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ARCHIVES NEWS Opinion News History Archives Opinion Archives 2004 Opinion Archive 2003 Opinion Archive 2002 Opinion Archive 2001 Opinion Archive "A Blog" |
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Government- 
Military
- 
Intelligence
- 
Secret
- Prisons
- Civil
Liberties - 
Privacy
- 
Law
- 
Media
- 
Politics
- "Fear
destroys what bin Laden could not." ... "One wonders
if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed
on 9/11. But he had help." ... "If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that
four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke
U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then
expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed
the girders of our very Republic had crumbled." ... "Had anyone said our
president would invade a country and kill 30,000 of its people claiming
a threat that never, in fact, existed, then admit he would have invaded
even if he had known there was no threat -- and expect America to be pleased
by this -- I would have thought our nation's sensibilities and honor had
been eviscerated." ... "If I had been informed that our nation's leaders
would embrace torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for
years without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such
procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have laughed
at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them." ... "If someone
had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent as revenge against
a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda by bankrolling supposedly
independent journalists and commentators, and ridicule a 37-year Marie
Corps veteran for questioning U.S. military policy -- and that the populace
would be more interested in whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy
-- I would have called the prediction an absurd fantasy." -By
Robert
Steinback -Miami/Herald
US
- 
Iran
- 
Nuclear
- Military
- Politics
- Bill
Frist
- "Reining
in Iran." ... ""Iran's ruling mullahs have waged
a 26-year campaign to suppress dissent, support terror and pursue a nuclear
weapons program. In recent weeks, it has become clear that international
efforts to stop Iran's atomic program have failed to bear fruit. Unless
we act quickly, the United States will have a nuclear crisis on its hands."
... "If we let Tehran develop nuclear weapons covertly while IAEA negotiations
slog forward, Iran's theocrats will have little reason to negotiate with
anyone. The U.S. needs to act before a regime that has denied the real
Holocaust unleashes another. " -By Bill Frist
-LAtimes
Government
- Political
- Intelligence
- Privacy
- Law
- 
History-
"Limits
to power: Restrictions on domestic spying were put
in place for a reason." ... "It's an old argument. Back during the Vietnam
War, government photographers went to the anti-war demonstrations and took
pictures of the demonstrators. Protest leaders thought, probably correctly,
that their phones were tapped. Even I, a reporter covering the protests,
heard some odd clicking noises when I picked up the phone to make some
calls. And, of course, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who made his own laws,
eavesdropped on Martin Luther King Jr., among others, though we didn't
know it at the time." ... "Outside the law? John Mitchell, who was President
Richard Nixon's Attorney General, argued that the government didn't need
a warrant to tap the phone of any political dissenter it thought was a
threat to national security, which certainly does sound like the secret
police at work. But in 1972, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Mitchell
was wrong. Justice Lewis Powell, a Nixon appointee, wrote for the unanimous
court that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects Americans
from "unreasonable searches and seizures" and that that freedom "cannot
be properly guaranteed if domestic security surveillances are conducted
solely at the discretion of the executive branch."" ... "President Bush
obviously thinks the court was wrong, since he ordered the National Security
Agency (NSA) in 2002 to begin eavesdropping on American citizens without
a court-issued warrant." -By Bruce Morton
-CNN
Iran
- Secret
- Nuclear
- Military
- Politics
- 
EU
- US
- 
UN
- "The
West's patience wears thin with Iran's hard line."
... "When European nations resume talks with Iran in Vienna Wednesday over
that country's nuclear ambitions, two dangerous new factors are in play.
On the one hand, the patience of the Europeans and the United States with
Iran is running thin. On the other hand, Iran's newly elected president
has shocked a string of nations with some megalomanic pronouncements that
if supported by his people would plunge Iran back into isolation. The stage
is not set for compromise and consensus." ... "At issue is whether Iran's
suspected pursuit of nuclear technology for military purposes is purely
for peaceful purposes, as it claims. The European nations and the US doubt
that, pointing to a string of deceptive Iranian actions, including hiding
from the International Atomic Energy Agency its secret installations to
enrich uranium and produce plutonium." -By John Hughes
-CSMonitor
Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Privacy
- Law
- Politics
- "Bush's
Snoopgate: The president was so desperate to kill
The New York Times' eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper's editor
and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn't just out of concern about
national security." ... "The problem was not that the disclosures would
compromise national security, as Bush claimed at his press conference.
His comparison to the damaging pre-9/11 revelation of Osama bin Laden's
use of a satellite phone, which caused bin Laden to change tactics, is
fallacious; any Americans with ties to Muslim extremists-in fact, all American
Muslims, period-have long since suspected that the U.S. government might
be listening in to their conversations. Bush claimed that "the fact that
we are discussing this program is helping the enemy." But there is simply
no evidence, or even reasonable presumption, that this is so. And rather
than the leaking being a "shameful act," it was the work of a patriot inside
the government who was trying to stop a presidential power grab." ... "No,
Bush was desperate to keep the Times from running this important story-which
the paper had already inexplicably held for a year-because he knew that
it would reveal him as a law-breaker." -By Jonathan
Alter -MSNBC/Newsweek
UK
- Gay
- Law
- Religion
- "UK
Weddings: Straights Can Wait." ... "At last. Only
40 odd years since homosexuality was decriminalized here in England, same
sex couples will shortly be able to join together in civil (if not holy)
matrimony." ... "From Wednesday, gay couples can legally combine their
financial affairs, have next-of-kin rights at hospital and share in that
once exclusively heterosexual activity – divorce. It doesn’t sound like
the law is giving them much, but more than 12 hundred same sex couples
have already registered their intent to ‘marry’." ... "Now, I am told that
these will not be marriages in the eyes of God – because apparently he
would be absolutely furious with the idea of two people who love each other
making a life-long commitment to each other and forsaking all others ‘til
death do they part."-CBSNews
Money
- 
Texas
- 
California
- 
Florida
- Opinion
- "Can
Congress police its ethics? Criminal probes are exposing
corrupt practices in Congress, prompting calls for reform of ethics standards."
... "With a flurry of corruption indictments and related plea agreements
threatening to become a storm, Congress is feeling the heat on ethics reform."
... "Criminal investigations in Texas, California, and Florida are shining
a bright light on standards of conduct in Congress, helping sink public
confidence in the institution to its lowest point in more than a decade."
... "Since 1998, lobbyists report spending some $13 billion to influence
Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, according to the Center
for Public Integrity. Over the same period, more than 200 former members
of Congress and 42 former agency heads have registered as federal lobbyists."
... "Nearly 90 percent of Americans say that political corruption is a
serious problem, according to an AP-Ipsos poll." -By
Gail Russell Chaddock -CSMonitor
Iran
- Religious
- Nuclear
- Military
- 
Terrorism
- Politics
- "Iran's
not-so-secret hatred." ... "Since taking office,
Ahmadinejad has pushed Iran further into hatred, intolerance and theocratic
tyranny--quite a feat in a repressive country that funds terrorists around
the world. He has sacked many of the pragmatists in the government and
replaced them with hard-liners. There are signs that even the despotic
mullahs who run the country are getting nervous. They reportedly moved
recently to strip him of some of his power." ... "If only the threat from
Iran were limited to fierce rhetoric." ... "Just a few days ago, Mohamed
ElBaradei, the ultra-cautious head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
hinted that Iran could be a lot closer to developing a bomb than was thought
previously. He said the international community is "losing patience" with
Iran. Robert Joseph, a top State Department official, said Friday that
Iran is "very aggressive, very determined to develop nuclear weapons.""
-ChicagoTribune
Death
Penalty
- Law
- California
- 
Illinois
- "Putting
Tookie in Context." ... "While I have opposed the
death penalty as long as I have been aware of it, the media attention generated
by the Tookie Williams case has left me with more ambivalence than outrage,
raising issues for me about the death penalty, the so-called criminal justice
system, gang violence, and the peculiar manner by which Black leaders set
priorities." ... "Stanley Tookie Williams is just one of the 3,415 people
on death row in the United States, just one of nearly 650 on death row
in California. More than 40 percent of those awaiting execution are
African American, even though we are less than 13 percent of the nation's
population." ... "The death penalty isn't fair – too many death row inmates
have been unrepresented or inadequately represented. Too many have been
convicted on faulty circumstantial or eyewitness evidence. Too many
mistakes have been uncovered after conviction, so many that the state of
Illinois has suspended executions indefinitely." -By
Julianne Malveaux -BET.com
Books
- US
- 
Iraq
- Military
- Religion
- "Iraq
war debate enters new phase." ... "You might not
expect a West Point graduate, Vietnam vet and career soldier to come out
with a book titled "The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Addicted
to War." But that's what Andrew Bacevich, who now directs the program in
International Relations at Boston University, has done." ... "A self-described
conservative, Bacevich argues that Americans have fallen prey to a "military
metaphysic." By that he means all international problems are seen as military
problems and the likelihood for finding a solution except through military
means is discounted. The result is war as a permanent condition with the
only acceptable plan for peace a loaded pistol. One has only to consider
the relative weight given to the Pentagon and the State Department to get
the point." ... "As a pastor what most interested me is Bacevich's careful
tracing of the role of leading religious conservatives in promoting a "crusade
theory of warfare," to replace the more long-standing and cautious doctrine
of just war. A crusade theory of warfare provides the mindset and justification
for offensive military action, for so-called preventive wars like the current
war in Iraq. The just war ethical tradition mandates the use of force for
defensive, not offensive, purposes." -By Anthony B.
Robinson -SeattlePI.NWsource
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Opinion
- Economy
- "Poll:
Bush's Ratings Bump Up." ... "The President’s overall
approval rating has risen from 35 percent in October to 40 percent now,
and his ratings on handling the economy and the war in Iraq have also improved."
... "The Bush Administration continues to face criticism from many Democrats
and other war opponents about the way pre-war intelligence was handled,
and whether there truly was a compelling connection between Iraq and the
terror threat to the United States. Fifty-two percent of Americans think
the Bush Administration deliberately misled the public in making the case
for war, while 44 percent say it did not." ... "An overwhelming majority
of Americans think this Congress should be asking questions about pre-war
intelligence. Fifty-six percent call it a very important line of questioning,
and another 24 percent call it somewhat important."
-CBSNews
Political
- Government
- 
Radio
- 
TV
- Media
- Editorial
- Money
- History
- "Report:
Former CPB chair violated law: Is accused of trying
to turn public radio, TV into GOP mouthpiece." .. "The former chairman
of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting broke federal law by interfering
with PBS programming and appearing to use political tests in hiring the
corporation's new president, internal investigators said Tuesday."
.. "The corporation - which funnels hundreds of millions of federal dollars
to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service and noncommercial
radio and television stations - was created by Congress in the late 1960s
to shield public broadcasting from political influence." .. "Specifically,
the report said [Republican Kenneth Y.] Tomlinson violated the Public Broadcasting
Act of 1967 and ethical standards by dealing directly with one of the creators
of the conservative-leaning "Journal Editorial Report," hosted by the editor
of The Wall Street Journal editorial page."
-AP via -MSNBC
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Politics
- 
Alaska
- "Greenfield:
Bush trying to turn the table on Dems: Campaign-style
rhetoric comes during eroding support for Iraq war." ... "President Bush
has gone on the offensive, stepping up his political rhetoric in the face
of the Iraq war's growing unpopularity." ... "In an address Monday at Elmendorf
Air Force Base in Alaska, President Bush accused war critics of "playing
politics with this issue and ... sending mixed signals to our troops and
the enemy."" ... "CNN Senior Analyst Jeff Greenfield talked with anchor
Wolf Blitzer after the speech, analyzing the Bush administration's fresh
strategy to target opponents of his Iraq policies."
-CNN
US
- Iraq
- 
Vietnam
- Military
- Political
- History
- "Poll:
American attitudes on Iraq similar to Vietnam era."
... "There are enormous differences between the war in Iraq and the one
in Vietnam that defined a generation. The current conflict hasn't lasted
as long, taken nearly as many American lives or sparked the sort of massive
protests that became common in the '60s and '70s." ... "But when it comes
to public opinion, Americans' attitudes toward Iraq and the proper course
ahead are remarkably similar to public attitudes toward Vietnam in the
summer of 1970, a pivotal year in that conflict and a time of enormous
domestic unrest." ... "Some political scientists and Vietnam War historians
predict the Iraq war, like the one in Southeast Asia a quarter-century
ago, will shape American attitudes long after it's over." -By
Susan Page with contributions by Andrea Stone
-USATODAY
Opinion
- "Bush
fights to regain public's trust: Campaign aimed at
shoring up his standing in polls." ... "A CNN/USA TODAY Gallup Poll released
Monday found that for the first time, more than half of the public thinks
Bush is not honest and trustworthy —52 percent to 46 percent." ... "Forty-eight
percent of respondents said they trusted Bush less than they had trusted
President Clinton, 36 percent said they trusted Bush more and 15 percent
said they trusted Bush the same as Clinton." -By Bennett
Roth -HoustonChronicle.com
Politics
- "President's
ratings hit new low in poll." ... "Bush's job approval
rating sank to a record low 37%. The poll finds growing criticism of the
president, unease about the nation's direction and opposition to the Iraq
war." ... "Two-thirds of independents and 91% of Democrats disapprove of
the job Bush is doing. Even among Republicans, who have solidly backed
Bush in the past, 19% express disapproval — a new high." -By
Susan Page -USATODAY
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "The
Right Way in Iraq." ... "I was wrong." ... "Almost
three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what
many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact
we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our
forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in
some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda." ... "It was a mistake
to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It
has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake
-- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed
heroically and paid a dear price." ... "The world desperately needs moral
leadership from America, and the foundation for moral leadership is telling
the truth." ... "While we can't change the past, we need to accept responsibility,
because a key part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging
when we've made mistakes or been proven wrong -- and showing that we have
the creativity and guts to make it right." -By John
Edwards-WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Religious- Politics
- "Poll:
Majority questions Bush administration ethics." ...
"Most Americans say they aren't impressed by the ethics and honesty of
the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for its justifications
for an unpopular war in Iraq and its role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's
identity." ... "Almost six in 10 — 57 percent — said they do not think
the Bush administration has high ethical standards and the same portion
says President Bush is not honest, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Just over four
in 10 say the administration has high ethical standards and that Bush is
honest. Whites, Southerners and evangelicals were most likely to believe
Bush is honest." -APvia
-HoustonChronicle.com
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Opinion
- History
- 
Pennsylvania
- "Bush
assails Iraq critics as skewing war history." ...
"President George W. Bush lashed out at critics of his Iraq policy Friday,
accusing them of trying to rewrite history about the decision to go to
war and saying their criticism was undercutting U.S. forces in battle."
... ""While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decisions or the
conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of
how that war began," the president said in a Veterans Day speech in Pennsylvania."
... "Bush delivered his speech as part of an effort to shore up his credibility
as he faces growing public skepticism about Iraq and accusations by Democrats
and others that he led the nation into war on false pretenses." ... "Those
accusations seem to be making a dent in public confidence in him, as public
opinion polls show more people questioning the president's honesty about
Iraq and about whether American troops should remain in the fight." -By
Maria Newman -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Political
- History
- Pennsylvania
- "Newsview:
Bush Returns to Campaign Playbook." ... "President
Bush seems to be turning the clock back to Election Day 2004, parrying
with ex-rival John Kerry and harshly questioning his critics' commitment
to U.S. troops." ... "You can't blame him for being nostalgic for better
political times, when most Americans felt he was a strong, honest leader
and gave him the benefit of the doubt on Iraq." ... "That's certainly not
the sentiment these days. With his approval ratings plunging, even some
Republican leaders are showing signs of abandoning Bush's listing ship."
... ""Mistakes were made," Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
said Friday of the war effort." ... "When the president visited Pennsylvania
to defend his Iraq policies on Friday, Santorum kept his distance, literally
and rhetorically. He was 120 miles away, telling reporters the war in Iraq
has been "less than optimal" and that "maybe some blame could be laid"
at the White House." -By Ron Fournier
-AP via-WashingtonPost
Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Law
- Politics
- "Poll:
Libby indictment hits major nerve." ... "The recent
indictment of Vice President Cheney's top aide has struck a nerve with
the American public. Four in five, 79%, said the indictment of former Cheney
aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges is important
to the nation, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People
& the Press." ... "Pew noted that in September 1998, 65% said President
Clinton's lies under oath were important." -By Will
Lester -AP
via -USATODAY
US_Debt.
- Government
- Politics
- "Congress
is ignoring looming problems, experts say." ... "Even
though the White House and Congress pledge to trim $39 billion to $50 billion
in spending over the next five years, that's chickenfeed. The government
spends more than $2.5 trillion every year." ... "Unfunded liabilities include
everything from public debt to promised Medicare and Social Security benefits.
In 2000 they totaled $20.4 trillion. By 2004, after President Bush and
Congress increased spending and cut taxes, they reached $43.3 trillion."
... "When the government next reports these numbers on Dec. 15, the total
is expected to reach $46 trillion to $50 trillion." ... "How much is $50
trillion? It's about $166,000 for each of the almost 300 million Americans."
... "The gross national debt is now more than $8 trillion." -By
Kevin G. Hall -Knight
Ridder via -MercuryNews
Samuel
Alito
- Law- Politics
- "Potentially,
the First Shot in All-Out Ideological War." ... "Conservatives'
willingness to scuttle Ms. Miers's nomination without so much as a hearing
cast doubt on their longstanding insistence that all judicial nominees
should be entitled to an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor without the
threat of a filibuster, and some Democratic nose counters suggested that
a filibuster to block Judge Alito was very much on the table. A bipartisan
agreement by 14 centrist senators to avoid filibusters in all but extraordinary
cases, still fresh when Mr. Roberts was named, may well now carry less
force." ... "But it remains to be seen just how big the fight will be."
-By Todd S. Purdum -NYTimes
Samuel
Alito
- Political
- Abortion- Privacy
- 
Worker
- Capital
Punishment - Law
- "Partisan
divide already forming over Alito pick." ... "Ironically,
[Harriet] Miers — who had no judicial legacy — leaves a political precedent
that could haunt Republican supporters of Alito in the coming weeks." ...
"Conservatives had argued during the nomination of Supreme Court Chief
Justice John Roberts earlier this year that it was inappropriate to probe
how a nominee might come down on issues such as abortion rights. But when
it became clear that Miers had no strong public track record on issues
like abortion, many conservatives pressed for her or the White House to
produce more evidence she was not a closet liberal. The White House even
suggested that Miers' membership in an evangelical church should calm conservative
fears." ... "Democrats are likely to recite the GOP's probe of Miers in
pushing Alito to talk in detail about his views on a host of issues, from
the right to privacy to worker protection laws to capital punishment."
-By Chuck Raasch -USATODAY
Australia
- 
Medical- Drugs
- 
Science
- 
People
- "A
triumph for scientific freedom." ... "This week's
Nobel Prize winners in medicine -- Australians Barry J. Marshall and J.
Robin Warren -- toppled the conventional wisdom in more ways than one.
They proved that most ulcers were caused by a lowly bacterium, which was
an outrageous idea at the time. But they also showed that if science is
to advance, scientists need the freedom and the funding to let their imaginations
roam." -By Madeline Drexler
-Boston/Globe
Harriet
Miers - Law
- Opinion
- "Bush
Seeks Quick Confirmation for Miers." ... "Facing
criticism from conservatives who were disappointed over his father's choice
of Justice David Souter, who has become one of the most liberal members
of the court, Bush insisted that Miers was a strict constructionist and
a conservative and would stay that way. "She isn't going to change over
the course of time," Bush said." ... "The conservative National Review,
in a Monday editorial, called the Miers nomination a "missed opportunity.""
... ""Being a Bush loyalist and friend is not a qualification for the Supreme
Court. She may have been the best pick from within Bush's inner circle,"
the magazine said. "It seems impossible to maintain that she was the best
pick from any larger field. It seems highly unlikely that she will be the
kind of justice who, in combination with Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas, will
attract additional votes by the sheer force of her arguments."" -By
Jesse J. Holland -AP
via -SFGate.com
Government
- Military
- 
Police- Disaster
- Terrorism
- Politics-
"GI's
as postdisaster police? Think again." ... "The US
military has long done more than fight wars. It's built roads, run jobs
programs, snagged drug dealers, integrated schools, created the Internet,
and provided hurricane relief. Why? It's seen as the government's only
lean, mean, can-do machine." ... "Now President Bush asks if the military
should also take the lead in domestic disasters, even serving as police
- conducting arrests, searches, and seizures of American citizens." ...
"But such concerns would not even need to be raised if Mr. Bush and Congress
simply challenged an unspoken assumption: that the United States is incapable
of having an organization that can act as effectively and efficiently in
a time of major crisis as can the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast
Guard." ... "With the possibility of more frequent and powerful hurricanes
as well as a major terrorist attack on a US city, the country needs a force
dedicated specifically to disasters, but it's not the military."-CSMonitor
Hurricane
Katrina - Disaster
-
-
- "Poll:
Katrina sparks shift in American priorities: Majority
says Bush's focus should be on domestic issues." ... "Hurricane Katrina
has made Americans heartsick. They're depressed about the images of destruction
and despair they see from the storm zone and they increasingly want President
Bush to shift his attention toward home, a poll released Thursday found."
... "More than half of Americans now say it is more important for the president
to focus on domestic policy - the first time since Sept. 11, 2001 that
domestic matters have been viewed as a higher priority than the war on
terrorism in polling by the Pew Research Center." ... "Two-thirds said
the president could have done more to get relief efforts going quickly,
according to the survey." -AP
via -MSNBC
-
-
-
- Religion
- 
-
- "Iraq's
constitutional trap." ... "At worst, the constitutional
mess signals prolongation of the bloody insurgency that prevents the establishment
of bearable living conditions in much of Iraq, could lead to civil war
and could stall a hoped- for U.S. withdrawal." ... "The draft constitution,
though containing guarantees of religious freedom and other individual
rights, departs from Western ideas of secular democracy by making Islam
the official religion and "a main source of legislation," and giving clergy
a role in family matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance. Women
under Islamic law would lose rights." -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Iraq
Draft Constitution Has Strong Federal Theme." ...
"The Transitional National Assembly (TNA) yesterday approved Iraq's draft
constitution for public ratification in a referendum in October. The substance
of the draft constitution and the process used to create it will have a
strong influence on the short- and long-term stability of the Iraqi state."
... "Developed largely by the Shia and Kurdish blocs, the draft constitution
uses an extremely strong form of federalism to paper over many of the fundamental
issues that could not be agreed upon by the two factions. The result is
a constitution that makes it both easy and attractive to form other multi-province
regional governments. Each of these regional administrations can choose
to wield greater legal and executive powers than the federal government."
-OxAn.com via -Forbes
Alaska
- Transportation
- Politics
- "A
bridge to nowhere: Alaska's Gravina Island (population
less than 50) will soon be connected to the megalopolis of Ketchikan (pop.
8,000) by a bridge nearly as long as the Golden Gate and higher than the
Brooklyn Bridge. Alaska residents can thank Rep. Don Young, who just brought
home $941 million worth of bacon." -By Rebecca Clarren
-Salon
- 
-
-
-
-
-
- 
- "Iran:
crisis looming over nuclear plans." ... "Threats
by Iran to re-start the process of enriching uranium could indicate that
it has taken a strategic decision to develop a nuclear fuel production
cycle." ... "If so, it could face UN sanctions in due course and one day
even a military attack on its facilities by Israel or the United States."
... "But nuclear experts and a new assessment by US intelligence say that
Iran is perhaps ten years from being able to make enough fuel for a nuclear
bomb." ... "Neither a diplomatic nor a military crisis has been precipitated
yet." -By Paul Reynolds-BBC
/News
John
G. Roberts Jr. - Sandra
Day O'Connor -
-
-
- Abortion
-
- "News
Analysis: Bush aims to disarm opposition." ... "With
his nomination of Judge John Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court, President
George W. Bush has moved to plant the conservative imprint on the high
court that has been a central aim of his presidency, but with a choice
designed to frustrate any Democratic effort to block Bush's replacement
for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor." ... "As a judge for only two years on
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,
Roberts has a limited judicial record, which Democrats said would complicate
their hopes of mounting a filibuster against him." ... "But abortion rights
groups immediately cited support that Roberts had given to briefs opposing
the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The briefs were filed
on behalf of the administration of Bush's father, when Roberts was the
deputy solicitor general." -By Adam Nagourney
-NYTimes via -IHT.com
-
-
-
- Karl
Rove
- "Rove
leak is just part of larger scandal." ... "Let me
remind you that the underlying issue in the Karl Rove controversy is not
a leak, but a war and how America was misled into that war." ... "In 2002
President Bush, having decided to invade Iraq, was casting about for a
casus
belli. The weapons of mass destruction theme was not yielding very
much until a dubious Italian intelligence report, based partly on forged
documents (it later turned out), provided reason to speculate that Iraq
might be trying to buy so-called yellowcake uranium from the African country
of Niger. It did not seem to matter that the CIA advised that the Italian
information was "fragmentary and lacked detail." ... "The role of Rove
and associates added up to a small incident in a very large scandal - the
effort to delude America into thinking it faced a threat dire enough to
justify a war." -By Daniel Schorr -CSMonitor
-
-
- London
bombings
- "London
under attack." ... "Once it had happened, it produced
an awful feeling of inevitability. The series of terrorist attacks on London's
Underground and bus system at the end of the morning rush hour on July
7th were presumably timed to coincide with the opening meetings of the
G8 rich-country summit in Gleneagles in Scotland. The fact that less than
a day earlier London had been filled with jubilation at having won the
race to host the 2012 Olympic games may have given the perpetrators an
extra dose of satisfaction. We shall never know, but nor, actually, should
we care. Such a pointless display of brutality should instead bring forth
two thoughts. One is that the surprise should be that this has not occurred
sooner. The other is that such attacks should not, and will not, make any
difference to the way Londoners live and work." ... "George Bush has sometimes
claimed that a silver lining to the cloud his forces are struggling through
in Iraq is that at least the West's enemies are being fought there rather
than at home. The attacks in London are a reminder that that view is as
wrong as it is glib." ... "Might the attacks affect Tony Blair's ability
to keep British troops in Iraq presumably the terrorists' goal, if they
are indeed related to al-Qaeda?" ... "Far likelier, the attacks will reinforce
the case for pressing on with the long-term task, as defined by Mr Blair:
the establishment of a stable democracy in Iraq, peace between Israel and
Palestine, and democratic reform elsewhere in the Middle East. If that
sounds rather close to Mr Bush's policy, that's because it is. No terrorists
can change that." -Economist
-
- London
bombings
- "The
Terror in London." ... ""This is clearly an al-Qaida
style attack. It was well-coordinated, it was timed for a political event
and it was a multiple attack on a transportation system at rush hour,"
said Lawrence Freedman, professor of war studies at King's College in London."
... "London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the blasts were "mass murder" carried
out by terrorists bent on "indiscriminate ... slaughter."" ... ""This was
not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful ... it was aimed
at ordinary working-class Londoners," said Livingstone, in Singapore where
he supported London's Olympic bid. Giselle Davies, an International Olympic
Committee spokeswoman, said the committee still had "full confidence" in
London." -By Jane Wardell
-AP via -BusinessWeek
-
- - Religion
- London
bombings
- "The
Message in the British Blasts: If radical Islamics
are behind the bombings, it shows how far the war on terrorists has to
go. It also shows the strength of the stricken." ... "Who's responsible
for the bus and subway bombings in London on July 7 isn't clear yet. But
if it turns out to be the work of Islamic militants, the message will be
that after nearly four years of pursuing terrorists around the world, such
groups are still very much with us and capable of wreaking havoc -- even
in the
heart
of the British capital." ... "That's not to say the original al Qaeda
group built around Osama bin Laden hasn't been badly damaged. It has."
... "But the radical Islamic movement has metastasized. Satellite groups
are now spread around the world. Europe, which is nearer to the Middle
East and has a far larger Islamic population than the U.S. has, is a hotbed
of such groups." -By Stanley Reed and Laura Cohn edited
by Beth Belton -BusinessWeek
-
-
- "Where's
The Apology? Bending the Facts on Schiavo." ... "We
are entitled to our moral, ethical and philosophical commitments. We are
not entitled to our own facts." ... "So why is this basic rule of argument
often ignored by politicians whose certainty about their righteousness
convinces them that they can say absolutely anything to further their causes?"
... "The autopsy in the Terri Schiavo case provides a rare moment of political
accountability. We should not "move on," as Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist suggested. No, we cannot move on until those politicians who felt
entitled to make up facts and toss around unwarranted conclusions about
Schiavo's condition take responsibility for what they said -- and apologize."
(1, 2)
-By E. J. Dionne Jr. -WashingtonPost
Massachusetts
- Gay
-
-
- Vermont
- Connecticut
- "One
year later, nation divided on gay marriage: Split
seen by region, age, Globe poll finds." ... "Half of Americans polled say
they don't want their states to recognize Massachusetts gay marriages,
reflecting a continuing uneasiness or outright opposition to same-sex marriage
that is especially strong in the South and in states that backed George
W. Bush in 2004, according to a nationwide survey conducted for the [Boston]
Globe." ... "Nearly a year after same-sex couples were legally allowed
to marry in Massachusetts, 50 percent of respondents said they opposed
recognizing same-sex marriages from Massachusetts ''as legal in all 50
states," and 46 percent favored it. The respondents also said they disapproved
of ''gay and lesbian couples being allowed to get married" by 50 percent
to 37 percent." ... "Forty-six percent of respondents backed civil unions
that would give gay couples ''some, but not all, of the legal rights of
married couples" while 41 percent said they were opposed. Vermont and Connecticut
have legalized civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, but Massachusetts
remains the only state that has legalized same-sex marriage." (1, 2)
-By Scott S. Greenberger
-Boston/Globe
-
- Mother's-Day
- "They're
As Satisfied as Other Women With Their Ability to Balance Work and Family
Life." ... "Working moms are making it work: On Mother's
Day 2005, they express broad satisfaction with their lives, work/life balance
and parenting skills." ... "But oh, for a little spare time." ... "This
ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that working moms (those with kids
under 18 at home) are as satisfied as other women with their lives overall
and their ability to balance work and family life. And they're no more
likely than other working women to say they'd quit their job or cut their
hours if they could." ... "But time is a different story: Among women who
don't work outside the home, 68 percent are "very satisfied" with the amount
of spare time they have. Among women who don't have kids at home, it's
51 percent, still a majority. But among working moms that plummets: Just
20 percent are happy with their free time." -By Jon
Cohen and Gary Langer -ABCNEWS.com
- Mother's-Day
- "Love
and lessons that last forever: For those who no longer
have mothers to honor in person, Mother's Day is filled with memories."
... "For millions of sons and daughters, Sunday will be a day for superlatives
and sentiment. With cards and gifts, phone calls and flowers, they'll send
heartfelt messages to their mothers with variations on an annual theme:
"Happy Mother's Day with much love."" ... "But for those who no longer
have mothers to honor in person, the day will take on a different cast.
It could even go by a different name: Mother's Day Without Mother." -By
Marilyn Gardner -CSMonitor
Mother's-Day
- Food
- "Impress
Mom With A Brunch." ... "Mother's Day this weekend
is a time to honor and celebrate mom's everywhere. So, why not start the
day off right by surprising her with the perfect Mother's Day brunch?"
... "Almost everything can be made the day before, avoiding potential Sunday
morning chaos which could upset mom on her day. And don't forget to set
a pretty table!"
-CBSNews
Mother's-Day
- Food
- "Make
Mom's Day." ... "After taking a highly informal but
frank poll of my friends and colleagues, I'd say most mothers want help
not with breakfast but with the big meal of the day. As one FOODday staffer
put it: "Hey, I'd eat a bowl of Trix for breakfast if it meant I didn't
have to cook dinner that night."" ... "And while I know mothers are supposed
to be Queen for a Day, it doesn't mean we've got all morning to lie around
nibbling sugar-dusted beignets. It may be Mother's Day, but it's also one
of only two days that I, as a working mother, have each week to cram my
entire domestic life into." -By Martha Holmberg-OregonLive/Oregonian
Nepal
- -
"Nepal's
shrewd, smooth operator." ... "The lifting of the
state of emergency by King Gyanendra three months after his meticulously
planned royal coup may have come as a welcome move for many both inside
and outside the country." ... "However, the king's move has to be seen
in the wider context of his political and diplomatic manoeuvring in which
he appears to be moving towards the outcome he has carved out for himself."
... "Immediately after taking over state power on 1 February, he silenced
any possible backlash within the country by declaring a state of emergency
and severely curtailing fundamental rights." ... "At the same time he tried
to impress upon the general public that his move was genuinely aimed at
restoring peace and re-starting the democratic process, which, ironically,
he derailed after he sacked the elected government in October 2002." -By
Rabindra Mishra -BBC
/News
-
-
- 
- Earth_Day
- "Earth Day:
The environmental movement's midlife crisis." ... "As Earth Day turns 35
Friday, the environmental movement is in the throes of a midlife identity
crisis. In despair over the Republican victories in the November election
and riven by internal tensions, activists are certain of neither their
strategies nor their audience. What are environmentalism's major growing
pains, and how can its troops avoid committing movement suicide?" ... "The
first Earth Day in 1970 didn't necessarily constitute the "birth of the
modern environmental movement," as Earth Day Network, an awareness-promoting
group, likes
to claim. When the inaugural event took place, many key laws, like
the National Environmental
Policy Act, had already been passed. Still, the national teach-in that
took place on April 22, 1970, drew 20 million Americans into the parks
and streets. The action that day helped kick off a decade in which Congress
established the Environmental Protection Agency and, along with the states,
passed wide-ranging environmental and public-health legislation." -By
Paul Sabin -Slate
-
- Tom
DeLay
- "Tom
DeLay's power trip." ... "DeLay began building his
megamachine with a breathtakingly hubristic "pay to play" system. It was
not just that anyone who wanted access had to contribute to the Republican
apparatus. The new rules also required that special interests refrain from
contributing to Democratic causes." ... "But when the timorous House ethics
monitors began questioning DeLay's behavior and had the gall to actually
admonish him last year, DeLay purged the committee of the Republicans who
questioned his rule and replaced them with solid loyalists, some of whom
have actually contributed to his legal defense fund. Then he began altering
the rules to make sure that if some further charge managed to slip through,
it would die of neglect." -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- Religion
- "Bill
Frist's Religious War." ... "Right-wing Christian
groups and the Republican politicians they bankroll have done much since
the last election to impose their particular religious views on all Americans.
But nothing comes close to the shameful declaration of religious war by
Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, over the selection of judges for
federal courts." ... "Senator Frist is to appear on a telecast sponsored
by the Family Research Council, which styles itself a religious organization
but is really just another Washington lobbying concern. The message is
that the Democrats who oppose a tiny handful of President Bush's judicial
nominations are conducting an assault "against people of faith." By that,
Senator Frist and his allies do not mean people of all faiths, only those
of their faith." -NYTimes
- Tom
DeLay
- "Get
Tom DeLay to the Church on Time." ... "Beltway cronyism,
dubious junkets, loophole-laden denials are all, of course, time-honored
Washington fare. The few on the right backing away from Mr. DeLay, from
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page to Newt Gingrich, make a point
of reminding us of that. As they see it, more in sorrow than in anger,
the Gingrich revolutionaries who vowed to end the corruption practiced
by Congressional Democrats have now been infected by the same Washington
virus as their opponents. That's true, but this critique of Mr. DeLay and
company by their own camp all too conveniently sidesteps the distinguishing
feature of this scandal. Democratic malefactors like Jim Wright and L.B.J.'s
old fixer Bobby Baker didn't wear the Bible on their sleeves." (1, 2)
-By Frank Rich -NYTimes
-
- "Iraq
is becoming 'free fraud' zone: Corruption in Iraq
under US-led CPA may dwarf UN oil-for-food scandal." ... "" -By
Tom Regan -CSMonitor
- OPINION
- Psychology
- "Why
Didn't Someone Do Something Before School Shooting?"
... "School officials took disciplinary action against Jeff, and he reportedly
received psychiatric care. So people saw a kid in crisis, but nobody suspected
his problems would lead to murder." ... "Harvard psychologist William Pollack
had some explanations that he set forth in a book called "Real Boys: Rescuing
Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood."" ... "He says little boys are told
not to cry, to buck it up, to be a man. Pollack says when boys are kept
from showing emotions: "If from childhood onward, we force [boys] to put
their vulnerable emotions behind a mask, if we tease them and shame them
and all this pent-up emotion has to come out, it will come out this way
in violent and murderous action," he says." (1, 2)
-By Carole Simpson -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- OPINION
- Telecommunications
- "Man
Sells Device That Blocks Fox News: 'Fox Blocker'
Is a Tiny Piece of Silver That Blocks the News Channel From Television."
... "It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News.
The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the channel is not news at all."
... "Formerly a registered Republican, even a precinct captain, Kimery
became an independent in the 1990s when he said the state party stopped
taking input from its everyday members." ... "Kimery now contends Fox News'
top-level management dictates a conservative journalistic bias, that inaccuracies
are never retracted, and what winds up on the air is more opinion than
news. "I might as well be reading tabloids out of the grocery store," he
says. "Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce certain
retrograde notions."" (1, 2)
-By Emily Fredrix -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
OPINION
- "Bush
approval slips to 45%, lowest of his presidency."
... " President Bush's approval rating has fallen to 45%, the lowest point
of his presidency, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll." ... "The
new poll found the largest drop for Bush came among men, self-described
conservatives and churchgoers." -By Bill Nichols-USATODAY
-
- "Poll:
Keep Feeding Tube Out." ... "Americans have strong
feelings about the Terri Schiavo case, and a majority says the feeding
tube should not now be re-inserted. This view is shared by Americans of
all political persuasions. Most think the feeding tube should have been
removed, and most also do not think the U.S. Supreme Court should hear
the case." ... "An overwhelming 82 percent of the public believes the Congress
and President should stay out of the matter. There is widespread cynicism
about Congress' motives for getting involved: 74 percent say Congress intervened
to advance a political agenda, not because they cared what happened to
Terri Schiavo. Public approval of Congress has suffered as a result; at
34 percent, it is the lowest it has been since 1997, dropping from 41 percent
last month. Now at 43 percent, President Bush’s approval rating is also
lower than it was a month ago."
-CBSNews
- Kyrgyzstan
- "Analysis:
Why Kyrgyzstan matters." ... "The outside world has
been watching events unfolding in Kyrgyzstan with a mixture of excitement
and fear." ... "Excitement because this could be the beginning of another
"velvet revolution" in a former Soviet country." ... "Fear because in such
a poor and volatile region as Central Asia, it may not be as non-violent
or democratic as those in Ukraine or Georgia." ... "Whatever happens, the
outcome will be significant because Kyrgyzstan is close to Afghanistan
- an area with a history of inter-ethnic conflicts lying on one of the
world's major drug trafficking routes." ... "Kyrgyzstan does not border
on Afghanistan, but it is close enough to have a direct impact on the country's
affairs." -By Leonid Ragozin-BBC
/News
-
-
-
- "Iraq
Winners Allied With Iran Are the Opposite of U.S. Vision."
... "When the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq two years ago,
it envisioned a quick handover to handpicked allies in a secular government
that would be the antithesis of Iran's theocracy -- potentially even a
foil to Tehran's regional ambitions." ... "But, in one of the greatest
ironies of the U.S. intervention, Iraqis instead went to the polls and
elected a government with a strong religious base -- and very close ties
to the Islamic republic next door. It is the last thing the administration
expected from its costly Iraq policy -- $300 billion and counting, U.S.
and regional analysts say." ... "Thousands of members of the United Iraqi
Alliance, a Shiite-dominated slate that won almost half of the 8.5 million
votes and will name the prime minister, spent decades in exile in Iran.
Most of the militia members in its largest faction were trained in Shiite-dominated
Iran." -By Robin Wright -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
-
-
- "No
Mullah Left Behind." ... "By adamantly refusing to
do anything to improve energy conservation in America, or to phase in a
$1-a-gallon gasoline tax on American drivers, or to demand increased mileage
from Detroit's automakers, or to develop a crash program for renewable
sources of energy, the Bush team is - as others have noted - financing
both sides of the war on terrorism. We are financing the U.S. armed forces
with our tax dollars, and, through our profligate use of energy, we are
generating huge windfall profits for Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan, where
the cash is used to insulate the regimes from any pressure to open up their
economies, liberate their women or modernize their schools, and where it
ends up instead financing madrassas, mosques and militants fundamentally
opposed to the progressive, pluralistic agenda America is trying to promote.
Now how smart is that?" -By Thomas L. Friedman
-NYTimes
