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America in Focus
June 16, 2001
President Bush Makes First Trip To Europe
President Bush has returned to the White House, ending his European tour which included his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. After their talks in Slovenia, Bush and Putin said they had laid the basis for a new relationship between their countries. However, they announced no breakthroughs on key differences, including U.S. plans for a controversial missile defense system. The week-long, five-nation trip included meetings with NATO and European Union leaders during stops in Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Poland.
Bush said he made good progress in convincing the NATO allies on the need for a missile defense system. The president told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday he is encouraged by a new receptivity among some of the allies for the U.S. defense plan. Some NATO members, as well as Russia and China, say the proposed missile defense system would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and could start a new arms race. Bush has called the treaty a relic of the cold war. But he said he would not move to renounce the accord without close consultation with Russia and the allies. The United States says the defense system is needed to respond to potential missile attack from rogue nations such as North Korea, Iraq, and Iran.
On Thursday, Bush met with European Union leaders, including Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, in Gothenburg, Sweden for talks that focused on his proposals to fight global warming. Sweden holds the rotating presidency of the EU. The President tried to allay European concerns over his decision to pull out of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty aimed at reducing air pollution thought to cause global warming. Bush has committed the United States to finding what he calls a science-based solution to the issue of global warming but called the Kyoto Treaty fatally flawed. Bush says the Kyoto accord sets unrealistic reduction targets for emissions. He says the treaty is unfair because the targets do not apply to developing countries, including two of the world's biggest polluters, China and India. Leaders in Europe and Japan roundly criticized the president when he announced that the U.S. would not accept the 1997 Kyoto pact. However, neither Japan nor a single European nation has ratified the treaty. Then-President Bill Clinton signed the treaty in 1997, but he never submitted it to the Senate for ratification, because the Senate, in a 95-0 vote, declared it would not ratify a treaty that did not include everyone.
On his first stop, in Madrid, Spain, Bush met with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and King Juan Carlos. The two leaders re-affirmed their commitment to free trade, NATO expansion and the need to combat terrorism. While in Brussels, Bush also met with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, King Albert and Queen Paola.
US Senate Votes to Pull Funds From Schools that Ban Boy Scouts
The U.S. Senate has voted to withhold federal funds from school districts that deny use of their facilities to the Boy Scouts because of the group's exclusion of homosexuals. The vote was 52 to 48. The legislation was approved as an amendment to a far-reaching education reform bill. Under the amendment, pushed by North Carolina Republican Senator Jesse Helms, public schools must provide the Boy Scouts with equal access to school facilities. Schools that fail to do so could lose their federal funding. Democrats spoke in bitter opposition to the amendment, saying it was redundant in light of the Supreme Court's access ruling. On a five-to-four vote, the Supreme Court last year upheld the Scouts' policy, ruling the private group had the right to set its own moral code.
Supreme Court OKs After-School Bible Study
The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a church-state dispute that a Christian youth group could use a New York public school for after-class prayer and Bible study meetings. Once the Milford Central School opened its doors to after-school civic meetings with a moral theme, the upstate New York school district could not exclude an evangelism club without violating First Amendment free-speech rights, the court ruled. "We can see no logical difference in kind between the invocation of Christianity by the club and the invocation of teamwork, loyalty or patriotism by other associations" that use the school building after hours, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for a 6-3 majority. Milford Central School in upstate New York had a policy of allowing its building to be used after classes by civic groups for social or educational functions. However, it forbade the Good News Club from holding prayer and Bible study meetings for grade-school children, citing the constitutional requirement of separation between church and state."When Milford denied the Good News Club access to the school's limited public forum on the ground that the club was religious in nature, it discriminated against the club because of its religious viewpoint in violation of the free speech clause of the First Amendment," Thomas wrote. Government officials can place restrictions on use of public buildings, the court said. However, "The restriction must not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint."
Poll Shows Americans Support Missile Defense
A just-released poll has found that a majority of Americans supports proposals to build a missile defense system, even if the system is costly. As President Bush arrived in Europe to try to sell his missile defense proposal to allies, the Council on Foreign Relations released the survey, which showed 51% of Americans in favor of an anti-missile shield and 38% against. It found that even liberal Democrats were nearly split on the proposal and showed that views didn't change much after respondents were given the basic arguments for and against the system. "The default position of the American public is 'Protect us,'" said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which prepared the survey for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Bush Faces Criticism on Vieques Decision
President Bush's decision to stop bombing exercises on Puerto Rico's Vieques Island by 2003 is being criticized by political leaders on both sides of the controversy. Puerto Rican Governor Sila Calderon says she is pleased the White House is committed to ending the U.S. Navy exercises on Vieques, but she says she wants them to stop immediately. Other politicians in Puerto Rico said Bush is undermining a planned November referendum that would give voters in the U.S. territory the choice of whether the Navy should go. Bush also faced criticism from members of his own party in the U.S. Congress, who want the Navy exercises to continue. Conservative Republican lawmakers said the exercises on Vieques are vital for U.S. military preparedness. Thursday during his visit to Sweden, Bush said the Navy would end six decades of bombing practice on Vieques Island by 2003. Controversy erupted on the island in 1999 when two live bombs went astray and killed a security guard.
Navy Officer Sues Russian Ship Company Over Laser Blinding
Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced Wednesday that they will file a lawsuit on behalf of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jack Daly against the Russian state-controlled Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) over the firing of a laser at Lt. Cmdr. Daly by one of its spy ships. In 1997, the Kapitan Man, while in Seattle's Puget Sound within U.S. territorial waters, fired a laser at a Canadian military helicopter on a NATO mission to monitor the Russian ship's activities. The laser blast permanently injured the eyesight of Lt. Cmdr. Jack Daly and the helicopter's Canadian pilot Captain Patrick Barnes. The Kapitan Man, ostensibly a freighter, was suspected to be a spy ship tracking U.S. nuclear submarines leaving the Puget Sound naval base. "Lt. Cmdr. Daly's lawsuit seeks damages against Russia’s state-controlled FESCO for battery and negligence and will help expose the continued threat to America’s security posed by Russian spy vessels in our ports," said Judicial Watch chairman Larry Klayman.
Pentagon Study Urges Creation of Rapid Reaction Force
A Defense Department study is recommending the creation of a multi-service rapid reaction force that can respond in the first few hours of a conflict. The study, which was unveiled at the Pentagon Tuesday, says the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines can work more effectively together and respond more quickly to overseas crises. It also recommends the establishment of a permanent humanitarian joint task force that can respond faster to missions such as refugee emergencies. The study is one of several ordered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is reviewing the United States' post-Cold War military strategy. He will use the findings as a guide as he prepares to submit his budget request for 2002.
Bush Says He’s Committed to Fighting Global Warming
President Bush has committed the United States to finding what he calls a science-based solution to the issue of global warming, saying the Kyoto Treaty on the environment is fatally flawed. At a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House Monday, the president announced the creation of a climate change research initiative to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without hurting the economy. The president said the United States is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. But he added that China is second, and there needs to be a global response to the problem. Bush defended his decision to reject the Kyoto Treaty on global warming. He says it sets unrealistic reduction targets for emissions. He says the treaty is unfair because the targets do not apply to two of the world's biggest polluters, China and India. Leaders in Europe and Japan have roundly criticized the president for rejecting the treaty. In a televised interview Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card noted that some European critics of Bush's handling of the treaty have yet to ratify it. The Kyoto accord called on the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The president angered many foreign leaders and environmentalists in March when he announced that the U.S. would not accept the 1997 Kyoto pact. Then-President Bill Clinton signed the treaty in 1997, but he never submitted it to the Senate, which must ratify all treaties, because it has very little support there.
New Transistor Chips Only 3 Atoms Thick
The U.S.-based Intel computer chip company says it has developed incredibly tiny transistors three atoms thick that are the world's fastest silicon transistors. Company officials announced their breakthrough Sunday at an electronics technology conference in Kyoto, Japan. The new transistors are tiny electronic switches that can turn on and off 1.5 trillion times a second using very little electricity. Intel says this could make it possible to store more than 333 copies of the voluminous novel "Moby Dick" on a chip the size of a fingernail. The company says it developed the new transistors using standard commercial methods. With the new transistors, researchers may be able to build faster and smaller computers without having to develop new technology.
Mass Murderer McVeigh Goes To Hell
Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed Monday for committing the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil. The unrepentant McVeigh was put to death by lethal injection at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. McVeigh was executed for bombing the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. The 1995 blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured hundreds more. McVeigh once said that his only regret was that the bomb hadn’t completely leveled the building. McVeigh was originally scheduled to die in May. But U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft delayed the execution until Monday to give McVeigh's defense lawyers time to review thousands of documents the FBI failed to turn over at the time of his trial. McVeigh requested a further stay of execution, but dropped any additional appeals last week after two federal courts rejected the request. Although numerous states have executed murderers since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, this was the first federal execution since 1963.
Life Without Parole for U.S. Embassy Bomber
A federal jury in New York Tuesday sentenced a Saudi national to life in prison without parole for helping bomb the U.S. embassy in Kenya in 1998. The jury could have sentenced Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali to death, but could not reach a unanimous decision. Al-'Owhali was convicted last month for riding in the bomb-laden truck used to destroyed the embassy in Kenya, killing 213 people and injuring more than 4,000.
Flood Victims Return To Clean Up Destruction
Flood victims are returning to their homes in Texas and Louisiana as clean-up continues from damage caused in recent days by the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison. President Bush has declared 28 counties in Texas and 10 in Louisiana disaster areas, making them eligible for federal aid. At least 21 people have died in the storms. In Houston officials said the storm dropped three feet of rain and caused $ 1 billion in damage, most of it to 20,000 homes. Five hospitals and several city skyscrapers remain closed due to electrical power problems and flooding. Louisiana officials say the storm left about 3,500 homes flooded. Parts of the state received up to 2 feet of rain. Residents said it was the worst storm to hit the state since Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992.
© 2001
TruthNews. All Rights Reserved.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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Turbo-Capitalism
Winners & Losers in the Global Economy
Edward Luttwak
In this incisive critical analysis of today's free market capitalism, Edward Luttwak shows how it is vastly different from the controlled capitalism that flourished so successfully from 1945 to the 1980s.
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