Ocean current turbines proposed for Northern Ireland.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Government offer 'green grants'
The Wind Turbines of Germany.
Details of a multi-million pound scheme to promote renewable energy in Northern Ireland have been announced.
NI Secretary Peter Hain said almost £60m has been set aside for the scheme.
The scheme includes grants worth up to 50% for homeowners to install items such as solar heating and systems for geothermal energy.
Morning Papers - continued ...
The Jordan Times
Fortunes of a barbershop mirror Baghdad's high and lows
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — There was hope when Saddam Hussein's statue came tumbling down outside Qais Al Sharaa's barbershop. Most of his customers dreamed of a better life.
Three years later, they show up with guns and bodyguards.
Al Sharaa barbershop sits on the corner of Firdous Square, where the most lasting image of the Iraq invasion unfolded — US Marines, cheered by a throng of Iraqis, hauling down a statue of the fallen ruler on April 9, 2003.
Life in his modest but clean shop — three reclining chairs and eight more for waiting customers — reflects Baghdad's transformation over the last three years. The sign outside offers Jacuzzi and sauna — nonexistent for now but indicative of the high hopes the owner once had.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news7.htm
US to maintain vital aid to Palestinians
RAMALLAH (AP) — A senior US envoy promised on Saturday to continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people even after a Hamas government is formed, in the first-high level meeting between the two sides since the Islamic fighters' surprise election victory.
The US and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority's main donors, have threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in financial backing if Hamas doesn't abandon its violent campaign against Israel.
With that threat looming, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who favours peacemaking with Israel, again warned in comments published Saturday that he would quit if Hamas didn't change its ways.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news2.htm
Coming to terms
Is the world slowly coming to terms with Hamas' victory? The initial ill-thought-through, knee-jerk Western reaction would seem to have left room for little wriggle, and apparently some calm has descended upon a rather emotive stance.
Yesterday, US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the US would not end assistance to the Palestinian people, but that this would be made available through nongovernmental organisations rather than direct funding to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority for as long as Hamas refuses to recognise Israel, etc., etc.
Since a substantial amount of US aid is given directly to infrastructure projects outside the PA, in other words, Washington, for all its bluster, appears to have started reconciling itself with the new democratic Palestinian reality.
Elsewhere, the United Nations is also taking a pragmatic stand, with UN envoy Alvaro de Soto urging donors not to dry up funds to the PA, indeed to make up for the shortfall expected next month when Israel has said it will not make a monthly payment it owes the PA of the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA.
Finally, the EU will release the admittedly minuscule amount of just over $100,000 next week to the interim Palestinian government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/opinion/opinion1.htm
Jordanian hostage arrives home after two-month ordeal
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — A Jordanian embassy driver held hostage for two months in Iraq was greeted by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Saturday on his return to the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General Khalid Sarayreh and senior officials were also at the airport to welcome Mahmoud Saaidat, as well as several of his family members and friends.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, the premier, informed Saaidat of the intense efforts to secure his release.
“The relentless efforts and ongoing follow-up from King Abdullah with various government institutions were very successful,” Petra quoted Bakhit as telling Saaidat.
The prime minister also thanked all those who played a part in the release.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews3.htm
Abbas says may resign if peace not pursued
LONDON (Reuters) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will resign if he feels he is no longer in a position to pursue his peacemaking agenda when the new Hamas government takes over.
In an interview to be shown on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby politics programme on Sunday, Abbas accepted there were difficulties posed by Hamas' refusal to acknowledge Israel, but held back from saying directly he would quit if they continued.
"We could reach a point where I cannot perform my duty, then I will not continue sitting in this place, against and in spite of my convictions," he said, speaking in Arabic and dubbed into English.
"If I can do something then I will continue, otherwise I won't. From the beginning, I said ... that if I fail I will resign," he added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news3.htm
Turkish youth discuss dangers of stereotyping
AMMAN (JT) — Common global humanity, dangerous stereotypes and the need for greater understanding were the focal areas of discussion between Her Majesty Queen Rania and a group of Turkish youth during a televised roundtable in Istanbul last week.
The discussion, entitled: The Youth Bridge, comes in the wake of the recent cartoon crisis and forms part of the Queen's efforts to reach out to youth and highlight their role in combating extremism through dialogue and interaction.
The Queen dismissed the clash of civilisations theory between East and West, arguing that there is only a clash of “extremists against all civilisations.”
“There is so much more that brings us together, than there is that separates us,” said the Queen.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews4.htm
Queen promotes Jordanian-Turkish collaboration in Early Childhood Development, Education
Her Majesty Queen Rania with a group of children at the Caglayan Primary School on Thursday (Photo by Nasser Ayoub)
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania explored and promoted Jordanian-Turkish collaborations in the field of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Education during a two-day working trip to Istanbul, which concluded on Friday.
During a press conference on Friday, Her Majesty noted the importance of ensuring access to, and quality of, education for all its children — girls and boys — while commending Turkish initiatives in the field.
Queen Rania and Emine Erdogan, wife of the Turkish prime minister, reiterated the importance of ECD programmes to members of the press.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews2.htm
Japan grants assistance to support NAMH
AMMAN (JT) — The government of Japan will sign an agreement with the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped (NAMH) today to support the organisation's work in providing education and physical care.
The grant agreement, totalling $15,642, will be signed by Matahiro Yamaguchi, chargé d'affaires of the embassy of Japan and Aida Bseiso, president of NAMH, at the association's Centre for Special Education in Amman.
The grant will help furnish the association's educational equipment in order to expand its capacity and reduce the number of students on the waiting list, according to a statement by the Japanese embassy.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews7.htm
Arab parliamentarians call on member states to ratify anti-terrorism agreement
King Abdullah voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life
His Majesty King Abdullah with heads of the Arab delegations attending the 12th AIPU conference on Monday (Photo by Yousef Allan)
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
THE DEAD SEA — The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) political committee on Monday called on member states of the Arab League to ratify the 1998 Arab anti-terrorism agreement and consolidate efforts to uproot terrorism.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the biannual AIPU conference being held at the Dead Sea, the committee noted that only eight members of the Arab League have so far ratified the agreement.
On April 22, 1998, officials from 22 Arab countries signed for the first time an accord to fight terrorism and extremism.
The agreement calls on Arab countries to deny refuge, training and financial or military support to groups that launch attacks on other Arab nations.
The signatories also promised to exchange information on terrorist groups.
But so far only Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority have ratified the agreement.
The committee yesterday also urged Arab parliamentarians to lobby the international community to hold an international conference on terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations.
The committee stressed the importance of coming up with a clear definition of terrorism.
“We must differentiate between terrorism and the right to legitimate resistance,” said the committee.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the right to fight occupying forces in Iraq stand at the heart of the dispute when it comes to defining terrorism.
While the Arab and Islamic worlds support the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation, the US and its allies label most of the Palestinian factions as terrorist organisations.
Speaking on behalf of Jordan's delegation, Senator Taher Masri told Arab parliamentarians to stand united against “blind terrorism,” pointing out that Jordan had recently suffered as a victim of such “despicable acts.”
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali inaugurated the 12th AIPU conference on Monday with a call for Arab unity.
During the two-day conference, Arab lawmakers will focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iraqi situation and the global war on terror.
Also yesterday, Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Salim Zanoun offered an olive branch to Kuwait in order to put an end to 16 years of severed relations.
Zanoun said he was ready to visit Kuwait and apologise to the Kuwaiti people for the Palestinian leadership's support for the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
“I am ready to visit Kuwait and offer my apology if that would bring relations between the two sides back to normal and consolidate Arab unity,” he said.
Kuwaiti delegates at the AIPU said they were “surprised” by Zanoun's comments.
The Kuwait delegation is expected to issue an official statement on the proposal today.
As a result of the PLO's support for Iraq's invasion, over 300,000 Palestinian expatriates were kicked out of Kuwait after the American- led liberation in 1991, and Kuwait cut off all aid to the PLO.
King receives Arab parliamentarians
King Abdullah held a lunch banquet for heads of the Arab delegations on Monday, where he voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life.
The King also received Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa to discuss issues on the agenda of the upcoming Arab summit, to be held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in late March.
The King said the summit comes at a time when the Arab nation is facing exceptional and critical challenges.
He urged Arab countries to support the ongoing political process in Iraq to help the country preserve its security and national unity.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/homenews/homenews1.htm
The Washington Post
Iraq Death Toll Higher Than First Thought
Violence Unleashed Last Week Killed More Than 1,300
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 7:12 PM
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- sprawled, blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies had their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
Morgue Count Eclipses Other Tallies Since Shrine Attack
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Coast Guard Had Concerns on Port Deal
By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Monday, February 27, 2006; 6:21 PM
WASHINGTON -- Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port operations might support terrorist operations.
The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports.
The Bush administration said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal, which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved.
The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700202.html
Governors Lobby Bush About Guard
White House Ensures Funds, Equipment
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A04
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought yesterday to allay concerns among the nation's governors about funding and restructuring of the National Guard, but governors in both parties later said the administration must do more to satisfy them fully.
Governors were united in their opposition to what they regard as cuts in Guard funding in Bush's fiscal 2007 budget as well as fears that the Pentagon has been slow to replace equipment that has been shipped to Iraq with state Guard units. Early this month, all 50 governors signed a letter opposing the new budget and calling on Defense Department officials to reequip returning units as quickly as possible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701274.html
Middle East Envoy Warns of Palestinian Authority Collapse
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 12:45 PM
JERUSALEM, Feb. 27 -- A special Middle East envoy, James D. Wolfensohn, has warned international donors that the Palestinian Authority could collapse within two weeks unless fresh funding can be found to pay salaries, clear overdue energy bills and sustain government services financed largely by foreign aid.
In a Feb. 25 letter addressed to senior diplomats from Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, Wolfensohn said Israel's decision to withhold the sales tax and customs fees it collects for the Palestinian Authority has pushed the caretaker government to the brink of insolvency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700514.html
Court Blocks DOD's New Rules for Workers
Collective Bargaining Hurt, Judge Says
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
A federal judge blocked the Defense Department from implementing much of its new personnel system yesterday, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its efforts to streamline work rules and install pay-for-performance systems in federal workplaces.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701394.html
Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
Charities Faced With Difficult Decisions and Countless Requests as They Spend What Is Left
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01
Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601383.html
Senate Draft on Lobbying Clamps Down on Earmarks
Rules Panel Would Target Narrow Spending and Require Prompt Disclosure of Meals Received
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A07
The Senate Rules Committee plans today to draft legislation that would make it harder for lawmakers to win narrowly focused appropriations and tax breaks called earmarks and to compel lawmakers to quickly disclose any meals they accept from lobbyists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701241.html
In Fire's Wake, Logging Study Inflames Debate
University Study Challenges Cutting Of Burnt Timber
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A03
MEDFORD, Ore. -- If fire ravages a national forest, as happened here in southwest Oregon when the Biscuit fire torched a half-million acres four years ago, the Bush administration believes loggers should move in quickly, cut marketable trees that remain and replant a healthy forest.
"We must quickly restore the areas that have been damaged by fire," President Bush said in Oregon four years ago after touring damage from the Biscuit fire. He called it "common sense."
Common sense, though, may not always be sound science. An Oregon State University study has raised an extraordinary ruckus in the Pacific Northwest this winter by saying that logging burned forests does not make much sense.
Logging after the Biscuit fire, the study found, has harmed forest recovery and increased fire risk. What the short study did not say -- but what many critics of the Bush administration are reading into it -- is that the White House has ignored science to please the timber industry. The study is consistent with research findings from around the world that have documented how salvage logging can strip burned forests of the biological diversity that fire and natural recovery help protect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601287.html
He's Welcome In Pakistan
By Ahmed Rashid
Sunday, February 26, 2006; Page B01
LAHORE When President Bush lands in Islamabad later this week, it may be the closest he ever comes to being in the same neighborhood as Osama bin Laden. His nemesis is probably only a few hours drive away in Pakistan's Pashtun belt, now considered to be al Qaeda Central and one of the world's most dangerous regions.
During the past 12 months or so, CIA and Pentagon officials have quietly modified the line they employed for three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- that bin Laden was hiding out "in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border." Now the same officials say with some confidence that he is "not based in Afghanistan." Whatever ambiguity there was in the past is gone: Bin Laden is in Pakistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401639.html
IAEA: Iran Advancing Uranium Enrichment
Report Noncommittal On Pursuit of Arms
By Molly Moore and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A10
PARIS, Feb. 27 -- Iran is advancing its uranium enrichment program, but the U.N. atomic monitoring organization still cannot determine whether the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons, according to an agency report made public on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency "has not seen any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a report to the IAEA's board. But the agency was not "in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran," the report added.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701326.html
The New Zealand Herald
Armed forces on standby to tackle water wars
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Ben Russell and Nigel Morris
LONDON - Across the world, they are coming: the water wars.
From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict.
Yesterday, Britain's Defence Secretary, John Reid, pointed to the factor hastening the violent collision between a rising world population and a shrinking world water resource: global warming.
In a grim first intervention in the climate-change debate, the Defence Secretary issued a bleak forecast that violence and political conflict would become more likely in the next 20 to 30 years as climate change turned land into desert, melted ice fields and poisoned water supplies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370420
Searchers concentrate on area around missing tourist's pack
28.02.06 1.00pm
Police are concentrating on a small area of Arthur's Pass, as they continue their search today for missing British tourist Elizabeth Margaret Thomson.
Ms Thomson, 55, of Kent, England, has not been seen since Saturday, and police search and rescue teams are back today combing the area.
Ms Thomson failed to return from a day tramp in the Arthur's Pass National Park.
Groups of searchers with dogs have been scouring the area since the alarm was raised on Sunday and they headed back out again this morning.
Trampers found her backpack on Sunday on the Mount Aicken track at about 1700m above sea level.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370411
Funding gap for Auckland balloons to $700m
28.02.06 4.00pm
Public transport developments in Auckland are being threatened by a massive funding shortfall.
The Auckland Regional Council has today announced a funding gap of at least $700 million - and possibly a lot more.
Chairman Mike Lee said without the money, the city's public transport system cannot be improved to the level Aucklanders are crying out for.
It will mean delays to increases in bus and rail services.
The ARC will not be looking to raise rates to pay for the shortfall - it believes anything more than the current proposed increase of 4.9 per cent is beyond the limits of public acceptance. It already spends about half its rates take on public transport.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370426
Inmates allowed to watch violent movies
27.02.06 1.00pm
Prison inmates have been allowed to watch R-rated movies glorifying hard-core violence, nudity, drug abuse and jail breaks, according to a National MP.
The Dominion-Post reported the Corrections Department was breaching its own policy on what movies inmates can watch.
The newspaper said inmates were allowed to watch films during recreation time in their cells or common rooms, but those with R-ratings were supposed to be banned.
A list of films released to National MP Simon Power, included the R18 rated Quentin Tarantino-directed flick Kill Bill, Unspeakable, in which a psychopath goes on a murderous rampage with a razor, and Blow, the true story of a career drug dealer who teaches other inmates how to smuggle cocaine while in prison.
Other films shown were Wild Things 2 and Gone in 60 Seconds, which police had blamed for copycat car thefts.
Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor said there was a breach in policy and his department would implement "a vigorous vetting process".
The department made similar promises in 2002 when it was revealed inmates were frequently allowed to watch R-rated films.
Public Prisons Service acting general manager Bob Calland said staff had been reminded of the policy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370266
Australia still stalled over Iraqi wheat market
27.02.06
By Nick Olivari
BAGHDAD - Australia's Deputy Prime Minister leaves Baghdad with an Iraqi promise to buy Australian wheat, but not from monopoly exporter AWB Ltd.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said his country was ready to buy Australian wheat, but would not overturn a decision to suspend dealings with AWB pending an inquiry into allegations it paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein.
"We are ready to buy Australian wheat and hope to come to some kind of arrangement where we can satisfactorily do that without jeopardising the Cole investigation and its results," Chalabi said after meeting his Australian counterpart.
"We are sure the Australian government will take steps to address the interests of Australian farmers and also the interests of exporting Australian wheat to the world."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10370282
Militants seize parts of Afghan jail, 30 injured
27.02.06 9.00am
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - Taleban and al Qaeda inmates armed with makeshift weapons took control of parts of Kabul's main jail and at least 30 prisoners were wounded in efforts to quell the riot, officials said today.
Bursts of gunfire were heard from the high security Pul-i-Charkhi prison after hundreds of police and troops surrounded the prison on the Afghan capital's eastern outskirts.
A police officer at the scene said seven prisoners were killed but his account could not be independently confirmed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370259
Afghans hopeful for peaceful end to prison standoff
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - The Afghan government said today it hoped for a peaceful resolution to a revolt by hundreds of inmates of Kabul's main prison.
Four prisoners have been killed and 38 wounded since more than 1,000 prisoners took over parts of the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on Kabul's eastern outskirts on Saturday, prisoners told a human rights lawyer.
The revolt is led by Taleban commanders and a kidnap gang leader facing a death sentence for the kidnap of an Italian aid worker last year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370414
German spies helped US
28.02.06 8.20am
German intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which was passed on to US commanders a month before the 2003 invasion, The New York Times reported.
The plan gave the Americans an extraordinary window into how Saddam planned to deploy his most loyal troops. Germany was among European nations against the Iraq war.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370373
Zapped man ignites
28.02.06 7.20am
A 50,000 volt burst from a police Taser gun set an American man on fire when the jolt ignited a butane cigarette lighter in his shirt pocket.
Florida's Sun Sentinel newspaper said officers zapped the man when he refused to drop a knife then threw him to the ground and rolled him around till the flames went out. The 53-year-old man was treated for minor burns and two self-inflicted stab wounds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370377
Taiwan no closer to unification with China
28.02.06 1.20pm
TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian today scrapped a policy-making body on unification with China and 15-year-old symbolic guidelines on eventual unification, a move that has riled Beijing and drew an appeal from Washington to preserve the status quo.
While the move was almost certain to complicate reunion and fuel tensions, Chen said it did not mean Taiwan would push for formal independence.
"Taiwan has no intention of changing the status quo and firmly opposes any use of non-peaceful means that will cause the status quo to change," Chen said after a meeting with his top national security advisers.
Chen, keen to shake off Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, declared the National Unification Council has "ceased to function" and guidelines on unification have "ceased to apply".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370424
Australian 'never planned' to join terrorists
28.02.06 1.00pm
Jack Thomas, the first person to be convicted under Australia's new terrorism laws, has told ABC TV's Four Corners program that he never planned to take part in terrorism.
In an exclusive interview, the man dubbed "Jihad Jack" says top Al Qaeda operatives asked him to work for the terrorist organisation in Australia but he declined.
Yesterday, the Victorian Supreme Court found the 32-year-old from Werribee guilty of receiving funds from Al Qaeda and of falsifying his passport.
Thomas, who is in custody awaiting sentencing, says he did not think he was committing a crime by accepting a plane ticket home to Australia.
"I didn't feel that I had committed any crimes apart from changing my passport," he said.
"All I wanted to do was get home."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370418
Flight attendant panics as jet falls 8000ft in seconds
28.02.06 11.20am
By Martin Hickman
An investigation has been launched into claims that a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant panicked during a turbulent flight and repeatedly shouted to passengers: "We're crashing."
Pandemonium broke out on the flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it was hit by storms and plummeted thousands of feet in seconds.
A man was hurled to the top of the cabin and others clung to seats from the aisle because of the violent swaying of the plane.
But passengers became more alarmed when an attendant at the rear of the Boeing 747 began screaming.
Claire Daley, one of 451 people on board, hoped the crew would calm her nerves.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370421
Don't worry, be happy and drink lots of cocoa
28.02.06
By Steve Connor
Men who are blessed with a sunny disposition and a predilection for a cup of cocoa before bedtime are also likely to live longer, scientists have discovered.
Two separate studies in the Netherlands have found that regular cocoa drinkers have lower blood pressure than non-drinkers and that an optimistic outlook helps you to avoid heart disease.
Both studies looked at large numbers of men between the ages of 64 and 85 who were interviewed about their lifestyles in order to tease out any associations with potentially lethal diseases.
Brian Buijsse of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven investigated the cocoa-drinking habits of 470 elderly men, whereas Erik Giltay of the Institute of Mental Health in Deft looked at levels of optimism among 545 men of a similar age.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370441
continued …
Fortunes of a barbershop mirror Baghdad's high and lows
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — There was hope when Saddam Hussein's statue came tumbling down outside Qais Al Sharaa's barbershop. Most of his customers dreamed of a better life.
Three years later, they show up with guns and bodyguards.
Al Sharaa barbershop sits on the corner of Firdous Square, where the most lasting image of the Iraq invasion unfolded — US Marines, cheered by a throng of Iraqis, hauling down a statue of the fallen ruler on April 9, 2003.
Life in his modest but clean shop — three reclining chairs and eight more for waiting customers — reflects Baghdad's transformation over the last three years. The sign outside offers Jacuzzi and sauna — nonexistent for now but indicative of the high hopes the owner once had.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news7.htm
US to maintain vital aid to Palestinians
RAMALLAH (AP) — A senior US envoy promised on Saturday to continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people even after a Hamas government is formed, in the first-high level meeting between the two sides since the Islamic fighters' surprise election victory.
The US and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority's main donors, have threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in financial backing if Hamas doesn't abandon its violent campaign against Israel.
With that threat looming, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who favours peacemaking with Israel, again warned in comments published Saturday that he would quit if Hamas didn't change its ways.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news2.htm
Coming to terms
Is the world slowly coming to terms with Hamas' victory? The initial ill-thought-through, knee-jerk Western reaction would seem to have left room for little wriggle, and apparently some calm has descended upon a rather emotive stance.
Yesterday, US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the US would not end assistance to the Palestinian people, but that this would be made available through nongovernmental organisations rather than direct funding to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority for as long as Hamas refuses to recognise Israel, etc., etc.
Since a substantial amount of US aid is given directly to infrastructure projects outside the PA, in other words, Washington, for all its bluster, appears to have started reconciling itself with the new democratic Palestinian reality.
Elsewhere, the United Nations is also taking a pragmatic stand, with UN envoy Alvaro de Soto urging donors not to dry up funds to the PA, indeed to make up for the shortfall expected next month when Israel has said it will not make a monthly payment it owes the PA of the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA.
Finally, the EU will release the admittedly minuscule amount of just over $100,000 next week to the interim Palestinian government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/opinion/opinion1.htm
Jordanian hostage arrives home after two-month ordeal
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — A Jordanian embassy driver held hostage for two months in Iraq was greeted by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Saturday on his return to the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General Khalid Sarayreh and senior officials were also at the airport to welcome Mahmoud Saaidat, as well as several of his family members and friends.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, the premier, informed Saaidat of the intense efforts to secure his release.
“The relentless efforts and ongoing follow-up from King Abdullah with various government institutions were very successful,” Petra quoted Bakhit as telling Saaidat.
The prime minister also thanked all those who played a part in the release.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews3.htm
Abbas says may resign if peace not pursued
LONDON (Reuters) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will resign if he feels he is no longer in a position to pursue his peacemaking agenda when the new Hamas government takes over.
In an interview to be shown on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby politics programme on Sunday, Abbas accepted there were difficulties posed by Hamas' refusal to acknowledge Israel, but held back from saying directly he would quit if they continued.
"We could reach a point where I cannot perform my duty, then I will not continue sitting in this place, against and in spite of my convictions," he said, speaking in Arabic and dubbed into English.
"If I can do something then I will continue, otherwise I won't. From the beginning, I said ... that if I fail I will resign," he added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news3.htm
Turkish youth discuss dangers of stereotyping
AMMAN (JT) — Common global humanity, dangerous stereotypes and the need for greater understanding were the focal areas of discussion between Her Majesty Queen Rania and a group of Turkish youth during a televised roundtable in Istanbul last week.
The discussion, entitled: The Youth Bridge, comes in the wake of the recent cartoon crisis and forms part of the Queen's efforts to reach out to youth and highlight their role in combating extremism through dialogue and interaction.
The Queen dismissed the clash of civilisations theory between East and West, arguing that there is only a clash of “extremists against all civilisations.”
“There is so much more that brings us together, than there is that separates us,” said the Queen.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews4.htm
Queen promotes Jordanian-Turkish collaboration in Early Childhood Development, Education
Her Majesty Queen Rania with a group of children at the Caglayan Primary School on Thursday (Photo by Nasser Ayoub)
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania explored and promoted Jordanian-Turkish collaborations in the field of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Education during a two-day working trip to Istanbul, which concluded on Friday.
During a press conference on Friday, Her Majesty noted the importance of ensuring access to, and quality of, education for all its children — girls and boys — while commending Turkish initiatives in the field.
Queen Rania and Emine Erdogan, wife of the Turkish prime minister, reiterated the importance of ECD programmes to members of the press.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews2.htm
Japan grants assistance to support NAMH
AMMAN (JT) — The government of Japan will sign an agreement with the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped (NAMH) today to support the organisation's work in providing education and physical care.
The grant agreement, totalling $15,642, will be signed by Matahiro Yamaguchi, chargé d'affaires of the embassy of Japan and Aida Bseiso, president of NAMH, at the association's Centre for Special Education in Amman.
The grant will help furnish the association's educational equipment in order to expand its capacity and reduce the number of students on the waiting list, according to a statement by the Japanese embassy.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews7.htm
Arab parliamentarians call on member states to ratify anti-terrorism agreement
King Abdullah voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life
His Majesty King Abdullah with heads of the Arab delegations attending the 12th AIPU conference on Monday (Photo by Yousef Allan)
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
THE DEAD SEA — The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) political committee on Monday called on member states of the Arab League to ratify the 1998 Arab anti-terrorism agreement and consolidate efforts to uproot terrorism.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the biannual AIPU conference being held at the Dead Sea, the committee noted that only eight members of the Arab League have so far ratified the agreement.
On April 22, 1998, officials from 22 Arab countries signed for the first time an accord to fight terrorism and extremism.
The agreement calls on Arab countries to deny refuge, training and financial or military support to groups that launch attacks on other Arab nations.
The signatories also promised to exchange information on terrorist groups.
But so far only Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority have ratified the agreement.
The committee yesterday also urged Arab parliamentarians to lobby the international community to hold an international conference on terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations.
The committee stressed the importance of coming up with a clear definition of terrorism.
“We must differentiate between terrorism and the right to legitimate resistance,” said the committee.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the right to fight occupying forces in Iraq stand at the heart of the dispute when it comes to defining terrorism.
While the Arab and Islamic worlds support the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation, the US and its allies label most of the Palestinian factions as terrorist organisations.
Speaking on behalf of Jordan's delegation, Senator Taher Masri told Arab parliamentarians to stand united against “blind terrorism,” pointing out that Jordan had recently suffered as a victim of such “despicable acts.”
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali inaugurated the 12th AIPU conference on Monday with a call for Arab unity.
During the two-day conference, Arab lawmakers will focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iraqi situation and the global war on terror.
Also yesterday, Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Salim Zanoun offered an olive branch to Kuwait in order to put an end to 16 years of severed relations.
Zanoun said he was ready to visit Kuwait and apologise to the Kuwaiti people for the Palestinian leadership's support for the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
“I am ready to visit Kuwait and offer my apology if that would bring relations between the two sides back to normal and consolidate Arab unity,” he said.
Kuwaiti delegates at the AIPU said they were “surprised” by Zanoun's comments.
The Kuwait delegation is expected to issue an official statement on the proposal today.
As a result of the PLO's support for Iraq's invasion, over 300,000 Palestinian expatriates were kicked out of Kuwait after the American- led liberation in 1991, and Kuwait cut off all aid to the PLO.
King receives Arab parliamentarians
King Abdullah held a lunch banquet for heads of the Arab delegations on Monday, where he voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life.
The King also received Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa to discuss issues on the agenda of the upcoming Arab summit, to be held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in late March.
The King said the summit comes at a time when the Arab nation is facing exceptional and critical challenges.
He urged Arab countries to support the ongoing political process in Iraq to help the country preserve its security and national unity.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/homenews/homenews1.htm
The Washington Post
Iraq Death Toll Higher Than First Thought
Violence Unleashed Last Week Killed More Than 1,300
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 7:12 PM
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- sprawled, blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies had their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
Morgue Count Eclipses Other Tallies Since Shrine Attack
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Coast Guard Had Concerns on Port Deal
By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Monday, February 27, 2006; 6:21 PM
WASHINGTON -- Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port operations might support terrorist operations.
The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports.
The Bush administration said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal, which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved.
The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700202.html
Governors Lobby Bush About Guard
White House Ensures Funds, Equipment
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A04
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought yesterday to allay concerns among the nation's governors about funding and restructuring of the National Guard, but governors in both parties later said the administration must do more to satisfy them fully.
Governors were united in their opposition to what they regard as cuts in Guard funding in Bush's fiscal 2007 budget as well as fears that the Pentagon has been slow to replace equipment that has been shipped to Iraq with state Guard units. Early this month, all 50 governors signed a letter opposing the new budget and calling on Defense Department officials to reequip returning units as quickly as possible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701274.html
Middle East Envoy Warns of Palestinian Authority Collapse
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 12:45 PM
JERUSALEM, Feb. 27 -- A special Middle East envoy, James D. Wolfensohn, has warned international donors that the Palestinian Authority could collapse within two weeks unless fresh funding can be found to pay salaries, clear overdue energy bills and sustain government services financed largely by foreign aid.
In a Feb. 25 letter addressed to senior diplomats from Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, Wolfensohn said Israel's decision to withhold the sales tax and customs fees it collects for the Palestinian Authority has pushed the caretaker government to the brink of insolvency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700514.html
Court Blocks DOD's New Rules for Workers
Collective Bargaining Hurt, Judge Says
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
A federal judge blocked the Defense Department from implementing much of its new personnel system yesterday, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its efforts to streamline work rules and install pay-for-performance systems in federal workplaces.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701394.html
Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
Charities Faced With Difficult Decisions and Countless Requests as They Spend What Is Left
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01
Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601383.html
Senate Draft on Lobbying Clamps Down on Earmarks
Rules Panel Would Target Narrow Spending and Require Prompt Disclosure of Meals Received
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A07
The Senate Rules Committee plans today to draft legislation that would make it harder for lawmakers to win narrowly focused appropriations and tax breaks called earmarks and to compel lawmakers to quickly disclose any meals they accept from lobbyists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701241.html
In Fire's Wake, Logging Study Inflames Debate
University Study Challenges Cutting Of Burnt Timber
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A03
MEDFORD, Ore. -- If fire ravages a national forest, as happened here in southwest Oregon when the Biscuit fire torched a half-million acres four years ago, the Bush administration believes loggers should move in quickly, cut marketable trees that remain and replant a healthy forest.
"We must quickly restore the areas that have been damaged by fire," President Bush said in Oregon four years ago after touring damage from the Biscuit fire. He called it "common sense."
Common sense, though, may not always be sound science. An Oregon State University study has raised an extraordinary ruckus in the Pacific Northwest this winter by saying that logging burned forests does not make much sense.
Logging after the Biscuit fire, the study found, has harmed forest recovery and increased fire risk. What the short study did not say -- but what many critics of the Bush administration are reading into it -- is that the White House has ignored science to please the timber industry. The study is consistent with research findings from around the world that have documented how salvage logging can strip burned forests of the biological diversity that fire and natural recovery help protect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601287.html
He's Welcome In Pakistan
By Ahmed Rashid
Sunday, February 26, 2006; Page B01
LAHORE When President Bush lands in Islamabad later this week, it may be the closest he ever comes to being in the same neighborhood as Osama bin Laden. His nemesis is probably only a few hours drive away in Pakistan's Pashtun belt, now considered to be al Qaeda Central and one of the world's most dangerous regions.
During the past 12 months or so, CIA and Pentagon officials have quietly modified the line they employed for three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- that bin Laden was hiding out "in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border." Now the same officials say with some confidence that he is "not based in Afghanistan." Whatever ambiguity there was in the past is gone: Bin Laden is in Pakistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401639.html
IAEA: Iran Advancing Uranium Enrichment
Report Noncommittal On Pursuit of Arms
By Molly Moore and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A10
PARIS, Feb. 27 -- Iran is advancing its uranium enrichment program, but the U.N. atomic monitoring organization still cannot determine whether the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons, according to an agency report made public on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency "has not seen any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a report to the IAEA's board. But the agency was not "in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran," the report added.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701326.html
The New Zealand Herald
Armed forces on standby to tackle water wars
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Ben Russell and Nigel Morris
LONDON - Across the world, they are coming: the water wars.
From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict.
Yesterday, Britain's Defence Secretary, John Reid, pointed to the factor hastening the violent collision between a rising world population and a shrinking world water resource: global warming.
In a grim first intervention in the climate-change debate, the Defence Secretary issued a bleak forecast that violence and political conflict would become more likely in the next 20 to 30 years as climate change turned land into desert, melted ice fields and poisoned water supplies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370420
Searchers concentrate on area around missing tourist's pack
28.02.06 1.00pm
Police are concentrating on a small area of Arthur's Pass, as they continue their search today for missing British tourist Elizabeth Margaret Thomson.
Ms Thomson, 55, of Kent, England, has not been seen since Saturday, and police search and rescue teams are back today combing the area.
Ms Thomson failed to return from a day tramp in the Arthur's Pass National Park.
Groups of searchers with dogs have been scouring the area since the alarm was raised on Sunday and they headed back out again this morning.
Trampers found her backpack on Sunday on the Mount Aicken track at about 1700m above sea level.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370411
Funding gap for Auckland balloons to $700m
28.02.06 4.00pm
Public transport developments in Auckland are being threatened by a massive funding shortfall.
The Auckland Regional Council has today announced a funding gap of at least $700 million - and possibly a lot more.
Chairman Mike Lee said without the money, the city's public transport system cannot be improved to the level Aucklanders are crying out for.
It will mean delays to increases in bus and rail services.
The ARC will not be looking to raise rates to pay for the shortfall - it believes anything more than the current proposed increase of 4.9 per cent is beyond the limits of public acceptance. It already spends about half its rates take on public transport.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370426
Inmates allowed to watch violent movies
27.02.06 1.00pm
Prison inmates have been allowed to watch R-rated movies glorifying hard-core violence, nudity, drug abuse and jail breaks, according to a National MP.
The Dominion-Post reported the Corrections Department was breaching its own policy on what movies inmates can watch.
The newspaper said inmates were allowed to watch films during recreation time in their cells or common rooms, but those with R-ratings were supposed to be banned.
A list of films released to National MP Simon Power, included the R18 rated Quentin Tarantino-directed flick Kill Bill, Unspeakable, in which a psychopath goes on a murderous rampage with a razor, and Blow, the true story of a career drug dealer who teaches other inmates how to smuggle cocaine while in prison.
Other films shown were Wild Things 2 and Gone in 60 Seconds, which police had blamed for copycat car thefts.
Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor said there was a breach in policy and his department would implement "a vigorous vetting process".
The department made similar promises in 2002 when it was revealed inmates were frequently allowed to watch R-rated films.
Public Prisons Service acting general manager Bob Calland said staff had been reminded of the policy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370266
Australia still stalled over Iraqi wheat market
27.02.06
By Nick Olivari
BAGHDAD - Australia's Deputy Prime Minister leaves Baghdad with an Iraqi promise to buy Australian wheat, but not from monopoly exporter AWB Ltd.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said his country was ready to buy Australian wheat, but would not overturn a decision to suspend dealings with AWB pending an inquiry into allegations it paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein.
"We are ready to buy Australian wheat and hope to come to some kind of arrangement where we can satisfactorily do that without jeopardising the Cole investigation and its results," Chalabi said after meeting his Australian counterpart.
"We are sure the Australian government will take steps to address the interests of Australian farmers and also the interests of exporting Australian wheat to the world."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10370282
Militants seize parts of Afghan jail, 30 injured
27.02.06 9.00am
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - Taleban and al Qaeda inmates armed with makeshift weapons took control of parts of Kabul's main jail and at least 30 prisoners were wounded in efforts to quell the riot, officials said today.
Bursts of gunfire were heard from the high security Pul-i-Charkhi prison after hundreds of police and troops surrounded the prison on the Afghan capital's eastern outskirts.
A police officer at the scene said seven prisoners were killed but his account could not be independently confirmed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370259
Afghans hopeful for peaceful end to prison standoff
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - The Afghan government said today it hoped for a peaceful resolution to a revolt by hundreds of inmates of Kabul's main prison.
Four prisoners have been killed and 38 wounded since more than 1,000 prisoners took over parts of the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on Kabul's eastern outskirts on Saturday, prisoners told a human rights lawyer.
The revolt is led by Taleban commanders and a kidnap gang leader facing a death sentence for the kidnap of an Italian aid worker last year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370414
German spies helped US
28.02.06 8.20am
German intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which was passed on to US commanders a month before the 2003 invasion, The New York Times reported.
The plan gave the Americans an extraordinary window into how Saddam planned to deploy his most loyal troops. Germany was among European nations against the Iraq war.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370373
Zapped man ignites
28.02.06 7.20am
A 50,000 volt burst from a police Taser gun set an American man on fire when the jolt ignited a butane cigarette lighter in his shirt pocket.
Florida's Sun Sentinel newspaper said officers zapped the man when he refused to drop a knife then threw him to the ground and rolled him around till the flames went out. The 53-year-old man was treated for minor burns and two self-inflicted stab wounds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370377
Taiwan no closer to unification with China
28.02.06 1.20pm
TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian today scrapped a policy-making body on unification with China and 15-year-old symbolic guidelines on eventual unification, a move that has riled Beijing and drew an appeal from Washington to preserve the status quo.
While the move was almost certain to complicate reunion and fuel tensions, Chen said it did not mean Taiwan would push for formal independence.
"Taiwan has no intention of changing the status quo and firmly opposes any use of non-peaceful means that will cause the status quo to change," Chen said after a meeting with his top national security advisers.
Chen, keen to shake off Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, declared the National Unification Council has "ceased to function" and guidelines on unification have "ceased to apply".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370424
Australian 'never planned' to join terrorists
28.02.06 1.00pm
Jack Thomas, the first person to be convicted under Australia's new terrorism laws, has told ABC TV's Four Corners program that he never planned to take part in terrorism.
In an exclusive interview, the man dubbed "Jihad Jack" says top Al Qaeda operatives asked him to work for the terrorist organisation in Australia but he declined.
Yesterday, the Victorian Supreme Court found the 32-year-old from Werribee guilty of receiving funds from Al Qaeda and of falsifying his passport.
Thomas, who is in custody awaiting sentencing, says he did not think he was committing a crime by accepting a plane ticket home to Australia.
"I didn't feel that I had committed any crimes apart from changing my passport," he said.
"All I wanted to do was get home."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370418
Flight attendant panics as jet falls 8000ft in seconds
28.02.06 11.20am
By Martin Hickman
An investigation has been launched into claims that a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant panicked during a turbulent flight and repeatedly shouted to passengers: "We're crashing."
Pandemonium broke out on the flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it was hit by storms and plummeted thousands of feet in seconds.
A man was hurled to the top of the cabin and others clung to seats from the aisle because of the violent swaying of the plane.
But passengers became more alarmed when an attendant at the rear of the Boeing 747 began screaming.
Claire Daley, one of 451 people on board, hoped the crew would calm her nerves.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370421
Don't worry, be happy and drink lots of cocoa
28.02.06
By Steve Connor
Men who are blessed with a sunny disposition and a predilection for a cup of cocoa before bedtime are also likely to live longer, scientists have discovered.
Two separate studies in the Netherlands have found that regular cocoa drinkers have lower blood pressure than non-drinkers and that an optimistic outlook helps you to avoid heart disease.
Both studies looked at large numbers of men between the ages of 64 and 85 who were interviewed about their lifestyles in order to tease out any associations with potentially lethal diseases.
Brian Buijsse of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven investigated the cocoa-drinking habits of 470 elderly men, whereas Erik Giltay of the Institute of Mental Health in Deft looked at levels of optimism among 545 men of a similar age.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370441
continued …
Monday, February 27, 2006
Morning Papers - concluded
Zoos
Machang site for country’s biggest zoo
MACHANG: The country's biggest zoo will be built here under the 9th Malaysia Plan.
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Sazmi Miah said a 40ha site in Bukit Baka had been identified for the RM25mil zoo.
“The project is expected to start in the middle or end of the year,” he told reporters after a meet the people session in Kampung Pangkal Petai on Saturday .
Sazmi said the proposed Machang Zoo would be three times bigger than the National Zoo in Hulu Klang, Kuala Lumpur.
He said there were also plans to house endangered species and some 300 fish species there.
He said it would have recreational facilities to attract tourists.
When completed, it was expected to attract 400,000 visitors and generate various benefits for local residents such as job and business opportunities, he added. – Bernama
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/27/southneast/13511011&sec=southneast
City Zoo comes out with novel plan
Monday February 27 2006 09:49 IST
VISAKHAPATNAM: Children, villages, trees, parks...and now, it is turn for animals. Yes, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), Visakhapatnam has come up with a novel theme of adopting wild animals.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) accorded to adopt 10 tigers of zoo, for which, it (HPCL) would pay Rs 3 lakh per annum.
With the maintenance and care of animals in the IGZP becoming quite an expensive affair, the zoo management invited donors to contribute for the welfare of the animals to tide over the financial crunch.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20060226232814&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0
Furry Remains Shake Up Jurassic Thinking
The beaver-like animal indicates mammals played a greater role than long believed.
From Associated Press
February 25 2006
The discovery of the remains of a furry, beaver-like animal that lived at the time of dinosaurs has overturned more than a century of scientific thinking about Jurassic mammals.
The find shows that the role of mammals in the time of dinosaurs was greater than previously thought, said Zhe-Xi Luo, curator of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
The animal is the earliest swimming mammal to have been found and was the most primitive mammal to be preserved with fur, which is important to helping keep a constant body temperature, Luo said.
For a century, the stereotype of mammals living in that era has been of tiny, shrew-like creatures scurrying about in the underbrush trying to avoid the giant creatures that dominated the planet, Luo said.
Now, a research team that included Luo has found that 164 million years ago, a mammal with a flat, scaly tail like a beaver, vertebrae like an otter and teeth like a seal was swimming in lakes and eating fish, according to their report in the current issue of the journal Science.
The team, led by Qiang Ji of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing, discovered the remains in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
Thomas Martin of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, said the discovery pushed back the mammal conquest of the waters by about 100 million years.
It's the first evidence that some ancient mammals were semiaquatic, indicating a greater diversification than previously thought, the researchers said.
Modern semiaquatic mammals such as beavers and otters and aquatic mammals like whales did not appear until between 55 million years ago and 25 million years ago, they said.
The new animal is not related to modern beavers or otters but has features similar to them. Thus the researchers named it Castorocauda lutrasimilis: castoro from the Latin for beaver, cauda for tail, lutra for river otter and similis meaning similar.
Weighing 1.1 to 1.7 pounds, about the size of a small female platypus, Castorocauda is also the largest-known Jurassic early mammal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-beaver25feb25,1,6157261.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Farewell to the Olympic Circus
From the Associated Press 11:51 a.m.
Spectators in Turin donned devil and angel masks in a closing ceremony doubling as Carnevale.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/
Zoo comment was insensitive, even if Patterson disagrees
Web-posted Feb 26, 2006
Al Elvin
Of The Oakland Press
Sometimes in the discussion about race, there is more to it than just black and white. There is gray, as well. Take, for instance, a recent remark by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
"(The Detroit City Council) belongs in the zoo, not deciding the future of the zoo," Patterson said in an interview last week about the Detroit Zoo. Its future looked bleak after the council shot down a plan that would have meant saving the landmark.
Patterson called the plan a "no-brainer" and subsequently chided the council for not approving it.
While not completely a racist comment, yet definitely not void of any racial overtones, Patterson's zoo remark falls into that proverbial gray area. Such a comment, one that Patterson dismissed as "typical Patterson humor," is not funny at all.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/022606/loc_2006022604.shtml
Meet the National Zoo's babies
By Joe Heim
THE WASHINGTON POST
They won't come right out and say it, but the whispers at the National Zoo about panda baby Tai Shan have grown louder over the winter.
"He's spoiled," one whined.
"He's had a free ride," snipped another.
And that was just the animals.
Oh, relax Tai Shan, we're just playing. It's just that panda fever that has gripped the nation, so it would be hard to blame the other animals for feeling overshadowed. After all, no one is scalping naked mole rat-viewing tickets on eBay. And they don't offer king vulture handbags at the zoo's gift shop.
We thought it was time to give some of the lesser-known youngsters at the zoo their due. So, here are some other new arrivals that you can visit without having to elbow past the pandarazzi. Check out the zoo's Web cam at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/
PREHENSILE-TAILED PORCUPINE
Born on Feb. 8, the porcupette (seriously, that's what you call a baby porcupine) is already on public view and is the fourth in the zoo's current collection of prehensile-tailed porcupines.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/living/13944428.htm
National group says Garden City zoo's elephants need of more space
GARDEN CITY, Kan. A national animal rights group is citing two Texas zoos as part of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The Mill Valley, California-based non-profit singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos and seeks changes in related federal rules.
Those are the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; Cameron Park Zoo in Waco; Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona; Los Angeles Zoo; and Abilene Zoo.
The group has filed a complaint with the U-S Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. They want an inspection, but an agriculture department spokesman said it'll take a few months to respond.
http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=4553520
In Kansas
Group: Elephants need more space
by staff, AP reports
2/26/06
GARDEN CITY, Kan. - A national animal-rights group has cited Garden City's zoo as one of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals, based in Mill Valley, Calif., charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The group singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos, including Garden City's Lee Richardson Zoo, and seeks change in pertinent federal rules.
The group filed its complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. Agriculture department spokesman Jim Rogers said a preliminary response could be a couple of months away. In Defense, a nonprofit group, focuses on a range of animal issues, through protest, grassroots mobilization and legislative lobbying.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=230644&c=87
National group says Garden City zoo's elephants need of more space
Associated Press
GARDEN CITY, Kan. - A national animal rights group has cited Garden City's zoo as one of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals, based in Mill Valley, Calif., charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The group singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos, including Garden City's Lee Richardson Zoo, and seeks change in pertinent federal rules.
The group filed its complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. Agriculture department spokesman Jim Rogers said a preliminary response could be a couple of months away. In Defense, a non-profit group, focuses on a range of animal issues, through protest, grassroots mobilization and legislative lobbying.
The group's petition, filed in early February, asks the government to respond within six months. The petition asks the USDA to inspect several zoos where elephants have arthritis and foot disease.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/13961818.htm
Pandas strain finances at U.S. zoos
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The four U.S. zoos that house giant pandas say the animals are putting too much strain on their finances.
They want to renegotiate future loan agreements with China, saying it may make more sense to send the animals back to China after contracts expire, the Washington Times reported.
The zoos in Atlanta, Memphis, Washington and San Diego each pay more than $1 million a year for what the Chinese government says is a fund to protect endangered animals. In addition, China charges the zoos a one-time fee of about $600,000 each time a panda cub, such as Tai Shan, is born, the newspaper said.
Zoo officials say the loan fees and money required for upkeep take away funds from other species that also need protection.
The National Zoo in Washington joined with the three other zoos to open an informal dialogue with China regarding a new contract. They hope a less-expensive agreement can be reached, the newspaper said.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060226-101858-5821r
Young red pandas debuting at Taipei Zoo (updated 12:12 a.m.)
Residents in Taiwan will have the opportunity to meet two young red pandas beginning today at the Taipei Zoo, which will hold celebration activities at 10 a.m.
The debut of the pair of red pandas, gifts from Japan, coincides with the celebrations of the forthcoming traditional Japanese Girls' Day (March 3) to mark the families' best wishes for healthy and happy lives for their daughters.
The two red pandas -- the male named Tsang Tsang and the female named Hsiao Chin -- came last October from Japan, who gave a total of four of the cute animals to Taipei.
The red panda (Ailurus fulgens, Latin for "fire colored cat") or the lesser panda, is a mostly herbivorous mammal, slightly larger than a domestic cat (60 cm long).
Its classification is uncertain. It was formerly classified in the raccoon family (Procyonidae), but now many experts classify it as a member of the bear family (Ursidae) or in its own family, the Ailuridae.
The most recent DNA research places the red panda in its own family, within the superfamily Mustelidae. It is not closely related to bears, but more so to the mustelid, skunk and procyonid families.
It is native to the Himalayas and southern China. A handful of fossils have also been discovered in North America.
Its Western name is taken from a Himalayan language, possibly Nepalese, but its meaning is uncertain. One theory is that "panda" is an anglicization of "poonya", which means "eater of bamboo." The red panda is also commonly known as the Wah because of its distinctive cry. This name was given to it by Thomas Hardwicke, when he introduced it to Europeans in 1821.
Like the giant panda originated in China, it eats large amounts of bamboo. The red panda, however, has a digestive system more suited to a carnivorous diet and cannot digest cellulose, so it must consume a large volume of bamboo to survive.
Its diet also includes fruit, roots, acorns and lichen, and red pandas are known to supplement their diet with young birds, eggs, small rodents and insects on occasion, according to experts.
Captive red pandas readily eat meat. They are excellent climbers and forage largely in trees. They do little more than eat and sleep due to their low-calorie diet.
The red panda has semi-retractile claws and a "false thumb," really an extension of the wrist bone. Thick fur on the soles of the feet offers protection from cold and hides scent glands. A popularity boom in Japan for the species has occurred due to red pandas at two different zoos being able to stand bipedal.
The species is endangered, largely because of habitat loss, though there is also some illegal hunting. Red pandas are often killed for their coats to make fur hats and clothes. Also, because of the growing population in China, their habitats are knocked down in order to build houses. Approximately 10,000 pandas die per year, and approximately 7,000 of the 10,000 die from deforestation.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=35820
Lahore Zoo to have pair of giraffes after 14 years
Web posted at: 2/26/2006 2:24:32
LAHORE: The Lahore Zoo is buying a pair of giraffes after 14 years.
The pair, worth Rs12.5 million, is among 23 animals being bought by the zoo, including monkeys, baboons, addaxes and ostriches. The last giraffe died 14 years ago after swallowing a plastic bag.
According to the zoo management, there is no guarantee that the new giraffes would not have the same accident.
“Although plastic bags are banned in the zoo, the public still manages to bring them in,” said Lahore Zoo Director Yousaf Pal. “The media can play an important role in increasing awareness about it.”
The zoo has also purchased a female hippopotamus to mate with the male that it has had for over two decades. A wildlife expert said that there is no point in buying the female hippo, as the male has passed its reproductive age.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=February2006&file=World_News2006022622432.xml
Council won't vote on Detroit Zoo transfer before Friday
February 22, 2006
By MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A vote by the Detroit City Council on the future of the zoo could occur as early as Friday, but no later than next Wednesday, several council members said.
We don't want to drag this out, Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers said Wednesday.
The nine-member council is reviewing the plan reintroduced by Mayor Kwame Kilpatricks administration to spin the zoo off to the Detroit Zoological Society to run.
The city presented the council with a proposal to let the Society run the daily operations of the zoo -- though the city would maintain ownership -- because administration officials say the city can no longer afford the $5 million a year it costs to operate it.
The city is wrestling with a budget shortfall estimated at $100 million.
Council members expected to continue negotiations with the administration by offering proposed changes to the zoo plan Wednesday afternoon.
The issue will be discussed again Thursday morning at the council table.
The council voted down the proposal on Saturday by a 7-2 vote, but since then, members have received hundreds of calls from concerned city and metro area residents who fear the zoo may close.
Because the council rejected the proposal, administration and zoo officials say the zoo could close to the public by May unless a deal is reached.
Council members insist they want to keep the zoo open, but, at the same time, need to make sure the deal is in the best interests of the city.
My son loves the zoo, I cant go home and get beat up, Conyers said. We want to help them out to run the zoo efficiently and properly.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/NEWS11/60222005
City zoo to test birds for flu
HYDERABAD: The bird flu scare and the visit of migratory birds to the Nehru Zoological Park has prompted the authorities here to examine the birds in the zoo for avian influenza.
According to zoo director V Kishan, feathers and fecal samples are being sent to the Veterinary and Biology Research Institute (VBRI) to check for bird flu.
There are three aviaries in the zoo with nearly 20 bird cages and about 50 varieties of birds, including macaws,
parrots, peacocks and pheasants.
But the zoo is also home to scores of migratory birds, which, as some suspect, could have carried the flu to India. Hence, the authorities have decided to take precautions and have put in place measures to prevent an outbreak.
The zoo workers who are employed at the aviaries are now applying disinfectants before and after going anywhere near the enclosures. The cages and their surroundings are also being sprayed with disinfectants.
After reports came in about bird flu, the zoo officials had held a meeting with VBRI scientists on whether the birds should be vaccinated. But they were advised against it.
If the flu scare has affected anyone, it is the big cats. The tigers and other big cats, who are usually fed beef, were given chicken occasionally to break the monotony. But following the flu scare, the zoo has stopped feeding them chickens.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424967.cms
Zoo letting chimps put hammer down
Primates are given a tool they can use
By James Janega
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 22, 2006
Looking for the perfect primitive hammer, Steve Ross left no stone unturned.
Ross, an ape behaviorist, wants to see if the chimps and gorillas at Lincoln Park Zoo can learn to crack nuts with heavy objects, a benchmark in primate tool use.
For this, he needed a "hammer" strong enough to open nuts but not too dangerous. Loose rocks could be heaved through windows. Quartz breaks when bashed.
But die-cast metal is tough and can be secured with chains. And fruit and vegetables seemed like they might be about the right size.
That is how, after six months of varying attempts, Ross wound up fashioning aluminum into the shape of a potato.
"I looked at turnips, apples. We looked at everything," he said.
The tools were introduced to zoo chimps Tuesday--aluminum potatoes as hammers, a concrete pad as an anvil. On Wednesday, Ross will demonstrate from behind a heavy cage door how to smack a macadamia nut to get at the meat inside.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearnorthwest/chi-0602220047feb22,1,1319906.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearnorthwest-hed
TV's 'Golden Girl' in LA zoo honour
Betty White, whose many TV roles included Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, was honoured by the Los Angeles Zoo for her commitment to animals.
The zoo made the Emmy-winning star an Ambassador to the Animals at a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A bronze plaque will be placed next to the zoo's gorilla exhibit, home to White's favourite animal.
"Betty has such a big heart and a beautiful spirit. She is a 'Golden Girl' in every sense of the word," Villaraigosa said, referring to White's role in the former TV series, which ran from 1985 to 1992.
White, 84, joked that the honour would make her "tough to live with from now on".
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do as ambassador, except to love the animals as I have all my life," she said.
White has served for more than three decades on the Morris Animal Foundation and the board of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, and has been a zoo commissioner for eight years.
She also has written two animal-related books and received the Humane Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
"She's the real deal," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=276312006
Zoo hysteria high as elephant's eye
By John Grogan
Inquirer Columnist
It might be easy to write off as a nutty extremist Marianne Bessey, the animal-rights activist who has been banned from the Philadelphia Zoo.
Easy, that is, until you look into the eyes of the giant, majestic beasts she so zealously - some might say hysterically - champions.
Until you look into the eyes of a captive elephant.
There is something there. Something more than docile existence. There is intelligence, fierce intelligence. No question about it. Even the zoo's own Web site notes the animal's innate smarts. Is it my imagination, or is there also sadness in those eyes?
Sadness and longing?
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13970310.htm
So, should we be wild about zoos?
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/56856.html
Jerusalem zoo puts giraffe on birth control
Family planning introduced in order to curb fertile female
Giraffes stands in the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem on Thursday. After the giraffe population tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of Jerusalem, the most fertile female Shavit has been put on birth control.
JERUSALEM - Staff at Jerusalem Zoo have introduced birth control in a bid to curb a giraffe population boom.
The number of giraffes has tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of the city, according to officials and a 5-year-old female has been mostly to blame.
The most fertile female, Shavit, has now been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11539155/
48 different gorilla cultures thrive at American zoos
February 20, 2006
BY ANDREW BRIDGES
ST. LOUIS -- Captive gorillas actually are a cultured bunch.
Genetics or environment alone cannot explain variations in the behavior of different groups of the apes, a study found.
Behavioral surveys of the roughly 370 gorillas in U.S. zoos showed 48 variations in how individual groups of the apes make signals, use tools and seek comfort, said Tara Stoinski of Zoo Atlanta and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
''What became very obvious is there is a very distinct pattern of similarities and differences between groups,'' Stoinski said.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gor20.html
Egypt closes eight state-run zoos
Published: Monday, 20 February, 2006, 1
1:30 AM Doha Time
CAIRO: The Egyptian authorities have closed Cairo zoo and seven other state-run zoos around the country for two weeks to prevent the spread of bird flu after cases of the H5N1 virus were detected on Thursday.
Cairo zoo manager Talaat Sidraus told Reuters yesterday that zoo workers has immediately started disinfecting bird cages.
Witnesses saw dead and sick birds inside the zoo grounds yesterday but it was not immediately clear if they had bird flu.
Large flocks of egrets and other wild birds live in the trees in and around the zoo.
The authorities have reported cases of bird flu in seven provinces, stretching from Dakahlia in the northeast of the Nile Delta to Qena in the far south.
At least 10,000 birds have been culled at a chicken farm north of Cairo.
Yesterday, merchants who normally slaughter and sell live chickens on the street had closed in compliance with a ban. Some remained open but had few customers.
No human cases have been diagnosed in Egypt. – Reuters
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=73551&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Pandas eat bamboo, zoos' budgets
By BRENDA GOODMAN
The New York Times
JESSIE COHEN / AP
Tai Shan, a giant panda cub at the National Zoo, nuzzles his mother, Mei Xiang. The public has snapped up tickets to see the cub, who was born last year.
ATLANTA — Lun Lun and Yang Yang have needs. They require an expensive all-vegetarian diet — 84 pounds a day, each. They are attended by a four-person entourage, and both crave privacy. Would-be divas could take notes.
But the real sticker shock comes from the fees Zoo Atlanta and three other U.S. zoos must each pay the Chinese government: $2 million a year to rent a pair of pandas.
Zoo Atlanta Chief Executive Dennis Kelly's financial headache is one familiar to Hollywood's booking agents, but decidedly more novel to conservationists. He says Lun Lun and Yang Yang, the park's giant pandas, are draining the institution's coffers faster than they can be replenished, even though they are the zoo's star attractions.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002800208_panda12.html
Melbourne Zoo's friends among animals
Sarah Wotherspoon
24feb06
SHE may not be able to talk to the animals, but she can tell you an awful lot about them.
As a voluntary guide, Fran Pfeiffer has a wealth of knowledge about the animal kingdom at Melbourne Zoo.
Vice-president of Friends of the Zoos, a support group for Victoria's three zoos, Ms Pfeiffer has been volunteering at the Royal Park site for 15 years.
And although she's in no hurry to stop helping, Ms Pfeiffer is looking for new guides to take tours at Melbourne Zoo.
"You have to love animals and you have to love people," she said.
"The guides on the properties take the tours with the public.
"Anyone who comes in has someone to talk to everywhere in the zoo."
New guides, who must be members of Friends of the Zoos, will join a 700-strong team spread over Melbourne, Werribee and Healesville.
"Being able to work in the most wonderful environment and meeting the animals and heaps of people is great," Ms Pfeiffer said.
Net link: www.zoo.org.au/fotz
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18250174%255E2862,00.html
Zoo growth plan enrages animal welfare groups
ANIMAL welfare organisations have condemned Edinburgh Zoo's plans to add elephants and manatees to its collection and continue keeping polar bears.
The zoo, which is one of Scotland's top tourist attractions, announced the £58 million expansion plan this week, which will see the park divided into four "biome" zones, joined by a railway.
Included in the redesign are plans to introduce new animals, including several endangered species, and to continue keeping polar bears, which the zoo previously admitted were unsuited to living in captivity.
Conservation groups including the RSPCA, the Born Free Foundation, Marine Connection, Animal Concern and the Orangutan Survival Foundation all expressed concern about the plans unveiled by the zoo.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=291552006
Council postpones Detroit Zoo talks
February 24, 2006
By MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Detroit City Council postponed until Monday discussions on changes to a plan to keep the Detroit Zoo open by turning over its daily operations to the Detroit Zoological Society.
The council was to discuss the topic Friday afternoon.
The council voted down the plan 7-2 last Saturday and has since been caught in a whirlwind of controversy and complaints from metro area residents concerned about the zoos future.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatricks administration says under its plan the city keeps ownership of the zoo, but turns over the daily management to the society. Administration officials say because of the citys budget crisis, it can not afford the average $5 million it costs the city to operate the zoo.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060224/NEWS11/60224010
Man accused of trying to steal sheep from Arkansas zoo
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A homeless man who police say tried to take a sheep from the Little Rock Zoo has been arrested.
A security guard at the zoo called police Tuesday evening after spotting a man carrying a trash can with a sheep in it, according to a police report.
Grady Allen Carnahan, 32, told officers he was a doctor and the sheep was sick, the report said. He said he was taking the animal to a veterinary clinic.
Carnahan fought with the officers as they tried to take him into custody, police said.
He was arrested on a felony charge of violating an animal facility and on misdemeanor charges.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-sheep24.html
Elephant rights activist banned from zoo
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An animal-rights activist was banned from the Philadelphia Zoo for online comments directed at the facility's chief executive.
Marianne Bessey, leader of Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, wrote in an Internet chat room called the Elephant Connection about Dulary, an elephant kept in a concrete barn since August. She said zoo director Alexander L. "Pete" Hoskins might suffer nightmares about Dulary, a 42-year-old, injured elephant in his care, and might indeed be past his own life expectancy, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The zoo notified police of Bessey's remarks.
Bessey and her supporters want the zoo's four elephants, currently housed in a small yard and an 1,800-square-foot barn, moved to a preserve in Tennessee where they can roam freely.
Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco zoos have closed elephant exhibits amid controversy about their habitats.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060224-015432-3445r
Council won't vote on Detroit Zoo transfer before Friday
A vote by the Detroit City Council on the future of the zoo could occur as early as Friday, but no later than next Wednesday, several council members said.
“We don’t want to drag this out,” Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers said Wednesday.
The nine-member council is reviewing the plan reintroduced by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s administration to spin the zoo off to the Detroit Zoological Society to run.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/NEWS11/60222005
City zoo to test birds for flu
HYDERABAD: The bird flu scare and the visit of migratory birds to the Nehru Zoological Park has prompted the authorities here to examine the birds in the zoo for avian influenza.
According to zoo director V Kishan, feathers and fecal samples are being sent to the Veterinary and Biology Research Institute (VBRI) to check for bird flu.
There are three aviaries in the zoo with nearly 20 bird cages and about 50 varieties of birds, including macaws,
parrots, peacocks and pheasants.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424967.cms
Zoo letting chimps put hammer down
Primates are given a tool they can use
By James Janega
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 22, 2006
Looking for the perfect primitive hammer, Steve Ross left no stone unturned.
Ross, an ape behaviorist, wants to see if the chimps and gorillas at Lincoln Park Zoo can learn to crack nuts with heavy objects, a benchmark in primate tool use.
For this, he needed a "hammer" strong enough to open nuts but not too dangerous. Loose rocks could be heaved through windows. Quartz breaks when bashed.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearnorthwest/chi-0602220047feb22,1,1319906.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearnorthwest-hed
TV's 'Golden Girl' in LA zoo honour
Betty White, whose many TV roles included Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, was honoured by the Los Angeles Zoo for her commitment to animals.
The zoo made the Emmy-winning star an Ambassador to the Animals at a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A bronze plaque will be placed next to the zoo's gorilla exhibit, home to White's favourite animal.
"Betty has such a big heart and a beautiful spirit. She is a 'Golden Girl' in every sense of the word," Villaraigosa said, referring to White's role in the former TV series, which ran from 1985 to 1992.
White, 84, joked that the honour would make her "tough to live with from now on".
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=276312006
concluding ...
Machang site for country’s biggest zoo
MACHANG: The country's biggest zoo will be built here under the 9th Malaysia Plan.
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Sazmi Miah said a 40ha site in Bukit Baka had been identified for the RM25mil zoo.
“The project is expected to start in the middle or end of the year,” he told reporters after a meet the people session in Kampung Pangkal Petai on Saturday .
Sazmi said the proposed Machang Zoo would be three times bigger than the National Zoo in Hulu Klang, Kuala Lumpur.
He said there were also plans to house endangered species and some 300 fish species there.
He said it would have recreational facilities to attract tourists.
When completed, it was expected to attract 400,000 visitors and generate various benefits for local residents such as job and business opportunities, he added. – Bernama
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/27/southneast/13511011&sec=southneast
City Zoo comes out with novel plan
Monday February 27 2006 09:49 IST
VISAKHAPATNAM: Children, villages, trees, parks...and now, it is turn for animals. Yes, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), Visakhapatnam has come up with a novel theme of adopting wild animals.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) accorded to adopt 10 tigers of zoo, for which, it (HPCL) would pay Rs 3 lakh per annum.
With the maintenance and care of animals in the IGZP becoming quite an expensive affair, the zoo management invited donors to contribute for the welfare of the animals to tide over the financial crunch.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20060226232814&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0
Furry Remains Shake Up Jurassic Thinking
The beaver-like animal indicates mammals played a greater role than long believed.
From Associated Press
February 25 2006
The discovery of the remains of a furry, beaver-like animal that lived at the time of dinosaurs has overturned more than a century of scientific thinking about Jurassic mammals.
The find shows that the role of mammals in the time of dinosaurs was greater than previously thought, said Zhe-Xi Luo, curator of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
The animal is the earliest swimming mammal to have been found and was the most primitive mammal to be preserved with fur, which is important to helping keep a constant body temperature, Luo said.
For a century, the stereotype of mammals living in that era has been of tiny, shrew-like creatures scurrying about in the underbrush trying to avoid the giant creatures that dominated the planet, Luo said.
Now, a research team that included Luo has found that 164 million years ago, a mammal with a flat, scaly tail like a beaver, vertebrae like an otter and teeth like a seal was swimming in lakes and eating fish, according to their report in the current issue of the journal Science.
The team, led by Qiang Ji of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing, discovered the remains in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
Thomas Martin of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, said the discovery pushed back the mammal conquest of the waters by about 100 million years.
It's the first evidence that some ancient mammals were semiaquatic, indicating a greater diversification than previously thought, the researchers said.
Modern semiaquatic mammals such as beavers and otters and aquatic mammals like whales did not appear until between 55 million years ago and 25 million years ago, they said.
The new animal is not related to modern beavers or otters but has features similar to them. Thus the researchers named it Castorocauda lutrasimilis: castoro from the Latin for beaver, cauda for tail, lutra for river otter and similis meaning similar.
Weighing 1.1 to 1.7 pounds, about the size of a small female platypus, Castorocauda is also the largest-known Jurassic early mammal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-beaver25feb25,1,6157261.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Farewell to the Olympic Circus
From the Associated Press 11:51 a.m.
Spectators in Turin donned devil and angel masks in a closing ceremony doubling as Carnevale.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/
Zoo comment was insensitive, even if Patterson disagrees
Web-posted Feb 26, 2006
Al Elvin
Of The Oakland Press
Sometimes in the discussion about race, there is more to it than just black and white. There is gray, as well. Take, for instance, a recent remark by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
"(The Detroit City Council) belongs in the zoo, not deciding the future of the zoo," Patterson said in an interview last week about the Detroit Zoo. Its future looked bleak after the council shot down a plan that would have meant saving the landmark.
Patterson called the plan a "no-brainer" and subsequently chided the council for not approving it.
While not completely a racist comment, yet definitely not void of any racial overtones, Patterson's zoo remark falls into that proverbial gray area. Such a comment, one that Patterson dismissed as "typical Patterson humor," is not funny at all.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/022606/loc_2006022604.shtml
Meet the National Zoo's babies
By Joe Heim
THE WASHINGTON POST
They won't come right out and say it, but the whispers at the National Zoo about panda baby Tai Shan have grown louder over the winter.
"He's spoiled," one whined.
"He's had a free ride," snipped another.
And that was just the animals.
Oh, relax Tai Shan, we're just playing. It's just that panda fever that has gripped the nation, so it would be hard to blame the other animals for feeling overshadowed. After all, no one is scalping naked mole rat-viewing tickets on eBay. And they don't offer king vulture handbags at the zoo's gift shop.
We thought it was time to give some of the lesser-known youngsters at the zoo their due. So, here are some other new arrivals that you can visit without having to elbow past the pandarazzi. Check out the zoo's Web cam at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/
PREHENSILE-TAILED PORCUPINE
Born on Feb. 8, the porcupette (seriously, that's what you call a baby porcupine) is already on public view and is the fourth in the zoo's current collection of prehensile-tailed porcupines.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/living/13944428.htm
National group says Garden City zoo's elephants need of more space
GARDEN CITY, Kan. A national animal rights group is citing two Texas zoos as part of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The Mill Valley, California-based non-profit singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos and seeks changes in related federal rules.
Those are the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; Cameron Park Zoo in Waco; Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona; Los Angeles Zoo; and Abilene Zoo.
The group has filed a complaint with the U-S Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. They want an inspection, but an agriculture department spokesman said it'll take a few months to respond.
http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=4553520
In Kansas
Group: Elephants need more space
by staff, AP reports
2/26/06
GARDEN CITY, Kan. - A national animal-rights group has cited Garden City's zoo as one of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals, based in Mill Valley, Calif., charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The group singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos, including Garden City's Lee Richardson Zoo, and seeks change in pertinent federal rules.
The group filed its complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. Agriculture department spokesman Jim Rogers said a preliminary response could be a couple of months away. In Defense, a nonprofit group, focuses on a range of animal issues, through protest, grassroots mobilization and legislative lobbying.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=230644&c=87
National group says Garden City zoo's elephants need of more space
Associated Press
GARDEN CITY, Kan. - A national animal rights group has cited Garden City's zoo as one of six zoos nationwide that need to make major changes in how they house elephants.
In Defense of Animals, based in Mill Valley, Calif., charges widespread evidence of chronic foot and joint problems among captive elephants. The group singles out the condition of the animals in six zoos, including Garden City's Lee Richardson Zoo, and seeks change in pertinent federal rules.
The group filed its complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees zoo animal treatment. Agriculture department spokesman Jim Rogers said a preliminary response could be a couple of months away. In Defense, a non-profit group, focuses on a range of animal issues, through protest, grassroots mobilization and legislative lobbying.
The group's petition, filed in early February, asks the government to respond within six months. The petition asks the USDA to inspect several zoos where elephants have arthritis and foot disease.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/13961818.htm
Pandas strain finances at U.S. zoos
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The four U.S. zoos that house giant pandas say the animals are putting too much strain on their finances.
They want to renegotiate future loan agreements with China, saying it may make more sense to send the animals back to China after contracts expire, the Washington Times reported.
The zoos in Atlanta, Memphis, Washington and San Diego each pay more than $1 million a year for what the Chinese government says is a fund to protect endangered animals. In addition, China charges the zoos a one-time fee of about $600,000 each time a panda cub, such as Tai Shan, is born, the newspaper said.
Zoo officials say the loan fees and money required for upkeep take away funds from other species that also need protection.
The National Zoo in Washington joined with the three other zoos to open an informal dialogue with China regarding a new contract. They hope a less-expensive agreement can be reached, the newspaper said.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060226-101858-5821r
Young red pandas debuting at Taipei Zoo (updated 12:12 a.m.)
Residents in Taiwan will have the opportunity to meet two young red pandas beginning today at the Taipei Zoo, which will hold celebration activities at 10 a.m.
The debut of the pair of red pandas, gifts from Japan, coincides with the celebrations of the forthcoming traditional Japanese Girls' Day (March 3) to mark the families' best wishes for healthy and happy lives for their daughters.
The two red pandas -- the male named Tsang Tsang and the female named Hsiao Chin -- came last October from Japan, who gave a total of four of the cute animals to Taipei.
The red panda (Ailurus fulgens, Latin for "fire colored cat") or the lesser panda, is a mostly herbivorous mammal, slightly larger than a domestic cat (60 cm long).
Its classification is uncertain. It was formerly classified in the raccoon family (Procyonidae), but now many experts classify it as a member of the bear family (Ursidae) or in its own family, the Ailuridae.
The most recent DNA research places the red panda in its own family, within the superfamily Mustelidae. It is not closely related to bears, but more so to the mustelid, skunk and procyonid families.
It is native to the Himalayas and southern China. A handful of fossils have also been discovered in North America.
Its Western name is taken from a Himalayan language, possibly Nepalese, but its meaning is uncertain. One theory is that "panda" is an anglicization of "poonya", which means "eater of bamboo." The red panda is also commonly known as the Wah because of its distinctive cry. This name was given to it by Thomas Hardwicke, when he introduced it to Europeans in 1821.
Like the giant panda originated in China, it eats large amounts of bamboo. The red panda, however, has a digestive system more suited to a carnivorous diet and cannot digest cellulose, so it must consume a large volume of bamboo to survive.
Its diet also includes fruit, roots, acorns and lichen, and red pandas are known to supplement their diet with young birds, eggs, small rodents and insects on occasion, according to experts.
Captive red pandas readily eat meat. They are excellent climbers and forage largely in trees. They do little more than eat and sleep due to their low-calorie diet.
The red panda has semi-retractile claws and a "false thumb," really an extension of the wrist bone. Thick fur on the soles of the feet offers protection from cold and hides scent glands. A popularity boom in Japan for the species has occurred due to red pandas at two different zoos being able to stand bipedal.
The species is endangered, largely because of habitat loss, though there is also some illegal hunting. Red pandas are often killed for their coats to make fur hats and clothes. Also, because of the growing population in China, their habitats are knocked down in order to build houses. Approximately 10,000 pandas die per year, and approximately 7,000 of the 10,000 die from deforestation.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=35820
Lahore Zoo to have pair of giraffes after 14 years
Web posted at: 2/26/2006 2:24:32
LAHORE: The Lahore Zoo is buying a pair of giraffes after 14 years.
The pair, worth Rs12.5 million, is among 23 animals being bought by the zoo, including monkeys, baboons, addaxes and ostriches. The last giraffe died 14 years ago after swallowing a plastic bag.
According to the zoo management, there is no guarantee that the new giraffes would not have the same accident.
“Although plastic bags are banned in the zoo, the public still manages to bring them in,” said Lahore Zoo Director Yousaf Pal. “The media can play an important role in increasing awareness about it.”
The zoo has also purchased a female hippopotamus to mate with the male that it has had for over two decades. A wildlife expert said that there is no point in buying the female hippo, as the male has passed its reproductive age.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=February2006&file=World_News2006022622432.xml
Council won't vote on Detroit Zoo transfer before Friday
February 22, 2006
By MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A vote by the Detroit City Council on the future of the zoo could occur as early as Friday, but no later than next Wednesday, several council members said.
We don't want to drag this out, Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers said Wednesday.
The nine-member council is reviewing the plan reintroduced by Mayor Kwame Kilpatricks administration to spin the zoo off to the Detroit Zoological Society to run.
The city presented the council with a proposal to let the Society run the daily operations of the zoo -- though the city would maintain ownership -- because administration officials say the city can no longer afford the $5 million a year it costs to operate it.
The city is wrestling with a budget shortfall estimated at $100 million.
Council members expected to continue negotiations with the administration by offering proposed changes to the zoo plan Wednesday afternoon.
The issue will be discussed again Thursday morning at the council table.
The council voted down the proposal on Saturday by a 7-2 vote, but since then, members have received hundreds of calls from concerned city and metro area residents who fear the zoo may close.
Because the council rejected the proposal, administration and zoo officials say the zoo could close to the public by May unless a deal is reached.
Council members insist they want to keep the zoo open, but, at the same time, need to make sure the deal is in the best interests of the city.
My son loves the zoo, I cant go home and get beat up, Conyers said. We want to help them out to run the zoo efficiently and properly.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/NEWS11/60222005
City zoo to test birds for flu
HYDERABAD: The bird flu scare and the visit of migratory birds to the Nehru Zoological Park has prompted the authorities here to examine the birds in the zoo for avian influenza.
According to zoo director V Kishan, feathers and fecal samples are being sent to the Veterinary and Biology Research Institute (VBRI) to check for bird flu.
There are three aviaries in the zoo with nearly 20 bird cages and about 50 varieties of birds, including macaws,
parrots, peacocks and pheasants.
But the zoo is also home to scores of migratory birds, which, as some suspect, could have carried the flu to India. Hence, the authorities have decided to take precautions and have put in place measures to prevent an outbreak.
The zoo workers who are employed at the aviaries are now applying disinfectants before and after going anywhere near the enclosures. The cages and their surroundings are also being sprayed with disinfectants.
After reports came in about bird flu, the zoo officials had held a meeting with VBRI scientists on whether the birds should be vaccinated. But they were advised against it.
If the flu scare has affected anyone, it is the big cats. The tigers and other big cats, who are usually fed beef, were given chicken occasionally to break the monotony. But following the flu scare, the zoo has stopped feeding them chickens.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424967.cms
Zoo letting chimps put hammer down
Primates are given a tool they can use
By James Janega
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 22, 2006
Looking for the perfect primitive hammer, Steve Ross left no stone unturned.
Ross, an ape behaviorist, wants to see if the chimps and gorillas at Lincoln Park Zoo can learn to crack nuts with heavy objects, a benchmark in primate tool use.
For this, he needed a "hammer" strong enough to open nuts but not too dangerous. Loose rocks could be heaved through windows. Quartz breaks when bashed.
But die-cast metal is tough and can be secured with chains. And fruit and vegetables seemed like they might be about the right size.
That is how, after six months of varying attempts, Ross wound up fashioning aluminum into the shape of a potato.
"I looked at turnips, apples. We looked at everything," he said.
The tools were introduced to zoo chimps Tuesday--aluminum potatoes as hammers, a concrete pad as an anvil. On Wednesday, Ross will demonstrate from behind a heavy cage door how to smack a macadamia nut to get at the meat inside.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearnorthwest/chi-0602220047feb22,1,1319906.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearnorthwest-hed
TV's 'Golden Girl' in LA zoo honour
Betty White, whose many TV roles included Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, was honoured by the Los Angeles Zoo for her commitment to animals.
The zoo made the Emmy-winning star an Ambassador to the Animals at a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A bronze plaque will be placed next to the zoo's gorilla exhibit, home to White's favourite animal.
"Betty has such a big heart and a beautiful spirit. She is a 'Golden Girl' in every sense of the word," Villaraigosa said, referring to White's role in the former TV series, which ran from 1985 to 1992.
White, 84, joked that the honour would make her "tough to live with from now on".
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do as ambassador, except to love the animals as I have all my life," she said.
White has served for more than three decades on the Morris Animal Foundation and the board of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, and has been a zoo commissioner for eight years.
She also has written two animal-related books and received the Humane Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
"She's the real deal," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=276312006
Zoo hysteria high as elephant's eye
By John Grogan
Inquirer Columnist
It might be easy to write off as a nutty extremist Marianne Bessey, the animal-rights activist who has been banned from the Philadelphia Zoo.
Easy, that is, until you look into the eyes of the giant, majestic beasts she so zealously - some might say hysterically - champions.
Until you look into the eyes of a captive elephant.
There is something there. Something more than docile existence. There is intelligence, fierce intelligence. No question about it. Even the zoo's own Web site notes the animal's innate smarts. Is it my imagination, or is there also sadness in those eyes?
Sadness and longing?
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13970310.htm
So, should we be wild about zoos?
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/56856.html
Jerusalem zoo puts giraffe on birth control
Family planning introduced in order to curb fertile female
Giraffes stands in the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem on Thursday. After the giraffe population tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of Jerusalem, the most fertile female Shavit has been put on birth control.
JERUSALEM - Staff at Jerusalem Zoo have introduced birth control in a bid to curb a giraffe population boom.
The number of giraffes has tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of the city, according to officials and a 5-year-old female has been mostly to blame.
The most fertile female, Shavit, has now been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11539155/
48 different gorilla cultures thrive at American zoos
February 20, 2006
BY ANDREW BRIDGES
ST. LOUIS -- Captive gorillas actually are a cultured bunch.
Genetics or environment alone cannot explain variations in the behavior of different groups of the apes, a study found.
Behavioral surveys of the roughly 370 gorillas in U.S. zoos showed 48 variations in how individual groups of the apes make signals, use tools and seek comfort, said Tara Stoinski of Zoo Atlanta and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
''What became very obvious is there is a very distinct pattern of similarities and differences between groups,'' Stoinski said.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gor20.html
Egypt closes eight state-run zoos
Published: Monday, 20 February, 2006, 1
1:30 AM Doha Time
CAIRO: The Egyptian authorities have closed Cairo zoo and seven other state-run zoos around the country for two weeks to prevent the spread of bird flu after cases of the H5N1 virus were detected on Thursday.
Cairo zoo manager Talaat Sidraus told Reuters yesterday that zoo workers has immediately started disinfecting bird cages.
Witnesses saw dead and sick birds inside the zoo grounds yesterday but it was not immediately clear if they had bird flu.
Large flocks of egrets and other wild birds live in the trees in and around the zoo.
The authorities have reported cases of bird flu in seven provinces, stretching from Dakahlia in the northeast of the Nile Delta to Qena in the far south.
At least 10,000 birds have been culled at a chicken farm north of Cairo.
Yesterday, merchants who normally slaughter and sell live chickens on the street had closed in compliance with a ban. Some remained open but had few customers.
No human cases have been diagnosed in Egypt. – Reuters
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=73551&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Pandas eat bamboo, zoos' budgets
By BRENDA GOODMAN
The New York Times
JESSIE COHEN / AP
Tai Shan, a giant panda cub at the National Zoo, nuzzles his mother, Mei Xiang. The public has snapped up tickets to see the cub, who was born last year.
ATLANTA — Lun Lun and Yang Yang have needs. They require an expensive all-vegetarian diet — 84 pounds a day, each. They are attended by a four-person entourage, and both crave privacy. Would-be divas could take notes.
But the real sticker shock comes from the fees Zoo Atlanta and three other U.S. zoos must each pay the Chinese government: $2 million a year to rent a pair of pandas.
Zoo Atlanta Chief Executive Dennis Kelly's financial headache is one familiar to Hollywood's booking agents, but decidedly more novel to conservationists. He says Lun Lun and Yang Yang, the park's giant pandas, are draining the institution's coffers faster than they can be replenished, even though they are the zoo's star attractions.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002800208_panda12.html
Melbourne Zoo's friends among animals
Sarah Wotherspoon
24feb06
SHE may not be able to talk to the animals, but she can tell you an awful lot about them.
As a voluntary guide, Fran Pfeiffer has a wealth of knowledge about the animal kingdom at Melbourne Zoo.
Vice-president of Friends of the Zoos, a support group for Victoria's three zoos, Ms Pfeiffer has been volunteering at the Royal Park site for 15 years.
And although she's in no hurry to stop helping, Ms Pfeiffer is looking for new guides to take tours at Melbourne Zoo.
"You have to love animals and you have to love people," she said.
"The guides on the properties take the tours with the public.
"Anyone who comes in has someone to talk to everywhere in the zoo."
New guides, who must be members of Friends of the Zoos, will join a 700-strong team spread over Melbourne, Werribee and Healesville.
"Being able to work in the most wonderful environment and meeting the animals and heaps of people is great," Ms Pfeiffer said.
Net link: www.zoo.org.au/fotz
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18250174%255E2862,00.html
Zoo growth plan enrages animal welfare groups
ANIMAL welfare organisations have condemned Edinburgh Zoo's plans to add elephants and manatees to its collection and continue keeping polar bears.
The zoo, which is one of Scotland's top tourist attractions, announced the £58 million expansion plan this week, which will see the park divided into four "biome" zones, joined by a railway.
Included in the redesign are plans to introduce new animals, including several endangered species, and to continue keeping polar bears, which the zoo previously admitted were unsuited to living in captivity.
Conservation groups including the RSPCA, the Born Free Foundation, Marine Connection, Animal Concern and the Orangutan Survival Foundation all expressed concern about the plans unveiled by the zoo.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=291552006
Council postpones Detroit Zoo talks
February 24, 2006
By MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Detroit City Council postponed until Monday discussions on changes to a plan to keep the Detroit Zoo open by turning over its daily operations to the Detroit Zoological Society.
The council was to discuss the topic Friday afternoon.
The council voted down the plan 7-2 last Saturday and has since been caught in a whirlwind of controversy and complaints from metro area residents concerned about the zoos future.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatricks administration says under its plan the city keeps ownership of the zoo, but turns over the daily management to the society. Administration officials say because of the citys budget crisis, it can not afford the average $5 million it costs the city to operate the zoo.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060224/NEWS11/60224010
Man accused of trying to steal sheep from Arkansas zoo
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A homeless man who police say tried to take a sheep from the Little Rock Zoo has been arrested.
A security guard at the zoo called police Tuesday evening after spotting a man carrying a trash can with a sheep in it, according to a police report.
Grady Allen Carnahan, 32, told officers he was a doctor and the sheep was sick, the report said. He said he was taking the animal to a veterinary clinic.
Carnahan fought with the officers as they tried to take him into custody, police said.
He was arrested on a felony charge of violating an animal facility and on misdemeanor charges.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-sheep24.html
Elephant rights activist banned from zoo
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An animal-rights activist was banned from the Philadelphia Zoo for online comments directed at the facility's chief executive.
Marianne Bessey, leader of Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants, wrote in an Internet chat room called the Elephant Connection about Dulary, an elephant kept in a concrete barn since August. She said zoo director Alexander L. "Pete" Hoskins might suffer nightmares about Dulary, a 42-year-old, injured elephant in his care, and might indeed be past his own life expectancy, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The zoo notified police of Bessey's remarks.
Bessey and her supporters want the zoo's four elephants, currently housed in a small yard and an 1,800-square-foot barn, moved to a preserve in Tennessee where they can roam freely.
Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco zoos have closed elephant exhibits amid controversy about their habitats.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060224-015432-3445r
Council won't vote on Detroit Zoo transfer before Friday
A vote by the Detroit City Council on the future of the zoo could occur as early as Friday, but no later than next Wednesday, several council members said.
“We don’t want to drag this out,” Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers said Wednesday.
The nine-member council is reviewing the plan reintroduced by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s administration to spin the zoo off to the Detroit Zoological Society to run.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/NEWS11/60222005
City zoo to test birds for flu
HYDERABAD: The bird flu scare and the visit of migratory birds to the Nehru Zoological Park has prompted the authorities here to examine the birds in the zoo for avian influenza.
According to zoo director V Kishan, feathers and fecal samples are being sent to the Veterinary and Biology Research Institute (VBRI) to check for bird flu.
There are three aviaries in the zoo with nearly 20 bird cages and about 50 varieties of birds, including macaws,
parrots, peacocks and pheasants.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1424967.cms
Zoo letting chimps put hammer down
Primates are given a tool they can use
By James Janega
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 22, 2006
Looking for the perfect primitive hammer, Steve Ross left no stone unturned.
Ross, an ape behaviorist, wants to see if the chimps and gorillas at Lincoln Park Zoo can learn to crack nuts with heavy objects, a benchmark in primate tool use.
For this, he needed a "hammer" strong enough to open nuts but not too dangerous. Loose rocks could be heaved through windows. Quartz breaks when bashed.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/nearnorthwest/chi-0602220047feb22,1,1319906.story?coll=chi-newslocalnearnorthwest-hed
TV's 'Golden Girl' in LA zoo honour
Betty White, whose many TV roles included Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, was honoured by the Los Angeles Zoo for her commitment to animals.
The zoo made the Emmy-winning star an Ambassador to the Animals at a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A bronze plaque will be placed next to the zoo's gorilla exhibit, home to White's favourite animal.
"Betty has such a big heart and a beautiful spirit. She is a 'Golden Girl' in every sense of the word," Villaraigosa said, referring to White's role in the former TV series, which ran from 1985 to 1992.
White, 84, joked that the honour would make her "tough to live with from now on".
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=276312006
concluding ...
Animate map here. For Scott Base location see below. Thank you.
February 27, 2006.
12 noon.
Antarctica.
The temperature noted below is accurate according to this map as well.
Click on here for Scott Base.
Kindly note small location map to right. Thank you.
We have good information. There is much of the continent and it's ice seas still exposed to high heat, especially the peninsula. That equates to species endangerment.
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Scott Base
Cloudy
-13.0°
Updated Tuesday 28 Feb 2:59AM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
12 °F / -11 °C
Clear
Humidity:
79%
Dew Point:
7 °F / -14 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
29.56 in / 1001 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Clear -
(Above Ground Level)
end
Scott Base
Cloudy
-13.0°
Updated Tuesday 28 Feb 2:59AM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
12 °F / -11 °C
Clear
Humidity:
79%
Dew Point:
7 °F / -14 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
29.56 in / 1001 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Clear -
(Above Ground Level)
end
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Bring back the meaning of the country. Make the flag mean something again. Hang it at every port and every venue of National Security.
Words have become weapons in a political arena that is feathered in impropriety.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They are thrown around these days along with the image of our flag. It's a very attractive flag as well. Red. White. Stripes. Blue field. White stars. The colors are that of royalty. Red carpets and the like. Back in the day it wasn't a simple or an inexpensive task to color cloth and sew a flag. It wasn't as simple as going to the local strip mall and buying a flag with a pole to display on the Fourth of July. To display the flag when the country was young was a show of 'commitment' in a way that was a status symbol. A sacrifice. It was a proven expression that the flag having thirteen strips and thirteen stars was the country these settlers finally achieved. It came with deep meaning. Sacrifice. Longing.
The United States of America was conceived out of oppression. People came with great peril to a country of uncertainty. They came as people in need of a life away from the oppression of a monarchy. The land they settled on would come to be the United States of America. It was once a reward to Dukes and Lords for whatever purpose they deemed appropriate. There was a great deal of wealth. As a matter of relieving Britain of it's prison burden, George Oglethorpe, founded a prison colony on the land that would become Georgia.
Each one of those words. The. United. States. Of. America. Each one was an expression of what the country was then. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't elaborate. They were five simple words chosen by simple men and women to give a name to the 'union' of the will of the people of that land. Thirteen colonies became states. They united. They were on the American continent. Hence, "The United States of America." Even geography was important. It's a rather powerful name. For other monarchies or merchants that might come to the shores and ports of this land it was designated that a military supported the idea of 'United.' It was that military that would be challenged many times in the history of this country and it would be that 'United' military that would keep the sovereignty of the country intact.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't just words in a commercial. Or a speech. The flag is not just a backdrop to a news program. Or a hierarchical symbol of authority. Those concepts are sacred. In my opinion they have been demeaned. Trivialized. Used for political volley or perhaps better said, 'political volume.'
We have been a very fortunate group of people. We have come to understand the essence of life. A 40 hour workweek. Time for recreation. Reflection. Appreciation. Growing an economy out of leisure as well as labor. When I think of the appreciation we have for our way of life and lifestyles, I strongly feel as though we don't have the same "American Spirit" that the founders of this nation had.
The United States of America has never been about oppression. It has been true to the ancestors of this country in that every form of it has been beaten back with a stick. Not only that but we longed for a world at peace with itself. A world protected from the ravages of war, death, disease, starvation, thirst and abandonment. As our country has become plush with leisure, strong with insight and open minded with sophistication, each member was allowed more and more personal space to claim their uniqueness. Their talents. Their passions. The expression of all that was each of us.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't words. They aren't commodities. They aren't to be toyed with because they are the very essence of life. The enchantment of living a life of fulfillment and purpose is the strength of this nation. Under this administration we have witnessed a diminished essence of our lives. Those in government would like to say it is necessary to secure our nation, yet, with all the sacrifice of relinquishing personal freedoms to allow the government more and more authority in our lives we are not any safer today than we were in the year 2001.
Extraordinary Rendition
Spying on Americans
The Patriot Act
Demeaning our federal intelligence agencies by outing their very members based on a document that Bush modified himself to 'suit' the occasion and promote personal political gain.
Invading a disarmed country with no plan to secure that country but only to secure it's oil.
Wildly dealt debt in the name of cronies and corrupt politics.
Seeking intimidation through 'Overwhelming Force' as a matter of policy in the State Department. Causing political backlash globally with rouge countries seeking nuclear weapons to insure their existence. Backlash in the way of the retreat of democratic principles in countries like Russia and Iran. The very beginnings of democracy was breaking out in Iran when Bush invaded Iraq. He never cared about the people that were making headway toward a balanced government in Iran. He only considered the oil that was guaranteed to Cheney's Halliburton. Do you honestly believe Saddam Hussein would have not been toppled anyway? With military forces in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzi extended a welcome to the USA to join with him to become partners with Iran in securing the area. Did Bush do that? Not for a hot second. He had plans. He had designs on Iraqi oil. We didn't know it. Karzi didn't know it. But Bush and Cheney knew it.
So, instead of 'uniting' the Middle East in peace and destroying al Qaeda; Bush left his responsibility in Afghanistan and moved on to the lucrative business dealings of Iraq.
Halliburton
Bechtel
Carlyle
… and any other military contractor one can possibly imagine along the way.
I have to laugh about the incredible communication quality there is between Iraq, Afghanistan and the USA. The troops have internet access to family, phone cards and all kinds of 'niceties' one would hardly consider appropriate to a war zone. Of course, Carlyle is a telecommunications corporation as well as a asset liquidity company. Very flexible outfit and they never seem to run into any operational issues, but, considering they are backed by Arabian money compliments of George H. W. Bush, why should they. What astounds me about this relationship is the fact there is so much pandering in a diplomatic fashion between high ranking government officials representing Carlyle. Not any other American Company that deals with liquid assets and communications but only Carlyle. That is a conflict of interest and a violation of ethics at the highest level. Members of the bin Laden family have maintained close ties with Osama regardless of their public statements. They have attended weddings of Osama's children. Osama's children. If that doesn't send a chill down the spine.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't just words. They aren't just symbols. They are people. They are people from the past. They are people from the present and they are the very essence of life.
I propose this. If an administration, corrupt majority Senate and House can turn their backs on the ethics they dictate on a piece of paper then they have no respect for the process laid out by the US Constitution. They have no respect for the country itself. They have no respect for themselves. All they do have respect for comes in the way of money. Money buys power. Power in this instance returns lots and lots of foreign money, especially from the Middle East. Do to the cultural differences in other countries patrolling our ports providing security is a different understanding than Americans would bring. The interconnected relationship men in power have with adverse investors, the arrangement we have today to protect our nation is tarnished by the simple fact we are compromised by association. We don't have to have any other proof. We don't have to require loyalty or proof of intent. We only need to understand there are elements at work here that places the USA on the 'gaming board' of millionaires and as a consequence the people of this country suffer.
We need people to secure this nation with substantial interest in this country without cultural differences. We need people of integrity that believe in ethics and practice them.
We need a change in leadership that does not compromise the interest of the USA because they get a 'feel good feeling' having their favorite affiliations at their side. Their favorite affiliations should come in the form of the American people and what they want as security. It should not take a lawsuit by a union of Long Shoreman to bring attention to the dangers we face. The dangers should be realized by Legislators that receive letters of concern. People no different than those of the original 13 colonies deserved peace of mind when they close their shutters every night. We don't have that. We are being asked to take the word of the corrupt and the foreign.
Not anymore.
Not on my watch.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They are thrown around these days along with the image of our flag. It's a very attractive flag as well. Red. White. Stripes. Blue field. White stars. The colors are that of royalty. Red carpets and the like. Back in the day it wasn't a simple or an inexpensive task to color cloth and sew a flag. It wasn't as simple as going to the local strip mall and buying a flag with a pole to display on the Fourth of July. To display the flag when the country was young was a show of 'commitment' in a way that was a status symbol. A sacrifice. It was a proven expression that the flag having thirteen strips and thirteen stars was the country these settlers finally achieved. It came with deep meaning. Sacrifice. Longing.
The United States of America was conceived out of oppression. People came with great peril to a country of uncertainty. They came as people in need of a life away from the oppression of a monarchy. The land they settled on would come to be the United States of America. It was once a reward to Dukes and Lords for whatever purpose they deemed appropriate. There was a great deal of wealth. As a matter of relieving Britain of it's prison burden, George Oglethorpe, founded a prison colony on the land that would become Georgia.
Each one of those words. The. United. States. Of. America. Each one was an expression of what the country was then. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't elaborate. They were five simple words chosen by simple men and women to give a name to the 'union' of the will of the people of that land. Thirteen colonies became states. They united. They were on the American continent. Hence, "The United States of America." Even geography was important. It's a rather powerful name. For other monarchies or merchants that might come to the shores and ports of this land it was designated that a military supported the idea of 'United.' It was that military that would be challenged many times in the history of this country and it would be that 'United' military that would keep the sovereignty of the country intact.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't just words in a commercial. Or a speech. The flag is not just a backdrop to a news program. Or a hierarchical symbol of authority. Those concepts are sacred. In my opinion they have been demeaned. Trivialized. Used for political volley or perhaps better said, 'political volume.'
We have been a very fortunate group of people. We have come to understand the essence of life. A 40 hour workweek. Time for recreation. Reflection. Appreciation. Growing an economy out of leisure as well as labor. When I think of the appreciation we have for our way of life and lifestyles, I strongly feel as though we don't have the same "American Spirit" that the founders of this nation had.
The United States of America has never been about oppression. It has been true to the ancestors of this country in that every form of it has been beaten back with a stick. Not only that but we longed for a world at peace with itself. A world protected from the ravages of war, death, disease, starvation, thirst and abandonment. As our country has become plush with leisure, strong with insight and open minded with sophistication, each member was allowed more and more personal space to claim their uniqueness. Their talents. Their passions. The expression of all that was each of us.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't words. They aren't commodities. They aren't to be toyed with because they are the very essence of life. The enchantment of living a life of fulfillment and purpose is the strength of this nation. Under this administration we have witnessed a diminished essence of our lives. Those in government would like to say it is necessary to secure our nation, yet, with all the sacrifice of relinquishing personal freedoms to allow the government more and more authority in our lives we are not any safer today than we were in the year 2001.
Extraordinary Rendition
Spying on Americans
The Patriot Act
Demeaning our federal intelligence agencies by outing their very members based on a document that Bush modified himself to 'suit' the occasion and promote personal political gain.
Invading a disarmed country with no plan to secure that country but only to secure it's oil.
Wildly dealt debt in the name of cronies and corrupt politics.
Seeking intimidation through 'Overwhelming Force' as a matter of policy in the State Department. Causing political backlash globally with rouge countries seeking nuclear weapons to insure their existence. Backlash in the way of the retreat of democratic principles in countries like Russia and Iran. The very beginnings of democracy was breaking out in Iran when Bush invaded Iraq. He never cared about the people that were making headway toward a balanced government in Iran. He only considered the oil that was guaranteed to Cheney's Halliburton. Do you honestly believe Saddam Hussein would have not been toppled anyway? With military forces in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzi extended a welcome to the USA to join with him to become partners with Iran in securing the area. Did Bush do that? Not for a hot second. He had plans. He had designs on Iraqi oil. We didn't know it. Karzi didn't know it. But Bush and Cheney knew it.
So, instead of 'uniting' the Middle East in peace and destroying al Qaeda; Bush left his responsibility in Afghanistan and moved on to the lucrative business dealings of Iraq.
Halliburton
Bechtel
Carlyle
… and any other military contractor one can possibly imagine along the way.
I have to laugh about the incredible communication quality there is between Iraq, Afghanistan and the USA. The troops have internet access to family, phone cards and all kinds of 'niceties' one would hardly consider appropriate to a war zone. Of course, Carlyle is a telecommunications corporation as well as a asset liquidity company. Very flexible outfit and they never seem to run into any operational issues, but, considering they are backed by Arabian money compliments of George H. W. Bush, why should they. What astounds me about this relationship is the fact there is so much pandering in a diplomatic fashion between high ranking government officials representing Carlyle. Not any other American Company that deals with liquid assets and communications but only Carlyle. That is a conflict of interest and a violation of ethics at the highest level. Members of the bin Laden family have maintained close ties with Osama regardless of their public statements. They have attended weddings of Osama's children. Osama's children. If that doesn't send a chill down the spine.
Freedom
Liberty
Democracy
They aren't just words. They aren't just symbols. They are people. They are people from the past. They are people from the present and they are the very essence of life.
I propose this. If an administration, corrupt majority Senate and House can turn their backs on the ethics they dictate on a piece of paper then they have no respect for the process laid out by the US Constitution. They have no respect for the country itself. They have no respect for themselves. All they do have respect for comes in the way of money. Money buys power. Power in this instance returns lots and lots of foreign money, especially from the Middle East. Do to the cultural differences in other countries patrolling our ports providing security is a different understanding than Americans would bring. The interconnected relationship men in power have with adverse investors, the arrangement we have today to protect our nation is tarnished by the simple fact we are compromised by association. We don't have to have any other proof. We don't have to require loyalty or proof of intent. We only need to understand there are elements at work here that places the USA on the 'gaming board' of millionaires and as a consequence the people of this country suffer.
We need people to secure this nation with substantial interest in this country without cultural differences. We need people of integrity that believe in ethics and practice them.
We need a change in leadership that does not compromise the interest of the USA because they get a 'feel good feeling' having their favorite affiliations at their side. Their favorite affiliations should come in the form of the American people and what they want as security. It should not take a lawsuit by a union of Long Shoreman to bring attention to the dangers we face. The dangers should be realized by Legislators that receive letters of concern. People no different than those of the original 13 colonies deserved peace of mind when they close their shutters every night. We don't have that. We are being asked to take the word of the corrupt and the foreign.
Not anymore.
Not on my watch.
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