Human

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/2002/proceedings/42.htm The presenters will review global requirements to increase employment of people with disabilities in the United States Federal government; including policies and programs to impact the recruitment, hiring, and accommodation processes. The workshop will provide an overview of Federal initiatives and policies to implement real changes in the accessibility of the electronic and information technology environment for people with disabilities. With recent actions, including the implementation of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, the Federal government is implementing these recommendations. This workshop will provide information on the methods for determining and integrating accessible technology solutions for persons with disabilities in the workplace. It will also highlight initiatives and their impact on employment of people with disabilities and the integration of assistive technologies in the workplace. Federal Initiatives On March 13, 1998, the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities was created. This organization has worked to formulate an aggressive national policy to increase employment via altering conflicting policies, sharing promising practices, and improving communication between stakeholders. The workshop will provide an overview of Task Force actions from the Subcommittee on Technology and impact of their recent initiatives. On July 26, 2000, the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), President Clinton signed two executive orders related to the employment of people with disabilities in the Federal government. One aims to increase Federal employment opportunities for people with disabilities, and directs agencies to work aggressively towards hiring a projected 100,000 qualified individuals with disabilities government wide over the next five years. The other executive order addresses the provision of reasonable accommodation to federal applicants and employees, mandating that agencies establish effective written procedures for processing requests for reasonable accommodation. The workshop will explore the implementation of these to executive orders. New Freedom Initiative: Fulfilling America's Promise to Americans with Disabilities President George W. Bush's Administration has made a firm commitment to "tearing down barriers to equality" in its plan for increasing opportunity and accessibility for Americans with disabilities. With several components, including education, employment, technology, transportation, and housing, the New Freedom Initiative is an integrated plan capable of producing significant improvements for people with disabilities. The workshop will review the overall plan, and highlight two specific components: * Increasing Access to Assistive Technology and Universally Designed Technologies; and * Integrating Americans with disabilities into the workforce. Recruiting, Hiring, and Accommodating The Presidential actions, including the executive orders, the task force work and the Bush Administration's Initiative, create an elaborate and complex requirement to alter the approach to hiring people with disabilities. The outline for success is apparent. The following programs and initiatives offer starting points, supporting resources, and ongoing management and financial commitments to increase employment of people with disabilities in the Federal government. * The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP) has served as a recruitment resource for Federal agencies since 1995. This nationwide program, co-sponsored by the Department of Labor and the Department of Defense (DoD), involves over 1,200 motivated, qualified college students from more than 150 colleges and universities each year. The students, who must go through an interview process to be included in the WRP database, represent a broad spectrum of fields of study, levels of experience, and areas of interest. Students are interested in summer jobs and permanent positions in the Federal government. The WRP has proven to be a major pipeline for people with disabilities coming into government service, often initially through summer jobs; more than 300 WRP students are hired each summer in the Federal sector, and data shows a high retention rate once these students have graduated from college. The WRP is an outstanding resource for agencies as they work to support the President's initiative. * The Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) created Accessing Opportunity: The Plan for Employment of People with Disabilities in the Federal Government and People With Disabilities in the Federal Government: An Employment Guide. The documents represent the first-ever plan to hire and promote persons with disabilities at all levels of the federal workforce, from entry-level jobs to the senior executive service. The workshop addresses how the hiring plan and guide translates policies into real programs that will affect real lives. * On March 2, 1999, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document assists Federal employers in understanding practices that assist in reasonable job accommodations, including assistive technology. By using this resource, individual accommodations are more likely to occur with supporting legislative channels to enforce the requirements. * The executive order calling for the Federal government to hire 100,000 individuals with disabilities by 2005 refers directly to an ongoing employment shortage for individuals in IT positions. If the Federal government is to hire these individuals, a system-wide accommodation must be in place to ensure the productivity and retention of the new employees. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act calls for the implementation of accessibility standards when the Federal government develops, maintains, procures, or uses electronic and information technology. This requirement will ensure a more accessible environment to allow Federal employees with disabilities to be more productive as they will have increased access to information and opportunities. As technology evolves, how the Federal government addresses the relationship between Section 501, 504 and 508 in the Rehabilitation Act will afford new employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Section 508 incorporates design elements to enable the increased functionality of a Section 501/504 individual accommodation. * A program that will ensure the ability to recruit, hire, and accommodate a person with a disability in support of these initiatives is the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP). Established by DoD in 1990, CAP is now the Federal government's centralized accommodations program providing assistive technology and related services to people with disabilities. This program, which includes a Technology Evaluation Center (CAPTEC), has filled over 25,000 requests for accommodations since its inception. In addition to the services it offers employees year round, CAP provides accommodations to students who are hired for summer jobs through the WRP. This partnership between CAP and WRP has proven to be an effective mechanism for promoting the hiring and retention of college students with disabilities in the federal sector. * A final initiative highlights the importance of technology transfer. President Clinton's Executive Memorandum entitled Strategy for the Development and Transfer of Assistive Technology and Universal Design required the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR), which is chaired by the Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), to prepare a report identifying priority needs for the advancement of assistive technologies and universal design capabilities. The Bush Administration continues this policy to ensure Federal investment in assistive technology research and development. The workshop will provide an update on the policy implementation process and progress in the technology transfer arena. Expected Outcomes The implementation of the Presidential initiatives and related governmental actions will create an accessible environment capable of recruiting, hiring, and accommodating people with disabilities in the Federal government. Programs, such as the WRP and CAP, will access new talents and provide needed accommodations to anyone, anytime, anywhere, as the Federal government opens its electronic and information technology portals to all people. This process will ensure the employment of 100,000 new employees over the next five years. This workshop will allow the attendees to understand the United States Federal government's plan to become a model employer via the information age's success. The economy has created jobs that the Federal government has identified as targeted opportunities. By using accessible electronic and information technology, created by working closely with industry and assistive technology vendors, the results are attainable. RESOURCES Executive Orders, Presidential Memorandums, and other significant Federal actions highlight developments in the effort to increase employment of adults with disabilities. * EXECUTIVE ORDER 13163: Increasing the Opportunity for Individuals With Disabilities To Be Employed in the Federal Government (July 26, 2000) * EXECUTIVE ORDER 13164: Requiring Federal Agencies to Establish Procedures to Facilitate the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation (July 26, 2000) * MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES: Strategy for the Development and Transfer of Assistive Technology and Universal Design (July 25, 2000) * MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES: Renewing the Commitment to Ensure that Federal Programs are Free from Disability-Based Discrimination On the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26, 2000) * MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Employing People with Significant Disabilities to Fill Federal Agency Jobs that can be Performed at Alternate Work Sites, Including the Home (July 26, 2000) * NEW FREEDOM INIATITIVE (February 2001)

http://www.peacecorps.gov/ , and thankyou. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The View that Voyager 1, and 2 must be having is unreal. A sea of stars hummm!!!. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.physorg.com/news6788.html A trio of surprise discoveries from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft reveals intriguing new information about our solar system's final frontier. The findings appear in the Sept. 23 issue of Science. The surprises come as the hardy, long-lived spacecraft approaches the edge of our solar system, called the heliopause, where the sun's influence ends and the solar wind smashes into the thin gas between the stars. "These are just the most recent of many surprises Voyager has revealed in its 28-year journey of discovery. They tell us that the interaction of our sun with the surrounding interstellar matter from other stars is more dynamic and complex than we had imagined, and that there is more yet to be learned as Voyager begins the final leg of its race to the edge of interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Voyager 1 is expected to pass beyond the heliopause into interstellar space in eight to 10 years, with Voyager 2 expected to follow about five years later. Voyager 1 has already passed the termination shock, where the million-mile-per-hour solar wind abruptly slows and becomes denser and hotter as it presses against interstellar gas. It was expected the wind beyond the shock would slow to a few hundred thousand miles per hour. But the Voyager scientists were surprised to find that the speed was much less, and at times the wind appeared to be flowing back inward toward the sun. "This could mean that the outward pressure of wind was decreasing as the sun entered the less active phase of its 11-year cycle of sunspot activity," said Stone. Another surprise: the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field in the outer solar system varied more slowly beyond the termination shock. As the sun rotates every 26 days, the direction of the field alternates every 13 days. That field is carried out by the solar wind, with the alternating directions forming a pattern of zebra stripes moving outward past the spacecraft. One could imagine a zebra with giant "magnetic stripes" running past the spacecraft and Voyager 1 "observing" an alternating stripe every 13 days. After the shock, the "zebra" with its stripe pattern was moving at nearly the same speed as Voyager, so that it took more than 100 days for the stripe to pass the spacecraft and for the magnetic field to switch directions. Perhaps the most puzzling surprise is what Voyager 1 did not find at the shock. It had been predicted that interstellar ions would bounce back and forth across the shock, slowly gaining energy with each bounce to become high speed cosmic rays. Because of this, scientists expected those cosmic ray ions would become most intense at the shock. However, the intensity did not reach a maximum at the shock, but has been steadily increasing as Voyager 1 has been moving farther beyond the shock. This means that the source of those cosmic rays is in a region of the outer solar system yet to be discovered. Still operating in remote, cold and dark conditions billions of miles from the sun, the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft owe their longevity to radioisotope thermoelectric generators which produce electricity from the heat generated by the natural decay of plutonium. Caltech manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which built and operates Voyager 1 2. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., built the magnetometers.

No Opera????????????????????????????????????????????? I'm CRUSHED. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imagine those two bolts that the Astronauts lost during this last space mission? Traveling at 17,000 miles per hour. Or one of those bolts hitting a satellite? And there is more out there than even I want to imagine. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satel...#33;healthology Space junk 100,000 pieces of trash are orbiting the Earth, and they could pose dangers BY A.J. HOSTETLER TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER There are thousands of parts aboard orbiting space shuttles, plus six astronauts, their gear, food, luggage and equipment. Then there're the supplies the shuttle hauls up to the International Space Station, a now-gargantuan construction zone orbiting with its own crew, their gear, equipment and garbage. "You try to keep track of everything," said former astronaut Kathryn Thornton, now an associate dean at the University of Virginia's engineering school. During a spacewalk, "you practice a tether protocol all the time. Everything is tethered all the time, in general. Of course, mistakes happen." That's what happened this past week when spacewalkers lost two bolts while hooking up a $372 million addition to the space station. During one of the spacewalks, Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency told mission control that one of four bolts he needed disappeared. "I did not see it go," MacLean said. Though NASA said not to worry, that the bolts probably floated far enough away from the station, space debris can be dangerous. It can puncture or damage walls and other structures, even spacesuits, and can jam mechanisms. "It's one of these problems that is growing in seriousness," said William Ailor, director of the Center for Orbital and Re-entry Debris Studies at the Aerospace Corp. in Los Angeles. "It's really the small things that will get you." The errant bolts weren't the first hardware lost to space this year. In July, when a catch on Piers Sellers' tether caught open, he lost one of five spatulas while testing repairs to fix small cracks in Discovery's wing leading edges and nose cap. "Guys, I think my spatula's escaped," said Sellers during his spacewalk. The 14-inch-long spatula was later caught on video as it floated out of Discovery's open bay and into space, where it did not pose a hazard to the shuttle or the station, NASA officials said. Not losing equipment is "a matter of pride, and evidence of a good design," said former spacewalker Thomas Jones, the Virginia author of "Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir." "I did have a washer come loose, but nabbed it before it floated away," he said. "Also a tether hook once stuck open on us, letting a tool caddy float away, but my partner Bob Curbeam reached over and grabbed it before it drifted out of his reach." NASA's first spacewalker, Ed White, lost a spare glove in his 1965 mission, one of the earliest of some 100,000 pieces of space trash now orbiting Earth. About 11,000 pieces are about 4 inches or larger, but most are very tiny pieces of debris. An experiment led by the NASA Langley Research Center is evaluating how well space-bound materials withstand their potentially hazardous effects. The latest part of the project was retrieved Friday during a spacewalk for a return trip to Hampton. Objects bigger than about 4 inches are tracked by radar and telescope sensors by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. Once or twice a year, the network orders a space shuttle to steer away to avoid a collision. Even inside the shuttle, items can disappear. Shuttle astronauts wear shorts and pants covered with pockets and Velcro to help keep items from floating away. Still, items can work themselves free. "People are forever losing their spoons," Thornton said. Sometimes items find themselves carried on air currents and are later found on filtering screens of the shuttle's air circulation system. These spots are called the "Lost and Found." "There's another place near the top of the toilet, because of the air flow," Thornton said. "So that if you lost a piece of paper or something, you might find that it's drifted up in there. . . . That's usually the first place to look." Most items are stored during missions, tracked by computer with bar codes. Equipment is protected from floating items. Sometimes, crews find items left behind by former occupants. In 1989, during Thornton's first mission, astronaut "Sonny" Carter lost his watch, which he had stowed in a bag alongside his seat on the shuttle, she said. "We never found it. Two flights later, it appeared, in orbit, in the airlock. So it was lodged in somewhere that never got seen until a couple of flights later it popped out."

With OVER 2 decades online, I can honestly say that I'm addicted, and so are ALOT of other people. Consider the portals like MySpace, youtube, etc etc etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.theregister.com/2006/09/22/the_...rnet_addiction/ Can you be addicted to the internet? Asked by Ian Anderson of Aberdeen, Scotland Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is one of the new psychopathologies of the internet era. The first mention of "internet addiction" was in a 1996 paper by Drs O.Egger and M Rauterberg of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The first case of IAD in the clinical literature was presented by Dr KS Young of the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh campus in Bradford, Pennsylvania and appears in the February 1997 Psychological Reports. Bradford is now the home of the Centre for Internet Addiction. The case concerns a 43-year-old housewife who was addicted to the internet yet who otherwise had no prior history of any other psychiatric problem. It is unknown how many people suffer from IAD. There are several symptoms of IAD. These include: A need for an ever increasing amount of time on the internet to achieve satisfaction or a dissatisfaction with the continued use of the same amount of time on the internet. Two or more withdrawal symptoms developing within days, weeks, or up to a month after a reduction or cessation of internet use. These include distress or impairment of social, personal, or occupational functioning such that there is psychological or psychomotor agitation such as anxiety, restlessness, irritability, trembling, tremors, voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers, obsessive thinking, fantasies, or dreams about the internet. Internet engagement to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms. Internet often accessed more often or for longer periods of time than was intended. A significant amount of time is spent in activities related to internet use (for example, internet surfing). Important social, occupational, or recreational activities eliminated or reduced due to internet use. Risk of loss of a significant relationship, job, educational, or career opportunity due to excessive internet use. Internet engagement used as a way of escaping problems or relieving feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, or depression. Concealing from or lying to family members about the extent of internet use. Internet user driven to financial difficulty due to incurring unaffordable internet fees. Stephen Juan, Ph.D. is an anthropologist at the University of Sydney. Email your Odd Body questions to

Dcvoter, at least Rees had the ahems to run, which is much more than I can say about you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0918/p04s01-wogi.html As the IAEA meets, advocates argue for a nuclear-fuel bank as a safeguard against terrorism. By Michael J. Jordan | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor VIENNA – As the International Atomic Energy Agency meets this week for its 50th congress, a key focus will be a vision even older than the UN nuclear watchdog itself: the creation of a world nuclear-fuel "bank." Such a bank would store enriched uranium vital for nuclear energy - fissile material that, if enriched further, could make an atomic bomb. The bank would then disburse it to member states that have agreed not to produce the material. IAEA officials say they hope a "road map" emerges from several proposals. Forty-plus states possess the advanced technology to produce nuclear fuel - but not all of them do so. The notion of multilateral control of fuel supply has been revived by states under pressure from both higher oil prices and post-9/11 concerns that highly enriched fuel could get into terrorists' hands and be weaponized. "This idea has been discussed for awhile, and I can understand when people say they're skeptical," says Vitaly Fedchenko, a nuclear-security researcher with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. "But it looks like the current state of play makes it a little closer to reality than ever before." But some analysts have expressed concern that a US proposal could trigger a nuclear-fuel "race," as it aims to limit the number of states that could produce fuel, possibly spurring some states to move to join the club before the door closes. And, they say, economic incentives may not be enough to overcome longstanding hurdles of complex logistics and perceived infringement on sovereignty. "The idea that you're going to get everyone to hold hands and internationalize the ownership and operations of what is essentially a process that brings you within days - or at most, weeks - of the bomb, strikes me as fanciful," says Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Washington. Steps of enrichment Uranium, when mined in its natural state, contains just 0.7 percent of uranium-235 and uranium-238 - key ingredients for nuclear fuel. Billions of dollars and decades of effort later, the original nuclear states - the US, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China - were able to enrich the uranium to the 3 to 5 percent needed for nuclear energy. From there, analysts say, it's more or less a matter of "leaving the switch on" to enrich the uranium up to the 90 percent-plus for a bomb. President Eisenhower first broached the idea of an international uranium bank in 1953. But as the cold war intensified, no country wanted outside control. In 1970, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) assured the "inalienable right ... to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy." Countries had to submit to IAEA safeguards and forgo developing nuclear weapons. This "right," though, has sometimes been interpreted as a carte-blanche sovereignty issue, as Iran is doing today. The fuel-bank idea made little headway over the next two decades, despite a flurry of initiatives. But in 1991, after the Gulf War, the IAEA discovered the secret nuclear-weapons program of NPT signatory Iraq. In 2004, Pakistan's nuclear-program chief, A.Q. Khan, admitted to illicitly transferring technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. In recent years, NPT signatory Iran has divulged some details of its once-secret nuclear program. Better security, barriers to transfers Multilateral control of the fuel supply is no silver bullet, experts say, but only one prong of what ought to be a multifront campaign. They argue as well for greater barriers and restrictions on transfers and technologies, enhanced security and political commitment, and production of "proliferation-resistant technology." A fuel bank wouldn't be "a cure-all, but an added layer of oversight," says Tariq Rauf, the IAEA head of verification and security-policy coordination. "None of these steps reduces the risk to zero, but we can build in more protective measures that decrease the chances of misuse." IAEA, Russian, US proposals The IAEA proposal in play this week emphasizes economic incentives: a "guaranteed" supply at below-market prices. A Russian proposal would create international centers, starting in Russia, in which nuclear fuel would be produced under IAEA safeguards - and sold "nondiscriminatorily" to any state, regardless of whether they are under a cloud of suspicion. The US proposal would forbid technology transfer to countries that don't already have an advanced system. To garner support, US envoys have reportedly been encouraging countries that had frozen their programs to get inside the tent of what could be a lucrative business. The media have cited Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, and Canada as making noises about getting back into the game. "Any arbitrary system that creates a new set of 'haves' and 'have-nots' is unsustainable, because nobody wants to be a have-not," says Jon Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But if there are clear economic benefits to buying in, you'll get a majority of countries to go along." A central challenge will be to convince those who argue for sovereignty on such decisions to consider a new system. "It will require leadership, and preferably a multiheaded leadership, involving leading suppliers and important consumers," says Lawrence Scheinman, who wrote fuel-bank proposals for the Carter Administration and now teaches at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. "Where will that leadership come from? Would the international community feel comfortable with US leadership? The US has in the past led constructively - and still can."

With High Oil Prices high, and the Oil Producers producing to their maximum capacity in not only feeding their economies, but also feeding their political agendas against the United States as well as across the world? Maybe now they will see that it was not such a good idea. With countries now taking a serious look at becoming OIL INDEPENDENT, this could be a serious threat to Their over zealous policies of which they are trying to institute on the world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060920/wl_mi...nt_060920111004 Saudi Arabia has expressed concern that oil could become a victim of "selective" environment policies and called for striking a balance between a cleaner environment and development. The kingdom, whose economy heavily relies on oil income, said the use of advanced technology to carry out environment-friendly projects is the best solution to achieve economic development without harming the climate. "We are concerned that some environment-related decisions, which some countries are trying to impose, could reduce global consumption of oil," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said. "This could hamper our economic development programmes because of our heavy reliance on oil exports," Nuaimi told an international conference on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which opened Tuesday in Riyadh. "We are trying to (convince) the world to adopt positive environment decisions that safeguard the environment and contribute to global economic development." Introduced more than eight years ago, CDM is a part of the Kyoto Protocol that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of mainly carbon-based activities by establishing environment-friendly projects using advanced technology. The CDM is especially crucial for oil-producing nations fearing that their exports could be adversely affected if industrialized countries implement the Kyoto Protocol in six years, thus requiring higher environmental standards. By setting up environment-friendly projects in developing countries, the industrialized nations receive the so-called Certified Emission Reduction certificates, needed to indicate their compliance to the Kyoto Protocol. Conference chairman Mohammad al-Sabban, an advisor to the Saudi oil minister, said the kingdom was keen to ensure that "oil does not become a victim of selective policies being adopted by certain countries," a reference to industrialized nations. "The CDM ensures a fair distribution of commitments between the industrialized countries and developing nations," towards a clean environment under the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). Sabban asserted that using artificial methods by the international community to "reduce energy consumption" will not provide the needed solution for a cleaner environment. "The solution is through developing the technological alternatives... We believe that CDM provides the required balance between energy, development and environment," Sabban said. A host of speakers, including OPEC and EU officials, environment experts and CDM and UN executives are taking part in the conference focusing on the legal, financial and methodological aspects of the mechanism.

This was not easy to find. I heard that he went to speak at a college, but I had a brutal time finding which college it was at. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.knx1070.com/pages/86469.php?con...ontentId=209396 Posted: Thursday, 21 September 2006 6:17AM Venezuela Leader takes Aim at President Bush NEW YORK (AP) -- After a U.N. speech in which he branded President Bush, Satan, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has gotten a standing ovation with another anti-Bush speech at a New York college. The leftist South American leader spoke at Cooper Union last night before a packed audience including professors and union organizers. Chavez proclaimed himself ''a friend'' of the people of the United States, but said he hopes next time, they'll choose, in his words, an ''intelligent president.'' He got the standing ovation for comments accusing President Bush of committing genocide in Iraq. Chavez compared the Bush administration's actions to those of the Nazis and said the president should be brought before an international tribunal. Venezuela's president has become Latin America's leading voice against the U.S. government, taking on the crusading style of his mentor, Fidel Castro. The U.S., incidentally, is the top customer for Venezuela's oil.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...5005962,00.html THE major powers had given Iran a new deadline of early October to suspend uranium enrichment and begin negotiations on a package of rewards for stepping back from a nuclear showdown, a senior European diplomat said today. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and Italy agreed at a meeting overnight to give European negotiators more time to convince Iran to give up its enrichment program before seeking sanctions against Tehran as called for under a UN resolution. But the meeting set a deadline of early October for success in the negotiations between European foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani, the diplomat said. Speaking today, French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the major powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States - agreed that Iran must respond rapidly. "We must have a response fairly quickly," he said. "It's becoming urgent." At yesterday's meeting, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed away from the long-standing US position that Iran should face sanctions immediately for failing to meet an August 31 UN deadline for suspending its uranium enrichment. She agreed to permit a new round of negotiations between Mr Solana and Mr Larijani in the hope of convincing Tehran to meet the UN demand, US officials said. If Iran suspends its enrichment, which Washington and others believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, Ms Rice said she would personally attend the launch of direct negotiations with Tehran aimed at rewarding the Islamic republic for winding down its nuclear program. But Washington also got its partners to agree to the new deadline for imposing sanctions if Iran stands firm, according to senior US and European officials who were present at the meeting. The US officials declined to reveal the new deadline, but the European diplomat said Solana would be given until the first week of October to achieve results in his talks with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani. Mr Douste-Blazy said yesterday's meeting had agreed on the need to give Iran one more chance to reach a negotiated settlement. "We all thought that we had to avoid confrontation and do everything possible to pursue a dialogue ... while also avoiding a situation where the Iranians, through meeting after meeting, are able to play for time and we end up with a fait accompli" of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, he said. Mr Douste-Blazy was due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki later today on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a diplomat said. At the same time, chances of a quick breakthrough in the standoff dimmed with the announcement that Mr Larijani would not meet with Mr Solana in New York this week as expected. Instead, Mr Larijani and Mr Solana agreed in a telephone conversation to hold talks next week in an unidentified European capital, the official Iranian news agency reported in Tehran.

Rees, if you kept your anger in controll? Even I would have helped you, and I really can ROCK and ROLL. I'm a Republican, what in the hell am I going to win by helping a democrat in Washington D.C.??? NOT A DAMN THING. "The insuklt to voters is taken by political leaders who ask us to vote for someone because of friendships or favors owed and for no other reason." <~~~~~~~~~~ and this another reason that I WILL never be a democrat again. The democrats only saw me as a cripple, and not as a human being, and what I said about the democrats pitting one group against the other is true "lived it". (Hey!!!!!!! I know the ropes, I'm still in politics, I know the games, and me and others are still in it because? "We Like Serviing the People". I know it sounds corny, but that's why I am in it.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not even under this screen name "human" would I insult the D.C. voters. I treat people online with respect TILL they show me other wise. If you lose, at least lose gracefully. If money, and power were the only thing's that I was after, then I would NEVER be in politics. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/dwa/ope...vies/index.html In Production 2007: Shrek the Third, Bee Movie Shrek the Third finds Shrek and Fiona reluctantly reigning over Far, Far Away. But if they can find the heir to the throne and bring him back, they can return to their swamp. While Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots are in search of the heir, Fiona holds off a coup d’etat by Prince Charming. Bee Movie is the comedic tale of Barry B. Benson, a bee who decides to sue the human race for stealing the bees' honey. Things get pretty sticky between the bees and humans, and Barry gets caught in the middle with some very unusual problems to solve.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/8622.html US beef back on South Korea's menu; govt lifts ban on imports Posted on : Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:38:00 GMT | Author : Geoffrey Lewis SEOUL: South Korea lifted a ban on US beef imports yesterday after its Agriculture Ministry presented a report saying the meat handling facilities of 36 American slaughterhouses met the required safety standards. Consumers are being reassured that the next shipment of beef from the US would be free from the mad cow disease threat. South Korean officials said the country would once again import US beef ending a three year ban that cost the US beef industry losses exceeding $4bn between 2003 and 2005. Reports of an outbreak of the mad cow disease in December 2003 had prompted South Korea, the third largest market for US beef, to suspend imports. Japan, the largest importer had reacted similarly by removing all US beef from store shelves and issuing a blanket ban on all US beef products. In June, however Japan resumed imports prompting South Korea to reconsider its decision. The move is expected to improve the trade ties between the two nations which had come under some strain due to the ban. Packaged beef products will arrive in South Korea by the end of this month and would be on store shelves next month. The ministry said the meat would be thoroughly checked for safety issues. The ministry officials expect Japan's resumption of imports to endorse their own decision to lift the ban. They specified certain conditions for the beef's quality: it should be from cattle no older than 30 months; and all risky parts, such as ribs and organs, should be removed prior to packing and shipping. Kim Dal-joong, deputy minister at the agriculture ministry said the report was based on the findings of experts who used international parameters and guidelines to determine if US beef was safe for consumption. Nevertheless, officials would once again check the beef shipments after they arrive, Dal-joong said, a statement aimed to reassure South Korean consumers of tough safety inspections. Consumers in this East Asian country have shown, in past years, a preference for US beef because it is cheaper than the local variety. The US beef industry would need a few years of uninterrupted overseas trade to recover from the setback and achieve former levels of export revenues.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?Stor...17-025833-5911r SOUTHAMPTON, England, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Britain's BAE Systems has begun designing a new breed of weapons that will retain their deadly nature while becoming less destructive to the environment. The Times of London reports the arms manufacturer, with support from Britain's Ministry of Defence, will attempt to produce the environmentally friendly weapons as part of a new initiative to limit the impact of its munitions on the world's environment. "Weapons are going to be used and when they are, we try to make them as safe for the user as possible, to limit the collateral damage and to impact as little as possible on the environment," said BAE Systems executive Dr. Debbie Allen. Members of anti-weapon organizations, such as the Campaign Against Arms Trade, have come out in opposition to the initiative that has proposed the use of "lead-free" bullets and manure-based explosives. "This is laughable," CAAT member Symon Hill of told The Times. "BAE is determined to try to make itself look ethical, but they make weapons to kill people and it's utterly ridiculous to suggest they are environmentally friendly."

Washington, D.C. September 14, 2006 – It’s Peace Corps Night at RFK Stadium! Before the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, September 19, 2006, returned Peace Corps volunteers and agency staff will participate in a pre-game ceremony and a Parade of Nations, featuring flags from all 75 current Peace Corps countries. Following the parade, returned Peace Corps volunteer and host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews, is in the lineup to throw out the first pitch. Chris, who served in Swaziland, 1968-70, says his Peace Corps experience changed his life forever. Peace Corps Night will also commemorate forty-five years of service to the global community. The executive order establishing the Peace Corps was signed on March 1, 1961, and the legislation formally creating the agency was signed into public law (P.L. 87-293) on September 22, 1961. WHO: Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's Hardball Returned Peace Corps volunteers and agency staff WHAT: Peace Corps Night at RFK WHEN: Tuesday, September 19, 2006, 6:30 p.m.* *Game time 7:05 p.m.; please arrive by 6:30 p.m. for the Parade of Nations pre-game ceremony. WHERE: RFK Stadium 2400 East Capitol Street, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003

I have been distracted as of late by what's been going on in South America because chavez has been hording the lime light. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press...ent_Treaty.html United State Senate Approves U.S. - Uruguay Bilateral Investment Treaty 09/14/2006 WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, September 12, 2006, the United States Senate approved a resolution of advice and consent for the United States-Uruguay Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The countries signed the treaty at the Summit of the Americas, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on November 4, 2005. The Government of Uruguay completed its domestic ratification procedures in December 2005. The treaty will enter into force thirty days after the exchange of instruments of ratification. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "The U.S.-Uruguay BIT will help promote prosperity for both our peoples by creating jobs, and it is an important step toward deepening our economic and trade relationship." United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab said, "The U.S.-Uruguay BIT advances the Administration’s policies to strengthen trade and investment ties across Latin America. This treaty demonstrates the United States commitment to explore new and innovative economic opportunities with our neighbors in the hemisphere. The United States will continue to work closely with our partners, such as Uruguay, that implement sound economic policies and are committed to the rule of law. We are especially pleased that we were able to conclude our first BIT in several years with Uruguay, which has been a strong partner of the United States in the World Trade Organization and a longtime democratic model for the region." The investment protections in the treaty will offer current and future U.S. investors in Uruguay a more stable and predictable legal and regulatory environment, promoting increased investment in Uruguay and greater two-way trade. The BIT will generate increased investment and expand economic growth and prosperity in Uruguay. The United States is Uruguay’s largest trading partner, and the stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Uruguay was $533 million in 2004 (latest data available). Responsibility for BIT policy and negotiations in the U.S. government is shared by the Department of State and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

When I go by a mosque, I usually bow my head in respect, even though I'm not a Muslim. I hope that the Muslim Community shows the same Respect, and the ONLY way we can better understand each other is to ask questions. Isn't it an insult against God to store weapons in his church/mosque? To me a church/mosque is a holy site. If the Muslim community is only going to get upset about what ever The wests say, and not get up in arms about other Muslims desecrating mosques? Then it's CLEAR that Muslims could care less about God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [url="http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=157836"]http://news.bostonherald.com/international...rticleid=157836[/url] NABLUS, West Bank - Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that angered many Muslims. No injuries were reported in the attacks, which left church doors charred and walls pockmarked with bullet holes and scorched by firebombs. Churches of various denominations were targeted. Relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians are generally peaceful, and the attacks on the churches sparked concern that tensions would heighten. “The atmosphere is charged already, and the wise should not accept such acts,” Father Yousef Saada, a Greek Catholic priest in Nablus, said Saturday. Ayman Daraghmeh, a legislator from the ruling Islamic militant Hamas group, denounced the attacks. Dozens of police took up position around churches in Nablus to protect the holy sites. Firebombings left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of Nablus’ Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches. At least five firebombs hit the Anglican church and its door was later set ablaze. Smoke billowed from the church as firefighters put out the flames In a phone call to The Associated Press, a group calling itself the “Lions of Monotheism” claimed responsibility for those attacks, saying they were carried out to protest the pope’s remarks in a speech this week in Germany linking Islam and violence. Later Saturday, four masked gunmen doused the main doors of Nablus’ Roman and Greek Catholic churches with lighter fluid, then set them afire. They also opened fire on the buildings, striking both with bullets. In Gaza City, militants opened fire from a car at a Greek Orthodox church, striking the facade. A policeman at the scene said he saw a Mitsubishi escape with armed men inside. Explosive devices were set off at the same Gaza church on Friday, causing minor damage. There were no claims of responsibility for the last three attacks Saturday. “The people who did this are uneducated and ignorant,” said the Gaza church’s prelate, The Rev. Artinious Alexious. In his speech, Benedict cited an obscure Medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman.” The pope, spiritual leader of more than 1 billion Roman Catholics, did not explicitly agree with or repudiate the text. The Vatican later said the pope did not intend the comments to be offensive. However, they have sparked worldwide protests by Muslims, and Muslim leaders have demanded an apology. George Awad, a cleric at the Greek Orthodox church in Nablus, said he and other Christians have apologized for the pope’s remarks and urged Muslims to use restraint. “There is no reason to burn our churches,” he said. On Friday, about 2,000 Palestinians protested against the pope in Gaza City, accusing him of leading a new Crusade against the Muslim world. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the pope offended Muslims everywhere. Christians make up a small - and dwindling - minority of several tens of thousands among the more than 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority has made considerable efforts to ensure the political representation of Christians. Bishop Riah Abo El-Assal, the top Anglican clergyman in the Holy Land, said Saturday he expected his Muslim colleagues would swiftly denounce the attacks on the churches. He called them “childish acts” and said he was not increasing security at the Anglican churches in the area. In Nablus, merchant Khaled Ramadan, who was dressed in traditional Islamic garb, said the pope’s comments were unforgivable, but that Palestinians must not fight among themselves. “We are one people and violent reactions like these should not happen here,” he said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/ UPDATED Sept. 14, 2006 1. The detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility include bin Laden’s bodyguards, bomb makers, terrorist trainers and facilitators, and other suspected terrorists. 2. More money is spent on meals for detainees than on the U.S. troops stationed there. Detainees are offered up to 4,200 calories a day. The average weight gain per detainee is 20 pounds. 3. The Muslim call to prayer sounds five times a day. Arrows point detainees toward the holy city of Mecca. 4. Detainees receive medical, dental, psychiatric, and optometric care at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. In 2005, there were 35 teeth cleanings, 91 cavities filled, and 174 pairs of glasses issued. 5. The International Committee of the Red Cross visits detainees at the facility every few months. More than 20,000 messages between detainees and their families have been exchanged. 6. Recreation activities include basketball, volleyball, soccer, pingpong, and board games. High-top sneakers are provided. 7. Departing detainees receive a Koran, a jean jacket, a white T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, high-top sneakers, a gym bag of toiletries, and a pillow and blanket for the flight home. 8. Entertainment includes Arabic language TV shows, including World Cup soccer games. The library has 3,500 volumes available in 13 languages — the most requested book is “Harry Potter.” 9. Guantanamo is the most transparent detention facility in the history of warfare. The Joint Task Force has hosted more than 1,000 journalists from more than 40 countries. 10. In 2005, Amnesty International stated that “the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has become the gulag of our times.” From the Department of Defense Office of Public Affairs – OSD Writers’ Group

If this keeps up, I will "I hope with others helping" e-mail or call the Chinese Embassy, and ask them for some help. " http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/sgxx/dfzygy/t44338.htm " By the Way People; you dont need to download the translation program that they got. I didn't, and it still came up in English. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rees, bfrank, dcvoter, If I were you guys? I would be pissed off. In this board me "human", and others are getting hit by but programs and you guys are not. Don't you guys feel excluded???????? lol ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can Imagine, several re-writable disks alone "easy". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This post HAS BEEN MODIFIED, just in case there are ANY kids reading said post. For the Correct Verbage the link is below. (((((((((((((((((Please get your Parents Permission before reading.)))))))))))))))))) Plus I'm a Republican, and I could never use such Language to describe acts that ARE of a highly risky and unhealthful behavior that can lead to unwanted medical problems. (http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0906/357452.html) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0906/357452.html) WASHINGTON - Chief Ramsey declares first two Ladies of the Evening free zones in the First and Third Police District. In a new push to combat ladies of the evening and ladies of the evening-related crime in D.C. neighborhoods, the Metropolitan Police Department (website - news) this week begins enforcement of a new anti-loitering law that allows police to disperse groups of two or more individuals congregating for the purpose of Inappropriate or Inappropriate-related activity within a designated "Ladies of the Evening Free Zone." Chief of Police Charles H. Ramsey this week issued declarations for the first two Ladies of the Evening Free Zones in the District. The first zone begins on Friday, September 1, in Police Service Area 101, in the area generally bounded by 13th to 14th Streets, NW, L to "Eye" Streets. The second zone begins on Friday, September 8, in PSA 307, in the area generally bounded by 10th to 12th Streets, NW, M to N Streets. The boundaries of each zone are marked by posters in the affected area. Both Ladies of the Evening Free Zones will last for 10 days, the maximum amount of time allowed under law The Omnibus Public Safety Emergency Amendment Act of 2006, which Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed in July, authorizes the chief of police to declare "Prostitution Free Zones" in areas where the health or safety of residents is endangered by restricted or Ladies of the Evening-related offenses. While a Ladies of the Evening Free Zone is in effect, it is unlawful for a group of two or more persons to congregate on public space within that area for the purpose of engaging in Inappropriate or Inappropriate-related offenses. Persons in violation of the law first will be warned by a police officer that they are in a Ladies of the Evening Free Zone and will be directed to disperse. Failure to obey the officer's instruction could result in arrest, without a second warning. Offenders convicted under the law are subject to a fine of up to $300, imprisonment for up to 180 days, or both. "While some people may still want to characterize Ladies of the Evening as a 'victimless crime,' nothing could be further from the truth for those residents who must endure the presence of Ladies of the evening and their paraphernalia in our neighborhoods," Chief Ramsey said. "Our city has made great progress over the last several years in reducing Ladies of the Evening - in particular, the presence of brazen skipper walkers in many of our communities. But we know we must do even more to combat this very serious problem. The new Ladies of the Evening Free Zone law will give our officers one more tool for moving Ladies of the Evening and their Supervisors off the corner and out of our neighborhoods," he added. The law allows the Chief of Police to declare a specific area as a Ladies of the Evening Free Zone based on various factors, including a disproportionately high number of arrests or calls for police service related to shameful or shamefully-related offenses in the proposed zone within the preceding six-month period. Under the law, the MPD is required to post information detailing the boundaries of the drug free zone, the effective dates of the designation (which can last no longer than 240 hours) and the activities that are prohibited. Various acceptable group activities continue to be lawful within a declared Ladies of the Evening Free Zone. These include distributing campaign literature, collecting names on petitions, soliciting community support, discussing religious or political topics, or meeting for other lawful purposes. Both DC law and internal MPD regulations expressly prohibit racial profiling or any other form of biased policing in the enforcement of the Ladies of the Evening Free Zone law. The Police Department has issued a directive to all of its members describing the requirements of the law and providing operational guidelines for its use. Additional information about the Ladies of the Evening Free Zone, including details about the first two zones declared by Chief Ramsey, can be found on the Metropolitan Police Department website: http://www.mpdc.dc.gov

Are these people "Aliyah, Netta, Nikolas,Benny,Ally" real people, or are they just a bot program????