Morning Papers - continued

The Cheney Observer

Karl Rove garners hisses, laughter - and applause
Says Republicans will maintain majorities in both houses of Congress
The clearest example of the breadth of political discourse in last week's Aspen Ideas Fest came with two of the week-long event's featured speakers: former President Bill Clinton and Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's deputy chief of staff.
Clinton enjoyed a warm reception Friday night, after the Atlantic Monthly's James Fallows introduced him as the most popular man on earth. Rove was met with tough questions from moderator Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, and hisses from the audience.
Rove appeared to be on the defensive on questions about Guantanamo, the Valerie Plame affair, Iraq and other issues.

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060710/NEWS/107100027



Unknown court date puts former Rep. DeLay in limbo
By Jonathan E. Kaplan and Patrick O’Connor
While a federal appeals court considers whether former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) must stay on the ballot, the Texas secretary of state intends to file a brief with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that it observe four crucial deadlines.
Under Texas election law, a candidate cannot be removed from the ballot with fewer than 74 days left before the election, a deadline that falls on Aug. 25 this year. Four days later, the candidate’s party must certify a replacement nominee. On Sept. 6, the secretary of state must certify the ballot. On Sept. 7, the secretary “strongly recommends that the ballot be sent to the printer,” said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
That gives Republicans a likely timeframe for a ruling from the appellate court.
Without a quick decision on the recent ruling that forces DeLay to stay on the ballot, Republicans would not have much time to introduce a new candidate to voters. And DeLay would be able to mount only a brief campaign against the Democratic nominee, former Rep. Nick Lampson, who in turn would get a lengthy period during which to boost his name identification and sell his candidacy in the district while running unopposed.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/071306/limbo.html



Private equity groups to buy Dutch cable operator
Warburg Pincus and Cinven are in exclusive talks with Carlyle Group to acquire Casema, the Netherland's third largest cable operator, in a €2.1bn deal.
Warburg Pincus and Cinven are understood to have beaten competitive offers from Macquarie Bank, Australia's largest, UPC Netherlands and BC Partners, a rival buyout firm, according to people close to the situation.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13856862/



Karl Rove Courting Radical, Racist Mexican Group
by Jim Kouri, CPP
Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's political advisor, and Senator Sam Brownback (R-TX), are planning to meet with the the left-wing Mexican group La Raza this week.
La Raza is considered by many to be a radical racist group promoting hatred towards the "Gringo." In fact, La Raza means "The Race."
Former President Bill Clinton heads the list of speakers for the annual meeting of La Raza's national council. The Rev. Jesse Jackson will appear on a panel. Observers say they expect to see the likes of Clinton and Jackson meeting with a racist group of Mexicans, but they are surprised that two supposed conservative Republicans would give the group credibility by meeting with them.

http://www.therealitycheck.org/StaffWriter/jkouri071006a.htm



Lawsuit seeks to keep DeLay probe data secret
THE Associated Press
AUSTIN -- Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has sued Attorney General Greg Abbott to keep secret some details about his investigation of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
In March, the Houston Chronicle filed a request under Texas' open-records law for vouchers, hotel and airfare receipts, budget documents, memos and e-mails that describe the expenses for the DeLay inquiry and related investigations.
DeLay was indicted last year on conspiracy and money-laundering charges connected to the financing of 2002 legislative races. He resigned from Congress on June 9.
In an attempt to keep the details of his investigation out of public view, Earle appealed to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, arguing that releasing the information could compromise the prosecution.
The state's lawyer, who reviewed examples of the information, generally ruled that Earle didn't have to disclose secret information related to grand jury investigations. But the attorney general noted that the public records law requires disclosure of "information in an account, voucher or contract" relating to the expenditure of public monies, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday.
Earle sued last week to overturn Abbott's opinion.
"The first obligation of law enforcement is the protection of the public," Earle said in a statement Monday. "This opinion makes that job harder."
Earle complained that releasing such documents would reveal information about investigations or prosecutions before a suspect or defendant could legally access it.
Austin lawyer David H. Donaldson Jr., a First Amendment specialist, said prosecutors might keep secret specific vouchers that would reveal the identity or location of an informant, but prosecutors should release documents showing how they are spending the public's money.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/15019941.htm



Diplomatic Deception: The Calm Before the Firestorm
Written by Chris Floyd
Monday, 10 July 2006
DK at Talking Points Memo has this exactly right: the new mainstream media meme of a "quieter, more diplomatic" Bush foreign policy is yet another steaming crock served up by Karl Rove and swallowed whole by the fat and sassy gluttons of the press. As DK and Kevin Drum point out, the Bush Administration's whimpering reactions to provocations by North Korea, to the alarming resurgence of the Taliban (who have essentially trapped the British Expeditionary Force in the south in a loose but deadly siege), to the horrific death spiral in the raging Iraqi civil war, to the continuing imbroglio with Iran, etc., don't stem from some deliberate choice of "letting diplomacy work" but are simply the result of the Bushists' own blithering incompetence and utter cluelessness about how to actually govern a country and conduct a coherent foreign policy.

http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=734&Itemid=1



Tom DeLay's saga continues with Republican seats
7/10/2006 12:44 PM
By: Harvey Kronberg
The bizarre saga of Tom DeLay took yet another twist last week. As you know, last year, DeLay filed to run for reelection despite his multiple legal and ethical controversies.
When drawing the new congressional map in 2003, an overconfident DeLay reduced the Republican profile of his district by 10 percent in order to fortify Republican opportunities in surrounding districts.
Texas Monthly reported that he ran an almost invisible primary with few yard signs and no radio or TV advertising. Instead, he successfully relied on direct mail and phone banks. Rather than stir up growing anti-DeLay sentiment, he turned down the volume on the race by communicating with only voters known to be loyal.
The strategy worked. He won his primary. But disturbed by worrisome polls and the damage his controversies might inflict on other Republicans, DeLay withdrew from the election, resigned from Congress and tried to have his name taken off the ballot.

WATCH THE VIDEO

DeLay’s saga continues
Although Tom DeLay has chosen not to run again, he remains at the center of political controversy.
Last week, Judge Sam Sparks agreed with Democrats. DeLay was too late. His name could not be replaced on the ballot by another GOP candidate.
Jubilant Democrats believe the decision is good for their side. Besides giving Democrat Nick Lampson a free ride in the congressional election, they believe DeLay's name on the ballot will help fundraising and keep their claims of a Republican "culture of corruption" on center stage.
DeLay has since teased that he might as well go ahead and run. As Texans learned a long time ago, he should never be underestimated.
But what of DeLay's redistricting experiment? It was supposed to elect seven new Republican Texans to Congress.
Well, they only got six new seats in 2004 because Democrat Chet Edwards survived. Meanwhile, the recent Supreme Court ruling on the DeLay map may cost Republican Henry Bonilla his seat plus possibly create one more opportunity for a Democratic gain, perhaps by putting Lloyd Doggett back in Austin. Plus, DeLay's own seat now looks to go to a Democrat.
When the dust settles after the election, it is entirely possible that the redistricting effort that ripped our state politics apart to produce seven new Republican seats really only boils down to a gain of three.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=166197&SecID=2


Rove: Bush to veto DeGette bill (stem cell)
Denver Post ^ 10 july 2006 John Farrell
Posted on 07/10/2006 1:39:16 PM PDT by Notwithstanding
President Bush will likely cast the first veto of his presidency if the Senate, as expected, passes legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, White House aide Karl Rove said today.
"The president is emphatic about this," Rove said in a meeting with the editorial board of The Denver Post.
The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del. If the Senate approves the bill this month it would go to the president's desk.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1663285/posts



Rove: Colorado a swing state
'You can't take it for granted,' Bush aide says during visit
By Michael Malik And Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News
July 11, 2006
Karl Rove came to town Monday to appear at a fundraiser for the state Republican Party, and President Bush's top political adviser made it clear that Colorado has become a crucial swing state in national politics.
"It's a swing state, no ifs, ands or buts about it," Rove said in a meeting with the Rocky Mountain News editorial board. "It's a competitive state. You can't take it for granted."
Rove is a hero to Republicans and a villain to Democrats for his success at helping Bush win two terms in office. He appeared Monday night at a GOP pep rally at the Wildlife Experience museum in Parker.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_4835707,00.html


Novak confirms Rove was Plame source
PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Now that Karl Rove won't be indicted, now that the president won't fire him, now that it really doesn't matter anymore, more details of the Valerie Plame leak investigation trickle out.
In his latest syndicated column, released Wednesday, columnist Robert Novak revealed his side of the story in the Plame affair, saying Rove was a confirming source for Novak's story outing the CIA officer, underscoring Rove's role in a leak that President Bush once promised to punish.
As Rove's legal problems grew a year ago, the president qualified his earlier pledge to fire anyone involved in the Plame leak, saying it would apply to "someone who committed a crime."
The columnist said he learned of Plame's CIA employment from a source he still refuses to publicly identify, and then confirmed with Rove and then-CIA spokesman Bill Harlow, whose roles in talking to Novak have been previously reported.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15016083.htm



Rove heckled.
In an address to the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference yesterday, Karl Rove “drew scattered boos when he highlighted Bush’s recent approval of $1.9 billion in funding for more border security, including deployment of National Guard troops, and was disrupted twice by hecklers who unfurled antiwar and anti-Bush banners.” July 12, 2006 10:58 am Comment (60)

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/12/rove-heckled/



Valerie Plame Sues Cheney, Libby & Rove
July 13 - The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, accused Cheney, Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of revealing Plame's CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
Several news organizations wrote about Plame after syndicated columnist Robert Novak named her in a column on July 14, 2003. Novak's column appeared eight days after Wilson alleged in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq to justify going to war.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=nation_world&id=4363202



...Don't expect to see much about the Fund - Pillsbury Trial in the mainstream media. Notice who pays those media salaries. America's media has slowly over the last decade been acquired by the same corporate interests who funded the Bush campaigns. The American media is, in fact, a significant segment of the Bush Core Constituency.
Journalists may want to cover it but doing so could cost them their jobs.
So In New York, the city that witnessed the trial of John Peter Zenger in 1735 and so gave us the First Amendment, the issues of honesty by those entrusted with power is yet again on point. Honesty, integrity and simple justice are things all of us ordinary, unimportant, people grow hungrier for every single day. We know we are unimportant, we are not briefed by the White House.
When will Americans be ready to demand the honesty and justice for which we pay so dearly? When will New York weep for the honor and courage lost to the past?
I think that day is coming sooner than John Fund, Karl Rove, or George Bush realizes.
John was right about one thing. If you know the truth it will set you free.
Get off the Grids; Organize Locally; Build Coalition - and remember that honesty matters, Jesus, an person not briefed by any White House, said so.

http://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is the author of GREED: The NeoConning of America and A Tour of Old Yosemite. The former is a novel about the lives of the NeoCons with a strong autobiographical component. The latter is a non-fiction book about her father and grandfather. Ms. Pillsbury-Foster has been active in politics since the Goldwater Campaign. She left the Republican Party to join and become active in the Libertarian Party in 1973, working as an activist and party officer until she left the Libertarian Party in 1988. She is also the the founder of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation (www.acpillsburyfoundation.com). She is the mother of four living children and one deceased.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_melinda__060713_john_fund_and_the_tr.htm



Rove Secretly Runs The New York Times
Bill Smith 1 hour, 56 minutes ago
New York, New York (SatireNewsService) - In a stunning development that would appear to have broad implications for the independence of America's newspaper industry, New York Times Publisher, Edwin 'Pinch' Sulzberger today revealed that longtime
President Bush advisor Karl Rove has been secretly running the Times' news and editorial operation for almost four years.
According to well-placed insiders on the Times' Board of Directors, a shaken Sulzberger made that announcement in a hastily convened meeting of the Board of the Times' parent company, The New York Times Corp. Sulzberger reportedly told the board that the discovery was made last week.
"During an internal investigation, we reached the regrettable conclusion that Karl Rove has been running this newspaper since at least August, 2002," Sulzberger reportedly stated. "His intention is clear - to ruin the reputation of the newspaper and the party that our editorial policy supports."
Sulzberger reportedly continued: "I ordered an investigation to determine how the Times had come to publish detailed information about a top-secret government monitoring operation of the international financial transactions of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The publication of this information clearly helps an enemy that killed thousands of people just a few blocks from here. Endangering Americans is something the Times would never intentionally do. Unfortunately this story fits a pattern of publication that has almost ruined the Times' reputation for probity and journalistic honesty as well as causing incalculable damage to the Democratic party that our editorial policy supports."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20060714/cm_rcp/rove_secretly_runs_the_new_yor



POLICE STATE: Interview With Greg Palast
Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. His investigative journalism and television reports are frequently seen in the U.K.’s Observer and BBC’s Newsnight. In the U.S. he is virtually banned from the mainstream media, but can be found in Harper’s Magazine and throughout the Internet. Fresh back from his investigations into Mexico’s recent election, Palast just dropped us a line to fill us in on the news that you won’t hear from Anderson Cooper and the rest of the newsroom hairdo gang.
Interviewed by Dustin Glick
NYI: Do you feel that the U.S. has become a police state?
Greg Palast: Well, if you’re in Guantanamo, it’s a police state for you. Whatever happened to the story about the people being held incommunicado in the United States? What was it, 1,100 the ACLU was trying to uncover? The story just disappeared. So whoever was rotting in jail is still rotting. Now as for the war on terror, hey I have no problem going after Saudi Arabian hijackers, but I don’t see any investigation going in that direction. And by the way, that whole checking the checking accounts thing — believe it or not, Bin Laden doesn’t use his ATM card now. He has a feeling that they’re watching the checking accounts. This is bullshit — that’s not how they move their money and they

http://nyinquirer.typepad.com/nyinquirer/2006/07/police_state_in_1.html


The 'Kennedy Court'
The Supreme Court's 2005-06 term--the first to feature the newly confirmed Chief Justice, John Roberts Jr., and Justice Samuel Alito--began with a whimper and ended with a bang. The term's early months saw the Court issuing an unusually high number of unanimous opinions, even in such potentially controversial areas as abortion and gay rights, as the Court sought to decide cases extremely narrowly and thereby avoid controversy. But by the end of the term, controversy was front and center, as the Court divided sharply on its most significant cases, culminating in the stunning 5-to-3 decision, the last day of the term, declaring George W. Bush's military tribunals illegal.
In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the most important case of the term, the Court showed itself willing to do what neither Republicans nor Democrats in Congress have been able to do: Stand up to the President in the "war on terror." The Court's decision reaffirmed, as Justice John Paul Stevens put it, that "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails in this jurisdiction." The Court's capitalization of the "Rule of Law" underscored its effort to enforce the concept of legality on an Administration that has long since adopted the view that the law can impose little or no constraint on the President during wartime--whether it be the international laws of war, criminal prohibitions on torture and warrantless wiretapping of Americans, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a statute that establishes the rules for military trials.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060731/cole


Napolitano made the false -- and absurd -- claim that Wilson listed Plame's CIA employment in Who's Who entry
Summary: Fox News' Andrew P. Napolitano claimed that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV "told Who's Who in America to put that his wife was a CIA operative." In fact, Wilson's entry in Who's Who mentioned his wife's name -- Valerie Elise Plame -- but not her occupation.
On the July 12 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends First, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew P. Napolitano, a former New Jersey superior court judge, claimed falsely -- and absurdly -- that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV "told Who's Who in America to put that his wife was a CIA operative." In fact, Wilson's entry in Who's Who mentioned his wife's name -- Valerie Elise Plame -- but not her occupation, the disclosure of which gave rise to the appointment of special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald to investigate.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607130005



Columnist names White House adviser in spy scandal
David Fickling and agencies
Wednesday July 12, 2006
The journalist at the centre of a criminal investigation into the naming of a CIA agent has revealed that top presidential aide Karl Rove played a major role in the affair.
Robert Novak, a conservative columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, admitted publicly for the first time that Mr Rove, one of George Bush's closest advisers, had been among his sources for a story outing CIA agent Valerie Plame. Publicly naming a CIA operative is a criminal offence in the US.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1818726,00.html



The Wilsons Launch Civil Suit Against Cheney, Rove, Libby
By E&P Staff
Published: July 13, 2006 4:15 PM ET
NEW YORK Valerie Plame Wilson, her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson and their counsel, Christopher Wolf of Proskauer Rose LLP, will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. EDT on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC 20045 to explain the filing of a civil lawsuit today against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, according to a statement by the lawyers.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, obrtained by E&P, charges (as its heading puts it) "First and Fifth Amendment Violations, Civil Rights Conspiracy, Failure to Prevent Civil Rights Violations, Public Disclosure of Private Facts, and Civil Conspiracy."
According to some reports earlier this week, the three-year statute of limitations for filing such a case -- from the time columnist Robert Novak outed Valerie Wilson's classified CIA employment -- was about to run out.

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002839168



Municipalities latch on to IntelliPark’s ‘smart’ meter
CEO of Bethesda company says he has a keen eye for inventions
Friday, July 14, 2006
Marketing guru Glen A. Hellman is always on the lookout for visionary inventors.
Which is not surprising, considering he hails from Edison, N.J.
Hellman, CEO of IntelliPark LLC of Bethesda, has yet to find another Thomas Edison, the town’s namesake. But at IntelliPark, Hellman has teamed up with Vince Yost, whose sonar-smart parking meter is starting to tap national marketing potential.
In 1995 Yost patented a radio frequency sensor for a parking meter that detects the arrival and departure of a car in a parking space. Even since, he has been pitching it, under a company called Intelligent Devices, to municipalities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. But new competitors with a range of different electronic parking meters are cropping up across the country

http://www.gazette.net/stories/071406/businew180342_31950.shtml



Gov. Romney Seeks Control of Big Dig Inquiry
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: July 13, 2006
BOSTON, July 13 — More problems with the Big Dig tunnels became apparent today, and Gov. Mitt Romney filed emergency legislation to take control of the investigation of the tunnel accident in which concrete slabs fell from the ceiling Monday and crushed a woman to death in her car.
“There should no longer be any doubt — the Turnpike Authority has failed to do its job,” Mr. Romney said of the independent agency that oversees the massive Boston highway project. “It’s hard to view Monday’s catastrophe as an accident.”
Mr. Romney’s move comes a day after Turnpike Authority officials said they found 60 problem areas in the eastbound side of the tunnel where bolts were loose or there were gaps between the roof and metal plates that hold up the concrete ceiling tiles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/us/13cnd-tunnel.html?hp&ex=1152849600&en=77ebb49b5c46ed9c&ei=5094&partner=homepage



Romney vetoes funding for LGBT, HIV/AIDS programs
Ethan Jacobs
ejacobs@baywindows.com
Gov. Mitt Romney signed the Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07) budget into law July 8 and included with that budget a list of vetoes and funding reductions that hit just about every LGBT and AIDS-related initiative receiving state funding. Romney vetoed the creation of a new legislative Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, cut all of the Safe Schools funding in the Department of Education (DOE), cut all of the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project (GMDVP) funding from the Department of Public Health (DPH), cut more than $700,000 in HIV/AIDS funding and cut funding to the LGBT Aging Project. Overriding those vetoes would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, but Romney attached about 200 vetoes and reductions to the budget, and it is unlikely lawmakers will get to vote on all of them before the session concludes at the end of the month. Advocates are scrambling to ask legislators to make overriding their particular vetoes a priority before the session ends.

http://baywindows.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=FFE8EE763F464D3095FAA78F46AD3EE5



Rep. Lynch Blasts Romney For Tunnel Response
(CBS4) BOSTON As inspections continue on the I-90 connector tunnel, Governor Romney is pushing forward with plans to remove Turnpike Chairman Matt Amorello from office. But Romney is also catching heat from Congressman Steven Lynch.
Early Thursday morning, in an interview with WBZ radio's Carl Stevens, Rep. Lynch blasted Romney for his response to the incident.
The South Boston Democrat tells WBZ that it's "disingenuous" for Romney to seek the removal of Amorello at the same time he's spending considerable time outside of the state, testing the waters for a presidential run.
"The Governor, with all due respect, has no credibility on this issue. The Governor ought to do something besides calling for people's resignations.....Roll up your sleeves and go to work on this. He spends two days a week in the state and complains Matt (Amorello) is not doing his job," said Lynch.

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_194120959.html



Halliburton-KBR's LOGCAP-3 Iraq Contract Not Renewed
Posted 14-Jul-2006 03:47
The US Army says its five-year no-bid LOGCAP contract with Halliburton's KBR unit will be put up for bids after its current phase ends later this year. According to Army figures, KBR has received orders totaling $17.1 billion since the start of the current LOGCAP 3 contract, including about $15.4 billion in Iraq, for feeding, housing and providing fuel and other services to U.S. troops worldwide.
As DID has noted, KBR has found itself embroiled in controversy over its role, its prices, and audits of its work that have been unable to fully account for millions of dollars of those funds or justify all charges to the Pentagon's full satisfaction. The firm strongly denies any wrongdoing, and Army Secretary Francis Harvey recently praised their efforts. LOGCAP 4's new approach clearly acknowledges the controversies spawned, however, and early reports say that it will be very different...

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/07/halliburtonkbrs-logcap3-iraq-contract-not-renewed/index.php



Frist, Vanderbilt scientists hang hopes on stem cell vote
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
July 13, 2006
While Washington, D.C., gears up for what is likely to be a close Senate vote on stem cell funding legislation, Vanderbilt researchers hold their breath for what may be their best chance yet to jump to the forefront of stem cell research.
Just before the July 4 congressional recess, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) made good on a year-old promise to allow a Senate vote on a stem cell bill that passed last year in the House of Representatives.
The House bill, which was sponsored by Reps. Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), would allow federal funding for research on donated embryos that would otherwise be destroyed by fertility clinics, and would lift the restriction that President Bush imposed on embryonic stem cell research in August of 2001. But just as soon as Frist announced his intention to hold a Senate vote, Bush issued a threat to veto the bill should it come to his desk.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=9&screen=news&news_id=50943



Key Big Dig figures
July 13, 2006
Mitt Romney
Governor
Has blasted management of the project, especially that of Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello, but faces criticism himself for not asserting more authority over the project or getting tough with contractors.
Thomas F. Reilly
Attorney General
In January 2005, took over effort to gain compensation for the state for poor construction in the project. Announced he would seek $108 million from Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the project manager, for problems and delays and was said to be close to a settlement with the firm last month. Has also launched criminal probe for potential negligent homicide charges as a result of Monday's collapse.

http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2006/07/13/key_big_dig_figures/



Belfast Telegraph

Global warming ‘will cancel out Western aid and devastate Africa’
By Andrew Grice
13 July 2006
Climate change could have a devastating impact on Africa, wiping out all the benefits from the measures to help the continent agreed by the world’s richest nations last year.
The warning will be issued by the British Gov-ernment today when it announces plans to bring poor countries into the next round of international discussions to combat global warming.
The serious threat posed to the developing world will be highlighted when Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for International Development, publishes his first White Paper setting out his department’s strategy. It will warn that people in poor nations, while producing much lower carbon emissions than rich countries, could be the biggest victims of climate change.
They will have to cope with more droughts, more extreme temperatures and sudden and intense rainfall causing greater food insecurity, loss of income, higher death rates and more diseases. Research by the department to assess the impact on Africa by 2050, taking account of poverty forecasts, suggests that southern Africa and the Sahel, the Great Lakes areas and the coastal zones of eastern and western Africa will be particularly at risk.
In some parts of east Africa, higher rainfall and and temperatures will help crop production in the short term but there will be more frequent crop failures in the future. “What is clear is that Africa appears to have some of the greatest burdens of climate change impacts, certainly from the human health and agricultural perspective,” the research concluded.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698520



Next winter to be 'milder but wetter'
By Fiona McIlwaine Biggins
14 July 2006
As the summer sun continues to shine, the first forecasts for the winter weather to come reveals we are likely to experience milder but wetter conditions than last year, according to Met Office long-range forecasters.
Each June, the sea surface temperature pattern in the North Atlantic gives a hint of what type of weather may predominate across Europe the following winter.
Following a period of gathering and assessing this data, Met Office experts reveal that early indications of what type of winter 2006-07 we might expect is likely to be milder than the long-term average and wetter than the country experienced last winter.
The Met Office uses a statistical method and a number of global forecasting models to provide information on the outlook for the winter.
At this stage, only the statistical method is available, so this is just a first look at the prospects.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698660



Leukaemia girl travels to Germany for life-saving op
By Ruairi McLaren
14 July 2006
Toddler Ava Nixon was travelling to Germany this morning for a life-saving bone marrow transplant, after an operation in Bristol fell through this week.
The parents of the one-year- old Londonderry girl will travel with her to Stuttgart on this morning's potentially life-changing flight.
Ava suffers from a rare form of leukaemia and has endured months of gruelling chemotherapy.
The family will travel straight to the hospital from the airport in Germany, where samples will be taken to attempt to match her with a donor, most likely one of her parents.
After preparation, it is hoped the transplant can be carried out in two or three weeks time.
The family were initially awarded funding to go to Germany for the operation just days after the couple were informed by doctors that nothing more could be done for Ava.
Last week the family were told a place was available in Bristol now, with a potential full-donor match.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698656



Ulster's superbug deaths quadruple
MRSA claimed 69 lives last year
By Nigel Gould
14 July 2006
MRSA-related deaths in Northern Ireland have quadrupled in just four years, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.
Figures show the feared antibiotic-resistant superbug played a part in the deaths of 69 people throughout the province during 2005. That compares to just 17 in 2001.
Overall between 2001 and 2005 there were no fewer than 186 MRSA-connected deaths.
Places of death include hospitals, nursing homes or the patient's residence.
In each case, MRSA was mentioned on the patient's death certificate - although it is not clear whether the bug was the primary cause of death or where the infection was initially picked up.
Craigavon Area Hospital, one of Ulster's leading acute units, was recorded as having the highest number of MRSA-related deaths during 2005.
Last year there the bug helped cause the deaths of nine people - compared to just one in 2001.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698664



Staying together for the kids 'worse than divorce'
By Katie Nixon
14 July 2006
Staying together for the sake of the kids may be more damaging than divorce, an influential committee of MPs has been told.
The Education and Skills Select Committee was told yesterday by academics that pupils whose parents' relationship was in difficulty were at risk of under achieving, whether or not their parents separated.
Professor Bryan Rodgers of the Australian National University in Canberra told the committee that one in four children in the UK will now see their parents spilt up before they are 16. The research found that children from happy homes do best at school regardless of whether their parents were together or separated. And children who have a close relationship with the non-resident parent did better than expected at school.
The committee heard that the closeness of the parental relationship was often the most important factor in terms of achievement at school rather than the frequency of contact.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698662



Challenges ahead for new chief of Ulster medicine
By Nigel Gould
14 July 2006
Northern Ireland has a new chief medical officer.
Dr Michael McBride, the current medical director of the Royal Hospitals Group, takes over from Dr Henrietta Campbell, who retired from the post earlier this year.
Congratulating Dr McBride on his appointment, Health Minister Paul Goggins said: "I welcome Michael McBride into his new job and I look forward to working with him on a range of important health issues which affect everyone in Northern Ireland.
"Introducing the smoking ban next year will be a key challenge and will help to save many lives.
"Tackling obesity, getting more people to exercise and eat healthily, suicide prevention, reducing heart related illnesses and tackling drug and alcohol problems are just some of the other challenges faced in improving the health and well-being of people living here. I wish him well."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698618



Hunger strike sports shirts spark fury
By Lisa Smyth
14 July 2006
Controversial GAA-style shirts designed to commemorate the hunger strikers should be removed from sale in the interests of community harmony, a DUP MP claimed last night.
The official supplier of GAA shirts, O'Neill's, has launched a commemorative jersey to mark the 25th anniversary of the campaign which led to the deaths of 10 republican prisoners.
The jerseys are currently available to buy in O'Neill's west Belfast shop on the Anderstown Road.
However, Jeffrey Donaldson called for the immediate withdrawal of the shirts from sale and said he was extremely disappointed that O'Neill's have produced a shirt which has the potential to prompt violence.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698619



Israel widens bombing campaign as Lebanese militia groups retaliate
By Donald Macintyre and Eric Silver
14 July 2006
Israeli forces blockaded Lebanese ports and bombed runways at Beirut airport yesterday in a series of fierce reprisal attacks that Lebanese officials say have killed 55 civilians.
Tthe biggest military operation since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon six years ago came in response to a raid by Hizbollah on Wednesday in which two soldiers were seized while on patrol on the Israeli side of the border. The most serious casualties were caused by a series of air raids on south Lebanon that Lebanese security officials say killed 55 people and wounded 110. Sources said 10 members of a single family were killed in Dweir village and seven from another family were killed in Baflay.
The Israeli military said Hizbollah guerrillas fired more than 100 Katyusha rockets in retaliation at towns and villages across the north of Israel, killing two women in what was the most serious barrage since the mid-1990s. One woman was killed in Nahariya and another woman died from her wounds in Safed.
The guerrilla group appeared last night to have dramatically exceeded the rocket's previous range by launching two at the coastal city of Haifa. Another landed in the suburbs. Danny Ayalon, Israeli ambassador to the US, said the attack was a "major, major, escalation" but Hizbollah's initial reaction was to deny its rockets had been fired at Haifa.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698647



Storming start leaves Ports facing mission impossible
By Stuart McKinley
14 July 2006
An early goal in each half from Lithuanian league leaders, Kaunas, has left Portadown facing mission impossible in the UEFA Cup.
The Ports have only ever won once in Europe and that statistic never came under threat as the visitors ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.
They struck the opener with less than two minutes on the clock and when they doubled their lead in the ninth minute the tie was already slipping away from Ronnie McFall's side.
A third goal in the opening minute of the second-half killed off the Ports and Gary McCutcheon's strike midway through the second-half was merely a consolation effort.
Kaunas punished the Ports before the game had even sprung into life after Brendan Devenney conceded a free-kick.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/story.jsp?story=698629



The Devil's Highway: Crossing the deadly frontier
Every year, more than a million Mexicans embark on a journey across the US border, lured by wages up to 20 times higher than at home - it is a perilous trek which many do not survive
14 July 2006
In the centre of the Mexican town of Altar, men with backpacks cluster in small groups, hiding from the blistering sun beneath trees, or else in the better-than-nothing shade of the shops that edge the plaza. The men are travellers, all residents of southern Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, and all heading north to the US border just 90 miles across the desert. They were lured by the prospect of a new life and new opportunity, of jobs that pay 10 or 20 times what they earned in their villages, and the chance to send some of those wages home. If, that is, they could make it across the border.
Countless thousands of migrants pour through Altar every year. In the summer the numbers fall sharply, for in the months of July and August the migrants are competing not just with the border guards and their trucks and helicopters, their scanners and sniffer dogs, but also with the weather. Here on the US-Mexican border these months of high summer are known as the death season - the months when the relentless, burning sun makes every attempt at crossing the desert a potentially lethal endeavour. On this particular afternoon the temperature stood at a steady 104F (40C).
Last year was a record for deaths in the desert. At least 473 migrants died trying to cross into the US, 260 of them in the US Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Tucson sector of south-eastern Arizona. Experts say this year's numbers are currently in line to break that record.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=698668



Palestine funding puzzle
14 July 2006
The Palestine Centre for Human Rights is funded by Ireland and the EU, yet its statement on the current crisis attacks Israel, but not the attack on the Israeli Defence Forces by Hamas and other gangs.
Nor did it refer to the kidnapping of Cpl Gilad Shalit and it does not mention that this violates international law.
Should not steps be taken by the Dublin Government to ensure that bodies taking such a partisan and politicised stand are no longer funded by Ireland, or the EU?
TOM CAREW Dublin

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/letters/story.jsp?story=698639



Port Security

Naval militia to guard ports?
Plan pondered by Va. adjutant general as security measure
BY PETER BACQUE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jul 9, 2006
Virginia's top military officer is mulling over establishing a state naval militia to guard the Old Dominion's seaports.
"The concept has merit," said Maj. Gen. Robert B. Newman Jr., the state's adjutant general. "I see the naval militia helping to contribute to port security."
Newman cautioned, however, that a state naval militia is only in the thinking-about stage.
"We would be receptive to hearing the general's thoughts on such a proposal," said Kevin Hall, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's spokesman.
Virginia law already provides for a naval militia, made up of citizens - "organized, armed and equipped" - between the ages of 18 and 45.
Virginia naval reserve forces were periodically active from the late 19th century through the middle of the last century. The members of the Richmond-based First Company of the Virginia Naval Militia were called into federal naval service during World War II.
Several states still have such maritime militias.
Members of the New Jersey Naval Militia Joint Command were activated during rescue and recovery operations for the Sept. 11 attacks and remained on duty though January 2002.
New York's naval militia has about 4,500 members, including marines, and after Sept. 11 two of that state's militia boats patrolled the Hudson River to block water-borne attacks on a nuclear power plant.
At the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads is the home to the world's largest naval base, and the state owns three deepwater terminals there.
Annually, the Virginia Port Authority's terminals in Norfolk, Newport News and Portsmouth handle about 1.2 million containers carrying cargo worth more than $37 billion, making it the third-largest port in the eastern U.S.
"Security is an issue and we're always looking for ways to improve our security," port authority spokesman Joe Harris said.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has dramatically strengthened port security, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, spending $1.6 billion to guard the nation's harbors in 2005.
But the American Association of Port Authorities says that the nation's ports have received only 20 percent of what they sought in security funding over the past four years.
More than 80 percent of the world's trade travels by sea, and 90 percent of cargo moves in containers, so the oceans and their harbors offer America's enemies a way to travel and to produce mass casualties and massive economic damage, officials say.
Federal strategy calls for multilayered defenses - the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, port authorities and terminal operators - to safeguard ports.
Virginia has been turned down for U.S. homeland-security grants to help protect Hampton Roads, Kaine press secretary Hall noted.
With active-duty resources stretched by the global war on terrorism, a reserve unit such as the naval militia is the way to go, Newman said in an interview Friday.
"It's the only way," he said, "to have requirements meet with capabilities."
Contact staff writer Peter Bacqué at pbacque@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6813.
Times-Dispatch librarian/researcher Kathy Albers contributed to this report.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189031325&path=!news&s=1045855934842


Forth ship-to-ship oil transfers approved
IAN SWANSON AND ALAN RODEN ( iswanson@edinburghnews.com)
CONTROVERSIAL ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth were today given the green light.
The decision was greeted with horror by environmental groups, who have warned oil spills could spoil public enjoyment of the Forth and devastate sensitive natural habitats.
And Fife councillors were considering possible legal action to stop the transfers.
The go-ahead for the plans came when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency today announced its intention to approve the contingency plan put forward by Forth Ports plc to deal with any oil spill. The decision is now expected to be rubber-stamped by Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander, paving the way for Forth Ports to agree plans by Melbourne Marine Services to transfer up to eight million tonnes of Russian crude oil every year.

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1027372006



Public hearings are scheduled to give the area ports' Clean Air Plan a second look
Groups want time to study the report that port officials want to finish by September.
By Donna Littlejohn
DAILY BREEZE
A series of monthlong public hearings begins Monday to take comments about the proposed Clean Air Plan released a little over a week ago by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
But several interest groups say they'll need more time to digest the voluminous and ambitious plan that aims to cut port-related emissions by 50 percent in five years.
Port officials are hoping to complete any necessary modifications to the draft report in time to adopt a final plan in September.
"We're very concerned about the 30-day comment period," said Adrian Martinez, project attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The ports are dealing with a very well- educated public and we think the plan could be enhanced by having a robust public process."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/3313726.html


Agulhas gets a pounding
By DEON VAN DER MERWE
MASSIVE waves whipped up by high winds and heavy swells pounded the stricken cargo carrier Safmarine Agulhas yesterday.
National Ports Authority spokesperson Terry Taylor said discharging of fuel and cargo was slowed down by the weather conditions.
“She was pivoting metres at a time, swinging from port to starboard, as massive swells and waves pounded her,” he said.
Crane lifting operations were interrupted periodically during the day as high winds caused containers to swing wildly in mid-air.
Last night, with 207 of the 277 containers taken ashore and a further 262 still in the holds, cargo discharging operations were stop-ped pending an expected improvement in the weather.
Conditions across East London, according to the SA Weather Service, were expected to be much calmer today.
The forecast said it would be sunny today, there was no storm warning and winds would be northerly, rising from seven knots in the morning to 12 knots in the afternoon.

http://www.dispatch.co.za/2006/07/08/Easterncape/agul.html



Cocco: DR ports are unique in Caribbean to expedite deliveries
SANTO DOMINGO. - Customs director, Miguel Cocco, said yesterday that the handling of new technologies and the acquisition of "X" rays to avoid delays in the Haina and Caucedo wharves will be paid off with the customs importation charge of 0,4%, which is going to reduce costs to importers as well.
He indicated, when speaking in a radio program, that many people want modernity without taking into account that it has a cost.
He said that the Tax Free zones are the ones that need most to quickly enter the American market and this can only be obtained with technology.
He insisted on differentiating a tax from a charge, in this case we are not talking about taxes.
"it is not a tax is a charge for a service that allows merchandise delivery in a 24 hour period after it’s arrival, this technology favors not only Dominican image abroad, but also favors monetary regeneration which, its the national investor’s main objective”, Cocco added.
He also asserted that, for the first time a port from the Caribbean and Central America obtains fast access to North American customs through the certification and procedures of verification of the exports in the country, without having to transfer in another nation with a cost from 28 to 30%.
By means of the certification the ship entering the U.S.A, instead, it will proceed directly to the purchasing center and then to distribution.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=15374



Lower Mainland ports to be integrated?
Jul, 08 2006 - 5:30 AM
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Should Lower Mainland ports be integrated into one entity? That's what the federal Transport Minister wants to know.
Representatives of Minister Lawrence Cannon's office have met with representatives from the Vancouver, Fraser River, and North Fraser Port Authorities, to explore the opporunities for a single port entity.
Captain Gordon Houston, President and CEO of the Vancouver Port Authority, says there are number of reasons to consider it.
"The business with Asia-Pacific is growing at a rapid pace, and there's going to come a time when the population growth and the need to transport goods are going to come in more of a conflict then they are today," Houston said.
He says meetings on the issue will continue-- and input will be gathered from stakeholders.

http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428218912&rem=42455&red=80121823aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm



Pakistan-U.S. discuss cooperation in management of Ports, Maritime
By Khalida Mazhar 'Pakistan Times' US Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON (US): Babar Khan Ghauri, Federal Minister Ports & Shipping held meetings with the U.S. Port authorities in Houston and discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of ports and martime, says a press release issued by Pakistan Consulate, Houston.
It says, the Federal Minister visited Houston Port Authority, and on the occasion, Chairman Jim Edmonds and John Patrick Horan, director of Trade at the Port Authority, gave a briefing about the Houston Port operations.
The two sides discussed possibility of exchange of expertise in the management of Ports.
The Federal Minister invited Chairman Houston Port, Jim Edmonds to visit Pakistan for enhancing interaction between ports of the two countries.
Possibility of establishing sister relations between ports of Houston and Karachi was also discussed, in the meeting, the press release states.
It says that the visit of the Minister to the Houston Port and his discussions with the port authorities have provided a good starting point for developing closer cooperation between Pakistan and the United States in the field of martime.
Consul General G. R. Baloch accompanied the Federal Minister during the visit.●

http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/07/09/top8.htm



Dubai Ports plans $14.7b float
David Teather in London
July 11, 2006
DUBAI Ports World, the company that recently sealed a takeover of the British ports operator P&O, is drawing up plans for a stockmarket float in London that could value the business at as much as £6 billion ($14.7 billion).
DP World's move on the long established P&O gave it four more Australian terminals to add to its global tally: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. DP World already held Adelaide. Its rival in most of these stevedoring operations is Patrick Corp, recently taken over by Toll.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/dubai-ports-plans-147b-float/2006/07/10/1152383676434.html


Dubai Ports group interested
Well informed sources have revealed yesterday from the port of Algiers, the interest of foreign companies to get a part of the capital of Algiers’ port and enter as a partner to manage the containers, Dubai’s ports come at the top list of companies which have shown a predisposition and an important interest in addition to the Danish company “Mersk” and the French “CMIGMI”.
The same sources have indicated that the invitation to tender concerning this operation will be announced during one month after the end of the study on evaluation of the company of the port of Algiers, these changes intervene after the first operation which touched the port of Bejaia after the Singaporean company “Portic” has obtained 40% of the final capital of the port of Bejaia. This intervenes within the framework of the programme of separation of the activities of the ports.

http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?ida=36183&idc=52



Dubai Ports World plans London flotation to raise 1 bln stg - reports
LONDON (AFX) - Dubai Ports World, the new owner of ports and shipping group P&O, is
planning a flotation in London to raise more than 1 bln stg, reports said.
Dubai plans to sell 20 pct of the company, which could be valued at as much as 6 bln stg, according to The Sunday Times.
The listing would comprise P&O's 29 ports, among them Tilbury in Essex and Antwerp in Belgium and a handful of other well-reputed ports that DPW already owned, including its flagship asset Jebel Ali, the largest port in Dubai, the newspaper said.

http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?shareprice=&ArticleRef=15012&ArticleHeadline=Dubai_Ports_World_plans_London_flotation_to_raise_1_bln_stg__reports




Toll backs national ports reform
Transport giant Toll Holdings has leant its support to proposals from the Federal Treasurer Peter Costello, to bring the country's ports under a national regulator.
Mr Costello says the current state-by-state approach is too unwieldy, and control by the Federal Government makes more sense for the economy.
Toll chief executive Paul Little has told the ABC's Inside Business he sees merit in the proposal.
"I think I can see some of the benefits associated with reducing the fairly intense regulation that sits around port operations on a state-by-state basis," he said.
"There is no doubt that if you are able to overlay all port operations with one regulator, that would bring certain efficiencies going forward.
"Each port in Australia has got a different depth shipping channel, ships are getting bigger. All of those things need to be coordinated.
"Security needs to be coordinated. So I think there are certainly some arguments for looking at removing some of the overlap that exists today in regulation."
Mr Little says Toll has had considerable interest in the sale of its stake in freight company Pacific National.
The sale of its half-share was a condition of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's approval of Toll's bid to take over Patrick Corporation.
Mr Little he is not worried about getting a good price.
"There's been significant interest and from a fairly broad group which is somewhat surprising," he said.
"There's the trade buyers, the financial sponsors and the infrastructure groups, so I have no concerns about our ability to find a good partner and achieve the right price."
He says reports that Toll is hoping for $1.5 billion are incorrect.
"We've estimated $1.5 billion for the sale of all assets inclusive of Pacific National," he said.
"Pacific National's share of that yet to be determined, but probably closer to $1.2 billion, I would have thought."
He says the company, which announced this week it had gained 100 per cent of stevedoring business Patrick, is not considering a float at this stage.
"We've been given nine months by the ACCC to sell our 50 per cent stake," he said.
"We'll probably need all of that five months to get there and, of course, at the same time we are trying to improve the quality of that asset which had been run down during the acquisition of Patrick."
He did not rule out accepting a slightly lower price to get the right partner.
"I think the correct deal at the end of the day will see a mix of wanting a partner that complements their involvement in the board and in the company as the shareholder and obviously gives us the right price, so there is a mix of both considerations," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1682075.htm



Ports destroying state's mangrove cover: Study
[ 9 Jul, 2006 2106hrs IST
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GANDHINAGAR: Unplanned development of ports, jetties, refineries, salt works, cement industries and thermal plants along the state's 1,650 kilometre sea coast may result in swift degradation of the mangrove cover and steps need to be taken urgently for protection from disasters like cyclone and tsunami.
This Gujarat government study, conducted by forest official H S Singh on behalf of the state forest department, cautions that unfettered development have a 'negative impact' on sustainable yield of prawn and fish, too.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1719284.cms



Congressional Staff Seminar on Ports Scheduled for Friday
7/10/2006 - Port Security News
The Port Security Council is launching a series of seminars this week to update Congressional staffers on issues relating to United States ports. The initial day-long seminar, focusing particularly on security, will take place Friday in the offices of the System Planning Corporation, 30th Floor, 1000 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Va.
Topics include: What is a Port, How Supply Chains Work, Maritime Policy at Work, Current Port Security Legislation, Other Programs Affecting Ports, Port Security Grants, and the Future of Ports.
A second seminar will include a visit to the Port of Baltimore during the August Congressional recess, while a third, at a date yet to be determined, will cover incident response at U.S. ports.
Further information on Friday’s seminar can be obtained by contacting the Council’s Alison Williams at 703-351-8252 or alison.williams@portsecuritycouncil.us

http://portsecuritynews.com/news/templates/registered.asp?articleid=1147&zoneid=1


Letters Let's solve dredging impasse
DEAR GOV. Corzine:
I represent a substantial portion of the area along the Delaware River, including Tioga Marine Terminal. I believe as you do that our ports are crucial to the economic futures of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
I urge you to help break the deadlock over the Delaware River dredging issue. Dredging to 45 feet will allow ports to accommodate larger ships and compete with ports in other sections of the United States. Failure to dredge will force companies to move to other ports. This will result in the loss of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in tax revenue and hundreds of millions in economic activity.
I offer my assistance in finding ways to bridge the gap between our two great states.
State Sen. Michael Stack
5th Senatorial District
Soccer violence
So letter-writer Patrick O'Leary thinks Eagle fans are just as bad as European and South American soccer fans.
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but no one has ever been killed at an Eagles game or any other sporting event in our fair city other than when the stands collapsed at the turn of the last century at a Phillies game.
People have been killed in Europe and South America in riots because of soccer games. I think they even killed the ref a couple of times in South America. So let's not get carried away.
Mark Dwyer, Philadelphia

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/15003861.htm



Mombasa to record $51.4m profit, says ports boss
By ALLAN ODHIAMBO
Special Correspondent
The Kenya Port Authority (KPA) expects a rise in pre-tax profit from Ksh3.1 billion ($43 million) realised last year to Sh3.7 billion ($51.4 million) this financial year.
Cargo throughput at the port of Mombasa is also expected to climb to 13.7 million tonnes this year from the 13.29 million tonnes attained in 2005, thanks to a major modernisation programme at the facility.
KPA chairman Joseph Kibwana is optimistic that the authority will be able to deliver up to 420 moves per vessel per day as stated under a performance contract signed with the government for the year 2006/07.
He said KPA was well prepared for the challenge because of newly installed cargo handling equipment at the port that had already improved the rate of loading and offloading.
Addressing KPA clients during the just concluded Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) show in Nakuru, he said the focus would be on vessel turnaround time, total cargo throughput, container dwell time and port cargo clearance time in order to meet the requirements of the performance contract.

http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/News1007068.htm



Case of rockash dumped in Dominican ports continues today.
SAN FRANCISCO, Dominican Republic.- The indicted in the case of the rockash dumped in the port at Arroyo Barril, Samana province (northeast), will return this Monday to court when the criminal trial resumes, in the Francisco Penal Chamber San, accused of allowing 59,000 tons of the toxic material to enter the country.
The hearing in the trial against the ex-Environment vice minister René Ledesma and the ex-director of the Dominican Port Authority, Rosendo Arsenio Borges, is slated for 11:00 a.m. and where is expected to testify the ex-Environment minister Frank Moya Pons, in whose administration the rockash’s import was authorized.
Also testifying is an expert witness from the Santo Domingo Autonomous University’s (UASD) Environmental Commission , and from the Dominican Academy of Sciences, who conducted tests on the material’s effects on the environment.
The trial was being heard in Samaná but was transferred here at the defense’s request, alleged a lack of security for its clients.
Last Tuesday the 4th, the collegiate court hearing the case had to reschedule it for today for time reasons.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=15401


Record cargo levels within reach at retail container ports
Jeff Berman, Senior Editor
Logistics Management July 10, 2006
WASHINGTON—Although record cargo levels are expected at major United States-based retail ports for the rest of this summer and into the fall, it will not result in congestion problems, which have previously hindered port operations, according to the recently-released July Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation, a retail trade association, and Global Insight, a provider of economic and financial information.
The U.S.-based ports surveyed in the report, including Los Angles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah, handled a cumulative 1.34 million Twenty-foot Equivalents (TEUs) of container traffic in May, which is the most recent month for which data is available. May’s total slightly edges out the 1.32 million TEUs handled by the surveyed ports in April, and is nine percent more than May 2005.

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/CA6351034.html



DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (UPI) -- Dubai Ports World, which recently bought British ports operator P&O, is planning an initial public offering.
The company, an arm of the United Arab Emirates government, is considering including about 52 ports in the IPO, the Guardian reported Monday.
Since buying P&O, Dubai Ports World has continued to expand and is in the process of building a $500 million container terminal at Qingdao in eastern China. The company also owns Jebel Ali, the largest port in Dubai.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1179681.php/Dubai_Ports_World_mulls_IPO



L.A., Long Beach ports target air pollution with clean action plan
By: posted by Julia Kuzeljevich
LOS ANGELES & LONG BEACH, Calif.--The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have introduced the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, a sweeping plan aimed at significantly reducing the health risks posed by air pollution from port-related ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft.
The San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, released in draft for public review and comments, was created with the cooperation and participation of the staff of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.ctl.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=57723&issue=07042006



IT student helps automate Ports of Auckland
Tuesday, 11 July 2006, 10:47 am
Press Release: Manukau Institute of Technology
Tuesday, 11 July 2006
MIT information technology student delivers manuals to help automate Ports of Auckland shipping processes
Imported used cars travel a long way to reach their new owners in New Zealand, but thanks to Sandhya Prasad the final leg of that arduous journey is set to become a whole lot simpler.
As the final-year practical project for her Bachelor of Information Systems degree at Manukau Institute of Technology, Sandhya developed a set of user manuals for a new software system that Ports of Auckland will use to plan and record vehicle movements on and off its wharves.
The software, called VENUS (Vehicle Entry User System), has been developed by Auckland-based Sandfield Associates and is designed to manage the import and export of used vehicles through New Zealand ports.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0607/S00027.htm


Security boost for Indonesian ports
July 11, 2006 - 5:49PM
Security will be beefed up at major Indonesian airports and seaports under a joint project with Australia's immigration department.
Australian firm CPS Systems has won a $7.5 million contract to roll out passport readers, databases and name-matching software to identify suspicious people seeking to enter Indonesia.
The system will be used at airports in Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan, Batam sea port, and associated immigration offices.
The CEKAL system is Indonesia's version of Australia's Movement Alert List, which keeps tabs on people such as terrorists and criminals who pose a serious threat to the community.
Immigration officials will be able to cross-check the identities of people on arrival against alert lists, and lists of people granted visas or entry permits.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said it would improve regional security.
"Better control of borders throughout our region will help curb potential terrorist movements and other threats to the safety and wellbeing of all people in our region," Senator Vanstone said in a statement.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Security-boost-for-Indonesian-ports/2006/07/11/1152383734900.html


Senate OKs more port, border security funds
Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:14pm ET
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved nearly $1 billion in additional funds to help secure America's borders and ports and debated revamping the troubled Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve its response to natural disasters or another domestic attack.
In an attempt to strengthen U.S. borders against smuggling of weapons of mass destruction and other illegal activities, the Senate approved an additional $648 million for port security. The money would pay for more inspectors and more advanced equipment to scan shipping containers.
Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, won the added port security money as part of a $32.8 billion domestic security spending bill for next year after describing "paper-thin security" at American ports now.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-07-11T221408Z_01_N11180157_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-CONGRESS.xml&archived=False



July 12, 2006
Ports Association Backs Byrd Amendment That Would Boost Port Security by $648 Million
Washington, DC (HNN) – The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has endorsed an amendment that U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, will offer to the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to provide $648 million to improve security at the nation’s seaports.

"This amendment represents a critical opportunity to make port security a higher priority for this nation," explained Association President Kurt Nagle.

The Byrd amendment, which is expected to come before the Senate for a vote as early as this afternoon of July 11, would provide resources for radiation portal monitors, container inspections, port inspections, and port security grants -- initiatives, experts warn, which are consistently underfunded in the White House budget.

"The bill that is before the Senate does not provide the necessary resources to secure the country’s seaports. My amendment would add $648 million to fill critical gaps in our paper-thin port security program," Byrd said.

"My port security plan would put the funding in place to inspect more of the ocean cargo headed to the United States. We would be able to scan more containers for nuclear devices -- the so-called ‘dirty bombs’ that could kill hundreds of Americans. We would hire more inspectors and more security teams to ensure that shipments entering our ports are safe," Byrd explained.

"In this post-9/11 world, the Congress and the White House must put the safety of our citizens first, and hollow rhetoric won’t get the job done." A similar Byrd amendment was adopted earlier this spring as part of the national security emergency supplemental bill, but the provision was then dropped in conference at the insistence of the House of Representatives and the White House.

The AAPA represents the leading public ports in the United States which handle most of the maritime cargo imported or exported from this country. The association sent a letter to all Senators urging them to support Byrd’s amendment.

The association highlighted the heightened port security concerns after this spring’s controversial Dubai Ports World deal to control six key Eastern Seaboard ports. As a result of that controversy, the House and Senate have started work to significant boost funding for port security. The AAPA also explained that the Byrd amendment would provide $400 million for the federal port security grant program, which the Bush Administration wants to eliminate completely.

Here is the letter from Kurt Nagle of the American Association of Port Authorities:

1010 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 684-5700

www.aapa-ports.org

July 10, 2006

TO: All Members of the United States Senate

FROM: Kurt Nagle, President and CEO, American Association of Port Authorities

SUBJ: Support Port Security Amendment on the Senate Floor

As a member of the United States Senate, I am writing to urge you to support an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) FY'07 appropriations bill being offered by Senator Byrd to increase funding for port security. This amendment represents a critical opportunity to make port security a higher priority for this nation. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) represents the leading public ports in the U.S., handling most of the maritime cargo imported or exported from this country. We strongly endorse this amendment to provide an additional $648 million to enhance port security by providing: an increase in port security grants, additional port security inspectors at foreign and domestic ports, additional cargo container inspection equipment, and improved maritime security through expedited purchase of Coast Guard planes and boats.

Earlier this year, Congress and this nation focused its attention on the P&O Ports/Dubai Ports World transaction, which resulted in a nationwide debate on port security and calls for more security funding for this critical transportation asset. In response, the Senate and the House began working on legislation to strengthen maritime security. The Senate Greenlane Maritime Security Act (S. 2459-Collins/Murray) and the House SAFE Ports Act (H.R. 4954-Lungren/Harman) both call for significantly more funding for port security. The Senate-based emergency supplemental followed the recommendations in these bills, but much of the port security funding was eliminated due to concerns over the total spending level for the bill.

Senator Byrd's amendment is aimed at once again adopting the funding levels in the House and Senate bills and making port security a high priority for this country. AAPA is especially interested in properly funding the Port Security Grant program. The Byrd amendment would bring the funding level up to $400 million for the year. This would help pay for the very costly new regulations DHS has proposed following the Dubai Ports controversy to require all maritime workers and facilities to comply with new Transportation Worker Identification Credential or TWIC requirements. DHS estimates that 40 percent of the $1 billion cost of this regulation will fall on port facilities. By supporting this amendment, Congress will provide federal funds critical to help co-fund this new mandate.

With 99% of our international cargo by volume flowing through ports, we urge you to show the nation that port security is a priority in Congress by voting "yes" on this port security amendment.

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/060712-staff-byrd.html



State, local officials take tax-backed cruise at festival
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - About 200 state and local officials dined on seafood, sipped beer and wine, and listened to a steel drum band on a waterfront cruise that skirted long lines experienced by most visitors to the recent tall ships festival, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday.
The total bill for the two-hour event aboard a state ferry diverted from its regular route isn't in yet, The News & Observer said.
Fuel and staffing for the ferry will cost taxpayers about $2,800 and the bill for the bands was about $1,200. The beer and wine was provided by economic development groups. The catering bill hasn't arrived for shrimp, scallops, sandwich wraps, fruit, pasta salad and dessert.
"I did not know it was going to be that lavish, with all the food and drink, when I got on," said state Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford. "It was really nice."
Harrison said the cruise didn't appear to be appropriate, now that she thinks about it. She has advocated stiffer rules for gifts and ethics for members of the Legislature.
"I guess it's making me nervous to be a part of a state-financed boondoggle like this," she said.
The ferry Floyd Lupton took the guests along the Beaufort waterfront and out into the harbor at Morehead City to glide close to the sailing vessels that drew some 160,000 people over five days.
Many of the 30,000 visitors who bought $30 adult tickets had to ride shuttle buses to the docks and stand in long lines in hot weather. Some didn't get to tour ships because they were overbooked.
The state Ports Authority organized the cruise aboard the ferry, which can't be rented by individuals. Every state legislator was invited and about a dozen showed up; other federal, state and local officials were invited.
Ports spokeswoman Karen Fox said the purpose of the cruise was to show off the port at Morehead City, where some of the larger vessels docked.
DOT spokesman Ernie Seneca said the department, which owns the ferries, will absorb the cost of the fuel and staff on the boat. Alcohol is allowed on board during private events, such as tourism and governmental cruises.
Fox said the Ports Authority hadn't received the catering bill, but did provide the cost of the band.
Officials aboard the cruise included Commerce Secretary Jim Fain and Administration Secretary Britt Cobb along with ports officials and local officials from the Morehead City area.
"It was a good time," said Rep. Marian McLawhorn, D-Pitt. She took her husband and five other family members. "I don't know why they invited us. I guess it was to show us about the cultural resources of the state."

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15017695.htm



Ports Authority starts breaking leases in Port Royal
(Beaufort-AP) July 12, 2006 - The State Ports Authority has started breaking some leases with businesses operating on property in Port Royal that is planned for a redevelopment project.
Governor Mark Sanford signed a bill two years ago to sell the Ports Authority property in Port Royal to a private developer. New shops, homes, parks and hotels are planned on the town's waterfront.
Ports Authority spokesman Byron Miller says the state has been working to break its leases with Port Royal Cement, Port Royal Drystack and fertilizer company Yari North America for more than two years.
Miller would not talk Tuesday about the status of those talks or any potential closing dates for the three businesses.
But a letter by Bobby Glover of Port Royal Drystack says the facility's lease with the state ends Aug. 31st.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5139661



Ports official regrets lavish cruise at tall ships festival
RALEIGH, N.C. An apology today from the state Ports Authority.
Agency chairman Carl Stewart says he "deeply regrets" sponsoring a ferry tour at the recent tall ships festival in Beaufort for about 200 state and local officials.
The officials dined on fancy food, and drank beer and wine for two hours aboard a state-owned ferry diverted from its regular route, all while other visitors waited in long lines amid sweltering heat.
In hindsight, Stewart says it probably wasn't a good idea to have such a lavish event.
About 160-thousand people attended the festival over five days.
Many visitors had to ride shuttle buses to the docks. Some didn't get to tour ships because they were overbooked.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5143783&nav=menu70_2



Dubai Ports to invest in Egypt projects
Posted: 13-07-2006 , 06:22 GMT
Sources at Dubai Ports World have recently announced that the company intends to invest Dh32 billion ($8.7 billion) in several industrial development projects Egypt, including a new seaport and a container terminal with related infrastructure at Eastern Port Said. The newly-established holding company will invest $3.5 billion in the development of the container terminal, while $5.2 billion would be spent on establishing facilities to serve the port and ship and container movement through the Suez Canal, reported Khaleej Times.
According to the deputy chairman of the Egyptian Investment Authority, Mahmoud Atta Allah, the authority will soon conclude
its negotiations with DP World on developing the Eastern Port Said project.

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Egypt/200727



Ports close as storm takes aim at Taiwan
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan braced on Thursday for the arrival of tropical storm Bilis, with heavy rains and strong winds already battering eastern parts of the island and forcing key ports, schools and offices to close.
By 0300 GMT, the eye of the storm, which killed four people in the Philippines, was about 190 km (118 miles) east of Taiwan and travelling northwest at 17 kph, with sustained winds of up to 90 kph and maximum gusts of 119 kph, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said.
Taiwan's two key ports, Keelung in the north and Kaohsiung in the south, halted operations, officials said.
A pedestrian is buffeted by heavy rains and strong winds from tropical storm Bilis in front of a train station in Taipei July 13, 2006. (REUTERS/Richard Chung)
County and city governments in the central parts of the island shut schools and offices but the capital Taipei was unaffected.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/13/worldupdates/2006-07-13T103216Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-259381-2&sec=Worldupdates



Freight from Asia continues to snarl at West Coast ports
Staff
Purchasing July 13, 2006
"U.S. freight transportation capabilities are not keeping pace with demand,'' said John Bowe, president for the Americas of the APL unit of ocean carrier Neptune Orient Lines. In a recent story in the San Francisco Chronicle, he says, "Last year, ocean container ships sat for up to two weeks waiting to be offloaded. That compares with a standard unloading time of three or four days. And while things are better this year, many changes need to be made before the long-term outlook improves."
For example, the Port of Oakland's inbound traffic grew 20.4% last year over 2004, and 15.8% in 2004.
The Chronicle story also points out that Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS, recently told the Philadelphia World Affairs Council that product delays caused by road congestion alone shave an estimated $63 billion yearly off this country's economic output and "Port congestion is already a problem,'' he said. "It's only going to get worse, as ocean cargo volume is expected to double by 2020."
Piers Global Intelligence Solutions, a private data service that tracks imports and exports based on shipping documents, has predicted U.S. import growth of 9% this year and 7% in 2007 and U.S. export growth of 10% in 2006 and 9% in 2007.
But while carriers claim congestion at the ports, some reports say shippers are seeing ocean capacity lighten up. "We will see more and more vacant space on ships," said Mark Page, director of research for Drewry Shipping Consultants of London in a recent Los Angeles Times story. "For some time now, we have been receiving far too much in the way of ships and in very large ships in particular. Now, we are looking at three years to 3.5 years of overcapacity." Worldwide containership capacity will grow 14% this year and 11% in 2007, Page predicted.
© 2006, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6350586.html?industryid=2150



Ports of Tacoma and Olympia to work on rail center
Kelly Kearsley; The News Tribune
Published: July 13th, 2006 06:24 PM
The ports of Tacoma and Olympia want to develop a joint rail center near Interstate 5 in Olympia.
Pending approval from both the ports’ commissions, such a facility would provide a place outside the ports for rail operations and make the movement of cargo in and out of the ports by train more efficient, Port of Tacoma director Tim Farrell said today.
To get the project started, the Port of Tacoma plans to buy 74 acres of industrial property two miles east of the interstate in Thurston County.
The property is now owned by Citifor Inc., a timber holding company.
Directors of both ports plan to discuss the project in detail Friday morning.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/5943921p-5237901c.html



Lagos: XVII Regatta of the Ports of the Discoveries
On 15th and 16th July there will take place the XVII Regata dos Portos dos Descobrimentos, with the boats anticipated to leave at 11.00hrs on 15th from Lagos Marina.
The Regatta of the Ports of the Discoveries - Lagos and Palos de La Frontera - are annual events in which the starting and arrival points are alternated. The initiative aims to record the contribution of the two cities for the epic Maritime Discoveries.
On 27th October 1992, there took place the Twinning cerimony of Lagos with Palos de La Frontera, where the two municipalities sealed an undertaking to "maintain permanent ties, to favour and incentivate the exchange between their inhabitants in all fields, to develop a joint understanding together with the sentiment of universal fraternity and solidarity and to join forces to contribute to the success of these tasks of peace and prosperity".
Palos de La Frontera was the first city with which Lagos has twinned. The objective of the initiative was to reverse the growing distance between them and establish between them bases of understanding and an exchange of knowledge in the
diverse areas of the municipal scope.
From Palos, in 1492, Columbus and the Pinzón brothers departed on their celebrated journey which led them to the discovery of America. Lagos, as we know, was where the Infante D. Henrique resided and was the port of departure for
various Portuguese expeditions.
The XVII Regata dos Portos dos Descobrimentos is a joint organisation between the Municipal Council of Lagos and the Sailing Club of Lagos, and is one of the initiatives which resulted from the Twinning between the Municipalities of Lagos
and Palos de La Frontera.

http://regiao-sul.pt/en/news/news.php?id=1496



Glad tidings for regional ports skill gaps
By Lautaro Vargas, 14 July 2006
The Haven Gateway Partnership has answered the call for a skills gap in the ports sector by commissioning a consortium of three companies to develop a business plan by September this year for a Ports & Logistics Skills Academy.
The Academy will provide the skills necessary for the continued expansion of areas such as Port of Felixstowe’s Trinity Terminal
The Haven Gateway Partnership has answered the call for a skills gap in the ports sector by commissioning a consortium of three companies to develop a business plan by September this year for a Ports & Logistics Skills Academy.
The project will be managed by Ipswich-based Ignite Consulting as the lead partner in the consortium, which also includes Akenham and Poulsen Selleck.
The Haven Gateway’s massive ports, shipping and logistics sector is critical to the sub-region’s economy and the Partnership is committed to ensuring that the correct skills and training are available as the sector gets ready for substantial expansion through projects such as the Felixstowe South and Bathside Bay deepwater container terminal developments.
Haven Gateway project manager, Richard Morton, said: “We have identified that there is a skills need which is common in the port-related sector around the UK and we must tackle that. There is a willingness from employers to tell us exactly what they want and discuss what will be delivered and we are also talking to training providers.”
As well as looking at location, costing, funding and employers’ needs, the business plan will consider issues such as branding and marketing, Academy membership, communication and project management. The study is being funded by the East of England Development Agency through the Haven Gateway’s Investing in Communities programme.

http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/news/view_article.asp?article_id=10679

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