May 29, 2006
Hutchinson, Kansas
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Morning Papers - continued ...
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
Advertisement
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
continued …
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
Advertisement
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
continued …
Duck !
May 31, 2006.
Guntersville, Alabama
That branch went right into the ceiling where those windows are. Damage. Roof. Ceiling. Water Damage. And let's hope there were no injuries. What a surprise. One minute cooking dinner the next there is a squirrel looking for nuts in your pantry.
Cooked sap
May 31, 2006.
Gunterville, Alabama
The dark 'pumpy' areas seem to be consistent along the paths to 'ground' and therefore one has to make the conclusion from the pictures that is the path of the lightning. Noted, an old travel trailer in the background turned into a storage shed. The door to the shed is open. I bet the camera is not the only power tool in this photographers vacinity.
Losing a tree is trauma, besides a lot of clean up work.
May 31, 2006.
Gunterville, Alabama.
There are times I look at some of the storm related photos and think 'Well, the tree was dying anyway. " But the fact of the matter is, as long as a tree has a healthy canopy it is alive and vital and although the tree in this picture seems to have some issues it was very much alive with a good canopy. It split all the way to the ground. A tree this size isn't destroyed that easily. Lightning. Very powerful lightning. It struck the high canopy and traveled all the way to the ground. The area where it is dark and looks like a type of disease may very well be the burnt path of the lightning. Weather is serious business these days. It's random and severe. People need to be cautious and aware.
Morning Papers - continued
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"You Are Entering the Peace Port of Olympia;No Weapons Please."
Deputies guard port from anti-war crowd
Protesters, police face off after ship arrives for Iraq cargo
By Katherine Tam
The Olympian
OLYMPIA — Law enforcement officials armed with pepper spray and dressed in riot gear guarded the gate at the Port of Olympia Monday night, where about 150 activists gathered to protest a military ship that arrived to take equipment to Iraq. Protestors chanted “Out of Olympia, Out of Iraq” as they rocked the chain-link gate so hard that it looked like it might give way. At least three people tried to use wooden boards to pry the gate open.
Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies used a loudspeaker to warn the group to back off repeatedly before they deployed pepper spray at least four times in a one-hour period around 9:30 p.m. Dozens of people at the port plaza crouched over, dousing each other’s eyes with bottles of water and offering slices of onion to ease burning in the throat.
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060530/NEWS/60530002
This is no little protest. It was 'days' long and not hours.
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/
And
Seventh Day of Port Protest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/sets/72157594149559351/
And
http://community.theolympian.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album432&page=1
And
http://community.theolympian.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album432&page=2
And
Striker Brigade Blocked by Olympia Port Protest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/sets/72157594144335213/
Oly in the News
Submitted by Norm on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 2:30pm.
I wasn't sure if anyone had done this but I thought I would share. If you hop onto google and click the news section and search for "port of olympia" you'll see that Oly is national news. Suppose we aren't on nightline but hey, it's a start right?
http://olyblog.net/
Port protests escalate
22 arrests made in demonstrations against military cargo ship
BY SCOTT GUTIERREZ
THE OLYMPIAN
OLYMPIA - Twenty-two people were arrested Tuesday in one of the most volatile confrontations yet between anti-war activists and police officers guarding a military cargo ship docked at the Port of Olympia.
The confrontations resulted in the most arrests in a single day since the demonstrations began a week ago against the Iraq-bound military shipments leaving from the port. Police used pepper spray several times on the 100 or so activists and advanced into the crowd later in the evening, trying to disperse it.
Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson was among those shoved by state troopers trying to clear the area. In response, he stood face-to-face in front of the advancing officers until they fired several pepper-spray pellets to clear the area.
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS/60531002
ON TO the complete two week collection of "Tom Tomorrow" at Michael Moore Dot Calm
http://www.michaelmoore.com/features/tomtomorrow/
Deadline is coming up on the Scholarship
http://www.michaelmoore.com/features/sanmarcos/sanmarcos-flyer.pdf
Sunday, May 28th to Friday, June 2nd: Find Divine Peace at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site Help Stop the 700 Ton Bomb from Falling from the Sky MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Nevada blast put on hold indefinitely
Residents fear 700 tons of explosives could kick up radiation
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The planned detonation of 700 tons of conventional explosives in the Nevada desert next month was postponed indefinitely Friday because of fears over the possible spread of radiation.
The detonation site for the blast, known as "Divine Strake," is at the Nevada Test Site, which is 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The 1,375-square-mile swath of land in southern Nevada is where the United States tested many of its nuclear weapons before President George H.W. Bush signed a testing moratorium in 1992.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/26/nevada.bomb/index.html
Nevada blast plan implodes
Feds postpone test indefinitely to double-check the risks
WASHINGTON - Divine Strake, a massive explosives test originally planned for next month at the Nevada Test Site, has been put on hold.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it was postponing the test - which entails detonation of 700 tons of explosives - so it can reassess the potential for radioactive contaminants left in the ground from earlier nuclear tests becoming airborne.
Darwin Morgan, a spokesman at the Nevada Test Site, said the agency plans to do additional sampling at the blast site to measure background radiation in the soil.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3871339
Act NOW: Help Save the Nation's Largest Urban Farm - South Central Farm Needs Your Help
Congresswoman Maxine Waters Joins Farmers at South Central Farm to Show Solidarity
INTERFAITH PRAYER VIGIL AT SOUTH CENTRAL FARM AT 11:OO AM
Sheriff’s Department statement heightens concern of police action at South Central Farm Encampment.
Clock In To Save the Farm
Day 3 of Encampment Kicks Off in South Central:11:00am Press Conference at the Farm
http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/
Bush, Blair regret mistakes, stay the course
Hopes for Iraq Pullback Fading
The worsening situation in the west means U.S. troops are likely to stay, officials say. Military sends backup but denies an offensive is coming.
By Louise Roug and Peter Spiegel / Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — The Pentagon's hopes of making substantial reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq this year appear to be fading as a result of resurgent violence in the country, particularly in the Sunni Arab stronghold of Al Anbar province, military officials acknowledge.
Army Gen. George W. Casey, commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, said Tuesday that he was moving 1,500 "backup" troops from Kuwait to Al Anbar, the western region that includes the war-torn cities of Fallouja and Ramadi.
Publicly, Pentagon officials insisted Tuesday that the move was temporary and unrelated to Casey's much-delayed recommendation on overall troop levels, now expected to be made next month. But other officers have privately acknowledged that the worsening situation in Al Anbar — particularly in Ramadi, which U.S. officials say is now under insurgent control — is likely to prevent any significant drawdown this year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7092
Ohio coin dealer pleads guilty to charges
By John Seewer / Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - A coin dealer and prominent GOP fundraiser at the center of an Ohio political scandal pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges he illegally funneled about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign.
Tom Noe, once a powerful political figure who also raised money for Ohio Republicans, still is charged with embezzlement in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment that he managed for the state workers' compensation fund.
The investment scandal has been a major embarrassment for Ohio's ruling Republicans and given Democrats a better shot at winning state offices this year, including the governor's office, which has been under GOP control since 1991.
Investigators do not know whether Noe used money from the state coin fund for campaign contributions.
Noe was charged with exceeding federal campaign contribution limits, using others to make the contributions and causing the Bush campaign to submit a false campaign-finance statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7099
Activists win symbolic victory at Exxon meeting
By Deepa Babington / Reuters
DALLAS - A majority of Exxon Mobil Corp. investors voted in favor of a proposal opposed by the oil company, as fury over fat CEO compensation helped give activists their first such victory in Exxon's history.
The victory is largely symbolic since Exxon is not required to adopt the proposal, which seeks election of Exxon directors by a majority vote.
Still, it is a huge win for shareholder activists who have long trained their guns on the world's largest public oil company with little success. It also underscores the angst among investors over a multimillion compensation package handed to former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond, who retired last year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7097
Four Librarians Finally Break Silence in Records Case
By Alison Leigh Cowan / New York Times
Four Connecticut librarians who had been barred from revealing that they had received a request for patrons' records from the federal government spoke out yesterday, expressing frustration about the sweeping powers given to law enforcement authorities by the USA Patriot Act.
The librarians took turns at the microphone at their lawyers' office and publicly identified themselves as the collective John Doe who had sued the United States attorney general after their organization received a confidential demand for patron records in a secret counterterrorism case. They had been ordered, under the threat of prosecution, not to talk about the request with anyone. The librarians, who all have leadership roles at a small consortium called Library Connection in Windsor, Conn., said they opposed allowing the government unchecked power to demand library records and were particularly incensed at having been subject to the open-ended nondisclosure order.
"I'm John Doe, and if I had told you before today that the F.B.I. was requesting library records, I could have gone to jail," said one of the four, Peter Chase, a librarian from Plainville who is on the executive committee of Library Connection's board.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7100
U.S. troops kill pregnant woman in Iraq
By Kim Gamel / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday.
Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.
Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.
The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7098
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
By Eric Schmitt and David S. Cloud / New York Times
WASHINGTON — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
The investigation, which was led by Col. Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, also raised questions about whether the marines followed established rules for identifying hostile threats when they assaulted houses near the site of a bomb attack, which killed a fellow marine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7093
"This is the first war that has become an issue rather than a national experience."
New veterans fear repeat of Vietnam
Groups working to educate public on Iraq returnees
By Bryan Bender / Boston Globe
WASHINGTON -- There were no victory parades for Vietnam veterans. They were seen -- and often derided -- as the product of a failed policy. They struggled for decades for acceptance and many are still fighting for veterans benefits.
Now, with polls showing a steady decline in public support and average Americans increasingly tuning out the war in Iraq, a new generation of veterans are warning that they, too, are at risk of the same kind of indifference that confronted Vietnam-era veterans, many of whom suffered from homelessness and mental disabilities, and sometimes slipped through the cracks of the Department of Veterans Affairs .
``I am concerned about the idea that guys who served in Iraq are used goods and are not much worth to society," said Marine Corps Captain David Danelo , author of ``Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7105
Anti-war protests target lawmakers
By Adam Leech / Portsmouth Herald
PORTSMOUTH - "Robert Rooney of Nashua ... Randy Rosenberg of Berlin ... Richard Ferguson of Conway ..."
Local peace activists read the names of the 11 New Hampshire soldiers killed in Iraq since 2003, as well as hundreds of other U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. And though their intended audience was not present, their message was clear.
"We’re here to demand an end to the Iraq War," said David Diamond of Seacoast Peace Response, in front of Sen. Judd Gregg’s office at Pease International Tradeport. "Not one more death. Not one more dollar."
The slogan is the rallying cry of New Hampshire Peace Action, which organized similar protests at all 14 congressional offices throughout the state Wednesday. They are demanding a clear exit strategy for the war and an open debate in the House about the war.
William Woodward of Durham started the day expecting to be arrested. And that’s what happened a few hours later when he and five other people were charged with criminal trespassing when they refused to leave Rep. Jeb Bradley’s Dover office until he indicated he will work with fellow congressmen to withdraw troops either immediately or by the end of the year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7104
Dear President Bush (City Lights Open Media) (Paperback)
by Cindy Sheehan, Hart Viges, Howard Zinn (Foreword)
Book Description
In writings, speeches, and an interview conducted in the wake of the famous Camp Casey summer in Crawford, Texas, Cindy Sheehan embraces her personal transformation into America's most outspoken advocate for peace. From her trip to the World Social Forum in Venezuela to her ouster from the State of the Union address, Sheehan continues to speak out on topics such as civil disobedience, US foreign policy, New Orleans, military recruitment, her son Casey's death on his fifth day in Iraq, and soldiers who resist.
About the Author
Cindy Sheehan is the internationally known mom and peace advocate whose son, Casey, was killed in action in Baghdad, in April 2004. Since camping outside President Bush's home in August 2005, Cindy has been interviewed in major media outlets.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872864545/sr=8-6/qid=1148412599/ref=pd_bbs_6/103-3106893-8727014?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Zoos
Photo in the News: Polar Bear Triplets Born in Zoo -- A First?
March 14, 2006—They say good things happen in threes, and for this polar bear mom good luck descended in one fell swoop.
The three cubs pictured above are believed to be the first set of polar bear triplets born in captivity. The trio made their public debut last Friday at the Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands (see map) city of Rhenen.
In the wild, polar bears frequently give birth to more than one cub at a time, although triplets are far less common than twins. What's more, cubs compete for access to mother's milk. In a set of three, stronger siblings often force the runt of a litter to die of starvation within its first year.
Even in zoos, where food and care are plentiful, nearly half of the polar cubs born in captivity die. But Ouwehands Zoo officials seem to have luck on their side: All three cubs are healthy and are expected to survive into adulthood.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0314_060314_polar_triplets.html
Zoo rock concerts 'won't hurt animals'
Taronga Park Zoo says adequate measures are in place to ensure animals are not distressed during music concerts in the zoo grounds.
The RSPCA has raised concerns about the potential impact on animals after loud rock-and-roll performances at the weekend.
A zoo spokesman says noise levels are monitored throughout the concerts and animals are kept away from the performance area in their night pens.
But RSPCA spokesman Mark Lawrie says some animals would find the music upsetting.
"Sharp, short sounds are more distressing for them. That's why it's really important that they have an environment in which they can cope," he said.
"Different animals appreciate different sounds of music and there's been some interesting research done.
"Dairy cows, for instance, prefer classical music and pigs like rock'n'roll.
"So the wart-hogs may be happy but the bison might not."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1591810.htm
Zoo visitors sing glories of wings
Web Posted: 03/15/2006 12:00 AM CST
Lisa Marie Gómez
Express-News Staff Writer
Squashed last year by a century-old red oak tree, the popular butterfly house at the San Antonio Zoo reopened to the public Tuesday, just in time for the Spring Break rush.
Hundreds of kids turned out under brilliant blue skies to see the rebuilt exhibit, called "Butterflies! Caterpillar Flight School," featuring 15 species of Asian butterflies.
"Oh, I think it's wonderful," said Barbara Flores, who brought her 9-year-old daughter and her daughter's friend to the zoo. "It's so fascinating, very educational, a pleasant surprise."
The 60-by-24-foot mesh-covered exhibit, 30 feet from floor to ceiling, is filled with lush plants including lantana, queen's wreath and Jamaican porterweed. Visitors get around on a meandering pathway made of pavers. The $48,000 for the reconstruction came from private companies, zoo visitors and other donors
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031506.01B.Butterflies.1259dfb8.html
The big cats at the zoo have it easy
By LEON HALE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
The other afternoon I visited the Houston Zoo for the first time in probably 30 years. Here's why:
When the zoo's male African lion died not long ago, I had a comment here about that animal's life. I felt it was sad that a magnificent lion had to spend all his years caged up.
For a long time I've had that attitude toward zoos. Maybe I was born that way. I'm just naturally opposed to captivity.
Anyway, that comment about the dead lion got me a letter from the folks at the Houston Zoo. They didn't fuss at me; they just invited me to come out and see the zoo's lions and tigers.
So I drove to Hermann Park and met Deborah Cannon, the zoo's CEO, and Hollie Colahan, curator of carnivores and primates. Brian Hill came along in a golf cart and gave us a ride to see the big cats. Hill is the zoo's director of public affairs.
We visited the tigers first.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/hale/3723455.html
Space center, zoo offer activities for children
Ray Parker
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 15, 2006 12:00 AM
Spring break has arrived.
Some families have plans to pack bags and fly off for some far-away fun.
For those staying in the Valley, there are plenty of activities for kids besides local parks and recreation camps.
The Challenger Space Center, 21170 N. 83rd Ave.
Details: (623) 322-2001 or AzChallenger.org.
Out of Africa Wildlife Park, 4020 N. Cherry Road, Camp Verde. Details: (928) 567-2839 or OutofAfricaPark.com.
The Riparian Institute, a 110-acre site east of Greenfield Road on Guadalupe Road in Gilbert, is offering a five-day kids camp. Students study fishing, birds, insects, wildlife and the ecology of desert and riparian areas. The camp will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday for kids ages 7 to 12. Cost is $75. Details: RiparianInstitute.org or (480) 503-6744.
The Phoenix Zoo, 455 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Costs: Adults (ages 13 to 59) $14; seniors (ages 60 and older) $9; children (ages 3 to 12) $6; and ages 2 and younger are admitted free. Details: Phoenix Zoo.org.
Mother Nature's, 1663 E. Baseline Road, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Cost is $7 per child and $3 for adults. Tours are also available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Details: MotherNatures Farm.com.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0315edspringbreak0315.html
Fort Worth Zoo's Half-Price Day Snarls Traffic On I-30
POSTED: 1:34 pm CST March 15, 2006
UPDATED: 3:50 pm CST March 15, 2006
Email This Story Print This Story
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Half-price day at the Fort Worth Zoo has led to big crowds and big traffic backups on nearby streets and Interstate 30.
The zoo is packed with kids on spring break.
It expects 10,000 people Wednesday, which would break an attendance record.
Police called extra officers to help direct traffic near I-30 at University Drive.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8030979/detail.html
Zoos already working to protect rare species
If the H5N1 bird flu virus does spread to the United States, it could have repercussions not only for the poultry industry but for many bird populations already in decline.
Zoos, whose collections include many rare species, are worried. The Philadelphia Zoo, for instance, has three of the only 60 known Micronesian kingfishers left in the world.
"West Nile was scary," said Dominic Travis, an epidemiologist at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. But "there's nothing that's really been like this."
He figures North American zoos will spend $2 million in the next three years simply for surveillance, including regularly testing animals for the flu.
The Philadelphia Zoo has already started moving away from chicken in many of its animal diets, just in case it has to be removed altogether at some point.
The great horned owl, for instance, is getting more mice. The new jaguar has switched altogether to beef. And an elderly jaguarundi, a cat whose digestive system might balk at too much of a change, is getting his chicken cooked.
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/health/14108740.htm
Zoo visitors walk on the wild side
Fredericksburg Kia
5204 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
By COLLETTE CAPRARA
For THE FREE LANCE-STAR
The lady with the huge blue wings and floppy antennae has a lot of fun, but she's quite serious about conserving our nation's butterflies.
Mona Miller, aka "The Butterfly Lady," is a member of the Washington Area Butterfly Club and will man a booth at Saturday's North American Wildlife Celebration at the National Zoo in Washington.
Miller and her son Alex will bring along learning tools such as magnifiers with butterfly wings inside them and "bug glasses" that function like kaleidoscopes to give youngsters an idea of how butterflies see.
Miller also will come equipped with a bevy of information about these winged wonders. She'll share facts about the amazing cross-country migration of Monarch butterflies who can travel up to 250 miles a day and fly 4,000 feet above the Earth, locking their wings to cruise once they enter the jet stream.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/032006/03162006/175025
IDA ACTION ALERTS
1. Maine Protects Animal Victims of Domestic Violence
2. Cold-Blooded Killing of Canadian Seals Continues
3. Santa Cruz Island Pigs Need Your Help
CAMPAIGN NEWS & UPDATES
1. IDA Online: Fostering Community and Education
2. Two States Ban Hog-Dog Rodeos
3. IDA Radio Spot Featuring Bob Barker Airs in L.A.
IDA ACTION ALERTS
1. Maine Protects Animal Victims of Domestic Violence
New Law Includes Animal Companions in Court-Issued Protection Orders
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1816521.php
Haaretz
UN report claims spread of AIDS epidemic stabilized in 2005
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
The spread of the AIDS epidemic appears to have stabilized in the last year as the number of those newly diagnosed with the disease is nearing the number of those who have died as a result of the illness, a UN report released Wednesday indicates.
The 630-page report, which was commissioned by UNAIDS - Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, notes that while an estimated 3.4 million to 6.2 million people were diagnosed with AIDS in 2005, the number of AIDS victims who died ranges from 2.4 million to 3.3 million.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721468.html
Housing Minister promises thousands of new apartments within two years
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
The Housing Ministry plans to build tens of thousands of new rental housing units within the coming two years, Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit told the Knesset Finance Committee during a Tuesday debate on the state budget.
The new homes will be built by the private sector.
Sheetrit said tax breaks must be granted to entrepreneurs who build new homes for rent and will agree to lease the homes out for 25 years.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721461.html
Defense Minister: Gaza raids against Qassam fire will go on
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies
Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed Tuesday that Israel Defense Forces operations against Qassam launch cells in the Gaza Strip would continue by air, sea, and land in order to prevent further rocket fire at Israel.
Earlier in the day, IDF troops killed at least seven armed Palestinians in a number of raids early Tuesday in the territories, with the intention of countering Qassam fire in Gaza and arresting wanted militants in the West Bank.
Special forces units, operating in a rare IDF ground operation deep inside the northern Strip, killed at least three members of an Islamic Jihad Qassam crew setting up to fire rockets into Israel in the pre-dawn hours.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721085.html
Peretz: Government will remain intact for next four years
By Moti Bassok, Amos Harel and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents
Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday said the coalition would remain intact despite an earlier row with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over cuts to defense spending.
The cabinet Tuesday approved the 2006 State Budget, but the seven Labor ministers abstained in the vote, amid the dispute between Olmert and Peretz.
Eighteen ministers voted in favor of the budget, while no ministers voted against. The budget must now be ratified by the Knesset.
Advertisement
Following the vote, Olmert invited Peretz to meet in an attempt to smooth over the dispute resulting from cuts to the defense budget. After their meeting Peretz said, "The coalition will hold its ground and the government will remain in power for four years.
"There is no reason to have confrontation between the defense budgets and the social budgets," he added.
As the cabinet convened Tuesday morning, Olmert and Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson brought a NIS 1 billion overall budget cut to the cabinet for approval Tuesday. The cut is aimed at financing coalition deals.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=721159&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
Jerusalem Summit
Humanitarian Regional Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/hs_short_eng.htm
Iran snubs U.S. conditional talks, says won't give up enrichment
By Shmuel Rosner and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
President George W. Bush said Thursday that the standoff over Iran's suspected nuclear program is headed for the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continues to refuse to halt uranium enrichment.
"We'll see whether or not that is the firm position of their government," Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. "If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world 'We really don't care what your opinion is," then the world is going to act in concert."
Bush's statment came hours after Iran rejected a U.S. deal to restart talks in return for their agreement to stop enriching uranium.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721902.html
Asylum for genocide refugees
By Haaretz Editorial
Under High Court of Justice orders, the state is expected, no later than the end of next week, to formulate a solution that will enable Sudanese refugees held in Israel under administrative detention to be brought before a judge. Some 180 refugees from Sudan, many survivors of the genocide taking place in the region of Darfur since 2003, crossed over into Israel during the past six months. It appears that the state and its officials are doing everything in their power to be rid of these refugees.
Originally, if the security forces caught anyone crossing the border illegally, "provided 24 hours had not passed since he crossed, and he did not manage to get further than 50 kilometers from the border," a so-called "rushed return" was put in effect, whereby the individual would be pushed back across the border into Egypt. The refugees that were not pushed back into Egypt were placed under arrest, under the law regulating entry into Israel. The law allowed the illegal aliens to bring their case before a judge within two weeks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=722009&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
EU lawmakers want to ban Ahmadinejad from World Cup
By News Agencies
A group of European Parliament members is seeking an indefinite EU travel ban on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has called for Israel to be destroyed and questioned the Holocaust.
A group of 75 lawmakers from all major political groups in the EU assembly signed a petition, which was submitted Thursday to EU president Austria and FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, asking them to prevent Ahmadinejad from traveling to Germany to watch his team play in the June 9-July 9 World Cup and banning him from traveling to any of the other 24 EU member states.
"Ahmedinejad's likely visit to Europe would send a wrong signal to the Europeans and the international community and in particular to the suppressed people of Iran," the petition said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/722252.html
Fatah votes to hold referendum regardless of Hamas consent
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
Fatah's central committee on Thursday afternoon ratified a motion calling for a referendum to be held throughout the Palestinian Authority regardless of whether it receives the consent of other Palestinian factions or not.
The militant group Hamas has consistently voiced its disapproval of the referendum, which in its current form implicitly recognizes the existence of Israel.
A Jenin-based spokesperson on behalf of the militant Islamic Jihad, however, announced that his group was willing to support the referendum as long as Israel promised to cease its attacks on its members.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=722245&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
Milk and cheese sales skyrocket on eve of Shavuot holiday
By Nofar Sinai
The sale of cheese and milk has skyrocketed in recent days, as Israelis prepared for the holiday of Shavuot, during which tradition stipulates that Jews consume dairy products.
"This year, sales of milk and cheeses jumped by about 300 percent," the deputy director for marketing at Tara Dairies, Harel Haiken, said Wednesday.
Haiken says sales of dairy products per capita have been on a constant upswing in recent years, with Israel in first place in the world in per capita consumption of white cheeses.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/722256.html
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Tanker Wars: Boeing challenged (Lots of graphics with this article)
The Boeing-made Air Force tanker could be replaced by a foreign company already living in America's backyard
By JAMES WALLACE
P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER
MOBILE, Ala. -- Around the time Bill Boeing was incorporating his airplane manufacturing business in Seattle in 1916, another aviation pioneer was preparing to set up shop in this Alabama town on the Gulf Coast.
There are a series of articles.
THURSDAY
The New Contest: The Boeing Co. and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. will battle to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. What lies ahead and what's at stake?
FRIDAY
The Southern Strategy: EADS is positioning itself as an American company that would provide good jobs in Southern states if it is awarded the Air Force tanker contract. Is the strategy working?
O.E. Williams, who had started an aviation school and airplane-making business in Pennsylvania and then moved it to Michigan, was looking at property in Mobile, where the weather would allow him and his students to fly more often. He settled on a 53-acre farm on what would later become part of the military's Brookley Field.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/272243_tankers01.html
Public Funding for NASCAR?
As NASCAR bid in Kitsap revs up, a rival emerges
Kent track's owners say it would need no public subsidy
By JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTER
As NASCAR track builders launched a new campaign Wednesday to rally support for a $345 million Kitsap County speedway, another racetrack expansion plan has been simmering that would require no public financing.
The owners of Pacific Raceways, a 45-year-old racetrack and drag strip southeast of Kent, are angling to expand their operations and upgrade a 2 1/4-mile racecourse to professional standards.
Their plans still have substantial hurdles to cross, such as county approval of a development plan that might need to accommodate some structures on slopes or sensitive areas.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272343_racing01.html
Seattle funding to fight terror slashed
City gets a sliver of the millions it sought from feds
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER
The federal government is cutting Seattle's share of anti-terrorism funding 22 percent this year -- providing only a fraction of what city officials said the region needed.
Seattle will receive $9.15 million in federal grants this fiscal year, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday.
The city received $11.8 million last year and had requested $61.4 million for this year's efforts in the Seattle/Bellevue region.
Meanwhile, Washington state was awarded $32.2 million under a separate program Wednesday -- down 23 percent from last year's $41.9 million. The state had requested $43 million, officials said.
Reaction among local officials was sharply divided.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272366_terror01.html
U.S. alleges discrimination against women at Les Schwab
P-I STAFF
Federal civil rights lawyers filed suit Wednesday against Les Schwab Tire Centers, claiming that the company discriminated against its female employees by failing to hire, train and promote women into management jobs.
The suit, filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in federal court in Seattle, cited the alleged discrimination against two female Les Schwab workers, Megan Morris and Jennifer Strange.
Morris and Strange, who worked in Les Schwab stores in Bellevue, SeaTac, Tacoma and Puyallup, were repeatedly denied desirable company jobs working in tire bays, and were denied promotion because of their gender, the EEOC suit charges.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/272349_lesschwab01.html
Drinking Liberally, thinking globally
Seattle chapter of liberal political junkies meets to talk strategy, gossip
By GREGORY ROBERTS
P-I REPORTER
On the TV in a corner of the Montlake Ale House, the Clippers battled the Suns in a pro basketball playoff game. But on this Tuesday night, as on every Tuesday night, the barroom talk focused on a spectator sport of different sort: politics.
"There's, like, serious earthshaking results now," Nick Beaudrot said, staring at his laptop computer, perched on the table amid pints of beers and plates of nachos, as returns from the Pennsylvania primary streamed across the screen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272376_drinking01.html
Cargo ship leaves for Iraq amid anti-war cries
Protesters stage brief 'die-in' at Port of Olympia
By RACHEL LA CORTE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA -- A ship carrying military gear bound for Iraq pulled away from this Puget Sound port Wednesday evening after a week of protests in which more than three dozen people were arrested.
At least 100 protesters chanted "Stop that boat!" as the 950-foot cargo ship pulled away from a dock at the Port of Olympia.
The demonstrators also staged a brief "die-in" on the ground to illustrate their opposition to the war in Iraq. There were no immediate arrests, as protesters confined themselves to yelling at law enforcement personnel on hand.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272338_warprotest01.html
Blue Moon for sale
Not in a Blue Moon would Seattle@Nite ever believe that the Blue Moon Tavern might be an endangered establishment in Seattle.
Certainly, it could never be seen as anything but a good neighbor on the corner of Northeast 45th and I-5, a beacon of Beat Generation mystique combined with Grateful Dead whimsy and basic barroom lunacy, the Blue Moon is as much a part of Seattle as the P-I Globe or the Space Needle or Dick's Drive-Ins to many longtime luminaries and true blue Seattleites.
Here's the header now that adorns the Blue Moon Web site:
"Sorry, We're open! That is the ironic greeting posted in the front windows of Seattle's Blue Moon Tavern. Since its founding in 1934, the Moon has become a beacon for generations of free-thinkers, radicals, and artists. Pulitzer Prize-winning poets and Dead Heads have bent their elbows at its bar, and, in the process, transformed the Moon into an unofficial cultural landmark."
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/night/archives/103890.asp
Prince Albert says he's father to girl, 14
By JEFF WILSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Monaco's Prince Albert II has acknowledged he is the father of a 14-year-old California girl, his lawyer said in an interview published Thursday in a French newspaper.
Jazmin Grace Rotolo is welcome in Monaco but she cannot take the throne and will not bear the Grimaldi family name, lawyer Thierry Lacoste was quoted as saying in Le Figaro.
French media reports have said Albert, 48, had a brief affair with the girl's mother, Tamara Rotolo, in 1991 when she vacationed on the Cote d'Azur. A 1992 Riverside County birth certificate identified the girl's father as Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi of Monaco.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Monaco_Prince_Child.html
4 die in military helicopter crash in Ga.
By ELLIOTT MINOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DOERUN, Ga. -- A military helicopter clipped a rural television tower and crashed Thursday morning, killing four soldiers on a training mission, officials said.
A fifth soldier aboard the MH-47 Chinook helicopter survived, said Lisa Eichhorn, a spokeswoman for Fort Rucker, Ala., home to an Army helicopter training school where the soldiers were headed.
The helicopter had left Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah and went down in rural Colquitt County just after 8 a.m., said sheriff's dispatcher Becky Perry.
As it flew past a television station's 1,000-foot-tall tower, it clipped a wire, said Deborah Owens, station manager of WFXL.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Military_Helicopter_Crash.html
Army Corps: La. levees were poorly built
By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana's hurricane protection system was overwhelmed by Katrina because it was built disjointedly using outdated data, according to an Army Corps of Engineers report released Thursday.
"The system did not perform as a system," according to the report, released on the first day of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. "The hurricane protection in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana was a system in name only."
The 6,000-plus page document included details on engineering and design failures that led to the Aug. 29 storm surge overwhelming the city's outer levees and breaking through flood walls within New Orleans.
Katrina damaged 169 miles of the 350-mile hurricane system that protects New Orleans and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Corps_Report.html
Karzai condemns U.S. troops using gunfire
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned the use of gunfire by U.S. troops to suppress Afghans angered by a traffic accident involving a military truck that sparked the worst riots in the capital since the fall of the Taliban.
"The coalition opened fire, and we strongly condemn that," Karzai said in a national radio address.
Speaking in his native Pashto language, Karzai used formulations that left open whether the U.S. troops had fired into a crowd that had gathered at the scene of Monday's accident, or only over their heads.
Afghan authorities and the U.S. military are investigating.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Riot_Investigation.html
Analysis: Haditha echoes earlier stains
By TOM RAUM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Some words are synonymous with military disgrace. Abu Ghraib. My Lai. And now, perhaps Haditha - the Iraqi town where two dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians allegedly were murdered by U.S. Marines.
Still under investigation, the episode could firm rising American opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq, just as the 1968 My Lai killings helped turn the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Haditha_Fallout.html
Copter believed found in Afghan mountains
By AMIR SHAH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The wreckage of a helicopter that had been chartered by the Red Cross and disappeared over Afghanistan in January is believed to have been found atop a snowcapped mountain, a senior official said Thursday.
The Russian-made Mi-8 transport chopper disappeared after taking off from Pakistan, where it had been chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross to ferry supplies to victims of a devastating earthquake in Pakistan in October.
It had seven people on board, employees of Turkmenistan Airlines, which operated the aircraft. No Red Cross staff were aboard.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Missing_Helicopter.html
Iraq launches own probe of Haditha deaths
By PATRICK QUINN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Iraqi government announced Thursday its own investigation into reports that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians last year, and the No. 2 general in Iraq ordered American commanders to hold ethical training on battlefield conduct.
The decision to begin an Iraqi inquiry into the killings was made at a Cabinet meeting, Adnan al-Kazimi, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told The Associated Press.
The investigation will be carried out by a special committee made up of the Justice and Human Rights ministries along with security officials, al-Kazimi said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_US_Military.html
Bush promises to disclose Haditha findings
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday promised to disclose the results of an investigation into reports that Marines killed unarmed civilians in Iraq. "The world will see the full and complete investigation," Bush said.
The U.S. military is conducting at least two investigations into the Nov. 19 killings of 24 people in Haditha, including women and children, following a bomb attack on a military convoy in which a Marine died. The Iraqi government is doing a separate investigation.
"If there is a wrongdoing, people will be held to account," Bush told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bush.html
Iraq wants to set rules on U.S. raids
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday denounced the alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. forces and said he asked a ministerial committee to hold talks with U.S. military to set ground rules for raids and detentions.
The move came in the wake of an investigation into allegations that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians in the western city of Haditha.
Al-Maliki said he had ordered the "national security ministerial committee to follow up on this issue with the multinational forces" and "to hold talks with the multinational forces to formulate ground rules for detentions and raids."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Haditha.html
Guantanamo detainees join hunger strike
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- More Guantanamo Bay detainees protesting their indefinite confinement joined a hunger strike, raising the number of inmates refusing food to 89 from 75, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Six of the hunger strikers at the isolated U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba were being force-fed, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Guantanamo_Hunger_Strike.html
East Timor rebel leader demands PM quit
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DILI, East Timor -- A fired army commander whose rebellion triggered the recent violence in East Timor demanded Thursday that the prime minister resign and be tried for allegedly ordering troops to shoot civilians, saying this was the only way to end the fighting.
At least one person was reported killed in fighting in the capital of Dili, despite the presence of more than 2,000 foreign peacekeepers. Rioters set fire to shops and vehicles in one neighborhood, and several dozen Australian troops rushed to the scene.
Two high-profile ministers offered to take responsibility for the crisis by resigning.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_East_Timor_Violence.html
Violence hurts East Timor coffee industry
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DILI, East Timor -- East Timor's resurgent coffee industry, which supplies high-quality organic beans to companies such as Starbucks, has been badly hurt by a wave of violence in the capital, officials said Thursday.
Harvesting began in May and normally peaks in late June.
"But with all roads blocked, there's no way to transport the beans from inland to the processing factories," said Caetano Cristovao, director of coffee at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
"Only small-scale farmers are picking and processing the beans either in small machines or drying them out in the sun," Cristovao said. Big factories are shut "because nobody is going to work," he said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_East_Timor_Coffee.html
Indonesia begins slaughtering poultry
By MARGIE MASON
AP MEDICAL WRITER
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Officials slaughtered more than 1,000 poultry Thursday in an Indonesian village where preliminary tests showed a 15-year-old boy died from bird flu, as the country struggled with a sudden rise in deaths averaging one every 2 1/2 days last month.
About 1,300 chickens were killed within a half mile of the boy's house in the Tasikmalaya district of West Java province, said Budi Utama, head of the local animal and fisheries agency.
Indonesian tests on Wednesday found that the boy had contracted the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus, and officials were awaiting confirmation from a World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Indonesia_Bird_Flu.html
Bush: Security Council could loom for Iran
By JENNIFER LOVEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Thursday that the standoff over Iran's suspected nuclear program is headed for the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continues with uranium enrichment.
"We'll see whether or not that is the firm position of their government," Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. "If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world `We really don't care what your opinion is,' then the world is going to act in concert."
With Russian and Chinese support crucial to crafting a deal for Iran that also includes a threat of sanctions, Bush said that he "got a positive response" from Russian President Vladimir Putin during a conversation on Tuesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bush_Iran.html
U.S., others near deal on Iran incentives
By ANNE GEARAN
AP DIPLOMATIC WRITER
VIENNA, Austria -- The United States and international partners are close to a deal that would offer Iran economic incentives if it gives up nuclear activities that could produce a bomb, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says.
Rice was meeting Thursday with foreign ministers from the European nations that led stalled talks with Iran last year and would help present any new deal, and also with representatives of Russia and China. Russian and Chinese support is crucial to attach the threat of United Nations sanctions or other punishment to the package of incentives.
At the White House, President Bush warned that the confrontation would end up at the U.N. Security Council if Iran continues to enrich uranium.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_Nuclear.html
Iran welcomes dialogue, rejects condition
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's foreign minister on Thursday welcomed direct talks with Washington on his country's disputed nuclear program but rebuffed a U.S. proposal that Tehran must suspend uranium enrichment as a condition.
A prominent hard-liner, however, called the U.S. proposal as "blackmail" and urged the government to reject it.
Mottaki's statement was the country's first direct reaction to an announcement by the United States on Wednesday that it is willing to join other countries for face-to-face talks with Iran, as long as Tehran stops enriching uranium.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_US.html
Iran blames U.S. for high oil prices
By ALAN CLENDENNING
AP BUSINESS WRITER
CARACAS, Venezuela -- OPEC was poised to keep production steady Thursday as Iran blamed the United States for high oil prices, saying threats against its nuclear program are behind much of the fear and speculation in the market.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, member nations brushed off a bid to cut production by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who also lobbied for expanding the cartel's membership and praised Bolivia's recent nationalization of its natural gas industry.
On Wednesday evening, Iranian Oil Minister Sayed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said in an interview with the Venezuela-based television station Telesur that high oil prices are linked to "the United States' constant threats" against Iran. Earlier in the day, the U.S. had signaled a willingness to hold joint direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program if certain conditions were met, an offer Tehran soon dismissed.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Venezuela_OPEC_Meeting.html
Ky. lieutenant gov. won't seek re-election
By JOE BIESK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's lieutenant governor, a former corruption-fighting prosecutor, announced Wednesday he won't seek re-election with Gov. Ernie Fletcher, whose administration has been caught up in a state hiring scandal.
Lt. Gov. Steve Pence said he told Fletcher late Tuesday that he will not seek any office after his term expires next year.
Pence wouldn't say if the hiring investigation had weighed in his decision, but he said: "I believe it's held the commonwealth back more than anything on things that could have been done."
Fletcher, Kentucky's first Republican governor since 1971, is under indictment for allegedly breaking state law by rewarding political supporters with protected state jobs after he took office in 2003.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1134AP_Kentucky_Politics.html
Burns faces questions on ties to lobbyist
By MATT GOURAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MILES CITY, Mont. -- The way Sen. Conrad Burns' re-election campaign is going, the folksy 71-year-old Republican might rather take a turn on a bronco than try to explain his links with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff back in Washington.
The "Eastern liberal press" is to blame for his troubles, says Burns. Some of his former aides worked for Abramoff and two current aides took a trip to the 2001 Super Bowl in the lobbyist's jet. The senator received about $150,000 in donations from Abramoff, his clients and his associates, which he has since returned or given to charity.
Montana voters, Burns says, "will make the right judgment call."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1130AP_Burns_Rough_Ride.html
Biden's son runs for Del. attorney general
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOVER, Del. -- Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, son of Delaware's senior U.S. senator, kicked off his campaign for state attorney general Thursday.
Biden pledged not only to prosecute criminals, but also to prevent crimes such as identity theft and Internet stalking of children by sexual predators.
"I truly believe that this office has the potential to greatly improve the lives and well-being of the people of the state of Delaware," said Biden, 37, who served as a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia for five years.
Biden, a Democrat, will face Republican Ferris Wharton, 53, in the November election. Republicans are banking on Wharton's experience of more than 25 years as a prosecutor to offset Biden's name recognition.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1135AP_Biden_Attorney_General.html
FEC will not change rules on 527 groups
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission will not adopt new rules governing the independent political groups that played a major role in the 2004 presidential campaign, freeing them to raise and spend unlimited sums of money during this year's midterm elections.
A federal judge had ordered the FEC to either write new rules or more fully explain its current policy for regulating 527 groups. The commission announced Wednesday that it will more fully explain the current policy, which is to deal with 527 groups on a case-by-case basis.
The groups, which are named after the section of the Internal Revenue Service code governing them, include America Coming Together and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. ACT spent millions criticizing President Bush during the 2004 race, while the Swift Boat Veterans spent millions challenging the Vietnam War military record of his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1130AP_FEC_Rules.html
N.C. House votes to ban video poker
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The state House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ban video poker machines, legislation its speaker had thwarted for years until questions arose about campaign contributions he had received from the industry.
The measure now heads to the Senate, which since 2000 has approved the ban five times. The bills always died in the House, where Speaker Jim Black argued that the industry generated thousands of jobs.
His campaign took in $167,000 in contributions from the industry during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles, according to Democracy North Carolina, a group that advocates campaign finance changes.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1135AP_Video_Poker.html
Columbus letter to go on sale in London
By SARAH BALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- A contemporary copy of a letter Christopher Columbus wrote while returning from the New World is up for sale this month, its price tag set at $900,000.
The eight-page document, known as the "Epistola Christofori Colum" or the "Columbus Letter," is a Latin translation of a letter the explorer wrote to his royal Spanish sponsors, Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castille, on his return voyage.
Pope Alexander VI ordered the translation, which was printed in Rome on April 29, 1493, six weeks after the new hero returned home to Spain.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Columbus_Letter.html
U.N. council cuts Ethiopia, Eritrea forces
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council cut the number of peacekeepers deployed in Eritrea and Ethiopia by at least one-third Wednesday night while extending the U.N. mission's mandate for another four months.
A unanimously passed resolution reduced the force from 3,500 to 2,300. The United States sought a cutback because Ethiopia and Eritrea made no progress in resuming talks on the demarcation of their border.
The talks in London earlier in May were aimed at breaking the deadlock between the two countries and the international Boundary Commission, which is charged with marking the border between the Horn of Africa nations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_UN_Ethiopia_Eritrea.html
EU adopts new rules on children's medicine
By JAN SLIVA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union is offering drug makers extended patents as an incentive to produce children's versions of drugs for diseases such as cancer, AIDS or psychiatric disorders.
New regulations approved by the EU Parliament Thursday encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop pediatric drugs that don't have the undesirable side-effects of medicines for adults and which can be administered in smaller doses.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_EU_Children_Medicine.html
CBS: Wounded reporter 'awake and alert'
By DAVID RISING
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERLIN -- CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier, seriously injured by a car bomb in Iraq, was "awake and alert" at a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Thursday but remained in critical condition, the network said.
The 39-year-old journalist was flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center after being wounded in the head and lower body Monday.
Her two British colleagues, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, were both killed in the attack, along with a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Journalist_Wounded.html
British deputy says attacks aimed at Blair
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON -- Britain's embattled deputy prime minister suggested in an interview published Thursday that his critics are really targeting Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, under pressure following his admission of an affair with a staff member and questions about his contribution to government, was quoted by The Guardian as suggesting that his opponents hoped to force Blair to retire.
"At the moment, I am the shield they are battering," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Politics.html
Sweden OKs law to take Liberia's Taylor
By KARL RITTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Swedish lawmakers have approved a law that makes it possible for the Scandinavian country to imprison former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes by a U.N.-backed tribunal, government officials said Thursday.
The decision by the Swedish Parliament could remove a major obstacle that has stalled the former African warlord's trial in Sierra Leone. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nina Ersman said Sweden had not yet officially decided whether it would accept a request to take in Taylor. Such a step would need final approval from the government.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Sweden_Taylor.html
Ancient scroll may yield religious secrets
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ATHENS, Greece -- A collection of charred scraps kept in a Greek museum's storerooms are all that remains of what archaeologists say is Europe's oldest surviving book - which may hold a key to understanding early monotheistic beliefs.
More than four decades after the Derveni papyrus was found in a 2,400-year-old nobleman's grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text - through high-tech digital analysis - from the blackened fragments left after the manuscript was burnt on its owner's funeral pyre.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_Greece_Ancient_Scroll.htm
Columbus letter to go on sale in London
By SARAH BALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- A contemporary copy of a letter Christopher Columbus wrote while returning from the New World is up for sale this month, its price tag set at $900,000.
The eight-page document, known as the "Epistola Christofori Colum" or the "Columbus Letter," is a Latin translation of a letter the explorer wrote to his royal Spanish sponsors, Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castille, on his return voyage.
Pope Alexander VI ordered the translation, which was printed in Rome on April 29, 1493, six weeks after the new hero returned home to Spain.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Columbus_Letter.html
continued …
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
"You Are Entering the Peace Port of Olympia;No Weapons Please."
Deputies guard port from anti-war crowd
Protesters, police face off after ship arrives for Iraq cargo
By Katherine Tam
The Olympian
OLYMPIA — Law enforcement officials armed with pepper spray and dressed in riot gear guarded the gate at the Port of Olympia Monday night, where about 150 activists gathered to protest a military ship that arrived to take equipment to Iraq. Protestors chanted “Out of Olympia, Out of Iraq” as they rocked the chain-link gate so hard that it looked like it might give way. At least three people tried to use wooden boards to pry the gate open.
Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies used a loudspeaker to warn the group to back off repeatedly before they deployed pepper spray at least four times in a one-hour period around 9:30 p.m. Dozens of people at the port plaza crouched over, dousing each other’s eyes with bottles of water and offering slices of onion to ease burning in the throat.
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060530/NEWS/60530002
This is no little protest. It was 'days' long and not hours.
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/
And
Seventh Day of Port Protest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/sets/72157594149559351/
And
http://community.theolympian.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album432&page=1
And
http://community.theolympian.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album432&page=2
And
Striker Brigade Blocked by Olympia Port Protest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94127337@N00/sets/72157594144335213/
Oly in the News
Submitted by Norm on Tue, 05/30/2006 - 2:30pm.
I wasn't sure if anyone had done this but I thought I would share. If you hop onto google and click the news section and search for "port of olympia" you'll see that Oly is national news. Suppose we aren't on nightline but hey, it's a start right?
http://olyblog.net/
Port protests escalate
22 arrests made in demonstrations against military cargo ship
BY SCOTT GUTIERREZ
THE OLYMPIAN
OLYMPIA - Twenty-two people were arrested Tuesday in one of the most volatile confrontations yet between anti-war activists and police officers guarding a military cargo ship docked at the Port of Olympia.
The confrontations resulted in the most arrests in a single day since the demonstrations began a week ago against the Iraq-bound military shipments leaving from the port. Police used pepper spray several times on the 100 or so activists and advanced into the crowd later in the evening, trying to disperse it.
Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson was among those shoved by state troopers trying to clear the area. In response, he stood face-to-face in front of the advancing officers until they fired several pepper-spray pellets to clear the area.
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS/60531002
ON TO the complete two week collection of "Tom Tomorrow" at Michael Moore Dot Calm
http://www.michaelmoore.com/features/tomtomorrow/
Deadline is coming up on the Scholarship
http://www.michaelmoore.com/features/sanmarcos/sanmarcos-flyer.pdf
Sunday, May 28th to Friday, June 2nd: Find Divine Peace at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site Help Stop the 700 Ton Bomb from Falling from the Sky MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Nevada blast put on hold indefinitely
Residents fear 700 tons of explosives could kick up radiation
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The planned detonation of 700 tons of conventional explosives in the Nevada desert next month was postponed indefinitely Friday because of fears over the possible spread of radiation.
The detonation site for the blast, known as "Divine Strake," is at the Nevada Test Site, which is 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The 1,375-square-mile swath of land in southern Nevada is where the United States tested many of its nuclear weapons before President George H.W. Bush signed a testing moratorium in 1992.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/26/nevada.bomb/index.html
Nevada blast plan implodes
Feds postpone test indefinitely to double-check the risks
WASHINGTON - Divine Strake, a massive explosives test originally planned for next month at the Nevada Test Site, has been put on hold.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it was postponing the test - which entails detonation of 700 tons of explosives - so it can reassess the potential for radioactive contaminants left in the ground from earlier nuclear tests becoming airborne.
Darwin Morgan, a spokesman at the Nevada Test Site, said the agency plans to do additional sampling at the blast site to measure background radiation in the soil.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3871339
Act NOW: Help Save the Nation's Largest Urban Farm - South Central Farm Needs Your Help
Congresswoman Maxine Waters Joins Farmers at South Central Farm to Show Solidarity
INTERFAITH PRAYER VIGIL AT SOUTH CENTRAL FARM AT 11:OO AM
Sheriff’s Department statement heightens concern of police action at South Central Farm Encampment.
Clock In To Save the Farm
Day 3 of Encampment Kicks Off in South Central:11:00am Press Conference at the Farm
http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/
Bush, Blair regret mistakes, stay the course
Hopes for Iraq Pullback Fading
The worsening situation in the west means U.S. troops are likely to stay, officials say. Military sends backup but denies an offensive is coming.
By Louise Roug and Peter Spiegel / Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD — The Pentagon's hopes of making substantial reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq this year appear to be fading as a result of resurgent violence in the country, particularly in the Sunni Arab stronghold of Al Anbar province, military officials acknowledge.
Army Gen. George W. Casey, commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, said Tuesday that he was moving 1,500 "backup" troops from Kuwait to Al Anbar, the western region that includes the war-torn cities of Fallouja and Ramadi.
Publicly, Pentagon officials insisted Tuesday that the move was temporary and unrelated to Casey's much-delayed recommendation on overall troop levels, now expected to be made next month. But other officers have privately acknowledged that the worsening situation in Al Anbar — particularly in Ramadi, which U.S. officials say is now under insurgent control — is likely to prevent any significant drawdown this year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7092
Ohio coin dealer pleads guilty to charges
By John Seewer / Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio - A coin dealer and prominent GOP fundraiser at the center of an Ohio political scandal pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges he illegally funneled about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign.
Tom Noe, once a powerful political figure who also raised money for Ohio Republicans, still is charged with embezzlement in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment that he managed for the state workers' compensation fund.
The investment scandal has been a major embarrassment for Ohio's ruling Republicans and given Democrats a better shot at winning state offices this year, including the governor's office, which has been under GOP control since 1991.
Investigators do not know whether Noe used money from the state coin fund for campaign contributions.
Noe was charged with exceeding federal campaign contribution limits, using others to make the contributions and causing the Bush campaign to submit a false campaign-finance statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7099
Activists win symbolic victory at Exxon meeting
By Deepa Babington / Reuters
DALLAS - A majority of Exxon Mobil Corp. investors voted in favor of a proposal opposed by the oil company, as fury over fat CEO compensation helped give activists their first such victory in Exxon's history.
The victory is largely symbolic since Exxon is not required to adopt the proposal, which seeks election of Exxon directors by a majority vote.
Still, it is a huge win for shareholder activists who have long trained their guns on the world's largest public oil company with little success. It also underscores the angst among investors over a multimillion compensation package handed to former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond, who retired last year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7097
Four Librarians Finally Break Silence in Records Case
By Alison Leigh Cowan / New York Times
Four Connecticut librarians who had been barred from revealing that they had received a request for patrons' records from the federal government spoke out yesterday, expressing frustration about the sweeping powers given to law enforcement authorities by the USA Patriot Act.
The librarians took turns at the microphone at their lawyers' office and publicly identified themselves as the collective John Doe who had sued the United States attorney general after their organization received a confidential demand for patron records in a secret counterterrorism case. They had been ordered, under the threat of prosecution, not to talk about the request with anyone. The librarians, who all have leadership roles at a small consortium called Library Connection in Windsor, Conn., said they opposed allowing the government unchecked power to demand library records and were particularly incensed at having been subject to the open-ended nondisclosure order.
"I'm John Doe, and if I had told you before today that the F.B.I. was requesting library records, I could have gone to jail," said one of the four, Peter Chase, a librarian from Plainville who is on the executive committee of Library Connection's board.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7100
U.S. troops kill pregnant woman in Iraq
By Kim Gamel / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday.
Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.
Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.
The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7098
Files Contradict Account of Raid in Iraq
By Eric Schmitt and David S. Cloud / New York Times
WASHINGTON — A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.
Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.
The investigation, which was led by Col. Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, also raised questions about whether the marines followed established rules for identifying hostile threats when they assaulted houses near the site of a bomb attack, which killed a fellow marine.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7093
"This is the first war that has become an issue rather than a national experience."
New veterans fear repeat of Vietnam
Groups working to educate public on Iraq returnees
By Bryan Bender / Boston Globe
WASHINGTON -- There were no victory parades for Vietnam veterans. They were seen -- and often derided -- as the product of a failed policy. They struggled for decades for acceptance and many are still fighting for veterans benefits.
Now, with polls showing a steady decline in public support and average Americans increasingly tuning out the war in Iraq, a new generation of veterans are warning that they, too, are at risk of the same kind of indifference that confronted Vietnam-era veterans, many of whom suffered from homelessness and mental disabilities, and sometimes slipped through the cracks of the Department of Veterans Affairs .
``I am concerned about the idea that guys who served in Iraq are used goods and are not much worth to society," said Marine Corps Captain David Danelo , author of ``Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7105
Anti-war protests target lawmakers
By Adam Leech / Portsmouth Herald
PORTSMOUTH - "Robert Rooney of Nashua ... Randy Rosenberg of Berlin ... Richard Ferguson of Conway ..."
Local peace activists read the names of the 11 New Hampshire soldiers killed in Iraq since 2003, as well as hundreds of other U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. And though their intended audience was not present, their message was clear.
"We’re here to demand an end to the Iraq War," said David Diamond of Seacoast Peace Response, in front of Sen. Judd Gregg’s office at Pease International Tradeport. "Not one more death. Not one more dollar."
The slogan is the rallying cry of New Hampshire Peace Action, which organized similar protests at all 14 congressional offices throughout the state Wednesday. They are demanding a clear exit strategy for the war and an open debate in the House about the war.
William Woodward of Durham started the day expecting to be arrested. And that’s what happened a few hours later when he and five other people were charged with criminal trespassing when they refused to leave Rep. Jeb Bradley’s Dover office until he indicated he will work with fellow congressmen to withdraw troops either immediately or by the end of the year.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=7104
Dear President Bush (City Lights Open Media) (Paperback)
by Cindy Sheehan, Hart Viges, Howard Zinn (Foreword)
Book Description
In writings, speeches, and an interview conducted in the wake of the famous Camp Casey summer in Crawford, Texas, Cindy Sheehan embraces her personal transformation into America's most outspoken advocate for peace. From her trip to the World Social Forum in Venezuela to her ouster from the State of the Union address, Sheehan continues to speak out on topics such as civil disobedience, US foreign policy, New Orleans, military recruitment, her son Casey's death on his fifth day in Iraq, and soldiers who resist.
About the Author
Cindy Sheehan is the internationally known mom and peace advocate whose son, Casey, was killed in action in Baghdad, in April 2004. Since camping outside President Bush's home in August 2005, Cindy has been interviewed in major media outlets.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872864545/sr=8-6/qid=1148412599/ref=pd_bbs_6/103-3106893-8727014?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Zoos
Photo in the News: Polar Bear Triplets Born in Zoo -- A First?
March 14, 2006—They say good things happen in threes, and for this polar bear mom good luck descended in one fell swoop.
The three cubs pictured above are believed to be the first set of polar bear triplets born in captivity. The trio made their public debut last Friday at the Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands (see map) city of Rhenen.
In the wild, polar bears frequently give birth to more than one cub at a time, although triplets are far less common than twins. What's more, cubs compete for access to mother's milk. In a set of three, stronger siblings often force the runt of a litter to die of starvation within its first year.
Even in zoos, where food and care are plentiful, nearly half of the polar cubs born in captivity die. But Ouwehands Zoo officials seem to have luck on their side: All three cubs are healthy and are expected to survive into adulthood.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0314_060314_polar_triplets.html
Zoo rock concerts 'won't hurt animals'
Taronga Park Zoo says adequate measures are in place to ensure animals are not distressed during music concerts in the zoo grounds.
The RSPCA has raised concerns about the potential impact on animals after loud rock-and-roll performances at the weekend.
A zoo spokesman says noise levels are monitored throughout the concerts and animals are kept away from the performance area in their night pens.
But RSPCA spokesman Mark Lawrie says some animals would find the music upsetting.
"Sharp, short sounds are more distressing for them. That's why it's really important that they have an environment in which they can cope," he said.
"Different animals appreciate different sounds of music and there's been some interesting research done.
"Dairy cows, for instance, prefer classical music and pigs like rock'n'roll.
"So the wart-hogs may be happy but the bison might not."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1591810.htm
Zoo visitors sing glories of wings
Web Posted: 03/15/2006 12:00 AM CST
Lisa Marie Gómez
Express-News Staff Writer
Squashed last year by a century-old red oak tree, the popular butterfly house at the San Antonio Zoo reopened to the public Tuesday, just in time for the Spring Break rush.
Hundreds of kids turned out under brilliant blue skies to see the rebuilt exhibit, called "Butterflies! Caterpillar Flight School," featuring 15 species of Asian butterflies.
"Oh, I think it's wonderful," said Barbara Flores, who brought her 9-year-old daughter and her daughter's friend to the zoo. "It's so fascinating, very educational, a pleasant surprise."
The 60-by-24-foot mesh-covered exhibit, 30 feet from floor to ceiling, is filled with lush plants including lantana, queen's wreath and Jamaican porterweed. Visitors get around on a meandering pathway made of pavers. The $48,000 for the reconstruction came from private companies, zoo visitors and other donors
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031506.01B.Butterflies.1259dfb8.html
The big cats at the zoo have it easy
By LEON HALE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
The other afternoon I visited the Houston Zoo for the first time in probably 30 years. Here's why:
When the zoo's male African lion died not long ago, I had a comment here about that animal's life. I felt it was sad that a magnificent lion had to spend all his years caged up.
For a long time I've had that attitude toward zoos. Maybe I was born that way. I'm just naturally opposed to captivity.
Anyway, that comment about the dead lion got me a letter from the folks at the Houston Zoo. They didn't fuss at me; they just invited me to come out and see the zoo's lions and tigers.
So I drove to Hermann Park and met Deborah Cannon, the zoo's CEO, and Hollie Colahan, curator of carnivores and primates. Brian Hill came along in a golf cart and gave us a ride to see the big cats. Hill is the zoo's director of public affairs.
We visited the tigers first.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/hale/3723455.html
Space center, zoo offer activities for children
Ray Parker
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 15, 2006 12:00 AM
Spring break has arrived.
Some families have plans to pack bags and fly off for some far-away fun.
For those staying in the Valley, there are plenty of activities for kids besides local parks and recreation camps.
The Challenger Space Center, 21170 N. 83rd Ave.
Details: (623) 322-2001 or AzChallenger.org.
Out of Africa Wildlife Park, 4020 N. Cherry Road, Camp Verde. Details: (928) 567-2839 or OutofAfricaPark.com.
The Riparian Institute, a 110-acre site east of Greenfield Road on Guadalupe Road in Gilbert, is offering a five-day kids camp. Students study fishing, birds, insects, wildlife and the ecology of desert and riparian areas. The camp will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday for kids ages 7 to 12. Cost is $75. Details: RiparianInstitute.org or (480) 503-6744.
The Phoenix Zoo, 455 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Costs: Adults (ages 13 to 59) $14; seniors (ages 60 and older) $9; children (ages 3 to 12) $6; and ages 2 and younger are admitted free. Details: Phoenix Zoo.org.
Mother Nature's, 1663 E. Baseline Road, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Cost is $7 per child and $3 for adults. Tours are also available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Details: MotherNatures Farm.com.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0315edspringbreak0315.html
Fort Worth Zoo's Half-Price Day Snarls Traffic On I-30
POSTED: 1:34 pm CST March 15, 2006
UPDATED: 3:50 pm CST March 15, 2006
Email This Story Print This Story
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Half-price day at the Fort Worth Zoo has led to big crowds and big traffic backups on nearby streets and Interstate 30.
The zoo is packed with kids on spring break.
It expects 10,000 people Wednesday, which would break an attendance record.
Police called extra officers to help direct traffic near I-30 at University Drive.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8030979/detail.html
Zoos already working to protect rare species
If the H5N1 bird flu virus does spread to the United States, it could have repercussions not only for the poultry industry but for many bird populations already in decline.
Zoos, whose collections include many rare species, are worried. The Philadelphia Zoo, for instance, has three of the only 60 known Micronesian kingfishers left in the world.
"West Nile was scary," said Dominic Travis, an epidemiologist at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. But "there's nothing that's really been like this."
He figures North American zoos will spend $2 million in the next three years simply for surveillance, including regularly testing animals for the flu.
The Philadelphia Zoo has already started moving away from chicken in many of its animal diets, just in case it has to be removed altogether at some point.
The great horned owl, for instance, is getting more mice. The new jaguar has switched altogether to beef. And an elderly jaguarundi, a cat whose digestive system might balk at too much of a change, is getting his chicken cooked.
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/health/14108740.htm
Zoo visitors walk on the wild side
Fredericksburg Kia
5204 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
By COLLETTE CAPRARA
For THE FREE LANCE-STAR
The lady with the huge blue wings and floppy antennae has a lot of fun, but she's quite serious about conserving our nation's butterflies.
Mona Miller, aka "The Butterfly Lady," is a member of the Washington Area Butterfly Club and will man a booth at Saturday's North American Wildlife Celebration at the National Zoo in Washington.
Miller and her son Alex will bring along learning tools such as magnifiers with butterfly wings inside them and "bug glasses" that function like kaleidoscopes to give youngsters an idea of how butterflies see.
Miller also will come equipped with a bevy of information about these winged wonders. She'll share facts about the amazing cross-country migration of Monarch butterflies who can travel up to 250 miles a day and fly 4,000 feet above the Earth, locking their wings to cruise once they enter the jet stream.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/032006/03162006/175025
IDA ACTION ALERTS
1. Maine Protects Animal Victims of Domestic Violence
2. Cold-Blooded Killing of Canadian Seals Continues
3. Santa Cruz Island Pigs Need Your Help
CAMPAIGN NEWS & UPDATES
1. IDA Online: Fostering Community and Education
2. Two States Ban Hog-Dog Rodeos
3. IDA Radio Spot Featuring Bob Barker Airs in L.A.
IDA ACTION ALERTS
1. Maine Protects Animal Victims of Domestic Violence
New Law Includes Animal Companions in Court-Issued Protection Orders
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1816521.php
Haaretz
UN report claims spread of AIDS epidemic stabilized in 2005
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
The spread of the AIDS epidemic appears to have stabilized in the last year as the number of those newly diagnosed with the disease is nearing the number of those who have died as a result of the illness, a UN report released Wednesday indicates.
The 630-page report, which was commissioned by UNAIDS - Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, notes that while an estimated 3.4 million to 6.2 million people were diagnosed with AIDS in 2005, the number of AIDS victims who died ranges from 2.4 million to 3.3 million.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721468.html
Housing Minister promises thousands of new apartments within two years
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
The Housing Ministry plans to build tens of thousands of new rental housing units within the coming two years, Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit told the Knesset Finance Committee during a Tuesday debate on the state budget.
The new homes will be built by the private sector.
Sheetrit said tax breaks must be granted to entrepreneurs who build new homes for rent and will agree to lease the homes out for 25 years.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721461.html
Defense Minister: Gaza raids against Qassam fire will go on
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies
Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed Tuesday that Israel Defense Forces operations against Qassam launch cells in the Gaza Strip would continue by air, sea, and land in order to prevent further rocket fire at Israel.
Earlier in the day, IDF troops killed at least seven armed Palestinians in a number of raids early Tuesday in the territories, with the intention of countering Qassam fire in Gaza and arresting wanted militants in the West Bank.
Special forces units, operating in a rare IDF ground operation deep inside the northern Strip, killed at least three members of an Islamic Jihad Qassam crew setting up to fire rockets into Israel in the pre-dawn hours.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721085.html
Peretz: Government will remain intact for next four years
By Moti Bassok, Amos Harel and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents
Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday said the coalition would remain intact despite an earlier row with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over cuts to defense spending.
The cabinet Tuesday approved the 2006 State Budget, but the seven Labor ministers abstained in the vote, amid the dispute between Olmert and Peretz.
Eighteen ministers voted in favor of the budget, while no ministers voted against. The budget must now be ratified by the Knesset.
Advertisement
Following the vote, Olmert invited Peretz to meet in an attempt to smooth over the dispute resulting from cuts to the defense budget. After their meeting Peretz said, "The coalition will hold its ground and the government will remain in power for four years.
"There is no reason to have confrontation between the defense budgets and the social budgets," he added.
As the cabinet convened Tuesday morning, Olmert and Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson brought a NIS 1 billion overall budget cut to the cabinet for approval Tuesday. The cut is aimed at financing coalition deals.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=721159&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
Jerusalem Summit
Humanitarian Regional Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/hs_short_eng.htm
Iran snubs U.S. conditional talks, says won't give up enrichment
By Shmuel Rosner and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
President George W. Bush said Thursday that the standoff over Iran's suspected nuclear program is headed for the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continues to refuse to halt uranium enrichment.
"We'll see whether or not that is the firm position of their government," Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. "If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world 'We really don't care what your opinion is," then the world is going to act in concert."
Bush's statment came hours after Iran rejected a U.S. deal to restart talks in return for their agreement to stop enriching uranium.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/721902.html
Asylum for genocide refugees
By Haaretz Editorial
Under High Court of Justice orders, the state is expected, no later than the end of next week, to formulate a solution that will enable Sudanese refugees held in Israel under administrative detention to be brought before a judge. Some 180 refugees from Sudan, many survivors of the genocide taking place in the region of Darfur since 2003, crossed over into Israel during the past six months. It appears that the state and its officials are doing everything in their power to be rid of these refugees.
Originally, if the security forces caught anyone crossing the border illegally, "provided 24 hours had not passed since he crossed, and he did not manage to get further than 50 kilometers from the border," a so-called "rushed return" was put in effect, whereby the individual would be pushed back across the border into Egypt. The refugees that were not pushed back into Egypt were placed under arrest, under the law regulating entry into Israel. The law allowed the illegal aliens to bring their case before a judge within two weeks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=722009&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
EU lawmakers want to ban Ahmadinejad from World Cup
By News Agencies
A group of European Parliament members is seeking an indefinite EU travel ban on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has called for Israel to be destroyed and questioned the Holocaust.
A group of 75 lawmakers from all major political groups in the EU assembly signed a petition, which was submitted Thursday to EU president Austria and FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, asking them to prevent Ahmadinejad from traveling to Germany to watch his team play in the June 9-July 9 World Cup and banning him from traveling to any of the other 24 EU member states.
"Ahmedinejad's likely visit to Europe would send a wrong signal to the Europeans and the international community and in particular to the suppressed people of Iran," the petition said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/722252.html
Fatah votes to hold referendum regardless of Hamas consent
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
Fatah's central committee on Thursday afternoon ratified a motion calling for a referendum to be held throughout the Palestinian Authority regardless of whether it receives the consent of other Palestinian factions or not.
The militant group Hamas has consistently voiced its disapproval of the referendum, which in its current form implicitly recognizes the existence of Israel.
A Jenin-based spokesperson on behalf of the militant Islamic Jihad, however, announced that his group was willing to support the referendum as long as Israel promised to cease its attacks on its members.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=722245&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
Milk and cheese sales skyrocket on eve of Shavuot holiday
By Nofar Sinai
The sale of cheese and milk has skyrocketed in recent days, as Israelis prepared for the holiday of Shavuot, during which tradition stipulates that Jews consume dairy products.
"This year, sales of milk and cheeses jumped by about 300 percent," the deputy director for marketing at Tara Dairies, Harel Haiken, said Wednesday.
Haiken says sales of dairy products per capita have been on a constant upswing in recent years, with Israel in first place in the world in per capita consumption of white cheeses.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/722256.html
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Tanker Wars: Boeing challenged (Lots of graphics with this article)
The Boeing-made Air Force tanker could be replaced by a foreign company already living in America's backyard
By JAMES WALLACE
P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER
MOBILE, Ala. -- Around the time Bill Boeing was incorporating his airplane manufacturing business in Seattle in 1916, another aviation pioneer was preparing to set up shop in this Alabama town on the Gulf Coast.
There are a series of articles.
THURSDAY
The New Contest: The Boeing Co. and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. will battle to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. What lies ahead and what's at stake?
FRIDAY
The Southern Strategy: EADS is positioning itself as an American company that would provide good jobs in Southern states if it is awarded the Air Force tanker contract. Is the strategy working?
O.E. Williams, who had started an aviation school and airplane-making business in Pennsylvania and then moved it to Michigan, was looking at property in Mobile, where the weather would allow him and his students to fly more often. He settled on a 53-acre farm on what would later become part of the military's Brookley Field.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/272243_tankers01.html
Public Funding for NASCAR?
As NASCAR bid in Kitsap revs up, a rival emerges
Kent track's owners say it would need no public subsidy
By JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTER
As NASCAR track builders launched a new campaign Wednesday to rally support for a $345 million Kitsap County speedway, another racetrack expansion plan has been simmering that would require no public financing.
The owners of Pacific Raceways, a 45-year-old racetrack and drag strip southeast of Kent, are angling to expand their operations and upgrade a 2 1/4-mile racecourse to professional standards.
Their plans still have substantial hurdles to cross, such as county approval of a development plan that might need to accommodate some structures on slopes or sensitive areas.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272343_racing01.html
Seattle funding to fight terror slashed
City gets a sliver of the millions it sought from feds
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER
The federal government is cutting Seattle's share of anti-terrorism funding 22 percent this year -- providing only a fraction of what city officials said the region needed.
Seattle will receive $9.15 million in federal grants this fiscal year, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday.
The city received $11.8 million last year and had requested $61.4 million for this year's efforts in the Seattle/Bellevue region.
Meanwhile, Washington state was awarded $32.2 million under a separate program Wednesday -- down 23 percent from last year's $41.9 million. The state had requested $43 million, officials said.
Reaction among local officials was sharply divided.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272366_terror01.html
U.S. alleges discrimination against women at Les Schwab
P-I STAFF
Federal civil rights lawyers filed suit Wednesday against Les Schwab Tire Centers, claiming that the company discriminated against its female employees by failing to hire, train and promote women into management jobs.
The suit, filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in federal court in Seattle, cited the alleged discrimination against two female Les Schwab workers, Megan Morris and Jennifer Strange.
Morris and Strange, who worked in Les Schwab stores in Bellevue, SeaTac, Tacoma and Puyallup, were repeatedly denied desirable company jobs working in tire bays, and were denied promotion because of their gender, the EEOC suit charges.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/272349_lesschwab01.html
Drinking Liberally, thinking globally
Seattle chapter of liberal political junkies meets to talk strategy, gossip
By GREGORY ROBERTS
P-I REPORTER
On the TV in a corner of the Montlake Ale House, the Clippers battled the Suns in a pro basketball playoff game. But on this Tuesday night, as on every Tuesday night, the barroom talk focused on a spectator sport of different sort: politics.
"There's, like, serious earthshaking results now," Nick Beaudrot said, staring at his laptop computer, perched on the table amid pints of beers and plates of nachos, as returns from the Pennsylvania primary streamed across the screen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272376_drinking01.html
Cargo ship leaves for Iraq amid anti-war cries
Protesters stage brief 'die-in' at Port of Olympia
By RACHEL LA CORTE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA -- A ship carrying military gear bound for Iraq pulled away from this Puget Sound port Wednesday evening after a week of protests in which more than three dozen people were arrested.
At least 100 protesters chanted "Stop that boat!" as the 950-foot cargo ship pulled away from a dock at the Port of Olympia.
The demonstrators also staged a brief "die-in" on the ground to illustrate their opposition to the war in Iraq. There were no immediate arrests, as protesters confined themselves to yelling at law enforcement personnel on hand.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272338_warprotest01.html
Blue Moon for sale
Not in a Blue Moon would Seattle@Nite ever believe that the Blue Moon Tavern might be an endangered establishment in Seattle.
Certainly, it could never be seen as anything but a good neighbor on the corner of Northeast 45th and I-5, a beacon of Beat Generation mystique combined with Grateful Dead whimsy and basic barroom lunacy, the Blue Moon is as much a part of Seattle as the P-I Globe or the Space Needle or Dick's Drive-Ins to many longtime luminaries and true blue Seattleites.
Here's the header now that adorns the Blue Moon Web site:
"Sorry, We're open! That is the ironic greeting posted in the front windows of Seattle's Blue Moon Tavern. Since its founding in 1934, the Moon has become a beacon for generations of free-thinkers, radicals, and artists. Pulitzer Prize-winning poets and Dead Heads have bent their elbows at its bar, and, in the process, transformed the Moon into an unofficial cultural landmark."
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/night/archives/103890.asp
Prince Albert says he's father to girl, 14
By JEFF WILSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Monaco's Prince Albert II has acknowledged he is the father of a 14-year-old California girl, his lawyer said in an interview published Thursday in a French newspaper.
Jazmin Grace Rotolo is welcome in Monaco but she cannot take the throne and will not bear the Grimaldi family name, lawyer Thierry Lacoste was quoted as saying in Le Figaro.
French media reports have said Albert, 48, had a brief affair with the girl's mother, Tamara Rotolo, in 1991 when she vacationed on the Cote d'Azur. A 1992 Riverside County birth certificate identified the girl's father as Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi of Monaco.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Monaco_Prince_Child.html
4 die in military helicopter crash in Ga.
By ELLIOTT MINOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DOERUN, Ga. -- A military helicopter clipped a rural television tower and crashed Thursday morning, killing four soldiers on a training mission, officials said.
A fifth soldier aboard the MH-47 Chinook helicopter survived, said Lisa Eichhorn, a spokeswoman for Fort Rucker, Ala., home to an Army helicopter training school where the soldiers were headed.
The helicopter had left Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah and went down in rural Colquitt County just after 8 a.m., said sheriff's dispatcher Becky Perry.
As it flew past a television station's 1,000-foot-tall tower, it clipped a wire, said Deborah Owens, station manager of WFXL.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Military_Helicopter_Crash.html
Army Corps: La. levees were poorly built
By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana's hurricane protection system was overwhelmed by Katrina because it was built disjointedly using outdated data, according to an Army Corps of Engineers report released Thursday.
"The system did not perform as a system," according to the report, released on the first day of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. "The hurricane protection in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana was a system in name only."
The 6,000-plus page document included details on engineering and design failures that led to the Aug. 29 storm surge overwhelming the city's outer levees and breaking through flood walls within New Orleans.
Katrina damaged 169 miles of the 350-mile hurricane system that protects New Orleans and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Corps_Report.html
Karzai condemns U.S. troops using gunfire
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned the use of gunfire by U.S. troops to suppress Afghans angered by a traffic accident involving a military truck that sparked the worst riots in the capital since the fall of the Taliban.
"The coalition opened fire, and we strongly condemn that," Karzai said in a national radio address.
Speaking in his native Pashto language, Karzai used formulations that left open whether the U.S. troops had fired into a crowd that had gathered at the scene of Monday's accident, or only over their heads.
Afghan authorities and the U.S. military are investigating.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Riot_Investigation.html
Analysis: Haditha echoes earlier stains
By TOM RAUM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Some words are synonymous with military disgrace. Abu Ghraib. My Lai. And now, perhaps Haditha - the Iraqi town where two dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians allegedly were murdered by U.S. Marines.
Still under investigation, the episode could firm rising American opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq, just as the 1968 My Lai killings helped turn the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Haditha_Fallout.html
Copter believed found in Afghan mountains
By AMIR SHAH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The wreckage of a helicopter that had been chartered by the Red Cross and disappeared over Afghanistan in January is believed to have been found atop a snowcapped mountain, a senior official said Thursday.
The Russian-made Mi-8 transport chopper disappeared after taking off from Pakistan, where it had been chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross to ferry supplies to victims of a devastating earthquake in Pakistan in October.
It had seven people on board, employees of Turkmenistan Airlines, which operated the aircraft. No Red Cross staff were aboard.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Missing_Helicopter.html
Iraq launches own probe of Haditha deaths
By PATRICK QUINN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Iraqi government announced Thursday its own investigation into reports that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians last year, and the No. 2 general in Iraq ordered American commanders to hold ethical training on battlefield conduct.
The decision to begin an Iraqi inquiry into the killings was made at a Cabinet meeting, Adnan al-Kazimi, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told The Associated Press.
The investigation will be carried out by a special committee made up of the Justice and Human Rights ministries along with security officials, al-Kazimi said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_US_Military.html
Bush promises to disclose Haditha findings
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday promised to disclose the results of an investigation into reports that Marines killed unarmed civilians in Iraq. "The world will see the full and complete investigation," Bush said.
The U.S. military is conducting at least two investigations into the Nov. 19 killings of 24 people in Haditha, including women and children, following a bomb attack on a military convoy in which a Marine died. The Iraqi government is doing a separate investigation.
"If there is a wrongdoing, people will be held to account," Bush told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bush.html
Iraq wants to set rules on U.S. raids
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday denounced the alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. forces and said he asked a ministerial committee to hold talks with U.S. military to set ground rules for raids and detentions.
The move came in the wake of an investigation into allegations that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians in the western city of Haditha.
Al-Maliki said he had ordered the "national security ministerial committee to follow up on this issue with the multinational forces" and "to hold talks with the multinational forces to formulate ground rules for detentions and raids."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Haditha.html
Guantanamo detainees join hunger strike
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- More Guantanamo Bay detainees protesting their indefinite confinement joined a hunger strike, raising the number of inmates refusing food to 89 from 75, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Six of the hunger strikers at the isolated U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba were being force-fed, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Guantanamo_Hunger_Strike.html
East Timor rebel leader demands PM quit
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DILI, East Timor -- A fired army commander whose rebellion triggered the recent violence in East Timor demanded Thursday that the prime minister resign and be tried for allegedly ordering troops to shoot civilians, saying this was the only way to end the fighting.
At least one person was reported killed in fighting in the capital of Dili, despite the presence of more than 2,000 foreign peacekeepers. Rioters set fire to shops and vehicles in one neighborhood, and several dozen Australian troops rushed to the scene.
Two high-profile ministers offered to take responsibility for the crisis by resigning.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_East_Timor_Violence.html
Violence hurts East Timor coffee industry
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DILI, East Timor -- East Timor's resurgent coffee industry, which supplies high-quality organic beans to companies such as Starbucks, has been badly hurt by a wave of violence in the capital, officials said Thursday.
Harvesting began in May and normally peaks in late June.
"But with all roads blocked, there's no way to transport the beans from inland to the processing factories," said Caetano Cristovao, director of coffee at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
"Only small-scale farmers are picking and processing the beans either in small machines or drying them out in the sun," Cristovao said. Big factories are shut "because nobody is going to work," he said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_East_Timor_Coffee.html
Indonesia begins slaughtering poultry
By MARGIE MASON
AP MEDICAL WRITER
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Officials slaughtered more than 1,000 poultry Thursday in an Indonesian village where preliminary tests showed a 15-year-old boy died from bird flu, as the country struggled with a sudden rise in deaths averaging one every 2 1/2 days last month.
About 1,300 chickens were killed within a half mile of the boy's house in the Tasikmalaya district of West Java province, said Budi Utama, head of the local animal and fisheries agency.
Indonesian tests on Wednesday found that the boy had contracted the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus, and officials were awaiting confirmation from a World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Indonesia_Bird_Flu.html
Bush: Security Council could loom for Iran
By JENNIFER LOVEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Thursday that the standoff over Iran's suspected nuclear program is headed for the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continues with uranium enrichment.
"We'll see whether or not that is the firm position of their government," Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet at the White House. "If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world `We really don't care what your opinion is,' then the world is going to act in concert."
With Russian and Chinese support crucial to crafting a deal for Iran that also includes a threat of sanctions, Bush said that he "got a positive response" from Russian President Vladimir Putin during a conversation on Tuesday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bush_Iran.html
U.S., others near deal on Iran incentives
By ANNE GEARAN
AP DIPLOMATIC WRITER
VIENNA, Austria -- The United States and international partners are close to a deal that would offer Iran economic incentives if it gives up nuclear activities that could produce a bomb, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says.
Rice was meeting Thursday with foreign ministers from the European nations that led stalled talks with Iran last year and would help present any new deal, and also with representatives of Russia and China. Russian and Chinese support is crucial to attach the threat of United Nations sanctions or other punishment to the package of incentives.
At the White House, President Bush warned that the confrontation would end up at the U.N. Security Council if Iran continues to enrich uranium.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_Nuclear.html
Iran welcomes dialogue, rejects condition
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's foreign minister on Thursday welcomed direct talks with Washington on his country's disputed nuclear program but rebuffed a U.S. proposal that Tehran must suspend uranium enrichment as a condition.
A prominent hard-liner, however, called the U.S. proposal as "blackmail" and urged the government to reject it.
Mottaki's statement was the country's first direct reaction to an announcement by the United States on Wednesday that it is willing to join other countries for face-to-face talks with Iran, as long as Tehran stops enriching uranium.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_US.html
Iran blames U.S. for high oil prices
By ALAN CLENDENNING
AP BUSINESS WRITER
CARACAS, Venezuela -- OPEC was poised to keep production steady Thursday as Iran blamed the United States for high oil prices, saying threats against its nuclear program are behind much of the fear and speculation in the market.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, member nations brushed off a bid to cut production by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who also lobbied for expanding the cartel's membership and praised Bolivia's recent nationalization of its natural gas industry.
On Wednesday evening, Iranian Oil Minister Sayed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said in an interview with the Venezuela-based television station Telesur that high oil prices are linked to "the United States' constant threats" against Iran. Earlier in the day, the U.S. had signaled a willingness to hold joint direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program if certain conditions were met, an offer Tehran soon dismissed.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Venezuela_OPEC_Meeting.html
Ky. lieutenant gov. won't seek re-election
By JOE BIESK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's lieutenant governor, a former corruption-fighting prosecutor, announced Wednesday he won't seek re-election with Gov. Ernie Fletcher, whose administration has been caught up in a state hiring scandal.
Lt. Gov. Steve Pence said he told Fletcher late Tuesday that he will not seek any office after his term expires next year.
Pence wouldn't say if the hiring investigation had weighed in his decision, but he said: "I believe it's held the commonwealth back more than anything on things that could have been done."
Fletcher, Kentucky's first Republican governor since 1971, is under indictment for allegedly breaking state law by rewarding political supporters with protected state jobs after he took office in 2003.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1134AP_Kentucky_Politics.html
Burns faces questions on ties to lobbyist
By MATT GOURAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MILES CITY, Mont. -- The way Sen. Conrad Burns' re-election campaign is going, the folksy 71-year-old Republican might rather take a turn on a bronco than try to explain his links with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff back in Washington.
The "Eastern liberal press" is to blame for his troubles, says Burns. Some of his former aides worked for Abramoff and two current aides took a trip to the 2001 Super Bowl in the lobbyist's jet. The senator received about $150,000 in donations from Abramoff, his clients and his associates, which he has since returned or given to charity.
Montana voters, Burns says, "will make the right judgment call."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1130AP_Burns_Rough_Ride.html
Biden's son runs for Del. attorney general
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOVER, Del. -- Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, son of Delaware's senior U.S. senator, kicked off his campaign for state attorney general Thursday.
Biden pledged not only to prosecute criminals, but also to prevent crimes such as identity theft and Internet stalking of children by sexual predators.
"I truly believe that this office has the potential to greatly improve the lives and well-being of the people of the state of Delaware," said Biden, 37, who served as a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia for five years.
Biden, a Democrat, will face Republican Ferris Wharton, 53, in the November election. Republicans are banking on Wharton's experience of more than 25 years as a prosecutor to offset Biden's name recognition.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1135AP_Biden_Attorney_General.html
FEC will not change rules on 527 groups
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission will not adopt new rules governing the independent political groups that played a major role in the 2004 presidential campaign, freeing them to raise and spend unlimited sums of money during this year's midterm elections.
A federal judge had ordered the FEC to either write new rules or more fully explain its current policy for regulating 527 groups. The commission announced Wednesday that it will more fully explain the current policy, which is to deal with 527 groups on a case-by-case basis.
The groups, which are named after the section of the Internal Revenue Service code governing them, include America Coming Together and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. ACT spent millions criticizing President Bush during the 2004 race, while the Swift Boat Veterans spent millions challenging the Vietnam War military record of his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1130AP_FEC_Rules.html
N.C. House votes to ban video poker
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The state House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ban video poker machines, legislation its speaker had thwarted for years until questions arose about campaign contributions he had received from the industry.
The measure now heads to the Senate, which since 2000 has approved the ban five times. The bills always died in the House, where Speaker Jim Black argued that the industry generated thousands of jobs.
His campaign took in $167,000 in contributions from the industry during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles, according to Democracy North Carolina, a group that advocates campaign finance changes.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1135AP_Video_Poker.html
Columbus letter to go on sale in London
By SARAH BALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- A contemporary copy of a letter Christopher Columbus wrote while returning from the New World is up for sale this month, its price tag set at $900,000.
The eight-page document, known as the "Epistola Christofori Colum" or the "Columbus Letter," is a Latin translation of a letter the explorer wrote to his royal Spanish sponsors, Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castille, on his return voyage.
Pope Alexander VI ordered the translation, which was printed in Rome on April 29, 1493, six weeks after the new hero returned home to Spain.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Columbus_Letter.html
U.N. council cuts Ethiopia, Eritrea forces
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council cut the number of peacekeepers deployed in Eritrea and Ethiopia by at least one-third Wednesday night while extending the U.N. mission's mandate for another four months.
A unanimously passed resolution reduced the force from 3,500 to 2,300. The United States sought a cutback because Ethiopia and Eritrea made no progress in resuming talks on the demarcation of their border.
The talks in London earlier in May were aimed at breaking the deadlock between the two countries and the international Boundary Commission, which is charged with marking the border between the Horn of Africa nations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_UN_Ethiopia_Eritrea.html
EU adopts new rules on children's medicine
By JAN SLIVA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union is offering drug makers extended patents as an incentive to produce children's versions of drugs for diseases such as cancer, AIDS or psychiatric disorders.
New regulations approved by the EU Parliament Thursday encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop pediatric drugs that don't have the undesirable side-effects of medicines for adults and which can be administered in smaller doses.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_EU_Children_Medicine.html
CBS: Wounded reporter 'awake and alert'
By DAVID RISING
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERLIN -- CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier, seriously injured by a car bomb in Iraq, was "awake and alert" at a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Thursday but remained in critical condition, the network said.
The 39-year-old journalist was flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center after being wounded in the head and lower body Monday.
Her two British colleagues, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, were both killed in the attack, along with a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Journalist_Wounded.html
British deputy says attacks aimed at Blair
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON -- Britain's embattled deputy prime minister suggested in an interview published Thursday that his critics are really targeting Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, under pressure following his admission of an affair with a staff member and questions about his contribution to government, was quoted by The Guardian as suggesting that his opponents hoped to force Blair to retire.
"At the moment, I am the shield they are battering," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Politics.html
Sweden OKs law to take Liberia's Taylor
By KARL RITTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Swedish lawmakers have approved a law that makes it possible for the Scandinavian country to imprison former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes by a U.N.-backed tribunal, government officials said Thursday.
The decision by the Swedish Parliament could remove a major obstacle that has stalled the former African warlord's trial in Sierra Leone. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nina Ersman said Sweden had not yet officially decided whether it would accept a request to take in Taylor. Such a step would need final approval from the government.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Sweden_Taylor.html
Ancient scroll may yield religious secrets
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ATHENS, Greece -- A collection of charred scraps kept in a Greek museum's storerooms are all that remains of what archaeologists say is Europe's oldest surviving book - which may hold a key to understanding early monotheistic beliefs.
More than four decades after the Derveni papyrus was found in a 2,400-year-old nobleman's grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text - through high-tech digital analysis - from the blackened fragments left after the manuscript was burnt on its owner's funeral pyre.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_Greece_Ancient_Scroll.htm
Columbus letter to go on sale in London
By SARAH BALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- A contemporary copy of a letter Christopher Columbus wrote while returning from the New World is up for sale this month, its price tag set at $900,000.
The eight-page document, known as the "Epistola Christofori Colum" or the "Columbus Letter," is a Latin translation of a letter the explorer wrote to his royal Spanish sponsors, Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castille, on his return voyage.
Pope Alexander VI ordered the translation, which was printed in Rome on April 29, 1493, six weeks after the new hero returned home to Spain.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Columbus_Letter.html
continued …
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)