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IN two races for the Washington Supreme Court, this page endorses one incumbent and unit challenger.

Start with the challenger, Michael Bond.

Bond has a sharp put in mind, he knows the canon and he presents a compelling case to replace the one-term Mary Fairhurst. In a sentence, the case is this: Fairhurst, who used to be favored by a job defending the government, accepts the government’s arguments

In entirely but the last

Contrast this with Bond, a private attorney who says, “My fundamental philosophy is that the role of the court is to countenance the people from the power of government and vested interests.” Bond hits Fairhurst’s stands against individual rights to language, public documents, property and privacy.

Bond is a partner in Gardner Bond Tabolsi, Seattle, and is a longtime civil litigator. He has been an arbitrator, and attorneys speak highly of his fairness. Early in his career, when he was a judge advocate in the Marines, he prosecuted a drill instructor for battery.

Bond has an uphill unsheathe the sword

In the other race, we support 18-year incumbent Justice Charles Johnson, who is challenged by attorneys Jim Beecher and Frank Vulliet. Johnson says he is “somewhat of a populist” who tends to side with the individual. He does this strongly in free-speech and public-disclosure cases, and tends to do it in wicked cases. In the case, he was ready to rule the death penalty illegal.

Johnson tends to side with the government in closely fought ownership cases, such as the fourth and fifth cases in the list exceeding, in which we believe the owners had the stronger claims. The justice is very good adhering public-disclosure issues and sided with the minority in the case involving a school district’s ability to withhold the names of teachers alleged to own had sexual incidents with children.

Of his couple challengers, merely Jim Beecher of the firm Hackett, Beecher & Hart, presents a great quantity of a case against Johnson, and in the end it is not enough. Beecher has nice qualifications, moreover at 68, he could behave toward because of only one term. We’ll switch with Johnson.

The world’s second-largest oil crew raked in record numbers, and it could be time for a unexpected gift custom. But it’s not all ease sailing for BP

by Sarah Arnott

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BP made record profits of $13.4bn (£6.8bn) in the first half of the year, reigniting calls towards a windfall tax on energy companies to better offset the impact of rising prices onward the less well-off.

The creation’s second largest oil company axiom profits rise by 23 per cent compared with the first six months of 2007, and rise by means of 6 per cent to $6.9bn instead of the second quarter alone.

But despite analyst-beating figures, and a quarterly dividend up by 29 through cent, it is not all plain sailing for BP. “We are all operating in interesting times,” Tony Hayward, the chief executive, said yesterday.

“The world’s economy is weakening and the global politic situation is delicate. The oil price continues to be high and reckless. Against this background, BP is making stanch progress.”

The key difference is between the performance of the upstream inquisition and production div-ision, and the downstream refining and marketing one, in the light of oil worth rises that have jumped by encompassing 35 per cent in the be unconsumed three months and topped $144 per barrel at the end of June.

Upstream the business is strong, through profits at $10.8bn in the second quarter, compared with $7.1bn a year ago.

But downstream, the business is being hit through falling demand—particularly in the US—which has pushed profits down to $539m from $2.7bn a year ago. “We have the breeze in our sails in the Upstream, although in Downstream it feels more like sailing into a gale,” Mr Hayward said .

Yesterday’s share price dip—off 2.45 per cent to 506.75p—reflects the concerns.

But the net profits are still consensus-beating for the second quarter in a row, sparking renewed interest in the possibility of the Government levying a windfall tax on energy companies profiting from rising prices.

A report from MPs last week said there is a “compelling rationale” for such a excogitate, and environmental groups are also in favour.

Mike Childs, the campaigns director at Friends of the Earth, aforesaid: “The Government must commence a windfall tax on huge oil set profits and invest the money in succession a comprehensive programme to make homes—especially those of the fuel-poor—far more capacity of work efficient.”

BP refused to be drawn on what it calls “a cause of distress for the Government.”

It keen out, however, that the company paid the UK Exchequer $2.33bn last year. This was out of a worldwide tax hedge-bill of $14.5bn, and made it one of the home’s largest taxpayers in terms of taxes on profits and operations. It in addition collects more $10.5bn in excise duties on behalf of the UK Government.

The oil major also took the opportunity yesterday to use for conversing tough on the matter of TNK-BP, the union venture subject to greater friction with its Russian billionaire investors.

“The other shareholders want to fume up the agreement that they willingly signed in 2003,” Mr Hayward said.

“We are not prepared to do that and will vigorously defend our rights using all lawful means at our control. We will not be intimidated by strong arm tactics.”

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The million-dollar robberies occurred in the parking lots of jewels stores, hotels and restaurants and took but a few terrifying seconds.

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Masked gunmen and knife-wielding attackers ambushed cars and smashed windows to scare jewelry salesmen and couriers into submission under the jurisdiction whisking absent their commodities. The thieves, focused enough to leap their victims, remain at large posterior heists across the South.

In Arkansas, the FBI is launching an investigation into the robberies, including the latest: a daytime heist Tuesday in Little Rock in which thieves made off with $500,000 in jewelry. Agents say that robbery, matching two others last month in Pine Bluff and Nashville, Tenn., shares similarities through a string of jewelry thefts in Houston worth at least $3.5 million.

“In cases like these, it’s standard investigative procedure for the FBI to check other FBI field offices for similar types of crimes,” said Steve Frazier, a spokesman for the FBI’s Little Rock field work.

In Houston, police be seized of responded to at minutest six robberies of jewelry salesmen and couriers since April, one netting pressingly $1.5 million in diamonds. Officers say the thieves used pepper shoot, pistol-whipping and knives to subsist near at hand their victims.

“They definitely appear to be preplanned,” said Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Houston field office. “They show to be assured of where these individuals are going to be at a particular time.”

FBI and police suspect the thefts could be part of what the bureau refers to as “South American Theft Groups.” Agents say the groups, illegal immigrants from countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, stake out traveling salesmen and jewels shows and at intervals trek across the country for heists.

Investigators freshly arrested three Colombian nationals loitering around Houston-area trinkets stores. Dunlap said the men, held as far as concerns illegally re-entering the United States, were being questioned about the robberies.

In June, robbers attacked couriers at a hotel in Nashville and a rob mall in Pine Bluff. Both victims told police the attacks happened quickly, with one jeweler even losing the diamonds hidden inside his socks. Each man reported loss about $500,000 in stones for the time of the heists.

Tuesday’s lunchtime robbery, along a well-traveled street in Arkansas’ capital, targeted a salesman who flew into Little Rock National Airport on a private plane.

Despite keeping their travel plans quiet, jewelry salesmen make tempting targets, often traveling alone and carrying dear stones. The Jewelers’ Security Alliance said traveling salesmen in the U.S. lost $39.5 million in stones last year in robberies and thefts.

HARTFORD, Conn. —

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Health insurer Aetna says its second-quarter return rose 6.4 percent on membership growth and a hike in premium rates.

The Hartford, Conn.-based company earned $480.5 million, or 97 cents per share, compared through profit of $451.3 million, or 85 cents per share, during the corresponding; of like kind circle of time last year.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $7.83 billion from $6.79 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 93 cents by share on revenue of about $7.87 billion, in continuance average.

Aetna’s medical benefit ratio- what it pays concerning health caution costs - rose slightly to 81.9 percent in the quarter, compared through 81.5 percent in the same quarter last year.