netinformy: March 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012

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'Tis the season to be...maxxed out

IF SANTA CLAUS HAS A CREDIT CARD, IT'S almost certainly maxxed. After all, no time of year is tougher on consumers trying to control their personal debt than the Christmas season.

An Ernst & Young opinion poll conducted in September 1995 found that 38% of Canadians were carrying outstanding balances on their credit cards. And, despite the approaching holiday season, most were hopeful: nine out of 10 expected to eliminate or reduce their balances within the next 12 months. But, nine months later, in June 1996, 38% of Canadians still had outstanding balances on their credit cards. And 49% of those with outstanding balances reported their balances have increased from three years …

Communist rebels pose single biggest threat to India, PM says

Communist rebels roaming India's hinterlands pose the country's single biggest threat, the prime minister said Thursday, calling for the creation of special police forces to combat the increasingly well-armed and organized insurgents.

The communists, known as Naxalites, are undermining efforts to spread India's economic boom to hundreds of millions of people being left behind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. "The answers to the problem are well known. We need to cripple Naxalite forces with all the means at our command."

India has long contended with scores of militant and insurgent groups, from Islamic extremists blamed for bombings that have …

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

New county fines of up to $1,000 a day for problem vacant buildings

Owners of problem vacant buildings across stretches of unincorporated Cook County will have to clean up their act or pay fines of up to $1,000 a day under a measure passed easily by the county board Wednesday.

The measure calls for owners or mortgage holders of problem buildings to register annually, …

Overton drops back, but spirits still high

EDMOND, Okla. Jay Overton fell at least temporarily out ofcontention for the PGA Championship Saturday, but the Florida clubprofessional wasn't down.

Overton, who had the best 36-hole start by a club pro sinceHinsdale's Dick Hart led in 1963, slipped to a 76 in the third roundand will begin today's final 18 six shots back in a tie for 13thplace.

"I really enjoyed myself," Overton said of the third round. "Ifelt a lot more comfortable. The putts just weren't as fluid as thefirst two days."

Overton's run at the title made him a celebrity. "I heard fromjust about everybody I know," he said. "Maybe I was trying to hang ontoo much today. Tomorrow won't have …

Agassi Advances to 3rd Round of Open

NEW YORK - How about that? Andre Agassi, 36 years old and burdened by a bad back, held up better than the kid across the net in a thriller that will be talked about for years.

Buoyed by a cortisone injection, along with a raucous, sellout crowd that boosted his spirits when things suddenly looked bleak as could be, Agassi extended his career for at least one more match by beating eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.

They traded stinging strokes for nearly four hours as Thursday night became Friday, and it was the 21-year-old Baghdatis who broke down physically, his body contorted by cramps in both thighs during an eight-deuce, …

Obama to hold another health care town hall

President Barack Obama will hold another town hall-style session on health care Wednesday.

The online event will be held at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington suburb of Annandale, Va.

…

Suspect a Fan Of Man Held In Dr.'s Death

PENSACOLA, Fla. The woman accused of shooting a Kansas abortiondoctor wrote at least 25 admiring letters and sent money to a manaccused of killing a Pensacola abortion doctor.

Rachelle Renae Shannon of Grants Pass, Ore., in handwrittenletters to him at the Escambia County Jail, referred to MichaelGriffin as "a brave soldier," the "greatest hero of our time" and the"awesomest."

"I know you did the right thing," an April 10 letter said. "Itwas not murder. You shot a murderer. It was more like …

AMERICAS NEWS AT 0500 GMT

Australia A-League Football Results

Australian A-League football result Saturday:

Grand Final

…

Travelers Face Greater Use of Personal Data; Pact Covers Passengers Flying From Europe to U.S.

The United States and the European Union have agreed to expand asecurity program that shares personal data about millions of U.S.-bound airline passengers a year, potentially including informationabout a person's race, ethnicity, religion and health.

Under the agreement, airlines flying from Europe to the UnitedStates are required to provide data related to these matters to U.S.authorities if it exists in their reservation systems. The dealallows Washington to retain and use it only "where the life of adata subject or of others could be imperiled or seriously impaired,"such as in a counterterrorism investigation.

According to the deal, the information that can be used …

Facts about Cheerios in their 70th year

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — —One in every eight boxes of all cereal sold in the U.S. are Cheerios.

—More than 10 shapes and sizes were considered before the current "o."

—It would take 3,155,524,416 Cheerios to circle the Earth

—General Mills sold 1.8 million cases (each containing 12 boxes) in the first year, 1941.

—Cheerios are made with same "puffing gun" technology used to create Kix cereal in 1937. Balls of dough are heated and …

Poignant service at restored memorial ; Servicemen pay respects at war monument

A SERVICE of rededication took place at the Brentwood WarMemorial on Sunday following its Pounds 50,0 00 renovation.

The landmark now respectfully honours the names of the fallenfrom both world wars once again, and was surrounded by a large crowdof veterans, servicemen and cadets who bowed their heads in prayerto remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Led by theReverend David Gilchrist and organised by the Brentwood and DistrictRoyal British Legion (BDRBL), the 30-minute service was poignantthroughout, stirring emotions as The Last Post played out.

It has taken 11 years of campaigning by the legion to get thestonework, which had fallen foul of frost and neglect, repaired.

Glory Brentwood Legion president, Les Paddon, is delighted themonument has been restored to its former glory. He said: "It's beena long time getting this monument cleaned up. It was virtuallydecayed, the plate names from the 1914-18 victims were falling offwith the frost.

"We were beginning to worry because money is tightening up.

"For a town as big as Brentwood, which used to be a military townand home of the Essex Regiment, it's so important.

"In this day and age we have been lucky that we have not lostanyone from the town [recently], but if that had happened, it wouldhave been embarrassing had they used it in the memorial of them."

The congregation included the Mayor and members of the BDRBL, theRAF Association, the Royal Navy Association and the Sea Cadets.

The refurbishment was funded by the Assizes Trust Fund, a pot ofcash held by Brentwood Borough Council for supported worthwhilecommunity causes.

The work was carried out by stonemasons Bakers of Danbury, andcompleted in October last year.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

From Show to Show

The new Volvo EC210BFX Gull Wing went straight from the ILA logging show to Dawson Long's logging show off the Bear Lake Road.

As the last snows of winter faded from view, and clouds of dust from a recent spring dry spell swirled around, the slowly moving low boy inched its way from the Coquihalla Highway up the steep mountain switchbacks of Bear Lake Forestry Road. On board, and headed for Dawson Long's job site, was a brand new Volvo EC210BFX Gull Wing, a machine that had rolled off the assembly line at the giant Volvo plant in South Korea just weeks earlier.

Veteran BC logger Dawson Long, along with thousands of other forestry professionals, had seen the new BFX series at the Interior Logging Association's annual forestry trades convention nearby only the week prior. Volvo Construction Equipment NA of Asheville, NC, had chosen the ILA convention last year as the ideal venue for the North American launch of its new line of purpose-built tracked forestry carriers, and there was no doubt that this new 26-ton model took centre stage at the Volvo-Great West Equipment display.

Bottom Up

Volvo says it built this new class of machines from the ground up exclusively for forestry applications. There are now three models available - the 26 ton EC210BFX; the 30 ton EC240BFX; and the 35 ton EC290BFX. The F denotes forestry, and X heavy duty, meaning that the machines are engineered for the rugged and varied demands of global forestry.

This range is then divided across three specification configurations to meet such popular needs as harvester/processor, log loader, and general forestry applications (i.e., road building, site prep, reclamation).

For his part, Dawson Long is no stranger to Volvo machines. In his stable of 10 working forestry machines are three Volvos - an EC210BF harvester/processor, a Volvo log loader, and his new EC210BFX road builder. Part of the reason he opted for the third is the almost zero downtime he experienced with the first two, making them the most reliable machines in his fleet. His other Volvo roadbuilder has 2,500 hours, "and hasn't needed anything other than fuel, filters, and regular lubrication." That kind of reputation, when combined with excellent dealer service, low fuel consumption, ease of service, and machines that "are priced right" by the dealer made adding another Volvo an easy decision for Long.

Year Round Logging

Long's crew runs 12 months a year working the forests of BC's southern interior. Summers here are dry, hot, and dusty, and winters windy, cold and snowy. Summer highs can hit well over 30 degrees Celsius, winter lows the same range below. Keeping machines working and operators comfortable can be a challenge.

Senior operator George Fearing is looking forward to duties on the new Volvo. He says that during a recent trial demo, "the cab was excellent, quiet, and very comfortable, and the controls properly placed. You just don't get tired, even after a long, hard shift." He added that the standard heated seat and climate control were welcome. "I'm sure I am going to enjoy the seat on those cold winter mornings," he says.

George also liked the track power on the 143-hp V-ACT (Volvo Advanced Combustion technology) direct injection turbo-charged diesel, matched drive system, and smart hydraulics. Overall, the steep rocky terrain was well handled by the EC210BFX.

Operator protection is enhanced on the BFX models, and tailored to each application. For example, a 12 mm thick polycarbonate front window replaces glass in the single-piece front windscreen of machines used as harvesters or processors. Cabs are falling object protected standards (FOPS), and this is augmented by a steel front operator guard designed for an unobstructed view of the work area. A versatile lighting package designed for forestry applications adds to night shift productivity.

When asked what attracted him most to the new Volvo, Long mentions the purpose-built guarding and how sturdily the machines were built. Yet he was most impressed by the heavy-duty construction of the gull wing design.

"We work every day in some pretty rough stuff, and are constantly having to replace mufflers and repair dented hoods and tanks on our other machines, but with this unit and its heavy-duty gull wing, we feel that these problems will be a thing of the past."

Other standard features on Volvo BFX machines include heavy-duty track drive motors, higher capacity undercarriage components, rollers, links, and idlers than those on conventional excavators, full-length heavy-duty track guards, and a high and wide super duty walker undercarriage.

"We look at everything when considering a new machine," Long explains. "The standard items, such as initial cost, cost of operation, and dealer service are critical to our decision process. But just as important is the value of the machine in three to four years. We expect our Volvos, based on reputation alone, to command top resale or trade in dollars, and that is important to us."

The machines also offer real-time monitoring of all key machine functions via the Volvo Contronics electronics system. The info can be downloaded to a technician's laptop for analysis, and will also warn operators if a fault exists, helping avoid further machine damage.

"Dealer support is also a key element when we consider any new equipment. Roger Dobie and Kirk Krause from the Vernon office of Great West Equipment have been excellent. They are there when we need them, which is very important to a busy logging operation."

This article originally appeared in Volvo Construction Equipment Magazine, and has been modified slightly for publication in CFI Magazine.

For the record

Bankruptcy filings

The following people filed petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court forthe Southern District on July 27, 1999:

- Ronald Eugene Parton, Rt. 2, Box 26B, White Oak Estates,Bluefield. Chapter 7. Assets: $10,475. Liabilities: $29,513.60.

- Aaron Jacob Seaver, Rt. 1, Box 465, Cottageville. Chapter 7.Assets: $24,680. Liabilities: $37,172.95.

- Peter Paul Woodard, 901 First Ave., Apt. 2, Charleston. Chapter7. Assets: $1,000. Liabilities: $11,236.32.

- Matthew Aaron and Tonya Lea Harris, 2409 Highland Ave.,Parkersburg. Chapter 7. Assets: $59,293. Liabilities: $21,323.16.

- Marsha Marie and Steven Jack Florence, Rt. 1, Box 151A, Waverly.Chapter 7. Assets: $70,200. Liabilities: $74,435.84.

- Hix Mountain Construction Co., HC 74, Box 74A, Hinton. Chapter7. Assets: $454,792.77. Liabilities: $1,226,419.03.

Explanation of petitions: Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy coderequires the debtor surrender all non-exempted property to a trusteewho reduces the property to cash for distribution to creditors.Chapter 11 of the code requires the debtor reorganize his businessaffairs and propose a plan to pay all of a portion of his debts. Thecreditors vote to accept or reject the plan. Chapter 13 requires thedebtor pay as much as he can from future earning to creditorspursuant to a plan. The debtor may retain any property exempt understate law or included in the repayment plan.

- Marriage applications

The following people applied for marriage licenses at the KanawhaCounty Clerk's Office July 27, 1999:

- Mark Wayne Hively, 18, and Melissa Ann Stambaugh, 16, both ofSt. Albans.

- Raymond Eugene Wilson, 52, and Ada Jane Wiseman, 57, both ofPinch.

- Ridley Edward Durham, 54, of East Bank and Brenda Sue Belcher,51, of Blount.

- Ernest Sam Shreve, 29, and Jennifer Lee Greer, 27, both ofElkview.

- Brian Linwood Booth, 25, and Tasha Louise Campbell, 19, both ofCharleston.

- DeWayne Alan Hess, 30, of Tad and Tammy Annette Vaughn, 30, ofCedar Grove.

- Henry Estill Haynes II, 30, and Melissa Paige Gill, 33, both ofSouth Charleston.

- Divorce filings

The following people filed petitions at the Kanawha County CircuitCourt Clerk's Office on July 27, 1999:

- Sidney K. Baldwin Jr. from Teresa A. Baldwin.

- Alice June Dennis from Joseph Ray Dennis.

- Sheri Dolin from Bernard W. Dolin.

- Donna Gist from Gary Gist.

- Paula Moore from Robert Moore.

- Kimberly Saraege from Amar Saraege.

- William E. Kenny from Debra R. Kenny.

- Property transfers

The following property transfers were recorded in the KanawhaCounty Clerk's Office July 27, 1999:

- Dennis Michael DiFabrizio et al to Kevin Bradley DiFabrizio.Lot, Belle. $20,000.

- Fern C. Martin et al to Frances C. and Richard A. Rumley. Lot,Elk District. $12,000.

- Margaret Z. Burdette to Dennis and Mary Alderson. Lot, St.Albans. $140,000.

- Madgie Lee Herbert to Clyde H. Love Jr. and Annabelle Love.Lot, Jefferson District. $1,600.

- Mountaineer Gas Co. to Asam Babar Yousaf. Lot, Loudon District.$6 75,000.

- Paul E. and Joyce A. Drake to Hei Woon Chan and Lin Ching Chu.Lot, Charleston. $125,000.

- Lynnwood D. and Sharon Lee Casto to Dwayne E. and Tami D.Walters. Lot, Union District. $40,000.

- Don A. Simmons to Joseph T. Fizer and Patricia Jo Fizer. Lot,Elk District. $25,000.

- Richard Viglianco, executor, to Brian W. and Lisa K. Ferrell.Lot, St. Albans. $105,000.

- Park Realty Inc. to Price T. Ballard. Lot, Elk District.$10,000.

- Gregory A. Coble to Robert Bannister II. Lot, Charleston.$108,750.

- Kenneth O. Burdette Jr. and Candace D. Burdette to James andCharlotte Galloway. Lot, Poca District. $99,200.

- J. Michael Abshire to Amy M. Taylor. Lot, Jefferson District.$53,000.

Wednesday

GENEALOGY: Kanawha Valley Genealogical Society Library, 10 a.m. to4 p.m., Nitro Community Center, Room 205, 21st Street and 2nd Avenue,Nitro.

AL-ANON: 1 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 407 B St., St.Albans. For information, 342-4315.

AL-ANON: 7:30 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, Kanawha Boulevard andElizabeth Street. Enter parking lot door, then turn right. Call345- 4388.

ALATEEN: 7:30 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church, Kanawha Boulevard andElizabeth Street. An Al-Anon member will assist. Enter parking lotdoor. Call 925-3211.

NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: 8 p.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church,corner of Jackson and Elizabeth streets, closed discussion. Call344- 4442 or (800) 766-4442.

TOASTMASTERS: Town Center Toastmasters Club, 5:15 p.m. in John V.Ray room, third floor, Kanawha County Public Library. Call 344-1347for information.

CODA: Co-Dependents Anonymous, for people who have difficultymaintaining functional relationships, 6:45 p.m. at Serenity Club,1225 Ohio Ave., Dunbar. Call 744-7472.

BRIDGE: Shepherd Center of Charleston, sponsoring multi-faithbridge for seniors, 1 to 4 p.m. at B'nai Jacob Synagogue, $2 perplayer. For information, 343-6051.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Educational intervention program for abusers, 6to 8 p.m., community room of the YWCA, 1114 Quarrier St. Call 340-3554 or 340-3549 for information.

GENEALOGY: West Virginia Genealogical Society Library, 1/2 milenorth of Blue Creek on U.S. 119, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

DIVORCECARE: Divorce support group, 12:30 to 2 p.m. or 7 to 8:30p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 3653 Teays Valley Road, Hurricane. Forinformation, call 562-0262 or 757-8829.

GRIEF SUPPORT: Growing Beyond Grief, support group for bereavedspouses, 5 to 6:30 p.m., Cancer Patient Support Program Group Room,CAMC Memorial Division. Call 348-9082.

Bingo

CHARLESTON: Capital High benefit, 7 p.m., Knights of PythiasBldg., 211 Tennessee Ave.

CHESAPEAKE: Fire Department, 12408 MacCorkle Ave., 6:30 p.m.

NITRO: Women of Moose, 101 First Ave., 11 a.m.; LKM Auditorium,109 21st St., Nitro, 5 p.m., to benefit Poca High School.

PRATT: Fire Dept., 7 p.m.

HURRICANE: Hurricane/Teays Valley VFW, 7 p.m.

If you have a meeting or a special event for publication in thiscolumn, send the information to Calendar of Events, Charleston DailyMail 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301.

Items must be received no later than two days before the notice isto be run. Phone-in notices will not be accepted.

The Psychiatric Emergency Service Patient

Dear Editor: For most patients, the psychiatric emergency service (PES) is the major point of entry into the mental health system (1). Several functionally and structurally dissimilar PES models are in use today (2-A); consistent epidemiologic data supporting any particular model are lacking. Presently, data obtained from one PES cannot be easily compared with data obtained from another. Differing observation periods, patient volumes, and data-acquisition strategies, as well as the lack of a standardized PES classification scheme, have likely all contributed to the inability to obtain the stable and reproducible patient profiles crucial for assessing PES efficacy.

Using a rigorous PC-based data acquisition strategy, we aimed to more definitively assess the clinical and demographic characteristics of a local PES population and the presence of clinically significant subpopulations. Over a period of 4 � years, we acquired up to 70 variables prospectively from patients visiting the PES of a large metropolitan general hospital (5). We subsequently added a preexisting 10 �-year, prospectively acquired patient log of 8 variables to the database. We compared these results with those derived from a 72-journal review of the PES literature (from 1965 to 2003).

Overall, 14 826 patients made 29 577 PES visits throughout the 15 �-year observation period. There was only a moderate degree of agreement between the present data and data obtained from the literature review. Demographic and socioeconomic variables were partially consistent with those of previous reports, whereas more complex clinical data were poorly correlated. We could not derive a single, all-inclusive typical local PES user profile from our data. Rather, we observed several different profiles, varying according to the age and sex of the patients. We also identified clinically significant subpopulations, for example, frequent users and patients with a primary diagnosis of substance abuse, and quantified their overall impact on PES functioning.

The present report benefited from the longest observation period of any published PES study. Gold standards for several variables, such as sex and age, were obtained and, by corollary, more definitive and precise local PES user profiles than were previously available. Using the same methodology, we are currently undertaking a 2-year multicentre study collecting data in 4 structurally and functionally dissimilar PES's to determine whether the above local data can be generalized, as well as the effects of different PES models on PES efficacy. Useful information will be obtained regarding the type of model possessing a greater potential for future development.

[Reference]

References

1. Oldham JM, Lin A, Breslin L. Comprehensive psychiatric emergency services. Psychiatr Q 1990;61:57-66.

2. Allen MH. Level 1 psychiatric emergency services. The tools of the crisis sector. Psychiatr CHn North Am 1999;22:713-34.

3. Wellin E, Slesinger DP, Hollister CD. Psychiatric emergency services: evolution, adaptation and proliferation. Soc Sci Med 1987;24:475-82.

4. Alien MH. Definitive treatment in the psychiatric emergency service. Psychiatr Q 1996;67:247-63.

5. Moreau J, Couture M, Chaput Y, Tremblay M, Lacroix D. L'informatique � l'urgence psychiatrique. Revue Fran�aise psychiatr psychol m�dicale 2000;35:81-3.

[Author Affiliation]

Yves Chaput, MD, FRCPC, PhD

Marie Jos�e Lebel, RN

Montreal, Quebec

Edith Labont�, MD, FRCPC

Quebec, Quebec

Lucie Beaulieu, MD, FRCPC

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec

Granger â€˜just telling the truthâ€™

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers star forward Danny Granger says he's not backing down from his earlier quote, and adds that he isn't worried about the Bulls posting it on the bulletin board.

Granger has said he would rather play the Bulls than the Boston Celtics because of the Celtics' championships and weapons, and that the best way to beat the Bulls is to "make a concerted effort to stop Derrick Rose. They go as Derrick Rose goes."

"I meant what I said and I'm not taking anything back because I was just telling the truth," Granger said after Thursday's practice. "I don't believe in any of that bulletin board stuff, anyway. This is the NBA. You've got to come to play every game no matter what. You don't need bulletin board material. Especially when you're a team like Chicago."

The 6-8 Granger, a six-year veteran and an All-Star, leads the Pacers with 20.5 points a game. He most likely will be matched against the Bulls' 6-8 small forward Luol Deng.

Pacers point guard Darren Collison he feels no extra pressure on him to be the Rose stopper.

"I just consider it an honor to be playing against him," Collison said. "I'm going to do my best to defend him and we'll do so as a team."

Pacers operations chief Larry Bird knows how diffficult a shutdown can be.

"You don't shut the great players down," Bird said. "They might have a bad shooting night or get injured. But you don't shut them down. Derrick will have an outstanding series. But they have a lot more firepower on this team. And if you spend a lot of energy trying to shut down one player, one of his teammates will step up to the plate.

"They'll try to take Danny out, too. They're try to make him put the ball on the floor more. But we're not a top team. We didn't win 37 games for nothing. We're just a young team trying to get better and we're just glad to be here."

Interim coach Frank Vogel, 20-18 since he replaced Jim O'Brien, emphasized to "be sure you know where [Carlos] Boozer is at all times."

But Vogel agrees that Rose bears special attention.

"His speed and his size are unparalleled," Vogel said of Rose. "He's definitely the fastest guy in the NBA. He's Allen Iverson quick, Chauncey Billups strong and he can score from the perimeter. That combination is a killer. He's got it all. So we'll try different people on him."

Danny Granger (33) says stopping Derrick Rose is the key to beating the Bulls. | Keith Hale~Sun-Times

Three and rout for Martinez, Caravan: Mount Carmel 8, Parker 0

A year ago at this time, there was a lot of pressure on the MountCarmel soccer team to live up to the preseason hype.

With a number of talented Division I players sprinkled throughoutthe Caravan's lineup, there were some who believed Mount Carmel wouldbe making its first trip to the Class AA state finals.

This year, however, expectations aren't quite as high outside ofthe Caravan camp, but that doesn't mean there aren't some who believethis team will make some noise this fall.

That's exactly what it did Saturday in Chicago, as the Caravancruised to a 8-0 victory over Class A power Parker in the MountCarmel Invitational.

"Everyone was watching us last year, and we really didn't live upto expectations," said Mount Carmel's Cody Stanley, whose teamfinished 19-5-1 and won the Catholic League in 2005. "But this year,I think we're going to be able to surprise a lot of people becausewe're sort of flying under the radar so far."

If there's one player who is popping up on the radar screen ofcollege coaches, it's junior David Martinez. The forward scored threetimes and is coming off a 26-goal, 10-assist campaign.

"Last year's team is a tough act to follow, but we're very good upfront and on the backline," Mount Carmel coach Adrian Calleros said."If our midfield steps up, we're going to be tough."

Stanley and Tony Aguliar added two goals, and Victor Gomez hadone.

"We've dominated each one of our games so far," said Stanley,whose team improved to 3-0. "We still have a lot of talent on thisteam, but the difference is that our bench is actually stronger thisyear than it was last year. I really think we're going to surprisesome people in the Pepsi Showdown next week."

New Zealand shocked by river incident that killed 6 teenagers, teacher

Six teenagers and their teacher who were killed in a river gorge in New Zealand when floodwaters suddenly surged down on them had little chance of escape, their principal said Wednesday.

New Zealanders were deeply shocked by Tuesday's tragedy, which devastated a high school expedition that was supposed to build team spirit and environmental awareness.

Six 16-year-old students from Elim Christian High School and their 29-year-old teacher were killed when they were overwhelmed by floodwaters that streamed down the Mangatepopo River after a violent rainstorm.

"It is a tragedy which defies belief," school Principal Murray Burton told reporters. Students clutched each other in tears as Burton read a list of those who died during a special assembly Wednesday at the school in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.

Prime Minister Helen Clark expressed "profound sympathy and shock" and introduced a condolence motion in Parliament.

"This is every family and school's worst nightmare, to have this happen when young people are out doing a healthy and normally very enjoyable activity, and it turns into a terrible tragedy," said Clark, a mountaineer and wilderness lover.

Five other students were plucked to safety from the torrent in Tongariro National Park on New Zealand's North Island. One of the survivors said he had been able to clutch a log when the waters surged, Burton said.

Officials said there was no apparent warning to the group before the river quickly rose in the narrow gorge.

"We understand that there was a flash flood which took the river probably triple, quadruple in height and equally in such a short time later, dissipated," Burton said Wednesday.

He said officials told him the victims _ three boys and three girls plus their male teacher _ had no escape route from the surging waters because of the canyon's high walls.

The teenagers were part of a group of 40 students attending a weeklong course at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Center in the small town of Turangi. The course involved navigating the gorge by swimming, clambering over rocks and hiking in an activity known as canyoning.

Andy Bray, whose daughter Natasha was one of those killed, told reporters it was "one of those freak moments when a lot of water poured down, one of those once-in-a-million-years kind of things."

Burton said the hiking group was well equipped with wet suits, helmets, life jackets and harnesses and that the students were in the care of an experienced guide. Those swept away were in a group of 12 that had separated from the main party.

District Police Inspector Dave White said the students were doing a team-building exercise traversing the river when they were overcome.

Police are investigating safety aspects of the expedition, but another officer, Inspector Steve Mastrovich, suggested it was being viewed as an unfortunate accident.

"They've just been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

New Zealand's spectacular and rugged wilderness is world famous, and many of the country's inhabitants pride themselves on their close connection to it. Mountaineering, hiking and sailing are common pursuits among the nation's 4.2 million people.

Grant Davidson, chief executive of the center that organized the trip, said the conditions appeared safe and there was no warning of the heavy rain that quickly developed in the area.

"I am comfortable this was a normal activity we had with this age group in these sort of conditions," he told reporters. "Obviously if we had known or predicted about the pulse of water we would not have been there."

As economy swoons, parents fret over college costs

Erin O'Connell took the tour this week at Elon University, a handsome, up-and-coming college with a $31,000-a-year price tag. That's hefty _ but $20,000 less than some "uppity" schools she may have to cross off her list.

"I'm going to be pulling out my hair to make ends meet," said the high school senior from suburban Boston. "I'll apply for anything and everything I possibly can." As for more expensive schools, she said: "While the title would be nice, I might not get out with both arms and both legs."

It's prime college-visiting season for the high school class of 2009, which next fall will send the greatest number of graduates on to college in American history. But the souring economy and the crisis on Wall Street are shrinking families' college savings, and some parents wonder whether they will be able to afford tuition at the schools their youngsters are looking at.

Around the country, students deciding where to apply may have to scale back their dreams. Some private schools worry they could lose business to public universities. Already, federal loan applications are up, and some schools are seeing more aid inquiries.

Most students won't decide on their college plans for six months. But a recent survey of 2,500 users of the Web site meritaid.com found 57 percent of students were considering a less prestigious school for money reasons. In a similar study by Applywise.com and Next Step Magazine this week, 50 percent of families reported limiting their children's college choices to less expensive options.

Because of plummeting housing prices, many families can no longer count on the equity in their homes to help them pay for tuition. Meanwhile, 529 college savings plans have been hit hard in the stock market. A year ago, they held a combined $110 billion. Preliminary figures from Financial Research Corp. show the value of 529s declined 9 percent last quarter even with new money coming in _ and that was before last week's slump on Wall Street.

"We're revisiting their overall financial plans," said Ivan Nalibotsky of Capital Solutions Group, a college financial planning service in Bethesda, Md. "In many cases folks are going to have to be dipping into some of their own personal resources, and reevaluating their personal retirement goals in order to get the kids the four or five years of education they planned."

One of his clients now plans to start at a community college and transfer to the University of Maryland rather than going straight to a four-year private college.

Some parents are hoping to secure financial aid, something they previously assumed they didn't need or couldn't get.

"We haven't qualified before. We might now," said Betty Morris of West Chester, Pa., who was touring Elon this week with her son Jack.

The good news for such families is that the college financial aid system is in many ways tilted toward higher-income families, thanks to tuition tax breaks and financial aid that is based on merit, not need. At Elon, for instance, about 40 percent of the 5,000 students get merit aid.

When it comes to need-based aid, many middle-income families underestimate their chances and focus too much on the "list price." A large number of schools have substantially expanded aid in the past few years. At many highly competitive colleges, families earning $80,000 typically pay no more than half price.

A few prestigious schools that cost $50,000 or more a year have made more aid available to families earning well into six figures. At Princeton, for instance, virtually all families earning as much as $200,000 qualify for grants covering half of tuition or more.

O'Connell's mother, Rosemary O'Connell, an executive assistant at a financial firm, said: "We'll do what we can for her. We don't want her to graduate $200,000 in debt."

Parents' college savings funds are taking a hit at the same time many schools' endowments are being eroded by the downturn in the stock market. Colleges rely on their endowments for financial aid.

"It won't be an impossible problem for Harvard, Pomona, Princeton, but a lot of other colleges will find it hard to provide the same level of aid as in the past," said Robert Shireman of the California-based Institute for College Access and Success.

Ultimately, many parents will simply stretch and borrow. Higher education is so important to many families, it often doesn't obey the laws of supply and demand.

"They always said, `You pick the school, we'll figure out the money,'" Emily Schroeder of Baltimore, who is applying to Elon this year, said of her parents. Her mother, Judy, said price is a consideration but not the biggest one.

"It's her future and I want her to be happy and I want the fit to be right," she said. "If it cots a little more money, that's OK."

The other option: be very smart, or very lucky. Only one parent on the Elon tour looked fully at ease _ Pat O'Hara of Richmond, Va., who was visiting with daughter Lindsey. Cost really isn't a factor, he said: "I moved all into cash about six months ago."

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On the Net:

http://www.ticas.org

Supreme Court asked to block Chrysler sale to Fiat

Three Indiana state pension and construction funds want the Supreme Court to block Chrysler's sale to Fiat so they can pursue an appeal in hopes of getting a better deal.

The funds filed emergency papers at the high court early Sunday.

An appeals court in New York approved the sale Friday, but gave objectors until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Chrysler LLC wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The emergency request went first to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who handles such matters from New York. She can act on her own or refer it to the entire court.

The Indiana State Police Pension Fund, the Indiana Teacher's Retirement Fund and the state's Major Moves Construction Fund claim the deal unfairly favors the interests of Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders ahead of those of secured debtholders such as the funds.

The funds also challenged the constitutionality of the Treasury Department's use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to supply Chrysler's bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

The government-sponsored reorganization of the U.S. auto industry, including the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings, "is a matter of incredibly high profile and importance," the funds said in their request to the high court. "The public is watching and needs to see that, particularly when the system is under stress, the rule of law will be honored and an independent judiciary will properly scrutinize the actions of the massively powerful executive branch."

U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez, the bankruptcy judge overseeing Chrysler's case, approved the sale last Sunday, finding that the deal with Fiat was Chrysler's only alternative to liquidation.

The appeals court halted the sale on Tuesday, allowing the funds to appeal Gonzalez's decision. That court ruled against the funds on Friday, but continued to delay the sale so the funds could go to the Supreme Court.

Chrysler had hoped to close the sale by the end of this past week.

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler has maintained that the sale must be completed quickly to save the automaker from complete collapse. If the deal doesn't close by June 15, Fiat has the option of pulling out. Production at Chrysler's manufacturing plants remains halted pending the closing of the sale.

Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs of the New York-based appeals court asked Thomas Lauria, the lawyer representing the Indiana funds, why he believed his clients would be better off if the deal with Fiat went away and Chrysler was forced to liquidate.

"You can't wait for a better deal to come in from Studebaker," Jacobs said.

Lauria responded that the sale could be restructured to provide a better return for the secured debtholders.

U.S. automaker Studebaker Corp. closed in 1963.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Arctic sea ice melts to second worst on record

New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second lowest level on record.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles (5.2 million sq. kilometers). The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles (4.2 million sq. kilometers) set last September. With about three weeks left in the melt season, the record may fall, scientists say.

Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But over the years, more and more of the ice is lost to the sea and not recovered in winter. That is important because the Arctic acts as a refrigerator for the globe.

U.K. April mortgage lending at 8-year low

Net mortgage lending in Britain hit the lowest level in eight years in April and savings growth remained subdued, the British Bankers Association said Wednesday.

Net lending was 2.7 billion pounds ($4.3 billion), compared to an average of 3.4 billion pounds in the previous six months, the association said. The March figure was 3.4 billion pounds.

Gross mortgage lending of 7.9 billion pounds in April was down from 8.7 billion pounds in March, and 52 percent below a year ago.

Both the gross and net figures were the lowest since March 2001, the association said.

Personal deposits were up 1.8 billion pounds, compared to a rise of 700 million pounds in March and the six-month average of 1.1 billion pounds.

The value of house purchase mortgages approved edged up from 3.4 billion pounds in March to 3.5 billion pounds in April. That was 30 percent below year-ago levels.

"The house purchase part of the mortgage market appears to have stabilized, with slightly more approvals coming through, although April's weak net mortgage lending reflects the lower number of approvals in previous months," said David Dooks, statistics director for the association.

"Households' uncertain financial circumstances not surprisingly continue to dictate consumer behavior, both in the housing market and in generating only low demand for new personal loans."

___

On the Net: http://www.bba.org.uk

Officials: Alleged skinhead plot not fully formed

Two white supremacists charged with plotting to behead blacks across the country and assassinate Barack Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxes were likely too disorganized to carry out the plot, authorities said, and their planning was riddled with blunders.

Paul Schlesselman, 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells are accused of dreaming up the plan. While authorities say they had guns capable of creating carnage, documents show they never got close to getting off the ground.

Among the blunders: They drew attention to themselves by etching swastikas on a car with sidewalk chalk, only knew each other for a month, couldn't even pull off a house robbery, and a friend ratted them out to authorities.

"Certainly these men have some frightening weapons and some very frightening plans," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who studies the white supremacy movement. "But with the part about wearing top hats ... it gets a bit hard to take them seriously."

Despite making sure the plot was stopped, authorities did not believe Cowart and Schlesselman had the means to carry out their threat to assassinate Obama, said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Asked whether the two suspects had Obama's schedule or plans to kill him at a specific time or place, a second law enforcement official who also was not authorized to speak publicly said, "I don't think they had that level of detail."

The two met online about a month ago, introduced by a friend and bound by a mutual belief in white supremacy, according to an affidavit written by a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who interviewed them. Together, they chatted about how they could carry out such a terroristic spree, officials said. Schlesselman volunteered a sawed-off shotgun that would be "easier to manuever," and also took a gun from his father, according to an affidavit.

The plot referenced two numbers important to skinhead culture by aiming to take the lives of 88 people, and 14 of them would be beheaded. The number 14 refers to a 14-word phrase attributed to an imprisoned white supremacist: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children" and to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H. Two "8"s or "H"s stand for "Heil Hitler."

But that may have been as detailed as it got. Last week, Cowart drove to pick up Schlesselman from his Arkansas home so the plot could begin, according to the affidavit. They decided to start with a house robbery, and asked a friend to drive them. But when they got to the driveway, they saw a dog and two vehicles, and got spooked.

Armed with ski masks and nylon rope they purchased at a Wal-Mart, they tried again the next day to get started. Authorities say they decided to fire on the windows of a church, then bragged about it to a friend. She told her mother, who alerted the local sheriff. Investigators were able to trace the shell casings to the pair, and took them into custody after spotting their car, decorated with chalk-drawn swastikas and racially motivated words, along with the numbers "88" and "14."

Schlesselman's family said Tuesday that it was unlikely he was seriously planning an attack, even though he expressed hatred for blacks. A high school dropout who was unsuccessful finding work, he often spent time on the computer, his 16-year-old sister, Kayla said. She said she often argued with him about his racial beliefs, and he would say things like "Obama would make the world suffer."

He hated his tiny Delta hometown of Helena-West Helena because it was predominantly black, she said.

"He just believes that he's the master race," she said. "He would just say things like 'white power' and 'Sieg Heil' and 'Heil Hitler.'"

His father, Mike, also doubted the plot was serious. "I think it's just a lot of talk. He would never do something like this," he said.

Cowart worked at a grocery store in Bells for about a year, according to Scotty Runions, 54, who supervised him. Runions said Cowart was preoccupied with computers and bagged groceries at the store until about May 2007, before moving to Texas.

"The guy I saw on TV last night was not the same person that I knew, and I saw him about a month ago," Runions said. "This is something he's created in the past month _ that's not the young man that we know."

The Southern Poverty Law Center traced Cowart to the Supreme White Alliance, a skinhead hate group organized this spring that describes itself on its Web site as a "Club based on Racial beliefs. and for those of you who don't know what that means, we are in fact Racist's."

But the link doesn't appear strong, and the group apparently kicked him out earlier this year. A post on the alliance's Web site accused the law center of lying about the extent of its connection with Cowart, but acknowledged that "one of the two young men was in fact a probate earlier this year but was ousted."

The group's leader on Tuesday condemned the plot and denied that Cowart had been a part of his "club," but nevertheless said he was resigning as its president over negative publicity the case generated.

"We don't go out and start trouble. We are more like a social club. We just hang out," Steve Edwards of Central City, Ky., told The Associated Press.

Potok, the law center's intelligence director, said Cowart is shown in a photograph of an April alliance gathering to commemorate Hitler's birthday.

"The chances are excellent he was booted out when he was in the news in a way that didn't reflect wonderfully on them," Potok said.

Attorneys for Cowart and Schesselman haven't commented, but Schlesselman's sister said Tuesday she spoke with him after the charges were made public. "He said he's sorry about everything he's done," she said.

The plot was the third high-profile incident involving death threats against Obama in the last three months.

Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges he threatened to assassinate Obama and President Bush. Authorities said Geisel kept an arsenal of weaponry and military gear and made the threats while attending a training class to become a bail bondsman.

A group of men who sparked fears of an assassination plot against Obama during the Democratic Party's presidential convention in Denver in August. Authorities said the men had guns and bulletproof vests and made racist threats against Obama, but were high on methamphetamine and posed no true danger.

___

Associated Press Writer Andrew DeMillo reported from Helena-West Helena, Ark. Also contributing were Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Bill Poovey in Chattanooga, Tenn. and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington.

ChiSox Nip BoSox in 19-Inning Marathon

CHICAGO - Tadahito Iguchi hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 19th inning Sunday and the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in a 6-hour, 19-minute marathon - the longest by innings in U.S. Cellular Field history.

The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the 19th off Rudy Seanez (2-1), the eighth Boston pitcher, using consecutive singles by Alex Cintron, Rob Mackowiak and Scott Podsednik.

Iguchi then singled between shortstop and third base to end a game that started in sunshine but finished with the lights on. Looking weary and happy, Iguchi was mobbed by his teammates at first base.

Cliff Politte (2-2), the eighth White Sox pitcher, worked the top of the 19th for the win. It was the longest game by both innings and time in the majors this season.

It was Boston's longest game by innings since going 19 innings on Aug. 1, 2000, against Seattle and the White Sox's longest since playing 19 at Milwaukee in May 1991. U.S. Cellular Field opened in 1991.

With the victory, the White Sox avoided a three-game sweep against the Red Sox in the matchup of the last two World Series winners.

Jermaine Dye hit a two-out homer in the ninth off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon - the first run the rookie has given up on the road all season - to tie it at 3.

Mark Loretta's two-run, two-out single in the top of the 11th gave Boston the lead again, but the White Sox tied it in the bottom half, despite some crazy baserunning.

Jim Thome doubled, went to third on Paul Konerko's single and scored on Dye's double to right-center to make it 5-4.

Pinch-runner Ross Gload held at third on the double and then the Red Sox walked A.J. Pierzynski intentionally to load the bases. When Joe Crede hit a liner to right-center, Trot Nixon made a running catch.

Gload wasn't sure whether to tag or run and when he finally went back to the bag, Dye had already arrived there thinking Crede's ball would drop. Dye raced back to second and Gload had to stay at third.

Cintron then hit what could have been a game-ending double-play grounder to second, but he beat the relay throw to first for a fielder's choice to tie the game again.

Reliever Matt Thornton struck out Nixon with the bases loaded in the top of the 13th.

Chicago's Brandon McCarthy allowed one hit in 4 1-3 scoreless innings of relief and Boston's Julian Tavarez gave up one hit in four shutout innings.

Dye's 25th homer bailed Jose Contreras out again and kept his 17-game regular-season winning streak dating to last Aug. 15 intact. It is the third time in his last five starts that Contreras got a no-decision after leaving the game with Chicago trailing.

Red Sox starter Curt Schilling worked six strong innings, allowing two runs and five hits, including a line-drive RBI single by Jim Thome that hit him in the right elbow in the sixth. He left with a 3-2 lead and his elbow was starting to swell.

Contreras allowed only four hits in six innings, but struggled with his control, walking five and throwing a pair of wild pitches.

David Ortiz delivered a run-scoring single in the first after Youkilis drew a leadoff walk and moved up on a wild pitch. Lowell hit his 11th homer in the fourth and Boston went up 3-0 when Contreras hit Loretta with a bases-loaded pitch.

Iguchi's 10th homer made it 3-1 in the bottom of the inning.

Chicago's Brian Anderson doubled to lead off the sixth. One out later, Iguchi walked before Thome sent a hard liner up the middle that hit Schilling in the right side and ricocheted into the outfield for an RBI single to make it 3-2. Iguchi raced to third but was stranded when Konerko flied out to shallow center and Dye struck out.

Notes:@ Pittsburgh beat Houston 8-7 in 18 innings on May 27. The game lasted 5 hours and 49 minutes and was the majors' longest game this season by innings and time before Sunday. ... Trot Nixon went 0-for-9 for the Red Sox. ... Papelbon, who entered the game with a 0.41 ERA, has now given up just three runs all season. ... Schilling's start was the 400th of his career.

Austrian: Gadhafi son talked of peace with Israel

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — An Austrian politician said Thursday that one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons told him Libya was ready to sign a peace treaty with Israel once the fighting in his country ended.

David Lasar also said Thursday that Seif al-Islam, Gadhafi's heir apparent before the outbreak of violence, also told him he was ready to act as a middleman to secure the release of an Israel soldier held for more than four years by Hamas, the Palestinian faction controlling Gaza.

Lasar, a Vienna municipal politician with the rightist Freedom Party, was in Libya last month on a trip coordinated between his party and Ayoub Kara, an Israeli deputy minister.

Lasar is Jewish, while Kara is a Druse, and both occasionally assume positions and take on missions that are unusual for their government or party.

Lasar told The Associated Press that his conversation with Seif was "no longer than five or six minutes" after he was picked up by from his Tripolis hotel in the middle of the night by men "who told me they would bring me to an interlocutor."

He said Seif told him "he finds peace with Israel very important for the future" and would discuss the issue of signing a peace treaty with the Jewish state with his inner circle once NATO ended the air campaign against government forces.

Seif also said he considered it an "important humanitarian mission" to lobby for the release of Gilad Schalit, the Israel army sergeant held by Hamas since his capture in June 2006, said Lasar.

Lasar commented after Kara told Israel radio that the Austrian politician told him Gadhafi was ready to begin talks with Israel and even expressed willingness to sign a peace agreement with the country, provided that NATO end its strikes. Kara said he had insisted on receiving the pledges in writing from Gadhafi, so that he could present them to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but this never happened.

Gadhafi was one of the most vehement critics of Egypt in the Islamic world for Cairo's decision to sign the 1978 Camp David accords establishing peace with Israel

The ties between Kara and the Freedom Party are controversial among Jews both in Israel and Austria. After he met in December Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria's Jewish community, Ariel Muzicant, said that Kara had "stabbed Austrian Jews in the back."

While some of its supporters are anti-Semitic, the Freedom Party has publicly embraced Israel even as it exploits anti-Islamic sentiment in Austria for political gain. The most recent polls position it a close second to the Socialists, which shares a government coalition with the centrist People's Party.

You've got Medicare. Why not me?

I've been reading a lot about the congressional town hall meetings, where protesters rail about President Obama's health reform plan. News reports and video clips indicate that half or more of the protesters yelling about socialism and a government takeover are of Medicare age. I've been curious about their thinking.

Last Tuesday, I had my first close encounter with this mind-set. I was at my dentist's office, in the waiting room, reading Time Magazine's good cover story about Obama's efforts to pass health reform. Sitting across from me was an attractive white woman who appeared to be in her early 60s. She looked like one of those mature models in the ads for senior living centers or Viagra.

She smiled and asked me what I was reading, and I told her. Given that Yakima, Wash., where I live now, is a conservative town, I cautiously added a little editorial about how much I hoped Obama succeeded because for so many of us our health insurance coverage is precariously dependent on our jobs. She nodded in seeming sympathy.

But then she launched into an account of how her pregnant friend in Toronto, Canada, had a terrible time finding a doctor and had to come to the United States to get care.

While I found that difficult to believe, I didn't express my skepticism. Nor did I share my own tale about how hard it was to find a primary care doctor here in Yakima who would take new patients.

She then went on to say how awful she thought the proposed Obama reforms would be and how it would be just like Canada's dreadful system, with total government control.

I pointed out that the U.S. Medicare system is a government, single-payer insurance system like Canada's, and that most people on Medicare seem to like it. Then came the surprise. "Yes," she said, "we like it."

I hadn't pegged her as being old enough for Medicare. But, she added, the government system shouldn't be expanded beyond that.

That's when I started getting really getting teed off, though I hid it pretty well. "Well," I said, "you've got your good, secure health coverage, and that's what those of us under 65 want too. Is it fair that only people over 65 have that?"

She sidestepped by saying her husband had read all about this and explained to her how awful the proposed Obama reforms would be. Just at that point, when the discussion was about to get interesting, she was summoned into the dentist's chambers.

The same day, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) asked the hundreds of senior citizens at her town hall meeting, including many who were protesting against a "government takeover" of health care, whether they want to get rid of Medicare. No hands went up.

"So we have a whole bunch of folks here that have a government health-care program and they like it," she said over jeers. "The irony seems to be lost on people that some- times the very people who are saying, 'Make sure the government keeps its hands off my health care but by the way don't touch Medicare' -- that is ironic."

Beyond ironic, I'd say. Just plain selfish.

Harris Meyer is a free-lance journalist in Yakima, Wash.

Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP / Rick Meis, of Montanans for Single Payer, places a sign near Gallatin Field Airport in Belgrade, Mont., where President Obama was holding a town hall meeting Friday. ;

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Secretary-General, Security Council Members Not All in Lock-Step With U.S.

UNDER HEAVY PRESSURE from Washington and London, the U.N. Security Council has expressed its displeasure with Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons. The attempt to get any practical consequences, however, has been stalled in the face of reluctance from other members who may agree that the regimes should not have nukes, but are wary of giving the U.S. an excuse for another Iraqi-style debacle.

The comrades in Pyongyang certainly are not the most cosmopolitan types around, so one could almost forgive them for misreading signals. Israel, after all, has 200-plus nuclear war heads, and gets billions of dollars of free money and a proxy veto from the U.S. Pakistan also gets lots of support, despite the fact that its prime nuclear scientist has been disseminating bomb kits across the Muslim world. And when India explodes a bomb, Washington immediately rewards Delhi with an offer of civilian nuclear technology. So what conclusion is Kim Jong Il, let alone the Iranians, supposed to reach from this?

That, of course, has not stopped John Bolton, who does not believe the U.N. has any credibility, from rushing to the Security Council to get it to pass resolutions against atomic members of the Axis of Evil.

But Bolton should stick to his principles. Those who traditionally argue, as he does, that the United Nations should not put obstacles in the way of U.S. diplomacy are right, at least in the case of Korea and Iran. They really are not the U.N.'s business, since both regimes are trying to get the United States to talk to them, meaning the U.N., six-party talks and similar devices are simply fig leaves to cover up Washington's refusal to engage in diplomacy. The Bush administration simply cannot bring itself to say publicly that it has no intention of making war on Iran and North Korea.

The solution is simple: fly Oliver North to Tehran and Pyongyang. The former Iran-Contra figure has extensive experience of negotiating with official pariah states-and, just like last time, the Israelis would probably fly him in with assorted militaristic trade goods.

"Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions," George W. Bush told the General Assembly in September. "Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program. We're working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis," he claimed.

Bush failed to explain, however, why the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had reprimanded his administration the previous week for grossly exaggerating the very slender evidence of an actual weapons program. (After the speech, Bush was spared close confrontation with reality in the form of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when the latter skipped the luncheon for heads of state, since wine was being served. Reformed imbiber Bush suffered in silence.)

"Some have argued that the democratic changes we're seeing in the Middle East are destabilizing the region," Bush acknowledged to the General Assembly. Invoking the delegates of the elected governments of Lebanon and Afghanistan, he proceeded, "This argument rests on a false assumption, that the Middle East was stable to begin with."

Perhaps one cannot expect too much from a president who told the U.N. how much he felt the suffering of Lebanese "caught in the cross fire"-puzzling delegates as much as it would the Lebanese. Not only was it inaccurate to describe the Israeli blitz, conducted with American weapons, as "cross fire," but it gave rich ammunition for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to say what was on everyone else's mind about the conflict.

In his preceeding address to the General Assembly, however, Secretary-General Kofi Annan had a firmer grip on the truth than did the U.S. president. "As long as the Security Council is unable to end this [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, and the now nearly 40-year-old occupation, by bringing both sides to accept and implement its resolutions, so long will our impartiality be questioned," Annan said. "So long will our best efforts to resolve other conflicts be resisted, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Even the necessary and legitimate struggle around the world against terrorism," he added, "is used as a pretext to abridge or abrogate fundamental human rights, thereby ceding moral ground to the terrorists and helping them find new recruits."

To be fair, Annan has been saying this and similar things for 10 years and U.S. administrations have ignored him.

A Welcome Diversion

Faced with such contradictions, delegates almost welcomed the Security Council elections, even though these can get complicated-which is why, perhaps, delegates often try to simplify them by nominating only as many candidates as there are open positions.

The proxy Sumo wrestling match between Venezuela and Guatemala for the Security Council's Latin American seat made the 2000 Florida recounts seem like a consensual vote of acclamation. By the third week in October, 40 ballots had failed to produce any results. Comfortably elected on the first ballot, South Africa, Italy, Belgium and Indonesia are not pushovers for U.S. (and thus Israeli) policy, but President Chavez's speech comparing Bush to the devil, while it excited much applause from many delegates, gave many others the excuse they wanted not to support Chavez. It is of course unfair that Vice President Dick Cheney can compare the re-elected Chavez to Hitler with no recriminations, but as a former American president noted, "Who said life is fair?"

For most people, the millenarian visions of both Chavez and Bolton are a distraction from the pressing issues that face the U.N. and the world. U.N. members do not want to expel the U.S. from the United Nations, nor mount a crusade (let alone a jihad) against the world's only superpower. They want to engage the U.S. in a constructive way-even if this often appears as unrequited love.

Although the open Security Council seat represents the Latin American and Caribbean region, and although Venezuela had a clear majority there, it is the entire General Assembly which votes for contested seats. Moreover, it takes a two-thirds majority to win, so although Guatemala, Washington's favored candidate, has won every ballot except one, which was a tie, the repeated attritional voting has not resulted in victory. Chavez's support for Lebanon and the Palestinians won Venezuela some support among Islamic states-but his support for Iran may have cost him some of those as well.

The rules allow alternating triplets of ballots in which any country can declare candidacy in an attempt to break the deadlock. But since this is a grudge vote of attrition between the U.S. and its opponents the repeated voting has been unmatched since the three-month marathon in 1979 between Cuba and Colombia. To maintain that, however, took the discipline of the Cold War. According to the whispers, the Dominican Republic is waiting to climb over the bodies of the contending parties when the delegates get too tired to carry on. The U.S. will support that-in fact it will support almost anyone but Chavez-but will do so discreetly, to avoid the reaction that overt Washington sponsorship brings.

At home, the Bush administration would certainly declare a Venezuelan defeat to be another scalp on John Bolton's belt, and use it to reopen the issue of his confirmation, or to justify an end-run around an overly strict interpretation of the law on recess appointments.

Annan's Successor

The business of selecting South Korea's Ban Ki-moon as the world's secular pope was rushed through with almost unseemly brusqueness so that the Security Council could discuss Kim Jong Il's nuclear diversion. Knowing the North Koreans' penchant for symbolism-including missile tests to compete with Macy's 4th of July fireworks-one cannot help but suspect that Pyongyang was trying to ruin Ban's party.

While the new secretary-general's election campaign was conducted much more openly than any previous one, the election itself was as murky as ever, with the Security Council conducting straw polls indicating which candidates were best favored. Ban Ki-moon consistently led those, and the final one showed just one abstention against him. It also showed that all the other candidates had at least one permanent member opposed to them, so a week later the Council made it official and unanimously voted to present Ban's nomination to the General Assembly-which, elected him equally unanimously, despite all the earlier protests about the Council-dominated proceedings.

Interesting, and indeed perplexing, was the low vote of the "Arab" Asian candidate, Prince Zeid of Jordan. He seems to have had several strikes against him, many of which only make sense in the context of the U.N. world. Many Asians do not seem to have accepted him as a real Asian, in the same way many sub-Saharan Africans did not accept Boutros Boutros Ghali as a "real" African. But then Ban was also articulate, principled and a major player in the International Criminal Court-all of which factors could be negative as well!

While John Bolton expressed complete satisfaction with Ban's appointment, it is reassuring to note that the U.S. envoy's soul mates in the conservative Heritage Foundation had expressed doubts about Ban's suitability, citing Seoul's reluctance "to confront North Korea on human rights or its belligerence and nuclear ambitions," and alleging that "Ban has said little about U.N. reform, and there are questions about his commitment to it. The current government in South Korea campaigned in 2004 with strong anti-United States rhetoric."

There is little reason to suppose, then, that Ban Ki-moon will be a pliable tool of U.S., let alone Israeli, policy.

[Sidebar]

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon (l) with outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at U.N. Headquarters Oct. 13, after the General Assembly confirmed Ban's nomination as the U.N.'s next secretary-general (AFP photo/Stan Honda).

[Author Affiliation]

Ian Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations.

New Secretary-General, Security Council Members Not All in Lock-Step With U.S.

To be fair, Annan has been saying this and similar things for 10 years and U.S. administrations have ignored him.

A Welcome Diversion

Annan's Successor

There is little reason to suppose, then, that Ban Ki-moon will be a pliable tool of U.S., let alone Israeli, policy.

[Sidebar]

[Author Affiliation]

Ian Williams is a free-lance journalist based at the United Nations.

German inflation falls below 1 percent

Germany's annual inflation rate dropped below 1 percent in January as a result of falling oil prices, a preliminary estimate showed Wednesday.

Consumer prices increased 0.9 percent this month from a year ago, down from the 1.1 percent annual increase in December, the Federal Statistical Office said.

Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has been sliding since it peaked at 3.3 percent in June and July.

Wednesday's estimate …