Letter to the editor, from The Journal News:

"President Bush and John Kerry have indicated that the effect on jobs of several "free trade" agreements will be an important issue in this election year. But there is no fundamental difference on this issue between these two politicians.

George Bush champions the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, and Sen. John Kerry's voting record is 3-for-3 in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and related "free trade" matters.

The flow of jobs overseas isn't the only consequence of so-called free trade agreements. NAFTA has opened our nation's borders to illegal immigration, and the proposed FTAA will worsen this already huge problem.

The issue that should be of greatest concern is the continuing loss of our nation's independence because of these agreements. Recently, we have seen how a NAFTA tribunal was given superiority over our nation's state and federal courts in a dispute involving a Canadian real estate company.

The FTAA will compromise America's sovereignty just as surely as the European Union entrapped its member nations.

Our leaders shouldn't be proposing more of these pacts. They should be withdrawing us from pacts that already unfavorably impact our jobs, borders and national independence."

Stop the FTAA?

Here's a grey area:
From Reuters

Kobe Bryant’s accuser says her privacy is threatened

EAGLE (Colorado): A lawyer for the woman who has accused basketball star Kobe Bryant of rape was set to argue on Monday that court filings should no longer be published on the Internet because of errors that have identified the woman and jeopardised her safety.

The court filings will be one of several issues taken up during Monday’s pretrial hearing – one of three before the trial begins. The judge will also consider whether television cameras should be allowed during the trial and which procedures will be used to question potential jurors. The Los Angeles Laker, who pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge, is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 27. Bryant, 25, said the two had consensual sex. The woman’s security has become a serous issue. She was 19 last year when she said Bryant raped her at a Vail-area resort where she worked. Since then she has received numerous threats, including one from an Iowa man who was sentenced on Friday to four months in a federal prison. Once, the woman’s name was mistakenly left in a filing published on the court’s Web site.

And last month, a court reporter inadvertently e-mailed transcripts from a closed hearing on the woman’s sexual history to seven media outlets. US District Judge Terry Ruckriegle told the media groups not to publish anything from the transcripts, prompting them to ask Colorado’s highest court to overturn the order. The high court has not ruled on the matter yet. “The worldwide publication of the victim’s name potentially jeopardised the victim’s safety and greatly contributed to her already existing fear for her own physical well-being,” attorney John Clune said in a recent filing.

But attorneys for media groups said there is intense interest in the case and the public would not have access to the court filings if they were only available in the Eagle County courthouse. Clune, the accuser’s attorney, said in his filing: “The court’s interest in protecting victim’s rights as well as personal safety must come before mere convenience to the media.”

According to the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

How far does this go? While the woman's privacy should be protected as much as possible, what about the people's right to know? When does it become ok to censor the media and tell them what they can and can't say? If they censor this, than what's next and if they don't, what does it mean for victim's rights? I'm glad I am not the judge making the decision here, its certainly a tough one.

Victim's rights or freedom of speech: Which is more important?

Being as how I have worked in the real estate field since I've graduated from college, the fight over Ground Zero has been especially intriguing. However, as most New Yorkers are, I'm tired of it. Please, Governor Pataki, stop the bickering and build something already! ENOUGH with the memorials and the bullshit architectural beauty contests. Ship Daniel Liebskind out and bring in a real architect who will give us something besides constant pandering to the media.
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From the Financial Times:

Clashes over ground zero
By Paul Sullivan

"The Incredibly Shrinking Daniel Libeskind, as the architect behind the redesign of the World Trade Center site was recently dubbed, has had a rough year. But drawing himself up to his full 5ft 3ins, he is showing that he is not going down without a fight.

"I am still intensively and fully engaged as the master planner for ground zero," he wrote to the New York Times to rebutt its assessment of him last month. "By any standard, I don't appear to be shrinking, physically or metaphorically".

And last week he sued Larry Silverstein, the World Trade Center leaseholder, for $843,750. The suit was over design fees, but it is hard not to read broader meaning into it.....

Libeskind, with his spritely face and quirky glasses, had been the epitome of compact cool when his design won. Now he was girding to descend into the murk and mire of a court battle. His suit claims that Silverstein merely paid lip-service to the master plan because his "actions, then and up to the present time, bespeak a clear intent to derail the project wherever he perceives a conflict with his personal financial interests". All the high-minded rhetoric and outward symbolism (1776, the tower's height in feet, is the year the Declaration of Independence was signed) had apparently been erased by the dirty business of litigation.

Befitting the clashes around the design, the Freedom Tower itself is now in doubt: it might not reach its symbolic height and, if it does, it will probably do so with the help of antennae. Likewise the centrepiece memorial is being designed by Michael Arad, who won the commission in a contest, and it will not be sunk into the ground, part of Libeskind's plan that had been praised by Pataki.

In the end, Libeskind might be happiest if he can take Silverstein's money and run. But even that will be determined by a committee, in a New York courtroom."

New York's Ground Zero: Please, build something already

From Debka.com:

Top US official Armitage arrives in Baghdad for talks with interim Iraqi leaders – highest ranking US visitor since June 28 sovereignty transition. DEBKAfile reveals: Allawi relays information from secret contacts that Baathist insurgents are reluctant to topple his government and oust US forces for fear Iran will step into vacuum.

US military capture in Tikrit Special Republic Guards ex-General Sufyan Maher Hussain, who led Saddam’s forces in Baghdad against US troops April 2003. General suspected of planning guerrilla attacks on US and Iraqi government. Two Iraqi police officers killed in town Sunday.

Debka.com is an Israeli news site, that usually reports the news a day or two before it happens. Sometimes they're wrong, but most of the time, they're dead on.

Check it out at www.debka.com

Freecycle is an email list of people posting unwanted items available for pickup, usually stuff they would have thrown away otherwise. Originally designed to keep stuff out of the landfill, the idea has really taken off. I have already freecycled some stools, grill tools and a plastic table. Everyone needs something, so if you have a lot of crap in your house that you no longer need,chances are, someone else does. Check it out at freecycle.org.

This is my first blog. I'm a writer by trade, although not about anything interesting, but I guess it depends on who you ask. I see a lot of people venting on the site, in their blogs, but politics isn't my strong point, so I'm sure you'll see a lot of news about Israeli issues, pop culture and the goings on of my days. Some of these things are geniunely painful, like when my boss saw me eating a doughnut one day, came over to me, pinched my arm, and asked if I ate donuts every day. Er, no, but I had a similar incident with a bagel as well. Can anyone keep their thoughts to themselves, or has all sense of decency gone out the window?

From THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:

Medicare is discarding its declaration that obesity is not a disease, a policy change that potentially throws open the door for millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said, “Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely.”

Treating obesity-related illnesses results in billions of dollars in health care costs, Thompson said.

“With this new policy, Medicare will be able to review scientific evidence in order to determine which interventions improve health outcomes for seniors and disabled Americans who are obese,” Thompson told a Senate panel.

**Now, I am not being insensitive. I KNOW that some people do have legitimate, genetic issues with their weight. However, the majority of us are just fat because we eat too damn much. For example, Taco Bell just introduced their half pound burrito. Disgusting! Put down that burrito and go to the gym! Then, aside from being much healthier, none of us will have to worry about what this will do to the skyrocketing cost of health insurance.**

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/212829p-183299c.html

From The Scripps Howard News Service:

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is making mega-bucks in American theaters and with some help from terrorists who also are Michael Moore fans it could prove a blockbuster in the Middle East, too.

The film-industry publication Screendaily.com reports that the movie will soon debut in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

"In terms of marketing," Screendaily.com announces, Moore "is getting a boost from organizations related to Hezbollah."

Yes, that Hezbollah: the Syrian and Iranian-backed terrorist group that pioneered suicide bombings against Americans more than 20 years ago in Beirut, the terrorist group second only to al Qaeda in number of Americans murdered, the terrorist group that now operates against the United States in Iraq, the terrorist group that Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state, dubbed the "A-Team of terrorists" more skilled and cunning than almost any other.

"We can't go against these organizations," explains Gianluca Chacra, the managing director of Front Row Entertainment, the UAE-based firm releasing Moore's flick in the Middle East.

Chacra added: "Having the support of such an entity in Lebanon is quite significant for that market and not at all controversial. I think it's quite natural."

**I don't know how many Michael Moore fans are out there, but I won't be going to see his movie. You can make your own decisions.**

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=MAY-07-07-04