Morning Papers - continued...

"Bird On a Wire"


The Wichita Eagle

Park City man held in 17-year killing spree
BY HURST LAVIANA AND TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Police have booked Dennis Rader, 59, on 10 counts of suspicion of first-degree murder
A man suspected of being Wichita's BTK serial killer has been arrested and is now tied to 10 killings dating to 1974, Wichita police said Saturday. Dennis Rader, 59, has been booked on 10 counts of suspicion of first-degree murder, authorities said. He is expected to be charged this week.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/11002959.htm

Discussion Boards

http://forums.prospero.com/kr-kansas_news/start

BTK arrest, justice long in coming
Wichita slept easier last night, thanks to the diligence of law enforcement and the teamwork of multiple agencies. Three decades after the BTK strangler began his series of terrible crimes, and 11 months after he resumed his cat-and-mouse communications with media and police, the authorities believe they have caught BTK.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/11001646.htm

The Chicago Tribune

Gang-busting Chicago cop now hunts for insurgents
Jim Roussell finds that cracking the case as a Marine in Iraq isn't much different from tracking hometown crooks
By Mike Dorning, Tribune correspondent. Staff reporter David Heinzmann contributed from Chicago
Published February 27, 2005
MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq -- Jim Roussell and the Marines he works with broke the Abu Ali cell of the Iraqi insurgency in much the same way he caught gang leaders on Chicago's West Side.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0502270538feb27,1,2773144.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Wichita police arrest suspected `BTK' killer
By Jon Yates, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune news services contributed to this report. "Chilling words from a killer" sidebar by the Associated Press. "BTK Strangler timeline of events" sidebar from
Published February 27, 2005
WICHITA, Kan. -- Decades after he terrorized residents of this Midwestern city and days after his last letter taunting investigators, the serial killer known as the BTK Strangler has been arrested, police said Saturday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0502270509feb27,1,1790102.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Can Vatican run with an ill pope?
If he's incapacitated, pontiff can delegate authority to aides
By Tom Hundley, Tribune foreign correspondent. Tribune staff reporter Steve Kloehn contributed from Chicago
Published February 27, 2005
ROME -- For at least a decade, the Roman Catholic Church has learned to live with the physical limitations of its ailing leader, but Pope John Paul II's latest health crisis will undoubtedly intensify concerns about who runs the church when the pontiff is so obviously enfeebled.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0502270525feb27,1,1134740.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Bringing justice to Darfur
Published February 27, 2005
Diplomats at the UN are haggling over what set of judges will hear a war crimes case out of the tragedy in Darfur, which has taken some 70,000 lives. While the diplomats negotiate in New York, the presumed war criminals in Sudan go on with a program of rape and murder and the forced exodus of some 2 million people.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0502270439feb27,1,3476660.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

The World According to Wal-Mart

By BARRIE MCKENNA AND PETER KENNEDY
Thursday, February 24, 2005 Updated at 8:57 PM EST
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Wal-Mart's customer-sucking suburban superstores have long been blamed for wrecking small towns.
But suddenly the company has run smack into a new and more formidable foe: Big City North America.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050224.wwalmart0224/BNStory/Business/

Wal-Mart Loses $7.5 Million Discrimination Suit
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York jury awarded a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employee who suffers from cerebral palsy $7.5 million in a discrimination lawsuit, the worker's lawyer said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7731983

Wal-Mart executive in LA to promise more stores in California
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - After losing campaigns to build massive stores in Southern California last year, Wal-Mart officials were back in Los Angeles - vowing to continue their efforts to expand Supercenters in its most important growth market.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/10980193.htm

Labor: No deals for Wal-Mart
Diane Stafford's Feb. 17 Business Monday At Work column, Wal-Mart dances around law, could not be more wrong in suggesting that the U.S. Department of Labor's enforcement settlement against Wal-Mart was somehow a ''sweetheart deal'' for the company.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/10976431.htm

Japan Isn't Buying The Wal-Mart Idea
Its Seiyu affiliate is struggling to put Everyday Low Prices into practice
Time was, Japan had a well-deserved reputation as a black hole for foreign retailers. Its close-knit webs of suppliers, customers raised on high-cost department stores and mom-and-pop shops, and a Byzantine distribution system made Japan nearly impenetrable to outsiders. Three years ago, though, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT ) bought a stake in struggling Seiyu Ltd. as relaxed restrictions on retailers and changing consumer attitudes appeared to create an opening for its big box stores.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_09/b3922073.htm

Winn-Dixie files for Chapter 11; Wal-Mart effect blamed for woes
Southern icon must scale back, become nimbler, analysts say
By ELLIS MNYANDU
Reuters News Agency
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - Page B8

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050223/IBWINN23/TPBusiness/International

Developer Drops Plan for City's First Wal-Mart
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: February 24, 2005
Facing intense opposition, a large real estate developer has dropped its plans to include a Wal-Mart store in a Queens shopping complex, thwarting Wal-Mart's plan to open its first store in New York City, city officials and real estate executives said yesterday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/nyregion/24walmart.html?oref=login

Wal-Mart CEO Takes Offensive to Counter Critics
By Nichola Groom
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. went on the offensive on Wednesday against critics who say the world's largest retailer pays its workers too little and does not provide adequate health benefits.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7719928

Wal-Mart fun: College kids play football, more in aisles
Ann Zimmerman and Laura Stevens
Wall Street Journal
Feb. 23, 2005 02:34 PM
FLAGSTAFF - On a snowy Monday night recently, Northern Arizona University freshman Natalie Eickmeyer finished her studying and decided to go out and have some fun. So at 10 o'clock, after scouring a dormitory for participants, she and five friends headed to the Wal-Mart discount center.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0223Wal-Mart-Games-ON.html

Union supporters to rally at Colorado Wal-Mart
08:58 PM EST Feb 25
LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - Supporters of an effort to unionize part of a Wal-Mart store in Loveland, Colo., planned a demonstration outside the store Wednesday.
The 17 employees of the Wal-Mart's Tire and Lube Express section will vote Friday morning on whether to form a union. Wal-Mart opposed the vote, but the regional office of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruled last month in favour of the workers.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050223/w022346.html

The Wal-Mart Manifesto
The retail giant's CEO says his company pays workers handsomely. He doesn't want you to believe him.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005, at 9:14 AM PT
H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, argued in a speech yesterday in Los Angeles (click here to listen to it) that Wal-Mart is a force for good in the economy. Scott is hardly the first corporate chairman to echo "Engine" Charlie Wilson's claim that what's good for General Motors is good for America. And many independent observers have noted that Wal-Mart's relentless downward pressure on overhead has been a boon to American consumers. (In a recent New Yorker column, James Surowiecki took this further, arguing that the retail economy has become a sort of dictatorship of the consumer, and that Wal-Mart, which earns only pennies on each dollar of sales, is merely doing what it must to stay alive.)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2113954/

The Daily Mail and Guardian

Israel and Palestine condemn bombing
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas angrily accused a "third party" on Saturday of sabotaging the Middle East peace process by orchestrating the suicide bombing on Friday night, as Israel threatened a resumption of targeted killings of militants.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198412&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

Millions spent to grab Oscar glory
South Africa's eyes will be on Yesterday, Darrell Roodt's film nominated in the best foreign film category.

Sunday night's Oscar ceremony will be the most expensive privately funded bonanza of all time. The prize-giving event itself has been both remodelled and drastically cut in length in an attempt to shore up falling television ratings, but the promotional expenditure surrounding the annual awards has spiralled out of control.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198413&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

A city's gay activists defy conservatives
The Odyssey youth centre is hidden behind an unmarked door on an anonymous site near downtown Spokane. Nothing betrays its purpose to the outside world.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=198414&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

Police arrest 90 after Limpopo 'witch-hunt'
Ninety youths have been arrested in Giyani and one boy is dead after 39 houses were torched in what appeared to be a witch-hunt, Limpopo police said.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=198361

Jailed Journalists

Iranian blogger jailed for 14 years
By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 24th February 2005 09:30 GMT
An Iranian blogger accused of spying and counter-revolutionary activities has been jailed for 14 years. Newspaper editor Arash Sigarchi - whose blog criticised an Iranian crackdown on similar websites which has resulted in around 20 arrests - was himself cuffed in January on charges of "espionage, insulting the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, and current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei", the BBC reports.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/24/iranian_blogger_jailed/

Journalist is jailed for 14 years after 'insulting' authority
By Daniel Howden
25 February 2005
A prominent Iranian journalist and blogger has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges ranging from spying to aiding counter-revolutionaries. His sentence comes as part of the latest clerical crackdown on freedom of speech.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=614531

Tehran — A journalist has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for criticizing Iran's clerical rulers and working with a U.S.-funded radio station, his lawyer and a colleague said Thursday.

Charges against Arash Sigarchi include provoking people to riot through his writings, co-operating with hostile governments and counterrevolutionary groups and insulting the authorities, lawyer Mohammad Saifzadeh said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050224.wiran24/BNStory/International/

Turkish Prime Minister's Lawsuits Draw Cartoonists' Ire
Some fear an erosion of free speech after two artists are fined for satirical drawings.

By Amberin Zaman, Special to The Times
ANKARA, Turkey — This nation's best-known political cartoonists gathered in Istanbul on Wednesday to protest legal action taken by the prime minister against artists who criticized him through their work.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cartoon24feb24,1,5215576.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Jailed journalist faces new threats

The wife of jailed Sierra Leonean journalist Paul Kamara, Isatu Kamara, has received reports that her husband has been violently threatened by army officers, and fears that he may be killed.

http://www.indexonline.org/en/indexindex/articles/2005/1/sierra-leone-jailed-journalist-faces-new-thr.shtml

Iran jails blogger for 14 years

Millions of Iranians view the internet as a place to express themselves
An Iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries.
Arash Sigarchi was arrested last month after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists.
Mr Sigarchi, who also edits a newspaper in northern Iran, was sentenced by a revolutionary court in the Gilan area.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4292399.stm

IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists
Wednesday, 9 February 2005, 11:11 am
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists After Book Fair Censorship Sparks Free Expression Fears
The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0502/S00238.htm

Elizabeth Farnsworth reports from Iran on the reaction of democratic reformers to the U.S. government’s pressure on the ruling regime.
JIM LEHRER: Now, the second of Elizabeth Farnsworth's reports from Iran. This covers the reaction of democratic reformers to the U.S. Government's pressures on the ruling regime.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Dr. Mohammed Reza Khatami is a man of many talents. He's a physician, a kidney specialist, at a hospital in Tehran, and a key leader of what's left of Iran's reformist political movement. He founded the political party that brought his brother, also named Mohammed Khatami, to the presidency for two terms, promising reforms which would open Iran up to political debate and more democracy. Then, in 2000, Dr. Khatami received the most votes of anyone in parliamentary elections. With other reformists, he passed laws limiting key powers of the hard-line conservative clerics who oversee and often overrule elected officials here. But those clerics struck back. They vetoed the reformist laws and then, last year, banned Dr. Khatami and almost all the reformists from standing for election again.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june05/iran_2-25.html

F.C.C. to Review Decision on Sale of 4 Stations
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: February 26, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 - The Federal Communications Commission, in an abrupt about-face, has decided to reconsider a staff decision that allowed a prominent Oklahoma politician convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice to sell a group of radio stations, officials said on Friday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/business/media/26radios.html?

The Washington Post

Children Going Hungry

By David K. Shipler
Sunday, February 27, 2005; Page B07

If you spend a day in a malnutrition clinic, you will see a dismal parade of babies and toddlers who look much younger than they are. Underweight and developmentally delayed, they cannot perform normally for their ages. Some are so weak that when you hold them in a standing position, their knees buckle. When they lie on their stomachs, they cannot push themselves up. Long after they should be able to roll over, they can only flop around listlessly.

Doctors describe these conditions as "failure to thrive." If President Bush's budget is enacted, there will be many more children in America who fail to thrive.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54744-2005Feb25.html

A Plot Thickens
Three Decades After Chile's Right-Wing Coup, Historians Have Yet to Dot All the i's. But One Thinks He May Have Crossed a K.
By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 27, 2005; Page D01
What a dream. So bizarre. How strange to see himself shrunken, like a pocket-size person. But there he was, Kenneth Maxwell, renowned scholar, rendered a tiny creature trembling at the windswept ramparts of his dream. Gargantuan figures loomed above, gazing down on this mere morsel.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56719-2005Feb26.html

The Cheney Observer

Halliburton has successful field trial
Halliburton's Sperry Drilling Services announced the completion of two field trials of its third generation Geo-Pilot 5200 Series system.
The 5200 Series Geo-Pilot system completed its first field test for an operator in Canada, drilling the entire section (2,445 ft / 745 m) in 51 drilling hours, the company says. By choosing to use rotary steerable technology versus a conventional mud motor in the slimhole section of the well, the customer was able to eliminate the additional trip and rig time required to rearrange heavy-weight pipe, as is common in conventionally drilled horizontal wells.

http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/article_display.cfm?Section=ONART&C=TOPST&ARTICLE_ID=221948&p=9

Home > HALLIBURTON ADDS SMARTSECTION® SOFTWARE TO GEOGRAPHIX® TOOLKIT
HOUSTON, Texas – Halliburton Digital and Consulting Solutions, a division of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), announced today that it has acquired the smartSECTION® geologic software business from A2D Technologies, a TGS-NOPEC Company. SmartSECTION software provides the industry's leading raster image cross-section application and pioneered the use of depth-calibrated well log images for a faster, more affordable approach to high volume well log correlation and geologic interpretation.
i-Newswire, 2005-02-24 - "The acquisition of smartSECTION computer programs significantly expands the well log correlation and subsurface interpretation capabilities in our GeoGraphix® suite of software," said Jonathan Lewis, vice president, Innovation and Marketing, Halliburton Digital and Consulting Solutions. "Our customers, who are analyzing increasingly large volumes of log data, will significantly benefit from the ability of smartSECTION software to quickly identify unconformable and structural relationships."

http://i-newswire.com/pr7959.html

Home > HALLIBURTON COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL FIELD TRIAL OF GEO-PILOT® 5200 SERIES SLIMHOLE ROTARY STEERABLE SYSTEM
AMSTERDAM & HOUSTON, Texas – Sperry Drilling Services, a product service line of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), announced today the successful completion of two field trials of its third generation Geo-Pilot® 5200 Series system. With the addition of the 5200 Series system to the FullDrift® drilling suite, Sperry can offer a slim hole point-the-bit rotary steerable solution capable of significantly extending horizontal production sections and reaching small targets from existing structures. This can eliminate huge capital investments and extend the useful life of production facilities by restoring production levels.
i-Newswire, 2005-02-24 - The 5200 Series Geo-Pilot system completed its first field test for an operator in Canada, drilling the entire section ( 2,445 ft / 745m ) in 51 drilling hours. The system performed flawlessly over a wide range of deflection settings. By choosing to use rotary steerable technology versus a conventional mud motor in the slimhole section of the well, the customer was able to eliminate the additional trip and rig time required to rearrange heavy-weight pipe, as is common in conventionally drilled horizontal wells.

http://i-newswire.com/pr7960.html

Halliburton division acquires A2D software business
Monica Perin
Houston Business Journal
Halliburton Digital and Consulting Solutions, a division of Halliburton Co., said Wednesday it has acquired the geologic software business of A2D Technologies.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/02/21/daily34.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Bush looks for Russian soulmate of his first term
By Neil Buckley and James Harding
Published: February 23 2005 00:05 Last updated: February 23 2005 00:05
When President George W.Bush of the US sits down with Vladimir Putin on Thursday at a castle in Bratislava for their 12th meeting, he may once again be trying to peer into the soul of his Russian counterpart.
The relationship has cooled since Mr Bush first met Mr Putin in 2001 and declared he had looked into the Russian leader's eyes and seen the soul of someone he could trust.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f4a56126-852d-11d9-a172-00000e2511c8,dwp_uuid=d4f2ab60-c98e-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html

MPDCL to spell out Dabhol equity plan in HC today
SANJAY JOG
Posted online: Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

MUMBAI, FEB 23: The Maharashtra Power Development Corporation Ltd (MPDCL) on Thursday would spell out in the Bombay High Court its strategy on making payment of $9 million for picking up equity of the bankrupt Enron Corp in the now-fallen Dabhol Power Company (DPC).

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=83439

Alba commends last batch of 134 'Training for Bahrain' graduates
Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil and Chairman of Alba, Aluminium Bahrain honored the final batch of 'Training for Bahrain' graduates at a grand ceremony held in the Gulf International Convention & Conference Centre – Gulf Hotel.

http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/54555.html

WAM: Gasco, Bechtel sign $ 1.46 billion EPC agreement
Publication Date: Feb 23,2005, 15:08
SUMMARY: Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd. (GASCO) and Bechtel Corporation, USA signed the EPC Agreement for Onshore Gas Development Phase III (OGD III) Project on Feb 20 in ADNOC.
To access our complete articles and the entire site you must be a subscriber.
Webbolt Global Business News, Research & Intelligence is a highly selective, synthesized and customized business news service that is objective, informative, balanced, easily accessible and structured to save time.

http://webbolt.ecnext.com/coms2/description_44909_WAM2-230205_ENE

UAE steps up gas drive with $1.4b Bechtel deal
Khaleej Times - 23/02/2005

ABU DHABI — Abu Dhabi Company for Gas Industries (Gasco) yesterday concluded an agreement with US Company Bachtel to design, execute and operate the third phase of developing offshore Habshan Gas project costing $1.4 billion.
Others who bid for the contract included Paris-based Technip, Chiyoda Corporation JGC both from Japan.
The project would be completed in a maximum of 40 months time from conclusion of the contract, adding that production will commence in the first quarter of 2008.
The project targets the production of 125,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 12,000 tons of liquid natural gas and 3200 tons of Ethane gas.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=81349

Safety concerns raised at Darwin gas plant
Four hundred workers are gathered at the gates of Darwin's LNG project at Wickham Point because of safety concerns.
The workers have been gathering at the main entrance of the power operation since 7:30am.
Talks have started between the safety committee and Bechtel management.
Workers say there have been too many incidents putting their safety at risk.
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union says its members are not involved, and the dispute is strictly between the Australian Workers Union and Bechtel.
A spokeswoman for Bechtel says site managers are meeting with the AWU's senior organiser Francis Chambers to discuss the situation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1307300.htm

Main Event: American Energy Policy
BY ALEXANDER ZAITCHIK
ENVIRONMENT 11.1.2001
The smoke was still thick over Manhattan when the first jackals appeared. The world in shock, a motley crew of lobbyists and pundits crept toward the carcass of atrocity to pick at the meat and claim a piece of the spoils. With reality seemingly turned upside down, it was a fair assumption that there would be much up for grabs.

http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=164

Haiti's jailed ex-PM on hunger strike

By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Haiti's imprisoned former prime minister, Yvon Neptune, says he has started a hunger
strike to protest his detention.
Neptune, who was arrested eight months ago, said in a letter to several foreign ambassadors that he began the hunger
strike on Sunday and would continue it until he is freed by Haiti's interim government, which he said jailed him for political
reasons.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5564816

Schiavo debate taps into faith, fear
At issue: Quality of life and the manner of death.
By Sandy Bauers
Inquirer Staff Writer
Tens of thousands of e-mails and phone calls have surged into Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's office - 35,000 since Monday alone.
Hundreds of bloggers have weighed in.
Vigils have been held, talk-show guests have pontificated, politicians have weighed in.
The Vatican has launched an appeal. One advocacy group is raising money for newspaper advertisements.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/11000663.htm

RIGHT WING POLTICS AND THE LUDICROUS USE OF THE SCHIVO CASE. They are Anti-Constitutionalists. It is all too obvious. They don't believe in separation of Church and State seeking 'moralists' in office to dominate the politics removing rights from all others, using tactics that undermine the integrity of the USA Constitution while playing on human emotion of sympathy and fear. YOU COULD BE NEXT !!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOW CAN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE GREATEST NATION IN THE WORLD STAND BY AND WAIT FOR TERRI TO BE STARVED TO DEATH WITH OUT HEARING HER CASE?
Terri, America's Daughter....
By Kenneth Lewis, Publisher of ChristianNewsToday.com
Who is Terri?

Theresa Marie Schindler was born in Pennsylvania on December 3, 1963 to Mary and Robert Schindler. (Terri's baby picture)
Her parents tell stories of Terri's devotion to family pets and to animals of every sort. Her sister and brother label Terri a lover of music - especially piano.

http://www.christiannewstoday.com/CWN_140.html

Jeb Bush could save Terri's life ... if he wanted to
Posted: February 22, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Doc Washburn
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for the execution of Terri Schiavo, beginning today. She is the brain-damaged woman whose husband has been trying to starve and dehydrate her to death for years.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42971

100,000 PETITIONERS ASK
GOV. BUSH TO SAVE TERRI SCHIAVO
Dr. Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, will deliver to a representative of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush a petition containing
the names of over 100,000 people who have signed an online petition on behalf of Terri Schiavo at a press conference today at 2 p.m. (Feb. 25) on the Plaza Level of the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee, Fl.

http://www.theempirejournal.com/0225054_100.htm

Why JEB, if you take a look at the above article by siding with Anti-Constitutionalists and Religious Bigots you can pick up another 100 thousand votes !!

In Florida, Jeb Bush Down Slightly

CREDIT: Flag courtesy of ITA’s Flags of All Countries used with permission.
(Angus Reid Consultants - CPOD Global Scan) – Support for Jeb Bush fell this month in Florida, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 52 per cent of respondents in the Sunshine State approve of the governor’s performance, a three per cent drop since December.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=6097

Delay, Delay, Delay, Muddle, Muddle, Muddle
DANIEL RUTH
Published: Feb 27, 2005
It's merely a guess - and an admittedly presumptuous one, too - but here's some unsolicited advice for attorney George Felos - as long as Jeb Bush reigns over Florida, your client Michael Schiavo will never be permitted to allow his brain-damaged wife Terri to die.

http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB3HGSGO5E.html

Richmond Times Dispatch

House wants to lift ban, seek natural gas offshore
BY GREG EDWARDS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 24, 2005
Virginia's House of Delegates agreed yesterday to seek the opening of waters off Virginia's Atlantic coast for natural-gas exploration and production.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031781208842&path=%21news%21politics&s=1045855935264&tacodalogin=no

ABC

Democrats urge more assistance for Corby
The Federal Government has again been accused of not doing enough to help a Gold Coast woman who is standing trial in Indonesia on drugs charges.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1310942.htm

Life News

Arlen Specter Wants Deal With Pro-Abortion Democrats on Pro-Life Judges
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Senator Arlen Specter wants to strike a deal with pro-abortion Democrats who oppose a slate of 20 pro-life judges President Bush recently gave to the Senate for confirmation. Specter is also concerned about the effects of the so-called "nuclear option" and instead wants to try his hand at dealmaking first.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat1205.html

Keeping the Democracy in Democrat

Once reliably Republican, New England now backs Democrats
BY STEVENSON SWANSON
Chicago Tribune
BOSTON - (KRT) - In the coloring-book view of American politics, where Republican states are red and Democratic states are blue, the map of New England has undergone a shade shift.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10538254.htm

Democrats call Smith no-show on assisted suicide
02:27 PM PST on Thursday, February 24, 2005
By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The lack of comment from Republican Sen. Gordon Smith on a Supreme Court decision this week to take up the Bush administration challenge of Oregon's landmark assisted suicide law is drawing criticism from Democrats and advocates of the law.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_022405_politics_assisted_suicide.ddeaf2b4.html

Democrats ask DA to investigate Kline's meetings with board
JOHN HANNA
Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - Two Democratic legislators asked Shawnee County's district attorney Thursday to investigate private meetings between Attorney General Phill Kline and State Board of Education members.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, and Rep. Paul Davis, of Lawrence, said Kline hasn't provided enough information to show the gatherings were allowed under the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10984181.htm

Some Democrats Not Pleased With Easley's Budget
Many Upset Over Certain Suggested Tax Increases
POSTED: 4:54 pm EST February 24, 2005
UPDATED: 5:17 pm EST February 24, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -- With nearly $1 billion in new spending and millions of dollars in higher taxes, it is not surprising Republicans are critical of Gov. Mike Easley's budget plan. However, the criticism is coming across party lines from Democrats as well.

http://www.wral.com/news/4230120/detail.html

Hollywood Bets on Chris Rock's 'Indecency'
Published: February 27, 2005

THE total box office for all five best-picture nominees on Sunday's Oscars is so small that their collective niche in the national cultural marketplace falls somewhere between square dancing and non-Grisham fiction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/arts/27RICH.html

Sydney Morning Herald

West Bank curfew after four killed in club blast
By Jonathan Saul and AP
February 27, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Israeli troops imposed a curfew on a West Bank village yesterday, arresting five people and telling a family that their son was the suicide bomber who earlier killed four people in an attack on a Tel Aviv nightclub, Palestinian security officials said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Middle-East-Conflict/West-Bank-curfew-after-four-killed-in-club-blast/2005/02/26/1109180165018.html

New AIDS-type virus in Africa
February 27, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Two new retroviruses never before seen in humans have turned up among people who regularly hunt monkeys in Cameroon, researchers say.
As with AIDS, these viruses insert their genetic material directly into cells and perhaps even into a person's or animal's chromosomes.
Closely related versions of the viruses cause leukaemia and inflammatory and neurological diseases.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University plan to focus on Central Africa.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Health/New-AIDStype-virus-in-Africa/2005/02/26/1109180166837.html

RA expels 3 over killing
February 27, 2005
The Sun-Herald

The Irish Republican Army has expelled three members accused of last month's murder of a fellow Catholic in a bar in Belfast.
The rare, if not unprecedented, expulsions followed a high-profile campaign by the family of the victim, Robert McCartney, 33, to bring the killers to justice.
Two of the three were high-ranking. However, the IRA army council said it had not ordered the killing and warned against anyone trying to intimidate his family.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/IRA-expels-3-over-killing/2005/02/26/1109180166834.html

Unwanted Pregnancies

Free condoms Monday to Sunday
John Nowakowski
For the Kaimin
Condoms in the morning, condoms in the evening, students can get condoms anytime. There is no reason for students living in the dorms to have unprotected sex, thanks to the efforts of volunteers with Condom Access for Responsible Encounters.

http://www.kaimin.org/viewarticle.php?id=4050

Self-abortion kills woman
February 25, 2005
A 23-year-old woman from Talisay City died in an apparent unsuccessful attempt to abort the child she had been carrying in her womb by herself.
The woman, Claudeth Aviles, was found by relatives in a pool of blood in her own home in barangay Lagtang , a fetus still lodged in her sex organ.

http://www.thefreeman.com/local/index.php?fullstory=1&issue=articles_20050225&id=27934

Contraceptive coverage gaining in Legislature
By David Steves

The Register-Guard
SALEM - The Oregon Legislature renewed one of its most long-running debates Thursday, when a Senate committee passed a bill that would require health insurers to cover contraceptives.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/02/25/c1.cr.contraceptives.0225.html

Consumers rally for birth control
Champaign group holds meeting to raise awareness of emergency contraception
The Champaign County Health Care Consumers are holding a community meeting today at the Illinois Disciples Foundation, 610 E. Springfield Ave ., from 7 to 9 p.m. in support of improved access for women to emergency contraception.
Destiny Lopez, director of the Emergency Contraception (E.C.) Access Campaign, will be the night's keynote speaker. Lopez has been instrumental in helping to raise awareness about E.C. and to pass several bills in the New York legislature dealing with E.C. access.

http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2005/02/24/News/Consumers.Rally.For.Birth.Control-875819.shtml

Sex & GOP 'Values'
Thu Feb 24, 2:49 PM ET

Op/Ed - The Nation
The Editors
Mourning the loss of "moral values" voters, Democratic leaders have been softening the party's language on reproductive rights. In a recent speech, Senator Hillary Clinton (news - web sites) called abortion "a sad, even tragic choice for many," praised faith-based programs and said, "the jury is still out" on abstinence-only education. New DNC chair Howard Dean (news - web sites), meanwhile, said the party ought to make space for "pro-life" Democrats and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has actively courted at least two of them for key Senate races in 2006. These gestures, along with the ascension of antichoice Senate minority leader Harry Reid, have prochoice groups rightly concerned about the party's will and ability to defend reproductive rights.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2281&ncid=742&e=1&u=/thenation/20050224/cm_thenation/20050314editors

Seeing both sides in ‘Vera Drake'
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
Conventional wisdom holds that the Oscar-nominated “Vera Drake,” now entering its third week at the Tivoli in Westport, is an “abortion-rights” movie.
Mike Leigh's drama is about a cheery London housewife circa 1950 who has a secret life as a back-alley abortionist. And certainly many of those who have purchased tickets to “Vera” fall into the abortion-rights camp.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/robert_w_butler/10972246.htm

Sex education policy at LISD remains controversial
By Katherine Amerson/The University Daily
February 24, 2005
Teaching an abstinence-only education policy in the Lubbock Independent School System, as well as across Texas, has proved to have an adverse effect on teenagers, said Planned Parenthood Development Officer Tina Brogan.

The unwanted pregnancy rate and the sexually transmitted disease rate in Lubbock is disturbing, Brogan said.

http://www.universitydaily.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/24/421d634a374e6

Consumers rally for birth control
Champaign group holds meeting to raise awareness of emergency contraception
By Nick Escobar
Published: Thursday, February 24, 2005
The Champaign County Health Care Consumers are holding a community meeting today at the Illinois Disciples Foundation, 610 E. Springfield Ave ., from 7 to 9 p.m. in support of improved access for women to emergency contraception.
Destiny Lopez, director of the Emergency Contraception (E.C.) Access Campaign, will be the night's keynote speaker. Lopez has been instrumental in helping to raise awareness about E.C. and to pass several bills in the New York legislature dealing with E.C. access.

http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2005/02/24/News/Consumers.Rally.For.Birth.Control-875819.shtml

Abortion rights under attack:
Why are the Democrats giving up?
February 25, 2005 Page 12
ELIZABETH SCHULTE looks at the Democrats’ retreat on a woman’s right to choose.
A WOMAN’S right to abortion is one of the few issues where the Democrats can still claim that they look different from the Republicans. But for how much longer?

http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-1/532/532_12_AbortionRights.shtml


I was appalled to say the least by this article. Everything is black and white with no shades of gray. People always want to pigeon hole sexuality and control it. Do women have brains? Do they have self directed will? Do they hide their 'birth control' pills in the back of the underwear draw as they put on their Catholic School Girl Uniform at the age of seventeen years old? Yes, they do.

I went to a public school system. I did well. I was social. Good heavens I participated in underage drinking, had a date for the prom and went to the gynecologist at the age of seventeen years old for my first birth control pills. I dated the same young man from then on. He was in college and we were married the summer he was entering his Senior year. My mother always thought I was a perfect child and a virgin when I got married. I don't why? Denial I guess. I used to stay overnight at the college. I mean where did she think I slept? In the car? I used birth control until the age of 23 when we 'cognitively' decided to have our first child.

You know, I had a friend who lived across the road from me. She attended a Catholic School all her life. She used to 'moon' guys out the window of her school bus. I never did that. She knew what condoms were and how to use them long before I did. She was always willing to entertain my imagination with her stories a many to improve my competency. She was sexually active at the age of sixteen and had a 'little black book' that was not at all little. She wore uniforms to school everyday to classes. I didn't. I wore underwear everyday with my clothes. She didn't. She went on weekend trips with the competition band. I didn't. I went to college. She didn't.

This article is so bad for the imagine a woman has of herself that it should be outlawed. It stereotypes and seeks control where the control never existed in the first place. When women grow up with healthy ideas of sexuality and sensuality they turn out to be responsible for their sexual activity and their sexual health to the point where their mother's actually believe they are virgins to the day they get wed. Young women mature at different rates and in different ways. When a young woman feels ready, safe and secure in herself she should have the choice of keeping her virginity or not. They needs to make their own moral decision regarding the feelings they are having with burgeoning needs and desires. Sexuality does not wait for a calendar date to manifest. A woman is her own person and that is why a society has a responsibility to provide her a safety net.

This is irresponsible stereotyping of women that never works but only serves to cause self-esteem issues resulting in behaviors that are not necessarily healthy.

A Man's Debate: Nice Lucy vs. Sexy Sally
By Christian Savage
Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2005
"When a young man walks the streets of life, there are two types of women that he must choose from in deciding which one to court: Nice Lucy over here and Sexy Sally over there; the Christian gentlemen will choose Nice Lucy, while the unbeliever would choose the latter," are the fiery words of the immortal sermon delivered by Pastor Jack Raeside of Beacon Bible Church in the Bronx. First and foremost, based on Pastor Raeside's sermon, what is the fundamental difference between Nice Lucy and Sexy Sally?

http://www.mcquadrangle.org/news/2005/02/23/Perspectives/A.Mans.Debate.Nice.Lucy.Vs.Sexy.Sally-874784.shtml

This is manipulative government. Mr. Kline is playing politics with women's privacy. You'll excuse me but most physicians are directed by their state licensing agencies to come forward to protect minors in abuse situations. Any of the 90 cases he is seeking invasion of privacy fell under 'Reporting Laws.' These are standard laws and the citation below is specific for Kansas. If a physician performs abortions it does not mean he breaks the law. Quite the contrary. They practice under rights allowed them. They obey all laws and would not think twice to of reporting any and all child abuse. The Kansas State Attorney General Mr. Kline is abusing his power of office to make a false case for invasion of privacy.

State-Specific Information Search Results: Kansas

http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/general/statespecific/results.cfm?state=%27KS%27&Laws=1&phonenums=1&calendar=1&submit=Submit

Kan. AG seeks late-term abortion records
By JOHN MILBURN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline speaks during a news conference in his office, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005, in Topeka, Kan. Kline is seeking the complete medical records of nearly 90 women who received late-term abortions to search for evidence of crimes, according to court documents. (AP Photo/The Topeka Capital-Journal, NIck Krug)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Kansas attorney general, a staunch opponent of abortion, has demanded the medical records of nearly 90 woman and girls who had late-term abortions, saying he needs the material to investigate crimes.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Abortion%20Investigation

`Pro-life' Romney rankles anti-abortion activists
By David R. Guarino
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Anti-abortion activists chided Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio] yesterday for his new, self-attached ``pro-life'' label, saying efforts to appeal to conservatives are in vain because his position mirrors that of liberal Democrat Sen. John F. Kerry [related, bio].

http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=70103

Feminist Daily News Wire
February 24, 2005
Supreme Court Refuses to Reconsider Abortion Rights Decision
On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe, to overturn the landmark case she won in 1973 that legalized abortion. The justices rejected McCorvey’s bid to reopen Roe v. Wade without comment or recorded dissent, reports Reuters. The move is not surprising, according to the Los Angeles Times, as the reopening of a case due to “changed circumstances” rarely occurs. McCorvey’s case is based on anecdotal “evidence” that abortion harms women.

http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8918

The law is the law.

Jesuit Gonzaga University Favours Gay and Pro-Abortion Campus Clubs, Persecutes Christians
SPOKANE, February 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Gonzaga University, the Catholic college in Spokane, Washington, owned and run by the Jesuit order, has made its stand on the side of abortion supporters and homosexual activists against Catholic and pro-life groups on campus.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05022403.html

Pure politics.

Abortion foes hail House vote
Measure requring 24-hour waiting period passes and proceeds to Senate
By CARLOS CAMPOS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/24/05
Legislation aimed at reducing abortion in Georgia easily passed the House on Wednesday and will head to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 197 had bipartisan support in a 139-35 vote, though all 35 dissenters were Democrats.
The bill would require women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours after being informed by a doctor of the medical risks of the procedure, gestational development of a fetus, fetal pain and alternatives including adoption.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/legis05/0205/24legabortion.html

Anti-abortion bills advance in S.D. Legislature
Lawmakers hear from both sides of issue
By Joe Kafka
Associated Press Writer
PIERRE - A trio of anti-abortion bills drew impassioned but polite testimony Wednesday in the Legislature from those on sharply opposite sides of the highly emotional issue.

http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/10979170.htm

Late-abortion ban defeated
Committee cites harm to doctor-patient confidentiality
By Melissa Cassutt
Denver Post Staff Writer
The House Judiciary Committee defeated a proposed bill criminalizing late-term abortions Thursday, saying the bill penalized doctors and interfered with the doctor-patient relationship.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~61~2731160,00.html

Bill would augment abortion instruction
Women who want an abortion in Indiana would be told they can view an ultrasound of the fetus and hear the heartbeat, if there is one, before going ahead with the procedure, under a bill approved Thursday by the Indiana Senate.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/224903-5822-009.html

I THINK MOST 'MEN' are personally opposed to abortion. They don't have the investment.

Howard Dean says “Personally Opposed” to Abortion is Pro-Choice, not Pro-Life
NEW YORK, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Howard Dean, immortalized by the yell that ended his run at the Democratic nomination, has inadvertently put his finger on a long-standing controversy between pro-lifers and nominally Catholic politicians. Dean, now the Democratic National Committee chairman, was speaking to students at Cornell University when he let slip that politicians know perfectly well that one of their most cherished sound bites is a gross deception.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05022504.html

Abortion tops 1st talk with public by Swann
Friday, February 25, 2005
BY PETER L. DeCOURSEY
Of The Patriot-News
GREENSBURG - Former football star Lynn Swann said last night that he was a conservative who opposed abortion, but that he was still forming his campaign positions.
On most issues, Swann said he was planning to "talk to the people across this state to find out what they want" from a Republican candidate for governor.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/110932682014210.xml

Abortion a 30-something choice
Feb 25 2005
Aled Blake, Western Mail

THE number of women having abortions in their 30s has doubled in the past three decades.
The trend for women to get married later and to be more career focused is believed to have had an impact in persuading women that abortions are an option, even when they may be more financially settled.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=15229280&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=abortion-a-30-something-choice-name_page.html

Abortion Law Filed, Poll Results
by Jessica Cervantez
We now have the final results of our web poll about the newly filed abortion bill being considered by Texas lawmakers.

http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=2995873&nav=2FH5WnGC

concluding...

Morning Papers - concluding

Lighthouse that guards the entrance to Praia Bay, the Azores, Portugal

The New York Times

Sharon Says Diplomatic Progress Hinges on Palestinian Action

JERUSALEM, Feb. 27 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that there would be no progress in peace efforts until the Palestinian leadership acted against armed factions, while Israeli security officials warned that they could resume strikes against Islamic Jihad, the group behind the latest suicide bombing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/international/middleeast/27cnd-mideast.html?hp>

Islamic Jihad Says It Was Behind Tel Aviv Bombing
By GREG MYRE
Published: February 27, 2005

JERUSALEM, Feb. 26 - The radical Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide bombing a day earlier in Tel Aviv that threatened a fragile truce, and the group suggested that more such attacks were likely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/international/middleeast/27mideast.html

Sharon Says Diplomatic Progress Hinges on Palestinian Action
By GREG MYRE
Published: February 27, 2005

ERUSALEM, Feb. 27 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that there would be no progress in peace efforts until the Palestinian leadership acted against armed factions, while Israeli security officials warned that they could resume strikes against Islamic Jihad, the group behind the latest suicide bombing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/international/middleeast/27cnd-mideast.html?hp

Anti-Semitism

How the U.N. Can Help Fight Anti-Semitism
By Hillel C. Neuer
IHC Abstract
The U.N.’s unprecedented commemoration of the liberation of Nazi death camps may offer glimmers of hope for the Jewish people. The U.N. nonetheless remains a far cry from fulfilling a leadership role in communicating resolve to fight hatred against Jews. The U.N. cannot credibly fight antisemitism in the world when within its own walls it actually fosters it. Neuer provides a sobering reminder of the manifold ways in which the U.N. operates to exclude Israel from its many forums as well as to single Israel out for discriminatory treatment. Only when the U.N. takes certain measures to change the U.N.’s anti-Israel position can it truly boast leadership in confronting the global disease of antisemitism.

http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=5/a/140220051

A World Without Israel
By Josef Joffe
IHC Abstract
A few years back some prominent historians took a stab at constructing “counter-histories.” Their task was not to retell a story from a different perspective thus adding balance to historical controversy, rather they were asked to approach a historical situation with a change in the underlying facts. For example, what would have been the outcome of World War II if Lord Halifax rather than Winston Churchill had succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of Great Britain?
The exercise, as you can imagine, is speculative and the conclusions reached are very tenuous. Recently Josef Joffe used this devise to picture a world without Israel. “Imagine that Israel never existed. Would the economic malaise and political repression that drive angry young men to become suicide bombers vanish? Would the Palestinians have an independent state? Would the United States, freed of its burdensome ally, suddenly find itself beloved throughout the Muslim world? Wishful thinking. Far from creating tensions, Israel actually contains more antagonisms than it causes.”

http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/iv/140220051

The Future of Judaism
By Daniel Pipes
IHC Abstract
Non-Orthodox Judaism in the U.S. is diminishing and Jewish Orthodoxy appears to be coming of age and gradually replacing the former. The Orthodox proportion of American synagogue members, for example, went from 11 percent in 1971 to 16 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2000-01. While Pipes notes the positive implications of this growth, he nevertheless marks the task set ahead for the Orthodox community, which for too long has been steeped in parochial interests and shirked wider communal responsibilities. With fewer non-Orthodox Jews to lobby the Jewish cause and combat antisemitism in the political arena, Orthodox Jews will have to broaden their agenda to include political activism that until now has been the domain of secular Jews.

http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/viii/140220052

France Bans Iran's Sahar TV For Airing Antisemitic Programs
by MEMRI
As part of its mission, the MEMRI TV Monitor Project (www.memritv.org) focuses on antisemitism on Arab and Iranian television channels. From December 2004 through February 2005, MEMRI TV translated and released clips from 'Zahra's Blue Eyes,' an Iranian series on Sahar TV that depicts Israeli government, military, and civilian personnel (all dressed in the traditional clothing of religious Jews) conspiring to steal the eyes of Palestinian children. The series was produced by a former official of the Iranian Education Ministry.

http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/news/lateststories/?disp_feature=hz090f.var

Forward

Hip-hop Mogul's Ad Campaign Fuels Feud Between Groups
By Eric J. Greenberg
February 18, 2005
The announcement that hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is spearheading a celebrity-driven campaign to fight antisemitism has triggered a feud between two national Jewish organizations dedicated to promoting tolerance.
At issue is the participation of Simmons in the "I Am a Jew" ad campaign of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, a New York-based group founded by Rabbi Marc Schneier that has focused largely on improving black-Jewish relations. The Anti-Defamation League issued a press release this week criticizing Simmons, the legendary recording executive who serves as chairman of the foundation, for failing to publicly distance himself from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

http://www.forward.com/articles/2719

French, American Communal Aides in New Spat
By MARC PERELMAN
February 18, 2005
In the latest incarnation of trans-Atlantic Jewish tensions, the leader of the French Jewish umbrella organization is blasting a rich Californian philanthropist for accusing European Jewish groups of offering only a tepid response to antisemitism.

http://www.forward.com/articles/2717

Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial in the Iranian Media
By MEMRI
IHC Abstract
This article reveals the pervasive, tenacious and expanding role of antisemitism in Iran. All the common, horrific myths about Jews taking over the world, causing every cataclysm and giving rise to every known evil, crop up regularly in presentations aimed at the entire nation. The sources range from TV soaps to interviews with “experts” - university professors and Holocaust deniers from inside and outside the country. To this mendacious morass are added some new ingredients: many of the alleged Jewish evils are said to underlie Israel’s plot to deprive Palestinians of their land, their freedom and even their body parts! In particular, Holocaust denial is gaining ground, the major allegation being that the mass murder of Jews is a fabrication used by the West to cover up Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians.

http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=5/d/240220051

Bush Mum After Saudis' Antisemitic Comments
By MARC PERELMAN
February 25, 2005
Democrats are slamming President Bush for failing to condemn antisemitic remarks made during a high-level counterterrorism conference in Saudi Arabia that was attended by his top homeland security adviser.

http://www.forward.com/articles/2748

Beyond Research: Ansky's Chronicle of Tenderness
NONFICTION
By Alyssa Quint
February 25, 2005
The Enemy at His Pleasure: A Journey Through the Jewish Pale of Settlement During World War I
By S. Ansky
Edited and Translated By Joachim Neugroschel
Metropolitan Books, 352 pages, $30.
On January 1, 1915, an article was published in a Warsaw-based Yiddish newspaper that appealed to its readers to record their experiences:
We must become the historians of our part... otherwise our account will be empty, and neither people nor history will owe us anything... others — total strangers — will write for us and in our names. And among those strangers we have so few friends.

http://www.forward.com/articles/2730

Private Health Care in Jails Can Be a Death Sentence

Brian Tetrault was 44 when he was led into a dim county jail cell in upstate New York in 2001, charged with taking some skis and other items from his ex-wife's home. A former nuclear scientist who had struggled with Parkinson's disease, he began to die almost immediately, and state investigators would later discover why: The jail's medical director had cut off all but a few of the 32 pills he needed each day to quell his tremors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/nyregion/27jail.html?hp&ex=1109566800&en=f814d917b2991c35&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The SAME, OLD, DUMB stupid stuff ALL THE TIME !!

For Bush, a Long Embrace of Social Security Plan
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: February 27, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 - The conservative economists and public policy experts who trooped in to brief George W. Bush on Social Security not long after he was re-elected governor of Texas in 1998 came with their own ideas about how to overhaul the retirement program. But they quickly found that Mr. Bush, who was well into preparations for his first presidential race and had invited them to Austin for the discussion, already knew where he was headed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/politics/27social.html?hp&ex=1109566800&en=1099b8d96c35e623&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Good Idea !

Kurds Vow to Retain Militia as Guardians of Autonomy
By EDWARD WONG
Published: February 27, 2005

SARAI SUBHAN AGHA, Iraq, Feb. 23 - The camouflage-clad militiamen marched down from the mountains in four columns of hundreds each, stomping their boots in unison.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/international/middleeast/27militia.html

Air Quality Officials' Group Protests Senator's Actions
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Published: February 27, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 - At the end of his testimony on the Clear Skies Act of 2005 last month, an Ohio official representing two national groups of state and local air quality regulators told a Senate subcommittee on the environment that he would be happy to respond in writing to any additional questions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/politics/27enviro.html

Climate Change

CLIMATE CHANGE:
Colombia Gearing Up to Do Its Bit
Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA, Feb 24 (IPS) - Colombia is set to begin systematically measuring the impact of climate change on its remarkably diverse territory, which ranges from Caribbean and Pacific coastal regions to snow-capped Andes mountains and tropical Amazon rainforest, in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.
A five-year Integral National Adaptation Pilot Project (INAP), to be designed this year and to go into effect in early 2006, will be ”the first climate change adaptation project in the world,” according to Colombian officials.

http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=27606

After Kyoto, winds of change will blow through the business sector

Western Daily Press, 23 February 2005 - Energy efficiency has muscled its way to the top of the business agenda in the early weeks of 2005. With the long-awaited Kyoto Protocol on climate change coming into effect last week, the issue was already at the front of West business leaders' minds. However, anticipated rises in energy costs of around 25 per cent in the pipeline this year and next mean that reducing electricity and gas consumption is now a key business objective for many companies, even if concern for the environment isn't.

http://www.sustain-online.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?MenuId=1&ClickMenu=&doOpen=1&type=DocDet&ObjectId=MTMzMjI

Canada Green Building Council Praises Federal "Climate Change" Budget

"This budget contains a serious commitment to meeting our Kyoto obligations", says CaGBC president Alex Zimmerman
VICTORIA, Feb. 23 /CNW/ - The Canada Green Building Council today praisedthe federal government for their budget commitments to lowering domesticgreenhouse gas emissions and meeting Canada's Kyoto commitments."There has been a lot of talk up until now about meeting our Kyotoobligations but this budget contains a serious commitment in terms of dollarsand that is very positive", said CaGBC president Alex Zimmerman. "Canada canbe a world leader in greenhouse gas reduction and a world leader insustainable development. This is a win for the economy and for theenvironment."
Budget highlights include:
- $1 billion to establish a "Clean Fund" to encourage the mostcost-effective projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions andstimulate more action to reduce GHGs.
- $225 million to quadruple the number of homes retrofitted under theEnerGuide for Houses Retrofit Incentive program.
- At total of $1.81 billion over the next 15 years to encourageinvestment in wind other renewable energy sources.
- A recognition that greening the Government of Canada's buildings isthe lowest cost source of emission reductions as part of the FederalHouse in Order initiative, which seeks to lower direct GHG emissionslevels from federal government operations.
- $300 million provided to enrich the Green Municipal Funds, whichmake investment in innovative local green projects.
Zimmerman also pledged that the Canada Green Building Council willcontinue working with the Government of Canada to meet emissions targets. Thefederal government has played an important role in supporting the Council byproviding funding to sponsor the implementation of the LEED Canada ratingsystem. LEED is a voluntary, market-driven rating system developed to providea standard benchmark and certification for the design and construction ofgreen buildings. Research has shown that LEED certified buildings use onaverage 30% less energy than conventional buildings.
"Over thirty percent of Canada's greenhouse gases come from constructingand operating commercial and residential buildings", continued Zimmerman. "Webelieve that some of the lowest cost and most significant green house gasreductions will come from this sector."
"The Canada Green Building Council is working hard to educate thebuildings industry on the economic and environmental benefits of greenbuildings. The federal government must continue to pursue creative andinnovative ways to encourage green design and construction as well asretrofits of existing commercial and residential buildings across thecountry."
"Public and consumer demand for green buildings and healthier,sustainable communities is rapidly growing," concluded Zimmerman. "It's smartfor this government to respond to that demand."
The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) is a non-profit group thatexists to accelerate the design and construction of Green Buildings acrossCanada. The Council is a broad-based inclusive coalition of both public andprivate sector representatives from different segments of the design andbuildings industry.
For more information about green building and the Canada Green BuildingCouncil, please visit us at www.cagbc.org.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2005/23/c7947.html

Climate change summit set for Montreal
Thousands of delegates from around the world to arrive next December
By Francesco Veronesi
In December, Canada will play host to a world summit on climate change. The announcement came last week from Prime Minister Paul Martin in Montreal, the city designated as the seat of the event that will bring together over 6,000 delegates representing 160 countries. "Here in Montreal," said Martin, "the nations of the world will work together to tackle the problems of climate change. I'm convinced that this initiative will lead to very important results."

http://www.tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4971

Gambling on global warming
February 25, 2005
INSURANCE Australia Group's Mike Hawker and QBE's Frank O'Halloran have sharply contrasting views on the likely pattern of future weather-related insurance disasters. One of them must be wrong.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12362371%5E16946,00.html

Coming in from the cold over global warming?
Fiona Harvey
2/25/2005

THE latest study to suggest that global warming is a real phenomenon, and one caused by human action, adds further weight to a body of scientific evidence that has been accumulating steadily in recent months, as research institutions and governments have made the issue a higher priority.

http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=2/25/2005&section_id=4&newsid=13500&spcl=no

Aspen Looks To 'Canary Initiative' In Global Warming Effort
Feb 24, 2005 7:37 am US/Mountain
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) Aspen could become a showcase town in the fight against global warming if a far-reaching, multimillion-dollar campaign currently being considered by city and local environmental leaders is implemented.

http://news4colorado.com/localnews/local_story_055094322.html

Ski Areas Lead in Addressing Global Warming
Lakewood, CO (Thursday, February 24, 2005) - Ski resorts across the U.S. are educating guests about the potential impacts of global warming on snow sports, enlisting athletes to help spread the word, and spotlighting solutions to global warming in their own operations.

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/news/stories/110922701553182.shtm

New York Governor Announces Milestone In Protection Of The Albany Pine Bush Preserve
Land Acquisitions Help Fulfill Governor's Goal of 3,000 Acres for Preserve
February 23, 2005 -- Governor George E. Pataki today announced the State has reached a milestone in its conservation of the Albany Pine Bush Preserve with the addition of 70 acres in the Town of Colonie, expanding the size of the Preserve to a total of 3,010 acres. The announcement exceeds the goal set by Governor Pataki to protect 3,000 acres in the Preserve.

http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-6676.html

THIS is Global Warming. It gets much colder before it gets 'HOTTER' because the ice caps are attempting to cool Earth down. Once the Ice Caps and Ice Fields of Earth can no longer compensate for the heating it won't be cold anymore.

Global warming or global cooling?
SWAMINOMICS/SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005 12:14:16 AM ]
Almost as soon as the Kyoto Protocol on global warming came into effect on February 15, Kashmir suffered the highest snowfall in three decades with over 150 killed, and Mumbai recorded the lowest temperature in 40 years. Had temperatures been the highest for decades, newspapers would have declared this was proof of global warming. But whenever temperatures drop, the press keeps quiet.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1034077.cms

Face facts on global warming
It amazes me to no end how willfully ignorant people can be. It is appalling how many people completely disregard the serious threat global warming poses to our planet, our posterity and ourselves.

http://www.chicoer.com/Stories/0,1413,135~27922~2733680,00.html

Ski Resorts Celebrate Winter, Fight Global Warming
February 25, 2005

Lakewood, Colo. (Ski Press)-Ski resorts across the country are educating guests about the potential impacts of global warming on snow sports, enlisting athletes to help spread the word, and spotlighting solutions to global warming in their own operations.

http://www.skipressworld.com/us/en/daily_news/2005/02/ski_resorts_celebrate_winter_fight_global_warming.html?cat=Resorts

Middle School Kids Hold Global Warming Protest
52 Horizon Academy Students Line Streets On Isleta
POSTED: 1:27 pm MST February 25, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Dozens of seventh- and eighth-graders took to the pavement Friday morning to protest the threat of global warming.
About 52 Horizon Academy students lined the streets along Isleta Boulevard to have their voices heard.

http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/4233722/detail.html

Global warming threat increasing
Environmental Agenda
By Kristin Plys
February 25, 2005
Many days this past winter have been unseasonably warm. Often, we on the East Coast have reached record high temperatures. In the news-media, meteorologists exclaim how great it is that we're having a mild winter season this year and citizens are content to keep their coats and hats stored away.

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/25/421e663d785be

The New Zealand Herald

Washington in u-turn over Iran’s nuclear programme

27.02.05 1.00pm
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington

The US is embarking on a major rethink of its policy towards Iran, which could see it dropping the strategy of confrontation and threat, instead offering Tehran incentives for abandoning its suspected nuclear ambitions.
The striking change of policy emerged during President Bush’s fence-mending trip to Europe last week, when for the first time he indicated that Washington endorsed the tripartite effort by France, Britain and Germany to reach a deal with Iran, offering technology in return for an end to its uranium enrichment programme.

Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112834>

Pope misses Sunday prayers for first time

27.02.05

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul will remain in his Rome hospital room on Sunday while for the first time in his papacy an aide will preside at his weekly Angelus prayer and bless crowds for him miles away at the Vatican.

Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112826>

Sketchy science of quake prediction

26.02.05
By MAGGIE FOX

Think scientists are close to being able to predict earthquakes? Well think again, US experts said this week.
The magnitude 9 quake off Sumatra that triggered the devastating Boxing Day tsunami was a potent reminder that while it is easy to say where big quakes will happen, pinning one down to a day, a week or even a decade has proved impossible, they said.
That quake apparently gave no warning whatsoever, researchers told the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10112661>

The weather in Antarctica (Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Clear

-13.0°

Updated Monday 28 Feb 2:59AM

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/tools/weather/international.cfm?intlareaID=10

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

34 °F / 1 °C
Mostly Cloudy

Humidity:
93%

Dew Point:
32 °F / 0 °C

Wind:
Calm

Pressure:
29.80 in / 1009 hPa

Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):
Mostly Cloudy 7000 ft / 2133 m
end

It is not a can of worms. It is time for Syria to get Serious.

I don't necessarily blame Syria for retreating into it's own reality every time a finger is pointed at the nation when an act of violence occurs. Syria needs to distinguish it's sovereignty from it's Co-Existance with Hezbollah.

In alphabetical order: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria are the four sovereign countries involved in a balancing act. There is chronic violence in these countries and in others but these four countries are ALWAYS in conflict. One blames the other and the other stamps it's foot in defiance but the reality is they are all living AROUND 'the true' because they don't know quite how to deal with it.

Those four nations, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria are all sovereign nations. They all fly their own flag, but, within the borders of all of them lives a force to contend with that wants all those nations as one under a flag that doesn't have recognition yet. Within those four sovereign nations lives the aspirations of Hezbollah.

It is time to talk. To talk seriously as leaders who can solve this problem and bring it to resolve. Palestine has a leader in Mr. Abbas. I sincerely believe that now. Israel has returned to normalizing relations with Egypt and Jordan and I am deeply grateful to them for their commitment to solving the problems with reason and ability excluding reacting in violence to trigger events that would surely destroy them all. We are brothers. We are sisters. We can live together and find solutions. I deeply believe that. Lebanon has issues of sovereignty. Syria has issues of safety and in guarding against the hegemonic tyraids of Bush it denies the problem of Hezbollah and it's inflitration into Lebanon acting as an agent to achieve it's own sovereign state by taking over in Lebanon. In a way, Syria supporting Lebanon government through influence allows Syria to keep it's sovereignty. That has to end. Lebanon has to have it's own government freely standing elected by the people. There can be no assignment of government in Lebanon by Syria anymore. On the other hand for Syria to abandon whatever it brings to Lebanon in security would be a tragic situation as well.

I wasn't completely wrong evidently when I advocated for patience in 'finding' the relationship between the suicide bomber yesterday in Tel Aviv and Hezbollah. It did exist.

Militants: Hezbollah operative recruited TA bomber
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service, and News Agencies
A senior Hezbollah operative told two top Palestinian militants in the West Bank that he had recruited the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a Tel Aviv nightclub and killed four Israelis, the militants said Saturday.

I am also feeling confident an end or should I say the beginning of a solution to the end of this violence lies in openness between nations and insured soverignty among them. In being grateful for Egypt and Jordan's return to willingness I am hoping their expertise will come to bear weight with all these nations.

I found this article interesting but the same 'peace initiative' can be accomplished without the USA.

The time is nigh for a gesture from America

By George S. Hishmeh, Special to Gulf News

The call by United States President George W. Bush, supported by some of his new-found friends in Europe, for an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, much as this is necessary, has opened a can of worms.

What about a similar call for the end of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, now in its 37th year, an issue that has the full endorsement of the United Nations in its famed and probably forgotten Resolutions 242 and 338. Or, for that matter, an end to American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq?

Equally, the threats voiced against Iran by the American president while on his fence-mending trip to Europe for its alleged plans to acquire nuclear capability recalls the deafening silence over Israel's nuclear arsenal.

This has yet to be subjected to inspection by any international organisation, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In fact, Israel is not even willing to entertain adherence to any arms limitation agreements.

I believe Prime Minister Sharon knows a great deal about the militants and how to flush them out. At the same time I believe the Arab nations can join forces with Isreal to remove the violators of a 'well negotiated' peace and bring them to courts for remanding away from the public that they live amoung.

It is time for the four nations and their Arab brothers to put the 'dangerous dreaming' of Hezbollah to rest. They will never be a sovereign state ! They, like Hamas, are Human Rights Violators.

By any chance would you consider making documentaries with Michael Moore?

I find the Op-Ed Naive. Very naive.

A Shell Game in the Arms Race

"Back in the Day" which isn't all that long ago, recommendations for enforcement or modifications of new laws would be received well.

Scrambled to even.

Insight so valuable government couldn't afford it, although deeply grateful for it.

That is the type of Editorials and Op-Eds that caught everyone's attention. Received Pulitzers.

It still might be so appreciated with insight that it will receive a Pulitzer and 'esteemed' by collegues. Rightfully so.

You make a glaring error in the political environment of corruption of which we live in 2005.

If I may.

"Because our government is largely unwilling to hurt the financial interests of American firms that do business with companies like Sinopec. This laxity on our part leaves Sinopec free to sell whatever it likes to Tehran."

That's right. You are absolutely correct.

Your statement is to assign negligent responsiblity to the government of the USA to change it's ways.

That's right. You are absolutely correct.

SILENCE

A LONG SILENCE.

Are you getting the feeling it doesn't matter yet?

You should.

All your devoted insight doesn't matter at all.

That negligence lives there in that space for a reason.

American 'cronies' are making money.

The Cheney/Bush White House does not want that disturbed. As a matter of fact they so much don't want it disturbed they will go to war to take over the country including China to control it, destroying sovereign countries like Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Why?

Because.

SILENCE.

A VERY LONG SILENCE.

Let's cut to the chase.

Because they don't want the cash flow disrupted.

In Iraq. It was easy, far easier to easy to 'take over' what rightfully belongs to Halliburton stockholders than to continue in a civilized way to work with legislation, reform and international structures like the United Nations and World Courts.

With all due respect for your research in this matter and dedication to civilized resolve; Bush's Regime in Washington, DC doesn't want to hear it. Which is why you are probably writing an Op-Ed rather than consulting on legislation right now. Those power brokers in the Executive Branch only want to maximize their profiteering, instill fear in the American public and use USA assets to conduct invasion after invasion until they have control over every aspect of this world they can possibly get their hands on. They care not the politics or the diplomacy, they only desire the control. They are ruthless. But worse than that. They are politically commited to that ruthlessness at any cost.

Thank you for a magnificent Op-Ed. Sincerely. By any chance would you consider making documentaries with Michael Moore?

A Shell Game in the Arms Race

By MATTHEW GODSEY and GARY MILHOLLIN Published:

February 25, 2005

Washington

PRESIDENT BUSH has enjoyed a surprisingly jovial reception in Europe this week, but there has been a serious point of contention: the desire of European countries to lift the 15-year ban on arms sales to China. Given concerns that the Chinese are willing to sell military, and perhaps even nuclear, technology to the highest bidder, Mr. Bush's stance seems admirable. Unfortunately, his reasonable skepticism about China's intentions hasn't translated into a solid commitment.

For example, earlier this month Under Secretary of State John Bolton scolded China for allowing its companies to spread weapons technology, saying the embargo was just as important "today as it was in 1989." Yet such talk is undermined by the State Department's own failure to check Chinese companies' reckless sales, and by weaknesses in American trade laws. In the end, China knows it has little to fear from Washington.

Case in point: Sinopec, China's state-owned oil and gas giant, has subsidiaries that the State Department has hit with sanctions four times since 1997 for selling to Iran materials that could be used to make chemical weapons. However, because these subsidiaries do little or no business with the United States, the punishments - curbs on trade with America - were purely symbolic.
Sinopec itself has extensive ties with American companies, dealings Washington could block. Yet we refuse to punish it for anything its offshoots do. The reason is simple: American sanctions laws were written so that the government can hold a parent company responsible only if it "knowingly" assists a sale by its subsidiary, a burden of proof our intelligence agencies can rarely meet. Why? Because our government is largely unwilling to hurt the financial interests of American firms that do business with companies like Sinopec.

This laxity on our part leaves Sinopec free to sell whatever it likes to Tehran. In 1997, the same year the State Department first cited subsidiaries of Sinopec for "knowingly and materially contributing to Iran's chemical weapon program," Iran promised to increase oil exports to China by 40 percent. The following year, Iran chose the Chinese company over a host of European rivals to renovate oil refineries in Tehran and Tabriz, and to construct an oil terminal on the Caspian Sea. In 2001, when the State Department again censured a subsidiary for continuing sales to Iran of products useful for poison gas production, Sinopec won the right to explore Iran's Zavareh-Kashan oilfield.

Then, last October, Sinopec pulled off its biggest coup: a $70 billion deal in which the Chinese company will buy hundreds of millions of tons of liquefied natural gas and will help Iran develop its Yadavaran oil field.

The fact is, the United States could lower the boom on Sinopec by cutting its ties to the American economy. In 2000, Sinopec raised some $3.5 billion by selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange, with Exxon-Mobil buying a large stake. Halliburton has since provided Sinopec a design for a new chemical plant; Bechtel has helped it build a petrochemical complex in China; and ConocoPhillips has aided it in oil and gas exploration.

And, believe it or not, in 2002 Sinopec received a $429,000 grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency. The purpose was to help an import-export subsidiary to develop an electronic procurement system. No matter that another Sinopec subsidiary, the awkwardly named Jiangsu Yongli Chemical Engineering and Technology Import/Export Corporation, was under sanctions for sales to Iran, or that Sinopec ranked among the 100 richest firms in the world according to Fortune magazine. Uncle Sam still wanted to help it market its products.

Sinopec is hardly the only beneficiary of American kindliness. Our weak laws have spared Sinosteel, China Aviation Industry Corporation I and II, and China North Industries Group Corporation, even though subsidiaries of these state-owned conglomerates have been sanctioned for selling missile technology to Iran and Pakistan. In large part, we can lay the blame for this charade on a compliant government and on political pressure from American companies, whose lobbyists work to ensure that federal sanctions laws are written to protect their corporate interests. This is a travesty, because cutting off access to our economy is the most powerful leverage we have, and our failure to use it shows we aren't serious about punishing rogue states and their corporations.

Our laws need to be rewritten so that Sinopec and other companies that abet the spread of weaponry through their subsidiaries are kicked out of American capital markets, forbidden to deal with our companies and denied access to American goods and technology. Only then will they have an incentive to change their ways, and only then can our government honestly claim that it is trying to shut down the global arms bazaar.

Matthew Godsey and Gary Milhollin are, respectively, a research associate and the director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, which produces iranwatch.org.

Morning Papers

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle Do"

"Okeydoke"

February 24…

1304, born, Ibn Batutu, Arab traveler and author.

1581 Pope Gregory approves the results of his calendar reform commission

1582 Pope Gregory XIII announces New Style (Gregorian) calendar

1786, born, Wilhelm Grimm, German scholar.
Wilhelm Grimm was born on this date in 1786. National Geographic presents a site about the Grimm brothers and their fairy tales; it includes biographical information, the text of selected tales, and activities for children.
Grimm Brothers @ nationalgeographic.com

1803: Marbury v. Madison establishes the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States to decide whether acts of Congress are legitimate under the U.S. Constitution.

Marbury v. Madison, landmark court case of 1803 in which the Supreme Court of the United States established its authority to review and invalidate government actions that conflict with the Constitution of the United States. In Marbury, Chief Justice John Marshall, speaking for a unanimous Court, expressed for the first time the concept of judicial review at the federal level. Although the Court’s decision concerned only a minor provision of a federal law, the case is monumentally significant because it was the first time that the Supreme Court declared an act of Congress to be unconstitutional. Equally significant was Marshall’s reasoning in the case.

Today Marbury is generally considered to be the most important early U.S. Supreme Court decision and the leading precedent for the idea that the Court has the power—and the duty—to strike down acts of Congress that violate the Constitution. While central to modern jurisprudence, the case involved a rather technical set of facts and an issue of relatively minor importance.

1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

1836, born, Winslow Homer, naturalist painter.

1858, born, Arnold Dolmetsch, English musician.

1863, The United States Congress establishes the Arizona Territory from part of the New Mexico Territory.

1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.

1874, Honus Wagner, American professional baseball player, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman, and considered one of the greatest shortstops in the history of baseball. He was born John Peter Wagner in Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania. He played semiprofessional and minor league baseball in Ohio and New Jersey, and in 1896 he joined the Louisville team of the National League. In 1900, Pittsburgh took Louisville's place in the league, and Wagner played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates until his retirement in 1917. He was the National League batting champion eight times, and his lifetime batting average was .329. He also led the league five times in stolen bases. Wagner was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

1885, born, Joseph Sprinzak Speaker of Israeli Knesset (1949-59)

1903, the United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

1917, Russian revolution breaks out

1918, Estonia declares independence from Russia

1920, Peace treaty gives Estonia independence

1920, a fledgling German political party held its first meeting of importance in Munich; it became known as the Nazi Party, and its chief spokesman was Adolf Hitler.

1923 Mass arrests in US of Mafia

1924 Mahatma Gandhi released from jail

1924: Johnny Weissmuller breaks the world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming (57:2/5 seconds).

1933 League of Nations tells Japanese to pull out of Manchuria

1934 Frank Chapot US, equestrian (Olympics-silver-1960, 1972)

1937 1st US group hospital-medical cooperative authorized, Washington DC

1941 43 Geuzen resistance fighter trial opens in the Hague

1941 Anti Nazi meeting at Noordermarkt Amsterdam

1942 Voice of America begins broadcasting (in German)

1943 General-Major Bradley flies to Algiers

1944 Argentina coup by Juan Peron minister of war

1945, American soldiers liberated the Philippine capital of Manila from Japanese control during World War II.

1945 Manila freed from Japanese

1945 Nazi occupiers begin state of siege

1945 Egypt & Syria declares war on Nazi-Germany

1946: Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.

1948 Lorri Menconi playmate (February 1969)

1948 Communist Party seizes complete control of Czechoslovakia

1949 V-2/WAC-Corporal 1st rocket to outer space, White Sands NM, 400 km

1949 Israel & Egypt sign an armistice agreement

1950 Labour wins British parliamentary election

1950 Cathy Mant LPGA golfer

1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1965 East German President Ulbricht visits Egypt

1966 Coup ousts President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana

1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1974 Pakistan officially recognizes Bangladesh

1976 Cuba adopts its constitution

1977 President Carter announces US foreign aid will consider human rights

1978 Louise Woodward Elton England, nanny who killed Matthew Eappen

1979 Highest price ever paid for a pig, $42,500, Stamford TX

1979 War between North & South Yemen begins

1980, the U.S. hockey team defeated Finland, four goals to two, to clinch the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

1983, a congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a "grave injustice."

1987: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hits his first three-point shot. Up to this date, he has scored 36,000 points, but only scoring two points at a time.

1989, a state funeral was held in Japan for Emperor Hirohito, who had died the month before at age 87.

1989 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1990 Beth Daniel wins LPGA Orix Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open

1991 End of World League of American Football's (WLAF) 1st draft

1991 US & allies begin a ground war assault on Iraqi troops

1991 "Those Were The Days" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 126 performances

1993 35th Grammy Awards Tears in Heaven-Eric Clapton wins

1994 Scoreboard is unveiled at new Cleveland Indians' park (Jacobs Field)

1995 Dow-Jones hits record 4011.74

1996 Cuba downs 2 US planes

Missing in Action

1965 FRAKES DWIGHT GLENN LOS ANGELES CA TANGELED IN PARA SANK
1966 HETRICK RAYMOND H. BROOKVILLE PA
1968 FRIESE LAURENCE V. HURON SD 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 MARVEL JERRY W. EVANSVILLE IN 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV DIED MAY 1995 ENROUTE

February 24…

1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I.

1707, Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright

1793, the department heads of the U.S. government met with President Washington at his home for the first Cabinet meeting on record.

1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.

1841, Pierre Renoir, French impressionist painter

1890, Myra Hess, British pianist

1913, the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.

1917, Anthony Burgess, British novelist and critic, best known for his controversial novel A Clockwork Orange (1962). Burgess was born in Manchester and was educated at the University of Manchester. He served in the army from 1940 to 1946 and then became a lecturer at Birmingham University. From 1948 to 1950 Burgess worked for the ministry of education. He was later appointed education officer in the Colonial Service and was based in Borneo and Malaya from 1954 to 1959. During his time abroad Burgess wrote his first three novels: Time for a Tiger (1956), The Enemy in the Blanker (1958), and Beds in the East (1959), published together as The Malayan Trilogy in 1972.

1919: Oregon is the first state to impose a state tax on gasoline (one cent a gallon).

1950, Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter, and novelist

1964: Boxer Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston after six rounds in Miami, Florida, to win the world heavyweight boxing title. The same year Clay announces his conversion to Islam, changing his name to Muhammad Ali. He boasted he was "The Greatest," and in the prime of his charismatic career, many agreed. But as brilliant as Muhammad Ali was in the ring, perhaps his true greatness was outside it when he fought the United States government. His refusal to accept induction into the armed forces on religious grounds cost him millions and his heavyweight title, but in the end Ali came up victorious in the most significant battle of his life.


1986: President Ferdinand E. Marcos flees the Philippines, after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency and is sworn in.

1998: Bob Dylan wins three awards, including album of the year for Time Out of Mind, and his son Jakob wins two awards at the 40th annual Grammy Awards in New York City.

Missing in Action

1965 FRAKES DWIGHT GLENN LOS ANGELES CA TANGELED IN PARA SANK
1966 HETRICK RAYMOND H. BROOKVILLE PA
1968 FRIESE LAURENCE V. HURON SD 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 MARVEL JERRY W. EVANSVILLE IN 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV DIED MAY 1995 ENROUTE

continued...

Matryoshkas. Russian Nesting Dolls on sale in Moscow 

Morning Papers - continued...

The Moscow Times

Earlier last year Russian President Vladimir Putin stated he would not run for President again.

Kasyanov Hints He May Run in 2008
By Valeria Korchagina and Catherine Belton
Staff Writers

Kasyanov listening to a question at a news conference Thursday where he criticized the course the country has taken since he lost his post as prime minister a year ago.
Breaking a year of silence, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Thursday slammed Russia's leadership for turning away from democracy and indicated he may run for president in 2008 in order to correct the nation's course.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/25/001.html

Rights Group to Meet Chechen Envoy
Reuters
LONDON -- Chechen rebels seeking contact with the Kremlin will present peace proposals to a Russian human rights group at an unprecedented meeting in London on Thursday, the rebel leader's envoy said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/25/017.html

Bush Hails Slovaks for Support in Iraq
By Andrea Dudikova
The Associated Press
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- U.S. President George W. Bush hailed Slovaks on Thursday as "friends, allies and brothers" in the fight for global freedom, and thanked the country for deploying a small but symbolic contingent of troops to Iraq.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/25/251.html

Global Eye
By Chris Floyd

Day in and day out, patriotic American dissidents on both the left and the right keep shovelling through the bloody muck of the Bush Imperium. The filth is endless, Augean; Salon.com recently catalogued 34 ongoing major scandals, equalling or surpassing the depravity of Watergate. Yet still the patriots bend to the task, tossing up steaming piles of ugly truth before the public.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/25/120.html

Oligarchs Toy With Their 2008 Options
By Vladimir Pribylovsky

Despite the word's newfangled interpretation, oligarchy in Greek means "the rule of the few," the well-off few who wield not only economic power, but also political power. Oligarchs are not millionaires sitting behind bars or pining away in emigre exile. They are the wealthy who send other millionaires to jail or force them to flee the country. Or, to rephrase President Vladimir Putin's well-known statement regarding the need to "distance" oligarchs from power, real oligarchs are not those who are distanced. They are the ones doing the distancing.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/25/006.html

Russian Bear Ignores Celtic Tiger
By Kim Iskyan

The chances of President Vladimir Putin achieving his oft-repeated objective of doubling the size of Russia's economy within a decade might improve if he looked to Ireland as a source of inspiration. But given its state-driven focus on the short term, the Kremlin seems to have missed the Irish lesson that common-sense economics, consistently implemented over a period of decades, is a far better path to economic prosperity.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/24/006.html

continued...

Putin at a Religious Leader Conference at the Kremlin on September 29, 2004

The Russian National Coat of Arms

Morning Papers - continued...

Pravda

Bush: Arrogance instead of diplomacy before summit
02/22/2005 10:15
Bush insinuates that Russia is not democratic
Enough. If George W. Bush is arrogant enough to speak about Russia's supposed lack of democratic processes on the eve of his summit with President Vladimir Putin in Bratislava, then let us treat this insult with the answer it deserves.

http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/14999_bush.html

Putin determined to argue with Bush during Russia-USA summit in Bratislava
02/24/2005 11:57
It stands the reason that George W. Bush's questions to Vladimir Putin will not be very pleasant
Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush are to meet in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, today on February 24th. "We are not going to a restaurant or a theater. This meeting is not just for the pleasure of communication," the Russian president described his expectations of the summit with George W. Bush.

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/354/15010_summit.html

Russia's Kaliningrad enclave to become part of EU and euro zone
02/14/2005 18:17
Citizens of the Russian region might enjoy full rights of being Europeans
The status of the Kaliningrad region can be fundamentally revised in the near future. Ilya Klebanov, the presidential envoy in the North-West of Russia, stated last Friday that the Kaliningrad enclave would have to be granted the official status of a foreign territory. "The position on the matter is final," the official added.

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/87/343/14958_kaliningrad.html

End of the world was too near a couple of months ago
02/24/2005 16:18
Scientists believe that if the blast had occurred only ten light years afar, planet Earth would have been destroyed
The day of Decmeber 27th 2004, could have become the last day in the history of all living beings on planet Earth, including humans. An unimaginably powerful blast of a neutron star rocked the Milky Way, in the area of the Constellation Sagittarius. All leading astronomic centers and satellites registered the blast. Scientists have never witnessed such a powerful explosion in space before. The blast produced the energy, the amount of which could be compared to the power that the Sun produces in 250,000 years, Itar-Tass reports.

http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/15013_space.html


The future of male pregnancy is drawing near
02/22/2005 16:51
Taiwanese American Lee Mingwei has already become first pregnant man in history
There is a very peculiar phenomenon in modern medicine, known as Couvade Syndrome. This ailment can occur only with men, when they suffer from signs and symptoms of their expectant partners. The word "couvade" comes from the French "couver" meaning "to hatch." Men, who suffer from Couvade Syndrome, may have morning sickness, backaches, and even weight gain. Scientists determined that about 11 percent of expectant fathers experience this strange phenomenon. The syndrome can be described as the embodiment of psychogenic disorders that can be found among young men who have pregnant wives. Specialists say that pathological feelings of a young husband correspond to the physical and emotional experience of his pregnant wife.

http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/15004_pregnant.html

Rains above Southern California
23:46 2005-02-24
Officials say at least nine people have died as a result of the heavy rains that have pounded the southern part of the state since last week. Forecasters say another several centimeters are expected today.

http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/02/24/58414.html


The Boston Globe

Sen. Kennedy's children awarded guardianship of their mother
February 24, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The children of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy have taken legal guardianship of their mother, Joan B. Kennedy, to ensure she receives treatment for her alcoholism, her son U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Thursday.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/24/sen_kennedys_children_awarded_guardianship_of_their_mother/

Conn. nears OK of gay civil unions
Final votes on bill expected by June
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff February 25, 2005
The Connecticut Legislature is poised to establish civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, which would make the state the third in the nation to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/02/25/conn_nears_ok_of_gay_civil_unions/

Anglicans Face Temporary Split in Gay Row
By Peter Griffiths February 25, 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - The Anglican Church edged closer to a possible schism on Friday after it called on the Canadian and U.S. churches to quit one of its key bodies until 2008 while they reconsider their support for gay bishops.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/02/25/anglicans_face_temporary_split_in_gay_row_reuters/

Probe leaves out ex-commander at Guantanamo
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff February 25, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The high-profile investigation into FBI agents' allegations of detainee abuses at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is not examining the conduct of the man who oversaw the interrogation operation at the time that prisoners were allegedly shackled in painful positions and exposed to extreme temperatures to break their silence.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/02/25/probe_leaves_out_ex_commander_at_guantanamo/

Putin says Russia bound to democracy
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff February 25, 2005
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia declared yesterday that his nation would never return to totalitarianism, brushing aside worries by President Bush and others that Russia is backsliding on democratic overhauls.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/02/25/putin_says_russia_bound_to_democracy/

THEY AREN'T DESTROYING THE 'BIG GUNS' OKAY? Bush didn't do anything new here? The USA and Russia can always more of these things.

U.S. says 'thousands' of missiles missing
By Robert Burns, AP Military Writer February 25, 2005
WASHINGTON -- It has been known for years that thousands of light and lethal shoulder-fired missiles are in black-market circulation. What is not known is exactly who has them and whether many have fallen into the hands of terrorists or criminals.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/25/us_says_thousands_of_missiles_missing/

Canada opts out of U.S. defense shield
By Beth Duff-Brown, Associated Press Writer February 25, 2005
TORONTO -- Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that Canada would not join the contentious U.S. missile defense program, a decision that will further strain brittle relations between the neighbors but please Canadians who fear it could lead to an international arms race.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/canada/articles/2005/02/25/canada_opts_out_of_us_defense_shield/

Canada opts out of U.S. defense shield
By Beth Duff-Brown, Associated Press Writer February 25, 2005
TORONTO -- Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that Canada would not join the contentious U.S. missile defense program, a decision that will further strain brittle relations between the neighbors but please Canadians who fear it could lead to an international arms race.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/canada/articles/2005/02/25/canada_opts_out_of_us_defense_shield/

Canada Says Will Stay Out of U.S. Missile Defense
By David Ljunggren February 24, 2005
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's minority Liberal government, in a snub to President Bush, said on Thursday it would not take part in the controversial U.S. missile defense system, which is unpopular with many Canadian voters.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/canada/articles/2005/02/25/canada_says_will_stay_out_of_us_missile_defense_1109307835/

Anti-tobacco treaty to go into effect
February 24, 2005
GENEVA -- A global anti-tobacco treaty that comes into force Sunday is only the first step in efforts to curb an addiction that kills millions every year, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/02/24/anti_tobacco_treaty_to_go_into_effect/

Lawsuit asks FDA to regulate salt use
By Elizabeth Wolfe, Associated Press Writer February 25, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Concerned that Americans are consuming salt at twice the recommended levels, a consumer group asked a federal court Thursday to force the government to regulate it.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/02/25/lawsuit_asks_fda_to_regulate_salt_use/

Vietnam Confirms Latest Bird Flu Case as Meeting Ends
By Darren Schuettler February 24, 2005
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Asia's deadly bird flu has infected a 21-year-old Vietnamese man and possibly his younger sister, officials said on Friday as experts wrapped up an international conference on fighting the resilient virus.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/02/25/vietnam_confirms_latest_bird_flu_case_as_meeting_ends/

continued...

Kyoto !!