Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, The Selling of the President. Natural Born Leader or Commercialized Icon for control over govenrment policies? Rigging an election is a sign of a political weakness that can be overcome. Any Democracy deserves better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
June 28, 2005. Dignity returned to Mukhtar Mai. I don't understand why MEN in Pakistan who uphold a woman's dignity would believe she stands for kind of negative image of Pakistan. Ms. Mai stands for a survivor of a horrible situation that is finally changing. She and the MEN of Pakistan who preserve her dignity are the NEW heroes of the country of Pakistan. I congratuate them all. The MEN of Pakistan need to find a pride in that and the fact women can make decisions as well. Ms. Mai has started educational OPPORTUNITIES for children in her village. Those children should be a source of pride to that village and to the MEN that send both their boys and girls to those schools. Pakistan has made a magnificent step forward in social reform. They need to take it further and comply with United Nations Human Rights provisions. I know they are capable of this. Children should be in school and not in child labor releaving debt they had nothing to do with.
Morning Papers - continued
Sydney Morning Herald
Terrorism threat brings aliens down to earth
By Garry Maddox, Film Reporter
June 28, 2005
Panicking crowds fleeing down streets. Buildings collapsing. A coat of grey dust on Tom Cruise's face. A crashed passenger jet. And the first thought when the explosions and killing starts: is it a terrorist attack?
It is not hard to see the references in director Steven Spielberg's epic new sci-fi movie to a world that changed with the September 11 attacks. But the enemies in War of the Worlds, which had its first Australian screening yesterday before an international release tomorrow, are aliens rather than terrorists.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/is-tom-out-of-this-world/2005/06/27/1119724577613.html
Aussies killed in US joy flight event
By Jano Gibson
June 28, 2005 - 4:50PM
Peter Walsh.
Photo: Cessna 182 Association of Australia.
A married couple from NSW were among four people killed in a plane crash in the US today, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Peter Walsh, 62, and his wife Helen, 60, "quiet achievers" from Wagga Wagga in southern NSW, died when a single-engine Cessna 182 crashed into Long Island Sound on a flight from Maine to Connecticut about 2pm local time yesterday (5am AEST today).
Two other passengers from Arizona were also killed.
Wagga Wagga mayor, Kerry Pascoe, said the community had lost two of its finest citizens.
``The couple were well known throughout the city due to their generosity of spirit and involvement in the community,'' Mr Pascoe, who has known the couple for about 30 years, told smh.com.au.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aussies-killed-in-us-joy-flight-event/2005/06/28/1119724616909.html
Belgian Boy Scouts to be banned from killing chickens
June 28, 2005 - 1:59AM
Belgium plans to stop Boy Scouts from slaughtering chickens and other small animals at summer camp, despite Scout leaders' defence of the practice as a lesson in wilderness survival.
The Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday that one Scout group had refused to stop teaching its scouts how to carry out the bloody task even after complaints from parents.
"These kids have to be taught how to kill an animal in order to feed themselves," the ministry quoted one of the group's representatives as saying.
However, the ministry took the view that the Scouts learnt nothing from using animals in this way.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/belgian-boy-scouts-to-be-banned-from-killing-chickens/2005/06/28/1119724588772.html
Plea to Chinese in Sydney to find 'killer'
By Jano Gibson
June 28, 2005 - 11:39AM
Jian Ping Wang ... police released this image today.
A man wanted in connection with the killing of a Chinese businessman at a Sydney park four years ago is hiding somewhere in Sydney, police believe.
Jian Ping Wang, a 50-year-old Chinese national, is wanted over the fatal shooting of Chinese businessman Jae Song at the Golden Jubilee Park in Turramurra on January 5, 2001, over a large debt.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/plea-to-chinese-in-sydney-to-find-killer/2005/06/28/1119724614535.html
Dizzy heights proving more difficult to reach
By Chloe Saltau in Birmingham
June 28, 2005
Warming up: Jason Gillespie admits he is taking a while to hit his straps on this Ashes tour.
Photo: Reuters
The joke started in 1997 when Jason Gillespie, the shy, goateed, earringed young quick on his first Ashes tour, was ribbed for his gypsy-like appearance by vocal England fans behind the fence.
Last week at Chester-le-Street he thought fleetingly about getting on the front foot and rigging up a sign for the fans on the fine-leg boundary that said: "Please don't ask again, the caravan is being repaired."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/dizzy-heights-proving-more-difficult-to-reach/2005/06/27/1119724580340.html
Arroyo
Arroyo admits lapse but denies rigging election
28.06.05
MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo hasadmitted she talked to a Philippine election official, as detailed in recordings that have prompted calls for her to quit, but insisted she did not influence the vote count.
The opposition, which also accuses members of Arroyo's family of taking kickbacks from illegal gambling syndicates, has seized on the recordings of conversations as proof she cheated her way to a fresh term in May 2004.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333077
Arroyo faces renewed attacks after admission
Opponents of President Arroyo stepped up calls for her to resign on Tuesday after she admitted talking to an election official during the May 10 elections, but analysts said she appeared safe for now.
Arroyo saying late on Monday she had a "lapse in judgment" looked set to embolden the opposition, which said the recordings of telephone conversations prove she cheated in last year's poll.
Analysts expressed doubt the opposition has the strength to impeach Arroyo or the popular support needed to stir up the kind of huge protests that forced Joseph Estrada from the presidency in 2001.
"Every sin needs an atonement. So when she admitted to being on the tapes, she had to resign," said opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who came third in the presidential election.
In a carefully worded televised statement late on Monday, Arroyo said she spoke to an election official and was sorry, but denied she had tried to influence the election result.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=9000
Financial markets largely unscathed after Arroyo apology
Posted: 4:32 PM Jun. 28, 2005
XFN-Asia
Get INQ7 business breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send EXTRA BUSINESS to 386.
FINANCIAL markets showed little reaction to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's admission that she made a "lapse in judgment" by calling an election official during last year's national polls but analysts warned that it was too early to say that political tensions in the country would now ease and that fallout from the controversy was over.
http://money.inq7.net/breakingnews/view_breakingnews.php?yyyy=2005&mon=06&dd=28&file=17
Philippine military, police assure support to Arroyo
www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-28 16:30:00
MANILA, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Despite President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's admission of her call to an election official during last elections, the Philippine military and police Tuesday assured their loyalty and support to the Arroyo's administration.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said at a press conference that all PNP officers fully support President Arroyo in her courageous apology before the nation.
In view of more mass protest, Lomibao vowed to crush what they called "violent and armed actions" that could be launched in response to Arroyo's confession.
Likewise, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also said that they would join President Arroyo in rebuilding the nation and in doubling her efforts in serving the people,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/28/content_3147462.htm
Arroyo sorry for election controversy
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appears on a television screen as she addresses the country in a telecast from Manila's Malacanang palace June 27, 2005. Arroyo has apologized for talking with an election official about her hopes for a million-vote margin in last year's ballot.
Arroyo made the apology in a nationally televised speech on June 27, 2005.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has apologized for talking with an election official about her hopes for a million-vote margin in last year's ballot. Despite the apology, she says she did nothing wrong and will not step down.
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/28/eng20050628_192777.html
San Francisco Chronicle
Imagine the wharf without any boats
Fishermen might have to pay more to stay
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
It would be like Disneyland without Mickey, the Statue of Liberty without the torch or the Grand Canyon without the canyon.
What's Fisherman's Wharf without the fishermen?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/28/WHARF.TMP
THIS IS FOR YOU, Anderson !
Mary-Kate Olsen parties with Oasis; Scarlett Johansson reunited with dog; Lindsay Lohan avoids drama at De Beers protest
Daily Dish
Monday, June 27, 2005
MARY-KATE OLSEN PARTIES WITH OASIS
Mary-Kate Olsen was seen coming out of British rockers Oasis' dressing room in an inebriated state after attending their recent gig at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The star, who found fame starring in TV shows with her twin sister Ashley Olsen, was reportedly carried out of the room by her bodyguard and taken to recover in the VIP bathroom.
The actress' representative tells Page Six, "Whatever the implication is, it's ridiculous. She was just hanging out with the band. Nothing went on whatsoever."
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/dailydish/
Petaluma bust nets "date rape" drug
Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005
Petaluma police and federal drug agents were amazed this morning by the size of a weekend drug bust that netted as much as 15 gallons of a substance believed to be the “date rape” drug GHB.
Thomas Miller, a 35-year-old personal trainer from Santa Rosa, remained jailed in Sonoma County this morning in lieu of $50,000 bail, charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/27/BAghb27.DTL
Results can pale next to splashy pledges
But governor's bold pronouncements have had influence
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Monday, June 27, 2005
Sacramento -- Draped in a colorful tribal blanket and speaking in an ornate Sacramento auditorium, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced deals with five California casino-owning Indian tribes last summer that he said would bring the state $150 million to $200 million annually.
It was a triumphant moment for the image-conscious governor, who portrayed the new pacts as a campaign promise kept and one more step toward plugging the state's budget deficit.
This month, however, administration officials acknowledged that the state's take has been far less than advertised -- about $18 million, or only 9 to 12 percent of what had been projected. The higher numbers the governor touted were based on assumptions that turned out to be way off target.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/27/MNGDFDFFH21.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
Pride parade celebrates causes from equal rights to spanking
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005
The only Christian evangelical church float in Sunday's gay pride parade in San Francisco sported a rainbow cross, disco music and a giant sign that declared, "Christian & Gay = OK."
"I tell people, 'No, baby, we're not trying to change you,' " said Pastor Maria Caruana of the Freedom in Christ Evangelical Church, which was founded in the Mission District in 1991 to bring the gospel to gays.
Sunday was no-judgment day as the 35th annual San Francisco Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade brought hundreds of thousands of people to Market Street to celebrate sexual self-expression.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/27/BAGTQDF9DU1.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
Presidio's walls speak of past
From officer's quarters to Officers Club, building dates over 200 years
Slowly and very carefully, a team of archaeologists has been taking apart a room at the Officers Club at the Presidio of San Francisco to see if they can learn the secrets of what may be the oldest building in the Bay Area.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/27/BAGTQDF9DO1.DTL
FINDING MY RELIGION
Reverend Jeremy Taylor on how dreams are a gateway to the spiritual realm
David Ian Miller, Special to SF Gate
Monday, June 27, 2005
I have this dream from time to time. Maybe you do, too. I'm nearing the end of my final term in college, and suddenly I realize there's this class I've totally neglected. The final exam is happening the next day, and I'm completely unprepared. I start to panic. Then, just before all hell breaks loose, I wake up.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/archive/2005/06/27/findrelig.DTL
Iraq
THIS IS NO SURPRISE, IS IT?
Iraq reports corruption epidemic
By Jon Leyne
BBC correspondent in Baghdad
The former transport minister is one of those being sought
There is massive corruption in most Iraqi government ministries as a legacy of Saddam Hussein's era, the Iraqi anti-corruption commission has said.
Arrest warrants on fraud charges have been issued for two former ministers in the Iraqi interim government.
One ex-minister denied the charges and the second could not be contacted.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4627923.stm
Two U.S. Pilots Die in Iraq Helicopter Crash
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 27, 2005
Filed at 3:35 p.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. Apache attack helicopter crashed Monday north of Baghdad, killing both pilots, after a witness said he saw the aircraft hit by a rocket that ''destroyed it completely in the air.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?hp
A critical moment for Bush Iraq policy
As war support ebbs, president expected to rally nation tonight
Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Washington -- The best clue to what President Bush wants to tell the American people about Iraq today can probably be found in his selection of the nation's largest Army base as a backdrop for his prime-time address.
Even as he tries to rally a nation increasingly skeptical about the war's progress, there is no signal from the White House that Bush plans to offer a new direction, acknowledge missteps or reach out to critics.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/28/BUSH.TMP
Iraq rebuilding fails to deliver
By Jon Leyne
BBC correspondent in Baghdad
It is a punishing experience to have no power in an Iraqi summer
On the outskirts of Baghdad, workmen have been toiling frantically to repair a huge broken water main.
It was blown up by insurgents at the weekend. They knew exactly where to place the charge for maximum damage. It has taken out the water supply for more than half of Baghdad.
"We've been affected badly," complained one man in the area. "We don't have any water to drink. What are we supposed to do? Sometimes they cut the power as well. It's all the fault of the Americans."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4118628.stm
US moots political solution to Iraq woes
June 28, 2005 - 9:34AM
US military officials are increasingly emphasising political solutions rather than military ones to Iraq's insurgency - a shift that acknowledges the difficulty they face in stopping the violence.
US President George W Bush is expected to ask the American people to be patient when he makes a national TV address on the Iraq situation.
A new opinion poll says a majority of Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of the war. Nearly 75 per cent of 1,004 adults quizzed said the Bush administration had underestimated the challenges involved.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-moots-political-solution-to-Iraq-woes/2005/06/28/1119724609107.html
Iraq's treasures still being looted
By James Menendez
Middle East reporter, BBC World service
The looting of the National Museum in Baghdad two years ago caused an international outcry.
Satellite photos show the extent of damage caused by looting
In the chaos that engulfed the city at the end of the war, thousands of pieces were either stolen or damaged.
The US marines who first captured Baghdad were accused of not doing enough to protect the museum's priceless collection of Mesopotamian art.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4114906.stm
ONE DAY IN IRAQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2005/day_in_iraq/default.stm
Suicide bomber kills Iraqi veteran MP
June 28, 2005 - 6:39PM
Iraq's oldest member of parliament, Dhari al-Fayadh, his son and three bodyguards have been killed in a suicide bombing north of Baghdad, while more bombs killed two and wounded 20 elsewhere.
Fayadh, 87, and his son were killed when "a vehicle packed with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber was detonated alongside his two-car convoy in Al-Rashidyah," an interior ministry source said.
Meanwhile US Marines have launched a major operation in western Iraq, dispatching 1,000 troops to root out suspected insurgents in the Euphrates river valley.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Suicide-bomber-kills-Iraqi-veteran-MP/2005/06/28/1119724631099.html
Two years enough to secure Iraq: PM
June 28, 2005 - 3:09PM
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari says two years will be "more than enough" to establish security in his country even though US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes may take up to 12 years.
Following talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Jaafari said such factors as building up Iraq's own security forces, controlling its porous borders and pushing ahead with the political process would all help end the violence.
"I think two years will be enough, and more than enough, to establish security in our country," he said.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Two-years-enough-to-secure-Iraq-PM/2005/06/28/1119724624084.html
Pentagon Stresses Political Action in Iraq
Monday June 27, 2005 11:31 PM
AP Photo DCHG103
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Top U.S. military officials are increasingly emphasizing political solutions rather than military ones to Iraq's insurgency, a shift acknowledging the difficulty they and the Iraqi government face in stopping the violence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5102795,00.html
US commander says no talks yet with Iraq insurgents
27 Jun 2005 22:38:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have not held talks with insurgent leaders involved in attacks in Iraq but may do so soon, the U.S. commander in Iraq said on Monday in remarks that appeared to differ from those of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
On Sunday Rumsfeld said meetings between U.S. representatives and insurgent commanders "go on all the time."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27300841.htm
US's dwindling options in Iraq
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Baghdad
Bomb attacks have become a part of daily life in Iraq
The prediction by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that it could take up to 12 years to defeat the Iraqi insurgency will come as no surprise to his own troops.
That is the sort of time-scale written into US military doctrine. So it is part of every officer's basic training.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4628695.stm
Suicide car bomb kills Iraqi MP
Car bombings happen almost daily in Iraq
A senior member of the Iraqi parliament has been killed by a suicide bomber.
Dhari al-Fayadh, 87 - a Shia who was Iraq's oldest MP - died with his son and three bodyguards when the car bomb hit their convoy in northern Baghdad.
He is the second MP to die in renewed violence following the installation of an elected government in April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4629133.stm
Iraqi PM optimistic on security
Mr Jaafari sounded upbeat after his talks in London
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has said two years will be "enough" to establish security in his country, despite an upsurge in rebel attacks.
He was speaking after talks with his UK counterpart Tony Blair in London.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said earlier that dealing with the insurgency could take up to 12 years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4628803.stm
US to boost Iraq prison capacity
Abu Ghraib is currently operating at full capacity
The US military says it is expanding several Iraqi prisons, including Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad, to cope with a sharp rise in detainees.
Abu Ghraib became notorious for prisoner abuse last year. It was due to be shut down but now it is nearly full.
The $50m construction programme will allow the US to hold 16,000 prisoners in Iraq, up from 10,000 currently.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4628057.stm
The Chicago Tribune
Grounds for disagreement
Historic value of cemetery in path of O'Hare expansion debated
By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
Beneath marble and granite grave markers etched with ivy and the words "ruhe in frieden" (rest in peace), the remains of hundreds of German immigrants who helped settle DuPage County lie yards from passenger jets roaring down an O'Hare International Airport runway.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280134jun28,1,2768347.story?coll=chi-news-hed
City warned of cargo hazards
New routes away from Loop urged
By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
An environmental activist told aldermen Monday that a terrorist act on a single rail car carrying chlorine near downtown Chicago could wreck havoc on the city, creating a toxic cloud from which thousands of people could not hide or flee fast enough to escape harm.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280158jun28,1,5258721.story?coll=chi-news-he
Oil free
IIT scientist's quest for a clean energy future
By Patrice M. Jones
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
With the summer driving season upon us, the loud, annual debate about the pain-in-the-neck pinch of gasoline prices has begun.
Some politicians are pushing an often-heard demand that major oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia boost output. Others want expanded drilling and exploration in regions such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0506270241jun28,1,1201273.story?coll=chi-technology-hed
I AM NOT JOKING !!!
Lightning strike unexpected, deadly
Roselle family tells of bolt's devastation
By Claire Heininger
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
The lightning crackling in the steamy suburban air signaled that a storm was approaching, but nothing could have warned the Coopers just how fast.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280125jun28,1,2702811.story?coll=chi-news-hed
The HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.
Man shot in S. Side carjacking
Tribune staff reports
Published June 28, 2005, 9:06 AM CDT
Chicago police are seeking the assailants who shot and wounded a man in an overnight carjacking on the city's South Side, CLTV reported.
The incident happened shortly after 1 a.m. as the 25-year-old victim and a companion were sitting in a 1984 Chevrolet on the 8700 block of South Ashland Avenue, in the Gresham neighborhood, police said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050628carjacking,1,6236317.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Prisoner escapes county lockup
1st in decade slips away undetected
By Tom Rybarczyk
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
A man awaiting trial on drugs and weapons charges broke out of the Cook County Jail complex Monday, making him the first prisoner to do so in a decade, sheriff's officials said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280132jun28,1,1981913.story?coll=chi-news-hed
2 banks are robbed in downtown area
Published June 28, 2005
Two downtown banks, located within blocks of each other, were robbed Monday afternoon.
At 12:40 p.m., a man handed a teller at U.S. Bank at 30 N. Michigan Ave. a note demanding money, Chicago Police Sgt. Robert Cargie said. The man, described as black, about 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, fled with an unknown amount of money.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280135jun28,1,3161564.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Man is sought in probe of killing
Oak Park releases description in case
By Ted Gregory, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporter Matt Baron contributed to this report
Published June 28, 2005
Oak Park police on Monday released a composite image of a "person of interest" in the murder of Peter D'Agostino, the same day about 150 people gathered to memorialize the university professor and author.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280152jun28,1,2899419.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Abused child finds her voice, justice as adult
Published June 28, 2005
Ten years ago, when Denise Phillips was 12, her stepfather molested her. Initially, she told no one.
But Phillips eventually revealed her secret--to school officials, to the police, to her mother.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0506280001jun28,1,2943308.column?coll=chi-news-hed
Iran
EU stands firm on Iran nuclear talks after polls
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, June 28 (IranMania) - The EU vowed to keep up pressure on Iran on its nuclear plans following the election of hardline president Mahmood Ahmadinejad, but the United States said it is skeptical on the chances for European diplomacy.
Leading the European pressure on the Islamic republic, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that the international community was not about to "go soft" with Tehran on the nuclear front after the election of Ahmadinejad, according to AFP.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=32973&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Barbarism. As bad as ordering Rape to maintain social justice.
Iranian court orders man to be blinded
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Angus McDowall
TEHRAN - An Iranian court has sentenced a man to have his eyes surgically removed for a crime he committed as a teenager 12 years ago.
Amnesty International has condemned the sentence, reported in the Iranian daily Etemaad, but local human rights groups say these unusual punishments are hardly ever executed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333148
WHEN DOESN'T THE U.S. UNDER BUSH HAVE DOUBTS?
US 'has doubts' on EU Iran policy
Solana said any unilateral military action would be counterproductive
The United States doubts that European diplomacy will succeed in keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons after Iran's election of a new president.
"We have reason to be sceptical," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said before a visit by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to Washington.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said earlier the union saw no reason to change its policy towards Tehran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4626355.stm
Few clues for West on Iran's future
By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent
Mr Ahmadinejad waged a domestically-focused campaign
The surprise victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian presidential election means that religious conservatives now have a monopoly on power controlling all of the elected and appointed institutions that govern the country.
But what does Mr Ahmadinejad's victory mean beyond Iran's own borders and what does it imply for European Union-led efforts to halt Iran's nuclear enrichment programme?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4622547.stm
Iran loser blasts 'illegal' poll
Rafsanjani was the favourite going into the election
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has reacted angrily to his surprise loss to hardline opponent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In his first public statement following the election result, the moderate cleric alleged that an illegal dirty tricks campaign had been mounted.
The US meanwhile said Iran was out of step with current trends in the region.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4622955.stm
Iran poll result: World reaction
Governments around the world are giving their reaction to the surprise landslide victory in Iran's presidential election of the ultra-conservative Mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4623181.stm
continued . . .
Terrorism threat brings aliens down to earth
By Garry Maddox, Film Reporter
June 28, 2005
Panicking crowds fleeing down streets. Buildings collapsing. A coat of grey dust on Tom Cruise's face. A crashed passenger jet. And the first thought when the explosions and killing starts: is it a terrorist attack?
It is not hard to see the references in director Steven Spielberg's epic new sci-fi movie to a world that changed with the September 11 attacks. But the enemies in War of the Worlds, which had its first Australian screening yesterday before an international release tomorrow, are aliens rather than terrorists.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/is-tom-out-of-this-world/2005/06/27/1119724577613.html
Aussies killed in US joy flight event
By Jano Gibson
June 28, 2005 - 4:50PM
Peter Walsh.
Photo: Cessna 182 Association of Australia.
A married couple from NSW were among four people killed in a plane crash in the US today, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Peter Walsh, 62, and his wife Helen, 60, "quiet achievers" from Wagga Wagga in southern NSW, died when a single-engine Cessna 182 crashed into Long Island Sound on a flight from Maine to Connecticut about 2pm local time yesterday (5am AEST today).
Two other passengers from Arizona were also killed.
Wagga Wagga mayor, Kerry Pascoe, said the community had lost two of its finest citizens.
``The couple were well known throughout the city due to their generosity of spirit and involvement in the community,'' Mr Pascoe, who has known the couple for about 30 years, told smh.com.au.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aussies-killed-in-us-joy-flight-event/2005/06/28/1119724616909.html
Belgian Boy Scouts to be banned from killing chickens
June 28, 2005 - 1:59AM
Belgium plans to stop Boy Scouts from slaughtering chickens and other small animals at summer camp, despite Scout leaders' defence of the practice as a lesson in wilderness survival.
The Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday that one Scout group had refused to stop teaching its scouts how to carry out the bloody task even after complaints from parents.
"These kids have to be taught how to kill an animal in order to feed themselves," the ministry quoted one of the group's representatives as saying.
However, the ministry took the view that the Scouts learnt nothing from using animals in this way.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/belgian-boy-scouts-to-be-banned-from-killing-chickens/2005/06/28/1119724588772.html
Plea to Chinese in Sydney to find 'killer'
By Jano Gibson
June 28, 2005 - 11:39AM
Jian Ping Wang ... police released this image today.
A man wanted in connection with the killing of a Chinese businessman at a Sydney park four years ago is hiding somewhere in Sydney, police believe.
Jian Ping Wang, a 50-year-old Chinese national, is wanted over the fatal shooting of Chinese businessman Jae Song at the Golden Jubilee Park in Turramurra on January 5, 2001, over a large debt.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/plea-to-chinese-in-sydney-to-find-killer/2005/06/28/1119724614535.html
Dizzy heights proving more difficult to reach
By Chloe Saltau in Birmingham
June 28, 2005
Warming up: Jason Gillespie admits he is taking a while to hit his straps on this Ashes tour.
Photo: Reuters
The joke started in 1997 when Jason Gillespie, the shy, goateed, earringed young quick on his first Ashes tour, was ribbed for his gypsy-like appearance by vocal England fans behind the fence.
Last week at Chester-le-Street he thought fleetingly about getting on the front foot and rigging up a sign for the fans on the fine-leg boundary that said: "Please don't ask again, the caravan is being repaired."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/dizzy-heights-proving-more-difficult-to-reach/2005/06/27/1119724580340.html
Arroyo
Arroyo admits lapse but denies rigging election
28.06.05
MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo hasadmitted she talked to a Philippine election official, as detailed in recordings that have prompted calls for her to quit, but insisted she did not influence the vote count.
The opposition, which also accuses members of Arroyo's family of taking kickbacks from illegal gambling syndicates, has seized on the recordings of conversations as proof she cheated her way to a fresh term in May 2004.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333077
Arroyo faces renewed attacks after admission
Opponents of President Arroyo stepped up calls for her to resign on Tuesday after she admitted talking to an election official during the May 10 elections, but analysts said she appeared safe for now.
Arroyo saying late on Monday she had a "lapse in judgment" looked set to embolden the opposition, which said the recordings of telephone conversations prove she cheated in last year's poll.
Analysts expressed doubt the opposition has the strength to impeach Arroyo or the popular support needed to stir up the kind of huge protests that forced Joseph Estrada from the presidency in 2001.
"Every sin needs an atonement. So when she admitted to being on the tapes, she had to resign," said opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who came third in the presidential election.
In a carefully worded televised statement late on Monday, Arroyo said she spoke to an election official and was sorry, but denied she had tried to influence the election result.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=9000
Financial markets largely unscathed after Arroyo apology
Posted: 4:32 PM Jun. 28, 2005
XFN-Asia
Get INQ7 business breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send EXTRA BUSINESS to 386.
FINANCIAL markets showed little reaction to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's admission that she made a "lapse in judgment" by calling an election official during last year's national polls but analysts warned that it was too early to say that political tensions in the country would now ease and that fallout from the controversy was over.
http://money.inq7.net/breakingnews/view_breakingnews.php?yyyy=2005&mon=06&dd=28&file=17
Philippine military, police assure support to Arroyo
www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-28 16:30:00
MANILA, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Despite President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's admission of her call to an election official during last elections, the Philippine military and police Tuesday assured their loyalty and support to the Arroyo's administration.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said at a press conference that all PNP officers fully support President Arroyo in her courageous apology before the nation.
In view of more mass protest, Lomibao vowed to crush what they called "violent and armed actions" that could be launched in response to Arroyo's confession.
Likewise, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also said that they would join President Arroyo in rebuilding the nation and in doubling her efforts in serving the people,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/28/content_3147462.htm
Arroyo sorry for election controversy
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appears on a television screen as she addresses the country in a telecast from Manila's Malacanang palace June 27, 2005. Arroyo has apologized for talking with an election official about her hopes for a million-vote margin in last year's ballot.
Arroyo made the apology in a nationally televised speech on June 27, 2005.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has apologized for talking with an election official about her hopes for a million-vote margin in last year's ballot. Despite the apology, she says she did nothing wrong and will not step down.
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/28/eng20050628_192777.html
San Francisco Chronicle
Imagine the wharf without any boats
Fishermen might have to pay more to stay
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
It would be like Disneyland without Mickey, the Statue of Liberty without the torch or the Grand Canyon without the canyon.
What's Fisherman's Wharf without the fishermen?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/28/WHARF.TMP
THIS IS FOR YOU, Anderson !
Mary-Kate Olsen parties with Oasis; Scarlett Johansson reunited with dog; Lindsay Lohan avoids drama at De Beers protest
Daily Dish
Monday, June 27, 2005
MARY-KATE OLSEN PARTIES WITH OASIS
Mary-Kate Olsen was seen coming out of British rockers Oasis' dressing room in an inebriated state after attending their recent gig at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The star, who found fame starring in TV shows with her twin sister Ashley Olsen, was reportedly carried out of the room by her bodyguard and taken to recover in the VIP bathroom.
The actress' representative tells Page Six, "Whatever the implication is, it's ridiculous. She was just hanging out with the band. Nothing went on whatsoever."
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/dailydish/
Petaluma bust nets "date rape" drug
Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005
Petaluma police and federal drug agents were amazed this morning by the size of a weekend drug bust that netted as much as 15 gallons of a substance believed to be the “date rape” drug GHB.
Thomas Miller, a 35-year-old personal trainer from Santa Rosa, remained jailed in Sonoma County this morning in lieu of $50,000 bail, charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/27/BAghb27.DTL
Results can pale next to splashy pledges
But governor's bold pronouncements have had influence
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Monday, June 27, 2005
Sacramento -- Draped in a colorful tribal blanket and speaking in an ornate Sacramento auditorium, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced deals with five California casino-owning Indian tribes last summer that he said would bring the state $150 million to $200 million annually.
It was a triumphant moment for the image-conscious governor, who portrayed the new pacts as a campaign promise kept and one more step toward plugging the state's budget deficit.
This month, however, administration officials acknowledged that the state's take has been far less than advertised -- about $18 million, or only 9 to 12 percent of what had been projected. The higher numbers the governor touted were based on assumptions that turned out to be way off target.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/27/MNGDFDFFH21.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
Pride parade celebrates causes from equal rights to spanking
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005
The only Christian evangelical church float in Sunday's gay pride parade in San Francisco sported a rainbow cross, disco music and a giant sign that declared, "Christian & Gay = OK."
"I tell people, 'No, baby, we're not trying to change you,' " said Pastor Maria Caruana of the Freedom in Christ Evangelical Church, which was founded in the Mission District in 1991 to bring the gospel to gays.
Sunday was no-judgment day as the 35th annual San Francisco Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade brought hundreds of thousands of people to Market Street to celebrate sexual self-expression.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/27/BAGTQDF9DU1.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
Presidio's walls speak of past
From officer's quarters to Officers Club, building dates over 200 years
Slowly and very carefully, a team of archaeologists has been taking apart a room at the Officers Club at the Presidio of San Francisco to see if they can learn the secrets of what may be the oldest building in the Bay Area.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/27/BAGTQDF9DO1.DTL
FINDING MY RELIGION
Reverend Jeremy Taylor on how dreams are a gateway to the spiritual realm
David Ian Miller, Special to SF Gate
Monday, June 27, 2005
I have this dream from time to time. Maybe you do, too. I'm nearing the end of my final term in college, and suddenly I realize there's this class I've totally neglected. The final exam is happening the next day, and I'm completely unprepared. I start to panic. Then, just before all hell breaks loose, I wake up.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/archive/2005/06/27/findrelig.DTL
Iraq
THIS IS NO SURPRISE, IS IT?
Iraq reports corruption epidemic
By Jon Leyne
BBC correspondent in Baghdad
The former transport minister is one of those being sought
There is massive corruption in most Iraqi government ministries as a legacy of Saddam Hussein's era, the Iraqi anti-corruption commission has said.
Arrest warrants on fraud charges have been issued for two former ministers in the Iraqi interim government.
One ex-minister denied the charges and the second could not be contacted.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4627923.stm
Two U.S. Pilots Die in Iraq Helicopter Crash
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 27, 2005
Filed at 3:35 p.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. Apache attack helicopter crashed Monday north of Baghdad, killing both pilots, after a witness said he saw the aircraft hit by a rocket that ''destroyed it completely in the air.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?hp
A critical moment for Bush Iraq policy
As war support ebbs, president expected to rally nation tonight
Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Washington -- The best clue to what President Bush wants to tell the American people about Iraq today can probably be found in his selection of the nation's largest Army base as a backdrop for his prime-time address.
Even as he tries to rally a nation increasingly skeptical about the war's progress, there is no signal from the White House that Bush plans to offer a new direction, acknowledge missteps or reach out to critics.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/28/BUSH.TMP
Iraq rebuilding fails to deliver
By Jon Leyne
BBC correspondent in Baghdad
It is a punishing experience to have no power in an Iraqi summer
On the outskirts of Baghdad, workmen have been toiling frantically to repair a huge broken water main.
It was blown up by insurgents at the weekend. They knew exactly where to place the charge for maximum damage. It has taken out the water supply for more than half of Baghdad.
"We've been affected badly," complained one man in the area. "We don't have any water to drink. What are we supposed to do? Sometimes they cut the power as well. It's all the fault of the Americans."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4118628.stm
US moots political solution to Iraq woes
June 28, 2005 - 9:34AM
US military officials are increasingly emphasising political solutions rather than military ones to Iraq's insurgency - a shift that acknowledges the difficulty they face in stopping the violence.
US President George W Bush is expected to ask the American people to be patient when he makes a national TV address on the Iraq situation.
A new opinion poll says a majority of Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of the war. Nearly 75 per cent of 1,004 adults quizzed said the Bush administration had underestimated the challenges involved.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-moots-political-solution-to-Iraq-woes/2005/06/28/1119724609107.html
Iraq's treasures still being looted
By James Menendez
Middle East reporter, BBC World service
The looting of the National Museum in Baghdad two years ago caused an international outcry.
Satellite photos show the extent of damage caused by looting
In the chaos that engulfed the city at the end of the war, thousands of pieces were either stolen or damaged.
The US marines who first captured Baghdad were accused of not doing enough to protect the museum's priceless collection of Mesopotamian art.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4114906.stm
ONE DAY IN IRAQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2005/day_in_iraq/default.stm
Suicide bomber kills Iraqi veteran MP
June 28, 2005 - 6:39PM
Iraq's oldest member of parliament, Dhari al-Fayadh, his son and three bodyguards have been killed in a suicide bombing north of Baghdad, while more bombs killed two and wounded 20 elsewhere.
Fayadh, 87, and his son were killed when "a vehicle packed with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber was detonated alongside his two-car convoy in Al-Rashidyah," an interior ministry source said.
Meanwhile US Marines have launched a major operation in western Iraq, dispatching 1,000 troops to root out suspected insurgents in the Euphrates river valley.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Suicide-bomber-kills-Iraqi-veteran-MP/2005/06/28/1119724631099.html
Two years enough to secure Iraq: PM
June 28, 2005 - 3:09PM
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari says two years will be "more than enough" to establish security in his country even though US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld believes may take up to 12 years.
Following talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Jaafari said such factors as building up Iraq's own security forces, controlling its porous borders and pushing ahead with the political process would all help end the violence.
"I think two years will be enough, and more than enough, to establish security in our country," he said.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Two-years-enough-to-secure-Iraq-PM/2005/06/28/1119724624084.html
Pentagon Stresses Political Action in Iraq
Monday June 27, 2005 11:31 PM
AP Photo DCHG103
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Top U.S. military officials are increasingly emphasizing political solutions rather than military ones to Iraq's insurgency, a shift acknowledging the difficulty they and the Iraqi government face in stopping the violence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5102795,00.html
US commander says no talks yet with Iraq insurgents
27 Jun 2005 22:38:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have not held talks with insurgent leaders involved in attacks in Iraq but may do so soon, the U.S. commander in Iraq said on Monday in remarks that appeared to differ from those of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
On Sunday Rumsfeld said meetings between U.S. representatives and insurgent commanders "go on all the time."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27300841.htm
US's dwindling options in Iraq
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Baghdad
Bomb attacks have become a part of daily life in Iraq
The prediction by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that it could take up to 12 years to defeat the Iraqi insurgency will come as no surprise to his own troops.
That is the sort of time-scale written into US military doctrine. So it is part of every officer's basic training.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4628695.stm
Suicide car bomb kills Iraqi MP
Car bombings happen almost daily in Iraq
A senior member of the Iraqi parliament has been killed by a suicide bomber.
Dhari al-Fayadh, 87 - a Shia who was Iraq's oldest MP - died with his son and three bodyguards when the car bomb hit their convoy in northern Baghdad.
He is the second MP to die in renewed violence following the installation of an elected government in April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4629133.stm
Iraqi PM optimistic on security
Mr Jaafari sounded upbeat after his talks in London
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has said two years will be "enough" to establish security in his country, despite an upsurge in rebel attacks.
He was speaking after talks with his UK counterpart Tony Blair in London.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said earlier that dealing with the insurgency could take up to 12 years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4628803.stm
US to boost Iraq prison capacity
Abu Ghraib is currently operating at full capacity
The US military says it is expanding several Iraqi prisons, including Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad, to cope with a sharp rise in detainees.
Abu Ghraib became notorious for prisoner abuse last year. It was due to be shut down but now it is nearly full.
The $50m construction programme will allow the US to hold 16,000 prisoners in Iraq, up from 10,000 currently.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4628057.stm
The Chicago Tribune
Grounds for disagreement
Historic value of cemetery in path of O'Hare expansion debated
By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
Beneath marble and granite grave markers etched with ivy and the words "ruhe in frieden" (rest in peace), the remains of hundreds of German immigrants who helped settle DuPage County lie yards from passenger jets roaring down an O'Hare International Airport runway.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280134jun28,1,2768347.story?coll=chi-news-hed
City warned of cargo hazards
New routes away from Loop urged
By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
An environmental activist told aldermen Monday that a terrorist act on a single rail car carrying chlorine near downtown Chicago could wreck havoc on the city, creating a toxic cloud from which thousands of people could not hide or flee fast enough to escape harm.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280158jun28,1,5258721.story?coll=chi-news-he
Oil free
IIT scientist's quest for a clean energy future
By Patrice M. Jones
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
With the summer driving season upon us, the loud, annual debate about the pain-in-the-neck pinch of gasoline prices has begun.
Some politicians are pushing an often-heard demand that major oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia boost output. Others want expanded drilling and exploration in regions such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0506270241jun28,1,1201273.story?coll=chi-technology-hed
I AM NOT JOKING !!!
Lightning strike unexpected, deadly
Roselle family tells of bolt's devastation
By Claire Heininger
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
The lightning crackling in the steamy suburban air signaled that a storm was approaching, but nothing could have warned the Coopers just how fast.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280125jun28,1,2702811.story?coll=chi-news-hed
The HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.
Man shot in S. Side carjacking
Tribune staff reports
Published June 28, 2005, 9:06 AM CDT
Chicago police are seeking the assailants who shot and wounded a man in an overnight carjacking on the city's South Side, CLTV reported.
The incident happened shortly after 1 a.m. as the 25-year-old victim and a companion were sitting in a 1984 Chevrolet on the 8700 block of South Ashland Avenue, in the Gresham neighborhood, police said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050628carjacking,1,6236317.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Prisoner escapes county lockup
1st in decade slips away undetected
By Tom Rybarczyk
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 28, 2005
A man awaiting trial on drugs and weapons charges broke out of the Cook County Jail complex Monday, making him the first prisoner to do so in a decade, sheriff's officials said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280132jun28,1,1981913.story?coll=chi-news-hed
2 banks are robbed in downtown area
Published June 28, 2005
Two downtown banks, located within blocks of each other, were robbed Monday afternoon.
At 12:40 p.m., a man handed a teller at U.S. Bank at 30 N. Michigan Ave. a note demanding money, Chicago Police Sgt. Robert Cargie said. The man, described as black, about 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, fled with an unknown amount of money.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280135jun28,1,3161564.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Man is sought in probe of killing
Oak Park releases description in case
By Ted Gregory, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporter Matt Baron contributed to this report
Published June 28, 2005
Oak Park police on Monday released a composite image of a "person of interest" in the murder of Peter D'Agostino, the same day about 150 people gathered to memorialize the university professor and author.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0506280152jun28,1,2899419.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Abused child finds her voice, justice as adult
Published June 28, 2005
Ten years ago, when Denise Phillips was 12, her stepfather molested her. Initially, she told no one.
But Phillips eventually revealed her secret--to school officials, to the police, to her mother.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0506280001jun28,1,2943308.column?coll=chi-news-hed
Iran
EU stands firm on Iran nuclear talks after polls
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, June 28 (IranMania) - The EU vowed to keep up pressure on Iran on its nuclear plans following the election of hardline president Mahmood Ahmadinejad, but the United States said it is skeptical on the chances for European diplomacy.
Leading the European pressure on the Islamic republic, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that the international community was not about to "go soft" with Tehran on the nuclear front after the election of Ahmadinejad, according to AFP.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=32973&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Barbarism. As bad as ordering Rape to maintain social justice.
Iranian court orders man to be blinded
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Angus McDowall
TEHRAN - An Iranian court has sentenced a man to have his eyes surgically removed for a crime he committed as a teenager 12 years ago.
Amnesty International has condemned the sentence, reported in the Iranian daily Etemaad, but local human rights groups say these unusual punishments are hardly ever executed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333148
WHEN DOESN'T THE U.S. UNDER BUSH HAVE DOUBTS?
US 'has doubts' on EU Iran policy
Solana said any unilateral military action would be counterproductive
The United States doubts that European diplomacy will succeed in keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons after Iran's election of a new president.
"We have reason to be sceptical," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said before a visit by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to Washington.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said earlier the union saw no reason to change its policy towards Tehran.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4626355.stm
Few clues for West on Iran's future
By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent
Mr Ahmadinejad waged a domestically-focused campaign
The surprise victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian presidential election means that religious conservatives now have a monopoly on power controlling all of the elected and appointed institutions that govern the country.
But what does Mr Ahmadinejad's victory mean beyond Iran's own borders and what does it imply for European Union-led efforts to halt Iran's nuclear enrichment programme?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4622547.stm
Iran loser blasts 'illegal' poll
Rafsanjani was the favourite going into the election
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has reacted angrily to his surprise loss to hardline opponent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In his first public statement following the election result, the moderate cleric alleged that an illegal dirty tricks campaign had been mounted.
The US meanwhile said Iran was out of step with current trends in the region.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4622955.stm
Iran poll result: World reaction
Governments around the world are giving their reaction to the surprise landslide victory in Iran's presidential election of the ultra-conservative Mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4623181.stm
continued . . .
Morning Papers - concluding
The Boston Globe
If and when in Iraq
June 28, 2005
WHEN SECRETARY of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday that it would be a mistake to set a timetable for a military withdrawal from Iraq because that would send a ''lifeline to terrorists," he mixed a reasonable conclusion with a misleading rationale.
. . . On the Iraqi side, the fact that Sunni tribal leaders arranged the secret talks indicates that those powerful stakeholders now believe it suits their interests to end the mayhem and resort to politics to protect their position.
The moment is approaching when it may make sense for both Americans and Iraqis to agree on a timetable for withdrawal.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/06/28/if_and_when_in_iraq/
R.I. may allow medical marijuana
Veto-proof vote expected today
By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff June 28, 2005
Rhode Island is poised to become the 11th state in the nation to permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, with the divisive proposal expected to win final passage today and reach the governor's desk tomorrow.
Governor Donald L. Carcieri has said he will probably veto the bill, but supporters say they have the votes needed to override his veto.
The legislation advance at a critical juncture in the battle over the issue. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that medicinal marijuana users can be prosecuted under federal law, even if their home states allow use of the drug. Last week, federal drug agents raided medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Northern California and arrested nearly two-dozen people.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/06/28/ri_may_allow_medical_marijuana/
Audit questions $1.4b in Halliburton bills
Expenses at issue from Iraq contracts
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff June 28, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Internal Pentagon audits have flagged about $1.4 billion in expenses submitted by Halliburton Co. for services the firm is providing in Iraq, charges that include $45 cases of soda, $100-per-bag laundry service, and several months preparing at least 10,000 daily meals for a US military base that the troops did not need and ultimately went to waste, according to a report released yesterday by congressional Democrats.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/06/28/audit_questions_14b_in_halliburton_bills/
Shellfish growers eligible for some federal emergency assistance
June 27, 2005
WASHINGTON --Shellfish growers will now be eligible to receive some emergency federal assistance to help them get through the toxic red tide outbreak.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday approved a request to provide assistance to the shellfish growers under the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program.
The shellfish growers had previously been denied Small Business Administration loans because they are considered farmers, not fishermen.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/27/shellfish_growers_eligible_for_some_federal_emergency_assistance/
Some ranchers shy during cattle auction
By Betsy Blaney, Associated Press Writer June 28, 2005
TULIA, Texas --Rancher Kevin Crooks lost about $1 million in the year following the country's first case of mad cow 18 months ago. He really doesn't want that to happen again.
If he'd had cattle big enough to sell at the Tulia Livestock Auction on Monday, he wouldn't have brought any. "I took my lumps last time," Crooks said. "It took all my profit. I basically did everything that year for free."
The auction was the first opportunity to see how live cattle sales in Texas were affected by last week's announcement of a second case of mad cow in the country, apparently the first in a U.S.-born animal. The Holstein in the country's first case in December 2003 was from a Canadian herd.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/28/some_ranchers_shy_during_cattle_auction/
Penalty phase begins in Fresno murders
By Juliana Barbassa, Associated Press Writer June 28, 2005
FRESNO, Calif. --Marcus Wesson's fate is in the hands of jurors who already convicted him of murdering nine of his children and now must decide whether he should be sentenced to death for the crimes.
Deliberations in the penalty phase of Wesson's trial began Monday after his defense attorney gave a final plea to save his client's life.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/28/penalty_phase_begins_in_fresno_murders/
Italy Judge sentences 11 in Parmalat case
By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Emilio Parodi June 28, 2005
MILAN (Reuters) - A Milan judge sentenced 10 former Parmalat executives and a lawyer to jail on Tuesday in the first guilty ruling over the 14-billion-euro ($17 billion) collapse of Italy's biggest listed food group, judicial sources said.
Judge Cesare Tacconi sentenced the 11 men, including Fausto Tonna, one of Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi's closest associates, to up to two and a half years in jail for crimes including market rigging and obstructing regulators.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/italy_judge_sentences_11_in_parmalat_case/
France to host nuclear fusion project
By Guy Faulconbridge June 28, 2005
MOSCOW (Reuters) - France is to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor, the project's multinational partners agreed on Tuesday, bringing closer a technology backers say could one day provide the world with endless cheap energy.
France beat off a rival bid from Japan to host the 10-billion-euro ($12.18 billion) experimental reactor at Cadarache in the south of the country, according to an agreement signed by the partners after a meeting in Moscow.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/france_wins_bid_for_nuclear_fusion_project/
Shell investors to end dual listed model
By Tom Bergin and Anna Mudeva June 28, 2005
LONDON/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders gathered on Tuesday and are expected to end a century of history when they vote later in the day on scrapping the group's dual-listed structure.
Shell hopes the unification of its Dutch and British parent companies, planned for July 20, will help streamline its management structure, whose complexity was blamed for a damaging reserves overbooking scandal last year.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/shell_investors_to_end_dual_listed_model/
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
High Point
Poll: Disapproval of Bush at high point
(CNN) -- The number of Americans disapproving of President Bush's job performance has risen to the highest level of his presidency, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.
According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance, compared to 45 percent who approved.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3148
Americans Not Eating What White House is Serving
Poll: Optimism on Iraq Is Premature
Most Americans Dispute White House Assessment of Weakened Insurgency, Post-ABC Survey Finds
By Richard Morin / Washington Post
A majority of Americans reject claims by the Bush administration that the insurgency in Iraq is weakening and are divided on whether victory over the insurgents will have a major impact on terrorism elsewhere in the world, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Barely one in five Americans -- 22 percent -- say they believe that the insurgency is getting weaker while 24 percent believe it is strengthening. More than half -- 53 percent -- say resistance to U.S. and Iraqi government forces has not changed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3139
W. Do Little
Some in G.O.P. Call on Bush to Focus on Governing
By Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 26 - President Bush and his hard-charging political team, which seemed to make all the right moves in winning re-election last year, have stumbled when it comes to governing in a second term, many Republicans say, leaving the White House scrambling to get back on track.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3141
General admits to secret air war
By Michael Smith / Sunday Times
THE American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.
Addressing a briefing on lessons learnt from the Iraq war Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley said that in 2002 and early 2003 allied aircraft flew 21,736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 “carefully selected targets” before the war officially started.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3144
Some in G.O.P. Call on Bush to Focus on Governing
By Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 26 - President Bush and his hard-charging political team, which seemed to make all the right moves in winning re-election last year, have stumbled when it comes to governing in a second term, many Republicans say, leaving the White House scrambling to get back on track.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3141
U.S. Talks With Iraqi Insurgents Confirmed
Goal Is Sunnis' Political Inclusion, Rumsfeld Says
By Dana Priest / Washington Post
The U.S. military in Iraq has been holding face-to-face meetings with some Iraqi leaders of the insurgency there, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the U.S. commander in charge of Iraq confirmed yesterday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3138
Army Recruits Quickly Abused in Training
By Dylan T. Lovan / Associated Press
FORT KNOX, Ky. - The recruits of Echo Company stumbled off the bus for basic training at Fort Knox to the screams of red-faced drill instructors. That much was expected. But it got worse from there.
Echo Company's top drill instructor seized a recruit by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Other soldiers were poked, grabbed or cursed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3147
Army National Guard enlists job agency
By Lisa Chiu / Seattle Times
Faced with nationwide recruitment challenges, the Army National Guard has partnered with Labor Ready, a provider of temporary jobs for unskilled workers, in the hopes the Tacoma-based company's 700 branches across the nation can help boost the dwindling number of recruits.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3132
Rumsfeld In His Last Throes?; "Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years..."
Rumsfeld: Iraq Insurgency Could Last Years
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Insurgencies can go on for years, but the violence ravaging Iraq will eventually be quelled by homegrown forces rather than U.S. and other foreign troops, and negotiation rather than military action, U.S. officials said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3134
The Washington Post
Logging Limits
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A14
AS EARLY AS today, the Senate will have the opportunity to rectify a mistake made by the House this spring, and to pass an amendment limiting taxpayer subsidies for logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Although a similar amendment passed the House last year, it was dropped from the final version of the annual Interior Department spending legislation. This year, opponents managed to use procedural tricks to prevent a vote from taking place in the House at all. Now the Senate is to vote on a similar amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.).
It is no accident that this amendment enjoys bipartisan support, because it makes sense on both environmental and economic grounds. Logging is not only destructive in the Tongass, an extraordinarily pristine temperate rain forest, but it is highly unprofitable. Last year, the U.S. Forest Service spent $49 million on subsidizing logging in the Tongass, and received about $800,000 in profit. This is a business that exists only because of the political clout of Alaskan members of Congress, and it provides little benefit to anyone other than some 300 Alaskans who live off the government's largess.
Most of the time, anti-environmentalists derive satisfaction from lampooning environmentalists as starry-eyed dreamers who can't add up columns of figures. Here is a case in which the numbers are on the side of the environmentalists. If Senate Republicans can't defeat this measure, that will reveal something about the "pro-enterprise, pro-market" claims of their party.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701424.html?nav=hcmodule
China Scolds U.S. for Blocking Israeli Arms Sale
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A08
BEIJING, June 27 -- Accusing the Bush administration of "carping" and "outside interference," China issued a sharp complaint Monday after Israel cancelled a controversial Israeli-Chinese arms deal under pressure from the United States.
The Israeli decision halted the sale of drone aircraft capable of seeking out radar installations. It was the result of a U.S. campaign to block China from obtaining advanced military technology that could be used against Taiwan and U.S. forces supporting the island in any confrontation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700351.html
From Memos, Insights Into Ally's Doubts On Iraq War
British Advisers Foresaw Variety of Risks, Problems
By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A01
LONDON -- In the spring of 2002, two weeks before British Prime Minister Tony Blair journeyed to Crawford, Tex., to meet with President Bush at his ranch about the escalating confrontation with Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw sounded a prescient warning.
"The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few," Straw wrote in a March 25 memo to Blair stamped "Secret and Personal." "The risks are high, both for you and for the Government."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701584.html
Pakistan Supreme Court Orders Re-Arrest of Men in High-Profile Rape Case
By Sadaqat Jan
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; 4:47 AM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered 13 suspects in a high-profile gang-rape case re-arrested Tuesday and overturned lower court rulings that had acquitted them, court officials and a lawyer in the case said.
The ruling came a day after the victim, Mukhtar Mai, appealed the acquittals in a dramatic appearance at the court. The decision cast aside a series of conflicting rulings by several lower courts that had drawn international condemnation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062800158.html
Racial Disparities Found in Pinpointing Mental Illness
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A01
Last of three articles
John Zeber recently examined one of the nation's largest databases of psychiatric cases to evaluate how doctors diagnose schizophrenia, a disorder that often portends years of powerful brain-altering drugs, social ostracism and forced hospitalizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701496.html
Social Network's Healing Power Is Borne Out in Poorer Nations
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005; Page A01
RAIPUR RANI, India -- Second of three articles
Psychiatrist Naren Wig crossed an open sewer, skirted a pond and, in the dusty haze of afternoon, saw something miraculous.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601091.html?nav=hcmodule
NASA: Risk of Ice Striking Shuttle Low
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 26, 2005; 5:22 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA officials believe the risk of potentially lethal pieces of ice flying off the external fuel tank and striking the space shuttle is low enough to proceed with plans for a mid-July launch of Discovery.
The conclusion came after a Friday meeting of NASA managers and engineers who have spent the past six weeks running millions of computer simulations and testing various ways ice might strike the orbiter. The launch window opens July 13.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062600229.html?nav=hcmodule
John T. Walton, 58; Heir to Wal-Mart Fortune
By Martin Weil and Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page B06
John T. Walton, who as an heir to the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. retail fortune was ranked as one of the world's richest people, died yesterday in Grand Teton National Park when the ultralight airplane he was flying crashed. He was 58.
Mr. Walton, whose wealth was placed in the many billions of dollars, was a philanthropist, a decorated Vietnam veteran and an experienced aviator who once worked as a crop-duster.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701471.html
Air Force Names Rabbi As Adviser On Religion
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A03
DENVER, June 27 -- A rabbi who retired as one of the military's top chaplains was appointed by the Air Force on Monday to help carry out recommendations of a task force that investigated complaints of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy.
Arnold E. Resnicoff was named special assistant to acting Air Force Secretary Michael L. Dominguez and chief of staff for values and vision.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701479.html
The New Zealand Herald
Halliburton Iraq deals described as contract abuse
28.06.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - A top US Army procurement official said Halliburton's deals in Iraq were the worst example of contract abuse she had seen as Pentagon auditors flagged over US$1 billion ($1.42 billion) of potential overcharges by the Texas-based firm.
Bunny Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' top contracting official-turned whistle-blower, said in testimony at a hearing by Democrats on Capitol Hill that "every aspect" of Halliburton's oil contract in Iraq had been under the control of the Office of the Secretary of Defence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333138
US plans to resume plutonium 238 production says report
28.06.05
The United States plans to produce highly radioactive plutonium 238 for the first time since the Cold War, The New York Times has reported.
The newspaper quoted project managers as saying most, if not all, of the new plutonium was intended for secret missions. The officials would not disclose details, but the newspaper said the plutonium in the past powered espionage devices.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333063
Italy eyes extradition of CIA-led kidnappers
28.06.05 1.00pm
ROME - Italy plans to seek the extradition of 13 CIA-led agents for the abduction of a radical Muslim cleric who was flown to Egypt and said he was tortured in prison there, a judicial source said.
The source, who declined to be named, said Italian prosecutors were considering treating the suspects as common fugitives and issuing an international request for their extradition to Italy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333143
Iranian court orders man to be blinded
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Angus McDowall
TEHRAN - An Iranian court has sentenced a man to have his eyes surgically removed for a crime he committed as a teenager 12 years ago.
Amnesty International has condemned the sentence, reported in the Iranian daily Etemaad, but local human rights groups say these unusual punishments are hardly ever executed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333148
Emperor travels to honour Saipan war dead
28.06.05
SAIPAN - Japanese Emperor Akihito headed for the site of one of World War II's most decisive battles to pay tribute to those who died in a conflict that still haunts Tokyo's ties with Asian neighbours more than 60 years later.
The journey to the United States territory of Saipan - the first by Akihito outside Japan to mourn war dead - coincides with a chill in Tokyo's ties with China and South Korea, where many feel Japan has not owned up to its wartime atrocities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333057
UK continues Zimbabwe asylum seeker deportation
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Andrew Grice
Tony Blair was under mounting pressure last night to re-impose a moratorium on deporting failed asylum-seekers back to Zimbabwe.
The Government was accused of ignoring the brutal crackdown by Robert Mugabe's regime against his political opponents and putting lives at risk after it blocked demands for a halt to deportations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333131
Cricketers say they will tour Zimbabwe despite worries
Heath Mills
28.06.05 4.00pm
By Colin Marshall
New Zealand's cricketers remain certain they will be touring trouble-plagued Zimbabwe in August but say they will be discussing ways to stop themselves being used as pawns of the Robert Mugabe-led regime.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10333164
Three PNG police jailed for murder of boy
28.06.05 4.00pm
PORT MORESBY - Three policemen in Papua New Guinea have each been sentenced to 25 years in jail with hard labour for the murder of a 16-year-old boy in 2001.
Sergeant John Winamba and Constables Paul Gabi and Blassius Bana were jailed by Justice Moses Jalina in the National Court in Wewak, East Sepik Province, PNG's The National newspaper reported today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333167
Corby the star in a soap opera that's lost the plot
28.06.05
by Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - The high drama that has been the trial and upcoming appeal of 27-year-old convicted drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby continues to weave ever more complex plots as the former Gold Coast trainee beauty therapist struggles to convince an Indonesian court she is innocent.
In storylines more akin to the television soaps that Australia digests and exports with unremitting voracity, Corby and her family have fired and rehired her Indonesian legal team, split acrimoniously from her original Australian lawyer and her millionaire white knight, swapped angry accusations of profiteering, and seen her Australian QCs slug into their Indonesian counterparts with allegations of bribery.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333055
Former hostage Wood a sick man
28.06.05
He may be celebrating his freedom, but former hostage Douglas Wood is a sick man who believes his 47-day ordeal has also cost him A$2 million ($2.2 million) in lost contracts.
The Australian engineer, rescued from his Iraqi captors a fortnight ago, revealed yesterday that he is suffering from numerous illnesses and may lose his eyesight.
The 63-year-old Wood said that since being freed he had been diagnosed with diabetes, malnutrition and the eye disease glaucoma.
He confirmed his rescue had more to do with luck than any negotiations on his behalf.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333041
Apology opens door for Israeli minister to visit NZ
28.06.05
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom could pay a visit to New Zealand now the diplomatic freeze caused by the spy scandal has ended.
It is understood Mr Shalom or the Foreign Ministry's Director-General, Ron Prosser, will make the trip to mark the end of the freeze imposed by the New Zealand Government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333039
Ex-Israeli soldier guilty of killing British student
28.06.05 1.20pm
By Eric Silver
A former Israeli soldier was found guilty by a military court in Israel yesterday of shooting dead the British student Tom Hurndall while he acted as a "human shield" in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Hurndall's father, Anthony Hurndall, welcomed the outcome of the family's long-running quest for justice but said he was disappointed that the judges had not probed higher up the chain of command.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333150
continued . . .
If and when in Iraq
June 28, 2005
WHEN SECRETARY of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday that it would be a mistake to set a timetable for a military withdrawal from Iraq because that would send a ''lifeline to terrorists," he mixed a reasonable conclusion with a misleading rationale.
. . . On the Iraqi side, the fact that Sunni tribal leaders arranged the secret talks indicates that those powerful stakeholders now believe it suits their interests to end the mayhem and resort to politics to protect their position.
The moment is approaching when it may make sense for both Americans and Iraqis to agree on a timetable for withdrawal.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/06/28/if_and_when_in_iraq/
R.I. may allow medical marijuana
Veto-proof vote expected today
By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff June 28, 2005
Rhode Island is poised to become the 11th state in the nation to permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, with the divisive proposal expected to win final passage today and reach the governor's desk tomorrow.
Governor Donald L. Carcieri has said he will probably veto the bill, but supporters say they have the votes needed to override his veto.
The legislation advance at a critical juncture in the battle over the issue. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that medicinal marijuana users can be prosecuted under federal law, even if their home states allow use of the drug. Last week, federal drug agents raided medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Northern California and arrested nearly two-dozen people.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/06/28/ri_may_allow_medical_marijuana/
Audit questions $1.4b in Halliburton bills
Expenses at issue from Iraq contracts
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff June 28, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Internal Pentagon audits have flagged about $1.4 billion in expenses submitted by Halliburton Co. for services the firm is providing in Iraq, charges that include $45 cases of soda, $100-per-bag laundry service, and several months preparing at least 10,000 daily meals for a US military base that the troops did not need and ultimately went to waste, according to a report released yesterday by congressional Democrats.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/06/28/audit_questions_14b_in_halliburton_bills/
Shellfish growers eligible for some federal emergency assistance
June 27, 2005
WASHINGTON --Shellfish growers will now be eligible to receive some emergency federal assistance to help them get through the toxic red tide outbreak.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday approved a request to provide assistance to the shellfish growers under the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program.
The shellfish growers had previously been denied Small Business Administration loans because they are considered farmers, not fishermen.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/27/shellfish_growers_eligible_for_some_federal_emergency_assistance/
Some ranchers shy during cattle auction
By Betsy Blaney, Associated Press Writer June 28, 2005
TULIA, Texas --Rancher Kevin Crooks lost about $1 million in the year following the country's first case of mad cow 18 months ago. He really doesn't want that to happen again.
If he'd had cattle big enough to sell at the Tulia Livestock Auction on Monday, he wouldn't have brought any. "I took my lumps last time," Crooks said. "It took all my profit. I basically did everything that year for free."
The auction was the first opportunity to see how live cattle sales in Texas were affected by last week's announcement of a second case of mad cow in the country, apparently the first in a U.S.-born animal. The Holstein in the country's first case in December 2003 was from a Canadian herd.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/28/some_ranchers_shy_during_cattle_auction/
Penalty phase begins in Fresno murders
By Juliana Barbassa, Associated Press Writer June 28, 2005
FRESNO, Calif. --Marcus Wesson's fate is in the hands of jurors who already convicted him of murdering nine of his children and now must decide whether he should be sentenced to death for the crimes.
Deliberations in the penalty phase of Wesson's trial began Monday after his defense attorney gave a final plea to save his client's life.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/06/28/penalty_phase_begins_in_fresno_murders/
Italy Judge sentences 11 in Parmalat case
By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Emilio Parodi June 28, 2005
MILAN (Reuters) - A Milan judge sentenced 10 former Parmalat executives and a lawyer to jail on Tuesday in the first guilty ruling over the 14-billion-euro ($17 billion) collapse of Italy's biggest listed food group, judicial sources said.
Judge Cesare Tacconi sentenced the 11 men, including Fausto Tonna, one of Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi's closest associates, to up to two and a half years in jail for crimes including market rigging and obstructing regulators.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/italy_judge_sentences_11_in_parmalat_case/
France to host nuclear fusion project
By Guy Faulconbridge June 28, 2005
MOSCOW (Reuters) - France is to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor, the project's multinational partners agreed on Tuesday, bringing closer a technology backers say could one day provide the world with endless cheap energy.
France beat off a rival bid from Japan to host the 10-billion-euro ($12.18 billion) experimental reactor at Cadarache in the south of the country, according to an agreement signed by the partners after a meeting in Moscow.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/france_wins_bid_for_nuclear_fusion_project/
Shell investors to end dual listed model
By Tom Bergin and Anna Mudeva June 28, 2005
LONDON/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders gathered on Tuesday and are expected to end a century of history when they vote later in the day on scrapping the group's dual-listed structure.
Shell hopes the unification of its Dutch and British parent companies, planned for July 20, will help streamline its management structure, whose complexity was blamed for a damaging reserves overbooking scandal last year.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/06/28/shell_investors_to_end_dual_listed_model/
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
High Point
Poll: Disapproval of Bush at high point
(CNN) -- The number of Americans disapproving of President Bush's job performance has risen to the highest level of his presidency, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.
According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance, compared to 45 percent who approved.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3148
Americans Not Eating What White House is Serving
Poll: Optimism on Iraq Is Premature
Most Americans Dispute White House Assessment of Weakened Insurgency, Post-ABC Survey Finds
By Richard Morin / Washington Post
A majority of Americans reject claims by the Bush administration that the insurgency in Iraq is weakening and are divided on whether victory over the insurgents will have a major impact on terrorism elsewhere in the world, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Barely one in five Americans -- 22 percent -- say they believe that the insurgency is getting weaker while 24 percent believe it is strengthening. More than half -- 53 percent -- say resistance to U.S. and Iraqi government forces has not changed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3139
W. Do Little
Some in G.O.P. Call on Bush to Focus on Governing
By Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 26 - President Bush and his hard-charging political team, which seemed to make all the right moves in winning re-election last year, have stumbled when it comes to governing in a second term, many Republicans say, leaving the White House scrambling to get back on track.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3141
General admits to secret air war
By Michael Smith / Sunday Times
THE American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.
Addressing a briefing on lessons learnt from the Iraq war Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley said that in 2002 and early 2003 allied aircraft flew 21,736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 “carefully selected targets” before the war officially started.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3144
Some in G.O.P. Call on Bush to Focus on Governing
By Richard W. Stevenson / New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 26 - President Bush and his hard-charging political team, which seemed to make all the right moves in winning re-election last year, have stumbled when it comes to governing in a second term, many Republicans say, leaving the White House scrambling to get back on track.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3141
U.S. Talks With Iraqi Insurgents Confirmed
Goal Is Sunnis' Political Inclusion, Rumsfeld Says
By Dana Priest / Washington Post
The U.S. military in Iraq has been holding face-to-face meetings with some Iraqi leaders of the insurgency there, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the U.S. commander in charge of Iraq confirmed yesterday.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3138
Army Recruits Quickly Abused in Training
By Dylan T. Lovan / Associated Press
FORT KNOX, Ky. - The recruits of Echo Company stumbled off the bus for basic training at Fort Knox to the screams of red-faced drill instructors. That much was expected. But it got worse from there.
Echo Company's top drill instructor seized a recruit by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Other soldiers were poked, grabbed or cursed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3147
Army National Guard enlists job agency
By Lisa Chiu / Seattle Times
Faced with nationwide recruitment challenges, the Army National Guard has partnered with Labor Ready, a provider of temporary jobs for unskilled workers, in the hopes the Tacoma-based company's 700 branches across the nation can help boost the dwindling number of recruits.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3132
Rumsfeld In His Last Throes?; "Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years..."
Rumsfeld: Iraq Insurgency Could Last Years
By Douglass K. Daniel / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Insurgencies can go on for years, but the violence ravaging Iraq will eventually be quelled by homegrown forces rather than U.S. and other foreign troops, and negotiation rather than military action, U.S. officials said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3134
The Washington Post
Logging Limits
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A14
AS EARLY AS today, the Senate will have the opportunity to rectify a mistake made by the House this spring, and to pass an amendment limiting taxpayer subsidies for logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Although a similar amendment passed the House last year, it was dropped from the final version of the annual Interior Department spending legislation. This year, opponents managed to use procedural tricks to prevent a vote from taking place in the House at all. Now the Senate is to vote on a similar amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.).
It is no accident that this amendment enjoys bipartisan support, because it makes sense on both environmental and economic grounds. Logging is not only destructive in the Tongass, an extraordinarily pristine temperate rain forest, but it is highly unprofitable. Last year, the U.S. Forest Service spent $49 million on subsidizing logging in the Tongass, and received about $800,000 in profit. This is a business that exists only because of the political clout of Alaskan members of Congress, and it provides little benefit to anyone other than some 300 Alaskans who live off the government's largess.
Most of the time, anti-environmentalists derive satisfaction from lampooning environmentalists as starry-eyed dreamers who can't add up columns of figures. Here is a case in which the numbers are on the side of the environmentalists. If Senate Republicans can't defeat this measure, that will reveal something about the "pro-enterprise, pro-market" claims of their party.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701424.html?nav=hcmodule
China Scolds U.S. for Blocking Israeli Arms Sale
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A08
BEIJING, June 27 -- Accusing the Bush administration of "carping" and "outside interference," China issued a sharp complaint Monday after Israel cancelled a controversial Israeli-Chinese arms deal under pressure from the United States.
The Israeli decision halted the sale of drone aircraft capable of seeking out radar installations. It was the result of a U.S. campaign to block China from obtaining advanced military technology that could be used against Taiwan and U.S. forces supporting the island in any confrontation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700351.html
From Memos, Insights Into Ally's Doubts On Iraq War
British Advisers Foresaw Variety of Risks, Problems
By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A01
LONDON -- In the spring of 2002, two weeks before British Prime Minister Tony Blair journeyed to Crawford, Tex., to meet with President Bush at his ranch about the escalating confrontation with Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw sounded a prescient warning.
"The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few," Straw wrote in a March 25 memo to Blair stamped "Secret and Personal." "The risks are high, both for you and for the Government."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701584.html
Pakistan Supreme Court Orders Re-Arrest of Men in High-Profile Rape Case
By Sadaqat Jan
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; 4:47 AM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered 13 suspects in a high-profile gang-rape case re-arrested Tuesday and overturned lower court rulings that had acquitted them, court officials and a lawyer in the case said.
The ruling came a day after the victim, Mukhtar Mai, appealed the acquittals in a dramatic appearance at the court. The decision cast aside a series of conflicting rulings by several lower courts that had drawn international condemnation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062800158.html
Racial Disparities Found in Pinpointing Mental Illness
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A01
Last of three articles
John Zeber recently examined one of the nation's largest databases of psychiatric cases to evaluate how doctors diagnose schizophrenia, a disorder that often portends years of powerful brain-altering drugs, social ostracism and forced hospitalizations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701496.html
Social Network's Healing Power Is Borne Out in Poorer Nations
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005; Page A01
RAIPUR RANI, India -- Second of three articles
Psychiatrist Naren Wig crossed an open sewer, skirted a pond and, in the dusty haze of afternoon, saw something miraculous.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601091.html?nav=hcmodule
NASA: Risk of Ice Striking Shuttle Low
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 26, 2005; 5:22 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA officials believe the risk of potentially lethal pieces of ice flying off the external fuel tank and striking the space shuttle is low enough to proceed with plans for a mid-July launch of Discovery.
The conclusion came after a Friday meeting of NASA managers and engineers who have spent the past six weeks running millions of computer simulations and testing various ways ice might strike the orbiter. The launch window opens July 13.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062600229.html?nav=hcmodule
John T. Walton, 58; Heir to Wal-Mart Fortune
By Martin Weil and Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page B06
John T. Walton, who as an heir to the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. retail fortune was ranked as one of the world's richest people, died yesterday in Grand Teton National Park when the ultralight airplane he was flying crashed. He was 58.
Mr. Walton, whose wealth was placed in the many billions of dollars, was a philanthropist, a decorated Vietnam veteran and an experienced aviator who once worked as a crop-duster.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701471.html
Air Force Names Rabbi As Adviser On Religion
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A03
DENVER, June 27 -- A rabbi who retired as one of the military's top chaplains was appointed by the Air Force on Monday to help carry out recommendations of a task force that investigated complaints of religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy.
Arnold E. Resnicoff was named special assistant to acting Air Force Secretary Michael L. Dominguez and chief of staff for values and vision.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701479.html
The New Zealand Herald
Halliburton Iraq deals described as contract abuse
28.06.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - A top US Army procurement official said Halliburton's deals in Iraq were the worst example of contract abuse she had seen as Pentagon auditors flagged over US$1 billion ($1.42 billion) of potential overcharges by the Texas-based firm.
Bunny Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' top contracting official-turned whistle-blower, said in testimony at a hearing by Democrats on Capitol Hill that "every aspect" of Halliburton's oil contract in Iraq had been under the control of the Office of the Secretary of Defence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333138
US plans to resume plutonium 238 production says report
28.06.05
The United States plans to produce highly radioactive plutonium 238 for the first time since the Cold War, The New York Times has reported.
The newspaper quoted project managers as saying most, if not all, of the new plutonium was intended for secret missions. The officials would not disclose details, but the newspaper said the plutonium in the past powered espionage devices.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333063
Italy eyes extradition of CIA-led kidnappers
28.06.05 1.00pm
ROME - Italy plans to seek the extradition of 13 CIA-led agents for the abduction of a radical Muslim cleric who was flown to Egypt and said he was tortured in prison there, a judicial source said.
The source, who declined to be named, said Italian prosecutors were considering treating the suspects as common fugitives and issuing an international request for their extradition to Italy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333143
Iranian court orders man to be blinded
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Angus McDowall
TEHRAN - An Iranian court has sentenced a man to have his eyes surgically removed for a crime he committed as a teenager 12 years ago.
Amnesty International has condemned the sentence, reported in the Iranian daily Etemaad, but local human rights groups say these unusual punishments are hardly ever executed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333148
Emperor travels to honour Saipan war dead
28.06.05
SAIPAN - Japanese Emperor Akihito headed for the site of one of World War II's most decisive battles to pay tribute to those who died in a conflict that still haunts Tokyo's ties with Asian neighbours more than 60 years later.
The journey to the United States territory of Saipan - the first by Akihito outside Japan to mourn war dead - coincides with a chill in Tokyo's ties with China and South Korea, where many feel Japan has not owned up to its wartime atrocities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333057
UK continues Zimbabwe asylum seeker deportation
28.06.05 1.00pm
By Andrew Grice
Tony Blair was under mounting pressure last night to re-impose a moratorium on deporting failed asylum-seekers back to Zimbabwe.
The Government was accused of ignoring the brutal crackdown by Robert Mugabe's regime against his political opponents and putting lives at risk after it blocked demands for a halt to deportations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333131
Cricketers say they will tour Zimbabwe despite worries
Heath Mills
28.06.05 4.00pm
By Colin Marshall
New Zealand's cricketers remain certain they will be touring trouble-plagued Zimbabwe in August but say they will be discussing ways to stop themselves being used as pawns of the Robert Mugabe-led regime.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10333164
Three PNG police jailed for murder of boy
28.06.05 4.00pm
PORT MORESBY - Three policemen in Papua New Guinea have each been sentenced to 25 years in jail with hard labour for the murder of a 16-year-old boy in 2001.
Sergeant John Winamba and Constables Paul Gabi and Blassius Bana were jailed by Justice Moses Jalina in the National Court in Wewak, East Sepik Province, PNG's The National newspaper reported today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333167
Corby the star in a soap opera that's lost the plot
28.06.05
by Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - The high drama that has been the trial and upcoming appeal of 27-year-old convicted drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby continues to weave ever more complex plots as the former Gold Coast trainee beauty therapist struggles to convince an Indonesian court she is innocent.
In storylines more akin to the television soaps that Australia digests and exports with unremitting voracity, Corby and her family have fired and rehired her Indonesian legal team, split acrimoniously from her original Australian lawyer and her millionaire white knight, swapped angry accusations of profiteering, and seen her Australian QCs slug into their Indonesian counterparts with allegations of bribery.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333055
Former hostage Wood a sick man
28.06.05
He may be celebrating his freedom, but former hostage Douglas Wood is a sick man who believes his 47-day ordeal has also cost him A$2 million ($2.2 million) in lost contracts.
The Australian engineer, rescued from his Iraqi captors a fortnight ago, revealed yesterday that he is suffering from numerous illnesses and may lose his eyesight.
The 63-year-old Wood said that since being freed he had been diagnosed with diabetes, malnutrition and the eye disease glaucoma.
He confirmed his rescue had more to do with luck than any negotiations on his behalf.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333041
Apology opens door for Israeli minister to visit NZ
28.06.05
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom could pay a visit to New Zealand now the diplomatic freeze caused by the spy scandal has ended.
It is understood Mr Shalom or the Foreign Ministry's Director-General, Ron Prosser, will make the trip to mark the end of the freeze imposed by the New Zealand Government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333039
Ex-Israeli soldier guilty of killing British student
28.06.05 1.20pm
By Eric Silver
A former Israeli soldier was found guilty by a military court in Israel yesterday of shooting dead the British student Tom Hurndall while he acted as a "human shield" in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Hurndall's father, Anthony Hurndall, welcomed the outcome of the family's long-running quest for justice but said he was disappointed that the judges had not probed higher up the chain of command.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10333150
continued . . .
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-27.0°
Updated Tuesday 28 Jun 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
55 °F / 13 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
88%
Dew Point:
52 °F / 11 °C
Wind:
4 mph / 6 km/h from the North
Pressure:
29.83 in / 1010 hPa
Visibility:
5.0 miles / 8.0 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Mostly Cloudy 1700 ft / 518 m
Overcast 5000 ft / 1524 m
end
Scott Base
Some cloud
-27.0°
Updated Tuesday 28 Jun 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
55 °F / 13 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
88%
Dew Point:
52 °F / 11 °C
Wind:
4 mph / 6 km/h from the North
Pressure:
29.83 in / 1010 hPa
Visibility:
5.0 miles / 8.0 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Mostly Cloudy 1700 ft / 518 m
Overcast 5000 ft / 1524 m
end
Monday, June 27, 2005
You know there is something wrong with this picture. It isn't that he is no in a Humvee as Michael Moore pointed out, which is valid, but the posture the fact that he requires such high level of safety to tour Iraq. How can Secretary of Defense not feel as though this situation is benevolent when he doesn't have complete control of his battlefield. The munitions alone left unguarded that is now in the hands of rebels, insurgents and probably at distant destinations al Qaeda. Where does Rumsfeld believe the resistance get it's finances? The Iraqi government controls the economic development, reconstruction, border security for beginners, yet somehow the lack of ability of these people are okay. The lack of control of the battlefield is enough to pull the troops out and empower the militias to take care of their own.
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