News of the real
Auugst, 2005
Bush Picks Nominee For Court; Cites His ‘Fairness and Civility’
“President Bush nominated John G. Roberts, a federal appeals court judge with a distinguished resume and a conservative but enigmatic record, as his first appointment to the Supreme Court on Tuesday night, moving to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with a candidate he hopes will be hailed by the right and acceptable to the left.
“The conservative Progress for America called Judge Roberts a ‘terrific nominee,’ while Naral Pro-Choice America denounced him as an ‘unsuitable choice,’ and a ‘divisive nominee with a record of seeking to impose a political agenda on the courts.’”
NYT, July 20, 2005
Non-ideological news: Supreme court judge nominated for political reasons
Knik bridge funding just a start
“The $286.4 billion transportation bill before the U.S. House today makes good on Congressman Don Young’s promise to deliver big projects and small - from appropriations exceeding $200 million to help build a bridge across Kink Arm to $1 million to repave roads in North Pole.”
“Friday was a good day for Don Young, Alaska’s sole representative in the U.S. House. In the morning the House passed his $286 billion national transportation bill by an overwhelming vote of 412-8. The Senate passed it later that evening, 91-4.
“The bill itself, known by its new acronym, SAFETEA-LU, is named in part for Young’s wife, Lu. And one of the biggest construction projects in the bill, about $229 million for a bridge across Knik Arm, will forever be known as ‘Don Young’s Way,’ the bill proclaims.
Anchorage Daily News, July 29 & 30
Important news: Politician wields excessive force, has small vision about ‘development,’ and reaps personal gain.
Minuteman movement spreads far from border
“A volunteer movement that vows to guard America against illegal immigration has spread from the U.S. - Mexican border to Appalachia.
“At least 40 anti-immigration groups have popped up nationally, inspired by the Minuteman Project that rallied hundreds this year to patrol the Mexican border in Arizona.
“Critics call the movement vigilantism, and some hear in the words of the Minutemen a vitriol similar to what hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan used against Southern blacks in the 1960s.
“The Minuteman Project has generated chapters in 18 states.
AP, July 18, 2005
News of causes: Desperations and injustice forces massive migrations
Oil industry’s profits soar while taxes are debated
BP made more than $1.8 billion in profit on its Alaska oil production in 2004, a sterling year for the London-based giant.
BP isn’t the only company booking elephant profits on North Slope crude oil. Two other companies, including top producer Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil, also are doing well.
Houston-based Conoco reported Alaska profits of $1.8 billion last year. Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, doesn’t report separate profit figures for Alaska, but that company also made big money here last year, according to state and independent analyses.”
Alaska is one of the richest pieces of BP’s portfolio, accounting for nearly 11 percent of the company’s worldwide profit last year of $17.1 billion. BP runs the sprawling Prudhoe Bay field and owns a piece of it plus many other North Slope fields.
Anchorage Daily News, July 17, 2005
Transformative news: Injustice is unacceptable. Economic growth is not the best way to judge happiness.
Subway and Bus Blasts in London Kill at Least 37
“Bomb explosions tore through three subway trains and a red-painted double-decker bus in a coordinated terror attack during London’s morning rush hour on Thursday, killing at least 37 people, wounding about 700 and leaving the city stunned and bloodied but oddly stoic.
NYT, July 7
Blast in Egypt Kills at Least 36 at Sinai Resort
“At least 36 people were killed in a series of powerful explosions early Saturday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik, Egyptian state television reported. More than 100 people were wounded in the blasts.
NYT, July 23
Truck Bomber Kills 25 in Baghdad
“The attack at the police station on Sunday, in the Mashtal neighborhood of the capital, was only the latest sign that the guerrillas had little desire to lay down their arms. The bomb struck at about 3pm, as a sandstorm swirled around the capital and cloaked buildings and streets in a thick layer of grit. People standing nearby were burned or peppered with shrapnel.
NYT, July 25
Wonder news: After thousands of years of civilization, suicide bombers threaten innocent people