May 22, 2004
An oiled economy
Saudi Arabia vowed yesterday to pump significantly more of its vast petroleum reserves in coming weeks with the aim of lowering crude oil prices from record highs.
May 14, 2004
Budget ballot bonanza
SYDNEY: Indications are mounting Australian Prime Minister John Howard will call elections as early as August to cash in on an expected popularity boost following the big-spending, tax-cutting budget.
May 13, 2004
Ruddock rocks on
CHILDREN will continue to be held in immigration detention despite a damning report into the practice, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said today.
"The Government will not tolerate any involvement in groups or activities that threaten the safety and security of Australians and Australian interests."
May 6, 2004
Saudi Shootings
Five of the seven people killed by gunmen in Yanbu, Saudia Arabia, on Saturday morning, May 1, were employees of the engineering firm ABB Lummus, which serves the petrochemical industry.
According to multiple news reports, the gunmen breached ABB's security using company uniforms and identification and opened fire on ABB employees with automatic weapons.
Read the full article at Chemical & Engineering News
May 5, 2004
MSNBC Pulls Rall Toon
From Editor & Publisher
A cartoon questioning late footballer-turned-soldier Pat Tillman's credentials as a "hero" was pulled from MSNBC.com this afternoon. The drawing also brought Ted Rall 110 e-mails in less than 15 minutes.
The volume of mail had much to do with the cartoon being mentioned on the Drudge Report site, seen by many conservatives. Drudge linked to MSNBC.com until the cartoon was yanked. Then Drudge linked to the cartoon at Universal Press Syndicate's site (http://www.ucomics.com).
In a statement posted on its site, MSNBC.com said Rall's cartoons, like those by other creators, are "published daily on the site via an automated syndication feed. Such feeds are rarely reviewed. However, MSNBC.com Editor in Chief Dean Wright concluded Monday's Rall item did not meet MSNBC.com standards of fairness and taste."
Rall Stuffs It Up
Ted Rall's cartoon which sniped rather unkindly and misguidedly at a US sports hero who gave up his huge salary to serve (and die) in Afghanistan as an ordinary soldier, has been receiving a LOT of flak, even from those who normally support his acidic commentary on US policy in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Editor & Publisher has this article:
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000502520
QUOTE:
Here's a line from one of the nastier letters: "Pat Tillman and hundreds of others like him have given their lives so f--king scumbags can publish this drivel," said a Mississipi e-mailer.
"I'm not going to claim I'm surprised [by all the negative reaction]," said Rall, who's distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. "I knew a cartoon like this was going to inspire outrage."