8, happened Thursday at 11:47 p.m. in Castle Valley, said Walter Arabasz, director of the University of Utah Seismograph Stations.
A quake of magnitude 4.0 can do moderate damage.
Arabasz said the epicenter was 8 miles east-southeast of Castle Dale and 30 miles south of Price in an unpopulated area of the San Rafael Swell.
The earthquake occurred in the same area as a magnitude 5.3 earthquake in August 1988.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/27/minor_earthquake_shakes_central_utah/
Judge to rule on merit of Christ case
By Marta Falconi, Associated Press Writer January 27, 2006
VITERBO, Italy --An Italian judge heard arguments Friday on whether a small-town parish priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed.
The priest's atheist accuser, Luigi Cascioli, says the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people for 2,000 years with a fable that Christ existed, and that the Rev. Enrico Righi violated two Italian laws by reasserting the claim.
Lawyers for Righi and Cascioli, old schoolmates, made their arguments in a brief, closed-door hearing before Judge Gaetano Mautone in Viterbo, north of Rome. They said they expected the judge to decide quickly.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/01/27/judge_to_rule_on_merit_of_christ_case/
Class watches '40-year-Old Virgin' movie
January 26, 2006
LEXINGTON, Ky. --Showing the R-rated movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" during high school Spanish class this week resulted in suspension for the teacher, who later resigned.
Fernando Del Pino was suspended with pay Tuesday for showing the movie to students at Lexington's Tates Creek High School a day earlier, said Lisa Deffendall, spokeswoman for Fayette County Public Schools. He resigned Thursday.
Del Pino, who was hired in August, said he decided to show the film after a student brought it to class and said it "was very funny," the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Friday.
The movie is about a 40-year-old single man whose friends try to help him gain experience in sex.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/01/26/class_watches_40_year_old_virgin_movie/
Adult diaper sales soar in China
January 24, 2006
SHANGHAI, China --Alongside food and fire crackers, Chinese are adding a new item to their lunar New Year shopping: Adult diapers. Sales have soared ahead of the holiday as travelers prepare for long trips home aboard trains so crowded that even the toilets are jammed with people, newspapers said Tuesday.
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/01/24/adult_diaper_sales_soar_in_china/
Alaska revives aerial wolf control program
By Jeannette J. Lee, Associated Press Writer January 27, 2006
ANCHORAGE, Alaska --The state reinstated a population control program Thursday that allows shooting wolves from the air -- more than a week after a judge ruled it was illegal.
The program was reinstated after the Board of Game filed new regulations passed in response to Superior Court judge Sharon Gleason's concerns.
"They are effective immediately," said Annette Kreitzer, chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Loren Leman.
Gleason ruled last week that the board violated its own standards for expanding the program, in part because it did not provide justification for it or explain why alternatives such as sterilization or habitat destruction would not work.
The program, intended to boost moose and caribou populations in five areas of the state, got its start in 2003 in an area of Alaska's Interior where residents had long complained predators were killing too many moose, leaving too few for food.
In an emergency meeting Wednesday, the board scrapped its existing regulations and created new ones that list alternatives it considers unfeasible, primarily because they are expensive. The board will seek to make the new rules permanent at a regular public meeting in March.
Animal rights groups fighting to shut down the program may return to court to argue that the process of rewriting the rules was illegal.
"We do not regard it as an emergency when an agency needs to adopt regulations to fix a problem of its own making," said Jim Reeves, the lawyer representing Darien, Conn.-based Friends of Animals and seven Alaska plaintiffs.
About 400 wolves have been killed so far under the program, which permits pilot and gunner teams to shoot the wolves from the air. The state intends to kill another 400 wolves this year.
Alaska is home to the largest remaining population of gray wolves in the country. State biologists estimate about 7,000 to 11,000 wolves roam the state.
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On the Net:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game: http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfgwolf.main
Friends of Wolves: http://www.wolfsanctum.org/current--events.html
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/01/27/alaska_revives_aerial_wolf_control_program/
This was no surprise to me. The focus of the PA has always been to 'bring Hamas on board. It succeeded. It succeeded so much that they were completely displaced and with militant leaders from Iran demanding to destroy Israel the rhetoric of Hamas only reverted to it's original tone. As a matter of fact, Hamas control has been growing in strenght over the years while Bush has been in office. This really is not a surprise so much as the world finally said, "Oops." As long as I can remember, I have been extremely cautious about welcoming democracy into the Middle East. The Middle East is not conducive to it yet. The change has to come from within and through efforts by people willing to be first peaceful. Democracy develops, it is not hatched. Progression takes a long time. Unfortunately. The Bush ultimatum of democracy or war is hideous, destabilizing and an opportunity for exactly this to happen.
Hamas victory fuels uncertainty
Militant group faces choices
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas's surprising landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections upended Middle East politics yesterday, making the militant group that has long sworn to destroy Israel a principal player in Palestinian governance.
The entire Palestinian Cabinet resigned even before election officials confirmed that Hamas had captured 76 of 132 seats. Fatah, the longtime ruling party founded by Yasser Arafat, won just 43 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, with the remaining 13 going to smaller parties and independents, according to nearly complete returns.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/01/27/hamas_victory_fuels_uncertainty/
The editorials have some interesting points but is too generous in the potential of peace at any point along the way. If the violent groups of the area is because of oppression then it doesn't really matter as their force and incidiousness is so much a nemesis it blots out any reason for removing the oppression. In addition, there is an inherent error in not realizing some of the 'so called oppression' is really cultural choice and or cultural/religious demands. King Abdullah of Jordan has the right idea in identifying the 'opportunity' to be different by allowing such a broad diversity of 'interpretation' of the Islamic Laws and religious precepts. There is only one Mohammad but yet so many 'authority' voices saying so many different things. Add to that the fact the Middle East has to adapt to demands of growing populations, ridiculous demographics with small elderly populations, it's global attention for control of oil and the fact Earth is less friendly than ever anticipated; then and only then will one realize the genius in Abdullah who has harnessed the cultural turbulence and sought retribution against it seeking a far more peaceful Middle East.
The Hamas test
January 27, 2006
THE STUNNING victory of Hamas in Palestinian legislative elections may be attributed to several causes, among them the corruption of the Fatah movement, the failure of Israel to help validate the peaceful, pragmatic policies of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Bush administration's slowness to help Abbas prove to his people that his temperate ways could improve daily life and lead to an end of Israeli occupation.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/01/27/the_hamas_test/
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