For a long time the Kurds have succeeded in forming an independant government. It existed unter the Northern No Fly Zone. It has flourished and there is no denying them their dream now. Their diplomats admit to needing help in defending their burgeoning nation from many fronts of conflict. Let's face it, no one wants an oil rich region to become their own nation and remove it's assets from any treasury. They would like the USA to have a presence in Kurdistan but I doubt they would want an aggressive USA military that didn't respect other nations of the region.
At any rate, that is a separate discussion.
The war in Iraq is overwhelmingly a sectarian war. It is not about terrorists. Even recently, Bush has admitted there are sectarian dangers far greater than al Qaeda. Sectarian violence is not going to stop UNTIL the ethnicities have autonomous borders that are defendable and given the chance to do that. Pointing to the success of these ethnicities to secure peace is the fact that the Shi'ite Najaf has not seen a single American soldier death in over two years. There has been no reason to confront these people as they are 'managing just fine' under the leadership of their Holy Men.
If Iraq is to stop the sectarian violence it has to be allowed to divide their country into three autonomous provinces. I have discussed this at length on this blog.
If Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney 'start the war over again' as they want to, the chaos will be greater and the resolve of the people ALREADY engaged in portioning Iraq will be more vicious in their military attacks than ever before. The USA will become enemies and not just occupiers.
The Kurds are against any outcomes from The Iraq Study Group for one primary reason and that it dissolves their drive toward sovereignty and reestablishes the Kurds under a single govenrment called Iraq. These people are too scared to proceed in any other direction than autonomy. They and Shi'ites were brutally killed under an Iraq Dictator. They won't risk it again.
Iraq needs to be left upto the Iraqis.
Kurdish Aspect
Talabani underscores US strategy in Iraq
KUNA
The US strategy would be in favor of the Iraqi people, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday.
At a press conference in Sulaimaniya with Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Iraq, Talabani said that he was not attentive of the strategy's details, yet he was confident that it would bring about security and stability to Iraq.
Talabani pointed out that the new security plan; set by Premier Nouri Al-Maliki, aimed at ending sectarian violence and at the prevalence of law. He added that the Peshmergas (armed Kurdish fighters) would not partake in the plan.
Talabani, a Kurd, called for delaying the executions of Saddam Hussein's two co-defendants in light of sectarian tensions and the poor conduct of Saddam's execution process. He also urged all Iraqi powers to adopt a more tolerant and forgiving mind-set, as it would inevitably contribute to national reconciliation.
He said that Iraq's constitutional ban on Baathists, Hussein's party members, from participating in government should stand, yet they should be granted their nationalistic rights despite their political affiliations.
In his part, Khalilzad urged countries neighboring Iraq not to take advantage of the current difficulties the country is going through and hoped that the new US strategy would succeed in Iraq as it did in the Kurd region.
The exact execution timing of Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Takriti and Awad Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court was not determined yet, but rumors say that they are expected to be hanged within days.
Barzan and Bandar were sentenced to death for their roles in the 1982 massacre of Shiites in Dujail, north of Baghdad. The crackdown occurred shortly after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0110KUNA100.html
Kurdistan parties warn about fears for Kurdistan
The Globe -by Hawar Kirkuki
The parties, who met on January 2 in Erbil, were the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), Kurdistan Tailors Party, Islamic Group in Kurdistan, Kurdistan Socialist Party, and the Kurdistan Communist Party.
"In the meeting, we tried to study the current situations of Kurdistan and Iraq and also show and remark on the fears that may face the Kurdish people," said Hiwa Mirza Sabir, secretary of KIU politburo.
The parties discussed U.S. neglect toward the Kurdish people and their national issue, said Sabir. He mentioned that they regard the demands of Iraqi Shiite and Sunni sectarians as a reason to fear the loss of Kurdish achievements, but he gave no further detail on this. They also discussed obstacles to the implementation of the Kirkuk situation.
Sabir remarked that there are both local and external fears to the Kurdish issue.
"The regional countries, from long ago, oppose Kurds in reaching their wishes and gaining their demands," Sabir said, referring to freedom and independent rights for Kurds.
He has lost trust of U.S. support, saying, "The USA doesn't care about Kurds; they use us like an object for the sake of their own interests. They let the Kurd's names be put on international agreements, but later and in a secret meeting all (the achievements) were sunk."
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0109HK100.html
Court drops Kurd charges against Saddam
Associated Press - by SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Saddam Hussein's trial for the killing of 180,000 Kurds in the 1980s resumed Monday with the late dictator's seat empty, nine days after he went to the gallows. The court's first order of business was to drop all charges against Saddam.
Six co-defendants — including Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" — still face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from a military campaign code-named Operation Anfal during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.
Shortly after the court reconvened Monday, a bailiff called out the names of the accused and the six men walked silently into the courtroom one after another.
Chief Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa said the court decided to stop all legal action against the former president, since "the death of defendant Saddam was confirmed."
All seven defendants in the Anfal case, including Saddam, had pleaded innocent to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Saddam and one other man also pleaded innocent to the additional charge of genocide.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0108SS100.html
'I watched Saddam massacre my village'
The Independent online - by Michael Schmidt
Praying and with tears streaming down his cheeks, 19-year-old Walid Darwish watched through binoculars from the mountains above his Iraqi home town of Halabja as Saddam Hussein's air force dropped chemical warheads on the town.
Darwish - now 34 and running a petrol station in Durban - had expected to see much death and destruction after signing on as a guerrilla in the anti-Saddam forces of the separatist Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but nothing prepared him for the horror of what has now passed into infamy as the Halabja Massacre.
The massacre, in which about 5 000 people were killed by a combination of mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX over March 16-17 1988, is the worst chemical warfare attack on a civilian population in modern times.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/Doc0107MS100.html
What Is the Recipe for Ending the War in Iraq? Bring in the U.N.
San Francisco Chronicle - by Amer Araim
I am a Muslim imam, professor and a former Iraqi diplomat and United Nations senior political affairs officer. I opposed the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, but I also was skeptical about the U.S. war in Iraq because the justifications for it were not convincing. I was concerned that thugs and hooligans would take control of Iraq and feared the possibility of a civil war. I had pinned my hopes on the United Nations working for real democratic change. The failure of the U.N. Security Council to act either to bring a peaceful and democratic change or to prevent the continuing tragedy in Iraq represents one of the darkest points in the history of the organization.
Yet, despite its failures, we must depend on the U.N. Security Council because there is no other means to solve the Iraqi crisis, particularly now that the Bush administration has stopped its assertions about achieving victory in Iraq. Recent statements issued by administration officials indicated that there would be no military solution to the crisis. Furthermore, there is a recognition that Iraq is drifting into a civil war and, in that case, there would be no winner.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0110AAR.html
Saddam's execution and Iraq's divided future
Globe Political Editor - By Azad Aslan
In his article published in American Force Journal, Ralph Peters addressed one of the fundamental problems of the Middle East: "International borders are never completely just. But the degree of injustice they inflict upon those whom frontiers force together or separate makes an enormous difference - often the difference between freedom and oppression, tolerance and atrocity, the rule of law and terrorism, or even peace and war. The most arbitrary and distorted borders in the world are in Africa and the Middle East. Drawn by self-interested Europeans (who have had sufficient trouble defining their own frontiers), Africa's borders continue to provoke the deaths of millions of local inhabitants. But the unjust borders in the Middle East - to borrow from Churchill - generate more trouble than can be consumed locally."
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0110AA100.html
Past Time to Get Real on Iraq
New York Times - Editorial
We’ve been down this road before. This time, it has to be different.
There have been too many times that President Bush has promised a new strategy on Iraq, only to repeat the same old set of failed approaches and unachievable objectives. Americans need to hear Mr. Bush offer something truly new — not more glossy statements about ultimate victory, condescending platitudes about what hard work war is, or aimless vows to remain “until the job is done.”
If the voters sent one clear message to Mr. Bush last November, it was that it is time to start winding down America’s involvement in this going-nowhere war.
What they need is for the president to acknowledge how bad things have gotten in Iraq (not just that it is not going as well as he planned) and to be honest about how limited the remaining options truly are. The country wants to know how Mr. Bush plans to end its involvement in a way that preserves as much of the nation’s remaining honor and influence as possible, limits the suffering of the Iraqi people and the harm to Iraq’s neighbors, and gives Iraqi leaders a chance — should they finally decide to take it — to rescue their country from an even worse disaster once the Americans are gone.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0109NYE100.html
Why it isn't yet time for U.S. to leave Iraq
Sun-Times - bY JOHN O SULLIVAN
Wednesday's national address by President Bush marks the start of the "end game" in Iraq. By this time next year, we will almost certainly know whether the United States has won or lost its gamble on a new stable democratic Iraq. We will certainly know this on the morning after the next U.S. presidential election, which is now only 22 months away.
Not that fighting will have ended in Iraq by either date. Insurgency and counter-insurgency operations may then be even more intense. In particular, if U.S. troops are withdrawing, Sunni and Shiite militias may perhaps harry the retreating forces. They will certainly devote more effort and ruthlessness to killing each other in the battle to control post-American Iraq.
When the British left India in 1947, they did so in good order and without fighting. The estimated million Indian casualties were slaughtered by other Indians in ethno-religious pogroms by both Hindus and Muslims.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0109JS100.html
Travel chaos seen as sign of progress at Baghdad airport
USA TODAY - by César Soriano
BAGHDAD — At the chaotic Baghdad International Airport, hundreds of passengers are jammed up at the only security checkpoint. Western contractors carrying green duffel bags and Iraqi families with carts of luggage shout at unfazed security guards.
To Kifah Hussein Jabbar, director of Iraqi Airways, it's music to his ears. "We are making progress and achieving good results," says Jabbar, director of Iraq's national carrier. "In 2005, we were flying three or four flights a day and maximum 300 passengers a day. Today, we operate 10 to 12 flights per day and carry 1,500 passengers daily."
Iraq's airline industry — long grounded by sanctions, no-fly zones, lack of funds and violence — is experiencing a boom, particularly in the peaceful Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq. On Dec. 11, Austrian Airlines became the first European airline to fly to Iraq since the war began when it launched a twice-weekly service between Vienna and Irbil.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0108CS100.html
And the terrorists take the mike
Basit Gharib
Soma
Al Zawra, run by the Mishan Al Jiburi group, bears more of a resemblance to Saddam Hussein’s state-run TV and its coverage of war than a free television channel. It has effectively become the voice of the terrorists operating in Iraq
For a long time, the terrorists in Iraq used the Al Jazeera satellite channel as their propaganda tool, inciting the dissatisfaction of the Americans on many occasions.
However, there is now another channel, “Al Zawra”, which has not only replaced Al Jazeera, but have gone one step further, effectively becoming the spokesman for the terrorists operating in Iraq.
Al Zawra, run by the Mishaan Al Jiburi group, bears more of a resemblance to Saddam Hussein’s state-run TV and its coverage of war than a free television channel in today’s Iraq.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc1214101.html
Iraq’s petroleum wars
By Darya Ibrahim
SOMA
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has always insisted that the Iraqi constitution allows them to drill newly discovered oil sources. However, many in the central government in Baghdad have often contested the legality of contracts drawn up on this basis by the KRG. In an interview with Al Sabah newspaper on 24 September, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said: “The Ministry is not committed to investment contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government; we shall review the terms of these contracts.”
The statement drew a furious response from KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, who issued a detailed statement in response on 27 September.
In the meantime, reports surfaced in Cawder weekly Kurdish-language newspaper on 25 September, saying that the central government has stopped work on oil wells near the Hamrin Mountains. Cawder reported: “Iraq's Oil Ministry decided to stop drilling 128 oil wells in Kurdistan, and a source inside the ministry added that the main reason for ignoring the project is because the fate of these regions rich in oil are to be decided by a referendum under article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, it may be that they become part of the Kurdish region.”
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc1011100.html
Kurdish phobia that exits in Turkey
Kurdishaspect.com
By Ardalan Hardi
Turkish Daily says the president of Iraq has negotiated with a terrorist organization and any negotiation with terrorist organizations is unacceptable for any state. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is considered a terrorist organization by Iraq, the United States, the European Union and Turkey. The article goes on to say Talabani is the first official who confesses that he was in direct talks with the PKK terrorist organization.
In an interview with Newsweek President Talabani said “We are urging the Turkish Kurds to be moderate, to wage their struggle through democratic means.” President Talabani’s attempt to face the PKK issue through diplomatic, democratic process is the only way to establish a peace in Turkey with regards to the Kurds. Since Iraq is a sovereign nation, it has earned the right to makes its own analysis concerning with whom and how it wants to negotiate to resolve the PKK issue peacefully.
Consider the following.
1. Why is it okay for Turkey to dialog with Hammas when Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel, and the U.S., and is banned in Jordan? However, it is not acceptable for Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and president of Iraq, to talk to PKK. In addition, Talabani’s dialog with PKK is nothing new. It was not long ago when former Turkish president, Turgut Özal, appealed for Talabani assistants to reach a deal with PKK in order to resolve the Kurdish issue. The cease fire of the 90’s was the direct result of those negotiations. Unfortunately Mr. Ozal passed away and those talks ended. In a short period of time, northern Kurdistan was again engulfed in violence.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc102ardalan100.html
Kurds warn White House not to adopt Baker-Hamilton report
By Mohammed A. Salih and Jamal Ekhtiar
The Kurdish Globe
Groups of Turkomans and Arabs in the city oppose that and call for Kirkuk to be given the special status of a separate federal region.
President of the Kurdistan Region dismissed the report by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) as "unrealistic and inappropriate" and lashed out at the major recommendations of the group, saying it will endanger Iraq's territorial integrity and that Kurds will "in no way abide" by it.
The furious reaction by Massoud Barzani came two days after the report by the ISG, co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, was released last Wednesday.
The report described the situation in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating" and made 79 recommendations to President George W. Bush on Iraq and wider Middle East problems.
"We think that the Iraq Study Group has made some unrealistic and inappropriate recommendations for helping the U.S. to get out of these (Iraq) difficulties," Barzani said in his sharply worded statement released last Friday.
"If under this pretext, these inappropriate recommendations are imposed on us, we declare, on behalf of the people of Kurdistan, that we reject anything that is against the constitution and the interest of Iraq and Kurdistan."
Barzani considered the ISG's failure to visit Kurdistan during the nine months that they were preparing the report "a major shortcoming that adversely influenced the credibility of the (ISG) assessment."
He threatened that Kurds will seek independence should the White House implement key proposals by the Baker-Hamilton report on Kirkuk, federalism, changes in the constitution, and control of oil resources.
"The part of the report that calls for postponing the implementation of the constitutional article (140) on Kirkuk will lead to an explosive situation in the country," Ghafour Makhmouri, a member of Kurdistan Parliament in Arbil, told the Globe.
On Friday, Barzani told a gathering of Kurdish lawmakers and ministers in Baghdad that the real problem in Iraq will arise when Kurds feel there are parties hindering Kirkuk's annexation to Kurdistan.
Groups of Turkomans and Arabs in the city oppose that and call for Kirkuk to be given the special status of a separate federal region.
Kurds are also against a major recommendation of the report that cautions against Iraq's devolution into three regions. Along with Shias, they advocate federalism on ethnic and sectarian bases.
They disapprove major changes to the constitution as well that might imperil their gains of federalism, "normalizing Kirkuk situation" and control of oil resources.
Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, expressed support for the statement by the Kurdish regional president and branded the report's recommendations as "dangerous".
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc1212104.html
The Washington Post
Climate Experts Worry as 2006 Is Hottest Year on Record in U.S.
By Marc KaufmanWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A01
Last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years -- capping a nine-year warming streak "unprecedented in the historical record" that was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels, the government reported yesterday.
According to the government's National Climatic Data Center, the record-breaking warmth -- which caused daffodils and cherry trees to bloom throughout the East on New Year's Day -- was the result of both unusual regional weather patterns and the long-term effects of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901949.html
Schwarzenegger Agenda Could Flex California's Muscle
Governor Aims to 'Blaze the Way'
By Sonya GeisWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A03
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9 -- A lesson from California: Never underestimate the ambition of a former Mr. Universe. Over the past week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has unleashed a torrent of proposals to shake up everything in his state from health care to road-building to politics itself, all in an effort to reshape his party and set a national agenda.
The most recent offering, in Schwarzenegger's State of the State address Tuesday, is a plan to cut vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases by 10 percent. He will require petroleum refineries to reduce the carbon content of their fuel over the next 13 years -- a signal to any doubters that his recent aggressive positioning as an environmentalist is not mere political theater.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901630.html
Venezuela's Chavez Sworn in for 3rd Term
By IAN JAMES
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 2:09 PM
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez echoed Fidel Castro's cry of "socialism or death" as he was sworn in for a new six-year term on Wednesday, promising to accelerate Venezuela's transformation into a socialist state.
Chavez took the oath of office at the National Assembly after a sweeping re-election victory that has given him free reign to pursue more radical changes, including plans to nationalize power and telecommunications companies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000468.html?sub=AR
Ortega Returns to Power in Nicaragua
By TRACI CARL
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 7:06 AM
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Former revolutionary Daniel Ortega takes office Wednesday in a ceremony attended by more than a dozen world leaders, many Latin American leftists celebrating their latest ally in the region.
Ortega has promised a delicate balance between taking a moderate economic and social stance while cultivating close relationships with U.S. opponents such as Venezuelan Hugo Chavez and the communist Cuban government. Ortega was once one of the most bitter foes of Washington, which secretly backed a rebel insurgency aimed at toppling him.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000259.html
Bush to Warn Americans War Could Be Bloody
President to Announce 21,500 Additional Troops Will Head to Iraq to Confront Militias
By Michael Abramowitz and Robin WrightWashington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 4:16 PM
President Bush will announce this evening that he is sending 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and will warn Americans that the next year of the war could be bloody as U.S. and Iraq forces confront sectarian militias and seek to quell the Sunni Muslim insurgency, White House officials said today.
The officials said Bush will squarely put the onus on the Iraqi government to take the lead in providing security and achieving political reconciliation among feuding sects. They described the objectives of the new U.S. troop presence as supporting Iraqi forces as they carry out an Iraqi security plan, and said the United States will be expanding the numbers of military advisers embedded with Iraqi units.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001504.html
Life at $7.25 an Hour
As House Prepares to Vote on Minimum-Wage Increase, Issue Is Complex for Those Who Earn, or Pay, That Amount
By David FinkelWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A01
ATCHISON, Kan. -- It was payday. Money, at last. Twenty-two-year-old Robert Iles wanted to celebrate. "Tonight, chimichangas!" he announced.
He was on his way out of the store where his full-time job pays him $7.25 an hour -- the rate that is likely to become the nation's new minimum wage. Life at $7.25: This is the life of Robert Iles, and with $70 in a wallet that had been empty that morning, he headed to a grocery store where for $4.98 he bought not only 10 chimichangas but two burritos as well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901812.html
Fighting Continues in Somalia
By Stephanie McCrummen, Karen DeYoung and Debbi WilgorenWashington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 2:50 PM
NAIROBI, Jan. 10 -- Fighting continued Wednesday in the Somali capital Mogadishu and in the southern part of the country, two days after a U.S. warplane attacked alleged al-Qaeda terrorists there.
In Mogadishu, at least one government soldier was killed and several others were wounded after gunmen ambushed military posts manned by Ethiopian troops and forces loyal to the interim Somali government, a local news service reported. In the south, two heavily armed local militias clashed in Bergani. Residents also reported continued airstrikes in the region where the Ethiopian air force has been attacking Islamic militias, and where the American airstrike occurred overnight Sunday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000979.html
Fading Out of Fashion
As Gap's Dominance Unravels, Chain May Go Up for Sale
By Ylan Q. MuiWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page D01
Twenty-four-year-old Marlies Fitch of Reston has a closet filled with clothes from Gap: sweaters, ribbed turtlenecks, polo shirts and blazers, even shoes and a handbag.
A retailer's dream? Not quite. Almost every Gap item Fitch owns is at least several years old. Some items date to high school.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901643.html
Attention That's Fit for a Queen
Britons Are Impatient to Have a Princess-in-Waiting
By Kevin Sullivan and Mary JordanWashington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page C01
LONDON, Jan. 9 -- Kate Middleton took one look at her lanky boyfriend, a young officer graduating from Britain's military academy last month, and purred approval to two friends.
"I love the uniform," she said. "It's so, so sexy."Under most circumstances, such a comment would remain private.But the dish in question was Prince William, heir to the British throne, eldest son of Princess Diana and Prince Charles.And such is interest in the Future King's love life that television network ITN hired a lip reader to decipher his girlfriend's every utterance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901843.html
Iraq War Did Not Meet All Just War Requirements
I believe a just war is possible. According to the just war tradition, resort to force is morally acceptable if undertaken by a competent authority with moral intentions in a rightful cause. The effort must have a reasonable chance of success, with the expectation that it will result in no greater harm than the injury that produced it.
Those who order military actions must discriminate between combatants and noncombatants and should seek to avoid unnecessary damage. Before going to war, a government should explore thoroughly and in good faith all other options.
The Iraq war met some, but not all, these criteria. I believe the intent of the administration was moral and that it expected to succeed rapidly and with a minimum of casualties. Saddam Hussein’s government certainly posed a threat to its own population and there were reasons to believe it might still possess some chemical or biological weapons.
The U.S. did not, however, have the “right authority” to go to war, given the lack of support from the UN Security Council, divisions within NATO, and the Bush Administration’s unwillingness to allow UN weapons inspectors to complete their work.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/madeleine_albright/2007/01/i_believe_a_just_war.html
Energy Lobbyist a Target in Ethics Probe
By JOHN HEILPRIN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 3:02 PM
WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department's former No. 2 official has been told by federal investigators that he is a target in the Jack Abramoff corruption probe.
J. Steven Griles, former deputy interior secretary during President Bush's first term, was notified by letter and told of possible charges at a meeting last week with Justice Department prosecutors, people familiar with the probe said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the inquiry continues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011000872.html
Bush Lifts Oil-Drill Ban in Alaska's Bristol Bay
Royalties to Rise for Some Offshore Wells in Advance of Democrats' Plans to Roll Back Tax Breaks
By Steven Mufson and Juliet EilperinWashington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page D01
The Bush administration yesterday moved to boost U.S. oil and gas supplies by lifting a long-standing moratorium on drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay, as OPEC accelerated plans to reduce supplies in order to prop up sagging crude prices.
Days before the House is expected to roll back oil industry tax breaks, the Bush administration also decided to boost royalty rates by a third for ultra-deep-water oil and gas drilling. The action eliminates extra incentives that had been given to offset some of the high costs of operating in those offshore areas. The Interior Department said the change would generate an additional $4.5 billion over 20 years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901647.html
The Deficit Trap
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 8:00 AM
There is a striking line in a new Weekly Standard piece about how the Decider can keep on deciding despite those pesky Democrats on Capitol Hill.
According to unnamed aides cited by Fred Barnes, Bush feels "liberated" to insist on fiscal restraint in opposing a Democratic Congress. He felt obligated to sign spending bills passed by a Republican Congress, the piece says, but now "he can be bolder," an aide explains, in blocking Democratic spending.
Really?
Is it just me, or does this suggest a breathtaking degree of cynicism? Republican spending is good, Democratic spending bad? Is that why the president is coming out against special-interest earmarks now, six years too late?
If Bush believes in keeping federal spending under control, why did he sit back and allow his party to pass one pork-laden, budget-busting bill after another while his veto pen rusted? Even many Republicans grew disenchanted with their party's belated embrace of big government.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html
S.D. Sen. Johnson's Condition Improves
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A11
Sen. Tim Johnson's condition has been upgraded from critical to fair, four weeks after he was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage, his office said yesterday.
The South Dakota Democrat, who was taken to the hospital Dec. 13 and underwent emergency surgery, remains in intensive care.
"The senator continues to make progress," spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said. "The next step would be rehabilitation, and we hope that would happen within the week."
Johnson's office has said that his recovery is expected to take several months. The surgery was done to correct a condition called arteriovenous malformation, which involves tangled arteries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010900765.html
Germany's Merkel Assails Russia Over Cutoff of Oil
By Peter FinnWashington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A09
MOSCOW, Jan. 9 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel forcefully condemned Russia on Tuesday for failing to consult the European Union before it cut off part of its oil exports to Europe because of a deepening dispute between Russia and Belarus over subsidized energy.
"Even during the Cold War, Russia was a stable energy supplier," said Merkel, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, she said Russia's failure to warn the bloc that it planned to shut down a pipeline that crosses Belarus and supplies Germany, Poland and other E.U. countries was "not acceptable."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010900749.html
Canadian Report on SARS Cites Health System Failures
By Doug StruckWashington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A07
TORONTO, Jan. 9 -- The SARS epidemic that killed 44 people in Ontario in 2003 spread because of a shoddy public health system and inadequate safety practices, according to an investigative commission report released Tuesday.
The mysterious disease infected nearly three-fourths of its victims at clinics and hospitals, facilities that should have prevented its spread, the report said. But the epidemic was finally stopped by health employees who worked despite wrenching fears of a then-unknown killer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901472.html
Board of Education Approves New Sex-Ed Curriculum
By Daniel de ViseWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page B02
The Montgomery County Board of Education approved new sex-education lessons yesterday for the eighth and 10th grades that teach what it means to be homosexual but say little about how people become gay, resisting pressure from a divided community to define homosexuality as nature or nurture, right or wrong.
Approved by a unanimous vote, the lessons mark the first time Montgomery schools will introduce the topics of sexual orientation and homosexuality. The materials, including a new 10th-grade condom-demonstration DVD, will be field-tested in a handful of middle and high schools in spring, barring intervention by the courts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901707.html
D.C. Bill Would Mandate Vaccine
Proposal for Girls Under 13 Targets Cervical Cancer
By Nikita Stewart and Rob SteinWashington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; Page A01
The D.C. Council opened its legislative year by introducing a bill that could make the District one of the first jurisdictions in the country to require girls younger than 13 years old to get a new nationally debated vaccine against cervical cancer.
Female students enrolling in the sixth grade would be asked to show proof of receiving the vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV) under the bill, introduced yesterday by council members David A. Catania (I-At Large) and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901386.html
FDA Eyes Drug Tests Done by Canadian Lab
By ANDREW BRIDGES
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 2:53 PM
WASHINGTON -- Health officials said Wednesday that inspections revealed serious concerns about drug testing done by a Canadian company that underpinned the applications of potentially hundreds of medicines pending federal approval or already on the market.
The concerns could compel some drug companies to either confirm or repeat certain tests their products underwent required to win federal approval, Food and Drug Administration officials said. While the work won't result in the removal of any drugs from the market, it could slow the approval of some drugs awaiting federal clearance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001354.html
Breakfast Breadcrumbs
After a revelatory experience with a batch of buttermilk-infused white bread, I decided to keep going. I was on a roll, a loaf run, a trail of bread crumbs. (Okay, okay, I'll stop.) Aside from my excitement level that was running on a bread-adrenalin high, I wanted to see what it would be like to bake bread two consecutive days in a row.
With a soft crumb that made me nostalgic for Pepperidge Farm's "Very Thin White Bread" (white paper lining wrapped inside plastic bag), the buttermilk white was a bit tangy by its lonesome, but I loved it with jam, and saw promise in its toastability. Yesterday's lunch was one slice folded over, bookending a piece of leftover roast chicken -- a pairing that was reminiscent of a steamed Chinese bun -- sweet, soft and well, maybe too soft for everyday use.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/
New Zealand Herald
Grim climate change forecast for continent
Thursday January 11, 2007
BRUSSELS - Europe, the richest and most fertile continent and the model for the modern world, will be devastated by climate change, the European Union itself predicts.
The ecosystems which have underpinned all European societies from Ancient Greece and Rome to present-day Britain and France will be disabled by remorselessly rising temperatures, EU scientists forecast.
Much of the continent's age-old fertility will not survive the climate change forecast for the coming century, the scientists say, and its wildlife will be devastated.
Europe's modern lifestyles, from summer package tours to winter skiing trips, will go the same way, as the Mediterranean becomes simply too hot for holidays and snow and ice disappear from mountain ranges such as the Alps. The economic consequences will be enormous and the direct social consequences will also be vividly felt as heat-related deaths start to rise and extreme weather events, such as storms and floods, become more violent still.
The report will form a central plank in the European Commission's bid to speed up climate change action.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418623
Fears weather change could worsen Australian fire
New 10:10AM Thursday January 11, 2007
MELBOURNE - A cool change moving slowly across Victoria could worsen bushfires raging in the state's east.
Temperatures around in the Australian state hovered near 30 celsius overnight, with the temperature tipped to reach the mid-to-high 30s, with gusty north winds and extremely low humidity ahead of a cool change expected to reach Melbourne this morning and the Gippsland region by mid-afternoon.
A total fire ban has been declared across Victoria today for the second consecutive day.
More than 300 firefighters worked through the night to reinforce containment lines around a fire burning near Tambo Crossing, 30 km north of Bruthen, in East Gippsland to try and stop the fire advancing south and east.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418653
Mushroom cloud over summer
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Angela GregoryMushrooms are sprouting on the cricket ground at Onepoto Domain on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Greg Bowker
Wild mushrooms are popping up in January because they think it's autumn - the consequence of an unpredictable summer that has also been blamed for playing havoc with crops.
Some summer vegetables and fruit have been harvested late while more could be affected by the lack of sunshine.
Dr Peter Buchanan, of Landcare Research, said mushrooms, usually an autumn feature, were sprouting early, triggered by the unusual levels of humidity and cool temperatures.
"Mushrooms are not entirely normal for this time of year; they prefer the autumn or sometimes the spring when it is a bit cooler and more humid. But there's more moisture around at the moment and the mushrooms are taking advantage of that."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418593
Overseas workers get more NZ visa
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Paula OliverDavid Cunliffe
New Zealand is approving more people for temporary work permits and permanent residency as the Government looks to plug worker shortages.
A detailed analysis of who came here and why in the year to June 30, 2006, was released yesterday in the form of the annual Migration Trends report from the Department of Labour.
It paints a picture of a rapidly rising number of temporary work permit approvals, while permanent residency numbers have also increased after suffering a sharp fall in 2003/04.
Almost 100,000 people were issued temporary work permits in the 2005/06 year, up 21 per cent from the previous year, and continuing a steady rise from just 34,000 in 1999/2000.
The expansion of working holiday schemes with several other countries played a key role in the increase.
New schemes with Norway and Thailand began during the year, and caps were removed on how many people could take up working holiday permits from Britain, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418590
British and American passport holders 'among Islamist fighters'
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Kim SenguptaBritish and American nationals are fighting in the ranks of Islamist militias in Somalia and the fundamentalist movement is being chiefly funded by sympathisers in Britain, it has been claimed.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the country's transitional Government accused Britain of being the main source of much of the money and men for the fighters of the Islamic Courts Union.
Hussain Mohammed Aideed said: "The ICU's main support was coming from London, paying cash to the ICU against the Government. Those who died in the war with the ICU were British passport holders and United States passport holders."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418618
Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson popping over
New Thursday January 11, 2007
Sir Richard Branson will interrupt his family holiday in Australia to make a flying visit to New Zealand.
The English entrepreneur behind the Virgin brand will fly to New Zealand to celebrate three years of Pacific Blue in this market.
The 56-year-old Branson, famous for his grand entrances, will land in Christchurch on Sunday for a staff party before flying to Auckland for an invite-only cocktail party on Monday.
A PR spokeswoman said details were still being worked on for his Auckland party entrance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418608
Speared duck ducks capture
Thursday January 11, 2007
A duck with a needle in its neck has been successfully evading capture for days and rescuers have decided to give it a time to settle down before making another attempt.
Manawatu Fish and Game senior officer Peter Taylor said the duck was healthy despite the needle, but scared, and he would only attempt to catch her if he was sure of success.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418605
Turn for the better in rare bird's survival
Thursday January 11, 2007
With the odds stacked against them, rearing a fairy tern chick to flight is a major success.
The survival chances of one of New Zealand's rarest birds has been boosted, with a chick on the Kaipara Harbour ready to fly for the first time in five years.
The New Zealand fairy tern, once widespread in the North Island, has teetered on the brink of extinction since the 1970s.
Today it has a total population of just 35-40 birds and is ranked as critically endangered.
The Department of Conservation said the chick's fledging - growing wing feathers large enough to fly - was an important development. Chicks were more likely to survive once they were at the flying stage.
The chick was hatched from an egg that did most of its incubating at Auckland Zoo before being returned to its parents to hatch.
Fairy terns nest on shell and sand banks just above high tide, which leaves them vulnerable to predators, disturbance by people, 4WD vehicles and dogs. They are also at risk from storms and very high tides.
"The birds cannot be transported to predator-free offshore islands because they are very particular about where they nest, and the chicks cannot be raised in captivity as they have to be taught by their parents to dive for fish," said DOC biodiversity manager Thelma Wilson.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418587
More than 500 New Zealanders aged over 100
Wednesday January 10, 2007
Figures from the Statistics New Zealand 2006 Census show more and more people are hitting their centenary -- and the numbers of birthday candles are predicted to keep rising.
New Zealand boasted 531 people aged 100 or over at the last census, up from 300 in 1999.
The increased longevity is attributed to improvements in diet, medical care and overall health.
The trend is set to keep rising, with projections for 2051 predicting a staggering 12,000 people, including a raft of long-in-the-tooth baby boomers, will have celebrated their 100th birthday.
By 2051, the median age is expected to have risen from 35.9 in the 2006 census to 45.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418520
Deposed Thai PM Thaksin quits politics, lawyer says
New 7:30AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
BANGKOK - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has quit politics four months after he was ousted in a bloodless coup, his lawyer has said.
"He has conveyed his message from Hong Kong that he no longer wants to be involved in politics," lawyer Noppadon Patama told reporters on Wednesday local time.
"He will not run for the next general election because he doesn't have any more political ambition to be the prime minister again."
But Noppadon said Thaksin would remain a member of the party he founded, Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais), which faces disbandment on electoral fraud charges.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418628
Belarus climbs down, Russian oil may flow soon
7:45AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Andrei Makhovsky
MOSCOW/MINSK - Russia and Belarus neared a deal today to resume oil supplies via a major export pipeline, as Minsk removed a transit duty that had angered Moscow.
European customers said crude could start flowing within hours.
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko reached an understanding to resolve the three-day-old halt to the Druzhba ('Friendship') pipeline during a telephone call with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko's office said.
"As a result of the discussion, a compromise was found which will make it possible to unblock this dead-end situation," it said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418631
Fears grow for 'Aussie Taleban'
Email this storyPrint this story Thursday January 11, 2007
By Nick SquiresSupport for David Hicks in Australia has increased since he was imprisoned at Guantanamo five years ago. Photo / Reuters
Protests are planned today to mark the fifth anniversary of the incarceration in Guantanamo Bay of the "Aussie Taleban" David Hicks, amid growing fears for his mental health.
Hicks has been imprisoned without charge or trial in the United States military prison camp in Cuba since the day it opened in January 2002. He is the only Australian inmate.
A former kangaroo hunter and a Muslim convert, the 31-year-old from South Australia was captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in late 2001 and accused of fighting for al Qaeda.
He is one of about 400 suspected Taleban and al Qaeda fighters being held in Guantanamo and is expected to be one of the first to face trial, although there is still no clear indication from American authorities when that might be.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418621
'Scott of Antarctic' letters go on display
8:43AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Paul Majendie
Robert Scott writing in his den in 1911. Photo / Reuters
LONDON - The last letters written by Antarctic explorer Robert Scott to his wife and young son before the adventurer died on his South Pole expedition are to go on display for the first time.
Addressing his final letter home to "my widow" Kathleen, the doomed explorer wrote: "I shall not see you again - the inevitable must be faced.
"Dear, it is not easy to write because of the cold - 70 degrees below zero and nothing but the shelter of our tent. You know I have loved you," he wrote on scraps of his journal found in his tent when the team's bodies were recovered.
In the golden age of Antarctic exploration, Captain Scott has always been hailed for his heroism as the ill-fated "Race to the Pole" in 1912 went tragically wrong.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418640
Blair says manner of Saddam hanging 'unacceptable'
9:10AM Wednesday January 10, 2007
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair broke his silence on former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's hanging on Tuesday, calling the manner of the execution "unacceptable" and "wrong".
Other ministers in Blair's government had condemned the way Saddam was hanged, but Blair had not spoken out publicly until now, despite rising pressure to do so.
In unofficial video footage posted on the internet, several men could be heard taunting Saddam as hangmen in black balaclavas slipped the noose around his neck.
"As everybody saw, the manner of the execution is unacceptable and it's wrong, but we should ... not allow that ... then to lurch into a position of forgetting the victims of Saddam, the people that he killed deliberately," Blair told a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418484
Muslim women seek special pool facilities
Email this storyPrint this story New Thursday January 11, 2007
There are calls for special pool facilities to be set up for Muslim women so they can swim without compromising their religious beliefs.
Naaz Shah of Christchurch said many Muslim women had no opportunities to exercise and were putting on weight as a result, the Press newspaper reported today.
"They become medically unfit. Their health is affected and they're quite depressed," she said.
Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand chief executive Sultan Eusoff said privacy and modesty were very important for followers of Islam.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10418641
US denies reports of new Somalia air strike
7:55AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Sahal Abdulle
MOGADISHU - The United States and Ethiopia have denied reports Washington mounted new air strikes targeting al Qaeda suspects in Somalia on Wednesday.
A Somali government source and a local lawmaker said US planes struck several sites yesterday after an assault on Monday local time against a village where the suspects were thought to be hiding.
But officials in Washington, who confirmed Monday's assault, denied there had been more strikes. US government sources said Ethiopia, which defeated Islamist forces in a lightning war last month, had conducted further air strikes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418634
Nigerian editor detained over political article
11:50AM Wednesday January 10, 2007
ABUJA - Nigerian secret police detained a newspaper's editor and general manager on Tuesday over an article about a state governor's failure to win the ruling party ticket for the presidency, the paper's general editor said.
Fifteen men from the State Security Services (SSS) came to the Leadership newspaper's office in the capital Abuja and their leader asked questions about the article, a front page story in Saturday's edition, before taking the pair away.
"He told us 'As soon as they let us know the source of the story, we'll let them go'," said Chuks Ohuegbe, the paper's general editor.
Ohuegbe said Abraham Nda-Isaiah, the general manager of Leadership, and Bashir Akko, the editor, were still being held in SSS offices several hours after they were detained.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418508
'Little Mosque on the Prairie' hits Canadian TV
2:40PM Wednesday January 10, 2007
Canada's public broadcaster will air the first episode Tuesday night of its much-anticipated Little Mosque on the Prairie about Muslims nestled amongst a multitude of Christians in the country's vast western plains.
The CBC series has been saluted for its originality and has attracted significant interest for its unabashedly comedic look at relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in a country with a reputation for tolerance.
The television show parodies the acclaimed US drama Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983), which starred Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about the life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the 19th century American West.
But instead of raising pitchforks, tumbling down hills and selling eggs at the general store, this Muslim family struggles to mesh in fictional Mercy, Saskatchewan, in a post-September 11, 2001 world.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418532
Paparazzi thins around Wills' Middleton after royal complaint
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Terry Kirby
Kate Middleton at Prince William's graduation from Sandhurst last month. Photo / Reuters
LONDON - On Tuesday morning, there were more than two dozen photographers outside the home of Kate Middleton's, waiting for her to emerge to travel to work on her 25th birthday.
Yesterday, there were only two such paparazzi, accompanied by a small crowd of reporters waiting to see exactly how many photographers would arrive.
The drop in the number of photographers suggested the media had responded to the plea on Tuesday from Clarence House for them to stop harassing the girlfriend of Prince William.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418635
Egypt jails man who accuses police of torture
11:10AM Wednesday January 10, 2007
CAIRO - An Egyptian court sentenced a man who has accused police of sexually assaulting him to three months in jail on charges related to the same incident.
Cairo minibus driver Imad al-Kabir became an international cause celebre after a video circulated on Egyptian blogs in November showed him lying on the floor, naked from the waist down, as unidentified men sodomised him with a stick.
Kabir's lawyer has said his client was tortured by police officers in January 2006 in a station in the west Cairo suburb of Bulaq al-Dakrur after he tried to intervene in a dispute between the police and his brother.
He was convicted and sent to prison for three months with hard labour for resisting and obstructing the authorities and assaulting a policeman.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10418501
Apple shares hit new high after iPhone launch
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Lisa Baertlein
Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs holds the new iPhone. Photo / Reuters
LOS ANGELES - Apple Inc. shares hit an all-time high today as analysts raised share-price and earnings targets after the company unveiled the iPhone, which combines features of its popular iPod music player with smart phone technology.
The stock was up 4.2 per cent at US$96.46 in heavy afternoon Nasdaq trade after rising as high as US$97.80.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs yesterday introduced the eagerly anticipated mobile phone, which supports audio and video as well as Web surfing and runs on the company's robust operating system.
The iPhone with 4 gigabytes of flash memory would cost $499 ($727) and a model with 8 gigabytes would sell for $599 ($872). It will be available in the United States in June, in Europe during the fourth quarter and in Asia in 2008.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10418643
Latest technology puts internet video on your TV screen
Thursday January 11, 2007
TVs are going online. Photo / Reuters
A wave of new technologies that link home computers to televisions could threaten traditional TV distribution methods as consumer interest in online video entertainment continues to grow.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, electronics manufacturers from Sony to start-ups such as Sling Media unveiled a raft of new products to allow consumers to play internet videos or media files stored on PCs on their TV screens.
Bridging that PC-to-TV gap would open up distribution potential for media content providers, but would challenge traditional distribution channels and strategies, such as cable TV's video on demand services.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10418570
What the Bishop said to the striker
9:22AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Richard Randerson
What do you think? Is the Bishop right about the strike? Or, is it wrong for a church leader to speak about such matters?
Bishop Richard Randerson has waded into the radiation therapy strike. Here he is in his own words:
Moral failure in system that allows a pay claim to prejudice the lives of cancer and other sufferers. Work should resume at once pending Government or other third party intervention.
"In a country like New Zealand that prides itself on its care for all its people, it is intolerable that some should run the risk of dying because of a strike over pay.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10418649
Your views: Bush decision on Iraq
5:24PM Wednesday January 10, 2007
By Your ViewsPresident Bush is tipped to send more troops to Iraq. Is this the right move? Or should troops be withdrawn?
Here is the latest selection of your views:
Anthony
How many of Bush's relatives and those of senior US officials will be standing on the front line?
Bill
Only if Bush leads the pack & goes frontline first.
Robo
The issue of Iraq is far too complex to state in simplistic is this a good idea terms. The beefing up of US forces in Iraq is a valid move, but may be now about 18 months too late. Like the whole Iraq war, the problem is not what is being done, but how it is being done. Good idea, poor timing maybe! As Colin Powell noted a couple of months ago, the clock is running out for saving Iraq from complete collapse. Change is required and to be fair, Bush has started that process. The media could help, by growing up and stop looking at such massive issues on a 24hr-by-24hr "sensationalised" basis! Iraq is going to take another decade of commitment and everyone has to just accept that reality. The Coalition can not and must not fail in Iraq.
ProBro
Whether you send 20,000 troops or 2 millions troops the truth is that US has lost its so called war on terror. Its a fact bitter but a fact and these guys know it and wouldn’t like to be known for another Vietnam thus this constant push to claw back lost ground. Fight as long as you want but the only way to win the war on terror is to annihilate the root cause irrespective of people or country. Need guts and international commitment not words but swift and severe action which no country has and can afford to as each one has it’s own personal interest to look after. Thus this debate will be an on-going one until a catastrophic event takes place.
Robert
It is difficult to understand how sending additional American troops will help to resolve factional fighting between groups of Iraqis. The US has demonstrated that they seriously missunderstood the dynamics of the various political and religious issues in Iraq and have yet again tried to solve the issue by the application of brutal force. How many more American soldiers and countless Iraqi Citizens have to die before the US government realise this. It is time for a re-think!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10418358
Gwynne Dyer: Heroin on prescription a remedy for crimewaves
Wednesday January 10, 2007
By Gwynne DyerGwynne Dyer
Barry Cooper's new DVD, Never Get Busted Again, which went on sale over the internet late last month, will probably not sell very well outside the United States.
In most other countries the possession of marijuana for personal use is treated as a misdemeanour or simply ignored by the police.
But it will sell very well in the US, where many thousands of casual marijuana users are hit with savage jail terms every year, in a nationwide game of Russian roulette in which most people indulge their habit unharmed while a few unfortunates have their lives ruined.
Barry Cooper is a former Texas policeman who made more than 800 drug arrests as an anti-narcotics officer, but he has now repented: "When I was raiding homes and destroying families, my conscience was telling me it was wrong, but my need for power, fame and peer acceptance overshadowed my good conscience."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10418370
Fran O'Sullivan: Private equity storm brews
Email this storyPrint this story Wednesday January 10, 2007
By Fran O'SullivanFran O'Sullivan
How would New Zealand cope with a perfect financial storm? It's an interesting conundrum, given the risks facing the economy. Not just the high household debt that Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard keeps warning us about, but also the risk that international investors might decide the "emperor has no clothes" when they assess our credit-worthiness.
That risk could be exacerbated if corporate balance sheets become excessively leveraged as the private equity buy-up gathers pace.
The International Monetary Fund posed just such a question to major Australian banks when it asked them to explain the impact of a perfect storm on their balance sheets. The particular "what ifs" included: What if there was a sharp fall in residential and commercial property prices? Higher interest rates? A slide in the Aussie dollar? And a short recession caused by highly leveraged Australian householders deciding to chop up their credit cards and stop spending - ultimately doubling jobless numbers?
The answer that Westpac, National Australia Bank, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank gave was illuminating. Of course they would be pummelled. Profits would be slashed by 40 per cent within 18 months. Three years on they would still be down 25 per cent. But their balance sheets would remain relatively strong. Why? Because the Australian companies they've been lending to carry relatively low debt.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10418399
From the pucker to the trout - how female beauty has changed
2:20PM Wednesday January 10, 2007
The trout pout is the height of beauty but not in the past. Photo / Reuters
Feminine beauty has been celebrated across the ages, but an enduring belief is this: what constitutes attractiveness in a woman cannot be pinned down -- it depends on the prevailing fashion, culture or ethnicity and on the eye of the beholder.
For instance, in Victorian England, a tiny, puckered mouth was the zenith of pulchritude.
Today, the rosebud look has been replaced by what has been called the trout look, as women in Western cultures strive to make their mouths look as wide and full-lipped as possible.
In many societies, the focus of secondary erogenous zones has roamed over ankles, necks and knees and makeup and hairstyles change according to the mode.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10418531
US fashion industry issues guidelines on skinny models
Wednesday January 10, 2007
By David UsborneAna Carolina Reston
NEW YORK - The American fashion industry has circulated guidelines to designers and catwalk organisers on how better to identify eating disorders among models intent on achieving near-skeletal body profiles but which stop short of barring severely underweight women from the catwalks.
The guidelines were adopted last week by members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, headed by veteran designer Diane von Furstenberg and are being issued ahead of the next New York Fashion Week which opens on 2 February.
They come after the recent deaths from of two models in South America.
The measures are likely to be controversial for what they do not say, however.
Most significantly, the group has chosen not to follow the footsteps of both Madrid and Milan which last year issued minimum height-weight ratios beneath which girls will be barred from their catwalks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10418476
Pirates, Depp win top People's Choice awards
9:30AM Thursday January 11, 2007
By Bob Tourtellotte
Johnny Depp accepts the People's Choice favorite male movie star award via satellite. Photo / Reuters
LOS ANGELES - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned two awards for favourite movie and best film drama at the People's Choice Awards yesterdayin a show filled with popular Hollywood stars and jokes about Britney Spears' panties -- or lack thereof.
Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp, who plays fanciful Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie that raked in over $1 billion at global box offices, earned awards for best male movie star and favourite male action star.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10418648
OpenCloud gets $15m to expand
Thursday January 11, 2007
By Adam BennettNo 8 Ventures managing director Jenny Morel says the deal to fund OpenCloud's push overseas is the largest of its kind. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Wellington software company OpenCloud has secured almost $15 million in funding in what is probably the biggest venture capital deal for a New Zealand company.
The US$10.25 million ($14.85 million) has been put up by a consortium of venture capital investors comprising No 8 Ventures of Wellington, telecommunications giant Motorola and British company Advent Venture.
"I think this would be the biggest early stage venture capital deal for a New Zealand company to date,"said No 8 managing director Jenny Morel.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10418568
Microsoft's Vista launch promoted with space ride prize
11:20AM Wednesday January 10, 2007
A video announcing the online puzzle game Vanishing Point is projected onto the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. Photo / Reuters
LAS VEGAS, Nevada - A Microsoft online puzzle game launched this week is promising to send the winner on a rocket ride into orbit around the Earth.
The Washington-based software giant has teamed with computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices to promote the new Vista operating system with Vanishing Point, a "large-scale online and offline collaborative puzzle game."
Microsoft is to launch the home version of Vista in US on January 30. The home version also is expected to be launched in Australia in January.
The companies used the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as a venue yesterday to reveal prizes including Microsoft Zune MP3 players, Xbox 360 video game consoles, Vista-based computers, and a sub-orbital space ride.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10418505continued ...
