July 4, 2006, 10:20AM
CIA Reportedly Disbands Bin Laden Unit
© 2006 The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A CIA unit that had hunted for Osama bin Laden and his top deputies for a decade has been disbanded, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed intelligence officials, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the unit, known as "Alec Station," was shut down late last year. The decision to close the unit, which predated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.
The officials told the Times that the change reflects a view that al-Qaida's hierarchy has changed, and terrorist attacks inspired by the group are now being carried out independently of bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The CIA said hunting bin Laden remains a priority, but resources needed to be directed toward other people and groups likely to initiate new attacks.
"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck. "This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus."
A former CIA official who once led the unit, Michael Scheuer, told the Times that its shutdown was a mistake.
"This will clearly denigrate our operations against al-Qaida," he said. "These days at the agency, bin Laden and al-Qaida appear to be treated merely as first among equals."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4023190.html
Ex-G.I. Held in 4 Slayings and Rape in Iraq
Date Posted: Tuesday, July 04, 2006
New York Times
Published July 4, 2006
By DAVID S. CLOUD and KIRK SEMPLE
WASHINGTON, July 3 — A recently discharged Army private has been arrested on charges of raping an Iraqi woman and killing her and three family members four months ago in their house, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The former soldier, Steven D. Green, 21, had recently been discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder," the prosecutors said. They said Mr. Green and other soldiers had discussed the rape in advance and carried out the crimes after drinking alcohol, leaving a checkpoint and changing from their uniforms into black clothing.
A criminal complaint made public by the prosecutors on Monday charged that Mr. Green shot the three family members, including a child, with an AK-47 assault rifle found in the house in Mahmudiya before he and another soldier raped the woman. Citing interviews with unnamed participants, the document alleges that Mr. Green, his face covered with a brown T-shirt, then "walked over to the woman and shot her several times." It says the soldiers returned to the checkpoint with blood on their clothes and agreed that the episode was "never to be discussed again."
Mr. Green, who appeared in federal court on Monday in Charlotte, N.C., was arrested there on Friday, the prosecutors said. The documents they made public provided the first official account of the rape and killings, whose broad outlines emerged last week after American military officials in Baghdad said they were investigating the incident. The military originally thought Iraqi insurgents were responsible after several Iraqis approached an American checkpoint and said a family had been killed in their home, the charging documents said.
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=3428
A flood of requests to aid NY
Devastation upstate could reach well past $100M estimate, as lawmakers press for federal disaster funds
BY LAUREN WEBER
Newsday Staff Correspondent
July 4, 2006
ITHACA - The rivers and streams of central New York had barely crested last week, and already lawmakers were putting together cost estimates of the extensive damages that would be left behind.
On Thursday night, Gov. George Pataki gave an initial projection of $100 million, but the next day said it could reach into the "hundreds of millions of dollars."
So began the post-disaster money game, as politicians sought funds to help New Yorkers whose lives were devastated by the floods repair infrastructure - and also, incidentally, to flex their political muscles.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, touring the Binghamton area Friday, repeatedly invoked the specter of Hurricane Katrina and the White House's failure to manage that disaster and its aftermath.
Their comments had the tone of a shakedown, as if they could shame the president into sending maximum assistance.
"We're not going to let Washington run away from its responsibilities. They have a lot to prove after Katrina," Schumer said.
President George W. Bush, to some extent, ignored that gambit, giving federal disaster status, initially, to just eight of New York's 13 hardest-hit counties. And the relief would be limited to public assistance - debris removal and emergency response - not the individual financial assistance needed by thousands whose lives are disrupted.
"Is he punishing New York because we have Democratic senators? I don't know, but clearly the need is here," said Doug Muzzio, a political scientist from Baruch College, speaking by phone yesterday from flooded Delaware County.
It was even more of an embarrassment, however, for Pataki. The Republican governor shares a political affiliation with Bush, which had raised hopes among some for a swift and comprehensive response. On Saturday, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated the eight counties, Pataki called the decision "utterly disappointing."
The governor has already set aside $35 million in flood-related assistance, but that amount pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions that could flow from the federal government.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-stfloo044806094jul04,0,6843409.story?coll=ny-statenews-headlines
bodies of three Americans found in Peru
LIMA, Peru Searchers in Peru have found the bodies of three young American mountaineers.
They were killed last week during an icy climb, high in the Andes mountains.
The searchers yesterday found the bodies of 21-year-old Kristen Yoder and her 23-year-old brother Dustin, and 24-year-old Brennan Larson.
Police say the bodies were in a 100-foot-deep crevasse.
They're being brought out today, in a long descent down the mountain.
Authorities say the climbers had been on a fairly treacherous route, without a guide.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5109334
U.S. Envoy Warns N. Korea on Provocation
By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A top State Department official cautioned North Korea on Monday to avoid "any type of provocative activity" and to return to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program.
Referring to reports that North Korea might be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said "that would be a profoundly unwise step by the North Koreans."
"They have heard from just about everybody in the international community, including China, including Russia, that that would be not only extremely unwise, it would be opposed by all the countries in the world," Burns said in an interview with C-SPAN scheduled for airing Sunday.
"It would be profoundly unwise of them," Burns said, describing North Korea as "an unpredictable regime."
"Our advice to the North Korea is to come back to the six-party talks," Burns said, referring to talks Pyongyang suspended with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. "And our strong advice obviously is for the North Koreans not to engage in any type of provocative activity surrounding these talks," he said.
The administration responded sternly to an annihilation threat from North Korea, saying while it had no intention of attacking, it was determined to protect the United States if North Korea launched a long-range missile.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4022379.html
N.J. Gov. Tells Lawmakers to Compromise
N.J. Gov. Tells Lawmakers During Holiday Session to Compromise Over State Shutdown
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans)
By TOM HESTER Jr.
TRENTON, N.J. Jul 4, 2006 (AP)— Gov. Jon S. Corzine urged lawmakers Tuesday to compromise on his plan to increase the state's sales tax and approve a budget, which would end the government shutdown that threatens to extend to casinos and state parks on Wednesday.
"Make no mistake, people are being hurt and unfortunately more will be hurt in the days ahead," the governor told lawmakers during an unprecedented Fourth of July special session.
The session came three days after Corzine started shutting down state government because lawmakers missed the July 1 constitutional deadline to approve a new budget. Without a budget, the government can't spend money.
"All of us surely believe this circumstance must end," said Corzine, a first-term governor and former U.S. senator and Wall Street executive.
Legislative leaders, speaking after Corzine's address, said his speech wasn't likely to resolve the stalemate right away. If no deal is reached, state parks and historic sites would close Wednesday along with Atlantic City casinos, which are required to have state regulators on duty.
The state lottery, road construction, motor vehicle offices, vehicle inspection stations and courts have already closed. More than half the state work force 45,000 people was ordered to stay home on Monday.
The dispute between the governor and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature centers on his plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit for his $31 billion spending plan. The proposal would cost the average New Jersey family $275 per year, according to experts.
"No one is seeking to increase taxes because they want to," the governor said during his speech, as he detailed years of mismanagement of the state's revenues.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2152080
udge calls a halt to use of sonar in Naval exercise
Posted on : Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:46:00 GMT | Author : Ravi Chopra
News Category : Environment
LOS ANGELES - A federal judge ordered the US Navy to stop using a specific kind of sonar since it may harm the wildlife under the sea. The California federal judge said the Navy could not use the sonar during a Pacific combat exercise slated to begin this week.
Environmentalist groups were able to convince Judge Florence-Marie Cooper to grant a temporary restricting order, who said there was considerable evidence to prove that the sonar was harmful to whales, porpoises and other marine creatures and could even kill them. Joel Reynolds, a Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer, who argued for a ban said whales and other creatures should not die for practice. "The Navy can accomplish its national security mission in a manner that's consistent with environmental protection," he said. "It simply makes no sense for the Navy not to incorporate the full range of practical, common-sense measures available to it to reduce the harm to whales, porpoises and other marine creatures."
The Navy had obtained a six-month exemption to test the midfrequency sonar near the northwest Hawaiian Islands. It may be recalled here that President Bush had proposed making this area the largest marine sanctuary in the world. In denying the Navy this exemption, Judge Cooper write that the plaintiffs "have shown a possibility that Rimpac 2006 will kill, injure, and disturb many marine species, including marine mammals, in waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands".
In 2004, the RIMPAC exercise was interrupted when large pod of melon-headed whales intruded into the test area. The huge publicity surrounding the case served to block the exercise, but one young whale died. Local officials then directed the whales back to the sea.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7456.html
FIREWORKS
WASHINGTON Jul 3, 2006 (AP)— On the eve of the nation's noisiest holiday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission responded to growing fireworks injuries by quietly reopening the question of how it should police explosives for backyard entertainment.
Without a public meeting, the three commissioners voted unanimously by ballot late Friday to begin a study of whether to tighten their regulation of fireworks, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson announced Monday. Their notice seeking public comment will appear soon in the Federal Register.
The notice cited a disturbing increase in injuries and a decrease in compliance with safety regulations as reasons for the first major review of commission fireworks regulations since 1976.
"It's worth pursing an effort to see how we can once again drive down injuries," Wolfson said.
The commission's only Democrat, Thomas H. Moore, criticized the panel for acting by private ballot. "The commission's deliberations are supposed to be done in public," Moore said. "We do not serve the public well when we take the first step in a possible rule-making in this manner."
The commission's just-released study of fireworks injuries in 2005 estimated 10,800 people required emergency room treatment. That figure has risen steadily since an estimated 8,000 required treatment in 2002.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2149914
Capital set for 4th of July visitors
(Undated-AP) July 4, 2006 - The nation's capital is preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for Tuesday's 4th of July festivities.
The highlight is a star-studded concert at the Capitol, followed by a fireworks display. National Park Service spokesman Bill Line calls the Washington show the "premier 4th of July celebration in America."
Before the nighttime activities, there will be an emotional reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the National Archives by soldiers wounded in Iraq. The Archives remain closed because of last week's flooding in the Washington area.
Security will be tight again this year, with visitors forced to enter the National Mall through one of 21 checkpoints.
As many as half a million people could descend on Washington DC Tuesday, and there is a chance for more rain and thunderstorms.
Some cities kicked off their Independence Day festivities early. There were fireworks over Mount Rushmore and Chicago last night.
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5111078
U.S. announces plans to sell F-16 fighters to Pakistan
The United States announced plans on Monday to sell up to 36 F-16 fighters to Pakistan, in a deal that was valued at about 5 billion U.S. dollars.
The proposed sale included 18 new F-16 aircraft, and an option to purchase another 18 new planes, a support package for up to 26 used F-16 fighter, an upgrade for Pakistan's current fleet of 34 F- 16s, and logistical support, White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.
Pakistan was a major non-NATO ally for the United States and had cooperated closely with Washington in the war against terrorism, said Snow.
"This proposed sale demonstrates our commitment to a long-term relationship with Pakistan," he said.
The administration notified the Congress of the plan last Wednesday, which had 30 days to approve or block the sale.
The United States said in March 2005 that it would resume sales of F-16s to Pakistan, after blocking the sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan to sanction the country for its nuclear program.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200607/04/eng20060704_279688.html
US ramps up missile defense in Japan
BBC
By Carmen Gentile for ISN Security Watch (04/07/06)
The US is sending short-range interceptor missiles to Japan after extensive talks with Tokyo - a move that comes amid mounting concerns about North Korea’s intention to test fire yet another missile into the North Pacific.
The implications of the scheduled shipment of US missile batteries to Japan were amplified on Monday when the country’s state-run newspaper said North Korea would launch a nuclear missile attack on the US if Washington launched a pre-emptive attack on the communist regime.
The missile agreement - reached earlier this month - means that the US can install the missiles as soon as possible, according to the Pentagon, which refused to elaborate on the specifics of the arrangement and the number of missiles heading to the Far East.
However, a Japanese newspaper reported earlier this month that three or four missile batteries - capable of holding 16 missiles each - were headed for the southern island of Okinawa, where US troops have been deployed since the end of the Second World War.
Along with the batteries, an additional 500-600 troops would be sent to the US base, ostensibly to arm the PAC-3s.
The US currently has about 100,000 troops stationed in Japan.
While the announcement of the missile deployment follows recent reports that Pyongyang is fueling a new test rocket for blast off, some experts said the move was relatively unrelated to concerns in Washington and the West about North Korea’s nuclear missile capability, as the weapons heading to Japan were medium to long-range interceptors, incapable of thwarting a potential attack from an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
The US Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles are used primarily to intercept incoming short- to medium-range ballistic missiles, enemy warplanes and cruise missiles, according to defense experts.
But some news sources reported earlier this month that the US missiles would also be able to strike down long-range missiles like those fired in previous tests from North Korea.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=16335
Bush vows stay course in Iraq
Tue Jul 4, 2006 12:02pm ET
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By Matt Spetalnick
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, trying to tap into Independence Day patriotism to revive domestic support for an unpopular war, vowed on Tuesday that U.S. troops would not leave Iraq until their mission was complete.
In a Fourth of July speech here, Bush took a veiled swipe at Democrats who have pressed for a timetable for withdrawal more than three years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"Setting an artificial timetable would be a terrible mistake," Bush told more than 3,000 military personnel in a speech interrupted repeatedly by cheers at the home of the storied 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
He reiterated his pledge to base any U.S. troop withdrawals on "the measured advice of our military commanders."
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who serves as Bush's top military advisor as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier in the day that September could be a "reasonable" time to start transferring more responsibilities to Iraqi government forces.
"I think we need to be careful not to put specific timelines on troop turnover of responsibilities to the Iraqis," he said in an interview on NBC's "Today" program. "September is certainly a reasonable date but we need to make sure that conditions on the ground warrant that."
Bush pledged to the flag-waving crowd, "I'm not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 (U.S.) troops who've died in Iraq to be in vain by pulling out before the job is done."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-04T160157Z_01_N04190696_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-IRAQ.xml&archived=False
Independence Day's Lessons for the Conflict with Iran
Robert Tracinski Tue Jul 4, 1:58 AM ET
One day before the July 5 deadline for Iran to say yes or no on whether it will halt its drive toward a nuclear bomb, Americans will celebrate the 230th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--just in time to remind us of some crucial lessons for our nation's confrontation with Iran. Americans think of the Declaration of Independence as the intellectual foundation for our government's domestic policies, for example, the fact that the Constitution protects individual rights and ensures the government's dependence on the "consent of the governed." But the Declaration of Independence was America's first foreign policy document, outlining the causes and principles that led us to fight our first war.
Two hundred years ago, when we were a small fledgling nation and our opponent was the "superpower," note that our leaders had no qualms about acting "unilaterally"--or, as they put it, independently. Though they showed "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind," this required only that they "declare the causes which impel them to the separation" from Britain--not that they seek the legal permission from the unanimous vote of an international council. In short, our right to wage war was based, not on an international consensus, but on "the laws of nature." Today, America is far more capable of independent military action, yet we are far more cowed by the demands for global consensus, allowing the confrontation with Iran to stall for years in a quagmire of "multilateral" negotiations. We need to look, instead, to "the laws of nature" to guide our action. When the Founders cited the "laws of nature," what did they think those laws said? They all accepted as an established truth the idea that men have "unalienable rights"--and that the only legitimate governments are those which recognize and protect individual rights: "to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." The message of the American Revolution is that no government has any "just powers"--or any legitimate political and diplomatic claims--if it violates individual rights
http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20060704/cm_rcp/independence_days_lessons_for
President Johnson Was Reluctant FOIA Supporter
Monday, July 03, 2006
WASHINGTON — The U.S. law that is the foundation for opening the government's filing cabinets to its citizens has provoked bureaucratic headaches since President Johnson begrudgingly signed it 40 years ago Tuesday — and he worried immediately that it might force the disclosure of damaging national secrets, newly disclosed records show.
Decades later, the Freedom of Information Act still regularly creates tension between the government and citizens, corporations, researchers and journalists. The law's staunchest advocates believe its principles have never been so imperiled, threatened by what they describe as the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy and concerns about revealing strategies to terrorists.
"This is the worst of times for the Freedom of Information Act in many ways," said Paul K. McMasters of the First Amendment Center, which studies issues of free speech, press and religion. McMasters cited large backlogs of unresolved citizen requests for records, and new Bush administration strategies to withhold documents.
In 1966, President Johnson was so uneasy about the new legislation he refused to conduct a public signing ceremony that would draw attention to it. He also submitted a signing statement that some researchers believe was intended to undercut the bill's purpose of forcing government to disclose records except in narrow cases.
Draft language from Johnson's statement arguing that "democracy works best when the people know what their government is doing," was changed with a handwritten scrawl to read: "Democracy works best when the people have all the info that the security of the nation will permit."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201991,00.html
Compromise Allows Signs on Iraq War at July 4 Parade From Newsday July 4, 2006
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Marchers in today's Fourth of July parade will be able to carry signs reading "Support Our Troops … Bring Them Home Now," according to a compromise decision hammered out Monday among the village, the marchers and a federal judge.
After complaints about those signs last year, the village's parade committee ruled that no "political propaganda" or advertising could be carried by marchers, and that signs should only reflect the themes of the parade — "Let Freedom Ring" and "Support Our Troops."
Mayor Mark Epley said Monday night that the village never intended to muzzle free speech and that the marchers who took Southampton to court were never expressly told they could not march.
Still, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bridgehampton who wanted to carry the signs said they never received permission to march. The federal court ruling Monday allows them to march and carry signs.
James S. Henry, attorney for the church, responded to the decision saying, "Can you imagine a court order that tells people they have the right to engage in free speech on the Fourth of July and signed by a federal judge?"
http://www.latimes.com
RAW STORY Published: Tuesday July 4, 2006
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof has written a scorching attack on Fox News, the media--and his own paper.
Excerpts from his latest column follow:
# When I was covering the war in Iraq, we reporters would sometimes tune to Fox News and watch, mystified, as it purported to describe how Iraqis loved Americans. Such coverage (backed by delusional Journal editorials baffling to anyone who was actually in Iraq) misled conservatives about Iraq from the beginning. In retrospect, the real victims of Fox News weren't the liberals it attacked but the conservatives who believed it.
Historically, we in the press have done more damage to our nation by withholding secret information than by publishing it. One example was this newspaper's withholding details of the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy himself suggested that the U.S. would have been better served if The Times had published the full story and derailed the invasion.
Then there were the C.I.A. abuses that journalists kept mum about until they spilled over and prompted the Church Committee investigation in the 1970's. And there are secrets we should have found, but didn't: in the run-up to the Iraq war, the press — particularly this newspaper — was too credulous about claims that Iraq possessed large amounts of W.M.D.
In each of these cases, we were too compliant. We failed in our watchdog role, and we failed our country.
Coma man's rewired brain astonishes doctors
A MAN who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement three years ago because his brain spontaneously rewired itself.
US doctors say they now can prove his brain has grown tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.
Terry Wallis, 42, spends almost all his waking hours in bed, listening to country music in a cramped, two-room house.
He speaks in a slurred but coherent voice, returning a visitor's pleased-to-meet-you with "Glad to be met," and speaking haltingly of his family's plans to light fireworks at his brother's house nearby.
For his family, each word is a miracle. For 19 years — until June 11, 2003 — Mr Wallis lay mute and virtually unresponsive in a state of minimal consciousness, the result of a head injury received in a traffic accident. Since his abrupt recovery — his first word was "Mom" — he has continued to improve, speaking more, remembering more.
But Mr Wallis' progress has also been a kind of miracle for scientists: an unprecedented opportunity to study, using advanced scanning technology, how the human brain can suddenly recover from such severe, long-lasting injury.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/coma-mans-rewired-brain-astonishes-doctors/2006/07/04/1151778935995.html
Breast-Feeding Moms Protest Victoria's Secret
'My Daughter Doesn't Eat in the Bathroom,' Mom Says
RACINE, Wis. -- A woman who said she was offended when Victoria's Secret staff asked her to nurse her baby in an employee restroom organized a nursing protest in front of the store as part of a national nurse-in.
About 20 women and children came out in support of Rebecca Cook in front of the Victoria's Secret store at the Regency Mall in Racine on Saturday.
Cook said she was shopping at the store with a friend last week when she asked to use a dressing room to nurse her daughter. When she was told no room was available, she offered to sit in the rear of the dressing room hallway but was told that was unacceptable, she said.
"They opened up their employee restroom, which is disgusting," she said. "I said, 'No, I don't eat in the bathroom and my daughter doesn't eat in the bathroom."'
A spokesman for Limited Brands Inc., the Columbus-based parent company of Victoria's Secret, said the company has a long-standing policy that allows mothers to nurse in their stores.
"In this incidence it was not adhered to. We regret that and apologize for that," said spokesman Anthony Hebron.
Complaints about Victoria's Secret employees by Cook and another nursing mother from Massachusetts sparked the national event.
In Ohio, about 15 mothers nursed their babies for about a half hour outside a Victoria's Secret store in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake.
"It's kind of ironic that Victoria's Secret, which plasters breasts everywhere, is offended at seeing breasts used for their intended purpose," said Anna Mauser-Martinez, who organized the Westlake nurse-in.
A year ago, lawmakers legalized breast-feeding in public places in Ohio.
In Wisconsin, State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, introduced a bill last year that would have allowed women to breast-feed in any public or private place where they were authorized to be, but the bill died in committee in May.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2149041&page=1
Obesity link to depression
[Posted: Tue 04/07/2006]
People who are obese are more likely than those of normal weight to suffer from psychiatric disorders, according to a new study.
A US study of over 9,000 people found that obesity was associated with a 25% increase in the odds of getting major depression, manic depressive illness and panic disorder.
It was found that the relationship between obesity and mental illness was strongest in people with more education and higher incomes.
The researchers found that obesity is associated with a range of common mood and anxiety disorders.
While obesity has for some time been linked to many physical problems including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and arthritis, there has been less research to date on its psychiatric consequences.
The research is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=9824
oreign nurses clampdown by NHS
Many overseas nurses currently work in the NHS
The NHS across the UK should no longer recruit junior nurses from abroad, the government has announced.
The role is being taken off the Home Office shortage occupation list.
Ministers said the expanded training programme and better conditions mean the supply of nurses is now healthy, and the manpower shortage has eased.
However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) attacked the move, warning it would be impossible to replace retiring nurses with home-grown talent alone.
Over 150,000 nurses are due to retire in the next five to 10 years and we will not replace them all with home grown nurses alone
Dr Beverly Malone
It accused the government of making international nurses a scapegoat for the current financial crisis in the NHS, which has seen thousands of posts cut in recent months.
The decision to remove general nurses from the shortage occupation list, means employers will need to advertise any vacancies first and only if they are unable to fill the post can they turn to international recruitment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5140648.stm?ls
People Who Pass On AIDS Virus May be Sued
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 4, 2006
People infected with the virus that causes AIDS may sue the sexual partner who transmitted the virus to them even if the partner did not do so knowingly, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
Bridget B. and John B., as they are known in court papers, started dating in 1998 and married in July 2000. Bridget said that John told her he was healthy and monogamous and that he urged her to have unprotected sex with him. In October 2000, though, she tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, as did he.
Bridget later learned, her lawsuit says, that John had had sex with men before and during their marriage. She seeks compensation for what she says was John's infliction of emotional distress and fraud.
In his own court papers, John responded that he had tested negative for H.I.V. in August 2000 and that in fact Bridget had infected him.
The immediate issue before the court was how much information about John's sexual history he had to turn over in the litigation. To answer that question, though, the majority ruled, it had to determine what Bridget had to prove to win her case.
John conceded that he would be liable if he had affirmatively known, by means of an AIDS test or medical diagnosis, that he was infected when he had sex with Bridget. But he argued that the information Bridget sought could at best show that he had reason to know he was infected and that such so-called constructive knowledge should not be enough to give rise to liability.
Courts in other states have allowed lawsuits for the negligent transmission of sexual diseases based on both actual and constructive knowledge, but they have only rarely confronted the question in the context of H.I.V.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04suit.html
British Record Industry Sues AllofMP3
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
July 3, 2006, 12:55 PM
A British record industry group has been given the go ahead to sue the popular Russian music download site allofmp3.com, however it is unclear if any ruling could be enforced outside of Britain. The British High Court agreed last week to hear the case even though the company is based outside of the country.
AllofMP3 claims it has licenses from Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR). But the music industry has called the ROMS license invalid and said it would not cover users in foreign countries.
BPI first revealed that it would be taking AllofMP3 to court last month. While at the time it warned Britons to stop using the site, BPI said it did not plan to sue users but rather the company itself. The music service is the second most popular in the UK behind iTunes with nearly a 14 percent share.
"This is an important step forward in our battle against AllofMP3.com," BPI general counsel Roz Groome said. "We have maintained all along that this site is illegal and that the operator of the site is breaking UK law by making sound recordings available to UK based customers without the permission of the copyright owners."
"Now we will have the opportunity to demonstrate in the UK courts the illegality of this site," he continued.
http://www.betanews.com/article/British_Record_Industry_Sues_AllofMP3/1151945060
USA Today Backs Off Initial NSA Story
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
July 3, 2006, 12:52 PM
USA Today backed off its NSA domestic spying story on Friday, saying it could not confirm the participation of either BellSouth or Verizon in the program. However, the company stood by its claim that AT&T was part of the program, saying second interviews with its sources as well as anonymous politicians confirmed the telecom's involvement.
The newspaper reported in May that the NSA has been collecting phone call records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth containing the phone calls of tens of millions of Americans. United States President Bush previously asserted that the spying only involved calls made to international destinations.
While part of the report cannot be confirmed, the paper said it was sticking with the story overall, and still believes the program exists. In a response to the retraction, BellSouth said USA Today's actions "speak for themselves" and again reiterated its denial of participation, now confirmed by anonymous members of Congress.
Verizon was also said to not have give the NSA access to its call records, however the company recently acquired MCI, which may have participated in the program, according to USA Today sources. While Verizon has denied its own involvement, it has not made any statements regarding MCI.
Five lawmakers are said to have confirmed AT&T's participation, which the company would not acknowledged other than saying it cooperates with law enforcement as needed. The company is involved in several lawsuits, with customers unhappy over what they see as a breach of privacy.
"Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA Today has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database," the paper said in a second page note to its readers.
USA Today also stood up to critics and said its reporting of the program would not cease. "USA Today will continue to report on the contents and scope of the database as part of its ongoing coverage of national security and domestic surveillance," it wrote.
http://www.betanews.com/article/USA_Today_Backs_Off_Initial_NSA_Story/1151945089
Huge asteroid skips past harmlessly
Tue, July 4, 2006
By AP
LOS ANGELES -- A huge asteroid whizzed by Earth early yesterday, passing about 433,000 kilometres from the planet's surface -- slightly farther away than the moon.
More than three dozen asteroids have flown closer to Earth in the last few years, but scientists believe 2004 XP14 is among the largest.
The asteroid, discovered in 2004, is estimated to be up to 800 metres wide, based on its brightness. Residents with telescopes in the United States and Canada had the best view of 2004 XP14, which appeared as a streaking dot in the northern sky.
An asteroid that size, if it smashed into Earth, would probably cause regional destruction. Scientists have said it would take a 1.6-kilometre-wide or larger asteroid to cause widespread devastation that could threaten civilization.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2006/07/04/1666691-sun.html
Report: China to rein in blogs, search engines
Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service
03/07/2006 09:47:35
China's government plans to step up its supervision of blogs and search engines in a bid to stamp out "illegal and unhealthy" content, the country's state-owned media reported this week.
"This market must be regulated; we need to strengthen our research in technology and management," said Cai Wu, director of the State Council Information Office, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The State Council is China's highest administrative body.
Chinese officials generally keep a close watch on Internet content, blocking access to overseas sites they dislike and jailing dissidents that post political tracts online. But amidst the explosive growth of China's Internet population, censors have focused on restricting political content while offering more room to non-political content.
Officials have yet to determine how to improve their supervision of blogs and search engines, the report said.
China has more than 36 million blogs written by an estimated 16 million bloggers, Cai said, citing figures published by Tsinghua University in Beijing. The number of blogs in China will top 60 million by the end of this year, he said.
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;799440494;fp;2;fpid;1
Buyer beware as new format DVDs arrive
03 July 2006
By REUBEN SCHWARZ
The next generation of DVDs will go on sale in New Zealand this week.
Sony's Blu-ray technology can fit 25 gigabytes of data on a disc, more than five times a normal DVD's 4.6 gigabytes.
This, combined with a data transfer speed three times faster than today's DVDs mean it can store high-definition content made for the increasingly common large-screen plasma and LCD television sets.
The discs will also have a special scratch-resistant coating which will extend their lifespan to 30 years, Sony says.
First in the shops will be blank Blu-ray rewritable discs, which will cost about $48 each.
Next will come write-once discs at about $38 each.
The first read/write Blu-ray drive will appear mid-month in the latest Vaio AR series laptop.
Dual-layer discs that can store up to 50GB are also on the cards.
New Zealanders will have to wait a bit longer for movies on Blu-ray DVDs. Sony Pictures expects them to hit shelves in September. Movies on Blu-ray DVDs are already on sale overseas.
Blu-ray discs face a fierce battle with a rival high-capacity technology, HD DVD, mimicking the format war between JVC's VHS and Sony's Betamax video tapes in the 1980s. Each has the support of major manufacturers and movie houses, and while Blu-Ray stores 10Gb more data, HD DVD technology will be cheaper, at least at first.
Sony's Blu-ray player costs about $US1000 ($NZ1640) in North America, while Toshiba's HD DVD player costs about half that.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3718586a11275,00.html
CIA Reportedly Disbands Bin Laden Unit
© 2006 The Associated Press
NEW YORK — A CIA unit that had hunted for Osama bin Laden and his top deputies for a decade has been disbanded, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed intelligence officials, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the unit, known as "Alec Station," was shut down late last year. The decision to close the unit, which predated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.
The officials told the Times that the change reflects a view that al-Qaida's hierarchy has changed, and terrorist attacks inspired by the group are now being carried out independently of bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The CIA said hunting bin Laden remains a priority, but resources needed to be directed toward other people and groups likely to initiate new attacks.
"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck. "This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus."
A former CIA official who once led the unit, Michael Scheuer, told the Times that its shutdown was a mistake.
"This will clearly denigrate our operations against al-Qaida," he said. "These days at the agency, bin Laden and al-Qaida appear to be treated merely as first among equals."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4023190.html
Ex-G.I. Held in 4 Slayings and Rape in Iraq
Date Posted: Tuesday, July 04, 2006
New York Times
Published July 4, 2006
By DAVID S. CLOUD and KIRK SEMPLE
WASHINGTON, July 3 — A recently discharged Army private has been arrested on charges of raping an Iraqi woman and killing her and three family members four months ago in their house, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The former soldier, Steven D. Green, 21, had recently been discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder," the prosecutors said. They said Mr. Green and other soldiers had discussed the rape in advance and carried out the crimes after drinking alcohol, leaving a checkpoint and changing from their uniforms into black clothing.
A criminal complaint made public by the prosecutors on Monday charged that Mr. Green shot the three family members, including a child, with an AK-47 assault rifle found in the house in Mahmudiya before he and another soldier raped the woman. Citing interviews with unnamed participants, the document alleges that Mr. Green, his face covered with a brown T-shirt, then "walked over to the woman and shot her several times." It says the soldiers returned to the checkpoint with blood on their clothes and agreed that the episode was "never to be discussed again."
Mr. Green, who appeared in federal court on Monday in Charlotte, N.C., was arrested there on Friday, the prosecutors said. The documents they made public provided the first official account of the rape and killings, whose broad outlines emerged last week after American military officials in Baghdad said they were investigating the incident. The military originally thought Iraqi insurgents were responsible after several Iraqis approached an American checkpoint and said a family had been killed in their home, the charging documents said.
http://www.masnet.org/news.asp?id=3428
A flood of requests to aid NY
Devastation upstate could reach well past $100M estimate, as lawmakers press for federal disaster funds
BY LAUREN WEBER
Newsday Staff Correspondent
July 4, 2006
ITHACA - The rivers and streams of central New York had barely crested last week, and already lawmakers were putting together cost estimates of the extensive damages that would be left behind.
On Thursday night, Gov. George Pataki gave an initial projection of $100 million, but the next day said it could reach into the "hundreds of millions of dollars."
So began the post-disaster money game, as politicians sought funds to help New Yorkers whose lives were devastated by the floods repair infrastructure - and also, incidentally, to flex their political muscles.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, touring the Binghamton area Friday, repeatedly invoked the specter of Hurricane Katrina and the White House's failure to manage that disaster and its aftermath.
Their comments had the tone of a shakedown, as if they could shame the president into sending maximum assistance.
"We're not going to let Washington run away from its responsibilities. They have a lot to prove after Katrina," Schumer said.
President George W. Bush, to some extent, ignored that gambit, giving federal disaster status, initially, to just eight of New York's 13 hardest-hit counties. And the relief would be limited to public assistance - debris removal and emergency response - not the individual financial assistance needed by thousands whose lives are disrupted.
"Is he punishing New York because we have Democratic senators? I don't know, but clearly the need is here," said Doug Muzzio, a political scientist from Baruch College, speaking by phone yesterday from flooded Delaware County.
It was even more of an embarrassment, however, for Pataki. The Republican governor shares a political affiliation with Bush, which had raised hopes among some for a swift and comprehensive response. On Saturday, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated the eight counties, Pataki called the decision "utterly disappointing."
The governor has already set aside $35 million in flood-related assistance, but that amount pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions that could flow from the federal government.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-stfloo044806094jul04,0,6843409.story?coll=ny-statenews-headlines
bodies of three Americans found in Peru
LIMA, Peru Searchers in Peru have found the bodies of three young American mountaineers.
They were killed last week during an icy climb, high in the Andes mountains.
The searchers yesterday found the bodies of 21-year-old Kristen Yoder and her 23-year-old brother Dustin, and 24-year-old Brennan Larson.
Police say the bodies were in a 100-foot-deep crevasse.
They're being brought out today, in a long descent down the mountain.
Authorities say the climbers had been on a fairly treacherous route, without a guide.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5109334
U.S. Envoy Warns N. Korea on Provocation
By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A top State Department official cautioned North Korea on Monday to avoid "any type of provocative activity" and to return to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program.
Referring to reports that North Korea might be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said "that would be a profoundly unwise step by the North Koreans."
"They have heard from just about everybody in the international community, including China, including Russia, that that would be not only extremely unwise, it would be opposed by all the countries in the world," Burns said in an interview with C-SPAN scheduled for airing Sunday.
"It would be profoundly unwise of them," Burns said, describing North Korea as "an unpredictable regime."
"Our advice to the North Korea is to come back to the six-party talks," Burns said, referring to talks Pyongyang suspended with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. "And our strong advice obviously is for the North Koreans not to engage in any type of provocative activity surrounding these talks," he said.
The administration responded sternly to an annihilation threat from North Korea, saying while it had no intention of attacking, it was determined to protect the United States if North Korea launched a long-range missile.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4022379.html
N.J. Gov. Tells Lawmakers to Compromise
N.J. Gov. Tells Lawmakers During Holiday Session to Compromise Over State Shutdown
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans)
By TOM HESTER Jr.
TRENTON, N.J. Jul 4, 2006 (AP)— Gov. Jon S. Corzine urged lawmakers Tuesday to compromise on his plan to increase the state's sales tax and approve a budget, which would end the government shutdown that threatens to extend to casinos and state parks on Wednesday.
"Make no mistake, people are being hurt and unfortunately more will be hurt in the days ahead," the governor told lawmakers during an unprecedented Fourth of July special session.
The session came three days after Corzine started shutting down state government because lawmakers missed the July 1 constitutional deadline to approve a new budget. Without a budget, the government can't spend money.
"All of us surely believe this circumstance must end," said Corzine, a first-term governor and former U.S. senator and Wall Street executive.
Legislative leaders, speaking after Corzine's address, said his speech wasn't likely to resolve the stalemate right away. If no deal is reached, state parks and historic sites would close Wednesday along with Atlantic City casinos, which are required to have state regulators on duty.
The state lottery, road construction, motor vehicle offices, vehicle inspection stations and courts have already closed. More than half the state work force 45,000 people was ordered to stay home on Monday.
The dispute between the governor and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature centers on his plan to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit for his $31 billion spending plan. The proposal would cost the average New Jersey family $275 per year, according to experts.
"No one is seeking to increase taxes because they want to," the governor said during his speech, as he detailed years of mismanagement of the state's revenues.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2152080
udge calls a halt to use of sonar in Naval exercise
Posted on : Tue, 04 Jul 2006 08:46:00 GMT | Author : Ravi Chopra
News Category : Environment
LOS ANGELES - A federal judge ordered the US Navy to stop using a specific kind of sonar since it may harm the wildlife under the sea. The California federal judge said the Navy could not use the sonar during a Pacific combat exercise slated to begin this week.
Environmentalist groups were able to convince Judge Florence-Marie Cooper to grant a temporary restricting order, who said there was considerable evidence to prove that the sonar was harmful to whales, porpoises and other marine creatures and could even kill them. Joel Reynolds, a Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer, who argued for a ban said whales and other creatures should not die for practice. "The Navy can accomplish its national security mission in a manner that's consistent with environmental protection," he said. "It simply makes no sense for the Navy not to incorporate the full range of practical, common-sense measures available to it to reduce the harm to whales, porpoises and other marine creatures."
The Navy had obtained a six-month exemption to test the midfrequency sonar near the northwest Hawaiian Islands. It may be recalled here that President Bush had proposed making this area the largest marine sanctuary in the world. In denying the Navy this exemption, Judge Cooper write that the plaintiffs "have shown a possibility that Rimpac 2006 will kill, injure, and disturb many marine species, including marine mammals, in waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands".
In 2004, the RIMPAC exercise was interrupted when large pod of melon-headed whales intruded into the test area. The huge publicity surrounding the case served to block the exercise, but one young whale died. Local officials then directed the whales back to the sea.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7456.html
FIREWORKS
WASHINGTON Jul 3, 2006 (AP)— On the eve of the nation's noisiest holiday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission responded to growing fireworks injuries by quietly reopening the question of how it should police explosives for backyard entertainment.
Without a public meeting, the three commissioners voted unanimously by ballot late Friday to begin a study of whether to tighten their regulation of fireworks, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson announced Monday. Their notice seeking public comment will appear soon in the Federal Register.
The notice cited a disturbing increase in injuries and a decrease in compliance with safety regulations as reasons for the first major review of commission fireworks regulations since 1976.
"It's worth pursing an effort to see how we can once again drive down injuries," Wolfson said.
The commission's only Democrat, Thomas H. Moore, criticized the panel for acting by private ballot. "The commission's deliberations are supposed to be done in public," Moore said. "We do not serve the public well when we take the first step in a possible rule-making in this manner."
The commission's just-released study of fireworks injuries in 2005 estimated 10,800 people required emergency room treatment. That figure has risen steadily since an estimated 8,000 required treatment in 2002.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2149914
Capital set for 4th of July visitors
(Undated-AP) July 4, 2006 - The nation's capital is preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for Tuesday's 4th of July festivities.
The highlight is a star-studded concert at the Capitol, followed by a fireworks display. National Park Service spokesman Bill Line calls the Washington show the "premier 4th of July celebration in America."
Before the nighttime activities, there will be an emotional reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the National Archives by soldiers wounded in Iraq. The Archives remain closed because of last week's flooding in the Washington area.
Security will be tight again this year, with visitors forced to enter the National Mall through one of 21 checkpoints.
As many as half a million people could descend on Washington DC Tuesday, and there is a chance for more rain and thunderstorms.
Some cities kicked off their Independence Day festivities early. There were fireworks over Mount Rushmore and Chicago last night.
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5111078
U.S. announces plans to sell F-16 fighters to Pakistan
The United States announced plans on Monday to sell up to 36 F-16 fighters to Pakistan, in a deal that was valued at about 5 billion U.S. dollars.
The proposed sale included 18 new F-16 aircraft, and an option to purchase another 18 new planes, a support package for up to 26 used F-16 fighter, an upgrade for Pakistan's current fleet of 34 F- 16s, and logistical support, White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.
Pakistan was a major non-NATO ally for the United States and had cooperated closely with Washington in the war against terrorism, said Snow.
"This proposed sale demonstrates our commitment to a long-term relationship with Pakistan," he said.
The administration notified the Congress of the plan last Wednesday, which had 30 days to approve or block the sale.
The United States said in March 2005 that it would resume sales of F-16s to Pakistan, after blocking the sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan to sanction the country for its nuclear program.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200607/04/eng20060704_279688.html
US ramps up missile defense in Japan
BBC
By Carmen Gentile for ISN Security Watch (04/07/06)
The US is sending short-range interceptor missiles to Japan after extensive talks with Tokyo - a move that comes amid mounting concerns about North Korea’s intention to test fire yet another missile into the North Pacific.
The implications of the scheduled shipment of US missile batteries to Japan were amplified on Monday when the country’s state-run newspaper said North Korea would launch a nuclear missile attack on the US if Washington launched a pre-emptive attack on the communist regime.
The missile agreement - reached earlier this month - means that the US can install the missiles as soon as possible, according to the Pentagon, which refused to elaborate on the specifics of the arrangement and the number of missiles heading to the Far East.
However, a Japanese newspaper reported earlier this month that three or four missile batteries - capable of holding 16 missiles each - were headed for the southern island of Okinawa, where US troops have been deployed since the end of the Second World War.
Along with the batteries, an additional 500-600 troops would be sent to the US base, ostensibly to arm the PAC-3s.
The US currently has about 100,000 troops stationed in Japan.
While the announcement of the missile deployment follows recent reports that Pyongyang is fueling a new test rocket for blast off, some experts said the move was relatively unrelated to concerns in Washington and the West about North Korea’s nuclear missile capability, as the weapons heading to Japan were medium to long-range interceptors, incapable of thwarting a potential attack from an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
The US Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles are used primarily to intercept incoming short- to medium-range ballistic missiles, enemy warplanes and cruise missiles, according to defense experts.
But some news sources reported earlier this month that the US missiles would also be able to strike down long-range missiles like those fired in previous tests from North Korea.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=16335
Bush vows stay course in Iraq
Tue Jul 4, 2006 12:02pm ET
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By Matt Spetalnick
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, trying to tap into Independence Day patriotism to revive domestic support for an unpopular war, vowed on Tuesday that U.S. troops would not leave Iraq until their mission was complete.
In a Fourth of July speech here, Bush took a veiled swipe at Democrats who have pressed for a timetable for withdrawal more than three years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"Setting an artificial timetable would be a terrible mistake," Bush told more than 3,000 military personnel in a speech interrupted repeatedly by cheers at the home of the storied 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
He reiterated his pledge to base any U.S. troop withdrawals on "the measured advice of our military commanders."
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who serves as Bush's top military advisor as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier in the day that September could be a "reasonable" time to start transferring more responsibilities to Iraqi government forces.
"I think we need to be careful not to put specific timelines on troop turnover of responsibilities to the Iraqis," he said in an interview on NBC's "Today" program. "September is certainly a reasonable date but we need to make sure that conditions on the ground warrant that."
Bush pledged to the flag-waving crowd, "I'm not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 (U.S.) troops who've died in Iraq to be in vain by pulling out before the job is done."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-07-04T160157Z_01_N04190696_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-IRAQ.xml&archived=False
Independence Day's Lessons for the Conflict with Iran
Robert Tracinski Tue Jul 4, 1:58 AM ET
One day before the July 5 deadline for Iran to say yes or no on whether it will halt its drive toward a nuclear bomb, Americans will celebrate the 230th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--just in time to remind us of some crucial lessons for our nation's confrontation with Iran. Americans think of the Declaration of Independence as the intellectual foundation for our government's domestic policies, for example, the fact that the Constitution protects individual rights and ensures the government's dependence on the "consent of the governed." But the Declaration of Independence was America's first foreign policy document, outlining the causes and principles that led us to fight our first war.
Two hundred years ago, when we were a small fledgling nation and our opponent was the "superpower," note that our leaders had no qualms about acting "unilaterally"--or, as they put it, independently. Though they showed "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind," this required only that they "declare the causes which impel them to the separation" from Britain--not that they seek the legal permission from the unanimous vote of an international council. In short, our right to wage war was based, not on an international consensus, but on "the laws of nature." Today, America is far more capable of independent military action, yet we are far more cowed by the demands for global consensus, allowing the confrontation with Iran to stall for years in a quagmire of "multilateral" negotiations. We need to look, instead, to "the laws of nature" to guide our action. When the Founders cited the "laws of nature," what did they think those laws said? They all accepted as an established truth the idea that men have "unalienable rights"--and that the only legitimate governments are those which recognize and protect individual rights: "to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." The message of the American Revolution is that no government has any "just powers"--or any legitimate political and diplomatic claims--if it violates individual rights
http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20060704/cm_rcp/independence_days_lessons_for
President Johnson Was Reluctant FOIA Supporter
Monday, July 03, 2006
WASHINGTON — The U.S. law that is the foundation for opening the government's filing cabinets to its citizens has provoked bureaucratic headaches since President Johnson begrudgingly signed it 40 years ago Tuesday — and he worried immediately that it might force the disclosure of damaging national secrets, newly disclosed records show.
Decades later, the Freedom of Information Act still regularly creates tension between the government and citizens, corporations, researchers and journalists. The law's staunchest advocates believe its principles have never been so imperiled, threatened by what they describe as the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy and concerns about revealing strategies to terrorists.
"This is the worst of times for the Freedom of Information Act in many ways," said Paul K. McMasters of the First Amendment Center, which studies issues of free speech, press and religion. McMasters cited large backlogs of unresolved citizen requests for records, and new Bush administration strategies to withhold documents.
In 1966, President Johnson was so uneasy about the new legislation he refused to conduct a public signing ceremony that would draw attention to it. He also submitted a signing statement that some researchers believe was intended to undercut the bill's purpose of forcing government to disclose records except in narrow cases.
Draft language from Johnson's statement arguing that "democracy works best when the people know what their government is doing," was changed with a handwritten scrawl to read: "Democracy works best when the people have all the info that the security of the nation will permit."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201991,00.html
Compromise Allows Signs on Iraq War at July 4 Parade From Newsday July 4, 2006
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Marchers in today's Fourth of July parade will be able to carry signs reading "Support Our Troops … Bring Them Home Now," according to a compromise decision hammered out Monday among the village, the marchers and a federal judge.
After complaints about those signs last year, the village's parade committee ruled that no "political propaganda" or advertising could be carried by marchers, and that signs should only reflect the themes of the parade — "Let Freedom Ring" and "Support Our Troops."
Mayor Mark Epley said Monday night that the village never intended to muzzle free speech and that the marchers who took Southampton to court were never expressly told they could not march.
Still, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bridgehampton who wanted to carry the signs said they never received permission to march. The federal court ruling Monday allows them to march and carry signs.
James S. Henry, attorney for the church, responded to the decision saying, "Can you imagine a court order that tells people they have the right to engage in free speech on the Fourth of July and signed by a federal judge?"
http://www.latimes.com
RAW STORY Published: Tuesday July 4, 2006
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof has written a scorching attack on Fox News, the media--and his own paper.
Excerpts from his latest column follow:
# When I was covering the war in Iraq, we reporters would sometimes tune to Fox News and watch, mystified, as it purported to describe how Iraqis loved Americans. Such coverage (backed by delusional Journal editorials baffling to anyone who was actually in Iraq) misled conservatives about Iraq from the beginning. In retrospect, the real victims of Fox News weren't the liberals it attacked but the conservatives who believed it.
Historically, we in the press have done more damage to our nation by withholding secret information than by publishing it. One example was this newspaper's withholding details of the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy himself suggested that the U.S. would have been better served if The Times had published the full story and derailed the invasion.
Then there were the C.I.A. abuses that journalists kept mum about until they spilled over and prompted the Church Committee investigation in the 1970's. And there are secrets we should have found, but didn't: in the run-up to the Iraq war, the press — particularly this newspaper — was too credulous about claims that Iraq possessed large amounts of W.M.D.
In each of these cases, we were too compliant. We failed in our watchdog role, and we failed our country.
Coma man's rewired brain astonishes doctors
A MAN who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement three years ago because his brain spontaneously rewired itself.
US doctors say they now can prove his brain has grown tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.
Terry Wallis, 42, spends almost all his waking hours in bed, listening to country music in a cramped, two-room house.
He speaks in a slurred but coherent voice, returning a visitor's pleased-to-meet-you with "Glad to be met," and speaking haltingly of his family's plans to light fireworks at his brother's house nearby.
For his family, each word is a miracle. For 19 years — until June 11, 2003 — Mr Wallis lay mute and virtually unresponsive in a state of minimal consciousness, the result of a head injury received in a traffic accident. Since his abrupt recovery — his first word was "Mom" — he has continued to improve, speaking more, remembering more.
But Mr Wallis' progress has also been a kind of miracle for scientists: an unprecedented opportunity to study, using advanced scanning technology, how the human brain can suddenly recover from such severe, long-lasting injury.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/coma-mans-rewired-brain-astonishes-doctors/2006/07/04/1151778935995.html
Breast-Feeding Moms Protest Victoria's Secret
'My Daughter Doesn't Eat in the Bathroom,' Mom Says
RACINE, Wis. -- A woman who said she was offended when Victoria's Secret staff asked her to nurse her baby in an employee restroom organized a nursing protest in front of the store as part of a national nurse-in.
About 20 women and children came out in support of Rebecca Cook in front of the Victoria's Secret store at the Regency Mall in Racine on Saturday.
Cook said she was shopping at the store with a friend last week when she asked to use a dressing room to nurse her daughter. When she was told no room was available, she offered to sit in the rear of the dressing room hallway but was told that was unacceptable, she said.
"They opened up their employee restroom, which is disgusting," she said. "I said, 'No, I don't eat in the bathroom and my daughter doesn't eat in the bathroom."'
A spokesman for Limited Brands Inc., the Columbus-based parent company of Victoria's Secret, said the company has a long-standing policy that allows mothers to nurse in their stores.
"In this incidence it was not adhered to. We regret that and apologize for that," said spokesman Anthony Hebron.
Complaints about Victoria's Secret employees by Cook and another nursing mother from Massachusetts sparked the national event.
In Ohio, about 15 mothers nursed their babies for about a half hour outside a Victoria's Secret store in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake.
"It's kind of ironic that Victoria's Secret, which plasters breasts everywhere, is offended at seeing breasts used for their intended purpose," said Anna Mauser-Martinez, who organized the Westlake nurse-in.
A year ago, lawmakers legalized breast-feeding in public places in Ohio.
In Wisconsin, State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, introduced a bill last year that would have allowed women to breast-feed in any public or private place where they were authorized to be, but the bill died in committee in May.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2149041&page=1
Obesity link to depression
[Posted: Tue 04/07/2006]
People who are obese are more likely than those of normal weight to suffer from psychiatric disorders, according to a new study.
A US study of over 9,000 people found that obesity was associated with a 25% increase in the odds of getting major depression, manic depressive illness and panic disorder.
It was found that the relationship between obesity and mental illness was strongest in people with more education and higher incomes.
The researchers found that obesity is associated with a range of common mood and anxiety disorders.
While obesity has for some time been linked to many physical problems including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and arthritis, there has been less research to date on its psychiatric consequences.
The research is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=9824
oreign nurses clampdown by NHS
Many overseas nurses currently work in the NHS
The NHS across the UK should no longer recruit junior nurses from abroad, the government has announced.
The role is being taken off the Home Office shortage occupation list.
Ministers said the expanded training programme and better conditions mean the supply of nurses is now healthy, and the manpower shortage has eased.
However, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) attacked the move, warning it would be impossible to replace retiring nurses with home-grown talent alone.
Over 150,000 nurses are due to retire in the next five to 10 years and we will not replace them all with home grown nurses alone
Dr Beverly Malone
It accused the government of making international nurses a scapegoat for the current financial crisis in the NHS, which has seen thousands of posts cut in recent months.
The decision to remove general nurses from the shortage occupation list, means employers will need to advertise any vacancies first and only if they are unable to fill the post can they turn to international recruitment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5140648.stm?ls
People Who Pass On AIDS Virus May be Sued
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 4, 2006
People infected with the virus that causes AIDS may sue the sexual partner who transmitted the virus to them even if the partner did not do so knowingly, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
Bridget B. and John B., as they are known in court papers, started dating in 1998 and married in July 2000. Bridget said that John told her he was healthy and monogamous and that he urged her to have unprotected sex with him. In October 2000, though, she tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, as did he.
Bridget later learned, her lawsuit says, that John had had sex with men before and during their marriage. She seeks compensation for what she says was John's infliction of emotional distress and fraud.
In his own court papers, John responded that he had tested negative for H.I.V. in August 2000 and that in fact Bridget had infected him.
The immediate issue before the court was how much information about John's sexual history he had to turn over in the litigation. To answer that question, though, the majority ruled, it had to determine what Bridget had to prove to win her case.
John conceded that he would be liable if he had affirmatively known, by means of an AIDS test or medical diagnosis, that he was infected when he had sex with Bridget. But he argued that the information Bridget sought could at best show that he had reason to know he was infected and that such so-called constructive knowledge should not be enough to give rise to liability.
Courts in other states have allowed lawsuits for the negligent transmission of sexual diseases based on both actual and constructive knowledge, but they have only rarely confronted the question in the context of H.I.V.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04suit.html
British Record Industry Sues AllofMP3
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
July 3, 2006, 12:55 PM
A British record industry group has been given the go ahead to sue the popular Russian music download site allofmp3.com, however it is unclear if any ruling could be enforced outside of Britain. The British High Court agreed last week to hear the case even though the company is based outside of the country.
AllofMP3 claims it has licenses from Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR). But the music industry has called the ROMS license invalid and said it would not cover users in foreign countries.
BPI first revealed that it would be taking AllofMP3 to court last month. While at the time it warned Britons to stop using the site, BPI said it did not plan to sue users but rather the company itself. The music service is the second most popular in the UK behind iTunes with nearly a 14 percent share.
"This is an important step forward in our battle against AllofMP3.com," BPI general counsel Roz Groome said. "We have maintained all along that this site is illegal and that the operator of the site is breaking UK law by making sound recordings available to UK based customers without the permission of the copyright owners."
"Now we will have the opportunity to demonstrate in the UK courts the illegality of this site," he continued.
http://www.betanews.com/article/British_Record_Industry_Sues_AllofMP3/1151945060
USA Today Backs Off Initial NSA Story
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
July 3, 2006, 12:52 PM
USA Today backed off its NSA domestic spying story on Friday, saying it could not confirm the participation of either BellSouth or Verizon in the program. However, the company stood by its claim that AT&T was part of the program, saying second interviews with its sources as well as anonymous politicians confirmed the telecom's involvement.
The newspaper reported in May that the NSA has been collecting phone call records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth containing the phone calls of tens of millions of Americans. United States President Bush previously asserted that the spying only involved calls made to international destinations.
While part of the report cannot be confirmed, the paper said it was sticking with the story overall, and still believes the program exists. In a response to the retraction, BellSouth said USA Today's actions "speak for themselves" and again reiterated its denial of participation, now confirmed by anonymous members of Congress.
Verizon was also said to not have give the NSA access to its call records, however the company recently acquired MCI, which may have participated in the program, according to USA Today sources. While Verizon has denied its own involvement, it has not made any statements regarding MCI.
Five lawmakers are said to have confirmed AT&T's participation, which the company would not acknowledged other than saying it cooperates with law enforcement as needed. The company is involved in several lawsuits, with customers unhappy over what they see as a breach of privacy.
"Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA Today has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database," the paper said in a second page note to its readers.
USA Today also stood up to critics and said its reporting of the program would not cease. "USA Today will continue to report on the contents and scope of the database as part of its ongoing coverage of national security and domestic surveillance," it wrote.
http://www.betanews.com/article/USA_Today_Backs_Off_Initial_NSA_Story/1151945089
Huge asteroid skips past harmlessly
Tue, July 4, 2006
By AP
LOS ANGELES -- A huge asteroid whizzed by Earth early yesterday, passing about 433,000 kilometres from the planet's surface -- slightly farther away than the moon.
More than three dozen asteroids have flown closer to Earth in the last few years, but scientists believe 2004 XP14 is among the largest.
The asteroid, discovered in 2004, is estimated to be up to 800 metres wide, based on its brightness. Residents with telescopes in the United States and Canada had the best view of 2004 XP14, which appeared as a streaking dot in the northern sky.
An asteroid that size, if it smashed into Earth, would probably cause regional destruction. Scientists have said it would take a 1.6-kilometre-wide or larger asteroid to cause widespread devastation that could threaten civilization.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2006/07/04/1666691-sun.html
Report: China to rein in blogs, search engines
Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service
03/07/2006 09:47:35
China's government plans to step up its supervision of blogs and search engines in a bid to stamp out "illegal and unhealthy" content, the country's state-owned media reported this week.
"This market must be regulated; we need to strengthen our research in technology and management," said Cai Wu, director of the State Council Information Office, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The State Council is China's highest administrative body.
Chinese officials generally keep a close watch on Internet content, blocking access to overseas sites they dislike and jailing dissidents that post political tracts online. But amidst the explosive growth of China's Internet population, censors have focused on restricting political content while offering more room to non-political content.
Officials have yet to determine how to improve their supervision of blogs and search engines, the report said.
China has more than 36 million blogs written by an estimated 16 million bloggers, Cai said, citing figures published by Tsinghua University in Beijing. The number of blogs in China will top 60 million by the end of this year, he said.
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;799440494;fp;2;fpid;1
Buyer beware as new format DVDs arrive
03 July 2006
By REUBEN SCHWARZ
The next generation of DVDs will go on sale in New Zealand this week.
Sony's Blu-ray technology can fit 25 gigabytes of data on a disc, more than five times a normal DVD's 4.6 gigabytes.
This, combined with a data transfer speed three times faster than today's DVDs mean it can store high-definition content made for the increasingly common large-screen plasma and LCD television sets.
The discs will also have a special scratch-resistant coating which will extend their lifespan to 30 years, Sony says.
First in the shops will be blank Blu-ray rewritable discs, which will cost about $48 each.
Next will come write-once discs at about $38 each.
The first read/write Blu-ray drive will appear mid-month in the latest Vaio AR series laptop.
Dual-layer discs that can store up to 50GB are also on the cards.
New Zealanders will have to wait a bit longer for movies on Blu-ray DVDs. Sony Pictures expects them to hit shelves in September. Movies on Blu-ray DVDs are already on sale overseas.
Blu-ray discs face a fierce battle with a rival high-capacity technology, HD DVD, mimicking the format war between JVC's VHS and Sony's Betamax video tapes in the 1980s. Each has the support of major manufacturers and movie houses, and while Blu-Ray stores 10Gb more data, HD DVD technology will be cheaper, at least at first.
Sony's Blu-ray player costs about $US1000 ($NZ1640) in North America, while Toshiba's HD DVD player costs about half that.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3718586a11275,00.html
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