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[
" tfo...@yahoo.com",
" Mon, 28 Feb 2005 19:19:14 -0800",
" Sock Painting Party",
"Howdy PR,",
"We are going to be having a sock painting party at my house instead of the normal meeting at St. Mary's.",
"It is going to be Wednesday from 5 till 10.",
"Come and go as you need to.",
"We need lots and lots of help because there are tons of socks to do.",
"We have already made one pair and they look awesome!",
"Everyone from the campaign in invited!",
"If you can please bring... junky clothes (wear shorts), scissors, blowdryers, duck tape and plastic bags.",
"The directions to my house are...",
"- Start on Texas Ave. and head away from Bryan - Go down Texas Ave. until you come to South West Parkway - Take right on SW Parkway - Go down SW Parkway until you come to Welsh (stoplight) - Take right on Welsh - The apartment complex is called Renaissance Park and is on the immediate left - Go into second entrance of the complex on left (mailbox should be on right side) - Park anywhere - I am in building 24 apartment #241 - We will possibly be out back around pool if no one answers door",
" Petrel",
" Sat, 18 Dec 2004 02:11:28 GMT",
" Ethical and legal issues in hiring Marinello",
"It has been suggested that there is, or was at one time, some sort of delegates' motion which established a minimum period between the time someone could leave the EB and the time someone could be hired by the USCF.",
"I don't know if this is so, and I really think it's sort of irrelevant.",
"It's irrelevant because the REAL question is whether an active board member can, while on the board, arrange to be given money by the USCF.",
"Of course it's in the bylaws that an active board member cannot be given money by the USCF while on the board.",
"It ought to be pretty obvious that it would be entirely contrary to the spirit of this for an active board member to be money after leaving the board.",
"Suppose, for example, there were to be a proposal to the effect that each EB member would be given $10,000 upon the expiration of his/her term.",
"Clearly this would be a transparent attempt to evade the bylaws and would fail.",
"If the board cannot vote to give themselves present money, they cannot vote to give themselves future money either.",
"Furthermore, it doesn't matter whether this arrangement is embodied in an EB vote or not, or whether the discussion of the proposal takes place in a formal EB meeting or not.",
"A board member, while on the board, is supposed to be representing the interests of the USCF, not feathering his/her nest, in the present or in the future.",
"If a board member makes such arrangements, it is clearly an ethics violation, clearly a violation of the bylaws, possibly endangers our tax-exempt status, and is possibly a violation of law as well.",
"The purpose of having a \"time limit\" would be as a mechanism to ensure compliance with the above principles; that is, you would have a time limit because it would reduce the likelihood that someone would be tempted to violate the above prohibition; it would give the voters time to elect a new EB that would consider the issues objectively.",
"Of course, it is possible that someone could leave the board -without- ever having discussed being compensated by the board in the future, and that then the remaining members could, for good reason, hire that person.",
"It would create questions among the suspicious - and avoiding this appearance of wrongdoing would be another good reason for a time limit - but it wouldn't automatically be an ethics or bylaws violation.",
"But this is neither here nor there, because the fact that Randy Bauer is already talking about Beatriz Marinello as the USCF's new \"move coordinator\", whatever that involves, and whether or not it means that she would be the de facto interim ED, means that at some level and in some form these discussions HAVE already taken place, while Marinello is serving as President.",
"I mean, it's conceivable that the other six have all gotten together in Marinello's absence and drafted her, but it also seems pretty clear that she has agreed to do it, and, if all the rumors are true and she steps down, it will be so that she can take on these new responsibilities.",
"So the 'time limit' issue doesn't even come up.",
"We pretty much know that Marinello, while on the board, has arranged to get future money from the USCF.",
"So we already have a problem.",
"If this is NOT a problem, I wish someone would explain to me why not.",
"Now, Stan B. argues that Marinello's services are in fact indispensible as move coordinator, and that ethics standards are not a suicide pact, so that since we absolutely NEED her the EB has the right to go ahead and retain her.",
"I agree with the principle.",
"But I think that to make this argument work the EB would have to produce some evidence that Marinello really IS indispensible for this task.",
"This would have to include evidence that the EB had considered all the alternatives, including:",
"- delegating the whole thing to the Interim ED, which would be the normal practice in normal organizations with an ED",
"- asking the Interim ED to designate someone from the New Windsor staff to act as move coordinator",
"- asking the Interim ED to hire some other consultant with experience in office relocation to manage the job (there are such people)",
"- conducting some kind of actual search for candidates for the position during the last two months since the move was decided upon",
"If they did consider alternatives, it would also have to include evidence that Marinello has much more experience at relocating offices than other people, or is willing to do the job cheaper (although this wouldn't constitute being \"indispensible\" in my view).",
"If, however, they just looked around the room and said \"who is going to manage this?\"",
"and someone said, \"Beatriz, how about you?",
"\", this does not constitute proof that her services are indispensible, and thus it wouldn't interfere with my belief that there has been an ethics violation and a bylaws violation.",
"One very bad argument that was made by Kevin Bachler, which to be fair was surrounded by arguably better ones, was that since this board was elected, we should let them do as they please.",
"Which is to say that there might as well not be bylaws, ethics standards, laws, etc., since an elected board is not bound by any of them.",
"I think this idea should be rejected.",
"Another argument, which is better but still disturbing, is that, yes, this is an ethics violation, and maybe worse, but it would only hurt the USCF to talk about it, and that only troublemakers like Sam Sloan, Larry Parr, and, I suppose, me, would talk about it, since doing so will obstruct the federation's plans, cause us to pay legal expenses, run the risk of our being stuck without any office space at all, cause people not to loan us money, and so forth.",
"So we should all ignore this because it is realistic to do so.",
"I'm not entirely unsympathetic to this, actually.",
"But frankly I think that a whole lot of the problems the USCF has had over the years have had to do with well-intentioned people keeping secrets because bringing them out in the open would harm the USCF, and as a result we have awful habits which hurt the USCF even worse.",
"But if we are going to talk about realism, here is another realistic concern: I predict that, if, in fact, the rumors about the agenda for the Florida meeting prove true, and Marinello resigns as President and is hired as move coordinator, the immediate result of this is that Sam Sloan will file another lawsuit (or amend his current complaint) charging the USCF EB members with self-dealing, violation of the USCF's own bylaws, and every other thing, report us to the IRS, and demand that all USCF moneys which might be used to paid Marinello be frozen.",
"This is not based on any communication from Sam, direct or indirect.",
"It is just logical.",
"If he is willing to file a lawsuit on the basis of New York non-profit organization law, which might or might not be applicable to the USCF, why wouldn't he file a lawsuit on the basis of the USCF's violation of its own bylaws, which unquestionably ARE applicable to the USCF?",
"I wrote a few days ago quoting my own employer association's attorney, who said that courts mostly let associations do what they want UNLESS they violate their own bylaws.",
"It is irritating enough to get sued by Sam Sloan; imagine how irritating it would be to get sued by Sam Sloan and BEATEN by Sam Sloan because you have done something so egregious that a court is forced to agree with him.",
"petrel",
" Lynn",
" Fri, 18 Feb 2005 19:02:43 -0500",
" Board Member Compensation",
"Hello all,",
"What is the recommended policy on compensating board members for attending meetings, when they have no vacation time left at work, and are attending the board meeting on their own time, without pay.",
"We don't want to lose the contributions of this board member, but this has become a financial issue.",
"Thanks.",
" Nathan Garber",
" Sat, 19 Feb 2005 11:15:48 -0500",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Lynn",
"If your organization is a charity, it is generally considered to be inappropriate, and in some jurisdictions, it is illegal to compensate board members for their service.",
"You should check out the law in your state and/or country.",
"It is reasonable, however, to reimburse board members for legitimate and necessary expenses incurred in order to serve on the board.",
"I wonder if you could make a case for paying someone to replace the board member so the board member can attend meetings.",
"I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me to be similar to reimbursing a board member for a babysitter, which no one questions.",
"Another possibility is to change the meeting times.",
"Nathan",
" lnma",
" Sat, 19 Feb 2005 11:34:54 -0500",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"We are incorporated in Maryland.",
"There are just 5 of us on the board (we are a charity 501(c)(3), although we all live in different states from coast to coast.",
"It is very difficult to find times for all of us to get together.",
"Would I need to check the Maryland law or the law in the state in which this board member lives?",
"Thanks.",
" David Ross",
" Sat, 19 Feb 2005 11:29:45 -0800",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"In IRS Publication 557, the sample draft articles of incorporation indicate that NO compensation may be paid to directors.",
"In fairness, reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses on behalf of the organization -- including travel and lodging to attend board meetings -- are allowed.",
"However, Publication 557 does not explicitly prohibit compensation to directors.",
"As far as state laws go, you must follow the laws for the states (1) in which the organization is incorporated and (2) in which the organization operates.",
"For an organization that is incorporated in Maryland and has its headquarters in Maryland, the laws of Maryland apply without regard to the states in which the directors live.",
"Remember, a corporation is legally a \"person\", distinct from the corporeal persons who govern, manage, and operate the corporation.",
"Thus, the laws applying to the corporate person are the laws of the state where that person \"lives\".",
"--",
"David E. Ross (URL:)",
"I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that complies with Web standards.",
"See (URL:).",
" Freddie Newsgroup",
" Sun, 20 Feb 2005 08:14:39 GMT",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"It is very legal, and an acceptable policy or practice in Canada to pay an honorarium or stipent for people on boards that are active.",
"Many do this, as they know it is an investment for the time and talents they need.",
"They also know, as do the recipients, the payment is but a percentage of the true worth of the time and effort, but does show respect for what they are recieving.",
" lnma",
" Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:40:01 -0500",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Is there anyone who knows of a precedent for this being done for a non-profit in the U.S.?",
"Thanks!",
" anonym...",
" Mon, 21 Feb 2005 22:59:47 GMT",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Yes.",
"Some Head Start agencies, Community Health Centers, and similar nonprofit organizations serving low-income people have a requirement for \"consumer\" representation on their boards.",
"Transportation cost reimbursement, child care accommodation, provision of meals, etc., can be done either in-kind or in cash.",
" anonym...",
" Mon, 21 Feb 2005 23:03:58 GMT",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Michael L. Wyland Sumption & Wyland 818 South Hawthorne Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57104-4537 (605) 336-0244 (605) 336-0275 (FAX) (888) 4-SUMPTION (toll-free) mich...@sumptionandwyland.com",
"-- free e-newsletter sign-up -- new article: \"For CEOs -- Six Characteristics of Good CEO/Board Relationships\"",
" Nathan Garber",
" Tue, 22 Feb 2005 07:48:14 -0500",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Actually, it would not be advisable to accept Freddy's comments at face value.",
"It is not acceptable policy and not legal to pay an honorarium or stipend to directors of charities.",
"I checked with a lawyer familiar with Canadian charity law, who explained that it is not permitted to remunerate board members of charities for their service as board members.",
"The prohibition does not apply to directors of nonprofit organizations that are not charities.",
"In the USA, the rules vary from state to state.",
"Some states permit board members of charities to be compensated, but it is generally not done.",
"Donors, funders, and the general public share the view that directors of charities should act gratuitiously.",
"It is permitted everywhere, however, to reimburse directors for necessary expenses incurred in order to serve.",
"If your organization is a charity, you need to check your state law and act very carefully if you are considering paying board members.",
"Nathan",
" Freddie Newsgroup",
" Tue, 22 Feb 2005 20:47:33 GMT",
" Re: Board Member Compensation",
"Being someone that works and lives in Canada, and in the non-profit industry, it is done, and it is very legal.",
"Take a look at any of the large student unions, they all pay their elected board members an honorarium, as do many of the large foundations.",
"It is legal, and it is done.",
" WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR",
"Hi, Judy.",
"Thank you very much.",
"As of an hour or so ago, we got word from the battlefield that U.S. forces were just 15 miles away from the southern edge of Baghdad.",
"And they may be even closer right now.",
"The toughest fight, though, may lie ahead in the heart of the Iraqi capital.",
"Pentagon sources say the first phase of the final push into Baghdad is now under way.",
"U.S.-led forces were able to press farther north after defeating Iraqi Republican Guard units at Karbala and Kut (ph).",
"Our embedded reporters say the two-pronged advance appears to be moving faster than commanders expected.",
"The Pentagon says two of the Republican Guard divisions defending Baghdad are no longer credible forces.",
"Scenes from Najaf may also be bolstering the troops' spirit.",
"Iraqis who initially were cautious when U.S. forces arrived in Najaf ended cheering them on, shaking their hands and patting their backs.",
"U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry is in the forefront of U.S. troops since they first left Kuwait and crossed directly into the Iraqi desert.",
"Our Walter Rodgers is embedded with the unit's 3rd Squadron, which is leading the 3rd Infantry Division's march toward the Iraqi capital.",
"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)",
" WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT",
"Throughout the day, as the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry punched northward in the general direction of Baghdad, we have seen huge convoys of supply troops moving ever northward.",
"Indeed, all the arrows on the Army's map seem to be pointing in the direction of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.",
"Earlier in the day, the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division took Karbala with a minimum of fight.",
"And then the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division secured the town of Karbala.",
"Additionally, the 7th Cavalry has pushed onward in the general direction of Baghdad.",
"Yesterday we were about 50 miles from the southern suburbs of Baghdad.",
"We have perhaps have that distance.",
"Throughout the day, we have watched the 3rd Infantry Division bring in prisoners of war.",
"Iraqi soldiers glad the war is over for them, perhaps 100 at a time.",
"There were times when the 7th Cavalry itself got into some skirmishes as it pushed forward, again in the direction of Baghdad.",
"There was a bit of a firefight when the 7th Cavalry came upon three Soviet vintage 20- millimeter anti-aircraft guns, ack-ack guns.",
"The Iraqi unit in possession of those guns fired mortars in the direction of the 7th Cavalry.",
"The Apache troop opened its tank guns, opened its own mortars, decimated that unit, put it out of existence and probably killed some 20 Iraqis in the process.",
"This as it continues to push ever closer towards the southern suburbs of Baghdad.",
"Walter Rodgers, CNN, with the U.S. 7th Cavalry in the Iraqi desert.",
"(END VIDEOTAPE)",
" BLITZER",
"And it's a similar story from CNN's Karl Penhaul who is now just miles from the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital.",
"He's embedded with the U.S. Army's 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment.",
"Here's his report just filed a few minutes ago.",
"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)",
" KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over)",
"The speed as they push to Baghdad seems to have gathered pace overnight and in the course of this morning.",
"In fact, it's going much faster than many of the U.S. commanders on the ground predicted.",
" CAPT.",
"BRIAN MCCORT, PILOT",
"The intensity it's very quick moving, very fluid battle.",
"The armor, and mechanized infantry, and artillery pieces and personnel on the ground are moving at rapid speeds.",
" PENHAUL",
"Overnight and early this morning, the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles of the 3rd Infantry Division backed by the Apache attack helicopters of the 11th Aviation Regiment punched through the Republican Guard defenses in and around Karbala.",
"They were then able to advance far north of that city and, as we speak, U.S. commanders tell me that elements of the 3rd Infantry Division are now literally just a few miles from Baghdad.",
"(END VIDEOTAPE)",
"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)",
" MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over)",
"Seven-eleven a.m. Eastern, 4:11 p.m. in Iraq.",
"At its daily briefing, U.S. Central Command says Operation Iraqi Freedom is far from finished in Baghdad, even though U.S. forces are inside the Iraqi capital.",
"Eight-fifteen a.m. Iraq's information minister reads a message he says is from Saddam Hussein urging Iraqis to step up attacks against coalition forces.",
"Eight-thirty-six a.m. Walter Rodgers reports according to Army sources, Iraqi officials are fleeing Baghdad in droves, using civilian convoys top avoid being targeted by coalition air strikes.",
"Eight-forty-three a.m. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports coalition troops entering Baghdad were met with fierce fighting, and there were casualties on both sides.",
"Nine-oh-six a.m. CNN's Martin Savidge, embedded with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, reports the unit has reached the extreme southeast suburbs of Baghdad, adding to forces the U.S. says now encircle the city.",
"Twelve-thirteen p.m. At the Pentagon, Barbara Starr reports officials say today begins a new strategy in the skies over Baghdad.",
"The coalition air force will begin providing urban combat air support over the city.",
"Now the operating plan includes both ground and air missions.",
"Twelve-twenty-one p.m. CNN's Wolf Blitzer reports according to an eyewitness, a bomb has hit central Baghdad only a few hundred meters from the Palestine Hotel.",
"The Palestine Hotel is where much of the international press corps is based.",
"(END VIDEOTAPE)",
" NOVAK",
"Welcome back.",
"Orders went out today to deploy 17,000 U.S. Army soldiers in the Persian Gulf region.",
"The army's entire first Calvary division based at Fort Hood, Texas, would join the quarter million U.S. forces already in the region.",
"We're talking about possibilities of full scale war with former Congressman Tom Andrews, Democrat of Maine.",
"He's now national director of Win Without War, and former Congressman Bob Dornan, Republican of California.",
" BEGALA",
"Bob, one of the reasons I think so many Americans are worried about this war and so many people around the world don't want to go is there have been a lot of problems with credibility from this administration.",
"Our president has repeatedly, for example, relied on a man whom you're aware, Hussein Kamel, Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, leader of the Iraq arms program who defected for a time.",
"And gave us a whole lot of information and then went home and his father-in-law killed him.",
"Bad move.",
"But while he was here, he gave us a whole lot of information.",
"Gave us a whole lot of information.",
"Well, our president told us that information proves that the dictator had chemical weapons, which is true.",
"But what we just learned this week from \"Newsweek\" magazine which got a hold of the debriefings, is that he also told us it was destroyed back in 1995.",
"Why hasn't our president told us that?",
"Why do we have to learn it from \"Newsweek\"?",
" DORNAN",
"I don't believe that he believed it was all destroyed.",
"The fact that this guy was such an idiot to go back and let his father-in-law kill him shows he wasn't the most stable of people.",
"But the things that...",
" BEGALA",
"Good point.",
"But shouldn't our president have told us what the CIA told him.",
"Why do we learn from \"Newsweek?",
"\"Should he level with us?",
" DORNAN",
"Paul, look, the problem is I would stipulate all four of us hates war.",
"Any rational person hates war.",
"Bush isn't sitting in that White House not thinking about the body bags coming home with great young men.",
"Clinton suffered greatly over the 19 Rangers that died, 18 on the 3rd of October and Matt Reersen (ph) three days later.",
"I visited all their families.",
"I was at the medal of honor ceremony for the kids.",
"Let me tell you, what trips to Walter Reed taught me was, that whoever thought up the term, the law of unintended consequences it pertains to war.",
"I am shook over the aftermath.",
"But, this guy is a monster, a mini-me Hitler.",
"He will blow a city off the earth in a minute if he can get the hold of the means to do it.",
" NOVAK",
"Tom Andrews, I think we all realize that a government doesn't go to war a nation goes to war.",
"And so I would like you to take a look at the CNN/\"USA TODAY\"/Gallup poll, taken last week, should U.S. troops to go to Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power.",
"Take a look at it.",
"Favor 59%, opposed 37%, that's a vastly larger support than President Bush Senior had in getting the U.S. troops out of Kuwait before that war started.",
"That's pretty good support isn't it?",
" ANDREWS",
"Now, Bob, come on you don't really buy this.",
"I mean, listen, this is the oldest trick in the book.",
"You can have a general question like this that could mean anything and ask people and they give you what comes off the top of their head.",
"But, ask them another question, ask them what they think about spending $1.3 trillion in destroying this economy.",
"Ask them about going and not just a war, Bob, but an invasion and occupying for up to 10 years a sovereign Arab nation in the midst of one of the most distable and volatile regions in the world.",
"Ask them how they feel about getting bogged down.",
"Well, I've seen some of the figures.",
"Once you start telling Americans the story, -- the administration refuse today tell us story.",
"They're not coming forward and telling us what the risks are, what the costs are, how many years we might be in, the possibility of us getting bogged down, because what Americans know that, they're opposed to this war.",
"The more they learn about this invasion, the more they learn about this occupation, the less they support it.",
" DORNAN",
"Tom, you know what liberals want.",
"They don't want a smoking gun, they want a smoking city.",
"The Clinton people all say...",
" BEGALA",
"That's going to have to be last war, unfair and unfortunate as that is, I am sorry, they're telling us we're out of time.",
"Former Congressman, Bob Dornan from California...",
" DORNAN",
"You're not going to get a smoking city.",
" WOODRUFF",
"You are looking at live pictures of the White House where President Bush watched some of the television coverage of events in Baghdad today.",
"Separately, Vice President Cheney shared his thoughts in a speech in New Orleans.",
"With me now for more on all this, CNN's senior White House correspondent John King.",
"John, they have to be happy there.",
" JOHN KING, CNN SNR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT",
"Judy, they are.",
"Behind the scenes privately here you get a palpable sense of vindication, although publicly caution is the watchword here, administration officials from the vice president on down saying the war is not over yet.",
"Some of the toughest fighting could still be ahead.",
"Mostly they believe in those northern Iraq areas Brent Sadler was just talking about before the break.",
"But they do believe the pictures out of Baghdad today, on the one hand, send as powerful a message as you can send to the people in the Arab world who have criticized this war.",
"People in Baghdad celebrating.",
"U.S. troops assisting in pulling down that statue of Saddam Hussein.",
"Across the Arab world, the administration hopes to send a signal that the United States is there to help the Iraqi people regain control of their own country, as a liberty, not as any imperial or occupying force.",
"Of course, at the same time, though, the White House worries that the American people might see these pictures and think the war is over.",
"Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney among those saying the toughest fighting might still lie ahead, still unanswered questions about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein and other key members of the Iraqi leadership.",
"The vice president made that argument today.",
"But even as he sounds that note of caution, you do sense a little tiny bit of we told you so.",
"(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)",
" DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES",
"Bottom line, with less than half of the ground forces and two-thirds of the air assets used 12 years ago in Desert Storm, Secretary Rumsfeld and General Franks have achieved a far more difficult objective.",
"Yet until this war is fully won, we cannot be overconfident in our position.",
"And we must not underestimate the desperation of whatever forces remain loyal to the dictator.",
"(END VIDEO CLIP)",
" KING",
"We will not hear from the president today, we are told, but before the week is out and perhaps as early as tomorrow officials say the president is likely to offer his thoughts on the challenges just ahead.",
"So, again, behind the scenes, a sense of vindication, but also a cautious attitude because of the fighting still to come.",
"I have to tell you, though, Judy, the CIA Director George Tenet walked out of the White House a short time ago with a giant smile on his face.",
"I cannot recall a moment since September 11, 2001 and those tragic events when we have seen the CIA director look so happy.",
" WOODRUFF",
"Well, John, given all that you've said, we know that there's an American retired general waiting in Kuwait.",
"But in addition to that, what steps are they already taking at the White House to plan for a post-Saddam Hussein government in Iraq?",
" KING",
"They are planning to accelerate that planning process.",
"Jay Garner the retired general will go into Iraq soon with his troops soon.",
"I say troops.",
"They are civilians from the U.S. government.",
"That will take place soon.",
"They are awaiting for word from the Pentagon that it believes the security environment is secure enough for that to happen.",
"And beginning as early as next week, there will be a series of town meetings, if you will.",
"The invitations will be issued by General Tommy Franks.",
"They are trying to identify Iraqis from within the country, as well as Iraqi dissidents and exiles, the diaspora they call it here at the White House, who will be part of a planning process to begin the process -- they say it could takes weeks or more -- of selecting who should be part of that interim Iraqi authority.",
"Now, we know, one person who will be invited is planning process, those planning meetings, is Ahmed Chalabi.",
"He is the leader of the Iraqi National Congress.",
"He is known to be a favorite of Vice President Dick Cheney, of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary Rumsfeld's top deputy, Paul Wolfowitz.",
"He will be involved in the planning and in those meetings.",
"But I also should report that there is a sense of annoyance here at the White House, even among some of Mr. Chalabi's top supporters, that, since returning to Iraq in recent days, he has complained frequently, including on our air earlier today, that the United States is moving too slowly to get in the reconstruction efforts, to restore electricity and restore water.",
"Over at the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, again, a supporter of Mr. Chalabi, said that, in his view, services were already at their prewar levels.",
"And Mr. Rumsfeld went on to say, Secretary Rumsfeld went on to say, there is still a war going on, still quite a dangerous situation -- Judy.",
" WOODRUFF",
"Yes, we caught some of that irritation in his choice.",
"All right, John King, our senior White House correspondent, thank you.",
"Still to come: warfare amid the celebrations in Baghdad.",
"As Iraqis poured into the streets to mark their apparent new freedom, American troops come under fire from a different area.",
"CNN's Martin Savidge will show us what they came up against at Baghdad University.",
"(NEWS BREAK)",
"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)",
" TUCHMAN (voice-over)",
"As they get ready to head over hostile territory, 10 men aboard this Air Force HC-130 search and rescue and refueling plane start to feel their adrenaline rushing.",
"Who looks out for the unlikely prospect of Iraqi aircraft, and the more likely prospect of Iraqi missiles or artillery.",
"(on camera): Does your mindset change across the border into Iraq?",
" UNIDENTIFIED MALE",
"No, because I am in an area which I don't know where the enemy could be and I might get to the airplane, by the time I get out of the airplane I'm thinking the same way.",
" TUCHMAN",
"Which is?",
" UNIDENTIFIED MALE",
"The hair on the back of my neck starts standing up, then something's going wrong.",
" TUCHMAN (voice-over)",
"As a precaution, the crew starts turning the huge plane in circles to see what the targets do.",
"Ultimately it's discovered the targets are U.S. combat helicopters.",
"Minutes later the search and rescue helicopter arrives for its refueling.",
"Watch the flash from our night vision camera as the plane's fuel line connects with the chopper.",
"Both aircraft fly at 125 miles per hour gingerly over enemy land.",
"At times they are only 50 feet apart with the chopper's rotor blades getting closer.",
"Looking with the naked eye out of the plane, the helicopter is impossible to see.",
"The pitch-black maneuver ends after 10 minutes.",
"(on camera): What stops though - we know the Iraqis have fired sand missiles and fired AAA at aircraft all throughout this war.",
"They haven't hit anybody, but isn't it risky flying so low knowing they have that ammunition to fire at you.",
" UNIDENTIFIED MALE",
"Again, we know where we're going.",
"We know where they're at so we simply avoid them and if for some reason they do get off a lucky shot or they do see us, we have defensive systems on board the airplane to defeat their ammunition.",
" TUCHMAN",
"We all fly with bulletproof vests in case the plane goes down.",
"We also fly with parachutes in case we need to get out before the plane goes down.",
"(voice-over): But three airmen aboard this plane have parachutes for a different reason.",
"They are the Pararescue jumpers, or PJs who jump off the plane for rescue missions.",
" UNIDENTIFIED MALE",
"I mean it's probably the most - the best feeling in the world knowing that your purpose is really defined at that moment.",
" TUCHMAN",
"No rescues were necessary on this sortie.",
"The plane arrived back to base safely.",
"(on camera): Do you have any fear?",
" UNIDENTIFIED MALE",
"Everybody has a little bit of fear but I think it's a good thing in this circumstance.",
" TUCHMAN (voice-over)",
"This crew could be back on another mission in as few as 24 hours.",
"(END VIDEOTAPE)",
" TUCHMAN",
"This is a very busy base.",
"We want to give you a look right now at the aircraft coming in for landings.",
"It looks like LAX on a Sunday night and this is what it's been like for the past 11 days.",
"We have just watched multitudes of warplanes land, multitudes of warplanes take off and this may be the busiest night of the campaign.",
"They're expecting a total at this particular base near the Iraqi border of 300 sorties in a 24-hour period ending today according to the Air Force total from all the bases and there are more than 30 bases in 12 different countries in the Middle East according to the Pentagon.",
"They're saying there will be 1500 sorties in a 24-hour period ending tomorrow.",
"Eight hundred of those sorties will be strike sorties using bombs and missiles so there is no slow down in the amount of air power being used over Iraq.",
"Wolf, back to you.",
" BLITZER",
"That's a lot of bombs and missiles.",
"Gary Tuchman in an air base near the Iraq border, thanks very much, Gary Tuchman.",
"This programming note, tomorrow at noon Eastern I'll have a special interview with the nation's top military officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.",
"General Richard Myers will be my special guest on a special late addition.",
"That's at noon Eastern, nine A.M. Pacific tomorrow.",
"That's Sunday and I'll be back Judy and at the top of the hour for Wolf Blitzer Reports.",
"We'll have a complete wrap of all the day's late breaking developments.",
"In the meantime, back to Judy Woodruff in Washington.",
" WOODRUFF",
"We'll be watching you both times at the top of the hour and certainly for late edition on Sunday.",
"Thanks Wolf.",
"Well, as coalition forces push north, they are encountering a unique problem of combat, getting rid of the weapons captured from the enemy.",
"Some of the 40,000 British troops are kicking up a lot of dust in the Iraqi desert making sure that nothing is left behind them that could hurt them.",
"Greg Milam is with the U.K. forces in southern Iraq.",
"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)",
" GREG MILAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT",
"Seemingly deserted, these battered buildings hold a deadly threat to British forces in Iraq.",
" SERGEANT GEOFF BANHAM, ROYAL ENGINEERS",
"This is what we're coming across a lot of these, 30 mil, 60 mil, 80 mil, even 120 mil.",
"So there's plenty still out there that will have to be recovered because they can be used.",
" MILAM",
"Do you know when this place was last used?",
"I mean do you know (UNINTELLIGIBLE)",
" BANHAM",
"I'm not too sure but judging by some of this, it's been here quite a long time so whether it's been used recently by them - there was an Intel upbeat saying that they were possibly coming back to try and get this to use against them.",
" MILAM",
"Grenades, mortars, all sorts of ammunition abandoned by Iraqi soldiers but there for the taking.",
"The job of these Royal Engineers is to clear this and many other mountains of armaments and destroy them.",
"Some are too unstable to be moved and have to be blown up on the spot.",
"The rest is carried way out into the desert.",
"And today's parts in this conflict, this kind of work becomes more and more important.",
"With the coalition forces moving forward the last thing they want is weaponry like this lurking behind them.",
" CAPTAIN ANDY GOOCH, ROYAL ENGINEERS",
"With the amounts of ammunition and weapons left about, if they'd used those systems, that amount of weapon it would have given us a considerable amount of trouble trying to take the positions.",
" MILAM",
"With much of this weaponry there is only one safe thing to do.",
"No one in the British forces here is willing to take any risks.",
"Greg Milam, Sky News, Southern Iraq.",
"(END VIDEOTAPE)",
" Curt",
" 2005-02-17T12:37:00",
"Gotta hate the French, I really don't think there is anything good you can say about the French anymore, they are a waste and a joke of a government.",
"Apparently Bush wants the European's to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group.",
"Makes sense right?",
"As rising instability in Lebanon increases tensions in the Middle East, the Bush administration is arguing with European governments over whether they should designate the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah a terrorist organization, American and European officials say.",
"The United States is already stepping up pressure on Iran and Syria, Hezbollah's main sponsors.",
"The American rift with Syria deepened this week, with suspicions that Syria might have been behind the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister in Beirut on Monday.",
"...",
"In the past two weeks, the officials said, France has rebuffed appeals by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, which would prevent it from raising money in Europe through charity groups.",
"The United States has long called Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but the French, American and European officials said, have opposed doing so, and argue that making such a designation now would be unwise, given the new turbulence in Lebanon.",
"Israeli and American officials say that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told them that he, too, regards Hezbollah as a destructive force in the Middle East, one determined to undermine peace talks by supporting militant groups that attack Israelis.",
"Gotta love that.",
"The Palestinian president admits that Hezbollah are a bunch of f-wad terrorists but the French don't agree....No joke.",
"The Europeans are not solidly opposed to listing Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the officials said.",
"The Netherlands, Italy and Poland support the Bush administration's view, several officials said, while Germany and Britain believe the issue is moot unless the French change their minds.",
"One European diplomat said other countries were \"hiding behind\" France on the issue.",
"...",
"A European diplomat said the issue of calling Hezbollah a terrorist organization was discussed in Brussels on Wednesday at a meeting of the Clearing House, a unit of the European Union that meets in confidential sessions to review terrorist activities in Europe.",
"The group could reach no consensus, the diplomat said.",
"\"Nothing is going to change on Hezbollah because we don't have an agreement among the member states,\" the diplomat said.",
"\"That doesn't mean we won't get a consensus.",
"I know the Americans are impatient, but the European Union has 25 states, and these things take time.\"",
"Some of those interviewed tried to make it sound as if the reason they are hesitant to go along with Bush is because of the situation in Lebanon.",
"But as The Captain points out, it probably has more to do with Iran:",
"I suspect the true reason for the reluctance comes not from the \"delicate\" nature of Lebanese politics, but from the relationship between Hezbollah and the Iranians.",
"The EU has tried for the past two years to appease the Iranian mullahs into giving up their nuclear-weapons ambitions to little avail.",
"They don't want to rock the boat now by attempting to starve out the mullahs' terror agent that conducts the proxy attacks against Israel that Iran cannot afford to do itself openly.",
"They did not learn from Hitler's Germany I guess, they tried to appease that guy too.",
"This whole thing just reminds me how corrupt and useless France is.",
"They will forever be known as that corrupt and cowards in my opinion.",
"Read From On High , Dhimmi Watch , Cranky Neocon , and My View Of The World for more.",
" tracy",
" 2005-02-23T10:49:00",
"Got job?",
"And so, I have rejoined the world of the fully employed.",
"After Christmas, I got a call from the wife of one of my former bosses (at my last full-time job).",
"She was looking for a Development Assistant at the retirement community where she works.",
"I started here 4 weeks ago.",
"WM is affiliated with, but not run or fully supported by, the denomination I've been a part of all my life (UMC).",
"My grandmother (who was Baptist) lived here for a few months before she died in 1995, so I have many connections to the job.",
"Our offices are in one of the patio homes, and I have my own lovely office with a window.",
"The job's only about 12 miles from home, and I'm going against the bulk of the traffic mornings and afternoons.",
"It all seems perfect and yet... Oh, I'm so thankful to be somewhere so nice where I might actually make a difference in people's lives, and I want to keep an open mind and hope it'll last forever, but I have a feeling I'll be restless within a year or so.",
"My boss is a very nice person, but conservative and resistant to technology, i.e.",
"computers, internet, etc.",
"We just got new computers a week and half ago, and she's griping about XP (her old OS was Windows 98--mine was 95, so I'm thrilled with the new stuff).",
"I tell her it'll just take some getting used to.",
"We'll see.",
"I'm not making the kind of salary I was hoping to get, but it's the best salary I've gotten thus far.",
"When I was fulltime in radio I made a little less, but I got quite a few remotes, which make up for not getting a topnotch salary.",
"I'm still doing my TV announcing and my weekend radio stuff, so that money will help.",
"I'm going to start actively pursuing more voice work in the next month or so, too.",
"My plan is to pay off my car early, and then work on the other debts.",
"I think it's time to go on and fill out the adoption applications.",
"I'm terrified of more debt, but Mom and Dad will help with the money.",
"I'm not sure they realize how expensive it all is.",
"I'm thinking we might lean toward adopting from Guatemala, but we've still not hashed it all out.",
"It's almost bad making some money now, because while most of me wants to save as much as possible, the other, smaller part is screaming loudly for stuff, stuff, stuff!!!",
"I've got a trial subscription to XM at work because of the Dell computers, and now I'm lusting to have it all of the time.",
"G got me a nice office stereo for my birthday and it does have an aux jack, so I could listen to it here.",
"He asked if I wanted a car stereo, and I said no, but I do.",
"There are so many things I want.",
"A garage.",
"A dining room set.",
"New stuff for our house.",
"New clothes.",
"New everything.",
"But I want family more.",
"I think part of the draw of the other stuff is I could get it now.",
"But I'd be paying for it later.",
"Money makes the world go round and round and round til I'm just dizzy.",
" Scott",
" 2004-11-16T13:47:00",
"From Reuters : U.S. Marines rallied round a comrade under investigation for killing a wounded Iraqi during the offensive in Falluja, saying he was probably under combat stress in unpredictable, hair-trigger circumstances.",
"Marines interviewed on Tuesday said they didn't see the shooting as a scandal, rather the act of a comrade who faced intense pressure during the effort to quell the insurgency in the city.",
"\"I can see why he would do it.",
"He was probably running around being shot at for days on end in Falluja.",
"There should be an investigation but they should look into the circumstances,\" said Lance Corporal Christopher Hanson.",
"\"I would have shot the insurgent too.",
"Two shots to the head,\" said Sergeant Nicholas Graham, 24, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.",
"\"You can't trust these people.",
"He should not be investigated.",
"He did nothing wrong.\"",
"Of course the anti-American world press is jumping all over this story, casually omitting the fact that just a day earlier the marine in question lost a fellow soldier who was attending to a dead insurgent that was booby-trapped with explosives.",
"Add the tactic of booby-trapping your own dead to the effective suicide bombings, and it's clear to say that the Geneva Convention isn't on the minds of the insurgents.",
"For that I believe the Marines should handle dead and wounded insurgents by any means necessary to ensure their own safety and prevent a possible ambush.",
"I'm no fan of this war either, but it irks me to no end reading and listening to civilian opinions on how soldiers should conduct themselves in hostile war zones from their comfortable recliners.",
"To the world press and everyone else who despises the United States: You don't have to like our president or those operating this war, but get off the backs of the 18, 19 and 20 year-olds thrown into a situation you will never see or have to encounter.",
"I've got too many friends in Iraq right now I want to see come home alive and well, and I will support them at every opportunity.",
" Curt",
" 2005-02-03T19:53:00",
"Interesting article at the Accuracy In Media website yesterday.",
"It seems a supposed straight shooting reporter with NBC was taking money to fund a book that is so pro-united nations that its almost sickening to read.",
"(hat tip Clear and Present )",
"One of the hottest stories around, the U.N. corruption scandal, NBC has been out to lunch.",
"Why?",
"Its U.N. reporter has been on the payroll of the U.N. lobby.",
"Linda Fasulo, the U.N. correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, has written a pro-U.N. book, An Insider's Guide to the U.N. , which reads like the U.N. paid for it.",
"Actually, the pro-U.N. lobby paid for it.",
"In a monstrous conflict of interest for a supposed straight news reporter, Fasulo acknowledges Ted Turner's U.N. Foundation and Better World Campaign for \"their generous financial support\" of her book project.",
"She also thanks the Rockefeller Brothers Fund \"for helping to fund the project.\"",
"The book is about \"one of the finest and most important governing bodies,\" she says.",
"Of the U.N. chief, she writes like a school girl with a crush.",
"\"It is hard to find anyone who can mount a serious criticism of [Kofi] Annan's performance as Secretary General,\" she claims.",
"His performance is so \"impressive\" that she wonders if a \"cult of personality\" has risen up around him.",
"One U.S. official is reported to be \"astonished by just how good a Secretary General Kofi Annan has been.\"",
"Yup, you read that right.",
"Kofi's performance is soooooo impressive.",
"Gag.",
"Guess the democrats have their own Armstrong conspiracy to deal with.",
"Why would an NBC reporter (who also reports on the U.N. for National Public Radio) take money from the U.N. lobby?",
"Perhaps because longtime NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw put his stamp of approval on the UNA-USA and BCUN by acting as master of ceremonies at their 2001 Global Leadership Dinner.",
"Not surprisingly, Brokaw is listed on the Fasulo book jacket as saying it is a \"must-read.\"",
"Another endorsement of the book comes from Barbara Crossette, former New York Times bureau chief at the U.N. who now writes for U.N. Wire, a Ted Turner-funded online news service that covers the U.N. A fascinating part of the book is how Fasulo manages to gloss over Annan's role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.",
"She tries to blame the U.S. and other members of the Security Council for not sending enough troops to stop it.",
"She admits, however, that, \"The Rwanda massacres occurred while Annan was U.N.",
"Undersecretary General for peacekeeping,\" and that \"After he became SG [Secretary General], Annan commissioned a report to examine what had happened and suggest remedies.\"",
"Later, \"Annan accepted responsibility for failing to act more quickly,\" she writes.",
"But responsibility for what?",
"The truth is that, as director of U.N. peacekeeping, Annan personally refused requests to authorize U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda to seize weapons and prevent genocide.",
"Writer and author Philip Gourevitch has described in detail how, three months before the genocide, Major General Romeo Dallaire, the commander of several thousand U.N. troops in Rwanda, sent a fax to Kofi Annan's office, saying he had received evidence from a Rwandan government informant that genocide was being planned.",
"The informant offered to help U.N. forces in raiding the government stockpiles to be used in the genocide campaign.",
"All that the informant wanted in return was protection for himself and his family.",
"But the general needed U.N. authorization to conduct such a raid and save lives.",
"He asked for that approval but the answer came back in a now-infamous \"genocide fax\" from Annan's office.",
"It denied authorization for the mission and told him that he should turn the information provided by the confidential witness over to the Rwandan government which was planning the genocide!",
"The result was that the information dried up and the genocide took place.",
"Yup, good ole Kofi told this poor guy to give the secret info over to the very government that was planning the genocide.",
"What a great guy he is isn't he.",
"Or how about the ongoing prostitution that's going on in the Congo?",
"Now the report comes out today on the Oil for Food scandal.",
"Yeah...this guy is such a good SG.",
"Eff him.",
"The article ends with the following:",
"In an April 30, 2001, Washington Times column, Nat Hentoff noted that the media have devoted \"scant mention\" to the \"plain fact that it was Mr. Annan, when he was head of the United Nation's peacekeeping office, who could have prevented the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and their sympathizers in Rwanda in 1994.\"",
"It's true, Hentoff said, that the U.N. issued a report in 1999 that acknowledged, to some extent, its role in the killings.",
"But for five and a half years, he noted, Annan \"refused to accept any responsibility for the Rwandan holocaust until Mr. Gourevitch and others revealed that less than 5,000 U.N. troops could have stopped the killings if Mr. Annan had not closed his eyes.\"",
"It is astonishing that a journalist for NBC New would close her eyes to Annan's role.",
"But that is what she was apparently paid to do.",
" Curt",
" 2004-11-17T20:02:00",
"Chris Matthews, that idiot talking head over at MSNBC, said yesterday about the terrorists we fought in Fallujah \"a rival, I mean they're not bad guys especially, just people who just disagree with us\"....this just amazes me, the complete idiocy of this waste of human sperm.",
"These are the same terrorists blowing up families, chopping off heads of civilians, and the complete disregard for any human life and they just disagree with us?",
"Tell that to the family of Margaret Hassan, the school teacher who was brutally tortured and then slaughtered by these same guys, they ain't so bad are they Chris Matthews?",
"This women who was known for her 30 years of work in Iraq, distributing medicine, food and supplies to Iraqis suffering under the sanctions of the 1990s.",
"British officials say they believe Hassan was a blindfolded woman seen being shot in the head by a hooded militant on a video obtained but not aired by the Arab television station Al-Jazeera.",
"She would be the first foreign woman to die in the wave of kidnappings in Iraq.",
"No group has claimed responsibility.",
"On Sunday, Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold.",
"The body, clothed in what appeared to be a purple, velour dress, was wrapped in a blanket, with a blood-soaked black cloth nearby.",
"As of Tuesday night, the U.S. command said the body had not been identified.",
"These are the reasons that none of these mothereffers should ever see the light of day...they need to be all lined up and shot.",
"Torturing this poor women for what?",
"WHAT?",
"And we should treat them as enemy soldiers under the Geneva Convention.",
"Last I remember the convention applies to countries that signed the document and the two countries must have standing armies with uniforms....the Iraqi military is at our side, the terrorists are not.",
"Since when are terrorists soldiers?",
"They are lower then dogs.",
"Finally there is this written by a student of Mrs. Hassan She was my English teacher",
"In the memory of my teacher and a fellow aid worker colleague Mrs. M. Hassan",
"Mrs. Hassan was my English teacher in The British Council in Baghdad in Al-Wazirya district, I remember her years ago with her Irish accent telling me it's not Important how many words I must learn but the pronunciation of the words I already knew must be perfected.",
"Mrs. Hassan speak s perfect Arabic and she has a heart of gold, she's been killed by (men in pajamas), turn Iraq upside down and find them.",
"The Marines will find them, and when they do they shall die.",
"police in pennsylvania a student fatally shot a principal before killing himself this morning.",
"it happened in the cafeteria of red lion area junior high school about 30 miles southeast of harrisburg.",
"it happened at 7:30 this morning.",
"students then were moved across the street to a senior high school.",
" 2003-04-24 13:52:46",
"tense of thousands of additional u.s. troops are getting ready to join coalition forces fighting the war in iraq.",
"the first departures are already underway at fort hood texas.",
"cnn's jamie kolbe is there reporting, jamie on these families who are saying good-bye to their loved ones.",
"reporter: and this is a military town, judy and little by little we are seeing these soldiers head out.",
"in a strange way and this may sound unusual, there's a little sense of relief because these soldiers were set to leave in january and now they got second deployment orders, the delay, of course, the inability to get access to turkey, but along the way, the 4th infantry division is one seeped in tradition and there's a real sense of pride among the soldiers, 250 of which left yesterday, over the course of the week 12,000 will be leaving from here.",
"another 4,000 from fort carson in colorado and it dates back to world war i. their equipment that left on january is now on a ship on its way south through the suez canal and it's interesting to note some of the equipment that's been held up for the last couple of months, there are some 5 helicopters, 200 tanks as well as 150 bradley infantry fighting vehicles.",
"these are highly trained soldiers.",
"they are ready to go.",
"they are happy to be finally able to come and back up the first wave of troops that left from here.",
"their mission is very broad, judy to deploy anywhere in the world in support of national strategy.",
"they doan know what they'll be doing.",
"they will learn that once they get there their first stop will be to central command, they'll receive more specific orders.",
"they will be join by the first cavalry.",
"they have received deployment orders.",
"they have not yet been told to make final arrangements.",
"they all tell me, the soldiers you talk to and also some of the information people here at fort hood, they train like they fight.",
"they are ready.",
"they are determined and they are very patriotic in support of our country.",
"they are going over there to do a mission they believe in and as we said, 250 left yesterday.",
"they were armedded with their m-16s, they are concerned.",
"their families were here to see them off, but they are determined to return though it is interesting to note that many of them, so many with young children have told their kids that mom or dad could be away for as long as a year.",
"judy?",
"it's -- i don't think we can say it often enough, jamie.",
"it's got",
" 2003-03-28 15:31:12",
"there is more outrage about perks for executives, both from angry employees and from shareholders as well.",
"andy serwer \"minding your business.\"",
"shame on them.",
"the big focus is american airlines, the board of the company meeting today, possibly discussing the future of ceo don carty, he got in trouble when he jacked up pensions of the guys in top while asking employees to take big pay cuts.",
"$1.8 billion.",
"last night, former general electric ceo jack welch talked to paula zahn about this issue of corporate greed.",
"let's listen to what he had to say.",
"it's one of the parts of america that is great.",
"people want more and they want other people to have less.",
"that's part of the system.",
"and annual meeting, every year, i went they complained about executive salaries, even though the team that i managed increase shareholder value to $600 billion that sharoners received, the larger share orns being employees.",
"i think it's really a question of degree, i mean, i think that ceos should make millions of dollars running companies, there are tens of thousand employees, billions of dollars of revenue.",
"a million dollars is okay, maybe 5 million, $100 million to me that is too much money.",
"who decides that?",
"seems subjective.",
"the board is who decides that and board is so often chock full of the ceos golfing buddies, they serve on each other's boards and problem here is gap between what the average worker makes and ceo is making is increasing and everyone agrees that is not a good thing for this country, plus the fact, when the guys get the big packageses, so often you see the companies going down the zblubs thank you for updating us.",
"back over to bill.",
".",
"thank you.",
"jack looking at sars.",
"talking about the sars threat worldwide this morning.",
"the world health organization says there are 4200 sars cases so far, more than 250 deaths in 27 countries and there is no cure.",
"and nobody knows what is causing it.",
"the question is, would you change your plans because of the threat of sars?",
"a lot of responses, as in hundreds and hundreds of them, beginning",
" 2003-04-24 09:32:25",
"i just want to update you on kofi annan's remarks.",
"the u.n. secretary-general did not answer questions on iraq as a result.",
"there's nothing to report on that front.",
"we have just gotten word from the ninth circuit court of appeals that that court has now put on hold its ruling banning the pledge of allegiance in public classrooms.",
"schools in nine western states would have been prohibited from having students say the pledge starting monday.",
"the stay was granted to give the school districts involved in the initial cases 90 days to appeal to the u.s. supreme court here in washington.",
"the appeals court ruled last summer, but the phrase under god which was ad ded to the pledge in the 1950s is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.",
"we'll continue to follow this court ruling as well.",
"here's how you're weighing in on our web question of the day.",
"remember when we've been asking you this question.",
"who is the number one threat facing the u.s.?",
"is it saddam hussein, kim jong il or osama bin laden?",
"look at the results.",
"13%% of you say saddam hussein.",
"14% of you who voted say kim jong il, 41% say osama bin laden.",
"remember, this is not, not a 13, 46, 4 1, those are the numbers.",
"you see them, 13% for saddam hussein, 46% for kim jong il, 41% for osama bin laden.",
"remember this, ask not a scientific poll,",
" 2003-03-04 18:00:35",
"the search for a small plane that disappeared sunday in massachusetts has a bittersweet ending.",
"three young boys,ages 2, 5 and 10 survived and are in critical condition after spending in 18 hours in the cold.",
"the father, who was piloting the plane, also was rescued, but died late yesterday at the hospital.",
"the boys' mother and two other brothers were killed.",
"officials say the pilot reported ice on the plane and planned to land in massachusetts when the plane left radar.",
"aviators described the scene as they approached it from above.",
"the aircraft was -- the cabin was intact completely.",
"the wings were off of it.",
"but it looked like a survivable crash.",
"initially the wreckage was spotted, and there was no person spotted.",
"but when we moved in closer and started to scan the area, then i saw the 2-year-old waving from next to the airplane.",
"the family had been heading to new hampshire from lakeland, florida when their plane went down.",
"if you are one of the many unemployed, expect company.",
"valerie morris joins us live from new york with that story.",
"valerie?",
"hi, renay, sharon.",
"the pace of job cuts is quickening.",
"the survey by challenger gray and christmas says layoffs rose about 5% in february.",
"that's the second straight monthly increase.",
"the ax fell heavily on government and non-profit workers as many state and local governments face severe budget crunches.",
"the u.s. economy has lost more than 2 million jobs in the past two years.",
"airlines are getting flyers to destinations ontime more often.",
"the top ten air carriers arrived ontime more and cancelled fewer flights in january than the month before.",
"a government report says the improvements are the result of changes in air traffic controls, and a dropoff in passengers.",
"despite operating under bankruptcy laws, united posted the best on time performance.",
"united also cancelled the fewest flights.",
"still united lost $382 million in january.",
"and one other note of improvement.",
"airlines reported fewer complaints about lost, damaged or delayed luggage.",
"turning to wall street.",
"disappointing auto sales are denting the shares of the big three.",
"of course there are ongoing fears about terrorism and a war with iraq.",
"the dow has slipped 116 points.",
"the nasdaq is@ down three",
" 2003-03-04 14:43:22",
"a national weeklong terror drill began in seattle and an industrial lot in the city.",
"straun with smashed cars, buses and other debris representing the hypothetical damage from a fan that sized radioactive dirty bomb.",
"the test designed to measure the responsiveness of emergency workers to a terrorist attack.",
"it's been a year and a half since a series of anthrax attacks killed five people.",
"no one has ever been arrested in connection with that case and the fbi is considering draining a maryland pond relating to evidence for those unsolved attacks.",
"kelli arena reports.",
"reporter: the fbi's interest in this state park in maryland dates back to last december.",
"officials got a tip back then that someone may have dumped equipment into one of the park's ponds.",
"officials say they found the tip significant because the pond is about ten miles from fort dietrick where the army experimented with anthrax.",
"agents searched the area at least four times since then.",
"the mayor says the fbi is now considering draining one of the ponds.",
"the police chief dine is in regular contact with the fbi.",
"there are a number of facets to this investigation.",
"it's very, very significant.",
"after all, it is a murder investigation.",
"multiple murder investigation, so i'm sure there are a number of avenues that they're looking into.",
"reporter: according to government sources, agents in december found a large plastic enclosed container with large openings on the side.",
"officials say there is no evidence connecting anything found in the park to anthrax or the anthrax attacks.",
"nor is there any evidence linking any individual to the deadly anthrax ledders.",
"the fbi has said nothing publicly about anyone it may be investigating, but attorney general john ashcroft did refer publicly to steven hatfield, a former researcher as a person of interest.",
"he's repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and the spokesman told cnn --",
"well, the fbi can drain the pacific ocean but they won't find any evidence that he was involved with the attacks because he had nothing to do with the anthrax attacks at all.",
"reporter: investigators involved this case clearly frustrated.",
"18 months later, still not one single arrest for those attacks that killed five people and sickened 13 others.",
"lou?",
"kelly, where does this investigation on hatfield stand?",
"i mean, we have rather -- i can't think of another case like it.",
"we've got rather public statements by law enforcement officials saying that he is the suspect that they think he's the guy athen we have denial and then we have this stuff.",
"it's really -- really extraordinary.",
"reporter: well, the attorney general has been the only person that has even mentioned steven hatfield's name publicly and he called him a person of interest.",
"not a suspect.",
"but",
" 2003-05-12 18:33:08",
"i'm alisha davis.",
"used to be the king of pop.",
"now you could call him the king of lawsuits.",
"michael jackson filed suit against universal music, the parent company of motown records saying he owe him for music he recorded with the jackson five back in the 1970s.",
"the gloved one claims the label has been releasing new albums and jackson five merchandise without giving him \"a single dollar.\"",
"jackson has been in and out of courtrooms lately.",
"in recent months, he's been sued by an auction house for non-payment, and by a concert promoter for allegedly backing out of two millennium performances.",
" 2003-05-13 23:26:39",
"convicted rapist and max factor heir andrew luster is back in california.",
"luster returned to los angeles yesterday from mexico following his capture tuesday by american bounlty hunters.",
"luster skipped bail during his trial in january for raping and drugging three women.",
"he was sentenced in an sten shah to 124 years in prison.",
" 2003-06-20 09:09:30",
"NEW YORK, March 19 (AFP)",
"Media tycoon Barry Diller on Wednesday quit as chief of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the entertainment unit of French giant Vivendi Universal whose future appears up for grabs.",
"In a statement, Diller -- who took on the \"provisional\" role at the top of Vivendi's US entertainment operations in December -- said his USA Interactive group will nonetheless remain a shareholder of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.",
"\"My executive role was never intended to be permanent,\" said Diller.",
"\"Now that Vivendi Universal has begun a formal process in reviewing options for its entertainment assets, it is appropriate to step aside from any direct management responsibility.\"",
"As part of the 11-billion-dollar sale of USA Interactive's film and television operations to the French media company in December 2001, USA Interactive received 2.5 billion dollars in preferred shares in Vivendi Universal Entertainment.",
"Diller, 60, personally received a 1.5 percent stake in the business and had been touted as a likely candidate to run Vivendi Universal's entertainment unit in the United States if the troubled French media giant were broken up.",
"In Paris, the French media group said parent company chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou will replace Diller as chairman and chief executive of US unit.",
"Vivendi, in a statement, said that Diller had, \"in full agreement with Vivendi Universal,\" announced that he was \"ending his temporary assignment as CEO of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.\"",
"Vivendi Universal, the world's second-largest media group after AOL Time Warner of the United States, has been digging out from under a mountain of debt since the removal of expansionist boss Jean-Marie Messier last July, largely through asset sales.",
"Vivendi Universal earlier this month posted a record net loss of 23.3 billion euros (25.6 billion dollars) for 2002.",
"Faced with debt of 35 billion euros (37 billion dollars) in June last year -- including 19 billion from the media and telecoms division alone -- the sprawling conglomerate has set a target of reducing its debt by 16 billion euros by end-2004.",
"Speculation has been rife that troubled Vivendi has been weighing a spinoff or sale of its US film, television and theme park operations as part of its restructuring.",
"Press speculation had already suggested that Vivendi might decide to keep its Universal Music division, while either divesting or inviting third parties to take a minority stake in the remaining Entertainment assets.",
"Earlier this month, sources told Agence France Presse financial news unit AFX that Viacom is studying a bid for Vivendi's US entertainment assets placing it as a serious rival squarely in the running against oil billionaire Marvin Davis who has bid 20 billion dollars for the operations.",
"While other media companies like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Liberty Media Corp, News Corp and General Electric Co's NBC have been mentioned as potential bidders for the Vivendi operations, Viacom is one of the few media companies with a balance sheet healthy enough to mount a bid.",
"HAIFA, Israel, March 5 (AFP) - Fifteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded Wednesday as a suicide bomber blew himself up on a student bus in the northern town of Haifa, the first bombing in Israel in exactly two months.",
"Several hours later, dozens of Israeli tanks advanced into the northern Gaza Strip backed by helicopters which fired at least three rockets in the Jabaliya area, Palestinian security sources said.",
"Palestinian medical sources said 60-year-old Mohammed al-Biyari was killed in his home near Jabaliya refugee camp by the rocket fire and another wounded.",
"A second rocket landed in farmlands and the other hit a house inside the refugee camp, but without causing further casualties, Palestinian security sources said.",
"Two 13-year-old children were among those killed in the Haifa bus bombing, Israeli public radio said, adding that most of the victims were youngsters.",
"The army said two soldiers were also among the dead.",
"The bus was ripped to shreds while travelling between a residential area and Haifa university.",
"Of the 33 injured still in hospital late Wednesday, two were in intensive care and six others in serious condition, the radio said.",
"Israel's night-time raid in Gaza involving around 40 tanks and armoured vehicles came after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened his security cabinet to discuss a response to the bomb attack.",
"Israeli media said the retaliation was unlikely to be on a scale that would risk disrupting US preparations for war on Iraq.",
"The Palestinian suicide bomber on the Haifa bus came from the southern West Bank town of Hebron, public radio said, naming him as 20-year-old Mahmoud Hamadan Salim Qawasmi.",
"Apart from his ID card, also found in the wreckage were the remains of a letter allegedly outlining his plan to carry out a suicide attack and praising the September 2001 destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York, it said.",
"Israeli police were not immediately available for comment, but Palestinian sources in Hebron said Mahmoud Qawasmi was a 21-year-old student with links to the Islamic radical group Hamas.",
"Israeli forces moved into Hebron's Al-Sheikh district where his family lived and arrested Qawasmi's brother and father after the bombing, they said.",
"Without claiming responsibility, Hamas and another hardline group, Islamic Jihad, said the blast was revenge for a string of bloody Israeli army raids into the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.",
"But the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, saying it would divert international sympathy away from the far higher Palestinian civilian death toll.",
"\"We condemn all attacks against civilians including today's attack in Haifa,\" said information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.",
"The Palestinian leadership said the attack would serve as \"a pretext for Israel's government and occupation army to step up its deadly campaign which caused the deaths of 77 Palestinians in February\".",
"It was the first bomb attack inside Israel since January 5, and came just days after the hawkish Sharon appointed the most right-wing government in Israel's history on a pledge to get tough on security.",
"In the January attack, two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up in central Tel Aviv, killing 23 other people.",
"Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner called the latest deadly blast a \"very grave attack\" and said the Jewish state would take \"vigorous action against the terrorist organisations\".",
"He told AFP that Israeli intelligence had been dealing with at least 40 tip-offs of impending attacks when the Haifa bus was blown up.",
"US President George W. Bush condemned the \"attack on innocents in Israel,\" White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, adding that \"his message to the terrorists is: Their efforts will not be succcessful.",
"\"He will continue to pursue the path to peace in the Middle East.\"",
"EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana likewise slammed the attack, although he also took a jab at Israel, saying, \"There have been too many civilians killed in the last weeks and the last days.\"",
"In London, a spokesman for the British prime minister said Tony Blair \"condemns absolutely what has happened\".",
"The spokesman added that he \"would obviously call on all sides to do what they can to break the cycle of violence, because it is only through engagement that we can realise the vision everyone wants to see.",
"\"There needs to be dialogue in order for this to be resolved.\"",
"The bus attack came just two days after Israeli forces staged a bloody raid into a refugee camp in central Gaza targeting a founding member of Hamas, which has spearheaded suicide bombings against the Jewish state.",
"Hamas vowed to continue its attacks, while the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of trying to disrupt top-level Palestinian meetings to discuss reforms of Arafat's administration.",
"Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said international intervention was needed to break the cycle of violence.",
"Eight people, including a pregnant woman and a 13-year-old child were killed in Monday's Gaza raid, provoking US-led international calls for Israeli restraint.",
"And on Tuesday, Israeli troops shot dead an elderly Palestinian shepherd outside a Jewish settlement on the edge of Gaza City.",
"In the West Bank, an eight-year-old Palestinian boy as well as his brother and a sister were wounded late Wednesday by Israeli gunfire in a village north of the town of Ramallah, their elder sister said.",
"UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (AFP)",
"Efforts were to continue at the United Nations Friday to find a breakthrough in the diplomatic stalemate on Iraq, with Washington warning it could bypass the Security Council and go to war alone.",
"With marathon talks at the top world body failing late Thursday to reconcile French and Russian opposition to US-British war plans, the United States upped its military presence, deploying more missile-firing warships to the Red Sea.",
"Six non-permanent members of the Security Council considered to be in the middle ground between the fiercely pro- and anti-war camps, were working on new proposals to break the deadlock, France's ambassador to the UN said.",
"\"The six are now working on a paper and we will see the outcome of that consultation, maybe tomorrow (Friday)\" Jean-Marc de La Sabliere told reporters.",
"Iraq was due to present a 30-page report on biological weapons it said it destroyed in 1991, according to diplomatic sources in Baghdad, who said a second batch of documents on anthrax would follow in the next few days.",
"Amid talk of delaying or even shelving a US-British resolution giving Iraqi President Saddam Hussein until Monday to disarm or face war, oil prices in Asia pulled back, shares rose and the US dollar eased.",
"British efforts to provide a way out of the diplomatic mire at the United Nations ended without agreement late Thursday, but with London's ambassador to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock, saying he expected talks to go on into the weekend.",
"His US counterpart, John Negroponte, said: \"I can't say we are much farther along today than we were yesterday,\" after hours of talks on six British benchmarks to test Iraq's compliance with council demands.",
"The tests were designed to sway six uncommitted council members behind a draft resolution which would declare that Iraq has missed its last chance to disarm peacefully unless the council decides otherwise by Monday.",
"The two allies would not push for a vote Friday on the draft resolution, diplomats at the United Nations said, while US Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted that Washington would consider not even putting the text to a vote.",
"\"We are still talking to the members of the council with respect to coalescing around a position that wouldn't draw a veto, but the options remain: go for a vote and see what members say, or not go for a vote,\" Powell said.",
"\"We will be examining them today, tomorrow and into the weekend,\" he said late Thursday.",
"Diplomatic wrangling has centred around the French and Russian refusal to put their names to any resolution allowing the United States to unleash its military might against Iraq before weapons inspections have run their course.",
"France has provoked Washington's ire in its steadfast insistence that it will veto any resolution paving the way for war, even rejecting the British proposals for concrete tests before Baghdad had done so.",
"France's threat to cast its veto was only making war more likely, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.",
"\"Unfortunately they appear to have made the decision not to enforce (UN resolution) 1441,\" Straw told Britain's The Guardian newspaper.",
"\"That renders it less likely that we get a peaceful outcome.\"",
"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said the US decision to drop demands for a Security Council vote this week on war with Iraq showed the resolution had not won enough support.",
"He rejected the British proposals, saying: \"The British proposals on Iraq are not constructive and do not resolve the key problem, the prevention of a military scenario involving Baghdad,\" the Interfax news agency reported.",
"He repeated that Moscow would not back a resolution that authorised an attack against Iraq: \"It is not necessary now to adopt any new resolution on Iraq, especially resolutions which lead to war.\"",
"His comments were echoed by the German ambassador to the UN, Gunter Pleuger, who said: \"There is no majority support for the British proposal.\"",
"In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that weapons inspectors had to be allowed to continue their work.",
"\"Together with our friends in France, with Russia, China and the majority of the security council we are confident the disarmament of Iraq can be achieved through peaceful means,\" Schroeder said.",
"The British-US proposal needs nine votes to pass through the 15-member Security Council -- a feat looking increasingly unlikely with France and Russia vowing to veto the resolution and Syria, China and Germany all opposing.",
"The United States meanwhile deployed its B-2 stealth bombers to positions closer to Iraq and ordered as many as 15 warships capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles to the Red Sea from the Mediterranean, US officials said.",
"NEW YORK, March 11 (AFP)",
"The world's most powerful fine art auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, have agreed to pay 40 million dollars to settle an international price-fixing scam, Sotheby's said.",
"The payment, if approved by the courts, would settle a slew of suits by clients over auctions held between 1993 and 2000 outside the United States, it said in a statement.",
"\"Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Sotheby's and Christie's will each pay 20 million dollars,\" said Sotheby's, which operates in 34 countries.",
"The deal required threatened British and Canadian claims against both auction houses to be dropped.",
"Buyers and sellers also would have to agree not to pursue further cases in foreign courts.",
"The litigation covers buyers in auctions outside the United States between January 1, 1993 and February 7, 2000, and sellers between September 1, 1995 and February 7, 2000.",
"Similar claims over US-based auctions were settled in an agreement struck in September 2000 for a total of 512 million dollars.",
"In December 2001, a Manhattan jury convicted Sotheby's main shareholder and former chairman Alfred Taubman of entering into a price-fixing agreement with Christie's.",
"Four months later, the billionaire was sentenced to one year in prison and a 7.5-million-dollar fine over the price-fixing, which prosecutors said had cost clients of both firms 400 million dollars.",
"Christie's was not prosecuted in the United States after its management agreed to testify against Sotheby's and provide documents needed to prove fraudulent intent.",
"Together, Sotheby's and Christie's control more than 90 percent of the fine art and antiques market.",
"Sotheby's said it would record the 20-million-dollar settlement as a special charge for 2002.",
"It would be funded in two payments of 10 million dollars each upon preliminary and final court approval.",
"WASHINGTON, March 27 (AFP)",
"Thousands of fresh US troops headed for Iraq Thursday as British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush discussed the effort to oust Saddam Hussein, which some senior US military officials warn could last months.",
"About 1,000 soldiers from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted into an airfield in a Kurdish-controlled area of northern Iraq, establishing a base through which to bring in more troops and tanks, Pentagon officials said.",
"And some 12,000 soldiers from the US Army's 4th Infantry Division, which was supposed to have gone into northern Iraq through Turkey, began flying out of Fort Hood, Texas, Thursday to the region, a military fort spokeswoman told AFP.",
"The soldiers are to meet up with ships transporting their equipment, which is arriving in Kuwait from the Mediterranean, where it had been idling for weeks on navy ships awaiting Turkey's decision.",
"The war in Iraq could last months and require considerable US military reinforcements to assure a victory, the Washington Post reported Thursday, quoting senior US military officials.",
"Sandstorms, dangerously long supply lines and a recalcitrant enemy \"has led to a broad reassessment by some top generals of US military expectations and timelines,\" the Post reports.",
"\"Tell me how this ends,\" one senior officer asked the Post.",
"Most US army commanders believe it is critical to pause the breakneck advance towards Baghdad to secure the supply lines and make sure weapons are operable and troops resupplied after days of powerful sandstorms and damage inflicted by Iraqi attacks, the Post reports.",
"The Post also quoted Central Intelligence Agency and Pentagon intelligence analysts complaining that Bush officials largely ignored their warning that Iraqi irregular forces would use guerrilla tactics and offer significant resistance.",
"Publicly US officials have insisted that the war is going according to plan, and the most advanced US forces are currently some 100 kilometers (60 miles) outside of Baghdad.",
"US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld dismissed worries that there were insufficient forces in the Gulf region if the battle for Baghdad goes wrong.",
"After briefing US senators on the war, Rumsfeld told reporters that the number of forces \"has been increasing and it will continue to do so until it is finished.\"",
"Meanwhile Blair arrived in Washington late Wednesday for two days of talks with Bush at the Camp David presidential retreat.",
"Talks were to focus on how to run a post-Saddam Iraq, with Washington resisting a large United Nations role.",
"Blair faces an uphill battle to win Bush over to giving the UN oversight of a post-Saddam administration, as Washington officials are still angry at Germany, Russia, and especially France, over the failure to secure UN Security Council approval for military action.",
"Blair and Bush were to hold a joint press conference at 1600 GMT Thursday.",
"Britain has deployed some 45,000 troops to fight with the more than 250,000 US soldiers lined up against Iraqi troops.",
"Bush gave a new, stronger warning that the war could become drawn out.",
"\"As they approach Baghdad, our fighting units are facing the most desperate elements of a doomed regime,\" Bush told cheering military personnel Wednesday at the Florida headquarters of Central Command, which is running the campaign.",
"\"We cannot predict the final day of the Iraqi regime, but I can assure you -- and I assure the long-suffering people of Iraq -- there will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near,\" he said.",
"At the last minute, Bush withdrew a phrase in his speech saying the campaign was \"ahead of schedule.\"",
"A senior administration official said the president had decided to be cautious.",
"Bush pointedly paid tribute to the 48-nation \"coalition of the willing\" -- particularly Britain -- that is publicly backing the campaign.",
"Separately, US Secretary of State Colin Powell emphasized US determination to pursue the military campaign despite the diplomatic pressure Washington faces at the United Nations.",
"\"We are interested in concluding this conflict, not having a pause right now or stopping right now, but concluding this as quickly as possible so we can get on with the rebuilding of Iraq and putting in place a better system of governance,\" Powell said in an interview with the Al-Jazeera Arab television network.",
"Powell, the most moderate member of the Bush cabinet, said he fully agreed with the president's policy on Iraq and had no plans to leave.",
"\"Personally, I'm very much in sync with the president and he values my services,\" he said in an interview with National Public Radio.",
"Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal reported that several British and US oil companies have quietly advised US and British forces on how oil fields operate so they could safeguard the fields in Iraq.",
"The companies, including Britain's BP PLC and the Texas-based Boots and Coots International Well Control Inc., were not paid for their consultations, but allied military engineers said their advice was critical.",
"bur-ch/",
"Iraq-war-US",
"JAKARTA, March 27 (AFP)",
"Indonesia will delay the execution of six convicts including an Indian on death row after five of them appealed to the Supreme Court for a second review, prosecutors said Thursday.",
"\"If we execute them now we can't bring them to life again should their appeals for a review be granted,\" said Antasari Azhar, spokesman for the attorney general's office.",
"The Supreme Court rejected earlier appeals for a case review from five of the convicts.",
"The sixth offender has only made one appeal for a review.",
"President Megawati Sukarnoputri has refused clemency for the six and asked for a speedy execution.",
"Five of them are Indonesians convicted of murders while the other is an Indian drug offender, Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey.",
"\"We are talking about someone's life or death so we have to be very careful,\" Azhar said.",
"A convict can file a case review or appeal for presidential clemency only after the Supreme Court upholds a sentence imposed by a lower court.",
"Apart from those convicted of murder, 16 people are on death row for drug trafficking -- 11 foreigners, four Indonesians and a Dutch citizen of Chinese-Indonesian origin.",
"Indonesian courts have increasingly handed out severe sentences, including death, for drug smugglers.",
"Narcotics abuse is an increasingly serious problem in the country.",
"Amnesty International has appealed to Indonesia to spare the lives of convicted drug offenders and others, saying there was no proof the death penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than other punishments.",
"Amnesty opposes the death penalty for any crime.",
"Use of the death penalty is rare in Indonesia, where the last execution was carried out in May 2001 of two men convicted of a murder in 1989.",
"It was the first execution for five years.",
"A police firing squad enforces the penalty.",
"CAIRO, March 20 (AFP)",
"Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the Middle East Thursday, demonstrating against military strikes on Iraq and calling on Muslims to wage jihad against the United States and its allies.",
"Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority issued fierce denunciations of the US-led attacks, while the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram warned it marked \"the beginning an era of US colonisation that will benefit only Israel\".",
"Protests against the action aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were held in cities across Libya, Egypt and Lebanon, as well as in Amman, Damascus and the Gaza Strip.",
"However, there were no reports of protests against the war from the Gulf states, many of whom are host to US military personnel.",
"Saudi Arabia, however, expressed its \"deep concern\" and regret over the start of US military operations.",
"Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal spoke of the \"kingdom's hope for a quick halt in military action and for the return to peaceful efforts\", the state SPA news agency reported.",
"In Riyadh's first reaction to the start of the against, he also called for Iraq's \"unity, internal security and territorial integrity\" to be preserved and rejected military occupation.",
"Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, meanwhile, was more forthright, strongly denouncing Washington's \"aggression\" and warning that it could have repercussions beyond the borders of the pariah state.",
"\"We have warned against the marginalisation of the United Nations ... and we see this aggression today plunging the world into a tunnel where one cannot see the end,\" he said in a statement.",
"\"For these reasons, we judge that it is necessary that the forces of peace and those who believe in right and justice take the necessary and rapid steps to halt this dangerous slide into war against Iraq which will result in heavy human and material losses.\"",
"The Palestinian Authority also condemned Thursday's early morning missile strikes on Iraq, and warned Israel not to exploit the conflict.",
"\"We Palestinians are against the war and we totally condemn this war in the Middle East.",
"A solution must be found to this problem through diplomatic means, with the international community,\" local authorities minister Saeb Erakat said.",
"\"We are warning Israel not to exploit this war against Iraq to carry out more attacks against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and destroy the Palestinian Authority and the peace process,\" he said.",
"The radical Palestinian movement Islamic Jihad warned that \"the war against Iraq is a war against the whole region\", while Hamas issued a chilling warning against those taking part in the war against Iraq.",
"\"The aggression by the vile Americans and the war against Iraq signifies a war against all Arabs and Muslims around the world,\" said Hamas senior official Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi.",
"The war \"shows the impotence of all Arab states.",
"We call on all Arab states to act immediately to defend Iraq and counter the US war,\" he said.",
"\"I don't think America will win this war, as our jihad (holy war) and our resistance will teach the Americans and British a lesson they will never forget,\" he said.",
"State radio in Syria accused the United States and its allies of wanting to get their \"hands on Iraq's oil and wealth and impose their hegemony on the world\".",
"In the Egyptian capital, 10 demonstrators and at least four policeman were injured in clashes after several thousand demonstrators took to the streets near the US and British embassies.",
"Riot police intervened after the protestors, who included hundreds of students from the American University in Cairo, rallied on the city's central Tahrir Square, close to both the university campus and the US embassy.",
"More than 1,000 people also gathered at Cairo's Al-Azhar Islamic University, where they burned an American flag and demanded the expulsion of the ambassadors of the United States, Britain, Spain and Israel.",
"Demonstrations also took place in the northern Egyptian cities of Alexandria, Tanta and Kafr el-Sheikh.",
"In Amman, three protestors were hospitalised after some 500 Jordanian lawyers staged a sit-in at the main court house after being forcibly blocked by riot police from marching towards the Iraqi embassy to show their solidarity.",
"In Lebanon, hundreds of students gathered on the campuses of the Arab University of Beirut and the American University of Beirut calling for the assassination of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.",
"South of the capital in Sidon, some 1,500 schoolboys denounced \"the Bush assassin\" and the \"silence of the Arab leaders who sold out Iraq\"."
]