Cooperation

[benorbeen]

N.Y.'s Spitzer: Won't Settle Grasso Suit

By Jake Keaveny

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Tuesday that he was no longer prepared to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso regarding his contentious $188 million pay package.

Speaking at a New York City conference hosted by Money magazine, Spitzer said he had made numerous attempts to negotiate with Grasso prior to filing a complaint last month, but was met with a "brick wall.

"No way, no how," Spitzer said. It is "absolutely inconceivable that I will settle it now. We can win this case."

The statements are the latest round in a battle that has been played out in the public sphere.

While Spitzer's office contends that Grasso manipulated the process in which his compensation was approved, Grasso has defended the legality of his contract and accused Spitzer of using the case to pursue his political career.

"It's a political rallying cry," said Eric Starkman, Grasso's spokesman, of Spitzer's comments.

Spitzer, who filed a suit last month, said he would seek the return of more than $100 million from Grasso's pay, which includes severance benefits and bonuses during his tenure as CEO.

Grasso was forced out of the NYSE last September after his compensation was made public. Former Citigroup co-head John Reed was then brought in as interim chief executive officer to overhaul its internal governance procedures.

Grasso told Newsweek magazine last month that he was ready to "go to war" to clear his name. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece last month, he said he would sue the NYSE and Reed for damages and accused Spitzer of using the case to pursue his political career.

Spitzer made the latest remarks during a question and answer session with Stephen Cutler, the enforcement chief at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and CNBC television anchor and Money magazine columnist Ron Insana.

Insana asked Spitzer to respond to a Newsweek article that reported he was willing to accept a substantially lesser amount to settle the case.

"I tried for months to settle that case and was met with a brick wall on the other side," he said. "I have extended as much time and energy and effort to persuade people on the other side what a reasonably response might have been. I'm tired of it, I'm sick of it. I'm ready for trial."

Spitzer's lawsuit also named Kenneth Langone as a defendant, a co-founder of home improvement store Home Depot who was chairman of the NYSE's compensation committee during the period when Grasso's pay was highest.

Spitzer is suing Grasso under New York's not-for-profit laws, which say executive pay must be commensurate with services rendered.

The case is expected to be an uphill fight because the compensation was approved by NYSE board members that included the heads of some of the country's largest companies.

Unless Spitzer can prove that Grasso manipulated the board's approval process, legal experts say it will be difficult to contest Grasso's right to the money.

Jim McCarthy, spokesman for Langone, did not have a comment.

 

[benorbeen]

Police agencies to cooperate on Glades crime

Rochelle Brenner, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 9, 2004

The robbers, car thieves and drug dealers who operate in the Glades area often evade police through loosely organized crime rings.

A burglar known to the local police department in Clewiston might recruit a friend from Pahokee to commit a crime in his city and vice versa to trip up investigators. But as criminals move along U.S. 27 and the Lake Okeechobee corridor, law enforcement is stepping up its efforts to keep up with them.

A new task force called the Glades Intelligence Unit is being formed as a coalition of local police departments in Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, as well as the Palm Beach County School District police and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, said Pahokee Police Chief Rafael Duran.

"Just like I-95 is a corridor for drugs, this is a corridor for drugs, armed robbery, stolen vehicles and so on," Duran said. "We are gathering information on anything that moves and what's happening in each community."

Officials met on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for sharing information through monthly meetings and frequent phone calls. And no one will be left out of the conversation. Belle Glade police Lt. Robert Wheelihan said the unit is also sending out invitations this week to agencies on the coast of Palm Beach County to help keep tabs on criminals traveling along State Road 80.

"There are individuals committing crimes here, committing crimes in other cities on the lake and over on the coast," Wheelihan said. "Criminals have no boundaries."

 

[benorbeen]

President encourages tripartite cooperation model

Vietnam attaches importance to its relations with the Francophone community, said President Tran Duc Luong while receiving Secretary General Abdou Diouf of the International Organisation of Francophone Nations (OIF) in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Mr Luong confirmed Vietnam's support for him in his capacity to fulfil the tasks assigned by the member countries. He praised Mr Diouf’s contributions to heightening the Francophone community's position and boosting the organisation's multilateral cooperation.

Mr Luong briefed Mr Diouf on Vietnam’s cooperation with other member countries under the South-South cooperation model, which, he said, gave Vietnam the opportunity to share its farming expertise with several African countries, such as Senegal, Congo and Madagascar. He hoped that the 10th Francophone summit in Burkina Faso this November would develop more measures to expand this effective cooperation model.

The OIF Secretary General said apart from devising a 10-year development strategy to 2014, the 10th summit would map out policies to help poorer member countries deal with poverty more effectively. Sustainable development and global integration are the summit’s two other major goals, Diouf said.

He praised Vietnam's active participation in preparing documents for the summit as well as its coordination with UNESCO in drafting an international convention on cultural diversity.

He said he was pleased to witness the teaching of the French language as a second foreign language at schools in Vietnam.

The same day, Mr Diouf called on a bilingual class at the Nam Thanh Cong primary school, the Francophone IT Centre and the Institute on International Relations.

 

[benorbeen]

Even Ben & Jerry's Has Dioxin

Eco-friendly ice cream safe, researchers insist

By Adam Marcus
HealthSCOUT Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16 (HealthSCOUT) -- Ice cream is sweet, but the politics of ice cream can be awfully bitter.

Taking a swipe at a symbol of environmental righteousness, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group says it has found that a regular serving of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream has 190 times the "virtually safe" level of dioxin as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

But Steven Milloy, of Citizens for the Integrity of Science, which prepared the study, says he doesn't want to scare people away from eating Ben & Jerry's or other brands of ice cream -- all of which have dioxin. "We think dioxin [in low doses] is not dangerous and Ben & Jerry's is not dangerous," Milloy says.

For its part, Ben & Jerry's, which was recently acquired by Unilever, does not dispute the report. Chrystie Heimert, a spokeswoman for the Burlington, Vt.-based creamery, says the fact that dioxin can be found in its ice cream shows the importance of reducing industrial emissions of the chemical.

When pressed, however, Heimart insists Ben & Jerry's ice creams are safe for people of all ages. "We think the ice cream is safe -- as safe as it could be," she says.

And that's precisely what Milloy wants people to hear.

Milloy accuses Ben & Jerry's of waging a "jihad" against dioxin to paint itself "greener than green." He decided to test their products after finding information from the company claiming "The only safe level of dioxin exposure is no exposure at all."

Milloy and his colleague, Mike Gough, an environmental toxicologist, first submitted a sample of the Ben & Jerry's "World's Best Vanilla" to a lab that used gas chromatography to test for dioxin. The pair reported those results last year.

In the latest study, presented today at a conference on dioxins in Monterey, Calif., Milloy and Gough sent the same flavor to Xenobiotic Detection Systems, a North Carolina lab that specializes in a sensitive enzyme test for the chemical called CALUX.

George Clark, president of Xenobiotic, confirms that his company screened the ice cream in question and that it contained 0.79 (plus or minus 0.38) parts per trillion of dioxin. The firm also tested several other national brands of ice cream, and repeated the tests with gas chromatography, and turned up similar amounts of the toxin.

At those levels, a serving would have about 80 picograms of the chemical -- more than six times the maximum allowed for runoff from the Tosco gas refinery near San Francisco, Milloy and Gough say.

For children who weigh less than 40 pounds, exposure to that much dioxin -- were it as harmful as some people allege -- would be 740 times greater than current EPA standards hold as safe, Milloy and Gough note.

Dioxin, or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, is a byproduct in heavy industrial processes like paper milling. It also occurs naturally through forest fires and other combustion. The chemical is omnipresent in the food supply, accumulating particularly densely in animal fats.

Dioxin emissions are absorbed by plants and taken in by feeding animals. Industry has made attempts to reduce output of dioxin in recent decades. The EPA says industrial dioxin emissions fell 75 percent or more between 1985 and 1997.

While environmental advocates are adamant that dioxin is dangerous, experts are divided on its true perils. High doses of the chemical can cause cancer in animals. But no studies have conclusively shown the same effects in humans, scientists say.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not respond to repeated requests by HealthSCOUT for comment on the study.

What To Do

To learn more about dioxin, check out the Enivronmental Protection Agency.

You can also check out Ben & Jerry's Web site.

For other views, visit Junkscience.com.



16-AUG-2000

Copyright © 2000 Rx Remedy, Inc.

 

[benorbeen]

Man, 76, fights off attacker

A 76-year-old man staved off an attack Saturday night in Fairfield with a well-aimed punch, police said.

The victim had just parked at 24 Hour Fitness in the 200 block of Travis Boulevard around 7:25 p.m. and was about to enter when approached by a man asking for directions to the bus stop. The suspect tried to grab the victim's keys, police said, so the victim punched him in the face, knocking him back.

The suspect - described as a 17- to 20-year-old Hispanic man, 5-foot-10, 150 pounds and wearing a black baseball cap, dark-colored leather jacket, beige shirt and jeans - was last seen running west on Travis Boulevard.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Fairfield Police Department at 428-7300 or Solano Crime Stoppers at 644-STOP.

 

[benorbeen]

Ex-Midnight Oil Singer Runs for Office

By JAMIE TARABAY, Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY, Australia - The former lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil announced Thursday that he will run for parliament with the opposition Labour Party — and party leaders said he could even become a government minister someday.

Peter Garrett, a committed environmental activist with a distinctive bald pate, had long used Midnight Oil as a forum for his political views. The band broke up in 2002 after 25 years.

"Politics is an imperfect game, we all know that," Garrett said. "We see it on television stations every night; and yet it's the best game we have for making the country work better."

Labour had asked Garrett to run, and he'll try for a seat from a Sydney district that is a Labour stronghold. Party leader Mark Latham said he expected his star recruit to become a senior minister someday.

"He's got a big contribution to make and of course we want that contribution to be made in the most appropriate capacity," Latham said. "I'd be surprised that if sometime in the future Peter wasn't a front line minister in a Labour government."

Midnight Oil scored a major international hit with its 1986 protest song about Aboriginal land rights, "Beds Are Burning." The band played the tune at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Garrett has been involved in campaigns against genetic engineering, coastal development and the nuclear industry. In the early 1980s, he was narrowly defeated in a bid for a seat in parliament's upper house on a nuclear disarmament ticket.

Earlier Thursday, several Australian newspapers reported that Garrett had not voted in the last 10 years — a period that included three federal elections and a referendum on whether Australia should become a republic.

Garrett did not specifically address the reports but said he had voted in the past. Voting is mandatory in Australia; failing to do so is punishable by a fine.

"I have voted in previous elections, I have voted in referenda, I have even voted when I was overseas," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard, of the ruling Liberal Party, said the report cast doubt on Garrett's credibility.

"All I can say is that if somebody hasn't voted on the last three occasions and had an opportunity to do so, they can't be very passionate about the future of this country, can they?" Howard told Perth's Radio 6PR.

Howard, who said Wednesday he is a Midnight Oil fan, has yet to announce a date for the next parliamentary elections. A poll is expected before the U.S. presidential elections in November.

In addition to his singing career, Garrett has been president of the Australian Conservation Foundation. He also has served on the international board of environmental group Greenpeace.

 

[benorbeen]

Stability Stimulates Cooperation With Mozambique

Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

Posted to the web June 11, 2004

Luanda

The stability currently being enjoyed by Angola with the end of decades of armed conflict is a guarantee for the strengthening of the relations of friendship and cooperation with Mozambique, said recently Angolan ambassador to that African country of the Indian Ocean, Garcia Bires.

Speaking to journalists in Maputo, the diplomat said that the relations between Angola and Mozambique tend to improve, thanks to the new reality in the two countries which have been endeavouring to identify areas in which their citizens can cooperate.

"We have been trying to set up joint firms and seek areas in which Angolans and Mozambicans can cooperate," said the diplomat, adding that this depends on the financial capacity both of the Angolan and Mozambican governments.

Meanwhile, he said he has noticed the interest of Mozambican businesses to invest in Angola in the area of fishery on Angola's territorial waters and in the sectors of civil construction and public works.

Garcia Bires said that at the level of the two States, there has been an effort to implement the bilateral accords, both within the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (PALOP), the Portuguese Speaking Community (CPLP) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), in line with the programmes outlined by these three structures.

On the other hand, he informed that his embassy is considering to set up the Angola Culture House to Mozambique, as a means to open the Angolan culture to all those who want to visit and know the country.

To him, this would also enable an exchange among artists, mainly musicians from the two countries. "This would encourage Mozambican artists to visit Angola and ours to come to Mozambique", he stressed.

However, he added, the implementation of the project designed to relaunch the exchange of experiences and transmit the two countries concrete reality, requires funds.

Garcia Bires spoke of the need for restoring direct flights between Luanda and Maputo, as a means to increase contacts between Angolans and Mozambicans.

To him, the reopening of direct fights between the two capital cities would also contribute to bring the two countries closer. But he warned that this depends on a final decision from the air companies from both countries (TAAG, Angola) and (LAM, Mozambique).

30 Angolan citizens are registered with the consulate, but this is figure is believed far shorter than the number resident in Mozambique, because many are on the border between that country and Zambia.

Over the last 15 days, the Embassy of Angola to Mozambique repatriated five Angolans from the eastern Moxico province and another one from Kuando-Kubango, all part of a group that jumped from Zambia to Maputo.

The Republic of Mozambique is situated on the African south-eastern coast and has an area of 799.380 square kilometres. It is limited to the north by Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east.

 

[benorbeen]

Shiite cleric offers his cooperation

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A radical cleric whose uprising two months ago has left hundreds dead and threatened to enflame the Shiite heartland said Friday he would cooperate with the new government if it works to end the U.S. military presence.

Gunmen blew up a police station south of Baghdad in the fourth such attack against Iraqi security installations in less than a week.

The conciliatory tone by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came during a sermon read by an aide to a congregation in Kufa, scene of recent fighting between his al-Mahdi Army militia and U.S. forces.

In the sermon, the cleric said "I support the new interim government" and asked his followers to "help me take this society to the path of security and peace."

"Starting now, I ask you that we open a new page for Iraq and for peace," the message said.

Al-Sadr had dismissed the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. But he apparently softened his stand under pressure from mainstream Shiite leaders, who negotiated a truce between the al-Mahdi Army and U.S. soldiers.

 

[benorbeen]

Doctor Proposes Not Treating Some Lawyers

Mon Jun 14

By TARA BURGHART, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO - A doctor's proposal asking the American Medical Association to endorse refusing care to attorneys involved in medical malpractice cases drew an angry response from colleagues Sunday at the annual meeting of the nation's largest physicians group.

Many doctors stood up to denounce the resolution in passionate speeches — even after its sponsor, Dr. J. Chris Hawk, asked that it be withdrawn.

Hawk, a South Carolina surgeon, said he made the proposal to draw attention to rising medical malpractice costs. The resolution asks that the AMA tell doctors that — except in emergencies — it is not unethical to refuse care to plaintiffs' attorneys and their spouses.

"It expresses the frustration I have with a broken system," said Hawk. He said doctors are leaving his state or retiring early because of insurance premiums — making it harder for patients to receive care.

Neurologist Michael Williams said although he understood Hawk's frustration, the resolution never should have been introduced because it seeks to discriminate against a group of people.

The resolution left the AMA "a really big mess to clean up," Williams said.

For years, the AMA's top legislative lobbying priority has been the medical malpractice system, and some delegates said the resolution could hurt those efforts by giving trial lawyers ammunition.

AMA committees considered more than 250 reports and resolutions Sunday. The committees will make recommendations to the group's delegates, who will begin voting Monday afternoon on policies to adopt.

Last week, the daughter of a Mississippi legislator said she was denied treatment by a plastic surgeon because her father opposes limits in damage suits against doctors.

Dr. Michael Kanosky said he referred Kimberly Banks to other plastic surgeons to have her burn scars removed because he had lobbied on the other side of the issue and saw an ethical conflict.

 

[benorbeen]

Heinz Kerry Tells Why She Joined Democrats

By EMILY FREDRIX, AP

Teresa Heinz Kerry was a registered Republican until her husband announced his White House bid.

WASHINGTON (June 14) - Teresa Heinz Kerry says anger, not ideology, prompted her to become a Democrat. The wife of Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, says her emotion stemmed from the way the Republican Party, to which she had pledged allegiance, treated Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002.

Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm as an Army captain during the Vietnam War, lost his re-election bid in a bitter campaign against then-Rep. Saxby Chambliss. The GOP had raised questions about Cleland's patriotism because of his position on legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security. Cleland supported the concept behind the department, but insisted that a workers' rights provision be part of the bill.

Heinz Kerry, in an interview to be broadcast Tuesday on the "CBS Evening News," says Cleland's status as a triple amputee is enough to prove his patriotism.

"Three limbs and all I could think was, 'What does the Republican party need, a fourth limb to make a person a hero?' And this coming from people who have not served. I was really offended by that. Unscrupulous and disgusting," she said, her reference being an indirect one to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Neither Republican served in Vietnam. Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard, and Cheney received five student deferments from service during the war.

Kerry volunteered to serve in Vietnam and earned three Purple Hearts, and Silver and Bronze stars for his efforts commanding a swift boat on the Mekong Delta. Earlier in the campaign, opponents of Kerry had raised questions about his military service and whether he deserved the military honors.

Heinz Kerry had been a registered Republican until Kerry, her second husband, announced his bid for the White House. Her first husband, Republican Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania and the Heinz prepared foods heir, was killed in a plane crash in 1991. She inherited a fortune estimated at more than $500 million.

In the interview, John Kerry is asked about criticism of his wife, who has a reputation for being blunt and outspoken.

"When it's silly stuff, and a lot of it is incredibly unfactual, I get angry about it," he said.

Asked for three words to describe his 65-year-old wife, who is five years his senior, Kerry said: "Saucy, sexy, brilliant."

She responded: "I'm cheeky, I'm sexy, whatever. You know, I've got a lot of life inside."

A liberal interest group will begin airing a new television commercial Tuesday in four battleground states that calls President Bush "a failure of leadership" and criticizes Vice President Dick Cheney's ties to Halliburton.

MoveOn.org's political action committee will spend about $1 million over a week, a hefty amount, to run the 30-second ad in Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Oregon.

The ad accuses Bush's administration of giving Cheney's former company no-bid contracts to work in Iraq "on a silver platter."

"Then," the ad says, "the Pentagon caught Halliburton overcharging $61 million for gasoline. Worse, they billed over $100 million dollars for meals for our troops that they never delivered. And George Bush is still doing business with them."

Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for Bush's re-election campaign, said: "This is another incredibly misleading ad from an organization completely outside of the mainstream of American politics."

Separately, The Media Fund, another Democratic group, ran new radio and newspaper ads in Kansas City, Mo., criticizing his record on health care and prescription drug costs. Bush visited the state Monday.

Associated Press Writer Liz Sidoti contributed to this report.


06/14/04 20:46 EDT

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.

 

[benorbeen]

An Email from Dr. Joseph Solako

Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 02:27:15 +0100
From: jph_lako@telstra.com
Subject: PLEASE READ!!
To: jo_lako@excite.com

14/06/2004

Dear Friend,

I write to seek your cooperation as my foreign partner and your assistance to enable us to own properties and invest in the stable economy of your country. I apologize if this mail does not suit your personal or business ethics.

My names are Dr. Joseph Solako. We are making this venture proposal to you in strict confidence. As senior civil servants in the South Africa Government, the South African civil service laws (Code of Conduct bureau) forbid us to own a foreign account. The money we have in our possession is an overdue payment bill totaling Twenty Six Million, Four Hundred and Twenty Six Thousand US Dollars (US$26,426,000.00) which we want to transfer abroad with the assistance and co-operation of a company/or an individual to receive the said funds, via a reliable Bank Account.

If you will like to assist us as a partner, then indicate your interest after which we shall both discuss on the modalities. All other information to facilitate the remittance of the funds will be revealed to you in due course. For your assistance, you shall receive 30% amounting to US$7,927,800.00 of the US$26.426Million, 60% amounting to US$15,855,600 for us and 10% amounting to US$2,642,600 will be used to settle taxation and other miscellaneous expenses in the course of transferring the funds to your account.

Please indicate your direct telephone and direct fax number when replying this business proposal preferably through my alternative address: drjslako@netscape.net. I will call you when necessary. If you are not interested, please also indicate so that it will enable me to contact other foreign partner with recommendations to carry out this deal.

A swift acknowledgment on the receipt of this mail will be appreciated.

Thank you and God bless you.

NB Please also send a copy of your respond to my alternative netscape address.

Best regards,
Dr. Joseph Solako.

 

[benorbeen]

McDonald's in Australia Bites Back at Film

Tue Jun 15, 8:17 AM ET

By JAMIE TARABAY, Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY, Australia - McDonald's took its beef with a documentary maker who criticizes the fast food giant to Australian television screens Tuesday in a nationwide campaign biting back at suggestions its food is unhealthy.

In "Super Size Me," New York documentary maker Morgan Spurlock eats only McDonald's fare for 30 days, and in the end piles on 25 pounds and gets sick.

The film grossed the highest ever opening weekend takings for a documentary in Australia, taking $242,600 in four days on 26 screens. The previous record holder was Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine."

McDonald's Australian arm — which already has nutritional information printed on all its food packaging and sells a range of salads at its network of stores — hit back quickly.

"We did some research with our customers, and because of the fact that we were silent in regards to the film, they took it that our silence basically meant guilt," Guy Russo, McDonald's chief executive in Australia, told Sky News television Tuesday. "I think he's providing false claims to Australians ... I won't take that sitting down."

In its new campaign, McDonald's attacks Spurlock's film as being "about someone who decides to overeat."

Russo appears in the ads himself, targeting Spurlock's claim that eating nothing by McDonald's for 30 days can make you sick.

"You're right," Russo says in the commercial. "Surprise, surprise. He finds out it was an error. I could have told him that."

McDonald's has revamped its junk food image around the world, launching healthy alternatives to the burger meals that have made it a restaurant icon. It added lowfat milk, apple juice and sliced fresh apples to its menus in the United States. It also introduced Happy Meal options like Fish McDippers in Japan and sliced fruit in the United Kingdom.

In Australia, Macca's, as it is commonly known, introduced salads and yoghurts and muffins about 18 months ago. It is also one of a few national food companies that lists nutritional contents of each meal on food wrappers and on posters in the restaurants.

Russo said he eats at McDonald's about three times a week, but he would never overdo it, like he insists Spurlock did for his film.

"I'm of Italian descent," Russo says, "and I couldn't eat spaghetti Bolognese every day."