Environmental campaigners, however, played down the agreement, saying it does not fundamentally alter the Bush administration’s refusal to accept binding targets for reducing emissions.
…
Specifically, Mrs. Merkel was pressing the Group of 8 to adopt the plan to cut emissions in half by 2050 and to limit the rise in global temperature to two degrees Celsius — terms the president’s chief environmental adviser, James L. Connaughton, said Wednesday the United States was not prepared to accept.

Instead, he said, the final communiqué approved by the Group of 8 nations — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan — would probably reflect a merging of Mrs. Merkel’s plan with a proposal by Mr. Bush. In a major speech on climate change last week, the president spelled out his plan to convene major polluting nations, including China and India, in a series of meetings aimed at setting long-term goals by the end of 2008.

this complaining is just stupid. environmentalists are getting what they have wanted.

Putin’s proposal to drop objections if the system were set up in Azerbaijan was a welcome surprise, as Moscow’s rhetoric condemning the shield and the relationship between Russia and the United States were beginning to be reminiscent of the Cold War era…

Putin said he had suggested using an existing radar station in neighboring Azerbaijan, which covers all of Europe.

“The existing agreement makes it possible for us to do this. And the president of Azerbaijan stressed he would be glad to contribute to world security and stability,” Putin said. He said he met with the Azerbaijan president on Wednesday.

We might as well cancel the missile defense program for Europe if it is going to be under Russian control. What a waste of money it would be to build a system that will be turned off the first time Putin wants to put some pressure on the Europeans in the middle of a crisis.

Technorati Tags: Putin, Bush, missile defense

TMZ has learned that Paris Hilton has not only had her sentence cut short, she is already out of jail!

Unimpeachable sources tell TMZ the deal was sealed yesterday, and that Hilton made her exit early early this morning.

She was originally sentenced to 45 days in jail, but that was reduced to 23. She served a total of three days — the normal stay for a violation of this kind.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department will hold a news conference in an hour to discuss what went down.

Looks to me like the bureaucracy is doing what it normally does, except with absolutely no regard for common sense or public perception. She should stay in jail for the full 45 days.

Technorati Tags: Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton freed, LA County Jail