Czech Republic President's spokesman warns EU to keep off his property(PDM staff with CTK) 6 September - The spokesman of President Vaclav Klaus has mounted a signpost on the edge of his private estate welcoming passers-by to the Czech Republic and informing them that the EU does not extend beyond the perimeter of his private property.
The sign, written in Czech and English, is furnished with the Czech coat of arms and a distinctly crossed-out EU flag.
"Some people write 'no trespassing' on their signs and I simply put this there inst... (more)
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AG charges second store owner with gas price-gouging: Faces a $1,000 fine if convicted.With soaring gas prices, state officials have been on the hunt for suspected gas gougers, and they found some. Attorney General Paul Summers filed a second price-gouging lawsuit on Tuesday, this one against a McMinnville business owner.
Investigators say that Jess Whitlock from Whitlock's Market charged $7 a gallon last Friday. Whitlock now faces a $1,000 fine if convicted.
If you suspect gas gouging, you can report it by calling 1-800-890-8366 or 1-800-342-8385, or... (more)
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FTCR: Internal Memos Show Oil Companies Intentionally Limited Refining Capacity to Drive Up Gasoline PricesSANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits. The exposure comes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as the oil industry blames environmental regulation for limiting number of U.S. refineries.
The three internal memos from Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco (available at http://www.consumerwatchdog.... (more)
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South Carolina's Attorney General starts unfair practices investigation after oil prices failed to decrease after pipeline damaged by Katrina repairedGasoline prices in South Carolina have barely budged despite the supply chain's return to normal operations, and that has caught the eye of state Attorney General Henry McMaster.
Trey Walker, spokesman for McMaster, said Tuesday his office had received more than 150 complaints from the public of perceived price gouging or illegal gas-pricing activity since gasoline spiked in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"We are reviewing those complaints and based on that rev... (more)
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Who Really Hates Our FreedomWhile flipping through some TV channels, I was unfortunate enough to catch a few moments of a smirking politician rambling on about freedom and liberty. What a tragic comedy. The fact that politicians still have a market to spew their crap is a testament to the lack of thought of the average viewer of such pretended "news" programs.
A few minutes of thought and any literate person of any degree of intelligence would dismiss politicians as con men. However, has any "journalist... (more)
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Gasoline, Taxes, and Middle East PolicyMy constituents in the Texas gulf coast are very concerned about the price of gasoline, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina has left nine gulf coast refineries inoperable, and reduced capacity at four. This will mean the loss of 20 to 40 million barrels of oil in coming months, and prices at the pump well over $3.
Congress can help immediately by suspending federal gas taxes, which alone add 18.4 cents to the cost of every gallon. The state of Texas adds another 2... (more)
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Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are ReprimandedPENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety.
Instead, their superiors chided the pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, at a meeting the next morning for rescuing civilians when their assignment that day had been to deliver food and water to military installations along the Gulf Coast.
"I felt it was a gre... (more)
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Gallup: Americans to Bush -- Withdraw Troops from IraqNEW YORK Two separate Gallup polls, detailed today in the organization's weekly report, show that Americans favor withdrawing some or all U.S. troops from Iraq.
Perhaps most revealing was a new poll which asked 1,007 Americans, "If you could talk with President Bush for 15 minutes about the situation in Iraq, what would you, personally, advise him to do?" The poll taken in late August found that 41% said they would tell him to pull troops out of Iraq and end our involvement there.... (more)
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Military occupation turns New Orleans into war zoneNew Orleans is under military occupation as well as underwater, and people wave in delight at the huge convoys of troops rumbling by, some of their vehicles in desert camouflage either back from or on their way to Iraq.
As in a war zone, military bases are being established in a city divided into sectors, while the navy has moved warships up the Mississippi for helicopter operations.
Martial law and curfews are in force. This, with the arrival of thousands of troops... (more)
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British paratroops beat Iraqi civilian to death, court martial toldSEVEN British paratroops murdered an unarmed civilian in a “brutal and unprovoked” attack eleven days after the war in Iraq had been declared over, a court martial was told yesterday.
The soldiers, members of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, used their fists, boots, helmets and rifle butts to attack civilians who included two women, one of them pregnant, the court was told.
Martin Heslop, QC, for the prosecution, said: “This was, I am afra... (more)
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Yahoo grassed up journalist to Chinese copsSEARCH OUTFIT Yahoo! has helped send a Chinese business journalist, who sent a 'pro-democracy' story to the foreign press, to jail for more than 10 years.
According to Reporters without Borders, Shi Tao, who worked for Contemporary Business News, was convicted in a case concerning "top secret level state secrets" because Yahoo Holdings supplied information that helped police track him down.
Shi supplied information to foreign news sites about then pending 15th anniv... (more)
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Hundreds of fingers on the trigger: Every police officer on Merseyside could soon be equipped with a Taser stun gunTHEY have been a controversial addition to the armoury of the British police force but the people of Merseyside will have to get used to the sight of the electronic stun gun.
Tasers have been operating on Merseyside for more than six months without alarm.
Up to this point, though, the 50,000-volt weapons, which cause targets to lose muscle control and either freeze on the spot or collapse to the ground, have been available only to armed response units.
... (more)
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Government Sabotage Of Hurricane Katrina Relief EffortsA great reader has put together a list of examples of government sabotage of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
CONFESSIONS OF VITAL NATIONAL INTEREST
"Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial."
-Aaron Broussard, president Jefferson Parish council, MSNBC, TRANSCRIPT Meet the Press with Tim Russert, VIDEO: "Feds criticized for slow response," and VIDEO: "She drowned Friday night," September 4, 200... (more)
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Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed for DaysOffers of foreign aid worth tens of millions of dollars -- including a Swedish water purification system, a German cellular telephone network and two Canadian rescue ships -- have been delayed for days awaiting review by backlogged federal agencies, according to European diplomats and information collected by the State Department.
Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 90 countries and international organizations offered to assist in recovery efforts for the flood-stricken region, but... (more)
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Administration's figures on response don't appear to add upNEW YORK One of the earliest and perhaps clearest alarms about Hurricane Katrina's potential threat to New Orleans was sounded not by the Weather Channel or a government agency but by a self-described weather nerd sitting on a couch in Indiana with a laptop computer and a remote control.
"At the risk of being alarmist, we could be three-four days away from an unprecedented cataclysm that could kill as many as 100,000 people in New Orleans," Brendan Loy, who is 23 and has no forma... (more)
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Blog of a 'weather nerd' gave early warning of KatrinaNEW YORK One of the earliest and perhaps clearest alarms about Hurricane Katrina's potential threat to New Orleans was sounded not by the Weather Channel or a government agency but by a self-described weather nerd sitting on a couch in Indiana with a laptop computer and a remote control.
"At the risk of being alarmist, we could be three-four days away from an unprecedented cataclysm that could kill as many as 100,000 people in New Orleans," Brendan Loy, who is 23 and has no formal... (more)
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Ex-FEMA Chief Blames White House(CBS) Jane Bullock was chief of staff for the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Clinton administration under the leadership of Director James Lee Witt. In an interview with CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras, Bullock placed the blame for the slow, stumbling federal response squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration. These are excerpts from that interview.
THALIA ASSURAS: Where do you place the majority of the blame?
JANE BUL... (more)
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Right city, wrong state: FEMA accused of flying evacuees to wrong Charleston(CNN) -- Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles.
A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston.
But the plane, instead, landed in Charleston, West Virginia, 400 miles away.
It was not known whether arrangements have been made to care for the evacuees or transport them to the correct destination... (more)
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Corruption among UN senior staff, says inquirySeptember 07, 2005-THE Volcker inquiry into the Oil-for-Food scandal called for a significant overhaul of the UN yesterday as it prepared to reveal details of “serious instances of illicit, unethical and corrupt behaviour” at the world body.
The three-member committee, led by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, released the preface to a 1,000-page report that is to be presented today to the UN Security Council.
“The main co... (more)
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Electronic Tags Used to Track ImmigrantsSep 06, 2005-The use of new electronic devices to track products, pets, and people using radio frequencies is growing at what privacy advocates say is an alarming rate, given concerns that the technology is being implemented without proper safeguards, in both the public and the private sectors.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is used around the world in everyday consumer products from produce to beer kegs to DVDs. Increasingly it is being tested as a method to tra... (more)
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Iran weapon 'is five years away'A London-based think-tank which has become a leading authority on the unconventional weapons capabilities of so-called "rogue states" has estimated that Iran could develop enough weapons-grade uranium to develop a nuclear weapon within five years.
But in a 128-page dossier on Iran yesterday, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) also said Iran was more likely to build up a production capability over more than a decade and then decide whether to acquire atomic wea... (more)
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A Solution In Alaska NEW YORK - Hurricane Katrina may have blown open the door to oil drilling in previously forbidden territory.
The deadly storm last week not only destroyed the historic city of New Orleans and important port towns in Mississippi and Alabama, it took direct aim at the heart of the U.S. refining and oil industry. With refineries and pipelines struggling to come back, and some 58 offshore drilling rigs either missing or damaged, talk has turned to diversifying where the U.S. drills fo... (more)
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Katrina 'set to slow US economy'US growth is likely to slow in the remaining months of this year because of Hurricane Katrina's destruction, US Treasury Secretary John Snow says.
Mr Snow forecast that as much as 0.5% may be knocked off the US's annual gross domestic product (GDP).
The US, the world's largest economy, had been expected to grow by close to 3.5% this year.
However, that was before Katrina blew ashore, killing thousands and causing damages of close to $100bn (£55b... (more)
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Hurricane website is IE onlyThe Federal Emergency Management Agency has not exactly won hearts and minds with its ability to manage an emergency. The agency, and its boss Michael Brown, has been widely slated for its handling of the post-Katrina disaster in the Southern US.
Although its latest failing hardly compares to the litany of incompetence already exhibited but it does manage to make the situation slightly worse for some people. FEMA's website can only be accessed by people using a PC which has Intern... (more)
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