The Revolt and The Revolting

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Morning Papers - concluding

One Last Scene of the Asian Tsunami. Let's hope it is exactly that.

Japan Today

Japan to host 'good neighbor' orientation for U.S. military officers

Monday, January 17, 2005 at 05:56 JST
TOKYO — The Japanese Foreign Ministry will host a three-day orientation program this week for about 20 U.S. military officers who have recently begun their stints in Japan to help deepen "good neighbor" ties between U.S. forces in Japan and Japanese citizens.
The annual orientation program, which will start Tuesday, began in December 1995 in the wake of a public outcry over a rape on Sept 4 that year of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324879

Photojournalist, peace activist Matsushige dies at 92
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 09:59 JST
TOKYO — Yoshito Matsushige, photojournalist and peace activist, famous for his photos of Hiroshima taken shortly after the U.S. atomic bombing at the end of World War II, died of acute kidney failure at a hospital in the city Sunday, his family said Monday. He was 92.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324910

Thousands observe 10th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 16:29 JST

Kobe citizens pray before candles in a park Monday morning.
KOBE — Numerous events were held in Kobe and its vicinity Monday morning to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake which took the lives of 6,433 people.

Under a cold drizzle, thousands of participants in a memorial service at Higashi Park in central Kobe lit about 6,433 candles, forming the shape of "1-17," before observing a moment of silence at 5:46 a.m., the time the temblor struck the southern Hyogo Prefecture region on Jan 17, 1995.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324900

62% of Kobe quake victims seek more support
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:24 JST
KOBE — Sixty-two percent of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake survivors want continued or expanded support to rebuild their lives despite the planned end of the Hyogo prefectural goverment's reconstruction program, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted on the occasion of the quake's 10th anniversary.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324899

Japan drafts remote island defense plan out of China concern
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:56 JST
TOKYO — Japan has prepared a plan to defend the southern remote islands off Kyushu and Okinawa from possible invasion amid rising security concerns about China, according to papers obtained Sunday by Kyodo News.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324859

SDF peacekeeping mission at Golan Heights extended
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 16:25 JST
TOKYO — The government decided Monday to extend the participation of Japanese troops in a U.N. peacekeeping mission at the Golan Heights another six months.
The decision follows a U.N. Security Council resolution in December to extend the mission of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force at the Golan Heights, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said. As a result, 43 Self-Defense Forces troops will continue their mission until Sept 30, Hosoda said. (Kyodo News)

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324960

Japan backs Abbas with $60 mil aid package to Palestinians

Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:56 JST
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Japan on Sunday threw its full support behind the new Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas and announced a new $60 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority. Visiting Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura revealed the aid plan in a meeting with Abbas, who won the Jan. 9 presidential election.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=324880

U.S. forces key to containing China

Writing in this month's issue of Voice magazine, Kyoto University Professor Terumasa Nakanishi says the redistribution of U.S. forces is an opportunity to contain China.

Nakanishi says that the United States is calling its redistribution of forces a "transformation" and has set out on a historic realignment of forces that goes beyond the movement of troops and bases.

While one result of this undertaking will be that U.S. forces are withdrawn from Europe and Asia, this does not signal a return to isolationism, Nakanishi notes.

He explores three factors he says make possible a strategic shift: (1) The overall development of information technology allows global strategic management to be conducted from inside the United States. (2) Referring to the reorganization as a "shift in line with the fight against terrorism" provides political cover. (3) The United States is developing new allies in both Europe and Asia.

Pointing to the fact that the headquarters of the U.S. Army's I Corps will be moved from Fort Lewis, Washington, to Camp Zama, Japan, and that portions of the U.S. military command center in Germany will be transferred to Britain, Nakanishi asserts that the United States is placing priority not on multilateral alliances but on the U.S.-Britain and Japan-US bilateral alliances.

He argues that for Japan, taking this opportunity to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance is the only way to prevent China from becoming a superpower and establishing hegemony. (Foreign Press Center)

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=kuchikomi&id=327

The New York Times

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS. It is a MORE common phenomina that the corals evacuate their algae and that is what coral bleaching is all about. There has been discoveries of algae more resistant to heat but not THAT much more resistant. This is a far cry from being a 'cure' to Global Warming.

As the Seas Warm, Algae Help Some Coral Stand Up to the Heat
By CORNELIA DEAN
Published: December 21, 2004

KEY LARGO, Fla. - For some time, scientists have predicted that the world's coral reefs will be among the first ecosystems to suffer devastating damage from global warming. Some reefs, however, are proving surprisingly resilient, researchers say, not because of qualities of the corals themselves, but because of heat-tolerant algae that live with them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/science/21cora.html?ex=1106110800&en=fddba400605f351f&ei=5070

Big Arctic Perils Seen in Warming, Survey Finds
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: October 30, 2004

A comprehensive four-year study of warming in the Arctic shows that heat-trapping gases from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world are contributing to profound environmental changes, including sharp retreats of glaciers and sea ice, thawing of permafrost and shifts in the weather, the oceans and the atmosphere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/30/science/earth/30arctic.html?ex=1106110800&en=10cd55e76caa62e3&ei=5070

Sharon Orders New Crackdown on Gaza Factions
By GREG MYRE
Published: January 17, 2005

GAZA, Monday, Jan. 17 - In a blunt warning to the new Palestinian leader, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel said Sunday that he had given the military orders to act "without restrictions" against Palestinian factions that have stepped up attacks in the roiling Gaza Strip.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=a9a9c8868815f52a&ei=5094&partner=homepage

How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: January 17, 2005

KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 16 - As protests here against a rigged presidential election overwhelmed the capital last fall, an alarm sounded at Interior Ministry bases outside the city. It was just after 10 p.m. on Nov. 28.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/europe/17ukraine.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=2e1aa5aa4131bb4d&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Rebels Express Thanks for Aid to Indonesians
By IAN FISHER
Published: January 17, 2005

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Jan. 16 - The rebel, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a cellphone and an old Kalashnikov, had a message for the scores of foreigners who have come here to help after the tsunami: You are welcome, and we will not hurt you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/worldspecial4/17rebels.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=2fd8aff24865d691&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Unmarried Fathers Gain Tax Incentive in Pataki Proposal
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
Published: January 17, 2005

Gov. George E. Pataki will unveil a program this week that would make New York the first state in the nation to use tax credits, along with other incentives, intended to motivate low-income fathers to work and pay child support, according to state officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/nyregion/17dads.html

New Jersey Faces Tough Competition for Stem Cell Scientists
By LAURA MANSNERUS
Published: January 17, 2005

TRENTON, Jan. 14 - While the federal government has sharply limited research on embryonic stem cells, casting it as a moral issue, governors around the country are moving aggressively to push the research forward, spending millions, seeking to lure top scientists to their states and planning state-of-the-art research facilities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/nyregion/17cell.html

If YOU WANT to read about Zhao Ziyang's passing do it here at The New York Times because you won't find it in The China Daily.

Purged Chinese Party Chief Zhao Ziyang Dies
By REUTERS
Published: January 17, 2005
Filed at 7:01 a.m. ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Zhao Ziyang, a Chinese reformist toppled as Communist Party chief in 1989 for opposing an army crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, died in hospital Monday, his family said. He was 85.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-china-zhao.html

The China Daily

UK, China unite in hi-tech research
By Cui Ning (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-17 22:14
Energy, electronics, stem cell studies and space and aviation sciences are major fields for scientific co-operation between China and the United Kingdom.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409784.htm

Fall of POW camp wall leads to outcry
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-17 22:51
Destruction of parts of a World War II-era concentration camp in Shenyang, built by Japanese invaders to house allied prisoners of war, has raised an outcry from angered local residents and historical researchers.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409788.htm

China Eastern unveils uniforms for direct flight attendants

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409767.htm

YOU FIND MEMORIAL TO HIM in The Taiwan Edition either.

Mainland, Taiwan clinch deal on direct flights
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-15 23:05
The Chinese mainland and Taiwan reached a landmark deal on Saturday to allow non-stop charter flights over the Chinese New Year holidays, a move which could ease tensions and improve cross-Straits ties.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/15/content_409347.htm

Taiwan urged to agree to festival flights
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-03 22:42
Beijing's latest push for direct charter flights across the Taiwan Straits has raised high hopes for immediate talks with Taipei in time for the upcoming travel season.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/03/content_405512.htm

SO PERHAPS it is safe to say both parts of China mutually hated Ziyang.

The Star

Finally, some good news from the Arab world
FAREED ZAKARIA
Since Sept. 11, 2001, I've written a column once a year pointing out the good news, which is that Islamic extremism is losing. The movement, in all of its variations, has been unable to garner mass support in any Muslim country.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1104521199350&call_page=TS_EditorialOpinion&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=Editorial/Opinion&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

An update on the `war on terror'
In order to counter groups such as Al Qaeda, the West must make better use of the `soft' power of diplomacy to accommodate Islam, and not just rely on coercive, `hard' power
JONATHAN STEVENSON
Despite U.S. government rhetoric that often suggests the West is winning the "war" on terrorism, Al Qaeda remains a highly viable and dangerous transnational terrorist network.
The U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq appears to have inspired more young Muslims to take up Osama bin Laden's cause. Perhaps the most pressing counterterrorism challenge for the U.S. and the West, then, is salvaging some positive political dividend from the fraught occupation of Iraq.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1104521199347&call_page=TS_EditorialOpinion&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=Editorial/Opinion&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

Darwin beats God in Red America
Schools told to remove stickers
Setback for Georgia board
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
MARIETTA, Ga.—The increasingly powerful evangelical movement in the United States has been dealt a legal setback in its own backyard, in the heart of one of the most conservative counties in the American south.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611315&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

'Bumpy' new world foreseen by CIA group
America to face more competition
China, India to be global players in 2020
KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANGLEY, Va.—And now, a look into the future: Al Qaeda, out; murky and scattered new terror cells, in. Hollywood, out; India's "Bollywood" in. America as sole superpower, out; China and India as world players, in.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611223&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

A safer haven, by design
Officers, volunteers unveil renovation
Space caters to victims of sex assault
TRACY HUFFMAN
CRIME REPORTER
On the third floor of police headquarters yesterday in a room where victims of sexual crimes try to recall every awful detail of their attack, Toronto police revealed a major development.
It was measured in brush strokes, soft lighting and glass sidetables.
For the past four months, Det. Const. Pamela Bruce, an experienced investigator with the sex crimes unit, has been working with other officers, volunteers and a design firm to renovate the space, which for years has looked more like an interrogation room.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611118&call_page=TS_GTA&call_pageid=968350130169&call_pagepath=GTA/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

Ontario set to boost fuel cell development
Initial investment to be $3 million a year, source says Minister expected to announce
program today
TYLER HAMILTON
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
The McGuinty government is investing in the creation of a fuel-cell innovation program that will help businesses and universities turn discoveries into commercial products.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656610692&call_page=TS_Ontario&call_pageid=968256289824&call_pagepath=News/Ontario&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

U.S. missile system operating
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon may never publicly declare its new missile-defence system is fully ready to defend against long-range missiles aimed at the United States but it already has a limited capability against a small-scale attack, a U.S. official said yesterday.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611322&call_page=TS_World&call_pageid=968332188854&call_pagepath=News/World&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

The Cheney Observer

Jeb Bush's personal journal from trip to tsunami-shattered Southeast Asia
By Special to The News-Press
Published by news-press.com on January 16, 2005

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush traveled with Colin Powell and other U.S. representatives to South Asia after the area was stricken by a powerful earthquake and tsunamis. During his trip he kept this personal journal.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050116/NEWS01/50116001/1075

Oil prices rise on supply worries
Oil prices hovered close to six-week highs on Friday amid renewed worries over US winter fuel reserves, the prospect of OPEC production cuts and supply problems in the North Sea.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1282397.htm

Calif. storms leave hundreds of oil-covered birds
15 Jan 2005 00:20:51 GMT
Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of seabirds covered with oil have washed ashore along the Southern California coast following a series of punishing winter storms, puzzling wildlife officials who say they can find no oil spill.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14220392.htm

Govt pushing oil firms to meet clean fuel deadline

Posted online: Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 0012 hours IST
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 14: The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has put oil companies on notice, asking them to ensure that the April 1 deadline for introduction of ultra low sulphur auto fuels, is met at all cost.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=62722

Businesses pick up tab for Bush bash
Next week's inaugural costs expected to top $40 million
By Corbett B. Daly, CBS MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Gearing up for President Bush's inauguration next Thursday, thousands of business leaders from around the country are descending on the capital for four days of eating, drinking, dancing and pressing flesh with politicos and pundits.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B2A7EA68A-0361-4533-BC34-EA1BEBDCA8EB%7D&siteid=google&dist=google

UN Told of Weaknesses in U.S. Handling of Iraqi Oil
Fri Jan 14, 2005 06:19 PM EST

By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. handling of Iraq's oil money after the defeat of Saddam Hussein was marked by weaknesses including problems tracking oil production and cash, a watchdog told the U.N. Security Council on Friday, diplomats said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7334302

President Bush is lobbied in Jacksonville on fate of aircraft carrier
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@herald.com
JACKSONVILLE - Visiting Florida for the first time since the presidential election, President Bush vowed today to consider the state's attempt to save a fabled aircraft carrier that Navy budget cutters have targeted for retirement.
In town to tout his administration's education record -- at a community college just miles from the base the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy calls home -- Bush was pressed by a full contingent of Florida politicos, including Jacksonville Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, who flew aboard Air Force One from Washington to plead the carrier's case. Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Housing Secretary-turned U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, along with Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, joined the lobby on the motorcade from the airport to the Florida Community College campus.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10647961.htm

Bush Is Told of Carrier's Value
Idling USS Kennedy Would Be Blow to Economy of Jacksonville, Fla.
By Ron Word
Associated Press
Monday, January 17, 2005; Page A15
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- President Bush said Friday he has gotten the message about the strategic importance of Mayport Naval Station and the USS John F. Kennedy to this area's economy, but he made no commitment about the future of the aircraft carrier.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14270-2005Jan16.html

China Aviation Needed More Time on Singapore Petroleum Deal
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp., which is being sued by Satya Capital Ltd. over a contract to buy a stake in Singapore Petroleum Co., wasn't given enough time to enforce a clause in the agreement, the company said in a court document.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aRWUHTHD2fBQ&refer=asia

North Korea ready to resume talks if Bush offers olive branch
01-14-2005, 14h06

Jung Yeon-Je - (AFP)
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea said it would resume talks on its nuclear weapons drive if US President George W. Bush toned down his rhetoric and formulated a more friendly policy towards Pyongyang.

http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050114140637.fjuzdsgl.xml

Bush Proposes $500 Boost for Student Aid
President Vows to Restructure Loan System
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 15, 2005; Page A02
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan.14 -- President Bush proposed Friday increasing the maximum federal grant for low-income college students by $100 a year for five years, a change that he said would make higher education more accessible to thousands of Americans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10576-2005Jan14.html

Bush expresses `misgivings' over notable phrases
AP , WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jan 15, 2005,Page 7
Advertising

US President George W. Bush expressed misgivings for two of his most famous expressions: "Bring 'em on," in reference to Iraqis attacking US troops, and his vow to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/01/15/2003219498

FCC Orders Probe of Williams-Bush Deal

FCC Chair Orders Investigation Into Williams' Deal With Bush Administration

WASHINGTON Jan 14, 2005 — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation Friday into whether conservative commentator Armstrong Williams broke the law by failing to disclose he was paid by the Bush administration to plug the president's education agenda.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=413704

THE PEOPLE IN NIGERIA are not happy about oil wells. AT ALL !!!

Oil majors fight Nigerian moves to stop licences
IAIN DEY CITY EDITOR
idey@scotlandonsunday.com
SHELL and ChevronTexaco are in dispute with the Nigerian government over an unexpected decision to revoke 24 oil development licences.
Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) claims the majors have failed to submit proper plans on how they will develop the fields. A clutch of smaller firms have also been affected by the decision.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=54712005

TOO BAD. The West needs to develop alternative energy sources. The West is the biggest polluter on Earth. Get over it !!

Russia’s Asian overtures may hit Western oil firms
LONDON: Kremlin invitations to Chinese and Indian state oil companies to boost their presence in Russia have prompted fears among some Western oil companies that they will find it harder to seal Russian oil deals in future.
The Kremlin campaign against domestic oil firm YUKOS has made the country a riskier place to do business. If Russia shifts its focus away from the Western international oil companies (IOCs) as favoured partners, it will become an even tougher place for them to operate.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg5_28

15-year energy plan to help boost growth
ISLAMABAD: Amanullah Khan Jadoon, the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, said on Saturday that the 15-year energy plan would help to achieve the growth rate set by the government in agriculture, industrial and socio-economic sector.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg5_9

Oil prices jump 6% in course of week
Possible supply problems, epectations of colder weather listed among the concerns.
By Brad Foss
Associated Press
January 15, 2005

Crude oil futures prices rose for the fourth day in a row Friday, reaching a level not seen since late November as traders pinned a 6 percent rise in the past week on supply snags and expectations of colder weather.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/209533-9341-223.html

Fascinated Horror: Watching It
Month after month, year after year, we've watched with fascinated horror as George W. Bush revives the ancient tools of tyranny. Aggressive war, torture, secret prisons, arbitrary detention, death squads, mass surveillance, contempt for law, elitist corruption, deification of the leader, co-option of religion to serve state power, rule by executive fiat: It's like watching a ghastly pantomime of imperial Rome or some feudal state, rigged up in modern dress.
Global Eye
Green Acres
By Chris Floyd
Published: January 14, 2005
Thus it was no surprise when Bush trotted out another weapon from the oppressor's hoard last month: tax-farming, the practice of turning over government revenue collection to private profiteers. Yes, that scourge of honest yeomen from time immemorial will soon be stalking the streets of 21st-century America, shaking down the populace for personal gain.

http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1508&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

OF COURSE there is no politics. Good Neocon women grow up to have babies and ornament the poolside.

Politics not in twins' plans
09:27 PM CST on Friday, January 14, 2005
By G. ROBERT HILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – They crossed the country for votes for their father last year. But neither of President Bush's 23-year-old twin daughters seems to have caught the political bug.
"I don't think so, although who knows," first lady Laura Bush said Friday.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/011505dnnattwins.42fe0.html

Petroleum Minister plans to bring Caspian, Russian oils
20.07 IST 15th Jan 2005
By IndiaExpress Bureau
After negotiating India's biggest ever energy deal with Iran for import of LNG worth 40 billion dollars and getting Bangladesh to agree on allowing its territory for importing gas from Myanmar, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today mooted the idea of a pipeline corridor for supply of Caspian Sea crude oil to Asia.

http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/delhi/20050115-1.html

Woman doctor’s gang-rape: PPL tried to twist facts
KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, the organization for which the lady doctor was working at Sui and where she was allegedly raped, had tried to sweep the matter under the carpet by shifting her to a Karachi psychiatry hospital immediately from Sui, it has been reliably learnt.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg7_40

Bush vows to cap 'compensation culture' payouts
By Philip Sherwell in Washington
(Filed: 16/01/2005)
President George W Bush has approved a radical assault on America's burgeoning "compensation culture" as part of an ambitious programme of domestic reform to be unveiled in his inaugural address this week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/16/wcomp16.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/16/ixworld.html

ENTITLEMENT. When does an election turn into a nightmare? When a Bush is elected.

Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy
No U.S. Troop Withdrawal Date Is Set
By Jim VandeHei and Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 16, 2005; Page A01
President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12450-2005Jan15.html

Bush hit for linking Iraq to vote
Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted: 0707 GMT (1507 HKT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has been criticized for claiming that his re-election in 2004 was a ratification of his policy on Iraq.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday, Bush was asked why no one in his administration had been held accountable for perceived missteps on Iraq policy, including being wrong about weapons of mass destruction.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/16/bush.iraq/

The voters stood by me on Iraq, says Bush
By Alec Russell in Washington
(Filed: 17/01/2005)
President George W Bush said yesterday the mission in Iraq had been vindicated by his re-election and he did not need to hold to account any of the officials responsible for the miscalculations before or after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/17/wus17.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/17/ixworld.html

India looking to restructure state-run energy behemoths
01-16-2005, 22h43

Prakash Singh - (AFP/File)
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he backed ongoing moves to revamp and merge state-run energy companies in order to make them globally competitive.

http://www.turkishpress.com/business/news.asp?id=050116224350.2pxian2w.xml

Indian State Oil Companies May Combine to Tackle Chinese Rivals
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- India's state oil companies may combine resources in overseas bids after China beat Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's biggest explorer, to fields in countries such as Sudan and Indonesia.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aP94zRWZAKDg&refer=top_world_news

MAJOR FLORIDA DONORS
Here is a list of major Florida contributors to the presidential inauguration. Donors are not bound by campaign finance laws, which restrict contributions to parties and candidates.
Depending on the size of the gift, donors are given special tickets to different events, special invitations to private dinners and receptions with President Bush and/ or Vice President Dick Cheney.
• Al Hoffman Jr., Fort Myers developer, longtime Bush fundraiser $100,000
• BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, Jacksonville
$100,000

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10656594.htm

The New Zealand Herald

Eastwood takes aim at Moore

17.01.05

Clint Eastwood squinted like Dirty Harry when he took aim at Michael Moore, the New York Daily News reported.
"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression," Eastwood told a star-studded crowd attending the National Board of Review awards dinner, where the veteran actor and director picked up a Special Film-making Achievement prize for his latest film, Million Dollar Baby.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=6&ObjectID=10006782

Movie-inspired CPR saves girl
Jade (left) and Brooke Gude gave mother Natasha the fright of her life. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today

18.01.05
By BRIDGET CARTER

Two men copied a life-saving method they had seen in the movies to save a little girl they had pulled unconscious from a swimming spot.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10007001

Whaling embargo hopes on Kiribati

18.01.05
By ANGELA GREGORY

Kiribati is being urged to support whale conservation after joining the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The small Pacific nation is the second in the Pacific to have joined the IWC in the past year, following its neighbour, Tuvalu, which joined last June.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006927

Ford's hybrid cars coming

10.01.05

Car maker Ford plans to expand its fleet of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles as part of stepping up efforts to make cleaner vehicles.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=9&ObjectID=9006036

FBI's $243m security program doomed

18.01.05

The FBI may have to scrap a new US$170 million ($243 million) computer program designed to allow its agents to share information instantly and fix a main problem identified after the September 11 attacks.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006943

Extremist London cleric calls on young

18.01.05

An extremist London cleric is appealing to young British Muslims to join al Qaeda in live broadcasts on the internet, the Times reported.
The Times said cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who is banned from many British mosques, says a "covenant of security" allowing Muslims to live peacefully in Britain had been "violated" by anti-terrorist legislation enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
"I believe the whole of Britain has become Dar ul Harb [land of war]," he says in one of daily two-hour internet broadcasts, which the Times said it had monitored three days in a row from January 10 to 12.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006984

6.6 magnitude quake registered off Micronesia

18.01.05

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale has been detected off the Pacific island group of Micronesia, the Hong Kong observatory said.
The quake was classified as "severe".
There were no immediate reports of tsunamis or damage on nearby islands.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006985

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base
Fog
0.0°
Updated Tuesday 18 Jan 3:59AM

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

30 °F / -1 °C
Overcast

...HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH-CENTRAL ANDPART OF THE NORTH INNER CHANNELS THROUGH TUESDAY......HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN GLACIER BAYTODAY...

Humidity:
80%

Dew Point:
25 °F / -4 °C

Wind:
Calm

Pressure:
29.29 in / 992 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 12

Clouds (AGL):
Overcast 4800 ft / 1463 m

Satellite and Global Warming/Climate Change to follow.

Morning Papers - concluding

Glacier Bay Infrared Satellite 1.17.05

Global Warming/Climate Change

THIS IS A SURVIVAL issue. There is no reason or excuse for anything but good public policy that saves lives and return Earth to a healthy biota. If that can't happen then leaders need not be in office. This is a betrayal of the individual not some government. It's unconscionable.

Leaked documents reveal Blair's global warming betrayal
Last edited: 17-01-2005
Greenpeace accused Tony Blair of a 'betrayal' after leaked documents revealed the Prime Minister was boasting about global warming commitments in keynote speeches while his government was simultaneously trying to ditch them at European meetings.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/contentlookup.cfm?ucidparam=20050116132000&MenuPoint=D-A

Is global warming to blame for changes in climate?
By Ben Lowry
15 January 2005
Highly changeable weather in recent days, following on from a summer of extreme weather, has led commentators to wonder whether global warming could be the cause.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=600980

Credits help fight global warming
Developing nations sell reductions
Charles J. Hanley
Associated Press
Jan. 16, 2005 12:00 AM
SANTIAGO, Chile - Pig manure in Chile will keep neon lights glowing on Tokyo's Ginza in years to come. It's a grand north-south trade-off to slow global warming: You reduce your "greenhouse gas" emissions so I don't have to cut back on mine.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0116manure16.html

Is warm winter sign of climate change?
Odd weather stirs debate over role of global warming
By CHIP GUY / The News Journal
01/16/2005
To hear some people tell it, buying a piece of land maybe 10 or 20 miles west of Lewes might be a heck of an investment for your great-grandchildren.

A report released this fall - the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment written by an international scientific forum - predicted that half of the summer sea ice in the Arctic, and a large portion of the Greenland ice sheet, could melt by the end of this century.

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2005/01/16iswarmwintersig.html

Climate change: Adaptation stressed to protect life, property
By Staff Reporter
Jan 16, 2005, 13:22

A three-day internal workshop on community level adaptation to climate change began in Dhaka yesterday with Bangladesh narrating its experiences in adaptation to extreme climatic events like cyclones, floods and droughts and urging rich nations mainly responsible for climate change to take greater responsibility to stop the process.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_15527.shtml

Green Groups Hope Suit Forces U.S. Hand on Warming
Saturday, January 15, 2005
[US News]: NEW YORK - Green lobbyists and several U.S. cities hope a lawsuit against U.S. development agencies will force the government to act on global warming, even though President Bush has long insisted there's no scientific proof linking human activity to warming.

http://www.keralanext.com/news/?id=94042

The Effects of Global Warming on Skiing
The subject of global warming arouses strong emotions. For the oil lobby it is something cooked up by eco warriors bent on destroying their business, and even if climate change does exist they claim it is something entirely normal. For the green lobby global warming will heat our planet on average by 6°C in the next century, melting roads, drowning Pacific islands and destroying the delicate balance of the eco system. Whatever the causes, the ski industry is extremely concerned about the affects climate change will have on its business.

http://www.pistehors.com/articles/global-warming.htm

I HAPPEN to agree with Britian's Sir King David.

Tsunami Highlights Climate Change Risk, Says Scientist
By James Lyons, PA Political Correspondent
The tsunami disaster underlines the threat posed by climate change, Britain’s top scientist said today.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3945933

[New Year Special] Kyoto Protocol Poses Challenge to Korea
By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter
A recently released Hollywood movie, ``The Day After Tomorrow,'' dramatically depicts a catastrophe resulting from global warming, but last month's U.N. conference on climate change concluded that the threat was not a mere drama, but a look into our near future.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200412/kt2004123115240845250.htm

…and so do the Jewish leaders, Buddists, Muslim, Hindus…

Christian leaders urge politicians: After tsunami, heed climate change
Geneva
by Peter Kenny
ENI-04-0842
Thursday, December 30, 2004

Two world church officials have urged political leaders to heed the danger that climate change could pose in triggering disasters like this week's killer tsunami. It was precipitated by a massive earthquake that has left a death toll of more than 115,000 lives.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_56321_ENG_HTM.htm

The price we pay for the crimes of the rich
Mohammad Mozahidur Rahaman
In essence, economics is a science of choice. The discipline tells us the optimal choice is the one that maximises our satisfaction. The simple yet powerful tool through which economists arrive at the optimal choice is called the "opportunity cost" of foregoing the alternatives and the whole process is guided by the inherent thrust to preserve our own self-interest. However, when the choices we make have negative consequences for others, the welfare economics tells us to compensate the parties affected by our actions. This very fundamental premise of modern economics is challenged by one of the pressing issues of our time -- global warming.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/12/29/d412291501108.htm

Current Pattern of concern below.

West Pacific Global Satellite 1.17.05

This is primarily the equatorial area of the Eastern Hemisphere. Noted the excess heat but then it is Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. In the top right quarter of this satellite picture is a storm. The big red spot. If one will note it has something in common with the hurricanes of the Atlantic 2004. It is at the end of a vortex peripheral flow off the North Polar Vortex. It is an 'eddy' to the Arctic Ocean Vortex (North Polar Cap - same thing.) Progressing in 'knowing' the next slide shows it's progression across the Pacific to the North American continent.

Pacific Ocean Satellite 1.17.05

The previously noted red spot or storm is now in the left lower quarter of the satellite picture. It is definately seen at the end of the vortex 'fin if you will.' It is an eddy to the Arctic Ocean Vortex. Noted the West Coast of North America, Alaska and Russia.

Pacific Global Satellite 1.17.05

This is the final view of the vortex flow or 'fin' to the Arctic Ocean Vortex. The 'red spot' or storm isn't discernable as it is not in this picture. However, the vortex flow, or heat transfer system, is seen easily moving that equatorial 'hot air' to the Arctic Ocean where it is quickly depleting the Ice Cap. I would like to include here an illustration from The New York Times regarding the heating of the Arctic Ocean. (To follow)

This is Global Warming. We are losing our North Polar Cap. We are losing the Arctic Ocean.

A BIG THAW The warming of many parts of the Arctic is already reducing the amount of perpetually frozen ground, or permafrost, and that trend will almost certainly continue, creating problems for oil companies, road networks and structures built on a thawing landscape. The frozen season has also been shrinking. The number of days in which oil companies can explore for oil on Alaska's North Slope has been cut in half in 30 years. The ecological impact of the trend is harder to predict. For example, while water may drain from existing tundra lakes through thawed ground, other ponds and lakes may form in thawed spots where the surface sinks, creating more aquatic habitat.

end

Dutch Draws Avalanche

Dutch Draws Avalanche near Parks City, Utah

The 'fault zone' of the snow line

Closer Veiw of Dutch Draws Avalanche

The Story from "The Park Record"

Rescuers rush against timeMassive avalanche traps unknown number of victimsBy Patrick ParkinsonOf the Record staff

Saturday, January 15, 2005 - The person's tracks were still visible near where the snow broke loose from the rest of the mountain. But that was the only human sign rescuers had to go on.
At 6 p.m. Friday, "multiple" victims were feared dead after an avalanche above The Canyons ski resort boundary. Rescuers from law enforcement agencies throughout northern Utah were searching at dusk for people who witnesses say were buried by the massive slide near an area known as Dutch's Draw.

The avalanche, which was roughly 500 yards long and 30 feet deep, occurred on U.S. Forest Service property adjacent to the ski resort, Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said.
"These individuals passed by a gate with some skulls and crossbones on it," he said, about a barrier that separates the resort from the backcountry. "Because of the depth of the snow, it's making the search effort very difficult."

The snow near the top of the slide was nearly 16 feet deep, however, depths increased as the snow slid, Edmunds said.

Ski patrollers from The Canyons were first on the scene when the avalanche was reported to the Summit County Sheriff's Office around 1 p.m. More than 80 searchers soon began scouring the area with dogs and in helicopters.

"There's a high possibility of a second slide this is an area where we're not supposed to have skiers and snowboarders," Edmunds said, adding that search efforts would continue as long as rescuers could stay safe. "It's getting very close to a recovery operation."

With no bodies recovered Friday evening, Edmunds said searchers were speaking with roughly 10 witnesses to determine the number of people who may be buried.

"It's very dangerous up there," he said.

As word of the avalanche spread around the country, Edmunds fielded calls Friday afternoon from family members of people who had skied that day at The Canyons and hadn't checked in.
Those with information about possible victims are encouraged to call (800) 828-8477.
"If you go outside the boundaries of any ski resort you are on your own," Edmunds said, adding that The Canyons is not legally responsible for the area where the slide occurred.

The victims, believed to be male, likely accessed that area of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest via the Ninety-nine 90 lift at The Canyons, he said.

"These are people who were reckless and they may have paid with their own life we haven't talked to anybody that was in the slide that survived," Edmunds said around 5 p.m. "The likelihood of survival at this point is very low."

He still had no information about where the victims are from, their ages or whether they were equipped with avalanche beacons.

"I'm willing to say more than two," he added, when pressed about the number of people possibly buried in the slide. "The witnesses were in the vicinity 'scary, huge, a lot of snow coming down,' that's how they described it."

Five lifts were closed at The Canyons Friday afternoon as resort staff assisted searchers, said Katie Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the resort, strongly discouraging patrons at The Canyons from ever leaving the resort boundaries.

"There's no avalanche control that goes on in this area," Edmunds said. "You're putting your lives at risk and you're putting the lives of my searchers at risk."

The Canyons will resume normal operations Saturday but avalanche danger remains extremely high in the backcountry.

"This is somewhere where they just shouldn't have been," Edmunds said. "We've had numerous avalanches over the last few days do not venture into the backcountry, it's far too perilous right now."

According to the avalanche advisory, posted Friday morning on www.avalanche.org, "The avalanche activity is widespread enough to make most avalanche professionals nervous."

Morning Papers - It's Origins

New Focus starting at Bottom of this entry today, hopefully a regular here.

"Push for Peace"

.....................................................................................

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"

"Oak-He-Doe-$he"

In history, January 15 …

… 1559, England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

… 1844, the University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.

… 1870, the Democratic party was first represented as a donkey in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

… 1892, the 13 rules of basketball are published by Dr. James Naismith.

… 1917, born Robert C. Byrd, Democratic member of the United States Senate from West Virginia (1959- ). Robert Carlyle Byrd was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His mother died when he was one year old, and his coal miner father left him in the care of relatives. Byrd grew up in poverty. Although he graduated at the top of his high school class, he worked only odd jobs during the Great Depression of the 1930s, until World War II (1939-1945) provided employment opportunities. Byrd worked as a shipyard welder during the war.

… 1922, the Irish Sinn Fein leader Michael Collins becomes the first prime minister of the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and forms a provisional government.

… 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

… 1967 Super Bowl I was played. Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10

http://www.superbowl.com/history/recaps/game/sbi

Most Valuable Player

Bart Starr

… 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.

… 1992, the Yugoslav federation, founded in 1918, effectively collapsed as the European Community recognized the republics of Croatia and Slovenia.

The Indiana Star

Outlook seems brighter
Rain finally ends; state seeks federal disaster declaration

By John Strauss and Rob Schneider
john.strauss@indystar.com
January 15, 2005

Flooding throughout the state continued Friday even as a new weather system brought sunshine and -- finally -- an end to the rain.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/209740-3812-092.html

A connection with God
More than 2 million Muslims expected to renew their faith in pilgrimage to Mecca.

He tried to ignore being bumped constantly from behind.
Daud Abdur-Rahman kept telling himself that the persistent bumping was just another sacrifice he had to make as part of his journey of faith to Mecca, Saudi Arabia -- the birthplace of Islam.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/209491-7125-047.html

The Chicago Tribune

Big rain, frozen ground spur floods
By Deborah Horan, Tribune staff reporter. Staff reporter Gayle Worland and freelance writers Carolyn Rusin and Barbara Bell contributed to this report
Published January 14, 2005
After being tantalized by spring temperatures for a day, residents across Chicagoland fought torrents of rain and flooded streets Thursday in what already has become a record wet month.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0501140216jan14,1,6250923.story?coll=chi-news-hed

WEEKEND SNOW PROSPECTS NOT COMPLETELY DEAD DESPITE SPRAWLING SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE
Hasn't been this cold in a year; intense chill to be reinforced later next week
Published January 14, 2005
Bitterly cold air has poured from Canada into the nation's heartland and appears poised to linger. In Chicago, Friday's cold temps are only the beginning. A series of frigid sub-zero nighttime lows are predicted into early next week. And while the chill is to moderate with a snow-generating Alberta Clipper-type system Tuesday into Wednesday next week, there are growing indications bitterly cold air may resurge then linger into the following weekend. It's a big turnaround in a month which has been so mild--it currently ranks 19th mildest of the 135 Januarys on record, among the warmest 15% since 1871. Despite the chill and the predicted presence of a sprawling arctic high pressure over the area--Chicago's barometric pressure may surge to near 30.90" over the weekend--the metro area may not completely escape snow. A powerful 150 m.p.h. jet stream is roaring from west to east through the nation's mid-section. Embedded within it are pockets of even stronger winds, known as jet streaks, each of which may generate enough "lift" to convert some eastbound Pacific moisture into clouds--and even some flurries or possible snow showers Saturday and Saturday night.
Sources: Frank Wachowski, Chicago weather historian
WGN-TV/Thomas Valle, Zach Horn and Michelle Harrold

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0501140150jan14,1,5202344.column?coll=chi-news-hed

Up to 5 May Be Buried in Utah Avalanche
By DOUG ALDEN
Associated Press Writer
Published January 15, 2005, 3:21 AM CST
PARK CITY, Utah -- Just a half hour before an avalanche outside a Utah ski resort trapped as many as five people under 30 feet of snow, skier Jess Fleig sensed that something was amiss.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top12jan15,1,5607611.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Health Officials Warn of Tsunami Trauma
By MATTI HUUHTANEN
Associated Press Writer
Published January 15, 2005, 2:03 AM CST
HELSINKI, Finland -- Fearful that the southern Asian tsunami may leave millions traumatized, European health ministers urged governments to be mindful of the psychological scars the disaster left behind, especially on children.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top13jan15,1,6000828.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Apple Sues Over Online News Scoops
By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post
Published January 14, 2005
Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.'s skin.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-apple14jan14,1,119521.story?coll=chi-business-hed

No More Internet for Them
Fed up over problems stemming from viruses and spyware, some computer users are giving up or curbing their use of the Web.
By Joseph Menn
Times Staff Writer
Published January 14, 2005
Stephen Seemayer had the first Pong video game system on his block. A decade later, the Echo Park artist was the first in his neighborhood to get a personal computer. And in 1996, he was so inspired by the World Wide Web that he created a series of small paintings for viewing over the Internet.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-fedup14jan14,1,2577779.story?coll=chi-technology-hed

Texas-size lawsuit for 4th-largest spammer
By Howard Witt
Tribune senior correspondent
Published January 14, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- Seeking to shut down a University of Texas student listed as the fourth-worst e-mail spammer in the world, the Texas attorney general on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the man potentially seeking nearly $500 million in damages.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0501140237jan14,1,5970352.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Moss laughs off his penalty
League's $10,000 fine for `sideshow' no big deal to WR
By Sean Jensen
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Published January 14, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS -- The National Football League fined Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss $10,000 on Thursday for mock-mooning Green Bay Packers fans Sunday. The defiant receiver shrugged off the fine, suggesting he might perform a more vulgar touchdown celebration next time.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0501140256jan14,1,4889595.story?coll=chi-sportsnew-hed

Readers sound off on drivers and their horns
Published January 14, 2005
Honkers who use a car horn as a doorbell when they're picking someone up. Honkers who exit alleys with the fanfare of a bugle band. Honkers who never met an intersection that didn't deserve a big blow, especially when they're revving through the red.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0501140196jan14,1,1396665.column?coll=chi-news-hed

The Boston Globe

FBI keeping records on millions of air travelers who flew in months before Sept. 11
By Leslie Miller, Associated Press, 1/14/2005 16:23

WASHINGTON (AP) If you're among the millions of Americans who took airline flights in the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FBI probably knows about it and possibly where you stayed, whom you traveled with, what credit card you used and even whether you ordered a kosher meal.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/014/wash/FBI_keeping_records_on_million:.shtml

Avalanche buries 3 near Utah ski resort
By Doug Alden, Associated Press Writer January 14, 2005
PARK CITY, Utah -- An avalanche outside a Utah ski resort on Friday trapped at least three people beneath as much as 30 feet of snow, authorities said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/14/avalanche_reported_near_utah_ski_resort/

Voter turnout for 2004 highest since 1968
By Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writer January 14, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Deep divisions over the war in Iraq and intense voter registration drives pushed the 2004 presidential election turnout to 60.7 percent, the highest level since 1968, the Center for the Study of the American Electorate said Friday.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/01/14/voter_turnout_for_2004_highest_since_1968/

Michael Moore Today

The Man !!

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

The Scandals

http://www.michaelmoore.com/index_main.php

Hollow Accountability
By Richard Cohen / Washington Post
Let us call the roll: George Tenet, who assured the president that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? A graceful retirement and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=961

The News

CLINT EASTWOOD SHOULD BE INDICTED. THREATS OF MURDER ARE AS SERIOUS AS THE CRIME ITSELF. I find this attitude completely offensive and dangerous. What a 'NUT CASE!'

Clint Eastwood told an awards ceremony in New York that he would "kill" 'Fahrenheit 9/11' filmmaker Michael Moore if he ever showed up at his front door with a camera.Clint Eastwood, a Republican, made the comments at the National Board of Review awards held in New York where he picked up a Special Filmmaking Achievement prize for Million Dollar Baby. Michael Moore, who received a special "Freedom of Expression" award for his anti-Bush documentary, appeared to laugh off Eastwood's comments.Other award winners included Annette Bening for Best Actress in Being Julia, Jamie Foxx for Best Actor in Ray, Michael Mann - Best Director for Collateral and Finding Neverland was awarded Best Film. Jeff Bridges accepted a Career Achievement Award.

Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground; War Created Haven, CIA Advisers Report
By Dana Priest / Washington Post
Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director's think tank.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=951

FCC Orders Probe of Williams-Bush Deal
By Genaro C. Armas / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation Friday into whether conservative commentator Armstrong Williams broke the law by failing to disclose he was paid by the Bush administration to plug the president's education agenda.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=960

Fear and Voting in Baghdad
By Robert Fisk / Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Journalism yields a world of clichés but here, for once, the first cliché that comes to mind is true. Baghdad is a city of fear. Fearful Iraqis, fearful militiamen, fearful American soldiers, fearful journalists.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=959

A LIQUIDITY EVENT
Newsweek reported this week that the Bush administration's pervasive civilian mindset is one of the reasons the administration failed to construct a coherent post-war plan prior to the invasion. Before the war "military leaders offered a mixed assessment about an Iraq without Saddam. Civilian neocons predicted that Iraqis would happily celebrate Saddam’s demise."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php

Massive Student Walk Outs on January 20th

*Walk against the cuts in public funding of our schools and libraries!
*Walk against their recruiting of our friends and peers to die in wars!
*Walk against the wars at home that keep people poor and homeless!

http://www.geocities.com/j20walkout/index.htm

The Miami Herald

Tsunami warning system to cover state
The East Coast, including Florida, and the Caribbean will benefit from a broader tsunami detection system by 2007, U.S. officials said.
BY MARTIN MERZER
mmerzer@herald.com
Provoked by the disaster in Southeast Asia and eastern Africa, U.S. officials announced Friday that they will rapidly deploy a tsunami warning system for Floridians, others on the East Coast and residents of the Caribbean islands.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10650878.htm

Ricin case bewilders small town
Townspeople in Ocala are puzzled by the case of a young man police say was making a world-class poison at home.
BY MARC CAPUTO
mcaputo@herald.com
OCALA - Inside his mother's blue-trimmed, faded pink house, Steven Ekberg kept as messy a room as could be expected for a depressed 20-something, unemployed waiter -- except, police say, for the strewn-about Uzi and imitation AK-47 semiautomatic rifles and a vial that contained ricin, one of the deadliest toxins known to man.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10650750.htm

Where is Rilya?

One in four foster kids on risky mind drugs
A state senator fears foster children are being used as 'guinea pigs' by doctors who prescribe them powerful mood-altering drugs.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@herald.com
Nearly 1,900 children under the care of Florida's child welfare system are taking antidepressant drugs, despite a strong federal warning that such medications are linked to an increased risk of suicidal thinking among children.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10650879.htm

The New York Times

China Promotes Another Boom: Nuclear Power
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
Published: January 15, 2005

DAYA BAY, China - The view from this remote point by the sea, with lines of misty mountains stretching into the distance, is worthy of a classical Chinese painting. In the foreground, though, sits a less obvious attraction: one of China's first nuclear power reactors, and just behind it, another being rushed toward completion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/international/asia/15china.html?hp&ex=1105851600&en=876ad58357a640d4&ei=5094&partner=homepage

In a Small Fishing Boat, Looking to Make Peace With a Punishing Sea

OLUVIL, Sri Lanka, Jan. 13 - Standing on a dark beach before daybreak Thursday, Syed Ibrahim Yusuf wrestled with his fear. That morning he had planned to return to the sea for the first time since a wall of water rewrote his life, his livelihood and his village. Instead, he stood on the beach under a moonless sky, unmoving and unsure, intimidated by waves he would have challenged easily three weeks ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/international/worldspecial4/15fishermen.html?oref=login&hp

Sharon Cuts Israeli Ties With Palestinian Authority
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: January 15, 2005
ERUSALEM, Jan. 14 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered Friday that all government officials cut ties with the Palestinian Authority and that the Gaza Strip be sealed until Palestinian leaders moved to curb terrorism. He issued the order a day after Palestinian militants killed six Israelis at a checkpoint on the Gaza border.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/international/middleeast/15mideast.html?hp&ex=1105851600&en=019550d4693b5bc0&ei=5094&partner=homepage

THANK YOU !! It was a very strange incident. I wonder if the Russians have gaps in their maps?

Submarine Crash Shows Navy Had Gaps in Mapping System

Sailors on the San Francisco, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, had just finished cleaning the vessel last Saturday as it sped along 500 feet beneath the surface of the South Pacific. Submarines run blind, just listening for sounds of danger. And to the captain and other officers relying on undersea navigation charts, everything seemed clear.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/national/15submarine.html?hp&ex=1105851600&en=d468ef3a035eb867&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Craft on Titan Finds Tantalizing Signs of Liquid
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Published: January 15, 2005

DARMSTADT, Germany, Jan. 14 - A European spacecraft plunged through the murky atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan on Friday and successfully came to rest on a bizarre landscape never before explored.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/science/space/15titan.html?hp&ex=1105851600&en=1beeb7f799794cc9&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Space.com

Huygens Probe Returns First Images of Titan's Surface
By Peter de Selding
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 14 January 2005
3:30 p.m. ET

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/huygens_images_050114.html

CNN

FACT BOX

Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan:

TITAN: Largest Saturnian moon. May harbor organic compounds similar to those predating life on Earth. Temperature is minus 292 degrees F (minus 180 C).

HUYGENS PROBE: Spacecraft is 8.9 feet in diameter and 703 pounds (317 kg). Was released from Cassini on December 24 and landed on Titan January 14.

The probe will sample Titan's atmosphere, measure its wind and rain, listen for alien sounds and take pictures.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/14/huygens.titan/index.html

The Los Angeles Times

Shifts in Apparel Trade Roil Global Economy
The end of textile quotas will boost China but threaten living standards in many poor nations.

Pasted from <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-quotaone16jan16,0,3076753.story?coll=la-home-headlines>

Fighting to the Polls in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq — On a recent morning, a stream of armored vehicles brought American and Albanian soldiers here to lock down the Mosul airfield.
A few hours later, U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte and top American military commanders Gen. George W. Casey and Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz arrived in a swarm of helicopters to meet with Iraqi election officials. Introductions didn't take long. The commission overseeing elections in Iraq's third-largest city numbers two people.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-mosul15jan15,0,769485.story?coll=la-home-headlines

U.S. Plans to Expand Tsunami Alert System
The $37.5-million proposal would add 32 buoys to protect most of the nation's coastlines.

WASHINGTON — Spurred to action by the devastating southern Asian tsunami, top Bush administration science officials Friday pledged to double the country's investment in a warning system by greatly expanding detection technology in the Pacific Ocean and extending it into the Atlantic.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tsunami15jan15,0,899422.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Haaretz

PM halts all ties with Abbas over terror
By Amos Harel and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Pressing Mahmoud Abbas on the eve of the Saturday inauguration of the new Palestinian Authority chairman, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered a blanket halt on all ties with Abbas until he cracks down on Palestinian terror groups, amid reports that Israel accused the PA's anti-terror agency of complicity in the deadly Thursday attack on the Karni crossing facility in Gaza.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/527106.html

The Sun Sentinel

President Bush extends waiver of provision in law on Cuba

WASHINGTON -- President Bush notified Congress on Friday that he would maintain a ban on lawsuits by U.S. citizens whose property was taken by the Cuban revolution.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0115bushcuba,0,3752066.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Will this action expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba?

27.0%
Yes, President Bush is right (27 responses)

51.0%
No, this action will only benefit Fidel Castro (51 responses)

22.0%
I don't know (22 responses)

100 total responses

Florida’s U.S. senators urge Bush to forge ties in Latin America

WASHINGTON -- Florida's two U.S. senators are training a spotlight on U.S. policy on Latin America, saying Washington needs to pay more attention to its southern neighbors.
During the first term of the Bush administration, critics said the White House's focus on the war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Iraq war left diplomacy toward Latin America on the backburner.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-alatam15jan15,0,5127079.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Haitians, Latinos fear they’re profiling’s new faces

Immigration advocates accused some local and federal officials of using racial profiling as part of the stepped-up immigration enforcement that has sent widespread fear through South Florida's Hispanic and Haitian communities, an accusation immigration agents steadfastly deny.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-csweep15jan15,0,6297548.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

4,400 to lose jobs under DCF plan

TALLAHASSEE · State workers will continue to handle applications from people seeking food stamps, Medicaid, welfare and other benefits, but about 4,400 state jobs will be cut from the program by 2007, Gov. Jeb Bush said this week.
Workers in the Department of Children & Families created the plan to streamline the work that decides who among millions of poor Floridians is eligible for the Economic Self-Sufficiency program.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dcfreorg15jan15,0,4591339.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines>

The Gulf News

Democracy is essential for a viable Palestinian state

By Prof. As'ad Abdul Rahman, Special to Gulf News
Municipal elections have been one of the most talked about topics within Palestinian circles. The last time Palestinians chose their mayors, council members and village councils was back in 1976.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=147834

Key US figure in Iraq prisoner abuse found guilty

Reuters
Fort Hood, Texas: A military jury found U.S. soldier Charles Graner guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in a scandal that badly damaged America's worldwide reputation following the invasion of Iraq.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=147961

European probe lands on Saturn's moon

Agencies
Darmstadt, Germany: A European space probe successfully relayed scientific data about Saturn's moon Titan after making a soft landing yesterday, a space official said - a major triumph for Europe's space programme.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=147872

Health Talk

Painkiller Ads Mislead Consumers Says FDA
January 15, 2005
A letter issued to Pfizer by the US Food and Drug Administration warned ads for Celebrex and Bextra, both cox-2 inhibitors, overstated the benefits of the drugs and underestimated the associated risks.
The FDA cited five different print and television promotional ads, saying they mislead the public.

http://www.healthtalk.ca/fda_warning_letter_011505_3773.php

Peace Push in Sri Lanka, Banda Aceh

Tamil Tigers to meet Norwegian minister
15 January 2005 09:30
The political leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers has said it is very difficult to predict the outcome of next Wednesday's planned meeting between the Tigers' Commander and the Norwegian Foreign Minister.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0115/srilanka.html

Prabhakaran to meet Norway's foreign minister in peace push

http://www.manoramaonline.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=manorama/MmArticle/CommonFullStory&c=MmArticle&cid=1105780307329&channel=News&p=1002194839100&count=7

Rebels Recruiting Children, U.N. Says

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kidsoldier15jan15,1,3812930.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Amid disaster, hopes for peace
New aim to end Sri Lanka war
By Jehangir S. Pocha, Globe Correspondent January 15, 2005
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Humbled by the tsunami disaster, political leaders on both sides of the conflict in this devastated nation say they feel a renewed obligation to find a peaceful settlement to the long-running civil war between the government and the Tamil separatist group that controls most of the country's northeast.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/01/15/amid_disaster_hopes_for_peace/

In quake disaster's wake, problems and progress
Sri Lankan rebels were said to recruit children. Deaths rose, but in some areas, life was improving.
By Jeff Franks and Karima Anjani
Reuters
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - The United Nations said yesterday that it had reports Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were recruiting children displaced by the tsunami. It told the rebels to leave underage survivors alone.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/10650314.htm

continued this evening...