news archives 2002
"For
perhaps the first time in human history,
the same number
are overfed as are underfed."
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NEWS
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WORLD'S LARGEST ECONOMIC UNION (SCO) IN JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES—"A Sino-Russian joint military exercise scheduled for August aims to test the reliability of bilateral military communications and will not target any third country source."
BALI MASSACRE AL QUEDA?—"Those able to donate blood are asked to report immediately to the Blood Transfusion Unit at the R.S.U.P. (General Hospital) Sanglah. Bali is now in a state of high secuirty alert...high levels of control and surveillance at all ports of entry and the island's sole airport are in place source."
LARRY LINDSEY SAID TAX CUT WOULD PREVENT US RECESSION—"Tax cuts are the solution. They are not part of the problem. It's necessary to get the economy growing again, and that's what the tax cuts are for. This is Economics 101. The second quarter is going to be the weakest. The third-quarter growth will be a little higher; so will the fourth quarter, when we will begin to get back to a more normal rate of growth Washington Times Reuters Meet the Press." See also NYTimes.
DUH IT'S $7.1 BILLION AND NOT $3.8 BILLION LIKE WE SAID WHEN WE CORRECTED WHAT WE SAID—"This amount is in addition to the previously reported $3.8 billion in overstated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the year 2001 and first quarter 2002 source."
CHINA & IRAN—"Khatami stressed that Iran attaches special importance to maintaining and furthering ties with China source." CHINA & GHADDAFI—"In the past 24 years, the friendly relations have continued. Libya is the second leg of Jiang's trip which will also take him to Iran source."
AFGHAN BOYS AND GIRLS BACK IN SCHOOL source US-AFGHAN 'FRIENDLY' BASKETBALL GAME TURNS VIOLENT—"A friendly basketball game between U.S. and Afghan teams turned violent, with one American player kicked in the head and two Afghan spectators shot in the leg, peacekeepers and witnesses said Friday source."
RARE PLANET LINE-UP—"For a period of a little more than three weeks, anyone looking west at sunset will be able to see the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. On May 5, something even more spectacular will happen. The bright planets Mars, Saturn and Venus will group together to form a perfect equilateral triangle. In the Middle East, this pyramid-shaped specter will hang directly above Bethlehem source."
5.1 EARTHQUAKE AND TWO AFTERSHOCKS RATTLE AND RADDLE CANADA AND NEW YORK —"02/04/20 10:50:44 44.51N 73.66W 5.0 5.1M A NEW YORK 02/04/20 11:04:40 44.50N 73.67W 5.0 4.0M A NEW YORK 02/04/20 11:45:26 44.50N 73.67W 5.0 2.6M A NEW YORK USGS." CBC
THE INFINITE UNIVERSE WILL ETERNALLY AMAZE—"One year is the time it takes the Earth to move once around the Sun, our central star. This may seem quite fast when measured on the scale of the Universe, but this is a snail's motion compared to the the speed of two recently discovered stars. They revolve around each other 100,000 times faster; one full revolution takes only 321 seconds, or a little more than 5 minutes! It is the shortest period ever observed in a binary stellar system source."
AS ENRON UNRAVELED LAST JULY JUDICIAL
WATCH.ORG
SUED US VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY RE SECRET 'ENERGY TASK
FORCE' MEETINGS. NOW THE US GOVT. ITSELF IS SUING HIM—"As you know, the United States General Accounting
Office (GAO) has been engaged [since April 19,
2001],
2001]
in an ongoing effort to obtain certain narrowly
defined, factual information concerning the development of the National Energy
Policy proposal from Vice President Cheney in his role as Chair of the National
Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG). Importantly, we are only seeking
limited information in connection with
NEPDG-related
matters source."
"Judicial Watch is concerned that energy policy is
being made in secret by individuals and interests with a
financial and political stake in particular
policies...the law requires that the American people be
kept informed about these deliberations source."
The Judicial Watch lawsuit also deals with,"...the concurrent ownership of shares of stock in
energy industry enterprises by key administration and
White House officials and personnel." DURING
2000 ELECTION
CAMPAIGN US DEFENSE DEPT. AWARDED LARGEST- EVER CONTRACT TO
EDS
CORP. IN WHICH CHENEY WAS
BOARD MEMBER &
STOCKHOLDER— Electronic Data Systems Corp. website
says he stayed on Board of Directors and still owned
5,743 stock in EDS
source
which rose more than 80%
after the award of the contract
source. EDS
was losing money as badly as ENRON prior to the award of
the contract
source,
which was the largest ever awarded by any
govt. Cheney is former US Secretary of Defense.
—Houston Chronicle.com reports: "A former Enron Corp. executive who challenged the company's questionable financial practices and resigned last May was found shot to death in a car in Sugar Land today in what was ruled a suicide, authorities said. Enron officials confirmed the death this morning of J. Clifford Baxter, 43, former vice chairman of the embattled Houston company source." Once FORTUNE's #7, Enron stock went from $90 to nil as the huge company's accountants (Andersen) were paid a million dollars a week as 20,000 Enron employees lost every dollar in their stock-based pensions. Andersen homepage Enron homepage
AMATEURS DISCOVER COMET—Visible with binoculars in Northern Hemisphere these nights viewing details.
LONG AFGHAN GUERRILLA WAR?—"Up to 300 more U.S. soldiers have been rushed to the battle in recent days bringing the total U.S. force there to about one-thousand troops. There are also several thousand Afghan and foreign troops assisting in the U.S.-led effort." "Gunmen opened fire Saturday on an observation post manned by British peacekeepers, the soldiers' commander said, in a third day of violence that heightened fears about security in the Afghan capital source."
US HAS BIN LADEN FAMILY DNA—"U.S. intelligence has already collected DNA samples from members of bin Laden's family for comparison source."
US JET ERROR KILLS 4 CANADIAN SOLDIERS—"Canada is launching a board of inquiry to find out how a training mission in Afghanistan turned into a tragedy that took the lives of four Canadian soldiers source."
US WELFARE DEPT. CHIEF SUGGESTS PROMOTING MARRIAGE—"Dr. Horn does want the federal government to promote and encourage marriage more aggressively among low-income people, and the administration is proposing to spend $100 million a year to do just that source."
THREE LOTTERY TICKETS SHARE $193 MILLION IN LARGEST SINGLE STATE JACKPOT IN US HISTORY—"The most exciting part of this jackpot is that California schools will receive more than $107m source."
NUMBER OF WRONGFUL
CONVICTIONS
UNDONE BY DNA EVIDENCE REACHES 98 IN US
source.
AFGHANI
WOMEN
NOT IN EQUAL ROLE IN INTERIM GOVT.—"RAWA is in dire need of funds to continue its hard struggle against the fundamentalist bands and implement its projects in education, healthcare, income generation, culture and public awareness.
Your donation will really make a difference source." SIGN
RAWA PETITION
"On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Act, which embodies his education reform plan sent to Congress on January 23, 2001, is the most sweeping reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since ESEA was enacted in 1965. It redefines the federal role in K-12 education and will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. It is based on four basic principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work source."
NEW YORK TIMES WINS RECORD SEVEN PULITZER PRIZES—This many in a single year is more than double previous record source.
BONN CLIMATE TREATY NOT LEGALLY BINDING —"The
EU gave ground by dropping the word "legally"
from descriptions of how binding the hitting of
emissions targets would be on countries. EU officials
insisted the targets would still be binding source." "Every binding rule adopted in the Bonn
agreement is carefully phrased as a recommendation source.”
Thirty-eight industrialised countries agreed on targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The EU will start turning the treaty into law for all member countries, forcing a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 8% on 1990 levels by 2010.
The protocol is expected to come into force as early as next year.
$500-million of aid a year will be provided to help developing countries adapt to climate change and the transfer of clean technology.
Industrialised countries will be able to plant forests, manage existing ones and change farming practices, and thereby claim credits for removing carbon dioxide.
An international trade in carbon will be started. Companies saving carbon by building clean technologies in other states will be able to claim credits that can be sold as tonnes source."
But ENN says the treaty: "
Allows industrialised nations to rely heavily on so-called carbon sinks (using forests to soak up carbon dioxide) to meet targets, reducing the need for action at home to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Appears to exclude nuclear power although the language is not clear
Seeks to encourage small-scale green energy projects but the conditions proposed may mean that such projects may not be properly funded
Says that the industrialised nations that pollute the most should act to reduce the difference between them and developing countries
Fails to provide adequate funding for developing countries seeking to reduce their vulnerability to climate change source."
Carbon sink info Earth Dept. Earth Summit 2002
US HAS BIN LADEN FAMILY DNA—"U.S. intelligence has already collected DNA samples from members of bin Laden's family for comparison source."
PRO-CHINA MAOISTS KILL 102 IN ESCALATING GUERRILLA WAR IN NEPAL—" The Maoists have been waging a guerrilla war in Nepal since 1996 that has claimed nearly 1,800 lives. HEADS OF 41 MAOISTS FOUND— "Decapitated heads of at least 41 Maoist rebels have been found around fields of Saphebhagar airport attacked and destroyed by Maoist rebels in Acham district overnight, a reporter for Nepal Television said quoting eyewitnesses Sunday source." WHO IS BARBARA ADAMS?—"I, Barbara Adams hereby swear that I will not write about politics or hold press conferences if I am allowed to return to Nepal source." Dissident writer has lived in Nepal for 40 years and has Nepali citizenship. "It is said she had made enemies of the powerful by writing against them. Adams was also actively involved in human right activities. Ms. Adams had written scathing remarks against PM Koirala, present IGP Achyut Kharel and the then Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka source." One of her pieces is: "RAPE FOR PROFIT: Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India's Brothels source." US State Dept. background. Nepal has 8 of the world's 10 highest mountains, and is the only official Hindu state. See also CIA Nepal page and China's People's Daily.
