Honolulu City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle will talk about crimes against business and how to prosecute them at Small Business Hawaii’s 27th Annual Conference this Wednesday, Jan. 8, which begins at 8 a.m.

Audience members concerned about the rise in property crime will be able to hear from and ask questions of both Carlisle and Mary Paulson, president of Security One, one of Hawaii’s most successful alarm companies. Paulson, who regularly testifies before the Honolulu City Council and other governmental bodies about the rise in crime, new legislation relating to crime and the alarm industry, will make her speech during the “Small Business Success Stories” portion of the conference, following Carlisle.

Two other small business owners, Bill Green of Kahala Shell and Wayne Samiere of Honolulu Fish Company, also will be a part of the success stories segment and share their challenges and triumphs as small business owners in Hawaii.

But the conference won’t be all business. Bob Watada of the Campaign Spending Commission will address the conferees on “What Campaign Reforms Are Needed in 2003,” which may include a discussion of the do’s and don’ts for businesses when it comes to making campaign donations. Following him in a discussion will be two panels of politicians, one with state legislators and the other with city council members, who will follow in a discussion of Hawaii’s future as they see it.

The conference, themed “Small Business 2003: Changing Hawaii’s Business Climate for a Better Future,” will end with a speech by Gov. Linda Lingle at lunch. Lingle will premiere her plan to help turn around the economy and help the business climate improve.

Small Business Hawaii President and Executive Director Sam Slom says the public is welcome to attend, however advance paid reservations are required because space is limited (reservations can be made by calling 396-1724 or faxing 396-1726). The cost is $40 for SBH members and their guests, $50 for non-members and special rates for groups of 10 and higher.

Slom says because of tough economic times in Hawaii and the drain this has put on the non-profit member organization, for the first time in the annual conference’s history there will be corporate sponsorships of the event. Gold Sponsors include Small Business Hawaii members Ed Medeiros of Aloha Flea Market and Heavy Metal Barbell Company, Gary Arizala and HawaiiReporter.com. The Systemcenter, Inc., owned by Joyce and Bill Edwards, the winners of the Small Business Hawaii Persons of the Year in 2001, will be the Silver Sponsors. Bronze Sponsors are J.S. Services Inc. and New England Financial. Friends of Small Business Hawaii, a fourth level of sponsorship, include Oils of Aloha, Charlie’s Taxi, Peterson Signs-A Division of Sun Industries and The Quorum.

For additional information, check out the SBH Web site at https://www.smallbusinesshawaii.com

Honolulu City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle will talk about crimes against business and how to prosecute them at Small Business Hawaii’s 27th Annual Conference this Wednesday, Jan. 8, which begins at 8 a.m. Audience members concerned about the rise in property crime will be able to hear from and ask questions of both Carlisle and Mary Paulson, president of Security One, one of Hawaii’s most successful alarm companies. Paulson, who regularly testifies before the Honolulu City Council and other governmental bodies about the rise in crime, new legislation relating to crime and the alarm industry, will make her speech during the “Small Business Success Stories” portion of the conference, following Carlisle. Two other small business owners, Bill Green of Kahala Shell and Wayne Samiere of Honolulu Fish Company, also will be a part of the success stories segment and share their challenges and triumphs as small business owners in Hawaii. But the conference won’t be all business. Bob Watada of the Campaign Spending Commission will address the conferees on “What Campaign Reforms Are Needed in 2003,” which may include a discussion of the do’s and don’ts for businesses when it comes to making campaign donations. Following him in a discussion will be two panels of politicians, one with state legislators and the other with city council members, who will follow in a discussion of Hawaii’s future as they see it. The conference, themed “Small Business 2003: Changing Hawaii’s Business Climate for a Better Future,” will end with a speech by Gov. Linda Lingle at lunch. Lingle will premiere her plan to help turn around the economy and help the business climate improve. Small Business Hawaii President and Executive Director Sam Slom says the public is welcome to attend, however advance paid reservations are required because space is limited (reservations can be made by calling 396-1724 or faxing 396-1726). The cost is $40 for SBH members and their guests, $50 for non-members and special rates for groups of 10 and higher. Slom says because of tough economic times in Hawaii and the drain this has put on the non-profit member organization, for the first time in the annual conference’s history there will be corporate sponsorships of the event. Gold Sponsors include Small Business Hawaii members Ed Medeiros of Aloha Flea Market and Heavy Metal Barbell Company, Gary Arizala and HawaiiReporter.com. The Systemcenter, Inc., owned by Joyce and Bill Edwards, the winners of the Small Business Hawaii Persons of the Year in 2001, will be the Silver Sponsors. Bronze Sponsors are J.S. Services Inc. and New England Financial. Friends of Small Business Hawaii, a fourth level of sponsorship, include Oils of Aloha, Charlie’s Taxi, Peterson Signs-A Division of Sun Industries and The Quorum. For additional information, check out the SBH Web site at https://www.smallbusinesshawaii.com

The following hearing notices, which are subject to change, were sorted and taken from the Hawaii State Capitol Web site.
Please check that site for updates and/or changes to the schedule at
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/hearing/hearing2.asp?press1=docs&button1=current Go there and click on the Hearing Date to view the Hearing Notice.

Hearings notices for both House and Senate measures in all committees:

Hearing

”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

1/7/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing ECD-SAT

1/7/03 2:00 PM None Informational Briefing HED

1/8/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/8/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing TMG

1/8/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/8/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing WAM-FIN

1/9/03 10:00 AM None Informational Briefing HMS HSH

1/9/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing SAT-ECD

1/13/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/13/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/14/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing WAM

1/14/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/14/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/16/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/16/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/17/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/17/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/20/03 9:00 AM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/21/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/21/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/22/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/22/03 1:30 PM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/23/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/23/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/24/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/24/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/27/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/27/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/28/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/28/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN

1/29/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

1/30/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM

“Suzanne Gelb Image”

”Left Out – Why Doesn’t My Mother Trust Me?”

Q: Dear Dr. Gelb:

I’m a 16-year-old girl and I get good grades and I try to please my parents, but my mother still won’t let me get rides in the car with friends that are older who have driver’s licenses. I feel like she doesn’t trust me.

Left Out

A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

Dear Left Out:

Oh, if it were only that simple. I can appreciate the growing pains that you appear to be describing, but I must say that I agree with your mother’s stand and concern for your safety. You appear to be quite a responsible young lady, which leads me to believe that most likely it is not you, my dear, whom your mother does not trust. Rather, it is those individuals whom you may choose to associate with that she is probably concerned about. In my opinion, more than two teenagers in a vehicle is tantamount to an accident looking for a place to happen. On the other hand, I am aware of some parents with responsible teenagers who take the approach that if the teenager is going to be transported by a friend who is licensed to drive and the parents know and trust that individual, then the parents are not likely to have a problem with their teenager riding to a destination in this manner. One day when you become a mother, if you choose to, you will most likely understand that your mother’s protective behavior is borne out of her love for you.

It is so unfortunate that there are so many young people of your age group who are members of gangs that roam the malls, back alleys and theaters, mutilating their bodies with multiple tattoos and body piercing, and who even consider promiscuity as a way of life. Hopefully they will wake up someday, but you see, your mother loves you enough to keep your eyes as well as her own, open for your safety. Keep in mind that when you turn 18, then your safety becomes your responsibility. What an awesome thought.

”Parent Talk – What Does My Mother Mean?”

Q: Dear Dr. Gelb:

I’m 10 years old and I don’t understand why my mother always says to my father, “You always see a cup half empty instead of half full.” I don’t understand what my mother means by that.

A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

Dear 10-Year-Old:

I will try to explain this to you. Some people see life as gloom and doom, and sometimes they think that life is not very fair. For the most part, such individuals constantly complain about how bad things are. This is how your mother appears to be describing your father. Such people are often referred to as Pessimists. Instead of my explaining that word to you, I would like you to look it up in a dictionary.

Your mother, on the other hand, appears to be someone who many people would probably identify as an Optimist. An optimist looks for the good in everything. I imagine, for example, that your mother could find a good bite in a rotten apple.

The phrase your mother is using is an old saying about the fact that an optimist tends to look at the positive side of things. Such a person tends to see a cup half full. A pessimist on the other hand, is likely to see the cup half empty, which is the gloomy or the negative, down side of life. Such a person tends to feel slighted or cheated because “the cup is half empty.”

I personally favor your mother’s attitude. I try to find the good in things and I’m always optimistic that even better things can happen. I hope that you can be more like your mother. This means, noticing and finding the positive aspects of life.

”’Suzanne J. Gelb, Ph.D., J.D. authors this daily column, Dr. Gelb Says, which answers questions about daily living and behavior issues. Dr. Gelb is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Honolulu. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Services. Dr. Gelb is also a published author of a book on Overcoming Addictions and a book on Relationships.”’

”’This column is intended for entertainment use only and is not intended for the purpose of psychological diagnosis, treatment or personalized advice. For more about the column’s purpose, see”’ “An Online Intro to Dr. Gelb Says”

”’Email your questions to mailto:DrGelbSays@hawaiireporter.com More information on Dr. Gelb’s services and related resources available at”’ https://www.DrGelbSays.com

Dick Rowland Image ‘Shoots (News, Views and Quotes)’ – Over 6,000 Americans die each year due to a shortage of human organs. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors. LifeSharers members agree to donate their organs and tissue when they die. Uniquely, they direct their donations first to their fellow members. Non-members can have a member’s organ if no member who is suitable match for them wants them. By creating a pool of organs available first to members, LifeSharers members create an incentive for non-members to become donors and join the network. This incentive, which will become more powerful as membership in LifeSharers expands, is the key to reducing the organ shortage and saving lives. Membership in LifeSharers is free. Anyone can join at https://lifesharers.com Parents can sign up their minor children after enrolling themselves. Questions? Call David J. Undis (615) 356-3918 or e-mail daveundis@lifesharers.com – DC Union Scandal. Escaping the eagle eyes of employees of our local daily print newspapers was the 11/25/02 raid by federal investigators on the homes and offices of the Washington, D.C. Teachers’ Union President, her assistant and the Union Treasurer, all of whom resigned. The raid was in search of items purchased with over $2,000,000 in union funds including $500,000 of custom made clothing, a $6,800 ice bucket and $25,000 to store 300+ pieces of winter clothing. It all started when an American Federation of Teachers (Parent Union) accountant discovered financial improprieties. By the way, the WTU’s fidelity bond only covers losses up to $100,000. Source: The Education Intelligence Agency https://www.eiaonline.com – From Reason Magazine October 2002 comes this item: Catherine Crier, host of Court TV’s engaging Catherine Crier Live, may be glamming it up now on the small screen, but she spent years in real courts without a makeup crew in sight. Before her TV career, Crier was a civil litigation attorney, an assistant district attorney, and eventually the youngest state judge ever elected in her native Texas. “We’ve lost sight of writing a law with a very specific purpose, determining whether it a accomplishes that goal, and enforcing it appropriately if it does. In the court system, selective enforcement occurs all the time. White collar criminals can hurt hundreds of thousands of people and they are rarely punished, while a garage burglar will get plenty of attention in our system. In criminal justice, certain laws have failed. Drug laws are the primary example. They haven’t diminished drug use, yet we continue to elevate punishment and spend money to accomplish an unachievable goal.” That sounds like good sense to us. How about you? Why don’t you print it out and send it to your favorite legislator with a note from you? – Hug a tree Do you want to hug a tree? Do you want your children to be able to enjoy nature, including trees? Look to John Mount, a forester, a lover of the environment and an employee of Southern California Edison. He has saved 20,000 acres of Edison owned California forest, made it self-sustaining, and enhanced the beauty and use of it for all. Read about it in The Bakersfield Californian 1/2/03 https://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/story/2384583p-2437767c.html It is a great story with lots of potential meaning for Hawaii where we only seem to hear or see government edicts as solutions, followed by no solution at all, followed by demands for more laws or rules etc., etc. – Hawaii’s own Cliff Slater’s last essay in the Honolulu Advertiser “Government cannot create jobs” was trumpeted throughout the world by the Reason Foundation https://www.reason.org Reason alert 12/27/02. ‘Roots (Food for Thought)’ Quoted in the Ethan Allen Letter November 2002 https://www.ethanellen.org From A Vermonter (Formerly) in London I find it interesting that the overwhelming majority of the people favoring a single payer health-care system have never lived under one. If a poll were taken of Americans who have first hand experience with government-run health care, the poll would show at a minimum 90/10 against. I lived in England for four years and experienced single payer health care first hand. Here’s what I saw: – Medicine on a Budget: Since the government allocates a fixed amount of money to the health care budget, when it’s gone, it’s gone. While I lived in London, hospitals regularly went on reduced schedules, doing only emergency activities, during the fourth quarter of the year. – Two-Tier Health Care: Two health-care systems exist in England. One is for those who can purchase private insurance and one is for those who rely solely on the National Health Service. Under NHS a hip replacement operation would have a six-month waiting list. Using the same doctor, a person covered by private insurance could have it done in a week. – Health Care by the Numbers: My wife has a history of cancer and went in for her “annual” pap smear. She was told in England those are done every 5 years for a woman her age. That way they catch 78 percent of the problem. My wife very articulately explained that she was in the other 22 percent, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The health care you receive is determined by government functionaries, not doctors. – The quality of the doctors goes down. The National Health Service doctors are not the brightest or the best. That distinction goes to the medical “consultants” and they choose to be addressed as “Mister” rather than “Doctor.” The majority of the patients in a “consultant” practice are those with private insurance. Name any other U.S. government program, which has improved service and contained cost. Why would any sane person want to put their health care in government hands?” – Barry Isaacs, Mendon, VT ‘Evergreen (Today’s Quote)’ “There is but one defensible social ideal, and that is a world in which every individual is free to work out the inner impulses of the Spirit, without aggression on his part or interference on the part of others. A state which accomplished this simple, primal duty, the protection of all its citizens, would accomplish something greater than has yet been historically recorded, and something which no state, preoccupied with illegitimate and paternalistic activities, is ever likely to accomplish.” – Hanford Henderson ”See Web site” https://www.grassrootinstitute.org ”for further information. Join its efforts at “Nurturing the rights and responsibilities of the individual in a civil society. …” or email or call Grassroot of Hawaii Institute President Richard O. Rowland at mailto:grassroot@hawaii.rr.com or (808) 487-4959.”

Suzanne Gelb Image ‘Left Out – Why Doesn’t My Mother Trust Me?’ Q: Dear Dr. Gelb: I’m a 16-year-old girl and I get good grades and I try to please my parents, but my mother still won’t let me get rides in the car with friends that are older who have driver’s licenses. I feel like she doesn’t trust me. Left Out A: Dr. Gelb says . . . Dear Left Out: Oh, if it were only that simple. I can appreciate the growing pains that you appear to be describing, but I must say that I agree with your mother’s stand and concern for your safety. You appear to be quite a responsible young lady, which leads me to believe that most likely it is not you, my dear, whom your mother does not trust. Rather, it is those individuals whom you may choose to associate with that she is probably concerned about. In my opinion, more than two teenagers in a vehicle is tantamount to an accident looking for a place to happen. On the other hand, I am aware of some parents with responsible teenagers who take the approach that if the teenager is going to be transported by a friend who is licensed to drive and the parents know and trust that individual, then the parents are not likely to have a problem with their teenager riding to a destination in this manner. One day when you become a mother, if you choose to, you will most likely understand that your mother’s protective behavior is borne out of her love for you. It is so unfortunate that there are so many young people of your age group who are members of gangs that roam the malls, back alleys and theaters, mutilating their bodies with multiple tattoos and body piercing, and who even consider promiscuity as a way of life. Hopefully they will wake up someday, but you see, your mother loves you enough to keep your eyes as well as her own, open for your safety. Keep in mind that when you turn 18, then your safety becomes your responsibility. What an awesome thought. ‘Parent Talk – What Does My Mother Mean?’ Q: Dear Dr. Gelb: I’m 10 years old and I don’t understand why my mother always says to my father, “You always see a cup half empty instead of half full.” I don’t understand what my mother means by that. A: Dr. Gelb says . . . Dear 10-Year-Old: I will try to explain this to you. Some people see life as gloom and doom, and sometimes they think that life is not very fair. For the most part, such individuals constantly complain about how bad things are. This is how your mother appears to be describing your father. Such people are often referred to as Pessimists. Instead of my explaining that word to you, I would like you to look it up in a dictionary. Your mother, on the other hand, appears to be someone who many people would probably identify as an Optimist. An optimist looks for the good in everything. I imagine, for example, that your mother could find a good bite in a rotten apple. The phrase your mother is using is an old saying about the fact that an optimist tends to look at the positive side of things. Such a person tends to see a cup half full. A pessimist on the other hand, is likely to see the cup half empty, which is the gloomy or the negative, down side of life. Such a person tends to feel slighted or cheated because “the cup is half empty.” I personally favor your mother’s attitude. I try to find the good in things and I’m always optimistic that even better things can happen. I hope that you can be more like your mother. This means, noticing and finding the positive aspects of life. ”Suzanne J. Gelb, Ph.D., J.D. authors this daily column, Dr. Gelb Says, which answers questions about daily living and behavior issues. Dr. Gelb is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Honolulu. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Services. Dr. Gelb is also a published author of a book on Overcoming Addictions and a book on Relationships.” ”This column is intended for entertainment use only and is not intended for the purpose of psychological diagnosis, treatment or personalized advice. For more about the column’s purpose, see” “An Online Intro to Dr. Gelb Says” ”Email your questions to mailto:DrGelbSays@hawaiireporter.com More information on Dr. Gelb’s services and related resources available at” https://www.DrGelbSays.com

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) — It may have seemed like a minor ripple in the media teacup, but the relaunch this week of the International Herald Tribune as a wholly owned product of The New York Times signals something profoundly interesting — beyond the enduring appeal of print in the Internet age — about the way the world is unfolding.

The Trib, as it is it known fondly to most of its 270,000 subscribers and regular buyers, has long been the world’s daily newspaper, owned jointly by The N.Y. Times and The Washington Post, and a godsend to Americans in Europe wanting to keep up with the baseball scores and op-ed pages back home. As a regular and devoted reader of the paper (and not just on my travels), the Trib has meant much more than that to me, even though the Internet reveals that a dismaying proportion of its stories were a day old, recycled from the previous day’s Times and Post.

Being dated was the Trib’s biggest weakness. It was not the fault of the editor, David Ignatius. The parent papers back in Washington, six hours behind the Trib’s publishing base in Paris, were not prepared to change the deadlines for their own reporters and news stories to accommodate the Trib’s printing schedule.

Given this constraint, the Trib did well, although not profitably, in a very tough market. More and more newspapers are trying to serve an extraordinary new market of Anglo-Americans abroad and English-speaking foreigners who want an Anglo-American take on the world.

The Wall Street Journal sells 186,000 of its European and Asian editions every day. The Financial Times sells 430,000 a day, just a third of them in Britain, and the rest in the United States and Europe, where it has become the daily bible of the European Union, the dominant newspaper in Brussels, the EU capital. Then there is USA Today, now published in 60 countries, and the combined circulation of over 100,000 in Europe for the British dailies The Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian.

Add this up, and the international market for daily newspapers in English is close to a million, and since most of them seem affluent and cosmopolitan, a highly desirable target market for advertisers. But financial viability has been elusive in this business, because of the competition. The Trib has been the only paper without a domestic profit base, like the FT’s sales in Britain or the deep, deep pockets of The Wall Street Journal.

The new Trib came about because, according to well-informed sources in the business, The N.Y. Times made the Post an offer it could not refuse. Either the Post sold its share in the Trib for $75 million, or the Times would launch its own rival for the juicy expat and English-speaking market. In short, The New York Times (despite already making an annual $15 million profit on its Internet venture) saw an opportunity.

The reborn Trib still boasts some Post articles in its business section, and still runs some N.Y. Times pieces a day late. It also continues to run some of the Trib’s own fine Europe-based reporters like Barry James. But N.Y. Times Editor Howell Raines pledges that, “Our journalistic clock will change. We will be a more 24-hour news-gathering organization. We are already moving in that direction with the Web site.” The new Trib editors will be connected by phone to the NYT’s editorial conferences, and beefed-up rewrite desks in New York and at the Times’ Washington bureau will intensify the Times’ influence.

The Times clearly has its sights on that million-strong Anglophone market. Throw in the 750,000 readers of Newsweek’s international editions, a similar number for Time magazine (140,000 for the European edition alone), and The Economist’s 450,000 subscribers outside the United States, and the overall market looks potentially closer to 2 million. Then think about the global TV reach of CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp., and of Voice of America and the BBC World Service on radio. Fewer than 400 million people learn English as their mother tongue, but another 400 million are fluent in English as a second language, and another billion people around the world are currently studying it.

This says a lot about the power of the English language, and Bismarck’s prescient remark that the most important fact of the 20th century would be that the British and Americans spoke the same language. The other international languages, Spanish and French, have as yet no equivalent global outlets. Indeed, the Francophone outlet with the widest international spread is the English language version of the Agence France Presse news agency.

The news and comment — and thus the context for thinking – of the elites of the globalized world are in the hands of the Anglo-Americans. CNN and BBC, Reuters and AP or UPI, Time and the Economist, the Financial Times and the new Trib, comprise a potential that The New York Times was rightly eager to join. Because these days, it’s about a whole lot more than baseball scores.

”’Walker’s World — an in-depth look at the people and events shaping global geopolitics — is published every Sunday and Wednesday.”’

Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) — It may have seemed like a minor ripple in the media teacup, but the relaunch this week of the International Herald Tribune as a wholly owned product of The New York Times signals something profoundly interesting — beyond the enduring appeal of print in the Internet age — about the way the world is unfolding.

The Trib, as it is it known fondly to most of its 270,000 subscribers and regular buyers, has long been the world’s daily newspaper, owned jointly by The N.Y. Times and The Washington Post, and a godsend to Americans in Europe wanting to keep up with the baseball scores and op-ed pages back home. As a regular and devoted reader of the paper (and not just on my travels), the Trib has meant much more than that to me, even though the Internet reveals that a dismaying proportion of its stories were a day old, recycled from the previous day’s Times and Post.

Being dated was the Trib’s biggest weakness. It was not the fault of the editor, David Ignatius. The parent papers back in Washington, six hours behind the Trib’s publishing base in Paris, were not prepared to change the deadlines for their own reporters and news stories to accommodate the Trib’s printing schedule.

Given this constraint, the Trib did well, although not profitably, in a very tough market. More and more newspapers are trying to serve an extraordinary new market of Anglo-Americans abroad and English-speaking foreigners who want an Anglo-American take on the world.

The Wall Street Journal sells 186,000 of its European and Asian editions every day. The Financial Times sells 430,000 a day, just a third of them in Britain, and the rest in the United States and Europe, where it has become the daily bible of the European Union, the dominant newspaper in Brussels, the EU capital. Then there is USA Today, now published in 60 countries, and the combined circulation of over 100,000 in Europe for the British dailies The Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian.

Add this up, and the international market for daily newspapers in English is close to a million, and since most of them seem affluent and cosmopolitan, a highly desirable target market for advertisers. But financial viability has been elusive in this business, because of the competition. The Trib has been the only paper without a domestic profit base, like the FT’s sales in Britain or the deep, deep pockets of The Wall Street Journal.

The new Trib came about because, according to well-informed sources in the business, The N.Y. Times made the Post an offer it could not refuse. Either the Post sold its share in the Trib for $75 million, or the Times would launch its own rival for the juicy expat and English-speaking market. In short, The New York Times (despite already making an annual $15 million profit on its Internet venture) saw an opportunity.

The reborn Trib still boasts some Post articles in its business section, and still runs some N.Y. Times pieces a day late. It also continues to run some of the Trib’s own fine Europe-based reporters like Barry James. But N.Y. Times Editor Howell Raines pledges that, “Our journalistic clock will change. We will be a more 24-hour news-gathering organization. We are already moving in that direction with the Web site.” The new Trib editors will be connected by phone to the NYT’s editorial conferences, and beefed-up rewrite desks in New York and at the Times’ Washington bureau will intensify the Times’ influence.

The Times clearly has its sights on that million-strong Anglophone market. Throw in the 750,000 readers of Newsweek’s international editions, a similar number for Time magazine (140,000 for the European edition alone), and The Economist’s 450,000 subscribers outside the United States, and the overall market looks potentially closer to 2 million. Then think about the global TV reach of CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp., and of Voice of America and the BBC World Service on radio. Fewer than 400 million people learn English as their mother tongue, but another 400 million are fluent in English as a second language, and another billion people around the world are currently studying it.

This says a lot about the power of the English language, and Bismarck’s prescient remark that the most important fact of the 20th century would be that the British and Americans spoke the same language. The other international languages, Spanish and French, have as yet no equivalent global outlets. Indeed, the Francophone outlet with the widest international spread is the English language version of the Agence France Presse news agency.

The news and comment — and thus the context for thinking – of the elites of the globalized world are in the hands of the Anglo-Americans. CNN and BBC, Reuters and AP or UPI, Time and the Economist, the Financial Times and the new Trib, comprise a potential that The New York Times was rightly eager to join. Because these days, it’s about a whole lot more than baseball scores.

”’Walker’s World — an in-depth look at the people and events shaping global geopolitics — is published every Sunday and Wednesday.”’

Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) — It may have seemed like a minor ripple in the media teacup, but the relaunch this week of the International Herald Tribune as a wholly owned product of The New York Times signals something profoundly interesting — beyond the enduring appeal of print in the Internet age — about the way the world is unfolding. The Trib, as it is it known fondly to most of its 270,000 subscribers and regular buyers, has long been the world’s daily newspaper, owned jointly by The N.Y. Times and The Washington Post, and a godsend to Americans in Europe wanting to keep up with the baseball scores and op-ed pages back home. As a regular and devoted reader of the paper (and not just on my travels), the Trib has meant much more than that to me, even though the Internet reveals that a dismaying proportion of its stories were a day old, recycled from the previous day’s Times and Post. Being dated was the Trib’s biggest weakness. It was not the fault of the editor, David Ignatius. The parent papers back in Washington, six hours behind the Trib’s publishing base in Paris, were not prepared to change the deadlines for their own reporters and news stories to accommodate the Trib’s printing schedule. Given this constraint, the Trib did well, although not profitably, in a very tough market. More and more newspapers are trying to serve an extraordinary new market of Anglo-Americans abroad and English-speaking foreigners who want an Anglo-American take on the world. The Wall Street Journal sells 186,000 of its European and Asian editions every day. The Financial Times sells 430,000 a day, just a third of them in Britain, and the rest in the United States and Europe, where it has become the daily bible of the European Union, the dominant newspaper in Brussels, the EU capital. Then there is USA Today, now published in 60 countries, and the combined circulation of over 100,000 in Europe for the British dailies The Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian. Add this up, and the international market for daily newspapers in English is close to a million, and since most of them seem affluent and cosmopolitan, a highly desirable target market for advertisers. But financial viability has been elusive in this business, because of the competition. The Trib has been the only paper without a domestic profit base, like the FT’s sales in Britain or the deep, deep pockets of The Wall Street Journal. The new Trib came about because, according to well-informed sources in the business, The N.Y. Times made the Post an offer it could not refuse. Either the Post sold its share in the Trib for $75 million, or the Times would launch its own rival for the juicy expat and English-speaking market. In short, The New York Times (despite already making an annual $15 million profit on its Internet venture) saw an opportunity. The reborn Trib still boasts some Post articles in its business section, and still runs some N.Y. Times pieces a day late. It also continues to run some of the Trib’s own fine Europe-based reporters like Barry James. But N.Y. Times Editor Howell Raines pledges that, “Our journalistic clock will change. We will be a more 24-hour news-gathering organization. We are already moving in that direction with the Web site.” The new Trib editors will be connected by phone to the NYT’s editorial conferences, and beefed-up rewrite desks in New York and at the Times’ Washington bureau will intensify the Times’ influence. The Times clearly has its sights on that million-strong Anglophone market. Throw in the 750,000 readers of Newsweek’s international editions, a similar number for Time magazine (140,000 for the European edition alone), and The Economist’s 450,000 subscribers outside the United States, and the overall market looks potentially closer to 2 million. Then think about the global TV reach of CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp., and of Voice of America and the BBC World Service on radio. Fewer than 400 million people learn English as their mother tongue, but another 400 million are fluent in English as a second language, and another billion people around the world are currently studying it. This says a lot about the power of the English language, and Bismarck’s prescient remark that the most important fact of the 20th century would be that the British and Americans spoke the same language. The other international languages, Spanish and French, have as yet no equivalent global outlets. Indeed, the Francophone outlet with the widest international spread is the English language version of the Agence France Presse news agency. The news and comment — and thus the context for thinking – of the elites of the globalized world are in the hands of the Anglo-Americans. CNN and BBC, Reuters and AP or UPI, Time and the Economist, the Financial Times and the new Trib, comprise a potential that The New York Times was rightly eager to join. Because these days, it’s about a whole lot more than baseball scores. ”Walker’s World — an in-depth look at the people and events shaping global geopolitics — is published every Sunday and Wednesday.” Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.