Globe and mail
14 die in Texas refinery blast
Texas City, Tex. — All but one of the 1,800 or so oil refinery workers at the BP plant here have been accounted for after an overnight search following a thunderous blast that killed 14 and injured more than 100, officials said Thursday.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050323.wbp0323/BNStory/International/
Harper accuses Liberals of secret Kyoto agenda
Ottawa — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper accused the Liberals yesterday of harbouring a hidden agenda when he was asked about a controversial environmental clause slipped into an omnibus budget-implementation bill to be introduced today.
"We'll take a look at what it is and we'll evaluate it accordingly," Mr. Harper said after a weekly meeting of the Conservative caucus.
"We'll not support something that we don't believe is in the national interest, especially if it doesn't come clean on what the government's plans actually are on Kyoto."
The clause, which was added to the bill at the behest of Environment Minister Stéphane Dion but was not included in the budget papers, would remove the word "toxic" from the explanation of what substances are covered under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. That would allow greenhouse gases, which are not technically toxic, to be regulated by the act and could mean large fines for emitters -- something the Conservatives have labelled a "backdoor carbon tax."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050324.wxbudge24/BNStory/National/
The Miami Herald
Protect the panther
OUR OPINION: PUNISH THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR FLAWED HABITAT REPORT
The Florida panther is having enough trouble holding on to its habitat without flawed research from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that puts it in further peril.
Yet Fish and Wildlife officials conceded this week to faulty assumptions in writing a report on panthers' habitat, putting the panther population at risk. Despite a promising breeding program, the panther is losing habitat to development, which adversely affects its ability to survive. The agency's research is vital to helping officials determine how best to protect one of the world's rarest animals.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11215338.htm
A vestige of Jim Crow
OUR OPINION: LEGISLATURE SHOULD EXPUNGE ACTIVISTS' ARREST RECORDS
In the fervent fight for equality in the 1960s, ordinary people sacrificed their freedom, and sometimes their lives, to secure civil rights for African Americans. Onerous Jim Crow laws guaranteed that blacks were denied the right to vote, use public facilities or have equal access to education.
Ultimately the fight was successful. Racist laws fell under the force of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. But 40 years later, vestiges of this dark era still haunt many who fought on the hostile front lines. Former activists who were arrested for staging sit-ins at segregated lunch counters or peaceful marches are stunned to find that they have criminal records for defying Jim Crow laws.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11215336.htm
Practicing medicine without a brain
BY RICHARD COHEN
cohenr@washpost.com
Sen. Bill Frist last week watched a videotape of Terri Schiavo made by her parents in 2001. He did this in his capacity as Senate majority leader and as a renowned physician. In both roles, he performed miserably. As a senator, he showed himself to be an unscrupulous opportunist. As a physician, he was guilty of practicing medicine without a brain.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11215369.htm
Accused beachside purse snatcher turns himself in
By Herald staff reports
browardnews@herald.com
A man who investigators say used a tourist's stolen credit card to buy nearly $900 worth of electronics, gift cards, liquor and groceries has turned himself in to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Frank Monte III, 34, turned himself in to BSO Wednesday night, less than a week after his face was seen on TV and in the newspapers as a wanted man, BSO said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11220696.htm>
9 indicted in Medicaid fraud
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@herald.com
Nine persons in Miami and Savannah, Ga., have been charged in a widespread scheme to defraud Florida Medicaid of millions of dollars, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist announced Thursday.
The allegations involve Florida physicians ordering pharmaceutical treatments for Medicaid patients with AIDS or hemophilia. Pharmacies controlled by the accused then sent the drugs to the doctors who allegedly directed them to other area pharmacies or a company called Bio-Med Plus, the indictment says.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11220975.htm
The Moscow Times
Protests Move to the Kyrgyz Capital
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyzstan's new hard-line interior minister warned on Wednesday that force could be used to restore order, and riot police violently broke up an opposition rally in the capital, Bishkek, sending a signal that authorities were determined to prevent protests from spreading north.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/03/24/001.html
Russia Says Sweden Is Soft on Terror
STOCKHOLM -- The Foreign Ministry accused Sweden on Wednesday for being soft on terrorism, after a car belonging to the Russian Embassy in Stockholm was set ablaze and a group protesting Moscow's involvement in Chechnya claimed responsibility.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/03/24/011.html
Israel Cautious But Handover Goes On
By Amy Teibel
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- Israel's defense minister warned Wednesday that the handover of additional West Bank towns to Palestinian control would require greater effort by Palestinian police to disarm militants, but stopped short of halting the process.
Also on Wednesday, opponents of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip suffered a setback when a key religious figure stood by his refusal to support a national referendum on the pullout, despite intense pressure from hard-line legislators. Holding a referendum would delay and possibly scuttle the pullout, set for this summer.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/03/24/253.html
Putin Will Visit Israel in a Historic First
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM -- President Vladimir Putin will make a historic visit to Israel at the end of April as a guest of the Israeli president, Israeli officials said. The trip will be the first visit by a Russian or Soviet leader to Israel.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/03/24/014.html
Putin Visits Kostroma for a Spot of Culture
By Oksana Yablokova
Staff Writer
KOSTROMA -- President Vladimir Putin made a whistle-stop tour of the ancient city of Kostroma on Wednesday, where he chatted with local theater actors and teenage amateur craftsmen, kissed a precious Orthodox icon and held a brainstorming meeting with the State Council and his advisers on the state of Russian culture.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/03/24/002.html
continued...
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Morning Papers - continued...
Jailed Journalists
CUBA:
PRINT PAGE
IFEX MEMBERS DEMAND FREEDOM FOR JAILED JOURNALISTS
Two years after the Cuban government launched a crackdown on freedom of expression by arresting dozens of dissidents and journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), Human Rights Watch and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) are focusing attention on the plight of more than 20 journalists who remain behind bars.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65535/
President pardons jailed editor
Country/Topic: YemenDate: 23 March 2005Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Person(s): Abdelkarim al-KhaiwaniTarget(s): editor(s) , newspaper(s) Type(s) of violation(s): charged , imprisoned , suspended Urgency: Bulletin
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:
Yemen: President Pardons Jailed Editor
New York, March 23, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's presidential pardon of a Yemeni editor who was jailed for nearly seven months for publishing opinion articles that strongly criticized the government.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65532/
Yemen: President pardons jailed editor
New York, March 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's presidential pardon of a Yemeni editor who was jailed for nearly seven months for publishing opinion articles that strongly criticized the government.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Yemen23mar05na.html
The Belfast Telegraph
Murder victim's sisters say no to election
By Chris Thornton
24 March 2005
A sister of Robert McCartney said today that the murdered man's family has ruled out running in the upcoming local and Westminster elections.
Paula McCartney, who had considered running for Belfast City Council to highlight the cover-up of her brother's murder, said the family has decided that the election could distract from their campaign.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=623313
Cheney defends UN choice of Bolton
By Rupert Cornwell
24 March 2005
Dick Cheney, America's Vice-President has made clear what has been almost universally suspected - that President George Bush's recent diplomatic appointments are intended to push his agenda of promoting freedom and democracy around the world.
In an interview yesterday with the Washington Post, Mr Cheney said the choice of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations was intended to shake up the world body. The fact that Mr Bolton, a neoconservative arch hawk, had strongly criticised the UN in the past would give him "a great deal more credibility" there, said Mr Cheney.
(WHAT'S THE MATTER DICK losing a grip on Halliburton, Iraq?)
The US was host country of, and the biggest contributor to, the UN, whose long-term success "depends, I think, on the continued support of the US and the American people". A lot needed to be done at the UN, Mr Cheney added. "A great many Americans" were unhappy with its performance.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=623181
Natural gas in pipeline for more ulster towns after move on licences
By Robin Morton, Business Correspondent
rmorton@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
24 March 2005
The prospect of natural gas being supplied to towns beyond the greater Belfast area moved a step closer today.
Ofreg announced that it was granting towns gas licences to Bord Gais Eireann (Northern Ireland).
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=623258
Oracle in major Belfast move
By Paul Dykes
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
Oracle, one of the biggest enterprise software companies in the world, is setting up a customer services operation in Belfast.
The £1.1m investment by Oracle Corporation will provide services to its customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Invest Northern Ireland is providing £250,000 in support of the investment.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622903
Ulster farmers' fury over OFT report
By Michael Drake
mdrake@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
Northern Ireland farmers expressed anger today over an Office of Fair Trading report which has found supermarkets treat their suppliers fairly.
Ulster Farmers Union deputy president Kenneth Sharkey said the OFT had missed an opportunity to create a fairer trading environment between supermarkets and their suppliers.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622902
Warning of £12bn tax hike after election
By Paul Dykes
bustel@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
A leading firm of international business advisers has identified a potential £12bn post-election tax hike that will hit Northern Ireland.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has studied the small print in last week's Budget, and is warning that tax increases of £8bn to £12bn could be required to balance the books.
PwC calculates that the March 16 Budget raised about £265m for the Government, in contrast to the pre-election Budget of 2001 in which Gordon Brown managed to find about £3.6bn in pre-election sweeteners
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622901
Michael Moore Today
Gun Violence in Iraq,
Gun Violence Here at Home
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Details Emerge About School Shooting in Minnesota
Monica Davey and Christine Hauser / New York Times
RED LAKE, Minn., March 22 -Sixteen-year old Jeff Weise wore a bulletproof vest and a police holster when he opened fire on students taking cover in a classroom and gunned down others who were fleeing in corridors during a 10-minute shooting spree at an Indian reservation school on Monday, the authorities said today.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1915
After Signing Schiavo Law, Bush Says 'It Is Wisest to Always Err on the Side of Life'
By Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times
TUCSON, March 21 - After a private bill-signing ceremony in the middle of the night, President Bush made a public case for helping Terri Schiavo on Monday, praising Congress for sending him the legislation that allowed federal courts to intervene.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1916
March 22nd, 2005 9:29 pm
UA Young Democrat banned from forum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A UA student was banned from attending President Bush's Social Security forum at the Tucson Convention Center yesterday.
UA Young Democrat Steven Gerner, a political science and pre-pharmacy sophomore, said he and three other Young Democrats had been waiting in line with their tickets for about 40 minutes when a staff member approached him and asked to read his T-shirt.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1918
Huddled masses reach 10 million.
Study: Undocumented population tops 10 million
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/21/undocumented.immigrants.ap/index.html
Republicans See Issue As Way To Do Right, Stoke Electoral Base
By KEITH EPSTEIN and WILLIAM MARCH wmarch@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 22, 2005
WASHINGTON - The urgency in Washington last weekend wasn't just about Terri Schiavo. It also was about politics.
As hundreds of congressmen and President Bush cut short vacations to intervene, they also hoped to broaden the party's hold on power.
Republicans acknowledged the goal of using the Schiavo case as ammunition against Democrats, particularly Florida Sen. Bill Nelson.
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBV50RML6E.html
In Texas, Critics Question Bush's 'Life' Culture
By REUTERS
Published: March 22, 2005
Filed at 6:32 p.m. ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Bush's intervention for Terry Schiavo has opened old wounds in Texas where death penalty opponents say his words of support for a ``culture of life'' ring hollow after so many executions during his time as governor of the state.
Bush said he stepped into the Schiavo case because the United States should have ``a presumption in favor of life,'' but there were 152 executions in Texas during his administration, including some in which the convict's guilt was in doubt, critics said.
``It's hypocrisy at a thousand levels,'' said University of Houston law professor and death penalty defense attorney David Dow.
``I saw many, many cases where there was substantial doubt about whether someone was guilty or whether the death penalty was the appropriate sentence, but he never said anything,'' said David Atwood, head of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. ``I really can't say he cares about life.''
``We all recognize there is a difference between an innocent person and someone who has committed a heinous crime, but to say one life is important and one isn't, that's politics,'' Atwood said.
Bush has defended the high number of executions by saying he was confident everyone put to death in Texas was guilty because they had had a fair hearing in the courts he believed capital punishment was a deterrent to crime.
He interrupted a Texas vacation and flew to Washington to sign an emergency law passed by Congress on Monday that forced a review of the Schiavo case in federal court.
Schiavo, 41, has been in a vegetative state since a heart attack in 1990. Last week, a Florida court, at her husband's request, ordered the removal of the feeding tube keeping her alive, but her parents argued it should stay in place.
``In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life,'' said Bush, who has spoken often of creating a ``culture of life'' by limiting such things as abortion and stem cell research.
Death penalty opponents said Bush did not give the same presumption to death row inmates in Texas, where he used his power to grant an execution stay only once while governor from 1995 to 2000.
In 2000, the state set a U.S. record with 40 executions, including that of Gary Graham, whose guilt was hotly contested and became an international controversy.
``In the face of pretty substantial evidence that Gary Graham was not a murderer, George Bush didn't say anything about a 'culture of life,''' Dow said.
Legal experts say Bush has not been totally consistent on the ``right-to-die'' issue because in 1999 he signed a Texas law similar to the Florida law under which a judge ordered the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube.
The Texas law allows for life support to be stopped under certain circumstances at the request of a family member or other appropriate surrogate.
``If this case had been in Texas the same thing would have happened as happened in Florida,'' said John Robertson, professor at the University of Texas law school and author of a book on bioethics called ``The Rights of the Critically Ill.''
But, he said, Bush's support of the emergency bill for Schiavo was not ``a direct contradiction'' of the Texas law.
``He's saying he thought it was good enough from the state's perspective at the time, and now he's saying there may be cases that might need a second look,'' he said.
Diane Clemens, head of the Houston-based Justice for All victims' rights group, said death penalty opponents were not making legitimate comparisons.
``This woman is an innocent, brain-damaged individual who has harmed no one. Killers are convicted murderers who have harmed many people. They have had a fair process,'' she said.
``They have had the very process these people would try and deny Schiavo -- and that is a request for life at the federal level, in the federal courts.''
On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president's decision was based on principle, not politics.
``It (Schiavo case) is a complex case, where serious questions and significant doubts have been raised,'' he said. ``And the president is always going to stand on the side of defending life.''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-rights-schiavo-texas.html
Some consider measure censorship of professors
By Lisa Petrillo / Union-Tribune
SAN MARCOS – Do California's 2 million public college students need Sen. Bill Morrow to protect them from their professors' politics?
That was the debate yesterday at California State University San Marcos, where 300 students gathered to hear Morrow, a Republican state senator from Oceanside, defend his proposed academic "bill of rights" – his second effort to legislate what professors could discuss in their classrooms.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1940
Rumsfeld Questions Venezuela on Rifles
By John J. Lumpkin / Associated Press
MANAUS, Brazil - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday criticized Venezuela's reported efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia, suggesting that Venezuela's possession of so many weapons would threaten the hemisphere.
Harsh accusations and increasing animosity have marked the relationship between the United States and Venezuela. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has warned that he will cut off shipments of his country's oil to the United States if the Bush administration supports an attempt to force him from office.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1936
Monday, March 21st, 2005
Cost of Iraq War
Cost of the War in Iraq:
$158,219,118,491
Compared to the cost of:
PRE-SCHOOL KIDS' HEALTH PUBLIC EDUCATION COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS PUBLIC HOUSING WORLD HUNGER AIDS EPIDEMIC WORLD IMMUNIZATION
http://costofwar.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Critics: Republicans have deserted core principles
By Dick Polman / Knight Ridder
In the beginning, the architects of conservatism proclaimed their antigovernment creed.
Barry Goldwater said in 1964, "I fear Washington and centralized government more than I do Moscow." Ronald Reagan said in 1975, "The basis of conservatism is a desire for less governmental interference, or less centralized authority." And Newt Gingrich vowed in 1994 that a Republican Congress would hasten "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1939
continued...
CUBA:
PRINT PAGE
IFEX MEMBERS DEMAND FREEDOM FOR JAILED JOURNALISTS
Two years after the Cuban government launched a crackdown on freedom of expression by arresting dozens of dissidents and journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), Human Rights Watch and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) are focusing attention on the plight of more than 20 journalists who remain behind bars.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65535/
President pardons jailed editor
Country/Topic: YemenDate: 23 March 2005Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Person(s): Abdelkarim al-KhaiwaniTarget(s): editor(s) , newspaper(s) Type(s) of violation(s): charged , imprisoned , suspended Urgency: Bulletin
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:
Yemen: President Pardons Jailed Editor
New York, March 23, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's presidential pardon of a Yemeni editor who was jailed for nearly seven months for publishing opinion articles that strongly criticized the government.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65532/
Yemen: President pardons jailed editor
New York, March 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's presidential pardon of a Yemeni editor who was jailed for nearly seven months for publishing opinion articles that strongly criticized the government.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Yemen23mar05na.html
The Belfast Telegraph
Murder victim's sisters say no to election
By Chris Thornton
24 March 2005
A sister of Robert McCartney said today that the murdered man's family has ruled out running in the upcoming local and Westminster elections.
Paula McCartney, who had considered running for Belfast City Council to highlight the cover-up of her brother's murder, said the family has decided that the election could distract from their campaign.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=623313
Cheney defends UN choice of Bolton
By Rupert Cornwell
24 March 2005
Dick Cheney, America's Vice-President has made clear what has been almost universally suspected - that President George Bush's recent diplomatic appointments are intended to push his agenda of promoting freedom and democracy around the world.
In an interview yesterday with the Washington Post, Mr Cheney said the choice of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations was intended to shake up the world body. The fact that Mr Bolton, a neoconservative arch hawk, had strongly criticised the UN in the past would give him "a great deal more credibility" there, said Mr Cheney.
(WHAT'S THE MATTER DICK losing a grip on Halliburton, Iraq?)
The US was host country of, and the biggest contributor to, the UN, whose long-term success "depends, I think, on the continued support of the US and the American people". A lot needed to be done at the UN, Mr Cheney added. "A great many Americans" were unhappy with its performance.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=623181
Natural gas in pipeline for more ulster towns after move on licences
By Robin Morton, Business Correspondent
rmorton@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
24 March 2005
The prospect of natural gas being supplied to towns beyond the greater Belfast area moved a step closer today.
Ofreg announced that it was granting towns gas licences to Bord Gais Eireann (Northern Ireland).
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=623258
Oracle in major Belfast move
By Paul Dykes
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
Oracle, one of the biggest enterprise software companies in the world, is setting up a customer services operation in Belfast.
The £1.1m investment by Oracle Corporation will provide services to its customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Invest Northern Ireland is providing £250,000 in support of the investment.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622903
Ulster farmers' fury over OFT report
By Michael Drake
mdrake@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
Northern Ireland farmers expressed anger today over an Office of Fair Trading report which has found supermarkets treat their suppliers fairly.
Ulster Farmers Union deputy president Kenneth Sharkey said the OFT had missed an opportunity to create a fairer trading environment between supermarkets and their suppliers.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622902
Warning of £12bn tax hike after election
By Paul Dykes
bustel@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
23 March 2005
A leading firm of international business advisers has identified a potential £12bn post-election tax hike that will hit Northern Ireland.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has studied the small print in last week's Budget, and is warning that tax increases of £8bn to £12bn could be required to balance the books.
PwC calculates that the March 16 Budget raised about £265m for the Government, in contrast to the pre-election Budget of 2001 in which Gordon Brown managed to find about £3.6bn in pre-election sweeteners
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/business/story.jsp?story=622901
Michael Moore Today
Gun Violence in Iraq,
Gun Violence Here at Home
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Details Emerge About School Shooting in Minnesota
Monica Davey and Christine Hauser / New York Times
RED LAKE, Minn., March 22 -Sixteen-year old Jeff Weise wore a bulletproof vest and a police holster when he opened fire on students taking cover in a classroom and gunned down others who were fleeing in corridors during a 10-minute shooting spree at an Indian reservation school on Monday, the authorities said today.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1915
After Signing Schiavo Law, Bush Says 'It Is Wisest to Always Err on the Side of Life'
By Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times
TUCSON, March 21 - After a private bill-signing ceremony in the middle of the night, President Bush made a public case for helping Terri Schiavo on Monday, praising Congress for sending him the legislation that allowed federal courts to intervene.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1916
March 22nd, 2005 9:29 pm
UA Young Democrat banned from forum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A UA student was banned from attending President Bush's Social Security forum at the Tucson Convention Center yesterday.
UA Young Democrat Steven Gerner, a political science and pre-pharmacy sophomore, said he and three other Young Democrats had been waiting in line with their tickets for about 40 minutes when a staff member approached him and asked to read his T-shirt.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1918
Huddled masses reach 10 million.
Study: Undocumented population tops 10 million
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/21/undocumented.immigrants.ap/index.html
Republicans See Issue As Way To Do Right, Stoke Electoral Base
By KEITH EPSTEIN and WILLIAM MARCH wmarch@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 22, 2005
WASHINGTON - The urgency in Washington last weekend wasn't just about Terri Schiavo. It also was about politics.
As hundreds of congressmen and President Bush cut short vacations to intervene, they also hoped to broaden the party's hold on power.
Republicans acknowledged the goal of using the Schiavo case as ammunition against Democrats, particularly Florida Sen. Bill Nelson.
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBV50RML6E.html
In Texas, Critics Question Bush's 'Life' Culture
By REUTERS
Published: March 22, 2005
Filed at 6:32 p.m. ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Bush's intervention for Terry Schiavo has opened old wounds in Texas where death penalty opponents say his words of support for a ``culture of life'' ring hollow after so many executions during his time as governor of the state.
Bush said he stepped into the Schiavo case because the United States should have ``a presumption in favor of life,'' but there were 152 executions in Texas during his administration, including some in which the convict's guilt was in doubt, critics said.
``It's hypocrisy at a thousand levels,'' said University of Houston law professor and death penalty defense attorney David Dow.
``I saw many, many cases where there was substantial doubt about whether someone was guilty or whether the death penalty was the appropriate sentence, but he never said anything,'' said David Atwood, head of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. ``I really can't say he cares about life.''
``We all recognize there is a difference between an innocent person and someone who has committed a heinous crime, but to say one life is important and one isn't, that's politics,'' Atwood said.
Bush has defended the high number of executions by saying he was confident everyone put to death in Texas was guilty because they had had a fair hearing in the courts he believed capital punishment was a deterrent to crime.
He interrupted a Texas vacation and flew to Washington to sign an emergency law passed by Congress on Monday that forced a review of the Schiavo case in federal court.
Schiavo, 41, has been in a vegetative state since a heart attack in 1990. Last week, a Florida court, at her husband's request, ordered the removal of the feeding tube keeping her alive, but her parents argued it should stay in place.
``In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life,'' said Bush, who has spoken often of creating a ``culture of life'' by limiting such things as abortion and stem cell research.
Death penalty opponents said Bush did not give the same presumption to death row inmates in Texas, where he used his power to grant an execution stay only once while governor from 1995 to 2000.
In 2000, the state set a U.S. record with 40 executions, including that of Gary Graham, whose guilt was hotly contested and became an international controversy.
``In the face of pretty substantial evidence that Gary Graham was not a murderer, George Bush didn't say anything about a 'culture of life,''' Dow said.
Legal experts say Bush has not been totally consistent on the ``right-to-die'' issue because in 1999 he signed a Texas law similar to the Florida law under which a judge ordered the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube.
The Texas law allows for life support to be stopped under certain circumstances at the request of a family member or other appropriate surrogate.
``If this case had been in Texas the same thing would have happened as happened in Florida,'' said John Robertson, professor at the University of Texas law school and author of a book on bioethics called ``The Rights of the Critically Ill.''
But, he said, Bush's support of the emergency bill for Schiavo was not ``a direct contradiction'' of the Texas law.
``He's saying he thought it was good enough from the state's perspective at the time, and now he's saying there may be cases that might need a second look,'' he said.
Diane Clemens, head of the Houston-based Justice for All victims' rights group, said death penalty opponents were not making legitimate comparisons.
``This woman is an innocent, brain-damaged individual who has harmed no one. Killers are convicted murderers who have harmed many people. They have had a fair process,'' she said.
``They have had the very process these people would try and deny Schiavo -- and that is a request for life at the federal level, in the federal courts.''
On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president's decision was based on principle, not politics.
``It (Schiavo case) is a complex case, where serious questions and significant doubts have been raised,'' he said. ``And the president is always going to stand on the side of defending life.''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-rights-schiavo-texas.html
Some consider measure censorship of professors
By Lisa Petrillo / Union-Tribune
SAN MARCOS – Do California's 2 million public college students need Sen. Bill Morrow to protect them from their professors' politics?
That was the debate yesterday at California State University San Marcos, where 300 students gathered to hear Morrow, a Republican state senator from Oceanside, defend his proposed academic "bill of rights" – his second effort to legislate what professors could discuss in their classrooms.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1940
Rumsfeld Questions Venezuela on Rifles
By John J. Lumpkin / Associated Press
MANAUS, Brazil - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday criticized Venezuela's reported efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia, suggesting that Venezuela's possession of so many weapons would threaten the hemisphere.
Harsh accusations and increasing animosity have marked the relationship between the United States and Venezuela. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has warned that he will cut off shipments of his country's oil to the United States if the Bush administration supports an attempt to force him from office.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1936
Monday, March 21st, 2005
Cost of Iraq War
Cost of the War in Iraq:
$158,219,118,491
Compared to the cost of:
PRE-SCHOOL KIDS' HEALTH PUBLIC EDUCATION COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS PUBLIC HOUSING WORLD HUNGER AIDS EPIDEMIC WORLD IMMUNIZATION
http://costofwar.com/
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Critics: Republicans have deserted core principles
By Dick Polman / Knight Ridder
In the beginning, the architects of conservatism proclaimed their antigovernment creed.
Barry Goldwater said in 1964, "I fear Washington and centralized government more than I do Moscow." Ronald Reagan said in 1975, "The basis of conservatism is a desire for less governmental interference, or less centralized authority." And Newt Gingrich vowed in 1994 that a Republican Congress would hasten "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1939
continued...
Morning Papers - continued...
Syria Times
Arab Summit opens in Algiers ...President discusses developments, summit agenda with leaders
The 17th Arab Summit resumed its deliberations yesterday evening with a closed-door session in the presence of President Bashar al-Assad, a number of Arab kings, presidents and emirs, heads of government and representatives of the Arab states, and the Arab League Secretary-General.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: The 17th Arab Summit resumed its deliberations yesterday evening with a closed-door session in the presence of President Bashar al-Assad, a number of Arab kings, presidents and emirs, heads of government and representatives of the Arab states, and the Arab League Secretary-General.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045401
Syria condemns Qatar bombing
Syria has strongly condemned the criminal terrorist act which hit Qatar last Saturday.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Syria has strongly condemned the criminal terrorist act which hit Qatar last Saturday.
An official source has confirmed to SANA Syriaصs backing to brotherly Qatar and its solidarity with it, wishing Qatar continuing security and prosperity.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045255
Sit-in in Lebanon against Israeli aggression
Palestinian groups and Lebanese national parties yesterday staged a sit-in at the Palestinian refugees camp of Ein-Hellweh, southern Lebanon, protesting against the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Palestinian groups and Lebanese national parties yesterday staged a sit-in at the Palestinian refugees camp of Ein-Hellweh, southern Lebanon, protesting against the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045230
Demonstration in Cairo against normalization with Israel
Thousands of Egyptian students demonstrated yesterday against the normalization of relations with Israel during the Arab Summit in Algeria.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Thousands of Egyptian students demonstrated yesterday against the normalization of relations with Israel during the Arab Summit in Algeria.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045157
Israel`s new settler plans risk peace efforts
Israel plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank to cement its hold on Jerusalem, government sources said on Monday, drawing Palestinian warnings that peace efforts were at risk.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: Israel plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank to cement its hold on Jerusalem, government sources said on Monday, drawing Palestinian warnings that peace efforts were at risk.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072344
Putin urges Israel to back Arab peace initiatives
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Israel to back the Middle East peace initiatives pushed by Arab leaders gathering in Algeria for a two-day summit, his office said.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Israel to back the Middle East peace initiatives pushed by Arab leaders gathering in Algeria for a two-day summit, his office said.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045130
Syria-Russia summit opens today
President Bashar al-Assad and his wife arrived in Moscow evening on a state visit to Russia.
SyriaTimes
first
25-1-2005
summary: President Bashar al-Assad and his wife arrived in Moscow evening on a state visit to Russia.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050125160415
US Marine killed in western Iraq, parliament to form govt
A US Marine was killed in action on Monday in Iraq`s western Anbar province, the stronghold of the "insurgency", the American military said on Tuesday.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: A US Marine was killed in action on Monday in Iraq`s western Anbar province, the stronghold of the "insurgency", the American military said on Tuesday.
Since the US-led invasion two years ago, at least "1,515" US military and Pentagon personnel have lost their lives in Iraq.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045058
Syria keen to maintain Lebanons sovereignty, says al-Shara
Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara stressed Syria is the most careful about Lebanonصs freedom, sovereignty and independence.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara stressed Syria is the most careful about Lebanonصs freedom, sovereignty and independence.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072542
Annan: Syrian steps in Lebanon making progress
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan believed that the Syrian steps taken by Syria with regard to Lebanon are making a progress.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan believed that the Syrian steps taken by Syria with regard to Lebanon are making a progress.
In a press conference at the UN headquarters, Annan said that progress is made and Syria had committed to fully withdraw from Lebanon. The UN will work with Syria in this respect, he added.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072420
Iran, EU sticking to positions in nuclear talks: Rowhani
Iran and European Union officials are sticking to their positions on key questions in negotiations on the Islamic republic`s nuclear programme which were underway on Saturday in Paris, a top Iranian official said.
SyriaTimes
first
7-11-2004
summary: Iran and European Union officials are sticking to their positions on key questions in negotiations on the Islamic republic`s nuclear programme which were underway on Saturday in Paris, a top Iranian official said.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20041107042959
Erdogan to Syria on Wednesday
Turkeys Prime Minister Rajab Tayyib Erdogan will arrive in Syria on Wednesday on a two day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri.
SyriaTimes
first
20-12-2004
summary: Turkeys Prime Minister Rajab Tayyib Erdogan will arrive in Syria on Wednesday on a two day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri.
Erdogan is due to hold talks with Syrian officials on consolidating cooperation between Syria and Turkey in all fields. The talks will also deal with the latest developments in the region.
Erdogan will be accompanied by an official and technical delegation.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20041220055836
The World According to Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart confirms plans to build a ‘Supercenter' in Mount Vernon
By BEVERLY CRICHFIELD, Staff Writer
Matt Wallis / Skagit Valley Herald
Shoppers head into the Wal-Mart store Friday afternoon off of College Way in Mount Vernon. Wal-Mart officials have confirmed plans to build a new Wal-Mart Supercenter on the west side of Interstate 5 in Mount Vernon.
MOUNT VERNON - Wal-Mart officials confirmed for the first time Friday the company's plans to build a 204,000-square-foot "Supercenter" on 30 acres on the west side of Interstate 5 - just about a quarter of a mile away from the retailer's current store.
Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Berger said the 127,300-square-foot Mount Vernon discount store off College Way consistently has strong sales and is exceeding capacity at its current location.
http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/articles/2005/03/13/news/news01.txt
Wal-Mart wouldn't dismay neighbors
Talks under way: Developer hopes to bring Supercenter to Hamilton Mill Road.
By REBECCA McCARTHY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/14/05
Having a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Hamilton Mill Road next to his subdivision is the least of Troy Brandon's worries. He's more concerned about the 290 townhouses going in across the road and the round-the-clock traffic the residents will generate.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/0305/14walmart.html?UrAuth=`NbNUObNZUbTTUWUXUTUZT[U\UWUcU]UZU\U]UcTYWVVZV
Camel pokes nose under Wal-Mart tent
by Brien Poffenberger
There is a move underway in Annapolis to impose on businesses the cost of providing health insurance to all Marylanders.
And supporters are making a clever argument. Sponsors and proponents - socially conscious, if misguided - have co-opted the support of cynical commercial interests and are using the language of unfair business practices to achieve their ends.
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=106775&format=html
Champions Tour Notebook: Wal-Mart extends First Tee Open sponsorship
Plus, the Schwab Cup leader will stand out each week, two stars are out after surgery, and the charity of the year is selected.
By PGA.com news services
03.13.2005 08:49 am (EST)
Wal-Mart has agreed to extend its title sponsor of the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach through 2007, tournament officials have announced. The second edition of the Champions Tour event that pairs seniors with amateur junior players, will be played Sept. 2-4 on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course.
http://www.pga.com/news/tours/champions/notebook031305.cfm
Krispy Kreme to close Wal-Mart stores
• Fin
MAR. 23 4:46 P.M. ET Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is scrapping its test of bakery stores in Wal-Mart stores.
The beleaguered Winston-Salem, N.C., doughnut maker will close five outlets in Wal-Mart stores around the United States as of Sunday, and the sixth in April, according to a company spokeswoman.
"It was a test, and we've made a decision right now that the concept is not viable, but we're going to continue our great relationship with Wal-Mart with our wholesale business," spokeswoman Amy Hughes said Wednesday.
More than 500 Wal-Mart stores carry doughnuts made in Krispy Kreme's own factory-style stores as part of its wholesale business.
A representative for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the retailer doesn't comment on relationships with tenants or suppliers.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D890U7FG2.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
Wal-Mart growing globally
By Staff
Home Textiles Today -- 3/23/2005 11:50:00 AM
NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores has plans to add 55 million square feet of new space at a cost of $14 billion, executives said during the company’s presentation on Wal-Mart International at the Merrill Lynch Retailing Leaders conference.
According to Jay Fitzsimmons, senior vice president of finance and treasurer, Wal-Mart International currently has a 28.9 percent growth rate, expanding from 10 stores outside the United States in 1993 to 1,603 international stores in 2005. Currently, he said Wal-Mart has 5,708 total stores around the world, 3,702 of them in this country.
"We believe that there are a number of countries we currently operate in where we can grow tremendously," added Fitzsimmons, citing the examples of Brazil and China. Wal-Mart only operates 44 stores in China, but plans to dramatically grow this number.
http://www.hometextilestoday.com/index.asp?layout=story&articleid=CA512558&webzine=htt&publication=htt§ion=Retailing+News
Unions team up to take on Wal-Mart
By ANNE HOWLAND, Ottawa Sun
Two of Canada's largest unions are taking direct aim at Wal-Mart as they prepare to release a study tomorrow on the "abuse" of the right to freedom of association. Freedom of association includes the right to join a union, bargain collectively and withhold services by going on strike.
"Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in the world and has a deplorable track record of respecting workers' rights," James Clancy, national president of the National Union of Public and General Employees, told the Sun yesterday.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/Business/2005/03/23/969679-sun.html
The Daily Star
Sharon overcomes key hurdle to Gaza pullout plan
Israel seals borders for holiday
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday headed for victory in his battle to force the budget through Parliament and safeguard his Gaza pullout plan, after sidelining MPs desperate to halt the evacuation. In another development, Israel banned the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza during the Jewish state's Purim holiday celebrations this week, despite new peace moves with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13681
Arab summit closes steering clear of controversial issues
Delegates endorse rehashed Middle East peace plan but Palestinian and Israeli leaders quickly reject it
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Arab leaders steered clear of the region's most contentious issues, wrapping up a summit in Algiers Wednesday with a re-hashed Middle East peace plan that Israel and Palestinian groups swiftly rejected. A communique read out at the session said peace was the "strategic option" of Arab countries to settle the conflict with the Jewish state.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13701
Jordan denies anti-Syrian and Iranian remarks
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, March 24, 2005
AMMAN: Jordan denied Wednesday reports by Israeli newspapers that King Abdullah II had made stinging attacks against Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hizbullah movement. That denial was corroborated by a Jewish-American leader before whose organization the king allegedly made the remarks.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13684
Libyan leader grabs Arab summit limelight
Gadhafi calls Palestinians and Israelis 'idiots,' leaving his audience in fits of laughter
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Arab league Summit
ALGIERS: Maverick Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday upstaged the final session of the Arab summit with an unscheduled address describing Israel and the Palestinians as "idiots," leaving his audience in fits of laughter.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13682
Thousands of Yemenis protest against sales tax
Demonstrators say new taxation will put unnecessary burden on people
Thursday, March 24, 2005
The following report was produced by Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
SANA: Thousands of citizens and businessmen have been protesting on the streets of several Yemeni cities against a sales tax to be enforced in July 2005. It is part of economic reforms recommended by the World Bank, which locals say will severely affect the purchasing power of the poor. The demonstrations, which took place in various governorates simultaneously, were a public outcry at the 10 percent tax on basic commodities, leaving more than 50 percent of the population economically vulnerable, according to experts.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=13688
continued...
Arab Summit opens in Algiers ...President discusses developments, summit agenda with leaders
The 17th Arab Summit resumed its deliberations yesterday evening with a closed-door session in the presence of President Bashar al-Assad, a number of Arab kings, presidents and emirs, heads of government and representatives of the Arab states, and the Arab League Secretary-General.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: The 17th Arab Summit resumed its deliberations yesterday evening with a closed-door session in the presence of President Bashar al-Assad, a number of Arab kings, presidents and emirs, heads of government and representatives of the Arab states, and the Arab League Secretary-General.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045401
Syria condemns Qatar bombing
Syria has strongly condemned the criminal terrorist act which hit Qatar last Saturday.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Syria has strongly condemned the criminal terrorist act which hit Qatar last Saturday.
An official source has confirmed to SANA Syriaصs backing to brotherly Qatar and its solidarity with it, wishing Qatar continuing security and prosperity.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045255
Sit-in in Lebanon against Israeli aggression
Palestinian groups and Lebanese national parties yesterday staged a sit-in at the Palestinian refugees camp of Ein-Hellweh, southern Lebanon, protesting against the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Palestinian groups and Lebanese national parties yesterday staged a sit-in at the Palestinian refugees camp of Ein-Hellweh, southern Lebanon, protesting against the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045230
Demonstration in Cairo against normalization with Israel
Thousands of Egyptian students demonstrated yesterday against the normalization of relations with Israel during the Arab Summit in Algeria.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Thousands of Egyptian students demonstrated yesterday against the normalization of relations with Israel during the Arab Summit in Algeria.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045157
Israel`s new settler plans risk peace efforts
Israel plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank to cement its hold on Jerusalem, government sources said on Monday, drawing Palestinian warnings that peace efforts were at risk.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: Israel plans to build 3,500 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank to cement its hold on Jerusalem, government sources said on Monday, drawing Palestinian warnings that peace efforts were at risk.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072344
Putin urges Israel to back Arab peace initiatives
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Israel to back the Middle East peace initiatives pushed by Arab leaders gathering in Algeria for a two-day summit, his office said.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Israel to back the Middle East peace initiatives pushed by Arab leaders gathering in Algeria for a two-day summit, his office said.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045130
Syria-Russia summit opens today
President Bashar al-Assad and his wife arrived in Moscow evening on a state visit to Russia.
SyriaTimes
first
25-1-2005
summary: President Bashar al-Assad and his wife arrived in Moscow evening on a state visit to Russia.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050125160415
US Marine killed in western Iraq, parliament to form govt
A US Marine was killed in action on Monday in Iraq`s western Anbar province, the stronghold of the "insurgency", the American military said on Tuesday.
SyriaTimes
first
23-3-2005
summary: A US Marine was killed in action on Monday in Iraq`s western Anbar province, the stronghold of the "insurgency", the American military said on Tuesday.
Since the US-led invasion two years ago, at least "1,515" US military and Pentagon personnel have lost their lives in Iraq.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050323045058
Syria keen to maintain Lebanons sovereignty, says al-Shara
Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara stressed Syria is the most careful about Lebanonصs freedom, sovereignty and independence.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara stressed Syria is the most careful about Lebanonصs freedom, sovereignty and independence.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072542
Annan: Syrian steps in Lebanon making progress
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan believed that the Syrian steps taken by Syria with regard to Lebanon are making a progress.
SyriaTimes
first
22-3-2005
summary: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan believed that the Syrian steps taken by Syria with regard to Lebanon are making a progress.
In a press conference at the UN headquarters, Annan said that progress is made and Syria had committed to fully withdraw from Lebanon. The UN will work with Syria in this respect, he added.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20050322072420
Iran, EU sticking to positions in nuclear talks: Rowhani
Iran and European Union officials are sticking to their positions on key questions in negotiations on the Islamic republic`s nuclear programme which were underway on Saturday in Paris, a top Iranian official said.
SyriaTimes
first
7-11-2004
summary: Iran and European Union officials are sticking to their positions on key questions in negotiations on the Islamic republic`s nuclear programme which were underway on Saturday in Paris, a top Iranian official said.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20041107042959
Erdogan to Syria on Wednesday
Turkeys Prime Minister Rajab Tayyib Erdogan will arrive in Syria on Wednesday on a two day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri.
SyriaTimes
first
20-12-2004
summary: Turkeys Prime Minister Rajab Tayyib Erdogan will arrive in Syria on Wednesday on a two day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri.
Erdogan is due to hold talks with Syrian officials on consolidating cooperation between Syria and Turkey in all fields. The talks will also deal with the latest developments in the region.
Erdogan will be accompanied by an official and technical delegation.
http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20041220055836
The World According to Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart confirms plans to build a ‘Supercenter' in Mount Vernon
By BEVERLY CRICHFIELD, Staff Writer
Matt Wallis / Skagit Valley Herald
Shoppers head into the Wal-Mart store Friday afternoon off of College Way in Mount Vernon. Wal-Mart officials have confirmed plans to build a new Wal-Mart Supercenter on the west side of Interstate 5 in Mount Vernon.
MOUNT VERNON - Wal-Mart officials confirmed for the first time Friday the company's plans to build a 204,000-square-foot "Supercenter" on 30 acres on the west side of Interstate 5 - just about a quarter of a mile away from the retailer's current store.
Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Berger said the 127,300-square-foot Mount Vernon discount store off College Way consistently has strong sales and is exceeding capacity at its current location.
http://www.skagitvalleyherald.com/articles/2005/03/13/news/news01.txt
Wal-Mart wouldn't dismay neighbors
Talks under way: Developer hopes to bring Supercenter to Hamilton Mill Road.
By REBECCA McCARTHY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/14/05
Having a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Hamilton Mill Road next to his subdivision is the least of Troy Brandon's worries. He's more concerned about the 290 townhouses going in across the road and the round-the-clock traffic the residents will generate.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/0305/14walmart.html?UrAuth=`NbNUObNZUbTTUWUXUTUZT[U\UWUcU]UZU\U]UcTYWVVZV
Camel pokes nose under Wal-Mart tent
by Brien Poffenberger
There is a move underway in Annapolis to impose on businesses the cost of providing health insurance to all Marylanders.
And supporters are making a clever argument. Sponsors and proponents - socially conscious, if misguided - have co-opted the support of cynical commercial interests and are using the language of unfair business practices to achieve their ends.
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=106775&format=html
Champions Tour Notebook: Wal-Mart extends First Tee Open sponsorship
Plus, the Schwab Cup leader will stand out each week, two stars are out after surgery, and the charity of the year is selected.
By PGA.com news services
03.13.2005 08:49 am (EST)
Wal-Mart has agreed to extend its title sponsor of the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach through 2007, tournament officials have announced. The second edition of the Champions Tour event that pairs seniors with amateur junior players, will be played Sept. 2-4 on Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course.
http://www.pga.com/news/tours/champions/notebook031305.cfm
Krispy Kreme to close Wal-Mart stores
• Fin
MAR. 23 4:46 P.M. ET Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is scrapping its test of bakery stores in Wal-Mart stores.
The beleaguered Winston-Salem, N.C., doughnut maker will close five outlets in Wal-Mart stores around the United States as of Sunday, and the sixth in April, according to a company spokeswoman.
"It was a test, and we've made a decision right now that the concept is not viable, but we're going to continue our great relationship with Wal-Mart with our wholesale business," spokeswoman Amy Hughes said Wednesday.
More than 500 Wal-Mart stores carry doughnuts made in Krispy Kreme's own factory-style stores as part of its wholesale business.
A representative for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said the retailer doesn't comment on relationships with tenants or suppliers.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D890U7FG2.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down
Wal-Mart growing globally
By Staff
Home Textiles Today -- 3/23/2005 11:50:00 AM
NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores has plans to add 55 million square feet of new space at a cost of $14 billion, executives said during the company’s presentation on Wal-Mart International at the Merrill Lynch Retailing Leaders conference.
According to Jay Fitzsimmons, senior vice president of finance and treasurer, Wal-Mart International currently has a 28.9 percent growth rate, expanding from 10 stores outside the United States in 1993 to 1,603 international stores in 2005. Currently, he said Wal-Mart has 5,708 total stores around the world, 3,702 of them in this country.
"We believe that there are a number of countries we currently operate in where we can grow tremendously," added Fitzsimmons, citing the examples of Brazil and China. Wal-Mart only operates 44 stores in China, but plans to dramatically grow this number.
http://www.hometextilestoday.com/index.asp?layout=story&articleid=CA512558&webzine=htt&publication=htt§ion=Retailing+News
Unions team up to take on Wal-Mart
By ANNE HOWLAND, Ottawa Sun
Two of Canada's largest unions are taking direct aim at Wal-Mart as they prepare to release a study tomorrow on the "abuse" of the right to freedom of association. Freedom of association includes the right to join a union, bargain collectively and withhold services by going on strike.
"Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in the world and has a deplorable track record of respecting workers' rights," James Clancy, national president of the National Union of Public and General Employees, told the Sun yesterday.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/Business/2005/03/23/969679-sun.html
The Daily Star
Sharon overcomes key hurdle to Gaza pullout plan
Israel seals borders for holiday
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday headed for victory in his battle to force the budget through Parliament and safeguard his Gaza pullout plan, after sidelining MPs desperate to halt the evacuation. In another development, Israel banned the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza during the Jewish state's Purim holiday celebrations this week, despite new peace moves with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13681
Arab summit closes steering clear of controversial issues
Delegates endorse rehashed Middle East peace plan but Palestinian and Israeli leaders quickly reject it
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Arab leaders steered clear of the region's most contentious issues, wrapping up a summit in Algiers Wednesday with a re-hashed Middle East peace plan that Israel and Palestinian groups swiftly rejected. A communique read out at the session said peace was the "strategic option" of Arab countries to settle the conflict with the Jewish state.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13701
Jordan denies anti-Syrian and Iranian remarks
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, March 24, 2005
AMMAN: Jordan denied Wednesday reports by Israeli newspapers that King Abdullah II had made stinging attacks against Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hizbullah movement. That denial was corroborated by a Jewish-American leader before whose organization the king allegedly made the remarks.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13684
Libyan leader grabs Arab summit limelight
Gadhafi calls Palestinians and Israelis 'idiots,' leaving his audience in fits of laughter
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Arab league Summit
ALGIERS: Maverick Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday upstaged the final session of the Arab summit with an unscheduled address describing Israel and the Palestinians as "idiots," leaving his audience in fits of laughter.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=13682
Thousands of Yemenis protest against sales tax
Demonstrators say new taxation will put unnecessary burden on people
Thursday, March 24, 2005
The following report was produced by Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
SANA: Thousands of citizens and businessmen have been protesting on the streets of several Yemeni cities against a sales tax to be enforced in July 2005. It is part of economic reforms recommended by the World Bank, which locals say will severely affect the purchasing power of the poor. The demonstrations, which took place in various governorates simultaneously, were a public outcry at the 10 percent tax on basic commodities, leaving more than 50 percent of the population economically vulnerable, according to experts.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=13688
continued...
Morning Papers - continued...
The China Daily
South Korea ready for 'diplomatic war' with Japan
(CRI)
Updated: 2005-03-24 17:08
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun says his country is ready for a "diplomatic war" with Japan as tensions flared between the neighbours over a territorial row and a Japanese textbook critics say whitewashes Japan's militarism.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427897.htm
Cross-Straits ties threatened by protest
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
Cross-Straits relations may worsen if secessionist forces in Taiwan challenge the newly-passed Anti-Secession Law, leading mainland researchers warned Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427916.htm
Kim invites Chinese president for a visit
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
China and the DPRK are working on a schedule for a visit by President Hu Jintao.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju at the Fujian Hall in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 23, 2005. [Reuters]
The invitation from the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-il, was conveyed by Premier Pak Bong-ju, who is now visiting China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427917.htm
Beijing unveils security plan for Olympics
By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-23 23:14
Beijing, the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games, yesterday gave details of its Olympic security scheme, which will play an over-arching role in preparations for the sports gathering.
Chinese security personnel listen to a speech on security issues affecting the 2008 Olympics, in Beijing, March 23, 2005. The construction of the 2008 Olympic venues is in progress as the National Olympic Stadium, dubbed the "birds nest" because of its unusual design, will begin construction this week. [Reuters]
The massive scheme involves the participation of almost all the security organizations around the city.
This includes public security, national security and the armed police.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/23/content_427550.htm
EU official calls China embargo 'unfair'
(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-03-24 07:38
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Maintaining the European Union's 15-year arms embargo against China is "unfair," and European leaders are leaning toward lifting it, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Wednesday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427647.htm
The Cheney Observer
The biggest robberies
John Dillinger was a tough bank robber to catch. The F.B.I. ended his career ambushing him in Chicago. But the biggest bank heist ever resulted from Reagan deregulating the savings and loan industry. White collar crooks stuck taxpayers for $1.4 trillion through unsecured insider loans. Neil and Jeb Bush were implicated but never investigated along with many others. Savings and loan crimes were buried by Desert Storm hysteria. The latest White House scam is "reforming" Social Security which is basically a public trust bank account. But both parties of Congress have already "borrowed" $180 billion from Social Security for general fund spending. Now "conservatives" are increasing spending and creating record debt with radical tax breaks for the elite along with the cost of occupying Iraq. WMD lies started an unholy war of mass deception handing out a billion dollars per week to no-bid war profiteers. The public is being robbed. Privatizing S.S. will only fatten stock market sharks and cost trillions in bureaucratic overhead while draining retirement funds. We need a responsible democracy in America instead of colonizing Iraq for oil corporations. Too bad Hoover's not around to nab the new breed of bank robbers in Washington.
John Smart
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/03/13/opinions/a04031305_02.txt
E. Pringle: Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
Monday, 14 March 2005, 12:19 pm
Opinion: Evelyn Pringle
Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
By Evelyn Pringle
Miamisburg Ohio
Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC), Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening program in government institutions, including the public school system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade.
The New Freedom Commission was established by an Executive Order Bush issued on April 29, 2002. According to a July 22, 2003, press release, the Commission recommends transforming America’s mental health care system.
“Achieving this goal will require greater engagement and education of first line health care providers - primary care practitioners - and a greater focus on mental health care in institutions such as schools, child welfare programs, and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The goal is integrated care that can screen, identify, and respond to problems early,” the Commission’s press release stated.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0503/S00111.htm
This was when CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown was still a Global Program as well as domestic. It no longer ventures outside the USA very much for a Well Rounded Citizenry. At any rate this was when David Bohrman was the Executive Producer and you can't get better than that. His 'RESCUE' of the nation was classic to his ability to deliver timely coverage when he moved Aaron Brown to the rooftop across the river from the burning and fallen World Trade Towers. That level of expertise no longer exists at NewsNight and the show seeks only manipulation of the public through the political Christian Agenda of the Religious Right.
I used to love that show. Now, it's a news hour for pansies.
The Anthrax Thing
Kindly remember prior to this was September 11, 2001.
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 10, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: When it was one person, it seemed possible it was an innocent if bizarre coincidence. When a second person was exposed to anthrax, innocent explanations were a stretch for even the optimists among us. Now there are three and a criminal investigation. And while all the responsible parties say, be calm, who can honestly say there isn't a knot in the pit of your stomach when you think about this anthrax case?
So we see this building in South Florida differently tonight. This is a crime, scene pure and simple. The killer remains unknown and the weapon, anthrax, remains invisible. It is the fear that is palpable.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/10/asb.00.html
America Strikes Back: Anthrax Alert
Aired October 12, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Truth be told, my favorite part of the day comes about an hour before this program, where I sit and write this page. It's a chance to pretty much say what I want, in the way I want to say it. And the fact is I don't know what to say tonight, because in many ways, I am as confused, as anxious, as angry as anyone. Not exactly the frame of mind a reporter likes to find himself in.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/12/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 16, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. If you're keeping track, it has been five weeks now. There are too many numbers to keep track of. The thousands who died on September 11th, the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs since. There are the thousands of military men and women involved in the war effort, thousands of reservists waiting. There are the number of bombing runs, the number of missiles fired, numbers all.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/16/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 17, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
At one point today, we were told some members of Congress, some members in the leadership sat down and discussed whether they might need another place to meet, a place that wasn't the floor of the House or Senate, a place that wasn't the Capitol. This is not a dream: This is a the United States as we have never known it and it is unsettling.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/17/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 23, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Here is a straight lead -- we don't do many straight leads. But this is the way the big time newspapers would write it: The President of the United States, George W. Bush, had to say today -- quote -- "I don't have anthrax." And I thought some of the questions asked of President Clinton were a little strange.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/23/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 24, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. One of our writers, Linda Keenan, observed today one of those things that is a potent reminder of how quickly we humans adapt. When word came today that another employee at the "New York Post," whose offices are not far from here, had the skin form of anthrax, nobody paid much attention. Believe me, a week ago we would have paid a lot of attention.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/24/asb.00.html
America's New War: The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 29, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, again, everyone.
Well, another week, another threat. It's almost as if the terrorists were worried we would be bored by anthrax by now. You probably heard that Attorney General John Ashcroft stepped before the microphones today to say the government has received credible threats of yet another possible terrorist attack. No details offered, because he said no details known. And he added he hoped all Americans would carry on their lives normally.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/29/asb.00.html
Ex-official of Halliburton is charged with fraud
Bid-rigging scheme, kickback alleged
By Ray Long and Andrew Zajac, Tribune staff reporters. Ray Long reported from Springfield and Andrew Zajac from Washington; national correspondent Dahleen Glanton contributed from Atlanta
Published March 18, 2005
SPRINGFIELD -- A former manager of a Halliburton Inc. subsidiary and a Kuwaiti businessman have been charged with bilking taxpayers out of more than $3.5 million in a bid-rigging scheme involving fuel trucks for U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
The 10-count indictment alleged that the worker, Jeff Alex Mazon, joined Ali Hijazi, a top official with a Kuwaiti-based contractor, in a 2003 plan to alter bids so that Hijazi's company would win fuel tanker business.
Mazon allegedly received a $1 million kickback from Hijazi for changing bids to ensure that LaNouvelle General Trading and Contracting Co. received the contract. That allowed the firm to supply the tankers for KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary doing much of the firm's Iraqi reconstruction work.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0503180221mar18,1,3035297.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Haliburton Bahamian Style
Does it disturb anyone that Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm?
Not unlike the contracts awarded the Bush administrations cronies in the rebuilding of Iraq like the one awarded Haliburton, it seems we have our own Haliburton – Bahamian style. Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States, who served as Haliburton Energy’s, CEO until 2000, did $73 million business with Iraq between 1998 and 2000. “Today he draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract”. (Corpwatch)
Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm. Does this disturb anyone? The Tribune’s June 16 2003 Government notice of application for licenses for oil exploration for Kerr Mc Gee is dated 1987.
Last week David Christian Vice President of Kerr McGee led us down the garden path, saying that because they have done this kind of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, that an EIA is not a necessity in the Blake Plateau in the northern Bahamas. Doesn’t it bother anyone that we are now taking developers/investors word regarding the necessity of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)? Since when does the developer/investor dictate to the Bahamas what is needed for a development to proceed? In today’s world given all that has been learned regarding human impact on the environment there is NO reason for Kerr Mc Gee’s not to conduct an EIA for seismic testing.
If we follow Mr. Christians’ logic then we could virtually do away with harassing developers for an EIA, since to have performed an EIA for a development in New Providence should mean that we would not have to have one done for a development in Exuma. This is completely absurd and utter hogwash. One would think that a global corporation that boasts environmental responsibility, Kerr Mc Gee would demonstrate the same high standards of environmental review that its company claims to practice at home.
http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=2084
Rebuilding Iraq a big, slow job
Under constant threat of sabotage, up to 200 U.S. companies are hard at work patching a nation together
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/20/BUGMGBS0MB1.DTL
Cheney again emerges from the shadows
By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
March 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney, who has avoided the spotlight since taking the oath of office for a second term more than two months ago, is once again stepping from the shadows to tout President Bush's Social Security plan and boost White House foreign policy goals.
Cheney is in the midst of a tour that will carry him to Bakersfield, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; and McCandless, Pa., to promote the administration's plan for a national retirement program, a package that polls show hasn't caught on with the voting public.
And he's speaking with reporters again, telling the Washington Post on Tuesday that recent diplomatic appointments, like the nomination of John R. Bolton to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will bring about needed changes in the world body.
The 64-year-old Cheney emerged during the first Bush term as the president's top adviser, especially in the area of foreign affairs where he is considered a hawk on the war on terror and Iraq. He also devised the president's energy policy, which recently received support when the Senate voted to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a key component.
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CHENEY-03-23-05&cat=PP
Cheney attacks Powell, says U.S. diplomacy very weak until now
Big News Network.com Wednesday 23rd March, 2005
U.S. diplomacy has been very weak up until now says Vice President Dick Cheney.
Commenting on proposed appointments of hard-liners John Bolton and Paul Wolfowitz Cheney said, "If we are going to be successful long-term in the war on terror and in the broader objective of promoting freedom and democracy in (Arab and Muslim parts) of the world, we have to get the public diplomacy piece of it right. Up until now, that has been a very weak part of our arsenal."
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=680a5e06ff7ea5c0
The Jordan Times
Mustafa Mahmoud sets off on Mount Everest expedition
By Reem Halasa
Mahmoud with fellow mountaineers on the road to Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, earlier this year (Photo courtesy Mustafa Mahmoud)
AMMAN — With six summits behind him, the biggest challenge now remaining for Jordan's sole mountaineer Mustafa Mahmoud, is Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews4.htm
Lebanon's blast stokes fears of communal violence
Lebanese internal security forces on Wednesday inspect a ruined commercial centre following an explosion in the coastal nightlife and shopping district of Kaslik, 20 km north of Beirut (AFP photo by Ramzi Haidar)
BEIRUT (Reuters) — A powerful bomb tore through a shopping mall in the anti-Syrian Christian heartland north of Beirut on Wednesday, killing three Asian workers and bringing Lebanon closer to chaos weeks before general elections.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news1.htm
Hariri investigation may be needed — Annan
ALGIERS (Reuters) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday a more in-depth investigation may be needed into the killing of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri than a UN report due to be released shortly.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Sharon overcomes key hurdle to Gaza pullout
A Gazan woman living in an old cemetery wash her laundry next to a grave on Wedensday (AFP photo by Mahmud Hams)
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a key vote on Wednesday over a state budget he must push through parliament by the end of the month or face a snap election that would threaten his plan to pull out of Gaza.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news11.htm
Gov't crisis deepens as warlords want impeachment
NAIROBI (AFP) — The crisis over the relocation from exile of Somalia's transitional government deepened Wednesday as powerful warlords said they would move to impeach President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Warlords controlling Somalia's bullet-scarred capital of Mogadishu said they would introduce a no-confidence motion against Yusuf in parliament and seek his removal for allegedly violating the lawless country's transitional charter.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Forgotten Sudanese forced out to desert camp
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AL FATHA — Amna Kody holds up her infected leg and pleads for some pills to stop the pain. But there are no doctors in Al Fatha where Sudanese authorities have forcibly relocated thousands of people taking refuge near Khartoum.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news9.htm
Navy Seals sue AP, reporter over Iraq photos
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Five US Navy SEALs and the wife of one of the men have sued The Associated Press and a San Diego-based reporter, claiming the news organisation endangered their lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos of the elite unit apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news10.htm
The mirage of state building
Rima Merriman
In occupied Palestine, you hear the mantra of “capacity building” over and over again, wherever you go. There is high unemployment, but there is also a rising demand for skilled workers, and those workers are in short supply.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion5.htm
'Kingdom has lowest percentage of TB cases in region'
AMMAN (Petra) — Recent Health Ministry statistics indicate that the Kingdom has the least number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the region.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews10.htm
World Bank to extend $15 million loan for Public Sector Reform Programme
AMMAN (JT) — The World Bank board of executive directors agreed on Tuesday to extend a $15 million loan to help Jordan execute the third stage of its Public Sector Reform Programme, a senior official announced yesterday.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews9.htm
Witness testifies that Jayyousi bought laboratory equipment, sulphuric acid
AMMAN (JT) — An employee of a laboratory supply company testified on Wednesday in the case of nine men standing trial at the State Security Court (SSC) accused of attempting to carry out the first ever Al Qaeda chemical attack in the Kingdom.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews5.htm
continued...
South Korea ready for 'diplomatic war' with Japan
(CRI)
Updated: 2005-03-24 17:08
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun says his country is ready for a "diplomatic war" with Japan as tensions flared between the neighbours over a territorial row and a Japanese textbook critics say whitewashes Japan's militarism.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427897.htm
Cross-Straits ties threatened by protest
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
Cross-Straits relations may worsen if secessionist forces in Taiwan challenge the newly-passed Anti-Secession Law, leading mainland researchers warned Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427916.htm
Kim invites Chinese president for a visit
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-24 23:41
China and the DPRK are working on a schedule for a visit by President Hu Jintao.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju at the Fujian Hall in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 23, 2005. [Reuters]
The invitation from the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-il, was conveyed by Premier Pak Bong-ju, who is now visiting China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427917.htm
Beijing unveils security plan for Olympics
By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-23 23:14
Beijing, the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games, yesterday gave details of its Olympic security scheme, which will play an over-arching role in preparations for the sports gathering.
Chinese security personnel listen to a speech on security issues affecting the 2008 Olympics, in Beijing, March 23, 2005. The construction of the 2008 Olympic venues is in progress as the National Olympic Stadium, dubbed the "birds nest" because of its unusual design, will begin construction this week. [Reuters]
The massive scheme involves the participation of almost all the security organizations around the city.
This includes public security, national security and the armed police.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/23/content_427550.htm
EU official calls China embargo 'unfair'
(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-03-24 07:38
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Maintaining the European Union's 15-year arms embargo against China is "unfair," and European leaders are leaning toward lifting it, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Wednesday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/24/content_427647.htm
The Cheney Observer
The biggest robberies
John Dillinger was a tough bank robber to catch. The F.B.I. ended his career ambushing him in Chicago. But the biggest bank heist ever resulted from Reagan deregulating the savings and loan industry. White collar crooks stuck taxpayers for $1.4 trillion through unsecured insider loans. Neil and Jeb Bush were implicated but never investigated along with many others. Savings and loan crimes were buried by Desert Storm hysteria. The latest White House scam is "reforming" Social Security which is basically a public trust bank account. But both parties of Congress have already "borrowed" $180 billion from Social Security for general fund spending. Now "conservatives" are increasing spending and creating record debt with radical tax breaks for the elite along with the cost of occupying Iraq. WMD lies started an unholy war of mass deception handing out a billion dollars per week to no-bid war profiteers. The public is being robbed. Privatizing S.S. will only fatten stock market sharks and cost trillions in bureaucratic overhead while draining retirement funds. We need a responsible democracy in America instead of colonizing Iraq for oil corporations. Too bad Hoover's not around to nab the new breed of bank robbers in Washington.
John Smart
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/03/13/opinions/a04031305_02.txt
E. Pringle: Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
Monday, 14 March 2005, 12:19 pm
Opinion: Evelyn Pringle
Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
By Evelyn Pringle
Miamisburg Ohio
Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC), Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening program in government institutions, including the public school system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade.
The New Freedom Commission was established by an Executive Order Bush issued on April 29, 2002. According to a July 22, 2003, press release, the Commission recommends transforming America’s mental health care system.
“Achieving this goal will require greater engagement and education of first line health care providers - primary care practitioners - and a greater focus on mental health care in institutions such as schools, child welfare programs, and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The goal is integrated care that can screen, identify, and respond to problems early,” the Commission’s press release stated.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0503/S00111.htm
This was when CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown was still a Global Program as well as domestic. It no longer ventures outside the USA very much for a Well Rounded Citizenry. At any rate this was when David Bohrman was the Executive Producer and you can't get better than that. His 'RESCUE' of the nation was classic to his ability to deliver timely coverage when he moved Aaron Brown to the rooftop across the river from the burning and fallen World Trade Towers. That level of expertise no longer exists at NewsNight and the show seeks only manipulation of the public through the political Christian Agenda of the Religious Right.
I used to love that show. Now, it's a news hour for pansies.
The Anthrax Thing
Kindly remember prior to this was September 11, 2001.
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 10, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: When it was one person, it seemed possible it was an innocent if bizarre coincidence. When a second person was exposed to anthrax, innocent explanations were a stretch for even the optimists among us. Now there are three and a criminal investigation. And while all the responsible parties say, be calm, who can honestly say there isn't a knot in the pit of your stomach when you think about this anthrax case?
So we see this building in South Florida differently tonight. This is a crime, scene pure and simple. The killer remains unknown and the weapon, anthrax, remains invisible. It is the fear that is palpable.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/10/asb.00.html
America Strikes Back: Anthrax Alert
Aired October 12, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Truth be told, my favorite part of the day comes about an hour before this program, where I sit and write this page. It's a chance to pretty much say what I want, in the way I want to say it. And the fact is I don't know what to say tonight, because in many ways, I am as confused, as anxious, as angry as anyone. Not exactly the frame of mind a reporter likes to find himself in.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/12/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 16, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. If you're keeping track, it has been five weeks now. There are too many numbers to keep track of. The thousands who died on September 11th, the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs since. There are the thousands of military men and women involved in the war effort, thousands of reservists waiting. There are the number of bombing runs, the number of missiles fired, numbers all.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/16/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 17, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
At one point today, we were told some members of Congress, some members in the leadership sat down and discussed whether they might need another place to meet, a place that wasn't the floor of the House or Senate, a place that wasn't the Capitol. This is not a dream: This is a the United States as we have never known it and it is unsettling.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/17/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 23, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. Here is a straight lead -- we don't do many straight leads. But this is the way the big time newspapers would write it: The President of the United States, George W. Bush, had to say today -- quote -- "I don't have anthrax." And I thought some of the questions asked of President Clinton were a little strange.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/23/asb.00.html
The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 24, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone. One of our writers, Linda Keenan, observed today one of those things that is a potent reminder of how quickly we humans adapt. When word came today that another employee at the "New York Post," whose offices are not far from here, had the skin form of anthrax, nobody paid much attention. Believe me, a week ago we would have paid a lot of attention.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/24/asb.00.html
America's New War: The Anthrax Investigation
Aired October 29, 2001 - 22:00 ET
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, again, everyone.
Well, another week, another threat. It's almost as if the terrorists were worried we would be bored by anthrax by now. You probably heard that Attorney General John Ashcroft stepped before the microphones today to say the government has received credible threats of yet another possible terrorist attack. No details offered, because he said no details known. And he added he hoped all Americans would carry on their lives normally.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/29/asb.00.html
Ex-official of Halliburton is charged with fraud
Bid-rigging scheme, kickback alleged
By Ray Long and Andrew Zajac, Tribune staff reporters. Ray Long reported from Springfield and Andrew Zajac from Washington; national correspondent Dahleen Glanton contributed from Atlanta
Published March 18, 2005
SPRINGFIELD -- A former manager of a Halliburton Inc. subsidiary and a Kuwaiti businessman have been charged with bilking taxpayers out of more than $3.5 million in a bid-rigging scheme involving fuel trucks for U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
The 10-count indictment alleged that the worker, Jeff Alex Mazon, joined Ali Hijazi, a top official with a Kuwaiti-based contractor, in a 2003 plan to alter bids so that Hijazi's company would win fuel tanker business.
Mazon allegedly received a $1 million kickback from Hijazi for changing bids to ensure that LaNouvelle General Trading and Contracting Co. received the contract. That allowed the firm to supply the tankers for KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary doing much of the firm's Iraqi reconstruction work.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0503180221mar18,1,3035297.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Haliburton Bahamian Style
Does it disturb anyone that Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm?
Not unlike the contracts awarded the Bush administrations cronies in the rebuilding of Iraq like the one awarded Haliburton, it seems we have our own Haliburton – Bahamian style. Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States, who served as Haliburton Energy’s, CEO until 2000, did $73 million business with Iraq between 1998 and 2000. “Today he draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract”. (Corpwatch)
Kerr Mc Gee’s legal representation is none other than Philip “Brave” Davis of Davis and Co., formerly Christie Davis and Co., the Prime Minister’s former partner and firm. Does this disturb anyone? The Tribune’s June 16 2003 Government notice of application for licenses for oil exploration for Kerr Mc Gee is dated 1987.
Last week David Christian Vice President of Kerr McGee led us down the garden path, saying that because they have done this kind of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, that an EIA is not a necessity in the Blake Plateau in the northern Bahamas. Doesn’t it bother anyone that we are now taking developers/investors word regarding the necessity of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)? Since when does the developer/investor dictate to the Bahamas what is needed for a development to proceed? In today’s world given all that has been learned regarding human impact on the environment there is NO reason for Kerr Mc Gee’s not to conduct an EIA for seismic testing.
If we follow Mr. Christians’ logic then we could virtually do away with harassing developers for an EIA, since to have performed an EIA for a development in New Providence should mean that we would not have to have one done for a development in Exuma. This is completely absurd and utter hogwash. One would think that a global corporation that boasts environmental responsibility, Kerr Mc Gee would demonstrate the same high standards of environmental review that its company claims to practice at home.
http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=2084
Rebuilding Iraq a big, slow job
Under constant threat of sabotage, up to 200 U.S. companies are hard at work patching a nation together
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/20/BUGMGBS0MB1.DTL
Cheney again emerges from the shadows
By BILL STRAUB
Scripps Howard News Service
March 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney, who has avoided the spotlight since taking the oath of office for a second term more than two months ago, is once again stepping from the shadows to tout President Bush's Social Security plan and boost White House foreign policy goals.
Cheney is in the midst of a tour that will carry him to Bakersfield, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; and McCandless, Pa., to promote the administration's plan for a national retirement program, a package that polls show hasn't caught on with the voting public.
And he's speaking with reporters again, telling the Washington Post on Tuesday that recent diplomatic appointments, like the nomination of John R. Bolton to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will bring about needed changes in the world body.
The 64-year-old Cheney emerged during the first Bush term as the president's top adviser, especially in the area of foreign affairs where he is considered a hawk on the war on terror and Iraq. He also devised the president's energy policy, which recently received support when the Senate voted to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a key component.
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CHENEY-03-23-05&cat=PP
Cheney attacks Powell, says U.S. diplomacy very weak until now
Big News Network.com Wednesday 23rd March, 2005
U.S. diplomacy has been very weak up until now says Vice President Dick Cheney.
Commenting on proposed appointments of hard-liners John Bolton and Paul Wolfowitz Cheney said, "If we are going to be successful long-term in the war on terror and in the broader objective of promoting freedom and democracy in (Arab and Muslim parts) of the world, we have to get the public diplomacy piece of it right. Up until now, that has been a very weak part of our arsenal."
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=680a5e06ff7ea5c0
The Jordan Times
Mustafa Mahmoud sets off on Mount Everest expedition
By Reem Halasa
Mahmoud with fellow mountaineers on the road to Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, earlier this year (Photo courtesy Mustafa Mahmoud)
AMMAN — With six summits behind him, the biggest challenge now remaining for Jordan's sole mountaineer Mustafa Mahmoud, is Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews4.htm
Lebanon's blast stokes fears of communal violence
Lebanese internal security forces on Wednesday inspect a ruined commercial centre following an explosion in the coastal nightlife and shopping district of Kaslik, 20 km north of Beirut (AFP photo by Ramzi Haidar)
BEIRUT (Reuters) — A powerful bomb tore through a shopping mall in the anti-Syrian Christian heartland north of Beirut on Wednesday, killing three Asian workers and bringing Lebanon closer to chaos weeks before general elections.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news1.htm
Hariri investigation may be needed — Annan
ALGIERS (Reuters) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday a more in-depth investigation may be needed into the killing of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri than a UN report due to be released shortly.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news5.htm
Sharon overcomes key hurdle to Gaza pullout
A Gazan woman living in an old cemetery wash her laundry next to a grave on Wedensday (AFP photo by Mahmud Hams)
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a key vote on Wednesday over a state budget he must push through parliament by the end of the month or face a snap election that would threaten his plan to pull out of Gaza.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news11.htm
Gov't crisis deepens as warlords want impeachment
NAIROBI (AFP) — The crisis over the relocation from exile of Somalia's transitional government deepened Wednesday as powerful warlords said they would move to impeach President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Warlords controlling Somalia's bullet-scarred capital of Mogadishu said they would introduce a no-confidence motion against Yusuf in parliament and seek his removal for allegedly violating the lawless country's transitional charter.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Forgotten Sudanese forced out to desert camp
By Opheera McDoom
Reuters
AL FATHA — Amna Kody holds up her infected leg and pleads for some pills to stop the pain. But there are no doctors in Al Fatha where Sudanese authorities have forcibly relocated thousands of people taking refuge near Khartoum.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news9.htm
Navy Seals sue AP, reporter over Iraq photos
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Five US Navy SEALs and the wife of one of the men have sued The Associated Press and a San Diego-based reporter, claiming the news organisation endangered their lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos of the elite unit apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news10.htm
The mirage of state building
Rima Merriman
In occupied Palestine, you hear the mantra of “capacity building” over and over again, wherever you go. There is high unemployment, but there is also a rising demand for skilled workers, and those workers are in short supply.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/opinion/opinion5.htm
'Kingdom has lowest percentage of TB cases in region'
AMMAN (Petra) — Recent Health Ministry statistics indicate that the Kingdom has the least number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the region.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews10.htm
World Bank to extend $15 million loan for Public Sector Reform Programme
AMMAN (JT) — The World Bank board of executive directors agreed on Tuesday to extend a $15 million loan to help Jordan execute the third stage of its Public Sector Reform Programme, a senior official announced yesterday.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews9.htm
Witness testifies that Jayyousi bought laboratory equipment, sulphuric acid
AMMAN (JT) — An employee of a laboratory supply company testified on Wednesday in the case of nine men standing trial at the State Security Court (SSC) accused of attempting to carry out the first ever Al Qaeda chemical attack in the Kingdom.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews5.htm
continued...
This is a mountain on March 20, 2005. It is missing much snow at the peak. The interesting aspect of this picture are the clouds. Those clouds, especially those to your right that are rippled, is a Heat Transfer System that has come all the way from the Pacific Equator to cool Earth. This is a Global Warming phenomena.
Morning Papers - concluding
New Zealand Herald
UN wants new rules on sex abuse by peacekeepers
25.03.05 5.00am
UNITED NATIONS - UN peacekeepers accused of sexual and other abuse should be court-martialed in the country where the offense is said to have taken place, a UN report is recommending.
The report comes from Jordan's UN ambassador, Prince Zeid al-Hussein, who once served as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia. He was asked by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into abuse allegations in the Congo and to recommend changes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10117036
Human tests of avian flu vaccine underway
25.03.05 5.00am
WASHINGTON - United States health officials said this week they have started human tests of a vaccine against avian flu, which experts believe could kill tens of millions of people if it becomes easily passed from person to person.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10117033
More chemicals scrutinised in sick port workers inquiry
25.03.05 5.00am
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is investigating whether chemicals other than methyl bromide are causing port workers to become sick following a review of fumigation processes at Port Nelson.
OSH says it is generally satisfied the methyl bromide fumigation process is safe, but Labour Department communications adviser Dionne Barton said chemicals used as solvents and preservatives in timber were now under the spotlight to see if they were harmful.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10117076
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Overcast
-17.0°
Updated Friday 25 Mar 7:59AM
Global Warming/Global Climate Change
25 Million Makeovers Would Reach Global Warming Targets
A massive cut in carbon dioxide pollution from British homes can meet Government emissions targets if the necessary polices are applied now, says a comprehensive research report by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The 40% House report sets-out a far-reaching policy agenda that prescribes cuts in energy and carbon dioxide pollution from existing and future housing.
http://www.newbuilder.co.uk/newbuilder/NewsFullStory.asp?ID=595
Get serious about global warming
Web Posted - Fri Mar 11 2005
The March 8 public lecture by Dr. Leonard Nurse on climate change made it clear that the threat to Barbados of sea level rise due to global warming is now beyond doubt and imminent. Within the next few decades we will see increasingly frequent flooding of coastal areas and its consequential catastrophic effect on the tourist industry, as well as increased shortage of drinking water due to contamination of the aquifer by sea water.
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=20713
Yeo pledges action on global warming
Tim Yeo
Tim Yeo has set out the Conservative "road map" to a low carbon economy.
In a keynote speech on Monday, the shadow environment secretary pledged to put Britain back on track to meet its Kyoto protocol targets.
A second priority would be securing international agreement on the way forward beyond Kyoto, he said.
Yeo said he was personally committed to protecting the environment, and was becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of global warming.
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200503/98e378e8-edea-4a9a-b874-1b93316f90d3.htm
STATE FORESTS FACE CHANGES WITH GLOBAL WARMING
By Steven Stycos - Special to The Sun
Rhode Island forests will experience large changes in the next hundred years unless global warming is abated, a research landscape ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service has told state environmentalists and others.
Louis Iverson, speaking at a R.I. Natural History Survey conference in Cranston last week, said that, if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase and average temperatures rise, Rhode Island will be suitable for oak, pine and hickory forests commonly seen in the southern US, according to a forest service study. Meanwhile, the state will no longer be suitable for the now common tree species of black ash, red pine, quaking aspen and big tooth aspen. Rising temperatures will push their habitat northward, Iverson predicts.
http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/2005/03/14/news/news5.txt
Himalaya glaciers receding fast due to warming-WWF
14 Mar 2005 09:37:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, March 14 (Reuters) - Himalayan glaciers are receding at among the fastest rates in the world due to global warming, threatening water shortages for millions of people in China, India and Nepal, a leading conservation group said on Monday.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a new study that Himalayan glaciers were receding 10-15 metres per year on average and that the rate was accelerating as global warming increases.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14156827.htm
UK seeks to become leader on climate change
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 6:12:33 PM
http://www.afxpress.com
LONDON (AFX) -- In an effort to be seen as a leader on climate change issues, the British government announced Wednesday a package of environmental measures aimed at further reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions
The government said the proposals, included in the 2005 budget report released by the Treasury, will increase funding for energy research, provide fiscal incentives for the purchase of more environmentally friendly medium- and small-size cars, and encourage the development of the biofuels market
http://futures.fxstreet.com/Futures/news/afx/singleNew.asp?menu=latestnews&pv_noticia=1110996749-30410f08-44277
Hurricane scares energy markets
By Brad Foss The Associated Press
Posted September 14, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Oil prices shot up more than $1 a barrel Monday as traders focused on the changing path of Hurricane Ivan, which prompted several large oil and natural gas producers to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bizhoil14091404sep14,0,580315.story
Pollution Litigation Review - June 2002
USA/Canada
On June 4, 2002, it was reported that the Potomac Electric Power Co. (PEPCO) has spent more than $65 million in cleanup and resource restoration costs after an April 2000 pipeline rupture spilled 126,000 gallons of oil into Swanson Creek and the Patuxent River. The company has agreed to spend an additional $2.7 million on additional natural resource restoration. BNA Chemical Regulation Daily 6/4/02
http://www.facworld.com/FACworld.nsf/doc/Pollitrev0602
This is an older article but still relivant.
Greenpeace protests Malaysia's 'laundering' of ramin in RI forests
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20041006125030&irec=7
BANGKOK, Thailand (DPA): Activists from the Greenpeace environmentalist group on Wednesday handcuffed themselves to the gates of the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok to protest Malaysia's "laundering" of ramin, a protected hardwood found primarily in Indonesian forests.
"Malaysia is turning a blind eye to the rampant trade in this endangered species and the only way to stop it is to take a position against this criminal destructive trade," said Alex Ryan of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Indonesia is scheduled on Friday to propose that ramin be listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is holding its 13th conference of signatory nations in Bangkok this week and next.
"Malaysia needs to vote for the listing of Rambling on Appendix II of CITES and the future of over 125 other CITES species that are dependent of the Rambling swamp forest for their survival," said Ryan.
The dozen Greenpeace activists hoisted a giant inflatable Orang-utan bearing the banner, "Malaysia, don't steal my forest."
The protesters released their own handcuffs after the short demonstration and departed without incident.
Malaysia and Singapore have been pinpointed by conservationists as major re-export markets for ramin illegally cut from Indonesian forest reserves and smuggled abroad. Ramin is a protected hardwood under Indonesia's Appendix III CITES's list, but is not protected under Malaysia's country list.
Indonesia hopes to place ramin on Appendix II, which if approved my two-thirds of CITES's 166 members, would increase international monitoring of all trade in ramin, a tropical hardwood that is made into pool queues and other products sold in Europe and the U.S.
The European Union's 25 members have already expressed their support for Indonesia's ramin proposal. (*)
Global Warming: Sierra Club Statement On Historic Clean Cars Deal
Dan Becker, Washington Director, Sierra Club's Global Warming Program
WASHINGTON -- March 23 -- "Today, automobile manufacturers reached an historic agreement with the Canadian government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons by 2010. In meeting these greenhouse gas limits, these vehicles will achieve approximately a 25% increase in fuel efficiency. This improvement will be made by using existing, cost effective technologies - like more efficient engines, smarter transmissions, and better aerodynamics - to make all their vehicles go farther on a gallon of gas. This agreement is similar to the Pavley Clean Car Law adopted by California and other states.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0323-06.htm
Report: Global warming could make many rivers too warm for salmon
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- If current warming trends continue unchecked, more than 20 percent of the Pacific Northwest's rivers could become too warm for salmon, steelhead and trout by 2040, a new Northwest Wildlife Federation report says.
The report predicts that rising regional temperatures could disturb the delicate balance of seasonal stream flows -- making spring flows happen earlier, reducing summer flows to a trickle, or rendering winter flows so high that gravel beds used as nesting sites could get scoured away.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/03/23/news/regional/767169b5f3f0174b87256fcd003f8a83.txt
UK plc getting to grips with climate change (published on 25-Mar-2005)
So it's official then - the Government has finally acknowledged what has been widely talked about for months - it will fail to meet its self-imposed targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels. Some will argue that even though the Government is on course to meet its Kyoto targets, this has largely been achieved via the decline in coal-burning power stations from the previous Conservative government's commitment to gas. Couple that with the request in October for the European Commission to approve an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide that British industry would be allowed to emit under the EU emissions trading scheme to lower carbon emissions due to start in January and the Government's efforts to position itself as leading the way internationally on climate change are looking seriously compromised.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9686&channel=0
Prepare For Climate Change
IT is always interesting to get news from Namibia via your website.
Your articles are balanced and objective.
Thank you very much! In response to your article "Farmers to bear brunt of climate change" (February 10, 2005), and because of World Water Day.
http://www.namibian.com.na/2005/March/letters/05A21E8A02.html
The Weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
45 °F / 7 °C
Clear
Humidity:
57%
Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.00 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
4 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Clear -
Better late than never
end
UN wants new rules on sex abuse by peacekeepers
25.03.05 5.00am
UNITED NATIONS - UN peacekeepers accused of sexual and other abuse should be court-martialed in the country where the offense is said to have taken place, a UN report is recommending.
The report comes from Jordan's UN ambassador, Prince Zeid al-Hussein, who once served as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia. He was asked by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into abuse allegations in the Congo and to recommend changes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10117036
Human tests of avian flu vaccine underway
25.03.05 5.00am
WASHINGTON - United States health officials said this week they have started human tests of a vaccine against avian flu, which experts believe could kill tens of millions of people if it becomes easily passed from person to person.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10117033
More chemicals scrutinised in sick port workers inquiry
25.03.05 5.00am
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is investigating whether chemicals other than methyl bromide are causing port workers to become sick following a review of fumigation processes at Port Nelson.
OSH says it is generally satisfied the methyl bromide fumigation process is safe, but Labour Department communications adviser Dionne Barton said chemicals used as solvents and preservatives in timber were now under the spotlight to see if they were harmful.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10117076
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Overcast
-17.0°
Updated Friday 25 Mar 7:59AM
Global Warming/Global Climate Change
25 Million Makeovers Would Reach Global Warming Targets
A massive cut in carbon dioxide pollution from British homes can meet Government emissions targets if the necessary polices are applied now, says a comprehensive research report by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The 40% House report sets-out a far-reaching policy agenda that prescribes cuts in energy and carbon dioxide pollution from existing and future housing.
http://www.newbuilder.co.uk/newbuilder/NewsFullStory.asp?ID=595
Get serious about global warming
Web Posted - Fri Mar 11 2005
The March 8 public lecture by Dr. Leonard Nurse on climate change made it clear that the threat to Barbados of sea level rise due to global warming is now beyond doubt and imminent. Within the next few decades we will see increasingly frequent flooding of coastal areas and its consequential catastrophic effect on the tourist industry, as well as increased shortage of drinking water due to contamination of the aquifer by sea water.
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=20713
Yeo pledges action on global warming
Tim Yeo
Tim Yeo has set out the Conservative "road map" to a low carbon economy.
In a keynote speech on Monday, the shadow environment secretary pledged to put Britain back on track to meet its Kyoto protocol targets.
A second priority would be securing international agreement on the way forward beyond Kyoto, he said.
Yeo said he was personally committed to protecting the environment, and was becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of global warming.
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200503/98e378e8-edea-4a9a-b874-1b93316f90d3.htm
STATE FORESTS FACE CHANGES WITH GLOBAL WARMING
By Steven Stycos - Special to The Sun
Rhode Island forests will experience large changes in the next hundred years unless global warming is abated, a research landscape ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service has told state environmentalists and others.
Louis Iverson, speaking at a R.I. Natural History Survey conference in Cranston last week, said that, if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase and average temperatures rise, Rhode Island will be suitable for oak, pine and hickory forests commonly seen in the southern US, according to a forest service study. Meanwhile, the state will no longer be suitable for the now common tree species of black ash, red pine, quaking aspen and big tooth aspen. Rising temperatures will push their habitat northward, Iverson predicts.
http://www.thewesterlysun.com/articles/2005/03/14/news/news5.txt
Himalaya glaciers receding fast due to warming-WWF
14 Mar 2005 09:37:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, March 14 (Reuters) - Himalayan glaciers are receding at among the fastest rates in the world due to global warming, threatening water shortages for millions of people in China, India and Nepal, a leading conservation group said on Monday.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a new study that Himalayan glaciers were receding 10-15 metres per year on average and that the rate was accelerating as global warming increases.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14156827.htm
UK seeks to become leader on climate change
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 6:12:33 PM
http://www.afxpress.com
LONDON (AFX) -- In an effort to be seen as a leader on climate change issues, the British government announced Wednesday a package of environmental measures aimed at further reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions
The government said the proposals, included in the 2005 budget report released by the Treasury, will increase funding for energy research, provide fiscal incentives for the purchase of more environmentally friendly medium- and small-size cars, and encourage the development of the biofuels market
http://futures.fxstreet.com/Futures/news/afx/singleNew.asp?menu=latestnews&pv_noticia=1110996749-30410f08-44277
Hurricane scares energy markets
By Brad Foss The Associated Press
Posted September 14, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Oil prices shot up more than $1 a barrel Monday as traders focused on the changing path of Hurricane Ivan, which prompted several large oil and natural gas producers to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bizhoil14091404sep14,0,580315.story
Pollution Litigation Review - June 2002
USA/Canada
On June 4, 2002, it was reported that the Potomac Electric Power Co. (PEPCO) has spent more than $65 million in cleanup and resource restoration costs after an April 2000 pipeline rupture spilled 126,000 gallons of oil into Swanson Creek and the Patuxent River. The company has agreed to spend an additional $2.7 million on additional natural resource restoration. BNA Chemical Regulation Daily 6/4/02
http://www.facworld.com/FACworld.nsf/doc/Pollitrev0602
This is an older article but still relivant.
Greenpeace protests Malaysia's 'laundering' of ramin in RI forests
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20041006125030&irec=7
BANGKOK, Thailand (DPA): Activists from the Greenpeace environmentalist group on Wednesday handcuffed themselves to the gates of the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok to protest Malaysia's "laundering" of ramin, a protected hardwood found primarily in Indonesian forests.
"Malaysia is turning a blind eye to the rampant trade in this endangered species and the only way to stop it is to take a position against this criminal destructive trade," said Alex Ryan of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Indonesia is scheduled on Friday to propose that ramin be listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is holding its 13th conference of signatory nations in Bangkok this week and next.
"Malaysia needs to vote for the listing of Rambling on Appendix II of CITES and the future of over 125 other CITES species that are dependent of the Rambling swamp forest for their survival," said Ryan.
The dozen Greenpeace activists hoisted a giant inflatable Orang-utan bearing the banner, "Malaysia, don't steal my forest."
The protesters released their own handcuffs after the short demonstration and departed without incident.
Malaysia and Singapore have been pinpointed by conservationists as major re-export markets for ramin illegally cut from Indonesian forest reserves and smuggled abroad. Ramin is a protected hardwood under Indonesia's Appendix III CITES's list, but is not protected under Malaysia's country list.
Indonesia hopes to place ramin on Appendix II, which if approved my two-thirds of CITES's 166 members, would increase international monitoring of all trade in ramin, a tropical hardwood that is made into pool queues and other products sold in Europe and the U.S.
The European Union's 25 members have already expressed their support for Indonesia's ramin proposal. (*)
Global Warming: Sierra Club Statement On Historic Clean Cars Deal
Dan Becker, Washington Director, Sierra Club's Global Warming Program
WASHINGTON -- March 23 -- "Today, automobile manufacturers reached an historic agreement with the Canadian government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons by 2010. In meeting these greenhouse gas limits, these vehicles will achieve approximately a 25% increase in fuel efficiency. This improvement will be made by using existing, cost effective technologies - like more efficient engines, smarter transmissions, and better aerodynamics - to make all their vehicles go farther on a gallon of gas. This agreement is similar to the Pavley Clean Car Law adopted by California and other states.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0323-06.htm
Report: Global warming could make many rivers too warm for salmon
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- If current warming trends continue unchecked, more than 20 percent of the Pacific Northwest's rivers could become too warm for salmon, steelhead and trout by 2040, a new Northwest Wildlife Federation report says.
The report predicts that rising regional temperatures could disturb the delicate balance of seasonal stream flows -- making spring flows happen earlier, reducing summer flows to a trickle, or rendering winter flows so high that gravel beds used as nesting sites could get scoured away.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/03/23/news/regional/767169b5f3f0174b87256fcd003f8a83.txt
UK plc getting to grips with climate change (published on 25-Mar-2005)
So it's official then - the Government has finally acknowledged what has been widely talked about for months - it will fail to meet its self-imposed targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels. Some will argue that even though the Government is on course to meet its Kyoto targets, this has largely been achieved via the decline in coal-burning power stations from the previous Conservative government's commitment to gas. Couple that with the request in October for the European Commission to approve an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide that British industry would be allowed to emit under the EU emissions trading scheme to lower carbon emissions due to start in January and the Government's efforts to position itself as leading the way internationally on climate change are looking seriously compromised.
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9686&channel=0
Prepare For Climate Change
IT is always interesting to get news from Namibia via your website.
Your articles are balanced and objective.
Thank you very much! In response to your article "Farmers to bear brunt of climate change" (February 10, 2005), and because of World Water Day.
http://www.namibian.com.na/2005/March/letters/05A21E8A02.html
The Weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
45 °F / 7 °C
Clear
Humidity:
57%
Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.00 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
4 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Clear -
Better late than never
end
Vortex over New Zealand. Current Satellite. March 24, 2005.For Northland Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula:
Rain this morning with heavy falls and thunderstorms, then easing to showers and fine periods.
From Waikato to Taranaki and Taihape, and across to Bay of Plenty:
Rain or showers, with some heavy falls and thunderstorms. Easing to a few showers this evening.
From Wanganui to Wellington:
Rain, easing to showers and fine periods this afternoon.
From Gisborne to Wairarapa:
Occasional rain clearing by evening, apart from showers in the ranges.
For Nelson, Buller and Westland:
Periods of rain. Heavy falls and thunderstorms in Nelson this morning.
For Marlborough and Canterbury:
Widespread rain this morning. Clearing this afternoon apart from showers in the Alps and about the Sounds.
Otago, Southland and Fiordland:
Rain with some heavy falls in eastern parts of Otago and in Southland. Southeast gales developing about Foveaux Strait and the fiords.
For the Chatham Islands:
Showers turning to rain later.
Ocean Blooms in the Wake of Cyclone Willy
The link to the information regarding the satellite pictures below is very interesting. It reveals water MADE cool by a minor hurricane. Without the hurricane the waters remain to warm to produce algae.
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