Morning Papers - continued...

The Cheney Observer - Part II

Availability of Online Resources May Be One Reason for Reduction in U.S. S.Ct. Caseload
According to Chief Justice John Roberts, the number of cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court is declining in part because circuit courts can locate previous legal decisions online in cases where they might have once turned to the Supreme Court for guidance. >> full article text >> This admission, combined with the recent rule change concerning unpublished opinion citation, adds an interesting twist to the ongoing debate concerning the availability of online opinions, online briefs and electronic access to court records.

http://mntech.typepad.com/msba/2007/05/availability_of.html


Jeb Bush Lands Huge Paycheck at Scandal Plagued Healthcare Company -- With a Little Help from Dad's Friends
If you've been worried sick about what would become of ex-Governor Jeb "No Futuro" Bush since his big brother totally screwed his chances for ever being elected president, here's some great news. Jeb is now officially on the board of Tenet Healthcare, at an annual pay of $474,500--for 13 days of work per year.
It's a special board seat created just for Jeb, at the suggestion of an old Bush family friend and fundraiser. (Do they even have any family friends who aren't also fundraisers?)
As calculated by TheStreet.com, Jeb stands to collect a tidy $36,500 per day. All he has to do is sit on the board of a hospital chain so ethically challenged that even the Bush administration went after them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelley-lewis/jeb-bush-lands-huge-paych_b_48191.html



APN takeover fails
Business Week in Review: Shareholders of APN News and Media have voted against a $3 billion takeover from a private equity consortium led by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News and Media.
Votes cast in favour of the bid came in at just 51 per cent, well short of the 75 per cent required to get the deal over the line.
APN said it would pay a dividend if the buyout failed.

http://www.skynews.com.au/business/story.asp?id=170792


O'Reilly teams with Carlyle to revive offer for APN
Carlyle Group added in bid to acquire all of media firm
By Miriam Steffens Bloomberg News
Published: January 25, 2007
SYDNEY: Tony O'Reilly, the Irish billionaire, has revived his takeover offer for APN News & Media, Australia's fourth-largest media company, after adding Carlyle Group to his buyout team.
The bidders, led by O'Reilly's Independent News & Media, offered 6.05 Australian dollars, or $4.71 a share, for the 60 percent of the Sydney-based APN it does not already own, APN said in a statement Thursday.
Shares of the publisher of the New Zealand Herald traded at 6.15 dollars Thursday, signaling that the group, which includes Providence Equity Partners, may have to increase its offer, which values the company at 3.8 billion dollars, including debt.
O'Reilly, 70, is taking advantage of changes to Australian laws that have sparked the biggest media ownership shake-up in 20 years. Teaming with Carlyle and Providence, which have invested in almost 130 media and communication companies, gives him funds to expand outside Britain, where his newspapers face slowing advertising growth.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/25/bloomberg/sxapn.php


Australia's APN News & Media shareholders reject Independent News's takeover bid
05.25.07, 12:24 AM ET
...Independent had hoped to realize 500 mln aud in cash from a restructuring of its holding in APN to allow a higher debt load and shared control with private equity interests.
The Independent News led consortium included private equity firms Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners.
If the proposal had gone ahead the Independent News holding would have been reduced to 35 pct, while Carlyle would have held 27.5 pct and Providence 37.5 pct.
The bid foundered largely because of the voting of Perpetual Investments' 11.7 pct stake against the deal, along with other smaller but crucial stakes held by the Australian Foundation Investment Co and Argo Investments.
APN publishes 23 daily and more than 100 non-daily newspapers across Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, APN owns the country's largest metropolitan daily, The New Zealand Herald.
It is also Australasia's largest radio broadcaster, with investments in 12 metropolitan radio stations in Australia and 120 radio stations in New Zealand.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/05/24/afx3757407.html


Institutions block APN takeover
By KATE PERRY - The Dominion Post Saturday, 26 May 2007
Independent News and Media is mulling its options after institutional investors blocked a takeover bid for the trans-Tasman media company APN News & Media yesterday.
INM, in which Irish media mogul Tony O'Reilly is a major shareholder, teamed up with private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and The Carlyle Group to bid for full control of APN, which publishes the New Zealand Herald.
The consortium made its initial bid for APN in October last year, increasing its offer four times till a final bid of A$6.20 (NZ$7) a share.
INM's group chief operating officer, Gavin O'Reilly - Tony's son, said yesterday that the consortium was in no hurry and would take some time to consider the vote.
Mr O'Reilly, who also is an APN non-executive director, said he did not think the offer price was too low.
"It was certainly a very full price by international standards, although I do appreciate that the Australian capital markets do seem to be at dizzying heights."
Votes cast in favour of the A$2.97 billion takeover came to just over 51 per cent.
To pass, 75 per cent of votes cast needed to be in favour of the bid.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4072935a13.html


Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Carlyle Group
Category: News and Politics
It is hard to imagine an address closer to the heart of American power. The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle's position at the very centre of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. Elsewhere, few have even heard of it.
This is exactly the way Carlyle likes it. For 14 years now, with almost no publicity, the company has been signing up an impressive list of former politicians - including the first President Bush and his secretary of state, James Baker; John Major; one-time World Bank treasurer Afsaneh Masheyekhi and several south-east Asian powerbrokers - and using their contacts and influence to promote the group. Among the companies Carlyle owns are those which make equipment, vehicles and munitions for the US military, and its celebrity employees have long served an ingenious dual purpose, helping encourage investments from the very wealthy while also smoothing the path for Carlyle's defence firms.
But since the start of the "war on terrorism", the firm - unofficially valued at $3.5bn - has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. And, until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm's multi-million-dollar investors were members of the family of Osama bin Laden.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=121042575&blogID=268155237


The RNC's response is weak!
5/23/2007 at 5:26 PM EST
Who's REALLY profiteering off of our troops?
I missed the webcast of Sen. Edwards' speech this afternoon but I just read the news report of it. I think it is a very good statement: strong, reasonable and well thought out. However the Republican National Committee's response was weak and almost laughable. For the RNC to criticize John Edwards and accuse him of "profiteering" off of our solidiers is the worst kind of hypocrisy considering the nefarious ties between this administration and corporations such as Halliburton, Bechtel, Exxon and The Carlyle Group. By the way, I as not aware that the RNC issued a response to Democratic candidate's policy speeches as a rule. Does this mean they were especially worried about this one?

http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/5/23/172651/830


Petraeus' potential conflict
His actions show his assessment of progress in Iraq may not be completely reliable.
By Lawrence J. Korb
Political leaders from both parties now agree that the American people need to know by September whether the latest escalation in Iraq is working. Many lawmakers will formulate their position on the basis of a coming report from Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multinational force, to the president. Unfortunately, based on behavior in his last command in Iraq and the manner in which he received his current position, Petraeus is not a reliable source for an unbiased assessment.
On Sept. 26, 2004, about six weeks before the presidential election, in which the deteriorating situation in Iraq was an increasingly important issue, then Lt. Gen. Petraeus published a misleading commentary in the Washington Post. In that article, Petraeus, who was then in charge of training Iraqi security forces, spoke glowingly about the tangible progress that those forces were making under his tutelage. According to Petraeus, more than 200,000 Iraqis were performing a wide variety of security missions; training was on track and increasing in capacity; 45 Iraqi National Guard battalions and six regular Army battalions were conducting operations on a daily basis; and by the end of November 2004, six more regular Army battalions and six additional Intervention Force battalions would become operational.
Because Bush administration policy at that time was that "we will stand down when they stand up," this article, in effect, conveyed to the American electorate that the Iraqis were, indeed, standing up, and, therefore, there was light at the end of the tunnel for the Iraqi quagmire.
If Petraeus wrote on his own initiative, he was injecting himself improperly into a political campaign. If he was encouraged or even allowed to do this by his civilian superiors, he was allowing himself to be used for partisan political purposes.
Even assuming that Petraeus would not repeat his 2004 performance, can we really expect him to be objective about the current situation when the president consistently reminds us that the surge is Petraeus' strategy? In a speech in early May defending the surge, President Bush mentioned Petraeus by name no less than 12 times and stated that the "best messenger for the surge" is David Petraeus. Bush has gone so far as to argue that when the Senate confirmed Petraeus to head the operation in Iraq, it was, in effect, approving the current strategy.
Asking Petraeus to assess the situation in September might be asking him - if the evidence pointed in that direction - to say that his whole counterinsurgency strategy was wrong. If the evidence is not clear, he would most likely cherry-pick data by pointing out, as he already has, that sectarian violence is down in Baghdad, while ignoring such inconvenient truths as the increase in suicide bombings or the rise in deaths of American soldiers and contractors.
Was Gen. William Westmoreland ever objective about the attrition strategy in Vietnam or Gen. Douglas MacArthur about the Chinese intervention in Korea?
Most likely, Petraeus would say that he needs more time, that not all of the extra troops arrive until June. He already has indicated that he will not have anything definitive by September. In fact, Petraeus and his commanders have said the surge must last until spring 2008. Moreover, the Pentagon has alerted four National Guard brigades and 10 more active brigades for deployment to Iraq, so that the escalation can be maintained through the end of 2008.
Another complicating fact is that one purpose of the surge was to buy time for Iraqi reconciliation. Suppose that violence is down, but that the Iraqis have not taken such steps as passing the oil law or providing for provincial elections. Maj. Gen. Richard Lynch, current commander of the Third Infantry Division, noted that even if security does improve, he doesn't think there will be significant progress on the government side between now and then.
The answer is to have an independent assessment by an outside group, like the Iraq Study Group, but not including members of that group who might also have an ax to grind. The House and Senate each should appoint one member and the administration another. Only then can we be sure that we will get an unbiased assessment, and that this country will come to grips with the real situation in Iraq.
Lawrence J. Korb (lkorb@americanprogress.org) is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information. He was a assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Petraeus_potential_conflict.html



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Bush on the Constitution: "Just a goddamned piece of paper"
By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 9, 2005, 06:39
Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.
Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.
GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."
"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
I've heard from two White House sources who claim they heard from others present in the meeting that the President of the United States called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper...."

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml



The .50-Caliber Sniper Rifle
Outlawing a weapon of war
It would be a misnomer to call proposed New Jersey legislation to outlaw certain .50-caliber firearms a gun-control measure. The bill places them in the category of "destructive devices," along with explosives, incendiary bombs, mines and grenades, which is exactly where these weapons belong.
The measure, which unfortunately has been detoured, takes aim mainly at what gun-control advocates call the .50-caliber sniper rifle. Gun-rights advocates call it the .50-caliber bmg.
By either name it is a weapon of great velocity and long range. It is used against enemy fortifications in battle. Place this rifle's .50-caliber bullet alongside a .22-caliber bullet, and it is like an elephant next to its calf. (The new law would also outlaw a handgun version of the weapon, though in each case current lawful owners would be exempt.)
A police officer's body armor cannot stop this bullet. Some versions of this bullet are incendiary or armor-piercing. The weapon can be devastating even if fired from more than a mile away. Imagine it in the hands of terrorists targeting planes at takeoff or landing. The alleged Fort Dix conspirators come to mind.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Editorial___The__50-Caliber_Sniper_Rifle.html


Ducking harder choices
In the spring of 2006, gasoline prices were approaching $3 per gallon, and Democrats seeking to win back Congress blamed the Republicans in charge.
"The American people can no longer afford the Republican rubber-stamp Congress and its failure to stand up to Republican big oil and gas company cronies," House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California said at the time. She said Republicans had given the public "empty rhetoric rather than join Democrats who are working to lower gas prices."
A year later, Democrats control Congress, Pelosi is speaker, and gas prices are at a record nationwide average of $3.23 per gallon of regular unleaded, up from $2.87 a year ago. Some analysts predict gasoline will hit $4 per gallon this summer in many parts of the country.
Should we presume that Democrats are now in cahoots with Big Oil? No. Democrats can't control prices now, just as Republicans weren't responsible for rising gas prices a year ago.
World oil markets largely determine the cost of gasoline, which often climbs as the summer driving season approaches. Industry experts also blame a shortage of refinery capacity for almost weekly increases in retail prices since Jan. 29.
Maybe $4 gasoline will create enough outrage to get Congress to do what it hasn't: Take serious steps to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Editorial___High_Gas_Prices.html



Scalia tapes: Freedom of information lagging
The U.S. Marshals Service obviously didn't learn much when it admitted in 2004 that it violated federal law when a deputy marshal ordered reporters to erase tape recordings of public remarks of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in Mississippi.
The order by the Justice Department came Tuesday, more than two years after the Hattiesburg American newspaper appealed the service's refusal to allow access to records pertaining to the seizure of tapes of Scalia's speech at Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg in April 2004.
The government conceded in 2004 that the service violated federal law when a deputy marshal ordered reporters to erase their recordings of Scalia's speech. And, on Tuesday, Justice said the service acted inappropriately in denying access to the records.
Jackson attorney Leonard Van Slyke said: "This is the epitome of bureaucratic inefficiency that a one-page letter took two years and three months to generate." And, he's right. There's no excuse for such delay.
The value of holding the public officials accountable, however, far outweighs the heft of the documents or, perhaps, even the findings of the investigation.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/OPINION01/705240316/1008/OPINION


Did Valerie Plame Wilson Tell the Truth?
A senator’s investigation suggests the answer is no.
By Byron York
...On page 205 of the newly released 226-page Senate Intelligence Committee report on pre-war intelligence, Bond has posted “additional views” that address the question of Plame’s testimony about her husband’s trip, the purpose of which was to check out reports Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Niger. The evidence Bond provides in his additional views contradicts Mrs. Wilson’s version of events.
SWORN TESTIMONY
In her testimony before the House, Mrs. Wilson said flatly, “I did not recommend him. I did not suggest him.” She told the House committee that a 2004 Senate report, which concluded that she had indeed suggested her husband for the trip, was simply wrong. In particular, Mrs. Wilson pointed to a February 12, 2002, memo she had written, which the Senate said showed that she had suggested her husband for the trip, and claimed that the Senate had taken the memo “out of context” to “make it seem as though I had suggested or recommended him.”
The 2004 Senate report to which Mrs. Wilson referred had quoted a brief excerpt from her memo. In the new report, Sen. Bond publishes the whole thing, and it seems to indicate clearly that Mrs. Wilson suggested her husband for the trip. The memo was occasioned by a February 5, 2002 CIA intelligence report about Niger, Iraq, and uranium. The report had been circulating in the intelligence community for a week by February 12, and Mrs. Wilson headlined her memo, “Iraq-related Nuclear Report Makes a Splash….”

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjRkMjU3YmQ2MzIwZjhhNDkwYWE3NWI1ZjhhZmRkMmY=



Prosecutor Seeks Prison for Libby
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 25, 2007 posted 3:58 pm EDT
Prosecutors are recommending that a former White House aide convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in March, I. Lewis Libby Jr. be sentenced to between 30 and 37 months in federal prison.
The special prosecutor handling the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, made the recommendation in a court filing that also contained a vigorous rebuttal of claims that his investigation into the leak of a CIA officer identity was too lengthy and unfairly pursued Libby after other sources for the disclosure were established.
Mr. Fitzgerald also made clear that one of the key parts of his inquiry was aimed at determining whether Vice President Cheney instructed Libby or other officials to disclose the identity of the CIA official, Valerie Plame also known by her married name, Valerie Wilson.

http://www.nysun.com/article/55291



Leahy, Specter To Rove’s Lawyer: Turn Over The ‘Lost’ RNC Emails
May 24, 2007
Robert D. Luskin
Patton Boggs LLP
2550 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Dear Mr. Luskin:
The White House has confirmed that an unknown number of e-mails, including those of your client, Karl Rove, from both White House accounts and those sent or received using political Republican National Committee accounts, have not been archived. You stated publicly that Mr. Rove’s emails were turned over to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as part of the investigation into the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer by officials in the Administration that led to the conviction of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
The Department’s response to the Committee, however, suggests that these emails were not in fact turned over permanently to Mr. Fitzgerald. According to the Department, Mr. Fitzgerald only obtained access to the “electronic media” containing these emails to do a search for documents related to the Plame investigation and then he returned this electronic media to you in a sealed condition.
Do you retain possession of this electronic media and will you provide the Committee with Mr. Rove’s emails related to our investigation voluntarily?
Sincerely,

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/25/rove-emails-letter/



Chinese Officials Extol Benefits of U.S. Relations
WASHINGTON, May 24 — Chinese leaders traveled from the White House to Capitol Hill on Thursday, trying to persuade skeptics of the benefits of the Chinese-American relationship. But they appeared to make little headway in quelling Congressional anger over China’s economic practices.
The delegation, led by Vice Premier Wu Yi, who was invited here by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., spent its time marshaling arguments that trade with China benefited Americans and warning that Congressional sanctions would disrupt the chances of resolving disagreements amicably.
The Chinese also made promises to invest in American businesses, declaring their hope that a recent “large-scale procurement and investment mission” in the United States — which they said had led to investments of $32.6 billion in 25 cities and 24 states — would impress Americans.
The purchase by China this week of a $3 billion nonvoting stake in the private equity firm Blackstone Group was cited as part of that investment drive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/business/worldbusiness/25trade.html?_r=1&ref=asia&oref=slogin



Dancing with the Drago
Paulson in China
By MIKE WHITNEY
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wrapped up 2 days of high level talks with the Chinese delegation on Wednesday without any progress on the two issues of central importance to the American people"the massive $230 billion trade deficit and the ongoing manipulation of the Chinese currency, the yuan. As expected, China agreed to allow "more passenger flights between the two countries" and they also approved a plan "to remove a ban on the entry of new foreign brokerages and to allow financial services firms to expand their operations in China". (Marketwatch)
But that was basically it. China will not to allow its currency to float freely on the open market. They want to maintain the advantage they have on their American competitors by continuing to "fix" the yuan in a way that best serves their national interests. That's the way nations are supposed to work. The Chinese aren't taken in by the hogwash about "free trade" or "deregulation". They're playing to "win""and that's what counts.

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney05242007.html


AFX News Limited
Permira, Goldman Sachs to hold sale of Cognis until at least end-2008 - report
05.24.07, 4:15 AM ET
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Permira and Goldman Sachs will likely not sell or float German chemicals firm Cognis before the end of next year, Cognis management board member Antonio Trius told Financial Times Deutschland in an interview.
'Maybe at the end of 2008, but maybe not until 2009 or 2010,' Trius was reported as saying.
Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) and Permira bought Cognis, which has annual sales of 3.4 bln eur, from Henkel KGaA in 2001.
The private equity firms were in talks last year to sell the company to Bain, but talks collapsed as the parties failed to agree on a price.
maria.sheahan@thomson.com
mas/jr

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2007/05/24/afx3753874.html


Thursday, May 24, 2007
Goldman Sachs' "Culture"
It seems that Russia is the core attraction for foreign banks and investment companies. In my blogs I wrote about Goldman Sachs and its activities in Russia. I really respect the bank and its good vision. More, I have just published at our FINAM’s Web-site a story about GS new venture TRuE. So I decided to contact Moscow’s Office and discuss possibilities for our business with TRuE. Of course, initially I looked at GS Web-site and read nice words about “our culture”.
“Additionally, the people of Goldman Sachs take very seriously their responsibility to the communities in which they live and work”. So, with this thinking about “responsibility” I made a phone call to Moscow office. A person “Nikolay” politely informed me that he cannot connect me to anyone, unless I produce a name of the person. Unfortunately I do not know ANYONE at the office, and I explained my interest to find only – “NO”.
Well, I guess, that is a very good example of low quality approach of local staff to business.
In my business history I never experienced the case, that a secretary bluntly denied access to office personnel and would never listen to any reason.
I guess that GS should seriously reconsider its attitude towards business in Russia, and live to the language that they put in their Web-site:
“The Goldman Sachs culture is what sets our company apart from other firms and helps to make us a magnet for talent.”
P.S. When riding home from the office I was musing over this situation. This reminds me very clearly old Soviet times when personnel did not give a damn about business. If I was a perspective client who read on the Kremlin Web-site about the letter that Lloyd C. Blankfein sent to President Putin I would be disappointed. Such personnel attitude is not in line with “expansion of contacts with the Russian government and private partners”.

http://equity-russia.blogspot.com/2007/05/goldman-sachs-culture.html


Alltel acquisition carries $625 mln termination fee
By Yogita Patel
Last Update: 5:07 PM ET May 24, 2007
Alltel Corp. (AT :
Alltel Corporation said Thursday that its proposed buyout by two private-equity firms carries a $625 million termination fee.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Alltel would have to pay the fee under certain circumstances, including if it enters an alternative proposal.
The Little Rock, Ark., telecommunications company announced Sunday that it had agreed to be acquired by TPG Capital LLP and GS Capital Partners, an arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Alltel shares were trading at $68.51, down 34 cents, late Thursday afternoon.
-Contact: 201-938-5400

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/alltel-acquisition-carries-625-mln/story.aspx?guid=%7B82285242-8CB1-409F-B5D7-6C1CD98DE9A0%7D


Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Completes Sale of Dynegy Shares
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) today announced that Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), has completed its previously announced sale of all 96,891,014 of its shares of Dynegy’s Class A common stock to Goldman, Sachs & Co. Dynegy did not receive any of the proceeds from the offering of this previously issued stock.
Dynegy Inc. produces and sells electric energy, capacity and ancillary services in key U.S. markets. The company’s power generation portfolio consists of approximately 20,000 megawatts of baseload, intermediate and peaking power plants fueled by a mix of coal, fuel oil and natural gas. DYNC
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070524006034&newsLang=en


Bechtel Power Completes Nuclear Power Project in Record Time
Aging Components at Comanche Peak Station Replaced in Just 55 Days
FREDERICK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Texas-based Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station is up and running following a modernization project managed by Bechtel Power Corp. that shattered the record for fastest replacement of aging components at a nuclear power plant.
Working with TXU, the plant's owner, a Bechtel team replaced four steam generators and a reactor head during a planned outage that lasted just 55 days—eight days less than the previous record for steam generator replacement (SGR).
Located about 60 miles southwest of Dallas, Comanche Peak features two units, each capable of generating approximately 1200 megawatts of electricity. The project involved replacing the steam generators in Unit 1, each of which was about 70 feet long and 15 feet in diameter and weighed around 400 tons.
To remove and replace the steam generators, crews had to cut an opening high in the wall of the containment structure enclosing the steam supply system and erect an outside lift system capable of handling the components. It was the tallest system of its kind ever used on an SGR job. In addition, the crane inside the structure could not lift either the old or new generators, so a new lift system was implemented inside the containment structure as well.
The four new high-efficiency steam generators were built in Spain. They traveled by ocean to Houston and continued to Comanche Peak via special train. The new reactor head, also fabricated in Spain, was outfitted with new control rod drives in Pennsylvania and transported by barge to Houston, then trucked to the site.
Over the past two decades, Bechtel has performed the majority of SGR projects in the United States, replacing aging components at more than 30 plants, including Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest commercial nuclear power plant in the country.
About Bechtel
Bechtel is one of the world's premier engineering, construction, and project management companies. Since its founding in 1898, Bechtel has worked on more than 22,000 projects in 140 countries. Bechtel Power Corp., a unit of Bechtel based in Frederick, Maryland, is the largest power contractor in the United States. For more information about Bechtel, visit www.bechtel.com.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070521006028&newsLang=en



Iraq: Great For Business
Democracy An Idealistic Fairy Tale
By Jon Faulkner
Years later in 2000, another right wing goon squad showed up in Miami to disrupt, and ultimately stop, the vote count in Miami/Dade. Carried live on national television, rioters, hired by Bush supporters, intimidated precinct workers into stopping the count. Miami police watched passively as the cornerstone of American democracy, the right to vote and have it count, was betrayed. The rioters, instead of being frog marched to the nearest cell, were paid for their “loyalty.” Three of them went on to become White House staffers. Many Americans cheered as the rioters struck a devastating blow to democracy. Millions more watched, and did nothing, as the democratic process was obviously, blatantly, contemptuously belittled before the eyes of the world. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. no longer monitors elections in third world countries. "Those who cast the votes decide nothing, Those who count the votes decide everything." -- Josef Stalin
There have been ample warnings. Jefferson and Madison told American citizens to beware of corporate encroachment or lose their freedom. More than a few U.S. presidents have voiced the same warnings. Lincoln said, "When corporations have been enthroned an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people . . until wealth is aggregated in a few hands . . . and the Republic is destroyed."
The Bush Administration has been a dream come true for American business. The Iraq war has generated enormous profits for such corporate entities as Cheney’s Halliburton, Erik Prince’s Blackwater, and The Bechtel Corporation. Blackwater’s privatized military supplies 48,000 soldiers to supplement U.S. Army troops in Iraq. Bechtel Corporation raked in $680 million in a no bid contract. It stayed for three years before pulling out of Iraq and making off with enormous profits. Vice President Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton Corporation. After playing a major role in convincing Americans that Iraq was a threat to U.S. sovereignty, Halliburton was awarded $21 billion in no bid contracts to provide services to the U.S. presence there. Cheney, in his position as Vice President, cheated Americans out of every dime he could find a way to steal. He has no rivals that come remotely close to this achievement. Cheney personifies the kind of corporate greed that destroys democracies - entire societies. He is a grotesquely ugly human being who hasn’t the slightest qualms over profiting from dead, U.S. soldiers. When such a man is tolerated in a position of power over other men’s lives, democracy is doomed.
Sarah Anderson, of the Institute for Policy Studies, said, “ Despite the billions in US government contracts Halliburton has received, it has no loyalty or sense of obligation to US troops or taxpayers." She added that Halliburton has moved their corporate headquarters to Dubai, of the United Arab Emirate, to evade U.S. oversight and tax authorities. Cheney, Bush, et al, have lifted the U.S. by the scruff of its neck and held it up to show the World how incredibly naïve and fantastically ignorant are its citizenry. The World’s people pause in wonderment as they watch Americans race through their self made labyrinth in endless pursuit of more and bigger stuff.
J.C. Bancroft Davis, an obscurity of American history, and may have been the cause of democracies long fall from relevant significance. He was a court reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court, who in 1886, snuck a provision into the case records of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific RR Company. Southern Pacific had pleaded that they fell under the protections of the 14th Amendment, and had personhood status. The Court never ruled, or even entertained the notion of personhood, as it might apply to a corporation. Davis entered it into the “casehead” as if it had. Corporations ever since have enjoyed the same rights afforded to individuals under the 14th Amendment. For those who confuse corporations with people, Buckminster Fuller offered this instruction. "Corporations are neither physical nor metaphysical phenomena. They are socioeconomic ploys - legally enacted game-playing..."

http://cooljustice.blogspot.com/2007/05/iraq-great-for-business.html


FCAT Fiasco
A whole year? FCAT reading scores for third-graders shot up inexplicably last year, and it took a whole year for officials to figure out something was screwy?
I smell a rat.
So this is the point where the conspiracy theorist in me is obligated to point out that last year was a gubernatorial election year, when the FCAT was very much an issue.
If the Flaw-CAT was shown to have problems, then perhaps it would have bolstered the Democratic position that there was too much emphasis on a standardized test.
Instead Republican boosters were able to crow about improving results as proof that the test was working.
It was also Jeb Bush’s swan song year as governor. What better way to go out triumphant over the test he trumpeted than to have record high scores?
One more thing that makes me wonder: there’s an awfully tight nexus between the test-backing politicians and the testing companies.
Notice who the spokesman for test-maker Harcourt is? Russell Schweiss. Schweiss used to be press secretary for Jeb Bush.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/05/fcat_fiasco.html


Getting in Deeper...
Another week reveals more lapses in judgment by the Bush team
By Chitra Ragavan
Posted 5/20/07
For months, congressional Democrats have tried to force embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out of his job by using what one congressional source called "conventional weapons"-incriminating E-mails, damaging memorandums, and other documents related to the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys. And for months, against the unwavering support of President George W. Bush, they have failed. But last week, the committee investigating the firings detonated what the same source called a "thermonuclear device." And in doing so, they have put Gonzales's future in serious doubt.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070520/28justice.htm


Tired of being conned by neocons
Mary Pat Hyland
One down, a few more to go.
Thursday evening during the dinner hour, an Associated Press bulletin came across the wires: "WASHINGTON -- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign effective June 30, bank directors say."
The resignation, spurred by reports he broke ethics rules by (among other things) paying his girlfriend raises that were twice the amount allowed by the organization, should have come sooner. Much sooner.
In an article published in the May 15 edition of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, Juan Cole writes that Wolfowitz's behavior at the World Bank was nothing new. "The simple fact is that Wolfowitz has throughout his entire career demonstrated a penchant for cronyism and for smearing and marginalizing perceived rivals as tactics for getting his way," Cole writes. "He has been arrogant and highhanded in dismissing the views of wiser and more informed experts, exhibiting a narcissism that is also apparent in his personal life. Indeed, these tactics are typical of what might be called the 'neoconservative style.' "
That's a style that has run rampant over Washington since January 2001. It plunged us dishonestly into a no-win war in Iraq, turned our backs on the issue of global warming and generally flushed America's goodwill and reputation down the toilet.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/COLUMNISTS04/705210315/1005/


Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A03
Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge yesterday that they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the couple that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame's identity to the media.
Joseph C. Wilson IV and Valerie Plame say revealing Plame's job endangered their family. They are suing administration officials.
The perjury trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff calls up high-profile witnesses.
The suit claims that Cheney, Libby, Rove and former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage violated the couple's privacy and constitutional rights by publicly revealing Plame's identity in an effort to retaliate against Wilson. Plame's identity was disclosed in a syndicated column in July 2003, days after Wilson publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to exaggerate Iraq's nuclear threat and justify an invasion.
Libby was convicted in March of lying to a grand jury investigating the leak.
The lawyers said any conversations Cheney and the officials had about Plame with one another or with reporters were part of their normal duties because they were discussing foreign policy and engaging in an appropriate "policy dispute." Cheney's attorney went further, arguing that Cheney is legally akin to the president because of his unique government role and has absolute immunity from any lawsuit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051701400.html


United States v. I. Lewis Libby
by Murray Waas, Murray Waas (Editor), Jeff Lomonaco (Editor)
Paperback
ISBN: 1402752598
Pub. Date: June 05, 2007

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781402752599&itm=1


US short-listing Wolfowitz's successor
Fri, 25 May 2007 19:38:49
The White House has started short listing candidates to head the World Bank with the former US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on top.
The heart surgeon who has traveled widely in Africa is getting scrutiny for the top post as well as Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt and the former US trade representative,Robert Zoellick, presently working at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal quoted individuals who are familiar with White House deliberations on Thursday.
Among the other candidates being discussed are the Commerce Secretary and the former chief executive at Kellogg Co. Carlos Gutierrez, the former senator from Missouri and US ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, and Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=10972§ionid=3510203


Chief Justice Roberts Responds to Questions Posed by Holy Cross Seniors
...Q: Your wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, an alumna of Holy Cross as well as a Trustee of the college, has remained closely tied to Mt. Saint James since her graduation. As you prepare for your Commencement Address to the Holy Cross class of 2007, what interesting information about the college has Mrs. Roberts been able to provide for you?
A: Jane was in the first class of women admitted to the college, and she has often remarked how supportive her classmates, the faculty, and the administration were during that period of transformation. I know her life has been deeply affected by the relationships developed at Holy Cross, and the school has no more faithful alum than Jane. She did say it could get cold during the winter.

http://www.holycross.edu/publicaffairs/features/2006-2007/roberts_qa


Novak Says His Plame-Case Legal Fees Were About $150,000
By E&P Staff
Published: May 23, 2007 12:49 PM ET
NEW YORK Columnist Robert Novak said he personally paid for most of the $150,000 or so in legal fees required to defend himself in the Valerie Plame case, according to a Wednesday article in The Providence (R.I.) Journal.
Novak, the Chicago Sun-Times/Creators Syndicate writer who was visiting Providence yesterday to give a speech to financial-service professionals, outed CIA operative Plame in a 2003 column. Many have said Plame's name was leaked in retaliation for a New York Times Op-Ed piece -- by Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- questioning the Bush administration's Iraq War policies.
The Journal quoted Novak as saying he wished the Plame incident hadn't happened, but the conservative columnist defended his actions in testifying before a grand jury investigating the Plame leak. "I didn't feel I gave up anybody," he said, referring to his testimony about his sources -- who turned out to be former State Department official Richard Armitage and George W. Bush's political adviser, noted the Rhode Island newspaper.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003589272


Book Chronicles Career of Justice Clarence Thomas
Authors Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher discuss their book, "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas," which explores the justice's trials and career.
GWEN IFILL: October 1991, Clarence Thomas was on the verge of confirmation as only the second African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. But it all nearly came crashing down, when on the eve of the full Senate vote, law professor Anita Hill, a former Thomas protege, stepped forward to testify he had sexually harassed her 10 years earlier.
ANITA HILL, Law Professor: When I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that I had to tell the truth. I could not keep silent.
JIM LEHRER: The nomination took a startling turn after that, moving beyond issues of constitutional interpretation to a he said-she said confrontation that lasted for three days, including rare Saturday and Sunday sessions. Everyone seemed to take sides. Thomas denied the charges, and he was furious.
JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS, U.S. Supreme Court: Unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/thomas_05-23.html


Last post on abortion ruling
by Chris Lawson on 24 May 2007
OK, I’ve delayed long enough on returning to my previous post to discuss judicial activism. Having thought about this I have decided that the amount of reading I would have to do to make my argument is beyond my desire and current capacity, so I will refer readers to Mitchell J. Freedman’s blog entry listing some legal arguments against the Gonzales v. Cathcart decision, as well as pointers to other legal counter-arguments. It seems to this non-legal expert to be well-written and knowledgeable.
But the point I still want to make for myself is the one I raised originally. The justices of the Supreme Court made a number of far-reaching decisions, including the overturning of precedents that had survived several prior Supreme Court decisions and a concurring brief signed by Thomas and Scalia that, to many people including myself, looks like an invitation for anti-abortion groups to pepper the court with appeals against Roe v. Wade until the justices come across a submission that can be used to justify a reversal.
The point I was trying to make was directed not so much at the justices themselves. Whether or not this ruling counts as “judicial activism” as opposed to judicial over-reach or judicial revisionism or judicial wisdom or whatever one might choose to describe it, I was aiming my comments at the conservative opinion bloc which has the hypocrisy to label every decision they don’t like “judicial activism.” The most egregious example followed Judge John E. Jones’s stinging rebuke to intelligent design in the classroom. Jones referred to precedent that had been established in several prior cases, as well as the basic Constitutional separation of church and state. Despite upholding every precedent and Constitutional principle, and despite Jones pre-emptively denying any activist leanings, the conservative opinion bloc was quick to label him a judicial activist simply because he rejected the conservative case. That is, “judicial activism” has become a term of abuse, like “liberal”, which bears absolutely no relation to the actual meaning of the term and is used to dismiss opponents without grappling with their arguments.
I think it says something about the narrow-minded intolerance of the current conservatism that an old-fashioned, devout Lutheran, Bush-appointed judge can so easily become an opponent of conservatism for doing his job and upholding established law. In actual fact, what the conservatives wanted was for Jones to overturn precedent and ignore the Constitution — Phyllis Shlafly went so far as to say that Jones had “stuck the knife in the backs” of the “evangelical Christians” to whom “he owes his position entirely.” That is, according to Shlafly and many other conservative pundits, Jones’s duty was not to be a judge but to be an appointed agent for his political handlers. Which would of course be judicial activism of a particularly corrupt nature. To have Jones labelled an activist by swathes of conservative opinion-makers demonstrates the utter emptiness of the term “judicial activism” in conservative thinking.
That was the point I was trying to make. Whether or not the Gonzales v. Cathcart decision counts as judicial activism, the fact remains that the Supreme Court was far more revisionist than Jones was — and so I ask again, how come Jones is called an activist for upholding precedent while Supreme Court justices are not when they overturn it? And I suggest again, this appears to be because only “liberal” decisions can be “activist” — even when they are made by conservative judges using conservative legal principles.
Addendum: in a stunning example of synchronicity, an hour after I wrote this the New England Journal of Medicine mass-emailed to announce another article examining Gonzales v. Cathcart, this time from a legal perspective. It’s freetext, and again, although author George Annas never uses the term “judicial activism,” it makes clear how far the Supreme Court has gone towards rejecting precedent and creating an entirely new extension of legislative powers.

http://www.talkingsquid.net/archives/210


More buyout firms go it alone in megadeals
By Jason Kelly and Edward Evans Bloomberg News
Published: May 24, 2007
NEW YORK: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts wanted Alliance Boots for itself. Instead of teaming up with another private equity firm, a practice known as clubbing, KKR kept all of the bragging rights to the £11.1 billion deal for the largest British drugstore chain. It was the biggest European buyout.
"It enabled us to have a very straight and clear discussion with the Alliance Boots board," said Dominic Murphy, the KKR partner based in London who led the acquisition. "We could make decisions very quickly and effectively. We didn't need to revert to other partners."
Record-breaking war chests are giving private equity firms the power to fly solo on multibillion-dollar deals. As buyout shops drive the value of acquisitions past the 2006 record $701.5 billion, they are pushing fee-hungry banks into providing new kinds of financing for such purchases.
Buyout partnerships rose to prominence in the past three years, highlighted by the deal in which Blackstone Group and six other companies paid $10.4 billion for the software developer SunGard Data Systems of Wayne, Pennsylvania, in March 2005.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/23/bloomberg/bxequity.php



GM faces $7B Delphi exposure
May 24, 2007 08:36 AM
Reuters
NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. said Thursday U.S. government officials have requested documents relating to its accounting of derivatives and said its exposure to bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. was probably $7 billion (U.S.).
The auto maker said the request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relates to accounting of derivative trading of foreign exchange and commodities contracts mentioned in its most recent annual report.
GM also said it might have to restate results because of lingering accounting issues at its lending arm, GMAC, and said that the previously discussed sale of subsidiary Allison Transmission is "probable" but subject to union, regulatory and other approvals.
Blackstone Group, Centerbridge Capital Partners and Carlyle Group are among the other buyout firms said to be interested in the division.
GM is in the middle of a restructuring effort that focuses on cutting costs and improving cash flow.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/217303


May 25, 2007
Housing Development Finance Corporation Welcomes an INR 26.38 Billion (Approximately US$650 Million) Investment from The Carlyle Group
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India -- Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (Business Wire India)
Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), India’s leading housing finance company, announced today that global private equity firm The Carlyle Group (‘Carlyle’) will purchase 15.25 million new shares in HDFC through a preferential allotment at INR 1,730 per share. Upon the close of the transaction, Carlyle will own a 5.6% stake in HDFC.
The investment will be made by Carlyle Asia Partners (CAP), which manages over US$2.5 billion and makes large sized investments across non-Japan Asia. The proceeds will support HDFC’s continued investment in banking, life insurance and mortgage businesses. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to close in July this year.
Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, said, “We are delighted to invite Carlyle as a key shareholder. Carlyle’s approach to investments is long-term and partnership oriented. We value that orientation.”
Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Managing Director of Carlyle in India, said, “HDFC is one of the best managed Indian companies. Carlyle, which has made a number of successful investments in financial institutions, is honored to be a shareholder in this remarkable Indian Institution”.

http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage%5Cmonitor.asp?id=3821


The Carlyle Group Makes Its First Real Estate Investment in Barcelona
(WebWire) 5/22/2007 10:48:44 AMBarcelona –The Carlyle Group, the global private equity firm, today announces it has recently purchased a development site in St. Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona. The site is located near the 22@ District/Forum 2004 area of the city and permits a 15,500 m² mixed use development.
The site comprises two adjacent land plots which are located in south-east Barcelona between calle Manuel Fernández and calle Llull near Barcelona’s ring road, the Ronda Litoral. The joint zoning of the plots will allow for the development of approximately 15,500 m² of which 5,700m² residential, 3,000m² retail, and 6,600m² hotel/office.
Next to the site there are important developments such as Diagonal Mar, the Forum 2004, and the 22@ District. A new university campus, ‘Campus del Besòs,’ including a notable office/student residence building designed by the well-known architect Zaha Hadid, is being constructed in the area.
Rachel Lupiani, Associate Director, The Carlyle Group, said, “The Carlyle Group’s real estate team has invested in over 55 transactions across Europe since 2001; this is our third investment in Spain and our first in Barcelona. The zoning of this site represents an exciting opportunity for a mixed use development project in an area that is being transformed by an urban regeneration, and is witnessing increasing demand for residential, hotel, retail and office space. Barcelona is a dynamic and thriving city, and we are delighted to contribute to the renewal of St. Adrià del Besòs with a high-quality development.”
Carlyle is investing in this project through its second European real estate fund, Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners II, a €760 million fund. The fund closed in September 2005 and is over 90% invested.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=37114


Rice to meet with G8 counterparts in Germany, travel to Spain
Posted : Mon, 21 May 2007 18:24:01GMT
Author : DPA
Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with her G8 counterparts in Potsdam, Germany next week ahead of the June summit of the seven richest nations in the world plus Russia. During the May 29th to June 1 trip Rice will also attend a women's empowerment conference in Vienna and hold meetings with Spanish officials in Madrid, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.
The foreign ministers will be meeting in Potsdam days before the June 5-6 G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, which will be attended by US President George W Bush and leaders from Britain, Canada France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/64821.html


The Bush Policy regarding Cuba is a policy of Pre-Emption. It is designed to remove as much American presence as possible in Cuba to make way for an attack on the island country. This isn't good policy necessarily, but, it is an attractive aspect to voting Republican for special interest groups. American Navy for sale for your vote ! It is well within the definition of Human Rights Violation.

US-Madrid 'clear up misunderstanding' over Cuba
25 May 2007
WASHINGTON - Spain's top official for relations with Latin America said her visit here has allowed her to "clear up misunderstandings" with the United States about Madrid's posture toward Cuba.
Trinidad Jimenez told Efe late Wednesday that she had given the high-level U.S. State Department officials she met with an opportunity to "better understand our position regarding Cuba."
On the first day of her official visit to Washington, Jimenez had what she described as a "very productive and cordial" session with the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Thomas Shannon.
The Spanish diplomat also met with Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-born Florida Republican who heads the U.S.-Spain Council
Jimenez said she conducted "a review of the region," including the situations in Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala, and "its most important problems" at the meeting with Shannon.
Cuba and the Spanish government's position toward the island were a main theme of the talks between Shannon and Jimenez.
"We wanted to clear up a series of misunderstandings," Jimenez told Efe.
Spain's main opposition Popular Party criticized the visit to Cuba in early April by Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
The conservative PP criticized Moratinos's position toward the island and said his trip reflected the Socialist government's backing for the regime of Fidel Castro, who turned over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 as he tries to recover from multiple surgeries for an unspecified intestinal ailment.
The United States also reacted negatively to the Spanish foreign minister's trip to the island, with Shannon calling on Moratinos to explain the reasons why he did not meet with opponents of the Cuban government.
Jimenez told Efe that she explained to Shannon the Spanish government's policy of "respect" in relations with Cuba and that even though there were differences between Madrid and Havana, "permanent talks and fluid dialogue are very positive."
Trinidad Jimenez plans to meet Thursday with the head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, the head of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
This is the first visit to the United States by Jimenez since being named Spain's secretary of state for Ibero-America in September 2006, and the trip comes just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's June 1 visit to Madrid.
Rice's trip will be the first to Spain by a high-level Bush administration official since the electoral victory in April 2004 of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who, acting on a campaign promise, ordered the withdrawl of the 1,300 troops Madrid sent to Iraq under the preceding conservative government. EFE
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news


US-Spain relations to warm up with Condoleeza Rice visit
22 May 2007
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make a stop in Spain as part of a four-day European swing next week, the State Department said Monday.
"Every relationship has some bumps in the road, but you work through those in a respectful way and try to build up mutual understanding so you don't talk past one another," department spokesman Sean McCormack said of Rice's visit to Madrid.
The move comes three years after Spain angered the George W. Bush administration by pulling its troops out of Iraq.
The spokesman said that Rice will spend only a few hours in the Spanish capital on June 1, meeting with counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos and other unnamed officials.

http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=40044


Veidekke is one of Scandinavia's leading construction and property development companies. It is the largest in its field i Norway; the fourth largest in Denmark; and in Sweden it has operations in the areas surrounding Stockholm and Gothenburg and in Skåne. Veidekke is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It has a dispersed ownership structure where the emphasis is on institutional owners. A special feature of the company is its broad employee participation.
Veidekke Company to Create Exciting New City Area in Copenhagen
A consortium consisting of Hoffmann Ejendomme A/S and The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, is purchasing the vegetable market in Valby in Copenhagen with a view to developing a completely new city area on the approximately 40-acre area. The property is centrally situated in a very attractive area near the Carlsberg brewery in Vesterbro.

The agreement to take over the vegetable market that has been reached between the consortium and the Copenhagen Wholesale Market (Grønttorvet København s.m.b.a.) will make it possible to develop and build a completely new area in the centre of Copenhagen. The take-over of the approximately 40-acre site will take place around New Year 2011, when the vegetable market plans to move to a large, new food and flower market in the Høje Taastrup Transport Centre. The sales contract is subject to the approval of the Copenhagen Wholesale Market's extraordinary general meeting at the end of June.

The Copenhagen Wholesale Market's board decided in the spring of 2006 to sell the old market in Valby because of the extremely cost-intensive investments that would be necessary in the future and the risk that the introduction of low emission zones in Copenhagen would bar heavy traffic from the area. Negotiations commenced at the beginning of the year and the parties have now agreed that the purchasers will take over the site and buildings in Valby two years after finalisation of the local development plan for the area by the City of Copenhagen.

Close cooperation with the local inhabitants
Hoffmann Ejendomme and Carlyle have formed a joint development company, CVM Development, which will draw up a proposal for a completely new city area in collaboration with the inhabitants of Valby, Danish and international architects and urban planners, and the City of Copenhagen authorities. On the basis of this proposal, the City of Copenhagen will finalise a local development plan for the area. The plan is expected to be available at the end of 2008. The purchasing consortium anticipates that the first residential units in the new area will be ready in 2012 and that total investment in the project will be DKK 6-8 billion.

"This is one of the most exciting development areas in Copenhagen, because the site is close to the city centre and because this is a chance to create an entirely new, coherent area. It is crucial for us that the development takes place in close dialogue with the local inhabitants, future-oriented experts and the City of Copenhagen," says Mr. Gert Olsen, Managing Director of Hoffmann Ejendomme A/S and spokesman for the consortium.

"We regard Copenhagen and the entire Øresund region as one of the most important growth areas in Northern Europe. This is an opportunity to build a whole new city district in a very attractive location and as such the project fits very well into our investment strategy," says Director Thomas Lindström of the Carlyle Group.

For more information, please contact:

Managing Director Gert Olsen, Hoffmann Ejendomme,
tel. +45 4329 9310, mobile +45 6012 9310
Managing Director Thomas Lindström, The Carlyle Group,
tel. +46 8510 69600, mobile +46 7089 25130


VEIDEKKE ASA


Veidekke ASA is a leading Scandinavian building contractor and property developer with 6,350 employees and an annual turnover of NOK 16.4 billion (2006). Veidekke is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It has a wide group of shareholders and 14% of the shares are held by the company's employees. The company's activities cover a large range of building and construction contracts, development of housing and commercial projects for private and public customers, asphalt operations and road maintenance, and collection and recycling of waste.

continued...

Tons of wood chips stand in a fuel hall where turkey litter will be soon be dumped when the new $200 million, 55-megawatt Fibrominn power plant in Benson, Minn., goes into full operation. Construction manager Chuck Wagoner, second from right, said the plant will be much cleaner than a coal plant. Plant manager Jack Jones is at right. Associated Press photos

Smoke billows into the sky during a huge fire at a deserted oil well near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

London's historic Trafalgar Square is covered in grass turf to highlight the city as one of the greenest capitals in the world.

Michael Moore responds to a comment from the audience following a special screening of his new film 'Sicko' Tuesday May 15, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Vote for your favorite "Michael" Photo

In this undated handout photo provided by The Weinstein Company, filmmaker Michael Moore, right, walks with unidentified subjects of his new documentary, 'Sicko', on location in Cuba. Moore's latest documentary takes aim at the U.S. health care industry, private insurance and pharmaceutical companies and HMOs while praising socialized medicine in other countries. (AP Photo/courtesy of The Weinstein Company)

Morning Papers - continued ...

Michael Moore Today

“Sicko” trailer

How do you pre-approve an emergency ambulance ride with your insurance? This and many more questions are sure to be raised when Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko' takes on the health care industry.

http://us.video.aol.com/player/launcher?pmmsid=1911879


Michael Moore CNN Sicko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoBxTGc6iHI


Chat with Michael Moore about 'SiCKO'
by Michael Moore
Mon May 21, 2007 at 08:57:06 AM PDT
Hello! I'm blogging from Cannes today. Things are pretty crazy around here.
The response to "SiCKO" has been overwhelming. I wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks for all the support I received last Friday when I posted my letter to Secretary Paulson here, regarding his attempt to go after me for shooting a scene from "SiCKO" in Cuba. Leave it to those knuckleheads in the Bush administration to once again use our government agencies for political purposes.
Anyway, I promised I would be back to chat, so here I am.
Okay, here we go!
Before we begin, I would like to comment on some recent developments that have occurred regarding the Bush Administration’s investigation of ‘SiCKO.’
I offer these thoughts more in sadness than in anger.
Yesterday, the New York Post indicated that the Bush Administration is now investigating the individual 9/11 workers featured in ‘SiCKO’ for getting medical attention.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/21/11576/5857



May 22nd, 2007 10:43 am'
Sicko' spawns Moore fever in Cannes
By Jill Lawless / Associated Press
CANNES, France - In Cannes, Michael Moore is a rock star — mobbed by fans, assailed by cameras and forced to wolf down a plate of pasta between his latest interview and his next live TV appearance.
Moore's documentary "Sicko" — a ferocious attack on the U.S. health care industry — is the talk of the film festival, and he is hot property. Moore caught his breath Monday to tell The Associated Press about the urgent need to reform America's health system, and why he thinks the Bush administration is out to get him.
"It's a government that's funded by the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurers, so I'm not surprised they're coming after me," said Moore, who is being investigated by the U.S. Treasury Department for traveling to Cuba for one of the segments in his film.
"I'm surprised they're doing it so soon. I didn't think they'd want to draw attention to the movie this early on."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9825


May 22nd, 2007 10:01 am
Is There a Docu in the House? Moore Unspools a Second Opinion
By William Booth / Washington Post
CANNES, France, May 21 -- Michael Moore, hero or antichrist, punching bag/gas bag, Bush hater or truth teller. We're not going to settle this one today. And that's the point. The revolutionary filmmaker, who shattered all box-office records for a documentary with his last effort, "Fahrenheit 9/11," has returned to the Cannes Film Festival with another log to throw on the bonfire, his new film, "Sicko." Perhaps the most improbable 116 minutes ever conceived, it is a film about . . . health insurance!
"It's crazy. Like, what were we thinking? Like, 'Honey, it's Friday night; why don't we go down to the mall and watch a movie about Blue Cross coverage?' Or a guy asking some girl on a date, 'Hey. Hey. I got us two tickets to a health-care documentary, wanna go?' It's about hospital waiting rooms -- in Canada."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9823


May 20th, 2007 9:42 am
Michael Moore makes triumphant Cannes return with provocative documentary 'Sicko'
By Jill Lawless / Associated Press
CANNES, France --"Sicko," Michael Moore's attack on the U.S. health care system, got a warm welcome at Cannes Saturday that marked the director's triumphant return to the film festival and a respite from the controversy his work has started at home.
More than 2,000 people applauded loudly after the film's first Cannes screening at the packed Grand Theatre Lumiere, the main festival auditorium.
"I know the storm awaits me back in the United States," said Moore as he absorbed the enthusiastic response of critics and journalists.
The movie doesn't open until late June, but it has already been criticized by conservative politicians in the United States over scenes in which the filmmaker takes ailing 9/11 rescuers to Cuba for treatment.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9820



Michael Moore hopes 'Sicko' disgusts you
The documentary filmmaker wants Americans to change the healthcare system.
By John Horn / Los Angeles Times
CANNES, FRANCE — Michael Moore and his movies have always been hard to miss. But with "Sicko," his acidic new documentary about healthcare, there's suddenly less of the filmmaker and his usual methods.
Not wanting the limelight, Moore is forgoing the competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where he won the top prize with 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11." In "Sicko," he isn't chasing down insurance and pharmaceutical executives for confrontational interviews. The famously outsized filmmaker, having spent several years studying healthcare, even has lost 25 pounds — "One way to fight the system," he says, "is to take better care of yourself." But what's most striking about "Sicko" is that Moore's current target is much harder to pinpoint.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9824


May 20th, 2007 8:02 am
Rose Ann DeMoro: "Sicko" Diagnoses a Cure for the Nation
By Rose Ann DeMoro / HuffingtonPost.com
Perhaps the exponents of expediency just haven't met the rescue heroes of September 11 still plagued by debilitating respiratory illnesses, but unable to get the healthcare they need in the country they volunteered to help in our hour of despair.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9818


May 12th, 2007 4:05 am
Moore blasts Bush over film-trip probe
By David Germain / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Filmmaker Michael Moore has asked the Bush administration to call off an investigation of his trip to Cuba to get treatment for ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers for a segment in his upcoming health-care expose, "Sicko."
Moore, who made the hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" assailing President Bush's handling of Sept. 11, said in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday that the White House may have opened the investigation for political reasons.
"For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community," Moore said in the letter, which he posted on the liberal Web site Daily Kos. "These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9786


American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 3431

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/


Public Punditry Contest!

http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2007/03/public-punditry-contest.html


The Nightwatchman

http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/


Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
by Jeremy ScahillMarch 2007 - ISBN: 156025979

http://www.nationbooks.org/book.mhtml?t=scahill


Dishonorable Deceptions (The Grandmotherly Type) – A Journalist Investigation

Army Recruiters Caught on Hidden CameraThe United States Army insists that it's not so desperate that it would recruit the mentally ill. But now an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has the Army investigating three of its recruiters.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/category.asp?C=99556



The Fargo – Moorehead Forum

River tours delayed for high water
High water has forced River Keepers of Fargo-Moorhead to delay S.S. Ruby boat tours on Memorial Day.
Once water levels drop, the boat tours and canoe and kayak rentals will be available.
S.S. Ruby, which debuted in 2001, is a custom-designed pontoon tour boat that travels several miles of the Red River, according the River Keepers’ Web site.
The boat, nicknamed “The Gem of the North,” is owned and operated by group.
No date has been set to start the tours.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166621&freebie_check&CFID=35758604&CFTOKEN=38600091&jsessionid=8830a7bf6b3096168523


Fargo to enact watering restrictions

Beginning Memorial Day and ending Labor Day, Fargo residents’ water use is restricted because of high demand, city officials said in a news release issued this morning.
“We need residents to help conserve our water supply, especially in the summer months when the demand for water rises significantly,” said Ron Hendricksen, water plant superintendent, in a press release.
Residents whose street address ends with an odd number can water their lawn on odd-numbered days. Those with addresses ending in even numbers can water on even-numbered days.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166620


Cuba could buy N.D. spuds
Jon Knutson, The Forum
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007

North Dakota officials are optimistic Cuba will agree to buy potatoes grown in the state.
But several barriers - including obtaining travel visas for Cuban inspectors who would come to North Dakota - must be overcome first.
State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson is in Havana, Cuba, with an 18-person delegation of state officials and agricultural producers who hope to sell potatoes and several other ag commodities to the Cubans.
Cuba wants to diversify its source of imported seed and tablestock potatoes by buying North Dakota spuds, Johnson said.
America's 45-year embargo stops most trade between the two countries.
Read more about the trade trip in Friday's Forum.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166619


Gasp prices
Lindsey Heilman wants to drive home to Bismarck during the Memorial Day weekend, but gas prices are just too high.
“I’m sick of ’em,” said the 21-year-old Minnesota State University Moorhead student. “I would like to go home more often, but I just can’t.”
Gas prices nationwide have reached record highs, even after adjusting for inflation.
Statistics show North Dakota’s gas prices normally hover at or below the national average. But as of Wednesday morning, North Dakota’s average price of $3.36 per gallon was the 12th-highest of all states.
That level was also 4 cents above the national average, according to GasBuddy.com, a Web site that keeps track of daily gas prices across the United States.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166596&section=news


Gas expense comparison tool (page down to heading Gasp prices)

http://www.in-forum.com/index.cfm

or page down to find on this page

http://www.in-forum.com/specials/




Wahpeton soldier mourned
WAHPETON, N.D. – Friends of Army Staff Sgt. David Kuehl remembered the 1999 graduate of Wahpeton High School on Wednesday as a quiet, hardworking man who got along with everyone.
He was also devoted to being a good soldier, they said, a job Kuehl was fulfilling when he was killed in Iraq, according to a statement released by his family.
“We prayed this day would never come, unfortunately, we were notified Tuesday that David lost his life during combat while bravely serving his country,” the family said in a written statement.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166594&section=news


Power of poultry litter
Benson, Minn. - The gray, sandy mix of turkey droppings and other bits and pieces flowing through Greg Langmo’s fingers back onto the floor of his barn isn’t just funky dirt, it’s fuel.
With 16,000 hens gobbling around him, Langmo is standing on a 15-inch layer of turkey litter – some 750 tons of the stuff – that represents a new source of energy.
It will help fuel a $200 million power plant due to begin full-scale production next month. The
55-megawatt Fibrominn LLC plant will be the first poultry litter-fired power plant in the United States, tapping a novel source of renewable energy to produce enough power for 50,000 homes. Its developers are planning similar plants in other major poultry states.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166568&section=business


Parents warned about movie ratings
The big movies this summer may not be the best for young eyes.
While “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Spider-Man 3” action figures and school supplies dot store shelves, both movies are rated PG-13. According to the Motion Picture Association, a PG-13 rating indicates parents should “be very careful about the attendance of their under-teenage children.”
While some parents may think the latest blockbuster is too violent for their children, others may decide it’s OK. Either way, they should take an active role in their child’s summer movie schedule before the film rolls.
“I would definitely keep in mind the rating system, but use additional resources to look at those ratings as well as the content of movies,” says Rachel Blumhardt, a counselor with the Village Family Service Center in Fargo.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166558&section=valleyrr


‘Bug’ should be squashed
“Bug” is a different kind of woman-in-peril movie starring Ashley Judd, which has long been its own specific genre.
Judd is indeed in peril here once again, following “Kiss the Girls” and “Twisted” and the like, but she gets to prove she can actually act with some depth, and not just look pretty under strain. Whatever unexpected ability she shows in the early scenes of this paranoid thriller go utterly to waste, however, as the film spirals ridiculously out of control by the end.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166567&section=valleyrr


Heffelfinger speaks about balancing priorities by U.S. attorneys
By AMY FORLITI Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS
A day after testimony in Washington revealed that party politics were a factor in the hiring of Tom Heffelfinger's successor as U.S. attorney for Minnesota, he said Thursday that U.S. attorneys need to balance federal and local priorities while remaining unbiased in order to be effective.
"An effective U.S. attorney must maintain his or her focus both on the national priorities and their local federal needs," he said. "To do otherwise would either undermine the national public safety, local public safety or both."
The testimony Wednesday of former Justice Department White House liason Monica Goodling also revealed that there was concern that Heffelfinger may have been spending too much time on American Indian issues.
Heffelfinger's speech, before members of the Hennepin County Bar Association, came a week after the public learned that his name was on a January 2006 list of U.S. attorneys who might be considered for removal.
Heffelfinger announced in February of last year that he would resign, and has maintained that it was a personal decision and he was unaware of any concerns the attorney general might have had with his performance.
"I did spent a lot of time on it," Heffelfinger said Wednesday of the American Indian issue. "That's what I was instructed to do" by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Given the higher rates of violence suffered by American Indians, Heffelfinger said, the time was warranted, but it didn't take away from other priorities.
Heffelfinger oversaw his office's investigation into the 2005 shooting that claimed 10 lives on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in far northern Minnesota. He said Wednesday he wasn't surprised by Goodling's testimony.
"I was very pointed in my dealings with main Justice to continually bring to their attention the need for focus on Native American public safety issues, because of the level of violence," Heffelfinger said.
George Goggleye Jr., chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said he believes Heffelfinger is an honorable man who fought hard to reduce crime on native lands.
"Not all the high profile crimes happen in Indian Country, but when they do, yeah, he gave us attention because that's his job," Goggleye said. "To be criticized ... as a result of it, that really raises some eyebrows in Indian Country."

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAU8O80


Conn. AG accuses Best Buy of overcharging customers
Connecticut's attorney general announced a lawsuit Thursday against Best Buy Co. Inc., accusing the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer of deceiving customers with in-store computer kiosks and overcharging them.
The lawsuit accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a lookalike internal Web site.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAT8CG1


Target shareholders reject disclosure of political contributions
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS
Target Corp. shareholders on Thursday rejected a proposal that it disclose political contributions.
The proposal by the pension for firefighters in Kansas City, Mo., won 23 percent of shareholder votes at the company's annual meeting on Thursday.
The company had opposed it, saying it already follows federal, state, and local laws for disclosing political contributions.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATR080



N.C. Judge OKs Witness Oaths Using Quran
By STEVE HARTSOE Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C.
Witnesses and jurors being sworn in at state courthouses can take their oath using any religious text, not just the Bible, a judge ruled Thursday.
Judge Paul Ridgeway said both common law and state Supreme Court precedent allow witnesses and jurors to use the text "most sacred and obligatory upon their conscience."
The ruling came after the American Civil Liberties Union argued that limiting that text to the Bible alone was unconstitutional because it favored Christianity over other religions.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUVI02


Study Questions Analysis in JFK Slaying
By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
HOUSTON
New testing on the type of ammunition used in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy raises questions about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, according to a study by researchers at Texas A&M University.
However, lead researcher Cliff Spiegelman stresses the study doesn't necessarily support the conspiracy theorists who for decades have doubted Oswald was the lone gunman.
"We're not saying there was a conspiracy. All we're saying is the evidence that was presented as a slam dunk for a single shooter is not a slam dunk," said Spiegelman, a Texas A&M statistics professor and an expert in bullet-lead analysis.
The Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations agreed in 1979, and found that the two bullets that hit Kennedy came from Oswald's rifle.
The committee's findings were based in part on the testimony of former chemist Vincent Guinn, who said recovered fragments came from only two bullets. Guinn testified the bullets Oswald used, Western-Winchester Cartridge Co. Mannlicher-Carcano bullets, were so unique that it would be possible to distinguish one from another even if they both came from the same box.
But Spiegelman and his fellow researchers, who tested 30 of the same type of bullets, found fragments were not nearly so rare and that bullets within the same box could match one another. One of the test bullets also matched one or more of the assassination fragments…

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUSE80


Leak Shuts Down Newly Restarted Reactor
By JAY REEVES Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
A burst pipe forced the shutdown of a nuclear reactor Thursday, two days after it was restarted for the first time in more than two decades.
The pipe caused 600 gallons of fluid to spill at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. The liquid was not radioactive and posed no public-safety threat, and no one was hurt, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority restarted the Unit 1 reactor Tuesday following a 22-year shutdown over concerns about safety and management. The reactor is not generating power during testing, but the plant's other two reactors remain online at Browns Ferry, on the Tennessee River in far-north Alabama.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAUHO01


Angry Atheists Are Hot Authors
By RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
The time for polite debate is over. Militant, atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers.
Christopher Hitchens' book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," has sold briskly ever since it was published last month, and his debates with clergy are drawing crowds at every stop.
Sam Harris was a little-known graduate student until he wrote the phenomenally successful "The End of Faith" and its follow-up, "Letter to a Christian Nation." Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and Daniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" struck similar themes - and sold.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATDP00


Advocates Worry About Proposed Fines
By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
ATLANTA
Illegal immigrants could fall prey to loan sharks and other unscrupulous lenders if they have to pay $5,000 in fines and thousands more in fees and back taxes as required under the immigration reform measure now before Congress, some advocates are warning.
Many immigrants work low-wage jobs and have virtually no assets. As a result, they often have poor credit and are forced to borrow on the street.
"We're real concerned about the potential for fraud," said Beatriz Ibarra, who studies Hispanic finances for the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group and a tepid supporter of the draft legislation. "They'll find a way to pay, but how?"

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PATAB00


Other Views: By any name, it’s amnesty
By Cal Thomas, Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
I wish I could believe the president and those senators who claim their agreement on immigration legislation will “fix” the problems of open borders and illegal aliens. I can’t, because the public has had no input into the measure; the last time Congress “fixed” the problem, it got worse; and it appears Democrats and Republicans care more about harvesting votes for their respective parties than doing what’s best for their fellow citizens.
The bill would allow for the hiring of 18,000 additional border patrol agents, construction of 370 miles of fence and 200 miles of vehicle barriers, ground-based radar, camera towers and aerial vehicles. Employers would have to electronically verify new hires within 18 months and all existing employees within three years. The priority of border security first, legalization second sounds good.
Only after the border is secured, say the senators and White House, will the guest-worker program kick in. Again, I wish I could believe this, but when it comes to immigration, I don’t trust either party. It’s a safe bet that once the U.S. government legalizes the illegals, many will not abide by the conditions. What then?

http://www.in-forum.com/Opinion/articles/166550


Hundreds Mourn Eldest of King Children
By ERRIN HAINES Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
ATLANTA
Hundreds gathered Thursday to mourn Yolanda "Yoki" Denise King, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who carried his legacy through her art and activism.
Her sister, Bernice, and brothers Martin and Dexter each lit a candle in her memory. Several veterans of the civil rights struggle attended, including Rep. John Lewis, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew and the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
Yolanda King died May 15 in California after collapsing.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PAT4J80


Ohio Executes Man for Killing Cellmate
By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press Writer The Associated Press - Thursday, May 24, 2007
LUCASVILLE, Ohio
An overweight inmate was executed by injection Thursday after a delay of more than an hour while prison medical staff struggled to find suitable veins in his arms.
The execution of Christopher Newton, who had killed a cellmate in 2001 and insisted on the death sentence, had been set to begin at 10 a.m.
But members of the medical staff at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility struggled to find veins in each arm, said Leo Jennings, a spokesman for the attorney general.

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8PASFN80



Forum Editorial: Clean up ag imports from China
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
Americans are facing an unprecedented food crisis because of lack of controls on raw food products and processed foods from China. The federal Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are so far behind the Chinese imports curve that only a tiny percentage of food coming from the world’s most populous country is inspected before it hits the grocery shelves.
The inspection system is so inadequate that even pet food containing Chinese ingredients and processed in Canada got into the United States and sickened or killed hundreds of animals. The pet food was infused with melamine, a toxic substance that indicates the food contains high-quality protein. Pet owners in the United States bought top-name food for their animals and got poison. Just this week Chinese toothpaste sold in Central America was found to contain a deadly chemical. No word yet if the toothpaste is marketed in the United States.
But it’s not just about pet food and toothpaste.
In recent weeks livestock originating in China has been quarantined either for disease or chemical contaminants banned in U.S. livestock. A report a few weeks ago found catfish fillets from fish raised in China’s giant aquatic farms were tainted with bacteria and heavy metals.

http://www.in-forum.com/Opinion/articles/166549



Scott Fergen, Fargo, letter: Loss of businesses serious for Moorhead
Published Thursday, May 24, 2007
It would seem to me that if people like Lauri Shanks (Moorhead city councilwoman) and Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, are going to promote a smoking ban in bars in Moorhead that they could come up with some out-of-the-box thinking to support the loss of business that will unquestionably be felt by these businesses. It’s been a long time since Moorhead business had any representation.
Just look at downtown Moorhead compared to downtown Fargo. Downtown Moorhead looks like a ghost town, and it’s about to get worse.
I would be willing to bet that Moorhead representatives and lawmakers end up supporting those downtown Fargo smoke-filled restaurants at some point. It might be the only option.


Tagine a taste of Africa
A tagine is a Moroccan stew. It may be made of meat or poultry and vegetables cooked with preserved lemons, olives, garlic and spices. But there are also vegetarian versions. All are most often served with couscous.
The vessel in which tagines are made is also called a tagine. It is composed of plate below with a high lid that curves upward. Some are decorative and just made for serving. Others are made for use on the stovetop and in the oven and still others must be used only in the oven.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166465§ion=columnists&columnist=Andrea%20Hunter%20Halgrimson


Rev. Falwell’s undeniably divisive but successful legacy
Jane Ahlin, The Forum
Published Sunday, May 20, 2007
Jane Ahlin teaches English as an adjunct faculty member at MSUM. A former commentator for KDSU (ND Public Radio), she has written for The Forum opinion pages since 1989. Her column appears Sundays in The Forum.
A few years ago while talking to a young couple with a pre-school-age daughter who were from the South, the subject of TV programs for kids came up. We were laughing about a few that were new since the time the young couple (and my children) were kids, such as “Dora” and “Barney.” Then I mentioned “Teletubbies,”and I saw a quick look pass between the two of them
“We don’t let her watch ‘Teletubbies,’ the husband finally said. “It’s got some hidden stuff that’s not good.”
Nothing more on the subject was said, but I couldn’t help thinking, “Score another one for Rev. Jerry Falwell.” Although I didn’t “get” why Falwell, who died this past week, insisted Tinky Winky, a purple blobby figure with a triangle on its head and a red bag on its arm, was a covert public television attempt at foisting off a “homosexual agenda” on children, it was clear the young couple did. What I saw as homophobic silliness, they saw as threat. And we were all too polite to discuss why we saw things so differently.
Decrying Tinky Winky wasn’t the most outrageous of Falwell’s remarks over the years, of course. In melding politics with pulpit, his legacy includes truly offensive things. For instance, his remark after 9/11 about God lifting protection from America because of feminists and gays, etc., was bizarre and hateful.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=166262§ion=columnists&columnist=Jane%20Ahlin




Sydney Morning Herald

Water crisis 'may hit energy supply next year'
THE impact of the long drought on the security of Australia's electricity supply will be discussed at a meeting of energy ministers today where a detailed report will be presented by the national body responsible for electricity marketing.
The report is expected to spell out the risk to power supplies posed by water shortages for cooling power generators and hydro-electricity in all the eastern states, including NSW.
The water crisis could cause some power shortages next year unless action is taken, according to forecasts by the National Electricity Marketing Management Corporation.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/water-crisis-may-hit-energy-supply-next-year/2007/05/24/1179601579582.html


Saving energy: homes to lead way
Home » Environment » Article
Saving energy: homes to lead way
Wendy Frew Environment ReporterMay 25, 2007
AdvertisementAdvertisement
A PROJECT being launched in Wollongong today is aimed at showing that big energy savings can be made in homes, taking pressure off the electricity system and cutting power bills and greenhouse gas emissions.
The program, which includes more than $100,000 in household rebates for energy-efficient appliances and electricity systems, comes as state and federal energy ministers meet to discuss the impact of the drought on power supplies.
The Home Energy Challenge, run by Big Switch Projects and funded by the NSW Government's Energy Savings Fund, is offering residents in two Wollongong suburbs, Woonona and Bulli, rebates and discounts on energy products and services.
As many as 1000 home owners will be affected.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/saving-energy-homes-to-lead-way/2007/05/24/1179601579591.html


Leslie pair aid men in Abu Dhabi
THREE eastern suburbs businessmen are at the mercy of the strict United Arab Emirates court system after being arrested for drug use, intoxication, indecent exposure and sexual harassment offences on a flight to Abu Dhabi.
And in a sign of the legal and public strife the men may face, their lawyer, Ross Hill, and spokesman, Sean Mulcahy, are the same men who acted for the model Michelle Leslie during her trial on drugs charges in Bali two years ago.
Two of the detained men, Jeremy Snaith, 37, and David Evans, 39, are directors of Jupiter Mines, an Australian minerals company. The identity of the third man is unknown.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sydney-businessmen-held-in-abu-dhabi/2007/05/24/1179601579632.html


Torrential rains wreak havoc in Spain
Huge hailstones pummeled villages in central Spain and torrential storms wreaked havoc in much of the country, damaging crops, disrupting rail services and killing one person, officials said.
A string of intense downpours has also flooded tunnels and streets in Madrid and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people since the bad weather started early this week.
A man died in Pontevedra in northwest Galicia province when a wall collapsed on him.
The rain has been most intense in Madrid and the surrounding area, and in the regions of Castilla-Leon to the north and Castilla-La Mancha to the south.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Torrential-rains-wreak-havoc-in-Spain/2007/05/24/1179601580361.html


Pope admits crimes of Christian colonisation
CONFRONTED with continued anger in Latin America, Pope Benedict has acknowledged that the Christian colonisation of Indian populations was not as rosy as he portrayed in a speech this month in Brazil.
The Pope did not apologise, as some indigenous and Latin American leaders have demanded. However, he did say it was impossible to ignore the dark "shadows" and "unjustified crimes" that accompanied the evangelisation of the New World by Catholic priests in the 15th and 16th centuries.
"It is not possible to forget the sufferings and injustices inflicted by the colonisers on the indigenous population, whose fundamental human rights were often trampled upon," the Pope said in his weekly public audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday. "Certainly, the memory of a glorious past cannot ignore the shadows that accompanied the work of evangelising the Latin American continent."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pope-admits-crimes-of-christian-colonisation/2007/05/24/1179601579676.html


Court says exiled islanders can go home
HUNDREDS of Indian Ocean islanders driven from their homeland by Britain 40 years ago have won a battle that could see them set sail for an emotional return within days.
The Court of Appeal in London on Wednesday found the British Government guilty of "abuse of power" for trying to prevent the Chagos Islanders from reclaiming land leased from under their feet by Britain to the US in the 1960s.
Three judges upheld a ruling in the islanders' favour last year, and ordered the Government to pay their legal costs.
Lord Justice Sedley wrote: "Few things are more important to a social group than its sense of belonging, not only to each other but to a place. What has sustained peoples in exile, from Babylon onwards, has been the possibility of one day returning home.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/court-says-exiled-islanders-can-go-home/2007/05/24/1179601579670.html


Bush spins old tales to back rationale for war
THE US President, George Bush, has offered two-year-old intelligence about Osama bin Laden's links to al-Qaeda agents in Iraq to try to bolster his long-held contention that Iraq is a central front in the "war on terror".
Bin Laden had told his operative, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to form a cell to conduct attacks outside Iraq, with the US as his "No. 1 priority", Mr Bush said. There was also intelligence that one of bin Laden's deputies, Abu Faraj al-Libi, speculated that if the effort was successful, "al-Qaeda might one day prepare the majority of its external operations from Iraq".
Mr Bush's remarks at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut on Wednesday are part of an apparent campaign to portray the violence in Iraq as primarily a function of al-Qaeda, as fighting terrorists is seen as more acceptable than policing a civil war.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bush-spins-old-tales-to-back-rationale-for-war/2007/05/24/1179601579650.html


Waterfront site still seeping chemicals
GROUNDWATER around the site where the State Government is planning a $2.5 billion expansion of the city is contaminated with cyanide and carcinogenic chemicals at levels exceeding national guidelines for the protection of aquatic systems.
Documents obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws show several studies have already been made of an old factory where the Australian Gas Light Company turned coal into gas to illuminate the city streets.
They show maps of where materials classed as hazardous waste are still buried in gas holders underneath Hickson Road, next to the wharves of East Darling Harbour, below Millers Point.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/waterfront-site-still-seeping-chemicals/2007/05/25/1179601585776.html


Modern day slavery scandal rocks New York
A millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in their luxurious New York home for years - viciously inflicting abuse for perceived offences - have been indicted on federal slavery charges.
Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, who operate a worldwide perfume business out of their home in Long Island, New York, with factories in Singapore and Bahrain, were arrested last week after one of their servants was found wandering outside a doughnut shop.
Naturalised US citizens from India, they had their passports confiscated when they were arrested.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601521848.html


Two-way radio resurfaces as lifeline for trapped miners
IT HAS been sitting on the shelf, unwanted, for years. But now, in the wake of an American disaster that claimed 12 lives, the technology is tipped to earn Australia $100 million over the next decade.
The CSIRO announced yesterday that it had signed a licensing deal to develop a commercial version of the world's first effective two-way radio that will allow coalminers trapped deep underground to contact the world above. Existing underground communication systems either depend on cables that can be cut by cave-ins, or are one-way systems only allowing the surface to call the miner.
In 2000 radio physicists and electronic engineers at the CSIRO's Wireless Technologies Laboratory, at Marsfield, completed initial work on a far more sophisticated two-way radio.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/twoway-radio-resurfaces-as-lifeline-for-trapped-miners/2007/05/24/1179601579563.html


China coal mine blast kills 13
A coal mine explosion in southeastern China has killed 13 miners believed to have been intoxicated by poisonous gas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Local officials had said 36 miners were underground when the blast occurred at the Xinglong Mine in Sichuan Province, but that more than 20 were rescued, Xinhua said in an earlier report.
"We rushed to the scene and set up rescue teams. In the afternoon, about 30 rescuers went down the shaft," Xinhua later quoted Xiao Ronghua, Party Chief of Luxian County, as saying.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/China-coal-mine-blast-kills-13/2007/05/24/1179601582947.html


28 killed in Siberian mine blast
A gas explosion ripped through a Siberian mine today, killing at least 28 people in the latest in a grim catalogue of Russian mining disasters.
It comes just weeks after a gas explosion in Ulyanovskaya, a nearby mine owned by the same company, Yuzhkuzbassugol, killed 110 people in the worst Russian mining accident in decades.
"Twenty-eight people died and 11 others are missing," a spokeswoman for Russia's emergency situations ministry said following today's blast.
She said 178 miners had been rescued, of whom six were injured.
The methane gas explosion happened during the morning shift at the Yubileynaya mine near the city of Novokuznetsk in west Siberia's Kemerovo region while 217 miners were below ground, officials said.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/28-killed-in-siberian-mine-blast/2007/05/24/1179601566945.html



Borat to write travel guide
Borat Sagdiyev, the ever eloquent fictional ambassador from Kazakhstan has a book, with two titles, coming out this autumn: Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of US and A. and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
"There is one and only Borat and we are honoured to have him join our pantheon of international writers," Suzanne Herz, publisher of Flying Dolphin Press, an imprint of Random House, Inc's Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, said in a statement yesterday.
"There is no doubt he will deliver a brilliant book."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/borat-to-write-travel-guide/2007/05/24/1179601544829.html


Sun Princess becomes permanent resident
Showing how popular cruising has become, Princess Cruises has announced it will base its superliner, Sun Princess, here in Australia full time.
The 77,000-ton Sun Princess will be the largest cruise ship ever to be based here when she arrives in Sydney in November.
Carrying 1,950 passengers, Sun Princess will offer cruises from three home ports - Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle - including the longest ever round-trip voyage from Australia, a 75-night Grand Pacific World Cruise.
The decision to base a ship fulltime in Australia was a first for the US cruise company. The Sun Princess, which is usually based in Alaska, had originally been scheduled to sail from Australia for a five-month summer season only.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/sun-princess-becomes-permanent-resident/2007/05/24/1179601543726.html


Tourist 'greenhouse levy' slammed by industry
The tourism industry has slammed a suggestion by a think tank that airline passengers be slugged with a $30 greenhouse levy to help offset emissions.
A report by the Australia Institute said airlines were a major contributor to climate change due to increasing amounts of greenhouse gases being generated by a growing air travel market.
"We have projected aviation emissions out to 2050 and we found that if we don't do something about aviation, aviation emissions could account for up to half of our emissions in 2050," report author Andrew Macintosh told ABC Radio.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/tourist-greenhouse-levy-slammed-by-industry/2007/05/23/1179601477718.html


Annual whale migration begins
A pod of whales seen frolicking off Tasmania's east coast has marked the start of their annual migration to warmer water.
Six southern right whales and one humpback have been spotted since last week on their way to mainland coastal areas in eastern Australia to breed.
Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW) said both species swim thousands of kilometres each year from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica.
DPIW spokesman Warwick Brennan said Tasmania was the first part of the Australian coastline to witness the spectacle.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/annual-whale-migration-begins/2007/05/23/1179601471991.html


Warm winter expected for Queensland
Cold weather has finally arrived in southern Queensland but meteorologists are still predicting a warmer than average winter for the state.
Brisbane and surrounding areas recorded their lowest temperatures so far this year - up to seven degrees celsius below average in some areas.
"It's the first touch of winter we've had but it's no biggie," a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said.
Stanthorpe, south-west of Brisbane, recorded the lowest temperature in the state with minus-two degrees, while minimum temperatures of seven and eight degrees were recorded at Logan, south of Brisbane, and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast respectively.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/warm-winter-expected/2007/05/23/1179601474325.html


Mum falls 400m short of Everest summit
Adelaide mother-of-three Katie Sarah's on her way down from Mount Everest after falling 400m short of becoming the fourth Australian woman to stand on the summit.
The 38-year-old reached 8450m before turning back for base camp after heavy snowfall and high winds.
Ms Sarah was part of a group of five adventurers led by Adelaide mountaineer Duncan Chessell.
Mr Chessell and fellow climbers Chris Nagel from NSW, James Bingham from the UK and American Eric Remza have made the final journey while Victorian doctor Rob North has also turned back.
Ms Sarah's husband Tim says his wife will be proud regardless having only become interested in climbing five years ago.
AAP


Cheney plays happy grandad to lesbian daughter's son
US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney's daughter Mary has given birth to perhaps the most anticipated baby in contemporary US politics — her first child, Samuel David Cheney, whom she will raise with her long-time lesbian partner Heather Poe.
The 3.8-kilogram boy is the sixth grandchild for Mr Cheney. The Vice-President and his wife Lynne, both beaming, posed for a photo with the baby just hours after his birth at Washington's Sibley Hospital.
And that, it seems, will be that for now in terms of public comment from the family about the baby who launched a lively debate when Mary Cheney, 38, first discussed her pregnancy in December.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601573586.html?from=top5


iPod sex toy arouses Apple's ire
A vibrating sex toy accessory for the iPod appears to have got Apple's legal team all hot and bothered.
Adult store Ann Summers, seller of the "iGasm", told the British tabloid News of the World that Apple's legal team had threatened it with legal action over its advertising posters.
"Go at it hard and fast with a pounding drum and bass track or chill with the ambient classic," reads a marketing brief for the £30 ($72) iGasm, which plugs into any music player and vibrates in sync with the beat.
Apple says the iGasm ads, which show a female silhouette listening to an iPod with a cord snaking into her underwear, are a rip-off of its own iPod ads.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/24/1179601537754.html?from=top5


continued…

12 hour loop

May 24, 2007
1430z
UNISYS Water Vapor North and West Hemisphere Satellite

The center of North America continues to receive severe weather. There may be a chance of tornadoes, especially in Texas.

Severe storms hit Panhandle overnight (4:34 a.m.) (click here)
Associated Press
Article Launched: 05/24/2007 03:48:27 AM MDT
Flooding caused road closures throughout the northern Texas Panhandle early Thursday.
Shortly before 3 a.m., a spokesman for the Ochiltree County Sheriff's Office in Perryton said it appeared waters were beginning to recede. He said he knew of no damaged homes, injuries or deaths.
Rising water prompted numerous road closures in largely rural areas of Hansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree and Roberts counties, where flood warnings were issued.
U.S. Highway 83 was closed between Perryton and Canadian with up to 6 feet of water over the South Wolf Creek Bridge, the National Weather Service reported. Rainfall estimates exceeded 8 inches in the Wolf Creek Park area.
Additional rain was not expected, but runoff from previous storms could continue to produce high water levels.
Motorists were warned against driving into areas where water covers the roadway.

Severe storms rock Twin Cities (click on)

PLYMOUTH, Minn. (AP) — Around 14,600 customers lost power for a time as severe thunderstorms with high winds and hail rumbled through the Twin Cities area Wednesday afternoon, knocking down trees, damaging buildings and causing local flooding in suburbs from Plymouth to Maple Grove.
Xcel Energy said most of the outages were in the western suburbs.
Large hail was reported in Plymouth and several other suburbs, including 2-inch hail in Maple Grove.
A tornado warning was issued for Hennepin and Anoka counties, but no touchdowns were confirmed in the metro area. A tornado touchdown was confirmed near Wanamingo in Goodhue County around 4:15 p.m., but no injuries or damage were reported.
All across the Twin Cities, traffic signals went out while tree limbs, other debris and in some cases slow-draining rains blocked roads at the beginning of rush hour. The National Weather Service said the storm produced winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.
Several car dealerships in Brooklyn Center reported that ping-pong sized hail damaged cars on their lots, and trees and signs were damaged in the area around Interstate 494 and Minnesota 55....

...on the heels of the indictment of a former Russian spy, an inflammatory editorial.

World Press Freedom Day, 2007 (click here)


DALE McFEATTERS
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Growing dangers for journalists worldwide (click here)
...More than 500 journalists have died in the past decade; last year, 106 journalists and other media workers were killed, the bloodiest year on record. The trend is up, not down. Some of them, such as famed Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, have been murdered by enemies who fear exposure of their crimes. Such cases are almost never solved....


The New York Times does not stand alone in it's indictment of Russia. Hardly. I thought the title of the first article below was apropos.

The problem with the critics is that they scrutinize communists as people that seek to avoid conflict of authority, when in fact they need to focus on the rolling back of openness, the democratic process and freedom as it would be on a timeline when the Neocons took office in 2001 and especially when they departed the consent of the international community and conducted an illegal war in Iraq in 2003. There is a direct correlation between the closing of the Russian society and how it defines prosecutable descension against the Russian government in a palpable chart of American aggression.

Another front in Putin's war with the West (click here)

The Kremlin meanwhile, benefitting from record oil revenues, stands accused of using its oil and gas as a weapon against its trading partners, while curtailing human rights and political freedoms ahead of presidential elections next year. At least 13 journalists have been murdered in unsolved cases in Russia, including the American journalist who edited Forbes Russia, Paul Klebnikov, and the investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Yelena Tregubova, a 33 year old journalist who wrote a bestseller which displeased the Kremlin, has fled to London to seek asylum rather than become another grim statistic.


Supreme Court Won’t Resume Klebnikov’s Trial (click here)
The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld termination of Paul Klebnikov’s case due to the disappearance of suspect - Kazbek Dukuzov, who is on the wanted list now. Forbes Russia Editor-in-Chief Paul Klebnikov was shot to death in Moscow on July 9, 2004.
The Supreme Court also sustained the absentee arrest of Dukuzov despite the appeal of his lawyer, RIA Novosti reported. Alexander Chernov, who stands for Dukuzov in the trial, said he didn’t know where his client could be. If he appears, “he will be immediately arrested,” Chernov said. Dukuzov could be in one of Russia’s hospitals, supposed the second accused Musa Vakhaev, who attended the trial. Vakhaev pointed out he didn’t keep contact with Dukuzov. Earlier, a lawyer of one of suspects claimed Dukuzov was in some hospital in Chechnya. American citizen of Russia’s descent Paul Klebnikov was the editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia magazine. He was killed in Moscow on July 9, 2004. The detectives say exactly Dukuzov shot the journalist, while Vakhaev drove the killer from the place of the crime. The third suspect is notary public Fail Sadretdinov, who is accused of having arranged the gang.
www.kommersant

There is no doubt there are high crime rates in Moscow. There are also power brokers 'on the loose' similar to the ones the Kennedy White House pursued in the early 1960s. But to simply focus criticism of Russia and communism will be completely self defeating when in fact the impetus to the issues that beset journalists that seek benevolence in Russia began in The Bush White House and not the Putin Presidency.

After all, has the Bush White House ever been open and honest about anything and have they taken up any 'journalist' cases on advocacy when visiting Russia? No. The Bush White House simply looks the other way and chocks it up to better relations when seeking exploitation of Russian oil and gas reserves.

Murdered Russian journalist awarded UN free press prize (click on)
BOGOTA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Thursday posthumously awarded its free press award to Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was killed last October.
The journalist's son Illya Politkovskaya on his mother's behalf received the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) 25,000 dollar Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2007 in Colombia's Medellin city.
"I am proud to receive this prize, in Colombia, on behalf of my mother. It is ironic because she should have been here herself, she who wanted to tell only the truth and show the reality in my country," Illya said at the International Free Press Conference.
Politkovskaya was shot dead in Moscow by an unidentified gunman. She was 48 years old.
Editor: Gao Ying

If the community of journalists want advocacy of their collegues that suffer under oppression globally then they need to make that a priority when The State Department negotiates treaties and economic trade. Activism isn't just 'the power of the pen' but also the power of the political document and it's enforcement.

Voluntarily Corrupt. Monica Goodling was a hostile witness and lied to prove it.

Richard Parker (GOV '98), Monica Goodling (Law '99), and Brian Eichelberger (DIV '01) at a Regent's University Gathering (click here).


I happen to agree with the NY Times Editorial on the subject. Monica "Goody Two Shoes" Goodling continually lied to Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee and for all the 'lack' of information she put forth the Committee Chairman Conyers was tongue tied by lunch time as to whether the rest of the day required only authorized personnel in the meeting room. The 'play/gaming' by the Republicans, including Ms. Goody Two Shoes, was an obstruction of Justice that in and of itself requires an investigation.

Monica brought three personal attorneys with her to be sure she didn't slip up and indict herself. I don't believe they protected her at all, she obviously was determined to obstruct justice and provide as safe a political harbor as she could for her president as she did in her capacity of 'liason' to the White House. That was LIASON to the WHITE HOUSE. WHITE HOUSE. Got that part. Her title alone gives away the intent of the Special Order by Alberto Gonzalez.

If I only had a nickel for every 'coached' word she spoke by her first attorney that simply told her to say "I don't know and I don't recall;" by her second attorney that coached her to say "I forgot;" and by her third attorney that coached her to say "I think that is all I can say about that;" I'd be a millionaire today.

She admitted openly that her use of the authority she was given was abused. She admitted that on several occassions, one being when she would call on USA Attorneys to take up political activism as a part of their job description. For full and enthusiastic participation the USA Attorney's received high scores and were allowed to keep their jobs even in the face of lacking the passion of true Bushies.

She cited the reauthorization of The Patriot Act. She had requested of all the USA Attorneys to make themselves available regarding the reauthorization by writing Op-Eds or making special appointments. She openly stated their active participation to rally for reauthorization was rewarded by considering them vital in their capacity and therefore an asset to the political directive of the President and Attorney General therefore important to keep in their 'career' positions. What is a quandry to me, is how she discerned any USA Attorneys that were not doing a good job when their 'time' included partisan politics. Where did they have time to actually practice as USA Attorneys?

Here is a timeline of all the shenanigans of the Bush White House regarding this matter (click on).

She went on to state that the 'complaint' regarding Ms. Carol Lam came from Senator Feinstein in regard to Immigration litigation. The Republican members of the House Judiciary returned to that issue over and over and never pursued any relevant questions. I mean none. Pence asked six questions I believe and all were completely irrelevant to the proceedings. Not only that but in defense of the Goodling credentials they 'buffed' their best act in ranting about the victimization of Regent University, christian doctrine, god and the criminalization of politics. The Republican members were more of a horror than Goody was considering the brevity of their positions and the fact these hearings were to discern criminal actions by the people involved, including the extent the White House dictated it's outcome.

But in regard to the Lam issue, it would seem Senator Feinstein wrote a letter concerned about the number of immigrant prosecutions. Goodling stated she felt it was a good letter and needed consideration in any decision her capacity could afford it. All the Republican members of the House Committee agreed with the Goodling assessment and complained the hearings being conducted with her brilliant testimony of good conscious was completely unnecessary considering the Iraq war was blazing in their good conscious. It was amazing to hear how House Republicans exhibited limited capacity in their attention to detail of the hearing while only able to obsess over the money for Iraq. Amazing.

At any rate there was this matter of USA Attorney Lam that required a reply to Senator Feinstein. Did Goody confront the letter with intent to fire? No. Did she address the letter to the Senator with concern for the lack of direction of Attorney Lam? No. Did she address a letter to Senator Feinstein a meaninful way at all, including asking for facts and evidence that would be helpful in directing the actions of Attorney Lam? No.

What Monica did was to write a letter to Senator Feinstein highlighting the 'good' that Attorney Lam carried forward in her practice, pointing to an example of how easy it was to bring a 'good light' to Monica's office by pointing out a 100% improvement in prosecution of immigration litigation even if that meant being deceptive because the number had increased from two to four. Did Monica realize the brevity of such an action when a USA Senator was looking for answers in regard to potential legislation and the ? lack ? of effectiveness of current laws as reflected by the performance in the Justice Department? Of course not. Monica Goodling USED her authority to play politics while disaffecting the outcome of potential legislation and quite possibly making any Democractic member of the House and Senate look like a fool in writing irrelevant legislation based on insignifant and burnished evidence in correspondence. Monica Goodling is of deep concern to me in that she completely disregards the brevity of the role of government in citizen lives while touting a Master's Degree in Public Policy. Oh, really?

Mr. Rove is obviously indictable in that he attended a pivotal meeting whereby he expressed that the attendees of that meeting better get their act together since the USA Attorney firings were meeting with such concern in the public and might lead to disclosure of 'the truth' rather than a manipulated story that would save the president from impeachment. Just that simple. Mr. Rove needs to testify but after the performance by Monica yesterday it is very unwise to allow him immunity. Mr. Rove will simply due as Goody did and put on a happy face while brushing off any political gaming that occurred in the White House.

I found the demeanor of the Republican House members of the Judiciary Committee patriarchal and condescending. Monica Goodling threw them a 'bone' at the very onset of her testimony when it was dominated by "I don't know and/or I don't recall.' The Republican members of the Judicial Committee responded in kind by complimenting her honest and trustworthy demeanor in revealing her willingness 'to forget.' Amazing. They continued on and on about how questions regarding the inclusion of religious preference were even questioned by other Democratic committee members. At one point the House member from Virginia only made a speech and another asked questions of 'members across the isle' while never directing one question to Monica. Simply amazing.

Well, you'll excuse me but a 'career' position and quite honestly, I believe a political position cannot be determined by race, creed or national origin. That is discrimination and litigable all by itself. Simply because it is the law. Political appointees are supposed to have some degree of discrimination but I don't recall even the Republican Party excluding religions other than Christianity from their party; at least it isn't in their party platform YET.

TO NOTE: In Monica's testimony she did state that when Republican name, rank and religious preference were revealed to her voluntarily it mattered in her hiring and firing. I'll be darn, she admitted to breaking the law. Not only that but exhibited the inability to disregard political perference over 'good and honest' judgement granted within her authority. Hm.

I found the proceedings yesterday disturbing to say the least and should have been a concern of every American. While Democratic members of the committee were faced with time constraints 'used up' by rantings of Monica while she contextualized a somewhat acceptable answer touting her accomplishments, or should I say her preceived accomplishments, while acting under her 'special order' authority to the Attorney General, there were some members such as the Honorable Hank Johnson of Georgia that will submit further questioning in written deposition outside the proceedings. Again the 'Star Players' from my last entry were again acting in exceptional capacity and were able to extract information against Monica's will with repeated and focused questions, but, in far fewer number that time would not allow due to her narcisstic responses over and over and over again. My, my.

We need to remove the Republican influence from our government as without exception as noted yesterday they are not interested in 'the truth' but simply the manipulation of 'the moment' to bring about 'good' results at the polling booth and never once acted in respect for the USA Constitution. I am deeply concerned for our democracy and the undermining capacity of the Republicans that remain in the elected positions in both legislative houses. I mean, they did take an oath to uphold the USA Consitution, right? They did not yesterday, in any measurable capacity.