The first is that American prosecutors and regulators seem to be unilaterally applying a stiffer standard than that agreed to by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that since 2001 has overseen the implementation of international rules on money-laundering and terrorist finance.
Under new federal sentencing guidelines that went into effect in May, a person selling 800 pills can now receive a sentence of five years, a much stiffer standard than the old threshold of 11,000 pills.
Sites that could pose a danger to human health, such as as those near housing or schools, would have to meet a much stiffer standard.
But the money does not come close to meeting the needs of local school districts, which are now being required to meet the stiff standards of the president's No Child Left Behind initiative.
The U.S. Senate not only rejected a stiff increase in fuel efficiency standards but barred future increases on pickup trucks, a big victory for Detroit's Big Three automakers.
Mr. Gore emphasizes stiffer standards for teachers, a position not likely to be met enthusiastically by the teachers' unions, which are important Democratic constituents.
"He would be a wonderful addition". Spitz said he wanted to see stiffer standards for selection to the hall, an increase in fund-raising and sponsorships and the modernization of the displays to make them interactive and child-friendly.
Mr Harper, who normally cuts a stiff, cold figure, was, by his standards, relaxed and smiling in his moment of triumph.
Environmentalists have dismissed that report as unlikely to recommend significantly stiffer standards, because its authors include several people who have worked for the auto and oil industries but no environmentalists.
The real benefit of more lenient emissions and fuel economy standards in the U.S. will be the ability of automakers to sell more trucks and SUVs in the short term, giving them more time to hit stiffer standards that will inevitably come later.
