| KIDS CAN GO MARCHING ON
A BID by Lib-Dem councillors to delay a multi-million pound project which would transform the derelict Penilee pavilion into a state-of-the-art sports complex with training facilities for St Mirren and a football academy for young stars, has been given the red card. Plans for the £3.5m transformation include two top-class playing pitches, a separate training area and a revamp of the rundown pavilion. A new synthetic turf park will also be built entirely for community use and there will be facilities in the revamped pavilion that can be used by locals for fitness and dance classes. Some locals in Ralston, who use the grass to walk their dogs, have hit out saying they will have nowhere to take their pets for a poo. Others have complained they will have nowhere for a kickabout.
US Department’s Report on Respect for Human Rights in Bulgaria ...
A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Human rights observers reported uneven levels of cooperation from various national and local government officials during the year. In 2005 after a one-year delay and two failed attempts, the National Assembly appointed the country's first national ombudsman. By law the ombudsman receives and reviews complaints filed by individuals of rights or freedoms abridged by government institutions. The ombudsman can request information from state authorities, act as an intermediary in resolving disputes, make proposals for terminating existing practices, and refer information to the prosecution service. Since January the office received over 2,000 complaints on violations of citizens' rights and freedoms by the administration.
Green Sport: A Game Everyone Wins
Environmental responsibility, increasingly recognized as a central aspect of corporate social responsibility, is important not only for recreational sport firms, but for all sport organizations. Three primary motivations for sport firms to embrace environmental responsibility as a management competency are advanced. First, sound environmental stewardship is necessary to halt environmental degradation, maintain livable environments, and ensure the long-term economic health of the sport industry as a whole. Second, due to their unique relationships to their customers, sport organizations are positioned to become leaders in creating environmental awareness. Third, taking informed steps toward environmental responsibility can result in substantial economic benefits to sport organizations through more efficient resource usage and an enhanced image.
City, county discussed annexation, council says
Orangeburg County officials have met with their city of Orangeburg counterparts to discuss the city's recent annexation push that would require DPU customers in unincorporated areas who seek new water and sewer taps to sign a statement agreeing to join the city when it's ready to annex them.Otherwise, the city's Department of Public Utilities will not provide water or sewer services.“The administrator and I have met with the mayor and the city administrator and we discussed this issue," County Council Chairman Harry Wimberly said Monday. “But, as far as any type of conclusion on the issue, we have not drawn one yet."Wimberly was responding to questions raised during the public comments portion of the County Council meeting by Dr. Abe Salama.Salama asked whether City Council had consulted with the county before it proposed the ordinance and whether County Council had a position on the issue.The answer to Salama's first question, Wimberly said is, “no," County Council was not consulted.Urging the change in DPU policy to help Orangeburg reach its “natural boundaries," Mayor Paul Miller began a push in favor of annexation last year.
US is main culprit in running up an unpayable global ecological debt
Mankind is plundering the worlds resources at a pace that outstrips the planets to sustain life. The biggest culprit in this regard is the United States. With only 4.5 per cent of the worlds population, the US consumes more than 29 per cent of the worlds annual output of renewable resources making it the most wasteful society on earth.
If only another 12 per cent of the worlds population had the same level of consumption of renewable natural resources as the Americans, there would be nothing left for the other 83.5 per cent (100 per cent minus 16.5 per cent).
For years, the United States and US-controlled bodies like the World Bank (now headed by arch neo-con hawk Paul Wolfowitz) have been urging developing countries to adopt economic policies that promote sustainable development.
Balkan enlargement is EU birthday test
Fifty years ago European visionaries signed the Treaty of Rome setting the foundations for a modern day Europe. Today Europe has 27 members, almost 560 million citizens and it is the biggest market in the world. The economic indicators are convincing. EU average unemployment is down to 7 percent and its cumulative economic growth is at 3 percent. But in order to compete on the global market, Europe may have to further intensify economic reforms, liberalize its markets and complete the enlargement process. Without integrating the Western Balkans, Europe will struggle to manage its out-of area expansion and its global commitments as problems from the region will keep its focus on local issues. Macedonia is managing its transition well. We are shifting into high gear in order to be ready for EU membership by 2010.
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