Obama, GOP steering onto budget collision course

February 15, 2011, 8:37 pm

On a collision course over spending, House Republicans advanced a sweeping, $61 billion package of budget reductions on Tuesday despite a veto threat and a warning from President Barack Obama against cuts "that could endanger the recovery." Congressional Democrats said the Republican cuts would reduce U.S. employment coach bags rather than add to it and leapt to criticize when House Speaker John Boehner said "so be it" if federal government jobs are lost. Spending legislation must be signed into law by March 4 to prevent a government shutdown that neither side says it wants. The GOP bill, separate from the 2012 budget Obama unveiled on Monday, covers spending for the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30. The current legislation would affect domestic programs ranging from education and science to agriculture and parks, and it marks the first significant attack on federal deficits by Republicans elected last fall with the support of tea party activists. Passage is likely by week's end in the House, but a frosty reception is expected later in the Democratic-controlled Senate. For all the maneuvering, the measure is merely a first round in what looms as a politically defining struggle that will soon expand to encompass Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the large government programs that provide benefits directly to tens of millions. "We know we can't balance this budget simply by reducing nonsecurity, nondefense spending," said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, referring to the 359-page bill that would cut $61 billion from domestic programs. "But as the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This is Coach Backpack Bags that first step." The measure is sweeping in its scope, cutting spending from literally hundreds of domestic budget accounts and eliminating many others. In contrast to cuts for many agencies, the Pentagon would get an increase from current levels, and the House rejected a handful of efforts to scale it back. The largest proposed cut, an attempt by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., to slice $415 million from production of the V-22 Osprey aircraft, was defeated on a vote of 326-105. In a reflection of tea party priorities, earmarks are banned in the bill. And in a fulfillment of a promise that Republicans made to the voters last fall, about $100 billion would be cut from funds that Obama requested for the current fiscal year. While Republicans touted their legislation as an essential step toward deficit control, Democrats argued it was dangerous. "With severe and indiscriminate spending cuts, it goes too far. This legislation will destroy Coach Backpack Bags American jobs while harming middle class families, young adults, seniors and, yes, even our veterans," said California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader. At a White House news conference, Obama said he looked forward to working with lawmakers in both parties on the spending bill, which he noted includes funding to allow the government to remain in operation after existing authority expires on March 4. At the same time, in an apparent reference to the GOP campaign promises for $100 billion in cuts, he said, "I think it is important to make sure that we don't try to make a series of symbolic cuts this year that could endanger the recovery." A few hours after Obama spoke, the White House issued a formal statement expressing "strong opposition" to the legislation. It threatened a veto if the bill "undermines critical priorities or national security . or curtails the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dispatched a letter to key lawmakers that said the cuts recommended for humanitarian assistance "will be devastating to our national security, will render us unable to respond to unanticipated disasters and will damage our leadership around the world." The Environmental Protection Agency, a favorite target of conservatives, is ticketed for a 29 percent cut from last year's levels. The Food and Drug Administration budget would decline by 10 percent, and spending would also fall by 10 percent for the government's principal Coach Carly Bags nutrition program for pregnant women and children. Republicans used their first major spending bill to reflect conservative priorities on a range of issues, from abortion to the environment. The bill would prohibit federal funding for any private organization that uses its own funds to facilitate abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy. It also would block the administration from terminating plans for a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada — a direct challenge to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D -Nev. Additionally, the EPA would be barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from factories and other stationary sites. Conservatives said they would attempt to add other policy requirements to the legislation during floor debate, including one to prevent the implementation of the year-old health care law. Others are backed by affected industries. One would stop the Federal Communications Coach Claire Bags Commission from enforcing its proposed new "network neutrality" policy, which prohibits phone and cable companies from interfering with traffic on their broadband networks. A second would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from factories and other stationary sources. After a six-week period of preliminary skirmishes, this week's events mark a quickening in the pace of developments in the budget fight that appears likely to dominate Congress' attention for the year. While the bill on the House floor is essentially mop-up legislation for the current fiscal year, Obama released his budget for next year on Monday and Republicans are expected to counter with their own spending blueprint later this spring. Additionally, officials said Senate Democrats agreed in a closed door meeting during the day to support one element of Obama's budget, a call for a five-year freeze across hundreds of domestic programs. Some accounts would face cuts to allow for growth in others. A formal announcement is expected on Wednesday. The president has drawn criticism for omitting the far-reaching deficit-cutting changes a presidential commission discussed late last year, principally in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. At his news conference, he said he hopes to work with lawmakers in both parties on the issues, and added, "If you look at the history of how these deals get done, typically it's not because there's an Obama plan out there. It's because Democrats and Republicans are both committed to tackling this issue in a serious way." House Republicans issued a statement that promised to take the first step. "Our budget will lead where the president has failed, and it will include real coach outlet entitlement reforms," said the GOP leaders. Coach Ergo Bags

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by quyishop quyishop1 in Ramblings

Can trains, subways be protected from terrorists?--GUCCI handbags

December 26, 2010, 9:55 pm

Can trains, subways be protected from terrorists?--GUCCI handbags

The government's top security officials say they are upgrading subway and rail defenses against terrorist attacks throughout the country, <a href="http://www.gucci-

outlet.cc">gucci outlet</a> but a USA TODAY examination finds gaping holes, including many that may not be possible to plug.

The holes in security leave travelers more vulnerable on the more than 4 billion trips they take by subway and rail each year than in the sky, where airlines carried fewer than

700 million passengers from U.S. airports last year.

Six terrorist plots targeting U.S. subway and rail systems have been exposed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the systems remain a target, transit authorities, security

experts and members of Congress agree. <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-hobo-c-65_81.html">Gucci Hobo</a> An alleged plot to simultaneously bomb four

Washington, D.C., Metro subway stations was foiled in October, and another plot to detonate explosives in New York's subway system was averted last year.

Yet, as the nation debates the federal Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) stricter screening methods at airport security checkpoints, about 15 million passengers

board subway cars and trains unscreened each weekday.

"Mass transit systems are much less secure than the aviation sector or certain key government buildings," says Clark Kent Ervin, the Department of Homeland Security's former

inspector general.

And they'll likely remain that way, <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-tote-c-65_82.html">Gucci Tote</a> USA TODAY has found in its examination of rail

security, which included an analysis of the National Counterterrorism Center's incident database and interviews with Congress, federal security officials, transit authorities,

rail operators, independent security experts and passengers.

The nation's vast network of more than 3,200 stations and more than 20,000 miles of track combined with the impracticality and cost of screening every passenger leave U.S.

subways and rails exposed to the type of terrorist attacks 22 other nations have experienced the last five years.

Having a secure network ultimately is the responsibility of the TSA, which is in the Department of Homeland Security. While the agency has imposed stringent screening of air

passengers at the nation's 450 commercial airports, it says it has no similar plans for rail passengers.

The TSA has largely left rail security to local governments, which USA TODAY finds often don't have the capability and money to make systems secure.

Although TSA spends most of its budget on aviation security, protecting mass transit passengers will be as much a priority as protecting air travelers, John Pistole, the

agency's administrator, said after taking charge in July.

"We know that some terrorist groups see rail and subways as being more vulnerable, because there's not the type of screening that you find in aviation," he said.

'Vulnerable to attack' 

Although terrorists have yet to successfully strike, U.S. rail and transit officials know their systems are targets susceptible to attack.

"Mass transit systems, by nature, are open<a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-duffel-c-65_83.html">Gucci Duffel</a> systems and vulnerable to attack," says Lisa

Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. "The Metro system is no different, with multiple entrances and exits designed to move a large

number of riders."

Amtrak, which carries nearly 30 million passengers annually to more than 500 stations in 46 states, Washington and three Canadian provinces, agrees.

"Amtrak functions in a very open and, therefore, porous transportation environment," spokesman Steve Kulm says. "Because of advantages such as easy access, convenient locations

and intermodal connections, rail and mass transit systems are completely different from the structure and organization of the airline transportation and airport industry."

A July report by the Government Accountability Office says high ridership, expensive infrastructure, economic <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-duffel-c-

65_83.html">Gucci Duffel</a> importance and location in large metropolitan areas or tourist destinations also make passenger rail systems "attractive targets for

terrorists."

Subways and trains have been more frequently attacked worldwide than aircraft and airports, USA TODAY's analysis of the National Counterterrorism Center's database shows.

There were 213 attacks on subways and trains from Jan. 1, 2005, through June 30, 2010, compared with 197 attacks on aircraft and airports.

In the subway and rail attacks, 700 were killed, 3,262 wounded and 3,114 taken hostage. In the aircraft and airport attacks, 238 were killed, 937 were wounded and 281 were taken

hostage. The statistics include March suicide bombings that killed <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-travel-business-c-65_84.ht
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40 people in the Moscow subway system but do not include a 2004 attack in Madrid that killed 191 after 10 bombs exploded on four trains.

"Logic dictates that because mass transit is 'mass,' terrorists are interested in attacking it to maximize death, injury and panic," says Ervin, the former Homeland Security

Department inspector general.

Can't screen every passenger

Perhaps the only way to make subway and rail cars secure is to screen every passenger similar to what the TSA and its 50,000 screeners and some private contractors do at

airports.

And some passengers, such as Carl Woodin of Maple Glen, Pa., say they wouldn't mind it. He says security was poor during the 24 trips he took this year on subway, Amtrak and

other trains.

"I always thought that a terrorist could very easily board a New Jersey Transit <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-top-handle-c-65_85.html">Guc
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Handle</a> or Amtrak train on the Northeast Corridor and demolish New York's Penn Station and Madison Square Garden," says Woodin, president of a multimedia company.

But security analysts say screening all subway and rail passengers is impractical and too costly. And the TSA "is not considering" requiring it, the agency said in a written

response to USA TODAY questions.

"Mass transit systems in the U.S. are vast, a literal black hole," says James Carafano, a homeland security expert at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think

tank. "They would consume every cent we spend on homeland security, <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-bags-gucci-men-bags-c-65_86.html">Gucci
Men Bags</a> and there

still would be vast vulnerabilities."

Brian Jenkins, security research director for the Mineta Transportation Institute, which is funded by Congress and researches transportation policy issues, estimates that it

costs $8 to $10 to screen a single passenger. "If you add that cost to a subway fare, it would destroy public transportation," Jenkins says.

Screening all passengers could also slow mass transit to a crawl because most subway and rail riders travel en masse during weekday rush hours, security experts say. Many riders

with a 20-minute or less commute would not accept a 20-minute or so security-screening delay and would opt for another means of transportation, Jenkins says.

"One hundred percent screening of rail passengers is not realistic," he says. "You might need hundreds of thousands of screeners."

Security rests in local hands 

TSA has devoted most of its resources to air security after the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, leaving subway and rail security primarily to transit authorities, local

governments and rail operators, including many that are not in good financial condition.

In an April report, the American Public Transportation Association said public transportation systems "are facing unprecedented funding challenges due to widespread declining

state and local revenues."

The association, which represents transit agencies and rail and bus operators, found 70% of 151 transit systems that responded to an association survey project "budget

shortfalls" this year.

William Millar, the association's president, <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-wallets-c-66.html">Gucci Wallets</a> says transit authorities don't have the necessary

resources. More than $30 billion has been allocated for aviation security since 9/11, compared with $1.7 billion for subway, passenger rail, cargo rail, bus and some ferry

security, Millar says.

Police Chief Paul MacMillan of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which operates transit systems in Boston, says, "We understand the commitment to aviation," but

"There needs to be a commitment by the federal government to dedicate more attention to mass transit."

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, says he's "deeply troubled" by the small amount of TSA's budget devoted to transit and rail

security. Fewer than 2 million airline passengers fly daily, and about 34 million rail and transit passenger trips are taken each weekday, he says.

"Although funding for surface transportation security at TSA was doubled <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-wallets-c-66.html">Gucci Wallets</a> for fiscal year 2010

(which ended Sept. 30), it still only constituted less than 2% of TSA's budget, compared to around 85% for aviation," Thompson says.

TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee says that "the Obama administration has made extraordinary investments in surface transportation security" during the past two budget years,

including allocating $850 million for transit agencies, funding local anti-terrorism teams and launching a program with Amtrak to encourage passengers to report suspicious

activity.

More random screening

In the absence of universal screening, the TSA has pushed random screening of passengers and a show of force as a deterrent to attacks.

Random screening, the TSA says, has been conducted by <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-wallets-c-66.html">Gucci Wallets</a> transit and rail authorities in the New York

and Boston subway systems and in Amtrak stations in the Northeast.

On Dec. 16, Washington, D.C., Metro police said they would begin random inspections of passengers' carry-on items. The TSA says it will partner next year with local law

enforcement to conduct random screening in additional locations.

The TSA says it this year conducted with local law enforcement more than 6,500 "Visual Intermodal Prevention and Response teams operations" — an unannounced, high-visibility

presence of security officers at a transportation facility — in various transportation modes, including mass transit and passenger rail systems.

The teams were created in response to the March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Madrid.

However, the Government Accountability Office in a May report said questions have been raised about the effectiveness of the program. The Department of Homeland Security's

Office of Inspector General said the TSA needed to develop a more collaborative relationship with local transit officials, and the GAO said TSA had not fully established

performance measures to assess the results of its prevention and response teams.

Thompson, the House homeland security committee chairman, says no funds should be provided to the program until a federal grant program allocating security money to transit

agencies is fully funded.

Federal money also needs to be "significantly" increased <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-watches-c-67.html">Gucci Watches</a> for canine teams for rail and transit

authorities, and the Department of Homeland Security needs to develop initiatives to "encourage innovation and technology" for rail and transit security, he says.

Thompson also criticizes the TSA for "very poor management" in its Surface Transportation Security Inspection office. The office determines the tasks of inspectors who evaluate

rail and mass transit security and are on the prevention and response teams.

Thompson's counterpart in the Senate — Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — says, "Rail and transit security

will never achieve the level of security that exists at airports."

However, he says, there needs to be more video surveillance and installation of sensors "that automatically detect chemical, biological and explosive threats."

Other security holes

Other holes in rail security exist, security analysts say.

An explosive device could be placed in subway or rail cars when they're out of service <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-jewelry-c-69.html">Gucci Jewelry</a> in a train

yard. They can be attacked traveling between stations. Or, the rails, bridges and tunnels they ride on or pass through could be sabotaged.

Amtrak says its trains operate on more than 21,000 miles of track.

Still, there's a difference in what a terrorist can do to a train vs. a plane, says Ron Heil, a security consultant for transportation industry firm TranSystems. 

"The airplane can be used as a weapon of mass destruction, such as in the 9/11 attacks, and there is no recovering from even a small blast at 40,000 feet," Heil says. "Trains

must travel on rails, making them hard to steer into other targets but easy to attack externally on their routes."

And despite rail's vulnerability, several security experts say securing subways and trains shouldn't come at the expense of secure skies.

"Terrorists have been trying relentlessly to attack aviation since 9/11," <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc/gucci-belts-c-68.html">Gucci Belts</a> says Carafano of The

Heritage Foundation. "Only an idiot would divert resources from aviation security to rail."

Ultimately, analysts say, the key to thwarting terrorism on the nation's rails is intelligence to prevent an attack — which has worked.

"The government must use intelligence <a href="http://www.gucci-outlet.cc">gucci outlet online</a> and surveillance procedures to see to it that no terrorist has a chance to

attack," says Walid Phares of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based policy institute focusing on terrorism.

by quyishop quyishop1 in General

European airports race to clear Christmas backlog--gucci outlet

December 22, 2010, 8:45 pm

European airports race to clear Christmas backlog--gucci outlet LONDON (AFP) – Snowbound European airports raced to clear a backlog of stranded passengers gucci handbags as better weather conditions allowed them to begin frantic efforts to get people home for Christmas.
In London, Paris and Frankfurt, the continent's busiest airports were running a slimmed-down schedule in a bid to get thousands of weary travellers to their destinations before Christmas Day on Saturday.
Airport officials were under increasing pressure to resolve the crisis after the European Union blasted the "unacceptable" disruption, Gucci Shoulder Bags with the head of Heathrow's operator BAA saying he would not take his yearly bonus.
Around 1,000 passengers spent the night at London Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, in the hope of flying out after days of cancelled flights and frustration.
"We're running 70 percent of our normal planned schedule, which accounts for around 900 flights," a Heathrow spokeswoman told AFP.
"The airport is fully operational and it's now a situation of airlines getting aircraft and crew in the right place," she said, adding that 30,000 tonnes of snow had been shifted from the airport's apron.
Heathrow was "absolutely" aiming to get everyone away in time for Christmas", the spokeswoman said, adding however that "we can't give any guarantees."British Airways said it had put on extra flights in a bid to fly "tens of thousands" of customers to their destinations before Christmas after having to cancel 2,000 flights during five days of "very severe" disruption.
It aimed to operate a full long-haul schedule on Thursday and Friday and said it hoped to run the "vast majority" of short-haul flights.
"Our teams are working around the clock to get as many Gucci Messenger Bags people where they want to be ahead of Christmas Day and we are doing all we can to increase the number of seats available," chief executive Willie Walsh said.
Eurocontrol, the continent's air traffic supervisory body, said about 3,000 flights had been cancelled across Europe on Tuesday, with similar numbers of cancellations for each of the previous four days.
Weather reports said snow could persist in northern Europe even as the situation improved further south.
Colin Matthews, the head of Heathrow's operator BAA, said he would not take his bonus for 2010 after union chiefs said accepting the payment would be an "absolute slap in the face" to stranded passengers.
At Paris-Charles de Gaulle, continental Europe's busiest airport, Gucci Leather Bags 15 percent of flights were cancelled late Wednesday as snow flurries were forecast, while the schedule was to be slashed by 25 percent throughout Thursday.
An inter-ministerial crisis centre said that between five and 10 centimetres (two and four inches) of snow would fall, and authorities issued weather alerts for northern France. Police authorities told Paris businesses to let their employees go home early and advised drivers to stay off the roads if possible.
Services at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's main hub, were improving though Gucci Backpack 70 early flights were cancelled. Overnight some 300 people slept in the terminals, while others were taken to local hotels.
"If the weather holds up, we will get a lot of passengers to their destinations today, but it also depends on the weather at other European airports," an airport spokesman told AFP.
German flag carrier Lufthansa said it expected a "quasi-normal situation" for flights on Wednesday.
Flights got going again at Dublin Airport after the authorities cleared ice and more than 15 centimetres (six inches) of snow, and also at Brussels Airport, with only a few flights to Switzerland scrapped.
Thick fog grounded planes at the Bulgarian capital Sofia, forcing Gucci Belt Bags diversions.
While rail services across Europe were also affected, Eurostar was able to run 43 out of 52 high-speed passenger services between London, Paris and Brussels after severe disruptions earlier in the week.
The wintry weather caused cancellations and delays on public transport across Scandinavia.
Denmark recorded its lowest December temperature since 1981, minus 22.5C (-8.5F).
In Russia, eight people were killed when a bus smashed into a truck in the western Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk.
The accident may have been due to a technical malfunction caused by temperatures dropping to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). Increased oil consumption in the cold weather pushed brent crude prices to new two-year highs in Asian trade, with a barrel rising 29 cents to 93.49 dollars.
Meanwhile, some 2,000 pagans, druids and revellers gucci handbags outlet celebrated the winter solstice at the Stonehenge monument in southwest England by having a snowball fight at sunrise.

by quyishop quyishop1 in General

SKorea to conduct firing drills from border island--UGG

December 19, 2010, 8:00 pm

SKorea to conduct firing drills from border island--UGG

South Korea says it will conduct firing drills Monday from a border island shelled by a North Korean artillery barrage last month.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff officer says that marines will conduct the one-day artillery drills on Yeonpyeong Island.

The officer says the exact timing will be determined by weather conditions. <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/">sale ugg boots</a>

He says South Korea will sternly deal with any possible provocation by North Korea. He spoke on condition of anonymity citing department rules.

The North has warned of a "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with the drills.

The North has said it would strike back harder than it did last month, when two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed on the island.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — World powers trying to defuse tensions between North and South Korea met in an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday, but diplomats said China objects to the North being singled out for criticism over two deadly <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/ugg-classic-ugg-classic-mini-boots-c-42_4
6.html">Ugg Classic Mini Boots</a> attacks this year that have helped send relations to their lowest point in decades.

China and Russia, the countries with the closest ties to North Korea, have expressed concern about the South Korean military's plans to conduct one-day, live-fire drills by Tuesday on the same front-line island the North shelled last month as the South conducted a similar exercise.

The United States supports South Korea, a staunch ally, and says any country has a right to train for self-defense.

The North warned of a "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with the drills. The reclusive communist government in Pyongyang said it would strike back harder than it did last month, when two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed on Yeonpyeong Island.

South Korea says the drills are routine, defensive in nature and should not be considered threatening.

Russia called for the Security Council meeting, <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/">sale uggs</a> and Moscow proposed a draft statement that would have the U.N.'s most powerful body call on North Korea and South Korea "to exercise maximum restraint" and urge immediate diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions. It would also ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint an envoy "to consult on urgent measures" to peacefully settle the crisis.

Most council members, including the United States which holds the rotating council presidency this month, viewed the Russian draft as unfairly equating the actions of the two Koreas, according to council diplomats. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are taking place in private.

The United States, Britain, France and many others on the 15-nation body demanded that the council condemn North Korea for the Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong island that killed four people, and the March 26 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors and was blamed on a North Korean torpedo, the diplomats said.

During more than five hours of closed-door negotiations, the diplomats said Russia showed "flexibility" on a compromise text that included a condemnation of North Korea. But China refused to agree to any condemnation of the North and even opposed including the name of Yeonpyeong Island, insisting that the statement refer to events of Nov. 23, the diplomats said.

The council then moved into a private meeting in its formal chamber so North Korea and South Korea could make their case to members, the diplomats said.

Despite China's apparent staunch opposition to any condemnation, the diplomats said they haven't given up hope of a compromise.

The council began meeting shortly after 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) and heard a briefing from U.N. political chief B. Lynn Pascoe on the situation in the Koreas.

The council diplomat said Pascoe echoed Ban, who on Friday called the Nov. 23 attack on the tiny island of Yeonpyeong "one of the gravest provocations since the end of (the) Korean War."

Ban was South Korea's foreign minister before becoming secretary-general in 2007. <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/ugg-classic-ugg-classic-short-boots-c-42_
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The Russian draft presidential statement circulated to Security Council members and obtained by The Associated Press does not mention either the Nov. 23 attack or the Cheonan sinking.

It stresses the need for efforts "to ensure a de-escalation of tension" between the two Koreas and a "resumption of dialogue and resolution of all problems dividing them exclusively through peaceful diplomatic means."

A rival British draft would condemn both attacks and share the secretary-general's view that the shelling of the island was one of "the gravest provocations" since the Korean War which endangers peace and security in the region and beyond, the diplomats said.

It calls for North Korea to refrain from further attacks and urges all parties to exercise restraint, avoid a further deterioration of relations, and engage in peaceful dialogue and negotiations, the diplomats said.

Russia borders North Korea and after China is considered the country with the closest ties to Pyongyang. Russia's Foreign Ministry has urged South Korea to cancel the drill to avoid escalating tensions. Both countries are veto-wielding permanent members of the council, along with the U.S., Britain and France.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Saturday the situation on the Korean Peninsula "directly affects the national security interests of the Russian Federation."

Several bloody naval skirmishes occurred along the western sea border between the two Koreas in recent years, but last month's assault was the first by the North to target a civilian area since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North does <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/ugg-classic-ugg-classic-tall-boots-c-42_4
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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a frequent unofficial envoy to North Korea and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has held three meetings with top leaders in the foreign ministry and military during a four-day visit to Pyongyang. He called for maximum restraint.

"I hope that the U.N. Security Council will pass a strong resolution calling for self-restraint from all sides in order to seek peaceful means to resolve this dispute," Richardson said in a statement released by his U.S. office late Saturday. "A U.N. resolution could provide cover for all sides that prevents aggressive military action."

The North's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that South Korea would face "catastrophe" if the drills take place, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

China, the North's key ally, has said it is "unambiguously opposed" to any acts that could worsen already-high tensions.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, <a href="http://www.saleuggsboots.com/">ugg outlet</a> called for restraint from all parties concerned to avoid escalation, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

by quyishop quyishop1 in Ramblings

The most unique business

December 17, 2010, 8:18 pm

Ideal business should look like? Few people have discussed this topic. Because when it comes to the topic, it is bound involved in complex disputes. Even management guru Peter Drucker, in his only fictional work "The Last of the perfect world" implicitly expressed his expectations of the perfect business. This figure, which he called "noble", and with the passage of the nineteenth century, "seems to have disappeared without trace."
Make a giant Austrian Masters (he set foot traffic, construction, real estate, finance,Christian Louboutin outlet tourism and investment), said in his memoirs: "I did not change throughout their own goals: the establishment of a free and just society, young In 1848 our dream of social revolution ... ... I am still a revolutionary. I have in the past four years, any building built is a revolution in the Declaration ... ... My goal is to build a humane living environment, in this environment, citizens can stand up tall. "He continued his business," changing the world "dream. He was not "the last of the perfect world" after the passage of those business people - who inherited his talent in the business and glory, even with "Austria and even the best minds in Europe", but can only be attributed to " the ranks of craftsmen, "" only interested in money, only care about a very narrow case, or just want to show off their 'smart'. " Those who carried out his "dream of changing the world" and "their vision was very sincere, but they are very unrealistic, it is difficult to accomplish great things."
In today's China, a large number of businessmen is also fancies himself an intellectual, both business talent and the dream of transforming society. They are eager to publicly express their views on various issues, it seems that the person has accumulated the most money view of the world also the most correct. Without even the public does not want to look forward to the mouth from these billionaires to hear to solve all the problems we are facing an answer to from the price, the exchange rate change, rise and fall of national power to the education reform and family well-being.
But the real good to play two roles at the same time people are rare. We believe that Mr. Qin Xiao is one of them. Which business is not as passionate as he can to talk about the fate of China, modernity, reform and restart the reform. Moreover, he was a sincere love for these propositions. This is evident from his speeches and presentations that can be seen. All of these speeches and presentations, in addition to commercial reality, but also takes courage, passion, insight, knowledge and skills.
And Drucker described as the ideal business, Qin Xiao, began to believe that from a young age is a utopian existence. They are all children of the revolution. The former is fierce French Revolution, which is equally intense Chinese revolution. Two revolutions have to build an ideal society in the country and the goal. They all came from family, but short-lived Qin Xiao Jicheng is a tradition. Drucker had the opportunity to enter the business of the Cabinet Government of Austria; Christian Louboutin 2010 Qin Xiao had worked at Zhongnanhai, the political power to people close to the core. Drucker's business started from the city works, and then into the family real estate business, and then gradually get involved in the financial, tourism and investment, just like most of Europe to build a huge business empire. Qin Xiao, the care of state-owned enterprises from the country, first at CITIC, and then in the Merchants.
His career in the China Merchants should be the pinnacle of his commercial success. The data, this company "more than 4 times increase in total assets, the annual compound growth rate of 20.64%; parent net profit increase of about 20 times, the annual compound growth rate of 40.21%", "from a total assets of 49.6 billion, liabilities of 23.3 billion, state-owned enterprises on the brink of paralysis, rising to become an asset size of 270 billion yuan, a well-functioning of the giant aircraft carrier "(see Articles 21 reported in 2010," Qin Xiao-sided "), involved in real estate, finance, ports, shipping and so on. His talent in the business may be established from his home state-owned enterprises in this decade of recycling and re-achieved through the proof, even though he worked for the controversial state-owned enterprises.
The difference is, at least from public information perspective, Qin Xiao, does not hold itself to the ideal of a good society with his business career together. He did not to their own beliefs into the business, but it separated, almost parallel to the general began to shape their own identity as an intellectual. Timberland Slip On His state-owned enterprise managers as asking him to do as much as possible the company; his intellectual capacity is so fundamentally opposed to his state-owned enterprises from this unique form of enterprise, "the assets of state-owned enterprises should be gradually distributed to the public" and called for support for the development of private enterprises. His family background made him a red love this country, determined his identity, social circles, and has spent 63 years of life; his intellectual capacity is so vehemently opposed to his crony capitalism to the "China model" represents government-led economic development. He is the children of Marx and communism, but a believer in universal values - in contemporary China, they are against each other. His origin, background and official capacity, this should not have let him into such a business so unique and such a unique intellectual.
Maybe people will think that he chose a departure, but his self-positioning is "reformists within the system" and "I certainly do not want to go outside the system attacking system." "I hope that some people within the system can speak out, because at least we are concerned about the reform of our own problems."
When he was in 2010 because of the age of reason to leave the China Merchants Group, he is pleased to begin their new identity to face the public. He has published widely perceived to rousing speech, saying that reforms stall, you need to restart the reform issues; that "public concern is the public intellectual's responsibility and mission, they have to go beyond their areas of expertise and power to resist the temptation of secular, adhering to the universal value, in the public domain for human dignity and social justice, economic development, and establish a moral, spiritual and cultural values pillars. " Then his tone, complete and exactly the same merchants Drucker, who said "(Timberland outlet ) prepared to your own life to the pursuit of constitutional government, the pursuit of citizenship rights, the pursuit of parliamentary elections and press freedom," defend "the dignity of people sense of self-esteem, sense of responsibility these qualities. "
Such a unique business, perhaps only in the moment, China can produce. Drucker businessman with different ideals, and he produced in an imperfect world, but longed for a perfect world. But this kind of business, after the Qin Xiao, almost "without trace."

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