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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 1:11:08 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769670

Poll Shows Rise in Consumer Confidence Wed Jun 4,12:43 PM ET URL:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1203&e=4&u=/ap/20030604/ap_on_bi_ge/consumer_confidence&sid=95609868 NEW YORK - Overall consumer confidence rose last week for the second consecutive week, according to the latest ABC News/Money Magazine poll. Related Quotes DJIA NASDAQ ^SPC 9038.98 1634.65 986.24 +116.03 +31.09 0.00 delayed 20 mins - disclaimer Quote Data provided by Reuters Missed Tech Tuesday? You can still master "Movies on Your PC." Check out exclusive features for the inside track on Do-It-Yourself DVDs and more. The consumer comfort index rose two points to -19 in the week ended June 1, from -21 a week earlier. The index measures consumers' confidence in the national economy, their own finances, and their willingness to spend money. A negative response to each question is subtracted from the positive response. The three resulting numbers are then added and divided by three. The index can range from +100 (everyone positive on all three measures) to -100 (all negative on all three measures). The index has gained five points in the last two weeks. Before that, the index had not increased since April 20. According to the survey, 30 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the economy, up from 29 percent the week before. Also, 53 percent of those polled said their own finances were in good standing, up from 52 percent in the prior week. In assessing the buying climate, 38 percent of respondents said it was good, up from 37 percent a week earlier. The consumer comfort index was based on a random survey of 1,000 respondents nationwide ended June 1. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 11:45:13 AM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

Thomas Sowell International affirmative action URL:http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell.html newsandopinion.com \| As the Supreme Court of the United States wrestles with the issue of affirmative action as it exists in college admissions at the University of Michigan, the justices are taking on an issue that has been wrestled with in many contexts by courts in India for far longer than group preferences and quotas have existed in the United States. India is not the only other country with affirmative action, though it has had such programs longer than any other, going all the way back to the days when India was part of the British Empire. Affirmative action has existed in countries on every inhabited continent -- not only in democratic countries like India and Britain, but in totalitarian countries like the Soviet Union and China, as well as in Nigeria, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, among others. How have these programs worked out in other countries? There are certain common patterns -- and certain unique differences. Perhaps the most widespread similarity among programs in these very different countries has been that group preferences and quotas are almost always discussed -- by critics and advocates alike -- in terms of their rationales, rather than their actual results. Some countries have not even bothered to collect data on outcomes. The most common outcome is that the benefits of affirmative action programs go to only a small minority within the groups that are supposed to benefit from them. This is almost invariably the already most prosperous segment of these groups. In India, for example, it has long been known that many university places reserved for Dalits -- formerly known as "untouchables" -- remain unfilled. Where the various benefits offered are actually used, they are used disproportionately by particular subgroups who have the money, education, and other advantages that enable them to make use of preferential access to higher education, higher level jobs, and the like. In India this problem has been so widely recognized that there have in recent years been demands for a "quota within quota," so that the more fortunate subgroups do not continue to take the lion's share of the benefits from affirmative action. A similar problem exists within the United States, but has not been nearly so widely recognized. Another common pattern is that group preferences have been initiated as temporary measures. But even where these programs have begun with a specified cutoff date -- as in Pakistan, Malaysia, and India -- these programs have continued on for decades past those cutoff dates by subsequent extensions, with no end yet in sight. Often these programs have not only persisted but expanded, covering more sectors or more groups, or both. Perhaps the most ominous common pattern has been a backlash by others who resent the special preferences given to particular groups. In India, violence against Dalits has escalated in the wake of preferences on their behalf -- preferences which, ironically, relatively few Dalits are able to take advantage of. In Sri Lanka, where the groups live concentrated in different regions, the escalation of violence has gone all the way to civil war. This small nation has suffered more deaths from this internal strife than the United States suffered during all the long years of the Vietnam war. Where have large-scale group preferences been successful, at least in the sense that they have benefited large numbers of people in one group without either ruining another group or degenerating into violent internal strife? Malaysia may be the prime example, but it has had unique features that may not enable it to be a model for other countries. First, group preferences in Malaysia began in 1970 and were carried out while the country experienced unusually rapid economic growth and transformation from a predominantly agricultural nation to a modern commercial and industrial society. A rising tide raised all boats. Another key factor is that it is a federal crime in Malaysia to promote intergroup strife. There can be no careers like those of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton in Malaysia. For countries where free speech is basic, Malaysia is not a model that can be imitated.

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 11:47:38 AM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

///

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 11:50:22 AM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

URL:http://www.jewishworldreview.com/toons/stayskal/stayskal1.asp

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 12:05:25 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

Oops, sorry!! Will re-post!!:)

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 7:08:09 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 769670

U.S. officials say there was no pressure to skew data on Iraq URL:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=703&e=5&u=/usatoday/20030605/ts_usatoday/5215657 Thu Jun 5, 7:20 AM ET Add Top Stories - USA TODAY to My Yahoo! Bill Nichols, Tom Squitieri and John Diamond USA TODAY Administration targets WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration launched a counteroffensive Wednesday against mounting charges that it manipulated intelligence findings about banned weapons to justify its war in Iraq (news - web sites). • Order beautiful photos by USA TODAY photographers • Books in your inbox. Sign-up for your Books e-mail newsletter! • Today in the Sky: Real-time airport weather, delays, and travel news • Travel deals, news, and features straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up! Latest news: · UN Members to United States: Let Inspectors Into Iraq Reuters - 32 minutes ago · Penatgon: 'Chemical Ali' May Still Live AP - 38 minutes ago · Possible Iraqi Nuclear Barrels Recovered AP - 58 minutes ago Special Coverage Two senior administration officials -- Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton -- said they knew of no pressure on intelligence officials to tailor their analysis of Iraq to support the war. ''I personally never asked anybody in the intelligence community to change a single thing they presented, and I'm not aware of anyone else who did,'' Bolton told the House International Relations Committee. At a Pentagon (news - web sites) briefing called to rebut such charges, Feith told reporters, ''I know of nobody who pressured anybody.'' The counterpunching by the administration -- particularly the briefing by the normally media-shy Feith -- suggests the White House is worried that the failure to find banned Iraqi weapons is becoming a problem. The administration's aggressive stance toward nations such as Iran and North Korea (news - web sites) depends heavily on intelligence findings, and a lack of faith in those findings could erode support for White House policy. Feith said his session was called to rebut a ''goulash of inaccuracies'' and to ''help lay to rest some stories . . . that are not true and are beginning to achieve the status of urban legends.'' Concern is growing on Capitol Hill about the gulf between the administration's allegations about Iraq -- which included charges that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) possessed tens of thousands of battle-ready chemical munitions -- and the fact that thus far, U.S. forces have found little or no hard evidence of those weapons. Both the House of Representatives and Senate have launched investigations. And Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites), has charged that classified information shows the CIA (news - web sites) withheld data on key suspected Iraqi weapons sites from United Nations (news - web sites) weapons inspectors before the war. CIA Director George Tenet told lawmakers that the CIA shared all its important information on the Iraqi sites with U.N. inspectors. The administration's strongest evidence so far is two trailers that officials say were used as mobile weapons labs. But no trace of biological or chemical weapons has been found in the trailers. As the pressure to explain its case for war in Iraq increases, the administration has developed a multi-pronged response to deflect critics' charges. Key elements: * Provide evidence: The CIA is preparing to send congressional oversight committees thousands of pages of documents that were the basis for key intelligence assessments of the Iraqi weapons threat, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The material includes raw intelligence reports, electronic intercepts, information collected from human sources and information provided by allied intelligence services. * Emphasize other reasons for the war: Administration officials point to the mass graves in Iraq, the importance of spreading democracy in the Mideast and the need to make an example of a country that supported terrorist groups as key reasons for the war. * Urge patience: The evidence will be found, administration officials insist. The first members of a new team of up to 1,400 specialists began arriving Wednesday in Iraq to intensify the search for weapons of mass destruction. Feith told Congress last month that it could take years to unravel the mystery. * Lower the bar: Administration officials choose words carefully in discussing Iraq. They say they will find evidence of weapons ''programs'' -- such as substances that might be used to make chemical or biological weapons -- not necessarily the weapons themselves. That would make it easier to prove the case against Saddam.

To: calgal who wrote (411777)	6/5/2003 10:56:35 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Jun 5, 10:35 PM EDT Wall St. Stocks Make Incremental Gains By ADAM GELLER AP Business Writer URL:http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WALL_STREET?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors set aside disappointing employment data and lackluster retail sales reports Thursday, limiting their profit-taking in a market that eked out incremental gains and kept stocks at their highest levels in months. The gains, albeit small, sustained a rally that drove the Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday to its first close above 9,000 in nearly 10 months. The Dow finished virtually even Thursday but the number of advancing issues significantly outnumbered decliners. The Dow closed up 2.32, essentially unchanged, at 9,041.30. That followed a rise of more than 100 points on Wednesday, when it closed above 9,000 for the first time since Aug. 22. The broader market also finished higher. The Nasdaq composite gained 11.36, or 0.7 percent, to 1,646.01. The Nasdaq is trading at levels not seen since May 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 3.90, or 0.4 percent, to 990.14. The S&P is at levels not seen since July. At the end of Thursday's trading, the Dow had risen 20.2 percent, the Nasdaq had gained 29.5 percent and the S&P had climbed 23.7 percent since March 11. Analysts said that despite the limited nature of Thursday's gains, the fact that there was not a broader sell-off indicates a growing sentiment by investors that the market is rebounding. Advertisement Latest Market News Wall St. Stocks Make Incremental Gains Big Movers in the Stock Market Regulators Target Wall Street CEOs Bad Economy Hurts Albertsons' 1Q Profits Tommy Hilfiger Posts $113.8M Loss in 4Q Smithfield Foods Has Lower 4Q Earnings Intel Narrows 2nd Qtr. Revenue Forecast Procter& Gamble Projects 4Q Earnings Best Buy Boosts Earnings Outlook "We've been in a long and deep bear market and investors feel like the worst is over, and what appeals to them more than anything is some of the stocks that have gotten hit the worst," said Richard E. Cripps, chief market strategist for Legg Mason of Baltimore. Investors have been encouraged by better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, signs of economic improvements and upbeat assessments of the economy by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. "People are anticipating that the economy is going to continue to grow - slowly, but nonetheless we are coming up from a very depressed level," said Richard A. Dickson, senior market strategist at Lowry's Research Reports in Palm Beach, Fla. Even so, investors remain cautious ahead of the government's release Friday of May jobless figures. "You have to see strong numbers for us to be convinced that the economy is in a true comeback and not just going up on air," said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group. On Thursday, disappointing employment data and lackluster retail sales for May prompted some investors to sell stock and lock in profits. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of American workers filing new claims for jobless benefits climbed to a five-week high last week, indicating that companies are still contending with an economy that is struggling for footing. New applications for unemployment insurance rose by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 to 442,000 for the work week ending May 31, putting claims at their highest level since the week ending April 26. The rise surprised economists, who were predicting claims would fall to 421,000. Major retailers reported Thursday that same-store sales, those at stores open at least a year, rose modestly in May. But rainy weather in certain regions and a weak job market limited spending for yet another month, continuing a sluggish pace seen since last August. Among Thursday's decliners, Abercrombie & Fitch stumbled 52 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $28.77 after reporting that its May same-store sales fell 7 percent, double the 3.5 percent decline analysts were expecting. But AnnTaylor rose $1.24, or 5 percent, to $28.48 after raising its quarterly forecast and reporting a May same-store sales gain of 9.4 percent, well ahead of the 0.1 percent decline analysts were expecting. Advancing issues lead decliners on the NYSE by a 3-to-2 ratio. Consolidated volume totaled 2.20 billion shares compared 2.10 shares on Wednesday. The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 5.46, or 1.2 percent, to 456.69. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished Thursday up 1.2 percent. In afternoon trading in Europe, France's CAC-40 fell 1 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.5 percent and Germany's DAX index lost 1.3 percent.