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To: elpolvo who wrote (26597)	5/28/2003 8:50:11 AM
From: abuelita	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104159

p- travelling accidental photographers. now i understand. you're like the guy with all the tools in the water under his boat. getting pretty close to the wire now, huh. only three days to go. i'd like a detailed documentation of this entire trip and the preparation prior please so we won't have any hassle when we finally do it. a log like the one jack wrote will do nicely <g> -r

To: elpolvo who wrote (26597)	5/28/2003 9:24:02 AM
From: abuelita	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 104159

oh oh, now we're going to get it! Chretien slams Bush for $500-billion U.S. deficit PM notes job creation, growth, low interest rates here compared with U.S. Robert Fife CanWest News Service ATHENS -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien strongly criticized George W. Bush Tuesday for racking up a $500-billion deficit even though Bush prides himself on running a "right-wing government," and indicated the issue would be a key topic at the G-8 summit next week. In a discussion with journalists aboard the prime minister's Airbus jet en route to a Canada-EU summit in Athens, Chretien was frank in his judgment of the Bush administration and the president's conservative philosophy. Chretien, who is to deliver a keynote address on the global economy at the G-8 summit in Evian, France, compared his 10-year stewardship of the Canadian economy to Bush's record. He noted that under the Republicans, the U.S. economy has become weak with rising unemployment while Canada is enjoying low interest rates, strong job creation and growth of 2.5 per cent expected this year. And the prime minister laid part of the blame for the troubled U.S. economy on Bush's doorstep for running up big deficits with massive tax cuts and huge military spending. "We still have surpluses. The Americans will have a $500-billion deficit this year and it is a right-wing government. If we were to equal that we would have to have a $75-billion deficit. Imagine," he said. While Chretien claimed to have a good personal rapport with Bush, he admitted that they don't see eye-to-eye on most major issues because of the ideological gulf between them, particularly on social issues. "Of course we don't think alike on many issues. On social issues, he is a conservative. I am for free choice on abortion. He is not. He is against gun control. I am for it. He is for capital punishment. I am against it. I am a Liberal," he said. During the conversation, Chretien went out of his way to praise former Democratic president Bill Clinton and noted the two remain close friends and continue to golf together. Chretien telephoned Bush this week to talk about the G-8 summit and to help heal the rift that developed after Canada refused to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Canada's stand led the president to cancel a scheduled visit to Ottawa on May 5. The prime minister's comments are unlikely to improve relations with the president, who is known to be sensitive to criticism. With retirement in the offing, Chretien was remarkably unguarded as he spoke to journalists at the back of the plane, saying that he has been approached for jobs in the private sector after he leaves office next February, but insisted "I am not negotiating with anyone right now." He said he would not be interested in seeking the top job at the United Nations when Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves, but suggested he would like to write a weekly column. "I am not a candidate for any job anywhere. I don't want to be a bureaucrat. I want to be a [freelance]," he said. "Next year, I might start to write about the press. I think that the paper that signs me will sell a helluva lot of papers." Throughout his 45-minute talk, however, Chretien expressed frustration with the Canadian media. "A good lie makes a headline but a good story does not make a headline," he said. "Nobody writes that I do anything good. I am not complaining. I'm at 51 per cent in the polls." Chretien complained he had not been given proper credit in the media for the international treaty on the elimination of land mines, which the U.S., Russia and China have refused to endorse. He said he was the first G-8 leader to raise the issue at the summit in Italy in 1994. Nor have Canadian journalists credited him the new African aid program announced at last year's summit in Alberta, pushing for the International Court of Justice, pushing human rights abuses in China and saving the Canada Pension Plan, he said. Chretien said it is not in his nature to brag about his achievements, suggesting this is part of the Canadian psyche. "We Canadians have an inferiority complex and I am part of it. I don't talk about it [his accomplishments] otherwise you will say I have a big ego and I am the Little Guy From Shawinigan," he said. "I am not for me to write about myself." Chretien also spoke passionately about proposed legislation to ban corporate and union donations that has split the Liberal party, saying it is necessary to stop the hijacking of politics by wealthy special interests that is predominate in the United States. National Post © Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun canada.com