St Andrew Society (Malta) annual Burns’ Supper
The annual Burns’ Supper hosted by the St Andrew Society (Malta) was held recently at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Sliema.
Members and guests were welcomed with a drink
and the sound of the pipes played by John Van
Dyke before gathering in the hall for the nicht’s ongauns.
Piper Mario Farrugia piped his way round the hall to officially set the night in motion and Society president Helen MacLachlan gave a short welcome speech.
The dinner began with the Selkirk Grace, delivered
by the Reverend Colin Westmarland and a traditional Scottish meal followed.

http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=29239

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Mr. Mitchell has experienced discrimination at Allied Aviation. For a few days at work as a maintenance supervisor when he heard racial slurs. "These GD N make me sick."

Psychology it is hell and emotionally it has torn the family apart.

"The N Hit List"

Bathroom graffiti listing names. Vigilantism. A member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily. It is more than a 'hostile' work environment. The minority employees have reason to sue and also be concerned for their personal safety as well as their families. That harassment can easily lead to profound hatred especially as retaliation for firings.

Sensitivity training.

Allied Aviation is not willing to address the issue to the public. "It has a history that provides diversity…"

Racial harassing at the work place. It hasn't spilled over into the neighborhoods of the employees. Yet.

Racism has to be stopped. It mounts into a social hierarchy that gets dangerous as well as oppressive.

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Cruise ship stalls in pirate region
07mar06
MORE than 1300 passengers on an Australian-based cruise ship have arrived in Malaysia safely after the ship broke down in dangerous waters near Singapore.
John Richardson, a spokesman for P&O Cruises, said the Pacific Sky had anchored in the Malacca Strait for about 30 hours after problems with its starboard engine.
The crew was unable to fix the problem at sea and sailed on at slower speed using only the portside engine, arriving in Port Kelang in Malaysia about 8pm yesterday, Mr Richardson said.
"The captain described it as a minor but significant problem," he said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18376780%255E1702,00.html

Australian cruise liner limps to port
An Australian cruise ship carrying 1,500 passengers is on its way to a Malaysian port for repairs after spending 30 hours stranded in the Malacca Strait.
P&O Cruises says the Pacific Sky experienced problems with one of its engines after leaving Singapore on Saturday night for a seven-day cruise.
Passenger Michael Storer says the ship came to a shuddering halt about five hours into the journey.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1585240.htm


World needs a 5-year-old's wisdom about bigotry
''Only the ignorant and uneducated are frightened of what they do not understand.''
Tolerance, diversity and respect for others are lessons best learned at home. The study of psychology and the observation of reality has proven that children model the behavior of the adults around them; both good and bad. Our view of the world and the people in it is formed by the examples set for us.
My earliest memory of such an example came on a very warm summer night when I was 5 years old. The only telephone in the house was on a small table in the center hall next to the stairs. In this position, the three rings that indicated the call on the party line was for us could be heard up the stairs and into the bedrooms. If I sat very quietly on the top landing, the reverse was true; I could hear everything being said below.
My parents' friends, the Lewises, were visiting from New York, where they had moved after selling the pharmacy they owned in Quakertown. ''Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Doc'' were favorites of mine, not only because they always brought wonderful chocolates, but because they treated me like I had a brain … no baby talk hyphenated by stupid questions.

http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-quote-b-a-amar05,0,1342095.story?coll=all-newsopinionanotherview-hed


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Sick Ship. Over 200 Royal Caribbean Passengers Catch Stomach Flu

http://www.hardbeatnews.com/editor/RTE/my_documents/my_files/details.asp?newsid=6011&title=Top%20Stories

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More about the cruise ship issue.

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The News Secretary and CNN Cheerleader

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Amnesty Report on 14,000 Finds Prisoner Abuse Continues in Iraq
By ALAN COWELL
LONDON, March 6 — Amnesty International accused the United States and its allies on Monday of committing widespread abuses in Iraq, including torture and the continued detention of thousands of prisoners without charge or trial.
The accusations could fuel the debate over the treatment of detainees that flared after the publication of graphic photographs showing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad being mistreated by American guards. More recently, British forces in Iraq have been criticized after videotapes showed British soldiers beating Iraqi youths after demonstrations in southern Iraq.
In its report, "Beyond Abu Ghraib: Detention and Torture in Iraq," Amnesty International also said the level of abuse by Iraqi forces since the transfer of power in June 2004 was increasing.
The United States and its allies, the report said, have "established procedures which deprive detainees of human rights guaranteed in international law and standards."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/international/europe/07rights.html

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Frankenstein the automated boy toy is back. Can't get more insulting in news reporting than an automated co-anchor.

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Bunny mutilator insane: court told
A Sydney-based financier accused of the mutilation deaths of 17 rabbits and a guinea pig has failed to persuade a magistrate to deal with his case under the Mental Health Act.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, is charged with 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and two counts of possessing cannabis.
The dead or severely injured rabbits and guinea pig were allegedly found in and around McMahon's office in Sydney's York Street in July and early August last year.

http://smh.com.au/news/national/bunny-mutilator-insane-court-told/2006/03/07/1141493645774.html

Iran: More Jaw and Less War
Linda Heard, sierra12th@yahoo.co.uk

Gen. Wesley Clark, who is expected to be a Democratic candidate for the US presidency in 2008, has a novel idea on how to tackle the growing contretemps between his government and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program.
Clark suggests the two sides should simply talk together face-to-face and discuss their problems instead of yelling threats at one another across the fence. Sounds eminently sensible, doesn’t it? But in these peculiar times, sensibility, not to mention testosterone, usually triumphs over sense.
The fact is that isn’t going to happen, at least not as long as the “new world order” Bush administration inhabits the White House, and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists on ratcheting up the anti-US and anti-Israel rhetoric.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=78849&d=7&m=3&y=2006

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Update 6: UNC Attack Suspect Wanted to Punish Gov't
By STEVE HARTSOE , 03.06.2006, 07:19 PM
A University of North Carolina graduate accused of running down nine people on campus told an emergency dispatcher he wanted to "punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world," according to a 911 recording released Monday.
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a 22-year-old native of Iran, called 911 to surrender Friday a few minutes after a sport utility vehicle sent students scurrying to escape. No one was seriously hurt.
Taheri-azar was later charged with nine counts of attempted murder and nine counts of assault, and his bail was set at $5.5 million.
University Police Chief Derek Poarch said Taheri-azar told investigators he intentionally hit people to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world."
At his first appearance Monday in Orange County court in Hillsborough, Taheri-azar told the judge he planned to represent himself and was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah." He was assigned a public defender, but ignored the lawyer's advice to stop talking.
"In this case, they're gonna ultimately allow him to represent himself," District Attorney Jim Woodall said after the hearing. "It's clear to me that that's what he truly wants to do."
Taheri-azar spoke politely when he called emergency dispatchers.
"Yes, sir. I just hit several people with a vehicle," Taheri-azar said on the recording. "Right now, I'm standing, you can come arrest me."
Taheri-azar graduated from North Carolina in December after studying psychology and philosophy. Investigators believe he has spent most of his life in the United States, Poarch has said.
On campus, UNC students held what they called an "anti-terrorism" rally on Monday.
"We don't want terrorism here, and we're not gonna stand for that where we live and where we go to school," said Kris Wampler, a member of the College Republicans, which helped organize the rally.
About 50 students attended, including a group of Muslim students who debated with organizers and said Taheri-azar had not been linked to any terrorist group.
"When you think of terms of a global context, this was an isolated incident," said Khurram Bilal Tariq, a 22-year-old junior.
The Muslim Students Association, which criticized the university's student newspaper last month for publishing a cartoon that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, has said Taheri-azar was not a member of the group and denounced his alleged actions.
Stephen Mann, an 18-year-old freshman, said he wasn't singling out Islam. He said a driver of any religion who did what Taheri-azar is accused of should be called a terrorist.

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/03/06/ap2574424.html

Much neded rainfall on the way
Story by Blake Smith (Contact)
7:09 a.m. Monday, March 6, 2006
After some weekend rain, it looks like the area gets a chance to dry out Monday. Lots of sunshine, light winds, and warm highs... right around 65 degrees.
Seven-day forecast
A warm front approaches from the west tomorrow and could spark strong to severe storms during the afternoon Tuesday and again on Wednesday.
The mornings should start with lots of sunshine though.
Gusty winds accompany the storms and wind gusts could be around 35 mph.
Another chance for storms comes in for the end of the work week.
Through it all, highs remain around 60 degrees

http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2006/mar/06/much_needed_rainfall_way/

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US reports strong earthquake in Indian Ocean
www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-07 08:41:42
LOS ANGELES, March 6 (Xinhuanet) -- A strong temblor of magnitude 6.2 hit Mid-Indian Ocean at 11:13 local time (18:13 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported on Tuesday.
The epicenter of the quake was located at 270 kilometers southeast of the Amsterdam Island, a French colony in the Indian Ocean, the USGS said in a report.
The earthquake occurred 10 kilometers under the seabed, according to the report. Seismologists are monitoring this temblor,the USGS said. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/07/content_4267564.htm

Over 500 California Bridges Still Need Earthquake Upgrades
More than 500 bridges in California are still waiting for upgrades deemed necessary after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Federal officials say the repairs have been delayed because the state has not come up with its share of the funding.
After the 7.1 earthquake on October 17, 1989, the state identified 1,234 local bridges that needed replacement or seismic upgrades. The federal government agreed to pay $88.50 for every $11.50 the state contributed to the project. But in 2002, the California Transportation Department stopped funding the program saying it didn’t have enough money to meet the federal match requirements.

http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=16304


Small Earthquake Shakes Southern CA. Town
March 6, 2006 8:00 a.m. EST
Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter
Ontario, CA (AHN) - A magnitude-3.4 earthquake shakes a Southern California town early Sunday, with no damage or injuries reported.
The quake was followed hours later by a magnitude-3.7 temblor across the U.S.-Mexican border.
At 2:43 a.m., the first quake was centered three miles west of Glen Avon, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The second, at 10:54 p.m., was centered 12 miles south-southwest of Calexico and 20 miles south of El Centro.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7002667341


Clinton says ``anger'' attack is in part gender-based
By BETH FOUHY
AP Political Writer
March 6, 2006, 2:12 PM EST
NEW YORK -- Responding to Republican claims that she may be too angry to win national office, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told an audience Monday to wear such criticism as "a badge of honor" and suggested that gender played a role in the attacks.
"When you run as a Democrat, and in particular, when you run as a Democratic woman, whether you're running at the local, state or national level, it's likely you're going to draw some unfriendly fire," Clinton said at a breakfast fundraiser hosted by black and Hispanic women supporters. "People will be attacking you instead of your ideas, they may impugn your patriotism, they may even say you're angry."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--clinton-anger0306mar06,0,4893593.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork


Valley Mormons fast, pray for rain
By Daryl James, Tribune
March 5, 2006
Mormons from more than 400 Valley congregations will pray for rain today during a regional fast prompted by the state’s ongoing drought.
“Usually people fast for personal reasons,” said Don Evans, Arizona spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “In this case, they’re also being asked to supplicate God for moisture.”
Other denominations also will participate through the Arizona Interfaith Movement and the Arizona Ecumenical Council.
“There is no greater danger to our state currently than the effects of this drought and the subsequent danger of fire,” said T. Dennis Barney, Latterday Saints chairman of interfaith relations in Arizona.
The official gauge at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has not recorded even a trace of rain in 138 days — a Valley record.
Evans said he does not know if the lack of rain is God’s will. “All we know is that we lack moisture,” he said. “And we would like to see a break in the drought.”
He said Latter-day Saints forgo food and water during 24-hour fasts at least once a month. He said the church occasionally asks its members to unite in fasting, but he cannot remember the last time Valley congregations fasted for rain.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=60443



Abortion ban flunks logic
Jed Pressgrove
March 05, 2006
Mississippi, following the lead of South Dakota, could ban all abortions in the state.
The bill that would virtually ban abortion is heading to Mississippi's House of Representatives. A Mississippi House committee approved the bill, 19-4. The ban would only allow abortions to save the mother's life. Cases involving rape and incest would be illegal under this ban.
Having been raised in a Republican-Christian home, I understand the argument against abortion. In fact, I once opposed legal abortions in all circumstances.
However, after acquiring an elementary understanding of America's legal system, I realized the government should not ban something based on personal beliefs.
I still disagree with abortion in most instances. Yet my feelings should not undermine the importance of freedom and a stable society.
At the very least, abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest. But this bill wouldn't allow abortions in these unfortunate situations.
Think about this rationally. After a woman conceives the child of her rapist, how is she going to feel about this child? Can we guarantee she wouldn't neglect, harm or kill the baby?
Of course not. If we don't allow raped women the right to abort, the rapist wins again. Plus, we'll have cases where raped women will try to abort their own children, causing more harm and crime.
As for incest, the chance of a baby receiving lethal genes increases with this kind of birth. This proposed ban would ignore all the women pressured into incestuous relationships. The state has no right to tell a woman to keep a child from incest. Again, making abortion illegal will produce more harm and crime in this situation.
Scientifically, the proposed ban doesn't make any sense. Sociologists often look at societies as organisms slowly adapting to their environments. Sudden changes in an environment can disrupt adaptation.
Simply, it would throw our society off-balance to abruptly ban all abortions. There should be a limit on what we do. Otherwise, our society could become unstable.
Undoubtedly, this ban, if passed, will be challenged. The case will reach the Supreme Court, and I doubt the court will support such a strict ban.
But I don't care about that. This article is for everyone who would support this bill, regardless of how long it survives.
Humans are imperfect. We don't know when life truly begins. And women in cases of rape and incest will continue to abort their children, whether abortion is legal or not. Let's not add more people to our already flooded jails.
Instead, realize a legal precedent like an abortion ban could allow the government to take away more of our medical rights in the future.
In other words, if we force our subjective morals on the law system, we'll lose more freedom. You better believe that.

http://www.reflector-online.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/03/05/440b1d6a77a95


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The Pellicano Brief

Pakistani Nurse Raped for Refusing to Carry Out Abortions
Punjab, Pakistan (LifeNews.com) -- A nurse who refused to perform illegal abortions in Pakistan has become the victim of an alleged gang rape. Authorities say 26-year-old Rubina Kousar was attacked by three men who burst into her lodgings at a rural health center in the western Punjab last Wednesday. Three men have been arrested in connection with the crime, but they deny that they were the ones responsible. Kousar told the press, “I was constantly put under pressure over the course of six months to carry out illegal abortions on two women but I refused. And so revenge was taken.” Kousar added, “They have threatened my family with dire consequences if we do not settle this. But this is not the past when we can get pushed around. God will give me the courage to fight them.” In Pakistan, abortion is illegal except when the life of the mother is at risk. The attack on Kousar has sparked a firestorm of controversy over the treatment of rape victims in Pakistan.

Australian Couples Travel to U.S. for Embryo Gender Screening
Canberra, Australia (LifeNews.com) -- Wealthy Australians who are actually fertile are traveling to the U.S. for in vitro fertilization treatment in order to select the gender of their babies. Published reports say they're spending as much as $25,000 for a controversial embryo gender screening procedure that's been banned in Australia. News Limited newspapers say a California fertility center has performed the high-tech process on about 14 couples from Australia. The procedure is believed to be 99 percent accurate. During the IVF procedure, a cell is extracted from the embryos to determine the gender. By coming to the U.S., Australians can skirt the Australian laws banning sex selection.

Pro-Life Advocates Picket Amnesty International in Belfast
Belfast, Ireland (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates have been picketing an Amnesty International meeting at Queen’s University in Belfast. The pro-life group known as Precious Life is calling on Amnesty International to actively campaign on behalf of the unborn child. The human rights organization is perhaps best known for its campaigns against capital punishment. Precious Life says that if Amnesty begins campaigning for abortion as a human right, it will be opposing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The organization is reportedly consulting its members to determine its future policy on abortion. Director Patrick Corrigan was quoted as saying that Amnesty cannot work on “sexual reproductive rights” without discussing the issue of abortion, and is now working to develop a policy position regarding the issue. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Precious Life, Bernie Smyth, was quoted as saying that abortion can never be described as a right. “Abortion is a needless act of violence that kills babies and hurts women,” Smyth said. Numerous studies indicate that women can suffer serious physical and emotional complications from abortion.

Arkansas Governor Supports South Dakota-like Abortion Ban
Little Rock, AR (LifeNews.com) -- Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he supports the kind of abortion ban passed by South Dakota lawmakers. The South Dakota bill would ban all abortions except in order to save the life of the mother. South Dakota legislators passed the bill in a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion. But pro-life groups nationwide disagree about whether the timing is right for the legal challenge, given the current composition of the high court. Huckabee says he always felt that Roe was “illegitimate.” The Arkansas Governor notes that the South Dakota law is similar to a part of the Arkansas Constitution that isn't being enforced because of Roe. Huckabee suggested that he would accept legal exceptions for rape and incest, but he noted, “Accept is a better word than support.” Huckabee added that cases involving rape and incest account for only about one percent of the abortions that are performed. Huckabee, the chairman of the National Governors Association, is hosting the group's winter meeting in Washington.

Charges Filed for Selling of Body Parts in New York, Philadelphia
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- One district attorney called it “something out of a cheap horror movie.” He's referring to a case in which the owner of a biomedical supply house and three others have been charged with selling human body parts for use in transplants. Investigators say the defendants earned millions of dollars forging death certificates and organ donor consent forms to make it look like the bones, skin, tendons, and heart valves they obtained from bodies from funeral homes had been obtained legally. The case marks the first set of charges to emerge from a scandal involving hundreds of bodies, including that of “Masterpiece Theatre” host Alistair Cooke, who died in 2004. Some of the body parts could conceivably spread disease to transplant patients. The bodies reportedly came from funeral homes in New York City, Rochester, Philadelphia, and New Jersey that contracted with the Brooklyn funeral parlor for embalming. The Food and Drug Administration recently closed Biomedical Tissue Services, noting that the company had failed to screen for contaminated tissue. The FDA said patients who received the company's products could have been exposed to disease, although the risk might be minimal.

http://www.lifenews.com/nat2124.html


Kuwait passes new law easing freedom of press
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Kuwait's Parliament Monday passed a new press law banning the imprisonment of journalists without a final court ruling and allowing new newspapers to publish for the first time in three decades. All 53 MPs present at a session of the house, including Cabinet ministers, voted in favor of the legislation, which was described by lawmakers as a key reform measure.
Kuwaiti governments have since the mid-1970s imposed a total ban on issuing licenses for new newspapers, and journalists could hitherto be jailed while under investigation for an alleged offense.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=22741


Belarus candidate charged with hooliganism
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 March: 10.00 CET) – Prosecutors in Belarus have opened a criminal investigation against an opposition candidate who is challenging President Aleksandar Lukashenko in 19 March elections, charging him with “malicious hooliganism”.
Aleksandar Kozulin, who was allegedly beaten and briefly detained by security forces last Thursday, has been charged with smashing a portrait of Lukashenka while in detention at a police station.
He is also accused of trying to stage an unsanctioned news conference.
In a Sunday statement, the prosecution said Kozulin could face a maximum sentence of six years in prison for “malicious hooliganism”.
The international community and human rights groups have condemned Kozulin’s arrest and urged the government to guarantee the personal safety of all presidential candidates.

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=14983


DeLay faces midterm primary vote
Mr DeLay has fought a vigorous local campaign
Embattled Republican Tom DeLay faces US voters for the first time since his indictment last year, as primaries for 2006's midterm polls begin in Texas.
Mr DeLay, the former House leader who is accused in a campaign finance case, faces three rivals bidding to be the Republican candidate for his district.
The Texas primaries, votes held to pick party candidates, are the first in any state ahead of the 7 November midterms.
The main election has the potential to reshape the US political landscape.
In Congress, all 435 members of the House of Representatives face the voters along with one third of the 100 members of the US Senate.
There are also 36 races for state governorships which are often keenly watched to see if they throw up likely presidential candidates.
Republicans have controlled both chambers of Congress since 1994, except for a brief time when Democrats held the Senate.
But with President George W Bush suffering in the polls and the Republican party on the defensive over corruption scandals, Democrats have hopes of making gains.
Low turnout predicted

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4780492.stm


OPEC Ministers Likely to Keep Output Steady
From the Associated Press
March, 6 2006
With oil prices still above $60 a barrel, OPEC ministers probably will keep output steady when they meet this week to set strategies for the spring and early summer.
A warmer-than-usual winter in the U.S. has built inventories, which should drive prices lower. But worries about supply disruptions from such countries as Iran are keeping prices high.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-preview6mar06,1,4562264.story?coll=la-headlines-business

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Taxi safety under review following latest attack
February 27, 2006 - 01:05 pm
By: 570 News
After three stabbings in a month, cab drivers in Waterloo Region have reason to be concerned.
The latest attack happened outside The Keg on Pinebush Road in Cambridge on Friday night.
The driver was attacked by a man armed with a meat clever.
Dave Brubacher says all companies will be reviewing safety measures in the wake of this latest attack.
The chair of the Waterloo Region Taxi Association says some cabs already have GPS and panic buttons.

http://www.570news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20060227_130522_5292


Taxis want $1m safety taskforce
13feb06
THE recent murder of a taxi driver and subsequent assaults on drivers has prompted the taxi industry to demand the NSW Government urgently establish a taxi safety taskforce.
Transport Minister John Watkins yesterday said the Government would consider any proposal that could improve taxi driver safety, after a driver was punched in the head and had his keys stolen.
It was the fifth attack on a cabbie in two weeks, including the murder of disabled driver Youbert Hormozi, who was bashed and left for dead.
NSW Taxi Drivers' Association (TDA) president Michael Jools said the Government should allocate $1 million from the $7.5-million taxi advisory committee fund to set up a taxi safety taskforce.
"The current media focus reports on assaults, bashings, armed robberies and murder as new and unusual," Mr Jools said.
"The reality is that these events are not new or unusual."
"Taxi drivers are constantly and daily at risk. What starts as a fare evasion may finish as a runner; but sometimes it finishes as a murder."
"It's time to spend taxi drivers' money on taxi drivers' safety."
The TDA represents 22,000 cabbies.
Comment was being sought from the Government.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18129080%255E1702,00.html


Proposal to limit fare hike
BY WILLIAM MURPHY
STAFF WRITER
March 6, 2006
While the city of Long Beach is proposing a $1 increase in taxi fares, two City Council members are suggesting that the current fare remain in force from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to discourage bar patrons from drinking and driving.
The increase, which would not apply to senior citizens, would raise the minimum fare per passenger to $4.50 and the maximum to $5.50, depending on how far someone is carried within the city limits, according to a proposal to be presented to the city council at its meeting tomorrow night.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-licabs064652904mar06,0,2613448.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines


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Wal-Mart bows to pressure to sell morning-after pill in US
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Monday March 6, 2006
The Guardian
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has reversed its opposition to the morning-after pill and agreed to sell it in 3,700 pharmacies. The decision follows a successful campaign against the retailer in Illinois and Massachusetts, which enacted laws requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive.
Last week, the attorney general of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, turned up the pressure when he said the state would no longer extend its insurance plan for its 188,000 employees to cover prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart unless the chain agreed to stock the pills.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1724302,00.html


Fairhope Residents Against Proposed Wal-Mart Store
March 6, 2006, 12:09 AM EST
Hundreds of protesters joined hands in a demonstration against a proposed Wal-Mart on the outskirts of Fairhope over the weekend.
Wal-Mart plans a supercenter about two miles from downtown Fairhope, but protesters say that's too close and could destroy the city's "village" lifestyle.
Organizers estimated up to 1,000 protesters joined hands at the demonstration.
Wal-Mart has a building permit from the city for its supercenter. The Fairhope City Council plans a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with engineers to response to complaints about potential traffic and drainage issues.
Louis McGrath and his wife, Barbara, oppose the project, saying Wal-Mart's bright lights would shine on their backyard.
Wanda Moseley, a sales associate at Wal-Mart's nearby Daphne store, drove her car on the highway lined with protesters. In the back seat, her 13-year-old son and his friend held signs that said: "Wal-Mart is coming, so live with it."
Says Moseley: "They got reasonable prices and we need more jobs in Fairhope for teenagers."

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4588443&nav=0RdE


Wal-Mart to hire ethics czar
Associated Press
Wal-Mart Stores plans to hire a director of global ethics, a restructured position aimed at ensuring that the retailer's code of conduct is applied across a growing global network of more than 6,200 stores and 1.6 million employees in 15 countries, the company said last week.
The job advertisement comes a year after embarrassing revelations that Wal-Mart's No. 2 executive, Tom Coughlin, had been pilfering company money and goods for years.
Coughlin pleaded guilty Jan. 31 to fraud and tax charges for stealing money, gift cards and merchandise from the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer.
Wal-Mart also faces a class-action lawsuit in California claiming it had discriminated against female employees, and it is a repeated target of ethics allegations by organized labor and other critics.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said the ethics post was previously held by someone who had other responsibilities.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3700786.html


Wal-Mart recalls Great Value milk
Safety Alert: Foul Odor Reported
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is asking consumers to check their refrigerators for two kinds of milk sold at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
The commissioner's request follows Wal-Mart's announcement that it has pulled milk from its shelves after receiving complaints about it having a foul odor.
The two kinds of pulled milk are Great Value brand vitamin D milk, gallon, 128 fluid ounces and Great Value reduced fat 2 percent milk, gallon, 128 fluid ounces. Both kinds have a "sell by" code of "07MAR" with a manufacturing plant code No. 13-300. Codes are located on the shoulder of the plastic gallon container.
"This is a voluntary product withdrawal issued by Wal-Mart on Feb. 24 for both Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs in the affected area; primarily middle Georgia and south Georgia," Irvin said.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20060305/localnews/73652.shtml


Wal-Mart CEO peaks to governors
Sunday, Mar 5, 2006
By Roby Brock
One week ago, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott told the National Governors Association that he needed help to make health care more affordable and accessible for the retail giant's 1.3 million U.S. employees because the company "can't do it alone." Scott said Wal-Mart would extend the company's health care coverage to children of employees, reduce wait time for enrolling in its plans, and expand a pilot program of in-store health clinics. He also asked for cooperation between government and industry in addressing health care system reforms.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2006/03/05/RobyBrock/334719.html

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Corporate Confidential

The most irresponsible book I have ever heard of. It promotes corporate discrimination and violence against women. Anderson Cooper is a blight on his generation taking away rights rather than advocating for them. This after spot lighting Bigotry. What a bunch of jerks.

This author should be FIRED !!!!

The Author
Cynthia Shapiro is a sought-after workplace coach, employee advisor, and career expert. She offers personalized coaching, workplace issue resolution, HR training, and group workshops.
Her uniquely fresh approach to workplace advice has been featured in Entrepreneur, Redbook, and 44 national newspapers including the Seattle Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, and New York Newsday. Her reputation for resolving complex and daunting workplace issues into an opportunity for higher success has earned her the nickname "The Work Dr."

http://www.corporateconfidential.com/theauthor/index.php4

BAN THE BOOK !!!!!!!!!! Intimidation tactics, Anderson? Want a jerk. If it were up to you the Walmart employees would be living in shakles.

It victimizes people and that is the agenda this show promotes. Victimization and intimidation. It's media pollution. I tell you what, Anderson, if you want to scare teh workforce into being submissive, the one sure way of giving that incentive is to PAY THEM enough to make it worthfor them to look the other way. With the wages the American workforce makes these days they don't care if they file a a lawsuit. They can go down the road and make the same wage and it it is a company other than Walmart, they might actually have benefits. Anderson your programming is a waste of time.

1200

I was hoping someone would do something about this issue in a dignified manner.

I don't know about the Nancy Grace bashing either. A dead fiancee' is a big deal in anyone's life. There are those that don't find that type of happiness again. It is good of her to still call on his life and the fact she still moarns for him 27 years later. However, she should realize the 'content' of her program is a reaction to others and not necessarily a tribute to a long lost love. She might need to work on her approach to honoring him rather than seeing him as a promotion to her cause. At any rate this article in the L.A. Times contextualizes 'the view' at and about cable news. I appreciated the effort put forward here. Thank you.

Regarding Media
Cable's fall from Grace
March 4, 2006

From serious to desperate

For people who think serious journalism is to be valued, this has been a melancholy week, marked by the passing from the scene of two authentic visionaries. One was The Times' former publisher, Otis Chandler — who, along with two equally visionary editors, Nick Williams Sr. and Bill Thomas — transformed this paper into one of international standing and showed print journalism the way forward in an era increasingly saturated with television. The other was CNN founder Ted Turner, who finally quit Time Warner's board in disgust, severing all ties to the cable news operations he virtually willed into being in the face of universal skepticism and outright scorn.
Turner has a loose lip and an unsteady personality, but he never wavered in his belief that serious news has a place on television. The same cannot be said of the corporate apparatchiks now running CNN and CNN Headline and cringing before Fox News' success. They're the ones who have unleashed Grace on their Headline network and defaced CNN's regular report with things like Jack Cafferty's bizarre and incoherently histrionic intrusions into the afternoon news and the increasingly demagogic Lou Dobbs' second rate imitations of a Howard Beale rant.

These desperate acts have been triggered by CNN's inability to come even close to matching Fox in the ratings. The commercial genius of Rupert Murdoch's network, of course, resides in Roger Ailes' intuition that the talk radio model could be transferred to television, thereby avoiding the expense of real reporting while cultivating viewers with a taste for conservative partisanship and, more important, entertainment. Murdoch and his accomplices clearly understand that one of the more disturbing characteristics of the current cultural moment is the insistence of so many people that they have an unalienable right to be entertained during their every waking moment, no matter what they're doing. (It's probably only a matter of time until patients require that their heart surgeons tap dance into the operating room.)
We verge these days on becoming a trivial people.

In a talk to a college audience in Oregon this week, former CNN anchor Aaron Brown mused that cable news has proceeded from promise to decadence because "it is only giving consumers what they want." According to the Ashland Mail Tribune's account of his remarks, Brown said that "CNN spent a fortune covering the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. After two weeks, ratings fell to normal levels. The Fox news channel channeled their dollars into a story about American teenager Natalee Holloway disappearing in Aruba. Fox, of course, cleaned up in ratings and revenue."

Thus, we have Nancy Grace, indefatigable pursuer of missing white women and "host" of a show that — over the past year — has boosted CNN Headline's audience in her time slot by 181% to just over 600,000. That's still roughly 1.5 million fewer viewers than O'Reilly has for cable news' top-rated show.

The conventional response to all this is simply to shrug and attribute it all to the irrepressible venality of frightened corporate executives. The problem there is that you can't have opportunists without opportunity.

Brown put his finger on the responsibility for creating that opportunity this week, when he said, "In the perfect democracy that I believe TV news is, it's not enough to say you want serious news. You have to watch it."

Let's do something really entertaining. Let's imagine that the real — well, really fictional — Howard Beale were presented with Grace, O'Reilly and the whole wretchedly dispiriting direction of cable news. It's hard to envision him saying anything, except:
"I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell:

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

Aaron certainly knows how to get attention. Do it, Aaron. People are hungry for it.

EX-CNN ANCHOR BROWN: "THE NEWS IN THIS COUNTRY IS A BUSINESS"Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown has suggested that television viewers are responsible for the deterioration of broadcast news as much as the TV networks themselves. "In the perfect democracy that I believe TV news is, it's not enough to say you want serious news, you have to watch it," he told an audience in Medford, OR this week. As reported by the Medford Mail Tribune, Brown, speaking to a First Amendment forum, noted that while CNN was spending a fortune covering the 2004 tsunami, Fox News was channeling its resources into the missing teenager Natalee Holloway. The contest, he noted, was won hands down by Fox. The result, he suggested, was not lost on his former employer, CNN. "The news in this country is a business," he said. "You might not like to think of it that way, but it is." He suggested that television, instead of being diverted by scores of late-breaking trivial stories, ought to focus on the 6-10 "really important stories" that occur each day.


HOLOWAY CASE PULLS BIG RATINGSThe Natalee Holoway case continues to attract viewers in massive numbers. According to an analysis of Nielsen ratings, last Thursdays Primetime Live, which featured an interview with Joran Van Der Sloot, the Dutch teenager who is the prime suspect in the case, drew its highest ratings in three years. And on Wednesday of this week, Greta Van Susteren's interview with Van Der Sloot on Fox News Chennel brought her the highest ratings among 25-54-year-olds than any cable news personality, including the usual champ, Bill O'Reilly.

I mean really hungry

Anderson Cooper gets his Mardi Gras on

More Anderson Cooper , CNN , Mardi Gras

Hey, we didn't know Anderson Cooper was such a wild and crazy guy. Look at him rockin' out in his CNN Mardi Gras beads!

We just can't wait to see that video from the Coopster float we bet so many guys took off their shirts for him.

Recently, Oprah has been doing lots of interviews with Anderson Cooper, and she has done many projects with him. A rumor is going around that Oprah and Anderson Cooper are going to be making a movie together.

This is typical conservative backlash. It would seem as though Aaron touched a nerve.

Former CNN Anchor Aaron Brown Blames Public For Decline of TV News
Posted by Noel Sheppard on March 4, 2006 - 11:19.

It appears former CNN anchor Aaron Brown is still licking his wounds. Speaking to a group in Medford, Oregon, on Wednesday, Brown suggested that the decline in television news is due to the choices being made by viewers, and that network executives are now basing their content decisions on what they believe the public wants to see versus what is really important.

As reported by the Medford Mail Tribune: “‘The news in this country is a business,’ he added. ‘You might not like to think of it that way, but it is."

First, Brown blamed TV executives:

“He admitted that cable news reporters and editors have failed viewers by not telling stories that are important, that truly matter.

“‘Cable indulges too often in what amounts to mud wrestling — just two people shouting at each other,’ he said.”

Then, Brown blamed the public:

“However, he didn’t let the casual TV viewer off easily. Because the news is a business, he argued, it is only giving consumers what they want.”

“‘In the perfect democracy that I believe TV news is, it’s not enough to say you want serious news, you have to watch it,’ he said.

“He likened a typical TV night for Americans as a political act where consumers vote with their remote controls.”

Brown used an example from 2004 to make his case:

“According to Brown, CNN spent a fortune covering the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. After two weeks, he said, ratings fell to normal levels. The Fox news channel channeled their dollars into a story about American teenager Natalee Holloway disappearing in Aruba. Fox, of course, cleaned up in ratings and revenue.”

Of course, Brown didn’t mention that most Fox News programs are more highly rated than their CNN rivals, or the possibility that the reason Fox News “cleaned up” in his example is that CNN has been losing viewers for years.

Regardless, Brown had a solution:

“Brown offered one remedy for fixing the news. He argued that during any given day there are only between 6 and 10 stories worth reporting.

“‘We should focus on reporting these really important stories well instead of constant breaking news,’ he said.”

Certainly, nobody in America would disagree with Brown’s desire for CNN to focus on reporting important stories well, especially devotees of the MRC and this website.

As one would imagine, Brown took the opportunity to offer an explanation for his own failure at CNN: “He suggested his eventual demise at CNN resulted from criticizing the network’s obsession with lurid celebrity gossip while short-changing meaningful news.”
Brown also made an interesting analogy concerning the TV networks’ fascination with such trivialities: “He compared such ‘breaking news’ to heroin — it’s good for a while, but will eventually make you feel used and dirty.”

There is some delicious irony in this observation by Brown, for I normally feel used and dirty after watching CNN, especially when he was the host.

(The Drudge Report deserves a hat tip for this report, as does the CBSNews Blog for providing a link to the Mail Tribune article.)

People never seem to lose sight of those that become a part of their daily lves.

Whatever happened to Lynice Weeks of TMJ 4 and Aaron Brown of CNN?

Weeks died on July 28 after waging a long battle with kidney problems.She came to Milwaukee's WTMJ (Channel 4) in 1993 as a general assignment reporter. She became the station's first consumer reporter within six months and held the position until her untimely death.

She was 41.

Brown left CNN in early November. He and Anderson Cooper co-hosted "NewsNight," which aired nightly at 10 p.m. CNN decided Cooper could stand on his own, booted Brown and renamed the program "Anderson Cooper 360."

Priorities - I'll let Aaron take front and center tonight.

Former anchor questions TV news priorities

By CHRIS CONRADMail Tribune

Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown had an epiphany following his network’s saturation coverage of the 2001 murder of actor Robert Blake’s wife.

The crowd that packed SOU’s Rogue River Room Wednesday night listened as Brown recalled shuffling home at 3 a.m. after a four- hour tour of duty reporting in excruciating detail a low-level celebrity shooting on the day four Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan. His wife was waiting up for him with only one question: Why?

"I am sure there were other things we could’ve reported that night," Brown said.

And so began his lecture titled "Is TV news fulfilling its promise?" Brown served as the keynote speaker for this year’s Thomas W. Pyle First Amendment Forum.

Brown, who described cable news anchors as "highly paid piece(s) of meat," began his TV career as a reporter and anchor at KING-TV News in Seattle. In December 1991, he joined ABC news to anchor "World News Now," the network’s overnight newscast. In 1993 he joined "ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings." In the summer of 2001 he was hired by CNN to launch "NewsNight with Aaron Brown." He has received several journalism awards, including an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.

He suggested his eventual demise at CNN resulted from criticizing the network’s obsession with lurid celebrity gossip while short-changing meaningful news.

He compared such "breaking news" to heroin — it’s good for a while, but will eventually make you feel used and dirty.

"The news in this country is a business," he added. "You might not like to think of it that way, but it is."

He admitted that cable news reporters and editors have failed viewers by not telling stories that are important, that truly matter.

"Cable indulges too often in what amounts to mud wrestling — just two people shouting at each other," he said.

However, he didn’t let the casual TV viewer off easily. Because the news is a business, he argued, it is only giving consumers what they want.

"In the perfect democracy that I believe TV news is, it’s not enough to say you want serious news, you have to watch it," he said.

He likened a typical TV night for Americans as a political act where consumers vote with their remote controls.

According to Brown, CNN spent a fortune covering the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. After two weeks, he said, ratings fell to normal levels. The Fox news channel channeled their dollars into a story about American teenager Natalee Holloway disappearing in Aruba. Fox, of course, cleaned up in ratings and revenue.

Brown offered one remedy for fixing the news. He argued that during any given day there are only between 6 and 10 stories worth reporting.

"We should focus on reporting these really important stories well instead of constant breaking news," he said.

The Thomas W. Pyle First Amendment Forum is produced by SOU’s Department of Communication. The Forum is presented through a grant from The Ashland Daily Tidings, with support from the SOU School of Arts and Letters.

Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail

0950

Anderson is in Southern California? How do you know? There is nothing that says California to me.

1000

Susan Candiotti

"A Fugitive Father" - The Perkins. How nice. Man, oh, man, being 'on the lamb' just ain't the same since TV.

I worry about Patrick. He's a good guy, you know. As an authority he has a team but let's face it there aren't many people supporting his efforts except people who really want a secure nation even if that means impeachment.

Affidavit gives few hints to CIA name leaker
Filing suggests official other than Libby discussed Plame to reporters
By Joel Seidman
NBC News Producer
Updated: 5:15 p.m. ET March 2, 2006
WASHINGTON - In a filing Thursday at U.S. District Court in the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby CIA/Leak case, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald -- in a 19-page affidavit -- offered few clues about the identity of the official or officials involved in the leak of former CIA employee, Valerie Wilson Plame's name to reporters, other than Libby himself.
Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted last year on charges that he lied about how he learned Plame’s identity and when he told reporters.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11640658/

1011

commercials

1014


Runaway Cars Tagged to Stop Chases

Feb. 3, 2005 — A paintball-like technology could end car chases in Los Angeles, and maybe across the country, if a system being tested in Southern California delivers what the company that makes it promises.
The Los Angeles Police Department is testing a new secret weapon to halt high-speed pursuits: smart darts.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1576247


10 Best Car Chases
IGN Cars honors some of the most exciting and technically well-executed car chase sequences ever.
by Steven Horn
March 11, 2003 - What do we love so much about car chases? Could it be that each one basically ends in a car crash? Or perhaps it's that they provide a welcome break from all that "talking" and "plot" nonsense. Whatever the reason, we here at IGN Cars are pretty much all in agreement that they put the sweetness in the cinematic honeypot.
We've been spending the past couple of days buried knee-deep in our DVD collection pulling out some of the greatest car chases of all time. Within a couple of hours, it became clear that picking just 10 was going to be problematic. In fact, before this article was even finished, debates were raging. Why wasn't "Blah Blah" included? Or, Why did you pick this one over that one, etc etc. We're sure you'll have some opinions too so read on to the end for an easy way to voice them.

http://cars.ign.com/articles/388/388628p1.html


THE GREATEST CHASE OF ALL
An inside look at how they filmed BULLITT, the granddaddy of car pursuit movies.

http://www.hottr6.com/triumph/BULLITT.html


Good job, Rick. Good sport for trying it. Don't try this at home.

1021

FILM REVIEW; Drugs, Guns, Car Chases And a Chemist in a Kilt
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: October 18, 2002
The United States and England may, as George Bernard Shaw observed, be divided by a common language, but if ''Formula 51'' is any indication, they are joined by a shared taste for an especially versatile expletive. It cannot, of course, be printed here, but the word and its variants account, by my conservative estimate, for about two-thirds of the dialogue in this new movie by Ronny Yu. If it were edited down to a PG-rated version, the picture would be about 10 minutes long, but not otherwise improved, since it is a witless, gruesome barrage of jokey violence and lame trans-Atlantic humor, kept moving by the pointless, derivative kineticism of Mr. Yu's hyperactive cuts and splices.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E6DA153DF93BA25753C1A9649C8B63

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Commercials


1024

Police killed in the line of duty dealing with cars.

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Commercials

Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System-
Date: 02 Mar 2006
Title: Survival depends on action taken at local level
By Shaun Benton
Cape Town - More than 600 delegates from local governments all over the world - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - have gathered for a conference in Cape Town dealing with a wide array of questions relating to environmental sustainability.
Titled, 'Out of Africa: Local Solutions for Global Challenges', the conference is stretched over the whole week but was put on hold yesterday to give South African delegates a chance to participate in the country's local government elections.
It's the first time the Canada and Germany-based ICLEI - now called Local Governments for Sustainability - is holding a conference in the southern hemisphere. Its previous conference was held in Athens in 2003.
Delivering a keynote speech to the conference on Monday, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, said local governments were now assuming more responsibility - in the second decade since the groundbreaking Rio Earth Summit of 2002 - for delivering progress towards a more sustainable world order.
When the World Summit on Sustainable Development hosted by South Africa in 2002 placed the needs of people, particularly the poor, at the centre of the sustainable development equation, this signaled a shift in pressure for delivery on a global level towards local government.
Tying in with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of halving extreme poverty and its associated ills by 2015, it became clear that the move from strategy to action required the involvement of key actors at the frontline of delivery, namely those at a local level.

http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=06030213151001&coll=buanew06


1032

"Children make their own way in life. Parents can't always protect them." Rashed Williams was a Columbine Hero status. Pressure to 'be good' caused a lot of conflict growing up. His escape marijuana. His answer to obtaining it was assault on a household. Dropped out of high school and became a repeated criminal. Very possibly, "Post Traumatic Disorder" leading to living with violence. The homeowner was reacting to the status of owning more marijuana than he was permitted to have under any medical marijuana law. Guns and drugs go together when the actions of the 'grower' is covert to the laws. No, doubt when Rashed was shot it was more like a drug dealer vs. drug dealer issue and resulted in violence. The marijuana grower hadn't anticipated a quasi celebrity.

Wonder rescue at Halemba mine
• Thursday, Mar 2, 2006
Rescuers on Monday saved a miner who had been trapped for five days about 1,000 metres underground in the Halemba coal mine in southern Poland.
Zbigniew Nowak, 30, has been hospitalised in the town of Sosnowiec for tests and treatment for dehydration.
According to Lech Krawczyk of St Barbara's hospital, the tests confirmed that the condition of the rescued miner was satisfactory.
Nowak spent over 111 hours under earth. When he was dug out he was happy he could celebrate his wife's birthday.
But his wife celebrated the birthday last Thursday.
Bogusaw Wypycha who headed the rescue operation said that the trapped miner survived because he was lying next to a broken pipe that was providing fresh air underground.
Nowak crawled towards the rescue team when he saw people that have been approaching him.
He asked first for some water and an apple. The rescuers did not tell him how long had he been trapped in order not to shock him.

http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=03/02/2006&qrTitle=Wonder%20rescue%20at%20Halemba%20mine&qrColumn=FOREIGN

1039

Commercials

1041

About 'the law' … and murder …

1045

Commercials

THIS IS ABOUT STEEL Tubes and not Aluminum Tubes. Hm.

Carlyle Group to buy N.J. steel tube maker
By Joseph N. DiStefano
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Carlyle Group, the $33 billion multinational investment company based in Washington, D.C., has agreed to buy a controlling stake in pipe manufacturer John Maneely Co., of Collingswood.
Carlyle has pledged to pay around $500 million to buy out a majority of the 18 shareholders. Members of the Dooner, Boylan and O'Donnell families, they are descendants of John Maneely, who founded the company in 1877.
Maneely president Peter S. Dooner III will continue to run the company, and his brother, Thomas Dooner, will remain a vice president. Both will be minority shareholders, said Daniel A. Pryor, the Carlyle managing director who handled the sale.
"We're betting on them. They're good guys, doing a good job. They doubled sales in the last five years, and we think they can keep doing better," Pryor added. Maneely has yearly sales of over $700 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
The U.S. pipe manufacturing industry has been consolidating, partly as a result of the growing Chinese economy, Pryor said. Backed by Carlyle, Maneely may acquire other pipe companies, he added.
In a statement, Peter Dooner called Carlyle "an excellent partner" thanks to its "global resources and industrial expertise." Carlyle is a major investor in factories in India, China and other fast-growing foreign markets, as well as the United States.
Maneely and its subsidiaries, Wheatland Tube Co. and Seminole Tubular Products Co., employ a total of 1,700 people at plants in Sharon and Wheatland, Pa.; Warren and Cambridge, Ohio; Chicago; Little Rock, Ark.; and Houston. There are no plans to change operations, Pryor said.
Maneely officials were not immediately available for comment on why the owners are selling now, after 128 years as a family-owned company. Pryor said tax considerations were a factor.
With "unprecedented" investment capital available to large and successful private firms such as Carlyle, "valuations are higher than they've been in several years," and many family-owned businesses see it as a good opportunity to sell, said Michael S. Goodman, a director at SSG Capital Advisors L.P., in Conshohocken.
Carlyle is one of a handful of large firms that dominate the buyout business. The firm has invested in more than 400 companies, including those involved in the defense (United Defense Industries) and consumer (Hertz) sectors.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/14000252.htm


1047

WASN'T Fort Lauderdale hit by a big storm recently?

Carlyle Group Unit Grabs Florida Apartment Property for $100M despite Title Insurance Issues
March 02, 2006
By Colleen Corley, News Writer
An affiliate of The Carlyle Group has purchased a high-rise apartment building in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for $102 million. American Land Ventures originally built the 409-unit luxury New River Phase II apartment building as part of a 10-acre development in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
But Fort Lauderdale's white hot condominium market prompted the company to sell to The Carlyle Group affiliate, which will sell the apartments as condominium units instead, explained Marty Schwartz, a partner with law firm Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod L.L.P.
Along with associate Javier Granda, Schwartz represented American Land Ventures in the title insurance process. The first title company backed out of insuring New River Phase II because construction had not yet been completed, Schwartz told CPN this afternoon. "There was a possibility that there could be construction liens that could be used against (American Land Ventures)," he said about the building being sold before completion.
Whether the title insurance company's hesitancy had to do with a fizzling Fort Lauderdale condo market, however, was unclear. American Land Ventures did not return calls for comment. The Carlyle Group selected a second title company to insure the transaction and a third to insure the purchases of the individual condo units. Another title company served as the escrow agent as well. All in all, Schwartz worked with four title companies to insure the project, which also includes 24,000 square feet of retail space.
"It's a prime piece of property and there's been a lot of activity. This is not a usual problem," he noted. Though a sale-before-completion transaction was unusual a few years ago, the flourishing Fort Lauderdale market has changed all that. Schwartz pointed out that he and Granda have also worked on two similar transactions. "As far as we can tell it is still a strong market," he added.

http://www.cpnonline.com/cpn/specialties/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002115124


Sanjay on FAT .

1052

The News Secretary.

Cracking Down On Halliburton
Good news from the Senate. Byron Dorgan and 25 others introduced a bill Thursday to clean up the business of government contracting. It takes its inspiration from the problems with Iraq and Katrina contractors, but applies to all contracting.
According to Dorgan's office, the bill would put "tough new penalties in place for war profiteers, eliminating conflicts of interest, insisting on transparency and putting an end to cronyism in key government appointments relating to federal contracting and public safety.”
To Charlie Cray, director of the Center for Corporate Policy, who wrote Grand Theft Baghdad for TomPaine.com about Iraq's bungled contracting, the legislation is much like what he's been calling for. Cray released this response praising the Dorgan bill:
The Center for Corporate Policy applauded Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and other Senate Democracts today for introducing the "Honest Leadership and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2006" , which would crack down on cronyism, corruption and war profiteering associated with federal contracting.
Federal contracting is a key chapter in the ongoing saga of corruption that starts on K Street and ends up undermining democracy at home and abroad. The abuse of U.S. taxpayers’ and Iraqi oil revenues witnessed in recent years has undermined the Iraq reconstruction project and put American troops at risk.
Their an analysis of the bill is here:http://www.corporatepolicy.org/issues/ACA2006.htm

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/03/02/cracking_down_on_halliburton.php

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Halliburton's gain
Once again, there is a total lack of regard by the administration for the taxpayers. According to a Feb. 27 item, the Army is reimbursing a Halliburton subsidiary for costs of $263 million on a "disputed $2.41 billion no-bid contract." While the Army admits there were "questionable business practices" that had "driven up costs," the reason for paying the firm was that "in the haste and peril of war, it had done as well as could be expected." What an excuse!
The amount being spent in Iraq is certainly troubling, especially when one considers the needs in this country. But the issue is only aggravated by revelations such as this one. Maybe we should ignore Enron's "questionable business practices." After all, we would just be following the example the Army has set in this case.
But then, we are in a war. But then, it is only the taxpayers' money. But then, we can always increase the deficit some more.
Not only is this a bad war, but it has been grossly mismanaged.
Brenda Owen Johnston
Raleigh

http://www.newsobserver.com/580/story/412981.html


1057

There's Frankenstein, personally recruited by Bin Laden. How do you charge a computer with treason? Can a computer become a machine without a country?

Senator says may add airline pensions to tax bill
Reuters
Thursday, March 2, 2006; 3:14 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Senate Finance Committee said on Thursday he would try to add U.S. airline pension relief to a tax bill if Senate and House negotiators are unable to finish broad pension legislation.
Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate panel, said he was frustrated by a two-month delay in naming congressional negotiators to reconcile the Senate and House versions of pension reform legislation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030201134.html



McCloy May Walk Again, Doctors Say
(KDKA) MORGANTOWN, W. Va. For the first time in many weeks, there is an update on Randal McCloy’s progress.
Anna McCloy, the wife of the only man to survive the Sago Mine tragedy, and her husband's doctors spoke with reporters on Thursday.
McCloy is making believers out of everyone who longed and prayed for a miracle.
McCloy, 26, was the only one of 13 miners trapped in the Jan. 2 explosion at the mine who survived.
“He looked at me one night and he says, 'I'm a miracle!’” said Anna McCloy.
The father of a 4-year-old son and 16-month-old daughter, McCloy wants to get home. After weeks in a coma, he is slowly but surely finding his place in the world again.
“If you listen to him, you can hear his character in him,” said Anna McCloy. “You could see his spirit coming out. You could see a sense of Randy the person, Randy the father.
“He'll joke with you. He'll listen to jokes and understand. He'll talk with the kids,” Anna added. “He's improved beyond our expectations.”
McCloy, who suffered serious brain injuries from lack of oxygen and carbon monoxide poisoning, is relearning everyday skills.
On Jan. 5, McCloy was transported to Allegheny General Hospital where his condition benefited from three days in a hyperbaric-oxygen chamber.
He returned to Ruby General Hospital and is now in rehab where he's receiving high doses of essential fatty acids to improve brain function.
“His physical abilities, mental, memory, and I think we see his old personality coming back,” said McCloy's doctor said.
Anna McCloy has not left her husband's side and though he remembers what happened in bits and pieces, he's not eager to return to the memory of losing 12 friends.
“When he wants to talk about it I'll listen to him, but I don't push him,” Anna said. “I don't question him.”

http://kdka.com/local/local_story_061172817.html


1106

Condi the Gym Guru

Condi Rice Shows Off Workout On TV Station
POSTED: 4:41 pm EST March 1, 2006
Besides being the Bush administration's go-to official for working out diplomatic misunderstandings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also happy to let the world know she's working out at the gym.
Rice's exercise routine, including weights and a calorie-burning workout, will be featured in a three-day segment on Washington's NBC television affiliate, WRC, that started Wednesday morning.
"She's an active, active secretary of state," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
Asked whether the news feature signals a more muscular U.S. diplomacy, Ereli responded: "Muscular and agile."
It's not the first time Rice has showcased her hobbies for the public. Last June she took to the Kennedy Center concert stage to accompany on piano a young soprano battling an often-fatal disease.
Barbara Harrison, anchor of WRC's morning and 10 a.m. news shows, said viewers can gain insight into Rice from her routine and apply it to their own lives. The clip will be aired at about 5:45 a.m. EST.
"If she, one of the busiest women in the world, can work out every day, the rest of us ought to be able to do something," said
Harrison, who has been sharing with viewers her own quest to lose 10 pounds.

http://www.nbc30.com/health/7587214/detail.html


Gulf Coast Hurricane Victims Have 10 Days to Apply for Aid
WASHINGTON, DC, March 1, 2006 (ENS) - Six months after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast and Florida, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved $5.4 billion in low interest loans to the victims, but now time is running out. Only 10 days remain to apply for federal government assistance.
The SBA has approved more than 76,200 disaster loans to homeowners, renters and businesses in the disaster area. The total includes more than 60,000 disaster loans for homeowners and renters for $4 billion, and more than 15,400 loans to businesses for $1.36 billion. In the SBA's guaranteed working capital and real estate/fixed asset loan programs, the agency has delivered $400 million in loans to small businesses in the declared disaster areas.
Together, these programs mean the SBA has approved a total of $1.76 billion in loans to businesses in the declared disaster areas.
"The SBA has acted and mobilized like never before to respond to the tremendous needs of the residents of the Gulf Coast disaster areas," said SBA Administrator Hector Barreto.
Common Ground volunteers help a New Orleans victim clean up from Hurricane Katrina. January 2006. (Photo by Marvin Nauman courtesy FEMA)
Louisiana has the most in approved disaster loans at $3.36 billion, followed by Mississippi at $1.68 billion. The SBA also has approved $142 million in disaster loans in Florida, $113.3 million in Texas and $90 million in Alabama.
More than 86 percent of the business disaster loan applications received to date have been processed, said Barreto, and more than 269,600 damaged properties have been inspected.
But even with these loans and other government assistance, the international aid agency Oxfam America released a report Monday showing that state and federal agencies are continuing to neglect poor communities caught in the hurricanes.
"Recovering States: The Gulf Coast Six Months After the Storm," examines current conditions, and long term implications, for lower income families whose vulnerabilities were laid bare by Hurricane Katrina.
“Despite critical reports and investigative hearings of government failures, despite the flurry of commitments to confront poverty in the U.S. – six months after Katrina, little has changed,” said Minor Sinclair, director of Oxfam America’s Regional Office.
“It’s unconscionable that the same vulnerable people abandoned in the height of the storm could again be neglected in the recovery," Sinclair said. "There are still thousands of people who don’t have a place to live and don’t have answers to the most basic questions about their futures in the Gulf Coast.”
Several key elements of the report analyze statistics related to the number of still displaced people, endemic poverty rates in Louisiana and Mississippi, and the repercussions of states’ proposed plans for federal funds.
Oxfam’s aims in the Gulf Coast since Katrina and Rita have been to empower poor communities that have been most deeply affected by the storms. Oxfam is partnering with 16 local community organizations such as the NAACP, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, to provide assistance to vulnerable groups.
On February 16, President George W. Bush submitted a request to Congress for an additional $19.8 billion for rebuilding the Gulf Coast, including an additional $4.2 billon in Community Development Block Grant funding, which Oxfam calls, “a major step toward reconstruction of the Gulf Coast,” but advises, “by no means should it be the last step.”
Homeowners on Sugar Mill Drive must gut their houses to remove the mold that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's flooding. In St. Bernard Parish, every home in every neighborhood was affected. January 2006. (Photo by Greg Henshall courtesy FEMA)
“We welcome this additional request for funds and urge Congress to respond quickly,” said Ashley Tsongas, advocacy coordinator for Oxfam’s Hurricane Recovery. “However, these funds must be allocated so they also meet the urgent housing needs of the poorest and most vulnerable hurricane survivors. Funds earmarked for FEMA should instead be directed to HUD [Department of Housing and Urban Development], a federal agency with proven affordable housing expertise.”
A portion of the $85 billion for relief and recovery in the Gulf Coast that has already been approved by Congress is dedicated to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding designed to assist low and moderate income communities with decent housing, expanded economic opportunities, and quality of life improvements.
Although $11.5 billion has been already been appropriated for CDBG programs in the Gulf Coast and an additional $4.2 billion is waiting to be approved, regulations which govern the use of these funds have been loosened and the drafts of state housing recovery plans focus on a narrowly defined group of homeowners.
As a result, the lowest income groups stand to lose this important part of the recovery package, Oxfam warns.
“It is time to make good on the nation’s promises,” Sinclair said. “More funds for affordable housing must be made available immediately, through the new money that must be approved by Congress and through state plans that target the lowest income communities. This is the critical first step to a long road to recovery that builds back better, through federal support of local initiatives.”
Only 10 days remain to apply for disaster assistance. A 60 day extension to March 11 was granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Disaster officials are urging residents of disaster-designated counties and parishes in the Gulf Coast states to register during the next 10 days for federal and state financial assistance to help them recover from uninsured or under-insured losses caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
This local resident writes suggestions on a sticky note at the Louisiana Recovery Planning Day Open House in Baton Rouge to give input identifying recovery issues unique to her community and parish affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (Photo by Robert Kaufmann courtesy FEMA)
"As long we continue to hear from people who need disaster assistance, we want to make it available," said David Paulison, acting FEMA director. "We are renewing our efforts to identify and reach people who may not have registered for various reasons and need more time to apply."
For those wishing to apply by phone, the toll-free number is 800-621-FEMA (3362). Speech or hearing-impaired applicants can call the TTY number 800-462-7585. The lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and multilingual operators are available to take calls.
"There is no reason for anyone who sustained hurricane losses not to make that call and get whatever assistance they are eligible to receive," Paulison said.
"We will continue to do everything in our power to provide the needed resources and speed the recovery of the Gulf Coast," said Barreto of the Small Business Administration.
"We want to remind all those eligible that the application deadline for physical damage loans is March 11, and we also want to urge applicants whose loans have already been approved to schedule their loan closings as soon as possible so that the rebuilding of their communities can proceed in earnest."
Applicants can check the status of their SBA disaster loan applications by calling 1-800-659-2955 or emailing SBA at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
FEMA said Monday it will meet a Wednesday deadline to get more than 1,400 people out of emergency quarters on three Carnival cruise ships and into travel trailers or local hotel rooms. Most of these people are first responders and their families in New Orleans and in St. Bernard Parish.
Meanwhile, to prepare for the 2006 hurricane season, just three months away, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is still working on the levees that surround New Orleans, with June 1 target date for completion.
The force of Hurricane Katrina broke the levees six months ago, flooding New Orleans with water from Lake Ponchartrain, the industrial canal and other sources.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been charged with rebuilding the levees, and they say it is a daunting task. Contractors are working 24 hour days, building levee walls as high as 17 feet. This time, the levees are being reinforced with concrete backings.
"It's a tight schedule," said Fred Young, who is Corps project manager for the levee reconstruction program. "Supplies are tight and labor's tight down here, and we're just trying to do the best we can, and June 1 is our goal."
Critics point out that the government is only repairing breaks in the levees that it can see.
"We're doing repairs on the breaches, but there are many, many, many miles of levee that we don't have any idea of," said Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Public Health Research Center.
There's little chance the repaired levees will protect the city from strong storms, van Heerden added, perhaps leaving New Orleans just as vulnerable as it was before Katrina - which peaked as a category five hurricane and was a strong category three storm when it made landfall.
Van Heerden said, "The whole system is susceptible to flooding with a category two."

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2006/2006-03-01-04.asp

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Nic Robertson - Jihad Jack - Jack Thomas. An Aussie wanted to work for 'bin.' He was restless? Is that what you call it, Nic? Oh, radicalized. Right. Restlessness leads to an al Qaeda terrorist training camp. Did Jack get an autograph? It might be worth real money. 'Bin Laden seemed to float across the floor.' What was this guy smoking? Afghanistan. Hello. Put the pieces together. Be an extremist, be a drug lord, be a wealthy man.

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Bush library gets 2 years of his life, if ...
Hance to devote time to raising funds as long as project is in West Texas
09:58 AM CST on Thursday, March 2, 2006
By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – The only politician ever to beat George W. Bush has pledged to put his career on hold for two years to bring to life a Bush presidential library in West Texas.
Former U.S. Rep. Kent Hance, an Austin-based lobbyist, concedes that the Texas Tech-led proposal is a long shot. But the man who defeated Mr. Bush in a 1978 House race says he'd be happy to devote himself full time to raise the $300 million needed.
"I'm giving two years if it goes to West Texas," Mr. Hance said. "I saw the president at a Christmas party at the White House. He said that's a heck of a commitment. And I said, well, we want it."
His decision reflects an unusually personal marker as the four finalists – Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Baylor University in Waco and the University of Dallas – tussle on the public-relations front.
Baylor is close to the Bush ranch in Crawford. SMU is a short drive to where Mr. Bush lived and worked before moving to the Governor's Mansion, and first lady Laura Bush is an alumna.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-hance_02tex.ART.State.Edition2.1885c3ac.html


It’s unlike any other event in the world. A race over 1,150 miles of the most extreme and beautiful terrain known to man: across mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and windswept coastline. Add sub-zero temperatures and blinding winds, and you’ve got the makings of a legendary adventure. That’s the Iditarod.

http://www.iditarod.com/

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Mubarak warns Cheney to listen for once on Iran
Thursday, March 02, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, March 2 (IranMania) - President Hosni Mubarak has urged US Vice President Dick Cheney to heed his advice "for once" and not to take military action against Iran, Egyptian newspapers reported Wednesday, AFP reported.
"I warned Cheney against a strike on Iran and told him: 'Listen to my advice for once,'" he was quoted as telling Cheney, who was a strong advocate of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite Arab opposition.
Cheney and Mubarak met on January 17 and discussed Iran's controversial nuclear programme during a visit by the vice president.
Last month, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that Washington did not rule out using military force against Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Mubarak, quoted in the press, said an attack on Iran would only serve to strengthen the insurgency in neighbouring Iraq.

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=40959&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs


Board passes resolution to impeach Bush, Cheney
City Hall Watch
By Justin Jouvenal
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, March 1, 2006 3:30 PM PST
E-mail this story Print this page
If it was up to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would be shown the door.
Never shy about wading into controversial national issues, the board on Tuesday approved a strongly worded resolution calling for the impeachment of the president and the vice president for a laundry list of alleged crimes.
The offenses include “misleading” the American people into an unnecessary war in Iraq, torture, “disregarding” presidential duty in the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and alleged illegal wiretapping. The board has no say over impeachment — that is the purview of the U.S. Congress — but Supervisor Chris Daly, who sponsored the resolution, said it was an important symbolic statement.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/articles/2006/03/01/news/20060301_ne02_impeach.txt

CRIME and PUNISHMENT for mass murderer, 'the nurse sentence.' Imagine that. A mass murderer as a nurse. Two consecutive life sentences. Onto Pennsylvania for sentencing there. Wow.How could either of those sates and instituions not make the connect? Too Bizarre I guess. Chilling.

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Whatever happened to Mr. Whittington?

This is the last mention of him.

Willis mocks Cheney on Letterman
01/03/2006 - 08:55:54

Bruce Willis poked fun at Dick Cheney's recent shooting accident by appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman made-up like the US vice president's hunting victim Harry Whittington.
The actor had tiny wounds on the left side of his face, resembling a spray of buckshot holes and when he smiled he revealed one tiny hole in his front tooth where he was allegedly hit by the ammunition.
Willis joked: "I got shot." He then lifted his hat to reveal his semi-bald head covered in band-aids, adding: "Shot all my hair off." The Die Hard actor went on to explain: "I was playing cards with some politician guys, sitting around drinking all night.
"After a bottle and half of Jack Daniels, somebody came up with the idea: 'Let's go hunting.' It seemed like such a good idea at the time…"I'm thinking we're going to go out and hunt rhino or moose, (but we hunt) quail. But it's all really a blur to me."

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=143288420&p=y43z89xxx


I'll say 'enough' for tonight.

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Fat Tuesday

Called a Vigilante, Praised as a Newsman
By ALAN FEUER (NYT) 868 words
Published: July 28, 2004
Edward Caraballo went off to Afghanistan this April with a camera in his hand. His friends and colleagues say he was chasing the story of a lifetime: the shadowy tale of Jonathan Keith Idema, a former Green Beret who claims to have fought in the Afghan war.
Afghan prosecutors, however, say Mr. Caraballo did much more than follow the story. They contend that he joined forces with Mr. Idema in what amounted to a vigilante war against terrorism in the country.
Last week, Mr. Caraballo, Mr. Idema and another American, Brent Bennett, were charged in Kabul with running a private jail for terror suspects in Afghanistan. The three were arrested on July 5 after the police found eight Afghans being held prisoner in Mr. Idema's house.
The charges have shocked and angered Mr. Caraballo's peers and relatives, who adamantly insist that he is not a gun-slinging vigilante but an award-winning video journalist. They say he did not travel to Afghanistan to fight a private war against the Taliban or Al Qaeda, but to document a fascinating story.
''There's no doubt in my mind -- or in the minds of anyone who's ever worked with Ed -- that he's a first-class photojournalist,'' said Gary Scurka, who worked with Mr. Caraballo in the 1990's at WWOR, Channel 9 television in New York. ''Anyone who's trying to say that he's not a journalist or that he went over there to be a vigilante is simply mistaken. Ed is a very well recognized, award-winning journalist. I've won awards with Ed.''
Mr. Scurka said, for example, that he and Mr. Caraballo won an Emmy Award for a report on car-theft rings in Newark that they produced in 1990 and 1991. Tom Goodman, a spokesman for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which awards the Emmys, said Mr. Caraballo won a total of four in 1992 and 1993.
Others are taking a more distanced position. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a group in New York that often helps reporters in difficult situations, said it was not involved in Mr. Caraballo's defense.
''We're monitoring the case,'' said Wachuka Mungai, a spokeswoman for the group, ''but as of now, we haven't found any conclusive evidence that his arrest was linked to his work as a journalist. He may be a journalist, but as far as we can tell, his arrest doesn't have anything to do with journalism.''
Mr. Scurka said Mr. Caraballo was known around the newsroom as a talented and aggressive cameraman who ''really knew what he was doing.''
His work at WWOR, said Joe Collum, another colleague, included stories on drug gangs, the Mafia, day trading, police brutality and Russian sex slaves. ''The thing that always impressed me about Ed was his enthusiasm,'' Mr. Collum said. ''He was really enthused about the news.''
Mr. Scurka said he was so impressed with Mr. Caraballo that when he left WWOR to work for CBS News, he brought Mr. Caraballo along as a freelance cameraman.
It was Mr. Scurka who first introduced Mr. Caraballo to Mr. Idema, a former member of the Special Forces who was on active duty for three years in the 1970's and who has made something of a name for himself among journalists as an antiterrorism expert. Mr. Scurka said he introduced Mr. Caraballo to Mr. Idema about five years ago. Mr. Scurka met Mr. Idema himself in 1994 when he was sent on assignment by CBS News to North Carolina, where Mr. Idema was awaiting sentencing on a wire fraud charge.
''Ed's film is apparently about Idema's activities in Afghanistan,'' Mr. Scurka said. ''I don't know exactly what the project is, but the idea was to document what Keith Idema did back in 2001, and Ed went back to Afghanistan to talk with people and check out the environment.''
Mr. Caraballo's brother Richard said the film was based on a book, ''The Hunt for Bin Laden,'' by Robin Moore. Mr. Idema has said he co-wrote the book, the story of a Special Forces team assigned to capture Osama bin Laden.
''I'm here to tell you that my brother is not a gun-for-hire or a prison warden,'' Richard Caraballo said. ''He was just chasing a great story.''
Far from a thrill-seeker or a vigilante, he said, his brother was a gentle man with a 3-year-old daughter. ''Eddie is not a reckless person,'' he said. ''The only reason for why he put his life in such danger is that he had confidence in this guy's credentials,'' he added, referring to Mr. Idema.
Edward Caraballo had never worked in a war zone before, but his brother said the move made sense.
''He worked as a freelancer,'' he said. ''The fact that he turns up in Afghanistan freelancing on a documentary, there's no mystery here. It's the logical arc of a journalist's life.''
Photo: Edward Caraballo at a hearing last week in a courtroom in Kabul.

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30F12F639590C7B8EDDAE0894DC404482

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The Times Picayune

Musicians, revelers jam the Quarter, riverfront
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer
The sounds of New Orleans returned to the city Tuesday as thousands of Carnival revelers packed the French Quarter and riverfront to celebrate Lundi Gras and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather.
At Spanish Plaza, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield entertained a bobbing mob of partyers under a bright blue sky.
Downriver, teen fiddler Amanda Shaw energized a throng of fans at Woldenberg Park.
A few blocks away in the French Quarter, the Original Camellia Jazz Band of New Orleans filled the air with trumpet blasts and banjo licks.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/114111052868070.xml


King Zulu postpones reign but rides today
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Leslie Williams
Staff writer
The Algiers home of Larry A. Hammond, the man who was to be King Zulu this year, escaped Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, but the storm hurled trees into his pool. Hurricane Rita followed, toppling more trees and damaging his home's roof.
Katrina ripped away all but two steps and the concrete porch of the 9th Ward home of his mother-in-law, Odile Phillips, and sent other relatives seeking refuge in Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.
Hammond's life in the past six months and his separation from those he holds in esteem begins to explain why he opted to postpone his reign as King Zulu this Carnival season and at today's parade -- why Zulu rolls sans king, queen and celebrated characters.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-13/114111039168070.xml


Deadline nears for move off ships
But St. Bernard residents' lawsuit against FEMA still up in the air
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Susan Finch
Staff writer
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it will meet a Wednesday deadline to get more than 1,400 people, most of them first responders and their families in New Orleans and in St. Bernard Parish, out of emergency quarters on three cruise ships and into ready-to-occupy travel trailers or local hotel rooms.
But there could be a partial change in plans depending on the outcome of negotiations between FEMA lawyers and an attorney for St. Bernard residents who on Friday sued to force FEMA to keep one of the vessels, the Scotia Prince, berthed for another six months in Violet.
It's unclear whether the outcome of that suit also would affect Carnival Cruise Lines' Ecstasy and Sensation, which are moored in New Orleans. But Chalmette lawyer Michael Ginart Jr., who represents the St. Bernard plaintiffs, said he hopes to convince FEMA brass that the Scotia Prince is providing the storm-ravaged parish "special services, not just occupancy."

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/114111007768070.xml


Bill puts brakes on party switching
Lawmakers begin next agenda in B.R.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- A political candidate who qualifies under one party's banner would not be able to switch parties and requalify for the same office if a bill filed by a north Louisiana lawmaker becomes law.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/114111043468070.xml


Proviso on housing aid worries Blanco
Shrinking of N.O. feared if spending restrictions stand
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco expressed concern Monday that language attached to the $4.2 billion President Bush recently proposed for additional housing recovery financing in southeastern Louisiana could radically alter the landscape in New Orleans.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/114110992268070.xml


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Jeb Bush Asked to Explain Cruise Ship Deal
By HOPE YEN , 02.28.2006, 05:47 PM

A top House Democrat released e-mails Tuesday detailing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's role in pushing a $236 million federal contract for Carnival Cruise Lines to house Hurricane Katrina victims.

In a letter, Rep. Henry Waxman of California called on Bush to explain his role in the award of the "lucrative contract," which was given to the Florida-based company without a full competitive bid process. The e-mails Waxman released were provided to Congress by Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Carnival Cruise Lines contract has turned out to be enormously expensive," Waxman wrote to Gov. Bush, the president's younger brother. "The e-mails from Mr. Brown provide the first confirmation of your involvement in the award of this contract and the first details of your contacts with Carnival and FEMA."

A spokesman for Bush's office, Russell Schweiss, called any charges of impropriety baseless.

"The governor's involvement was merely facilitating contact with a corporate citizen of Florida that was seeking to provide immediate housing relief," Schweiss said. "Any assertion the governor had to do with any contracting negotiations or further action by FEMA is unfounded."
The Sept. 3 deal with Carnival for three full-service cruise ships - which sat half-empty for weeks in the Gulf Coast - has been criticized by lawmakers of both parties as a prime example of wasted spending in Hurricane Katrina-related contracts.

The contract, which leased the ships for six months, expires this week.

A preliminary review by Homeland Security inspector general Richard Skinner earlier this month found the decision to award the contract "was reasonable under the urgent circumstances," although an investigation of the deal's specific terms was continuing.

According to Waxman, Bush forwarded to Brown, then the FEMA director, an e-mail from a Carnival advertising executive proposing that the company's ships be used for housing two days after the Aug. 29 storm.

The Carnival official, Ric Cooper, has been a major political donor to the Florida and national Republican parties, including $65,000 to the state GOP in 2002, and $50,00 to the RNC in 2004, Waxman said.

Less than three hours later, Brown replied to Cooper, saying he thought it was a "great idea."

"One of my HQ folks working the housing issue is going to contact you directly," Brown wrote. "If you haven't heard from them by close of business tomorrow, please call me on my cell phone ...Thanks. MDB"

On Sept. 1, Cooper then appealed to Brown and Brad Gair, FEMA's housing area command director, to speed along its consideration of Carnival's bid, saying the company needed to make plans accordingly.

After Gair replied that he had done all he could and the matter was now in the hands of FEMA contracting, Brown expressed impatience. "Why? Why isn't this red tape being cut?" he wrote, two days before the deal was finally handed to Carnival.

Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, called on Bush to provide a timeline of his contacts with Carnival and Brown as well as other documents relating to the Carnival proposal.

Carnival officials have defended the deal, saying the company will not make extra profit because the $236 million price covers the revenue it would normally receive for up to 120,000 passengers it could book.

A spokeswoman for Carnival, Jennifer De La Cruz, called the charges a "baseless controversy" that is "old news."

"The ships have played an effective and critical role in housing and feeding thousands of people who desperately needed help and we are extremely gratified to have been there for them," she said.

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/02/28/ap2559857.html

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The city does look good. It's nice to see. No matter what anyone says, Mayor Nigan did a great job. He should be allowed to finish it. He has the knowledge and experience to get New Orleans though the next season. He also is demanding about replacing the wetlands. I like Nigan.

Mardi Gras comes home to New Orleans
By Howard Reich
Tribune arts critic
Published February 28, 2006, 8:47 PM CST
NEW ORLEANS -- For a few precious hours, old New Orleans was back. Elaborate floats streamed down Canal Street, brass bands blasted in the French Quarter and Mardi Gras Indians chanted and danced in the neighborhoods Tuesday.
Even the ubiquitous Southern Comfort billboards announced the city's defiant optimism: "Nothing cancels Mardi Gras. Nothing,"
To those who love this city, Mardi Gras 2006 was as much celebration as homecoming, a jubilant affirmation that not even the wrath of Hurricane Katrina could blow away the city's age-old cultural traditions.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060228mardigras,1,4277109.story?coll=chi-news-hed


For Toussaint, 'Our New Orleans' Lives On
World Cafe, February 28, 2006 · Legendary New Orleans musician and producer Allen Toussaint has played a major role in Our New Orleans, a benefit album recorded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Since the 1950s, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has played an integral role in the "Nawlins" musical community.
While in his early 20s, after already making a splash on the New Orleans music scene Toussaint accumulated a string of hits for Minit Records, producing, writing, arranging and often performing on tracks by people like Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas and the Neville Brothers. Toussaint cut his first solo record for RCA in 1958, with more to follow.
Several of his earlier tunes became instrumental standards, including "Whipped Cream" which was the Herb Alpert hit also used as the theme for television's <>The Dating Game. In the 1970s, Toussaint produced some of the most influential recordings of the time, including Dr. John's "Right Place, Wrong Time" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade."
Through new recordings from the likes of Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Buckwheat Zydeco and more, Our New Orleans reflects on what the city once was, what it became after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the flood, and what the future holds.
Toussaint contributes two tracks, his solo piano rendition of "Tipitina and Me" and the rhythmic "Yes We Can Can." The album opens with "Yes We Can Can," produced by the great Joe Henry.
The song, written in the '70s, has now reached an almost anthemic status, as Toussaint urgently sings: "Now is the time for all good men/ To get together with one another/ Oh yes we can, I know we can can."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5238047


Pop star Britney Spears celebrates Mardi Gras in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Britney Spears spent part of Mardi Gras with a group of students whose lives were upended when hurricane Katrina devastated the area six months ago.
Standing in the French Quarter surrounded by St. Catherine of Siena School dancers wearing Gatorettes uniforms, the 24-year-old pop star, a Louisiana native, talked on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday of her recent "surprise" meeting with four students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School of New Orleans.

http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=3408466d-703e-493e-843c-e98a60d51429&k=7849


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DUBAI FUNDS NEIL BUSH'S COMPANY
Monday, February 27, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
LINKED NEWS ANALYSIS
Investors from the United Arab Emirates helped fund the $23 million Neil Bush raised for Ignite!, the learning systems company that holds lucrative No Child Left Behind Act contracts in Florida and Texas. The "Cow" is an Ignite! portable computer designed to work in a classroom, providing interactive instruction aimed at improving students' scores on standardized tests. If you loved Billy Carter and "Billy Beer," you're certain to love Neil Bush and the "Ignite! Cow."

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=8389


Investors from the United Arab Emirates helped fund the $23 million Neil Bush raised for Ignite!, the learning systems company that holds lucrative No Child Left Behind Act contracts in Florida and Texas. The "Cow" is an Ignite! portable computer designed to work in a classroom, providing interactive instruction aimed at improving students' scores on standardized tests. If you loved Billy Carter and "Billy Beer," you're certain to love Neil Bush and the "Ignite! Cow."
Neil Bush's frequent travels to Dubai are documented by Datamatix, a Dubai-based information technology company that has featured Neil Bush as a speaker. The Datamatix website features several prominent photographs of Neil Bush addressing a Dubai conference, identifying Neil Bush as "the brother of U.S. President George Bush."
Dubai's Datamatix appears to be bipartisan, as the company's website also shows Dubai appearances of various Democratic Party luminaries including Al Gore (with and without a beard), Sandy Berger – the National Security Adviser under President Clinton who achieved fame by stuffing classified documents in his socks – and Howard Dean, the current Democratic National Committee chairman. The site also shows photographs of Tipper Gore and John Sununu receiving "Token of Appreciation" awards in Dubai from Datamatix. Anti-Bush Internet websites have been touting the Neil Bush connection with Dubai for months, although the story has been largely shut out of the mainstream media. (See Debbie Schlussel's Feb. 23, 2006, column, "Something's Rotten in Dubai.")

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49012


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The News Secretary

1050

Commercials

National Baseball HOF adds Negro Leagues picks
03:06 AM CST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News
The National Baseball Hall of Fame tried to right a long-standing wrong Monday by bringing in a group of 17 from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues.
The class featured the first woman Hall of Famer: Effa Manley, who owned and operated the highly successful Newark Eagles for 12 years.
Four Texans were elected: catcher Biz Mackey of Eagle Pass; catcher Louis Santop of Tyler; left-hander Andy Cooper of Waco and outfielder Willard Brown of Houston.
Capsules of the 17 people elected Monday to the Hall of Fame by a special committee on the Negro Leagues and the pre-Negro League. Information comes from the Hall of Fame Web site (www.baseballhalloffame.org):

Negro Leagues Players (7)
Ray Brown: Born Feb. 23, 1908, in Alger, Ohio. Died Feb. 8, 1965, in Dayton, Ohio. Batted right. Threw right. A starting pitcher from 1931-1945, pitching exclusively for the Homestead Grays starting in 1932 and helping the team win eight Negro National League pennants in nine years from 1937-1945. Ranks second in career winning percentage (.704), fifth in wins (105) and ninth in shutouts (13). Had a 3.20 career ERA.
Willard Brown: Born June 26, 1915, in Shreveport, La. Died Aug. 4, 1996, in Houston. Batted right. Threw right. Played 15 seasons in the Negro Leagues, five seasons in the minors, and 10 seasons in Puerto Rico. In the Negro Leagues, had a .351 career batting average, an on-base average of .374, and a .576 slugging average. Played on five pennant-winning teams (1937, 1939-1942, 1946 Kansas City Monarchs) and one world championship team (1942 Kansas City Monarchs). Brown was the only member of the new Hall class who played in the majors. An outfielder, he hit .179 with one home run in 21 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1947.
Andy Cooper: Born April 24, 1898, in Waco, Texas. Died June 3, 1941, in Waco, Texas. Batted right. Threw left. Pitched 19 of 22 seasons in the Negro Leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars and 10 with the Monarchs. Had more than 10 wins seven times, had a 116-57 career record and was the Negro National League career saves leader with 29.
Biz Mackey: Born July 27, 1897, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Died Sept. 22, 1965, in Los Angeles, Calif. Batted both. Threw right. Caught 24 seasons between 1920-47, primarily with the Hilldale Giants, Philadelphia Stars, Newark Eagles, Indianapolis ABCs and Baltimore/Washington Elite Giants. Also made brief appearances with the Baltimore Black Sox and Homestead Grays. Had .329 career average, batting .418 with Indianapolis in 1922 and .413 with Hilldale in 1923 and .426 with Hilldale in 1930. Sixth in career RBIs with 412 and seventh in total bases with 1,389. Managed the Newark Eagles in 1946 when they won the Negro League World Series.
Mule Suttles: Born March 31, 1900, in Blocton, Ala. Died July 9, 1966, in Newark, N.J. A first baseman/outfielder who had a .327 career average for the Newark Eagles, Chicago American Giants, Birmingham Black Barons and other teams. Played in 1921 and from 1923-44, hitting .300 or higher 13 times. Managed the Newark Eagles at the end of his playing career.
Cristobal Torriente: Born Nov. 16, 1893, in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Died April 11, 1938, in New York. Batted left. Threw left. An outfielder who spent 17 seasons in black baseball with the Cuban Stars (West), All Nations, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Kansas City Monarchs, and the Cleveland Cubs. Had .339 career average in the Negro Leagues, including a .432 average in 1920. Hit .300 or higher eight times and 11th among Negro Leaguers career RBIs with 309.
Jud Wilson: Born Feb. 28, 1894, in Remington, Va. Died June 24, 1963, in Washington, D.C. Batted Left. Threw right. Played from 1922-1945 with the Baltimore Black Sox (nine years), Homestead Grays (seven years), Pittsburgh Crawfords and Philadelphia Stars (eight years). Started as a third baseman, then moved to first. Had .351 career batting average, among the top five in Negro Leagues history, .421 on-base percentage and .507 slugging percentage. Hit .300 or higher 16 times, including his first 14 seasons, and hit .400 or higher four times.

Pre-Negro Leagues Players (5)
Frank Grant: Born Aug. 1, 1865, in Pittsfield, Mass. Died May 27, 1937, in New York. Starting in 1886, Grant played six consecutive seasons in organized baseball. Primarily a second baseman, he began with Meriden (Conn.) of the Eastern League, then joined the International League's Buffalo Bisons, where he stayed until 1888. In 1889 and 1891 he played for all-Black teams in the minor leagues, and in 1890 he starred for the Harrisburg Ponies of the Pennsylvania State League and the Atlantic Association (Double-A). He the IL in 1887 with 11 homers and 49 extra-base hits.
Pete Hill: Born Oct. 12, 1880, in Pittsburgh. Died Nov. 26, 1951, in Buffalo, N.Y. A top power hitter, his playing career began in 1899 with the Pittsburgh Keystones and extended through 1926. He played with many of the top pre-1920 teams, including the Leland Giants and Chicago American Giants. Hill managed near the end of his career with the Milwaukee Bears.
Jose Mendez: Born March 19, 1887, in Cardenas, Matanzas, Cuba. Died Oct. 31, 1928, in Havana. Played from 1908-26 and managed the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro National League from 1920-26. A right-handed pitcher, he barnstormed with the Cuban Stars in 1909 and twice had 11-game winning streaks, while reportedly compiling a 44-2 record against all levels of competition. In Cuban winter competition in November 1908, he had 25-inning scoreless streak against the Cincinnati Reds, including a one-hit shutout (a ninth-inning single by Miller Huggins). Was 76-28 from 1908-20 in Cuban competition and in 1939 was elected to the inaugural class in the Cuban Hall of Fame.
Louis Santop: Born Jan. 17, 1890, in Tyler, Texas. Died Jan. 22, 1942, in Philadelphia. A 6-foot-4 power hitter who played from 1909-26, was the starting catcher for the Philadelphia Giants, New York Lincoln Giants, Brooklyn Royal Giants and Hilldale Daisies. In 1917 in a three-game series against a major league all-star team, Santop had six hits off Chief Bender and Bullet Joe Bush. Had .324 Negro Leagues batting average at the end of his career.
Ben Taylor: Born July 1, 1888, in Anderson, S.C. Died Jan. 24, 1953, in Baltimore. A pitcher who converted to first base, he played from 1908-1929. He spent nine years with the Indianapolis ABCs starting in 1914, interrupted when he served in 1919 as manager of the New York Bacharach Giants. Known as "Old Reliable" for sure hands and clutch hitting. Was a manager, coach and umpire through the early 1940s.

Negro League Executives (4)
Effa Manley: Born March 27, 1897, in Philadelphia. Died April 16, 1981, in Los Angeles. Co-owned the Newark Eagles with her husband, Abe, handling scheduling, travel, payroll, promotions and contracts from 1936-1947. Active in the civil rights movement, she used the team to promote an Anti-Lynching Day at Ruppert Stadium In Newark, N.J. The Eagles, whose players included Hall of Famers Monte Irvin and Larry Doby, won the Negro Leagues World Series in 1946. She co-authored a book in 1973 on black baseball.
Alex Pompez: Born May 14, 1890, in Key West, Fla. Died March 14, 1974, in New York. Was an owner and league executive from 1916-50, then became a scout and director of international scouting for the New York and San Francisco Giants. He signed the Negro National League's first Puerto Rican, Dominican, Venezuelan, and Panamanian players. The roster of talent he introduced to the Negro and major leagues included future Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda, Martin Dihigo, Juan Marichal, and Willie McCovey.
Cum Posey: Born June 20, 1890, in Homestand, Pa. Died March 28, 1946, in Pittsburgh. He was principal owner of the Homestead Grays during a baseball career from 1911-46 in which he was a player, manager, owner and club official. He played for the semipro Grays in 1911 and took control of the team in 1920. Accused of raiding other teams, he had 11 of 18 Negro Leagues Hall of Famers prior to this election playing for him.
J.L. Wilkinson: Born May 14, 1878, in Algona, Iowa. Died Aug. 21, 1964, in Kansas City, Mo. Wilkinson, who was white, was principal owner of the Kansas City Monarchs from 1920-48, who won the Negro National League in 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1929, and the Negro American League from 1937-42 and in 1946. The Monarchs won the Negro World Series in 1924 and 1942. Among his players were Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Elston Howard, Cool Papa Bell, Bill Foster, Satchel Paige, Bullet Rogan, Hilton Smith, Turkey Stearnes and Willie Wells.

Pre Negro Leagues Executive (1)
Sol White: Born June 12, 1868, in Bellaire, Ohio. Died Aug. 26, 1955, in Central Islip, N.Y. An infielder who played from 1887 until the early 1900s, he was with all-black teams in the official minor leagues from 1889-1891, batting .324 or higher each season. He co-founded the Philadelphia Giants in 1902 and co-owned, managed and played for his team for eight years. He wrote "Sol White's History of Colored Baseball," published in 1907, the first history of black baseball. He managed through 1926 and also wrote about baseball for newspapers that included the Cleveland Advocate, the Amsterdam News, the New York Age and the Pittsburgh Courier.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/mlb/stories/022806dnspomlbhalloffame.c506e5c.html

1100

Frankebstein neds to be banned. It's more than silly. This hour always gets morbid.

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UAE, Carlyle Group, Bushes & Terrorism: Strange Mix
by J. Grant Swank, Jr.
Feb 28, 2006
Washington's "name" people and world leaders reap billions on the "war on terrorism." Could this likewise involve the present UAE – US 21 ports sneak?
And could US President George W. Bush reap his own billions from the "war?"
Note: The quiet, no-noise Carlyle Group, a worldwide private equity investment company founded in 1987 with more than $30 billion of capital, is alleged to have connections to the Middle East.
Both father and son George Bush belong and belonged to it. Other well-known personages such as Colin Powell, James Baker, John Major, and George Soros also gather yield from the Group.
The Group specializes in Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Consumer, Industrial, Energy, Power, Real Estate, Technology, Business Services, Telecommunication, Transportation and Media. Its involvement focuses on interests related to political activity, some calling it political arbitrage.
So how do political personal riches equate to membership in the Group? How do the 800 members benefit from its billions, that sum equating to $37.5 million apiece? After all, Group's offices are positioned on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol Building, not far from the FBI Building.
Some of the Group's contractors relate to the US military, for example, an artillery project, aerospace and defense industries.
Craig Unger's book, "House of Bush, House of Saud," informs that Saudi Arabia inserted 1.4 billion to companies tied to father and son George Bush. Ninety percent of that money was contracted to BDM, defense contractor, such firm owned by 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 defense firms," state Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger of The Guardian.
"Since the start of the ‘war on terrorism,' the firm 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.
"Until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm's multi-million-dollar investors were members of Osama bin Laden family. The bin Laden tie to the Group was more than six years."

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/security/article_2128425.shtml


Connecting Dubai Ports World, the Carlyle Group, CSX, John Snow, and David Sanborn
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear Buzz,
Remember these two names: John Snow and David Sanborn. Then remember these three companies: Carlyle Group, CSX, and Dubai Ports World.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
PART OF CSX -- namely, CSX Lines -- was sold to ...drum roll, please.... The Carlyle Group, early in Feb. 2003, for $300 million.
One of the biggest customers of CSX Lines is the US military.
John Snow, the CEO of CSX, was appointed Treasury Secretary by Bush jr. on Feb. 7, 2003.
Read about this cozy deal at:
http://www.bridgedeck.org/mmp_news_archive/
2002/mmp_news021219.html
and at: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,919897,00.html
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
David Sanborn was an executive with CSX and, then, a senior Dubai Ports World executive whom Bush appointed last month to be the new administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department. Sanborn worked as Dubai Ports World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America.
Gee, d'ya think Sanborn greased the skids for Dubai Ports

http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/06/02/ana06011.html

1107

Enough. New Orleans looks great. It was nice seeing it at this time of year.

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