23-Mar-2006  (yacht cruise)

• 'China to Raise Taxes on Gas Guzzlers and Chopsticks (New York Times)
The Chinese government said it will increase existing taxes and impose new ones to improve the country's environmental record and narrow China's wide income gap.
• 'Bullock's 'dozer, TomKat's kitty, Nick's new pretty (Chicago Tribune)
People: Closure is hard won for Hollywood's stars, it seems. In 2004, Sandra Bullock won the $7.8 million lawsuit she filed against the builder who constructed her moldy, leaky, faultily walled 10,000-square-foot dream mansion in Austin, Texas. But the hefty check apparently didn't heal Bullock's case of post-my-builder-bilked-me syndrome. A few weeks ago, the "Miss Congeniality" star doffed a
• 'Man on a Mission (Fortune via Yahoo! Finance)
Late last August Bruce Karatz was at sea aboard a private yacht off the coast of Turkey, enjoying a lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous cruise with a half-dozen close friends. As executive vacations go, this one was definitely well deserved: The company Karatz heads, homebuilder KB Home, was wrapping up its 18th consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth.
• 'Judge Recesses Al-Qaeda Operative Trial (Washington Post)
ISTANBUL, March 20 -- The al-Qaeda operative accused of masterminding the 2003 Istanbul bombings and a botched attempt to sink an Israeli cruise ship appeared in a Turkish courtroom on Monday, and did his best to take it over.
• 'St. Thomas Deploys Wireless Mesh Network (Wireless IQ)
Local business owners, cruise ship crews and tourists on the island of St. Thomas now have anytime, anywhere wireless Internet access over a BelAir Networks scalable, carrier-grade Wi-Fi network deployed by Choice Communications, a local Virgin Islands telecommunications company.
• 'WindPath Sailing, Inc. Introduces Fractional Use Sailing to the San Francisco Bay Area (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
WindPath Sailing brings fractional use yachting to the San Francisco Bay area. WindPath Sailing of CA provides a new and unique opportunity to lease a brand new Catalina sailboat through a shared membership program -- without the commitments and financial obligations normally associated with yacht ownership.
• 'China aims new taxes at cars and rich elite (International Herald Tribune)
The Chinese government will increase existing taxes and impose new ones on April 1 for just about everything from gas-guzzling vehicles to chopsticks so as to improve the country's environmental record.
• 'Custom Sport Yacht Charters Boost Yachting Popularity (PR Web via Yahoo! News)
(PRWEB) March 18, 2006 -- Spending the day on a yacht was once a leisure time activity available only to those who owned one.