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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (285246)	4/23/2006 8:42:50 AM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 1578264

Iran 'models nuclear plan on Pakistan' By Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 23/04/2006) The United States arms control chief has given warning that Iran is "very close to the point of no return" in acquiring the technological expertise to make a nuclear weapon. "In terms of activities on the ground in Iran, it is fair to say that the Iranians have put both feet on the accelerator," said Robert Joseph, the senior US State Department official responsible for countering nuclear proliferation. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad His comments, which come as the United Nations Security Council prepares to meet to discuss the crisis this week, indicate that Washington believes that the stakes are rising rapidly in the West's confrontation with the Islamic republic. Earlier this month, Teheran claimed to have enriched uranium for the nuclear fuel cycle. It has pushed ahead with its programme while taking advantage of a diplomatic stand-off between Moscow and Washington over possible UN sanctions. Iran is following tactics outlined by its former chief nuclear negotiator in comments to clerics and academics previously unreported in the West. Hassan Rowhani made clear that Iran's goal was to present the world with a fait accompli over its nuclear ambitions. "If, one day, we are able to complete the fuel cycle and the world sees that it has no choice, that we do possess the technology, then the situation will be different," he told the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. "The world did not want Pakistan to have an atomic bomb or Brazil to have the fuel cycle, but Pakistan built its bomb and Brazil has its fuel cycle." He delivered the speech in September, a month after Iran sparked the latest stage of its showdown with the international community by resuming uranium conversion, in breach of previous accords, following the election of its hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr Rowhani reiterated to his audience Iran's public insistence that it is seeking nuclear technology only for peaceful civilian purposes. But his comparison to Pakistan's secret development of an atomic weapon is significant, as Iran acquired much of its nuclear know-how from A Q Khan, the rogue scientist known as the father of the Pakistani bomb. During the speech, Mr Rowhani emphasised that Iran had intended to complete its programme in secret. "This was never supposed to be in the open. But in any case the spies exposed it," he said, in reference to the revelation by opposition exiles of Iran's clandestine nuclear operations. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian analyst with the International Crisis Group, said Teheran was aiming to shape the debate with its claims. "Iran is betting that it can redraw the West's red lines by creating facts on the ground. At the time they re-commenced uranium conversion activities in Isfahan, last August, much fuss was made in the US and EU, but it eventually became an irreversible fait accompli. They may well believe that the West will eventually come to accept their enrichment activities as well." The Security Council meets on Friday to hear a report on Iran's nuclear activities from the International Atomic Energy Agency. But although the agency's director, Mohamed ElBaradei, is certain to report that Iran has ignored the ultimatum to halt enrichment work, US, British and French hopes of moving towards imposing sanctions are slim. Russia hardened its stand against such punitive measures last week. Its foreign ministry said Moscow would consider sanctions only if "concrete facts" emerged that Iran was developing nuclear weapons. China, which also holds a Security Council veto, leans towards the Russian position. Iran made an apparent attempt yesterday to confuse the situation ahead of the UN meeting when it said it had reached a "basic" agreement with Moscow to enrich uranium in Russia. The announcement made no mention of whether Teheran would cease enrichment in Iran - a key UN demand. Last week, Moscow rejected an appeal by Washington to halt the sale of air defence missile systems to Teheran in a $700 million (£392 million) deal. "This is not the time for business as usual with the Iranian government," said Nicholas Burns, a senior US State Department official.

To: RetiredNow who wrote (285246)	4/23/2006 10:12:21 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578264

Has Hezbollah EVER committed an act of terror against the United States?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (285246)	4/23/2006 10:55:06 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578264

New fund high on "green" buys Seattle buildings By Benjamin J. Romano Seattle Times business reporter A New York company launched a "socially responsible" real-estate investment fund with the purchase Wednesday of two old downtown Seattle buildings. The fund, an affiliate of the Jonathan Rose Companies, bought the 14-story Joseph Vance Building and the adjacent three-story Sterling Building at Third Avenue and Union Street for $23.1 million. The buildings, dating to 1929 and 1910, respectively, were purchased for nearly $191 per rentable square foot from an investor group led by Frederic S. Weiss of Mercer Island, according to county records. Company founder Jonathan F.P. Rose said the buildings' location near the bus tunnel fits the fund's philosophy of making investments in "smart growth" spots such as downtowns and "walkable Main Streets" rather than in suburban settings that depend on parking lots. The strategy is "environmentally right" because it gives tenants options for commuting to work, Rose said, "but also we think it gives better economic returns." That confluence of economic and environmental goals is at the heart of the planning, consulting and development business that Rose, a third-generation New York real-estate developer, founded in 1989. He plans to use his "green renovation" approach inside the buildings by adding insulation, using recyclable carpeting, applying environmentally friendly paints and improving the energy-management systems. Rose aims to make the buildings "the greenest and healthiest historic buildings in the Seattle marketplace," which he hopes will attract more tenants at higher rents. The buildings are about 20 percent vacant. "If we do a good job, we believe that the value of the buildings will increase," he said. One building tenant unfamiliar with Rose's plans said the approach would probably sit well with the small architectural firms, attorneys and nonprofits that rent space in the Vance Building. Chantal Stevens, executive director of Sustainable Seattle, said her nonprofit likes the Vance Building because it's near bus stops and has a bike-storage area. But fixing the drafty windows that let a breeze into her office would make the building "greener." Green renovation is happening in parts of Europe she toured last year and she's eager to see it catch on more here, Stevens said. "I think destroying to rebuild is not the best use of resources at this point, even if it's being rebuilt in a green fashion," she said. Environmentally sensitive or "green" new construction is gaining momentum with private developers, said Kristen Scott, a principal at Weber 1 Thompson, a Seattle architecture and design firm. "We're seeing more and more mainstream clients interested now in sustainable design," Scott said. "It's gotten over the hump of being seen as something only taxpayer-funded public buildings can do." Rose is pleased at the location of the fund's first purchase. "We think Seattle as a city really represents the underlying values of the fund," he said. archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com