Zoos
Condor chick No. 3 hatches with help, thrives at zoo
Endangered species - The hatchling's Sunday arrival thrills its parents, both avian and human
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
KATY MULDOON
Whew!
The tense, life-or-death drama that defined the Oregon Zoo's California condor hatching season ended this week when keepers helped a third chick hatch on Sunday, then on Monday tricked its parents into thinking they'd done all the work so that they would accept the chick.
By Tuesday, all three newcomers to the endangered species were thriving, said Shawn St. Michael, the zoo's assistant curator for birds.
http://www.oregonlive.com/science/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/science/114904234488540.xml&coll=7
Detroit Zoo Fundraiser Nears
Boomerang Silent Auction Included
POSTED: 12:12 pm EDT May 31, 2006
The Detroit Zoo will host its annual fundraiser, Sunset at the Zoo, next week.
The fun-filled event will feature live music, dancing, food from Detroit's top restaurants, and a boomerang silent auction with local and national celebrities.
The celebrities were given blank boomerangs to decorate any way they wish.
The boomerangs from Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Lions players, as well as Jay Leno, go on display next week. With the help of Fran, owner of Beyond Blossoms, Local 4's Rhonda Walker made a boomerang handbag.
Tickets are now on sale for Sunset at the Zoo and start at $125. The event takes place at 7 p.m. on June 16. To purchase tickets, call 248-541-5717 ext. 3750.
For information on Beyond Blossoms, go to http://www.beyondblossomsusa.com/
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/9298388/detail.html
Hemmed-in hippo sparks cruelty charges against B.C. zoo
SHANE DINGMAN
Globe and Mail Update
The Greater Vancouver Zoo faces charges under provincial prevention of animal cruelty legislation after investigators alleged it had been keeping a baby hippopotamus in a dank concrete shed for at least 19 months.
The British Columbia branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Wednesday that following an eight-month investigation into the living conditions of Hazina, a 2½-year-old hippo featured in a Telus commercial, the hippo's enclosure may have been fine as a temporary shelter but the five metre by six-metre pen no longer meets the needs of one of the Earth's largest land mammals.
“It was okay when she was a baby, in 2004,” said Marcie Moriarty, general manager of the SPCA's cruelty-investigations department. “But, as all people should know, babies grow.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060531.whipponew0531/BNStory/National/home
Sacramento Zoo Presents New Lemurs
The Sacramento Zoo proudly presented the newest members of its family today, one female and two male black and white ruffed lemurs. Zoo keepers discovered the newborns on April 23. They say the 7-year-old, first-time mom has been taking excellent care of its babies.
Unlike most primates whose offspring cling to their bodies, ruffed lemurs place their newborns in a nest. In the wild the female prepares a cavity in a tree using branches and leaves for nesting material. The infants are left in the nest while their mother forages for food. At the Sacramento Zoo, keepers prepared two nests for the family. One is a tub and the other a covered cat litter box. The new mom has been gently moving the babies, using her mouth, from one to the other as she sees fit.
While ruffed lemurs are capable of having up to six infants at a time, typically two or three youngsters are born. Like all lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs are endangered because of habitat loss, forest fires, and land clearing for agriculture or hunting.
Black and white ruffed lemurs are one of the few primate species to be successfully reintroduced to the wild. The first release took place in 1997 when five, zoo-born lemurs were released into the Betamona Natural Reserve in eastern Madagascar. Several more releases have been made since then into the same protected area.
The Sacramento Zoo partners with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Ruffed Lemur Species Survival Plan®, Madagascar Fauna Group, and the Malgasy Government to breed this species and to educate the public on how they can help these and other lemurs in the wild.
The Sacramento Zoo is located near the corner of Land Park Drive and Sutterville Road in William Land Park.
For more information about the zoo and lemurs, call 916-264-5888 or visit the Zoo's Web site by clicking the link above.
http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=17877
Zoo's big cat speed stars ZOOM into action
Thursday, 1 June 2006, 12:20 pm
Press Release: Auckland Zoo
MEDIA RELEASE
1 June 2006
Zoo’s big cat speed stars ZOOM into action
Young cheetah brothers Anubis and Osiris begin their official ambassador roles at Auckland Zoo this weekend with the launch of the ZOOM Cheetah Experience to the public.
The chance to meet and touch the fastest land animal on the planet, and feel the reverberations of that famous feline purr that keepers liken to the gentle idling of a V8 engine, is as much for their benefit as yours, says Auckland Zoo director, Glen Holland.
“These magnificent young cats, who turn one this Sunday, have been reared especially under the Cheetah Outreach Ambassador Training Programme to be advocates and ambassadors for their species. They’re therefore very social, and meeting people is a very positive and stimulating experience for them,” says Glen, who grew up with cheetah in his native South Africa.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0606/S00007.htm
PLAY AT THE ZOO
Wichita Grand Opera will present a free outdoor concert, "Opera on the Lake," at Bradley Fair on Saturday.
BY CHRIS SHULL
The Wichita Eagle
Opera returns to the open air at 7 p.m. Saturday when Wichita Grand Opera presents "Opera on the Lake" at Bradley Fair.
The evening will feature condensed versions of three operas --"The Magic Flute," "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "I Pagliacci" -- with favorite arias and scenes sung by singers from Wichita Grand Opera's roster of Kansas-based stars.
Rodney Miller, dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State, will narrate the action, and lush melodies will transport listeners to a fairy tale forest, the eerie Scottish moors, and a pretty Sicilian village.
Diego Crovetti, a conductor and opera coach from Milan, Italy, will make his U.S. debut conducting the Wichita Grand Opera Orchestra. The closing piece on the program will feature the Three Kansas Tenors -- David Camp, Richard Novak and Patrick Greene -- singing the stirring "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot."
After the opera concert at around 9 p.m., the Boeing Jazz Band will play hits from the swing era for listening and dancing.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/14709725.htm
Zoo gets $600,000 from state
MAINTENANCE: The money will help the Lake Superior Zoo complete some needed fixes, but won't cover everything.
BY CHRIS HAMILTON
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Duluth's Lake Superior Zoo will get some much-needed repairs thanks to the recent state bonding bill, city officials and lawmakers said this week.
But like a lot of Duluth departments and facilities these days, even more work is required at the zoo, and city money is scarce.
Last weekend, the Minnesota Legislature approved $600,000 for the zoo, which is owned and run by the city with a $1 million annual operating budget. The state funding was $200,000 more than the city had asked for.
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/14711386.htm
S.F. Zoo offers space for rescued seal pups
Staff Report
The San Francisco Zoo is providing space for rescued northern elephant seal pups as the Marine Mammal Center continues its $25 million upgrade in the Marin Headlands.
The first four of what will be several groups of orphaned seal pups arrived at the zoo Wednesday for the last phase of their recuperation and rehabilitation before returning to the ocean.
Space for the pups is limited at the center, which is being upgrading into a state-of-the-art hospital for marine mammals.
The zoo will provide swimming and recuperation space for the seals, which need the room to continue developing muscular and motor skills needed for prolonged swimming.
The pups
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are 3 to 6 months old and weigh between 75 and 90 pounds. They will be ready for release once they reach 150 to 200 pounds.
The pups likely will be released at Point Reyes National Seashore or Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in San Mateo County.
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_3887327
Canada zoo charged with animal cruelty
June 01 2006 at 10:45AM
Vancouver - A commercial zoo was charged on Wednesday with animal cruelty for keeping a baby hippopotamus alone for 19 months in a small, dark shed on a concrete floor.
"Even inmates in prison don't spend their lives alone," said Eileen Drever, the animal protection constable who investigated the zoo.
It is the first time a major Canadian zoo was charged, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which employs Drever.
Prosecutors laid two counts of causing an animal to be in distress, after the Greater Vancouver Zoo, a private amusement park in this west coast metropolis, failed to comply with Drever's orders to improve the animal's life.
She likes to lick visitors
The zoo operators could face a fine of up to $1 800 or six months in prison.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=22&art_id=qw1149124865613B253
Clive library, zoo hook up
Summer reading begins this month with the addition of live animals.
By NICOLE WARNER
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
June 1, 2006
Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales will come to the Clive library this month in the form of a children's summer reading program. The idea is to make reading fun - and that will include a partnership with Blank Park Zoo officials who will provide hands-on activities and live animals for library programs.
"We put a real emphasis on fun over the summer," said Vicki Hibbert, library director. "I think the zoo will be pretty popular because it's a new partnership. It will be neat to see different animals."
The library will begin accepting registrations on Monday. The reading program starts June 19 and continues until the second week in August.
Participants will learn about various animals through reading opportunities and activities, and those with pets may bring pictures for an animal wall of fame. While children as young as 18 months can participate in the reading program and earn prizes, only children 5 and older may participate in the live-animal programs.
Children participating in the program keep reading logs detailing how many hours they read or how many books they have read - or have been read to them if they are too young to read. Prizes are earned at different levels of achievement, from trinkets such as key chains and bracelets to the top prize of a free book. At other levels readers can earn zoo passes, Iowa Cubs tickets, stuffed animals, and food coupons to Subway or McDonalds.
Suzy Piel, the youth librarian, said kids always have a lot of fun with the reading program.
"The kids are excited to come in to see what the next adventure will be," she said.
Weekly programs are held for all ages: Toddler time, baby laptime, alien mystery party, baby sign class and animal calligraphy are some of the sessions planned.
"We're very proud of all our youth programs," Hibbert said.
Parents whose children have participated in the summer reading program in the past say it is fun, but it is also beneficial to their children.
Diana Hernandez of Clive said she likes that the program motivates children to read over the summer.
"It helps expose them to more things than if they were reading on their own," she said.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060601/NEWS08/606020329/1001/NEWS
Kyodo
S. Korea's opposition GNP wins big in local elections
Jun. 1 SEOUL, South Korea
Park Geun Hye (L), chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party, and Oh Se Hoon, who won the Seoul mayoral election, shake hands at GNP headquarters in Seoul on June 1 after the party's big victory in local elections. (Kyodo)
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstPhotos/index.php?photoid=13434
S. Korea's ruling party chief resigns following election defeat
SEOUL, June 1 KYODO
South Korea's ruling party chief resigned Thursday to take responsibility for a crushing defeat in Wednesday's local elections.
''I have decided to resign from the party chairmanship to take full responsibility for the election results,'' Chung Dong Young said in a news conference after a meeting of senior party members.
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=250196
N. Korea invites U.S. nuclear negotiator to visit Pyongyang
BEIJING, June 1 KYODO
North Korea on Thursday invited the chief U.S. delegate to the six-way nuclear talks to visit Pyongyang for discussions on the process, which has stalled due to a row over U.S. financial sanctions on entities suspected of aiding the North's illicit activities.
A statement by a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said that Pyongyang invites U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to visit the North to explain the U.S. position in person.
''If the U.S. has a true political intention to implement the joint statement we kindly invite once again the head of the U.S. side's delegation to the talks to visit Pyongyang and directly explain it to us,'' the statement said.
In the joint statement issued by the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia at the end of their talks in September, Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in return for energy assistance, security assurances and other benefits.
But the talks have been deadlocked since the six countries met in Beijing in November, with the North complaining about sanctions the United States imposed on entities suspected of laundering money or counterfeiting for Pyongyang.
Most recently, North Korea has said it will not go back to the talks until the release of funds frozen in North Korean accounts at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia, a bank that has been designated by Washington as a money-laundering concern.
Iran rebuffs U.S. offer to join nuclear talks
TEHRAN, June 1 KYODO
Iran on Thursday rebuffed the U.S. offer to take part in talks on Iran's nuclear program on condition that Tehran immediately suspends all enrichment activities, saying it presents no ''new and rational solution'' to the nuclear dispute.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency attributed the remarks to Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
In a major policy shift, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the United States is conditionally prepared to join three European Union nations -- Britain, France and Germany -- in holding direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program.
In announcing the policy shift, Rice said Iran has two choices -- facing ''great costs'' by maintaining the current course of pursuing its suspected nuclear weapons development or receiving ''real benefit and longer-term security'' by abandoning it.
She said Tehran must ''alter its present course and cooperate in resolving the nuclear issue, beginning by immediately resuming suspension of all enrichment-activities, as well as full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and returning to implementation of the additional protocol, which would provide greater access for the IAEA.''
Rice warned Iran that it will face ''stronger political and economic sanctions'' if it continues its enrichment-related activities.
The United States had earlier said repeatedly that it would not join negotiations with Iran, while supporting diplomatic efforts by the three EU nations.
==Kyodo
China, Arab countries agree to boost energy cooperation
BEIJING, June 1 KYODO
China and 22 Arab countries agreed Thursday to boost cooperation in the areas of energy and antiterrorism as they wrapped up two days of talks in the Chinese capital.
A bilateral action plan, one of several documents signed at the end of the ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, said the countries will hold their first talks on oil issues between 2006 and 2008, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Jet lands safely with landing gear problem in Yogyakarta
Jun. 1 YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
An Indonesian passenger aircraft with 159 people on board managed to land safely at Yogyakarta airport in the earthquake-hit region of Java Island on June 1 after developing a problem with its front landing gear after takeoff, witnesses said. (Kyodo)
American cherries arrive in Japan
Jun. 1 OSAKA, Japan
California-grown American cherries arrive at Kansai airport on June 1. (Kyodo)
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstPhotos/index.php?photoid=13447
Revised ordinance bars gangs from sponsoring foreign entertainers
TOKYO, June 1 KYODO
An amended government ordinance entered force Thursday, banning companies linked to organized crime syndicates from sponsoring foreign singers and dancers entering Japan on entertainment visas.
The updated Justice Ministry ordinance is aimed at tackling human trafficking as foreign women who have entered Japan as entertainers have often been forced to work for low wages as hostesses in bars or nightclubs or to engage in prostitution.
Osaka Pref. falls to 3rd in terms of population, topped by Kanagawa
OSAKA, June 1 KYODO
Japan's No. 2 business center Osaka Prefecture fell to third place in terms of population as of May 1, dropping from the second spot it had maintained since the 1960 national census, the Osaka prefectural government said Thursday.
Kanagawa Prefecture, which is located just southwest of No. 1 Tokyo, slipped into second place.
London mayor and Tokyo governor sign Partnership Agreement
Jun. 1 LONDON, Britain
London Mayor Ken Livingstone (L) and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara sign a Partnership Agreement in London on May 31 to promote best practices between the two capitals. (Kyodo)
Ruling bloc eyes vote on conspiracy bill at Fri. Diet panel
TOKYO, June 1 KYODO
The ruling coalition told the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan on Thursday that it intends to accept the DPJ-proposed revisions to a bill that would criminalize the act of conspiracy even if no actual crime is committed, while proposing a vote on the bill at a Diet committee scheduled for Friday.
The move has revived chances for the bill to be enacted during the current Diet session scheduled to adjourn June 18.
Olympic hammer champ Murofushi makes victorious comeback
May. 30 OSTRAVA, Czech Republic
Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi made a dramatic comeback after a yearlong absence with a come-from-behind victory at the 45th Golden Spike meet on May 29. (Kyodo)
Golf: Teshima, Tanihara, Oda share 1st-round lead at JCB Classic Sendai
SHIBATA, Japan, June 1 KYODO
Taichi Teshima, Hideto Tanihara and Komei Oda shot 4-under-par 67s to share the lead after the first round of the JCB Classic Sendai on Thursday.
Teshima, who is looking for his fourth career title, and Tanihara each had six birdies and two bogeys, while Oda carded five birdies against one bogey at Omotezao Kokusai Golf Club in Miyagi Prefecture.
Baseball: Toritani homer lifts Tigers over Eagles
NISHINOMIYA, Japan, June 1 KYODO
Takashi Toritani hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers edged the Rakuten Eagles 2-1 in interleague play on Thursday.
Toritani connected off Hisashi Aikyo (3-3) for his fourth home run of the season, making a winner of Shinobu Fukuhara (1-1), who held Rakuten to one run and five hits in 6-1/3 innings at Koshien Stadium.
Soccer: Moniwa arrives in Germany to join Japan's World Cup squad
Defender Teruyuki Moniwa arrived in Germany on Thursday to join Japan's World Cup squad after being called up as a replacement for injured Makoto Tanaka.
JAL plane features Japan World Cup squad
Jun. 1 TOKYO, Japan
A Japan Airlines plane featuring the Japan World Cup squad stands by at Tokyo's Haneda airport June 1 ahead of its first flight between Narita and Milan, Italy, on June 2 and further flights until early July. The plane will fly between Haneda and Frankfurt and between Kansai airport and Cologne before and after the team has matches for World Cup finals. (Kyodo)
NAGO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) makes a toast with Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Michael Somare, who co-chairs the fourth summit of leaders of Japan and Pacific island nations with Koizumi, at the Bankoku Shinryokan convention center in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 26. (Kyodo)
http://photo.kyodonews.com/
Prosecutors grill Livedoor's Horie over alleged financial fraud
http://photo.kyodonews.com/feature.asp?colum_id=53
Stars and Stripes
17 names added to MP memorial at Mannheim
MANNHEIM, Germany — Maj. Andy Johnson paused to maintain his composure when talking about the loss of Staff Sgt. James Dennis McNaughton.
Without uttering a word, Johnson conveyed his deep respect for McNaughton, a 27-year-old soldier attached to the Mannheim-based 18th Military Police Brigade during its deployment to Iraq last year. McNaughton, a former New York City policeman who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed Aug. 2 by sniper fire in Baghdad.
“He was the kind of guy — and I know you hear this all the time — he’s the kind of guy you wanted to be around,” Johnson said. “The other two officers in my section loved him. They hung on every one of his stories. He just had these funny stories about being a policeman or being a soldier.”
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37586
Civilian temporary workers on USAREUR bases will be fired
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
HEIDELBERG, Germany — Civilian temporary workers on bases throughout U.S. Army Europe will be fired within the next two weeks, and permanent workers who quit will not be replaced under “belt-tightening” measures ordered Friday by the Army’s vice-chief of staff.
How many workers would be fired was not known Wednesday. The Army’s Installation Management Agency-Europe (IMA-E), said it planned to institute the cost-cutting measures — including the firings — right away.
“The guidance given to us was to implement,” said Kim Waltz, IMA-E spokeswoman. And, she said, the guidance was applied throughout IMA.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37590
Army commanders are told to rein in spending until supplement arrives
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. – With Congress continuing to delay passage of the Pentagon’s wartime emergency 2006 supplemental budget request, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody has ordered a four-step, five-week belt-tightening plan to keep the service financially afloat.
Military commanders had hoped Congress would approve the supplemental request to fund Iraq and Afghanistan operations before the Memorial Day recess, but the House and Senate could not agree on a common bill. The Senate came up with legislation totaling $109 billion, while the House version matched the Bush administration’s $94.5 billion request.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37591
Tribal dynamics back up Iraqi town's security
Marines' alliance with Abu Mahals provides support for fragile government
By Andrew Tilghman, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
HUSAYBAH, Iraq — One year ago, tribal warfare broke out in this dusty border town and many families from one prominent tribe, the Abu Mahals, were forced from their homes in a bloody purge that left many tribal leaders dead — some beheaded.
In November, the U.S. Marines forged a strategic alliance with the exiled Abu Mahals and their militia. Working side-by- side, the Americans and Iraqis mounted a massive house-by-house sweep designed to rid the city of insurgents.
Today, the Abu Mahal tribe is back in charge. The local Iraqi army commander is an Abu Mahal and his brother is chief of the newly-formed police department. The majority of the new police department is made up of men from the Abu Mahal tribe.
As the Marines seek to stabilize the city and quell the once-persistent insurgency here, they often turn to the Abu Mahals to help them run the fledgling government, provide security and keep watch for outsiders looking to stir up trouble.
“As an American, you don’t really want to do things that way, but not everyone can make the trains run on time and these are the guys who have done it,” Lt. Col. Nick Marano, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines commander, said.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37585
Sentence expected Friday in Yokosuka killing
USS Kitty Hawk sailor faces possible life imprisonment
By Allison Batdorff and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Kitty Hawk sailor on trial for the robbery-murder of a Yokosuka woman is to be sentenced Friday by three judges in a Yokohama courtroom.
Prosecutor Toshimi Honda sought a sentence of life imprisonment for 21-year-old Airman William Oliver Reese but the victim’s family asked for the death penalty during closing arguments and statements last month.
The U.S. Navy handed Reese over to Japanese custody less than a week after the Jan. 3 robbery-killing of Yoshie Sato, a 56-year-old Yokosuka woman.
According to police and investigator reports, Reese approached Sato on her way to work. He asked her for directions to nearby Yokosuka Naval Base, then grabbed her purse. When she started yelling for help, Reese dragged Sato into a building entrance, threw her against a cement wall, and beat her for 11 minutes, punching and stomping on her face and stomach. He took 15,000 yen, about $130, from her purse and left.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=37578§ion=104
Study cites military on domestic violence
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Defense Department does not gather adequate records on domestic violence, making it difficult to tell how big a problem it is in the military, congressional investigators said Wednesday.
The Government Accountability Office also said there is insufficient information on the disciplinary actions taken by military commanders against service members involved in domestic violence. The office, Congress' investigative arm, recommended that the Defense Department work to ensure that all discipline is reported.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DOMESTIC_ABUSE_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Committee votes to end ‘10-year rule’ for pay to ex-spouses
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to end the “10-year rule” used by the government for more than two decades to screen court orders seeking automatic payment of retired pay to former military spouses.
The change is one of three adjustments to the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) in the Senate’s version of the 2007 defense authorization bill (S 2766). All three are intended to streamline administration of the controversial 1982 law, said Senate staff.
If approved by the full Congress, the changes would be the first made to the military ex-spouse law in 14 years. They would ease how future court orders are handled for former spouses rather than past court orders.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=37580§ion=104
Tax code change allows troops in combat zones to contribute to IRAs
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
President Bush has signed a bill amending the tax code to allow servicemembers in combat zones to also contribute to Individual Retirement Accounts, the White House announced Wednesday.
The Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act, which Bush signed on May 29, means that troops can both contribute to IRAs and take advantage of the tax-free status of their pay. Until this year, the federal tax code prohibited servicemembers from doing both at the same time.
The HERO Act is also retroactive to tax year 2004, officials said. Any servicemembers who did not make IRA contributions during 2004 or 2005 while also eligible for the combat zone tax exclusion can now do so. Further, the retroactive filings can be made until May 28, 2009 — three years after the date of enactment.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=37587§ion=104
Re-up bonuses cut for some Marine specialties
Career Marines face summer deadline to collect extra cash
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, June 1, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marines are ending re-enlistment bonuses for several specialties, but career Marines in those jobs can still get the bonuses if they hurry, said Maj. Jerry Morgan, who runs the Selective Reenlistment Bonus Program.
Career Marines — those who have re-enlisted at least once — have until June 30 to get re-enlistment bonuses for 123 Military Occupational Specialities that have met their annual retention numbers.
Career Marines have until Aug. 31 for the 86 MOSs that have not yet met their retention goals, Morgan said.
Marines on their first enlistment are ineligible to collect re-enlistment bonuses for 148 MOSs that have met the quotas in their zone, but have until Aug. 31 to get bonuses for the 46 MOSs that have yet to meet the goals, Morgan said.
Marines can receive up to $45,000 in one lump sum to re-enlist for four years depending on specialty and years of service, Morgan said
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=37576§ion=104
94th Engineer Battalion leaving Germany after half-century
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, May 31, 2006
GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The 94th Engineer Battalion cased its colors here Tuesday and will return to the U.S. after more than 50 years in Germany.
First Armored Division Commander Maj. Gen. Fred D. Robinson Jr. told soldiers from the unit their battalion did remarkable things over the past two years as part of the Global War on Terror.
The 94th, stationed in Germany since 1955, deployed to Kuwait in January 2003 and supported the 3rd Infantry Division’s attack on Baghdad.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=37569§ion=104
Marine irked at inclusion in Haditha case
By THOMAS WATKINS
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A Marine captain who was relieved of command after members of his battalion were accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq, denied any role in the slayings and complained that he had become a "political casualty."
"It makes my blood boil to see my name lumped in with this massacre, when I was in a different city not playing any role in this incident," Capt. James Kimber told The Associated Press.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MARINES_IRAQ_INVESTIGATION?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Iraqis announce own probe of killings
By PATRICK QUINN
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military ordered American commanders to hold ethical training on battlefield conduct, and the Iraqi government Thursday announced its own investigation into reports that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians last year.
Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, said the ethical training would emphasize "professional military values and the importance of disciplined, professional conduct in combat," as well as Iraqi cultural expectations.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_US_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
89 Gitmo detainees on hunger strike
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/BRENNAN LINSLEY
World Video
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- More Guantanamo Bay detainees have joined a hunger strike, raising the total to 89, and six of them were being force-fed, the U.S. military said Thursday.
The strike - which last weekend jumped from three participants to 75 - is now the biggest of the year at the U.S. prison on Cuba, where about 460 men are being held on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
The U.S. military said the detainees were trying to pressure the United States to release them, but a human rights attorney described the strike as a desperate appeal for justice.
Six hunger strikers were being force-fed, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand - two more than last weekend.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GUANTANAMO_HUNGER_STRIKE?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Schwarzenegger to order troops to border
By AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/PAUL SAKUMA
U.S. Video
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed Thursday to send the California National Guard to the Mexican border, ending a 17-day standoff with the Bush administration, a Schwarzenegger spokesman said.
The two sides had been at odds over whether California Guardsmen would join the effort to bolster the Border Patrol and who would pay for it.
They reached an agreement under which California will contribute about 1,000 Guardsmen for border duty and the federal government will pick up the full cost, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_NATIONAL_GUARD?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Military plan for border has some worried
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/ALDEN PELLETT
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bush administration plans to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to shore up the U.S.-Mexico border were getting mixed reviews Tuesday, with members of Congress questioning whether it would strain a force stretched thin by wars and natural disasters.
Pentagon officials tried to tamp down those concerns, insisting that the decision to use up to 6,000 Guard members to help secure the porous 2,000-mile border will not overtax the guard or impair troops' ability to train or prepare for combat.
Other military experts, however, suggested that moving Guard troops to the four border states for two- to three-week shifts won't be nearly enough to get the job done.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Number of gays leaving military rises
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of military members discharged under the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals rose by 11 percent last year - the first increase since 2001, officials said Wednesday.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, said 726 service members were discharged under the policy during the 2005 budget year that ended last Sept. 30. That compares with 653 discharges the year before. She released the figures after a gay rights advocacy group said it had obtained the statistics on its own.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MILITARY_GAYS?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
FBI investigating $50M Air Force contract
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/JOE CAVARETTA
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is investigating the award of a $50 million publicity contract for the Air Force's Thunderbirds aerial stunt team to a company with ties to a recently retired general, military and law enforcement officials said Friday.
The Air Force canceled the contract with Strategic Message Solutions in February, after two losing bidders complained that the company had an unfair advantage, including its decision to make retired Gen. Hal M. Hornburg a partner, according to a federal lawsuit over the contract.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AIR_FORCE_CONTRACT?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
GAO reports military unprepared for storm
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government won't be ready for another major disaster such as Hurricane Katrina unless the Pentagon takes a more aggressive role in the federal response, congressional investigators said Monday.
Poor planning and confusion about the military's role contributed to problems after the storm struck on Aug. 29, 2005, and without immediate attention improvement is unlikely, the Government Accountability Office said.
It urged the Defense Department to establish procedures to speed aircraft, troops and reconnaissance gear to hurricane-stricken areas when local and state officials are overwhelmed as well as beef up communications support to Homeland Security officials, who have the lead role in a disaster.
"The devastation of Katrina and the issues it revealed serve as a warning that actions are needed," said the report by Congress' investigative arm. "Without urgent and detailed attention to improve planning, the military and federal government risk being unprepared."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
U.S. may shift to Persian Gulf air bases
By JIM KRANE
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/CHARLES J. HANLEY
U.S. Video
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. military is preparing for the day when air power from bases along the Persian Gulf will help ensure that friendly governments in Iraq and Afghanistan survive without American ground troops, a senior U.S. general said.
"We'll be in the region for the foreseeable future," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen G. Peck, deputy air commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region. "Our intention would be to stay as long as the host nations will have us."
Agreements have been struck recently with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for long-term use of their bases. Already home to U.S. and allied fighter, transport and observation planes, the bases will become more critical if plans proceed to gradually withdraw ground forces from Iraq.
A capable Iraqi air force is years away and Iraqi infantry need the back-up and surveillance provided by U.S. warplanes, Peck said. The bases also could help rush soldiers into Iraq in a crisis. The Pentagon has been keeping thousands of troops in reserve in Kuwait, on Iraq's southern border.
Not everyone is convinced.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GULF_US_MILITARY_BASES?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
State of Iraqi police concerns Pentagon
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
AP Photo/HARAZ N. GHANBARI
U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Pentagon officials weigh the pace and timing of a sizable troop cut in Iraq, they worry more about the reliability of U.S.-trained Iraqi police than about the more developed Iraqi army.
Amid a recent rise in sectarian violence, questions about dependability are focused mainly on the Iraqi police. Their training has progressed more slowly than the army's, and their religious and tribal allegiances are more problematic.
The Iraqi army and police, along with smaller forces such as the border patrol, are crucial to the Bush administration's plan for reducing U.S. troop levels from 133,000 to perhaps 100,000 or fewer by the end of this election year.
As the U.S. public grows more impatient with the war, the administration is hoping it can draw down U.S. forces by transferring security responsibility to the Iraqis.
Yet the administration must assess how ready the Iraqis are to handle the volatile mix of sectarian violence, insurgent attacks and weak institutional support for the Army and police. Any doubts about the Iraqi ability to cope with those problems could complicate U.S. hopes for withdrawals.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
New technology probes ancient manuscript
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/NIKOLAS GIAKOUMIDIS
Science Video
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The burnt remains of a 2,400-year-old scroll buried with an ancient Greek nobleman may help unlock the secrets of early monotheistic religion - using new digital technology.
A team of U.S., British and Greek experts is working on a new reading of the enigmatic Derveni papyrus, a philosophical treatise on ancient faith that is Europe's oldest surviving manuscript.
More than four decades after the papyrus was found in a grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text from the blackened fragments left after the scroll was burned on its owner's funeral pyre.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GREECE_ANCIENT_SCROLL?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Anna Nicole Smith: 'Yes, I am pregnant'
AP Photo/MANUEL BALCE CENETA
AP VIDEO
Anna Nicole Smith: 'Yes, I Am Pregnant'
Entertainment Video
NEW YORK (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith has confirmed that she's pregnant, in a video clip posted on her Web site.
"Let me stop all the rumors. Yes, I am pregnant. I'm happy, I'm very very happy about it. Everything's goin' really, really good and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the Web and I'll let you see me as I'm growing," the 38-year-old former reality TV star and Playboy playmate says.
Smith, who is floating on an inflatable raft in a swimming pool as a small white dog barks in the background, did not provide any details.
Her lawyer and spokesman, Howard K. Stern, could not be reached by The Associated Press on Thursday for comment.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEOPLE_ANNA_NICOLE_SMITH?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
AOL e-mail delayed by software glitch
Technology Video
NEW YORK (AP) -- Millions of AOL users encountered delays sending and receiving e-mail Thursday as the company worked to identify and fix a software glitch.
AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said the company was investigating the cause of the problems, which began late in the morning.
He said millions of messages were stuck in a queue and all would eventually get delivered. But as technicians tried to fix the problem, he said, users faced difficulties accessing their accounts, particularly through AOL's Web interfaces.
The glitch affected both AOL.com e-mail for paid subscribers and its free AIM.com offering, which the Time Warner Inc. Internet unit began offering a year ago to lure nonsubscribers to its ad-supported sites.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AOL_E_MAIL_GLITCH?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The Nation
Why Haditha Matters
Enough details have emerged from survivors and military personnel to conclude that in the town of Haditha last November, members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment perpetrated a massacre. The killings may have been in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal, but this was not the work of soldiers gone berserk. The targets (children from 3 to 14, an old man in a wheelchair, taxi passengers), the hours-long duration of killings, the number of Marines involved, the careful mop-up--all amount to willful, targeted brutality designed to send a message to Iraqis. As Representative John Murtha has pointed out, the patently false story floated afterward, blaming the killings on roadside bombs, and Marine payoffs to survivors imply a cover-up that may extend far up the chain of command.
What matters about Haditha? After all, Iraq is a place where civilians die every day. Many of them die as a result of insurgent car bombs, or at the hands of Sunni or Shiite militias. Many thousands of others died in US air attacks early in the war (as civilians did recently in airstrikes in another US war zone, Kandahar).
Even in this context there remains a distinctly sickening horror in close-up systematic killing of civilians that's at odds with the declared US mission in Iraq and is repugnant to our national ideals. Even under intense battlefield conditions, troops can instigate atrocities, or they can resist them. In the My Lai massacre, in 1968, Hugh Thompson Jr., an American helicopter pilot, saved many lives by putting himself between the guns of Charlie Company and the villagers whom those behind the guns--led by their officers--were wantonly killing. A generation of future US military officers were taught the details of the My Lai massacre as a particular lesson: What makes war crimes is criminal leadership. Whatever the responsibility of the unit commanders in Haditha, it is George W. Bush as Commander in Chief who has sent the clear message that human rights abuses and violations of international law are justified in the "war on terror."
That the Marines institutionally covered up Haditha until Time magazine raised questions with the Corps suggests that the moral damage from the Iraq War is broader than a single debased unit. That is what so powerfully motivates Murtha, a Marine and Vietnam veteran. Another Marine, Senator John Warner, is promising hearings, but his Armed Services Committee's toothless investigation of Abu Ghraib offers scant hope of serious inquiry. As with My Lai a generation ago, it is participants in the Haditha killings or cover-up--some haunted by what they saw or heard about--who are bringing details to the press.
What happened in Haditha and how it was covered up is only half the story. The rest is yet to unfold: whether Haditha kindles a long-overdue reckoning with the moral catastrophe of this war or the shock gets defused by low-level Congressional inquiries; whether Haditha turns out to have been the low point of the US military venture in Iraq or a foreshadowing of worse to come. What we need is not the "picture of what happened" promised by the White House but a full-scale investigation both of the massacre in Haditha and of the climate of impunity that allowed it to happen and to be ignored for so long.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060619/editors2
Galbraith Remembered
Richard Parker
At a May 31 memorial service at Harvard University's Memorial Church, economist and biographer Richard Parker eulogized John Kenneth Galbraith. This is the latest in The Nation's Moral Compass series, focusing on the spoken word.
John Kenneth Galbraith loved words. Above all, he loved words written or spoken about himself. On this, "Galbraith's First Law" left no confusion: "Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue." He would be immodestly pleased with us--and himself--here today.
I talked with Ken last, two days before he died. I'd dropped by Mt. Auburn Hospital to deliver a small surprise--the Japanese edition of my biography of him, which had just arrived in the mail. I could see he was clearly very weak, and knew his prognosis was not good. But propped up in bed, he became marvelously and completely alert when I explained what I'd brought.
He took the book from me, then turned it over several times before slowly paging through it. After a few minutes, he placed it on his lap. "Richard," he said gravely, "I do not read Japanese--but given the enormity and importance of the subject, I shall devote my remaining days to learning it."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060612/parker
Voices of a New Movimiento
Roberto Lovato
Research support was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
Under cover of an oak tree on a tobacco farm deep in the heart of rural North Carolina, Leticia Zavala challenges the taller, older male migrant farm workers with talk of a boycott and legalización.
"We will not get anything without fighting for it," declares the intense 5-foot-1 organizer with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). Pen and notebook in hand, Zavala hacks swiftly through the fear and doubt that envelop many migrants. She speaks from a place, an experience, that most organizers in this country don't know: Her earliest childhood and adolescent memories are of migrating each year with her family between Mexico and Florida. "We have five buses and each of you has to decide for yourselves if you want to go to Washington with us," she says. After some deliberation most of the workers, many of whom have just finished the seven-day trek from Nayarit, Mexico, opt to get on another bus and join the May 1 marcha and boycott. They trust her, as do the more than 500 other migrant workers from across the state who heed the call from one of the new leaders of the movimiento that is upon us.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060619/lovato
Sorel's People
Richard Lingeman
The caricaturist Edward Sorel, a longtime contributor to The Nation and now a featured artist in The New Yorker, often spears politicians on the tip of his well-honed pen. In his new book Literary Lives (Bloomsbury), however, he unleashes his satirical darts at the inflated images of some great and not so great writers and thinkers. The book consists of irreverent comic-strip biographies of Tolstoy, Proust, Elliot, Yeats, Sartre, Jung, Brecht, Ayn Rand, Lillian Hellman and Norman Mailer. It is the gap between feet of clay and feats of greatness that sparks Sorel's perverse comic vision.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060612/lingeman
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