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The Bush administration has added a controversial ingredient to the $770-million aid package it recently proposed to ease the world food crisis: language that would promote the use of genetically modified crops in food-deprived countries.

The value or detriment of genetically modified, or bioengineered, food is an intensely disputed issue in the U.S. and in Europe, where many countries have banned foods made from genetically modified organisms.

Proponents say that genetically modified crops can result in higher yields from plants that are hardier in harsh climates.

“We certainly think that it is established fact that a number of bioengineered crops have shown themselves to increase yields through their drought resistance and pest resistance,” said Dan Price, a food aid expert on the National Security Council.

Opponents of such crops allege that they can cause allergies, illnesses and unforeseen medical problems in those who consume them.

They also contend that the administration’s plan is aimed at helping American agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which manufactures genetically modified varieties of seed.

“This is a hot topic now with the food crisis,” said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Assn. “I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that genetically engineered crops — they may do a number of things, but they don’t increase yields. There are no commercialized crops that are designed to deal with the climate crisis.”

Bush proposed the food package two weeks ago as aid groups and the U.N. World Food Program pressed Western governments to provide additional funds to bridge the gap caused by rising food prices.

BEIJING China has branded the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes” and his followers the “scum of Buddhism.” It stepped up the rhetoric Tuesday, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate and his supporters of planning suicide attacks.The Tibetan government-in-exile swiftly denied the charge, and the Bush administration rushed to the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s defense, calling him “a man of peace.”"There is absolutely no indication that he wants to do anything other than have a dialogue with China on how to discuss the serious issues there,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.Wu Heping, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Public Security, claimed searches of monasteries in the Tibetan capital had turned up a large cache of weapons. They included 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 7,725 pounds of explosives, 19,000 sticks of dynamite and 350 knives, he said.”To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks,” Wu told a news conference. “They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice.”Wu provided no details or evidence. He used the term “gan si dui,” a rarely used phrase directly translated as “dare-to-die corps.” The official English version of his remarks translated the term as “suicide squads.”Wu said police had arrested an individual who he claimed was an operative of the “Dalai Lama clique,” responsible for gathering intelligence and distributing pamphlets calling for an uprising.The suspect admitted to using code words to communicate with his contacts, including “uncle” for the Dalai Lama and “skirts” for the banned Tibetan snow lion flag, Wu said.Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating violence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Protests which began peacefully there on the March 10 anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule spiraled out of control four days later.Chinese officials have put the death toll at 22, most of them Han Chinese; the government-in-exile says 140 Tibetans were killed.China also says sympathy protests that spread to surrounding provinces are part of a campaign by the Dalai Lama to sabotage the Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence.The 72-year-old Dalai Lama has condemned the violence and denied any links to it, urging an independent international inquiry into the unrest.”Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks,” Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, said Tuesday. “But we fear that Chinese might masquerade as Tibetans and plan such attacks to give bad publicity to Tibetans.”Experts on terrorism and security risks facing Beijing and the Olympics have not cited any Tibet group as a threat.Scholars said the claim of suicide squads was a calculated move by China allowing it to step up its crackdown in Tibetan areas.”There is no evidence of support for any kind of violence against China or Chinese,” said Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at Westminster University in London.Instead, Beijing is “portraying to the rest of China and the rest of the world: these people are basically irrational” and that there was no room for compromise, he said.Tuesday’s accusations could also further divide the Tibetan government-in-exile and other groups like the Tibetan Youth Congress, which has challenged the Dalai Lama’s policy of nonviolence, Anand said.”This is a way of pressuring the Dalai Lama to renounce Tibetans who have created violence,” he said.Andrew Fischer, a fellow at the London School of Economics who researches Chinese development policies in Tibetan areas of China, dismissed Wu’s warnings as “completely ridiculous.”What China is trying to do “is justify this massive troop deployment, a massive crackdown on Tibetan areas and they’re trying to justify intensification of hard-line policies,” Fischer said.Drawing from a deep historical reserve of angry rhetoric, Tibet’s tough-talking Chinese Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, recently called the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes, a devil with a human face, but the heart of a beast” and deemed the current conflict a “life-and-death battle.” State media has denounced protesting monks as the “scum of Buddhism.”The campaign against the Dalai Lama has been underscored in recent days with showings of decades-old propaganda films on state television portraying Tibetan society as cruel and primitive before the 1950 invasion by communist troops.The escalation of the rhetoric to include claims of possible suicide attacks may also touch upon another sensitive issue for China’s communist leadership - unrest in Xinjiang, a predominantly Muslim region to Tibet’s north, and Beijing’s tight security measures in the area.On Tuesday, a local government Web site in Xinjiang reported that a protest has broken out in a market in the region on March 23. One official linked the incident to the unrest in Tibet.But U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia, which first reported the demonstration, said the protesters were demanding authorities not ban headscarves, and that they stop torturing Uighurs and release all political prisoners. It said several hundred Uighurs staged the protests in Hotan and a nearby county and were taken into custody.Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, disputed that characterization. “The riot was nothing to do with the ban on headscarves, but about responding to the riots in Tibet,” Fu said.Last month, Chinese state media reported that a woman had confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang in what officials say was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was from China’s Turkic Muslim Uighur minority.While the United States has labeled the East Turkestan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization, the State Department alleges widespread abuses of the legal and educational systems by the communist authorities to suppress Uighur culture and religion.Fischer said China has tried to change the “nonviolent, compassionate” image of Tibetans into one of violence and brutality to draw parallels to the pro-independence stance in Xinjiang.”If they succeed in portraying them that way, then they can treat them the same way they treat Muslims in Xinjiang,” he said.

WASHINGTON It’s a Herculean task: revamping a financial regulatory system dating back to the Civil War to deal with 21st century crises imperiling the country.Under an ambitious Bush administration plan, the Federal Reserve would take on the unwieldy role of uber cop in charge of financial market stability. Other regulatory agencies could see their influence diminished.The proposal won’t fix the host of economic and financial problems that threatens to plunge the United States into a deep recession, but it might help guard against future troubles. It would take years and a lot of political wrangling - in Congress, on Wall Street, in statehouses and elsewhere - to implement all the changes envisioned.Yet, the initiative, formally announced Monday, casts a fresh spotlight on the best way to protect the country from financial catastrophes in an intricate web of complex, often-changing financial products and the wide array of financial players using them in the United States and beyond. That debate probably will take center stage in the next president’s administration.—Stocks gain on last day of quarterNEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street managed a moderate gain in the final session of a dismal first quarter Monday, but stock prices and the major indexes still ended the first three months of 2007 with massive losses, the casualties of the still continuing credit crisis. The Standard %26 Poor’s 500 index, the benchmark for many widely held investments such as mutual funds, suffered a loss for the quarter of nearly 10 percent.The blip upward came from a better than expected reading in the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which is considered a precursor to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey on Tuesday. The index rose to 48.2 in March from 44.5 a month earlier; economists had been expecting a reading of 47.3, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Though the number topped forecasts, a figure below 50 nonetheless indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity.The market’s reaction, however, was likely not as enthusiastic as it might seem from Monday’s gains by the major indexes. Price movements tend to be skewed when volume is as light as it was Monday.It was a difficult quarter on Wall Street, with financial companies’ ongoing credit market losses and the flagging economy wiping out many investors’ appetite for stocks. While the market saw a number of up days during the quarter, the overall trend was sharply lower, with reports of asset write-downs and shaky financial companies pummeling the market - in particular, the near-collapse of Bear Stearns %26 Cos. in mid-March.—Pernod Ricard buys maker of AbsolutSTOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Spirits group Pernod Ricard SA is adding Swedish flavor to a liquor cabinet stacked with Scotch whisky, French champagne and Cuban rum with its $8.34 billion purchase of the state-owned maker of Absolut vodka.The company said Monday it was delighted to add the premium vodka brand to its assortment of drinks, after the Swedish government accepted its bid for Absolut’s parent company, Vin %26 Sprit.The Swedish government celebrated the higher-than-expected price tag for Vin %26 Sprit, but investors were less exuberant, sending shares in France-based Pernod Ricard down 4.3 percent to $103.03 in Paris.Sweden said it selected the Pernod Ricard bid on Sunday over three other offers, by U.S.-based Fortune Brands Inc., Bermuda-based Bacardi Ltd. and an investment group controlled by Sweden’s Wallenberg family.—Less corn could mean higher food pricesWASHINGTON (AP) - From chicken nuggets to corn flakes, food prices at grocery stores and dinner tables could be headed even higher as farmers cut back on the land they’re planting in corn this spring.Corn prices already are high, and a drop in supply should keep them rising. Combine that with the huge demand for corn-based ethanol fuel - and higher energy costs for transporting food - and consumers are likely to see their food bills going up and up.Farmers are now expected to plant 86 million acres of corn this year, the Department of Agriculture predicted Monday, down 8 percent from last year, which was the highest since World War II.Corn is almost everywhere you look in the U.S. food supply. Poultry, beef and pork companies use it to feed their animals. High fructose corn syrup is used in soft drinks and many other foods, including lunch meats and salad dressings. Corn is often an ingredient in breads, peanut butter, oatmeal and potato chips.—Merck, Schering-Plough sink on VytorinNEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Merck %26 Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. fell to record lows Monday, as analysts warned new clinical data would cause sales of their blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin to fall further.The companies market Vytorin through a joint venture, but earlier this year, partial results from a clinical study showed that it was no more effective at limiting plaque buildup than Merck’s Zocor, a drug that is already available in generic form. Full results of that study were released Sunday.Vytorin is a combination of Zocor and Schering-Plough’s drug Zetia.Schering-Plough shares plunged as low as $14, touching their lowest levels since August 1996. Merck shares fell as low as $36.82, their lowest since June 2006.Leading physicians are now recommending the use of older drugs called statins before putting patients on Vytorin. Many physicians had prescribed Vytorin in lieu of higher doses of statins because of what some said was an undue fear of side effects.— HUD chief resigns amid criminal probeWASHINGTON (AP) - HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, his tenure tarnished by allegations of political favoritism and a criminal investigation, announced his resignation Monday amid the wreckage of the national housing crisis.He leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions about whether he tilted the Department of Housing and Urban Development toward Republican contractors and cronies.The move comes at a shaky time for the economy when soaring mortgage foreclosures imperil the nation’s credit markets.Some Congressional Democrats had pushed for Jackson to leave.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said HUD will be called on to work with Congress on assisting refinancing for borrowers faced with imminent foreclosure.—Oil prices slide, retail gas hits recordNEW YORK (AP) - Prices surged at the gas pump, hitting a new record Monday even as crude oil accelerated its slide amid a broad-based commodities sell-off.The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.287, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices were highest in Hawaii and California, where the average price topped $3.60 a gallon.Gasoline prices are expected to keep rising as the summer driving season brings with it greater demand for the fuel. Last year, prices peaked in May before backtracking; with gasoline already at a record it will like only continue its advance.If crude oil prices, which set records of their own during March continue their advance, that will also add to the cost of gasoline at the pump.On Monday, however, light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.—Citi splits consumer banking, card unitsNEW YORK (AP) - Citigroup named a veteran retail banker Monday to head its North American consumer banking unit, splitting it off from its credit-card business as Citi struggles to become profitable again after suffering its biggest quarterly loss in its 196-year history.The latest move is the biggest sign yet that CEO Vikram Pandit, appointed in December, wants to fix Citi’s major parts rather than sell them off to raise cash - at least for now.It also shows what steps Pandit would take to attract more consumers to Citi’s retail banking unit.Citi’s worst problems are in its investment banking segment, which made huge losing bets on the mortgage industry. But its bread-and-butter business of lending to and collecting deposits from average people has also been underwhelming shareholders.Citi is ubiquitous throughout the United States, but in recent years has lost customers to rival banks such as JPMorgan Chase %26 Co. and Wachovia Corp.—Major indexes rise, commodities slip as quarter endsOn the last day of the quarter, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.49, or 0.38 percent, to 12,262.89.Broader stock indicators also rose. The S%26P 500 index advanced 7.48, or 0.57 percent, to 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 17.92, or 0.79 percent, to 2,279.10.Light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 5.58 cents to settle at $3.0492 a gallon, while gasoline futures sank 10.07 cents to settle at $2.6163 a gallon. Brent crude futures fell $3.47 to settle at $100.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

BEIJING China has branded the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes” and his followers the “scum of Buddhism.” It stepped up the rhetoric Tuesday, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate and his supporters of planning suicide attacks.The Tibetan government-in-exile swiftly denied the charge, and the Bush administration rushed to the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s defense, calling him “a man of peace.”"There is absolutely no indication that he wants to do anything other than have a dialogue with China on how to discuss the serious issues there,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.Wu Heping, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Public Security, claimed searches of monasteries in the Tibetan capital had turned up a large cache of weapons. They included 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 7,725 pounds of explosives, 19,000 sticks of dynamite and 350 knives, he said.”To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks,” Wu told a news conference. “They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice.”Wu provided no details or evidence. He used the term “gan si dui,” a rarely used phrase directly translated as “dare-to-die corps.” The official English version of his remarks translated the term as “suicide squads.”Wu said police had arrested an individual who he claimed was an operative of the “Dalai Lama clique,” responsible for gathering intelligence and distributing pamphlets calling for an uprising.The suspect admitted to using code words to communicate with his contacts, including “uncle” for the Dalai Lama and “skirts” for the banned Tibetan snow lion flag, Wu said.Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating violence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Protests which began peacefully there on the March 10 anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule spiraled out of control four days later.Chinese officials have put the death toll at 22, most of them Han Chinese; the government-in-exile says 140 Tibetans were killed.China also says sympathy protests that spread to surrounding provinces are part of a campaign by the Dalai Lama to sabotage the Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence.The 72-year-old Dalai Lama has condemned the violence and denied any links to it, urging an independent international inquiry into the unrest.”Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks,” Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, said Tuesday. “But we fear that Chinese might masquerade as Tibetans and plan such attacks to give bad publicity to Tibetans.”Experts on terrorism and security risks facing Beijing and the Olympics have not cited any Tibet group as a threat.Scholars said the claim of suicide squads was a calculated move by China allowing it to step up its crackdown in Tibetan areas.”There is no evidence of support for any kind of violence against China or Chinese,” said Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at Westminster University in London.Instead, Beijing is “portraying to the rest of China and the rest of the world: these people are basically irrational” and that there was no room for compromise, he said.Tuesday’s accusations could also further divide the Tibetan government-in-exile and other groups like the Tibetan Youth Congress, which has challenged the Dalai Lama’s policy of nonviolence, Anand said.”This is a way of pressuring the Dalai Lama to renounce Tibetans who have created violence,” he said.Andrew Fischer, a fellow at the London School of Economics who researches Chinese development policies in Tibetan areas of China, dismissed Wu’s warnings as “completely ridiculous.”What China is trying to do “is justify this massive troop deployment, a massive crackdown on Tibetan areas and they’re trying to justify intensification of hard-line policies,” Fischer said.Drawing from a deep historical reserve of angry rhetoric, Tibet’s tough-talking Chinese Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, recently called the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes, a devil with a human face, but the heart of a beast” and deemed the current conflict a “life-and-death battle.” State media has denounced protesting monks as the “scum of Buddhism.”The campaign against the Dalai Lama has been underscored in recent days with showings of decades-old propaganda films on state television portraying Tibetan society as cruel and primitive before the 1950 invasion by communist troops.The escalation of the rhetoric to include claims of possible suicide attacks may also touch upon another sensitive issue for China’s communist leadership - unrest in Xinjiang, a predominantly Muslim region to Tibet’s north, and Beijing’s tight security measures in the area.On Tuesday, a local government Web site in Xinjiang reported that a protest has broken out in a market in the region on March 23. One official linked the incident to the unrest in Tibet.But U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia, which first reported the demonstration, said the protesters were demanding authorities not ban headscarves, and that they stop torturing Uighurs and release all political prisoners. It said several hundred Uighurs staged the protests in Hotan and a nearby county and were taken into custody.Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, disputed that characterization. “The riot was nothing to do with the ban on headscarves, but about responding to the riots in Tibet,” Fu said.Last month, Chinese state media reported that a woman had confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang in what officials say was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was from China’s Turkic Muslim Uighur minority.While the United States has labeled the East Turkestan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization, the State Department alleges widespread abuses of the legal and educational systems by the communist authorities to suppress Uighur culture and religion.Fischer said China has tried to change the “nonviolent, compassionate” image of Tibetans into one of violence and brutality to draw parallels to the pro-independence stance in Xinjiang.”If they succeed in portraying them that way, then they can treat them the same way they treat Muslims in Xinjiang,” he said.

WASHINGTON It’s a Herculean task: revamping a financial regulatory system dating back to the Civil War to deal with 21st century crises imperiling the country.Under an ambitious Bush administration plan, the Federal Reserve would take on the unwieldy role of uber cop in charge of financial market stability. Other regulatory agencies could see their influence diminished.The proposal won’t fix the host of economic and financial problems that threatens to plunge the United States into a deep recession, but it might help guard against future troubles. It would take years and a lot of political wrangling - in Congress, on Wall Street, in statehouses and elsewhere - to implement all the changes envisioned.Yet, the initiative, formally announced Monday, casts a fresh spotlight on the best way to protect the country from financial catastrophes in an intricate web of complex, often-changing financial products and the wide array of financial players using them in the United States and beyond. That debate probably will take center stage in the next president’s administration.—Stocks gain on last day of quarterNEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street managed a moderate gain in the final session of a dismal first quarter Monday, but stock prices and the major indexes still ended the first three months of 2007 with massive losses, the casualties of the still continuing credit crisis. The Standard %26 Poor’s 500 index, the benchmark for many widely held investments such as mutual funds, suffered a loss for the quarter of nearly 10 percent.The blip upward came from a better than expected reading in the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which is considered a precursor to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey on Tuesday. The index rose to 48.2 in March from 44.5 a month earlier; economists had been expecting a reading of 47.3, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Though the number topped forecasts, a figure below 50 nonetheless indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity.The market’s reaction, however, was likely not as enthusiastic as it might seem from Monday’s gains by the major indexes. Price movements tend to be skewed when volume is as light as it was Monday.It was a difficult quarter on Wall Street, with financial companies’ ongoing credit market losses and the flagging economy wiping out many investors’ appetite for stocks. While the market saw a number of up days during the quarter, the overall trend was sharply lower, with reports of asset write-downs and shaky financial companies pummeling the market - in particular, the near-collapse of Bear Stearns %26 Cos. in mid-March.—Pernod Ricard buys maker of AbsolutSTOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Spirits group Pernod Ricard SA is adding Swedish flavor to a liquor cabinet stacked with Scotch whisky, French champagne and Cuban rum with its $8.34 billion purchase of the state-owned maker of Absolut vodka.The company said Monday it was delighted to add the premium vodka brand to its assortment of drinks, after the Swedish government accepted its bid for Absolut’s parent company, Vin %26 Sprit.The Swedish government celebrated the higher-than-expected price tag for Vin %26 Sprit, but investors were less exuberant, sending shares in France-based Pernod Ricard down 4.3 percent to $103.03 in Paris.Sweden said it selected the Pernod Ricard bid on Sunday over three other offers, by U.S.-based Fortune Brands Inc., Bermuda-based Bacardi Ltd. and an investment group controlled by Sweden’s Wallenberg family.—Less corn could mean higher food pricesWASHINGTON (AP) - From chicken nuggets to corn flakes, food prices at grocery stores and dinner tables could be headed even higher as farmers cut back on the land they’re planting in corn this spring.Corn prices already are high, and a drop in supply should keep them rising. Combine that with the huge demand for corn-based ethanol fuel - and higher energy costs for transporting food - and consumers are likely to see their food bills going up and up.Farmers are now expected to plant 86 million acres of corn this year, the Department of Agriculture predicted Monday, down 8 percent from last year, which was the highest since World War II.Corn is almost everywhere you look in the U.S. food supply. Poultry, beef and pork companies use it to feed their animals. High fructose corn syrup is used in soft drinks and many other foods, including lunch meats and salad dressings. Corn is often an ingredient in breads, peanut butter, oatmeal and potato chips.—Merck, Schering-Plough sink on VytorinNEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Merck %26 Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. fell to record lows Monday, as analysts warned new clinical data would cause sales of their blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin to fall further.The companies market Vytorin through a joint venture, but earlier this year, partial results from a clinical study showed that it was no more effective at limiting plaque buildup than Merck’s Zocor, a drug that is already available in generic form. Full results of that study were released Sunday.Vytorin is a combination of Zocor and Schering-Plough’s drug Zetia.Schering-Plough shares plunged as low as $14, touching their lowest levels since August 1996. Merck shares fell as low as $36.82, their lowest since June 2006.Leading physicians are now recommending the use of older drugs called statins before putting patients on Vytorin. Many physicians had prescribed Vytorin in lieu of higher doses of statins because of what some said was an undue fear of side effects.— HUD chief resigns amid criminal probeWASHINGTON (AP) - HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, his tenure tarnished by allegations of political favoritism and a criminal investigation, announced his resignation Monday amid the wreckage of the national housing crisis.He leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions about whether he tilted the Department of Housing and Urban Development toward Republican contractors and cronies.The move comes at a shaky time for the economy when soaring mortgage foreclosures imperil the nation’s credit markets.Some Congressional Democrats had pushed for Jackson to leave.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said HUD will be called on to work with Congress on assisting refinancing for borrowers faced with imminent foreclosure.—Oil prices slide, retail gas hits recordNEW YORK (AP) - Prices surged at the gas pump, hitting a new record Monday even as crude oil accelerated its slide amid a broad-based commodities sell-off.The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.287, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices were highest in Hawaii and California, where the average price topped $3.60 a gallon.Gasoline prices are expected to keep rising as the summer driving season brings with it greater demand for the fuel. Last year, prices peaked in May before backtracking; with gasoline already at a record it will like only continue its advance.If crude oil prices, which set records of their own during March continue their advance, that will also add to the cost of gasoline at the pump.On Monday, however, light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.—Citi splits consumer banking, card unitsNEW YORK (AP) - Citigroup named a veteran retail banker Monday to head its North American consumer banking unit, splitting it off from its credit-card business as Citi struggles to become profitable again after suffering its biggest quarterly loss in its 196-year history.The latest move is the biggest sign yet that CEO Vikram Pandit, appointed in December, wants to fix Citi’s major parts rather than sell them off to raise cash - at least for now.It also shows what steps Pandit would take to attract more consumers to Citi’s retail banking unit.Citi’s worst problems are in its investment banking segment, which made huge losing bets on the mortgage industry. But its bread-and-butter business of lending to and collecting deposits from average people has also been underwhelming shareholders.Citi is ubiquitous throughout the United States, but in recent years has lost customers to rival banks such as JPMorgan Chase %26 Co. and Wachovia Corp.—Major indexes rise, commodities slip as quarter endsOn the last day of the quarter, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.49, or 0.38 percent, to 12,262.89.Broader stock indicators also rose. The S%26P 500 index advanced 7.48, or 0.57 percent, to 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 17.92, or 0.79 percent, to 2,279.10.Light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 5.58 cents to settle at $3.0492 a gallon, while gasoline futures sank 10.07 cents to settle at $2.6163 a gallon. Brent crude futures fell $3.47 to settle at $100.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

BEIJING China has branded the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes” and his followers the “scum of Buddhism.” It stepped up the rhetoric Tuesday, accusing the Nobel Peace laureate and his supporters of planning suicide attacks.The Tibetan government-in-exile swiftly denied the charge, and the Bush administration rushed to the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s defense, calling him “a man of peace.”"There is absolutely no indication that he wants to do anything other than have a dialogue with China on how to discuss the serious issues there,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.Wu Heping, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Public Security, claimed searches of monasteries in the Tibetan capital had turned up a large cache of weapons. They included 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 7,725 pounds of explosives, 19,000 sticks of dynamite and 350 knives, he said.”To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks,” Wu told a news conference. “They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice.”Wu provided no details or evidence. He used the term “gan si dui,” a rarely used phrase directly translated as “dare-to-die corps.” The official English version of his remarks translated the term as “suicide squads.”Wu said police had arrested an individual who he claimed was an operative of the “Dalai Lama clique,” responsible for gathering intelligence and distributing pamphlets calling for an uprising.The suspect admitted to using code words to communicate with his contacts, including “uncle” for the Dalai Lama and “skirts” for the banned Tibetan snow lion flag, Wu said.Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating violence in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Protests which began peacefully there on the March 10 anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule spiraled out of control four days later.Chinese officials have put the death toll at 22, most of them Han Chinese; the government-in-exile says 140 Tibetans were killed.China also says sympathy protests that spread to surrounding provinces are part of a campaign by the Dalai Lama to sabotage the Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence.The 72-year-old Dalai Lama has condemned the violence and denied any links to it, urging an independent international inquiry into the unrest.”Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks,” Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, said Tuesday. “But we fear that Chinese might masquerade as Tibetans and plan such attacks to give bad publicity to Tibetans.”Experts on terrorism and security risks facing Beijing and the Olympics have not cited any Tibet group as a threat.Scholars said the claim of suicide squads was a calculated move by China allowing it to step up its crackdown in Tibetan areas.”There is no evidence of support for any kind of violence against China or Chinese,” said Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at Westminster University in London.Instead, Beijing is “portraying to the rest of China and the rest of the world: these people are basically irrational” and that there was no room for compromise, he said.Tuesday’s accusations could also further divide the Tibetan government-in-exile and other groups like the Tibetan Youth Congress, which has challenged the Dalai Lama’s policy of nonviolence, Anand said.”This is a way of pressuring the Dalai Lama to renounce Tibetans who have created violence,” he said.Andrew Fischer, a fellow at the London School of Economics who researches Chinese development policies in Tibetan areas of China, dismissed Wu’s warnings as “completely ridiculous.”What China is trying to do “is justify this massive troop deployment, a massive crackdown on Tibetan areas and they’re trying to justify intensification of hard-line policies,” Fischer said.Drawing from a deep historical reserve of angry rhetoric, Tibet’s tough-talking Chinese Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, recently called the Dalai Lama a “wolf in monk’s robes, a devil with a human face, but the heart of a beast” and deemed the current conflict a “life-and-death battle.” State media has denounced protesting monks as the “scum of Buddhism.”The campaign against the Dalai Lama has been underscored in recent days with showings of decades-old propaganda films on state television portraying Tibetan society as cruel and primitive before the 1950 invasion by communist troops.The escalation of the rhetoric to include claims of possible suicide attacks may also touch upon another sensitive issue for China’s communist leadership - unrest in Xinjiang, a predominantly Muslim region to Tibet’s north, and Beijing’s tight security measures in the area.On Tuesday, a local government Web site in Xinjiang reported that a protest has broken out in a market in the region on March 23. One official linked the incident to the unrest in Tibet.But U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia, which first reported the demonstration, said the protesters were demanding authorities not ban headscarves, and that they stop torturing Uighurs and release all political prisoners. It said several hundred Uighurs staged the protests in Hotan and a nearby county and were taken into custody.Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, disputed that characterization. “The riot was nothing to do with the ban on headscarves, but about responding to the riots in Tibet,” Fu said.Last month, Chinese state media reported that a woman had confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang in what officials say was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was from China’s Turkic Muslim Uighur minority.While the United States has labeled the East Turkestan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization, the State Department alleges widespread abuses of the legal and educational systems by the communist authorities to suppress Uighur culture and religion.Fischer said China has tried to change the “nonviolent, compassionate” image of Tibetans into one of violence and brutality to draw parallels to the pro-independence stance in Xinjiang.”If they succeed in portraying them that way, then they can treat them the same way they treat Muslims in Xinjiang,” he said.

BEIJING China is reaching out for a greater role in global affairs and opening up at home, too - at least a little - as the once-reclusive Communist giant gets ready for this summer’s Olympic Games.That’s good news, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Whatever the motivation for the change, the Bush administration sees China adopting what it thinks are more responsible positions, from North Korea to Sudan and elsewhere, moving from isolation to engagement. China is going to great lengths to burnish its image as the Olympics bring worldwide scrutiny to the country, though Rice didn’t draw a direct connection in remarks here Tuesday.”I can’t get into their motivations, but … China is opening up to the world in a lot of ways,” Rice said after talks with President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders.”I do believe that there is more of an effort to reconcile China’s size and influence in international politics, which is a relatively new thing, with China’s foreign policy behavior,” she told reporters.While still averse to the kind of high-profile interventions that Western countries and human rights groups are known for, China has recently begun to weigh in on issues it has long avoided for fear of opening itself up to criticism for its own well-documented lapses.”There is a broadening, I think, in general of China’s view of itself in international politics and I think we’re benefiting from it,” Rice said.U.S.-China ties have been strained on numerous occasions since the countries established diplomatic relations in 1979.The two nuclear powers have massive militaries and often spar over Taiwan. Perhaps their biggest fallout came after China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, which led to years of recriminations.The Olympics are widely seen as China’s biggest opportunity yet to rub away more of the stain of Tiananmen.Rice praised China for its recent willingness to press North Korea on its nuclear program, to broach the subject of repression with Myanmar’s military rulers and to support a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region.”China is making an impact,” she said, recalling that only a few years ago many in Washington doubted Beijing would use its political and economic clout as a “responsible stakeholder” in international affairs.”I see them grappling with the ‘responsible stakeholder idea,’ which everybody said they couldn’t translate,” Rice observed. “It turns out that they can translate it and they talk about it actually.”Although she did not link the evolution to the Olympics, China is thought susceptible to outside influence now, and some advocacy groups want to use the games to push for Chinese action, notably in Darfur because of the country’s significant investments in Sudan.The United States has been cool to the idea of using the Olympics as leverage, and Rice reiterated that “we’ve been very clear, the president has been very clear, that this is a sporting event.” President Bush plans to attend the opening ceremony.Chinese officials have rejected attempts at pressure but still agreed this week to send a battalion of engineers to Darfur, a step Rice lauded.And despite Beijing’s insistence that its foreign policy remains rooted in opposition to meddling in other nations’ internal affairs, it appears ready to open itself up for human rights scrutiny, albeit within limits.Rice raised three human rights cases with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.Those were the arrest of Hu Jia, one of China’s most prominent political dissidents; the jailing of Jude Shao, a China-born U.S. businessman who is serving a 15-year sentence on tax evasion, and the case of Shi Tao, who is serving a 10-year sentence for sending information about a government crackdown to an overseas Web site.Even as China has sought to improve its image in the run-up to the games, human rights groups have accused Beijing of failing to improve freedoms for its citizens and media in line with its Olympic promises in 2001.Just Tuesday, a Chinese activist in Shanghai said an activist lawyer who was beaten and harassed several times in recent days had been taken away by police again. Human Rights in China said the man apparently was detained because of recent advice he gave to Shanghai downtown residents who have been evicted to make room for large development projects, and for an interview he gave the Epoch Times, a U.S.-based newspaper linked to the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.Hollywood director Steven Spielberg recently quit as an artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies of the August games, accusing China of still not doing enough to press for peace in Darfur.Even as Yang repeated the non-interference stance on Tuesday, he announced that Beijing is ready to resume a human rights dialogue with the United States that China broke off in 2004.Rice said she was pleased and a date would be set soon.”That’s something that we have been trying to do for some time,” she said.

WASHINGTON It’s a Herculean task: revamping a financial regulatory system dating back to the Civil War to deal with 21st century crises imperiling the country.Under an ambitious Bush administration plan, the Federal Reserve would take on the unwieldy role of uber cop in charge of financial market stability. Other regulatory agencies could see their influence diminished.The proposal won’t fix the host of economic and financial problems that threatens to plunge the United States into a deep recession, but it might help guard against future troubles. It would take years and a lot of political wrangling - in Congress, on Wall Street, in statehouses and elsewhere - to implement all the changes envisioned.Yet, the initiative, formally announced Monday, casts a fresh spotlight on the best way to protect the country from financial catastrophes in an intricate web of complex, often-changing financial products and the wide array of financial players using them in the United States and beyond. That debate probably will take center stage in the next president’s administration.—Stocks gain on last day of quarterNEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street managed a moderate gain in the final session of a dismal first quarter Monday, but stock prices and the major indexes still ended the first three months of 2007 with massive losses, the casualties of the still continuing credit crisis. The Standard %26 Poor’s 500 index, the benchmark for many widely held investments such as mutual funds, suffered a loss for the quarter of nearly 10 percent.The blip upward came from a better than expected reading in the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which is considered a precursor to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey on Tuesday. The index rose to 48.2 in March from 44.5 a month earlier; economists had been expecting a reading of 47.3, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Though the number topped forecasts, a figure below 50 nonetheless indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity.The market’s reaction, however, was likely not as enthusiastic as it might seem from Monday’s gains by the major indexes. Price movements tend to be skewed when volume is as light as it was Monday.It was a difficult quarter on Wall Street, with financial companies’ ongoing credit market losses and the flagging economy wiping out many investors’ appetite for stocks. While the market saw a number of up days during the quarter, the overall trend was sharply lower, with reports of asset write-downs and shaky financial companies pummeling the market - in particular, the near-collapse of Bear Stearns %26 Cos. in mid-March.—Pernod Ricard buys maker of AbsolutSTOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Spirits group Pernod Ricard SA is adding Swedish flavor to a liquor cabinet stacked with Scotch whisky, French champagne and Cuban rum with its $8.34 billion purchase of the state-owned maker of Absolut vodka.The company said Monday it was delighted to add the premium vodka brand to its assortment of drinks, after the Swedish government accepted its bid for Absolut’s parent company, Vin %26 Sprit.The Swedish government celebrated the higher-than-expected price tag for Vin %26 Sprit, but investors were less exuberant, sending shares in France-based Pernod Ricard down 4.3 percent to $103.03 in Paris.Sweden said it selected the Pernod Ricard bid on Sunday over three other offers, by U.S.-based Fortune Brands Inc., Bermuda-based Bacardi Ltd. and an investment group controlled by Sweden’s Wallenberg family.—Less corn could mean higher food pricesWASHINGTON (AP) - From chicken nuggets to corn flakes, food prices at grocery stores and dinner tables could be headed even higher as farmers cut back on the land they’re planting in corn this spring.Corn prices already are high, and a drop in supply should keep them rising. Combine that with the huge demand for corn-based ethanol fuel - and higher energy costs for transporting food - and consumers are likely to see their food bills going up and up.Farmers are now expected to plant 86 million acres of corn this year, the Department of Agriculture predicted Monday, down 8 percent from last year, which was the highest since World War II.Corn is almost everywhere you look in the U.S. food supply. Poultry, beef and pork companies use it to feed their animals. High fructose corn syrup is used in soft drinks and many other foods, including lunch meats and salad dressings. Corn is often an ingredient in breads, peanut butter, oatmeal and potato chips.—Merck, Schering-Plough sink on VytorinNEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Merck %26 Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. fell to record lows Monday, as analysts warned new clinical data would cause sales of their blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin to fall further.The companies market Vytorin through a joint venture, but earlier this year, partial results from a clinical study showed that it was no more effective at limiting plaque buildup than Merck’s Zocor, a drug that is already available in generic form. Full results of that study were released Sunday.Vytorin is a combination of Zocor and Schering-Plough’s drug Zetia.Schering-Plough shares plunged as low as $14, touching their lowest levels since August 1996. Merck shares fell as low as $36.82, their lowest since June 2006.Leading physicians are now recommending the use of older drugs called statins before putting patients on Vytorin. Many physicians had prescribed Vytorin in lieu of higher doses of statins because of what some said was an undue fear of side effects.— HUD chief resigns amid criminal probeWASHINGTON (AP) - HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, his tenure tarnished by allegations of political favoritism and a criminal investigation, announced his resignation Monday amid the wreckage of the national housing crisis.He leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions about whether he tilted the Department of Housing and Urban Development toward Republican contractors and cronies.The move comes at a shaky time for the economy when soaring mortgage foreclosures imperil the nation’s credit markets.Some Congressional Democrats had pushed for Jackson to leave.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said HUD will be called on to work with Congress on assisting refinancing for borrowers faced with imminent foreclosure.—Oil prices slide, retail gas hits recordNEW YORK (AP) - Prices surged at the gas pump, hitting a new record Monday even as crude oil accelerated its slide amid a broad-based commodities sell-off.The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.287, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices were highest in Hawaii and California, where the average price topped $3.60 a gallon.Gasoline prices are expected to keep rising as the summer driving season brings with it greater demand for the fuel. Last year, prices peaked in May before backtracking; with gasoline already at a record it will like only continue its advance.If crude oil prices, which set records of their own during March continue their advance, that will also add to the cost of gasoline at the pump.On Monday, however, light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.—Citi splits consumer banking, card unitsNEW YORK (AP) - Citigroup named a veteran retail banker Monday to head its North American consumer banking unit, splitting it off from its credit-card business as Citi struggles to become profitable again after suffering its biggest quarterly loss in its 196-year history.The latest move is the biggest sign yet that CEO Vikram Pandit, appointed in December, wants to fix Citi’s major parts rather than sell them off to raise cash - at least for now.It also shows what steps Pandit would take to attract more consumers to Citi’s retail banking unit.Citi’s worst problems are in its investment banking segment, which made huge losing bets on the mortgage industry. But its bread-and-butter business of lending to and collecting deposits from average people has also been underwhelming shareholders.Citi is ubiquitous throughout the United States, but in recent years has lost customers to rival banks such as JPMorgan Chase %26 Co. and Wachovia Corp.—Major indexes rise, commodities slip as quarter endsOn the last day of the quarter, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.49, or 0.38 percent, to 12,262.89.Broader stock indicators also rose. The S%26P 500 index advanced 7.48, or 0.57 percent, to 1,322.70, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 17.92, or 0.79 percent, to 2,279.10.Light, sweet crude for May delivery dropped $4.04 to settle at $101.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding to a decline of nearly $2 a barrel on Friday. Even so, prices finished the first three months of the year 5.8 percent higher than where they started; crude set a record of $111.80 in March before giving up ground.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 5.58 cents to settle at $3.0492 a gallon, while gasoline futures sank 10.07 cents to settle at $2.6163 a gallon. Brent crude futures fell $3.47 to settle at $100.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

NATIONAL POLITICS Chavez wants to improve United States image
Having failed his bold but scary attempt to make himself president-for-life in Venezuela, President Chavez now seeks to guarantee his legacy and his voice in world affairs by offering, via CITGO, 132 million gallons of free heating oil to our poor and American Indian tribes. Nothing is free; everything comes with a price.Chavez has already demonstrated his strategic vision of redistributing power; the lengths at which he will go to ensure that vision is long-lived.The sad thing is that he will probably succeed where he failed before, especially with endorsements from people in high U.S. places (U.S. Secretary of Energy Bodman wishing “more companies did it” and people with famous names (Joseph P. Kennedy asking us to be fair and reasonable). Chavez is one of two clearly anti-U.S. members of the 13-member OPEC. The other is Iran.Do we think for a minute that endorsing a greater “Chavez voice” will not have an impact among oil ministers? Free heating oil to Americans allows him a stronger voice among OPEC leaders to determine the price of billion of gallons worldwide. Mr. Kennedy, I have thought about it, and I just say no!M.L. “BUTCH” WILSON, JR., MeridianBush continues to make decisions about our future
President Bush continues to affect our futures.1. The Pentagon stated several years ago that the global warming threat was as great as that of any terrorists. Despite its warning, the Bush administration and Congress over the last five years spend $3.5 trillion for “defense,” and only $37 billion for climate-related programs. That’s $100 for war for each dollar spent on global warming. Not included in the totals for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are the regular “supplementary” appropriations, any rebuilding, and extended costs for veterans’ care; some say these could easily reach $2 trillion. See “Wars Dwarf Warming in U.S. Budget.”2. After signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 into law, President Bush issued signing statements claiming the right to violate four sections, thereby removing some important reservations of Congress. The requirements he refused would leave the United States in Iraq permanently for control of its oil, stop intelligence agencies from releasing information requested by Congress, obstruct investigations of fraud and abuse by contractors, and, withhold protection for whistle-blowers who disclose wrongdoing in companies with government contracts. See “Bush’s Latest Signing Statement is Grounds for Impeachment.”LEWIS B. SMITH, BoisePRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONPoverty, global disease should be major issue
Referencing the two Associated Press Jan. 24 articles regarding the World Economic Forum where world leaders focused on world poverty, disease illiteracy and terrorism.As a voter and member of the poverty-fighting group ONE, I believe the fight against extreme poverty and global disease should be a major issue in the 2008 presidential election.Although global poverty is usually not part of election politics, ONE members are asking the candidates at campaign stops about their plans to fight poverty and save lives. Candidates are responding, some with policy speeches, others by incorporating global poverty into their national security platforms.We have gotten the major candidates to go on the record with their concrete plans to fight global poverty and disease if elected. Please view those plans and compare the candidates at www.onevote08.org/ontherecord.Hopelessness and permanent, devastating poverty breed radicalism. For the sake of the lives being lost and the security of Americans here at home, preventing global poverty and disease must be part of this year’s campaign and action by the next administration.MIKE REINECK, BoiseTAXESOwners pay high prices on overvalued homes
Don Hiatt’s Feb. 3 letter “Property owners: Keep pressure on.” Why aren’t we asking for a refund and reduction? Overvalued/assessed property brought in billions, now property isn’t worth as much but we’re still paying the taxes. Makes the banking scams of the 1980s and Enron look like a church picnic.Our self-proclaimed war president, all about an ownership society and our illustrious representatives may have pulled off the greatest caper of all time. Where did/do they have their money invested while promoting free trade, illegal immigration, war in Iraq, and now that America is spiraling out of economic control? Foreign interest buying up the subprime fiasco? Larry Craig using $210,000 from campaign contributions for personal legal fees?Bush made money on oil but was that just a bonus, like stock options? Will the stimulus buy us out of a recession or buy Bush time to get out of the White House like the buy-in? Texas hold ‘em up politics? $150 billion on top of $9 trillion? Can anyone seriously believe, in seven years Bush turned a surplus into recession with millions of working-class Americans losing their jobs and homes?SCOTT TISTHAMMER, BoiseExtend tax incentives to renewable energy industry
Extending the investment and production tax incentives for the renewable energy industry that will otherwise expire this year - and cause the industry to crash - is essential. They should be included in the current stimulus package.Regarding wind energy, the Idaho Department of Water Resources states, “The amount of available wind power far exceeds all of the developed hydro generation in the state. California has over 2,000 MW of installed capacity representing around $2 billion of total capital investments and serious power generation capacity. Idaho as of the summer of 2005 had just over 10 MW total developments.” Wind and geothermal are getting some minimal attention in the Idaho IRP.Regarding solar during peak needs:- June, July, August are the most productive solar months.- Daily afternoon and evening peak hours are the most productive solar hours.- Doesn’t need cooling water to operate in heat like nuclear and other thermal power generation.- Solar photovoltaic panels provide automatic shade for cooling (parking lots, rooftops, etc.).- Solar PV is almost completely environmentally benign (re: greenhouse gases, wasted heat, wastes, and non-mechanical to boot)(panels last 35-50 years). Idaho desperately needs tax incentives for all renewables.MARK HANAWALT, BoiseArticle on free tax filing was not totally accurate
The tax time article by Eileen Putman was good reading. I do think the idea of free filing through the IRS site was not totally accurate. My daughter, using my computer, went to the Turbo Tax site on the IRS web search results. A single mother ended up being charged near $90 for her filing. I later went to that same site and a few others and the key is “Federal Return and e-file” free. Do a state filing, they charge you, e-file a state and they charge you more. I think the deceptive wording at some of these sites is a very poor representation of corporate help offered to a few people trying to file and do the right thing. TurboTax will make a nice profit from unsuspecting filers because I could have bought the same service for $40/$50 on a disc. You would do a good service if you made this information clearer for the public.HARRY STEVENS, Meridian

NATIONAL POLITICS Chavez wants to improve United States image
Having failed his bold but scary attempt to make himself president-for-life in Venezuela, President Chavez now seeks to guarantee his legacy and his voice in world affairs by offering, via CITGO, 132 million gallons of free heating oil to our poor and American Indian tribes. Nothing is free; everything comes with a price.Chavez has already demonstrated his strategic vision of redistributing power; the lengths at which he will go to ensure that vision is long-lived.The sad thing is that he will probably succeed where he failed before, especially with endorsements from people in high U.S. places (U.S. Secretary of Energy Bodman wishing “more companies did it” and people with famous names (Joseph P. Kennedy asking us to be fair and reasonable). Chavez is one of two clearly anti-U.S. members of the 13-member OPEC. The other is Iran.Do we think for a minute that endorsing a greater “Chavez voice” will not have an impact among oil ministers? Free heating oil to Americans allows him a stronger voice among OPEC leaders to determine the price of billion of gallons worldwide. Mr. Kennedy, I have thought about it, and I just say no!M.L. “BUTCH” WILSON, JR., MeridianBush continues to make decisions about our future
President Bush continues to affect our futures.1. The Pentagon stated several years ago that the global warming threat was as great as that of any terrorists. Despite its warning, the Bush administration and Congress over the last five years spend $3.5 trillion for “defense,” and only $37 billion for climate-related programs. That’s $100 for war for each dollar spent on global warming. Not included in the totals for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are the regular “supplementary” appropriations, any rebuilding, and extended costs for veterans’ care; some say these could easily reach $2 trillion. See “Wars Dwarf Warming in U.S. Budget.”2. After signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 into law, President Bush issued signing statements claiming the right to violate four sections, thereby removing some important reservations of Congress. The requirements he refused would leave the United States in Iraq permanently for control of its oil, stop intelligence agencies from releasing information requested by Congress, obstruct investigations of fraud and abuse by contractors, and, withhold protection for whistle-blowers who disclose wrongdoing in companies with government contracts. See “Bush’s Latest Signing Statement is Grounds for Impeachment.”LEWIS B. SMITH, BoisePRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONPoverty, global disease should be major issue
Referencing the two Associated Press Jan. 24 articles regarding the World Economic Forum where world leaders focused on world poverty, disease illiteracy and terrorism.As a voter and member of the poverty-fighting group ONE, I believe the fight against extreme poverty and global disease should be a major issue in the 2008 presidential election.Although global poverty is usually not part of election politics, ONE members are asking the candidates at campaign stops about their plans to fight poverty and save lives. Candidates are responding, some with policy speeches, others by incorporating global poverty into their national security platforms.We have gotten the major candidates to go on the record with their concrete plans to fight global poverty and disease if elected. Please view those plans and compare the candidates at www.onevote08.org/ontherecord.Hopelessness and permanent, devastating poverty breed radicalism. For the sake of the lives being lost and the security of Americans here at home, preventing global poverty and disease must be part of this year’s campaign and action by the next administration.MIKE REINECK, BoiseTAXESOwners pay high prices on overvalued homes
Don Hiatt’s Feb. 3 letter “Property owners: Keep pressure on.” Why aren’t we asking for a refund and reduction? Overvalued/assessed property brought in billions, now property isn’t worth as much but we’re still paying the taxes. Makes the banking scams of the 1980s and Enron look like a church picnic.Our self-proclaimed war president, all about an ownership society and our illustrious representatives may have pulled off the greatest caper of all time. Where did/do they have their money invested while promoting free trade, illegal immigration, war in Iraq, and now that America is spiraling out of economic control? Foreign interest buying up the subprime fiasco? Larry Craig using $210,000 from campaign contributions for personal legal fees?Bush made money on oil but was that just a bonus, like stock options? Will the stimulus buy us out of a recession or buy Bush time to get out of the White House like the buy-in? Texas hold ‘em up politics? $150 billion on top of $9 trillion? Can anyone seriously believe, in seven years Bush turned a surplus into recession with millions of working-class Americans losing their jobs and homes?SCOTT TISTHAMMER, BoiseExtend tax incentives to renewable energy industry
Extending the investment and production tax incentives for the renewable energy industry that will otherwise expire this year - and cause the industry to crash - is essential. They should be included in the current stimulus package.Regarding wind energy, the Idaho Department of Water Resources states, “The amount of available wind power far exceeds all of the developed hydro generation in the state. California has over 2,000 MW of installed capacity representing around $2 billion of total capital investments and serious power generation capacity. Idaho as of the summer of 2005 had just over 10 MW total developments.” Wind and geothermal are getting some minimal attention in the Idaho IRP.Regarding solar during peak needs:- June, July, August are the most productive solar months.- Daily afternoon and evening peak hours are the most productive solar hours.- Doesn’t need cooling water to operate in heat like nuclear and other thermal power generation.- Solar photovoltaic panels provide automatic shade for cooling (parking lots, rooftops, etc.).- Solar PV is almost completely environmentally benign (re: greenhouse gases, wasted heat, wastes, and non-mechanical to boot)(panels last 35-50 years). Idaho desperately needs tax incentives for all renewables.MARK HANAWALT, BoiseArticle on free tax filing was not totally accurate
The tax time article by Eileen Putman was good reading. I do think the idea of free filing through the IRS site was not totally accurate. My daughter, using my computer, went to the Turbo Tax site on the IRS web search results. A single mother ended up being charged near $90 for her filing. I later went to that same site and a few others and the key is “Federal Return and e-file” free. Do a state filing, they charge you, e-file a state and they charge you more. I think the deceptive wording at some of these sites is a very poor representation of corporate help offered to a few people trying to file and do the right thing. TurboTax will make a nice profit from unsuspecting filers because I could have bought the same service for $40/$50 on a disc. You would do a good service if you made this information clearer for the public.HARRY STEVENS, Meridian