| Climate bill pitched as national security issue

Climate-bill-pitched-as-national-security-issue WASHINGTON - An island in the Indian Ocean, vital to the U.S. military, disappears as the sea level rises. Rivers critical to India and Pakistan shrink, increasing military tensions in South Asia. Drought, famine and disease forces population shifts and political turmoil in the Middle East.

U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, viewing these and other potential impacts of global warming, have concluded if they materialize it would become ever more likely global alliances will shift, the need to respond to massive relief efforts will increase and American forces will become entangled in more regional military conflicts.

It is a bleak picture of national security that backers of a climate bill in Congress hope will draw in reluctant Republicans who have denounced the bill as an energy tax and jobs killer because it would shift the country away from fossil fuels by limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial facilities.

At the current increasing rate of global carbon dioxide pollution, average world temperatures at the end of this century will likely be about 7 degrees higher than at the end of the 20th century, and seas would be expected to rise by as much as 2 feet, according to a consensus of scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The security implications of global warming were center stage Wednesday at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, one of a series of sessions in advance of voting on the climate bill, possibly as early as next week.

Fragile governments could fail
Our economic, energy and climate change challenges are all inextricably linked, retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn told the committee. If we dont address these challenges in a bold way and timely way, fragile governments have great potential to become failed states ....a virile breathing ground for extremism.

The U.S. military will be called to respond to these threats, added McGinn, a member of the CNA Military Advisory Board, an influential think tank on military and security issues.

The security implications of climate change have been an issue of growing concern in the defense and intelligence communities.

Dennis Blair, the Obama administrations national intelligence director, has told Congress that global warming will have broad security implications over the next two decades. Also, the Central Intelligence Agency has created a new group of experts to study the security fallout of increased droughts, population shifts, sea level rise and other likely impacts of severe climate change, and the Pentagon has embarked on a detailed study on the militarys vulnerabilities from a warmer world.

U.S. vulnerabilities to climate change are linked to the fate of other nations, says Kathleen Hicks, a deputy undersecretary for defense. She told the Senate panel that senior defense officials believe climate change will make U.S. security challenges more difficult and complex.

While the debate over climate legislation has been sharply split along partisan lines, the alarm over impacts on national security has come from both Democrats and Republicans in the defense and intelligence communities.

Bipartisan report
A recent report by the American Security Project, an advisory group of high-powered Republicans and Democrats, called global warming not simply about saving polar bears or preserving beautiful mountain glaciers ... a threat to our security. The group has on its board Republicans such as former Sen. Warren Rudman as well as Democrats including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chief author of the Senate climate bill.

Across the globe there exist conflicts and security challenges including ethnic conflicts and emerging radicalism and often these are also the parts of the world where we will see the most severe consequences from climate change, Bernard Finel, a co-author of the American Security Project report, said in an interview. The intelligence community, CIA, commanders, theyre all looking at these issues.

Former Republican Sen. John Warner, a longtime chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a close ally of the military, has been touring the country to talk about climate change and national security.

We are talking about energy insecurity, water and food shortages, and climate-driven social instability, says Warner. We ignore these threats at the peril of our national security and at great risk to those in uniform.

Among the flash points:

Himalayan glaciers are likely to recede, producing fresh water shortages in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of China.Receding Arctic ice could trigger a territorial conflict involving Russia, the United States, Canada and others.Sea level rise in Bangladesh, and drought in other parts of the world could unleash a flood of cross-border climate refugees and violence.The Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, an atoll only a few feet above sea level, likely would disappear, taking away a critical U.S. military staging area.

Still these concerns are not unanimous.

At Wednesdays hearing, retired Army Major General Robert Scales, who said he had deep reservations about the science of climate change, worried that if fossil fuels were curtailed it would reduce the availability of diesel and jet fuel that might reduce our ability to go to war.

On the prospects of global political and military instability from climate change, Scales said, such unlikely events would cause enormous suffering and social dislocation. But the history record strongly suggests that such devastating humanitarian disasters rarely if ever result in large-scale wars.

- | Climate bill pitched as national security issue |

| IFC Films nabs rights to Cairo Time

IFC-Films-nabs-rights-to-"Cairo-Time"

LOS ANGELES –
IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ruba Nadda's "Cairo Time," starring Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig.

The romantic drama follows the love affair between an American tourist in Cairo, played by Clarkson, who becomes involved with an Egyptian man who is a friend of her husband's.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was awarded the best Canadian feature prize.

IFC Films will release "Cairo" in 2010 via its IFC in Theaters platform, which offers movies on demand the same day they premiere in theaters.

IFC acquired the film from E1 Entertainment International, the film's sales agent and U.S. and international rights holder.

- | IFC Films nabs rights to Cairo Time |

| Kerry becomes all-around adviser to Obama

Kerry-becomes-all-around-adviser-to-Obama

WASHINGTON – Hes not president, a Cabinet member or ambassador, but Sen. John Kerry has ascended to the unofficial role of President Barack Obamas global adviser on key issues that could reshape the nations image around the world.

Mediating Afghanistans presidential election vaulted Kerry from the already prominent chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee into the most exclusive circle around a new president who is juggling but has not resolved a variety of domestic and foreign policy matters. Beyond policy, Kerry knows how Washington works.

Kerry and Obama also share a political pedigree. Both were mentored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died in August.

Obviously, Sen. Kerry is somebody who has a broad range of experience and an in-depth knowledge of issues, ranging form energy and climate change to health care to foreign policy, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. I think its that experience and insight that certainly greatly values.

That cannot be overstated. Obama made his debut on the national stage at the 2004 presidential convention at which Democrats nominated Kerry to challenge George W. Bushs bid for a second term. Obamas speech electrified the party and the convention. It was the first time many Americans had heard of the young Illinois state senator.

Im here because of you, Obama wrote Kerry on the January day he was sworn in as the nations first black president. The note is framed and hangs on Kerrys Senate office wall.

And now, Obama is leaning on Kerry to help shape his foreign policy. The two men met at the White House on Wednesday just hours after Kerry returned from Afghanistan, where he played a crucial role in persuading President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff vote after a fraud-plagued presidential election.

I really tried to be the utility, you know, hitter or fielder at the time, Kerry, his voice hoarse and hip sore after an overnight flight home, said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in his Senate office.

The meetings with Karzai, he said, were intensely emotional and played out over a lot of days, a lot of evenings, a lot of meals, a lot of tea.

Karzai, Kerry said, felt deeply that he had won the election and that he was being insulted for trying to have a democratic process. Kerry could relate.

Do I understand the day after an election where you think youve won, or you have votes that werent counted or something? Been there, done that, Kerry said. He talked to Karzai about his own loss to George W. Bush in 2004 and about the 2000 election, in which the Supreme Court called the contested election for Bush.

It helped him see that ... every countrys gone through its difficult races, Kerry said.

Kerrys plane touched down at home around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. By lunchtime, he was advising Obama at the White House. Kerry says he advised the president to know the outcome of the Afghan elections before sending more troops there.

I mean, whos your defense minister? Kerry said. Do you have a good defense minister whos going to help coordinate the Afghan forces with your troops or do you have a political appointee who doesnt know anything about what hes doing? These things matter.

Kerry brushed off a questions about how it felt to be the de facto secretary of state, saying he and the woman who holds that position worked together as a team the whole time. Hillary Rodham Clinton talked to Karzai by phone while Kerry spent face time with him.

Still, observers said, Kerrys role as a presidential adviser on so many major domestic and foreign policy issues is unusual. Earlier this year, for example, Kerry helped reopen talks with Syria in a meeting in Damascus for President Basher Assad. Hell lead a delegation to Copenhagen in December for climate talks and sponsored the Senate bill to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. Then theres his hefty role on Obamas top legislative priority — rewriting the nations health care policy.

David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University, said traditionally the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee stays at home and goes quietly on fact-finding missions.

Its extremely rare that any president calls on an individual outside the executive branch to do as much representative work and diplomacy as Sen. Kerry, said Gergen, who served as an adviser to four presidents.

If Clinton leaves her position during the Obama administration, Gergen added, Kerry would be on everyones short list and probably right at the top of it as a potential successor.

So would Kerry be interested if Clinton leaves the post while Obama is still in office? Fatigue and three rounds of questions did not knock Kerry off his answer, three times, that hes very happy as a committee chairman in a Democratic-run Congress under a Democratic president that I worked very hard to help get into office.

If he ever had any doubts about his Senate role, an old mentor may have set them aside. Aboard the Mya, Kennedys sailboat, in August 2008, the stricken older senator noted that Kerry stands at the same point in his career as Kennedy, when he bowed out of the 1980 presidential race and returned to the Senate.

According to a Senate official with knowledge of the conversation, Kennedy told Kerry that he has decades of Senate service ahead of him if he wants it, and that without presidential ambition, no one can question Kerrys motives.

Still, Kerry has his hands in so many international issues that its easy for some to forget that hes not part of the Obama administration.

Earlier Wednesday, Gibbs slipped during an off-camera briefing and called Kerry, Secretary Kerry. Gergen did the same thing during a telephone interview.

Im famous for making one or two slips in my public life, Kerry said with a weary smile. So I wouldnt take that too seriously.

___

Associated Press writer Dina Cappiello contributed to this report.

- | Kerry becomes all-around adviser to Obama |

| The Eagle and the Bear

The-Eagle-and-the-Bear

Read Gary Hart's other articles on HuffingtonPost.com

A post-Cold War mystery prevails.  Why, almost twenty years after the end of the Cold War, are there still so many members of the U.S. foreign policy community who seem instinctively to dislike the Russians?

Reasons can be found: Russia is not yet a democratic society; it is far from having a genuine free press; political dissent is discouraged; power and wealth are concentrated; too many Russians lean toward authoritarianism; and so forth.

All these are plausible arguments, except they overlook one thing: there are a number of areas where less antagonistic relations with Russia would help the U.S.  These include: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power; containing the threat posed by North Korea; preventing al Qaeda from making inroads into Muslim republics on Russia’s southern border; controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; continuing to help us resupply our forces in Afghanistan; and a wide variety of other common interests.

Instead, we periodically find a way to poke the Bear in the eye.  We quickly took the side of the Georgians in their conflict with Russia, though later facts demonstrated Georgian provocation.  We continue to consider placing missile defenses near the Russian border.  Until recently we pursued NATO membership for the Ukraine and Georgia, even though a majority of Ukrainians oppose it and few Europeans want to go to war with Russia on behalf of the Georgians.  And two decades after the end of the Cold War we still maintain trade restrictions against the Russians for no good reason.

Following the adage that we don’t have permanent friends, we have permanent interests, we have many more common interests with the Russians than we have matters in opposition.  We do not have to compromise our principles in order to pursue those common interests.  Nothing requires us to soften criticisms for undemocratic behavior.  Nothing requires us to lower our standards.

It is to be hoped that the Obama administration will rethink the harder line taken by the Bush-Cheney administration, and the president has indicated his intention of doing so.  The first step is a new nuclear arms agreement, presently being negotiated, to be completed by December.

Our greatest common interest with the Russians is to get rid of as many nuclear weapons as possible between us and lead the world in eliminating nuclear arsenals altogether.

Posted from Senator Hart's new blog at Matters of Principle.

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- | The Eagle and the Bear |

| Cookbook captures Iraqi culinary heritage

Cookbook-captures-Iraqi-culinary-heritage Lamees Ibrahim decided to write The Iraqi Cookbook in 2004 after a trip to her homeland as it descended into bloodshed.

It promotes Iraq as a country with a rich history and culture rather than a place of bombing and suicide attacks, said Ibrahim, who embarked on the project the year after Saddam Hussein was toppled by U.S.-led forces.

We have civilization and history and I wanted to show this, said Ibrahim, who was born in Baghdad and has lived in London since the 1970s. Her collection of more than 200 recipes was published in April.

The book includes recipes for Iraqs best known dishes such as masgouf, a type of fish barbecued on wooden sticks, and qoozi, a whole stuffed lamb served on a bed of rice. There are also dishes and salads found elsewhere in the Middle East.

A doctor of medicine, Ibrahim learnt her cooking skills while growing up in Iraq. Supplemented by recipes from friends, the draft of the book initially grew to well over 200 recipes, she told Reuters during a visit to Beirut.

It got too big, so we had to take some out.

- | Cookbook captures Iraqi culinary heritage |

| China US Europe clash at climate talks

China,-U.S.,-Europe-clash-at-climate-talks BANGKOK - Chinas top climate envoy insisted Wednesday that it is unfair to expect all countries to play a role in combating global warming, leading to a rare public spat with delegates from the U.S. and Europe.

The unexpected exchange at a news conference at the U.N. climate talks in Bangkok laid bare what has been clear in at the negotiating tables for days — that a long-running divide between rich and poor countries shows no sign of abating despite promises by some major developing countries to cut their emissions of the gases responsible for climate change.

That poses a problem as negotiators work feverishly to craft a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. World leaders are hoping to forge a new deal in December in Copenhagen.

Speaking at a joint news conference, the chief U.S. negotiator insisted that industrialized countries alone cant reduce emissions enough to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

If the United States joined with other countries in the developed world without other major economies, we dont solve the problem, Jonathan Pershing said.

That led Chinas Yu Qingtai to point out that developed countries are responsible for centuries of pollution and that Chinas per capita emissions are only a third of those in rich countries — even though it now is the worlds top polluter.

Yu then uttered a line that poor countries have been using at climate talks for years — that they are the victims of climate change and that rich countries are largely responsible for the problem.

In all fairness, we cannot sit here today and talk about everybody making an effort, he said.

European rebuttal
That brought a sharp rebuke from Karl Falkenberg, the European Commissions director general of the environment, who said nothing would be gained by focusing on per capita emissions.

We know that consequences of climate change are seen more dramatically as of now in the developing world so continuing to argue almost a human right to pollution as I heard from my Chinese colleague is not the way we need to go about it, Falkenberg said.

He pointed out that every country is a polluter and that the atmosphere does not really care where these emissions are coming from.

Most countries have agreed that any new pact should include provisions to maintain temperature increases of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit below pre-industrial levels of about 150 years ago — the threshold at which most scientists say serious climate change will ensue.

That would require emissions cuts from industrial countries of 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, far above the 15 to 23 percent cuts rich countries have offered so far.

Even without an agreement, countries including China, India, Brazil and Indonesia have rolled out plans to take action on a national level.

But in Bangkok, these and other nations have drawn the line at committing those actions to a binding agreement due to the fact that rich nations, especially the United States, have not committed to economy-wide targets and none have offered up the hundred of billions of dollars that will be needed to help poor nations adapt to climate change and transition to a low carbon economy.

Their frustrations have boiled over several times in Bangkok, especially when the talk has turned to what a post-Kyoto agreement would look like. Late Tuesday, members of the Group of 77 developing nations and China walked out of a meeting over Kyoto, delegates said.

Most poor countries want to keep the framework of the Kyoto pact, which commits 37 wealthy nations to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 but doesnt require any binding commitments from developing countries.

Former President George W. Bush rejected that pact, contending that it was unfair not to require developing countries to curb emissions. The United States is the only major industrialized country that did not ratify the pact.

Australia, the United States and Japan have offered up a range of proposals in Bangkok on a new framework that takes aspects of Kyoto and broadens it to include major developing nations.

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| Health Care reform bill could cost Tenn $735M

Health-Care-reform-bill-could-cost-Tenn.-$735M

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Tuesday a health care reform proposal in the U.S. Senate could cost the state more than $730 million.

Bredesen spoke to reporters during a teleconference from New York where he met with all three national credit ratings agencies about the states bonding rate.

However, the governor ended up discussing the health care issue when asked how the proposed legislation would affect Tennessee.

The $900-billion, 10-year measure seeks to expand health insurance coverage, impose new taxes and fees, and make major changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

Bredesen estimated the proposal would cost the state about $735 million over roughly five years, with a range of about $570 million at the low end to $1.2 billion at the upper end.

However, he said those figures could soon change.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., had hoped for a final vote by his panel on Tuesday, but a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office isnt ready yet. Committee aides said Wednesday would be the earliest finance members can vote.

It is devilishly hard to put numbers on it, Bredesen said. Were all chasing a moving target.

In the case of the states bond rating, the governor seemed a little more certain.

He said the agencies were impressed with the multiyear budgeting plan the state proposed to handle stimulus money. They were also pleased with the states selling of bonds for infrastructure improvements at the new Volkswagen and Hemlock Semiconductor plants being built in Chattanooga and Clarksville, and to complete building projects on college campuses and bridges.

Currently, Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poors and Moodys Investors Service rate Tennessee at one notch below their top-tier bond rating.

Bredesen said he asked for the highest bond rating.

I say on the whole, Tennessee is riding pretty good with them right now, said the governor, adding that he hopes to get a rating next month. Weve managed our way through this downturn. Im hoping for a good result.

- | Health Care reform bill could cost Tenn $735M |

| Live high at the best mountain hotels

Live-high-at-the-best-mountain-hotels While you’ve probably had your fill of hotel ads and Web sites that describe their views as “breathtaking,” we’ve assembled a collection of hostelries that might literally take your breath away — because they are all located at high altitudes or in the shadows of some of the world’s greatest mountain ranges, where the air is thin.

Many mountain hotels began as outposts for climbers, skiers and other adventure travelers, and still feature rigorous nearby activities, great views, fresh air and a sense of remoteness that makes them attractive. Others were built with luxurious escape in mind — especially for the wealthy, who sought to get out of crowded cities or away from oppressive summer heat. And some high hotels that started as rugged outposts a century or more ago may now offer spa treatments, terrific dining, and linen thread counts nearly as high as their elevations.

After summiting a peak or schussing down a famous couloir, outdoorsmen in New Hampshire have long returned to the comforts of the uber-posh Mt. Washington Hotel. Hal Phillips, a travel and media consultant from New Gloucester, Maine, says, “It’s the prototypical New England summer hotel, an enormous, sprawling white monolith with a red roof in the shadow of the tallest peak on the east coast — an incredible setting.

“It’s a mecca for hikers, leaf peepers, skiers, and golfers — the Donald Ross design here was just restored. It’s the kind of place where, back in the day, you’d bring a trunk and stay for a month. Today it’s a four-season affair with a new spa, and the rooms are big and quite classy. The porch doesn’t quit; it wraps all the way around the hotel.”

In addition to providing access to outdoor adventures, a number of the great mountain hotels are also located close to remote cultural sites that can’t be visited easily from cities. To maximize a journey to Peru’s Machu Picchu, a World Heritage Site that encompasses extensive ruins from the Incan civilization, guests can practically live in the ancient city at the adjacent Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge.

Bobby McGovern, founder of the luxury travel company Reservations Master says, “As the only hotel adjacent to the Lost City of the Incas, staying here makes a visit to the ruins that much more special — as does the fact that there are only 31 rooms and suites. There’s no better way to begin or end your day at Machu Picchu than by relaxing in the garden surrounded by mountains and local flowers. And a sunset here is one you’ll never forget.”

While all mountain hotels boast great settings — they’re in the mountains, after all — some boast the additional benefit of still being close to a cool town. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel looks out over the Canadian Rockies and offers wilderness hiking, biking, skiing and other sports, but it’s also a short stroll from one of the best mountain towns in the world.

Banff itself is home to a collection of fine restaurants, artsy boutiques and galleries, independent coffee shops, wine bars and more. Hal Phillips says, “The scale and look of the Banff Springs Hotel is truly castle-like. The hotel sits on the Bow River where it cuts through the Canadian Rockies. But it’s also on the edge of a really kicking arts and ski town.”

Instead of offering a destination for a particular activity or adventure, Vietnam’s Dalat Palace was erected in the high, cool hill country as an outpost where French colonials could escape from the moist heat and dense population of Saigon. More than 60 years later, it remains one of the finest high hotels in the world. Hal Phillips, who founded Vietnam-based Mandarin Media and created the country’s Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, says Dalat ranks highly for several reasons.

“It’s not just at high altitude. It’s a place whose colonial grandeur has been frozen in amber,” Phillips says. “It’s been completely restored... down to every claw-foot tub, vintage phone, and Baldaquin-draped bed. You go up through a pass onto this mountain plateau and it’s like driving to Grenoble. It’s the most comfortable place to be in Vietnam.”

The hotel also features a golf course that some call the best in the country, and is surrounded by hills dotted with villas, many of which are being restored in the French Gilded Age architectural styles in which they were built.

Equally as posh as Dalat Palace, and exhibiting many of the other requisite attractions of the best high hotels is Austria’s Arlberg Hospiz Hotel, which began hosting guests in the 14th century.

Charlie Leocha, author of Leocha’s “Ski Snowboard Europe,” and founder of www.skisnowboardeurope.com, says, “The Arlberg Hospiz Hotel is set beneath the towering Valluga peak, surrounded by flower-strewn pastures in summer and snowfields in the winter. It’s considered one of the most luxurious in Austria, and houses one of the country’s top spas, three restaurants that rank among the top mountain restaurants, and one of the best Bordeaux wine cellars outside of France.”

Just remember that living the high life in these great mountain hotels requires you to understand the differences from hotels at sea level. Bobby McGovern offers a few tips for staying at altitude.

“Drinking plenty of water is important,” McGovern advises. “Also, you’re closer to the sun and will get sunburned much faster, so sunblock and a good sun hat are a must. The most important thing is don’t over-exert until you’re acclimated. You’ll find yourself short of breath just by doing something as simple as walking up a flight of stairs. You’ll also be tired for a couple of days and want to take naps. Do everything at a leisurely pace and you’ll be fine.”

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| Teens stab jail guards in escape attempt

Teens-stab-jail-guards-in-escape-attempt VERNON, Ind. - Three teenage inmates in a southern Indiana jail attacked three guards and briefly held them hostage early Tuesday during an escape attempt that left two guards hospitalized with stab wounds, authorities said.

The inmates at the Jennings County Jail managed to stab the guards — one of them four times — around 12:30 a.m. before police officers shocked the inmates with stun guns and took them into custody, according to the Jennings County Sheriffs Department.

Guard Vickie Day was taken to a local hospital for treatment, while guard Walter Peace was flown to an Indianapolis hospital with a stab wound to the head. Guard Shawn McDaniel was treated at a local hospital and released. The guards conditions were not immediately available.

The escape attempt began when the inmates managed to take a jail officer hostage and then attacked two guards in the area. The inmates sprayed the guards with pepper spray they got from a storage cabinet, authorities said. They took the guards hostage during a struggle and moved into a hallway but were stopped from going any further when they reached locked hallway doors. Officers from the Sheriffs Department, the North Vernon Police Department and the Indiana State Police then confronted the inmates, used their stun guns on them and freed the guards.

Two of the inmates, 17-year-old Ryan T. Renfroe and 19-year-old Roger Lee Bushhorn, face preliminary charges of kidnapping, criminal confinement, attempted escape with a deadly weapon and attempted escape with serious bodily injury. The third, 17-year-old James A. Smith, faces similar charges along with a felony charge of attempted murder, according to the Sheriffs Department.

Renfroe, of Columbus, faces murder charges in the shooting deaths last month of a 69-year-old man and his 65-year-old wife. The Jennings County prosecutors office would not immediately say why Smith and Bushhorn were in the Jennings County Jail.

All three inmates were being held in other facilities while police investigate the escape attempt.

- | Teens stab jail guards in escape attempt |